start your day with fox and friends each weekday morning. the bombshell book everyone is talking about, but what does secretary gates really think about president obama? former defense secretary robert gates blasting president obama's leadership in the afghanistan war. he writes the president was skeptical if not outright convinced his own strategy would fail. but gates also saying he thinks president obama was right in all of his decisions. are you confused? >> how can a president commit troops if his heart isn't in it if he knows americans are going to die? >> there was a need to refocus our strategy in afghanistan. >> i believe obama was right in each of these decisions. that's from the book. >> go, go, go, go. >> obama didn't trust the military. he didn't trust his commander.

he didn't trust his ally harmid karzai and he didn't feel that the military was going to succeed in their mission. >> how can a commander and chief in good conscience do that? >> when we arrived at the white house, there was no afghanistan strategy. it was a mess. and what the president did was focus the mission -- >> -- what do you say to the parents to those who lost a son or daughter. >> he also said i believe the president cared deeply about the troops and their families. i never doubted obama's support for the troops. >> a spokeswoman for the national security council baseballly takes the high road and says the president greatly values secretary gates' service to the nation. >> i do think this is an indictment of the president that rises above everything else he has done in his presidency. more scathing words from former defense secretary gates. he also writes that he thinks president obama didn't believe in his own strategy and didn't consider the afghanistan war to be his. former new york city mayor rudy giuliani joins us. good evening, sir. >> good evening, greta. >> well, this book excerpts and reviews that's taken the nation by storm.

i'm curious. we haven't read the whole book and i'm mindful what happened with obamacare when we didn't read the whole bill. i'm curious, what do you think so far? >> well, i think this is a pretty extraordinary. to say that the president of the united states was doing just a completely political calculus on matter of life and death for our troops is astounding. it's hard for me to believe. i worked for a president -- for president reagan. i can't imagine president reagan ever doing that i can't imagine any president doing that and, also, similarly with secretary clinton. these were political calculations they were making about matters of extreme importance to our national security and, most importantly, about the lives of our troops. >> you know, it's sort of interesting what he says about president obama. the words, i really wish that they would have sent me an early copy of the book so i could have read every word. one excerpt from one review in the "new york times" about it says that mr. obama conceded vaguely that opposition to the iraq surge had been political.

when i see such sort of light words i wonder could secretary gates have gotten it wrong and interpreted it wrong. it says vaguely. >> it sounds to me that the secretary was trying to soften the blow a little bit. you wouldn't put any suggestion like that in there unless you were completely convinced of it. i know secretary gates. i don't know him well but i know him. it is a man of complete, absolute integrity. i can't imagine he would have written that without carefully choosing the words that he used. trying to go as easy on the president as he was capable of in good conscience. >> well, in terms of going easy on the president. that's what's so unusual. the media has seized on a couple items. if you dig a little deep near those read farther into the book and repeated excerpts. he says the most glowing things about the president. he says obama's methodical approach to problem-solving refreshing and reassuring and commended his ability to

make tough decisions regardless of domestic political consequences. but for that one political thing it, almost sounds like a valentine for the rest of the book. >> that makes it more damaging, doesn't it? this is not one of those diatribes against a president he was angry at. this is a president that he largely admired, appreciated in ?" found this to be kind of extraordinary. and something that you would never expect from a president, that a president would make political calculations about issues of war and peace and similarly with the secretary of state. he says very laudatory things about the secretary of state but then says she committed it -- admitted it was a complete political decision with regard to the surge. >> it says those political decisions had been both u.s. senators voting against the surge in 2007. that was the allegation. does it make any difference to you in sort of your calculus in terms of how you

think of it? because when the president came to actually making the decision for the second surge, you know, that, there is no reference at least as far as i can see that one was politically defined that. >> one he was stuck with the other thing that's contradictory about what gates wrote was president obama during the campaign -- and i ran for a good deal in that campaign so i remember it well. it was president obama who talked about the afghan war as the real war, the important war, the war that really made sense in distinction to what he regarded as the iraq war. so, apparently he didn't really believe that that was another bit of political hyperbole and political exaggeration. and it leads me to believe if that kind of political, very crass, very determined political calculations are being made about this, weren't they doing the same thing about benghazi a few years later? isn't that just a pure political reaction to protect themselves, hide everything on i on i obviscate.

>> saying nice things about secretary clinton. he writes that vice president biden has been wrong on every foreign policy and national security issue over the past fourdecades. secretary gates also claims secretary clinton admitted her opposition to the 2007 troop surge in iraq was political, as we just discussed with the mayor so could all this tell-all have any impact at all on the 2016 presidential election? democratic strategist joe trippi joins us. >> good to be with you you. >> nice to see you. what about it? are any of these bombshells that are going to either deter it the former secretary of state or the vice president? >> i don't think so. look, he is -- the secretary is a lifelong republican. it should be not a shock to anybody that he thought joe biden was wrong on every foreign policy. >> he says nice things about president obama on certain

things but rotten things about vice president biden. >> joe biden is a man of integrity it. you you know, look, it's clear he doesn't like joe biden. that's a fact. it's also a fact that he is a republican and i don't think anybody is surprised he said that, particularly when i'm sure joe biden was the dove in the room. the guy saying don't do a lot of these things. >> so do you think -- are you saying that secretary gates is politically motivated in his running? >> no, i don't think in his writing. but i think he is somebody who is a career national security guy, who is dealing with a politician who he thinks doesn't have the right chops to be sitting there saying what he is saying about iraq or afghanistan. i mean, i think it was sort of in his d.n.a. to not like joe biden or not agree with him. >> you can say i haven't agreed with vice president biden on anything having to do with foreign policy over the last 40 years or say he was wrong about everything. the way it comes across in the excerpts. it comes across as a little

sharper dig than just we disagree. >> clear he didn't like it. i think it's clear that the one guy in the book he does not joe biden. he takes it out on everybody. he takes it out on congress, takes some shots at hillary. but he clearly had, you know, i think some bad personality stuff going with him and joe biden. that's just what i think about it. >> should the president come out and defend the vice president now? >> well, they are. >> not the president, the president is sending out some representatives. jay carney do it but he is not doing it? >> i think having them come in to take the pictures today, that lunch was brilliant because all day today. >> looked phoney. i thought -- we have been asking for this for months. >> do you know who puts a target on? joe biden? everybody is talking about joe biden. joe biden is what is. >> not in a good way. >> but that's what a vice president -- guess who isn't? the cameras aren't focused on the president. they were focused on the joe biden meeting and joe biden

taking the hit in the book. >> wouldn't the more honorable thing be if the president thinks rather than throwing joe biden under the bus if he think joe biden has been a good vice president he would come out and say something? >> i think you will see that probably. the first time there is some q and a going on between the president and the press they are going to ask those questions. i think it was pretty smart to put the target away from the president. >> what do you think former secretary of state hillary clinton thinks when she reads this. >> this is one of those places where i really don't get it. she was running for president of the united states in 2007. the entire democratic party was opposed to the war. obama was against the war in iraq. my guy, john edwards, had come out and given a speech saying he had made a mistake when he voted for it. at this point everybody in the party was moving towards being against the war, which, you know, and so she -- yeah, it's a political campaign for president. i don't think there is anything wrong with had she

been secretary of state and done that, yeah, i think that would have been a mistake. >> i think it's lousy any time. this is one place you don't play politics. >> you know, again on the schizophrenic nature of the book, he says that she was a great secretary of state, a really strong on national security and an ally he could count on on security issues. in the book he says that and then does this sort of off handed, said that she was political in her decision against the iraq surge, not afghanistan. >> that's what i said with mayor giuliani. so weird on one hand he slams someone and then he says he is the best person. >> he slams himself. in the book he does. it's pretty interesting. >> joe, nice to see you. >> thank you. >> straight ahead, dennis rodman's bizarre birthday celebration for dictator. family north korea calling rodman's behavior appalling. the sister of north korean prisoner kenneth bae is here next. also governor chris christie now hit by scandal. the governor, well, he is

hitting back. the new scandal over texts, emails and bridges

a bizarre scene in north korea dennis rodman singing happy birthday to dictator kim jong un, yes, the guy who just executed his uncle. the sing ising by rodman before leading other former nba players in a game against a north korean team. ♪ happy birthday to you you happy birthday to you

♪ happy birthday dear -- happy birthday to you. >> rodman taking heat for north korea and refusing to help den netanyahu bae a prisoner there for more than a year. tv rant he won't discuss bae's case during his basketball diplomacy mission. >> do you understand what kenneth bae did? >> yeah. >> do you understand what he did? >> what did he do? you tell me. >> to his country? >> you tell me. >> no, you tell me. you tell me. why is he held captive. >> because charges. >> what does kenneth bae's family think about rodman his sister terry chung joins us. >> good evening. >> i should tell you right from the get-go you and i think the whole same about. this i'm curious though your thoughts about what's going on with your brother in north korea and dennis

rodman. >> kenneth's imprisonment for the past 14 months has been a devastating experience for our whole family and then to hear dennis rodman who has refused to help and that's his prerogative then to have him hurl these outrageous accusations at kenneth is just completely appalling we were upset and shocked. >> you have heard at all from your brother? i know that your mother was there i think she was there in october to visit your brother? >> yeah. we had a rare phone call from kenneth on december 29th. this was the first since may beginning of may when he was first sent to labor camp. we haven't heard from him since. there have been a couple of letters in between that that was because he was allowed to call home. would had asked in a letter whether he could do that. so we were thankful for that. >> and does he give you any indication of the conditions of the camp? >> he was hospitalized in

august after his body started to fail after labor camp. so he is still being held in the hospital because he has these chronic conditions and, for example, he has severe back problems that don't allow him to stand for more than 30 minutes at a time. so he has been deemed unfit for labor at this time. >> you know, i wonder. >> it's very difficult. >> i wonder if dennis rodman has any sort of sense of the real danger to your brother or even what goes on in that country. i know he is getting wined and dined and a small picture. his statement shows such a lack of understanding of what is really going on there. >> yeah. i wish he would know that this isn't some sort of game. this isn't a media circus. you you know, this is about a person's life on the line. and, you know, i respect that he doesn't want to help and that's his choice, but, you you know, if he is not going to help please don't get in the way and make harmful comments when you

don't clearly -- clearly he doesn't have any idea what's going on. >> do you have any indication that he is going to get released? is the state department -- i realize we don't have diplomatic relations but we go through other countries to deal with north korea. do you have any hope that your brother is going to be relieved of this 15-year sentence? >> we are trying to hold on to hope and we have faith in the u.s. government to work for kenneth. but it's making it difficult to because it's been 14 months and he is the longest imprisoned american in recent history. and so every day that goes by is just too long. and it's long past overdue. and we really need kenneth to come home now. >> do you have a message for dennis rodman tonight? >> i would say, you know, i respect your choice as an individual and what do you with your own life is your choice but please don't play with my brother's life. >> terry, thank you very much. and i hope that somehow, some way that your brother comes home very soon. thank you, terry.

>> thank you. >> coming up, why did senator rand paul's son have to prove his existence to the government and what odd president did senator mike lee give senator paul for his birthday. you will see the president after the break. senator rand paul is here next. female announcer: it's time to make room

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senator rand paul calling obamacare a mess. he is talking from personal experience. senator rand paul running into bizarre problems. trying to sign up himself and family for insurance. so what happened? senator rand paul joins us. >> good evening, greta. >> what happened to you you? you tried to sign up. >> i have been try for two months. as a member of congress i'm supposed to get it in d.c. so i signed up and i had some trouble. i get getting an error code

and an error code. finally we got on, we got it but then i found out that my adult son was going to cost $6,000, which is more than i used to pay for my entire insurance for one child. so i said i will just buy it through the kentucky exchange. the democrats, they say it's a great exchange and it's working so well. so i signed up on there and i got an error code which i have had for two months. it finally opened up today after they started getting political about this. but when we tried to sign him up, we couldn't. they said he had to show up and show his i.d. at the welfare office. he showed up and showed his i.d. he didn't sign up for anything. >> he wasn't looking to sign up for welfare. >> wouldn't let him buy insurance unless he proved his existence. he got there he didn't sign up for anything and two days later he got his medicaid card. so he has got medicaid. and so today i finally get on the web site after complaining and they are saying oh, there is no way this could have happened. they finally removed my error code and let me get on to the web site so you could choose and sure enough he does automatically enroll in

medicaid and there is a big button about this big on the screen tiny little button that says qhp which i'm not sure anybody would know what that means, but that's how you opt out of medicaid. otherwise, if you keep going, you get medicaid. >> he doesn't want medicaid, he has now got medicaid. good luck getting out of medicaid to go pay for insurance. >> the last person on the phone told us that he had. they weren't doing with me or my office anymore. he had to talk to them. i said we have already sent him down there once. i'm not sending him down there again to talk to you people. you guys screwed it it up the last time. ade him use ehealth.com the next time. >> good luck with it. let me ask you about your meeting at the white house tomorrow. what for? >> the president is rolling out something called promise sones. he we are glad he has read about my economic freedom zones last month in detroit. he is rolling out promise zones. we don't know exactly what that means.

but our economic freedom zones we think would help areas across the country. in fact, we are a little perplexed that his new promise zones don't apply to detroit. you have got a city in a depression with 18% unemployment, and, really a waste land in some ways and he is not going to apply his his new package for impoverished areas such as detroit? >> is he going to talk about nsa with you you. >> i don't know appalachian will be part of it kentucky to listen to him they feel they are poor because of his war on coal. there is really a strong antipathy for the president's policies because when you go out there, they truly believe they are under assault from his policies on coal. >> i suppose you have seen all the news today in the last 24 hours about former secretary of defense gates' book. any thought about his book? >> you know, i think i haven't served in the military. but my dad did. my father-in-law did. my brother-in-law, you know, a lot of family members. and i understand how much

pride they have in defending their country. i can see how bill gates jnches robert. >> robert gates would be upset about the fact when they were talking about the surge in iraq that they were glibly talking about it in political terms. that does stick out with me because so much of the debate in washington is over this or that resolution. i am of the mind that congress should declare war but once we declare war, whether there is this many troops in this sector or not political decision. should be based on what the generals tell you we need at that particular time. >> big day you just had a birthday. did you get anything for your birthday? i know you did. >> my good senator mike lee from utah gave me a drone. >> we are looking at a drone. >> you you got a drone? >> you you may wonder what am i going to do with a drone? well, it's got a laser and i have been trying to get invited into the democrat lunch for about a year now. they won't invite me. you know what? i think i'm going to send my drone in.

>> camera and audio on it? >> we haven't installed that yet. we have to check on the rules but we are hopeful. >> you you know, maybe we ought to get one to -- actually, it's probably a pretty good idea to collect news as well. senator, happy birthday and thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> no oned in the obama administration is safe. should president obama speak up and defend vice president biden? our political panel is here next. you can hash it out with us. who do you think the gates book will impact the most? tweet or post on facebook right now using #greta. your eyes really are unique. in fact, they depend on a unique set of nutrients. [ male announcer ] that's why there's ocuvite thelp protect youeye health. as you, your eyes can lose vital nuients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite is a vitamin made just for your eyes from the eye care experts as bausch + lomb. ovite has a unique formula

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and there's new information about the murder of a california priest. according to court records, the suspect first tried to blow up the rectory. gary lee bullock turned on a gas stove and left behind a lit cigar but it went out. the priest's body was found in the church on new year's day. four suspects charged in the murder of a man during a carjacking in the short hills mall garage. each being held on bail. three years since the shooting that wounded gabby giffords. a gunman opened fire at her meet and greet event. tucson residents remember the day with a bell ringing ceremony and giffords marked the day by skydiving. that's tonight's "speed read."

gates leveling criticism. joining us our political panel, abc news political director rick klein, a.b. stoddard and byron york. first to you, vice president biden. >> split from a lot of the military advisers on key pieces of advice and strategy. what we didn't know is that bob gates was so sure he was wrong and to say the vice president was wrong on every major foreign policy decision of the last four decades. there's almost nothing you can say that is harsher. i think he is the person that reads this book with the most at stake and the most to be concerned about and i think that's why we saw the photo-op at the white house. >> a.b.? >> i was surprised because it is very personal.

it's a very broad attack on vice president biden but in the long, long deliberations in the following of 2009 over what to do next in afghanistan there were two camps, the vice president biden counterterrorism strategy and the general petraeus counterinsurgency and that ultimately won the day but the administration ultimately has gone back and vindicated him by following a path of limit strikes in different countries versus occupying wide swaths of land and that is the end is interesting, in this book coming out now while both are still in office that the secretary of defense would go after the vice president who i think whose positions right or wrong in the end won the day. >> you know, even though the book does say some good things about president obama, i think as damaging as anything said about biden is what it says about him and afghanistan. that he essentially commits troops to combat in afghanistan, doesn't really believe in the

mission, doesn't believe it's going to succeed. we kind of knew that. >> let me ask, suppose you're a president and war is so uncertain. you never know what's going to happen and suppose you're opposed to war and your four top generals say we need to increase forces and we need a surge. what do you do? do you follow what the generals do and then what would you do? >> well, he inherited the war obviously. there were people who thought that a surge in afghanistan would not work the way it had worked in iraq and obviously the problem for obama is that he had campaigned by saying iraq was the bad war, afghanistan was the good war and it turned out he could go after bin laden by no escalating afghanistan but what i think will really digsillusio people, he committed troops to

combat and didn't believe in the mission. >> you would go for your own gut over your generals if your military is telling you to surge? >> we have military control of the -- >> i'm not saying there's a right answer, only what you think. >> i think you're always torn and what's interesting about the book and i have not read it and i think you caution people wisely not to conclude everything about a book being read but from the excerpts it sounds like secretary gates also was conflicted about the wars. in fairness. about what he was saying about president obama in the end he expressed his own conflict. >> but he also says, rick, he also says that he always believed the president was behind and supported the troops. it wasn't like he's sending them off to war and tough luck. >> one of the things that's most fascinating is the source. this is from a soft-spoken loyal soldier, someone that never betrayed the doubts he's unveiling on the pages of this book and i think that comes through even in his critique

because it's a mild one of president obama. he's not entirely clear or not entirely sold on even the consept of saying the president was a bad leader and -- >> he said quite flattering things, he's refreshing and reassuring and commends his ability to make tough decisions. that's what's so peculiar. he makes decisions -- on the other hand he says he's this great leader. >> he had a lot on his mind when he wrote this book clearly i think. a lot come in for a big beating. president obama could have come off worse. >> let's remember what it does for robert gates' reputation. this does look like a breach of faith. he was in the inner circle of the president and went along with these things and did not throw his body in front of the taken to stop some of these policies he didn't agree with, now he tells all about it. >> whether president obama comes out and defends his vice president in the face of this. i'm anxious to see whether he does. right now he's accepting jay carney out. panel, stay with us. much more to talk about.

first you be the judge. should president obama come out and defend vice president biden? is that the right thing to do. go to gretawire.com. you know how i feel. straight ahead, now governor chris christie getting skewered. huh, fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. yeah. everybody knows that. did you know there is an oldest trick in the book? what? trick number one. look-est over there. ha ha. made-est thou look. so end-eth the trick. hey.... yes.... geico. fifteen minutes could save you... well, you know.

okay.

let's go off-the-record for just a minute. again soon, now that is when press secretary jay carney says president obama will again take questions from the white house press corps again soon. now that's a lame answer. actually it's not even an answer. it's a dodge. not a real answer like a date and a time. what's wrong with tomorrow? the president owes the american people who keep him informed of important non-important national security matters. the way that it's best done is not some canned speech where the white house packs the audience and the stage with a bunch of human props. when the president takes direct questions from the probing press corps. the last time the president took questions from the white house press corps was december 20th. a lot has happened since then and a lot is on our nation's plate unemployment insurance, iran, enrichment and everything in between. let's face it, with all due respect, the president works for us and keeping us informed of what he is doing and why he is doing it is part of the job. i don't know if former presidents gave more or less press conferences but you that's not the point and that should not be the standard. president obama promised us transaction (is i and the vegas, again

soon is a nonanswer and certainly not transparency. the american people deserve to hear from their president and that's my off-the-record comment tonight. if you have an important story or issue you think i should take off-the-record go to gretawire.com and tell us about it. come up, governor chris christie in a jam over traffic jams. now the governor comes out swinging. how will it impact the 2016 white house race? that's next.

everywhere is talking about it today newly released emails suggesting one of christie's top aides deliberately created traffic jams last september inconveniencely kids on buses to get at the town's mayor. one email from christie's deputy chief of staff. time for traffic problems in fort lee. governor christie issuing this blistering statement what i have seen today for

the first time is unacceptable. i'm outraged and deeply saddened to learn not only was i mislead by a member of my staff this inappropriate conduct was made without my knowledge. we are back with our panel. as you might imagine the democrats aren't buying it. >> absolutely. the key things in that statement are for the first time and mislead. so he says he did not know what we have learned today about these emails. and that he was mislead by his staff. that's extremely important because i think it's clear from that statement that we're going to have some former top christie staffers very soon. he has got to fire people because of this. >> absolutely. >> i think christie will do it by midnight tonight. >> to say he acted without any knowledge of the governor and had a different view of things he said they are going to want to get that ow the governor better really really be right in that it this is the first he heard of it and he was mislead. >> i was surprised he said by one staff. i don't know how he was mislead by one. there was a resignation a

while ago why didn't that illuminate things for him? >> in december? >> i'm not accusing him of not telling the truth today, but as byron said, if it isn't the truth, there will be big problems. if it's the truth, it probably goes away eventually. but it involves more than one staff, that is for sure. >> is it recommended -- i guess if he runs for president, this -- if he did -- says he didn't. >> he is running for president now for all intents and purposes this makes this first big test of campaign or non-campaign. this is a big story. talking about traffic. anyone can relate to. the most base political retribution the governor saying he didn't know anything about it before having to change that denial. he has to act big here. he has to make this into a big moment. i think firing people is the beginning of it i think he has got to go further than that in distancing himself and showing people what that christie, the manager, the above politics i don't care what your i have tykes of me -- critiques belief are. show that chris christie and

not just put out statement. >> it is pretty bad if he didn't know about all of this. this stuff really did happen. we now know his staffs were involved. he has enemies all over the place here. obviously democrats are just working on this not only in new jersey but, of course, nationally because is he a frontrunner for the 2016 race. there are a lot of republicans who don't like him. today, a very prominent social conservative in iowa who really doesn't like chris christie tweeted: would i be a bad person if i just sat back and let the media destroy chris christie for 2016? there are a lot of republicans would like to see this end badly for chris christie. >> it really was incredible to watch the response today at 11:46 a.m. there was a statement from debbie wasserser wasserman schultz. chris christie dot dot dot the first three hours. byron is right by the end of the day establishment versus the right wing of the party that wants chris christie to go away fast. they want to finish him off

they don't want him to be the frontrunner. >> it would surprise me though. who knows what happens. it doesn't seem like governor chris christie. if it does turn out that he knew ahead of time that it really is damaging because we also think whether you are for him or against him that he is a straight shooter. >> and, greta, it was an election he was going to win widely and they knew that in august at the time. that kind of retribution for something that isn't even -- it wasn't a risky election he was going to win resoundingly and they knew it. it would really be the end of it. >> and it was a petty and vindictive act. >> it was aspect of this that is chris christie. chris christie you know was a boss. you know he is a tough and vindictive political player and animal in this world and i think yes specific action is more than any politician would want to be associated with. that's one of the things that makes this potentially damaging. fits a story line around chris christie push him to the side even as he tries to ride. >> how long before he fires

somebody? >> really soon. >> what's really soon? >> we have these emails with these people's names on them. one of them is one of his chiefs of staff. >> and they are pretty bad? emails are pretty bad. >> time for traffic problems in fort lee? >> just terrible. >> by the time you are on the air tomorrow night, it has to happen quickly. >> he got his statement out pretty fast. and of course the democrats got theirs out. >> although he did have a public event he cancelled today. he could have spoken in public if he wanted to. >> why did he do that? >> i can't tell you. >> he didn't have a good answer you have to i. this'. it's in the very christie like. i think he has got to go out there. there is a chance for a big moment here. he goes out and takes it on and says as soon as i knew about, this heads rolled, i did something about it by the way i did something that president obama didn't do with healthcare, fire people. can you grasp this and make it into something big. >> governor chris christie coming out tomorrow followed by a press conference by the president of the united states about transparency.

robert gates telling all about the obama administration and while president obama is still in office. ambassador john bolton is here to talk about that next. female announcer: get beautyrest, posturepedic, female announcer: even tempur-pedic mattress sets, at low clearance prices. save even more on floor samples, demonstrators and closeout inventory.

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okay. time to hash it out. anthony weiner is going into show business. the new york daily news tweeting anthony weiner made hollywood debut on scandal called alpha house. disgraced former congressman making cameo in the amazon series. weiner will appear as himself in the show's finale. time to stock up on a cheesy party staple. shortage of velveeta just in time for the super bowl. some stores reportedly running out of the processed

cheese. velveeta rep says demand is high during the playoffs but would not give a specific reasons for the low availability. shortage is expected to last for a couple weeks and effect any part of the country. being a governor doesn't mean you can skip out on jury dutiy. governor scott walker gets designated the alternate during jury duty. listening to two days of testimony in a personal injury case but not participating in deliberations. walker says it was interesting to experience what jurors go through. and adds this cash-strapped duo to the dumb criminal file. here is a tip. don't leave your waitress and envelope full of methamphetamine or you may get arrested. oregon couple trying to pay for meal with a gift card handing envelope full of crystal meth. police busting a pair after. found the cup peel nearby motel where the couple was staying. use #greta on all your tweets and posts. coming up, everyone is talking about his book.

does secretary gates have good timing or bad? ambassador john bolton answers that question next. [ male announcer ] here's a question for you: where does the united states get most of its energy? is it africa? the middle east? canada? or the u.s.? the answer is... the u.s. ♪ most of america's energy comes from right here at home. take the energy quiz. energy lives here.

why now? why the former defense secretary robert gates expose what he thinks white house still in office. responsible timing or reckless? former u.n. ambassador john bolton joins us. good evening, sir. >> glad to be with you. >> what about the timing?

the president is still in office. >> i don't see anything wrong with that i particularly don't see anything wrong with it because i wrote a book about my time in the bush administration and published it while the president was still in office. i think it's more a question of when he finished of the book and when the publisher said to get it out. i don't think there is anything wrong with that i think it's a good thing, frankly for senior administration officials to write about what they did in office with all due respect. i don't think the media understand how government works. and i think it's important for people to tell the story at a point when the public can still react to it. >> do you think we are getting it right with these excerpts or do you think what the message is in the book. >> like everybody else in the past two days who has commented on this, i haven't read the book either. it's said to be 600 pages long. we're talking about a few sentences in it. and people have said gates contradicts himself. i don't think so. georgia's is a bureaucrat. that's -- gates is a bureaucrat. that's the fundamental thing to stay about him. does he say one nice thing about president obama and one bad thing? that's exactly what you

would think from a bureaucrat. >> he skewers the vice president. >> the president has -- vice president has been wrong on every national security. in that 600 pages he says something nice about biden too. >> it covers obviously when he was in the secretary of defense and afghanistan and iraq. i regret that we don't have more inside scoop what's going on what i think is pretty serious right now and that's syria. what's going on in syria? >> well, you know, it could well be in the book somewhere. but i think the most important part about everything that we have heard about the gates book is not that politics was involved with decisions on iraq or afghanistan, it's what it reveals about obama and his utter lack of interest in national security affairs. the whole -- >> -- how do you get that out of the excerpt? >> because what he says in afghanistan about the president not having faith in his own mission. i think it's clear that the president look at this the and said this was an

intractable problem from his perspective. he can't solve it. i want to get out of this. >> why the surge? >> i want it because he was unwilling to tell the generals no. but he contradicted as a number of people said at the time he announces the surge simultaneously announces a withdrawal date. that's a man who doesn't believe in the policy because if he did, he would have announced the surge and not give the withdrawal date. what a signal to taliban and al qaeda if you just hold on long enough we will be gone. >> is afghanistan winnable? >> well. winnable in the sense that to prevent afghanistan from being a base for terrorist operations, you have to be prepared to be there for a long time. i believe the president will succeed in withdrawing. that is what he wants to do. taliban and al qaeda will take control again and it will, again, be a base for terrorist operations. >> we have seen that in iraq. iraq has got -- >> -- he is about to repeat that mistake in afghanistan. >> we have got al qaeda growing in iraq. we have got it growing in syria. i mean, it's growing all

over. i don't think we have al qaeda, quote, on the run to quote him from the. >> wrong about that. he is tilting toward iran in many important respects there are wars in struggle today in iraq is a good example. al qaeda versus a regime that's a puppet of the atool las in "ayatollahs and iran there are some wars where nobody is on america's side. >> i listened to a speech by gates in 2010. i have it posted on gretawire.com. he said iran would have weapons one or two years. at least we got past that point. >> we don't know that they don't have nuclear weapons at this point. >> ambassador, nice to he see you as always. >> nice to be here. >> reminder if you are just getting home and tuning in before bill o'reilly pick up dvr remote and set a recording. see you tomorrow night right here at 7 p.m. eastern. go to gretawire.com. watch that old interview with secretary gates from

2010. you might find it interesting. good night from washington. see you on gretawire.com. averto. you are now about to enter the greg zone tonight on "red eye." coming up on "red eye." it dine tieses build the world's deadliest cheetah robot? a look at the machine powered by human souls. plus does the president think he and joe biden can finish bipg watching all of hbo's "girl" before the season starts. >> the good news is i am optimistic we can do it if we do it together. >> and finally a man so stupid he nearly pierced himself shut. none of these stories on "red eye" tonight jie. what a let down. let's welcome our guest. she is so cute the snuggles bear sued her for copyright infringement so she strangled it with her own hair.