alex mcgeorge joining us from our washington dc bureau. ming up next, washing -- breaking news out of washington dc -- interdigital has lost its patent infringement case. this is coming from the international trade commission. phil mattingly joins us from washington with the details. >> interdigital has lost the case -- this is a big win for nokia. these companies that interdigital was seeking to pull out of say when this case. a juneacks with decision. interdigital stock went up about 5% and the international trade commission said they would take another look. we reviewed this case and the decision coming down now -- basically what interdigital is trying to say is these handset companies were using its patents and/or stealing from them. herewas an ongoing issue and in china too. what the error national trade commission said is they don't have a case. so it is a big win for nokia. 3000 patenttely infringement lawsuits were brought in 2012. is this just big business? >> i think so. when you look at what is going on across handsets, when you

joining us now on the telephone from are washington, former u.s. ambassador to south africa, don gibbs. he was ambassador to south africa from 2009 until earlier this year. ambassador gibbs, thanks very much for spending time with us. what can you describe as the relationship between nelson andela and the united states diplomatically? >> diplomatically and personally i think he has been an inspiration to all of us. i think he brought out the best in everyone who came into contact with him. i had the immense honor to be able to get to know him a little bit toward the end of his incredibly inspiring life. you can't help but be moved when you are in his presence. i think we should all take away from his incredible life that we can rise above any differences that we might have and come together to solve problems that face us all. >> ambassador gibbs, can you describe when you first met nelson mandela? >> actually the first time i t him when when haven't gore came into south africa, and we went in to have a conversation with mr. mandela. it was a true ho

diana olick has been covering housing all year for us and joins us from washington. welcome, diana. good to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> tell us about how home prices stole the show. they were up for double digits most of the year. >> yeah, gangbusters nationally. we saw home prices up between 12% and 13% across the nation and in some markets they were up over 20%. and while that sounds like a good thing and it certainly delivered a lot more home equity back into homeowners' pockets, it also was a bit too high, too fast, affordablity began to plummet just as home buying was starting to come back. especially those first-time homebuyers who are really crucial to a good healthy housing recovery. so we certainly want to see prices go up, but there is already talk that those price gains will ease in 2014 because affordability was hit so very hard this year. >> it seems to be because of those very high prices, a lot of people decided no the to buy and to rent. renters were a big story this past year, right? >> they were a big story this year. they will continue to be a big story ne

he joins us now from our washington bureau. back. >> thank you. >> first-time buyers accounted for just 28% of sales in november, a year ago that number was 30%. what happened? >> first-time homebuyers were having a harder time putting together the down payments. we are seeing higher costs for fha loans and generally tighter credit commissions across the board. all leading up to the new federal rules going into effect january 10. we definitely hit a soft patch in housing. our applications indices have been down. i am not too worried about the drop in existing home sales. year-over-year, this is really the first month that we have been down from last year. it is only about 3%. i think the number in january is going to be a little worse. i think the new sales number that comes out christmas eve will probably be down about 18%. >> is this a question of the regulatory environment? is that why would the homebuyers are still having a hard time qualifying? it is also uncertainty about where interest rates are going. think about what t

lisa stark joins us from washington. what is the latest? >> that train should have been going at 30 miles an hour around the curve. there are no published reports this morning including from wabc, those reports indicate that the engineer, william rockefeller has said he may have zoned out at the controls. he may have dosed off and then snapped awake too late to stop the train in time the ntsb will continue to interview the engineer and also look back at >> on wall street a late day rally almost got the dow into green, but the blue chips falling 24 points. it is the fourth consecutive losing session for the blue chips. investors fleeting over the possibility that the federal reserve will pull back on its stimulus. on jobs hiring picked up in several sections of the country. over the past two months the payroll firm adp reported $2,000 had been created in november. and the government will use the case against jp morgan chase as a template to go after more banks for mortgage fraud. the justice department hopes to file charges against several in

political problem for them and when they're trying to get a handle on. >> margaret talley joining us from washington. again, president obama expected to reach the podium just moments from now. his final press conference of 2013. before the president begins his press conference, let's take a look at how wall street has been performing on this december 20. of all the major market averages are in the green. the nasdaq is up one point -- is up 1.27%. the s&p up by three quarters of a percent. and the dow jones industrial average is up two thirds of a percent. a 106 point rise for the doubt this afternoon. stocks and treasury bonds are rising. that report that margaret mentioned shows the economy expanded at a faster rate than previously estimated in the third quarter p.m. you are watching -- and the third quarter. you're watching bloomberg television, i'm mark crumpton. president obama has his final conference of 2013. a wide variety of topics, ranging from health care reform here in the united states and some of the critical issues overseas, namely iran. that news that we got yesterday that 26 u.s. sen

. >> kathleen hunter joining us tonight from washington. thank you. as congress prepares to pass its first partisan budget in four years, a bloomberg national poll finds americans believe that by a margin of 64%, the lawmakers will actually pull it off. that will avoid a government shutdown. the confidence and there. when asked if the white house and congress would reach a larger budget agreement that includes revisions to the tax code, 80% answered "unlikely." 78% of respondents believe that the nation's capital in 2014 will grow. a majority of respondents say that they have faith that the government that was the first to put a man on the moon can still conceive and execute big ideas. another boat in washington today. the fcc voted on a rule that would allow in-flight phone calls full top that means the person next to you on your flight may soon be chatting on the phone. all the way across the country. bloomberg's megan hughes has been following that vote. she has the details. the measure byed a 3-2 vote. that is a first step. it opens it up to publi

phil mattingly joins us from washington. i am dying to know what happened at this meeting. what happened? >> it was almost all about surveillance. about two hours long. these executives met with the president. the key points were what came out in a joint statement last week. one of the key point to those principles, they do not believe that bulk collection should be allowed anymore. that is at the core of what the nsa has been allowed to do. they are worried not only about international low back, but the business implications of this. they are talking about billions of dollars lost for these companies because of mistrust that consumers running away. the president plans to make some changes and they wanted to be real, not just something that happens on the surface. >> we were told that president obama wanted to meet these executives to talk about healthcare.gov. they said they would come, but only if they can talk about the nsa as well. yesterday a federal judge ruled that the collection of phone records was probably unconstitutional. how do companies like google, facebook,

lisa stark joins us from washington. what is the latest? >> that train should have been going at 30 miles an hour around the curve. there are no published reports this morning including from wabc, those reports indicate that the engineer, william rockefeller has said he may have zoned out at the controls. he may have dosed off and then snapped awake too late to stop the train in time the ntsb will continue to interview the engineer and also look back at >> a major u.s. employer has a strong message for employees. if you smoke we will not hire you. >> one of the leading humans companies on the planet with more than 8,500 u.s. employees. and today the company announced it's changing its hiring policies effectively telling future employs you cannot work for us if you smoke, chew tobacco or even use e cigarettes. >> the question is can you engage in off duty activities. >> nationwide company is going to have to tailor their policies to the particular state they are in. there are states in which this would be unlawful. >> cigna plans to roll out

now, for the top story tonight, reaction, joining us from washington, fox news political analyst charlesuthammer. i think it's just theoretical, you know, it's this theoretical world that president obama seems to live in and i'm becoming more and more concerned about that and you say? >> it's also a rhetorical world, theory and rhetoric. it's like king knute being urged by his worshipful acolytes to tell the tides to go backwards and at least knute had the self-consciousness to tell them that can't be done. obama thinks that he is repeal reality with rhetoric. i mean, after all, the one thing he can really do well is campaign that's undeniable. he is one of the great campaigners in american history. he twice one the presidency. his trouble is he has trouble governing. here he is faced with a management problem a government problem. he passed a bill regulations are so complex and contradictory, he has got a web site that's not functioning correctly and he thinks that if he makes the right speeches. >> he really believes that let me just jump in here. he really believes it, right? he is no

tom reporting to us from washington. in turkey, the prosecutor working on a corruption case that has rocked the government says the police obstructed his work. he is now being removed from the case. the chief prosecutor says he is dismissed for mishandles it. allegations have forced him to replace half of his cabinet following the resignation of three senior members. the interior, economy, and environment ministers quit their jobs after their sons were arrested in the corruption inquiry. dend maaing the government resign, they used tier gas and water cannons to disburse the crowd. some people had strong words for their government. >> right now we have two choices, either the act party or the movement. but we want a third choice, we don't want ethey are of the two. there's a power struggle going on, we know that, but we don't want to be a part of it. >> it means there's a false shroud of democracy that's covering turkey right now. i just wish that all those domestic affair i do wish there was more support for pressure for

mike viqueira joins us from washington.ike, good morning, what are some of the main points the president is expected to address? >> reporter: you are right, the president turning a page now after the last two months healthcare.gov debacle. he is going to talk about the grows gap between rich and poor. it's not a new story or a new subject for president obama. he talked ariel castro it two years ago in a benchmark speech in kansas. and he spoke a little bit about in this year's state of the union. the top 1% in this country have seen their income triple over the course of the last 28 years, meanwhile the middle class has scene their income grow at a modest 1% on average over the course of that same time annually. so the president will be talking about that. he'll be talking once again renewing his call to raise the minimum wage. a lot of talk about that here in d.c. where the city council is voting to raise the minimum wage. democrats are now worried about heading into the midterm election, and with the senate up for grabs,

lisa stark joins us from washington. what is the latest? >> that train should have been going at 30 miles an hour around the curve. there are no published reports this morning including from wabc, those reports indicate that the engineer, william rockefeller has said he may have zoned out at the controls. he may have dosed off and then snapped awake too late to stop the train in time the ntsb will continue to interview the engineer and also look back at >> al jazeera america is a straight-forward news channel. >> its the most exciting thing to happen to american journalism in decades. >> we believe in digging deep. >> its unbiased, fact-based, in-depth journalism. >> you give them the facts, dispense with the fluff and get straight to the point. >> i'm on the ground every day finding stories that matter to you. >> in new orleans... >> seattle bureau... >> washington... >> detroit... >> chicago... >> nashville... >> los angeles... >> san francisco... >> al jazeera america, take a new look at news. >> every sunday night al jazeera america bri

. >> mike viqueira joining us from washington. >> it is hard to forget elian gonzalez, the little cuban boy caught up in the tug of war between the u.s. and cuba. elian gonzalez had harsh comments regarding the period in his life. his great uncle talked to our correspondent. >> for the first time in 14 years, elian gonzalez heard his great-nef yu speaking publicly about his return to cuba. the eld the elder cared for the boy in the united states. >> translation: we are happy he is alive but a little upset. we knew what was happen to him. >> elian gonzalez's is referring to comments his great-nephew, now 20, made last week. the younger gonzalez was in ek wad door to attend a conference, his first trip out of cuba. >> translation: they have to realise they behaved poorly and did not do the right thing. we are ready to not forgive them, but that is not forgivable, but we don't hold grudges. >> in 1999 the boy was caught in the mid of of an international custody battle when he was the sole survivor of a raft crossing. his mother drowned. he was placed with his great uncle and other relative

jeff pegues joins us from washington. why is this such a big day? >> well, if you want your insurance coverage to start january 1st monday is the deadline to enroll and they will have toy pay their first month's premium by december 3 1st. but because the problems with the health care .gov web site some insurance company investigation tended that deadline to january 10th. >> jeff: jeff, will final day to enroll brought sen ats, 7 million people would have to be enrolled by then for the system to be on track. is the administration at this point on track? >> well, on friday the president announced that more than one million people ven rolled so far. but the administration still has an uphill climb to reach that 7 million number. and with 99 days left until the open enrollment closes in march, senior obama administration officials tell cbs news that there will be an all-out coordinated campaign to boost enrollment in january. >> jeff: jeff pegues in washington, thank you. friends and family are remembering clare davis, a colorado student shot a week ago

dama danielle lee joins us from washington wlp what do we expect the president to do? >> we do expect the president to implement some but not all. there are 46 in total and call for a scaling back of the government's ability to delve into people's lives both here in the u.s. and abroad. this report ordered after leaks by nsa contractor edward snowden calls for sweeping changes to the way the government ensures national security. the advisory package would end the nsa's ability to store massive telephone records or access without getting a court order. storage would be left up to the phone companies themselves. the report also recommends allowing tech companies to reveal publicly what they've 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: leahy proposed legislation to 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 o

us more vulnerable to infectious diseases. for more about the fda's proposal and the likelihood it will be implemented, we're joined now from washington by sabrina tavernisi of "the new york times" who has written extensively about the topic. thanks so much for joining us. what are these new rules? >> the rules essentially lay out changes that the pharmaceutical industry needs to make to the labels of drugs they make for farm animals, anti buy otic drugs. essentially once the changes are made, that will mean that the farmers and ranchers and the agricultural businesses will no longer be allowed to use and buy otics in feed and water for growth promotion purposes. in other words, to make the animals grow faster and be plumper. >> we know these proposals, these rules are already coming under some criticism. why is that? >> essentially there's a great deal of skepticism in public health community, understandably, that the agricultural businesses are going to use a loophole to essentially allow them to continue using the same low doses of antibiotics over the course of the lifetime of the animal and just say, for example, they needed to u

lisa stark joins us from washington. what is the latest? >> that train should have been going at 30 miles an hour around the curve. there are no published reports this morning including from wabc, those reports indicate that the engineer, william rockefeller has said he may have zoned out at the controls. he may have dosed off and then snapped awake too late to stop the train in time the ntsb will continue to interview the engineer and also look back at >> welcome back. we're talking about the pope francis effect and how the new pope is making waves and the globe, how do you not when you talk about abortion, gay marriage. there is a lot of talk about what about pope's position is if these topics so we're going to try to clarify. father john what are the positions that the pope has taken on these hot button issues? >> first of all he has talked about all these issues and by the way he is not backing away from the traditional teachings of the church. he believes it has to be put in the context of what he feels is the first proclamation, the go

lisa stark joins us from washington. what is the latest? >> that train should have been going at 30 miles an hour around the curve. there are no published reports this morning including from wabc, those reports indicate that the engineer, william rockefeller has said he may have zoned out at the controls. he may have dosed off and then snapped awake too late to stop the train in time the ntsb will continue to interview the engineer and also look back at the man's 72-hour history before this accident. did he get enough sleep? did fatigue play a roll in this accident. the train left his original station very, very early sunday morning. fatigue has long been a concern in transportation accidents, and that will certainly be one of the key questions here. >> and that really gets to the heart of whether this was mechanical failure on human error. thank you lisa. >>> up next a look at today's top headlines and a rundown on some nasty weather on the horizon. >>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. here are today's head loins. presi

eamon javers joins us from washington with more on this. tell us more about what is in the deal, will it pass, and are democrats as divided as republicans? >> here is the key to the deal. they are taking $63 billion of so-called sequester budget cuts, scrapping them and replacing them instead with $85 billion or there abouts in longer-term budget cuts. net, net, the deal proponents say this is a 23 billion-dollar improvement in the nation's deficit picture over the life of this particular deal. now the speaker of the house and other leaders on capitol hill very much support this deal and the speaker was asked today what his reaction was to some conservative groups that have come out and opposed it. take a listen to speaker boehner. >> you mean the groups that came out and opposed it before they saw it? >> yeah. >> reporter: >> they are using our members and the american people for their own goals. this is ridiculous. if you're for more deficit reduction, you're for this agreement. >> speaker boehner outraged, you could say about conservative

kenneth stern joining us from palisades media from washington dc.ootballg to stick with for a little bit to get some bowl matchups run nik bonaddio. with hisd numberfire who wants to be a millionaire winnings. we have 35 bowl games, let's start off with perhaps one of the best-known, the rose bowl. what are you saying about the rose bowl? >> the past couple of weeks it has become a little bit of a statein since michigan versus stanford. it is going to be a close game, michigan lost one of their most top defensive ends to me he is suspended for the game and will not play. ready sizable advantage in this game. eighton seven of their closest comparables, so we like stanford for this game. >> stanford for the rose bowl, what about the fiesta bowl? crazy, i love be the points. you're going to what to watch blake for central florida. he is an up-and-coming quarterback, but baylor is just too good. too much speed, touchdown, this is going to be like 50-40, a huge game. >> what about the sugar bowl? yup oklahoma versus alabama. to want tois going excise the

he joins us from washington. good to see you. thank you for being with us. i've made this argument so many times. we can't complain about college debt. we have to say that we've tried to make a smart investment and we're not getting the return on that investment. how much of this is just bad choices that students and their families make? >> i don't think they have enough information about what is the full range of alternatives are. fundamentally i believe that students have to do anything that they love and they're motivated by, but they also need to know what the consequences are of their choices. so if someone wants to be a dancer or someone wants to be a musician, let them follow that muse but don't borrow $75,000 pursuing a degree that will make them $25,000. >> give me an example of great return on. >> the construction trades. you can get certificates or associate degrees in construction trades. those are very high rates of return. anything that has to do with high tech manufacturing pays o enormouenormously. healthcare. some of the nursing is really a

john harwood joins us from washington with more on today's vote, and what it means. were there any surprises, john, in the vote? >> no, the democrats voted, 55 of them in favor. you had three fewer republicans voting yes than voted to end debate earlier in the week. so it was a 64-36 vote. but this is something that both parties wanted to -- and both parties's leaderships even though mitch mcconnell voted. both leaderships wanted this to happen for the reason ben bernanke expressed. it's not often washington gets a chance to please anybody but markets wanted this, the country wanted this. >> all right. so now that they are all getting along in washington, will that carry over to 2014, john? >> to a limited extent, susie. there will not be a shutdown when the government runs out of money in january. they will extend government funding along the lines outlined by the deal, and i think that even though some republicans said yes, we'll make demands for the debt limit, i don't think they will push it to the brink so we'll is a smooth process on the debt limit. the questio

he joins us from washington.od morning. >> so let's start with these congressional retirements that we just reported on. as we mentioned, they're more likely to favor democrats. but how significant of a factor do you think there will be in helping democrats to overcome a 17-seat deficit to retake the house? >> in both cases, there's a chance the democrats could pick up the seats in iowa and virginia. but really what the retirement signal is that folks that have been in congress now for, you know, more than ten years, risen through the ranks don't really see incentive to stick around anymore. latham and wolf used to work for the house appropriations committee. it's not controlled by a bunch of tea party guys that don't put a lot of value in seniority. >> turning to the senate where the report is to pass the budgets, senator mccain called republicans who plan to vote no on the bill lacking intellectual integri integrity. where is there such a disconnect now? >> the one big concern among those republicans opposed to

joining us from washington, james rosen and carl cameron. is getting cut in the military by how much? >> military retirees and it's their benefits and cost of living adjustments and other things and it's $6 billion over the next ten years and a major fiasco that illustrates why last-minute deals crafted behind closed doors in congress are almost always filled with traps and big surprises. >> so when you say military retirees, does that include wounded warriors and people on disability or just regular folks who are getting a pension? >> all of the above. >> even if your arms and legs are blown off, you're going to get cut in one benefits you receive as well. lawmakers in both parties are very angry about this. >> we'll get to that in a minute. let's lay the baseline on what's going to happen. you say cost of living, which is built into inflation cost of living, right? is that where the cuts are? >> that's the vast majority of this. cost of living adjustment upward would be essentially brought downward and cost is $6 billion over ten years to

us. from washington's amazing museum plus a look at christmas in washington including scenes from inside the white house with first lady michelle obama all next on politicking with larry. from the fantastic museum in washington d.c. it is now but there's no place like this the newseum as we call it right right my fiance yeah it's a want to say news museum and it will have david gregory the moderator of n.b.c. news meet the press he's moderated since december of two thousand and eight he was the chief white house correspondent during the regime of george w. bush and meet the press is the oldest running sunday news talk show in american television history when you got this job for we get of of things yeah and what was that like. it was extraordinary told you well our brar news president the time steve capice called it was a mad dog to me die but it was some time after that as you remember tom brokaw filled and i think n.b.c. news did the smart thing which is after something is significant is that to to ease the transition into put tom into the job i think it was appropriate and it was a ni

. >> phil mattingly and maya macguineas, the head of the campaign to fix the dead joining us from washingtonwe'll get more insight on the nsa spying report from an attorney who worked on privacy issues in the u.s. senate. obama administration has released a report on the government spying activities which has 46 recommendations. it says that any data collection an important government interest and that the nsa should stop collecting bulk phone records. we are joined by the codirector of the liberty and national security program at the brennan center for justice. we want to thank you for being here. did you get a chance to look at the recommendations? >> i did. i have looked at them. >> you have experience in the theirenate guiding various senators and advising them on national security issues. what do you make of the proposals? >> well, they went quite far actually, to changing the way the nsa operates and specifically making changes to some of the programs that have been reported such as the ball collection of american phone records. it would and the ball collection program. there is a litt

>> white house correspondent margaret talev and foreign policy correspondent indira joining us from washington. ladies, thank you so much. coming up, facebook prices a second offering of shares just ahead of the holiday week. we will look at what it means when "bottom line" continues in just a moment. ♪ >> welcome back to my this is "bottom line" on bloomberg television. equityhow you how the markets finished the session for friday, december 20. stocks rose, sending the s&p to its biggest weekly gain since july. -- boostedst confidence in the u.s. economy. the broader market index was up eight points, almost 0.5%. the dow was up 42 to 16 to two to one. -- 16221. story behind the the numbers. su keenan is standing by in the newsroom with the details. >> good evening mark. the last full trading week of the year. we have fresh records at the close. according to one strategist, the market is feeling somewhat confident. ceo says the recovery is on even. -- uneven. >> there are still great opportunities across the country but it is still very fleeting. something opens up and closes again. it is trul

she joins us from washington, d.c. it a little ironic given that many of the technology companies have been cooperating? is this just political posturing? >> we have been debating privacy since 9/11 nine years ago. this is really the first time they are weighing in and saying the government has gone too far. >> except for the fact that they have a lot braided if the government in certain cases, right? >> right. i think what prompted the new movement is the recent revelation that they are not just serving the companies with court orders that hacking into the system overseas where the laws do not apply. it might have been what pushed them over the edge to get involved. >> the people who run the companies are powerful. they account for a large part of the united states economy. how is the government likely to respond? >> this as a whole new voice to the privacy debate. by this he advocates and members of congress have been taken -- taking a principled stake. this is really a game changer. president is expecting a report f

joining us now from washington, fox news chief political analyst brit hume.as a smart political move? is there more to it than just genuine affection, which i think is there? is there more to it than that? >> well, presidents tend to benefit from association with the first lady, whoever the first lady. i mean a lot of first ladies, many first ladies are more popular than their husbands. that's because they tend to be relatively noncontroversial. barbara bush was probably the most conspicuous contemporary example of that. but most first ladies are well liked by the public. and they don't have a job really in the same way their husband does, so they don't have to worry about the approval ratings. so it benefits a president to be seen in a loving and mutually supportive relationship with the wife. but i don't think it goes very far. >> what do you mean by that? >> in other words, if you're in a political kind of jam that this president is in over his major initiative being in terrible, terrible trouble and likely to continue, this little tableaux of family unity

washington, d.c. thank you very much. i want to bring in a special roundtable. michael riley cover security from bloomberg is this week and joins us from washington dc pe.f barton joins us via sky p . they are selling the gear to the nsa to collect information. could this slowdown anytime? a long is going to be core process. the nsa will fight this under the justice department. we have a long way to go. this is an incredibly valuable to. ol. they cannot come up with one example where this stopped an attack. this is an open court. classifiedertain materials they cannot present in this form. i'm sure there will point that out. we cannot tell you. trust does. it is interesting. let me ask you about the business behind us. what can you tell us about how this is going and where it is growing? in utah data center out is in expansion a massive amounts of storage. every phone call of every citizen in the u.s. that is an amazing amount of data. whether they are using it or not is not relevant. it is amazing how much they have to collect in the storage. every phone call that comes out means another set of own calls. exponential growth. >> t

. >> bloomberg's kathleen hunter joins us from washington with more reaction. what are we hearing from the white house at this hour? >> from the speech we saw from president obama, the comments he made, one of the most striking was when the president talked about his own influence, the influence it had on his own life from nelson mandela specifically hisrencing the fact that first political act, his first act of political activism dating back to 1981 was when he helped lead and make a speech at an anti-apartheid rally at occidental college. 19-year-old barack obama with the beginnings and the roots of his political career being inspired by nelson mandela and it talks about the responsibility he feels going forward to emulate and live up to the example that he set. >> who are we hearing from him and he'll? what did they have to say? aboutce the news broke his death, there has been a real out touring of statements from every possible corner of capitol hill to imagine everyone from republicans, democrats, ted , dickmitch mcconnell durbin, nancy pelosi. regardless o

discuss this find out whether this will make our financials any safer, donald linson, and joining us from washingtonc parts of thensform legislation. with its effects on wall street, daniel alpert. atounding managing partner lamson capital. rule?s in the volcker what is it all about? >> you have a very nice summary. thank you for having me. things.two it tries to restrict proprietary trading and investments in hedge funds, and it takes 950 pages to do it. >> if it takes 950 pages to do it, can you explain exactly why it takes so many pages to put ofether the details something donald just described in a sentence? sadly, there are still some ambiguity in the rules as to how banks determine what is proprietary trading versus a connection with market making and client related services. developres that banks policies and procedures, test them, and maintain them to force compliance with the volcker rule. it does not apply to chief executives to test whether they are in compliance in entirety with the volcker rule. >> policies and procedures. do policies and procedures mean more expenses? >> i'm sure it wi

matt is with us from washington.joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> we talked a lot about the political decision-making behind governors at the state level deciding whether they are going to go forward with the medicaid expansion. it's largely been red state governor who's reject it and largely been blue state governor that accept it. there have been exceptions like jan brewer to cite one. what are the nonpolitical factors that are going into this decision of whether or not to go forward with the medicaid expansion at the state level? >> it's important to keep in mind this started off not as a component of the aca but the supreme court who said the medicaid expansion is unconstitutional. that turned it into an option. and the first question that every state had was what does that mean? what does it mean to be optional? and the administration pretty quickly came out and said it's a binary choice, you either do it or you don't. for half of the states, that was good enough. they said, you bet, we're in, we'll do it.

. >> he's from the washington post and joining us from washington, good to talk to you. >>> a brutal mix of ice, snow and bitter cold has become a really deadly mix from coast to coast right now. travel is dangerous. and if you have booked a flight you may want to call ahead before you get to the airport. chances are it would be a good bet. let's get a check on the weather system now with meteorologist dave warren. dave. >> yeah, it looks like the weather system is really holding together. it's moved out, we're getting a break between system, the pattern is really the same. we could first see this winter weather developing across the northern plains. this is the actual temperature but when you factor in the wind speed i.t. goes to 20 below, fargo, north dakota is 21 below. there might not be a lot of snowfall but a blizzard warning, decreased visibility, cold air moving south, not a lot of snow but blowing snow reducing visibility. that's one area of concern. this whole pattern is set up. it hasn't changed. that system yesterday went along the jetstream, i-95 baltimore to washington,

i think the constituents are expecting more from us. >> paul ryan has been under attack from conservative groups, those that function in washington, and are paid for by wealthy conservative donors, groups like club for growth. they criticised congressman ryan. house speaker john boehner has leapt to his defense, and he fired off shots at those conservative groups, accusing them of not listening to what the house members are saying, and really misleading their own constituents, misleading people belonging to the groups. he recalled back to the government shutdown of october, that ended up being a bloodbath to members of congress that took a hit in the polls. he blamed the conservative groups. >> they lost credibility. they pushed us into the fight to defund obamacare and defund the government. that was not the strategy i had in mind. if you recall, the day before the government reopened, one of the people - one of these groups stood up and said we never thought it would work. "are you kidding me?" >> with 169 republicans voting for this bill, chairman ryan scored a victory as does speaker john boehner. it goes to the senate. they'

doug luzader is live for us from washington with the latest.ood morning, doug. >> for the 12 million people who signed up for obamacare plans through either the federal web site or the state web sites they expect that coverage to kick in at midnight. there could be sticking points. for starters picking a plan is a big difference. >> there's a difference between selecting a plan and enrolling in health insurance. to actually enroll in health insurance you have to pay that first month's premium. the most recent feedback we have from insurers is 5-15 percent of people who selected a plan have actually paid that first month's premium. >>> because of the potential for so much confusion in the weeks ahead walgreens announced it will provide up front prescription coverage who think they have an obamacare plan but can't prove it. in the white house aggressive pr campaign to try to highlight what they say are observe care employees. >> doug luzader joining us live. the count down is on. we will see what happens. >> oo a chilling new report reporting nsa

go do gretawired.com and tell us what you thought of tonight's show. good night from washington. >>> tonight -- >> the gop has always protected the rich. but recently it's begun attacking the poor, too. >> will nbc news move against al sharpton for blatantly dishonest on-air behavior? we'll analyze. >>> we celebrate the birth of jesus and the season of giving. >> espn says it will not run that ad because it mentions jesus. we'll tell you all about this brand new controversy. >>> what will you do about benghazi? why isn't benghazi at the top of your issue? >> well, i'm certainly not here to talk about it. >> that is -- that is the middle east. >>> dennis miller on a possible uprising by the american people against cowardly politicians. >> lib why's like right in the middle of the middle east. >>> caution, you are about to enter the no-spin zone. "the factor" begins right now. >>> hi, i'm bill o'reilly. thank you for watching us tonight. president obama shaking a dictat dictator's hand, the subject of this evening's talking points memo. some americans are upset that he shook the h

us from miami. reverend, the senior pastor of the ebenezer baptist church in atlanta. mic's church. and from washingtonhop harry jackson senior pastor of hope christian church in maryland. bishop, what are your thoughts on all of. this mandela really had a transformation while he was in prison. when he left robin island he said i leave behind anger, guilt, and revenge. his life is a story of forgiveness. i believe that part of the story is true. he should be honored as transformational leader who was transformed. who brought transformation and healed the nation do you think i should forgive sharpton for what he is doing? i do believe that sharpton's motives sometimes are questionable. but, he yes. i think that ultimately point out the truth. he has seen things through a grid of unforgiveness, perhaps. i think that's a shame. >> allht. reverend, how do you see the day in specific perspective. >> in thank you so much, bill. good to be here with you today. it was a great celebration. of a great man whose celebration was one born of suffering and deep sorrow. i'm inspired by the legacy of nelson mandela. i

and also joining us from washington, d.c. is alice rivlin, former director of the office of management and budget, former vice chair of the federal reserve among all of the things she's done so far in her life. alice, great to see you this day. >> good to be here. dagen: broadly speaking, how high an interest rate say on the ten-year treasury do you think that the economy can handle and we as a nation can handle given our level of indebtedness? >> oh, i think there's no magic number, certainly. it can go up a bit. that may be partly a reaction to the taper. but more importantly, it's a reaction to the actual strengthening of the economy, and that's good. so i don't think there's a magic number. i'm not really worried that this very modest tapering is going to interfere with the recovery. dagen: well, with the bond buying that's still going on and richard fisher who will be a voting member in the new year said here on fox business that he was pushing for a $20 billion monthly pullback in the bond-buying program. but do you thi