that would explain why the sleeves are so long. >> twice as long. >> yeah. i'm wearing my son's shirt. >> we like that. >> better your son's shirt and bill: getting dressed in the dark, dude. morning, everybody. fox news alert. this will be a massive change in our immigration laws. president obama set to use executive power effectively to legalize five million immigrants in our country already. this will be a big part of our coverage this morning. welcome to "america's newsroom." good morning, martha. martha: good morning bill, everybody. i'm martha maccallum. the president is set to make the announcement in prime time, 8:00 p.m. eastern. the new "wall street journal" poll shows this, nearly half of americans are against the move. 48% oppose it. the executive action the president is expected to take and 38 support. bill: republicans are going ballistic, saying the president

is acting like a monarch than commander-in-chief. >> he has absolutely no write through executive order to write new immigration law. so i am very much opposed to it. history will treat up kindly on this if he thinks he can become king. bill: rough lowery, joins us this morning. >> hi, bill. bill: five million undocumented immigrants will be protected from deportation. expands protection for illegal immigrants who came to the u.s. as children. no health care subsidies for new immigrants under obamacare. no time implementation is announced but will take about two months plus. if you believe this goes forward as we expect, this will be a defining moment in his presidency and beyond. explain. >> absolutely. it will almost certainly set out the political fight for the remainer of his press den did i and perhaps echo down through american history longer than

that because this is a president really setting out new territory for presidential powers in effect saying the president of the united states can unilaterally rewrite laws without the participation of congress. that is a huge deal. bill: his defenders will say what? they will argue on legal ground he is okay to do this because? >> yes. they will say he has prosecutorial discretion. this is just an exercise of that. which is a very real thing, especially in the area of immigration. you don't have the resources to prosecute everyone so you have to make decisions who you will go after. this is something different. this is not saying we'll not enforce the law on a certain category of people. it is saying we'll affirmatively expend resources to give people benefits like work permits and legal i.d.s which is what makes it a leap much further than just prosecutorial discretion. bill: we heard from republicans already. i expect a lot more reaction throughout the day especially tomorrow once everything becomes official. they will likely do what, do you

believe? >> bill, almost certainly sets up a funding fight that may lurch into a government shutdown. we'll hear republicans debating all sorts of options in addition to that going forward. perhaps not confirming an attorney general for the rest of his term. perhaps not inviting him to give the state of the union. and will even hear talk of impeachment. bill: wow. rich lowery leadi our coverage. thank you, rich. >> thanks, bill. bill: here's martha. martha: the president said repeatedly he can not just change the law and that even if he could he thought it wouldn't be fair to do so but that is exactly we understand he plans to do tonight. what does the white house have to say about that. white house press secretary josh earnest will join us 9:30 eastern live to talk about that. bill: what would you ask the white house today, what would you ask the president, what would you ask democrats that support this move? send us a tweet @billhemmer,

@marthamaccallum. we'll talk to you on twitter next couple hours. josh ernest 27 minutes away from now. >> we'll look forward to that and from you what your questions for him will be. breaking overnight a shooting on campus at florida state university. a gunman stormed a library packed with students studying for exams ahead of the thanksgiving break and opened fire. >> there has been a shooting in the library. stay where you are. we'll be coming to each floor and clear it and take care of everybody. anybody has a -- if anybody has been shot, call 911 on your cell phone. if you are not been shot or do not know if somebody is armed, do not call 911. >> how scary for these kids. look at them in the library at their university terrified no doubt. of the police killed the gunman before anyone else was hurt. david lee miller in our new york newsroom on this. david lee, what is the situation on the campus as of right now?

>> reporter: martha, the threat hats been officially been declared over. as you would expect there is increased security on campus. all classes and exams canceled for today. this incident began a little around 12:30 this morning at the school library. the library at that time was packed with hundreds, as many as 400 students studying for exams. three students were wounded. two were taken to area hospital where they are now in critical and stable condition. the third student was only lightly-grazed by a bullet. word of the attack spread quickly throughout the entire campus. >> we heard a gunshot. you got a text message saying there is a shooting of then we started hearing sirens. >> we just, like we had friend in there and went to go see if everyone is okay. >> you hear about all the shootings on news. >> and never think it will happen. just happens, literally half a mile. >> reporter: the school is offering counseling to students and staff. now trying to cope with the tragedy.

martha? martha: so what do we know about this gunman? was he a student? was he somebody they recognized? what was his motive? >> reporter: so far authorities have not released any information about the gunman's i.d. or motive. when police arrived at the scene, they found a man with a handgun outside of the library. he was told to drop his weapon. instead he opened fire, that is when he was killed. one witness says the gunman was on the ground with blood spreading on his pants leg. he was face down with a gray basketball cap not far away. authorities say the gunman acted alone but many more questions remain. >> we're going to continue the investigation. it will take not only hours but days to put all the pieces together. obviously everyone wants to know why. that is the hard question we'll continue to investigate and try to find those answers for everybody. >> reporter: it is not known if the gunman was a student. the florida state university campus is only a mile from downtown tallahassee as well as florida's state capital

building. martha? martha: david lee, thank you very much. bill: got another alert here now from the tally is now up to eight. eight people dead after this epic winter storm blast, a month before the actual season begins. work crews are starting to dig out as more snow is on the way. not just a little bit either. check this out. video from a drone giving an aerial view of the blizzard above buffalo. whole areas blocked by six feet of snow on the ground. weather radar says it is not over yet. some areas might see eight feet of snow by tomorrow. that is entire season in three days. chief congressional, or chief core respond end jonathan hunt, i gave you upgrade. in new york city. round two is underway. >> reporter: anything to do with congress is distinctly downgrade, bill. bill: understood. >> reporter: round two is certainly on the way. another three feet today which will take it in some parts of

buffalo to a total of eight to nine feet of snow. there are currently something like 4,000 homes without power. there are miles of upon miles of the new york state through-way still shut down. still a lot of vehicles out there although officials believe they got to all the passengers in those vehicles. now there have been more deaths, as you said. and eight confirmed today. a man in his 60s who had a heart attack while using a snow blower. just goes to emphasize the dangers of these residents having to clear out. and now one of the biggest dangers is the risk of roof collapse. with five to six feet of snow sitting on many roofs, a lot more to come, many roofs already collapsed. more are in danger of doing so. officials are saying everybody has to be very careful and neighbor should help neighbor, bill. bill: holy cow. some amazing rescue stories.

we already heard and more to come likely. >> reporter: one of may favorites. jared and beth look at them in the hospital with their daughter lucy. that is not where lucy grace was born. when mom realized the baby was on the way, they couldn't make it to the hospital but they did find a firefighter nearby. he managed, by coincidence to find a couple of nurses also stranded nearby. the entire party went to the firehouse and that's where baby lucy grace was born. we are told that mom and daughter and even father are doing well today, bill. bill: she is snow angel. nice. we're not sending you to washington. that's okay. >> reporter: thank you, sir. bill: you're safe here. thank you, jonathan. martha: one woman didn't even have to go outside to get a taste of this storm. look at this! oh, my. storm so deep and heavy, the snow, it broke down the back door of her house and came inside of her house. notice the little dog in the

lower left-hand corner. wondering what is going on and get out of the way because more may come through. to look at spacial height context. former nba star yao ming stands seven feet tall. he would need a shovel to find his way out. bill: bills plan on taking jets on 1:00 eastern. they need to clear this field before kickoff. so the team is offering cash and tickets with anyone with a strong back and big shovel willing to help out. pay is 10 bucks an hour. they need 500 people working in triple shifts to keep ralph wilson stadium snowe-free. you have to get to the stadium first. that will be must-see tv come sunday afternoon. martha: get out there kids. 10 bucks an hour. pretty good deal, right? bill: will be warm inside. martha: absolutely. president obama said no less than 25 times he simply can not

as president change the law no matter how much he might want to when it comes to immigration. that is what he plans to do tonight. why is making such an about-face on this issue. we'll ask the white house to justify that move. bill: backlash over jonathan gruber continues. mit professor who called american voters too stupid to understand obamacare just got the boot from his latest, highly-paid project. details on that. martha: very sad news today out of hollywood. filmmaker mike nichols passed away overnight. we'll take a look back at mike nichols' live and his most iconic flips. >> for god's sake, mrs. robinson. here we are. you got me into your house. you give me a drink. you put on music. now you start opening up your personal life to me and tell me your husband won't be home for hours. >> so? >> mrs. robinson, you're trying to seduce me.

martha: embattled obamacare architect jonathan gruber taking a hit in the wallet now following his comments about deceiving the american public in order to pass the health care law. the state of vermont has essentially fired him. they ended his contract on health care consulting gig he was doing there. vermont already paid him $160,000 to help restructure their health care system. he was slated to receive $240,000 more dollars through february 2015 this is small part of the $6 million that he has earned through state and government contracts.

bill: president obama now being accused of flip-flopping. saying 25 times he did not have the authority or the legal power before suddenly changing his tune on immigration. want to talk about this now with doug schoen, former advisor to president clinton and monica crowley, online opinion editor for "the washington times." both are fox news contributors the hello to both of you. >> good morning. bill: wow, i'm just, there is some irony in this. i want you to listen to this clip from july 2010. this is during an immigration speech, okay? roll it. >> i believe such an indiscriminate approach would be both unwise and unfair. it would suggest to those thinking about coming here illegally that there will be no repercussions for such a decision. and this could lead to a surge in more illegal immigration. and it would also ignore the millions of people around the world who are waiting in line to

come here legally. bill: and he just made monica crowley's argument, presto. >> i'm not surprised at all. i've been talking about the truth about this man for six years, bill. this is man for six years as president who constantly aside the constitution, the law, the congress, public opinion, to effect what he had wanted. and what he wants. in this case i think this is particularly egregious example. this is bypass of congress and actual defiance of congress to issue a blanket amnesty. the chief executive's role is not to write laws or change them in any way. there is proper political process. that is what he was referring to in all the comments when he said over the years he doesn't have the constitutional authority do it. yet when first year of presidency had big majority in both houses he could have done anything he wanted he didn't do it. he will go over the heads of american people and people and write the laws himself this is constitutional crisis and abuse of power.

bill: doug. >> imagine as a democrat have somewhat different but complimentary to monica's. i want comprehensive immigration reform and secure borders and pathway to citizenship. many of our viewers may take a different view. what is paramount is what monica is speaking about. which is constitutional process. the president was right to say in 2010 when he did. now the country is more polarized. people are more angry after the midterm election to try not to seek common ground with the republicans on legislation, even in the short term, speaks to his frankly, just cynical approach, his political approach and i think what will really divide and further pole rise an already dispirited nation. bill: wow. when they say this would poison the well, the well is nearly drowning in poison very soon. >> precisely. bill: last week when john boehner said, you play with fire you're going to get burned. now we wait for the next shoe to

drop on this "wall street journal" had a poll after the election, who do you want to lead america, you want congress to do it or the president to do it? 53% a clear majority, said congress, not the president. >> striking turnaround. republicans always poll lower than democrats when you do a generic question. this is huge turnaround. you hire a president for leadership. you hire him to faithfully execute the laws of the nation. that is what the constitution said. this man just not in this example but repeatedly, this is the straw breaking camel's back with a lot of american voters and people paying attention. they put up with a lot of extra constitutional, even unconstitutional nonsense from this president. this is so big. this has the potential not only to defy congress and people's representatives, bill, but to directly and indirectly affect every single american. if you will legalize five million new people who are going to enter the workforce, okay, who are going to, for the most part, end up voting democrat when they get those voting rights, this will affect the very character and nature of the

country which is exactly why obama is doing it. >> he is doubling down on his political base. the sad thing is, rather than after a congressional defeat, a blowout a shellacking, trying to find common ground on the whole range of problems we're facing, there is a really cynical attempt, as i think monica was putting it, to divide as a means of getting short-term political benefit. he knows what is going to happen. he knows this -- bill: what is going to happen, doug in your view. >> legislative polarization. conflict in the courts over his order. more immigrants, frankly, bill, chaos. it is wrong, it shouldn't happen and i think really people of both parties need to -- bill: that from a democrat. >> that is the intent. we tend to still barack obama if this is normal presidency. this is not a normal presidency, case in point. bill: monica thank you, doug, thanks to you as well. more reaction in a moment. martha has that. martha: coming up we'll hear

from the white house, press secretary josh earnest joins us next to talk about what is in the president's plan and their response to the backlash that you just heard. but first, yet another security incident near the white house. officers taking a suspect into custody. this is just on the heels of hearings we had. we'll tell you what he has done and being charged with coming up. bill: crash test dummies, the results, troubling to say the least. ♪

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start building your fit2me program today using key areas of diabetes management. let's start with food. mexican? asian? italian! want recipes that reduce calories? or carbs? which activity feels more like you? cardio? or couch curls? choose a digital coach. tough love? or a gentle nudge? you can even get a tool kit with treatment options to discuss with your doctor. fit2me also inspires you through games and team challenges. so what kind of plan will i stick with? my plan! get your plan. go to fit2me.com and enter the on-screen code word to get started. bill: there has been another security incident near the white house this one about a block away. secret service arresting a 41-year-old man after finding a rifle, ammunition and six-inch knife in his car.

he apparently told an officer, quote, someone in iwa told him to go to the white house. officers say the man did not make any threats but they searched his car and took him into custody as a precaution. >> new report researchers testing a number of popular minivans for safety in the front end coalition scenario. three of those family vehicles got really low marks. leland vittert picks up the story live from washington. what can you tell us about these reports? >> three of five got poor marks, martha. of all cars you would think minivans should be some of the safest out there. think again. insurance institute for highway safety rammed a number into a filing -- piling, what they call small overlap test. these cars are going 40 miles per hour to simulate a real world situation hitting bridge abutment, telephone pole or another car with someone dritting over the center line. >> this point here moved nearly two feet toward the driver,

trapping left leg between the seat and instrument panel. we had to cut the seat out in order to remove the dummy and need ad crowbar to pry the right "footloose." forces measured on left leg were so high, a real person experiencing that would be lucky to walk normally again. >> reporter: here are the ratings themselves after the crashes. chrysler town and country, dodge grand caravan and nissan quest all received poor ratings. toyota sienna, acceptable and honda odyssey was good rating. why the ratings are so low. experts say minivans are built on car chassis but inherently wider and heavier than cars, making for a very bad physics experiment. martha: keeping on subject of car safety, leland what is going on the recall over exploding airbags. >> reporter: a lot. congress will try to figure out today as they bin hearings on the takata airbag recall. it appears faulty airbags may be

in roughly 14 million vehicles. takata makes airbag inflators. reports are indicating 100 injuries and multiple deaths from stuff exploding out of the airbags, including rusty metal shards. "the new york times" led a lot of reporting. they accused takata making faulty deflators and conducting secret tests covering up results. takata denies that. that is something that congress will get to the bottom of as this hearing begins in just a couple of hours. martha: we'll see what they say. leland, thank you very much. bill: drone sightings in the sky near one of america's busiest airports. now the faa is on the case. we'll tell you what they're finding. martha: and president obama taking a lot of heat over his planned announcement for an executive action on immigration. why is he doing something that he repeatedly said he did not have the capability to do as president? we'll talk to white house press secretary josh earnest when he joins us live after the break. >> he won't even allow this new american congress to convene

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bill: fox news alert now. we have new numbers on unemployment now out. numbers of americans applying for jobless benefits in the week came in 291,000. a hire number than economists would like but under the 300,000 mark. some u.s. companies feeling better about the economy holding on to the american worker as a result. >> so the president will announce his executive action on immigration during a prime time address tonight at 8:00 p.m. this after the president repeatedly said for years it was not within his power to do just that. listen. >> i believe such an indiscriminate approach would be both unadvise and unfair. -- unwise and unfair. sometimes when i talk to immigration advocates, they wish i could just bypass congress and change the law myself but that is not how democracy works.

the problem is that you know, i'm the president of the united states. i'm not the emperor of the united states. my job is to execute laws that are passed. >> white house press secretary josh earnest joins me now. josh, good morning. >> good morning, martha. martha: good to have you. you heard all the statements. you heard them the past few days. the question is what has changed? what changed the president's mind on this issue so completely? >> well there are a couple of things have changed, martha. first is, importantly one thing hasn't changed which the president can't take all the steps that were included in the bipartisan bill that passed by the united states senate about a year-and-a-half ago. so there are a number of things that won't get done through these executive actions but president is determined to use all of the, all of the authority that he has vested in the presidency to take the steps that can, try to fix some of the problems that everybody acknowledges that exist inside of our broken immigration system. this is consistent with steps

taken by president reagan, president george h.w. bush and other presidents over the course of history that used executive power to address props with our broken immigration system. president obama is doing the same thing and -- martha: let me ask you about that. based on the president's own words you just heard, i would imagine when those moves were made, and many people think they're very different from the sweeping moves the president is about to make, that this president, that we heard in those sound bites must have vehemently disagreed with actions by reagan and bush if he felt the way he did. it would be unwise and unfair and wouldn't be fair to those people waiting in line. no matter how decent their are, the 11 million people who broke the laws should be held accountable. what happened to that. >> let's be real clear, martha, what the president's view is. the president believes individuals who were are in the country and come out of the shadows and get right with the law. they should go back to the back of the line. they should pay taxes and should learn english. we should be clear about what the president's view is when it comes to treatment of those

individuals. the fact is, legislation passed again with bipartisan fashion through the senate, strong support by the senate, supported by business community, labor community, evangelical community, even law enforcement that is a piece of legislation would deal with the individuals in orderly fashion to bring them out of the shadows. unfortunately house republicans have blocked the piece of legislation prevented us from dealing with them. house republican leaders perpetuated a terrible problem everybody acknowledges that exists. president will use authority he has to solve the problem. martha: josh, you can say that but the fact is, the president had wide berth to do this first two years of his presidency. he had complete control on capitol hill and could have passed legislation then. why did he do it again. >> couple reasons, martha. we were dealing with the worst economic downturn since the great depression. we had a few things on our plate. the fact of the matter -- martha: quite a few things now as well. some people why he would take on immigration now when we have so many global issues they feel are more important at this moment.

why not wait for congress to tackle it in january with the new crew? >> we would would be happy to do that and we will do even after the president takes executive action. truth the matter the speaker of the house is not committed to bringing up this piece of legislation. that's why we're in this place in the first place. the president rolled up his sleeves and worked with democrats and republicans in senate to pass a bipartisan, compromise, common sense piece of legislation would be good for the economy, booed for reducing deficit, would make investment in border security. why the business community, labor community, law enforcement community, evangelicals support that legislation. it is being blocked by house republicans right now. >> i guess the question becomes, that may be the case exactly as your saying but the question becomes, the president said before that he simply didn't have the authority. he said i'm not an emperor, i'm not a king. as much as i would like to change these things if i don't have congress on my side i simply can't do it yet exactly what he is doing now. >> martha, the some steps the president can't take because they require legislation. we continue to call on congress to pass that bill.

there are some steps that the president can take. he will announce them tonight. what we'll also make clear is that we'll make clear legal justification for those steps. that legal justification will be entirely consistent with steps taken by president reagan and president george h.w. bush. martha: as i understand it, it will entail falling under prosecutorial discretion. basically you can delay deportment for up to five million people. is that correct? >> well, martha i'm not going to get ahead of the president. the president has an important announcement your viewers here on fox can watch at 8:00 p.m. eastern. i encourage them to tune in straight from the president what steps he will actually take. martha: he said in 2010 that to put an end to deporttation until we have better laws. i believe such an indiscriminate approach would be both unwise an unfair. he said back then to deaye lay deporttation would be unwise and unfair. from everything we're understanding that is the way he will get around the law tonight, to say he is using prosecutorial discretion. you're saying that is not the case. that is not what he is going to

say or you won't confirm that is what he will say. >> i will let the president make the announcement he will make tonight from the oval office. martha: talk politics for a moment of the a lot of people look at this and say, the president said after the election that he understood, he got the message, he saw there was a sweeping republican victory, that really was sending a big message. a lot of folks look at this move say, wow, why would you do this now? why would you poison the well so to speak rather than wait until january and see what you can get out of this new group? >> well, again, martha, because the speaker of the house, republican speaker of the house, who has blocked common sense immigration reform for the last two years, was asked right after the election whether or not he would commit to bringing up immigration reform legislation in the new congress and he wouldn't do it. so the fact of the matter is, no reason to think that the new -- martha: you haven't given them a chance yet though. >> because we had actually given them a chance. martha: these people may have some influence on john boehner. they might say are look let's

make this something we can do in many ways it might neutralize impact democrats would get by doing it if republicans jumped on board. whatthe possibility. >> two things on that. there actually still does continue be a possibility for john boehner to relent. there is piece of legislation passed in bipartisan fashion by united states senate. sported by business community, law enforcement community, evangelical community. john boehner can allah the legislation to come up in the house. if he does that. president will crumple up that legislation he is signing tonight and that bill is good for the law. it would be good for the border security. the president would support it. even after the president takes executive action if response from republicans is we can't stand at the executive action we'll pass legislation. if the legislation is close to the executive action he will sign it. if republicans get their act together and john boehner changes his mind to work in

collaborative and bipartisan fashion to do something the whole country supports. the president would be happy to sign that bill. if it meets the principles notice senate bill already passed the president would be happy to sign that bill and supersede the executive action he is announcing tonight. tonight's action represents a first step. does not eliminate the responsibility that congress has to actually confront this important priority. martha: what do you say to those who say the president is trying to poison the well? he is open hoping there will be dramatic reaction from the gop. they will try to defund the issue or even go as far as impeachment or you know, shutting down the government? what do you say about that? >> i say that is not what the president wants. it is not what the president sports. the president has indicated there will be areas where we disagree. we have seen congress over the course of the last couple of years vote more than 50 times to defund obamacare and not once have you heard me or anybody else who works in the senior position in this administration come forward and say that has poisoned well. because of that vote we're not longer going to work with house republicans. that is many completely

unreasonable position. we'll disagree on things. i'm not suggesting that republicans should fold on their principles. what i'm suggesting we shouldn't allow disagreement or one issue to be deal breaker over every other issue. we can work together on tax reform. there is common ground to be found. there the president is leading advocate trying to open up overseas markets for american goods and services. he spent a week in asia to do that. we can work with republicans on trade. we can work with republicans investing in early childhood education something they said would be a good idea. there is common ground we could find. we shouldn't allow this one issue to poison the well and prevent us from working together on other important issues. martha: josh, thank you very much. good to have you here as always. thank you very much. >> thank you, martha. >> you covered a lot of ground martha. we'll continue the discussion. republicans already up in arms over this. indiana governor mike pence is one of them. his reaction live next. plus turkey dinners will gobble up a little more money in your pocket this year. what's changing in your bill.

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>> would impose new unfairness on law-abiding immigrants.

>> had little to do with making health care more affordable, slapping the term immigration reform on something doesn't make it actually immigration reform. and just as with obamacare, the action the president is proposing isn't about solutions. it isn't about socom passion. it seems to be about what a political party thinks would make for good politics. it seems to be about what a president thinks would be good for his legacy. those are not the motivations that should be driving such sweeping action. and i think the president will regret the chapter history writes if he does move forward. because the plan he is presenting is more than just as the president has acknowledged, an overreach. it is also unfair. what does the president have to

say to the countless aspiring immigrants who spent literally years waiting patiently in line? to the people who played by all the rules? bill: mitch mcconnell beginning, what will be a flury of reaction throughout the day and we just heard from the white house too. ii want to bring in indiana governor mike pence from the republican governors conference there meeting this week. good morning to you. your reaction what is expected in prime time tonight? >> he will with the president of the united states is obligated to faithfully execute the laws of the land. so if the president were to take executive action to overturn decades of immigration law in this country, that would be profoundly wrong and it would be a mistake and i also believe what senator mcconnell said on the senate floor is exactly right. my grand fathers immigrated to this country from ireland. my family has lived the american dream. i have the privilege of serving

of the great state of indiana and there are millions of americans who share that story and to act unilaterally tonight would be a disservice to the millions of americans whose families legally emigrated to this country in the recent past and the distant past. so the president should reconsider the course he is on. and he should provide the kind of leadership that i think the american people endorse in states all over the country where you now we have 31 republican governors. the president should wait until january. he should sit down with the newly-elected republican majority in the senate, the wider republican majority in the house and work toward getting this economy growing, having a comprehensive energy policy, dealing with national security and yes, focusing on those items that piece by piece we can reach consensus on the issue of immigration. bill: josh earnest was just speaking with martha a moment ago. i don't know if you heard the

interview or not, what he said in part, there's still time for john boehner specifically to relent on this what do you think of that? >> well, look, the american people just sent a deafening message to washington, d.c. that they want a change of direction. and they changed the leadership, decisively if the united states senate. the american people don't want comprehensive immigration reform and speaker boehner would, is absolutely right in resisting the president's anticipated call tonight to bring that senate comprehensive reform bill to the floor. look, the answer here is very simple but it will take, it will take leadership. i think it will take the kind of leadership we as governors exercise every day in our state. you sit down with everybody. you realize politics is the art of the possible. and in this case i think the president, if he will stand down on this profoundly wrong step, using executive action to overturn decades of immigration law in this country, i know that

the republican leadership in the house and senate would sit down with the president. we can achieve a great deal on border security. there are specific reforms in immigration that can help to get our economy growing. on a forward basis in the future i'm opposed to amnesty. amnesty should be off the table but there is progress that we can make but, it will, as i said it, would be wrong for the president to use executive authority. bill: understood entirely. >> it would also be a mistake because it would prevent us from making progress on this issue. bill: two more topics in the 90 seconds i have. what the president will argue clearly, you know this, he is waiting on the house republicans to act and they have not, on the senate bill out there for year-and-a-half. he is also going to say that if you take action i will crumple up the piece of paper executive order is written on. do you believe that? do you buy that? >> let's all remember when the president was elected democrats controlled the house and the

senate and, when they were in charge of the government they moved nothing in this area. and we have had an earnest debate, you know people, that i offered constructive solutions. i proposed a bill to put border security first and no amnesty guest worker program more than half a dozen years ago but democrats put their arms around amnesty and comprehensive immigration reform. here we have the president, in the waning hours of a democrat congress that, democrat senate that has been repudiated by american people demanding one more vote on issue the american people have rejected. this is what we need her is executive leadership, not threats to tear up executive orders but to work with on both sides of the aisle. bill: final question, 30 seconds. is he setting a trap for republicans in congress, do you believe? >> well, i never speculate on motives, bill, but i will tell you i think it would be very important for republicans to take action in the courts

immediately to prevent the imposition of an executive order that overturns our immigration laws. then the power of congress is the power of the purse. next year when congress convenience on piece by piece basis should use that power and authority to prevent the funding of implementation of this law and then, of this executive order rather, and then, i believe they should bring forward proposals in the law on base serves consensus that put border security first and begin to deal with this issue on the basis of consensus. look, we can make progress on this issue on bipartisan basis but it is going to take the president stepping back from this unilateral action and providing the kind of executive leadership that the american people expect under our form of government. bill: it appears that is not the way we're headed. mike pence, thank you for your time, republican governor out of indiana, live in boca raton. thank you. martha? martha: president obama's defense secretaries speaking out about the way the war on isis is being handled.

one former defense chief criticizing the strategy as a current double down. general jack keane on that straight ahead. bill: also the passing of an entertainment legend. we remember the life today of director mike nichols. here's some news you may find surprising.

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>> gait performer, i'm a great director, we can do almost anything. >> really? >> absolutely. we've got five hours. all right, first, get your pinky down. it is up again. all right. your -- >> oh, my god! are you crazy? what are you doing? >> stop screaming. >> that was a clip from "the bird cage." directed by mike nichols. sad news, the director behind some of the most iconic films in

history has passed away. julie banderas is live in the new york city newsroom with a look back at his legendary career. julie. >> martha, that movie is one of my all-time favorites. no word on a cause of death at this point. all we do know his death was sudden last night at the age of 83. we also know he was sick for some time. according to the ap, abc news president james goldstein announced the news this morning saying the family will hold a private service this week and a memorial will be held at a later date. while his wife diane sawyer is an icon in the news industry, mike nichols was among one of the most decorated directors in american film history. among his films were the "the graduate," "who is afraid of virginia wolf" and. nichols is one most selected few to win a emmy, tony, grammy and oscar in necessary career. nichols won nine tony awards.

two for producing and directing a musical, "monty python "spamalot"" in 2005. he worked with mae yaw pharaoh who called him the funniest and kindness. he worked with jack nicholson and meryl streep who described him as my master and commander, you know my king. nichols was working on hbo adaptation of master class. the play about the opera legend maria call last who was to star streep. leaves behind his wife married 26 years, diane sawyer. his children, days sir, max and jenny and four grandchildren much. >> what a legacy, he will be missed. everybody loved mike nichols. thank you very much. bill: new york icon too. every time you see him he makes you laugh. wow. martha: good man. bill: our best to diane sawyer and rest of his family. martha: best to all of them. bill: prime time tonight on fox news channel, president obama takes executive action on immigration. what will republicans do in response? martha: that is at question.

a drone's eye view of a deadly winter storm. this thing is far from over, folks. the latest on this crazy weather and where it's headed next after this.

martha: so the throws down the gauntlet on immigration this evening, unveiling unilateral executive action tonight in a move to shield up to five million illegal immigrants, that is the number we're hearing so far, from deportation. it would delay any action on that deportation. now, paul ryan has called the plan a partisan bomb. john boehner branded the president emperor obama. lots of that kind of talk thrown around today as we welcome you to a brand new hour of "america's newsroom," i'm martha maccallum. bill: and i'm bill hemmer. good morning, we just heard from mitch mcconnell on the floor of the senate, there will be a lot of reaction throughout the morning here. the president makes his announcement tonight in prime time, 8:00 eastern time, you'll see it here on the fox news channel.

already, though, the battle lines are drawn. democrats calling on the president to act big and bold and soon, but not all of them. the white house press secretary, josh earnest, last hour here in "america's newsroom" told us this: >> the president is determined to use all of the authority that he has that's vested in the presidency to take the steps that can try to fix some of the problems that everybody acknowledges exist inside our broken immigration system. bill: wendell goler is leading our coverage this hour, and, wendell, based on what you have learned, what will the president do? >> reporter: the president's going to defer deportation for the parents of children who are here legally, most of them who are born here. he's going to grant them temporary work permits using the authority the executive branch has to prioritize the enforcement of immigration laws since it's really impossible to deport the 11 million people in the country illegally who have been here an average of 13 years, by the way. he'll focus, instead, on criminals and repeat offenders.

other presidents, including ronald reagan, george h.w. bush, have done similar things but for much smaller populations, and their actions in 1986 and 1990 basically extended legal status to the wives and children of people that congress had already granted amnesty to in the name of family unity. mr. obama is acting, he feels, in the spirit of legislation that passed the senate, but that legislation never came up for a vote in the house, bill. bill: wendell, thank you. wendell goler from the north lawn there. martha has more on this. thanks. martha: there's a lot of talk this morning about what republicans will do. they are still considering the best course, according to mitch mcconnell, to counter the president's move. texas senator ted cruz telling megyn kelly last night that america needs to rein in the president by defunding this law. >> the president is behaving in an unprecedented way. there is not in recent times any parallel for a president

repudiated by the voters standing up and essentially telling the voters go jump in a lake, we are unfortunately witnessing a constitutional crisis. what president obama is doing, is he is defying the law he's defying the constitution. martha: ted cruz talked about defending the rule of law, i should say. defunding is an issue that may come up as well. tennessee senator bob corker is on the public relations committee, and he joins us this morning. good to have you with us. >> good morning, martha. martha: what do you think the congress should do after the president announces this executive action tonight? >> well, we're all talking about that, martha. if you look at the situation, and people are using words to describe the president, but the fact is this president is disrespected around the world and held in contempt by his own party. so this president is not acting in strength, he's acting in weakness. unless lightning strikes, it'll

be the worst presidency in modern history. and so it's almost like in some ways a 13-year-old would react, look at me, i'm important again. so i think as we look at our response, we need to remember that we have an opportunity over the next two years to begin moving the country ahead. and there are many people that are going to want to turn this into a personal, personal issue. but the fact is we need to be prudent. there has to be a response, no question. but it has to be a response that enables us to continue to move our nation ahead, remembering that this president is going to be gone in two years, he's incredibly weak, and candidly, is doing these things because he doesn't have the ability to lead and is not willing to put the effort out, by the way, to do the work to actually cause things to pass in congress. martha: well, mitch mcconnell was talking about that too, changing minds. it's difficult to change people's minds, and there are polls this morning that show that the people are not with the

president on this issue. but let me ask you this, so the president has issued this challenge to all of you on capitol hill. he says, go ahead, come up with a immigration reform law, and i will crumple up this executive order and throw it in the garbage. >> yeah. well, the way a leader, martha, would act would be to say, hey, look, there is a new congress that has a majority of republican members. during this first quarter, i'm going to give you the opportunity to deal with this in the most effective way that you see fit. but, again, that's not what this president has done the entire time that he's been here. again, this has got to be the weakest president our nation -- martha: well, you've said that, senator -- >> but -- martha: but i'm asking you about the president's challenge. i understand what you're saying, but he's saying go ahead, congress, go ahead, come up with an immigration reform bill that i can sign, present it to me, and i'll get rid of this executive order that everyone hates. are you going to do that?

>> martha, i think you know i voted for the senate immigration bill. martha: yes. >> john hoeven i produced for the senate, and it passed overwhelmingly, the strongest border security measure that has ever passed either body of the senate. and that's what caused the immigration bill in the senate to actually pass out. so i've actually voted for an immigration bill that could have been improved. i don't know what our reaction will be at this moment, and i think part of that is contingent upon what we actually see occur this evening. but what we need to realize is we don't need to take the bait of a weak, ineffective president. what we need to do is think about the appropriate response but also realize we have an opportunity over the next year, two years to continue to govern, and this president would relish in us getting into a personality issue. he's the most divisive president in the country. it's all he knows how to do. and what we don't need to do, we

need to respond, but we also need to keep our eye on the fact that our job over the next two years is to pass policies that make this nation stronger, and we need to keep this in that context. and so, you know, let's don't take the bait. he'd love for this to be about him. that's what this president has been about for six years. let's make this about our nation, let's have an appropriate response, let's continue to govern. martha: all right. before i let you go, i know you've written to a letter -- written a letter to the president about a deal the white house is working on with iran. quickly if you could, what do you think about that? >> well, i mean, you know, we're concerned that the president -- again, not unsimilar to what's happening here -- will unilaterally decide to suspend the sanctions. and what we know is, martha, that automatically that does away with the coalition that we have around the world to put these sanctions in place. it totally dissipates at that

moment. and so there's been a lot of concern about us weighing in, by the way, people on both sides of the aisle understand how weak the president is and how he's wanting some kind of significant foreign policy when he's had so many losses. and they're concerned that he's willing to give away things that should not be given away. and so we would like the ability to weigh in and, obviously, we're concerned that he's going to agree to something that is not in our country's interests, certainly not in the world's interests. martha: well, he wants a win on immigration and a win on foreign policy on a deal with rapp, that seems clear -- with iran, that seems clear. senator corker, thank you very much. and democratic reaction ahead of the president's executive action coming tonight at 8 p.m. texas democrat henry cuellar will join us later this hour. bill: he's a great guest too, by the way, because he's been down on the border area, he was with us about two months ago when the thousands of immigrant children were crossing down there.

we'll get his reaction. breaking news alert out of the middle east, hamas said to be flexing its muscle in gaza, terrorists are, quote, experimenting by test firing rockets into the mediterranean sea out of gaza, increasing tension only days after palestinians attacked that jewish synagogue. four people killed, among them three u.s. citizens. nine past the hour. martha: defense secretary chuck hagel saying the united states should stay out of the civil war in syria and focus on battling isis. >> i think the airstrikes against the isil forces to assist the people there, to assist the government, this is a long-term challenge. martha: some high profile critics are saying the current policy will lead to nothing but failure, including bob gates. general jack keane will join us on that. bill: also the reverend al sharpton saying he's got some

major tax problems because people do not like president obama. martha: really? bill: make sense of that. martha: okay. bill: tell you what that's all about in a moment. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ]

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martha: police in afghanistan able to fend off an attack by the taliban in kabul. authorities say four taliban were targeting a housing complex for foreign aid workers. one detonated a car packed with explosives near the date of the compound while the others were killed in a shootout with

police. it is the second attack this week. on monday the taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a similar facility. ♪ ♪ >> the white house's lack of transparency, i find it intolerable and an obstruction to this committee's efforts to conduct oversight. that begs the question, what are you hiding, mr. park? bill: that was georgia congressman paul brown grilling former white house chief technology officer todd park during this rather intense hearing on the botched rollout of healthcare.gov. park insists he had little involvement. want to bring in the congressman now out of georgia from capitol hill. sir, good morning to you. >> hi, bill. great to be with you. bill: interesting hearing. here is what we heard from todd park about his role. >> i was not a project manager who was managing and executing the day in and day out operational work of building the new healthcare.gov. i didn't have the kind of comprehensive, deep, detailed knowledge of the effort that a

hands-on project manager would have. bill: so he says you've got the wrong guy. what did you think? >> well, this is just a further example, bill, of the lack of transparency of this administration, and it's intolerable. we asked todd park to come to our committee five times. we eventually had to subpoena him. and then he gave us that kind of verbage that you just played in your clip. the reality is he briefed the president, he briefed the white house over and over again. it's apparent that everybody within the cms as well as in the office of ostp, the office of science and technology policy, were looking to todd park for this rollout. we saw just recently, y'all reported on fox about the rant that michelle snyder gave, reported in a, an e-mail to todd park. and apparently, that came from marilyn tavenner, we can't get the information.

we subpoenaed mr. park, finally he came. we've asked for records, we've gotten very little. and personal, identifiable information is going to be available. gao just two months ago said this web site is not secure today. and this is intolerable, and it was our responsibility to continue to try to find out something about it. bill: if it's not secure, people are still signing up, as you know, because the enrollment period is underway yet again. >> that's right. bill: you were trying to figure out ultimately, though, whether the white house knew that the healthcare.gov web site was so bad before it went public. did you get an answer? >> we did not. in fact, we asked mr. park over and over again. we tried to find out who was responsible, who was just hell bent on getting this web site operational on october the 1st, and we can't get those answers. bill: well, they're saying he was not involved, and i don't know where you go from here. >> well, he absolutely was involved -- bill: what's your next move? >> well, i'm leaving congress in

january, so hopefully whoever -- in fact, i expect the committee will continue to look into this, try to get a full disclosure of what happened because it's our responsibility under the constitution to do so. and mr. park, the whole of cms as well as ostp and the white house have been not forthcoming. evidently, their definition of transparency is totally opaqueness. they've done everything that they could to try to thwart our efforts to find the information for the american people. bill: well, two other points here. with the enrollment period now underway, the administration says the web site, it's running smoothly. and what you're saying is that it's still not secure for personal information. now, what is it, is it a or is it b? >> that's correct. well, part of the administration, gao just in september put out a report saying that the web site,

healthcare.gov, is not secure. it's not secure. it has not been secure. we've got to protect people's privacy and their personal, identifiable information, and that's what we're trying to get at. and we cannot find who is responsible. bill: uh-huh. >> and mr. park, obviously, was right in the middle of all of this, and you heard the denial that he made yesterday. bill: did you ask mr. park whether or not it was safe for americans to sign up now? >> we did. in fact, he said he considered it safe back in october of last year. what kind of a farce is that? he was just giving us a bunch of mumbo jumbo, saying that he did not have any detailed information. but the white house was looking to him. the people in cms were looking to him. the people in ostp were looking to him. he obviously had direct responsibility, and he denied all that. that's the reason i asked him what are you hiding, mr. park?

bill: what do you think -- >> and he's hiding a lot. bill: what do you think that answer is then? >> well, i really don't know, and it's impossible to -- i have my suspicions, but it's impossible to really know at this point who was responsible. we do know this, when the web site was rolled out october 1st of last year, that it was not secure, that it was a debacle. hhs secretary kathleen sebelius even herself said it was a debacle. mr. park yesterday admitted it was a debacle, it's still a debacle. it is not secure. when people go on that web site today, put in their personal information, their most private, personal health care information and financial information, it is not secure today. bill: sir, thank you for your time. >> thank you, bill. bill: i hope you're wrong about that if people are signing up and making themselves vulnerable. >> the gao says it, not just me. thank you, bill. bill: you bet, thank you. >> god bless you, thank you. martha: parts of western new

york just cannot catch a break from old man winter after areas got more than five feet of snow, they're going to get another round -- bill: oh, boy. martha: will this ever end for these folks? bill: gun sale on the rise around ferguson missouri. a critical grand jury decision draws nearer by the day. >> as an announcement just keeps going, you know, it's going to be tomorrow, it's going to be tomorrow, then everybody has rumors of what's going on. so we've sold a lot of guns in the last few days, and we just got a whole bunch more in because our inventory was depleted.

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martha: some missouri gun dealers are seeing a rise z in business ahead of a grand jury decision in the fatal police shooting of michael brown in ferguson.

one dealer near st. louis reports sales have more than tripled. >> about november 5th we noticed there was an uptick in gun sales, people were coming in. then we heard the rumors that the announcement was going to be made sometime around november 7th to november 9th, so people were getting really, really anxious, and they started coming in buying guns, and that friday, saturday and sunday we sold over 100 guns that normally we would sell about 30. so it was really weird to see that just spike. martha: so the governor has declared a state of emergency in advance of the grand jury's decision. bill: extreme winter weather, i mean, how -- [laughter] how much are you going to get, folks? parts of northern new york have been hammered, six feet of snow on the ground. there's a forecast for two feet of snow in addition to what they already have. that's more now that they'll get all winter in three days. travel ban in effect for a lot of parts of northwestern new york state.

even the folks of buffalo can't drive in this stuff. authorities scrambling to clear as much snow as they can before the next wave hits. here's the governor. >> it's going to get, in some ways, worse before it gets better. don't be deceived, you look out the window today, and the sun is shining. we're using this window of opportunity, but the snow is going to fall once again. so we have further complications ahead. bill: so maria molina was just up there. she's back in studio. great to see you, maria, good morning to you. what is next? >> reporter: we're still expecting that snow to continue out there across areas in western new york, and that snow band -- so these are very localized lake effect snow bands, it's shifted to the south of some of the hardest-hit areas yesterday where we saw over 60 inches of snow. so parts of south buffalo, that's what it's called out there, those suburbs to the south of the downtown area that were just crippled due to that snowfall. snow's still coming off the of

the lakes and farther off towards the west, snowfall as well across the state of michigan. but it's really that zone just to the south of the buffalo downtown area that's really looking at at least another two feet of snow. you're also going to be looking at strong wind gusts over 30 miles per hour, that's what produces those whiteout conditions. and now looking forward over the next several days, we have another bit of a concern because we have so much snow on the ground out there, obviously, crews will be clearing that over the next few days, but over the weekend we could be looking at a round of rain, some showers moving in, and that's going to make that snow very heavy, and temperatures will also be climbing. so by monday take a look at that high temperature in buffalo, 58 degrees. a lot of that snow is going to be melting, we could be looking at some localized flooding issues across the buffalo area and also potentially some roof collapses because the weight of that snow melting over roofs in

combination with areas of rain moving in, that's going to be a big concern. we'll keep an eye on it but, again, that snow continuing throughout the day today. bill: it's not just the snow, it's the cold weather that's affecting millions of people, the northeast, the southeast, the midwest. maria, thank you. a harbinger, eh, of winter? you might be our best friend real soon. thank you, maria. martha: so president obama's defense secretaries are speaking out about the war on isis. in fact, one former defense chief criticizing the strategy roundly as the current one doubles down on it. we're going to speak to general jack keane about that coming up next. bill: also, martha, deep, deep in space, the new telescope that could be a hundred times more powerful than hubbel. martha: really? ♪ ♪

♪

♪ martha: so two of president obama's defense secretaries, both past and present, speaking out about our strategy to defeat isis. first, former secretary bob gates criticizing the president yet again saying that american troops will likely be needed on the ground after an interview with gates, "the washington post" editorial board writing this, quote: martha: those words from bob gates. now, the current defense secretary, chuck hagel, says he believes that the president's strategy on all of this is working. >> our anti-isis strategy is comprehensive. we'll start sequencing those new americans in here starting over

the next few weeks. they are going, as you know, to provide the training and the assistance and the equipping of 12 iraqi security force brigades. martha: retired four-star general jack keane is the chairman of the institute for the study of war, and he's a fox news military analyst, of course, as well. good morning, jack, good to have you with us. >> good to be here, martha. martha: obviously, the former defense secretary has a little bit more liberty to speak his mind than the current defense secretary about what he thinks is going on, but who do you think is right? >> well, clearly, secretary gates is as well as secretary panetta who spoke out. these both served this president that have added their names to a growing list of leaders in this country who have concerns about their strategy. you know, the fact of the matter is, martha, there is plenty of precedent for changing the strategy. war is not ideological, it's about trial and error. we change the strategy

revolutionary war, civil war, world war ii, both theaters, korea, vietnam and also iraq just recently under george bush. this strategy we have in play with not providing sufficient resources for the indigenous forces on the ground is really the issue. and the fact of the matter is when you look at where it's going, it is likely to fail. martha: all right. but you listen to chuck hagel, he said, you know, we're training 12 iraqi brigades including three peshmerga brigades as well, we're sending in additional special forces to train them on the ground. i mean, a lot of people -- and i know you have a tremendous amount of faith in the special forces -- is that not the way to go, or do they need more of them? >> well, the training issue is a good one. we need to train up the units that have to be reconstituted. but even those 12 brigades is just a drop in the bucket. the iraqis had 17 operational divisions with multiple brigades in each one of them. some of them don't even exist anymore. so we're relying on 12, three of those will be peshmerga.

but the fact of the matter is there are no plans to put special forces at the company and battalion level when they get into the fight. the trainers are one thing. now we're talking about people who would join them in the fight and advise them and also bring in close air support, apaches and ac-130 gunships to assist them. there are no plans for direct action forces that operate on the ground against leaders, much as we all witnessed when they talk about usama bin laden down can. they do this routinely in iraq and afghanistan. they would be a significant enhancement. and we have to help the sunni tribes, also, with training but also with advisers on the ground as much as we would do with the peshmerga or any iraqi security forces. martha: so you're saying, you know, you just need a huge step up in the amount of force, both in the air and on the ground and in close air support as well if you have any prayer at succeeding in this mission. and the president says that he wants to degrade and destroy isis. so, you know, if you take him at

his word, why would he be, you know, coming so short in what's required? >> well, i think the boots on the ground issue has frozen him in place. he gets paralyzed by the fear of adverse consequence. what's the adverse consequence? americans are going to be killed. americans may be captured. this is the military. this is the risk that they accept and take and willingly take to win conflicts that the nation wants them to win and conflicts that they want to support. that's the harsh reality. the other part of this strategy that is wrong, secretary hagel said in regards to syria that we have an attack isis only and wait for a political solution to remove assad. we have to accelerate the removal of assad. assad is bombing our forces that we're supporting, the modera rebel forces, faster than we can train moderate rebel forces to assist them. that makes no sense to anybody looking at it. no-fly zone is the answer.

put assad's air power on the ground and then accelerate a political solution because of that military commitment. martha: well, we're a long, long way from what you suggest. general, thank you very much. general jack keane, always good to see you, sir. see you next time. >> good talking to you, martha. bill: 24 minutes before the hour. the faa investigating reports of drones flying close to jfk international airplane. at least three pilots spotting the unmanned craft nearby in the last couple of days, about 10 miles away, right around 3,000 feet. that's not cool. [laughter] that's right where you're coming in. thankfully, none of the planes had to take evasive action. the report comes a day after the ntsb ruled that small drones are subject to faa regulations. the local police are now on the lookout for that craft. that could be just the beginning. martha: my gosh, right? bill: a lot more of those. martha: flying a commercial airliner, and you've got to worry about whether you're going

to bump into a drone out there? bill: used to be just a bird. martha: bad enough. how about this? the reverend al sharpton lashing out at reports that he owes $4.5 million in back taxes. he says, you know what? i'm being unfairly targeted, and here's the reason: people don't like president obama or the mayor of new york city. interesting logic, you might say. our panel will join us and try to make some sense out of that. bill: also, martha, something you've been contemplating all day, the people magazine's sexiest man alive also just a consolation prize? martha: no. it was you they wanted really. bill:,um, last year. yeah. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] approaching medicare eligibility?

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bill: a controversial proposal to ban all tobacco sales going up in smoke. the westminster, massachusetts, health board voting 2-1 to drop it. that comes about a week after rowdy protesters brought a public hearing to a sudden end.

supporters argue the ban would keep tobacco products away from children. opponents said local businesses would rather take a major hit. the ban would have made westminster the first town in america to ban all sales of tobacco. ♪ martha: so the reverend al sharpton is now blasting new reports from the new york times that he and his companies owe millions in unpaid taxes to both the state of new york and to the federal government as well. but now reverend sharpton says that the reason that he is being targeted has nothing to do with taxes. >> i think it's political. a lot of people don't like the fact that president obama's the president, a lot of people do not like the fact that bill de blasio won for mayor, and they certainly don't like the fact that i'm still here. martha: hmm, interesting argument, right? lars larson, syndicated radio

talk show host, leslie marshall is as well and a fox news contributor. welcome to you both. i mean, the hits just keep on coming from reverend al sharpton, you know? the story is that he owes $4.5 million in tax, in rent and other bills. he says it's been paid down. the exact amount is, apparently, unknowable at this point. but he says it's all because of the president and bill de blasio. what do you say, lars? >> the report initially came from "the new york times." is he really saying it's "the new york times" that doesn't like president obama as president? because i thought "the new york times" had been in the tank for the president for a long time. the fact is a good indication of what sorry shape our country is in right now is that the president of the united states has been consulting with this race hustler, al sharpton, who's a tax cheat, he's defamed people, he's incited to riot, and he's always manipulated the media to his advantage. and now that the media's actually doing some honest reporting and saying al owes a

lot of money and the amount isn't going down, it's going up, all of a sudden he's unhappy with the media and says they're out there trying to target the president. really? "the new york times"? martha: you know, i mean, some people, some critics, leslie, say that al sharpton's close proximity to the white house might make some of these agencies a bit hands-off when it comes to the things that he's done and the money that he mayo. what do you think? >> oh, i don't think so. i think the new york times wouldn't have reported on this unless, as we've seen, there is past debt, there's an investigation, there's interest that's being racked up. lars, i find it interesting that you think "the new york times" is finally reporting news because they went after al sharpton, but we do agree a couple of times a year, and today will be one of those days, my dear lars, with respect to this is not about the president, this is not about bill de blasio, and this is not about race, in my opinion, nor politics since al sharpton is not running. this is about a celebrity who's

a reverend who owes money. that's news, and "the new york times" reported it, and i think they were right in doing so, and i have to say although it is, i believe, sometimes relevant for the race card to be tossed out as he did with some extended comments, i just am not buying it and couldn't believe he did it with this. martha: when al sharpton comes out and says, you know, they're coming after me because of bill de blasio, because of president obama, he even mentioned trayvon martin in this, and we know how active he has been in stirring up, many would say, controversy and protests in fercson, he says -- ferguson, he says he's planning protests regardless of the outcome in ferguson, it simply makes some people say, well, i guess he's right, lars. >> the only thing that's going to get the irs to really go after al sharpton is if he joins the tea party one of these days. [laughter] and you know why he's trying to

stir up trouble in ferguson. what it does is it increases the donations to his nonprofit organization which is the only way he has a prayer, reverend sharpton, of paying off the $4.5 million he owes. martha: you know, leslie, he says we're talking about old taxes, we're current on all the taxes, but the state and federal taxes show that his businesses, that the liens against his business remain active. i mean, one more time, what about the white house's relationship with him, the fact that he is an adviser to the white house on many of these issues and, you know, the president has said, you know, stay the course in ferguson, basically cheering on what al sharpton has done there? >> well, i think that the tax issue and ferguson are two entirely different issues. i mean, not even apples and oranges, they're not even both fruits. when we look at reverend sharpton, which i have had some of my freshman friends say he's not my leader, and others say

because he's a celebrity, that he speaks out for them. i think many of the people in ferguson feel that way. but i have to say when i did see him include ferguson with regard to the report on the taxes that he owes, back taxes that he and his organization owe in "the new york times," that really bothered me. because, you know, ferguson is about two lives, the lives of a young man, the life of a young man that was lost young, michael brown, and the life of an officer that we will see what a grand jury decides. so, you know, i don't feel that his relationship with the white house matters with regard to this tax. it is very common with back taxes for the irs to place liens, work out payment plans -- martha: a lot of money. >> and there are many people out there whether it's al sharpton -- martha: leslie and lars, good to have you both here. >> thanks, martha. bill: on the topic of money, get ready to shell out a bit more money for turkey dinner this year. american farm bureau crunching

the numbers on how much it'll cost to feed a family of ten on thanksgiving, you ready? 37 cents more than a year a rising dairy prices and sweet potatoes to blame, making for a ballpark figure now, $49.41. that's for ten people. martha: i'm going to have to charge people a little bit more when they come through the door. [laughter] bill: i didn't think you could do that at mcdonald's. they say fuel prices are down from last thanksgiving -- martha: maybe that's -- bill: can you feed a family of ten for $49? martha: do you think it's bad to charge people when they come to your house for thanksgiving? [laughter] bill: jon scott's coming up in a matter of moments. jon: i'll tell you what, you've got me hungry already. bill: i hope you get a drumstick. jon: good morning to you both. hey, high tension on capitol hill as the president prepares to sidestep congress and take executive action, effectively legalizing millions of currently illegal immigrants. so how will the republicans,

about to take over capitol hill, respond? plus, that deadly snowstorm kills at least eight people now in upstate new york. the buffalo area bracing for even more snow. any relief in sight? and prosecutors say she tried to hire a handyman to kill her ex-husband and was caught on tape planning now her attorneys say that evidence is just what they need to have charges against her dropped. it's a crazy case, and it's all "happening now." bill: sounds like it. wow, good luck with that. see you at the top of the hour, thank you. move over hubbel. a new telescope so powerful, this could reach into billions of years of deep space history. martha: is it bigger than a dishwasher? bill: maybe. ♪ ♪

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martha: here's one to talk about, a bitf controversy surrounding people magazine's pick for sexiest man alive this year. reportedly, chris hemsworth was not their first choice. ryan gosling was, but they say the actor turned it down. his team explained he is simply too serious an actor for such a trivial thing, and hollywood life claims he wasn't the only one, they first went to jake gyllenhaal, bill hemmer turned it down -- people denies it. they say, no, hemsworth was their one and only pick. that is a controversy. bill: entirely too sophisticated -- [laughter] martha: way too serious a newsman. bill: nasa said to be building a telescope that is 100 times for

power than the hubbel telescope. you know who worked on hubbel? our guest, mike massino, senior adviser for the space program at the intrepid museum. how are you, pal? >> i'm doing great. bill: you worked on hubbel, and it's still giving us great stuff. >> oh, absolutely. bill: nasa wants to put this thing thing in flight in 2018 that has a hundred times the power. >> yeah. bill: what can you see out there? >> they're hoping to see to the ends of the universe which means the very first light that was shined on our universe. so it's like a time machine. the further you can see back, we measure it in light years, millions of light years, billions of light years, they're trying to get back to the origins of the universe. the more powerful the telescope, the further you can see, and what you're seeing is back in time. they're hoping to get to the origins of the universe -- bill: you could reach hubbel when it needed repairs.

>> 350 miles away. bill: and that was your job. >> that's right. repairman. bill: so you went to hubbel. you would not be able to go to this one. >> right. and if you remember, hubbel had a problem, bill n1990. in fact, you could see a lot of this at the intrepid museum. hubbel at 25, it shows hubbel and also shows the web. hubbel had a problem when it was launch inside 1990, and a few years later they sent a shuttle mission up there and fixed the problem. with this telescope it's a million miles away. so if there's a problem with this telescope -- bill: you can't reach it. >> i think if they discover there was an issue or if it got hit by a meteor, i think that my friends at the goddard space flight center and at nasa would try to figure out a way to fix it, but it's further than we can send people right now. bill: this is not cheap, it's $8.8 billion, it's called the james webb space telescope, named after a former director at nasa, right? >> yep. bill: you've been out there. >> yeah. bill: is this worth it? >> oh, absolutely, yeah.

no doubt in my mind. the discovery potential, like i said, it's a hundred times more than hubbel. we've had a nobel prize come out of hubbel, i think we're going to have a lot more, we've discovered dark matter, planets and other solar systems, thousands of them, and we can analyze the atmospheres on those planets. what we're going to have with this telescope is a hundred times more capability. it's a million miles away, it's away from the earth. it's going to have a very stable thermal environment which means it's not going to go through the cycling that the hubbel did so it can get better images. it's a much bigger mirror. eight feet versus 21 feet in diameter. it's going to see not only more planets, look for atmospheres close to earth, i think it's going to find the origins of the universe -- bill: you do? >> i do. i think it's going to go right back to the beginning of time. and the only way to do that is to put this thing out there. now, a lot of money, but i think this is worth it. it's the type of discovery

potential that could change the world. bill: i hope you're right. first man to tweet in space. that would be a tweet. thanks mike. >> thanks for having me. martha: we've been talking about it all day, president obama is ready to go it alone on immigration. he will announce that tonight in a prime time address from the white house. reaction coming in fast and furious from capitol hill. stay with us. [ male announcer ] you wouldn't leave your car unprotected.

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and get this document shredder free -- a $29 value -- when you use promo code go. call now. bill: take you down to tallahassee, florida there, the governor rick scott addressing the shooting that occurred overnight. based on what we understand the hospital reporting 25 minutes ago, one person in critical condition. the other said to be in good condition after a shooting broke out on the campus of florida state university. the gunman we are told has been killed. tallahassee police department responding on that. so, watch out as this develops throughout the day today. >> horrible store for those kids. we watch them standing with their cell phones terrified.

our hearts go out to their families as we hear more news. everything on the president's immigration announcement. thanks for being with us today, everybody. see you tomorrow. jon: president obama getting ready to tell the american people he will do what congress will not and take action to change u.s. immigration law. it is the hot button issue of the day. welcome to "happening now." i'm jon scott. shannon: i'm shannon bream in for jenna lee of the president will address the nation from the white house 8:00 p.m. eastern tonight, laying out executive orders expected to protect some five million illegal immigrants from deportation. setting up a high stakes battle with congressional republicans after at sweeping victory in the midterms. mike emanuel live from capitol hill. hi,