>> thank you. that's the comparison i was looking for. >> if the hair doesn't fit, you must -- what did you say? >> what about aaron hernandez? any similarities? >> have a great day. get a pizza from pizza hut. see you tomorrow and rita moreno in the after the show show. bill: we'll take three and we want them hot. numbers from obamacare showing enrollment not where it need to be. 20% of the total enrollment numbers are people between 18-24. those are the people who need to sustain the law financially and those numbers need to be higher. martha: tough numbers. i'm martha maccallum. that's just the beginning of what we are learning. just 2.1 million have currently

signed up for the program. the obama administration is aiming to have 7 million by the end of march. bill: what does this mean, stuart? >> reporter: three possibilities. number one, a bailout for insurers. number two, higher premiums from the insurers, number three, higher taxpayer costs. if you have got more money flowing out of the insurance pools going to older sicker people and less money flowing into the pools from young healthy people that's bad news for the understand. that raises the possibility that section 1342 of the obamacare atlantic be invoked to provide taxpayer money to insurers if they are not getting enough from the public. it means higher premiums on plans that have already been signed for and 73% of those who

signed up are getting a subsidy from the taxpayer. it means more taxpayer involvement and more taxpayer money. bill: it sounds like a bailout. is there a national stomach for a bailout? >> reporter: senator rubio is trying to stop any possibility of a bailout. he introduced legislation that would repeal section 1342. he believes the country does not want an insurer bailout. he's going forward with that legislation. but i think you are right saying the public has very little stomach for a bailout of those insurance companies. bill: some of the insurance industry, blue cross, blue shield, they are warning if they don't get the bailout the program moves to a single pair. >> reporter: many people believe obamacare was set up in this way to eventually movedo move to a

single payer system. if you ease out the insurers because they are not making enough money, then you replace them with the government, the taxpayer, that's a movement toward a single pair system. if we don't get a bailout that's exactly the direction we are heading. bill: you are setting up the possibility of this fork in the road. you go single pair, taxpayer>> a single pair system. it wouldn't be a sudden introduction but you are moving in that direction. if the understand company don't get the money they mist have to provide this service you have to replace them with somebody, and that's the government. >> we are going to face this a bit later as well. stuart varney of fox business. martha: congress cutting a deal to keep the government running for the last 8.5 months. and it only cost a trillion

dollars. it restores some of the $6 billion that was cut from the military to help disabled vets. that was a lot of dispute over that element of the deal. if it passes congress insures the government will stay open until august 1. harold rogers of kentucky says the omnibus will fulfill the basic duty of congress to provide funding for our defense, our education system and our transportation system. bombshell revelations on benghazi. fox news has obtained 450 pages of newly declassified congressional testimony from top military leaders. according to these document the general in charge of the region at the time told congress he knew almost right away that this

was clearly a terrorist attack and he he so did the president. that fly in the face of repeated allegations that ambassador stevens and three others were victims of a demonstration. there are calls to hear from general carter ham who was the commander in charge of the benghazi rescue operation. through these documents we heard from him. what did we learn? >> reporter: general carter ham debunked widespread speculation that he was forced out, was forced to retire because he wanted to do more militarily the night of the benghazi attack, more than this superiors wanted to do, more than the white house wanted to do. carter ham set that's not true. the republican chairman of the house services committee,

congressman ham did the questions. this is what he said. i heard you made the statement you were prepared to go to their aid and somebody told you no and you said we are going anywhere. is that all some up significant that comes from some reporter to which ham police yes, sir, no one ever told me to. >> the bottom line here, he didn't have what they needed to respond. >> reporter: ham and the other commanders who testified in these closed door hearing essentially payments a picture of a woefully ill prepared and ill postured military on the night of the benghazi attack. martha: we heard element of this all along. they couldn't amass the force they would need to get there which is shocking.

so what he will do we learn here, jennifer? >> the most shock part of the testimony is you hear the fast team of marine that were supposed to be the quick reaction force. they were asked to deplane and change out of their marine uniforms into t-shirts because essentially nobody wanted to send uniforms, marines into libya that night. that showed one level of sensitivity. we also learned defense secretary leon panetta who visited in december offered marines to the ambassador at the time and to the state department. those marines had pen rejected. we also learn there were not only no marines in benghazi but no marines at the embassy in tripoli. in terms of positioning of assets, the f based in italy

were unarmed and separated from their aerial refuelers which were 10 hours away in great britain. there is no mention of a gunship refueler being available that night. again we mentioned the fast team of marines en route to spain and how they had to change their uniforms. that delayed their response time we learned by more than hean an hour. general carter ham pushed back by repeated committee members and military analysts sending an f-16 flyover on the night of the attack would have made any difference. >> he he the intel joins had at the time caused me to believe in my military judgment that it would not be the appropriate response tool. they have been used to scare

away crowd and enemies toned run away when the afterburners are fired up of an f-16. there were many questions why those f-never launched that night for libya. martha: some answers are there and more questions because the ambassador did at several junctures ask for more support and more security and that was not given to him. bill: more on this coming up today. ohio congressman served in iraq and question questioned general ham about what the president knew and when he knew it. all these revelations. do they change your mind about benghazi? we'll share some of your idea and thoughts throughout the program when you send us a

treat. martha: it's surprising that the military was not beefed up and ready to go. bill: as jennifer points out, they knew this was terrorism within 15 minutes of the attack on september 11. wenstrup on that coming up. martha: a heated argument over texting turned into a deadly shooting at a movie theater in florida. police say it all began when a retired police officer asked the person in front of him to stop texting during the movie. the two men argued. somebody threw popcorn, then witnesses say the retired officer pulled his gun and shot the 43-year-old man in front of him. the man said i was just texting my 3-year-old daughter.

>> i heard the altercation. i asked if the guy was okay and he started gurgling blood. 71-year-old reeves has been charms with murder. the victim's wife is recovering from a gunshot wound to the hand. bill: a controversy for knowledge governor chris christy. is it because of this? >> the jersey shore is open. >> pause we are stronger than the storm. you bet we are. bill: there are allegations the governor misused federal storm aid because he wanted to be on television. martha: they landed a commercial

airliner at the wrong airport. now the pilots are getting their wings clipped. bill: a robber used a hostage as a human shield. what police did to save that woman and take down the bad guys. >> it was terrifying and stressful and i don't wish it on my enemies. i got out alive. so i guess they did, huh? ♪ [ cellphone rings ] hello? [ male announcer ] over 12,000 financial advisors. good, good. good over $700 billion dollars in assets under care. let me just put this away. [ male announcer ] how did edward jones get so big? could you teach kids that trick? [ male announcer ] by not acting that way. ok, st quarter... [ male announcer ] it's how edward jones makes sense of investing. ♪

makes sense of investing. your modefy gravity.ything. find hidden treasure. make rainbows appear. now she could use a hand, so she can keep living on her own. comfort keepers can help you help her. our professional caregivers are carefully chosen and highly trained to provide a

variety of in-home services while truly engaging with your aging loved ones so they can stay happy at home. comfort keepers. keeping the comforts of home. call comfort keepers now to learn more. martha: good news in west virginia. the water is back on for a few of the 300,000 people there after last week's chemical spill made the water supply unusable. officials say folks will need to flush their home plumbing systems before using that water. but a lot of folks say they are still understandably quite sceptical. >> wound up flush for hours and

it's still coming up blue. there is so much of this stuff that we collected in bottles here and it sticks to the side of the gold. i would love to take a shower. that's what i have been waiting to do. the water is clearly unsafe. i don't want to drink it. i don't want to bathe tonight. martha: the water company is providing a map on their web sites showing the areas where the ban is being lifted. bill: newly declassified documents show president obama's closest military advisers knew within 15 minutes it was terrorism on september 11. ohio congressman brad wenstrup was asking questions of general ham at that hearing. i should point out you also served at abu grape in iraq for

a while. as the military person i'm on southerned some in the military will be advising this is a demonstration. i hope our military leadership will be advising this is a terrorist attack. ham will be i think there was preliminary demonstration. but i think the command quickly got to the point this was not a demonstration, this was a terrorist attack. you follow and you would have individuals if asked, correct? ham's answer, with general dempsey and secretary panetta, that is the nature of the conversation we had, yes, sir. you thought what then? >> as you mentioned. i served in iraq and i was in a place under awhack two or three times a week so i understand the difference between the two times

of attacks. so i had a good understanding of the situation. and at the time when this happened, i was not in office. i just won an election and i'm watching this like everyone else. as i watched this i thought to myself who is calling this a demonstration. i hope our military isn't calling it a demonstration. is a got to congress and we started having so many hearing i had the opportunity to go to a couple of these classified briefings, though it's not my committee, i made an effort to get there to ask these questions. bill: your general reaction had to be what then if he's using the word "terrorist" within 15 minutes. >> i was relieved to hear there weren't military advisers calling this a demonstration that has gone out of control. in some ways we were being given a different rendition of what happened that day and what the military thought was happening that day.

bill: july 31, it was top secret. it has been declassified. this is marine corps colonel george brings. no one is ever advising from the military that this is a demonstration gone out of control. it was always an attack on the united states. he said yes, sir, we referred to it as the attack. how did it move, congressman, from that type of framing to a video that was told to a video and that was told to the rest of the world. >> i would love to know who was in the room and who had those conversations that said this is what we are going to tell the american people. i think the american people would like to know the depth of those conversations. i didn't any there could

possibly be anyone in the military sitting down advising this what is took place, a demonstration as opposed to an attack. bill: there was a conversation at pentagon moments before secretary panetta and holes went over to the white house d who else quenlt or to the white house to advise the president? >> it was by happenstance that the meeting took place. i wanted to know if anyone during the course of events was calling this a demonstration. what happened after that i think the administration has to answer to the american people why they came towel with what they came out with. bill: would leon panetta know the answer? based on these transcripts, they fingered it as terrorism and they went to the white house the same afternoon. one would assume they would deliver the information they

did. another you heard general ham say. >> as you heard general ham say, calling it a terrorist attack. that's the conversation they had. i'm glad he was forthright coming forward and saying that. bill: this is top secret stuff and it's now declassified. how much more is coming out? >> the bulk of it has been released. i haven't gone through the whole thing to know if they are still holding some back. so we'll wait and see. but there may be more. >> we are out of time. brad wenstrup. thank you, congressman from >> what investigators are preparing to do 7 years after the disease persons of madeleine mccann. bill: an update on the southwest airlines flight landing at the wrong runway. miles from its destination.

bill: 25 past the hour. the pilots holland that southwest airlines flight at the wrong airport have been ground. an investigation underway to determine how that 747 boeing land at the wrong airport. a vacant property had 3 fires in the last five years. iranian president requiring the

west surrenders to day ran. this after a deal that iran cut back on its nuclear program in exchange for easing of sanctions. martha: gregg pal could it live in london on the latest on the search for madeleine mccann. they are making new statement about this case and potentially arresting people. >> reporter: we are looking at a possible break through in the case of the missing british girl. scotland yard said they sent an international request order in portugal for officials to be picked up for questioning. three burglars active in the area when the girl was taken

from her resort bedroom. according to our sister network, mobile phones of the three were red hot meaning very active in the minutes and hours after madeleine went missing. the theory some are working on. it was a burglary that went bad and the child was taken. those same individual were involved in a bungled burglary where a child was involved. martha: interesting. where do we go from here? >> reporter: it's incredible how this crime after all these years is taking the resources of a lot of law enforcement agencies. portuguese authorities were work opening this since 2008, gave it up. scotland yard has been reviewing it, now they have a full board investigation. so far the price tag, $8 million. they want to join forces with

the portuguese. they ran a tv show and got 5,000 call from that. after all these years of investigation while there have been arrests, there has been no one charged. madeleine would be 10 years old right now. the mystery is still have much alive. martha: gregg, thank you very much. bill: you think you have got an idea where it's head and it hits the wall again. martha: given the intensity of that investigation it's interesting they wouldn't have disof covered the phone traffic. bill: members of a reform panel facing tough questions before the senate as we get to the bottom of brand-new claims suggesting the agency does anything to prevent a terror attack. martha: first there was bridgegate.

now we are hearing governor christie is dealing with another scandal that he may have mishandled millions in sandy aid to promote himself while running for election. >> the shore is open. >> because we are stronger than the storm. that's correct. cause i'm really nervous about getting trapped. why's that? uh, mark? go get help! i have my reasons. look, you don't have to feel trapped with our raise your rate cd. if our rate on this cd goes up, yours can too. oh that sounds nice. don't feel trapped with the ally raise your rate cd. ally bank. your money needs an ally.

bill: a fox news alert. knowledge governor chris christie delivers his state of the state address. now question about this ad promoting the jersey shore after super storm sandy. the feds looking into allegations by the critics of christy that he mishandled millions in storm aid. what can we expect today first off, eric? >> reporter: the state of the state address in front of some of the same legislatures that accused chris christie of covering this up. of course he has denied it. the governor is expected to mention the bridge scandal. he's apologized for it. fired a top aide and said he

knew nothing about it. several members on criminal charges against david wild stein, an appointee of the chris christie who took the 50s the last week while testifying in front of a senate committee. bridge edkelly the former chief of staff and campaign manager are expected to be subpoenaed. critics say it strains credibility that the governor did not know about the plan. >> it appear there was a massive abuys of power and attempt to conceal that abuse of power. before we learned of this we all would have believed something like this could not happen. we know we need to change law to make sure it doesn't happen. >> reporter: he he on the day

miss kelly spent that day w alongside the governor. bill: it's not just assembly investigating. who else? >> reporter: the federal authorities are auditing the sandy fund. also the state senate established a special committee. democrat john sweeney issued a statement reading in part, quote, there are still more questions than answers. we can't rest until we know what happened in fort lee. it turn out the chairwoman of that investigative committee happens to be the state senator who represents fort lee. >> thank you, eric it goes round and round. like a turnpike. eric shawn. so the company pushed back. they said we wanted bruce

springsteen or bonjovi, we could not get either. but if you think about at the time, three of the biggest names in new jersey. his popularity was well over 0% d well over 60% to 70%. martha: we'll dig into that a little more in a while. testimony today on dozens of recommendations for the nsa controversial spying programs. this move comes ahead of a big speech the president will give friday where he he he will reveal his reforms and changes to the nsa surveillance program. what about this? a new study claims the nsa has basically next to nothing to stop terror attacks. mike baker is a former cia

covert operations officer. michael welcome back to the program program, good to have you here today. let's start with this study, this study that was done by an organization called the new america foundation that looks into the effectiveness of these programs. you and i spoke about this last week. then the study came out that said of the 225 terrorist acts or attempts acts in the country that they analyzed, the nsa played no role or very little role in the uncovering of those plots. >> a couple things about this. first of all, the new america foundation, a key supporter of the foundation is the george soros' open society. there is an agenda before the report is produced to begin with, i would argue.

another aspect of this is they talk about the investigations that they studied and as you mentioned over 200 of them. but if you drill down into the stats, they indicate that 30% of the investigations that they looked at they couldn't identify what triggered the investigation. meaning they don't know if it was nsa or it was not. that speaks to part of the problem. any time you are assessing the work other success of the intel community by its very nature this information is secret for very good reasons. so you are oftentimes trying to assess the success of an intel community project, a program, without having access to all the data. martha: un. but -- understood. but we know keith alexander said there were 20-some odd cases where he believes the nsa was

instrumental in thwarting terror attacks but we have heard no specifics. a lot of people feel if there were these stories to tell it would behoove them to declassify them in order to make their case. that hasn't been done to a lot of people's satisfaction. also city would mention the privacy issue in this cuts both ways. you have got libertarians fired up on this as well as people in the soros cam. >> you have got republicans and democrats jumping in and i suspect a number of them for political purposes looking at which way the public opinion is flowing at this point. to your point it would behoove e successes. the intel community whether it's the nsa, the cia, they have always been an easy target

because for that very reason they are not in the business of boasting about the things they do well, their successions. people have talked about the white house review group. they looked at it. some very capable people. mike more -- mike morrell, atake all these recommendations. you can form a committee and ask them to report on the efficacy of sliced bread and they will give you a list of 100 recommendations on how to improve it. martha: i believe the american people have a right to know how effective this program is. when you look at the dollars that have been spent on it. we have a 3 bullet points we'll put on the screefn what we expect, and it's not confirmed yet because they haven't given a speasm. the first one is he will extend privacy protection to non-u.s.

citizens. there has been a lot of pushback in france and spain where they don't want this surveillance over their phone calls. the second would be to appoint an advocate for privacy issues for fisa. it seems like the, the fisa board's job to determine whether the evidence outweighs any privacy issue. the third one is that the data should be held by the phone companies instead this multi-billion dollar building that is built with taxpayer dollars in utah. >> the third point you raids, the idea what we are doing do is stop having the nsa hold this meta data and put it in the hand of private third parties. the phone companies. that's basically saying different' important to remember all of these changes are based on we could have potential abuse. the non-partisan review panel

didn't cite a single case of actual abuse. so what the president is talking about, in case there might be at some point some abuse, he isn't saying the program isn't running well. martha: it's an excellent point. i hope they press the issue of efficacy and how effective the program is and perhaps even possibly we'll hear some disclosure about some of them. we heard every detail about the bin laden raid. there are cases where they love to yell from the mountain tops the success of the programs. we'll see what we got. mike, it's always good to see you and have you on the show. bill: insurance companies raising the red flag about the obamacare enrollment numbers. is the system on the verge of collapse? and this ... martha: some bloggers from media outlets slamming this movie

"lone survivor" and calling it war propaganda. fiery reaction to that charge next. [ male announcer ] they're known by a number for years

but by their face...forever. the gillette fusion proglide, for unrivaled comfort even on sensitive skin. gillette -- the best a man can get. [ chicken caws ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight,

fight back fast with tums. eartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum tums! bill: insurance companies expressing concern over obamacare insurance numbers, specifically the lack of young people signing up. only 20% enrolled are between the ages of 18 and 34. juan williams, andrea and tear d andrea tantaros. good day to you. cpr might be necessary. but the defibrillator is going to stay in the clothes for a while? >> put the defibrillator away and reach for the taxpayer wallet. this is no surprise.

from day one the democrats did not have the political courage to make the penalty greater than the premium. so why would young people sign up. i imagine the since companies are pounding down the doors wondering how they are going to make their numbers this year. bill: they were relying on all that business coming their way. >> the administration is likely going to bail out these insurance companies. when people would come on the air and say this thing is going to death spiral. i shake my head and say president obama is going to spend every nickel he can to prop this up and you and i and juan williams is going to pay for it. >> andrea is right, you need more young people to make this system viable. that's why the insurance companies are screaming bloody

murder. but these numbers aren't bad. they want 40%. you have got two months to go until march. what you can anticipate they are going to ramp up the outreach to these people in a big way. in massachusetts at the very end the young people do show up. part of the outreach is going to the sports teams with boston and the red sox and the celtics. bill: i don't know if that sounds like a big stock of lipstick. look at at graphic. 2.1 million. they are not even a third of their target, andrea. >> massachusetts as the lowest number of uninsured in the nation. when juan says outreach, that means expensive ad dollars the taxpayers are going to have to pay for. hhs is sitting on hundreds of

millions of dollars they are going to use to get people into the system. it happened in massachusetts. mitt romney had to go back to the legislature continually to ask for more money to get people enrolled. you can't count people until they have actually paid their premium. bill: do we know how many have paid? >> we do not know. >> the key point here is andrea talks about a bailout. but the system, obamacare has like billions of dollars built in case there is a problem with the risk pool for the first three years. so that's covered. that's anticipated as a possible problem. it's to my mind, what you are looking at is a all the big problems ... i think everybody agrees after the first two months you have got 2.2 million. 44 million that would indicate

there is an appetite for this kind of healthcare. especially among people -- i would say this. young people would say why would they sign up. lots of people don't have insurance. if they don't have insurance -- >> i thought it was supposed to save us money. bill: i hope they foe after the patriots fans and celtics fans and they don't know after pajama boy holding the hot chocolate by the fire. we can allow him to retire. >> you don't have pjs like that, do you, bill? bill: no. see you guys later. >> a possibleo hostage situation was caught on tape. wait until you see the dramatic end to a frightening morning for that woman. ♪

♪ [ male announcer ] you don't have to be a golf pro to walk like one. ♪ when you walk 10,000 steps a day, its the same as walking a professional golf course. humana, proud supporter of health and well-being.

its the same as walking a professional golf course. at a company that's bringing media and technology together. next is every second of nbcuniversal's coverage 0f the 2014 olympic winter games. it's connecting over one million low-income americans to broadband internet at home. it's a place named one america's most veteran friendly employers. next is information and entertainment in ways you never thought possible. welcome to what's next. comcastnbcuniversal.

the pain started up and wrapped around to the front. i couldn't play my bassoon because of the pressure that i felt throughout my whole head. the blistering and the rash was moving down towards my eye. the doctors at the emergency room recommended that i have it checked out by an eye doctor. there was concern about my eyesight. when i had shingles the music stopped.

bill: a don't drive stoned cam bane, and taxpayers are paying for it. marijuana is legal. but for the tv ads and posters and flyers is paid for with federal funding at the cost of $430,000. the ads will warn drivers that driving high is the same as driving drunk and offenders face similar penalties. martha: dramatic video of a hostage standoff that happened in denver, colorado. watch this. the suspect walks out of a 7-eleven with a female hostage in front of him. she has her hand up in front of her in the air. the police draw their guns and make the decision to shoot the

suspect while he is using this woman as a human shield. what a story this is. what happened? >> this is why cops get extra time each week to go to the gun range. the hostage is alive. the gunman is critical. watch as this crime scene comes to an end. this happened yesterday morning. when the suspect was chased by police he entered a 7-eleven. police negotiate for one hour. he won't cooperate. when he tries to use the store using the hostage as a human shield they drop him with a single shot. his head snaps back, he falls to the ground. the hostage runs to safety and her first name is betty. >> it was terrifying, it was

instrumentsful and i wouldn't wish it on my enemies. the police did a great job, i got out alive. i guess they did, huh? >> reporter: some witnesses say while this may have look liked television, but seeing it firsthand and they were shaken up. martha: great job. william, thank you very much. keeping the lights on up in capitol hill. it will only cost a trillion dollars. will the new budget cut anything? we'll find out in minutes. martha: a shock reminder of the dangers of texting and driving. keep this i am imagine your head, folks. we'll be right back.

martha: so it cost a trillion dollars it turns out to keep the lights on essentially on capitol

hill. congress agreeing to a massive spending deal and avoiding, for the time-being, government shutdown. welcome everybody, to a brand new hour of "america's newsroom." i am martha maccallum. bill: i am bill hemmer. good morning. at home or work wherever you are watching us today house leaders set to speak after cutting a new spending deal of more than a trillion dollars. that is 1500 pages. would fund the federal government through the month of october. martha: 1500 pages of spending. unbelievable. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel on capitol hill. we understand we'll hear from speaker john boehner. what will he say this morning? >> reporter: speaker john boehner told republican members, a turning point has been reached and research suggest that is the republicans have upper hand on jobs. he will hammer on the jobs message. it worked for years blaming lack of jobs on the economy on the

bush administration. late last year there is research showing that turning point had been reached. boehner said to house gop member, quote, for the first time a majority of americans believe the troubles in our economy are more the results of the present than the policies of the past. you can expect boehner to hammer away at jobs. you can also expect to get his reaction to the obamacare registration numbers and also to that massive budget deal, martha. martha: i guess a term and another year in, perhaps those polls would reflect the way people are feeling at this point. this comes as leaders in the house and the senate, mike, have agreed to this bipartisan, massive budget deal that we mentioned. >> reporter: that's right. $1.012 trillion, fleshing out the deal struck between paul ryan and patty murray at the end of last year. lear is what it is in it. military pension fix. restoring benefits to those medically retired to the

military, wounded vets. also families of fallen. no new medicare funding. obamacare fundings of. it includes $1.5 billion in aid to egypt there is likely in a 1500 plus page bill something for everybody to dislike and also some things for everybody to like, martha. >> no doubt, mike. thank you very much. we'll see you later. bill: breaking on benghazi now. fox news has gotten the first look at hundreds of pages of top secret documents relating to the attack. transcripts of closed-door hearings with military officials and those transcripts blow a big hole in the original white house story that the killing of four americans was the tragic result of some spontaneous protests. our chief washington correspondent james rosen with a fox news exclusive now. these transcripts, james, take us to the earliest moments, the earliest minutes when the president and top military

officers first learned about the attacks. what do they sew? >> reporter: you're right bill. they show the chain of reporting in early minutes right up to including the president of united states. general carter ham was head of africom, the combatant command with jurisdiction over libya. in top secret testimony ham told the house committee on oversight and investigation, he was notified of the assault on the compound in benghazi within 15 minutes at 9:42 libya time on 9/11/2012. he broke the news to the marten dimsy and defense secretary leon panetta within minutes of the assault commencing. my first call was to general dempsey's office ham testified to say, hey, i'm headed down the hall i need to see him right away. i told him what i knew. we immediately walked upstairs to meet with secretary panetta. of the ham further testified that the nature of the conversation he had with the

nation's two most senior military official that is benghazi was terrorist attack. panetta and dempsey headed to a previously scheduled meeting in the oval office with president obama and briefed him accordingly. these declassified transcripts throughout the pentagon and africom command, benghazi was always known as terrorist attack. check out the exchange of testimony between congressman brad wenstrup, republican from ohio and ma corps colonel, commander of africom's task force trans-sahara region. no one was the military advising that you're aware this was a demonstration gone out of control? it was also considered an attack on united states? bristol, yes, sir, yes, sir. we referred to it as, the attack. bill all this testimony was classified top secret and now declassified. read it for yourself on the house armed services subcommittee website. bill: we had congressman wenstrup last hour and describing what he felt when he heard the hearing.

that is a guy in iraq experience. he served at abu ghraib, west of baghdad. what is lee on panetta saying about this, james? >> reporter: bill, we e-mailed panetta's former chief of staff jeremy bash and still close to the secretary and received no response. last year panetta told the senate armed services committee that he introduced the subject of benghazi in that early session with general dempsey. that he panetta was unequivocal in his own mind that benghazi was terrorist attack. beg as question, panetta, civilian, member of the president's cabinet sat by and publicly over days and weeks to correct public states like this one. >> based on our initial information, and that includes all information, we saw no evidence to pack up claims by other that is this was a preplanned or premeditated attack. that it was, we saw evidence that it was sparked by the reaction to this video.

>> reporter: jay carney, declined to comment to fox news yesterday, bill. bill: more to come. thanks. james rosen, good reporting in washington. martha has more. martha: for more on the bombshell report what the president from the get-go about benghazi and potential fallout, let's bring in steve hayes, writer from "the weekly standard" and good morning. good to have you with us. it occurs to me that the meeting that happened in the oval office that was preplanned and exactly timingwise when initial discussion happened with the president about what was going on the ground there. then you hear jay carney say, contrary to what some people told us about what kind of attack this was, we saw no evidence that it was a terrorist attack. we thought it still may be connected to the movie. so is he talking about the general there? >> yeah. this is pretty extraordinary and to see that jay carney comment some seven days later, six, seven days later denying that there was any evidence, he said we looked at all the information, no evidence to

suggest that this was any kind of a preplanned attack or terrorist attack, is pretty extraordinary. let's recap who was telling the president, who was telling senior obama officials that this was terrorist attack. we now know because of good reporting from jennifer griffin and james rosen this was the view of senior military leaders, the testimony bill was just talking about. we also know on sent 12th the ci aft station chief in libya sent back a memo to the united states pointing out this was indeed a terrorist attack and naming certain groups that he thought were likely involved in that terrorist attack. so you have the pentagon and cia. we also know from emails that had been previously released that state department officials on september 12th were emailing about the fact that this was an ansar al shehri i can't-led attack. so we now have relevant government agencies, all declaring one day after september 11th that this had been a terrorist attack. yet you have the administration as the clip from jay carney

shows, many others like it, you have the administration protending it was all about the spontaneous video. martha: your mind goes to a couple of things, mine does, to the robert gates book in terms of the suggestion that the inner circle at the white house is more knowledgeable and understands more about what's going on in the world than what their political agenda might be and how they want to present things than perhaps the military? >> yeah, i think that is certainly consistent what we've seen from robert gates' book. certainly what we've seen from this administration boeing back five years, if you look at the way that the obama administration has handled these kinds of incidents, whether it was the christmas day bombing, whether it was the times square attack, whether the attacks in benghazi there is inclination always choose the option that leaves the administration least at fault. with the christmas day attack, this was an isolated extremist. for several days even though we knew it wasn't. for the times square attack it

was a lone incident even though we knew the attacker had ties to the pakistani taliban. for benghazi, the choice was this is video. not a preplanned attack, they didn't have al qaeda tie, et cetera, et cetera. the administration or the white house always seems to choose the explanation that leaves them least to blame. martha:down play in many cases appears to be what happens. steve, thank you very much. >> thank you, martha. bill: we're asking our viewers in light of what we're learning, what do you think, do the revelations change your mind about benghazi? send us a tweet this hour @billhemmer, @marthamaccallum. we'll share some of your ideas and some of your thoughts a bit later. >> a lot to chew on right? bill: there certainly is. we'll see whether there is more to come. 10 minutes past the hour, moving to another shot fired in the back and forth between the white house and former defense secretary bob gates over that new, explosive book. gates responding to criticism it is an outright attack on the president while he's in office. listen. >> for a micromanaging

white house, just ought to go look in a mirror. >> meaning? >> meaning maybe they're, maybe they ought to think about the way they do business and, i think it is fair to say that the book is a lot more critical about the people around the president than it is of the president himself. bill: interesting. bob gates there were katie couric at yahoo! news in a cable exclusive rather. former secretary robert gates talks to sean hannity tonight at 10:00 eastern time. you will see that only here on the fox news channel. martha: we will look forward to that tonight. meantime there is new controversy for the hollywood movie on the lone survivor of a taliban ambush in afghanistan. >> i was put in a situation that i had no choice and had to deal with this. i had to confront it head on and it is what it is. it is a movie. it is based on real life experiences and you got to have that fine line right down the middle.

martha: so now some in the media are slamming lone survivor and calling it military propaganda. howard kurtz joins us with his take on that. bill: stunning new video. a driver losing control, i mean in a big way. wait until you hear what caused the driver to do this on. road. martha: plus bill o'reilly says there is only one reason why the media is piling on governor chris christie. >> governor christie is at this point the biggest threat to the democratic party. so we are seeing a personal campaign lodged against him that will not calm down anytime soon. like i do, getting the right nutrition isn't always easy. first, i want a way to help minimize my blood sugar spikes. then, a way to support heart health. ♪ and let's not forget immune support. ♪ but now i have new glucerna advance with three benefits in one. including carbsteady ultra to help minimize blood sugar spikes.

it's the best from glucerna. [ male announcer ] new glucerna advance. from the brand doctors recommend most. advancing nutrition for diabetes.

bill: fox news alert now. the republican leadership in the house now talking about job number one, that is jobs in america. only moments ago house speaker john boehner, as he has so often done over the past four or five years, running many times when he starts statements like you're

about to hear he begins on the economy as he did only moments ago. watch. >> on friday we were reminded once again why the american people continue to ask the question, where are the jobs? the fact is the president has taken his eye off the ball. taken his eye off of the issue of jobs. you know what the unemployed want nothing more in a struggling economy a chance at a good job. why the house is focused on policies that would help create jobs and strengthen our economy and president is serious about wanting to improve the prospects for our economy and higher wages and better jobs all he has to do is pick up the phone and call democrat leaders in the senate and ask them to move one of these dozens of bills that we've sent over there that would help put americans back to work. bill: that was his opening statement. the questions followed that. the dozens of bills he has talking about have fallen on deaf ears on senate side and white house which is allegation speaker boehner alleged again

only moments ago. martha: so bill o'reilly last night saying that the reason why governor chris christie is being targeted so strongly by two investigations and plenty of media coverage is because he presents the biggest challenge to democrats in 201 are passiond state your position firmly and flamboyantly as governor christie does, you become a huge target, especially if you make a mistake. now talking points believe the democratic party does not fear hard right conservatives like senator cruz and senator paul. the left believes there are not enough committed conservative voters elect those men. of course they could be wrong. governor christie is at this point the biggest threat to the democratic party. so we are seeing a personal campaign lodged against him that will not calm down anytime soon. martha: hmmm. that was from last night. governor chris christie could address some of these scandals

and we are hearing that he will, to some degree in his state of the state address that comes later today. byron york, chief critical correspondent at the "washington examiner" and fox news contributor. byron, welcome, good morning to you. >> hi, martha. martha: what do you think? is that the major nexus which all of this comes as bill says? >> it absolutely is. there is no doubt that chris christie is not only leader, frontrunner in the 2016 republican race, set person most political insiders believe would have the best chance running against hillary clinton or anybody else the democrats would run in 2016. knocking him down is assignment one for democrats. we've seen them, they have been working on this bridge thing. it really became huge news after the release of those emails. they have been working on quite a while. pushing on it, this is the d in c, democrats in new jersey. these are opposition groups amazingly enough. one is called american bridge which is a pro-hillary opposition group that has been

working on this for quite a long time. this is a big, big deal for them. martha: when you look at his approval numbers when he was reelected, somewhere upper 70s i believe, he is such a target clearly because he has had, been, loved in large part by many democrats, independents and republicans as well. so let's take a look how the numbers are looking right now. the first one i want to pull up here shows when asked what was the most closely-watched story of the week, this is from pew research, it's a national poll, the governor christie story is down at 18%. of the cold weather got people really excited last week at 44%. this begs the question whether or not this is largely a local story. it gains much broader attention, i think in many ways because new jersey is so close to new york. >> listen, democrats are not at all worried about these polls that show christie so far unaffected. they know it takes a long time

to change public opinion. public opinion, unless there is some huge, huge event. it doesn't turn around on a dime. it takes a long time. they don't have to convict chris christie of anything. if a year from now people, independent voters in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, they look at chris christie, i like that guy but i remember he did something wrong. i don't know what it was but he did something wrong, they will have tarnished him and they will accomplish their goal. martha: i guaranty that, you know, people outside of the metropolitan area who are aware of this story, that many of them have no idea what the details are, what the backstory is. but you're right, they will say, he was connected with something i remember. and what they're going to try to do and this is clear from the investigation will try to pile up those somethings. talking about a story with the jersey city mayor. they will try to put them all together and chris christie will come out at state of the state today, try to move the conversation away from all that, right? >> but they have really got the upper hand here. what we saw this week, what is

really important democrats who control the legislature in new jersey set up a structure, two committees with subpoena power to investigate this. we have huge, hugely-important witnesses like bridget kelly, who is the person who sent the notorious email, time for some traffic in fort lee, but they have a lot of other people to look at. they can stretch this out with subpoenas and testimony and news leaks for a very long time. there is the legitimate purpose of finding out what happens here but there is also the political strategy of stretching this out and extending the damage to the governor. martha: it is ironic where some of it is coming from. john sweeney the democratic leader in new jersey something the president, the governor, excuse me really prided himself worked with to get stuff done. now that appears it is not case. byron, good to talk to you. >> thank you, martha. bill: fox news alert now. police just releasing the dramatic 911 calls that were made only moments after a deadly

carjacking. this happened at a new jersey mall around christmastime. you will hear the hairied voice of the wife of victim after the ambulance was still not on scene 20 minutes after the shooting. ♪ [ male announcer ] to truck guys, the truck is everything. and when you put them in charge of making an unbeable truck, good things happen. this is the ram 1500. the 2014 motor trend truck of the year. ♪ and first ever back-to-back champion. guts. glory. ram.

has a hearing problem. and she's fed up with the daily hassle of her old hearing aid. so she got a lyric in her life and everything changed. which one? you'll never know because the lyric is in her ear. 100% invisible. you can't see it, and it's the only device that works round the clock with zero daily hassle. no batteries to change. no taking off and putting on everyday. sound good? call 1 800 411 7040 now. this is the lyric. lyric fits comfortably right next to your ear drum to deliver truly natural sound quality. in fact, 95% of users

prefer lyric sound quality to their old hearing aid. now the miller twin with lyric can hear and do most everything her sister does 24/7. an invisible hearing aid is wonderful. finding one with zero daily hassle... too good to pass up. call 1 800 411 7040 right now and ask about your risk free 30 day trial. get a lyric in your life.

martha: boy, this is a lesson to anybody who faces the temptation to text while driving. dash-cam video captures this driver in fort myers, florida. watch this scary scene. over he goes. and then climbs out of the door on the right-hand side there when you watch this. turns the corner, basically lost control obviously. he went on to the sidewalk.

he just clip ad poll. thank goodness for him. the driver later admitted he was texting. wasn't paying attention at the time. up with more example how dangerous it is to text and drive. something to think about on your way home, folks. bill: can't say it enough, can we. lucky that mitre was in the way and wasn't the telephone pole. targeting of tea party and other conservative groups and considering big changes how non-profits can function in the world of politics. proposed new rules would restrict their use of things like political ads and get-out-the-vote drives. that is raising concerns about free speech. carl cameron is live in washington. good morning to you. the proposals from the irs are what? >> reporter: they're lengthy. the whole idea is to prevent any kind of recurrence of the scandal that occurred before the 2012 elections when the irs admits inappropriately targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status and basically giving them lots of denials and

delays. the fbi has signaled it will not file criminal charges against irs employees and indicated the problem was not political biased but a badly-run agency that didn't understand the tax exemption laws it was in charge of enforcing. irs is clarifying rules for what tax-exempt social welfare groups can spend and do in campaign and candidate related political activity t would affect groups on both sides of the aisle. political spending activity social welfare groups would be limited no more than 49% of their overall activity in any given year. couldn't run candidate specific ads 30 days before a primary are nor run them 60 days before general election. use of direct mail, voter registration drives, get out the vote efforts, all would be regulated. whether they could hold forum and candidate debates. irs is taking public innut until the end of february. they already said they don't expect to issue new rules before the 2014 midterm. it won't happen this year.

after many more committee hearings they will definitely issue something before the 2016 rivers and that could be a profound chase for the white house. bill: riddle me this, what about free speech, what about the first amendment? >> reporter: free speech is obviously something people think will be threatened by this anytime you take away money it prevents the opportunity to participate. both parties say the new rules are overly restrictive and limit their participation. there are reform supporters who argue if these social welfare groups want to spend more than half of time and money as politics should register as political organization like super pac, would disclose who the donors are and how much. bill: carl cameron on that in washington, d.c. martha? martha: there is some growing outrage today over a high-profile nomination as a cop killer's defender is chosen to be the nation's top civil rights lawyer. bill: also, the push to go to space. reaching new heights. an update on the latest test for virgin galactic. it got higher than before.

the question is whether mccallum and her family of five are going to go. martha: aren't you coming? bill: absolutely. road trip. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you don't have to be a golf pro to walk like one. ♪ when you walk 10,000 steps a day, its the same as walking a professional golf course. humana, proud supporter of health and well-being.

bill: mentioned this a moment ago. fox news alert now. this is chilling material here. police in new jersey have released the 911 calls from last

month's deadly carjacking that happened outside of a busy and popular mall in new jersey during the holiday season. as you're about to hear the frantic wife of the victim desperately asking when help will arrive for her husband. bill: it is really tough to listen to. the police say it took 18 minutes for the ambulance to arrive at the garage. because of the low height of the entrance, it took longer for the responders to get to the victim. does tan friedland dustin friedland died at the hospital. four men who took off with their suv have been charged with murder.

martha: well, president obama's nomination to lead the civil rights division of the justice department has now sparked anger and some outrage in some quarters. police across the nation saying that he is unfit for this job because of his work defending a convicted police killer. shannon bream is live on the story for us in washington with more. good morning, shannon. >> reporter: hi, martha. this isn't the first time the administration reported to nominate him for a critical position. there were report that is the president obama planned to nominate him on the d.c. circuit in 2011, one of the most critical courts in the country. according to ed whelan from the policy center. american bar association to rate and that he didn't pass muster. he is now nominated to be assistant attorney general for civil rights at the department of justice. the widow of that police officer you talked about, daniel

faulkner, who was killed by jamal, and who was represented by him after being sentenced to death says she is stunned. >> i was absolutely outrageed by president obama, to make this decision, to have a man who defended a murderer, someone who murder ad police officer with premeditation and malice, is a radical, is a black panther and, to give him an appointment meant to mom name him to the department of justice. it is a disgrace. >> reporter: he says he was simply doing his job as a legal advocate while defending jamal on a technical legal matter. here is what he said during questioning before the senate judiciary committee last week. >> ultimately several federal courts found that the jury had not been properly instructed and there was in fact a constitutional violation.

it was on that basis that the death sentence was thrown out and, mr. jamal was resentenced to life without parole. >> reporter: fraternal order of police is blasting the nomination in a letter. president says his nominee is reason, quote, the country's most notorious cop killer had his death sentenced tossed out. martha? martha: what a story. shannon, thank you. bill: for more, radio host richard fowler and syndicated radio host lars larsen. good morning to both of you. i'm assuming this goes forward. what do you think of that, if it indeed does? >> i think he has no business being the head of civil rights for doj. remember, i've been covering this case more than 20 years. the murder goes back of course more than 30 years. the murder of a police officer, and in the performance of his duties and abu-jamal and walks up to gun him down in cold blood. he is fairly convicted. the court bent over backwards for this guy. the naacp jumps in and voluntary

says let's see if the death sentence can be overturned t stinks. this man has no business being anywhere near the doj. bill: i take it confirmation should not be fronted? >> it should not be granted. bill: richard, should it be granted? >> it should be granted. no matter what we think about the dibo has the right to get his team. the senate's job is only to confirm nomination made by president of the united states. not to mention the fact this lawyer was just doing his job. he was arguing the legal merits of a constitutional matter. he was not arguing the merits of the case which is complete, total distinction between the two. bill: okay. now, lars, if you're to consider that, defense attorney, can you understand that? >> what richard is suggesting is that the congress should simply rubberstamp anything the president such supposes which is not what the constitution says. bill: richard, because you might have the right, should you? i mean, you know how red hot

this story is, even 20 years later. >> i hear that, bill. but at end of the day i think you heard his congressional testimony. he was very clear. he was articulating a argument, constitutional matter. he wasn't arguing the merits of the case. how our legal system is structured at appeals court you only argue whether or not somebody's constitutional rights were violated. in this case the court felt his rights were violated. the judges made that decision, not this guy who -- bill: richard would you be cool if this went for another attorney, someone not as constitutional? >> the president should get his team. this all boils down to, must be pubs play politics when the president gets what he wants. not like going for judicial nomination. he will be very, small role at the department of justice and he is going to carry out the president's mission and president should have people to carry out his mission. bill: symbolic one. lars, last word. >> one last thought, as head of civil rights if he gets

confirmed he will use the resources doj to try to free to the most tore russ cop killers. >> that is not true at all. you know that. bill: thank you, lars. richard. it was brief. we're out of time. thank you, gentlemen. martha? martha: it has been a big and somewhat surprise hit at the box office. the movie about a team of navy seals facing the taliban in afghanistan but some in the media calling it not, saying that it is basically not fair and balanced. howard kurtz with reaction to that. bill: you think you love your football team? this pastor really, really loves the san francisco 49ers. do not miss what might be the shortest sunday sermon ever. >> go in peace and love and serve the lord. >> okay, we will. thanks be to god. >> and, i'm out of here.

bill: perhaps you heard after

quick gameday sermon. how about 62 section. that happened on sunday minutes best kickoff between the san francisco 49ers and the carolina panthers. it is so good it went viral. so quick too. >> go in peace and love and serve the lord. >> okay, we will. thanks be to god. >> yes, and, i'm out of here! bill: take that, colin kaepernick. pastor tim christensen at his lutheran church in butte, montana. showing off the favorite colors and explained devotion on the game on sunday. >> my dad was a season ticket holder. moved to san francisco from rural northern california when i was 12. in '72 i went to a game. i've been 49er faithful ever since. bill: tim's 49ers beat the panthers. they face seattle sunday but they're 3 1/2 point underdogs on the road. the winner goes to the super bowl. martha: we'll see, right?

there is new controversy after a editorial calls the movie "lone survivor", military propraganda. the film chronicles the story of the only navy seal to come out of that operation alive after an intense taliban ambush in afghanistan. so this journalist writing quote, this is from "the atlantic." all war films have heroes for understandable reasons to give audiences someone to root for and because soldiers often really are heroic. when a film like "lone survivor" transforms navy seals into infallible super men, tragically bested, it suggests that these men are role models only in death and it was war that made them noble and heroic. war isn't great. war makes you great. what is such a sentiment is not pro-war. so the mother of one of the navy seals killed during that operation, matthew axelson, in 2005, disagrees with this idea. >> these are men and women who

want to do this. who believe in america and want to protect us from additional 9/11 kinds of attacks and has nothing to do with politics. it has to do with the courage and bravery of our military men and women. martha: very emotional interview this morning with mrs. axelson i'm joined by howard kurtz, fox news media analyst and host of media buzz. that@atlantic piece is not only one out there. there were several other bloggers i came across this morning who had similar message, some of them harsher that it was military propaganda. what do you think of that? >> what a heart-breaking story this is. way men were killed, one survivor coming to the cinema. it is impossible to think about this to not be deeply moved by their courage and bravery, but when you take that story and make it into the a movie, i read the atlantic piece, and i thought there was a lot of antiwar sentiment motivating the

writer, when you make a movie presenting it to the public, you are opening up to criticism. you're not necessarily anti-american troops if you say, it doesn't quite work as a movie or it is too simplistic or the characters are not sufficiently developed. it is in the end a movie. martha: in this case, this movie is talking about a very real operation, an operation that mike murphy, the lieutenant who, you know, scaled this unbelievable cliff, to send a signal out to get help for the others, knowing that he will be shot up on that mountain, he received the congressional medal of honor posthumously. this is not a made-up story and the lone survivor who wrote the book says it is as close as it possibly could be without the actors having to die up on that mountain. so this, this back and forth, it does seem, you know, it is not a novel. it's a not a made-up story or not a story extrapolated from a

made-up story it is the real story. it is not made to be they're inpa fallible super men, you can decide whether they are supermen, you might posit. >> no one is criticizing the bravery of the men, ones who survived and those who did not. it is movie criticism for a reason, they are critics. >> this is what i'm getting at, howard. different than criticism go after the direction or the screenplay or acting, but that is not what we're seeing in all of these blogs. we're seeing something different. oh, all war movies are propaganda. >> that is what i was trying to say. i read some other reviews which i think did salute to use a military term the brave men and what went on here but then talk about the director and maybe he didn't frame it right and should have been better character development, that is fair game. martha: absolutely. >> this "atlantic" piece you highlighted seems to be so much about the writer's opinion and

his own revulsion for war he thinks as pro-war, he thinks glorifying war and i didn't see it that way at you will. he is entitled to say what he wants and he certainly, relatives, family members of those who were left lined are certainly entitled to feel outraged about it. martha: there have been other instances, "zero dark thirty", which at first was criticized for being a propaganda material for the white house, that they told the story, you know, sort of make the president look good after bin laden raid. it was turned out to be criticized for opposite and glorifying military and navy seals and. >> torture. martha: torture which was a huge element of that argument. you have "24", "homeland", feels like anytime these stories put a positive light on the work being done to protect the country it is seen somehow trying to convince us the military is good thing, that war is a good thing, that protecting the nation at my

cost is good thing. >> i don't think that is entirely true. some of these you mentioned gotten rave reviews. when you have fiction or docu-drama or there are plots, then i think you're opening more up to the normal criticism because not based on a true story as this movie about these brave navy seals clearly was. martha: howard, thank you very much for being here. >> thank you, martha. martha: back to you, bill. bill: martha, thank you. couple minutes, "happening now" rolls your way. jenna lee is standing by for more on that. what is cooking there, jenna. >> lot to talk about today. new numbers who is signing up for obamacare. it is not the young folks the white house is hoping for. what does that mean for a quote, unquote, bail out of the insurance companies as part of the law? we'll talk more about it. dramatic new details in the benghazi terror attack getting a lot of attention. what the president was told and why the military didn't respond quicker and what could have been con different at top of the hour. bill: see you at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. there is a company that wants

you to go to space and it wants to drive. that company says it is one step closer to making it all happen. more of that cool video and what you would get for a ticket to ride. ♪ [ woman #1 ] why do i cook? because an empty pan is a blank canvas. [ woman #2 ] to share a moment. [ woman #3 ] to travel the world without leaving home. [ male announcer ] whatever the reason. whatever the dish. make it delicious with swanson.

bulldog: out with the old out with the old and in with the new! mattress discounters' year end clearance sale ends monday! puppy: what's this red tag mean? bulldog: through monday, save up to 40% on clearance mattresses. puppy: oh, here's another. bulldog: that means up to $300 off serta, posturepedic, even tempur-pedic. puppy: i found another red tag! bulldog: what! where? puppy: right here, silly. ha-ha-ha! bulldog: tickles! mattress discounters' year end clearance sale ends monday. ♪ mattress discounters

bill: so they say they have reach ad milestone high above the mojave desert putting commercial spaceflight one step closer to reality. watch here on the video. >> nine, eight, seven, six, our, three, two, one. bill: then it goes silent. that is what happens in space. virgin galactic spaceship 2 completing a successful test flight launching from aircraft.

it is rocket-propelled to more than three times the speed of sound. eventually soaring more than 71,000 feet in altitude. richard branson by the way is behind all of this. we have the managing editor for space.com. good morning to you. okay, what has the company been able to to do they can do so far? >> what they have built a space plane. it is a reusable spacecraft. it will carry eight people, six pilots, two passengers to the edge of space and back. what they saw with the last flight, third time they have gone supersonic, more than mach 1. they have gone highest yet. 71,000 feet still. not 62 miles they need to go. bill: they're a little by the ways away. what we're looking at that is the spacecraft, right. >> that's right. bill: there is another craft that drops off of it and that propels forward to what mach 1 1/2 i believe or? >> the spacecraft is the little one that drops off. that is the one that will carry people up into space and bring

them back. the big ship you see carrying it, that is the mothership. it will take it to launch altitude, tens of thousands of feet up. it basically gives them a jump-start to get into space. it is easier to get into space from that altitude. bill: you cover this stuff every day. branson is saying it will happen. can you say it will happen. >> in 2004 when sir richard branson announced this it was a pie-in-the-sky. hadn't been built. a very tiny version of this ship made a test flight with one guy aboard. here we are almost 10 years later and they have the, the ingredients for commercial spaceflight. 2 could happen this year. bill: price tag would be what? >> $250,000 right now. branson said that could go down a little bit. bill: a little bit of spare change, right pocket or left pocket. >> they have hundreds of celebrities already signed up. bill: they do? >> they do. bill: hundreds? >> that's right. bill: what do you get for

$250,000? what is the experience? >> from the start to the end it's a big package. at beginning there will be spaceflight training. they have facilities they haven't out in virginia as well as their own types of things they're building. you will get trained for space. go in assimilate tore. get fitted for a spacesuit. they will have the flight suits you get, personalized ones. you get the launch it is two hour ride up to launch altitude in the spaceship. they drop you. you accelerate superfast. go up into space and see the blackness. and it will turn around. bill: what will? >> the spacecraft. it will pitch over because right now it launches up with the bottom facing the earth. it will turn over so these great windows -- that. >> is kind of cool. but for 250,000-dollars you get what, a three-hour experience. >> you get to say you have gone to space where no one has gone before for a ticket, right? bill: would you do it? >> if i had the money i would, you know, pretty nice looking

spaceship. bill: you say you can see the curve have turf earth. you can see that with a good plane today. >> you can. bill: why would you need this. >> part is the cool factor. if you have got the funds for it. it is experience, not just the view but you're actually on a rocket ship, not an airplane. you're getting higher than a airplane gets. bill: this will happen in 2014. >> i would not be surprised. bill: we'll call branson and get him on tv. tariq malik. space.com. martha, what is next? martha: next is this. there are stunning new revelations what the president knew about benghazi according to documents just revealed yesterday. when did know it and whether the military ever had a shot at helping the four americans killed that night. we'll be right back. huma. even when weross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance,

auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

jon: so you know what i'm thinking we do do? take "america's newsroom" on the road and fly to space. martha: it is not the road once you get up that high. right up there in the air. bill: run out of road. martha: but i will go.

"happening now" starts right now. we'll see you later and tomorrow morning. bye, everybody. jenna: breaking news on today's top headlines and brand new stories you will see here first. jon: convicted killer jody arias back in court awaiting a whole new trial. this will determine whether she lives the rest of her life in prison or her execution is coming on by the state. plus, what investigators say sparked this massive five-alarm fire. new information keeping teens healthy. are reality shows a helpful tool? it is all "happening now." jon: and to our top story. a new bombshell report says that president obama knew that day that the deadly benghazi attack was an act of terrorism. good morning to you, i'm jon scott. jenna: hope you're off to great day, everybody, i'm jenna lee. newly declassified testimony by top