yankees. rick, fantastic job, and you've officially started the christmas season for stamford, connecticut. bringing santa down. have a great weekend, everybody. see you monday. martha: he is the man next in line to lead the pentagon. fox news can now confirm president obama will nominate former pent gone official ashton carter as his next secretary of defense in a lion them. that announcement is set to take place about an hour from now. we'll take you are sheriff live. good morning i'm martha maccallum in "america's newsroom." >> i'm eric shawn in for bill hemmer today. if he is confirmed by the senate ashton carter will replace chuck hagel. that makes him the fourth pentagon chief during president obama's roughly six years in office. molly henneberg live at white house with latest on the nomination. molly, why ashton carter.

>> reporter: eric he is known here by the white house and by the president and well-known at the/10 gone going back to the clinton aid administration. the white house said that ashton carter has quote detailed understanding the way the department of defense works. the white house also points out that carter was confirmed by the senate three years ago as deputy secretary of defense when leon panetta held the top job over at the pentagon. so the obama administration likely hopes carter will get through the senate confirmation process again even as republicans take control next year. for his fourth secretary of defense president obama selected someone who is an academic. carter never served in the military nor elected to congress as his predecessor chuck hagel had but carter forged his reputation as defense strategist and nuclear expert. hagel is stepping down after less than two years on the job but said he will stay on until a new defense secretary is confirmed. something to keep an eye out for as we head into the confirmation

process, carter likely will face tough questions from lawmaker about the obama administration strategy in the fighting islamic state or isis terror group. also the administration's strategy for afghanistan. and what the long-term plan is by the president and the pentagon for the guantanamo bay terror detention center. eric. >> all right, molly. questions about whether how independent he will be from the white house. we'll cover it all throughout the hour. martha? martha: ash carter as you heard has extensive experience in national security. he served as deputy secretary of defense from october 2011 to december 2013. he joined the defense department in the 1980s, focusing primarily on missile defense and conversion after the cold war. he was awarded the department of defense distinguished service medal four times. for more on his qualifications let's bring in retired four-star general jack keane and chairman

of institute of study of war. good to have you here. >> good morning. martha: you think this is fairly safe choice but a fairly good one, correct. >> absolutely. it's a safe, non-controversial pick. he has years of experience with the pentagon in two administrations. i know him on a personal level. he is very thoughtful and approachable. the generals know him. some the new ones in key positions will get to know him pretty quickly because he is that approachable but the fact of the matter is he has got huge challenges in front of him. as eric mentioned this is the fourth secretary of defense in six years. the fact of the matter is a lot of military strategy, not policy, but strategy and how we do things is driven from the white house and that is quite unprecedented. i don't believe he will be able to change that. martha: when you look back at the history in this administration through gates and panetta and then hagel, each one has expressed some very strong disgruntlement after sitting

president essentially. hagel not quite so much as other two as they have written books and been very outspoken. he walked into a situation were the pentagon said our defense policy is being run by a small circle in the white house and you don't have a whole lot of power as head of the pentagon. >> absolutely. the fact of the matter the power of the secretary of defense has been reduced in this administration and is the department that the white house has more controversy with than any single agency or department that it supervises and, he will be challenged in this area. i think what the senior uniformed leaders are hoping is that because of how he operates, because of his thoughtfulness and the power of his mind, that he will be more persuasive with the white house technocrats so to speak and be able to influence military strategy and policy much better than his predecessor was able to do. martha: when he is in that hearing no doubt he will get questions on his own perspective

how to beat isis. the president said he wants to degrade and destroy this horrible, brutal, terrorist group. so how do you think he will come down on that, general? >> i think he is going to support the president's strategy and in saying he will also be taking a close look at it himself as he gets more involved in it so it gives him a little bit of space. clearly that is job one. they will push that hard because many in the congress, i would agree with this, this strategy in its current form in syria and in iraq is likely to fail unless we make some changes. he will be pushed hard about afghanistan, given what we learned about iraq and pulling the tropical storm out, our plans are to pull the troops out at the end of the 2016. he will be asked questions about that if that is the right thing to do. i believe the new president probably in 2015 will make a request to the president to leave forces in place. he will have a lot on his plate.

there are great concern on the downsized of the united states military and its capabilities. many members of congress will ask him questions and where he stand on it. martha: that is very important position in heady and weighty times for our country. general jack keane, thank you very much. we'll see you next time. >> good talking to you, martha. martha: you too. >> martha, the president expected to make the announcement just under one hour from now at 10:00 a.m. eastern. we'll of course have it live for you when it happens. meanwhile back here in new york city, a second straight night of protests occurred last night over that controversial grand jury decision in the case of eric garner. >> what do we want? >> justice. >> when do we want it? >> now. >> eric garner michael brown. >> the police say more than 200 people arrested last night for disorderly conduct in manhattan. many groups marched peacefully across the brooklyn bridge and congregated in times square. some were carrying coffins to

protest the death of garner and decision not to indict the officer involved in this incident. the mayor's office announcing that new york city police officers will go through what they call, retraining. >> in relationship between police and community has to change. the way we go about policing has to change. has to change in this city, has to change in this country. >> that new york city mayor bill de blasio but of course the police union this morning not at all happy about those statements. rick leventhal is live outside of newsroom here in new york city with the very latest. rick. how did it go last night. >> reporter: it was a pretty wild scene here in new york city, eric. crowd of more than 7,000 people gathered downtown late yesterday afternoon. after rallying near the federal courthouse marched across the brooklyn bridge carrying those symbolic cardboard coffins. some shut down the westside highway. there were skirmishes with police officers in times square and staten island ferry terminal. folks were chanting whose

streets? our streets. folks gathered in boston common chanting phrases like justice now. crowds packed on busy roads and highways stopping traffic there. several arrests in the boston area. in washington d.c. massive crowds packed chinatown metro station and dupont circle disrupting traffic on the 14th street bridge and marching through the city chanting, i can't breathe, which were eric garner's last words. he died july 11th after confrontation with police in staten island and a grand jury decided on wednesday no criminal charges were justified. eric, there are more protests expected in new york and other major distoday and tonight. bill: eric, the union is criticizing mayor de blasio for those comments. >> reporter: a lot of police officers are furious with the mayor suggesting he had to train his own son to deal with police officers, suggesting his son has police bodyguards that pick him up after school. even as mayor watching some first police officers getting this so-called retraining

process, 22,000 street cops will be retrained in tactics how to deal with the public, that is when the president of the police officer's union was wrapping up his news conference where he said that the mayor should have taken time to remind people it is the police who helped make this city so safe, who protect the people even as they protest and who risk their own lives every single day they put on the uniform. >> he needs to support police officer officers. he need to say that children, teach every last one of our children, sons and daughters to respect police officers. you can not resist arrest. resisting arrest leads to confrontation. confrontation leads to tragedy. >> reporter: the officer in the garner case. daniel pant at that lay yo faces internal investigation. the justice department will launch its own civil rights investigation. >> weekend basically the protests likely continue. rick, thanks so much. martha? martha: so police commissioner bill bratton announced three extra days of retraining that

police officers in new york will now receive. but is it a refresh you are course on arrest procedure and social interaction and will it help to patch up the issues that exist? we'll talk to former nypd commissioner bernie kerik about that, what he would do at the government hour. >> that should be some interesting insight from the former commissioner. an american woman in a foreign country, she was savagely butchered in a bathroom. we'll show you the dramatic arrest. what the suspect is telling investigators she says, she was not alone. >> and the federal investigation into eric garner is now underway. what can they find that the grand jury did not? we'll talk to attorney general michael mukasey about the kinds of charges that the officer could still see. >> this morning some critics are scratching their heads over some new comments by hillary clinton. what did she mean when she said this. >> this is what we call smart power. using every possible tool and

partner to advance peace and security l on the sidelines, showing respect, even for one's enemies. it mayeem strange, but people re can love their laxative. especially when it's miralax. it hydrates, eases, and softens, to unblock your system naturally. so you have peace of mind from start to finish. ve your laxative. miralax.

eric: new jersey governor chris christie it seems getting all-clear from the special new jersey legislative committee investigating what happened in the bridge scandal. report from joint committee and senate senate assembly he had no prior involvement or knowledge about the lane closures on the

george washington bridge last year. investigators say they found two of his former aides ordered busy access lanes closed. says they did it on their own apparently as a form of political retribution against the mayor of fort lee. those closing outraged commuters stuck in major traffic jams. the full report will be officially released in trenton on monday but the u.s. attorney's office in newark is investigating this for any possible federal charges. martha: u.s. attorney general eric holder saying that he knows that federal charges will be difficult to bring in the garner case but that he promises his investigation into new york city's so-called chokehold death will be thorough. here he is yesterday. >> there sauce say a high bar that we have to meet in conducting these civil rights investigations but our history has shown that we have met that bar in prior investigations. if that is possible, with regard to the ones that we have underway. if that is appropriate, we will

bring charges. martha: michael mukasey served as u.s. attorney general under president george w. bush. welcome, judge, good to have you here again. >> glad to be here. martha: welcome back to the program. you have two cases also the trayvon martin case where the federal government sought to bring these kinds of civil charges against when there was no indictment found at the court. >> these are criminal charges, martha. they are civil rights charges but they're not civil charges. they're criminal charges. martha: exactly. so talk to me a little bit about the likelihood of success. he said it is a high bar and they have to prove that his civil rights were violated and intentionally so, correct? >> correct. not only that essentially that a crime was committed which would have been a crime under state law, that is, the, an assault, under improper circumstances but also that it was done with intent to deprive him of his civil rights. that is enormously bar to meet.

martha: in order to do that you have to prove there was excessive force. in this case you have that video that will be analyzed to do just that, right? >> correct. there are a lot of questions arising from the video. how much pressure he was applying. what actually contributed to mr. garner's death. he was somebody as mattic. somebody suffering from hurt disease as i understand it. and, the fact that, that, the, that his neck was compressed, that was also disclosed in the autopsy. martha: it would appear that the grand jury, in their testimony and deliberations and the questions they asked is all, secret. we don't know that. but, the takeaway, is that there may have been other factors that led to his death. and that would, that would point in the direction of a tragic accident when a, an amount of force that was applied typical as we've heard from some police in order to take the suspect down, correct? >> correct.

the, the people made a lot of the fact that the autopsy said that the, autopsy report said that it was a homicide, but, i think the important thing to point out there is that -- martha: which is a death. >> simply a death with a human intervention. as opposed to a suicide or a death from natural causes or a death from ingesting poison or something of that sort but it doesn't say that the homicide was resulted from an illegal act. martha: when you look back at these cases because eric holder talked about the fact that the federal government has pursued criminal violations of human rights in the past successfully. in the rodney king case that was the case. those policemen were acquitted and then on the second round at the federal level, two of them were convicted, correct. >> correct. >> you don't have to go even out to go to california, there was a local case involving a man named anthony bias, who was a victim of a chokehold death. was acquitted in a state

proceeding, in a trial before a state court judge, largely because of some technical defect in the way the case was presented. then it was brought as a federal civil rights prosecution but it is very dangerous to draw parallels because the cases are very different. amount of force is very different. the two victims were very different. martha: what do you make of the fact that eric holder is pursuing these? there is also an investigation of the entire cleveland police department for violations of people's civil rights essentially, in the course of police duty there. and, you know, very broad scope. you have the trayvon martin case still outstanding. you have the michael brown case and now again this case from new york? >> i think it is very dangerous to draw or suggest connections between the discrete events that happen in different places separated by thousands of miles with very different ethnic and racial breakdowns. the trayvon martin case is different from the michael brown case, is different from the eric garner case, all different

incidents. and, i, i would say, i would go out on the proverbial limb to say that the brown investigation is as a civil rights investigation is going to go know where. martha: we have to be, a jury has to be race-blind when they look at these situations and i listened to eric garner's daughter last night, she said, i don't think race had anything to do with what happened to my father in her words. he is a big guy. she believes that excessive force was used. that is her personal contention. she didn't believe race was involved. you look at other cases where white people were acquitted as well, with white police officers and in similar cases we don't ever hear anything about any of those cases. so you know i don't want to judge a sitting attorney general, and i understand that completely but do you think that the inference eric holder is drawing by grouping all these together is appropriate or not? >> if he is drawing an inference the effect of that is to raise people's expectations or at

least change their expectations, about what the outcome might be. that could be a very dangerous thing because at the end when there is no outcome as there usually is in these cases, then you seem to have a lot of explaining to do. martha: we will see where all of these federal cases go. there are many of them. they appear to be the focus of the attorney general's time and his-offs as he heads towards closure of that office. thank you very much. good to have you here. >> thanks for having me. martha: mr. mukasey as always. back to you, eric. eric: thank you martha. there are new details this morning about the woman accused of killing a u.s. citizen abroad. what police are saying about her alleged plans to target even more americans and there's this. >> three, two, one. and liftoff. martha: what a sight interest was this morning. blastoff for orion, a nasa launch that could be the first step on a mission to mars for this country. very exciting stuff. we're live at kennedy space center after this.

eric: fox news alert for you. suspect in the brutal stabbing debt of an american teacher in abu dhabi apparently did not act alone according to local police. they say the woman confessed to her crimes during her arrest. the burka-clad accused killer allegedly followed the victim into a bathroom at upscale shopping mall. after the killing she tried to bomb an american doctor's home. leland vittert live from washington with the latest. how did police track her down? >> reporter: good morning, eric. police in abu dhabi wasted no time on the investigation, made it all difficult because the

killer covered herself in a burka. this is police video of the raid. they are confident they have their woman. in overnight raid they stormed a house and captured what they described as a 38-year-old united arab emirates citizen of yemeni origin. allegedly a woman seen in mall surveillance tape of killing the school teacher. ibolya ryan. she was a kind garth own teacher and mother of twin 11-year-old boys. her father has flown to abu dhabi to pick hupp his two sons who obviously don't have a mother. eric: this is so tragic or so sad. you have to wonder if she was targeted because she was american. suspect says she had help. >> reporter: the police believe she had other people involved in the plot. the house raided was base of

operations if you will. they plant ad crude bomb outside home of american doctor that was defused before it could hurt anyone. american embassy noted calls for attacks on teachers in the region. leader of isis made continued calls for lone wolf attacks. this underscores how difficult to prevent attacks. they are inherently uncoordinate emirates is a target because there are many americans there with glitzy hotels and malls and u.a.e. is with the coalition to bomb isis. they advised americans out in public, eric, to keep low profile. eric: sign of the times. leland, thank you so much. martha. martha: got a brand new look at the economy. the monthly jobs report is out. stuart varney will tell us what he sees in the tea leaves. eric: did you hear what hillary clinton says? she says america's enemies, who want to kill us an attack our troops and wish to do us harm, she says american enemies

deserve our respect. well that comment come back to haunter if she runs for the white house in 2016? >> those words coming out of someone who intends to become commander-in-chief are not just naive and utopian, it's irrational.

eric: we have breaking news on the economy. november jobs report was out a few moments ago. the labor department says that 321,000 jobs were added last month. well the unemployment rate, that is staying put. 5.8%. that is six-year low. some say that is because many americans have simply just given up. the real unemployment rate and including the underemployed and those stopped looking for a job, stands at 11.4%. that is more than a point lower than this time a year ago but it means still millions of americans can't find a job. stuart varney, fox business

network, knows all about this. they sit and doubt tout the unemployment rate is going down but it may not be good news. >> i will call this a solid report. i think there is real improvement here. we've been waiting a long time for this improvement. we've been waiting years for it. i'm not going to say that this is a breakout report but it is a definite improvement. let's dig a little deeper for a second. average hourly wages went up, a lot. best gains since early last year. that is a very good thing. eric: why is that so significant? >> because wages are a real problem in this economy. they have not kept pace with inflation. so the middle class is actually losing ground. when wages go up, as they have in this report, that's a good thing. you mentioned the real unemployment report. it actually came down. it is still too high at 11%, but it did come down a little. and that 321,000 new jobs, that is the best gain in many years. eric: will this last, will it continue and can we get the

unemployment down? you talk about the labor participation rate, that is one of highest levels it has ever been. >> that is 62% of the workforce is actually working. eric: what does that mean? >> of all the 100% people eligible to work, can work, want to work, only 62 out of that 100 are actually working. that is a generational low and that is a very bad number. but look, overall, this is improvement. you ask, can it keep going? can we keep on the uptrend? we've been here before, we thought with this hope, that we're going to get better in the future. we've been here before and those hopes have been dashed in each of the last five years. i will not say this is breakout, here we come, boys, everything will be fine but it is improvement and there is some hope, that next year we'll break into higher ground of job creation. eric: try to get that 11% down to that real number, 5%. >> we would love to see that. eric: stu, thank you so much. martha? martha: thank you very much, eric. so hillary clinton at georgetown this week making her case for

women in power positions as we get closer to a possible 2016 announcement. there is some speculation that may be pushed off a little later than january but she was raising some eyebrows what she said during this georgetown speech. clinton saying women could be agents of peace and change but should sympathize with the enemy to a certain extent to do it. here is what she said. >> this is what we call smart power, using every possible tool and partner odd vans peace and security, leaving no one on the sidelines, showing respect even for one's enemies, trying to understand, insofar psychologically possible emphasize with their perspective and point of view. >> joined by karl rove. he is former white house deputy chief of staff of course and senior advisor to president george w. bush and fox news contributor. karl, good morning to you. >> morning, martha. martha: she is getting a lot of heat for this statement. this is something she talked

about for a long time, smart power but she certainly raises profile of this discussion because there is a lot of speculation she will run for president. >> she has been talking about this for a long time but this speech was badly-written and badly-delivered and will continue to cause her problems. there are three challenges with the speech, the first one was respect. the word respect means to feel or show differentialal regard or admire or esteem. we're supposed to look at our adversaries like vladmir putin or isis and have a deafer ringsal regard for them and admire them? worse was the next phrase we need to emphasize with their perspective or point of view. empathy is get inside, one person to imagine themselves and get inside share shoes. we're supposed to look inside of isis. we empathize with you. we understand why you feel compelled to behead american citizens. we look at vladmir putin.

we understand you're upset you're no longer the soviet empire. you're not even the russian empire of the 19th century. and that is why you're taking crimea and stablize ukraine. you're nutty. martha: karl, i would imagine she would say she is talking appealing to the cultures and societies and not leaders in these situations and in many cases our hope while you want to, you know, sort of speak softly and carry a big stick in many of these situations you want to hit them with a lot of firepower but also want to convince the people on the ground in many of these nations that they want different leadership. that this is not the leadership that they want. >> well, good point, martha. she should have said that, rather than saying quote, empathize with their perspectives and point of view. the language that she used was inappropriate. what you just said is exactly right. if she had started off rather than saying respect our adversaries, if she said we need

to understand their capabilities, we need to understand what motivates them, we need to understand what their abilities are in order to deal with them effectively that would have been appropriate but to say we need to respect them, show differential regard for and admire them was wrong landing language. there was other bit of lag language that from my perspective was problematic. she talked about how in the philippines until they put a woman in charge of negotiations with the jihadists in the south of the country, more liberationists that the negotiations were going nowhere. she said we need to have women more involved in conflict resolution and military efforts they were better to able to solve these problems. this i thought was crude sexism. does she really believe jobs in government that women are better than men at? if so she needs to tell us what men are inherently better than women in government.

i understand this is inherent sexism. martha: this audience i would imagine came into play. i understand what you're saying, you want the best person for the job. the fact that -- >> best person for the job absolutely. martha: that they happen to be women is less relevant than the fact that they were successful, correct? >> right. correct. martha: all right. so you know, the other thing that strikes me when you look at the polls people are in favor generally of us being more powerful against isis. they feel that the president has inbeen strong enough on this issue, so i wonder in terms of the electorate who she is appealing to with this? >> look, she is appealing to the hard left of the democratic party but she is creating a general election problem for herself and making it more difficult for herself to put distance between she and president obama. remember she will be running, if she runs in 2015 and 2016. who thinks america's foreign policy will be more successful over the next two years dealing with isis, dealing with putin and dealing with various

challenges we have around the world and in essence mimicking echoing president's lines in regards to our enemies, she will make it more difficult to differentiate herself from him. martha: on the left they feel she is too hawkish and she is perhaps trying to soften tone. >> absolutely, absolutely. martha: no doubt we'll see the quotes come back to her in debate environment and we can imagine they are logging tape for that in the future. one quick thing. this came out from one of the hillary pacs, independent group. there is no campaign as of yet. i want you to take a look to get your reaction. i wasn't sure it was cerus at first but apparently it is. let's roll it. ♪ martha: at one point they say she is like your wife, see that nice lady in the picture, looks back at his wife and says, she

is like your wife, i mean, why wouldn't you want to elect her president of the united states? >> well interestingly enough in the film you get implication that he moat his wife when he ran out of gas and she showed up on a motorcycle. look, national reporter emailed me the link and said the gossip was i was somehow behind this as a diabolical plot to embarass hillary clinton. martha: were you? answer the question. >> i'm not saying. i'm not saying. i'm not saying. martha: you would like to take credit at this point i bet? >> i tell you, which i could. it is one of the most abysmal pieces. if they tried to ad v. kate for hillary they couldn't figure out a worse way to do it. martha: i couldn't figure out whether it was "saturday night live" skit or if it was real. >> good production values. martha: free airtime today. be that as it may. karl, thank you very much. have a great weekend. >> you bet. eric: we'll see in that shows you on the country charts. martha: burning up the internet according to some reports.

eric: new battle brewing over the president's immigration plans. should republicans wait until next year when they have both houses of congress to take on the president or should they take action right now? coming up our panel will debate. martha: proud parents welcoming their bundle of joy. a really big bundle they got. we'll tell you how big they got when we come back. ♪ americans drink 48 billion bottles of water every year. that's enough plastic bottles to stretch around the earth 230 times. each brita filter can replace 300 of those. clean. clear. brita water. nothing is better.

eric: house republicans are voting on a plan to fund the government while at the same time making mostly symbolic rebuke of the president's immigration order that puts off a larger fight until next year but some in the gop don't want to wait. they're calling for the battle to take place right now. >> i am not convinced that our strategists on this side are committed to putting an end to the president's constitutional

violations, nor am i convinced they're prepared to pull out all the stops to block the funding to implement his lawless act. eric: will the republicans do, what should they do? guy benson, fox news contributor, political editor of townhall.com, robert hoops, former chief of staff to vice president joe biden. welcome to you both. guy, republicans can't sop this thing, can they? >> no. the fact of the matter their options are very limited. even next year when they take over the senate their options are limited. they're in this quandary, what the president has done is law hess, according to his own definition this is something he doesn't have the authority to do. this is sweeping policy change he doesn't have the legal power to implement but he has done it anyway but the ways republicans can push back are politically complicated. they will not impeach him. that is off the table but there is this question about having a big funding fight whether now or

later. if you look at polling, the public hates the idea of a government shutdown. even if that shutdown is precipitated by the president the public is predisposed to blame rub republicans regardless. this is tough dilemma for the gop. they can't just let this stand. they have to do something even if that involves political risk. eric: what if that boomerangs? if they pick it apart bit by bit will it stand? >> this is great myth nothing republicans can do. you heard the congressman talk about strategists. the answer is republican legislators. write laws. have hearings. ask witnesses to come up to talk about immigration and write a bill and send it to the president. there is bipartisan bill been in the house of representatives over a year with 68 votes. instead of taking symbolic votes, do hard work of writing legislation. there are too many people in the republican conference,

particularly ones most opposed to president, who don't want to do the work much look legislators. it is not glamorous. doesn't necessarily get you on tv but it is what lawmakers have been sent here to do. so i think it is a hugely missed opportunity. i think you're hearing this kind of echo chamber there is nothing short of impeachment or government shutdown for the republicans to do. it is total nonsense. they can be legislators. eric: what about that, guy, with the senate vote stuck in the house? >> two points. i think there are is didissues . first there is the policy question of immigration. i personally happen to be someone who favors some form of immigration reform. i prefer an enforcement-first mechanism. but and i think that hopefully something along those lines does get done. but the other issue, the core issue that we're talking about right now, is whether the president overreached in his authority which he absolutely has done. so -- hang on. i didn't interrupt you. eric: wait a minutes robert.

i did not interrupt you sir. eric: let guy finish. >> the president can not cite the fact that congress is not acting the way he wants them to act and cite this sort of nonexistent getting stuff done clause in the constitution saying because they're not acting i'm going to act on my own even though i don't have the authority to do so. what they can do is give me what i want and then we'll undo my power grab. that is not how it works h. eric: robert, you're reaction shaking head over power grab comment. >> it is fact wally inaccurate. other presidents taken similar or more aggressive executive action. if you send me i am my sprayings bill i sign it i will undo the executive actions you objected to. so he is basically put on the table and really challenged john boehner around the republicans in the house, it is not a senate issue by the way it is house issue where you had the majority for quite some time to do the hard work of legislating. which is, by the way, what american people sent members of congress here to do. eric: will that change next

year? look when they have both houses of congress? >> well you know, i don't know because, a, there is no institutional memory. since obama won and pubpubs committed -- republicans committed themselves to do anything but support this president we've had no meaningful legislation. second, if there is a bipartisan bill, which you will see a vote on december 11th to extend funding of government which will likely include a group of democrats to get the majority, there will be a lot of republicans who object to that. anything passed in a bipartisan fashion among certain parts of the republican conference is antithetical to their view of what washington should be which is us versus them, instead of a we. eric: we're out of time, guy. last word. what happens come january when they have both houses? >> it will be a little bit easier for republicans to send all sorts of bills over to the president to put onus on him to veto. that maybe helps their messaging

a little bit but look, fact-checkers, independent fact-checkers picked apart the claim this is just like what other presidents have done in the past. it has not. president has been clear about that saying for years he could not do exactly what he has now done. eric: guy and robert, it is still happening. thanks so much. >> thanks. eric: martha? martha: all right. let's get awe live look now, looks like just a podium and that's what it is but in a few moments there will be action happening there and live news as the president nominates the next possible secretary of defense, getting underway in just a couple minutes. we'll take you there. eric: you like marilyn monroe? well, her fans will get a chance to own part of the blonde bombshell's history. a lot of items are up for grabs and how much they're expected to fetch at a big auction. ♪ here's some news you may find surprising.

we're for an open internet for all. we're for creating more innovation and competition. we're for net neutrality protection. now, here's some news you may find even more surprising. we're comcast. the only isp legally bound by full net neutrality rules.

♪ eric: personal effects of an icon. marilyn monroe going up on the bidding block. julian's actions in beverly hills selling off what they call the lost archive of marilyn monroe's collections. that includes letters from one of her husband, playwrite arthur miller and a letter from her husband baseball legend joe dimaggio. even a bra that is expected to bring $8,000. the auction runs today and tomorrow you want to bid. martha: so it finally happened.

nasa's orion spacecraft made it into the air after multiple delays. orion was supposed to launch yesterday but wind and other complications forced it to scratch the liftoff. it is zooming through space paving a way for new frontier in exploration. very exciting launch this morning. phil keating watched it all live. when does orion hit its maximum altitude? >> reporter: martha, we're almost there. ten minutes from now orion will sit 3600 miles above earth's threshold which will mark the furthest a spacecraft designed for human travel has gone in more than 40 years since the apollo 17's trip to the moon. it was a spectacular launch right up to sunrise this morning, full of fire and loud propulsion thrilling estimated 20,000 space spectators gathered around cape canaveral. as orion comes back to earth the it will come in screaming at a

20,000 miles per hour creating entry person r burn to 4,000 degrees to test newly designed heat shield. eventually we will put two astronauts in there, roughly, 2021 and then eventually the plan is that in 2030s to get it out to mars. in about an hour and 20 minutes it should splash down out in the pacific. martha? martha: so exciting. really incredible sight, phil. thank you very very much. >> reporter: all right. eric: we have fox news alert. we're now waiting as you can see for the president to take that podium at the white house. he is expected to make his announcement nominating ashton carter as the next defense secretary to take over for secretary chuck hagel. carter is a pentagon veteran. we'll go live to the white house as soon that happens in a few moments at the top of the hour.

martha: so we're just moments away now. the president is going to

announce his pick for the next secretary of defense. it is really the worst-kept secret in washington and it has been confirmed it will be former pentagon official ashton carter. we'll watch that as it plays out moments from now. we welcome everybody on friday, brand new "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum. eric: i'm eric shawn in for bill hemmer this morning. carter is no stranger to the halls of the pentagon. he was in the clinton administration as deputy defense secretary and well-known defense expert. why this pick? ed henry on the north lawn with the very latest. there are a lot of accusations that the white house micromanages pentagon policy. would you describe carter's style? is he somebody that can stand up to the president and be independent? >> reporter: they tell us ash carter is independent and bold, willing to stand up to the president and key advisors like susan rice. that is important because rice

clashed with chuck headache gel the outgoing defense secretary, not just over policy but direct access to the president. i mean i've been told by people close to chuck headache gel that one of his great frustrations was that susan rice and others were blocking hagel from getting more direct one-on-one meeting with the president so he could speak his mine on strategy over isis in russia, some of the big national security challenges. one of the big questions moving forward is going to be whether or not ash carter will be able to get that direct access to the commander-in-chief and whether or not he is going to be able to stand on his own. chuck hagel, who was seen as a maverick republican senator, back when he was in that chamber, came in and was not able to be a maverick, was not able to be somebody who stood up and really voiced his views, got it out there. instead he was hemmed in and felt pulled in by top people here at the white house, eric. eric: you know it is interesting if as you say supporters claim he is independent and can stand

up to the inner circle, that scenes out of character for this white house based on the people they have had in this job. so what can we expect from him? >> reporter: it is interesting. one thing we can expect his friends and advisors say ash carter was somebody when he was number two at the pentagon was standing up saying look, as well as leon panetta at defense secretary at the time don't pull all u.s. troops out of iraq. what does that tell us, on one hand ash carter basically lost that battle as did leon panetta because president obama pulled forward and pulled out all u.s. troops in iraq. going forward maybe this administration learned lessons from that, in days ahead if confirmed maybe ash carter will push for the u.s. to leave even more troops behind than roughly 10,000 or so they were planning to leave behind in afghanistan for example. will it mean tougher strategy going forward beyond just airstrikes against isis in iraq and syria? these will be some of big questions he will have to confront, ash carter if in fact he is confirmed.

they're feeling good at white house, even though it will be a republican senate very soon they will get him confirmed. interesting, he is a nuclear physicist, a policy wonk by training. he will have to become a war fighter pretty quickly. eric: interesting, considering his scholarly background and issues he has been dealing with. you're right, he will have to transition somewhat. >> reporter: confronting issues. >> we'll get back to president and mr. carter enters the room and everyone sits down and they make the announcement. we'll have it live of course. martha: everybody is gathering in the room. let's talk a little bit more about ashton carter's qualifications for the job. here with insight, california congressman buck mckeon chairman of the house armed services committee and obviously someone very interested in this nomination. good to have you here. >> thank you, martha. martha: tell me a little bit what you think about this pick? >> well i think, you know, a lot of names were floated. i think ash is a good choice. i think he's one that would have

a smooth transition. he knows the department. he knows how it runs. i think he won't have to, you know, be guided to his office. so i think that's very important. i do have concerns about his access to the president. i think el get along well in the pentagon but i don't know how el fit into the white house because that's, that's ultimately the problem that the last three secretaries have had. they have all been strong, powerful individuals. so, if the president wants to keep micromanaging and let his staff run the pentagon, then, it will be a little tough for ash but i think, it remains to be seen how he will be able to stand up and how he is going to fit in over there. i think he is not going to suffer to lack of knowledge of how the place runs and the relationships that he has built on the hill and at the department over the years. so i look forward to working with him. martha: as you point out, that's

the crux of the issue here. that is the problem that has led to the last three secretaries of defense leaving their job ultimately. we just saw susan rice a moment ago, walk in and take a front row seat for this announcement. whether or not ashton carter will be able to get into the inner circle at the white house and whether he will have a seat at the table will be the question that will define his career as the defense secretary. what will you be looking for initially from him to see, you know, to take the temperature of that question? >> well, one of the things that we've, that we've had to struggle with in the administration is, the president wants to close he wants to move all the detainees back to other countries and to the united states. martha: that has been happening lately, right? >> well, it's been an ongoing process. i talked to secretary hagel yesterday and the last few weeks there have been several names

sent up. but he informed me as to why that was, that there had been kind after backlog built up. he wanted to make sure, he has to sign and verify that each of these people have a good place to go and they can monitor them and they feel pretty secure that they won't reenter the fight. that remains to be seen, whether they do or not. but when he signs that, he has to feel that they have been. and some of the ones that have been put forth he hadn't had that assurance until they kind of backed up. so when he gets those behind him, that probably is going to slow down for a while. that will be one of the things that ash has to deal with. martha: when you spoke with secretary hagel, did he shed any light on his own difficulties with his position with that job? >> you know, i think he's done a fantastic job. i think it is very difficult in that position as, you know, it has been pretty public from

secretary panetta, secretary gates, the problems they have to deal with, in the time that i have worked with secretary hagel he never said one bad thing about the administration. i think any discussions he had, any advice he gave to the president, or the administration, i think he did privately. i think that's the way he should operate, i think he was a real stand-up guy doing. that i don't think they have been the same way with him but that's, you know that's going to be a problem that ash also has to deal with. i made a comment a couple weeks ago that you know, if you go through four secretaries of defense or three in six years, maybe you ought to be looking at yourself instead of the secretaries? i think that's maybe, you know, maybe the president willl sit back and say well, maybe i ought to evaluate my leadership style? if i pick somebody to do a job i ought to let them do it. >> we will see. that is the big central question

in this pick and in the way forward for the fight against isis and so many compelling challenges that will face this department of defense secretary. thank you very much, chairman mckeon, good to see you as always. >> good to see you, thank you. eric: remains to be seen if ash carter will be given as the congressman said the ability to do that job because he will take a office at a time when u.s. forces are really busy overseas. let's look at the numbers. right now some 30,000 troops are stationed in afghanistan alone. in iraq that number is at 1400 right now but it is set to increase to 3,000 over the next few months. there are also more than 2100 u.s. troops stationed in west africa. not to mention our commitments that continue in suit cree and europe. >> so when -- this announcement starts we will take you there to the white house. a group is gathering there and gets underway. we'll take you there live. eric: there is another government shutdown looming as

republicans spar how to block the president's executive order on immigration. >> is congress hopeless, helpless, ineffect wall? is he not able to stop this? absolutely not. eric: that is jeff sessions, the senator from alabama raising those questions. he will be with us next live to explain why he is willing to risk a possible shutdown to stop the president's executive order on immigration. martha: and some newly declassified testimony from a closed-door hearing on benghazi raises questions whether the former director of the cia misled congress. we'll talk about that and this. eric: dramatic video showing the moment a boat racing team crashed into a reef and they're in shark-infested waters. [shouting] it's there.

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martha: all right. as we have been reporting today the president's about to make the official announcement of his choice for defense secretary. white house confirms they will nominate ash carter who you see on right-hand side of your screen here. he will replace chuck hagel who resigned somewhat surprisingly in recent weeks. carter is former deputy defense secretary. before that he was pentagon chief of technology and weapons. he did a lot of procurement, things along that order. we'll have that announcement

live as soon as it gets underway. we're waiting for two minute warning there. eric: as we await for that the other big issue in washington president obama's executive action on immigration. that sparked a furious backlash yesterday. the house passed a bill declaring the president's order on immigration null and void as in the senate conservatives consider a plan to block immigration plan there by using power of the purse. will it work? we have alabama senator jeff sessions ranking member of budget committee and service on the arm services committee. good morning. >> good morning. we'll see how the chairmanships play out but good to be with you. eric: what do you hope to achieve on this immigration issue? >> well, look the president's actions have been rejected by congress. what he is doing providing lawful status a photo i.d., a social security number and right to take any job in america and get social security and medicare for people who are unlawfully

here. congress rejected that, refused to do it. he is doing it by executive order. it is unlawful, unconstitutional. congress needs to fund the government of the united states but it should not fund this kind of activity. it has no responsibility, congress has no duty to fund a program that opposes as a matter of policy and absolutely a responsibility to reject funding of a program that is unlawful. eric: the president and white house defend it as you know and they say it is lawful. he has the power to do that. you raise an interesting point. >> that is not, scholars, a whole host of scholars, and president himself repeatedly said he did not have the power to do this and he does not. eric: i know that was before. that was before the order, not after the order, senator, you're right. you do raise an interesting point about spending. i mean there have been what, 14 or so spending bills that have defunded government programs at the same time. do you think that actually can stop this immigration order?

apparently they're already hiring people. they have want ads to start this. >> absolutely. they have already gotten a building, just across the river from washington in crystal city and they're announcing the hiring of a a thousand people to provide legal status to people who are unlawfully here. is a breathtaking overreach of federal action. congress doesn't have to allow that money to be spent in that way. that is one thing that, that is power of the congress has. the president has certain powers that he does that frustrates congress every day but congress has powers too and this one is, just, so fundamental that i think congress should defend a law and constitutional order and the people's interest. what was eli spoken in this -- really spoken in this past election when such a big majority went to the republicans. eric: you talk about, and you've been a veteran member of the senate for many years, what is

your view and your reaction when you see that? usa jobs.gov, i know you want see me, it's a want ad. 1000 full time permanent contract employees, a want ad for the people. the bulletin says initial work load will include cases filed as a result of executive actions on immigration announced on november 20th. many job opportunities at operational scepter will be announced in the coming days. please continue to monitor usa jobs if you're interested. what does it mean when this administration has a want ad for new jobs and you guys are saying we're not going to fund it? is this a direct defiant action in your view against the power of the congress and separation of powers of branches of our government? >> the president has obtained a building that congress has not authorized. he is now hiring a thousand people, some 150, $160,000 a year some, that congress has not authorized. he is using ability to move

money around. all congress has too say is, you can not spend any of that money that we've appropriated on this project. it is quite easy to do. and it is what ought to happen. the white house staffers said congress should do its job. we insist it do its job. its job is to evaluate requests for funding from the white house. its job is to comply with the constitution and to defend the legitimate interests of congress. and empowers congress has. not to rubberstamp anything that the white house wants. that is so basic to our constitutional structure. eric: senator, that is the debate. that is the issue right now on capitol hill in washington. thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> martha? martha: new york city's mayor sparked a major confrontation with his own police force, following his charged comments on the death of eric garner. and police tactics. several days of that brouhaha has been underway in new york.

we'll talk about that coming up. eric: martha, there have been several days of heavy rain, take a look at that, triggering mudslides, flooding, leaving dozens of drivers stranded. >> it is terrible. i never seen it this bad. never ever been this bad. >> my windshield wipers couldn't move fast enough. it was raining pretty hard. there was just, so much water all over i couldn't really tell what was going on. you don't need to think about the energy that makes our lives possible. because we do. we're exxonmobil and powering the world responsibly is our job. because boiling an egg... isn't as simple as just boiling an egg. life takes energy. energy lives here.

martha: here is the scene in the white house. everyone is assembled, waiting for two-minute break. we've been waiting several days in fact because the word is out for some time that ash carter would be the president's nomination, his pick for the next secretary of defense. some of the big questions that have surfaced during this time are whether or not he will have leverage, anymore pull, any deeper connection with the white house when it comes to the pentagon, when it comes to our defense, when it comes to what is going on with isis and all of these huge, compelling issues. there is probably no more important person in the president's cabinet at this

point than the secretary of defense. and this nominee, should he be confirmed, will be the fourth that he has had, eric, which we have pointed out. but it is stunning to go through three and now have a fourth department of defense head in only the first six years of a presidency. eric: fascinating comments earlier in your interview with buck mckeon what is going on in the white house and pentagon and can ashton carter, as you say be independent somewhat? can he be defiant of susan rice and perhaps the president himself when apparently that has not succeeded with the previous occupants of his potential new job? martha: buck mckeon obviously is someone who has been very disturbed about the cuts in funding to the pentagon over the years. that is one of his primary focuses. he is hopeful no doubt that ash carter will have more success convincing the president and the white house that is something that needs to be reversed.

but really when it gets right down to it, eric, the central issue is whether or not we'll need to put boots on the ground eventually in battle against isis. the white house is committed to degrading or destroying isis or icy as they're called from the white house. yet we know that the commitment to do that and follow through to actually, you know, meet our enemies on the battlefield is something robert gates spoke about, something that leon panetta spoke about, they butted heads with the white house over this issue time and time again in terms of focus and force that needs to be used against islamic extremism in the world. of chuck hagel, ran into some of the same issues no doubt. we haven't heard his whole story yet about why he decided to resign. he wasn't even two years on the job when he decided to step down. it is interesting, eric, when hagel was considered to be an odd pick in many ways. some people thought he wasn't qualified, qualified for the job. his abysmally. but he won over people like buck

mckeon. i have to believe he was challenging white house on number of issues but clearly not getting anywhere. eric: apparently didn't work. reports, martha, dealing with gitmo he was resisting some releases we've seen, specifically controversial release of top five taliban officials in exchange for bowe bergdahl and other issues to apparently get hagel pushed out. here comes the man being pushed in. >> good morning, everybody, please have a seat. it is wonderful to be able to announce, not the creation but at least filling of one new job. but before we do i wanted to make somewhat broader statement about the economy and and ash, is willing to indulge me. last month, america's businesses created more than 300,000 jobs. and this keeps a pace so far

this year, that, we had not seen since the 1990s. so far this year over the first 11 months of 2014, our economy has created 2.65 million jobs. that's more than in any entire year since the 199 0s. our businesses now created 10.9 million jobs over the past 57 months in a row and that's the longest streak of private sector job growth on record. we also know that the pickup in the pace of job growth this year has been in industries with higher wages and overall wages are rising, a very welcome sign for millions of americans. so we've got an opportunity to keep up this progress if congress is willing to keep our government open, avoid self-inflicted wounds, and work

together to invest in the things that support faster job growth in high-paying jobs. that means exports, infrastructure, streamlining our tax code, immigration reform, giving minimum wage workers a raise. that has been a long road to recovery from the worst economic crisis in generations and we still have a lot more work to do to make sure that hard-working americans wages are growing faster but the united states continues to outpace most of the world. over the last four years we put more people back to work than europe, japan, and all other industrialized advanced countries combined and we're going to keep at it until every single american who is willing and able to work can find not just any job but a job that pays a decent wage and allows them to support their families. but it is worth us every once in a while reflecting on the fact that the american economy is making real progress and if we

can continue in this trajectory, if we can continue to grow robustly and if we make sure that those companies who are seeing profits, that are probably higher than anytime in the last 60 years, that they're also making sure that their workers are sharing in that growth, then we can get a virtuous cycle that will really make a difference and be a critical component of strengthening our national security because national security starts with a strong economy here at home. now, i know that some people think that i announce cabinet positions on fake twitter accounts. this is not the case. [laughter] a year ago when ash carter completed his tenure as deputy secretary of defense, secretary hagel took to the podium in ash's farewell ceremony and

looked out audience and civilian and military leaders and he said i've known ash carter for many years. all of us here today have benefited from ash's hard work, his friendship, from his inspiration and from his leadership. and chuck then went on to express his gratitude to his partner for what ash has done for this country and will continue to do in many ways. couldn't have said it better myself. today i'm pleased to announce my nominee to be our next secretary of defense, mr. ash carter. now with a record of service that has spanned more than 30 years of public service, as an advisor, as a scholar, ash is rightly regarded as one of our nation's foremost national security leaders. as a top member of our pentagon team for the first five years of my presidency including his two years as deputy secretary he was at the table in the situation room, he was by my side

navigating complex security challenges we were confronting. i relied on his expertise and i relied on his judgment. i think it is fair to say that ash, in your one year attempt at retirement from public service you failed miserably. [laughter] but i am deeply grateful that you're willing to go back at it. ash, some of you know bring as unique blend of strategic perspective and technical know how. as a student of history he understands the united states, and i'm quoting him now, as the single-most provider of security in the world and he played a key role devising our defense strategy to advance that security. he is also a physicist. which means he is one of the few people who actually understand how many of our defense systems work. and that is also allowed him to serve with extraordinary breadth and also depth in a whole range of work that we've had to do.

in one way or another ash has served under 11 secretaries of defense. he is an innovator who helped create the program that has dismantled weapons of mass destruction around the world and reduced a threat of nuclear terrorism. he is a reformer who has never been afraid to cancel old or inefficient weapons programs. he knows the department of defense inside and out. all of which means on day one he will hit the ground running. ash is also known by our allies and our friend around the world. having served both republican an democratic secretaries he is respected and trusted on both sides of the aisle. he has been a close partner with our military leaders and he is admired by sillian leaders across the department because he is a mentor to so many of them. there is one other quality of ash's service i think often gets overlooked. that is his true regard, his love for the men and women in

uniform and their families. his relentless and dedication to their safety and well-being. when he cutout dated, unneeded systems, he did it to try to fry up money for our troops to make sure they have weapons and gear they needed and the quality of lie for themselves and their families that they deserve. when our troops in iraq and afghanistan were struggling to defend against roadside bombs he moved heavy and earth to rush them new body armor and vehicles. no exaggeration to say there are countless americans who are alive today in part because of ash's efforts. when our forces sat down for thanksgiving dinner far from home or as our wounded warriors recovered in the hospital or when our fallen heroes returned to dover ash was there, often on his own time, without any publicity or fan fare. i know ash will be there for

them now as secretary of defense of the we face no shortage of challenges to our national security. our combat mission in afghanistan ends this month and we have to transition to a new mission of advising and assisting afghan forces and going after remnants of al qaeda's core. we have to keep degrading and ultimately destroying isil in iraq and syria. we have to build counter terrorism partnerships and new platforms. we have to continue the fight answer gel ebola in west africa. we have to continual liances in nato and continue to rebalance our defense posture in asia pacific. going forward our forces are necessarily going to be leaner but as commander-in-chief i will make sure we have a a military second to none, that continues to be the greatest fighting force in the history of the world. that means toe that we will have to bolster tom new capabilities, our cyberdefenses. how we deal with our satellites

and how we're adapting our military and investing in new capabilities to meet long-term threats. we'll have to work with congress on a more responsible approach to defense spending, including reforms we need to make the department more efficient. that's how we're going to preserve readiness, that is how we keep faith with our forces and our families, that is how we will deliver world class care to our wounded warriors. and ash will be critical to all these efforts. when we talked about this job, we talked about how we're going to have to make smart choices precisely because there are some challenges out there and we're going to have to squeeze every, everything we have out of the resources that we have in order to be as effective as possible. i can't think of somebody who is more qualified to do that. and in his career ash has been confirmed by the senate three times. if it were entirely up to my

dear friend carl levin who is sitting here i suspect it would happen really quickly. because, because that is kind of guy carl is and carl, i know, has had a chance to work with ash in the past. my hope is that in the new congress we get similar speed and dispatch. by the way, we will miss carl levin. i just wanted to mention that. [applause] eric: one last piece of critical information that may have tipped the scales in me wanting to promos ash. ash is a big motown fan. [laughter] and one of his favorites is a classic by the four tops, "reach out, i'll be there." so ash, i'm reaching out to you. you have been there for us, our

troops, our families, our nation. i also know that he has been there for his lovely wife stephanie, sometimes by skype because he has been traveling but, the sacrifices that stephanie has been willing to make, you know, this is a team effort as it is true for our military families. so we're very grateful to stephanie. she joined ash on a lot of those thanksgiving trips to see our troops and at the bedside of wounded warriors. she knows sacrifices they're going through. stephanie, we thank you for your service. we thank will and ava who couldn't be here but we know that they couldn't be prouder of their dad and with that i want to let, hopefully our soon to be new secretary of defense say a few words. [applause]

>> thank you. thank you, mr. president. and mr. president, mr. vice president, it's an honor and a privilege for me to be nominated for the position of secretary of defense. general scowcroft, my long-time mentor, thank you for being here. and thanks to another long-time mentor, bill perry, who can't be here today. and thanks to you, chairman, and many other friend and colleagues, past and future for coming out today. i accepted the president's offer to be nominated for secretary of defense because of my regard for his leadership. i accepted it because of the seriousness of the strategic challenges we face, but also the

bright opportunities that exist for america if we can come together to grab hold of them. and i anticipated the -- accepted the offer because of the deep respect and abiding love that stephanie and i have for our men and women in uniform as we talked together in the past weeks, mr. president, we discussed the challenges and the opportunities and the need both to keep america safe and to make a better future for our children. if confirmed in this job, i pledge to you my most candid, strategic advice. and i pledge also that you will receive equally candid military advice. and finally to the greatest fighting force the world has ever known, to you i pledge to

keep faith with you. and to serve our nation with the same unflinching dedication that you demonstrate every day. [applause] martha: there you have it, the moment we waited for this morning, the announcement from the white house that ash carter is indeed the president's pick for the next defense secretary. interesting moment that happened there toward the end of his comments. he said that he promised the president his candid, strategic advice and his candid military advice. and he looked, turned and looked directly at the president when he said that. we will see if he is confirmed what the deeper meaning of that statement means but clearly that was something that he wanted to say during his brief statement there and that is something that former defense secretaries run

into problems with what it comes to the white house. we'll see if ash carter is more successful. quick note, chuck hagel was not there. often when you see handoff from one secretary to the another the person is there, significant or not, we don't know but the fact remains that chuck hagel did not choose to be part of the ceremony today at the white house. eric: martha, one of the most contentious issues dealing with the pentagon and our national defense was benghazi. and now newly-declassified testimony from closed-door hearing from benghazi in 2012, suggest at least five republican lawmakers on house intelligence committee believed that former cia director david petraeus was less than truthful when about that attack when i blamed assault on that video a claim we all know later unraveled. >> that is perhaps the biggest unexplained question as to why general petraeus's testimony, right after the attack was so

wrong and why several, two months later after he came back in he tried to tell us he never said that in the first place. eric: why was it wrong? june ya'll turner was white house national security council official under president as bush and obama and is a fox news contributor. jillian, he blamed the video, was he going off cia talking points and should he have known better? >> here is what happened. the house intelligence committee's report on benghazi has been declassified. essentially means all members previously denied access to the report because they didn't have appropriate security clearances can now read it in full, minus redacted portions which remain. so what has come out of this now is a considerable degree of further detail about the attacks perpetrated against the cia compound that resulted in the two navy seals deaths. this has prompt ad new wave of gop criticism about sort of the general petraeus's depiction of the events in their immediate

aftermath. eric: is that criticism warranted? leon panetta, carter ham, they said they knew it was a terrorist attack right away? >> it has becoming increasingly tough for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to talk about the benghazi attacks without political inclinations and even emotions getting in the way in large part due the fact which lost life of one of the u.s.'s most senior diplomats, who many house members knew and had none for a long time. eric: but the fact, we're basically running out of time because of the announcement of the new defense secretary, bottom line, the facts are the facts. either it was a terrorist attack or it wasn't. >> yeah, but the political stuff here i think is really obscuring the challenge before the house intelligence commit at committee which is to figure out what happened in benghazi and situation room and path forward to make sure an attack like this never happens again. eric: gillian turner, thanks for cutting it short because of the

announcement today. >> thanks. martha: police commissioner -- in favor of training, it always helps to do our job efficiently and constantly and i believe we should constantly train our members, but the training has to be in the real world. martha: so do police need retraining to avoid another incident like this? we'll talk to a former nypd commissioner.

martha: we are back. it protests over the eric garner case continue in new york tensions are escalating between the new york city mayor and the new york city police department. mayor de blasio announcing that the city would begin retraining police but police officers say that the mayor sneads to be -- needs to be defending the police force in this city as well, not criticizing them.

>> they were out there doing a difficult job in the middle of the night protecting rights of those to protest, protecting our sons and daughters. and the mayor was behind microphones like this throwing them under the bus. >> he needs to support new york city police officers. he needs to say that teach our children every last one of our children, sons and daughters to respect police officers. martha: bernard kerik, former nypd commissioner joins me now. good to have you here today, sir. >> thank you. martha: what's your reaction? >> honestly i'm disappointed in the mayor. there has to be leadership. the cops have to feel they have the mayor's support. they have to have the benefit of the doubt in situations like this. and, new york city pd is the most culturally, one of the most culturally diverse departments in this entire nation. and there's this rhetoric by the

mayor that almost makes it seem like he is calling them racist and it is nonsense. it is nonsense. martha: he went out in that statement that the, that the police department was referring to, and said you know, i understand how these people feel. that i tell my son that you need to be very cautious when you deal with these people, meaning the new york city police department. >> you know what, martha? my son is half latino. i told my son how to act around cops too, to say yes, sir, knows, do what you're told. that's what i told my son. martha: i told my son the same thing. >> my son is not black. this isn't about black or white. this is about respect. this is about discipline. this is about knowing what to do when you're out in public. martha: let's take a look at this video. because one of the questions arising now, and throughout the course of this, whether or not excessive force was used. the federal government will

investigate whether excessive force was used and let's take a look at this, how hard it is for this takedown. talk me through what it happening. >> based on what i can see, i didn't see the beginning of it, you have a guy that is about 360 pounds. they got to get handcuffs on that guy. he obviously resists. he doesn't want to go. he doesn't comply. it is up to them to get handcuffs on him and take him into custody. a guy like this is strong. they don't want to be overpowered. the worst thing that can happen to new york city, any cop, any cop in this country is that to be overpowered and have that guy get your gun. martha: what about that moment there when he has his hand on his head? >> he is holding him down, controlling him. you know, and listen, i wasn't there. martha: i know. >> you don't know what is going on. you're focused on the moment. you're not even paying attention what the other cops are doing. you're focused on what you're doing. and, it's tragic.

it is unfortunate, it's horrible to watch. but the fact is, that man would be alive today, if he didn't resist arrest. martha: yes. around i think that, i mean, and, representative from the police said the same thing. he said, what you don't want is confrontation, because once you have that confrontation, once you resist arrest, then you're in, you're in a scary situation, where you don't know what will happen. >> the force escalates on both sides. and as it escalates, the worse thing that can happen to a cop it happened to a guy i was in the academy with, march 3rd, 1989. bobby was overpowered by a suspect he was trying to take into custody. that suspect took his gun and killed him with it. that is not what a cop wants to happen. every cop has that fear. martha: it is interesting, because his daughter, eric garner's daughter was on television last night, said i don't think this is a race issue. i think that you know, my father

was confronted and she believes it was unjust an excessive force but i don't believe it was because he was black. but this issue of excessive force, the guidelines are difficult and that is the judgment that will be made, when the civil rights issue comes down here in the next phase of this. >> not only the civil rights issue but there is a department, departmental review board. but the one thing i would say is, if new york city cops, if ever cop in this city had tasers there is a chance this wouldn't have happened. martha: that's what you would like to see? >> that is what i think should happen. martha: bernie kerik, thank you very much. great to have you here. >> thank you. martha: thanks for being here. eric? >> thanks, martha, and commissioner. incumbent senator fighting for her political life. will mary landrieu keep her seat or will bill cassidy win and give the gop another seat in the senate?

eric: well it is almost the moment of truth. the louisiana senate race, it is the final day of campaigning for incumbent senator mary landrieu. he is in uphill battle against her republican challenger congressman bill cassidy. they didn't get more than 50% of the vote in last month's election so the special runoff is tomorrow. john roberts is live in new orleans with more on this. john, voting on saturday, how does it look for mary landrieu? >> reporter: not looking good at the moment. in fact if mary landrieu loses this race, polls suggest she will and badly won't be for lack of trying. barnstorming the state making case for fourth term in the u.s. senate. in final days try to gin up controversy over bill cassidy's part-time work at lsu medical school. claimed he was paid for work he didn't do and violated ethics laws making outside money as a congressman. i asked the senator about those

allegations. so you're saying a lot of things that are very pointed yet there doesn't seem to be proof there to back it up? >> first of all i'm not one making official charges. he is under investigation by l-s, a public hospital. >> they're reviewing, not investigating. >> they will be reviewing and investigating. he is under two ethics reviews. one by local democratic party here. >> reporter: local democratic party here in louisiana. cassidy has been off the campaign trail most of the week in washington, d.c. dispatching instead surrogates like former senator rick santorum to campaign for him. santorum dismissed landrieu's accusations about lsu and cassidy will be bad nor louisiana. >> this is a good man. everybody knows he is a good man. nobody thinks is out there trying to cheat anybody or trying to be an extremist. this is what you get from a desperate candidate who can't talk about the issues because on the issues, she's wrong and he's right and that is why she is

losing. >> reporter: if landrieu loses, last vestiges of the old democratic south will be swept away. republicans hold every senate seat, governorship, legislature from texas all the way to carolinas. eric: even with politics something is always certain in new orleans. you can hear the music behind you in jackson scare. >> reporter: absolutely. martha: president obama made his pick to lead the defense department. who is ashton carter and what challenges will he face when we come back? comfort keepers can provide a variety of in-home services for your aging loved ones. we'll assess their needs and create a custom care plan that can change as their needs change. ♪

martha: good news for a colorado family who welcomed one big bundle of joy. look at little mia garcia born by c-section, thank goodness. she weighed 13 pounds, 13 ounces, 22 inches long. she was quickly flown to the children's hospital in aurora because she was having trouble breathing, but she is now doing fine, and she expects to go home in a week, and she is gorgeous.

beautiful, beautiful. eric: yeah. going to need a lot of baby food. martha: mine weighed, 8, 9 and then 10 pounds, i said, okay, i'm out. [laughter] "happening now" starts right now. ♪ ♪ ♪ jon: president obama reaching to the past for someone to lead the world's most powerful military force into its future. moments ago the president announced he is nominating ashton carter to be secretary of defense. welcome to "happening now" on this friday morning, i'm jon scott. >> hi, everybody, i'm heather noward in for jenna lee today. ashton carter is a former deputy defense secretary who workrd in the pentagon under president obama and president clinton. if confirmed, he will be the president's fourth defense chief. >> today i'm pleased to announce my nominee to be the next secretary of