john berman for carol costello in "the newsroom." >> happy monday, everyone. frustrating monday morning up and down the east coast. "newsroom" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> good morning everyone. it's john berman. carol costello is off today. the calendar says we're 12 days away from the official start of winter. try telling that to folks in the northeast and across much of the country. look at this picture from st. louis, a storm system that has dumped plenty of ice and snow from texas to pennsylvania, has killed at least seven people, it's expected to keep causing problems today. this is already making for a very messy commute in the mid-atlantic states and the northeast, this is a live look from the white house, federal buildings in washington will open two hours late today because of the weather. on the roads, heavy snow and ice have led to downright treacherous conditions. at least 50 crashes reported yesterday along this five-mile stretch of i-94 between chicago and milwaukee, 50 crashes and yonkers, new york, police say 30 people were injured

made it back to the space station safely. as john explains, nasa did have extra safety precautions in place. >> one of the concerns nasa had going into the space walk was what would happen inside the space suit? back in july, european astronaut space walk lasted only 90 minutes, cut way short when he began to experience water building up inside his helmet. they got him inside quickly enough, got his helmet off. he came close to potentially drowning in the helmet. nasa devised a couple things going into this series of space walks. they had a pad that was fabricated. that goes in the back of the helmet. periodically, the astronauts during the first space walk on saturday were able to put their heads back, check to see if the pad was dry. no water in the helmets. that was good news. they also install a snorkle, a tube installed inside the space suits themselves, so if, for any reason water did build up in the helmets, the astronauts could take breaths of air from the snorkle. but, didn't have any problem with either of the space suits. everything went very, very well on the first of t

. >>> house speaker john boehner goes on the offensive, and he blasts conservative groups who oppose the bipartisan budget deal. so is this a sign of a serious rift within the gop, or is it a political strategy by a republican leadership? let's go to capitol hill next and find out. >>> if you didn't see it here on cnn, you probably saw it somewhere. house speaker john boehner lashing out against conservative groups that push the gop to vote against the new budget deal. he took them to task this week, and it has many wondering is there a rift in the republican party? dana bash has more from capitol hill. >> reporter: john boehner turned a spat with powerful outside groups in his own party into an all-out war. >> they're misleading their followers. i think they're pushing our members in places where they don't want to be. >> reporter: boehner first took his private ayre for conservative groups to psh republicans to oppose a budget deal he supports, many before they saw it. now it's clear the speaker is using this moment to take a broader stand against outside forces that have so often made

embraced the pope. for example, george w. bush borrowed "culture of life" from pope john paul to protest abortion. kind of worked for him, didn't it? >> it works until it doesn't work anymore. reagan got great support from pope john paul ii on the soviet bloc in terms of its role in eastern europe. the most the pope says, wait a minute weather and traffic about the nuclear weapons you keep ramping up, reagan says, let's leave church out of this. the george bush the same with the economy. it's difficult to use the catholic church in a particular way if you're not willing to take the message in. as soon as abortion comes up, democrat are in a pickle themselves. it's definitely careful if n how they use the catholic -- careful in how they use the catholic church. >> and the president hasn't been in good standing with the catholic church the last several years. we'll see in front of the supreme court in the first half of 2014 an argument over whether or not the argument can force employers with catholic religious doctrines as part of their core being, whether or not they can force them to co

developments minute by minute up on capitol hill. a lot at stake. the house speaker, john boehner, calls the budget deal a giant step in the right direction. just a little while ago, he again took direct aim at his conservative critics of the agreement. >> i came here to cut the size of government, that's exactly what this bill does. why conservatives wouldn't vote for this or criticize the bill is beyond any recognition i can come up with. >> the house minority leader, nancy pelosi, isn't crazy about the deal, she predicts democrats, though, will support the bill, though it doesn't extend federal unemployment insurance, which she refers to as u.i. >> what i also said if it's a stinking lousy budget even with u.i. in it we may not vote for it. there's much improvement that had to take place in the bill for us vote for it, and that improvement did take place. >> dana bash following all of this up on capitol hill. so is the bill likely to pass later this afternoon despite some differences, a rift among republicans, and some democrats aren't crazy about it either? >> reporter: it does look

notably, john po did he say tow, former chief of staff to clinton, who will be in advisory role as counselor to the president. >> should that be seen as a reset, does the president think he needs a reset? >> it is part of the natural transition you see on an annual basis at the white house. i would anticipate you would see some more of that this year, too. >> reporter: a signal that more changes are to come. now some are asking will staff changes be enough or has the damage to the second term already been done. >> i think staff changes, they help change the media narrative to a certain extent. i am skeptical staff can change the fundamentals of the problems that obama has. >> reporter: those would be his still troubled health care reform program, the economy, recovery is still slow going, and the fact that president obama is still up against a divided congress. brianna keilar, cnn, the white house. skbl so can the president get his political mojo back on track? bring in emily, strategist from the center for american progress action fund and rick tyler, republican strategist, and fo

john boehner has picked a fight he can't win. humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? thanks for giving me your smile. thanks for inspiring me. thanks for showing me my potential. for teaching me not to take life so seriously. thanks for loving me and being my best friend. don't forget to thank those who helped you take charge of your future and got you where you are today. the boss of your life. the chief life officer. ♪ you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec-d®. powerful relief of nasal congestion and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill. zyrtec-d®. at the pharmacy counter. >>> tensions within the republican party now starting to spill out into the public, if you haven't noticed. house speaker john boehner publicly attacked tea party members and other conservative

federal unemployment benefits. so the deal could possibly collapse. cnn's joe johns is live in washington. it was just yesterday we were celebrating bipartisan ship. >> well, that's true and a lot of people think this is going to go through any way, but it's supposed to stop the government from lurching from crisis to crisis every few months, but it's also a public battle over the heart and soul of the republican party that's gotten much uglier recently and the speaker of the house has been caught in the middle. now, he's throwing punches, too. before the big vote, a family feud over the federal budget between establishment republicans and the forces trying to steer the party further to the right. >> they're using our members and they're using the american people for their own goals. >> the house speaker himself with unusually personal pushback against conservative critics of the bipartisan budget deal. >> this is ridiculous. listen, if you're for more deficit reduction, you're for this agreement. >> boehner was talking about groups like heritage action, americans for prosperit

chief national correspondent john king is in washington to talk more about this. john, mccain is on board but tea party stalwarts are not. rubio, paul, cruz, will vote no. the senate needs eight republican votes to pass. is it possible this thing will fail? >> it is possible, carol, but all of our reporting suggests it will not. first let's show you the public numbers. cnn has been in touch with the senate offices trying to flesh out how senators plan to vote. you need 50 for final passage, and look at right here we have 31 yes votes on the record so far and as you can see, most of them democrats. 29 of them democrats, john mccain, who you just played there, and susan collins of maine are the two republicans on record so far sawing they'll vote yes, sorry, one independent also. that gets you up in the 31, 32 range. how do we get to 50? let's look at the no's, 21 declared no's and you mentioned some of the tea party guys and other conservatives saying they won't, all 21 declared no's are republicans but last night and this morning you've been in touch with a number of sources in both

plotting a terrorist attack. cnn's joe johns joins us with the information. you're in washington, but this is about explosives at the wichita airport? >> that's what we understand. a law enforcement source confirms there was one suspect. the case was motivated by the desire to set off an explosive, we're told, at the wichita airport. the source wouldn't confirm, nor would the source deny that it was a suicide bombing that was being contemplated. but when i asked flatly for the source to deny that, he refused to comment. we're also told that this was a terrorism-related situation. in other words, there was no real plot. but no one was in danger. multiple charges were expected in this case, including but not limited to a charge of material support for terrorism. as of a little while ago, charges had not been filed, and one suspect who has been arrested had not been presented before the magistrate. federal authorities had been billing this as a matter of national security. and they thought enough of it that the governor of the state, sam brownback, decided to attend that news conference. back

problem plagued obama care website. joe johns joins us from washington with those new numbers i spoke about. what are they, joe? >> reporter: as you said these numbers are much better than last month's numbers so let's go to them right away. the total enrollment in obama care, the bottom line numbers, 364,682. that's not going to get them to the goal of 7 million, but it's a better start than a month ago. the federal exchanges that is sort of the healthercare.gov website, 137,200 people enrolled in the state exchanges that's 14 different states that have their own health care exchanges. as you can see still out distancing the federal exchange, 227,478. the bottom line, of course, is that the federal website is now beginning to catch up. let's look now at october versus november. october enrolent was 26,794. of course that cre so much concern bause those numbers are so lo you lk tovembe enllntno110,410 people. clearly some improvement in obama care and the numbers of peoplenrolng b t magic number is 7 million and they detame.i tt' a togo. jo johns reporting live from washington.

leukemia. turns out playing football was just as important to his recovery as keep on therapy. john zarrella explains. >> reporter: there was never a time josh says he was a stay inside kind of kid. >> i don't really like doing that. i love to play outside and be active. >> reporter: football is his number one passion. >> run! where? off tackle. where? >> off tackle. >> reporter: josh and his cooper city florida pop warner team just wrapped up a season. for the 12-year-old just being out there was a blessing. three years ago josh came down with a high fever. turned out he had what's called prebase cell acute lymph on blastic leukemia. he went from tackling on the field to tackling cancerer. the first words out of his mouth were am i going do die? the second words was i can't play football. >> reporter: after a tough year and a half of treatment, spine taps and chemo, josh was told go play. >> it felt really good because i love playing football. >> reporter: in fact, his doctors at joe dimaggio children's hospital encouraged it. getting the kids back to doing what kids do is as much

the 60 votes that are needed. senator john mccain is among those republicans who says he'll vote yes. here's what he had to say. >> i hope it'll pass the senate. i'll do anything -- not anything but we must not shut down the government again. we can't do that to the people of this country and my state. >> reporter: so it's important to point out mccain says he wishes a certain provision concerning military retirement wasn't in this bill and that he's going to be looking to the chairman of the armed services committee to review that. still as you just heard him say he plans to support it as is. but there are top players like senator kelly ayotte and senator lindsey graham who opposed it because of the reduction in military benefits. at this point it's unclear how much that might add up overall opposition to the measure but as we know the senate is expected to take up the bill this week and bottom line most lawmakers agree that neither side got exactly what they wanted, but here's a good way to put it, martin. a former director of the congressional budget office said this go-around it

open water, john zarrella, our correspondent there in florida, took a boat to see what the rescuers did to help the whales. he he'll have an update for us. >>> and when it comes to classics, does it get bigger than the mustang? it's a beauty. see how the new muscle car looks at 50. not too shabby. stay with me, you're watching cnn. [ male announcer] surprise -- you're having triplets. [ babies crying ] surprise -- your house was built on an ancient burial ground. [ ghosts moaning ] surprise -- your car needs a new transmission. [ coyote howls ] how about no more surprises? now you can get all the online trading tools you need without any surprise fees. ♪ it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. ♪ [ male announcer ] it started long ago. the joy of giving something everything you've got. it takes passion. and it's not letting up anytime soon. if you're eligible for medicare, you might know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by united

support 800,000 consumers per day. we heard from a spokes man for house speaker john boehner. he had to say that this is not just about a website but more about what they are calling a flawed law. one can assume that we will hear more of that as we watch the website closely. the one thing that they are not releasing are the metrics the information that would tell us how well it is working and where the errors are. i think we will see that soon. yes? >> today they did release a lot of those numbers in terms of charts and graphs. but perhaps we might get more specifics in the days to come. i'm sure there will be every sort of scope on this program. yeah. live in washington. thank you very much. >> so how is the website doing technically? let me bring in john endgates at rack space. where you want to be. is the website where it wants to be at this point, john? >> yeah, i think that they have certainly hit the goals that they laid out for themselves. they told the public that they wanted to be able to hit the 50,000 users mark. i think they hit that. it remains to be seen if everything is g

state john kerry about to testify about a deal to curb iran's nuclear program. we'll explain. highlights of the agreement, why secretary kerry may face a very tough sell up on capitol hill. also right now, federal offices here in washington, they are closed thanks to the weather the northeast is getting hit with another round of snow, sleet, rain and ice. >>> and right now, world leaders are heading home after a moving memorial service for nelson mandela. we're going to bring you highlights from the service and from president obama's remarks honoring mandela's life and his legacy. >>> hello, i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. the goal is to prevent iran from developing a nuclear weapon. but the dilemma is over how best to reach that goal. the secretary of state john kerry's up on capitol hill right now. he's trying to convince lawmakers that an interim six-month deal with iran is certainly the way to go. but some lawmakers are pushing to increase the sanctions against iran to keep the pressure on. our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto is here with me

. john boehner says they have people that don't know how to handle this. we did talk about this on the show this morning. i want you to hear the different views. >> they think the problem is about the rhetoric. it is not. republicans say they want to do better outreach to women while trying to push greater restrictions to women's access on health care. >> republicans don't have a problem working and talking with women we controeg l 30 of the governships and 26 state houses and senate chambers. we in fact now how to speak to women on policy issues. >> the clock is ticki inin inin 2014. >> another world record setting performance for the co-owner of hockey's pittsburgh penguin's bought the champs gold metal. that is 9 highest price ever. he was 23 years old when he shocked the world winning four gold medals. his wins broke barriers for generations to come. it is dispushing that his medal is being auctioned off. we as a family hope that if you know who ever gets it puts it on display and holds it in high esteem. so the proceeds of that auction the sale of that medal will be doe tate enate

, yeah, right. let's talk more with cnn political commentator and columnist will cain and john avalon. will, first question. i'm painfully people think we're whiny journalists but why should we care about this? >> because it's image control. i agree with the premise of your question. i don't have a lotd of outraget the outset. the outrage well only runs so deep in the whole messing up the health care economy has commandeered most of my outrage. the "new york times" calls this orwellian or the ap who compares it to a soviet union like propaganda. that's the pount. you're controlling the image. this is not the only thing that has exposed the hypocrisy on the transparency process. we have leaks, going after fox's james rosen, we have the ap scandal, we have a long track record of the obama administration being very,er have very serious controlling their message and anyone that intrudes upon that, that draws their attention. >> controlling the mess annual is one thing. maybe controlling your image is another, john. what politician wouldn't want to control his image. >> this has been true

the u.s. government and he's asking not just the president but secretary of state john kerry, the american people, and the media, to remember him, let's not let me be another statistic. >> what is the u.s. government doing? >> they're being very quiet about it. all that we've heard from the state department, they're working to authenticate this is a recent proof of life from him, they don't want to say more except reiterate calls for his release because these things are done very quietly. also, another thing, al qaeda militants that are holding him, they want release of prisoners, of al qaeda prisoners, stop the drone strikes in yemen, somalia, pakistan and afghanistan and that's not going to happen. the u.s. maintains its position. it's not going to negotiate with terrorists. >> hard to imagine the u.s. government would gauche yate with al qaeda. when you see this story, you think it's -- sort of makes you think of robert levinson held in iran. but there are differences here, right? >> it's different for a couple of things. they have an idea of who's holding this guy. and that's

collects logs of all u.s. phone calls, score another victory for edward snowden, right? john king is in washington to talk about this. so john, this panel came up with 46 recommendations, including more oversight from congress, and approvals from the courts. the question is, will the president actually put these recommendations into place? >> it's a big question, carol. the president's going to take this report and we should give the administration some credit. this is a serious report by serious people that has started what is now a serious conversation about whether the united states, whether our government should take the most dramatic turn, turn back, if it you will, national security policy since 9/11, and we are at a turning point for the president, the challenge is, the president said he wants to make some changes. the president said given the evidence we've now seen spilled out in public he thinks the government has gone too far. the question is how far back to you go? you mentioned the phone, collecting all those phone records. the nsa says gee, we just collect all this meta

committee, it was his responsibility. >> g the backing of eric cantor and john boehner on this deal. >> thanks very much. members of congress can't seem to agree at least not yet on a farm bill. that gridlock could have a dramatic impact on milk prices across the country. just how high could those prices go? a deal to avoid the sticker shock even remotely within reach? we've got some answers when we come back. >>> quickly take a look at the markets right now. wall street opened lower this morning as investors eye the budget deal, wait to hear whether the federal reserve will keep pumping money into the economy, checking the big board right now, it's down almost 73 points. we'll continue to watch. right now the dow jones down almost 73. members of congress who is have been unable to pass a farm bill all year admit they probably won't get the job done in 2013. if they don't reach a deal in january, we could see milk prices skyrocket. guess what, to $7 a gallon. athena jones is covering the story for us here in washington. tell us what's going on. give us the background, a lot of peopl

editor at fan deyo.com and john murray at always a list.com. all right, gentlemen, thanks for being here on this lovely christmas day. we just saw a few moments in 2030 -- '13 rather, but now we're going to look forward. eric, let's begin with you. what's going to be the biggest most influential trend in entertainment you expect to see in 2014? >> i expect to see more crossover between movies and television. we're going to get tv shows becoming movies, get movies becoming tv shows, but look for them to connect the two. you know, marvel studios began doing this in the beginning of november when they came out with "thor: the dark world." we made it the central story line of their tv show. i think they're going to do it in "captain america" and i think studios are paying attention to that. i think especially the ones with large fan bases because it makes fans really excited. >> making it a lot more accessible. john, what do you think the big trends of 2014 might be? >> i think more diversity from hollywood. you know, at the box office this year we saw more than 15 major films with peop

speaker john boehner. >> are you kidding me? >> sorry. i have not seen that. john boehner critiquing his own side. his conservatives, his republicans. for the role in forcing october's government shutdown for which, surprise, surprise, they ended up getting the blame. roll it again. >> are you kidding me? >> sorry. so, with october's disaster in mind, speaker boehner rallied his troops last week, enough so that democrats climbed on board and he finally won passage of a real live federal budget that covers the next two years so no more government shutdown, no more threats of government shutdowns for at least 24 months. unless -- that is where we are in this moment on this monday afternoon, because unless republicans, you know, boehner's party in the senate decides to wreck boehner's handiwork. it's kind of a funny thing, right? because the senate is supposed to be the adults, the ones a lot more likely to compromise than the hot heads roaming around the house, so we hear. dana bash, our chief congressional correspondent is joining me. this landmark, this budget here, it has

. >> thank you. >>> the gloves are off. john boehner does battle against conservative groups. could this be a sign that those groups are losing some of their influence here in washington? that story and a lot more straight ahead. [ male announcer ] this is george. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] that's handy. ♪ and better is so easy withrning you cabenefiber.o something better for yourself. fiber that's taste-free, grit-free and dissolves completely. so you can feel free to add it to anything. and feel better about doing it. better it with benefiber. to buy an all-new silverado. this interior is incredible! the nav is perfect for my long trips up north this time of year. how far up north? akron. akron's nice. mm. [ male announcer ] chevy's giving more this holiday season, chevy's giving more during the calendar year end event. trade up to the all-new 2014 silverado all star v6 for a total value of $5,250. see your local chevy dealer today. take a look. t

say they'll vote for the bill, senator susan collins, senator ron johnson, senator john mccain, senator mccain spoke about it on cnn's "state of the union." >> i hope it will pass the senate. i'll do anything, not anything but we must not shut down the government again. we can't do that to the people of this country and my state. >> dana bash is tracking the vote tally on capitol hill. give us the latest breakdown. >> you just mentioned the republicans who are going to vote yes, but before we get to that, tomorrow there is going to be a key procedural url measure that is going to determine the fate of this budget deal in the senate. and let's just sort of explain what is going to be needed. so viewers can understand. first of all, it will need 60 votes to pass or break a filibuster. and we'll remind viewers what the breakdown of the parties are in the senate right now, 55 democrats, 45 republicans. now, let's just assume for argument's sake all democrats vote thor this. we don't know that's going to happen. it might not. you would need five republicans. we have them right now w

john wilkins wasn't sure if he would ever get to teach his son to drive a real car. >> i really wanted to learn. >> nick, who is 15, has had leukemia, since he was 4 years old. he tried a bone marrow transplant from his sister. it failed. >> i thought there was a moment where he wouldn't live much longer. >> his last hope was a clinical trial at the university of pennsylvania. >> when they start talking about doing clinical trials as the alternative, that's when you're really throwing hail marys. >> reporter: how did it feel as a mom to know this is it? >> just uncertainty, just not knowing what is going to happen, it's hard. >> one day we're in his room and i just wanted him to understand where we were at, that, you know, this was probably the last treatment. >> reporter: were you in effect telling him that if this treatment didn't work -- >> he could die. >> reporter: in the treatment, nick's doctors tweaked his immune system to make his body rid itself of cancer. there were no promises. he received the personalized cell therapy in may. for a month john and lisa watched offer

of state john kerry is sending a special envoy to south sudan. let's bring in nema. give us context here. what is exactly causing the violence, and is this related to this so-called attempted coup? >> reporter: well, there's definitely a sense that others have had access to wealth and resources in south sudan, and that's what's underpinning all of this. it's a nation that's very oil wealthy but very, very poor by any other measure. you know, it's interesting, speaking about secretary of state john kerry there sending a special envoy. the u.s. has always had a very, very close relationship with south sudan. it was a big part of the south gaining independence from the north. and when we went to -- when we went to south sudan, fully independent celebration, we found susan rice at that point the u.s. ambassador to the u.n., we also had secretary of state for defense, former secretary of state for defense, colin powell was there. a sense of the two nations very, very close. and you can see that disappointment now playing out in u.s. citizens that are caught in such a difficult situation.

happening this moment here, a tough sell on iran. secretary of state john kerry on capitol hill, live pictures of the secretary of state defending the interim deal on iran's nuclear program. skepticism coming not just from republicans here but also democrats on the house foreign affairs committee. >> -- that iran remains the top state sponsor of terrorism in the world, continues to support hezbollah and the brutal assad regime in syria, continues to engage in systematic violations of human rights, continues its efforts to destabilize a number of persian gulf states and continues to imprison innocent americans. all of this under the so-called moderate rouhani government. >> i hope you'll leave here today with a sense of confidence that we know what we're doing. our eyes are open. we have no illusions. it's a tough road. i don't come here with any guarantees whatsoever. >> so kerry says he has no illusions about iran, but he says this interim nuclear deal will force tehran to prove it's not cheating. and secretary kerry restated that iran will not, i repeat, will not acquire a nuclear w

euthanized, but the big question today is this. why did this happen in the first place? here's john zarrella with some background on that. >> reporter: the biologists to this day don't know exactly what the cause is of these mass strandings. it could be viral. it could be environmental. there just is no real answer to it, whether it's whales or dolphins, whatever it is, but right now, an effort going on to try and save the whales that are in the water. it is very, very shallow water over there. that's on the west coast of florida. in everglades national park, and it's really flat. so that water at low tide can be a foot deep if not less than that. that's the kind of water that those whales got stranded. >> we'll get an update from john zarrella who has been working that as far as why this happened and the rescue efforts to try to save the whales. 45 of them on the sand and in the water. that's next hour. >>> coming up next here, retired nba star dennis rodman, oh, yes, headed back to see his pal in north korea. it will be rodman's third trip to the country find out what he will have

at night knowing my money is safe, i'm using credit over debit. >> that or cash. john, ulzheimer, thank you very much. >>> fans of the reality show have been feeling a little ducky this morning? are you among them, john? >> i don't watch it. >> okay. >> i'm with you, i guess. >> there you go. there are millions who do. and they couldn't wait for one of the stars to make a comeback. now apparently phil robertson will be back on. i'm beth... and i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts, that's why we have ink. we like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. so you have time to focus on the things you love. ink from chase. so you can. [ male announcer ] what kind of energy is so abundant, it can help provide the power for all this? natural gas. ♪ more than ever before,

review is now retaliating, according to a lawsuit. the battle began when john and jen palmer bought a few christmas gifts from the website cleargear.com in 2008. but they say the items never arrived and their calls went unanswered. finally, the transaction was cancelled. jen palmer vented her frustrations on line, posting it on line saying there is absolutely no way to get in touch with a physical human being. no extensions work. then three and a half years later they received this e-mail, appearing to be from clear gear, stating they would be fined $3500 if the negative review was for the tak not taken down in 72 hours. >> it is something as simple as posting a review on line. >> but clear gear told the palmers they signed away their freedom. and in a clause forbidding them from taking action that negatively impacts clear gear. they tried to take the ad down but couldn't, they reported the $3500 bill as unpaid to a collections company. >> it was bad enough when we went to get a second card, it took a month to find a bank that was willing to finance us because of the huge ding. >> the

extraordinary work by john kerry and his counterparts in the p 5 plus one. let's look at exactly what we've done. for the first time in over a decade we have halted advances in the iranian nuclear program. we have not only made sure that they have to stop adding additional centrifuges. we also said they've got to roll back their 20% advanced enrichment. >> to how much? >> down to zero. so you remember when prime minister netanyahu made his presentation before united nations last year, well, the picture of a bomb, he was referring to 20% enrichment, which the concern was if you get too much of that, you now have sufficient capacity to go ahead and create a nuclear weapon. we're taking that down to zero. we are stopping the advancement of the iraq facility, which would provide additional pathway, plutonium pathway for the development of nuclear weapons. we are going to have daily inspectors in ford rowan na tons. we will have additional inspections in iraq. and as a consequence during this six month period, iran cannot and will not advance its program or add additional stock piles of advanced

ended with speaker john boehner, the speaker of the house, castigating the republican tea party activists for bringing the party down and for failing to govern. so, they are right now vulnerable to a republican party that could turn against them. >> when it comes to technology in government, my guess is that it's obamacare. >> absolutely. i think the capacity of the government to handle big, technological problems took a blow. there is a paradox that they're doing a great job with surveillance but not such a good job with health care, but i do think it undermined the confidence of a lot of americans, whether correctly or not, in its ability to handle these kind of technological challenges. >> and now about political winners. your top three, gay rights, diplomacy, and john kerry. so, let's start with gay rights. >> gay rights has been something of a revolution in this country. and it's been happening very quickly. the legitmation and constitutionality of gay marriage has been something that is the story of this year. i think we've gone through a watersai watershed. and i think th

get coverage beginning january 1st. our joe johns can joining me now. so how many people are we talking about here. >> a little bit of news first off the top. the centers for medicare and medicaid services just put out a statement saying that anticipating high demand, which they're getting right now through the healthcare.gov website. they've programmed their systems to make sure people who enroll through tomorrow will get coverage starting on january 1st. see a little bit of a tweak there can to the system giving people just a little bit more time. now, it as to the numbers, of course, that's always been, as you know, a moving target. it the magic number has been 7 million enrollments through next year but that number can slip as long as the program gets enough healthy consumers signed up to offset the unhealthy ones. if site visits to healthcare.gov are any indication, a surge of interest is occurring and administration officials said there were at least 750,000 site visits just over the weekend. >> let's touch back on that december -- today is december 23 leonardo dicaprio. t

john mccain told our candy crowley today that the senate probably will pass a new sanctions bill that would take effect when the new six-month nuclear deal expires. are sanctions what pushed iran to a nuclear deal, are they going to be dealt with, chris? do you think? >> well, i think that the administration is going to fight as hard as it can to keep those sanctions, bills from being passed right now. you know, the u.s. faced this problem a few days ago, and all of a sudden the senate bill died. nobody was sure exactly why that was. but then a couple of days after that, the u.s. did impose some in sanctions directly on certain companies and individuals, and the result was a breakdown, a temperature error breakdo temperatu temporary breakdown and zarif, the foreign minister of iran saying we weren't ready for this. this goes against the spirit of the negotiations. so there's going to be a lot of back and forth like this, and every new element that's thrown in to the works, like new sanctions imposed by congress, is just going to complicate things, but it your question is, did san

long johns and my thick socks and leggings and hat? >> not yet. we are setting records across the east coast for warm weather on the first official day of winter. temperatures stabilize the next couple days. the major cold weather is still in the west. the wmidwest. we are seeing rain and ice transition into snow from kansas to missouri. the texas man handle is getting snow now. the big story has been the severe weather. that's what we are watching throughout the afternoon. we have tornado watches in effect until 6:00 p.m. for much of louisiana and southeast texas including houston, then places like memphis. that is central time. we have actually already started to see severe thunderstorms pop up. we have two active warnings right now in north louisiana. one is going to expire around 2:15 local time and another one about 2:45 local time. these are packing winds of 16 miles per hour. we have one in east texas as well right around center texas. that is a big one. so, do plan on those damaging winds. we have reports of trees down, fred, so, this is something to take seriously. >> we

john kerry about the iran nuclear deal and the house foreign relations committee that's on. the senate is in session today. they'll be dealing with some of these nominees that were blocked previously by republicans in the senate. there's a confirmation vote today for patricia mullet up to be a district court judge on the d.c. circuit court of appeals and also going to try to move forward on the confirmation of representative mel watts, to head up the federal housing finance agency. he was blocked a few weeks back as well, so they're going to try to move forward on that and under new rules they just need 51 votes to do so. we could see that confirmation vote happening by day's end. so government is closed, but doesn't mean everything has stopped. carol? >> allrigh that's good. athena jones, thanks so much. >>> we're going to head to new york city to check in with fred pleitgen but his camera is freezing so move on to other news. we have to talk about the memorial for nelson mandela now. thousands of people, nearly 100 world leaders among them, packing a johannesburg soccer stadiu

? >> john carl. >> thank you, mr. president. it's been a tough year. you may not want to call it the worst year of your presidency, but a tough year. the polls have gone up and down, but they're at a low point right now. so what i'm asking you, you have acknowledged the difficulties with the health care rollout, but when you look back and you look at the decisions that you have made and what you did, what you didn't do, for you personally, what do you think has been your biggest mistake? >> with respect to health care specifically or in general? >> the whole thing when you look back at this tough year. >> well, there's no doubt that when it came to the health care rollout, even though kwl was meeting every other week or every three weeks with folks and emphasizing how important it was that consumers had a good experience and easy experience in getting the information they needed and knowing what the choices and options were for them to be able to get high-quality, affordable health care, the fact is it didn't happen in the first month. first six weeks, in a way that was at all accept

state john kerry and the american public for help in getting him out of there. al qaeda's been asking for a release of its prisoners in exchange. no reason to believe that the u.s. position has changed, which is it does not negotiate. carol? >> barbara starr reporting live from the pentagon this morning. thanks so much. >>> still to come on "the newsroom" duck dynasty and why jesse jackson takes aim at the show's star and his controversial comments next. just by talking to a helmet. it grabbed the patient's record before we even picked him up. it found out the doctor we needed was at st. anne's. wiggle your toes. [ driver ] and it got his okay on treatment from miles away. it even pulled strings with the stoplights. my ambulance talks with smoke alarms and pilots and stadiums. but, of course, it's a good listener too. [ female announcer ] today cisco is connecting the internet of everything. so everything works like never before. it's not the "fumbling around with rotating categories" card. it's not the "getting blindsided by limits" card. it's the no-game-playing, no-earning-limit-ha

one thing, john allen. what does it mean? >> the first pope elected from south america. >> the curtains are open. the cross bearer is coming out. and there he is. >> dubbed the people's pope, francis has laid out a vision of a more inclusive catholic church, focusing on compassion for the poor and afflicted. number one, the civil war in syria. more than two years of fighting, some 100,000 have been killed, more than 2 million are refugees. in august, a chemical weapons attack kills hundreds. >> it's absolutely horrifying. we've seen a video showing the bodies of lifeless children. >> syria denied responsibility. >> u.s. is making the case for military intervention in syria. >> the u.s. on the brink of military action. but a last-minute deal brokered by russia averted an international crisis. the agreement dismantles syria's chemical arsenal that left bashar al assad in power. a civil war raging and a civilian population still suffering. >> and right now, a live look at bethlehem as christmas day approaches. thousands of people gathering for a midnight mass. the church of nativi

yeah tors said house speaker john boehner have given a hard deadline. but does that mean the house will adjourn with a deal? here is what i think. the american people have said, we are done with telling you that we are angry with you. do what you will. there will be consequences for it. the other thing that i think, come 2014. but the other thing that has happened is a lot of what drove the drama in the fall were threats around the affordable care act. that torch that they wanted to use is no longer the torch that they can use in a fight. the recognition that they got to get a little something done, it won't solve a lot of the big problems. >> do you have a last word on that? >> the shut down controversy was all about the affordable care act. let me make my point. everything that has happened since the government shout down has been to alter the way that it is supposed to sunfold. what we are going to be talking about next weathyear is going te it very, very interesting. enjoy the snowy weather. >> a man took a nap on a plane. guess what he woke up all alone to a travel nightmare.

. cnn's john zarrella has more from the everglades. >> reporter: carol the coast guard has joined the effort to save the whales a cutter will provide a security perimeter around the animals as well as three smaller coast guard vessels but clearly time is running out. from the air they look like black pearls in the waters of the gulf of mexico, surrounded them, biologists, national park rangers and volunteers. the whales have been stuck in shallow water for at least two days now. the outlook is not good. >> there isn't a whole lot we can do. we tried this technique called herding, trying to get the boats around them and kind of nudge them out either by sound or moving them around. it wasn't effective the first round. last i heard they were trying a second time. >> reporter: from the water we could see the rescuers trying to herd the whales, keeping them from heading to the beach where some have already died. moving them towards deeper water. wildlife officials say there were about 50 whales that stranded themselves. biologists say they don't know why. of those just over three dozen are

of world leaders in modern history, perhaps ever. the last time was the funeral for pope john paul ii. that was 2005. air force one took off with president and mrs. obama, george w. and laura bush, former secretary of state hillary clinton, taerg eric holder, and susan rice, all on that plane. the white house said the president is working on his eulogy during the flight. other world leaders going to south africa include ban ki-moon, fran swan holaund, and david cameron. among the other dignitaries to pay their respects, bono, oprah, prince charles, former president jimmy carter, and republican senator ted cruz. a short time ago, archbishop desmond tootoo paid homage to his home in the johannesburg suburbs. >> everybody was saying we would have gone up in flames. and he was like, he really was like a magician. he really was like a magician, with a magic wand. turning us into this glorious multicolored rainbow people. >> cnn's senior international correspondent arwa damon is in johannesburg with a look at the extraordinary preparations involved ahead of tomorrow's memorial service. >> t

bipartisan manner. >> now, i want both of you to listen to house speaker john boehner. he was happy with the budget deal but very unhappy, we should say, can w some conservative interest groups. his party's usual allies, take a listen. >> they pushed us into the slight to defund ofund obamacar. if you will remember the day before the government reopened, one of the groups stood up and said, we never thought it would work. are you kidding me! >> lz, your take. >> there are a lot of things i think about with that clip. and with this situation. and the first thing i think about is you wanted these people. by these people, let's not beat around the bush, we are talking about the tea party, right? they used the energy of the tea party to help reclaim the house. all of the things that president obama was saying about the democrats and during the 2010 campaign they turned a blind eye to because they were regaining control of the house. they have it. but when you invite craze into your house, crazy tends to stay. now he is trying to disinvite crazy from his house. i commend his courage. what his

economics naive. john berman is with me now, filling in on "the lead" today. you have pope john ii, conservative, pope benedict, conservative. are american catholics suddenly dealing with something else? >> pope benedict had as much to say about the new pope. he said a judicial and economic order should manage the global economy. he called for a managed economy. but it's some of the language that pope francis is using that has set something off with rush limbaugh. the idea of trickle-down economics, which means something very specific, specifically to american consumers, regan annecks, and this is something that rush can't necessarily stomach. what will be truly interesting is to see what republican catholics say about the new pope. he's called the people's pope. he's wildly popular in many parts of the world, including right here in the united states. you have paul ryan, you have our own newt gingrich, rick santorum, a guy named chris christie, who are all catholics right now. i would be shocked if these potential candidates were to go out and be critical of this pope who, as i sa

. >> rachel, john and their slightly camera shy son, copola, dblt take any chances. weather is top of mind as winter storm threatens to stop travel from the east to the wegs. so far, at least 15,000 flights have been delayed this weekend. more than a thousand cancelled. with widespread delairs, major hubs from dallas to shi can kboe are feeling the holiday ripple effect. fortunately, when it comes to getting your christmas packages to friends and family, companies like fed-ex are armed with snow removal equipment and teams of meet yorologists on staff. >> we don't have anyone to watch our kids. if we don't show up, we're hoping that they'll be okay. >> just hoping that their luck holds um. >> frederick, this is the sort of line when i have an assignment here. i see this type of line and i'm terrified. is this is what you can kiernd of expect. also, keep in mind, the weather conditions along the east coast. it could make for tricky travlg. there could be delays from anywhere near the nay jor air ports from chicago to new york. it really all depends on what happens with this storm system. it

program this week. i will see you next week. >>> good morning from washington. i'm joe johns. welcome to our viewers in the u.s. and around the world. we begin this hour with breaking news. at least four people are dead after a commuter train goes off the tracks in new york city. we're also following the outpouring of grief in hollywood and beyond after a fiery car crash claims the life of "fast and furious" actor paul walker. "reliable sources" will return next sunday as new host cnn's senior media correspondent brian stelter. let's beginning in new york where emergency crews are on the scene of a deadly commuter crash. a number of cars went off the tracks near the spuyten duyvil station. >> i just heard a screeching noise, you know. i happened to be by the window. i'm on top of the hill. i heard a screeching noise. and then within seconds the ambulance and fire trucks started coming past my window. i knew something big happened. there had to be 50 or 60 trucks coming by. >> for more, let's go to cnn's alexander field in the bronx at the scene of that derailment. alexandria? >> reporter

state, john kerry is headed to the middle east to restart peace talks between israel and the palestinians. peace talks stalled in november with both sides digging in their heels. key points of contention here include the continued israeli presence in the palestinian territories and construction of jewish settlements in the west bank. >>> fears of a possible civil war in south sudan are growing fast. neighboring countries are threatening to step in if the violence doesn't let up soon. today, united nations secretary general moon threw his weight behind an ulty may tum calling to stop fighting. senior international correspondent arwa damon has more. >> reporter: east african leaders issued a warning following a meeting that took place on friday giving them four days to lay down their weapons or face the consequences. exactly what the consequences are at this stage is unclear. south sudan's government said it is willing to come to the negotiating table without preconditions. the vice president is blaming rebel leader and former vice president for the fighting. by issuing precond

a suicide attack at that airport. details from cnns joe johns. >> reporter: the fbi says he was set up bay pair of undercover fbi agents. he thought he was going to detonate the car bomb. the guy's name is terry. he's a practicing muslim. he works at wichita airport and charged with trying to use a car bomb and providing material support of terrorism. according to court documents, he had an online chat with someone and said he wanted to get in violent jihad. he was chatting online with an fbi employee and the employee offered to introduce him with someone to help him with the violent jihad. employees one and later two pretended to be part of a sting operation. they nabbed him when he tried to enter with a security card. these types of so-called aspirational terror cases have become controversial lately. the question is does it make sense to go after individual who is have terror plans even if the plans are not fully operational. the cases can be time consuming. many times, since 9/11, the mission switched to prevention of terrorism. this is the kind of case that shows how far they w

." welcome, gentlemen. >> good morning. >> hey, carol. >> short question to you, john. is greenwald right? >> no. i don't think greenwald's right. look. i think the judge's decision is a vindication for the constitution for american privacy rights potentially if it's upheld because the arguments of upholding it are outdated but that's not necessarily a vindication for edward snowden who potentially is called a traitor for violating his oath for releasing this information. one does not necessarily flow from the other. the fact that you seek asylum from brazil is its own story which speaks to his complicated cohorts in this but i do think it's a good decision for the american people in the long run. >> snowden said this. i acted on my believe that the nsa massive programs would not withstand the constitutional challenge and the american public deserved a chance to see this done in an open court, it was found violate americans' rights. it is first of many. and, of course, he may be right because all of this may end up in the u.s. supreme court. so what exactly does that make snowden, w