congress on our blog today, along with a chart that doesn't have the blinky version. we will see you again on monday. have is an excellent weekend. "weekends with alex witt" starts now. bringing you pictures from space at this hour. astronauts are ready for a complex operation at the international space station. what are they fixing? back on earth, a huge travel weekend. in large parts of the country, a trek to your holiday destination could be a tough one. moving target. the retailers decides to take dramatic action after revealing millions of its customers's credit card numbers were stolen >> assessing 2013. the president reacts to some tough questions in his year-end news conference. how did he respond and what's he saying about 2014?

good morning, everyone. welcome to eekends with alex witt. today a massive weather systems is on the move. 68 million people in the path of some wild winter weather that could cause messy delays from coast to coast. it is tricky time for the millions expected to hit the roads and the air this morning ahead of the christmas holiday. >> it did take a little while to get here because of the rain. >> just like anything else in a storm. you have to get your food, water, and get your stuff sent off early. >> that is true. from snow and ice to rare december tornados in the south, you heard right. what you can expect depends on where you are. dylan dreyer has all those details. hi, dylan. good morning, alex. it is going to be a rough go for everyone traveling across the country. we have snow, ice, record high temperatures and also some severe storms possible, especially down across the southeast. new orleans, 70 degrees right now. we are closer to zero through the northern plains.

a huge contrast in temperatures is going to fire off these huge storms. you can see the heaviest rain in southern illinois, southern indiana. but the pink is the ice. that's where we will see most of our problems. we have accumulating ice across the plains. as the colder air works in where the accumulating ice is right now, we will see a few inches of snow on top of that. parts of kansas should end up with three to six inches of snow. up in northern parts of michigan we could end up with 6 to 12 inches of snow. closer look shows you from peoria, oklahoma city, the ice is coming downment and it has been accumulating. we could end up with half an inch of ice, programs an inch in some of the heavier downpours of rain. just to the east of that. st. louis, heavier rain. the potential of very strong thunderstorms today. isolated tornados possible in parts of western tennessee, stretching into louisiana. in yellow, we could see strong

storms with possible hail and damaging wind gusts. it is going to be a very active day today. we should top out at 57. 33 in chicago. freezing rain turning over to snow by tomorrow. tomorrow is 31. minneapolis, 18 degrees with snow coming down. 66 degrees in new york city. washington, d.c. should even make it into the lower 70s. so we have a little bit of everything going on for the holiday weekend. but the ice today will be the biggest concern for travelers through the plains states. thanks for that heads-up. new this morning, president obama in hawaii for the holidays. the president held his final news conference of the year. he addressed several years, including the rollout of the health care website. >> despite all the problems, despite the website problems, despite the messaging problems, despite all of that, it's working. again, you don't have to take my

word for it. we have a couple million people with health insurance in the first three months. despite the fact that the first month was lost because of problems with the website and about as bad a bunch of publicity as you could imagine. and yet you still got two million people who signed up. >> the president said no domestic data has been abused. >> i have confidence in the fact that the nsa is not engaging in domestic surveillance or snooping around. i recognize as technologies change and people can start running programs that map out all the information we're downloading on a daily basis into our telephones and our computers, that we may have to refine this further to give people more confidence. >> the president defended

diplomatic engagement over iran's nuclear program. >> i've been very clear from the start, i mean what i say. it is my goal to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. but i sure would rather do it diplomatically. i'm keeping all options on the table. but if i can do it diplomatly, that's how we should do it. i think that would be the preference of everyone on capitol hill because that is the preference of the american people. >> the president also hailed news that the economy grew a solid 4.1% from july through september, while highlighting recent gains in the job market. >> this morning we have learned that over the summer our economy grew at its strongest pace in two years. the unemployment rate has steadily fallen to its lowest point in five years. our businesses are positioned for new growth and new jobs.

and i firmly believe that 2014 can be a breakthrough year for america. joining me now, rebecca and congressional reporter for the "washington post", ed o'keefe. it's great to have you both here. ed, since you're right here in the studio i typically, the president covered a lot. what struck you most. >> nsa. clearly this is something the administration has been thinking about. they are hearing it from capitol hill and the public and they understand changes will have to be made. he will have news for us in january. but it's a sign that all of these revelations as they have rolled out are forcing the white house to recalibrate and think about what nsa should do. >> you're big takeaway from that news conference? >> the contrast from the beginning of the year. this is the president essentially saying good-bye to what's been a very tough year, one of the toughest in his

presidency, talking about transformation. ended the year talking about incremental and inching towards change. he is going to be spending his hawaii vacation doing a lot of reading. he will be spending time reviewing the recommendations at the review panel for changes to the program. changes to the surveillance program. not something he expected to be doing at the end of this year. not something he could have foreseen when he gave his inaugural address. >> let's talk about the unemployment insurance benefits. he has called on congress to extend that when they return from the holiday break. >> i think we're a better country than that. we don't abandon each other when times are tough. unemployment insurance only goes to folks actively looking for work. when congress comes back to work, their first order of business should be making this right. >> more than a people people

will be dealing with this three days after christmas. that's when the money runs out. do you think congress will take this up in january? >> harry reid said it would be the first they will hold when they get back january 6th in the senate. democrats want to do it. republicans haven't really said whether or not they will take up this issue. it flies in the face of gop orthodox that believes these types of programs need to be done away with over time. the argument some will make is, look, apparently the economy is improving. democrats turn around and say no. these are some of the older, less skilled workers having difficulty finding jobs in the newer economy and they continue to need assistance. it will be a perfect election year wedge type issue to launch the year. will not lead to a lot of bipartisan championship. the president likely to use the

bully pulpit. how could the president have foreseen the nsa scandal. take a listen to one of the questions he was asked. >> when you look back at this year, very little of the domestic agenda in your inaugural address have you achieved. your ratings are near historic lows for you. when you take this altogether, has this been the worst year of your presidency? >> this wasn't the only question like that. how did he handle it? >> he brushed it aside. he didn't say no, clearly. but he did push back a little bit. he himself acknowledges this has not been his best year. that it's been tough. that he has seen setbacks on several fronts. particularly in the year of immigration. began the year with a lot of optimism particularly given the results of the election last year. has seen the agenda stall. he repeated his call again for the senate bill to be taken up

again. but the interesting thing one of our reporters noted was over the summer and early fall there was a sense he would accept piecemeal deals. he might sign into law smaller parts of the bill if they were broken up. that is when it seems like there was some progress. he's back to talking about passing the senate bill whole. >> what about the economy, ed? the president did get a boost to show it grew more than number. >> they came out just a few hours before the press conference. it was something he sees almost immediately. the unemployment rate continues to go down. the message was, look, things are beginning to look good. going into next year they could get great. we just have to continue what we can as a white house and congress to advance that. and i think that's why you are going to see early in the year democrats especially focus on unemployment insurance, raising

the minimum wage. immigration is one that democrats see as a big economic incentive. you are creating a bunch of jobs and certainty for companies as they try to hire people and bring in higher skilled people. we will see whether or not that argument starts to take it up in the house. >> rebecca and ed, thank you for making a pit stop on your way up north for the holidays. the store is offering a discount for the second largest credit card breach in u.s. history. it comes after the first lawsuit has been filed and an apology from the company ceo. tonight target is offering 10% discount to its customers. it may not be enough for angry and frustrating shoppers who aren't mincing words. one writes, thanks for failing us, target. others say they can't get

through to cancel their red cards. this is about the worst customer service i have ever seen. completely ridiculous. target has apologized and said it will increase capacity online and in call centers. while more and more customers are finding suspicious charges. >> they are all way more than i would spend in one go. over $60, $80, $90 each. a couple of them had been declined. >> it scares me to death. i shop at target almost daily. >> in an e-mail to customers, target expresses regret for the in convenience and ensures steps are being taken to help prevent incidents like this in the future. >> every second counts in terms of people going into stores. having people not trust your store enough to spend money will not go to that retailer. >> this latest data breach is a wakeup call for everyone. here are some tips for people who believe they are victims of

fraud. cancel your card or change your account number. if you think our identity might have been stolen, put a freeze on your credit. >> credit cards are safer. if you have to use the debt card, choose credit instead of debit. avoid using the four-digit pin. >> so, do you worry about fraud when using your debit and credit cards? you can talk to me on twitter? @alexwitt. a critical mission is under way in space. why astronauts will have snorkels. [ male announcer ] this duracell truck

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developing now, the the start of an urgent repair mission for a pair of nasa astronauts. just moments ago two astronauts stepped outside. they are beginning an emergency fix on a faulty pump. this urgent spacewalk is the first of three scheduled, adding to the urgency also the fear that water could leak into their helmets. an italian astronaut almost drowned in his helmet in a spacewalk in july. we have got you, tom. how has nasa been preparing for this critical mission? >> this has been 10 days in the making. behind me you can see this is mission control. you're looking at a camera shot coming from one of the astronaut's cameras right on his check.

this mission is to replace one of two cooling loops that failed on the station, forcing the crew to conserve power. if they lose the second cooling loop, they would have to abandon the station. they have done this kind of work before. this would be the first spacewalk since an astronaut nearly drowned in his helmet last july. at 230 miles above the earth, recritical component on the station. >> there is an ammonia risk whenever replacing these cooling loops. >> the job, replace the bad pump with a spare. doug was the last astronaut to work on the pump in 2010. this week he recorded a video showing the space station crew how to go about the repair mission. >> our advice to them and the crew agreed, we're going to go slow, methodical, step by step, challenge response. >> with their space suits

hanging, they prepared. but the suits have been the focus of tremendous attention. they got a thorough inspection. residue is a concern. that's what's thought to have blocked a water filter causing luke's helmet to fill with water. >> water is in his eyes now. it seems to be increasing. >> when they were able to pull him back into the suspicion, water poured from his helmet. nasa later admitted he could have drowned. they have swapped out many of his suit's components. >> mike hopkins will wear that particular suit. it is an extremely clean suit and it's ready to go. >> just in case the water returns, they will wear absorbent pads inside their helmet and a snorkel fashioned out of robber hose and duct tape. >> they can use it to breathe

and purge water. they can either breathe off of it or push water through it as well. >> so this spacewalk will last six and a half hours. the lead spacewalker is rick. and mike hopkins will be the second. the lead spacewalker has red tape so you will know who he is. he has six walks under his belt. mike hopkins, he's described as an incredibly athletic and fit astronaut who is very anxious for this spacewalk. after many, many practice runs. again, you're looking right now. the camera breaks up every now and then. this is mike hopkins camera. the number 18. number 18 is hopkins's camera. number 20 is rick's camera. they are working on their tether to make sure they are completely attached to a tether. >> it is extraordinary being able to see all of this. you are breaking it down word

for word what's going on. thank you for keeping an eye on things for us. give us an update later. appreciate that. the last minute rush for holiday gifts. which place will be open incredibly late on christmas eve and it's not just 7-eleven >> what is thomas roberts's favorite holiday movie? the answer ahead. ♪ [ chicken caws ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum tums!

the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] that's handy. ♪ in today's three big money headlines, surprise showing, beat the clock and sacre bleu. good morning to you. >> hi. >> let us start with all this surprise showing for the economy. good stuff. >> it is good stuff. to exceed gdp by 4%. it came in at 4.1%. revised to that is a positive number. but to put it in perspective, if you're pulling out of a recession, you could see that number as high as 6% to 8%.

a healthy, go forward consistent sustainable basis would be around 3%. so essentially the economy is in four-wheel-drive, which means we're going to get out. but it's not exactly pedal to the metal. a very good indicator. gdp largely driven by consumer spending. when you hear consumer spending, don't think about the shopping mall. it's much broader based than that. we saw people buying autos. even health care spending was up. if you haven't gone to the dentist because you're worried about the co-pay, the fact that you would show up and pay it is better. the data tends to have a lot of factors, what's in the pipeline, strategic decisions you may have made. directionally, we'll take it. >> okay. you mentioned shopping. we have four more days to christmas. how is that going, the holiday rush? >> it's going 24/7. pretty amazing deadlines.

we will put them up on the screen. i was at a local mall yesterday at 7:00 a.m. it makes perfect sense. if you have to show up at work at 9:00 a.m. and you can shop from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m., how terrific. today will be a notable exception. so a real win for consumers. that's staggering stats. toys "r" us will be open for 87 consecutive hours. kohl's, 100 consecutive hours. this is primetime for them. good for them if they can staff accordingly. about 50% of etailers are guaranteeing online delivery if you get your orders in today. 19% by monday. i did want to point out because we are watching the weather reports. that is an important caveat. guaranteed to arrive means guaranteed to leave our warehouse. after that it's contingent on

shipping. if you are looking at $20 shipping fee to spend to oklahoma, i wouldn't pay that right now. you could end up overpaying and it just might not get there. >> it happened to me. i was sending something to texas and the ice storms. what about mcdonald's in france and the commercials. >> so they have a newburgher that's on a bagel. people online, some of the blogs are saying, wait a minute that, has jewish heritage. then they have a macho hockey player who skates up and demands it back. then a little canadian. and then pamela anderson drives up and says she wants the burger. that hasn't been on for 12 years. that is a lagging indicator.

>> regina lewis, thank you so much. in this morning's one-minute play back, the duck dynasty controversy and conservatives flocking to defend phil robertson. >> for pete's sake, they got their own water fountains. they had it so good, white people pretended to be them. i'll tell you who i feel sorry for, folks, a&e. with this controversy they may have just lost duck dynasty's massive black and gay audience. , so you get your fico® score on your monthly statements now, for free! that's nice of you! it's a great way to stay on top of your credit, and make sure things look the way they should. awesomesauce! huh! my twin sister always says that. wait...lisa? julie?! you sound really different on the phone. do i sound pleasant? for once in your life you sound very pleasant. at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. free fico® credit score. get the it card at discover.com.

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you give them the giggles. tylenol cold® helps relieve your worst cold and flu symptoms. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol cold®. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt". it is now 31 past the hour. two astronauts have begun the first of three spacewalks at the international space station. we'll keep you posted on what they are up to. marriage bells ringing in it the. a federal judge struck down that

ban on same-sex marriage. the state will appeal the ruling. four suspects arrested. a 30-year-old lawyer was shot in front of his wife after he refused to hand over the keys. a news conference later this morning. in colorado, two teenagers on suspicion of planning to launch a columbine attack on their high school. they planned to carry out the attack when school resumes after the break. a memorial will be held in scotland and london and arlington national cemetery. those are your fast five headlines. president obama and his family are in hawaii for the start of their annual christmas vacation. before leaving washington, the president tried to pivot from a rocky year. kristen welker, good saturday morning to you. what kind of issues did the

president tackle at this final news conference of the year. he took on a lot of them. >> he did. he will deal with them in hawaii as well. health care, nsa. really dominated his end of year press conference on friday. president obama landed in honolulu this morning after making it clear he's ready for vacation. >> you know what they say. it's the most wonderful press conference of the year. right now. >> this after he tried to turn the page on iraq. still, with his poll numbers at record lows he couldn't escape tough questions. >> has this been the worst year of your presidency? >> i've got to tell you, julie, that's not how i think about it. >> he said his worst mistake of 2013 was the troubled rollout of his health care website. >> obviously we screwed it up. >> he also defended his recent

decision. this week the administration announced the millions of americans who got cancellation notices from insurance companies now have the option to buy cheap bare bones policies and could opt out altogether without penalty. >> this new waiver last night you could argue could have delayed the mandate. >> well, that's not true. what we are talking about is a very specific population that you'll see cancellation notices. >> and mr. obama, who has been criticized by americans and the international community alike signaled he might be considering serious changes. >> just because we can do something doesn't mean we necessarily should. >> with the midterms looming, the president's second term agenda could be in jeopardy. >> in 2014, everything is on the line for the president in fixing health care. until he gets that done, democrats aren't going to want to put his eyes on anything

else. >> senior administration officials say president obama will get regular briefings by telephone on his health care laws. the all important deadline on monday. he will be reviewing the nsa. he said he will make an announcement about what if any changes he wants to make in january. alex? >> kristen, fyi, this year would have been 2:30 in the morning you were doing live shots with me. >> and i had an ocean behind me. >> and we couldn't even see it. >> that's right. >> john yarmouth and the budget committee. welcome, sir. always a pleasure to see. >> you good to see you, alex. >> we just heard mark at the end of kristen's piece. he said the democrats don't want the president to touch anything until he fixes health care. is that true? >> i don't think it's true at all. we're

concerned about is extending benefits. we're interested in getting immigration reform done. we want to make sure the debt ceiling is adjusted so we can pay our debts. we have a lot of things on our plate. and that's only one of them. fixing health care. in kentucky, doing a great job. but it needs some adjustment elsewhere. >> you have been leading the way. successfully so. with regard to what the president can accomplish, realistically, how much can he get done? we have the upcoming midterms. and then you have the presidential election. going to a large extent on speaker boehner and republican leadership in the house. people don't understand how critical immigration reform is in many, many respects. we talk about fixing social security for instance. immigration could fix it. it will bring millions into the

workforce who are paying into the system and not collecting benefits for 30, 40 years. very skilled workers from across the globe. stimulation. it's going to be an incredible so i think he will get that done. i think speaker boehner wants to get that done. beyond that, i'm not sure anything of substance will get done. tax reform seems to be much too hard to lift in an election year. either off year or leading up to presidential. we need to do that. but i'm not optimistic about tax reform. >> given the list of things you have on your plate, the context you're putting it in and some things remain in the hands of congress as opposed to the white house. white house to focus its efforts. where do you think it will be most successful? >> immigration reform say top priority. getting a budget program in

research, they will be critical to our future, critical to the success of our economy. and while we may have reached an agreement to keep the deposit from shutting down, those important mandates i think don't go away. so we've got to figure out how to deal with our infrastructure and keep our research up to date. again, education is critical. so i think we haven't solved those problems and we still need to work on that despite the fact that we figured how to keep the government operating. >> yeah. the president had a lot to say yesterday. let's hear another clip from him. >> because the congress didn't act, 1 million of their con stitch epbts will lose a vital economic life line at christmastime, leaving a lot of job seekers without any source of income at all. i think we're a better country than that. we don't abandon each other when times are tough. >> now, the people who are losing unemployment might say the country did abandon them. how did congress let this happen

without even a vote? >> it's disgraceful as far as i'm concerned. and i think most of my colleagues and democratic colleagues in the house believe that. you're talking about not just 1.3 million people on this next week or a week from today will start losing their benefits, but several million more over the next few months. it's going to amount to $2 billion of a month that comes out of the economy. that's a big blow to the economy when you're talking about money that will absolutely be spent. it's not money going into the bank or being invested. much it creates jobs. first and foremost, it's the impact on these americans's lives. secondly, the impact on the economy. it's just like shooting ourselves in the foot again when we are trying to figure our way great signs on the gdp. for the 1.3 million people, it's not that much of a difference.

>> the president looks at 2014. this could be a real break through year for the economy. you look at the dow and 16,000 and climbing. do you think wall street is a little bit overheated? do you all have concerns as many leading economists do. the economy could ultimately lose 20% of its value. >> absolutely. i think when you look at the fund memories and the fact that over 90% of the american people their spendable income has not decade. even though housing has recovered to a certain extent, home building has not recovered nearly as much as home sales have. that make sure we figure out how to improve the lives of disposable living, that stock market will not stay at that level for very

long. >> can i ask to give you a quick that was >> i think both sides figure it's a c minus. nobody is happy with it. from our perspective on the democratic side, it was an improvement over the see questeration side. it's better than not having a deal as far as we're concerned but certainly not what we would like. i would say c minus. >> thank you. we'll see you again. the economy will be the focus tomorrow on "meet the press" with an exclusive interview with the head of the international monetary fund christine lagarde. now to the weather. the effects of a huge winter storm this weekend are already being felt at airports across the country.

denver international, carollers tried to spread a little holiday cheer. heavy snow expected from oklahoma to wisconsin. there's even a threat of tornados from texas to tennessee. so how will it affect you? dylan dreyer is here with that forecast. hi, dylan. >> good morning, alex. it is going to be very slow going, especially back through the plains today where the ice has been accumulating. temperatures up in chicago, about 31 degrees. when you're right around the borderline close to freezing and it's raining you have potential for freezing rain. out ahead of this front it is very warm. we could see record breaking temperatures up and down the east coast. it's all about the ice today through central parts of illinois, back into west central missouri. that's where we are looking at most of our concerns. eventually colder air will move in. turns over to snow tomorrow. up to three to fix inches in western oklahoma, kansas and areas like minneapolis.

just northwest of chicago, 6 to 12 inches of snow, especially tonight and into tomorrow. oklahoma city, up into peoria, illinois, half an inch up to an inch of ice. it is responsible for perhaps several thousand power outages. out ahead of this system, the potential of seeing very strong storms from ohio, texas. and in red across western kentucky, louisiana, isolated storms too. damaging wind gusts from some of these thunderstorms as they develop this morning and this afternoon. 65 today in washington, d.c. tomorrow we should top out in the lower 70s. even new york city eventually seeing storms with a high of 66. eventually the ice turns to snow. even minneapolis, three to six inches. for everyone traveling around this weekend getting where they need to go it is going to be

very dangerous, especially through the plains. alex? >> thank you so much, dylan for that. >> is a military conflict between china and japan a possibility? there is some saber rattling. but "first look" at all these people in the santa hats. you likely know them without that little disguise. they will reveal their favorite holidays movies, as will i. [ mom ] hey guys. guys... [ female announcer ] pillsbury cinnamon rolls, with cinnabon cinnamon, are an irresistible sunday morning idea. nothing calls them to the table faster.

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other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history. and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. developing now. the iss. about a half hour ago they began a critical mission to fix a faulty pup outside the space station. the mission is expected to last six and a half hours >> in this week's office politics aches holiday theme extravaganza featuring some of my fellow msnbc show hosts. part 1, i asked each of them what is your favorite holiday movie? you're talking about holiday movies. and there's only one king of the

jungle. christmas story. can there be anything else? ralphy wanting a shotgun. >> the kid gets his tongue stuck on the pole. it's just amazing. >> it is not technically a holiday movie but it has a great holiday vibe. >> home alone ii in new york city. i think about new york city and snow. and the shops, the way they decorate them. the perfect example. >> trading places. i love that movie. i love eddie murphy. >> national lampoon's christmas vacation. >> seriously? >> going down the roof. yeah. it doesn't get much better than that. >> love actually, i think. a lot of good classics. but that one, it always makes me

cry a little. it always gets me in the christmas spirit. i just love that story. >> because i'm from cleveland i have to say a christmas story. who doesn't love ralphy. it's hilarious. it is a modern day classic. there's a museum at the actual house in cleveland. go, home down. >> go, cleveland. >> christmas story. have you heard that before yet? >> yeah. it's popular. >> it's my favorite. i love it. go shoot your eye out. >> christmas vacation. chevy chase. we have a family tradition on christmas each, my entire extended family, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, we gather around and match the movie. every christmas eve we assign each character in the movie we say, oh, that's you, receive. oh, that's you, uncle tommy. we know all the jokes. we have been at it for 20 years

now. >> love actually. all you need is love. >> and what's my favorite holiday movie? well, the original miracle on 34th street. i love in that movie santa claus was declared legally legit in court. and did you see the lovely snowflake sweater? we have more of our conversation today at 12:00 noon when we asked friends, my friends their favorite holiday tv shows. dennis rodman is back in new york. [ male announcer ] what if a small company became big business overnight? ♪ like, really big... then expanded? ♪

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this comes amid the conflict over east china sea which both

say encroaches on their territory. the coming collapse of china. with a welcome to you. as we were just saying during the the commercial break, we have a story about two militaries becoming powerful at the same time. we have north korea and china at the same time. >> the official who was just executed, he tried to elevate the korean workers party over the military in north korea. now that he is out of the way, the military has become much more powerful. they are whispering in kim jong- jong-il's ear. and some other things we have seen, including that incident on december five when they got very close to the missile destroyer. this is going to define our era. >> with regard to china specifically, is that why they

are so aggressive. they are getting more and more powerful? >> the new ruler owes his political assistance to the military right now because the military is in a very factionalized military system. they can't tell the military no. they are going to have bigger budgets. this is going to put them in confrontation with us. >> you say this is the issue we need to deal with right now. are we talking saber rattling as we have seen so much in the past? do you have genuine concerns about conflict? >> you have to remember they didn't start on the plains in europe in 1939. it started in china in 1937. you've got everything there. you've got militaries that really hate each other that want to go to war. centuries old an taking nymphs. this is not a good is story.

>> okay. if something does develop where do we the u.s. come down on this. we have a long time ally in japan. we have strong ones, deep ones with china. where do we go? >> we have obligations to japan, south korea, and the philippines. china is challenging notions of freedom of navigation. clearly the united states will be with its allies. it will be a very, very difficult time. they are pushing out. they don't respect us. therefore they think they can push us around. and that's really a problem. >> you know, i almost hate asking a man of your intellect this question. dennis rod man. is he a side show, doing damage or doing nothing? >> he is doing damage. the new ruler needs dennis rodman to show his regime is normal and everything is secure. so he is bolstering his rule

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. >> how to prevent another year of inaction by congress? it's only four days before christmas, which means the start of this unseasonably warm saturday morning in december, we're in a pretty giving mood. despite the everyday, the trend of recent years, we'd like to hope the recently concluded congress the most unproductive one so far, we'd like to think they can turn things around next year. as i said, we're in a positive mood this morning. we have ideas how to help congress aie