0 just today, the president claiming improvements to the economy due to his signature piece of legislation. >> thanks in part to the reforms in the affordable care act, health care costs now eat up less of our economy. over the past four years, costs have grown at the slowest rate on record. >> reporter: critics say a change in contractors won't fix a law that is fundamentally flawed. >> the law is not living up to the promises made by its supporters. and it is questionable whether the law will meet its fundamental purpose. to significantly expand health insurance coverage. 5 million americans have been kicked out of the health plans that they liked and were promised they could keep. >> reporter: on friday, the house passed a bill requiring the administration to notify americans if their personal information has been compromised on the new health insurance exchanges. greg, back to you. >> elizabeth, thanks. fox extreme weather alert now. we're watching a storm system affecting much of the east coast right now with even the potential for tornadoes in some areas of the southeast. meteorologist janice dean live in the weather center. wow, what is going on now? >> we had hundreds of reports of wind and hail damage, isolated tornadoes. the good news is the tornado threat is diminishing through the evening. but we still have a tornado watch good for parts of the coastal carolinas. could still see some isolated tornadoes, really right now some severe thunderstorm warnings with the potential for some strong winds, and then that heavy rain that continues to deluge parts of the i-95 corridor, we could get several inches and flash flood warn of watches an warnings are posted where we could see excessive snow melt because the temperatures are in the 50s and 60s. ice jams up toward the northeast and new england. so we'll watch the system move eastward and by sunday morning, really it's gone and the temperatures have rebounded quite nicely from the arctic plunge that we were in earlier this week. also watching the northwest where we're seeing some heavy rain, also some gusty winds in excess of 60 miles per hour. and heavy snow up to 3 feet in parts of the northern rockies as this system moves eastward and we have lots of weather warnings, certainly winter weather warning, we have a blizzard warning in effect for central idaho, a lot of high wind warnings again as we could see wind gusts in excess of 60 miles per hour. that will make travel difficult if not impossible. and you have the snow on top of that, anywhere from a foot to 3 feet which of course i'm sure the skiers will love. but to travel in it, a little tricky. >> and not so good for people trying to get over a cold. >> very true. i'm getting over the hump, but i think gave it to greg. >> you did. >> i must leave the studio now. >> and i have a long memory. >> i know. remember the cough drop i had in my cheenk tk the local time? i apologize. >> i remember. >> don't react to him. >> get me into trouble. >> don't. thank you. the obama administration defending itself over very sharp criticism from former defense secretary robert gates in his new book the former pentagon chief is taking direct aim at vice president joe biden and detailing strained relations between the president and his military leaders. molly is live in washington. >> reporter: greg, president obama according to former defense secretary robert gates' book suspected that his military leaders did not respect him in 2009 because they kept pressing him to send more troops to afghanistan in the surge. specifically he was talking about general david petraeus then head of central command. general stanley mcchrystal, the top commander in afghanistan, and admiral mike mullen, then chairman of the joint chiefs. gates writes mullen and i repeatedly discussed what he regarded as military pressure on him. is it a lack of respect for me obama asked us? are petraeus, mullen trying to box me in they resent that i ne served in the military? do they think because i'm young that i don't see what they're doing? gates goes on to say, quote, the atmosphere at the white house was getting poisonous especially on the part of tom donilon who had characterized mull will not and the military and insubordinate and in revolt. it seemed me that someone who had never been in the military and had never been to afghanistan was second guessing commanders in the field. s white house said it revealed that there were debates and that they made for stronger, better policy. the president spokesman says the commander in chief weighs carefully the decision about deploying u.s. troops. >> he is extremely conscious of the responsibility that that authority bestows upon him and therefore he would not make decisions about surging u.s. troops without a thorough debate. >> reporter: but gates seems to have a different take on it and says he saw a white house with a, quote, lack of appreciation from the top down of the uncertainties and inherent unpr unpre-difficult ability of war. >> gates said the president and his aides seem to think it's a science, this thing called war. it is far from it. and by the way, for more on this, we'll be talking with professor of law and political science the usc, we'll get her take a bit later on this hour. in the meantime, president reagan's former press secretary later speaks has died. he spent six years at the podium for the reagan administration. he passed away in his cleveland, mississippi home after aalzheim. nancy reagan said she was saddened to learn about larry who served ronnie with great loyalty. he's surprised by his daughter, two sons, six grandchildren and one great grandchildren. larry speaks was 74 years old. russian security forces foiling a chilling new terror plot. and ramping up security ahead of the winter olympic just weeks away. and mortar get customers are finding themselves the target of identity thieves. what the company is saying now about the recent data breach. plus lawmakers on capitol hill racing against the clock with a jam-packed agenda, including a crucial spending measure. and the future offen employment benefits. but will they get anything done? our political panel weighs in. fr farmer: hello, i'm an idaho potato farmer. and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it. it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks. what? when i first felt the diabetic nerve pain, of course i had no idea what it was. i felt like my feet were going to sleep. it progressed from there to burning like i was walking on hot coals... to like 1,000 bees that were just stinging my feet. i have a great relationship with my doctor... he found lyrica for me. 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