openly game. billie jean king. ice hockey olympian. we're not sending any high profile politicians to the games but are two sending two openly gay athletes. the statement the government wants to make. in a lot of ways a new experience for russia. a proud country at many times in its history has been happy to ignore, defy, thumb its nose at conventions of the rest of the world. that can change a little bit when you invite the planet over for a couple weeks. that does it. rachel will be back here tomorrow night. more of me and "up" this weekend. starting 8:00 a.m. eastern time. now time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. have a great night. . good thursday morning. right now on "first look," massive breach. the u.s. secret service is investigating a major credited a debit card theft from shoppers at target dating back to black friday. patriarch from the hugely duck dynasty show gets yanked following anti-gay comments. stocking soar. new all-time highs for the major indices. plus will dennis rodman ask kim jong-un about assassinating his own uncle? the million dollar picasso for 140 bucks. and penguins on parade just for the holidays. good morning, i'm mara schiavocampo. we begin with a major security

scare. a black friday security brooep breach at nearly every single one of target's 1800 u.s. stores potentially involving at least 1 million credit and debit cards, all according to the closely watched industry blog. secret service has confirmed that the agency is investigating but target has not yet commented. investigators believe the data was stolen through software installed on machines used to swipe credit cards. american express says it's put fraud controls in place, visa and mastercard have declined to comment. the breach could have extended up until just this past sunday. the star of one of hottest shows around is under fire for anti-gay remarks. bill robertson has been suspended indefinitely from the show after making comments in january's gq magazine. the 67-year-old called homosexuality a sin and compared it to bestiality and promiscuity. he went on to talk about his

religion saying, quote, we're bible thumpers who just happen to ob television. he'll have to take a break from the television part as a and e said we are extremely disappointed to have his comments and they in no way reflect the net work's. duck dynasty was the number one nonfiction telecast in cable history. turning to news on your money. stocks soared wednesday with two of the major averages reaching record territory. in one day the dow jones climbed nearly 300 points. it's all thanked to ben bernanke and what he is revealing about the strength of the economy. leaders now say the economy is improving enough to begin to take it off virtual life support. the fed will start rolling back part of its multibillion-dollar stimulus program. but the near record low interest rates will remain low for at least another year which is good news for those looking to buy a home.

now to a problem plaguing the white house for months. nsa spying. a white house report is calling for a major overhaul on surveillance tactics. but president obama is under no ob gags obligation to accept the recommendations. danielle leigh has the story. >> reporter: civil rights groups are celebrating the recommendations. there are 46 in total. and they suggest scaling back on the government's ability to delve into people's lives both here in the u.s. and also abroad. this reported on after leaks by nsa contractor edward snowden calls for sweeping changes to the way the government ensures national security. the advisory panel would end the nsa's ability to store massive telephone records or access them without getting a court order. instead storage would be left up to the phone companies themselves. the report also recommends

allows tech companies to reveal publicly what they have been forced to provide. senator patrick leahy says the report proves the nsa went too far. >> just because we can collect massive amounts of data doesn't mean we should do so. >> reporter: he's proposed legislation that would curb the agency's powers. security experts agree certain checks and balances need to be restored. >> that is the deal we've struck here in the united states, that the intelligence communities have got to tell the congress what they're doing and the congress has to provide a check. >> reporter: it's up to the president what recommendations to accept. >> even as we review our efforts and make some changes in how we do things, we will not harm our ability to face those threats. >> reporter: the white house says national security remains the top priority. president obama is expected to announce his decision about these recommendations sometime next month. >> thanks so much. turning now to phones on

flights. a resounds no to in-flight calls from two major airlines, sdel take and jetblue eye announcements comes as the fcc he reviews its long time ban. both airlines say customers tell them in-flight calls would not enhance their experience, but it would detract from it. southwest airlines also signaled recently they're inclined to keep the ban especially if restrictions are eased. it's ultimately up to the airlines to offer the service. well, the's been 20 years since the whack heard round the world and the thug who orchestrated the tack on nancy kerrigan is giving a rare interview. he claims ex-wife tonya harding knew all about the 1994 attack on nancy kerrigan and he says they decided to do something really stupid and he only regrets ruin renning harding's promising career, not kerry began's.

and speaking of sports, let's get to the latest with richard lui. dramatic finishes in the nba. first off, the rivalry, indiana and miami. pacers up by 11, but lebron james gets nasty screaming at mario chaum echaumer chalmers. it worked. flaen chokes miami survives 97-94. next knicks/bucks. overtime. bucks get the rebound. sending it to double overtime. carmelo anthony nailing a three-pointer earning his paycheck. knicks 107-101. more overtime yet. charlotte at toronto, tied. kendall walker hitting it in the final second. charlotte in a squeaker 104-102. it was the helmet in the jaw

heard round the world. the nfl fined terrence garvin $25,000 for that play, leading with his helmet when blocking cincinnati punter who was still able to walk off the field. his jaw is broken. vertebrae cracked and season done. garvin is expected to appeal that fine. his team turned over the ball 11 times. he had a dismal 42% game shooting percent and losing 2-8 season record. what does the coach do about that some this. >> marcus was absolutely awful. that's about as pg rated as i can say it. he was awful. our guards were awful. our three starting guards have one assist and seven turn overs. they must think it's a tax credit. my wife -- my wife -- can score more than two buckets on 11 shots. because i know my wife will at

least shot fake one time. to me when you've got a young team, it's a lot like house training a puppy dog. when the dog does something wrong -- bad dog. i'm not going to hit them, i won't swat them, but -- bad dog. >> and that was the pg stuff. it's good to be the king. or the pope in this case. the arrest again tine soccer club giving pope francis their championship trophy they earned sunday plus a jersey and goalie glove used to block a shot in the final minute. would love to see the pope on the pits. >> he is the people's pope. >> and breaking up office made not any, the red bull skate team turning a chicago high rise into a skate park riding on rails, ramps and desks. really tough work. >> we'll do that right here on the anchor desk. thanks so much, richard. and now time for a look at the weather. bill karins is here.

>> i'm willing to bet 100 bucks right now you've never been on a skateboard in a skate park. >> you would lose. i have been on a skateboard because my brother used to skateboard. so i played around with it. >> all right. i need proof. i need another source on that one. the forecast is going to get warm in the east, messy in the midwest and snowy in the inner mountain west. the wig warmth in tbig warmth i and you'll be watching the snow melting especially on sunday. the cold blast is now being situated up in canada and a little bit withere in the northn plains. look at the temperatures in philadelphia over the next four to five days. all the snow will be long gone by the time they get done with sunday. 73. monday closer to reality and definitely by tuesday. we do have snow out there this morning. salt lake city is not pretty. freezing rain changing to snow. and that snow eventually will go across the northern plains through montana, south dakota

tomorrow and into minnesota. but again, it's really the warmth that is crazy out there today. 70 in dallas, 55 in kansas city. and chicago will be a mess. they will be right in the middle of the warmth and cold and they will deal with ice. >> thanks, bill. well, the nation's most valuable college football programs, do you think you know the top five? plus the worm, we're talking about dennis rodman, he's meeting with kim jong-un. will they talk about the assassination of kim's uncle?

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now to stories making news this morning. the u.s. sent two detainees from the guantanamo bay detention facility in cuba back to their native sudan. and congress is close to a defense bill that includes an agreement to lift most restrictions on transfers overseas. mega millions lottery officials say the winner of half of the $636 million jackpot is

ira curry, a woman from stone mountain, georgia. she'll take home over $120 million after taxes. the other winning ticket was bought in california, but that winner has not yet come forward. former nba star dennis rodman visits north korea today to help train the nation's basketball team. as he left china, rod man said he didn't plan to bring up the execution of kim jong-un's uncle or any politics at all for that matter. >> it has nothing to do with it. whatever his uncle has done, i have no control over that. if it happens that he wants to talk about it, great. if it doesn't happen, i won't bring it up. because i don't want almost to think that i'm over here trying to be ambassador and trying to use him as his friend and all of a sudden i'm talking about politics. it's not going to be that way. >> and the raffle for picasso's man with opera hat was won by a

25 nld from pennsylvania. the painting is said to be worth about $1 million and he won it by buying a $140 raffle ticket. not a bad return. and now we turn to seema mody for business. >> stocks rallied on wednesday following the fed's decision to start cutting back on its economic stimulus programs. the fed says the economy is improving well enough but could pump money back into the simple if growth stumbles. the fed also says interest rates will continue to stay low for the foreseeable future. holidays are a blessing an curse for retailers. analysts say sales are up 12%, but discounts are up 13%. the most since 2008. and stores may have to offer more to spur consumers to shop. and automakers must meet tougher standards to meet top ratings.

coming up, reverend al sharpton takes on michelle obama, while jack king ton calls for poor children to work. stick with innovation.

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from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare. now sometime for your first look at this morning's dish of scrambled politics. the republican finally cop seeds to the democrat after recounting the race for virginia attorney skrn. the first time since 1969 that democrats are in control of all five statewide elected offices.

politico reports wyoming candidate liz cheney's husband is registered in wyoming and virginia, but he reportedly signed a document in wyoming signing he wasn't registered elsewhere. a spokeswoman says he's asked to take his name off the rolls. a new ppp poll finds chris christie leading hillary clinton 45% to 42%. but how long will the former secretary of state be on that list? well, after barbara walters named her the most fascinating person of 2013, here's what she had to say. >> i haven't made up my mind. >> you haven't? >> i really have not. i will look carefully at what i think i can do and make that decision sometime next year. >> nor harry reid reportedly plans to stick around as senate majority leader, but he said i don't want to do it more than eight more years. maybe in those eight years minimum wage solution will be reached. here see what thomas perezed

told chris hayes. >> i think the minimum wage can be increased. i know it must be increased. it's a moral imperative. it's really an economic imperative if we want to grow the economy. the way to grow the economy is to put money in people's pockets. >> reverend al sharpton interviews michelle obama today. and in congress -- in georgia, jack kingston says there should be no such thing as a free lunch even for low income children at school. >> why don't you have the kids pay a dime, pay a nickel, to instill that there is no such thing as a free lunch. or maybe sweep the floor in the cafeteria. >> and finally house of cards star kevin spacey is responding to the president's wish that washington were as ruthlessly efficient as his character in the netflix series tweeting to help chief ruthless efficiency, a copy of his character's new book how to kick ass and influence congress is on its

way. and that is your morning's dish of scrambled politics. joining me now for our first look at politics is bobfranken. >> i think the person running audio on that jack kingston sound bite should probably sweep the floors, too. i have no idea what the man said. >> next time we'll get it with subtitles. let's talk about obamacare. for the first time since it launched, the white house is using michelle obama to help sell it. first ladies don't normally get involved in policy issues. why is she getting involved now and will it be effective? >> first of all, when you said what you just said about first ladies not getting involved in policy issues, you probably would exclude hillary rodham clinton from that list. >> good point. historically speaking. >> as a matter of fact, i'm among the people who feels like michelle obama should get involved in every policy issue.

she's whip smart. she's harvard educated. she's the one who basically hired barack obama in the law firm she was working in. and perhaps when we're talking about another former first lady who is considering a run for presidency, maybe we should put in the mix michelle obama. >> that's an interesting thought. >> that should get people crazed. >> hillary versus obama again. so wednesday the fed announced that they will be rolling back the stimulus. do you think that that is a sign the stimulus enacted in 2000 # ultimately worked or not? >> well, the economists seem to think so. the economists seem to think that mr. bernanke probably prevented things from turning into a depression. but now he's saying things have worked so well in spite of by the way the politicians that it's time to start very gradually phasing that back. >> i want to have a little bit of fun because the holiday season is upon us. christmas is less than a week away. so as we take a look back at the year in politics, which

politician would you say gave us the best gift in 2013? >> there are so many, but i think my vote would go for theirry read. mr. personality himself. he is the one who gave us the end of the filibuster and that is a gift to anybody, and that will include me, who has ever covered the united states senate. just the fact that we will no longer be treated to rand paul and ted cruz and any of the other people out there trying to talk forever to try to sometime any legislation is probably not only good for those of us who are reporter, but probably good for the country, too. >> my choices are a little more low brow. i'll go with anthony weiner and rob ford just for shear entertainment. >> goes to show where your mind is. >> exactly. thanks so much. appreciate your time. "first buzz" is coming up next. we'll have the cutest picture you'll see all day. plus a drinking game straight from the white north. ng three te than they say to and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide.

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time for "first buzz," all the stories we're talking about this morning. i have a follow-up on the seeing eye dog that jumped on the tracks to save his owner. the blind man falls on the subway tracks, seeing eye dog doesn't hesitate, jumps after him. the train passes over both of them. the dog never leaves his side. the man was afraid he was going to lose his dog because the coverage was running out. now thanks to the story, they have raised $75,000. they didn't ask for a dime. people just volunteered. gave cash. >> we knew this was going to happen. >> and he can keep his dog. >> and he'll get another seeing eye dog, right and keep orlando, too, after 11 years.

>> so a win/win. on to the merits of beer pong. >> the two of you you have never played. so it tends to be for those on the lower end of 209-year-old spectrum, it's a table, you put ten countries on both sides. it looks like this. and you have a ping-pong ball, two teams of two people play against each other, you get it into the cupp -- >> you throw it? >> you can sometimes bounce it off the table. >> is there a point to this story? >> yeah. so the person at the end of this wins. will is a new beer pong table from canada. this is an air hockey beer pong table. the problem, though, is you only have six countries. so the game is shorter. but what about the air? one of those little pucks get -- >> our producer is screaming penguins. >> yes. santa stowaways.

they came dressed for the occasion. >> cutest video ever. no need to talk over this. just watch these penguins. "way too early" starts right now. i can't believe you're going to lose. >> yeah. so what do you think you say in a concession speech? somebody have a number for the president? >> i do. >> okay. haven't thought about that. >> incredible insight and access into the romney campaign right up to the end. and we will show you more. with the economy ben bernanke leaving his fed post in a blaze of glory, the fed will change its policy and it caused stocks to hit record highs. we'll explain what it means for us, our 401(k)s and our

mortgages. and a big sar frtar from du dynasty in big trouble for comments in gq. never good to loosely paraphrase the bible. trust me on this one. this is "way too early". good morning. brian shactman here thursday, december 19. a few other interesting nuggets later in the show. which college football program is reportedly worth nearly $140 million? don't google it. stay tuned and find out. and justin bieber, can you actually retire before you can legally drink? but he's talking about retirement. whether it's a ploy or not, we'll have that story for you in the cooler. we want to begin with the ns after the. a task force recommending changes some of which the president says he is open to.