bob cusack. good to have the both of you. you know the business world you get a second chance at first impressions? >> it is an uphill struggle. he has to ask america to ignore the millions of scanceling this cost to tens of millions of people and look at the good stuff and by the way -- here is the thing. >> your mic doesn't work right now if the desk weren't so far, i would hand you mine. i'm going to go to bob for the questions of the politics of all of this. how does the president survive this politicly? >> i think this white house is going to be more aglgressaggres. democrats have been disappointed. it has had a tough two months. but the white house is pushing back more on the media as well as republicans. i expect the president to be aggressive. as the polls will show, it has been an unpopular law and has taken a major hit. they push back on republicans and on the washington post report. if the website falters against they are going to take another hit. they are going to come out on a daily basis and talk about the succ

. >>> let's take this to bob cusack of "the hill" newspaper so many people are confused by the rules and the rules get changed all the time. we were told today is the deadline. a little while ago thanks to the "washington post" we find out it's really tomorrow. what's going on? >> jon, initially the deadline was the 15th of december. they moved it to the 23rd, they moved it again to the 24th. part of the problem for the administration, they're still worried about the website. they have been predicting for a long time that there will be a crush of people signing up. that could be good news for the administration. it's bad news when you have a website still having some bugs in it. it is confusing. it's confusing as far as the president. he is signing up, but not really signing up. i think it's a bit awkward for the administration. the president is able to keep his health plan while others have lost it. >> it was a symbolic sign-up, as i said a moment ago with ed henry, he didn't have to sit down at the computer and enter the information. his aides did it for him. that's the frustration

bob cusack from "the hill." again we'll see whether these security concerns, i mean as more and more people sign up, we'll see whether these security concerns are valid or not. bob cusack, thanks. >> thanks, jon. jenna: disturbing new look this morning at al qaeda's influence around the world. an assessment of the past year showing the terror group's operations and influence in a dozen countries is being blamed for a spike in murders. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge is live in washington with more on this brand new report. catherine? >> reporter: thank you, jenna. al qaeda affiliates or groups sympathetic to the al qaeda ideology are now operating as you mentioned in a dozen countries and those who are targeting the u.s. homeland or western interests overseas include the groups in somalia and north africa and yemen. was only a year ago al qaeda in yemen lost significant territory and control if that country. but just 12 months later as you see with this fighting the most lethal al qaeda affil

joining us for more on all of this, bob cusack, managing editor for "the hill." we'll get to the hospital access question in just a second, bob but what do you think, first of all, of the newly-redesigned obamacare website? >> i think the story is shifting a little bit from the website problems because it is still getting better but as peter mentioned there still are problems but now the story is shifting to cost. remember the administration obamacare would reduce costs. certainly there will be winners and losers here. if you can't get your own doctor or hospital, those losers will be awfully loud. jon: well here is one of the consequences apparently of obamacare. "the financial times" has a story out today suggesting that many of the, the majority of insurance plans being sold on the new health care exchanges in places like new york, texas and california, for example, will not offer patients access to memorial sloane kettering in manhattan or m.d. anderson cancer center in houston, two top cancer centers or cedars-sinai in los angeles, one of the top researching

bob cusack is the hill's manager director, explain this to me. come, if the republicans help pass the budget in the senate, they are in fact helping democrats? >> well, there's a provision in the budget deal that would enable senate democrats not to have a pass a budget next year. earlier this jeer the senate democrats passed a budget after four years. that was a painful process for them, and four democrats who are facing re-election at the time voted no. so this would be a painful process for senate democrats next year, easier for republicans because they passed a budget, paul ryan's budget, farley easily. the budget in the senate is harder. so this will basically let the senate democrats off the hook to craft a budget resolution in an election year. >> senator lan drew in louisiana. got 40% of the vote in a recent pole, compared to two runs, one with 44 and one with 10. explain to me how passing the budget in the senate helps candidates like mary laandreua in the senate. >> she can take a pass on voting on one of the most controversial things t

joining us our political panel susan, the hill's managing editor bob cusack and luis. anything surprise you this end of the year prevacation news conference? >> he started off talking about the economy and talked about the jobs created this year and really painted a positive picture. he thought next year would be a break through year for the economy. of course, this morning's news where the estimates were rounded up really helped him be able to say that the economy was doing a lot better. >> bob, how about you? anything surprise you? >> i was surprised how sluggish he was. i think it incapsulated his year. he had a very difficult 2013. and he -- took a lot -- answered a lot of questions. but he didn't seem to have a lot of energy. maybe it was anxious to get on that flight to hawaii. >> susan, i agree with bob. i thought that he looked really exhausted and weary. when he was up there today. well, i agree. in fact, i think the confident obama was just reduced by several notches at this press conference. it was almost like i thought one of the most interesting quotes he