its job. bill: she said it was rude and wrong. >> a responsible man for the country needed to know. we're dealing with a lot of excerpt that is we've seen. we'll see what is in there. bill: ralph peters said a lot of trash is written but i will read this one. martha: bye everybody. jon: we take it from here with today's top headlines and brand new stories you will see here first. jenna: fallout from a tell-all book from former defense secretary robert gates. and the white house reaction. accused killer of this man in a road rage incident. why police say that suspect could strike again and what they want the public to do. big story today. a beauty queen gunned down on a highway. her young daughter is wounded. what police learned about the murder. it is all "happening now." jon: a recently-departed defense

chief slams president obama in a scathing new memoir. new reaction is pouring in now. good morning to you, i'm jon scott. jenna: certainly grabbing a lot of headlines today. jon: sure is. jenna: welcome to "happening now." i'm jenna lee. robert gates of course served as defense secretary under president bush and stayed on for the better part of president obama's first term. now he is out with a brand new tell-all with tough criticism of the president and the president's leadership. secretary gates accusing both the president and former secretary of state hillary clinton of playing politics. here is an excerpt from the book. hillary told the president that her opposition to the 2007 surge in iraq had been political because she was facing him in the iowa primary. the president conceded vaguely that opposition to the iraq surge had been political. to hear the two of them making these admissions in front of me was as surprising as it was dismaying. one excerpt out of a big book set to be out. wendell goler is live at the

white house with more on this. wendell, gates says politics continues to influence the president and his decision making after he took office. how so? how does he describe it? >> reporter: well it did, jenna, to be fair gates was critical of former president george w. bush as well, though he never felt mr. bush, never felt politics played a role in mr. bush's foreign policy decision-making. when he served in the two administrations gates says, was a factor in that. gates says he was, mr. obama's first defense secretary and he writes, quote, i joined a new, inexperienced president, determined to change course and equally determined from day one to win re-election. domestic political considerations would there for be a factor though i never believe a decisive one. gates said mr. obama was more committed to the troops than the mission in afghanistan. he praised mr. obama's decision to approve the bin laden raid. by contrast he writes of time in the bush administration, quote,

i worked for him in the last two years of his presidency, with the exception of the iraq surge, nearly all the big national security decisions had been made, he had made historical bed and would have to lie in it. by then gates said, vice president cheney was the administration's hawkish outlyer president bush, gates, secretary of state rice, gates said were in broad agreement though he also accuses mr. bush of compromising the mission in afghanistan with his decision to go to war in iraq. jenna? jenna: criticism of both administrations but that is not the only thing that, or the only people that gates is critical of in the book, wendell. >> reporter: he was sharply critical of vice president biden. said that mr. biden has been wrong on nearly every foreign policy and national security issue, which prompted some pushback from the white house. a spokeswoman saying that the president relies on biden's good counsel every day. gates saved his sharpest criticism for members of

congress saying of their hearings, quote, rude, insulting, belittling, and bullying and all too often highly personal attacks on witnesses by members of congress violated nearly every norm of civil behavior. members postured and acted as judge, jury and executioner. gates said television cameras in a congressional hearing at the effect of a full moon on a werewolf. jenna? jenna: paints an image, doesn't it? wendell. thank you. >> for a look at the political fallout of the gates book and how it will affect the president's second term agenda. let's bring in the politics editor for "roll call" and charlie hirt, columnist for "the washington times." shira, the gates look is described as unusual it takes on a sitting president almost immediately after the writer, in this case, secretary bates, left office. have you ever seen anything like it? >> yeah. these things often come out in the second term. i think of bush communicateses

director, press secretary wrote a tell-all book similarly toward the end of his term as well. these tell-all books are not new. former administration officials want to show their side of the story. they want to state their legacy. in many ways they control the power because they can say whatever they want. they're outside of the administration. jon: we have, charlie, the portrait of a president who campaigned in 2008 on the war in afghanistan being the good war, the war in iraq being the bad war and yet once he takes over and wind down iraq, then he wanted to get out of afghanistan for political reasons primarily according to the former defense secretary. >> you know, jon, that is the central point, the most important thing that we can kind of glean from all this. no matter what you think of bob gates, these are pretty damning accusation that is he makes and it is exactly, for the reasons you just stated, that president

obama ran his campaign in 2008 as sort of the adult in the room, the guy that would not make political decisions when it came to our, our military and fighting wars, and also he was very harshly critical of the previous administration for not listening to his commanders or at least accusing president bush of not listening to his commanders and accusing bush of not listening to those around him. these accusations coming now against president obama, the very same ones, that is pretty scary and suggest that is president obama has managed to get himself extremely isolated, especially when it comes to this, the decision surrounding afghanistan and iraq. jon: the interesting thing too, shira, is that generally bob gates has not been known as a particularly political figure in washington. that is part of the reason that president obama kept him on in a democratic administration after he had served under bush 43 in a

republican one. >> you know, i think that is a really key point here because it is not like you're dealing with a disgruntled former staffer, aide, who finally feels like this is their opportunity to tell everything. you're dealing with a guy with a pretty stellar reputation and mildly partisan at best. as you mentioned he served administration of both parties. it is pretty well-respected. just the detail in which he goes into a lot of these meetings and stuff i think is very telling, especially in terms of his conversations with joe biden. jon: well the book is not even out yet but it is already making waves on capitol hill. senator lindsey graham mentioned it. take a listen. >> the surge worked. our military performed brilliantly. we won the war and lost the peace. i blame obama and biden for not listening to their commanders, rejecting their advice and bob gates talks about that in his book, how military commanders were overruled bit political people in the white house.

now you see al qaeda on the rise. jon: overruling military commanders due to politics. does that happen in every administration, charlie? >> well, of course, and you know, the system is designed to work that way. the basic fundamental founding of our country is based on the idea that we have political people make the decisions about the military and keeps the military in check and that's fine but the problem comes when you get into a situation where the decisions that are being made are so strictly politically motivated and, kind of dismissive of the, you know, military realities on the ground that you get into real problems. one of the things that i find most amusing about all of this from the gates book, is that the big lesson being learned here in washington, following the gates book is that, is that it is dangerous to keep on high-level cabinet officials from the

previous administration because this might be what happens if you do, when they leave office. you know exactly the wrong message, the wrong lesson to be learned from all of this. jon: so the political considerations trumps all in washington? >> yeah. jon: that is the big lesson? >> yes. it always does. jon: charlie hirt, shira center, thank you both. >> thanks, jon. jenna: a fox weather alert now. it is still very cold across much of the country today but not quite as bad as yesterday. atlanta seeing a record low of 6 degrees, what it saw yesterday as well. look at buffalo, new york, brings ard conditions there. a portion of interstate 90 in new york reopening today. the national weather service lifting the extended blizzard warning in two decades. look at this car in baltimore. frozen solid. that will be tough to get out. might be a tough one. we're told a water main break in single-digit temperatures left it coated in ice. the polar air mass is easing the

grip. windchills improving but not exactly comfortable. meteorologist maria molina is live in the fox weather center with more. maria. >> hello, jenna and everybody. we're still looking at dangerously cold windchill temperatures across the midwest and northeast. we still do have several windchill warnings and advisories out in place. you look at 18 below zero what it feels like in marquette. 16 below zero in buffalo. you need to bundle up in places like kentucky. still on the cool side. feels like 17 in louisville as you head out the door and nine degrees in kansas city. these are the current windchills. as jenna mentioned not as bad as yesterday. temperatures were colder as 30 degrees below zero. we're observing a woman uplike cities like minneapolis, warmed up by1 degrees. significant improvement from yesterday. 17-degree warming in pittsburgh and nashville.

18 degrees warmer than 24 hours ago. the warmer air over the great lakes, producing significant lake-effect snow. 20 inches in places like water town. and it is still going on around the watertown area. we have wind advisories out there. six to 12 inches of snow possible. in addition to the 20 inches already reported in some of these areas. low visibility expected in some of these lake-effect snow bands. and now that is lake-effect snow. now we have another storm system that's slowly developing out here. you can see it right there on the radar. that little bit of shading of pink popping out across the little rock area. that is freezing rain. we have winter weather advisories in place in arkansas, in missouri, eastern oklahoma, southeastern kansas. we could see as much as three inches of snow. not too significant but keep in mind this is a southern area. we're not used to dealing with snow out here. light freezing rain possible as well. so stay safe out here. otherwise we promised you the

warm-up. i want to show you how significant it is. by friday, new york city, you will be in the 40s. 50s for you in atlanta, and raleigh by saturday, your high temperature, 70 degrees. in the 50s in new york city. over in chicago, marquette in the 30s. even warmer for some of you. fargo, the high temperature at 34 degrees. jenna they will be wearing shorts, t-shirts. this will feel amazing for everyone across the east coast. jenna: you may look at fargo but i'm looking miami where it is 81. right. >> l.a., they have been so warm. jenna: they have been. >> 70 some degrees for the high on sunday. jenna: a big story but there are bright spots out there. maria, thank you very much. appreciate it. jenna: the temperatures are one side of the story. the weather has other effects which our next story shows. jon: it's a great story. during an unrelenting snowstorm in minneapolis, a mother with some unusual determination. this young mom delivered her first baby at home, by herself.

jenna: come con! jon: she planned on a home birth but not like this. nobody could get to her in time for help but she didn't think baby evangeline would arrive quite so early. >> her due date was the 21st. she wanted to see the blizzard. once the water broke and i realized this was it, all fear went away. i realized it wasn't going to help me and that, we had to be a team and do this together, so we did it. jon: hmmm. jenna: what do you think about that? jon: we are happy to report mother and baby are both doing well. probably don't want to plan on, you know, doing this at home yourself. there is our floor director, liz webb. jenna: want to point that out. liz, what do you think? >> scary. >> scary. liz, we're anxiously awaiting liz's baby next couple weeks. we'll not leave you alone, liz. no matter the weather, right, jon? jon: if one ever us has to drive you to the hospital ourselves we'll do that. jenna: we'll do it.

keep your viewers posted. so excited for liz. a beauty queen's brutal death bringing international attention to the violence in a country with one of the highest murder rates. we'll get you updated on this story. a truly tragic one for one american family. the latest on a fiery train derailment that forced dozens of people out of their homes. the very latest coming up the projects will be done in a timely fashion and within budget. angie's list members can tell you which provider is the best in town. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact i can go onto angie's list and look for pediatricians. the service providers that i've found on angie's list actually have blown me away. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust.

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jon: some developing stories we're following this hour. investigators blame faulty brakes after a freight train carrying oil and propane derailed and caught fire in canada. it happened near the border with maine. no one was hurt but people who love in dozens of homes nearby had to evacuate. we're learning more about the ski accident in the french alps that injured formula 1 great michael schumacher. video from his camera shows he was skiing off a groomed trail when he lost his balance and crashed. he is still in a medically

induced coma. in colorado, an out of bounds avalanche killed one person an injured three people in the vail ski area. the man who died is the grand son of one of the resort's cofounders. jenna: the murder of a beauty queen is bringing international attention and a lot of prayers what is going on in venezuela today. monica spear a former miss venezuela and soap opera actress were gunned down with her husband energy a robbery. robbers opened tire on them after tires on their car was punctured on a highway. a lot of the story we don't know. steve harrigan is covering the story from miami and joins us with more. >> reporter: jenna, this kind of attack is all too common in venezuela where homicide rates are the fifth in the world. the thieves leave sharp objects on deserted stretch of highway. in this case two of car's tires were punctured.

the terrified family tried to lock themselves in the car but the thieves fired six shots in the car, they killed both parents. survive sergeant five-year-old daughter. five people have been arrested in this case. several of the five under 18 years of age, jenna. jenna: wow. see, part of this story we hear this woman had in fact moved to florida because of security concerns? >> reporter: that's right. her family had persuaded her to move to south florida after she had been robbed six different occasions in venezuela. she wanted to return on holiday. she wanted to show her daughter the beautiful countryside in venezuela. her father here in central florida was devastated when he heard the news on television. >> we're so very, very sweet girl. she was very, very smart. and, i as a mother she cares a lot about her daughter may. a, which is now alone because her father, her mother, were

killed in venezuela. >> reporter: that daughter, maya, witnessed her two parents gunned down. she herself was shot in the leg. she remains in good condition in a caracas hospital. jenna. jenna: what a horrible story. steve, thank you. jon: a massive search underway for a missing teen, the son of a "boston globe" columnist. how social media are playing a huge role in this hunt. plus much more on the scathing new tell-all from former defense secretary robert gates. why he blasts the president on leadership especially on the war in afghanistan. former ambassador john bolton weighs in next.

jenna: bombshell new book by former secretary of defense robert gates comes out next week. it is called, "duty, memoirs of a secretary of war." gates is critical of both the bush and obama administrations as far as we can tell from the exerts, one of the big headlines is his opinion of president obama's handling the war in afghanistan. he writes about a meeting in 2011 saying this, quote, as i sat there i thought the president doesn't trust his commander, can't stand karzai, don't believe in his own strategy and doesn't consider the war to be his. for him it is all about getting out. right now it bears reminding there are 52,000 troops still in afghanistan. 3302 have been killed since the war began. ambassador john bolton is former ambassador to the u.n. ambassador we'll get to the politics but i don't want to

lose sight of our military the impact of this book coming out now when we're still very much involved in a war in afghanistan. what do you think of the impact? >> i don't think what secretary gates says is very much different what most people involved in the afghanistan already think of the president. the way he has mishandled it, the view he mishandled it is very widespread in the military. i don't think the timing of the book should depend on the circumstances in world. the world is never entirely at peace. the united states is never entirely at rest. i think, what a former senior official writes a book like this, i think it's a positive thing whenever it comes out. jenna: he also writes in 2009, this is secretary gates, that he came very close to resigning. there were reports at the time, ambassador, i'm sure you remember about the way ahead in afghanistan. what the military wanted, what the administration wanted. do you think the course of our decisions in afghanistan would have changed if secretary gates did in fact resign because he

did not agree with what the admin was doing? >> i don't think it would have because of his fundamental, gates's fundamental insight. the president didn't think this was his war and wanted to get out. i haven't read the book like everybody else commenting on it today but from the excerpts we've seen i think the real insights that gates provides is that president obama simply is not concerned with american national security. the notion that politics could trump a national security decision can only occur in the mind of somebody who simply doesn't pay much attention to national security. i think it is a serious charge against the president but not that there was politics involved but that national security rated so low in his mind-set. jenna: if i, and i am a military wife, right? if my husband was deployed to afghanistan right now and i heard these headlines, i would want all of the troops to be brought home. if that is the case, if the president actually does not believe, this is one of the top

advisors, top officials in our country during wartime, then bring them all home. the public's potential disillusionment, maybe it is already there, ambassador, that is a big conflict. how do you expect people to serve a mission, their families, if apparently the president doesn't believe in that mission according to robert gates? >> well, as i say, i think that is what most of them probably think already. i think for people in the military as for citizens generally, the issue is always, what's in the national interest ever the united states? and that is what they're there trying to fulfill that mission and the fact is now the president will deny what gates says, but i think his objective all along has been to find a way to get out of afghanistan as he wanted to get out of iraq. i think it exposes his hypocrisy among other things, and for the military still there, i think they simply have to fulfill

their duties as they have so well these past 12 years. jenna: as you mentioned, ambassador, the administration obviously has come out and disagrees with the way that this is being portrayed. robert gates touched on a bigger point. i would just like to finish with this. because he wasn't just speak about president obama but about what we've seen in recent history and here is what he has to say. in recent decades presidents confronted with tough problems abroad have too often try quick to reach for a gun. our foreign and national security policy has become too militarized, the use of force too easy for presidents. what do you think about that? >> no, i don't agree with that. i think that is a misreading of what happened. and gates says, what has been reported when the joined the bush administration, that is obviously what the criticism is aimed at, he also says all of the big national security decisions had been made and he didn't participate in any of them. so i don't think he is in a position to judge, at least from his own experience whether bush reached too easily for the gun

or not. but for those who are worried that gates was critical of obama, i think that is actually quite a harsh criticism of president bush as well and unfair one. jenna: certainly one of congress. gates came out, blazing against congress too. certainly a lot more to the brook. i'm sure we'll talk about it a lot more. ambassador, thank you very much. >> thank you, jenna. jon: speaking of congress, the jockeying, the horse trading is underway in washington on a bill that would extend jobless benefits for the millions of long-term unemployed in this country. so how do we pay for it and how would it impact our economy? we'll debate that next. relief is on the way after days of record-breaking cold but the dangers of frostbite are still not over. [ bottle ] okay, listen up!

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jon: still to come this hour, the senate debating a plan that would extend unemployment benefits to the long-term jobless. we will debate whether that would help or hurt the economy. after days of record-breaking cold that froze much of the country some relief is on the way. we're not out of the woods yet though. what you need to do to stay safe. major scare for reality tv star honey boo-boo an her family. jenna: as we await second test vote on the senate on white house-backed bill to extend benefits for long-term jobless there are schools of thought whether or not this would be good for the economy or even for individual americans.

are there other ideas we should consider? joining us, art laffer, former reagan economic advisor, author of "the end proves parity, how higher taxes will doom the economy if we let it happen." we have a michael caine, resident scholar at american enterprise institute. he has written several articles about solving economic crisis. i want to start with one item you disagree on, that is whether or not we should extend the benefits. michael, you say this is a good idea now. why is that? >> i think it's a good idea for two simple reasons. the first reason is we're not ready yet to let them expire. we decided 26 weeks of unemployment benefits is right amount of time in healthy economy. we always extend the length of time people can be on unemployment benefits during recessions and if you look at the long-term unemployment rate or other indicators of the health of labor market, what you see if we let the benefits expire now we'll do it in

historically bad labor market. we never let them expire when they are as bad as they are. the second reason -- jenna: let me get art in. that was a good complete thought. i will get back to some of your other ideas, michael. art, obviously a lot of republicans are against it. one of the things michael writes, that some republicans don't seem well-connected to today's economic realities. which is what he talked about. why do you think this is not the time to do it? >> wealth long-term unemployment benefits actually do increase unemployment. i mean i don't think anyone disagrees with that. what i think michael says is also correct, is these people are in very bad shape not through their own doing but because of horrible policies and bush in the last two years in office and continuing bad policies of obama. if i were in the house or senate, this issue alone i would probably vote to extend those benefits but they will make not make the economy healthier. i would like to see a low rate, flat tax, spending restraint and sound money to get economic growth back into the system so we don't need to have the

long-term benefits extended. >> michael, is that enough? tax policy that is different? >> no, i don't think it is enough. i think you want to extend them. i'm encouraged arthur wants to do that. in addition we should say okay, what should we do instead of just cutting folks a check what can we do help them get a job? we can offer them relocation loans or relocation grants, someone living in nevada where the unemployment rate is really high maybe you have a better shot getting a job up in north dakota and government says instead of keeping you on unemployment 70 weeks. let's cut you a check to move to north dakota. policies like that instead of cutting checks. jenna: poor, north dakota, if everyone goes to north dakota, it will be a highly populated state. right now it is not. people look at north dakota as the answer to all of our problems. michael's point is well-taken. we heard that last couple days. what about relocation assistance and people can't afford to move

and get other opportunities? >> north dakota last few days moved down to nashville. but seriously i think relocation is a very good idea. the where i would disagree with michael i would rather than see piecemeal policies, done, this, that and other, i would like to see general broad economic growth policies done for the nation and get the government the heck out of this one, that one, a little did link around here. i see reagan and kennedy if i could. jenna: one of the things you both agree on maybe looking at minimum wage. ands art, you have an idea for minimum wage you think could encourage hiring and involves state government. so what is that plan? >> well the minimum wage makes no sense whatsoever to me. i mean honestly, teenage, black teenage unemployment act, this is very groups we need to have johns, not be put out of work because of a minimum wage. so i'm really very much in favor of at least for teenagers getting rid of minimum wage to bring them back into the labor

force, get them skills they need to continue being productive members of our society for years and years. that is the way i think about minimum wage. jenna: what would that look like, art? having states lower minimum wage for certain age groups? >> i don't think there should be a federal minimum wage. i think individual states, depending on their own politics should make the minimum wage. a minimum wage of $15 an hour is very different in new mexico than the middle of new york city. it makes no sense to have a federal minimum wage in my view. jenna: what do you think about that, michael? as everyone looks to north dakota, probably if you have a booming business in north dakota could pay more than maybe in a state like california, for example. you also have another idea for minimum wage and something that can be done and on the policy end. tell us your thoughts what art has to say and what your ideas are? >> i certainly agree with art that we is should lower minimum wage for teenagers. should lower minimum wage for long-term unemployed. if you're worker, applied for job and unemployed seven months,

the firm may say, hey, i wonder if there is something about this person, maybe previous firms have seen, something i'm not seeing i'm not going to hire them. the reason that, a reason that a firm might feel that way because the government says you have to take a $7.25 risk on that worker. so if we lower that down to, say $4 an hour, then the risk is much less to the firm. firms will be more likely to hire these workers. if we do that, for workers that are heads of households, that are working full time, we don't want them living in poverty. if we lower the minimum wage for workers we have wage subsidy or expansion of earned income tax credit to make a difference. for teenagers -- jenna: art, i wanted to -- >> maybe a different story. jenna: art, you've seen this play out, this debate play out for years. you worked in different administrations. >> yes. jenna: we're so centered on this debate about extending or not extending and nice to talk about some new ideas. are we any closer to solving the

labor issue that we have in this country though? >> i think we're a lot closer to it. we've seen the failed policies of the left of the last six, seven years. i think we can go back to the clinton years or to the kennedy years or to the reagan years, we know how to create prosperity. what we should do, low rate, flat tax, spending restraint, sound money, minimal regulations and get the government the heck out of the way and let private market solve the problem and they would all be in north dakota. i could get warm weather book in nashville. jenna: it is all north dakota. mike, art, great to see you both. look forward to having you both back on. >> thanks, jenna. >> thanks a lot. jon: things are booming there. the brutally cold arctic air is releasing its grip on most folks in the u.s. but the danger of frostbite still lingers and can set in very quickly. dr. marc siegel a member of the fox news medical a-team. he is here with more for us. dr. siegel. >> cold in north dakota today. jenna: we know that as a fact. >> very frigid in the midwest.

frigid temperatures, just a few minutes outside can be enough to put your fingers and toes and noses at risk. after a dispute with a friend, 20-year-old anetia evans found herself locked outside with no gloves, didn't note what to do. only is a minutes overnight hours where temperatures were well below freezing. that was enough for her fingers were starting to burn. >> i remember looking for a bus. i ain't seen no bus. i end up trying to call a cab and i dropped my phone in the snow. i have to get my phone out of the snow. so no gloves and all that. that probably played a big part with my hand digging in that snow to get my phone. >> after experiencing unbearable pain in her fingers, she went to the hospital where her hand were warmed in water, her blisters were popped, she got great care. she is being treated successfully with a combination of painkillers, hydrotherapy, which is water therapy, burn creams. she is beginning to regain

feeling in her frozen hands. her test results so far are good. doctors don't know yet if she will have long-term numbness or scars. >> being of course that she won't have permanent damage, it looks like from the bone scan the results are promising. but you know we'll have to wait and see how her fingers heal. >> since frostbite can cause numb bess it is easy to miss. medical experts including me urge those exposed to extreme cold to be on the lookout for changes in skin color or numbness in the hands, feet, nose, ears of yourself or others. if you notice any symptoms, get out of the cold immediately, use warm water on the frozen areas. jon, you have to see a doctor right away. jon: in her case she was locked out, couldn't get to a doctor. >> what a story. she was in dispute. her bones are okay. hands are okay. no amputations. jon: that is good news. dr. marc siegel. >> good to see you. jenna: desperate search for

amazing teen last seen on monday. the son of a popular newspaper columnist. what do police have to go on? we're live at breaking desk. real scare for a reality scar. what happened to honey boo-boo and her family. we have the 411.

jon: scary car crash involving the stars of the reality show, "here comes honey boo-boo." julie banderas with the 411. >> boo-boo got a boo-boo. a big scare for honey boo-boo and the family. the whole group was involved in a car crash in georgia monday night. according to "tmz" reality tv stars were in their suburban when a truck allegedly ran a red light with his lights off and barreled into them as they were making a turn. tm see report that is sugar bear their father was behind the wheel. battered and bruised the group remained resilient. apparently when an ambulance

arrived the family refused to ride in it because they didn't like the hospital it would take them to. instead they were driven to another hospital in an suv driven by their bodyguard. none of their injuries are life-threatening, reportedly driver sugar bear has contusion. honey boo-boo hit her head on the passenger window. she has a headache. pumpkin is chest bruises with panic attacks. mama june has a back and neck sprain. june released a statement to foxnews.com tuesday saying, we are definitely really sore today but our top priority is to celebrate pumpkin's birthday. she turned 14 today. no matter how sore we feel, we'll go out and celebrate. as always we want to thank everyone for their support and well-wishes. it was apparently the first time the family was in a car wreck. june tells, "tmz", we only had the suburban six months and not paid off yet. the show, honey boo-boo is set to return january 16th. they haven't paid off the

suburban but has a bodyguard. jon: honey boo-boo has a bodyguard? >> and a boo-boo. jon: keep us updated. julie banderas. bye-bye. jenna: a prediction that rocked the sports world. quarterback jameis winston leads florida state to beat auburn 34-31 in the championship. former florida quarterback and tim tebow nearly predicted final score. some were critical of him, jon. didn't know he could do it. jon: don't doubt the tebow. jenna: he was off by one point. tm see sports caught you up with him at la. >> sometimes you get lucky. >> sometimes you get lucky man, more nervous as analyst or first time as nfl quarterback. >> anytime you do anything you take pried in it you want to do your best so you're always nervous. jenna: tebow was asked whether he is too nice to be analyst. he said being nice is important. what did you think, jon?

you're a pro here, t v-pro. what did you think about tebow? jon: i thought he did, i'm a tebow fan. jenna: i am too. jon: i thought he did well. i thought he did well. jenna: obviously his prediction, right on the money. jon: that is something i would want not to do is predict scores. jenna: that's right. jon: i don't have a you clue. jenna: maybe had extra help, divine inspiration. jon: whatever it takes. jenna: maybe translating to other aspects of his life. jon: he still hopes to get back in the fnfl and play. we wish him well. jenna: certainly do. jon: latest on deadly road rage incident in pennsylvania. the police speak out the about the murder of this man on a highway. why they need witnesses to come forward and help solve this case. a former banking accused of faking his own death. he is due in court. we told you about his case, the decision the judge is expected to make, coming up.

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jenna: well new next hour, the possible backlash against former defense secretary robert gates for his hauer criticism of the president in a new tell-all book. he had a lot of criticism for a lot of people. howard kurtz will be here to tell about it. families of benghazi -- the latest on violence in iraq. we'll look at the iraqi government's efforts to regain control of two major cities from al qaeda linked militants. jon: pennsylvania police are warning the public to that the suspect in a deadly road rage incident could strike again. police say the victim, timothy davidson, was found shot to death inside his suv after a

pickup truck driver allegedly ran him off a highway. it happened they shea on interstate 81 near the maryland border on saturday. joining us on by phone, trooper rob hicks, public information officer for the pennsylvania state police. interstate 81, a very heavily traveled highway, trooper. i know there are things you don't want to say but what can you tell us essentially what happened in this case? >> well, essentially what happened these two vehicles are traveling northbound, coming up through maryland into pennsylvania when for unknown reasons the suspect's vehicle began firing on the victim's vehicle. the suspect then rammed the victim's vehicle off the roadway, at which time the victim's vehicle got disabled in the median. the suspect then, stopped his vehicle, got out of the vehicle and fired a couple of round into the side of the victim's vehicle, striking and killing the driver. jon: you are looking for a ford ranger, a dark-colored ford ranger. you think might have silver paint on the side?

>> yeah, that's correct. right now we're focusing on a dark-colored ford ranger type pickup truck. it should have some driver's side, damage to the driver's side door or front quarter panel. and because the victim's car was silver, because of the ramming, we believe there might be some silver paint transfer on the suspect's vehicle. jon: you're also suggesting that this same truck or same driver may have been involved in a similar road rage incident just a few hours before? >> we had a similar incident that occurred about seven hours prior. there are similarities. to this point we haven't been able to come up with anything that definitely links the two but we're going to investigate them as being linked until we find something that tells us otherwise. jon: again as i said, even though this happened around 2:00 a.m., it is a very heavily traveled highway. maybe people saw something. you have a tip line up for those who might have information. there is the number on the screen. call the pennsylvania state

patrol, 717-264-5161 if you have any information. trooper rob hicks, thank you. >> thank you very much. jenna: well four men accused in a deadly mall carjacking in court today. police say they confronted a couple right before christmas, shooting the husband in the head and then driving off in the couple's range rover. we'll get you up-to-date on that case. plus new reaction to former defense secretary robert gates's scathing new book that has put the white house on the defensive. óqoqúúñ@

jon: right now, today's top headlines you will see here first. will robert gates face fall youth for his revelations that some say should have stayed behind closed white house doors. howard kurtz joins us. heavy fighting going on in iraq as government forces try to

take key cities grabbed by al qaeda-affiliated militants. we will have a live report and speak to a former cia officer on what it means to the larger struggle against extremism in that region. new details of the crash of a u.s. military helicopter in the united kingdom. it is all, "happening now." e we welcome you to this hour of "happening now" with a fox news alert. i'm jon scott. >> hi, everybody, i hope you're off to a great day. i'm jenna lee. any minute now senate gop leaders set to hold a news conference while democratic leaders are holding their own as we speak. republicans are proposing a plan to pay for extension of unemployment benefits and fix military pension cuts. this comes as house democratic leaders and president obama call for renewing jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel is live on capitol hill. nice to know nothing changes in the new year both sides are in their corner. there is big question what the gop is planning to do when it

comes to their thoughts on extending unemployment benefits. just walk us through that as it stand today. >> reporter: absolutely, jenna. there are a variety of ideas coming forward from republican senators saying okay, we should help those who are long-term unemployed who desperately need help while looking for work but we should pay for it with our debt at about $17 trillion. at this hour as you mentioned, six republican senator, kelly ayote, rob portman, saxby chambliss, john nye isakson and john hoeven come for word with a idea. they would pay for three month extension and pay for military retiree benefits trimmed in last year's budget deal and closing loophole where immigrants can claim additional child tax credit. john boehner on house side of the capitol was asked about his thoughts on unemployment. >> we're all concerned about those who have had a difficult time trying to find a job. that is why we passed dozens of

bills to try to help improve the economy so those jobs will be created. we'll continue to do our work but the senate ought to be looking at ways to really solve this problem. >> reporter: while a lot of focus is on the senate moving forward with what to do about unemployment benefits boehner says, pay for it and also include some type of job training in there. then he is willing to take a look at it. jenna? jenna: that is interesting. interesting to see if it will happen. what are democrats saying about these pay-fors? >> they're emphasizing a lot of numbers, this is talking about 1.3 million people who lost benefits just days after christmas. that includes some 222,000 people in california who are looking for work. and so their point, a lot of them is, this is an emergency. >> you watch pedestrian get hit by a car, and you call 911, and they rush an ambulance over to pick that person up and take him to the hospital so you won't see a fellow american die, i don't

think we're expecting the ambulance drivers, say, can you show us your form of payment before we take you to the hospital? >> reporter: senate majority leader harry reid was asked yesterday about the idea of amendments, pay-fors in terms of what the senate is working on at this point. he says he is willing to take a look at them if they're serious. it is not clear whether he thinks some of the new ideas are being brought northward today are indeed serious -- forward. jenna. jenna: mike emanuel live at the capitol. thank you. jon: this midterm election year kicks off with the obama administration talking about the need to fight income inequality. some be republicans are accusing democrats using income gap as a way to distract from the president's problems with the troubled obamacare rollout. joining me with analysis, a writer for "the hill." does it seem like income inequality is that sort of shiny object met to distract people from all the obamacare problems, elise? >> in a way it is, because the white house and democrats have a lot easier time messaging about

income inequality than they do about the health care law whose rollout has been so disasterous for the white house. we're moving into a new battleground as 2014 begins. the white house really turn ad corner in certain ways on the rollout of obamacare. we saw enrollment numbers go up. for example the website is working better. i think president obama is hoping to pivot back to an issue that is always crucial to his vision for the country which is, to increase some benefits in order to lower inequality. jon: i suppose your opinion on, you know, whether the extension depend in large part whether you have a job or not or whether someone in your inner circle has a job but we're talking about spending almost $6.5 billion to extend unemployment insurance for just three months for about a million americans. the president is always bragging about how the deficit is, deficit reduction is happening on his watch. so where do they find the money? >> well that's the big question. that is why republicans are

coming forward with some of these proposals that would offset those costs. it is very important to the gop right now not to look like they're adding to the deficit because the republican base is very concerned about that issue, particularly coming into this midterm season. so, i think it is possible that we'll see democrats shift and accept some kind of an offset proposal in the senate in order to encourage house republicans to then look at it because there are many on the right flank of the house republican caucus that otherwise would never give this a second thought. and i think that democrats want to be seen as working together with republicans because right now they're facing a very tough election season. jon: but if it gets through the senate, and there is that possibility, that this thing could get through the senate and gets voted down in the house, does the president have a bogey man he can point to say, look those republicans in the house, they wouldn't let this unemployment insurance thing pass? >> absolutely he does. that could be advantage for the white house because polls have shown at least in swing districts among swing voters,

those people affirm that unemployment benefits should be extended. they support that. and it is an area where they side with democrats at a time when democrats are failing on issues such as health care. we saw a poll this week that showed that republicans actually have an 8-point advantage over democrats on the issue of health care among likely undecided voters. if president obama's able to point to house republicans as preventing unemployment benefits from moving forward that would be a way to appeal to the undecideds. jon: but at the same time he has been stewards of the nation's economy for the last five years. we've still got an unemployment rate of 7%. hough can he argue, you know, that we still need to help these folks who are so, you know, badly, long-term unemployed after five years of his economic stewardship? it is kind of a, he has to argue both sides of the same issue, doesn't he? >> that's right. it's a very difficult messaging situation for the white house because they are going to try to show that the economy has made gains but, while arguing that,

for example, president obama said that the recovery has been uneven. that the united states is a large country. some people are doing better and others aren't. it is people who aren't who need help. so that is a difficult argument for the white house to make but they will try to do it. for example, it's a stronger playing field for them at this point than an issue like health care. jon: elise is a staff writer for "the hill," covers these issues. thanks for joining us with your insights. >> thank you, jon. jenna: now to the latest violence in iraq. al qaeda-linked militants fighting in two major cities in recent weeks including the site of one of the bloodiest battles in the iraq war. the iraq kay government is sending in multiple ground and air forces as some criticize baghdad being part of the problem. greg palkot joins us live with the latest. greg? >> reporter: jenna, our contacts on the ground saying iraqi military is take it to al qaeda-linked militants on several fronts in western iraq. troops aligning with local

tribal leaders, removing one key city, ramadi of most of the told. prime minister malaki promising to keep up the battle. as you noticed a lot of people there don't like him too much. intense fighting including airstrikes happening elsewhere. a lot of the hardware being used by iraqi military is u.s.-supplied. of the washington is promising more of that. they say there would be no return of any u.s. troops. as for the main city of fallujah, it still remains a tense standoff. that is where we witnessed the biggest bat else of the u.s.-led efforts there in 2004 against al qaeda-linked militants. that is where the militants remain the strongest. the iraqi government is trying to convince the locals there to push them out themselves. they are worried, a lot of people are, a bloodbath if there is another full-scale ground invasion into the city. that has many residents there fleeing. latest figures, we're seeing

13,000 left 10 years ago when there was the u.s.-led invasion. the entire city, population of 300,000 were evacuated so there was no risk of major civilian casualties. while the standoff continues, shortages of supplies grows as well. food, fuel, water. that is affecting the people as usual caught in the middle. the u.n. is calling it a critical humanitarian situation. these are the people that u.s. troops tried so hard to help out. a lot of people, including i'm sure some of the folks that we accompanied 10 years ago, hoping that their efforts are not going to be in vain. back to you. jenna: a big story we'll continue to watch, greg. thank you very much. we'll have much more on the recent insurgency we've seen in iraq. we'll talk about wider implications and what if anything the u.s. response should be. that is all coming up later on this hour. jon: four american airmen are dead after a us air force chopper crashes in england. that helicopter stationed at a british military base on a training mission carrying ammunition. witnesses say it was flying very low through rough terrain when it slammed into marshland on

britain's eastern coast, dumping the ammo everywhere. >> it came over the house and helicopters are not usually that low, definitely not helicopters. and, it just was a loud noise getting nearer. you saw the lights. and saw it go over because i looked out the window and, we saw it go over, which, that must have crashed just after i guess. jon: british police have secured the area. they say they will work with the u.s. military to try to figure out what happened to that chopper. jenna: a new report shedding some light on the people who may be responsible for the benghazi attack. what congress may do to bring them closer to justice. a man suspected of defrauding investors out of millions and faking his own death is found with a new face. will he get out on bond and try to run again, the big question today? plus harsh criticism of the president from his former defense secretary robert gates.

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jon: as the family of victims in the deadly benghazi attack push congress for answers there's a new development now for a former gitmo detainee and the group he leads that allegedly was behind the attack. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge is live in washington with the latest on that. what are we learning this morning? >> reporter: thank you, jon. fox news is told that the state department is on the cusp of publicly designating a former guantanamo detainee and his organization as foreign terrorist entities because of his role in the benghazi terrorist attack. it is expected to include three

a branches of al sharia in libya. the former guantanamo detainee has historic ties to usama bin laden which date back to the '90s, this designation of his group comes 16 months after fox news identified him as a suspect in the terrorist assault which killed four americans and three months after fox connected three benghazi suspects including kumu to al qaeda leadership or the core in pakistan. >> it is accurate of the group being targeted by the bureau at this point, there is strong al qaeda ties. >> reporter: the designation after ansar al sharia and historic ties of ben kumu in pakistan further weaken the reporting of "the new york times" investigation which concluded that the attack was solely the work of local extremists, jon. jon: what should we be waiting to hear at the state department briefing today? >> that brief something scheduled to begin about 15 minutes from now. the key whether the state

department designation includes his historic ties to usama bin laden which are documented in this guantanamo file released by wikileaks. when the white house was first asked about the former guantanamo detainee and his roles nine days after the attack in 2012, jay carney said, quote, it is i think self-evident that what happened in benghazi was a terrorist attack. our embassy was attacked violently and the result was four deaths of american officials and it is worth noting that was the first time that carney had ever referred to benghazi as a terrorist assault, jon. jon: catherine herridge in washington. our national security correspondent, thank you. >> reporter: you're welcome. jenna: a deadly carjacking right before christmas. four men accused of gunning down a young lawyer in front of his wife are going to court. we have the latest on that. more fighting in syria among rebel groups. why the threat from al qaeda could be getting worse. a former cia officer is here to explain next.

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responsibility. what's your policy?

jon: right now the suspects in a deadly new jersey mall carjacking appearing in court. the four men accused in the death of 30-year-old dustin friedland. he was gunned down in front of his wife after a shopping trip days before christmas. patti ann browne in the new york city newsroom with more for us. >> it was a horrifying crime. a couple returning to their car in broad daylight after shopping at a mall in new jersey. police say four men confronted them in the parking garage, shot 30-year-old does tan friedland in the head and drove off in the suv the four suspects appeared in court today in newark. they were arraigned on charges of felony murder, carjacking, conspiracy and possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose. all four pleaded not guilty through their public defenders.

the judge continued bail at $2 million each. dustin friedland was a lawyer from hoboken, new jersey. prosecutors say he and his wife jamie were targeted solely for their vehicle. the range rover was found in newark, 10 miles from short hills mall. the suspects are from essex county, new jersey. they are not saying which one is the shooter. jon? >> happy to know they are making progress in that investigation. patti ann browne, thank you. >> thanks. jenna: some of the deadliest fighting in syria is being waged between rebel groups trying to oppose the president there, president assad. rebel forces are battling a group linked to al qaeda in northern syria. more than 270 people killed in recent days. it comes amid new concern that al qaeda is getting bolder in the middle east and threatening our own security. former cia officer peter brookes write this on foxnews.com. the bottom line the al qaeda virus is virulent, easy for me

to say and spreading and we're far from immune to its devastating effects. if we haven't learned this painful lesson yet, it is high time we do so. joining me the author of the op-ed, peter brookes. senior fellow for national security affairs at the heritage foundation. first things first, peter, we talk about syria and the headlines today. we talked about rebel groups and al qaeda being together trying to overthrow assad. what is going on with rebel groups fighting al qaeda in the country? >> you have a but it is a mess. bottom line you have got the government under bashir assad, they're fighting rebel groups which are mostly islamist militants. you have got al qaeda groups. al qaeda had been stabbing the rebel islamist militant groups in the back. now islamist militants are fighting back against al qaeda. there are gains being made by bashir assad. there is no good endgame in the fight in syria from what i can see. we've been sitting on the sidelines for three plus years now where 135,000 people have

perished. jenna: "the new york times" has an interesting front page piece on what saudi arabia is doing, trying to support the rebels that want to out of assad but not support the jihadists. tough to control that but that is what they're doing. are they successful in that, peter? is that a model for us? >> well it is very hard to pick these groups apart. you know, the alliances go back and forth. people go back and forth. some fol would like to see the moderates. remember these are the one who is started this. the moderates started it. they have less power. the syrian free army is falling apart. the whole coalition of modrats is falling apart. now you have all the disparate groups and most of the effective fight something done by al qaeda groups as well as militant islamists. where saudi arabia is coming down is a challenge. we were trying to support certain groups as well but we pulled back. some weapons we provided fell

into the hands of people we wouldn't want them to fall into the hands of. i it challenging but unfortunately our lack of proactive stance years ago is where we stand today. jenna: what is happening in syria why we're seeing action of al qaeda in iraq with the boldness in trying to come back into certain areas. you mentioned that we weren't proactive a few years ago. does that mean all is lost? is there something that still can be done? >> depends if you're talking about syria or iraq. even though they border one another, the groups, islamic state of syria and iraq, isis, is operating in both places as an affiliate of al qaeda. they are different scenarios. obviously we were just in iraq as of 2011, just two years ago. we left. security vacuum was created. al qaeda and others have stepped into that. the government of prime minister nouriel al-maliki hasn't helped anything. there is major divide, sectarian divide between sunni and shia.

a civil war is possible. there are fighters going back and forth between syria and iraq. but i think they both have to be dealt with in a different sort of manner. they're not exactly the same. there is no cookie cutter approach dealing with syria and iraq even though they border one another. jenna: speaking of some models, we're talking about the new book of former secretary of defense robert gates, he had an interesting quote, we're only seeing excerpts of book, some of us have seen the whole thing but most are only seeing exerts. i want to share this thought. he said in relation to afghanistan, if i learned one useful lesson in iraq, progress depending upon security for much of the population. the theory if you get population on your side, secure them against the bad guys surrounding them, that works in iraq. can't work in afghanistan. the question, peter, can it work in other areas of the middle east? is that something we should be considering? >> security is basic and basic is to so many sort of things and getting people on your side where they say winning hearts and minds is critically

important to your efforts. in iraq we had the anwar awakening. these were groups and tribes supported us expelling al qaeda. al qaeda they're often not indigenous. they're from outside of the country. in fact that is fighting going on in syria, that the syrian militants are attacking foreign al qaeda fighters. so security is basic. you ha you have to have a plan for it. you have to believe in your mission. you have to resource it if you will have any chance of success no matter where it is at a very basic level. jenna: going bab to the original point, the quote i sort of botched, sorry about that, peter. about the al qaeda virus spreading not being immune to it. >> right. jenna: you made the point of course it is different in different countries but this threat remains. >> yes. jenna: so what is it? if we could do one thing for 2014 that is different than what we've done the last 10 years, what would it be? >> i say take al qaeda seriously. talking on the news show today, benghazi, syria, iraq. there is niece out today about

this person who was in gitmo. he was in libya involved in benghazi. this is a serious throat we're facing. not only can affect the homeland. think about russia a couple weeks ago, we were talking about that. that group of caucus emirates is considered westerners, including americans to be legitimate targets. we have to take the threat seriously and complacency is a killer and it will cost us. we can't say al qaeda is over there. it could be here once again. this is very serious threat and need to take it serious in 2014. jenna: peter, thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. jon: now a fox news alert and coast guard as well as navy ships are on the way to the scene of a crash of a navy ch-53 helicopter off the coast of virginia. it happened 18 miles offshore. the sea stallion, as you see here, one of the heavy lift stalwarts of the u.s. navy, the marine corps uses them, went

down with five people on board. we're told from our colleagues at fox news who spoke to someone at the navy, four crewmembers were rescued, one is missing. the hunt is on. at last report a coast guard vessel was three miles away from the crash site. we're told some of wounded or some rescued people have been taken to a hospital. their condition is unknown at this point. again a navy helicopter, a ch-53e stallion goes down in the water, 18 miles off the coast of virginia. one person is reportedly missing. we'll get you information as soon as we can. it happened 90 minutes ago. if you have not been outside it is still very, very cold. we'll tell you when the weather could get better. we'll have latest reaction after one of the president's one-time cabinet members calls him out on military policy. what the white house has to say about former defense secretary robert gates's new book. ♪

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jenna: the white house is playing defense over a new tell-all book by former defense secretary robert gates. in it he praises his decision to go after usama bin laden but slams the obama administration's

just makes better mps put politics and reelection ahead of other key military decisions and true safety. ed henry is live at the white house with the latest for us now. >> good to see you, jenna. the president, vice president behind closed doors have a weekly lunch, that is standard, going on for five years, but today they are opening the lunch up for photographers to go in and get a picture of that. this just one day after the details leaked out about not just the president, but the vice president leadership credentials in question by the former defense secretary robert gates. jay carney is stressing the only reason they opened up this lunch this hour for cameras is because they were getting complaints from white house ms. photographers, video folks as well saying there is not enough of these events opened up. it has nothing to do basically with the book but i can't recall another time covering this

president that this lunch between he and the vice president were open. you talk to military analysts, they said his delegation from secretary gates the president lost faith in the mission in afghanistan is a heavy charge. take a listen. >> if our president sent our troops tripled down in afghanistan and ever believe in the mission, never believed it would work, for the last five years has allowed our soldiers and marine and navy corpsmen to be killed or maimed in a war the president doesn't believe makes sense or doesn't leave he can win, that is as low as any president in our history has gone. >> some tough talk, you can bet jay carney will have something to say at the white house briefing next hour. in fairness, the book also secretary gates goes on to suggest he believes president obama is the man of integrity, as you noted he praises him for his courage and his mission to get usama

bin laden, go ahead with that, secretary gates does. but meanwhile, writing a lot of tough columns about president obama, this morning has one praising the idea the president was skeptical of the military writing doubts about an ally in afghanistan and the commanders, we need more of that, a lack of skepticism, curiosity and reflection sunk bush further back. who knows how many lives would have been saved during the vietnam war had president johnson acted on his private doubts. the white house put out a statement friday taping high road praising cemetery gates for his service but while they did not rebut any allegations, they specifically rebutted the notion vice president joe biden and allegations of gays has been wrong on every major national security decision. it makes you wonder at the lunch if vice president joe biden is concerned how this could play potentially in 2016 and clinton

mentioned allegedly had said privately in front of secretary gates the reason she came out against the surge in iraq is the politics and the 2008 campaign made heavy charges in this book. jenna: and we will talk a lot more about it. thank you. jon: so that new book by ex-pentagon chief robert gates is setting off a firestorm and it is not even unofficially out yet. many are shocked gates would go a tell-all root since he is known as a discrete and dedicated public servant. could this new book damage his reputation? joining me now, fox news media analyst and anchor of "media buzz" that runs on sunday mornings on the fox news channel. this book probably could not have come at a worse time for the obama administration. they're trying to turn the corner on the launch of obamacare. this president job approval rating at its low point, even lower than many of his predecessors. now comes a book like this.

they fight back in the media, how do they respond? >> this is a devastating book for precisely the reasons you said. this brings afghanistan back into the news, it raises questions about his commitment to his own war policy and it comes from bob gates has a reputation here inside the beltway as a very classy guy, not one who is self aggrandizing. the administration has to be very careful here because of gates reputation, the president himself gave bob gates a medal of freedom not to try to demonize him or discredit the messenger as it pushes back inevitably against what is in the book. jon: he has commenced pointed out, a reputation as a straight shooter, even kill guy who is above politics. you would maybe expect a book like this from him, it took where he lays out everything. >> he seems pretty angry.

says he detested his job as the secretary of defense. some score settling in here. there are dangerous for gates in here as well because he has the reputation of serving both sides. i have no problem with bob gates writing a book. but the inclusion of these private conversations that the president, hillary clinton, joe biden thought were conducted in confidence, that is kind of a betrayal. gates is not the first one to turn on and administration and do that coming up with a bestseller, but it raises some questions about motivations as well reedi. jon: future presidents will have to worry if they're getting honest counsel from the secretary or is somebody working on a future memoir. >> exactly. i remember talking to george stephanopoulos. he left the clinton white house and wrote a tell-all book about bill clinton that every

president is entitled to, needs to have an inner circle he can trust and can rely on. now this is the new normal because everybody wants to get out, it used to be in the old days you would wait until the present was out of the office. now you just get the book out, going much of tv shows and try to plug your book. it undermines the notion, particularly surprising in gates case the ability to give the president confidential, private advice. jon: the book is not out yet, but here's one example from the book that has raised a lot of ruffled feathers. he writes "as i sat there, i thought the president doesn't trust his commander, can't stand karzai, does not believe in his own strategy and doesn't believe the war to be his. for him, it is all about getting out." that is about getting out of afghanistan with this president.

doesn't consider this war to be his, that is what has the white house sort of firing back. >> in fairness to president obama, he inherited this war, came up with a strategy to get the united states out of the war after first disengaging in iraq. there are certain contradictions. gates says the president did a politically unpopular and therefore difficult decision in ordering a surge of troops in afghanistan in order to try to build up the situation there so the u.s. could ultimately withdraw, but at the same time painting a portrait of this president not believing in his own policy, more americans to fight and risk their lives in afghanistan. that is not helpful to the administration, particularly now that it is on defensive on so many other issues. jon: cemetery gates goes after joe biden saying he was wrong i pretty much every major policy issue. that is a topic for another day. pushing back very strongly. thank you very much.

jenna: bank fraud suspect asking to get out of jail again after changing his look and evading arrest for more than a year. also a kidnapping suspect makes a cry for help after admitting yes, he did take that little girl, but is it all a ploy to change his plea? our legal panel weighs in ahead. >> why did you do it? >> it was a plea for help. it shows how desperate i am. i'm sorry. >> we will be debating the legalization of pot. >> you have skills. you can speak with your eyes

closed. we will see you at the top of the hour.

jenna: and man suspected of kidnapping a seven-year-old california girl says he did it. david allen douglas making the confession during a jailhouse interview. his accuser following a family home from walmart before taking the child at gunpoint from her mother. police found her later that day in his home. he said he never meant any harm. >> did you hurt that little girl? >> did not hurt her, no. >> can you understand why they were scared? >> have a son of my own. i can imagine, sure, absolutely. you have to appreciate how desperate i am. i'm sorry. jenna: heels went on to say who is being watched by the government. on the one hand you might think obviously this guy is disturbed,

the other han had he has raisede question is he setting up something for an insanity plea? maybe manipulation. joining us now, jenkins, former prosecutor and hansen as a trial attorney. what do you think? >> you know what, janet, first i thought he was faking it. the further the look and the case and exhibited behavior before hand, it is a little bit clear he has some mental problems here. jenna: what is your gut on this? >> he may have some mental problems but the standard in court to successfully asserting the insanity defense is did he know right from wrong at the time he committed the crime, that will be the question. in reading his interview, if this guy isn't just posturing, he has some issues and there is no clear indication, he doesn't have much of a criminal record. in this county he doesn't have a criminal record so the question becomes why. if his mental issues really deterred him from knowing right

from wrong when he took the little girl. jenna: at a pay a little bit more of the interview. this just happened just on friday, and he is giving an interview already. so before we really have anything, anything like that. heather, let me play little bit more about the interview how he described what happened before he committed this crime. >> i saw her in the parking lot, the mother made a very obvious effort of turning and looking right at me, not just glancing at me, she looked right at me as if she were signifying she were a part of this. >> that was a cu queue to you to take her daughter? >> i didn't know what would happen. i was shaking in fright, she looked at me in fright. she said i am scared, i looked at her, said i am scared, we sort of laugh-cried. jenna: he also admitted he had gone to walmart several times

and looked at different families for a sign about whether or not he should follow them, which is pretty freaky, but it shows you some premeditation here. >> if he had an attorney, they should have told him not to give this interview. the first question before we get to insanity is whether or not he is competent to stand trial. he has to be able to rationally assist in his defense. if he feels he was sending him messages and the government is against him, it may well be he has retreated mentally before he can stand trial in his defense. jenna: he doesn't have a criminal record, the little girl was not harmed. that is enough harm as it is, but he did not harm the little girl, so what would he be facing here? >> very serious charges, taking somebody against their will. they are going to evaluate his

competency, he will be held over until his competency can be shown in court and then will proceed to trial. the insanity defense is one i started i will be 1% of the felony cases i this country, ony a quarter of 1% of people are actually successful. very difficult standard to prove in court. jenna: we will revisit the case as we get it out of california. the former banker in georgia has been on the run for nearly two years, he was caught. you can see him with the beard when he was caught in georgia just a week ago. he was denied bond, said he is awaiting trial, he entered a plea of not guilty and he did all these different things, leaving a note about a suicide note, planning this whole deal. why not plea guilty is the question. >> the question anybody would ask because he wrote a note confessing to this. if he doesn't enter a not guilty

plea, what bargaining chips does he have? he will face charges on wire fraud, raising charges in florida growing marijuana plants. he will face charges for faking his own death, he needs something to bargain with that will be this not guilty plea. it will not be a strong one, it is the only thing he has at this point, jenna. jenna: do you agree? >> eventually they will be a plea in this case. he didn't do it today because he wants to negotiate a plea deal. he has been on the run for a year, probably would not return to court if he was released. jenna: apparently he is pretty good at it because he evaded the fbi for 18 months. we will be watching this case and the other one out of california. thank you very much. >> thank you. jon: this particular deep-freeze is delivering its final punch, we're happy to report. a live report as the frigid temperatures finally start to

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jon: last hour we talked the pennsylvania police chief about this road rage incident in pennsylvania on i-81. this man from maine dead. they taunted mechanics, outdoorsmen driving home from softening christmas with his family in orlando and apparently he called maryland state police to say he was being tailgated. the driver of the truck slammed into him, pushed him off the road and then the driver got out of the car, opened fire and shot him to death. there is a similar incident reported in maryland about seven hours earlier. i have been flooded with calls, pennsylvania police have, asking for your help, and so as a

result it set up a new tip line in this case. don't call the old number. if you have any new information on this case, call the pennsylvania state police, that is the new number on the screen right now. we will continue to bring you any new developments in this manhunt for a murder suspect thought to be driving a dark-colored ford ranger, probably some body damage, some silver paint on the side. jenna: much of the country thawing out. more than 180 million americans felt the effects of the so-called polar vortex as one of the few times all 40 states have fallen below the freezing line. rick. >> they say the mercury is rising but somebody is about to

turn the heat on in lower manhattan where it is 18 degrees with a wind chill of seven. you can see the ice along the hudson river. lot more upriver that we can show you. roughly 40 miles north of new york city. a ferry boat on its way to new jersey for maintenance with the captain and no passengers on the ferry boat the captain decided too much ice to continue so he turned backward tugboat was called in to allow the ferry to make it to shore. the river looks much more like the north pole after freezing temperatures, an ice jam is causing concerns, people who live near the water so they are worried the ice could do damage to their homes and property. the situation is slowly improving in places like chicago which is used to bad weather. the brutal cold and snow storms. some schools reopened, a high of 19 expected in chicago, 34

tomorrow. that is a story for much of the nation. the temperatures are slowly rising, and i guess it is going to rise here as well, but it hasn't yet. jenna: not soon enough. we will be right back with more.

thanks for joining us everybody. >> america's news headquarters starts now. thank you, guys. at this hour we are waiting new reaction from the white house after the bombshell claims by former secretary of defense robert gates. >> i am bill hemmer. >> and the alisyn camerota, this tell- all book is raising questions about the leadership style. according to gates, politics influenced policy. brett hume is the political analyst. >> hi, ally, what to you make of secretary gates publishing the revealing memior, harsh memior while president obama is in