scanning the children. there is something that doesn't feel right, i don't know, we'll see. >> i like print on paper. >> maybe they will make one for adults. thanks for joining us everybody. >> america's news head quarter ares stars right now. fox news alert. minutes away from a space launch in virginia, destination the international space station. no astronauts are not on board, just insects. we'll explain why 800ants are on board. fox news alert for you. new outrage in the irs scandal. the justice department chooses a obama supporter to lead the investigation in the targeting of 500 conservative groups. welcome to hq, i am alisyn camerota. >> and i am greg in for bill hemmer. eight months ago president obama promised to hold those

responsible accountable for their actions remember that? >> i sure do. california republican darril issa has been leading the charge for answers. congressman, thanks for joining us. >> thank you, alisyn and thanks for having me on, on this important issue. >> what was your reaction. barbara k. boostermap was going to be leading the irs probe. >> it how we found out that is interesting. we asked the administration who was leading the investigation and getting to the truth and they refused to answer, as we interviewed the irs officials, we asked you who is working with you. her name kept coming up. we discovered she was a consistent donor to obama's re- elect and democratic national committee and a obvious conflict of special. >> so you got the letter to the attorney general, what did you say in the letter? >> we believe that she should be

removed from it, because of the appearance of conflict of interest. you know, this is not she gave once, but she gave again, and again. she believes very strongly, and since the investigation is into the irs targeting adversaris or enemies of the president, it is an to give to his election and reelection to the democratic committee on a regular basis is not somebody to lead the investigation. >> i read some of your comments. unbelievable and unreal. it sounds like you are having a hard time believing that the justice department would have placed her in the position. >> if there is anyone other than attorney general eric holder who lied to congress and covered tup, i would find it unbelievable. but in this case, we were astonished that they would be so

tone deaf to have a major figure being someone obviously close to the president politically. >> but congressman, obviously, it is not sitting well to you to have a obama financial backer leading the investigation. just as it would not be good for a tea party loyalist. how could you ever find someone who is neutral? >> actually, if we have the entire work chart we might find a level of balance. we are willing to have people, mitted left right be involved, but we have to know. the american people have to know that there is a degrieve oversight leading to the truth coming out where ever it leads. in this case, the administration took a lot of time. sent false statements repeatedly through intmediaries that there was targeting beyond conservative when in fact, the facts come out that it was a one- sided attempt to stop the

people on the opposite side of obama's reelect. >> congressman, this targeting was revealed in may. what is taking so long for the investigation to bear fruit and people to be held responsible? >> to a certain extent i go back to the fast and furious case. we are tied up in court trying to get the administration to turn over documents. they use assertion of privileges to slow or not give information. and in the case of the irs, they go out of the way to get no documents at all. it is frustrating and we have sprued individuals only to get later, the documents to get them back again. that is a technique of the administration and it has gotten worse in the second term and something that the american people feel is so reprehensible. they should come clean quickly if they want people to trust the

irs. and the entity that has so much. >> and speaking of the affordable care act. you accuse secretary kathleen sebelius of giving false and misleading information to congress when it comes to the botched roll out. >> we laid out in detail areas that she said things that are untrue. we asked for clariction. one of the problems is secretary sebelius likes i don't know and i don't recall. and at high level briefings. she and key people are in the room when they are being told candidly in the last days before the roll out, that this is not going to work. there are security and spode problems and she would have us believe that she was surprised. if she was surprised key

lieutenants weren't and we believe she was advised and chose not to remember. >> congressman issa thank you for updeath -- ub dating us. >> and a look at the flight facility in virginia. no humans aboard. ants, a- n- t- s kind from the class and fresh fruit and supplies are about to liftoff. >> you thought aunts as in relatives of yours? >> one could suggest that. >> today's launch is the latest from private u.s. firms doing what we counted on nasa to do. we'll go to ta ric mellic. what is happening here today. >> we are less than a minute away from a land mark delivery flight from the company orbittal

sciences. it is first time they are hauling a ton of cargo. >> how will they catch this at the space station. >> astronauts will use the robotec arm to grab on and reel it in and park it and they will get all of the good stuff on board. >> is this the againing of what may be a space taxi system that will take astronauts and here is the liftoff. go a head, answer. >> yes, this is part of nasa's plan to buy the services they need so they don't have to to it itself. it is a great shot of the robot now launching to the station and in the next few years, they want to buy commercial spacecraft seats for american astronauts, too they are not available yet. probably in the next 2 or 3 years. >> you keep saying astronauts, but they are calling what is on

board today ant nonaughts. and they are the biggest number of critters on board of the mission. they are going up in a speci a specialant farm. there is students all over the country buying their open ant farms. and are they testing other things, for example like electronics and hardware in the space environment? >> yeah, also on this spacecraft, there is 33 small satellites called cub sets. they are a rguset, two built with off the shelf stuff from the store. they want to know if stuff you buy from best buy will with little modification work in

space. anyone can build a satellite and launch it in space if they have a ride. and there is another swarm called the flock by a company in san francisco called planet lab. this is like 28 satellites and tiny cubes that will watch the earth from space and take pictures in that time. >> that makes sense. that makes sense about what we might learn from the technology going up in space. what will we learn if ants are weightless? >> it is to reach out to kids and get them involved in space science and research. they are hoping from the swarm behavior study to apply that to mathemateccal formulas and monitor the traffic patterns on earth. you know, computer simulation types of work. >> okay, thank you so much for joining us for the launch. >> great.

>> we want to know. >> if you can send one thing in space, what would it be. >> send me a tweet at listen -- allist camerota. >> unique ways to help patients that can't play. and they would leave insurer ares on the hook to pay for them. and jim angle is live in washington. >> hello, greg, the issue divided hospitals and insurance companies and ignited a debate in the obama administration as hospitals consider paying the premium themselves for those who land on their doorstep. >> there will be many uninsured people even with the health care reform law. hospitals are worried about the uncompensated care. >> they raised the novel idea of

paying obama care premiums so they would have insurance to pay the bills. the american hospital association wrote the members saying some worried that the cost of obama care would be prohibitive for many people and said several hospitals inkwoired where there are barriers to providing premium assistance. >> for select patients who come in because they are sick to help pay their premium to subsiddize for them the cost of health insurance. >> there was a legal obstacle and on october 30th. health and human services gave the green light saying buying insurance for patients would not violate a key law. centers for medicare and medicaid warned hospitals about paying for premiums saying hss significant concerns with this practice because it could skew the insurance risk pool and

create an unlevel field in the marketplaces. hospital association said they should be able to provide premium assistance and the insurance industry objects. listen. >> the issue that enitties are doing it to solely benefit themselves that is a conflict of interest and that shouldn't be done. >> in the midst of so many different views, analyst said it may take the courts to make a definitive decision. >> jim thanks. >> hi profile meeting in the white house. his administration prepares to change the nsa sweeping surveillance program. >> and a bold move by the governor of new jersey. as there is a new legal turn. >> i had no knowledge or involvement in this issue, in its planning or execution, and i

am stunned by the abject stupidity that was shown here. [ sniffles ] i have a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i can't rest. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil cold and flu liquid gels don't unstuff your nose. they don't? [ male announcer ] nope. they don't have a decongestant. really? [ male announcer ] really. alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a fast-acting decongestant to relieve your stuffy nose. [ inhales deeply ] alka seltzer plus. oh. what a relief it is. [ male announcer ] can't find theraflu, try alka seltzer plus for fast liquid cold and flu relief. and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it. it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you?

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welcome back. we are turning our attention to new questions that are raised about the scatting memor from a former defense secretary robert gate asks whether combaet gates betrayed the president's trust by disclosing investigations that should remain confidential. we'll go to ambassador bolton. gates has every first amendment right to publish a bock. but he has arguably betrayed the trust of the president by disclosing confidential conversations, what do you think of that? >> i think that is completely wrong. i think everybody assumes that top level officials are likely

to write their memiors. it is a long tradition and going on for decades and centuries even. presidents write their own memiors and it is no surprise that cabinet secretaries and others dot same. i don't think gates revealed every conversation. it is part of the business in washington and no one is surprised. >> he completes. president for making the right call in the raid to kill osama bin laden. he called it a tough and courageous call. if it was a hazy but no one would talk about betrying trust.

look at your bock store. and what truck a lot of people what offended some of the military personnel. and lost their lives in iraq. this is a president who ordered a troph surge in iraq. and according to gates had no confidence in his own decision. how do you so that? >> it is a revelation. and if the white house wants to denotice they can do that. this is the other side of gates and anybody else myself included writing the memor. are they better off knowing he said that or not knowing it. i would argue that gates did a public service by revealing

this. that tells you suggest disturbing about bum maybe it is not a bomb spell and gates said boyd boyd has every major foreign policy decision over the last 40 years wrong. is that about right. >> score one for bob gates i would say. this is something again that goes to the heart of the public debate. whether you agree or disagree with him he has been the center of that debate for a long time and his opinion is something that people should consider. i know vice-president doesn't like it but it was a forth right statement that i happen to agree with. >> always great to see you. >> thank you very much, greg.

>> there is an urj end mission and search for a sailor off of the coast. >> and a truck driver trapped underneath his rig in the freezing cold and cannot reach his cell phone. >> i wound up being froze to the pavement in the snow. i remember saying, who of this is. whatever you do, don't hang up the phone. if they hung up the phone. it was going to be my last chance to talk

>> a phone call from halfway across the country saves the life of one man in a big snow

storm. truck driver tim rutledge was penned undernegotiate his rig. and his wife kept calling and calling, and rutledge couldn't reach the phone in his pocket because he was literally or stuck the ice. the cell phone called out and use voice control to make a call and his wife was relieved to finally locate him. >> i thought about you know our kids and grandkids, and that we just had christmas. and i was just thankful he was still alive. >> rutledge spent hours lying on the ground it is truly amazing he department get frost bite. >> governor christie speaking out on the bridge scandal. he fired his top aide forever her role in the scheme. christie so manies as a top

contender for the republican nomination holding a news conference to apologize. eric? >> reporter: governor chris christy is sorry and heart broken and blind- sided, this after a top level official of his administration and staff and campaign were exexacting political pay back on the democratic mayor for not endorsing christie's reelection bid last november. >> i come out here today to apologize to the people of jerz jer -- new jersey and people of fort lee and members of the state legislature. i am embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team. >> that was a real mess last september when the three lanes of the george washington bridge

were shut town for four days. and that delayed thousands of motorist and doubled response time for ambulances. they claimed it was for a traffic study. christie fired bridgeit a nn kelly who sent text and e-mail it is about the closing. and he said kelly lied to him. here's one of her e-mails. time for traffic problems in fort lee. and christie severed ties with the campaign manager and reiterated he knew nothing about the lane closings and played no part in ordering them. >> i had no knowledge or involvement in the issue or planning or execution. and i am stunned by the abject stupidity that was shown here

regardless of what the facts ultimately uncover. >> meanwhile several investigations are under way. and they're holding hearings. a former kristappointee took the fifth. he is no where near considering a possible run for the presidency and noting he hasn't been sworn in for a second term as governor yet. >> what a press conference that was. u.s. chamber of commerce is vowing to fight a co part. nhouse republicans accuse the obama administration of stope walling on the groups after a justice department chooses

a obama donor for the investigation. we'll have a debate. >> we were astonished that they would be so tone deaf to have a major figure in the investigation being somebody obviously close to the president politically. óqoqúúñ@

time now for a quick check of your headlines. massive search for a missing

member on board of a helicopter. two of the five on board died. >> president obama expects to talk about the tax incentives and job training programs. here on hq you watched the launch of a rocket ship. it is carrying provisioneds. if could send one thing in space, what would it be? send me a tweet at greg jarret. >> we are getting the favorite mother-in-law. up your game people. >> the justice department defending the obama donor to lead the irs targeting scandal. poll teches did not play a role.

darril issa said it is another example of stone walling. this administration took a lot of time and sent false statements that somehow there was targeting withstand conservative and when the facts come out it was a one- sided attempt to stop the people on the opposite side of obama's reelect. they should come clean quickly. allen combes is the radio talk she host and fox news tributor. thank you for being here. that hurts. is it appropriate for a woman

who donated more than $6,000 to lead this irs probe in the irs scandal. >> no. >> i guess you are done with me now. it is not appropriate. this guy issa wants to spend sen days a week investigating the obama administration. and never take yes for an answer and visit him like he is doing with kathleen sebelius. no, they should not have a perceived conflict of interest here. >> the administration said it is actually prohibited under federal law to consider the political affiliation of any employee in making personal decisions or removing a career employee from an investigation because of political affiliation and they can't do it because of law, guy. >> i am pleased to see that the irs targeting has gone from outrageous to unacceptable to

a phony scandal and now back it something that needs to be investigated in the few of the investigation. that is progress. and the woman selected is an upgrade from eric holder tasked with eric holder and the document he signed authorizing spying on journalist. this is what the law requires and they were legally, their hands were tied. but i agree with allen on this one. it looks bad to have a obama and doc donor leading the investigation. they can't consider the affiliation. they name scandals better. and as a matter of fact the problem with issa.

it took the ranking member of the committee to reveal that they were liberals targeted. and he ought to be off of the investigation. it is a partisan witch hunt. >> you say it is not appropriate for her to lead this one. >> just like it is not appropriate for issa to lead. it he is a partisan >> i gave my answer. should they get rid of her. >> if they appoint someone it should be someone without perceived conflict of interest. >> there shpt be an investigation. why did he apologize for that. >> i don't speak for the investigation. it took the ranking member of the committee to get all of the

information out. you don't think it is slow rolling! they were not looking only at conversation conversation and not basing it on political consideration. and when conservative report this. they leave that part out. it is a not a look at conservative. >> go a head, guy. >> more than 90 percent of the targeted groups according to the data were conversation conversation. of those tiny handful of groups that were targeted. 100 percent approved and less than half were. there is a reason for that. you don't see the imbalance. >> this is when the tea party groups were formed and it was not a partisan witch hunt. >> guy last word. should they get rid of the

woman. >> if they want credibility they should. they never seem to second guess the conversation and this is why he doesn't fire anyone. >> thank you so much. we'll so what happens with the investigation. . >> there is a potential new snag for obama care. >> the u.s. chamber of commerce is vowing to fight the employer man date and requiring large businesses. to provide health insurance. the commerce chief said bad for business. melissa good to see you. what are they doing? >> this is the president and he vowed too fight on in 2014 saying he wants to repeal the taxes. and he wants to give companies

more flexibility in terms of which health care plan they choose. they have done the math and calculated 18 new taxes and saying it cost 853 to businesses over the next decade and without question that hurts hiring and the economy and it is clear where they stand on this. >> repeal or delay but not repeal obama care? >> no the language was interesting. basically the administration made it clear he is here to stay and they are looking to fix the law and do with it what they can and they will work in the legislative process and those are the candidates they will support. they will take it to court. but they are not talking about repealing the whole law altogether. they would like to get rid of the taxes in there. >> we'll talk about the overall impact of obama care now. >> yeah. >> we'll see the hard data and

shoes premium ands deductibles are going up and there is a new survey that suggests thattine if you have a plan with your employer you will play more in >> absolutely. they did the study and well known in the business community and they do forecasting of what is going on. and talk to top people. they found that already 42 percent of the cfo's are saying in the past year shifted more rising health care costs over to the employees and 63 percent are planning on doing it next year. a climate out there talking about health care costs rising. that is the cover for businesses to ga head and shift the cost to employees. if you are lucky enough to have a job, you will pay more from health care and if you don't have one. health care may make it harder to get one. >> listen, the employer man date expires on the end of the year. >> there is a delay on it. >> and yes, does that mean people are starting to lose jobs

and full- time workers are getting dropped to part- time workers. >> there is a lot of consultants predicting that is going to happen. when i talk to individual business owners they have a limited amount of dollars to spend on labor and benefits and as they are forced to spend more on health care, that is the only option they have. that's what business owners are saying and time will tell. >> fuare accustomed to getting 45 hours a week and they drop it to 29 to get under that limit. >> we are already seeing that when you see the payroll numbers every month. >> melissa francis good to so you. >> a bridge closing in new jersey caused headaches for this happeneds of commuters and reports of ambulances are stuck in traffic. an elderly woman died in a delay getting her to the hospital. what is the fallout? >> and our panel, they are called insane clown posse.

and sort of known for rap lyrics. it is not enough to have fans called criminals. the lawsuit against the fbi getting reaction. >> i you never heard of the insane five? >> no. >> you knew it? >> of course. [ bottle ] okay, listen up! i'm here to get the lady of the house back on her feet. [ all gasp ] oj, veggies you're cool.

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it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks. what?

>> time it check in with gretchen charleson. >> coming up, the president speaks in our hour about the so- called promise zones in our country to create jobs. will he address any allegations in bob gates' new bombshell book. and plus, is governor christie out of the woods saying he had no knowledge of the george washington bridge scandal. we debate his style and future. >> and outbreaks of the flu and

death was healthy people. is it too late to get the vaccine? >> thank you. >> i am responsible for what happened. i am sad to report to the people of new jersey that we fell short. we fell short of the expectations that we've created over the last four years for this type of excellence in government that they should expect from this office. >> that was governor chris christie is the traffic scandal. he announced the firing of a top aide who had a hand in the closing of the lanes in the world's busiest bridge in a act of political revenge. >> what is the political fallout. and we are getting reports of ambulance delays in which one a 91-year-old woman lay unconscious and later died. doug burns joins us, former

federal prosecutor. and elist, if there is a approximate cause of the death of the woman and misfeance and negligence of chris christie's administration in doing all of this, is there a wrongful death lawsuit here? nwrongful death lawsuit, and also a reckless endangerment lawsuit. if this all happen and we are talking law. if it happen and could have been foreseen that someone dow to theacs of the governor's office, would have caused the death or deaths, that is reckless endangerment and that is a criminal thing. you talk about abuse of power & they have criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter. and a violation of the open public records act. people were asking for documents and e-mails and were not given them. that is a violation of the open

records act. >> it is not just a 91-year-old woman who died, but three other emergencies during those days of the traffic snarls that were written approximate. one a missing four-year-old girl. police were not able to takened to that case because they were tied up with the traffic and a man experiencing chest pains on the bridge and a traffic accident in which four people were injured. who can any of those people and families sue. >> it is broke down in a step ladder. it is a proposition sovereignty immunity of the actions of the government. but if this is intentional conduct and a political discussion, but if they intentionally shut lanes for an improper person sovereignty immunitiy can be overcome and you will have to show, and i think gregg got into this. the late response is what caused the problem, assuming all of those hurdles are met it is

a viable wrongful death case. >> in this case, usual record time was four minutes to go to where they were with the victims and now from what i am reading and research shoes seb or eight minutes. they are critical minutes and what a plaintiff's lawyer would bring in court. >> what strikes me in the lawsuit death and federal government has a is it theute called abuse of power. you are not allowed to use your government office for political purposes or to punish people. most states have the same law, could you envision a criminal prosecutions of those people behind this for abuse of power? >> absolutely. gregg, with the normal caviets and the governor obviously said what he had to say. but those who did it, if it is

demonstrated it is an abuse of power and could be criminal liability on the landscape as well. and one individual took the fifth amendment this morning. >> the abusething, it's very interesting. when somebody is charged with abuse of power, say one of the aides, what's the defense? i was told to do so. look for the political fallout there as well. >> great many people calling for abuse of power to irs scandal, using your office to punish politically. >> going after a targeted number of people. exactly. >> all right. thanks so much for the legal analysis. >> want to talk about a pack of kids, not yours, running wild, rampaging through convenience -- actually does sound like yours. >> hey. >> grabbing anything they want. >> plus a new call to make it even easier to get high in the mile high city. why denver wants banks to relax the rules for credit cards to buy marijuana.

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watch this video. dozens of kids, some as young as 8 years old caught on surveillance tape robbing a convenience store in texas. the clerk says he and other workers were overwhelmed when the kids rushed in and grabbed whatever they could get their hands on. police are now using this video to try to identify the suspects and they could face charges including theft, vandalism, organized crime, even assault. >> lets go down to colorado. it is legal, of course, to buy marijuana for recreational use in that state. but the law is still hazy, sorry about that, when it comes to paying for it with your plastic.

elizabeth mcdonald with the fox news network joins us on that. >> good to be with you. federal laws restricting the use of pots make them leery of the market. the denver city council voted monday to urge federal government to give marijuana retailers legal access to banks for the very first time. because marijuana is still illegal under federal law, processing money from marijuana sales could put federally insured banks at risk of drug racketeering charges. as a result most pot business is now cash only sales, which creates public safety and accountability issues. mastercard and american express for bid using credit cards and debit cards for pot. but pot shoppers are still using visa and mastercard plastic for pot sales. advice ark says it is letting local banks make the call here because they, quote, are best suited to make any determination

about potential illegality on the state level given the fact department of justice will not challenge laws legalizing marijuana so long as states maintain strict rules around selling of pot. expect aig is justice department will have legal guidance for banks regarding pot business in the future as polled by pew and gallop and other outlets show for the very first time a majority of americans favor legalizing pot. >> you saw it live here on hq, an unmanned spacecraft blasted off with special delivery for international space station. so if you could send one thing into space, what would it be? >> still time to get in your tweets next.

my kids, they have off school

three weeks. >> the stray cat that is harassing birds and squirs in my yard. >> charles says i'd like to send the women of fox news into space because you're out of this world. >> you could be fox news correspondent. >> charles is my favorite. the real story, fallout as the white house comes out swinging in support of vice president joe biden after former secretary of defense slams him in a tell all memoir. and the president set to announce his promise zone initiative to help some of the poorest places in our country sounds a lot like former representative jack kemp's enterprise zone way back from 1980. and the nfl commissioner weighs in on players, what he thinks about players using medical marijuana. hi, everyone. i'm gretchen carlson. latest battle on capitol hi