one for the road for you. we told you mcdonald's wants to simplify its menu to boost speed. now we know what's on the chopping block. three of the four quarter pound burgers. >> oh, no. >> it's true. sorry. >> oh, gosh. bill: i want to start with a fox news alert on this horrific attack on children. 120 are dead and many are children. we begin on this tuesday edition of america's newsroom. martha: taliban gunmen storming a school in pakistan's northwest story of peshawar. witnesses describe a horrific scene saying terrorists stormed into the school in the morning shooting everyone at random, gunning down teachers and

students. bill: during a visit with troops yesterday president obama said the military had reached quota turning point for the mission -- reached a turning points for the mission in afghanistan. >> this month america's mission in and already will be over. this month america's war in afghanistan will come to a responsible end. that doesn't mean everything is great in afghanistan. afghanistan is still a very dangerous place. martha: byron york on the potential political impact. what are we learning about all this now? >> reporter: we spent a lot of time in peshawar and we have seen a heard about a lot of taliban brutality, but this has got to be the cruellest act these militants have ever committed.

the word we are getting is the militants stormed the school and shot away student by student. the school specifically picked because it's for the children of the pakistan army staff. they have been waging war against the taliban. the death toll we are told is now at 130. most of them children and young people. most of them teenagers, injured 250. the hospitals are overflowing. teachers and administrators were targeted, too. the military command ohs resnonld a very short time and they claim to have killed all the attackers. they are checking for bombs as the controls fire must have been deadly.

one final note from our contact. he has a youngston in a school s a young son in school in peshawar but his son was in a school right next door. there are a lot of parents grieving in pakistan today. bill: president obama says the roughly 10,000 u.s. troops that will remain in afghanistan is evidence of a commitment to a quote stable and secure country. but with taliban attacks on the rise again will our small presence be enough? byron, just yesterday two u.s. military members were killed north of kabul and afghanistan just yesterday. where is the commander-in-chief on his decision? >> it appears we are in the place with afghanistan we were in with iraq in 2009, 2010

before the president decided to remove all u.s. troops there in 2011. we have seen how that turned out. it had disastrous consequences for the rights of isis. we should note that in addition to what the president said in new jersey yesterday, he sent a formal letter to congress last thursday of his intentions in afghanistan. he said he planned to keep the scores of 10,000 in afghanistan for next year but he plans to have all u.s. forces out of afghanistan by 2016. so the question you will see being asked on capitol hill is the president make the same mistake in afghanistan as he saw in iraq. bill: you saw what happened when we left iraq. it appears the taliban is getting strong and can clearly operate on the other side of the

borderer. >> absolutely. iraq appeared to be more pacified when the president left than afghanistan does now. on the other hand, the american public is not interested in a longer war in afghanistan. we have been in afghanistan for 13 years. a war that started with 90% approval now has a majority of americans saying it was not wornt it. we have seen the president send a few troops, a few hundred here and a few hundred there back into iraq. would there be support for him keeping residual force in afghanistan? this is a leadership issue for the president. if he wants to keep troops in afghanistan he will have to convince voters it's the right thing to do. bill: a smaller force. we heard a similar argument 13

years ago and look at what happened. >> that's what donald rumsfeld said when the u.s. planned their invasion of afghanistan to send in a small number of forces. the same thing in iraq and both of those turned out leading to long, protracted conflicts in which many critics said the u.s. did not have enough troops there. martha: a manhunt outside of philadelphia for a gunman accused of killing his ex-wife and five other relatives in three different location. bradley william stone is a former marine. officers say a man matching his description may have been involved in a carjacking where shots are fired. bill: wear learning more now about the horrifying moments we

watched yesterday live during the 16-hour sync by -- siege i. the victim is identified astorys tori johnson, and toda and katra dawson, the mother of three. >> the police are being tested, the public is being tested. but of what the test, we'll fight head on. >> with the act of an individual, this should never destroy or change the way our lives. as the premiere indicated, this will not change the things that we hold dear in this country. bill: amy kellogg live with us in london. what have investigate jars

uncovered about information there in that country. >> reporter: we are thin on new official details about what happened in those horrible 17 hours during the siege. but local media reports and eyewitness accounts are starting to put together a better:picture. at the same time there has been an outpouring of grief. lots of flowers piling up and the sent it being it could have been any of us in that situation and getting trapped in this horrific situation. the hostage derek had apparently become he can really frustrated. he was trying to get out different messages of support for isis. he was sending out social media messages through those hostages.

but those are quickly being taken off social media web sites and no tv stations were airing his messages. eyewitness accounts saying he dozed off at the time the frantic hostages managed to escape before the shooting began. he fell asleep and at some point the cafe manager trayed to take his begun off him and that's when he turned the gun on the cafe manager who was one of the two victim who died in the siege. bill: in a moment you will hear from the prime minister. a man with a long and storied past, how could we not afford to keep an eye on him. martha: we'll len more in a moment -- we'll learn more in a moment. australian officials say he was not on any watchlists.

how does he fly under the radar given his arrests and type in prison. it rays a question about whether there is any way to prevent this form attack. bill: critic claim our next surgeon general is putting politic before medicine. they are blasting the confirmation of vivek murthy. martha: he is the man who interrogated khalid sheikh mohammed. james mitchell on what ksm told him about the liberal media and why he can finally tell his side of the story. >> khalid sheikh mohammed has the opportunity to address the charges but i don't. that's why i'm angry. they have a foregone conclusion. they put my life in danger and

put the lives of other cia personnel in danger for some sort of moral high ground? even if you've already been vaccinated with another pneumonia vaccine, prevnar 13 ® may help provide additional protection.

get this one done. ask your healthcare professional about prevnar 13 ® today.

martha: the men charged in a failed plot to bomb the london subway system fail in air appeal. the london authorities say the was a serious plot to subject

safety. the home made bombs failed to debt nate. -- detonate. gr.bill: that was the scene we w yesterday in sydney, australia and five minutes before that we saw victims run out with their hand in the air. man haron monis was out on bond facing serious charges. the prime minister is wondering why he was not being watched. >> how can someone who has had such a long and shaded hit not

be on the appropriate watch lists and how can someone like that be entirely at large in the community? these have question that we need to look at carefully and calmly and methodically to learn the right lessons and act upon them. bill: we have a former cia operations officer. welcome to america's newsroom. you say having a watch list is fine, the question is, what does it mean. explain that. >> we have all kinds of watchlists we put names on them. that doesn't necessarily mean those folks are being monitored in any meaningful fashion in terms of where they are on any given day and what they are up to or preparing to do.

something beyond the watchlist is what we are talking about. bill: what does that mean then? how would you define that? >> i think that will break down to a case-by-case basis. with this individual i would suggest he shouldn't have been out on bail. they had enough significant information regarding him. beyond that you can surveil people and be more aggressive in taking people off the street prior to performing physical actions. we have to be careful about going down a slope to where we think we are going to surveil everybody. that's incredibly expensive and labor intensive. bill: you told our producers we need to be more proactive and aggressive before the attacks. but the question is what do you do? i don't hear a clear answer. >> these guys typically the lone

wolves are throwing up red flags and engaging in activity prior to killing people at some point we'll have to criminalize it and be more aggressive in saying you are now involved in terrorist activity, you are in league with isis there are we are going to take you off the -- therefore we are going to take you off the street. we are not going to leave you on the street like a time book waiting to go off. bill: wouldth that have stopped what happened -- would that have happened what happened in canada and in sydney? >> there is no such end state as nobody gets through the safety net. but there are a lot of these folks that could be stop boulevard they get to this point. bill: peter king on our story as the story was unfolding in australia. >> people who are not necessarily members of the organization or have direct

affiliation but they follow them on the internet and they are often on the fringes of society and may be lone wolves, it makes it more difficult for law enforcement and counter-terrorism to find them which makes surveillance all the more important. bill: i don't think you disagree with that comment. >> i don't disagree. but if you are talking about physical think watching somebody, you need to figure out that's a lot of people and a lot of money. bill: dianne feinstein says you have to be able to watch them and you have to be able to disrupt them. do you think this country is ready for that or are we going face stiff resistance on the left. >> we don't have any choice. this is the wave of the future. this is where wear right now. this is going to continue to happen all around us, this

country, other countries in the world. bill: charles, thank you. martha: a dramatic rescue after a car plunged into a rushing river. bill: . vladimir putin is under intense pressure. the monumental pressure his country is facing. [ narrator ] mama sherman and the legion of super fans. wow! [ narrator ] on a mission to get richard to his campbell's chunky soup. it's new chunky beer-n-cheese with beef and bacon soup. i love it. and mama loves you. ♪

bill: some breaking news on the school children murdered in pakistan. 128 at last report.

secretary of state john kerry is in london to talk about israel and palestine but we just got word he will make a comment on this. headlines from london and much more from that school in pakistan. martha: we want to bring you this huge economic story today. the russian economy is now in collapse. and we do not say that lightly. we have the numbers to back it up. president vladimir putin's country taking a huge hit. the value of the ruble is declining dramatically. he raised rates to stop this from going any lower. o tell us all about it. give us the numbers. what happened overnight. >> reporter: the ruble sank to 79 to the dollar. a few months ago it was 35.

when the currency of the world's largest oil producer collapses like this it's a big deal. russia's economy is facing a depression. this is all the results of the dramatic cut in the price of oil. would i go so far as to say vladimir putin is on the hook as he is because of the activity of american frackers. it's americans who bumped up the production of oil production in north dakota and texas and elsewhere in america. the prices declined greatly and putin is taking the heat because of it. martha: this economic warfare essentially that was started as you say by fracking in this country, by tapping into our natural resources against the wishes of environmentalists in this country. they have have their piece on

that of course. but russia is crumbling. not only does this gives a tremendous economic advantage but it gives us a tremendous national the security advantage in the world. >> we have leverage, whether president obama chooses to exploit it or not another story. russia in dire straits. the iranian mullahs december that for money. venezuela about to collapse and default on its loans. even brazil in real trouble. brazil is an ally but it's in trouble because of the drop in the price of oil. it's bad for them, but i maintain it's extremely good for us. here in america the gas price tumble continues. i have got the price of $1.8 a gallon at a station in oklahoma city. the national average is down to $2.52 and still falling and it will keep on falling. martha: usually in the economy

thing move slowly. it fees like five minutes ago we were seeing gas that nearly $5. all this has been going on for some time. >> reporter: it was the collapse in the price of oil. four months ago it was $107 a barrel and this morning it's $53. that's a collapse. a major commodity used by of country in the world, when you cut it in half it's a collapse. the speed of the collapse has caught everybody by surprise. martha: you have got russia, china and iran going, oh, no, this is really bad. the russian economy is a one-trick pony. that's all they have got. >> reporter: they produce 10 million barrels a day. they used to get $107, $110 for it, now they are getting $50. their whole economy is

predicated on the price of oil. martha: the russian people are fans of putin. they lake what he did in cray ma. >> reporter: putin has played the nationalist card. let's see what happens when that country does slip into depression. martha: a huge economic story across the board. thank you very much. if you are not sure where to find stuart's show log on to the fox business.com channel finder. bill: a top cia interrogate jar breaking his -- ininterrogator. >> i mind giving my life for a food fight for two groups of people who should be able to work it out like adults. bill: that man who waterboarded

khalid sheikh mohammed. you will hear more from him in a moment. martha: two movies with strong american themes got snubbed by hollywood. >> is she carrying grenades?

comfort keepers can provide a variety of custom in-home services for your aging loved ones, including medication reminders and transportation to the doctor. ♪ bill: the manhunt continues in pence vein yap. in souderton, p.a. in lansdale, two dead.

and chat that includes the ex-wife of this man. police are out in force today. we'll bring you the latest as we get it. but for now this man has been good at eluding the authorities. martha: one of the men who interrogated self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind khalid sheikh mohammed is speaking out about the controversial report on the cia's methods. dr. james mitchell sat down with megyn kelly, during one of their sessions he said ksm warned eventually americans would turn on the cia for the work they were doing. >> i'm proud of the work we did. we saved lives. i don't care what the senate said. i got an award for the work that we did. they told us we did a good job, they told us we saved lives and

i believe that we did. then this stuff comes out, no opportunity to defend myself and i feel horrible for the nation. i feel more nibble part because this puts everyone at risk and worse yet, it shows al qaeda and the al qaeda 2.0 folks isil that we are divided and easy targets, that we don't have the will to defeat them because that's what they know. khalid sheikh mohammed told me personally your country will turn on you. the liberal media will turn on you. the people will grow tired of this and they will turn on you, and when they do you are going to be abandoned. i don't feel abandoned by the cia, they didn't throw me under the bus. martha: robert hoops highs former chief of staff to joe biden and require love are you the editor of "the national

review" and and fox news contributor. robert, your reaction to what dr. mitchell had to say. >> i don't think the controversy is the report, i think the controversy is what the report uncovered. they reviewed 6 million pages of cia primary documents. and what they found is in what cia director brennan confirmed is not only did they torture enemy combatants, but the effects of that torture are as he said unknowable. moreover, it also said that these behaviors exceeded what legal patina the bush justice officials put on that. i reject the notion that this conversation we are having as a people makes us weak. i think it's what makes us strong that we can have this conversation as a nation about what we think is right and wrong

and what we think the boundaries are in a hostile environment, in a hostile world. martha: a lot of people feel very differently. >> one thing the interrogate jae interrogator is wrong about is that people have abandoned him. they haven't. the reports it an outrage. you could probably get the same conclusions about how it was poorly organized in the beginning and went too far in the beginning but what you wouldn't get is this ridiculous notion is this was a rogue cia operation and the cia is going out of control for the heck of it to torture people. this that's ridiculous. it was briefed up to the top intelligence committee members. you look at the continue interrogation of ksm. even the feinstein report quotes

people concerned about the rules, they are concerned about the legalities. they are concerned about not hurting him during the waterboarding. these people were doing the best they could to stay within the rules at same time they are keeping us safe. martha: it's a great irony to have this conversation where you look at the story where the taliban killed 130 school children. we live in a world where isis is beheading children, crucifying people in the streets and we are going 10 years back to be concerned about the treatment of a few people, robert, at a time when it was have much believed that there was a second wave attack coming. dr. mitchell who spoke last night to megyn, he said, i was brought in, i was asked to help serve my country in a time when i believed we were about to be attacked against with my back growrnld as a psychologist to figure out how to get these people to give us the

information about potential nuclear attacks that we needed. robert, you have a problem with that? given the context here? you think that's a mistake? >> yeah, i do. i think -- this is not a partisan report. john mccain spoke clearly and eloquently that he agreets with the conclusions of the report, he agrees as a country and as a people we should not be in the business of torturing people. he also knows frankly firsthand what prisoners will do or say in the event they are tortured. i also believe ronald reagan who signed in 1984 the united nations convention against torture. in the height of the cold war with all the horror and tension that caused. reagan had the wherewithal to send it to the senate for confirmation because he knew the world was about choices and he night was the bright shining light on the hill of america

versus the gulags of russia. martha: the congressional leaders were briefed specifically on these programs and we are talking about an extraordinary moment in time. everyone of the statutes you look at across the board say unless there is a pending attack. then you do whatever you think you need to do to get the information to save american lives, is that right, rich? >> i think you mention the gulag in the context of this is completely absurd. we are talking about dozens of terrorists including ksn -- in real life you don't get ticking time bomb scenarios like you do in a jack bower tv show. but when you catch ksm in 2003, that's as close as you get to it. you pressure him to get as much information as you can as quickly as possible. only 10 years later you think we should have given him to tea tea

and olives and dates and waited five years and he would decide we are nice people and he would give up usama bin laden. no one was thinking that way in 2003. martha: this is not a revenge or vengeful act, this is an act of an attempt to acquire information and that is clearly what mr. mitchell was trying to do. whatever people think about the outcome, that's what he was trying to do. thank you, robert. thank you very much, rich. it's obviously an intense and emotional discussion. megyn kelly is going to join us live to talk about hern't view with the doctor and that's coming up shortly. bill: 20 minutes before the hour. we'll check on a wall street. take a look at the market numbers. price of oil continues its free-fall. crude oil has fallen close to 50% from its peak in june,

dropping to levels we haven't seen in years. that means cheap gas. we are off at the start today as well. down 65. 10 minutes into trade. martha: meet your new surgeon general. critics like which senator john a lasbarrasso believes this mans politics first. >> he founded a group called doctors for obama. the purpose? to elect a president. martha: why do vivek murthy says -- why dr. vivek murthy says gun alcohol is a health issue. bill: "unbroken" is a movie

about one our nation's heroes snubbed or an academy award. is hollywood down on patriotic movies in moment away.

martha: secretary of state john kerry is addressing the deadly taliban attack at a pakistani school that is said to have killed 130 people, most of them brutal attacks on children by the taliban. this is a school that houses many of the children of the pakistani military. the secretary of state this london. the a.p. announced the siege at the school in pakistan is considered to be over and they are sweeng the building for any potential bombs that may be there. more on that straight ahead.

bill: a lame duck senate rushing to confirm the new surgeon general before leaving town. critics say he's more an activist than a doctor and the american people deserve more. what's the big rub about his whole take on first all on gun control. what's the issue? >> you think of the surgeon general of the united states, you are talking about a doctor with decades of experience treating patients, preventing disease. in the very short time of the career of this nominee. what i will tell you is he was focused much more on political campaigns than patients care. gun control being one and raising money for barack obama's reelection. the surgeon general should be focused on the major health

problems of america. heart disease, cancer, stroke. but he's a political nominee rather than someone who should be non-political. someone who should be the nation's doctor. >> we relied on you to examine the obamacare stuff. before it appeared under this president that the job of surgeon general has dissolved into nothing. is that your perception? >> this position has been vacant for almost a year and a half. this nominee was nominated almost a year ago yet they never brought him up for a vote even during the ebola crisis because the democrats were supporting of him. he only passed with 51 votes yesterday. the former surgeon general, a democrat, wrote to every member of the united states senate and said of this nominee saying he was unqualified and his

nomination undermined the credibility of the office of surgeon general. bill: 51 votes is you can the new rules, too. what's the issue on obamacare? i would imagine the president would want to nominate someone who supported the healthcare law. what's your problem with that? >> the healthcare law continues to fail people all around the country. people who weren't able to keep their insurance and their doctors are nowing in the as they are signing up again that there are concerns there because they may lose the subjects does that came along with that. those are people buying the insurance on the federal exchange. so there are still a lot of concerns about the president's healthcare law. it continues to remain very unpopular. this nominee isn't the person who ought to be in a position as the nation's doctor.

he don't have the experience as a physician. bill: mike lee and ted cruz took a lot of fire over the weekend. i asked mike lee about this yesterday. >> it's always worth it when you stand behind the american people who wants to make sure these things are being vote on. when you have a president who engages in acts of lawlessnessness and thinks, a governments of -- law lessness and thinks he's a government of one. >> i thought he would have been vote on in a lame duck session. some of the democrats who vote to confirm him yesterday only did so after losinged elections. still you had three democrats who voted against this nominee for surgeon general. bill: 51 votes, the bare minimum.

martha: the story of an american hero is hitting the big screeng screen. chris kyle's life being portrayed with "american sniper" so why no love from the hollywood awards folks. ruck is still missing. so my buddy here is going to help me find it. here we go. woo who, woah, woah, woah. it's out there somewhere spreading the word about america's favorite potatoes: heart healthy idaho potatoes and the american heart association's go red for women campaign. if you see it i hope you'll let us know. always look for the grown in idaho seal.

thank you. ordering chinese food is a very predictable experience. i order b14. i get b14. no surprises. buying business internet, on the other hand, can be a roller coaster white knuckle thrill ride. you're promised one speed. but do you consistently get it? you do with comcast business. and often even more. it's reliable. just like kung pao fish. thank you, ping. reliably fast internet starts at $89.95 a month. comcast business. built for business.

comcast business. ...the getaway vehicle! for all the confidence you need. td ameritrade. you got this. >> he's carrying something. >> she has got grenades. she has russian grenades. can you confirm? >> negative, your call. martha: the story of american sniper chris accumulation.

the most lethal sniper in american history. another patriotic film is unbroken. another is of a man who survived at sea only to be put in a japanese concentration cam. >> i because it on the evidence of the past. "saving private ryan" got three nominations, won best picture. so i can't buy there is a military bias when other films have won in the past. martha: what about "american sniper," so why isn't it ghights love from hollywood? >> i think they are after he frayed if east wood wins he will get on stage at oscars and start talking to an empty chair again. maybe there is. >> bias against eastwood.

martha: come on, come on. >> hollywood has an opportunity to portray two things dear to american hearts and minds. you don't choose films based on values or message. if that's the case i will do a movie on the ebola doctors. philadelphia i wish the geek squad would hack the american globe emails. martha: everyone i have heard of who has seen it says it's phenomenal. >> "unbroken" only average reviews. >> i read the book, it's one of the best books i have ever read. it's an incredible story, "unbroken." anybody who reads it, after he gets back from the war, 47 days at sea and being beaten by this

japanese sadist at the prison cam and his life is crumbling. he has terrible ptsd and he's saved by billy graham. this is a true story. he walked into one of billy graham's huge stadium event and was converted in the moment. it's an incredible true story that's not in the movie. i think that's the meaning of unbroken. it's what happens at the even had makes him truly unbroken forever. send me a tweet @marthamaccallum and let me know what you think about that. bill: the widow of that sniper is on with gretchen later today. the manhunt continues for the man who police believe killed 6. where is he today?

martha: new reaction coming in now from the white house condemning today's deadly attack on a school in pakistan. at least 126 people have been killed, most of them were children. students at that school. dozens more are injured. the white house releasing the statement from president obama as we see these brand new pictures that are just horrific. and this is the quote from the president: martha: this is a developing story, we l bring you updates as we get them, and these pictures are so very sad this morning. and now to this story, an armed and dangerous killer is now on the run after a shooting spree near philadelphia left six people dead and a teenager clinging to life. right now police are looking for

an iraq war vet suspected of gunning down his ex-wife and her relatives in cold blood. welcome to a brand new hour, everybody, of "america's newsroom" on a serious. bill: morning to you, martha, morning to you at home and at work. a possible sighting as the search intensifies for a 35-year-old, bradley michael stone. authorities saying he went to three homes yesterday, taking the lives of his ex-wife and her extended family. that shooting ram paneling beginning before -- rampage beginning before dawn. >> i heard a gunshot go off about 5:00 in the morning, and the s.w.a.t. team was already coming down about 5:30. they said to have all doors locked at all times because they had the shooter still at large. bill: rick leventhal has more now. good morning. are we talking about a motive yet, or do we know? >> the suspect had been involved in a lengthy custody dispute with his ex-wife over their two

daughters. police say he went house to house early yesterday morning executing his extended family, and he is still on the loose this morning. 35-year-old bradley william stone is 5-10, 195 pounds with a red beard and moustache and closely-cropped hair. he's known to use a cane or a walker but may not actually need it. obviously, he should be considered armed and dangerous since he's suspected of killing six relatives at multiple locations north of philadelphia early monday morning. the shooting spree began at 3:30 a.m. where police say stone shot his ex-wife's sister, her husband and her 14-year-old daughter inside their home, then their 17-year-old son was shot as well. he's in the hospital with a head wound. his ex-wife's mother and grandmother were killed next at their home a few miles away, and then authorities say he went to his ex-wife nicole's apartment, broke through a glass door, shot and killed her and fled with their two young daughters.

the girls were recovered safe at a neighbor's home, and meanwhile, police thought they had stone pinned down in a nearby house, but when they went in yesterday afternoon, he was gone. bill: wow. carjacking last night, what do we know about that? >> if he did, he picked the wrong victim because police say a man was walking his dog when a man with a knife approached and demanded his car keys. the intended victim was armed. he resist ised, fell to the ground and opened fire, and the suspect ran off. we don't know if stone might have been wounded in that attack. police aren't saying. they are telling us he left his car and his phone in his neighborhood, so they don't know how he's getting around at this point. bill will rick leventhal with that. martha has more now. martha: mary ellen o'toole is an fbi profiler, good to have you with us today. what can you tell us from what we know in this story so far about this person? >> well, from what's being reported right now, this behavior is not behavior that

would be described as snapping behavior. if he survives this murder spree, that's what his defense attorneys will say. but he's thought about this for some time. most killers do. they fantasize about it. second thick for me -- second thing for me that's very interesting is that it looks as though he went and killed his sister-in-law, her family members and then his own in-laws before he actually went to his wife. that doesn't make sense unless you look at it from this perspective: when he got to the point where he was inside his wife's home, he wanted to make sure that he told her that her entire family has been killed. which would be a very cruel and sadistic behavior, but my sense is this behavior took place inside that relationship. martha: boy, what an awful situation for this family. you call him a long-term injustice collector. what does that mean, mary ellen?

>> an injustice collector is someone who goes through life blaming people for what's happened to them, and they never forgive, and they never forget, and they just carry their injustices with them throughout life. it's pretty clear that he's having a problem with the custody with his wife and his children, but to handle it like this is really disproportionate to what's going on. and that's what you see in dangerous injustice collectors. their response when they don't get their way is extremely over the top and disproportionate to what is going on. so just based on that behavior, that's my sense about him, that this is something who completely overreacts to things when he does not get his way. martha: so a lot of times when we see these things, it ends with the person taking his own life, but he's on the run, so he's trying to survive. >> i'm not sure that that's correct. it may be, but his planning appears to have stopped strategically at least when he started to carjack.

that tells me that he didn't plan for his getaway. so what was most important many this crime spree was to carry -- in this crime spree was to carry out the murder. now if that was him attempting that carjacking, there are no other reports, this is an absence of stolen car reports that we know about. so that puts him pretty much on foot. but he knows he can never go back from this. that's what makes suicide far more likely either by his own happened or suicide by cop. martha: yeah. marley ellen, thank you very much for your, per tease. >> you're welcome. bill: the psychologist who started the cia's enhanced interrogation technique project is now talking. dr. james mitchell saying the senate intelligence report is not fair because no one asked for his side of the story and is just made him out to be the bad guy. here's part of that now. >> i don't think that that

senate report put out by the democrats actually captures what happened. it cherry picks, it manipulates the wording, it frames the argument differently. bill: so megyn kelly with me now. megyn, good morning to you. >> hi, bill. how you doing? bill: really appreciate your time, he said an awful lot in his interview. he wanted to remind us that al-qaeda wanted to decapitate the united states by trying to take out lawmakers in washington. that did not happen. did he say why or even how he developed this program of waterboarding? >> yes. he was in the air force for years and then working with the cia, and he's a psychologist. and so he had some expertise in these areas. they came to him and asked him to take a look at what's called the manchester manual which was being used by al-qaeda. it was based on information they had gotten from a united states

soldier back when the afghanistan war was going on with the russians. in any event, they came up with their ways to resist our interrogation methods, and they asked james mitchell, dr. james mitchell, the u.s. did, to take a look at this manual and figure out ways to sort of counteract our own resistance techniques that al-qaeda was prepared to use. and then they figured out, okay, now we know how to do it, and someone's actually going to have to go in and execute on this and get information from the terrorists. and the next thing he knew, he got the call asking him to do it, somebody who had never done enhanced interrogation techniques personally before, but he said, you know, it was tough, and he didn't enjoy it, but he said he felt like he had to do it. and what he said was when you look at those passengers of flight 93 and saw their heroism, this is his thinking, i can do what i need to do to protect my country as well. bill: and when he said, okay,

yes, and here is how he answered that question: >> the exact incident was a person there had asked me if i would do these, and i was hemming and hawing a little bit. either him or another person said, well, after you've seen all that you've seen, the intel i saw suggesting a second wave was coming and this it was goino be a catastrophic attack, that picture of that falling man flashed into my mind, and i thought, you know, those -- i know this is going to sound corny, but this is true. bill: very powerful stuff. and the other thing he went on to tell you, megyn, is he believes al-qaeda looks at the united states now and sees us as an easy target. now, why would that be? megyn: well, he actually -- it was p an extraordinary moment,

and we'll have part two of the interview tonight. but last night i asked him about the actual waterboarding of khalid sheikh mohammed. he is the man who actually did it to the mastermind of 9/11, the man who beheaded daniel pearl. and he said that khalid sheikh mohammed was arrogant but eventually did break, and he talked about the techniques that broke him. but he said mohamed said one thing to him: eventually, your country is going to turn on you. he said the liberal media -- that was the term he claimed can ksm used -- will turn on you, and when they do, you will be abandoned. but he said last night he felt, he felt the blame belonged on the report that was so one-sided. i said, you know, no republicans participated. he said no republicans? no cia. he said, i -- he said i feel like they issued a fatwa on me, on my life. my life's in danger, i'm getting calls from the cops telling me

to leave my house immediately the other day, he said, and no one ever bothered to call me up and ask for my side of the story. he didn't want to do this, he didn't enjoy the enhanced interrogation techniques, but he did it out of a sense of duty because his country called him and said the white house has authorized it, the doj has authorized it, the congress has been briefed on it, and we need somebody to do it. and he said it was or very stressful on him and the other interrogators to do it, but they did it out of a love for country and nothing else. tonight in part two of interview, bill, i ask him many things including some of the criticisms of him. but i ask him at the end of the interview two things. one, was it torture? and he answers. and i asked him, did it feel like torture when you were doing it, and you've got to hear the answer he gave to that. bill: wow. we will be watching tonight. it was riveting television last night, megyn. thank you for your time today. 9:00 eastern time, only on "the

kelly file." >> thanks, bill. bill: 12 minutes past. martha: the taliban committing a horrific attack and killing dozens and dozens of school children as the president talks about the end of combat operations in afghanistan. we're going to talk to ambassador bolton about what he thinks about all of that. bill: also a brand new geyser erupting, but this is not nature's doing, and it's going to cost taxpayers a fortune because of it. martha: and could we be taking a look at a potential third president bush? breaking news moments ago from jeb bush. >> we're seeing more and more that people often model their lives ontheir parents. if their parents went to college, so do they. if their participants marry -- parents marry late, so do they. and i can tell you if your parents worked in politics, well, you know the rest. i'm an idaho potato farmer

and our big idaho potato truck is still missing. so my buddy here is going to help me find it. here we go. woo who, woah, woah, woah. it's out there somewhere spreading the word about america's favorite potatoes: heart healthy idaho potatoes and the american heart association's go red for women campaign. if you see it i hope you'll let us know. always look for the grown in idaho seal. you're down with crestor.

yes! when diet and exercise aren't enough, adding crestor lowers bad cholesterol up to 55%. crestor is not for people with liver disease, or women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. tell your doctor all medicines you take. call your doctor if you have muscle pain or weakness, feel unusually tired, have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine, or yellowing of skin or eyes. these could be signs of serious side effects. i'm down with crestor! make your move. ask your doctor about crestor.

martha: well, it looks like the speculation is over. jeb bush just posting this on his facebook page. here's how these things happen moments ago. here is a quote -- he's talking about christmas and hanukkah and how he talked to his family over the break, and he says i have decided to actively explore the possibility of running for president of the united states. and he goes on to say more which we will share with you in a moment, but first, let's bring in doug rollins who worked on the campaign of ronald reagan in

1984 and joe trippi, former howard dean campaign manager. both are fox news contributors. gentlemen, have at it. let's take a look at what you think, ed, what do you thinksome. >> well, i've thought for several months he's going to run. he's a candidate, he'll be treated like a candidate and a very strong candidate. he's not the front runner, he's got to go earn that distinction, but he had an extraordinary record as a two-term governor, and i think a lot of people are very excited about his candidacy. he doesn't have anything in play yet, but he'll mutt it in play -- put it in play quickly. martha: joe, does this mean he's running for sure? >> oh, yeah. i was there when shannon bream interviewed him at george herbert walker bush's 25th anniversary of his presidency, and i thought -- i was watching that interview, and i thought this guy is running. the interesting thing, a lot of people spend all their time thinking about how they're going to run for president.

it was clear in his answers that he's actually thought about governing and how he would deal with a lot of the issues that confront the nation. you don't do that unless you're going to go. martha: yeah. >> and i think he's, he's known -- he's been moving to this moment ever since at least that shannon bream interview which i thought at the time was sort of him signaling he was going to go. martha: fascinating. so you get a lot of immediate response, ed, which we're seeing on twitter right now. some of it not positive, i must say. some people saying, no, not again, we've been down this road before. but this is a lot of people that -- there is a lot that people may not now about jeb bush. what would you say to them about that? >> i would say he was the best prepared of the bushes to be president. his two terms -- he did everything you should do to step up to be the governor. as party chairman, he was the secretary of commerce, what have you. he was always the son they

thought was going to be president, not george h.w.. martha: that's right. >> so he's got a very strong record, he won overwhelmingly in florida which is the ultimate swing state. you know, he's got to get in shape, i mean, in campaign shape, not physical shape. he's been out of the game a little bit, but i think he's going to to be a very credible candidate. he is a thoughtful person. i think he will grow on people as time goes on, and i expect him to be one of the two e most. as i said, it's not a cake walk. the conservatives are not going to step aside and give him the nomination, but there's only two people, i think, that are really affected by this. obviously, marco rubio, the senator from that state, they draw from the same fundraising base. i think rubio will run for re-election. and i think christie, the governor of new new jersey, whod a lot of the inherented bush supporters -- inherited bush supporters. martha: and mitt romney you might add to that list. >> i think mitt romney has said to people -- bush is my friend,

christie's my friend, if they don't put it together, maybe i will. i never expected romney to go to iowa, south carolina, i always thought he'd watch the game start, see how these guys do. bush will have some tests. he's got some positions that a lot of conservatives don't like, but he's a very, very strong candidate. martha: he made a lot of comments that, well, if it gets ugly, i'm not putting my family through it. if it's not just the way i want it to be. he's not someone who, at least so far, has put his arms around the idea of i just love campaigning, i can't wait to get out on the road in iowa. >> well, who could blame him? [laughter] it's rough out there. look, ed's right. you know, he's very thoughtful, and i think one of the things he's thought a lot about is going out on his positions -- martha: this is a picture of him with his wife, i just want to point out we've got on the screen. sorry, go ahead, joe. >> one of the things, again in that shannon bream interview,

that was the interview where he said, you know, immigration, a lot of people coming here illegally, it's an act of love which caught him a lot of flak from conservatives in the party. i think he's going to talk like that, and he's going to run to lead on the issues he cares about, and if he -- and run in a way that says, look, i may lose doing this, but i'm going the tell you what i think we need to do as a country. the question is, i think the country might really respond well to that. i don't know how it's going to play within his party. martha: we've got to leave it there. >> ed's right, it's going to be a tough road. martha: gentlemen, thanks. keep those checks coming, is the message in that e-mail. that's a huge part of all of this. thanks, ed, thanks, joe. bill: breaking news now, we'll see what michael warren has to say. also the incredible story of a man's battle with a rare form of cancer. what he has received at christmas time that could be life saving. >> it's just amazing, support

and all the people half come together to help me. it's been a godsend, it really has, and i'm really blessed. [ inhales ] [ male announcer ] at cvs health, we took a deep breath... [ inhales, exhales ] [ male announcer ] and made the decision to quit selling cigarettes in our cvs pharmacies. now we invite smokers to quit, too, with our comprehensive program. we just want to help everyone, everywhere, breathe a little easier. introducing cvs health. because health is everything.

bill: looks like jeb bush is in, officially saying he will be actively considering a run for the white house. staff writer for the weekly standard, how are you, mike, you were just talking about this yesterday. >> i'm great. bill: good morning to you. let's talk about a primary battle for jeb bush. immediately you think of two images, right? two issues, i should say. one is immigration, one is common core and his support of that program. how does that shake down, mike? >> right. i mean, these are two issues on which he sort of separated himself from the base of the party. he's seen as sort of a less conservative than where the party is.

on immigration, he wrote this book about a year or so ago, asking for more compassionate immigration just like his brother fought for when he was in the presidency, and, of course, common core, he's sort of been the face of common core, at least in the republican party. and i think you have to rook back to the last time -- look back to the last time jeb bush was in office which was in 2007 and the last time he was elected, which was 2002, more than a decade ago. and i think the party has changed in a lot of ways that perhaps jeb bush doesn't have his finger to the pulse to and is able to sort of understand in many ways how the dynamics of where the party is, where the base is and a primary election is. he's a very skilled politician. he won two governor's races in florida which is, of course, a swing state. he in many ways made it a republican state, or at least in governor's races. so i don't think that jeb bush just get swept aside by a

conservative primary electorate. bill: i saw him speak in new york two months ago. this is a hand who has big ideas on big issues of the day, and it is clear he has thought about this stuff for 40 years. very intelligent, and you can just tell by the way he speaks about this, he's given it great thought. the other thing you're going to hear from a guy like jeb bush as a candidate, very positive, very optimistic message. what he'll say is i'm 61 years old, but i wish i were 21 because we're living in this great age of exploration and discovery, and that will be a big part of his campaign, about bringing america along to a better future. >> yeah, i imagine that will be his message. and, of course, he's going to be trying to distance himself from his brother's presidency which is still relatively unpopular in the country and, of course, if hillary clinton is running against him in 2016, she'll try the tie him to that so that he's unable to tie her to the obama administration.

it's kind of interesting. i cothink, also, there's -- i do think, also, there's a lot of questions about what the republican party is going to look like in 2016. kind of interesting factoid, if you go back in history, the last successful republican presidential ticket to not have somebody named bush on it was in 1972. so there is this question, can the republican party win without a bush, or does it take a bush to win a presidential election? and i think that's part of the reason why he's jumped in, he sort of sees himself as being somebody who can win the race for the president for republicans. bill: it just got a lot more interesting, i'll tell you that. i wonder what mom said? i guess clearance was given before christmas rolled around. >> i guess so. bill: mike warren, thank you, sir. we will speak about this in the coming months. >> thanks, bill. martha: caught on video, a person behind a massive fire in downtown los angeles causing

millions in damage. bill: also president obama says our military has reached a big turning point in afghanistan, but after this deadly attack by the taliban, is that truly the case between afghanistan and pakistan? >> going forward our military will be leaner, but as your commander in chief, i'm going to make sure we keep you ready for the range of mugses that we ask of you. we are going to keep you the best trained, the best led, the best equipped military in the history of the world, because the world will still be calling.

bill: at least 126 are dead, most of them are children, killed in a taliban attack on a school just today. yet 24 hours before president obama is saying this about american combat operations specifically this that part of the world: >> we're at a turning point. when i took office, we had

nearly 180,000 troops in iraq and afghanistan. by the end of this month, we'll have fewer than 15,000 this those two countries. the time of deploying large ground forces with big military footprints to engage in nation building overseas, that's coming to an end. bill: ambassador john bolton, fox news contributor, sir, good morning to you. specifically, he was talking about afghanistan. but what this attack shows you is whether it's in afghanistan or across the border in pakistan, the taliban, the taliban, it seems, can do what it wants, ambassador. >> well, i think they're demonstrating that. you know, we're horrified when we see over 100 school children being killed in this brutal way, but for the taliban, it's another victory. the purpose of their terrorism, which which rests on killing innocent civilians, is to intimidate people, to show that the government of pakistan cannot protect their own citizens and increase their influence not just in the northwestern part of

the country, but around the country as a whole. i'm very worried that the president's so proud of withdrawing all of our forces next year, 2016, from afghanistan, we'll see taliban take back over there and provide a privileged sanctuary for pack sanny taliban to bring that government down. and that's actually more serious than afghanistan because the pakistanis have nuclear weapons. bill: indeed, they do. but this is kind of why the commander in chief has reversed himself, right? i mean, he basically said a couple of weeks ago we're going to stay there at least another year, and we'll see what happens over the next six months and see whether or not that mission is extended. in part because of what we saw in the aftermath of our pullout in iraq. >> well, which has required us now to go back into iraq. and i think there's a very, very well-founded view that had we not withdrawn from iraq as the president campaigned on doing in 2008, we might not see the chaos that has emerged there with the

islamic state. i think the concern about afghanistan that led to the recent small increase in troop numbers was force protection, making sure those americans who are there have the adequate means to protect against pactly these kinds -- exactly these kinds of taliban terrorist attacks. but i think it's nearly inevitable whether it's 2015, 2016 or thereafter. if we leave, as the president clearly wants to do, i don't see how the current of afghan government survives, and i think that lesson is very clear next door in pakistan as well. bill: do you think there is any way then to bring a resolution to this while we at least have a commitment there? as opposed to what you're seeing develop in ramadi and fallujah back across the syrian border? >> no, i think the numbers in afghanistan are far too small. look, i think the president's right when he says the deployment of large scale ground forces for nation building is behind us. i never thought that was a good

idea. but the deployment of ground forces to protect americans from terrorists establishing bases whether it's in iraq, syria, afghanistan or pakistan remains an entirely valid and, indeed, increasingly important objective. i think it's clear all over the middle east and north africa that terrorism is on the rise again, and our continued withdrawal simply gives the terrorists and their state sponsors the leeway to go even further. bill: thank you, mr. ambassador. john bolton, what a terrible, terrible story it is to wake up this morning in pakistan. our prayers are with them. thank you, sir, for your time today. >> thank you. ♪ ♪ martha: on the political front here at home, it looks like jeb bush is in for 2016. officially saying that he is actively considering a run for president. chief political correspondent carl cameron has more of the details of this facebook announcement this morning. hey, carl. >> reporter: hi, martha. well, jeb bush has been saying

all year he would let the world know before the end of the year. in the last month or so, he began to say, well, maybe next year, so a lot of us thought perhaps he was postponing it. but over the course of this weekend he really made it clear he's quite serious. in fact, this weekend mr. bush gave an interview talking at some length about his campaign. he is going to both raise and spend money in the pursuit of a possible presidential campaign. at 7:00 this morning, he mailed christmas and hanukkah bushes to supporters, friends and reporters, and in it, it said, quote: >> r >> reporter: bush goes

on to say the pac's purpose will be to support leaders, ideas and policies that will expand prosper by for all americans, and then he promises in the coming months i hoeven to visit with -- i hope to visit with many of you. yesterday bush gave the commencement address at the university of south carolina in south carolina. the palmetto state hosts the first southern primary of 2016, it's a very important one. mr. bush went there to give the membersment address -- commencement address yesterday not unlike his brother who did so when he was president. as did his father. and he does have some issue positions that do put him at odds with conservatives in his party like common core education standards and immigration. and he says he is not going to change his beliefs. he believes he has strong mainstream conservative values and rather than change his beliefs, he will try to persuade those who disagree with him. martha: and so it begins. carl, thank you very much. we'll see you soon. bill: now we wait on how many

others? rick perry maybe? chris christie? martha: probably. bill: mitt romney now? scott walker? martha: maybe. bill: bobby jindal? martha: maybe. bill: it's a crowded stage. [laughter] martha: lined up at the debate. here we go, folks. game is on. bill: so the government's about to roll out a new college ratings system. many educators say it's the system and not the schools that won't be making the grade. what is the role for your federal government? we'll have a fair and balanced debate on that. martha: and have you heard this? the director of "frozen" getting the cold shoulder from some parents. why she's now apologizing, because the kids just can't seem to let it go! let it go, let it go, let it go! ♪ ♪ you get sick,

you can't breathe through your nose suddenly, you're a mouth breather. a mouth breather! well, put on a breathe right strip and shut your mouth. cold medicines open your nose over time, but add a breathe right strip and pow, it opens your nose up to 38% more. so you can breathe and do the one thing you want to do, sleep. add breathe right to your cold medicine shut your mouth and sleep right. breathe right. and look for the calming scent of new breathe right lavender, in the sleep aisle.

♪ let it go, let it go, i am one h the wind and sky. ♪ let it go, let it go -- bill: every morning at 8:59 we say let it go, folks. [laughter] just let it go. the director of "frozen" is apologizing to parents for that song. jennifer lee says she feels badly for parents who are sick of hearing the song over and over and over again. she says she used to get greeted by folks who told her they loved it, but now they're not so thankful because their kids just can't let it go. [laughter] martha: she feels bad all the way to the bank, right? bill: let it go into my bank account. [laughter] martha: let it go. good message though, right? so there is growing debate ahead of the late december rollout of

the obama administration's new college ratings system. the feds are trying to hold america's colleges and universities accountable they say is not only to taxpayers who give tons of money to america's universities, but also to students trying to decide where they should go. many educators say the government's quest for more transparency may come at the expense of the schools that really don't fit the model that they are rating them under. rory to sullivan is the deputy director of youth advocacy, thank you, rory, and lindsay burke is an education policy fellow at the heritage foundation and a former high school teacher. lindsay and rory, good to have you both here. so, rory, why does the united states of america need to do official rating of colleges? >> well, i think it's important to take a step back here and take a look at what students are facing nowadays. there's over 7,000 colleges and universities out there, some of them are very expensive, leave students drowning in thousands of dollars of debt with no hope of getting a good job that's

ever going to be able to pay it back. and what a college rating system would do would give students well-needed information about what schools are going to likely lead to good jobs -- martha: you know, believe me, i have a stack of these books on my dining room table from when my daughter went through this. barron's, "u.s. news & world report," there's a ton of rating systems out there already. >> yeah, look, a federal college rating system is a good idea, but we should be skeptical of washington's ability to fairly and accurately evaluate every single college on a uniform scale. it's far more likely we'll see bureaucrats and special interest rates driving what's on the scorecard. it doesn't necessarily what reflect students value in an education. martha: i mean, that's the wiggle room here, rory. you know, everyone's experience is different, but i think bottom line what their argument is, the government's argument is, look, so millions of taxpayer, billions of taxpayer dollars, in

fact, go to universities in the form of grants across the nation, so this is the way that taxpayers can hold those institutions accountable saying, look, give the kids the education they need to actually get a job when they get out. you can't have prices skyrocket so dramatically that people are going tock in debt for the rest of -- to be in debt for the rest of their lives. i don't know if it can possibly work, rory. >> right now the government's picking winners and losers here, and they're picking institutions. like you said, we're spending over $100 billion a year in federal financial aid with almost no strings attached to make sure the taxpayers are getting a good return on that investment. i think it's common sense that we'd want some minimum standards given how much money we're investing in these scoops. martha: -- in these schools. martha: lindsay, there's been a lot of research saying kids are not getting the money back. so many thicks in this -- things in this country have come down this price. and frankly, you know, i can't figure it out.

i can't figure out how they could be raising the prices hand over fist every single year, it seems. >> right. we know exactly how they're doing that, it's the you big by city of -- ubiquity of federal student aid. we've seen a 69% increase in the number of students who take out federal student loans just over the past decade. and if you look attu wigs and fees at public -- attuuation and fees, that's inflation adjusted over the past 30 years. so you have this vicious lending and spending cycle. none of this, the federal government's college rating proposal would get to the college cost problem. so as long as you have the federal government continuing to provide, basically, easy money for students to attend colleges, you're enabling universities to continue to spend profligately. martha: it's a great point. and when you have this universal outrage from these universities across the country, it does raise the question, why?

why are they all so ticked off about being ranked this way, rory? >> well, i don't think institutions want people to know how well they're performing relative to other schools. i mean, of course they don't want accountability. they want that federal student loan spigot to stay on. what we're saying is, you know, let's give students the information they need to figure out which schools are best performing, let them vote with their feet, let the free market work, and that will lead to better quality education. martha: we will see. >> but, martha, as you noted, there are already so many measures out there, you have barron's, kiplinger, so i don't think federal intervention is the solution here. i think it's been the problem. and something like this, a proposed rating card, would not have stopped what we saw happen at usc which was for 18 years people getting pushed through fake paper classes in order to appear eligible to play college sports. martha: that's a whole other story for a whole other day, but it's a good one. lynn say, thank you very much.

rory, thank you as well. bill: about 11 minutes before the hour. a mystery here, is this the man behind a massive fire in downtown los angeles? you probably saw the image when we showed it to you about a week ago. police think it may have been intentional. hey matt, what's up?

i'm just looking over the company bills.

is that what we pay for internet? yup. dsl is about 90 bucks a month. that's funny, for that price with comcast business, i think you get like 50 megabits. wow that's fast. personally, i prefer a slow internet. there is something about the sweet meditative glow of a loading website. don't listen to the naysayer. switch to comcast business today and get 50 megabits per second for $89.95. comcast business. built for business. martha: some frightening moments for a little girl trapped between two walls in china. this is a story weave seen many -- we've seen many times. what is going on here? apparently, she was playing on a balcony, fell and got stuck in the narrow gap. firefighters rushing to the scene. look at this little girl. she was shaken up, obviously. unharmed, thank goodness. got a bruise on her nose. we have to fix this -- look at her. how sweet is she?

thank goodness she's okay. bill: very. martha: happens in china all the time. bill: because there are cameras everywhere. martha: there's that too. bill: so from california they're trying to track down two witnesses who they believe have information as to who set this fire in downtown l.a., william la jeunesse, tell me about witnesses and what investigators hope to learn from these two men. >> reporter: well, bill, because the fire happened at night on a building still under construction and this blaze literally burned everything to the ground, investigators have very few leads which is why they want to talk to these two men. one is in the black jacket, a baseball cap. he was apprehended at the scene soon after the blaze began, yet he was released, and no one got his name or checked his id. now investigators want to foe why he was there, and get a look at his background. now a second man was caught nearby on a surveillance video in a san diego chargers' jersey

and backpack. officials believe both could have information to help them piece together how the fire began. its sheer size suggests arson with multiple ignition points, but the cause remains under investigation. an atf response team is here, some 20 investigators digging through debris, looking for crews. now, because the fire began at night, there's little chance it was caused accidentally by a construction worker, equipment or cigarette. also, it was literally across the street from a fire station, and yet in moments it was fully involved. sprinklers had not been installed, and there were no walls, nothing to stop the fire from spreading, and it had menty of ox to general -- plenty of oxygen. back the you. bill: that was a big fire. we watched it. wow, you know? it lit up that night sky. thank you, william. >> reporter: yeah, it was big, bill. and we'll see, sometimes they find out. but, again, everything was

destroyed, so the kind of clues and ignition points you normally see not necessarily there. bill: william la jeunesse out of los angeles. martha: an unbelievably heartbreaking story of a slaughter of innocent children by the taliban as more pictures come in. the blood thirsty gunmen stormed this school in pakistan, killed 126 people. most of them are children and teenagers who were attending school. the attackers' motives and the government's response. here's a question for you: when electricity is generated with natural gas instead of today's most used source, how much are co2 emissions reduced? up to 30%? 45%? 60%? the answer is... up to 60% less. and that's a big reason why the u.s. is a world leader in reducing take the energy quiz -- round 2. energy lives here.

. . there's no such thing as a little flu. so why treat it like it's a little cold? there's something that works differently than over-the-counter remedies. attack the flu virus at its source with prescription tamiflu. and call your doctor right away. tamiflu is fda approved to treat the flu in people 2 weeks and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days. before taking tamiflu tell your doctor if you're pregnant, nursing, have serious health conditions, or take other medicines. if you develop an allergic reaction, a severe rash, or signs of unusual behavior, stop taking tamiflu and call your doctor immediately.

children and adolescents in particular may be at an increased risk of seizures, confusion or abnormal behavior. the most common side effects are mild to moderate nausea and vomiting. ask your doctor about tamiflu and attack the flu virus at its source.

bill: million dollar mess in southern california. a water main cracking and spilling thousands of gallons in thousand objection oaks. resymphony blink a geyser. the pipe is 40 years old and likely ruptured due to high volume of water during the storm. the cost to fix might be at least a million dollars.

a lot of water. martha: sure i was. how about this one a pennsylvania man battling cancer getting much-needed help thanks to the generosity of a stranger. a anonymous donor paying $50,000 to pay for experimental drug partially covered by insurance. the recipient named matt says the donation could save his life. >> overwhelming out of the goodness of his heart he would donate that kind of money. he is saving my life. we're trying his hardest too. martha: let's hope it works. someone donated money with a chance meeting at a restaurant in beaver, pennsylvania. what a story. bill: this time of year like to hear more of it. i would like to let it go but i can't at the moment. martha: on our minds all day now. thank you, everybody. bill: more news on jeb bush.

we're hearing more from his spokesperson. martha: not making a final decision. bill: happening now has that next. >> speaking of jeb bush we begin with a fox news alert and a big announcement just moments ago. the former florida governor saying he has decided to actively explore running for president in 2016. those messages were posted on twitter and his facebook account. to get insight and analysis let's bring in ed o'keefe, congressional reporter for "the washington post." ed, we're more than a year away from the iowa caucuses. what can we learn here from the timing? >> i think all the former governor is trying to do at this point, signal to donors, signal to other potential candidates he is actively looking at this. he hasn't hung a shingle at a campaign office. he has not printed campaign signs. what he is saying he will actively explore looking at the possibility of running. that is a few half steps