i'm kristen welker. thanks so much for watching "early today."e a great day. >>> two men trapped in a burning victorian home in san francisco where firefighters found the victims and how they are doing this morning. >> and a christmas morning ruined by thieves. hundreds of dollars of gifts stolen from under the tree. what local police are doing. >> cracking down on drunk drivers. what our cameras caught minutes into a ride-along with the chp. >> a live look outside, boy, a beautiful view at 4:30 this morning. it's thursday, december 26, this is "today in the bay." >>> good morning to you. i'm peggy bunker. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's c

great story there. >>> i'm kristen welker and this is "early today.".." we hope this is just your first stop of the day on nbc. >>> new this morning, brand-new video surfaces of a local man being held by al qaeda. this morning his message after more than two years in captivity. >>> and delivery delayed. the public apology from a major shipping company after gifts for thousands of you do not arrive in time for christmas the. >>> good morning. i'm adam tuss. >> and i'm angie goff. eun and aaron are off today. with welcome to this thursday, december 26, 2013. we hope everyone had a nice christmas out there. for many of you, though, it is back to the grind. today we are waking up to nor cold morning. amelia segal is in. >>> mainly 20s across the area. washington at 29 degrees. manassas, the cold spot, coming in at only 19. storm team 4 radar i am tracking light flurries well to the north of the district over washington county. so for the morning hours we can't rule out some flurries north of washington. otherwise it's a dry morning with cloudiness around. her

kristen welker takes a look back at the year on capitol hill. >> i barack hussein obama -- >> reporter: it was a year that started with great expectations. but a trio of controversies threatened to derail his agenda. revelations the irs was targeting conservative groups and that the justice department was seizing the phone records of journalists plus the ongoing fallout from the attacks on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. >> the fact is we had four dead americans. >> i understand. >> was it because of a protest or because guys out for a walk one night that decided to go kill some americans? what difference at this point does it make? >> reporter: and asking for stiffer gun laws an the newtown tragedy failed to go nowhere. >> this was a pretty shameful day for washington. >> reporter: and his other big priority, immigration policy, didn't get much further. but it was the president's signature achievement, health care reform, that ended up becoming his biggest headache. the president forced to apologize over and over for the botched rollout. >> i am sorry. fix it myself but i don't write

kristen welker is following the story. i guess the question is how are they doing. >> reporter: they say they are doing okay. tech experts have only a few hours left to meet the white house's own deadline for getting the affordable care act website running smoothly. critical point in restoring confidence in a damaged presidency. in virginia today, signs of progress for the government's health insurance website. >> my experience was wonderful. i love it. there were no problems. we went through everything real smooth. >> it was really fast this morning. i was really surprised. >> reporter: deirdre said she had trouble signing up in october. today she was one of six people nbc news interviewed reporting success, signing up with the help of a nonprofit called neighbor's keeper. >> i was able to get through and select a plan. all i need to do now is send in a payment to activate the plan. >> reporter: the obama administration claimed to be on track to meet its midnight deadline to serve 50,000 users at once but that deadline is

>> kristen welker at the white house, thank you. >>> overseas tonight to london where all 52 of london's famous but aging west end theaters got inspections today after the ceiling collapsed at the apollo theater last night. these photos were taken by one theater goer. you can see plaster and planks of wood and the mayhem as people ran for the exits. 79 people in all were injured. tonight authorities say they found no other problems at the other theaters. >>> in syria we have been reminded all this week of some of the horrors of the nearly 3-year-old civil war. chemical weapons, barrel bombs, a growing refugee crisis. tonight our correspondent in damascus tells us there is another deadly consequence of this war. starvation. and we should tell you it's hard to watch. [ screaming ] >> reporter: starving children, images from the suburbs of damascus under siege, sending a desperate message. they are hungry for any meal. thirsty for clean water. in this neighborhood, 11 women and children reportedly died of hunger in just one month. this activist lives here. >> as you can see, this is one of

i'm kristen welker. hope you had a great holiday. for some the grinch came in two forms this christmas. first stubborn weather left hundreds of thousands in the dark and thousands more woke up without their gifts. nbc's ron mott has more on the holiday that wasn't so jolly for all. >> reporter: near grand rapids, michigan, weather made for treacherous driving. at least a dozen accidents on i-96. crews spent the day in the bitter cold trying to restore power to more than 200,000 families left in the dark for days by a weekend snow and ice storm. >> it's very rewarding to be here and to help people out. >> reporter: and while rough weather made for some tough going for delivery drivers in recent days, weather isn't solely to blame for holiday packages that didn't make it home for christmas. fedex reported some delays, and u.p.s., the world's largest package delivery company, apologized to disappointed customers, saying u.p.s. is experiencing heavy hole lay volume and making every effort to get packages to their destination. however, th

but before we look ahead to 2014, nbc white house correspondent chris welker has a look back. >> i, barackama -- >> reporter: it was a year that started with great expectations. a few months later a trio of controversies quickly threatened to derail president obama's second-term agenda. revelations the irs was targeted conservative groups. and that the justice department was seizing the phone records of journalists. plus the ongoing fallout from the attacks on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. >> the fak is we had four dead americans. was it because of a protest? or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some americans? what difference at this point does it make? >> reporter: one of president obama's biggest policy goals, enacting stiffer gun laws in the wake of the newtown tragedy, failed to go anywhere after a bipartisan deal was narrowly defeated in the senate. >> this was a pretty shameful day for washington. >> reporter: his other big priority, immigration policy, didn't get much further. but it was the president's signature achievement, health care r

our white house correspondent kristen welker is here with details. >> good evening. the report is significant because it is the first to suggest that al qaeda did not play a role in the attack and that an american-made video which many perceived as anti-muslim may have sparked the unrest. republican congressman darryl issa, one of the most outspoken critics of the white house's handling of the benghazi attack, stood by his version of the september 11 events on "meet the press" today. >> al qaeda is not decimated, and there was a group there that was involved that is linked to al qaeda. >> issa has long asserted the administration lied about what led to the 2012 attack. four americans were killed, including ambassador christopher stevens. >> so we have seen no evidence that the video was widely seen in benghazi. a very isolated area. or that it was a leading cause. >> "the new york times" david kirkpatrick, who spent months interviewing libyans on the ground, tells a different story, writing that an american-made anti-muslim tape fueled the incident, and benghazi was

kristin welker. is. >> a second suicide attack on mass transit in russia in less than 24 hours. 30 people are dead, raising serious security concerns before the winter games kickoff in sochi. out of work and out of time, more than a million unemployed americans are without a source of income. the charge to renew federal benefits. the benghazi attack, a new report e ignites weather al qaeda was involved on the american compound in libya. and good morning from new york. it's monday, december 30th, 2013 and this is "the daily rundown." i'm kristen welker for chuck todd. we start with developing news in russia. a bomb tore through a trolley bus packed with commuters in a city of about a million people. live from moscow and the security issues, president putin is having to deal with this. what's the latest here, jim? a state of emergency has been called and they issued a statement saying that this morning's bus bomb was carried out by a male suicide bomber. people were going to work or to the market at th

kristen welker shows us washington's dysfunction could threaten the recovery. >> reporter: launched anglass company three years ago. these days, signs the economy is recovering. >> more than doubled in sales. next year, we are planning to hire 150 people. >> reporter: that hiring trend reflects what is happening throughout the country with news that employers added $200,000 jobs for the last months. 40,000 in education and health care. 27,000 manufacturing jobs, 17,000 construction jobs. >> now, we are getting consistent jobs reports. it's positive. it's positive for the economy and people should feel generally better that conditions are improving. >> reporter: on closer look, the unemployment rate for adult men is 6.7%. for women, 6.2%. the numbers are higher for african-americans and teenagers. still, some worry washington's upcoming budget battles could threaten the recovery. >> the u.s. economy pays attention to what washington is doing but this is an unpredictable business. it makes it interesting, but hard to know, sort of, what washington does in the next week, month or year. wh

xxxx >> very good monday kristen welker in for andrea mitchell in new york. out of russia where a second deadly explosion rocked the city of volgograd in less than 24 hours. today's attack a rush hour trolley bus bombing killed at least 14 people and wounded 28 hours.

kristen welker joins us with a look at what happened in 2013 and what to expect in 2014.nue to talk voting. [ female announcer ] we eased your back pain... ♪ ready or not. [ female announcer ] ...so you can be up there. here i come! [ female announcer ] ...down there, around there... and under there for him. tylenol® provides strong pain relief and won't irritate your stomach the way aleve® or even advil® can. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol®. >>> we went to the one person who is head of it all -- president obama. how well did 2013 go for president obama? to answer that, nbc's kristen welker gives us a look back because it has been quite a year for the president. >> reporter: it was a year that started with great expectations. but a few months later, a trio of controversies quickly threatened to derail president obama's second term agenda. revelations the irs was targeting conservative groups and that the justice department was seizing the phone records of journalis. plus the ongoing fallout from the attacks on the u.s. consulate in benghazi

nbc's kristen welker is live for us at the white house.>> reporter: well, craig, i think that remains to be seen. but that is what he was doing. he was trying to sell this deal to the skeptics here in the united states, but also to israelis, a lot of israeli journalists in the audience there today. if you look at the polls inside israel, a lot of folks don't like this deal. so president obama trying to convince them of the merits of this deal, making the point that, look, it is a test. it's a six-month freeze of iran's nuclear program that will be tested by inspectors who will go into the country and determine their level of seriousness. he also made the point that of the $100 billion worth of sanctions, this scales back about $7 billion of those, leaving the main sanctions in place. here's a little bit more of what he had to say this afternoon. take a listen. >> if we could create an option in which iran eliminated every single nut and bolt of their nuclear program and foreswore the possibility of ever having a nuclear program and for tha

. >> let's get more now from kristen welker. before we talk about the report itself, let's put about the group put together to review the nsa surveillance program. >> reporter: tamron, a couple of folks who president obama was meeting with this morning include michael morrell, a former cia director and richard clark, former counterterrorism official, and a legal expert. so really you have people coming together from a number of different walks -- having served in past administrations. but really what they did is take a hard independent look as you point out at the nsa surveillance program. the report they have put together 200 pages long. it comes with 46 recommendations and you heard jay carney point out and carney said one of the reasons they wanted to release this because there has been inaccurate reporting about what the contents will actually include. broadly we anticipate that the report will suggest ways to shrink the bulk collection of phone and internet data. we also believe that the report will call for separating the

kristen welker, thank you for that. here's our question for you. in light of the improved jobs picture, do you sense the economy has improved. >>> snow sleet, and ice, millions of americans bracing for icy conditions as the storm moves east. it is being blamed for at least 10 deaths. icy conditions are making drive perilous. >> my car was kind of weaving back and forth just because it was so slick. >> and it's scary too. in cincinnati, a bus hit several parked cars while the driver tried to manage the icy roads. in kentucky, they were so slick a salt truck overturned after a driver said his tires went off the side of the road. >>> in dallas, heavy snow and ice caused two marinas to collapse. it has canceled two marathons, one in dallas and another in memphis. for more, let's go to reynolds wolf in little rock, arkansas. how bad is it out there? >> you know, parts of the states have been quite treacherous. in little rock, they really did get somewhat of a break. that being said, that is not without any kind of problems. yesterday morning we got thin

let's go to nbc's kristen welker. how bad is it going to get there, and could this affect the president's plans today? >> well, alex, we're expected to get about 1 to 2 inches. the snow just starting to stick here at the white house. it certainly does look beautiful. president obama actually has a pretty packed day for a sunday. that's because the kennedy center honors are tonight. but alex, the show must go on. at this point, no plans to interrupt that because of the weather. the president and first lady are going to hold a reception here at the white house a little bit later on this evening for some of those award recipients, including billy joel, carlos santana as well as shirley mcclain. big names expected here despite the snow. of course, the broader message is if you don't have to go out in this weather, don't go out. because it is starting to come down. of course, some of this snow could turn into freezing rain a little bit later on today. alex? >> okay. all of our big elected names are expected back in town no

kristen welker is live at the white house. good morning. >> reporter: lester, administration officials say this website will be functioning smoothly for most americans. they're expected to announce later on today that the site can support as many as 50,000 users at one time. that was the initial goal when they started these repairs. the question is, will that be enough to restore confidence in the website and in an embattled president. prident obama is facing one of the biggest tests of his presidency. has his add m, revived health care.gov. this weekend, some positive signs. >> reporter: sean pete is a barber eager to get health care for himself and his kids. >> i love it. there was no problems. >> reporter: it was also smooth sailing for this woman. she had trouble signing up in october. but saturday, success. >> i was able to get all the way through and select a plan. >> reporter: nbc news spoke with six people who said, with the exception of a few glitches, the site functioned well. a nonprofit called neighbor's keeper hel

conference, tour'e, he seems to be signaling some changes on the horizon for the nsa. >> kristen, welker, thanks so much. nbc news political director chuck todd is in the briefing room. what was it like inside? >> he didn't say it but you could just tell sort of by the president's demeanor he couldn't wait to end this year in many ways. all of the little fun little barbs he had, whether at the press corps or even talking about this is the most wonderful press conference of the year, look at how many times, 2014 is going to be a breakthrough year. i think he said it twice, maybe three times. when you look at the economic numbers that's not surprising. i agree with kristen that the nsa answer he basically seemed to say i'm going to reform how we gather that metadata. i know they are not doing things everybody thinks they are doing but we have to restore the public trust. the reform was recommends by this panel has to do with having the phone and internet companies themselves housing this data, which will cost the government more money and pay the companies to do that because it's not somet

here's nbc's kristin welker.>ist master of my fate. >> reporter: some of the students here at howard university were not even born when nelson mandela spoke on their campus in 1994, a few years after their release from prison. >> it is with gratitude that we remember the ways in which our university embraced and supported the liberation struggle in south africa. >> reporter: today, the young men and women at this historically black college say those words and then mandela's legacy still resonate. >> he taught that no one is born hating anyone. you're taught that. and if you can be taught to hate, you can be taught to love. >> he wanted love. it was his most powerful message. >> i think the most important lesson is just, never give up and just never allow yourself to be defeated. >> reporter: so as people pay tribute to the larger than life leader in south africa and all across the united states today, here at howard, they have come to this exhibit on campus set up a month ago to reflect. >> what word do you assoc

and joining me live now, nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker and mark murray and nbc chiefreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell. thank you so much for joining us. kristen, i started the show just now flustered as i was reading again these latest changes to the health care law. i say that openly and honestly because i believe you have a lot of americans right now with so many adjustments being made who may be on the fence on whether or not it's time to jump in and sign up, who feel the same way, that this health care law, whether or not it is successful in the future is on unsettled ground. >> reporter: it is, tamron, a lot of people are trying to process and digest the latest rule changes. the latest allowed the millions of americans who received cancellation notices from the insurance companies and companies who said their plans were substandard didn't meet the new standards of the president's health care law so they would have to buy new plans, more expensive plans, can now buy bare bones plans and apply for what is known as catastrophic coverage. that means that t

kristen welker is live at the white house. kristen, what will people expect to see when they log on? >> reporter: well, lester, administration officials say this website will be functioning smoothly for most americans. they're expected to announce a little later on today that the site can support as many as 50,000 users at one time. that was the initial goal when they started repairs. but the question is will that be enough to restore confidence in the website and an embattled president? president obama is facing one of the biggest tests of his presidency, has his administration revived healthcare.gov? this weekend some positive signs. >> everything went smoothly. >> reporter: shawn pete is a virginia-based barber who is eager to get health care for himself and his kids. >> i love it. there were no problems. >> reporter: it was also smooth sailing for deirdre. she said she had trouble signing up in october, but saturday, success. >> well, i was able to get all the way through, and i was able to select a plan. >> reporter: nbc

nbc's kristen welker at the white house. so that all happened, what, kristen, in 20 minutes. you expect him to say? >> reporter: it's been a whirlwind the past 20 minutes. well, we expect president obama to field some tough questions. it's been a rocky year as you pointed out. he's going to announce an appointment to the ambassador of china, senator max baucus. in terms of the questions that he's going to field certainly over health care, just last night the administration announced another rule change to how it's going to implement the health care law, essentially saying that those millions of americans who received cancellation notices, some of them, those who won't receive subsidies can now apply for a hardship exemption. that comes on the heels of a number of delays as related to the health care law. the president will also have to take some tough questions about the nsa. remember, earlier this week a task force recommended 46 recommendations for how to overhaul the government's surveillance program, how to scale back the government surveillance program, the president rev

, thank you, tonight hours ahead of the midnight deadline, our white house correspondent, kristen welker is reporting the obama administration is providing more time for some people to sign up for health insurance. this extension is on a case by case basis which only applies to people who can show they have technical problems with the website left them unable to sign up in time to be covered by juni january 1st. washington officials say they have highlighted it for weeks and it has always been a large part of their plan, for the majority of people, the deadline remains midnight tonight. >>> and a new warning tonight from target. beware of scam e-mail that may look like it's from target but it is really not. and it is designed to steal your personal information. it is part of the continuing fallout after data from some 40 million debit and credit cards were stolen. all of this comes as a lot of people are taking their christmas shopping down to the wire tonight. nbc's gabe gutierrez is at a k-mart store outside of atlanta. >> reporter: tamron, good evening. many retailers were offering ex

nbc's kristen welker has been listening to some of their stories. she's here now with us in new york with more. kristen? >> lester, good evening. this has been a very stressful holiday season for those losing their unemployment insurance benefits and economists say that could have a big impact on individual families, but also the economy as a whole. >> terrified. devastated. >> reporter: overwhelming emotions as dolores and fred wake up without unemployment insurance benefits today. the new york couple says their $375 weekly check was a lifeline and now there is only uncertainty. >> how do i feed my four children? how do i feed the dogs, my husband, everything? it's so overwhelming that you don't know where to start. >> reporter: a year ago dolores was laid off from her sales consultant job while battling breast cancer. soon afterward, fred was forced to give up his construction company when a freak accident left him with serious brain damage. now he receives disability checks. >> we both worked too hard. we both loved what we did, loved our familie

kristen welker has more. >> reporter: the website can support 50,000 users at one time now. some tech experts say it isn't running smoothly enough to meet the april goal of having 7 million people enrolled including young people whose premium payments are violent to the program. ignoring the white house announcement, republicans argued if the website isn't functioning at 100%, it is proof the president and his health care law are failing. getting the webb back on track is critical for the president rebounding from his lowest approval ratings and restoring credibility with the american people. anecdot anecdotally, several consumers have said it is functioning more smoothly but it is impossible to know what that means because the administration won't release actual enrollment figures for another two weeks. >>> when "nbc nightly news" continues, what is behind the sticker shock for many employees about to renew their company health coverage. >>> and many see him as a superstar of the vatican. and wrapped around to the front. i couldn't play my bassoon because of the pressure th

kristen welker picked things up.> what can brown do for you takes on a new meaning after a shipping backlog prevents thousands from getting last minute christmas gifts. what they are doing to make it up. >>> a less than glowing report of governor chris christie. allegations of bullying and political retribution. >>> holidays movie blitz, we'll look at the hits and misses. hello, everyone. good afternoon. i'm kristen welker, you're watching msnbc. >>> unemployment insurance will run out for families ending critical assistance just before the new year. congressional democrats are making an extension top priority for 2014 but republican lawmakers could put up a legislative roadblock. wisconsin democrat congressman moore joins me now. happy holidays. thanks for joining me. >> thanks for having me. >>> let's just start with political stakes. i know democrats want to see unemployment benefits extended in the new year. my question is strategically how do you make that happen when the fix was part of the budget deal. what's

and also, broncos' receiver wes welker suffered his second concussion in four games. he will not be able to practice or play until he receives clearance from an independent neurologist. >> bob: mike, once again, we thank you for that and more. don't miss mike florio on "pro football talk" presented by chevrolet every weekday afternoon at 5:30 on nbcsn. new orleans, 31, carolina, 13. al and cris wrap it up from the big easy after this. hi toooom... wendy's bacon portabella melt? you look...different. i had a little work done. new bun? brioche. mmm, that's hot. okay...that was weird. here's yours- i'm gonna take mine and leave you two alone. wendy's bacon portabella melt. a new buttery brioche bun, crisp bacon and rich portabellas in a melty cheddar sauce. now that's better. use chase freedom at amazon.com and get 5% cash back this quarter. so you can find the perfect gift for everyone. including you. activate your 5% cash back at chase.com/freedom chase. so you can. to buy an all-new silverado. this interior is incredible! the nav is perfect for my long trips up north

nbc's kristen welker has been listening to some of their stories. she's here now with us in new york with more. >> this has been a very stressful holiday season for those losing their unemployment insurance benefits and economists say that could have a big impact on individual families, but also the economy as a whole. >> terrified. devastated. >> reporter: overwhelming emotions as dolores and fred wake up without unemployment insurance benefits today. the new york couple says their $375 weekly check was a lifeline and now there is only uncertainty. >> how do i feed my four children? how do i feed the dogs, my husband, everything? it's so overwhelming that you don't know where to start. >> reporter: a year ago dolores was laid off from her sales consultant job while battling breast cancer. soon afterward, fred was forced to give up his construction company when a freak accident left him with serious brain damage. now he receives disability checks. >> we both worked too hard. loved what we did, loved our families, took care of them, did everything fo

i'm kristen welker. you're watching msnbc. we'll have much more on that. plus christmas in the dark? thousands across the country are without power after being pounded by snow and ice. relief could be days away. >>> and edward snowden's christmas stunner. in a groundbreaking new interview, the nsa leaker says his mission is already accomplished. >>> plus -- >> 10% discount as opposed to identity theft and all the problems involved with that isn't worth it to me. >> holiday shoppers angry about the target security breach, while disappointing new numbers are out about this shopping season. >>> and -- >> yeah. yeah, yeah, yeah. >> make a lot of money. >> yeah. i do all right for myself. >> looks like a good one. lots of movies about to hit theaters tomorrow. which ones are worth watching? we'll break it all down for you. >>> but we begin with the winter wallop. a developing story here on msnbc. thousands of people all across the country are without power as they wake up due to a nasty winter storm. and here

the messaging service that lets pictures self-destruct as a competitor called welker.ure? we will ask this company ceo. it is christmas eve. have we taken religion out of the holiday? what about the pope's recent comments on capitalism? father jonathan morris is here. stewart is outside the that does not mean we won't have a christmas message, 10:45. another hour of "varney and company" happ we start by checking the big board, dow 27 points, trading much higher. i know that you have news from the fed. we will get to that later, big interview with the fed, david asman is here but we talk about the tech rally, stocks have been on an absolute tear. some wonder if this parabolic move is a yellow flag. what do you think? >> i was ready to go. you are a pro so you could reload. liz: that was charles's christmas present to you. >> what is happening with tech stocks is symbolic of most tech stocks. we talked about this and you have been on top of the rally from the get go. nobody in this building has been on top of this rally like you have but i am wondering if it is topping o

kristen welker is at the white house for us. with another good day to you. given the president's aggressive push for gun control in the aftermath of newtown a year ago, what is the tone coming out of the white house on this one-year mark? >> look, i think in part, alex, it is focused on remembering all of those who lost their lives one year ago today, as you point out, president obama, first lady michelle obama marked this grim anniversary with a moment of silence and by lighting those 26 votive candles, at the same time this administration continues to believe that there should be stronger gun control laws, but clearly that legislation didn't go anywhere. here's a little bit of what president obama had to say in his weekly address. take a listen. >> newtown is a town like so many of our hometowns. the victims were educators and kids that could have been any of our own. and our hearts were broken for the families that lost a piece of their heart. for the communities, changed forever. for the survivors so young whose innocence was torn away far too soon. >> a

i'm kristen welker. you're watching msnbc. we'll have much more on that.s the country are without power after being pounded by snow and ice. relief could be days away. >>> and edward snowden's christmas stunner. in a groundbreaking new interview, the nsa leaker says his mission is already accomplished. >>> plus -- >> 10% discount as

westbrook kept walking toward him expired four shots and one hit westbrook in the chest killing him welker county sheriff steve wilson says he has no doubts that hendricks felt threatened during the encounter and no charges have been filed so the sheriff in this town to sit your ground laws may apply in this case. trayvon martin was the the only person who's been killed and the person is used and i know that defense wasn't necessarily used in the trayvon case but we see these sort of killie's where people feel as though they have the right to shoot first rather than retreat or rather than work the situation out in any way possible and we're seeing upticks in violence as a result aren't these laws and saying david. look what happened there was a terrible tragedy and our laws must be written to prevent people from taking police action into their own hands and punishing those who do but one thing i think is important to keep in mind here is that people americans who live in rural counties don't always have immediate access to police and for police protection take for example that australian b

. >> in 2010, detective welker lead a team of officers and animal welfare experts to inspect the thompson cages. >> terry was not always happy to >> terry was not always happy to see us. >> are we allowed to take your picture with my camera? >> yeah. >> terry was a vietnam veteran. >> now don't worry about the shutter on the computer, i don't have one. >> he served his time in vietnam, and he couldn't believe the police would be telling him how fast to drive his boat or how low to fly his airplane, or how many wild animals he would have. it was actually very bizarre to be up close to more wild animals than you can go to the columbus zoo and see. >> despite the troubling findings of the inspection, the sheriff's department was powerless to enforce changes or bring charges. 15 minutes after the first emergency call, the sheriffs department was in the dark about how many animals were loose, or how they got out. for deputies arrives on the scene, perhaps the answer lay inside the property. >> somebody had to get up there and try to find out what was going on. i lifted the gate, drove up the r

westbrook kept walking toward him expired four shots and one hit westbrook in the chest killing him welker county sheriff steve wilson says he has no doubts that hendricks felt threatened during the encounter and no charges have been filed so the sheriff in this town to senator graham laws may apply in this case. trayvon martin was the the only person who's been killed and the person is used i know that defense wasn't necessarily used in the trayvon case but we see these sort of killers where people feel as though they have the right to first rather than retreat or rather than work the situation out in any way possible and we're seeing upticks in violence as a result aren't these laws and saying david. well look what happened there was a terrible tragedy and our laws must be written to prevent people from taking police action into their own hands and punishing those who do but one thing i think is important to keep in mind here is that people americans who live in rural counties don't always have immediate access to police and for police protection take for example that australian baseball

i'm kristin welker. there is a lot to get to including a live look at the north pole. we begin in south sudan where forces are helping hundreds of americans escape a nation on the brink of civil war. between the nation's president and vice president. united nations officials put the death toll in the hundreds. at least 380 americans have been evacuated from the country. white house correspondent peter al vander is traveling with the president and has this report on the response from the obama administration. >> the viewers like to say here in hawaii, aloha. president obama has been getting daily updates. the white house said when he landed in hawaii he spoke by phone to the national security aides. among them, national security adviser susan rice who directed an audio recording of people of south sudan, urging them not to let his country be torn apart by violence and suffering. on sunday the president sent a letter to congressional leaders, letting them know that service members had taken part in saturday's mission to evacuate americans. most significantly he left open

now a guy like wes welker, getting two concussion in four weeks this has to race more countries. we are seeing the con wednesdays with so many people that have had these problems and we are seeing big stars now. they said that information was not given to them, if that case had gone to trial you would have heard hundreds of depositions, you would have heard people, it would have dragged over months and months and months. and that is what often time provokes change. the patriots lost another big star a a torn alc, and mcl, is concern over one hit r toking more hits that might be problematic in another way? >> no question about it. being taught very specifically, it is almost like a pitcher and the strike zone, the narrow area in which you can hit a player, it starts at the knees and ends just slightly above the waste. now, that might save your head and neck, but think about all of the joints that exist in those areas. and think about the fact that tearing an acl is pretty much the easiest injury for these guys to get. on to college football, the heisman trophy will be announced on

. >> in 2010, detective welker led a team of officers and animal welfare experts to inspect the thompson. >> how are they doing? well, we have straw in all their stalls -- we've got straw in all their stalls, we water them every day and feed them every day, that's all we can do. what do you want me to do? just give me a chance to get a shirt on. >> thanks. >> terry was not always happy to see us. >> are we about to take your picture with my camera? >> terry was a vietnam veteran. >> now don't worry about it showing up on the computer, because i don't have one. >> he inserted his time in vietnam, and he couldn't believe the police would be telling him how fast to drive his boat or how low to fly his airplane, or how many wild animals he could have. >> it was actually very bizarre to be up close to more wild animals than you could go to the columbus zoo and see. >> despite the doubling findings of the inspection, the sheriff's department was powerless to enforce changes or bring charges. 15 minutes after the first emergency call, the sheriff's department was in the dark about how many anim

the rule is made by paul welker who called for regulation after the banking crisis. >>> mary barra now the first female chief executive of gm. currently she's in charge of the global product development. barra will replace ackerson who plans to step down in january. he will be retiring to be with his wife who is fighting cancer. >>> a 6-year-old boy in colorado kissed a classmate and got suspended for sexual harassment. now his mother is fighting to get the i -- incident removed from his school record. >> and i leaned over and kissed her on her hand and that's what happened. >> reporter: for that 6-year- old hunter yelton is home today instead of at school. >> i did something wrong. she sent me to the office. i feel sorry. >> she was fine with it. they are boyfriend and girlfriend. the other kids went and told the music teacher. that's when i had the meeting with the principal and she first said sexual harassment. this is taking it to an extreme that doesn't need to be met with a 6-year-old. now my son is asking questions. what is sex mommy. it should never be said sex in a sentence wi

kristen welker, where it's not snowing there yet. good morning to you, my friend. how does this look like it's shaping up in the senate? >> alex, good morning to you. this piece of legislation faces an uncertain future. you just mapped out the incomes. it passed the house. but now you have a growing number of senators who are opposed. they say it doesn't do enough to cut spending. of course a lot of conservative groups have come out against this as well. we have a graphic listing of some of those senators. bob corker, jeff sessions, ted cruz, mike lee, marco rubio, paul, heller, toomey. mitch mcconnell appears to be poised to vote against this legislation. he has been facing a tough battle from the right from a tea party republican. that is what is is fueling his opposition at this point. but here's the political reality. they need about five republican votes on tuesday for that test vote to get this past the first vote. i have two words for you, the government shutdown. you remember that republicans were scarred in the wake of the government shutdown. so there's a

. >> nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker is here in the studio with us on a saturday. first of all, let's talk about what the president has said about this and what he is doing right now on vacation? >> great to be here. president obama has been speaking out about this, encouraging congress to extend the unemployment insurance benefits for those 1.3 million americans you talked about. he's of course vacationing in hawaii. but he just placed calls to two senators who are working on a bipartisan agreement to extend unemployment insurance benefits for about three months. so those two senators, jack reid, dean heller, who's a republican from nevada, he's making the case that this would be good for the economy, good for these workers. democrats putting on a full-court press. you have nancy pelosi who is saying that it would be immoral not to extend these benefits. but republicans -- i've been talking to them -- say they want this to be offset. it would cost about $26 billion. they say, give us a plan to offset the cost and we'll consider it. right now, politically it looks

my friend, nbc's kristen welker has the latest on recent comments on the race of santa. >> hey, toure larger issue in this country. the issue of race. and it all started when a popular cable news anchor declared, santa is white. ♪ she's making a list >> santa claus is coming to town and on a lot of kids' minds. >> santa! >> reporter: but now chris king he will is at the center of a heated debate which started when african blogger, aisha harris, wrote a column last week arguing sen santa should be a penguin instead of a white man, insisting the switch could share kids the insecurity and shame she remembers frommed childhood. fox news anchor megyn kelly seized on the comments last wednesday. >> yet another person claiming it's racist to have a white santa. you know? and by the way, for all you kids watching at home, santa is white. >> words that got her on the naughty list of some news organizations, pundits and late-night comedians. >> here's a secret for you. i'm black as hell. >> on friday, kelly responded, saying her initial words were tongue in cheek. >> race is still an incredibly

kristen welker, good saturday morning to you.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

med, to every much for sharing your opinion with us here on "bloomberg west," and cory is welker ande will have much more after this quick break. ♪ >> welcome back. i am emily chang. it is time now for on the market, a look at what is happening on the market that 26 and 56 after. julie hyman is an new york. emily, thank you. we had the fed decision, and any insight whether tapering is going to happen now or later, we are not think that much activity in the market because investors are waiting for that information. that said, there was a downward bias to the markets, all bolling's -- all bolling slightly, just six points. treasuries not much change, but we are seeing a bit of a bump up in yield as you might expect. we will be bringing you all of the market reaction once we do get that information from the federal reserve. we will be back on the markets in 30 minute that we will be back with that fed decision as well. ♪ >> welcome to the early edition of "bloomberg west." i am emily chang. you can also watch at our later time, 3:00 pacific, 6:00 p.m. eastern. india is cutting security

reports with kristen welker in for andrea next.if we could keep enough plastic waste to cover mt. rainier out of landfills each year? by using one less trash bag each month, we can. and glad forceflex bags stretch until they're full.* so you can take them out less often. >>> right now on "andrea mitchell reports," exchange rate, facing the deadline to enroll in obama care exchanges and have coverage on january 1st. consumers are checking health care off their christmas list. the chief concern for the administration and insurance companies, who is enrolling. >> if we don't get those young healthy people into the system, that could cause problems for everybody else buying insurance. >> political prognosis, success or failure of the health care law will have ripple effects sure to be felt on capitol hill. >> do you think that obama care will be a major factor in determining the success of democrats in 2014. >> i'm very close to our democrats who are up right now. even the republicans who are my friends. they are using that. they think