Transcripts For FOXNEWS Americas News HQ 20100110

morning. i'm eric shawn. >> jamie: great to have you with us. the news doesn't stop here. keep it on fox. we head to washington, america's news headquarters continues. continues. have a great day. captioned by closed captioning services, inc >> shannon: president obama accepts reid's apollology and says it's a closed book but the poor choice of words may be what what the republicans are looking for to topple the democratic leader. how did a would-be terror get on a u.s.-bound jet with a bomb? we ask sue meyer whether the u.s. will be ready the next time. we all remember the miracle on the hudson. more than 150 lives were saved. did you know the emergency landing in the river also sparked a love connection? i'm bloodstream b'm shannon bre. america's news headquarters starts now. i'm sorry, that is the message from harry reid to president obama. the democrat issued the apology after racially charged comments he he made about the 2008 presidential race were revealed in a new book. major garrett joins us from washington with the details. >> reporter: hello, shannon. good afternoon. "i'm sorry" is the word from senate majority leader harry reid but also on the phone to the senate democrats stick with me. while measurements currently this morning and sunday, the second day the story is playing out, the democrats and the obama white house are sticking with harry reid. what got this in motion? a book in bookstores tomorrow, sounds like a plug but it's not. it's too sensational to ignore. "game change" and in it the authors write the following -- >> interesting thing here is that reid said this in the context of interview talking about how happy he was that he was an early supporter of barack obama, the candidate. of course, there was lots of reaction today on the sunday talk show; specifically, "fox news sunday." here is michael steele, the republican national che chairman. >> there is the standard where the democrats feel they can say these things and they can apologize when it comes from the mouths of their own. but if it comes from anyone else, it's racism. >> reporter: now michael steele went on to call for harry reid to step down. harry reid is not going to do that and not going to address the matter publicly today. the staff tells me there is an energy event tomorrow on capitol hill on the schedule and he'll stick to the schedule if for no other reason to say he's not nervous about the implications of this politically or otherwise. tim kaine was also on "fox news sunday" and here is his take. >> i don't think this is an issue that will affect his leadership at all. in fact, he is doing very heavy lifting, wonderful lifting to get the healthcare bill over the goal line. >> reporter: democrats want to move beyond this as rapidly as possible. they're the key players as long with the obama white house. and the white house wants to keep harry reid where he is. healthcare negotiations are very close. harry reid is a central player in that. the top domestic priority for the president. whether it's resolved by the "state of the union" at the end of this month or early february isn't clear but the obama white house wants and need to keep harry reid, the offending party in this case, president obama said he's not okay with with it but accepts the apology and wants to move on. the republicans don't have numbers to dislodge harry reid until a democrat says something more critical, harry reid can survive most likely. >> the short-term issue is keeping him in place for the healthcare debate. long i long-term he could lose the seat. do you think voters will have a short-term memory with this statement? >> if this was the only statement by reid that was controversial or he had to apologize for or offer some public appraisal of, probably not. but it's not. it's a series. as the democrats know and the republicans will attack him for. i talked to a lot of democrats said he can survive but they were not sure about his prospects at home. polling data has been consistent last month. after spending $1 million on campaign ads bam home the numbers didn't improve and this won't make that situation better. in the confine of nevada, clark county, the hispanic and african-american population is significant. this is a detriment to the african-american community and you can't talk your way out of it really and hispanic may take appraisal as well and it will complicate things for harry reid. >> shannon: thank you for joining us. more potential problems for democrats in what was supposed to be a cake walk of a special election. "boston globe" control puts massachusetts democrat martha coacley up over brown in the race to fill the kennedy senate seat. there are other polls that show the race closcloser, rasmussen poll that shows it closer, close as 9%. the controversy surrounding senator reid caps off a rough week for democrat, including senator dorgan and dodd's announcement they will not seek re-election. what will the political fall-out from reid's comments? joining us is a democratic strategist susan estrich and frank -- >> thank you. >> shannon: how much do you think the comments will impact reid's race? >> quite a bit. as major garrett said, he has been trailing for a while now. he's been well behind a number of his republican opponents. look, i think the remarks are really remarkable. i mean these are racial attitudes from the 1940s. there is no way around that. he's already has a difficult re-election, because he is so identified with the national democratic agenda. you've seen two senior democrats from the senate not running for re-election. your poll showed that they're having trouble in massachusetts of all states. so i think the public is coelessing against the obama agenda and it bodes badly for the party in november. >> shannon: susan, reid said it's a poor choice of words. the president said it's a closed book and he accepted the apology. is that enough? >> it's okay in washington, d.c. if it's okay with president obama, who is to say it's not okay with them. i don't think you will see it in the short run. the senate democrats will rally around him. his role is critical right now in the healthcare debate. the question becomes next fall. i think democrats could hold on to a senate seat in nevada, just the way they will hold on to it in connecticut, but i'm not sure harry reid can hold on to it. and that becomes a tougher question going into the fall. >> shannon: and let me ask about the bigger picture, frank. we mentioned senator dorgan and dodd. we had a couple of key state races change when governor bill ritter said he wouldn't run. and michigan front runner for the gubernatorial race will not run. what is the feel and the mood for democrats across the country? >> i have been in politics a long time. it's rare that the public is so open to the message, the core republican message of low taxes, lower government, high deficits being bad. and the fact that we now have 10% unemployment. the political head winds for the republican party are as good as i've seen it since probably 1994 and 1980. that doesn't guarantee anything. i acknowledge that. but right now, the public seems to be saying that they think the administration is not paying attention to what they should be doing, which is to be working on the economy, and trying to lower the unemployment rate. >> shannon: susan, i want to give you the last word nil. bright spots for democrats heading into the important 2010 mid-terms? >> well, i think there are going to be a couple of bright spots. i think as much as people are railing against congress, that never translates, almost never, into railing against your own member of congress. so i think once the healthcare debate is over, which i think it will be the individual members of congress are more popular than the party; particularly, in circumstances like this. but i'd be lying if i didn't deny there is some cause for concern. as great as the danger for democrats not passing healthcare there is a risk in passing it. >> shannon: all right, susan and frank thank you for your time and happy new year. >> thank you. >> shannon: well, the heads of the dnc and the rnc, tim kaine and michael steele had plenty to say about harry reid's comments and the potential fall-out and they joined chris wallace on "fox news sunday," which airs after our show, 2:00/6:00 on fox news channel. another hot topic on the sunday show, the state of national security. after the massacre at fort hood and attempted christmas day bombing of flight 253. caroline shively joins us from washington with the latest. >> hi, the main question all over the sunday talk show what is do you do with the accused underwear bomber? u.s. officials said the fbi had umar farouk abdulmutallab for about 30 hours and that he was talkative. that's before he got his lawyer and decided to clam up. 22 gop senators sent the president a letter friday night urging him to try abdulmutallab in military court. but democrats say intel officials have gotten what they need. >> they obtained actionable intelligence and they made a decision after that, the local prosecutors that the individual should be tried in civil court. >> you indict him and read him his miranda rights and he gets a lawyer and immediately stops talking. you can pursue a court action against him later on if you want to, but right now the key is intelligence. >> another focus for the lawmakers now is yemen where the officials say abdulmutallab got his terror training. the u.s. and britain announced they're sending money to counterterrorism police force that has begun training there. the yemeni government is unstable, facing potential civil war, desperately poor and appears to be a new frontier for terrorists. >> look at the three cases where the homeland defenses were broken through this year -- arkansas, fort hood and the detroit bomber. they all three of those have a connection to al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula headquartered in yemen. >> a potential rift developing this weekend, yemen's president says he is ready to talk with members of al-qaeda if they put down their guns while the u.s. has been pushing for a major crackdown. shannon? >> shannon: all right, thank you for the update. president obama says he takes full responsibility for the security lapse that allowed a would-be terrorist to get on to a detroit-bound jetliner. his plan is to focus on the enemy. >> while passions and politics can often obscure the hard work before us, be clear about what the moment demands. we are at war. >> shannon: does the plan go far enough? sue meyer joins us live. thank you for your time. >> i read and i heard you say that americans are not getting the full truth when it comes to terrorism and threats. how so? >> the big picture, we concentrate on one attack when it happens and another when it happen happenss but as senator lieberman said, they're tied together and common elements. clues were missed. we know that. we have to look at the enemy and what they want to do. they literally want to destroy us. that is the object i they say it in their own words and it's not something we make up. we have been complacent. we need to get back on the ball and be vigilant. we have to pay attention. as soon as we do one thing they will start to do another. they have a game plan. everybody knows that if you paid any i attention to the issue. they don't like our democracy, they don't like our way of life and they literally do want to take us over. they'd like us to live under syrian law. it's written down and they say it in their own words. >> shannon: do you think it's hard for us to grasp because the mindset is so different to actually understand what they're thinking. you said jihadists are patient and have long-term plans and that's not how americans look at things. >> we look at things instantly. if something happens we pay attention for two days and then we forget it. they're willing to wait as long as it takes. we wife up security at the airport and they'll find another way. they don't use people that all look the same. we know it from the past experience. so we have to be vigilant because they're so agile. we can't let this slip by. we have to pay attention to what goes on in the united states as well. we have had at least 13 attempted or successful attacks in 2009. there were only a couple from 2001 or 2002 until 2008. i mean those numbers are phenomenal. >> shannon: well, what do you make then of the administration's response thus far? the president this week outlining failures and mistakes that happened in his plans for moving forward. are they good enough for you? >> i think they are too narrowly focussed. we need to look at the broader issues. what the agencies were doing and who has responsibility for what. there needs to be more congressional oversight. that's been missing. i mean this is a team effort. we all work together. it's something that we've got to deal with together. i hope we get answers. when we ask the questions they'll give us hard answers on the briefing. >> when the folks return to work in washington, how do you think the brief willing go? do you expect it to be contentious in any way? >> i don't think it will be contentious. we are all americans here and we need to deal with it like americans and stop partisanship. national security is the first and primary focus of the federal government and we have to bring -- come back to that as a congress and america. >> shannon: congresswoman, thank you. we look forward to having you back in washington. >> thank you. >> shannon: problems at two major airports today. first, major delays at cleveland hopkins airport because of power outage. power went out in the entire airport shortly after a blue flash was seen. right now they are on the backup generators. continental suspended all operations through there through 6:00 p.m. united airlines plane was forced to make emergency landing at newark liberty airport because of landing gear problems. airlines 634 was coming in from chicago when the pilot reported the problems. the plane landed safely. no injuries were reported but so far, no word on what exactly happened to the landing gear in that case. well, people in northern california are cleaning up debris and checking damage from yesterday's 6.5 magnitude earthquake. now to give you some perspective on that, the devastating north ridge earthquake of 1994 was a magnitude 6.7. yesterday's quake was sdered n sdered -- centered near eure eureka. traffic lights came down, chimneys tumble and thousands lost power. no major injuries have been reported thankfully. a snowmobile accident on a frozen lake in vermont killed three people. a man, his daughter, and 3-year-old granddaughter. police say three snowmobiles went through the ice on lake dunmore yesterday. five of the six riders actually went through the ice as well. only with the of those who were pulled out actually survived. the frigid weather has not made exceptions for sunshine state. the temperatures got as low as 22 22 degrees near tampa, that's pretty far south. meteorologist rick reichmuth is at the weather center with the forecast. any break in sight? >> there is, but you still have one more day and one more cold night in the south. then we will start to moderate the temperatures biffle next weekend you'll be back on the beach, how is that, across florida? right now, you are still cold. temperatures in the 40s, down to 43 in miami. 19 in nashville. the cold air is here. tonight, temperatures are going to plummet once again, be similar to what you saw during the overnight hours last night. temps in the 20s again across the interior sections. lower 20s as you head farther north. another rough one. the rest of the country also we have been dealing with the cold air across the eastern two-third. see the blue here? those are warmer temperatures that are starting to move toward the northern plains. that has really experienced the coldest of the air. the warmer air mass will slowly trek across the u.s. and by tuesday and wednesday, almost everybody getting temps back typically or above where you typically should be this time of year. we will look at tomorrow. there you go. the little bit of a lighter green. those are 60s returning to south florida. back toward the 50s in tampa. and the temps will continue to warm this week. we have one more cold night in florida to get through. shannon? >> shannon: nice to see those 40s, 50s in there, though, just at least if they're coming in the mix. >> makes a difference. >> shannon: thank you, rick. >> you bet. >> shannon: the economic news in december, it was pretty grim. the economy shed 85,000 jobs and raised new questions about the sustainability of an economic recovery. brenda buttner of "bulls and bears" gives us the job outlook up next. could healthcare reform make the irs more powerful? find out how it could happen up next. on your arthritis pain relief. but you could end up taking twice as many pills... compared to aleve. choose aleve, it just makes sense. just two aleve have the strength to relieve arthritis pain all day. and unlock the freshness of the outdoors for your indoor cat. fueling an exhilarating adventure... each entree is bursting with high-quality protein... plus wholesome grain and garden greens. specially formulated to promote hairball control... and healthy weight. friskies indoor wet cat food. feed the senses. now turn treat time into party time... with friskies party mix cat treats. get the party started! >> shannon: the top stories we're following on america's news headquarters. president obama accepts senator harry reid's apology for comments he made during the 2008 presidential campaign. a new book "game change" reveals the majority leader said obama could probably win the white house because he was "light skinned" with "no negro dialect." civil rights activist al sharpton called the remarks unfortunate but said his leadership has been unquestionable. a new york city man under investigation for possible links to terror suspect pleaded not guilty. he's accused of receiving military training from a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country. the 25-year-old is one of two queensmen arrested in connection with the investigation of plot to blow up buildings. buildings have been declared unsafe after the 6.5 earthquake rocked the region yesterday. a dozen aftershocks rumbled for several hours. thousands near eureka, california, lost power and authorities say some may remain in the dark all throughout today. those are the top stories for now. this just in, we are getting word from reuters reporting an explosion in the gaza strip killed three palestinian militants. the islamic hamas rulers of theer the your said the three were targeted by israeli tank and they say if fired a shell toward them as they were moving in a field militants use to launch rockets to israel. israeli army spokeman has no immediate comment. we'll follow that and keep you updated. how bad is america's unemployment problem? >> job loss for the last quarter of 2009 were one-tenth of what we were experiencing in the first quarter. in november we saw the first gain in jobs in nearly two years. last month, however, we flipped back, losing more jobs than we gained. >> shannon: what is worse is a growing number of americans are underemployed. brenda buttner host of bulls and bears is here with the job outlook. >> that's right, shannon. pink slips are making the economy bleed more jobs. the december jobless rate would be higher at 17.3%. if it counted those me americans that have given up looking. there are signs that the job market isn't likely to get hotter anytime soon. with so many jobless out there, the employers can put wages under pressure. in the past year, hourly wages haven't kept up with ricing prices or inflation. if finding a job is your job one, there are hiring signs out thethere. think temping. temping workers hire 50ed,000. since hitting a low in july, temping employment jumped by 166,000. healthcare remains one of the best prescriptions for rejoining the workforce. last month healthcare employment jumped 22,000. since the recession began, healthcare has added 600,000 jobs. it was the number one industry in terms of hiring last year and forecasts are it will be again the first. still, whether you like it as a taxpayer or not, a big employ y employer, big and getting bigger, is you guessed it, the government. lately given the terror attacks and threats, security is no small part of that, including needs for airport screeners. where do do t d to look? digital trends tracks trends. monster.com. another is simplyhired.com. also, usajobs.com. to find out about the government jobs available. of course, december's numbers show finding a job is still hard work these days. but hopefully that's a little help where it's wanted. back to you. >> shannon: all right, we hope so. thank you very much, brenda. >> thank you. >> shannon: well, california governor arnold schwarzenegger has a bone to pick with senator ben nelson. today on "meet the press" governor schwarzenegger criticized congress for concessions made to nebraska arguing that california was left out. >> senators and congressional people how they would vote for something like that, where they're representing nebraska and not us. and by the way, as i sta said i the state of the state, that's the biggest rippoff. it's against the law to buy a vote. >> shannon: california's currency facing a $20 billion deficit. the governor says he is going to need $6.9 billion in federal dollars to keep the state afloat. for his part, nelson says he wants the democratic leadership to extend the extra medicaid money to all states. well, the irs might get even more powerful and healthcare reform could be to blame. fox's molly henneberg is tracking your taxes. >> the u.s. tax forms may get a little longer. congress is expected to include in the final healthcare reform bill a requirement that almost all americans have health insurance. prove it on their tax returns or face a fine. enforcing the new health insurance mandate, the irs. some in the tax preparation business say this is going to add a whole new burden to the tax agency. >> if there are audits of this and things, it will be huge. it will be again our system is a voluntary compliance system. people voluntarily put their information and then the irs can come in and audit, of course, and this is whole other new area opening up that the irs will have to be on top of. >> in addition, the healthcare reform bill likely would require the irs to dole out taxpayer dollars, subsidiaries to low-income americans to help them pay for health insurance. administer tax credits to mall businesses to help them offer health insurance to workers and collect billions in new taxes on employers, insurance companies and medical device companies. a top senate republican says he's not convinced that the irs is up to the job and wanted assurances before the senate voted on the bill, but that didn't happen. >> are they capable of doing it? how much more will it cost to do it? they know what the law requires and we never got a concrete answer from the irs. >> a taxpayer advocacy group says it's concerned it gives the tax man too much entree in our lives. >> one reason why it was restructure and reformed in the 1990s because it was abusing the broad discretionary power. we are going back to that era to give the irs range of powers over how we pay for the healthcare. >> the irs says it does not comment on pending legislation and it's focussed on its job of enforcing the tax code as it is now. in washington, molly henneberg, fox news. >> shannon: well, is saying i'm sorry enough? you can bet the top republicans and democrats had plenty to say about harry reid embarrassing comments. i sit down with "fox news sunday's" anchor chris wallace to talk about that up next. >> shannon: three civilians are dead after a roadside bomb blew up in afghanistan a short time ago. caroline shively is standing by with the top of the news. hi, caroline. >> hi to you. this attack is latest in the series that struck in a taliban stronghold. the interior ministry says the charity workers were driving to the office when they hit a roadside bomb. three workers were killed and two others were wounded. friends of the man suspected of causing a shutdown at newark airport say he is just a romantic who wanted to kiss his girlfriend goodbye. 28-year-old haisong jiang was charged with defiant trespass and faces a possible $500 fine. the chinese doctoral student slipped under a barrier last sunday causing the tsa to shut down the terminal for six hours and rescreen all travellers. hawaii doesn't have the funds for a special election to replace congressman neil abercrombie who plans to step down next month to run for governor. it could leave 600,000 honolulu residents without representation in washington. until hawaii falls the money or the fall's regularly scheduled election occurs one of the two house seats will remain empty. family and friends of susan powell aren't giving up hope. they are handing out purple ribbons to remind people the utah mother has been missing for about a month. police say her husband josh powell is the only person of interest. yesterday, he packed for a move to washington state. powell was the last to see his wife before he says he took their young sons on a winter camping trip after midnight. those are the top stories. back to you. >> shannon: thank you very much, caroline. sue louden is weighing in over senator reid's controversial comments. she is running against him and she told fox about what he thinks about the comments made toward then candidate obama and what she thinks of the senator today. >> he has been there three decades and i believe he has lost touch and he does not represent the people who put him in office in the first place. he's been there too long and the power has gone to his head. >> senator reid has publicly apologized for the comments and president obama says he accepts that apology. well, the heads of the democratic and republican parties had plenty to say about the firestorm that senator reid finds himself in now. i sat down with "fox news sunday" anchor chris wallace for a preview. >> shannon: very controversial comments by senator harry reid. you had plenty of reaction today. >> yeah. it turns out -- i say i'm going to go get the book. i don't want to plug it. "game change" by two veteran political reporters who have a lot of inside dirt on what went on behind the scenes in the 2008 campaign. what they say about harry reid in private comments to them, he in effect said the reason why he thinks obama has a chance to become president in the 2008 campaign is because he's light-skin and he doesn't speak with a negro dialect. he immediately now that it's come out and is in print realized it's a big mistake and is apologizing to the president and civil rights leaders and all of that. the republican party chairman, michael steele, hit on it like a ton of bricks and said when trent lott got fired for racial remarks and had to step down as majority leader in 2002. it's a double standard ifs the same happens to harry reid and he should step down as the leader of the democrats. tim kaine, the democratic party chair, not surprisingly said it was unfortunate remarks and made in positive comments about barack obama and he is doing good work. >> shannon: michael steele being here todtoday, head of rnc, had criticism coming his way in the last few weeks and you pressed him on that. >> i couldn't even get to the fight between the two parties because they each have their own problems. steele this weak w week with se hannity, he said do you think the republicans can take over the house? he said not that year. then he amended that. another point he said they're not ready for it. he said we have the best policy, the best platform honest eng indian. a lot of people thought it was racial. he was asked about the critics and he basically said shut up. he said he's moving the ball and doing good things for the party, but there is a feeling in the republican party he is a loose cannon. he has written a book and out promoting the book and giving paid speeches and the gop congressional leaders had no idea that the party chairman written the book laying out agenda for the party and they're the lead eers of the republican party on capitol hill. it asked him directly, any chance he will resign? no way. >> shannon: the other top story, we follow terror threats facing the u.s. you had senator jon kyl and jack reed, not harry reid, to talk about that as well. disagreement there. >> pretty tough. he said the review and bureaucratic reforms were good but we are not giving the sense of urgency about the problem. charging abdulmutallab has a criminal defendant, not enemy combatant and cutting off the interrogation, not urgent. continuing to say the president that he is going to continue to transfer detainees from guantanamo to other country, not to yemen at this point, but other countries not urgent. reed on the other hand said this president has been more focussed on the war on terror than george w. bush has. when i asked him about that, he said well, look, george bush got us involved in iraq with had nothing to do with that. very interesting discussion about the way forward and the war on terror. we also ask with yemen becoming a big threat, what should the u.s. do differently? should we become more involved militarily? >> shannon: fascinating interview and one of the fise iest -- feistiest panels in a long time. some terrorism experts say dogs are the best to sniff out explosives but what does it take to turn a dog into a dog-sniffing machine? casey stegall joins us from lax, which boosts the most bomb-sniffing dogs in the country. >> there are 700 of the bomb-sniffing dogs at work around airports in this country. as more is being trained to add them all the time. at lax, the third busiest and the most traveled airport in the country. it also has the highest number of canines deployed. the security experts say the canines are far more accurate and reliable than any screening equipment on the market. plus, they're not as controversial or expensive as some of those scanners that allow tsa employees to see under a passenger's clothes. >> i don't want to bad mouth the machines and they've done a good job and we need more out there, but dogs are a key part of the environment. they're designed that way and they're trained to look for the scent of explosives, especially the explosives that we are worried about terrorists using because they're so compact and can be smuggled in small quantities. >> this ten-acre ranch in southern california, one of the most respected canine training centers in the country in terms of explosives detection. about 80 animals come through work dog international every year. compared to about 13 or so prior to september 11. the dogs and their handlers complete an extensive ten-week training course, teaching them how to be one step ahead of the terrorists. >> there is thousands of explosives and more being made by the would-be bomber daily. there is hme now, homemade explosives. that is chemicals that you can find in our kitchen, under your kitchen sink and in the garage. >> now the dogs don't come without controversy, by the way. last week the fed said that three dogs failed a testing. recertification test that philadelphia's international airport. and one lawmaker there is calling for those dogs to be replaced. shannon? >> shannon: all right, casey. we know a lot of people andca nines are hard at work and we thank them for that and for you for bringing us the story. thank you. >> you bet. >> shannon: after frightening intelligence failures the president is promising to plug security gaps. with what can the administration do to make sure americans feel safer? they were part of the miracle on the hudson. surviving the crash when the plane landed in the hudson river. they got on not only with their lives, but they found each other and fell in love. they will join us. with constipation please report to gate 17? thank you so much. constipation's uncomfortable enough, so why take a harsh laxative? phillips' caplets work naturally with your colon... for overnight relief without cramps. phillips' caplets. >> shannon: this week, president obama vowed to correct what he termed the systemic failure that allowed a man to board a u.s.-bound plane with explosives. was it enough to keep the americans feel safer? we're joined by the chief correspondent for the "washington examiner." byron, thank you for coming in today. >> thank you. >> shannon: whatdy you make of the presidential remarks and talk about the mistakes made? >> i think he will get credit for saying that the buck stops with me. and that the administration made mistakes. they con ducked a fairly quick review. it didn't take months and months and he comes out and says we made a lot of mistakes. the problem is they're back tracking over the things that they did, started at the very first -- first day we found out about the incident. the president as you remember played golf after finding out about the incident in drot. a -- detroit. his aides told the sympathetic supporters that was a strategy. it wasn't just that president wanted to play golf but he wanted to downplay the event and not make a big deal of it, which is consistent about what he and other democrats said in the campaign, that the bush administration had used the fear of terrorism for political purposes. so and then, of course, since the american public is quite concerned about it, he's had to back track. >> shannon: well, let me ask about that. there are a number of people in flux here in the administration. various responses that came out. and finding out about other's vacations and things that went on. the constant question coming up now is will heads roll? is anyone going to lose their job over this? do you think the administration will take a harder line if nothing else to demonstrate to the american public they are taking it seriously? >> not right now they're not going to. the president made it clear the system doesn't need to be changed that much. people need to do a better job. john brennan, his top terrorism aide said, "i failed the president, i am going to do better," which seemed to be the line in the administration. will people demand more? it depends on what we find out about the plot. we heard reports that there are many other people like umar farouk abdulmutallab out there training. will the president need to change his team? we don't know. right now, he said that basically the system that is in place is okay and everybody is going to try a lot harder. >> shannon: i want to ask you quickly, the tsa still without formal leadership at this point. erroll southers is a nominee but has had a bumpy road. those supporting the the president says we have to fill the position. those blocking it are obstructionists at this point. >> the nomination, the president did not quickly nominate head to the tsa. the republicans began blocking this nomination after november 20. so the period from last year, january 20, november 20, was the president not getting around to nominating somebody. but since then, yes, the republicans have been blocking it. the story is that more republicans now are blocking it than before. they are concern and they feel the white house and erroll southers or one of them misled them about incident in southers' past where he had access as part of a data base in a domestic issue 20 years ago. they want to know what the white house knew. jim demint started out opposing it but now seven republicans have written to the white house and they're blocking it. we have to see where it goes. >> shannon: we will. we will be watching. thank you for coming in today. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> shannon: we like to hear what you think about the stories we're doing. we're looking for you to weigh in, in the online question in this case. do you feel more or less safe than you did a year ago? 62% of you say you feel less safe right now than a year ago. 24% feel the same. 14% say you feel more safe. we'd love to hear from you. you with weigh in on foxnews.com/americasnewshq to cast your vote. harry reid mea culpa caps off a painful week for the democrats. they were reeling from powerful announce me announceme retirements from chris dodd and byron dorgan. more bad news could be on the way. malini wilkes has the story live from washington and joins us with more. >> the late senator ted kennedy's seat was considered safely democratic but the dynamic seems to be shifting toward republicans. it seems the race is getting more competitive. a "boston globe" poll shows 50% of democrats picking coakley to give her a solid 15-point lead over republican scott brown. 9% undecided and 5% supporting joe kennedy, not related to ted kennedy. but look at the new numbers. this shows republican brown leading the democrat coakley but one point. 48 to 47%. that's a huge upset. coakley is the m. general endorsed by ted kennedy's widow. she supports healthcare reform and the democrats want to hold on to the seat to hold on to the filibuster proof majority for the healthcare bill. but some say she's been too low-profile to allow brown pick up steam. he has proudly stated he would be the 41st vote to stop debate on the healthcare bill and calls himself independent thinker in favor of lower taxes and less government but is pro-choice. the republicans hasn't held a senate seat in massachusetts in 37 years and some analysts think it's a longshot for the gop with the registered democrats outnumbering republicans 3 to 1 but it is starting to get more interesting there. back to you. >> shannon: certainly is. thank you very much. getting paid to lose weight. it may sound like a dream come true, but is it really as good as it sounds? that story coming up. ydññññd assistance getting around their homes. there is a medicare benefit that may qualify you for a new power chair or scooter at little or no cost to you. imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your mobility and your life. one medicare benefit that, with private insurance, may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happen ... your power chair will be paid in full. the scooter store. hi i'm doug harrison. we're experts at getting you the power chair or scooter you need. in fact, if we qualify you for medicare reimbursement and medicare denies your claim, we'll give you your new power chair or scooter free. i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. with help from the scooter store, medicare and my insurance covered it all. call the scooter store for free information today. >> shannon: here are some of the top stories we're following on america's news headquarters -- fresh reaction to senator reid comments, politico is reporting that john cornyn says it's, "entirely appropriate for senator harry reid to step down" because of the comments he made as president obama's race back in 2008. gop chairman also calling for the majority leader to step down. reid has been working the phones and issuing apologies since the 2008 gaff came to light yesterday. despite the u.s. pressure to crack down on al-qaeda, yes men's president says she ready to open a dialogue with the terrorist group. ali abdullah saleh says he will talk to members of al-qaeda if they lay down their weapons and denounce violence and says he will track down the terrorists who won't do that. two more churches in malaysia were hit with fire bombs today and another church was splashed with black paint. it's the latest in the series of assault on christian houses of worship following a december court decision allowing non-muslims to use allah when referring to god. four other churches were hit with fire and gasoline bombs in recent days. colorado prosecutors say authorities spent $50,000 responding to the now infamous balloon boy incident. richard hainyn hene is supposed start a jail sentence tomorrow and his wife will take a turn after his jail turn ends. he's making the rounds on the news program and talking about being innocent said he only pled innocent to save his wife because he says she would have been deported if he didn't. those are the top stories now. if you count weight loss as one of this year's new year's resolution, you might find incentive online. laura ingle has more and joins us live. sglirt's like a big mirror on your refrigeratrefrigerator, a keeping you accountable for eating action and reminds you of the weight loss goal. the website can force you to lose money if you don't follow through. we talk about the websites like stick.com. it challenges users to lose weight by setting up a deal if you don't hit your goal, you will be held to a contract that will force you to give your money to what they call an anti-charity of your choice. think republican versus democrat, gun control organizations, even abortion groups. another website called healthy weight.com challenges user tos lower the body mass index number by a year but having a doctor help to keep them honest. if they do, they get $$100. >> we need them to put the money where their mouth is to ensure they're going to succeed. they say you know what? for every week i will put ten dollars on the line. if i don't lose a pound each week i forfeit that ten dollars. >> websites like stick.com launching two years ago has over $2 million on the line from the 32,000 users. while they encourage users to designate referees for yourself, people you trust to log on and help keep you honest, many doctors say it's one good way to get results, it's not the only way. studies show if it wears off in long-term and participants will go right back to put the weight on as soon as the incentive is removed. i'm checking out the websites today and i look at one of the personal challenges posted today. a person wants her referee to help her stay on track to eat brown rice instead of white rice. there is one goal. another wrote a commitment to work out three times a week and commit smok quit smoking. help helps people stay honest and get the goals on paper. >> shannon: thank you. the debate about what to do with terror suspects at guantanamo bay is about to get white hot. we will tell you about a new report about what suspects are doing after their release. a new report says terror suspects released from guantanamo bay prison are much more likely to return to their old ways than we ever thought. national correspondent catherine herridge looks at the numbers and what they mean. >> at least one in five detainees has returned or is suspected of returning to the battlefield according to three knowledgeable sources familiar with the pentagon review. this is a significant jump from april when pentagon officials confirmed roughly one in seven detainees was back in the fight tore about 14%. a pentagon spokesman would no the comment directly on the report because it remains classified but after being peppered with questions he did not deny the rate is climbing. >> one showed at 11% and another showed it at 14 percent. i don't think that trend has reversed itself. >> the cases of detainees restructuring to the battlefield are well documented including the leadership of the al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula or aqap. it was aqap that claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing of flight 253 christmas day. once seen as a regional player, in the last year, u.s. officials say aqap has expanded operations. and this was there bombing in the spring of 2008 where a kuwaiti man blue himself up. after four years at gitmo he was apparently propelled to act. >> if you hold people for years upon years with no hope of any outcome favorable to them you put into their own minds this idea of becoming a radical. even if they weren't radicals to begin with, they are now. >> critics say they are -- closing the military prison even by 2011 is in doubt. the pentagon insists a public report is in the offing. the report was finished some time ago, perhaps as early as november but the administration has yet to make it public. a senior administration official says there has been no delay and they are in the process of releasing it adding that there is no evidence that any detainees that were released on president obama's watch have returned to the battlelefield. >> shannon: senator harry reid is working the phones, apologizing to the president, civil rights activists, colleagues and con at thi const will it be enough. he says he deeply regrets using such a poor choice of words in his racial comments about president obama but about puts the senate majority leader scarily in the hot seat -- squarely in the hot seat. i'm shannon bream. hour number two of america's news headquarters starts right now. harry reid is no doubt wishing he could take the whole thing back. in a new book about the 2008 presidential he is quoted as referring to president obama as light skinned and not having a "negrodialect." major garrett has the latest from washington. hi, major. >> the fallout appears to be at least within the confines of harry reid's own party, the democratic party to be minimal at least today. day two of an uncomfortable situation for the senate majority leader battling for his own reelection prospects which appear dimmer now than they were 48 hours ago. the book is called "game change." it is impossible to do the story without offering sort of a plug for the book but in it he gave an interview to the two journalists involved and they write as follows about harry reids assessment of barack obama as a candidate. he was wowed by obama's oratorical grips and believed the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate especially someone such as obama. a light skinned african american with no negro dialect. he said this in an interview that he thought was a net positive not only for his own political calculus that obama could be the president. he regrets having phrased that support in that way. immediately after the book excerpts came out he put out this statement: to the surprise of no one, this was on the sunday talk shows. "fox news sunday" hosted the two national party chairmen, michael steele, the gop republican chairman offered this observation -- >> there is this standard where the democrats feel that they can say these things and apologize when it comes from the mouths of their own but if it comes from any one else is is racism. >> speaking of apologies, did harry reid apologize broadly in the statement but he telephoned president obama yesterday and the president took the call in the oval office. harry reid was at his home. the president says he accepts the apology and considers the matter closed. the democratic national committee chairman tim kaine said the following. >> i don't think this is an issue that will affect his leadership at all. he is doing heavy lifting, wonderful lifting to get the healthcare bill over the goal line. >> michael steele said he thought harry reid ought to step down. there is no endcation of that. harry reid making many calls yesterday and again today solidified his support among democrats. and the signal from the white house is let's move harry reid beyond this and focus on healthcare. tomorrow, harry reid has a scheduled event on capitol hill on energy and the staff tells me that will go ahead suggesting it is business as usual. the most important legislative body for the fate of healthcare is the senate. harry reid worked long and hard to get the president what he most needed, 60 votes for a senate bill. the white house is referring to the politicalcy implications which means harry reid is central to whatever the house and senate agree on for a final legislative product. take harry reid out of the occasion and becomes a different scenario. they want healthcare as fast as possible. harry reid is central to that and he will be kept where he is because this is a fight -- it is not even a fight, a conversation among democrats. republicans can call for a resignation but the people who matter most, the obama white house and harry reid's own caucus members don't want him to go, in all likelihood he will stay. great to have you, thank you. >> shannon: a rough week for democrats as three key political players announced they will not seek reelection to their posts. will republicans be able to take advantage and gain steam in 2010? malini wilkes has more on that. >> we are looking at the race in massachusetts to fill ted kennedy's seat with the tide shifting in recent days toward the republican in a traditionally democratic state. the candidate is a massachusetts attorney general endorsed by ted kennedy's widow vicky. she supports healthcare reform and democrats need to hold on to the seat to pass a healthcare bill. some political analysts say that she has been too come place petncomplacent, allowingn to pick up steam. he has gained ground with his message of lower taxes and less government. the latest boston globe poll shows 50% of likely voters picking democrat cokeley giving her a 15% lead over brown in the elex. 9% undecided and 5% supporting joseph kennedy who is not relate ted denky. look at the numbers from the public polling. shows republican brown leading coakley by one point. republicans haven't held a senate seat in mass in 37 years. they are outnumbered by registered democrats 3 to 1 in the state but in massachusetts voters tonight have to register with a party and almost 51% of unaffiliated so turnout especially in that group could be a big factor in the race. shannon? >> molly, thank you very much. a roadside bomb has killed three charity workers and wounded two others. they were traveling to their office in south central afghanistan. it is the latest in a series of attacks to strike civilians in the province. a long-time taliban stronghold. three nato service members have died since friday. national security was at the top of the agenda for some of the most prominent lawmakers appearing on the sunday shows. in the aftermath of the fort hood shooting and christmas day bombing attempt they are expressing new concerns about the state of u.s. intelligence and homeland security. caroline shively with the latest. hi, careline. >> the big question today is umar farouk abdulmutallab is criminal or a terrorist. that was the subject of great debate this morning. here is some of the back and forth on "fox news sunday." >> we have charged and in many cases convicted hundreds of individuals since 9/11 in our civil courts as criminals. and i think one and it is an effective way to seek justice. two, it takes away the aura that the al-qaeda elements tried to project that these are soldiers. >> when you indict him you immediately read miranda rights and give him a lawyer and he stops talking. you can pursue a court action against this person later on if you want to but right now the key thing is in tell against. >> u.s. officials say the fbi had abdulmutallab for 30 hours, questioning him about the explosives concealed in his undergarments. he was very talkative before he got his lawyer and decided to clam up. 22 gop lawmakers urged the president to try abdulmutallab in military court. now, some senators are starting the push for more action. one of the senators is independent joe lieberman of connecticut. this morning he said if human errors were made i think some of the humans who made the errors have to be disciplined so that they never happen again. shannon, back to you. >> shannon: thank you very much, caroline. yemen's president says he is ready to open a dialogue with members of al-qaeda. they must renounce terrorism first. he told abudabe television that they will track down violent fighters injuries the country emerged as a hot bed of terrorism. greg palkot is live and joins us with more. hi, greg. >> we have only been a short time on the ground here in yemen but already have strong impression of the successes and challenges in the new front in the war on terror. first, to the successes. one of of our contacts here told us that yemeni counter terror forces, many of whom are trained by the u.s., rounded up seven more al-qaeda suspects in recent days. there have been others who have been nabbed. this happened to the east of where we are in the capital of sana. that area a hot bed and strong hold of support for the al-qaeda chanter in this region, it is very rugged country. at the same time, though, we are hearing from two different sources that u.s.-backed yemeni tribes against al-qaeda targets last month here might not have been as successful as claimed. three top terror brads supposed to have been killed and they have survived. the role the president of the detroit christmas bomb -- the detroit christmas bomber, abdulmutallab, he supposedly spent time here, had training here and even we are told again today got some explosives here. we are also told that unless yemen and the united states keeps up the pressure here that sort of thing could happen again with maybe even more dangerous results. back to you, shannon. >> shannon: greg with the latest live from yemen. thank you, greg. president obama says it was a failure to connect the dots that contributed to last month's terror scare aboard a detroit bound airplane. in the aftermath of 9/11 when new information sharing techniques are already in place what needs to be done differently? joining us now is jamie mcintyre the creator of the line of departure.com. based on the report we got from the president, what do you make of the assessment we are getting? >> one thing is clear that this was not a case of failure to share the information. it was to use the phrase, a failure to connect the dots. one of the things that happened here according to the white house review that the very redundancy that is supposed to prevent these things from falling through the cracks so that this individual didn't make it on the terror watch list or no fly list. ever windchill baseball where the two outfielders are watching the ball and it falls between them because each thinks the other is going make the move. the information was available to everyone but as was pointed outle earlier this was a human failure. people didn't do their job that they were supposed to do to follow up on these things and that is where the review is going. why that happened and how to prevent that again. >> shannon: we know there is a mountain of information that the agencies have to sift through every single day. when you have something as simple as a misspelled name, do how do you close the gaps? >> veryth he valuable information vastly increased their intelligence gathering apparatus and they have huge amounts of tate that to be analyzed. it is the analyzing the data and acting on it. is is very much the difficult job of connecting the dots and there was a political cartoon by tim tolzen in the washington post and had a whole array of dots saying you can connect these any way you want. it is a cartoon but that is very much the problem they had. there there are hundreds of things that look suspicious and how do you find the real one? they are real red flags that should have been more obvious. this wasn't a case where in retrospect it looks obvious but didn't at the time. it should have been obvious at the time. >> one of the problems is that we have a lot of turnover with analysts and we have young analysts that come in and takes five or ten years until they are seasoned but they are not stricting around that long. is that a weak link for us? >> another part is the second guessing. senator lieberman said if people made mistakes, we should punish them. sometimes the ones acknowledging the mistakes and learning from the mistakes are the best ones to correct it. we have the theory lop off their heads and bring in somebody new. it doesn't send a good message through the intelligence community. if you are an intelligence analyst and more worried about covering your posterior than you are assessing the risk you will not make as good judgment. there also needs to be confidence displayed in the intelligence community and a recognition of the tremendous amount of positive work they have done in preventing takes, many of which they haven't been able to tell us about over the last eight years. >> we know they are working 24/7, 365 days a year keeping us from threats that we never know about because of their hard work. angry muslims concerned over the use of the word mullah are turning violent. two churches were hit with a gasoline bomb and a third hit with black paint today. a series of attacks and christian houses of worship stems from a high court decision that overturned nonmuslims from using the word allah in their prayer and literature. police say two men removed from an emrates airlines flight were drunk. the pair made false bomb threats on the flight bound for dubai. they have since been charged. a third man also pulled off the flight has now been released. the weather is making things very sloppy across the country, especially in tennessee. pipes burst in the freezing weather they are getting there, causing water andize to flood the street is of memphis. rick reichmuth with today's forecast. what can you tell us, rick? >> you get these kind of cold temperatures in areas that aren't used to it and people don't have the insulation around the pipes and in their homes. heat, all of these problems, even wardrobe really to be prepared for this and that is why it is dangerous across the southern tier. northern tier a little more accustomed to this weather. the cold is there but this is easing. we will see warmer air spread back across a lot of the country for this week and that will be such a great thing for so many people. here is the satellite radar picture. east coast looking good. we are going to see a little clipper move in across the great lakes bringing a little bit of snow and then out west a new storm will pull onshore and this will be the next rain and snowmaker. look at the next 48 hours. here is today. you see nothing going on on the futurecast. maybe a little bit of snow flying around the great lakes and then we move into tomorrow and into tuesday. and you see this storm here out across the west. that is going to start to move in and that will be the next big weathermaker over the next few days. i got to tell you, we are going to be looking good temperature wise. major changes coming this week. back to normal at least and we start to see that even tomorrow back into the 50s at least in florida. shannon? >> shannon: you are making a lot of folks happy today, rick, thank you. you bet. >> shannon: a 6.5 earthquake shook northern california yesterday. to give you perspective on that, the devastating north ridge earthquake of 1994 was a magnitude 6.7. the quake was centered near eureka. traffic lights fell, chimneys fell and thousands lost power. no major injuries to report but some people still don't have power back. california's governor is speaking out about the nebraska cornhusker kickback. not too happy. and love on the hudson. two passengers rescued from flight 1549 are here to tell us their story. i never as a woman thought i'd get a heart attack. just, out of the blue at 43. now i'm on an aspirin regimen because it helps me live the life i want to live. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. it's not a big deal to go to your doctor. it is a big deal to have a heart attack. >> shannon: the president's chief economic advisor says reduce the unemployment rate is essential to reining in the growing budget deficit. the unemployment stands at 10% and 85,000 jobs were lost last month. still, she says the administration has an overwhelming sense it needs to do more to create jobs and she seemed to be backing a house effort to pump an additional $57 billion in federal spending into the struggling economy. california governor arnold schwarzenegger says his state is going to get ripped off if concessions to secure nebraska senator's ben nelson's vote on healthcare reform is passed. he is telling the california delegation to vote against it as the state struggles with its own budget crisis. anita vogel has the story. >> looking down the barrel of a $20 billion deficit, california governor arnold schwarzenegger says he needs 6.9 billion federal dollars to keep the state afloat. >> we also seek more flexibility to prioritize our own resources and manage our own budget. right now the federal government is forcing us to spend money we do not have. >> the governor says this is no bailout but money the state is owed for medicare, voter protection, prisons and other federal programs. california taxpayers spend more -- send more none any to the federal government than any other state and get back just 78 cents on the dollar. 28% less than it got back under the clinton administration. >> we are giving to washington and they are sending out to other states. >> 42 states are projecting a deficit in the coming fiscal year and like, california, new york, new jersey and illinois all expect to be billions in the red, making congress wary of setting a precedent but economists say letting, california, drown in red ink could hit the national economy hard because the golden state is home to 12% of the u.s. population and produces 13% of the nation's gross domestic product. >> it is probably an anallegy one could make that we are too big to fail. it doesn't mean that we may not have some difficulties, that we need to adjust ourselves but the failure of california would be a failure for the country. >> the budget governor schwarzenegger unveiled friday slashes programs across the board and raised an unused state fund for half a billion dollars to give tax credits to industry to create new job os. in the end, he needs legislators in washington and sacramento to go along with his plan or the state could face even more extraordinary cuts or crippleling debt. in los angeles, anita vogel, fox news. >> shannon: and a fox news alert. we are getting news crossing the wires that involves jay leno. you know he has had a 10:00 show on nbc and we are getting word now that the network is pulling the plug on o the jay leno show beginning in february. i believe on february 12th but we are also being told that they are in active negotiations at nbc trying to keep jay leno and also conan oh brie penn got be the late night slot.ho s the jay leno show is going away and nbc is trying to hold on to both leno and o'brien. we will see where they end up. it is called generation y and many are prepared to begin or o enter a work place near you and more established workers may find it harder to work with some of the younger colleagues, they may be what companies need to thrive. y size your business. how geny worker cassiopoeia grow your business. one of the key points about this group is they are entrepreneurial minded and that could be a great thing for businesss. >> it means when we are give and problem we try to solve it and not just go with the status quo. one of the things i found when i interviewed companies is that gen y was willing to challenge the status quo to try to get to a solution even if it made other colleagues a little uncomfortable but in the end the business won out and that is immensible valuable right now. >> and as companies are trying to cut corners and avoid layoffs and streamline these employees would be the most cost-effective choice coming right out of college or grad school. >> essentially we are cheap. however, the skills that we bring in terms of the technology and the entrepreneurial mindset and a desire to prove ourself to make both our boss proud and even our mom i think is a real asset when companies manage us correctly. >> talk about the tech savvy part of the equation. the young are employees coming to the workforce are ones who have grown up and lived with technology as a part of their daily life since the day they were born essentially. how important is it that they bring the skills to maybe reignite a company that is doing things the old way and could update and use the advantages of newer technology? >> i think it is very important. and i think the important piece is for the managers and employers to recognize kind of the untapped value there. i mean when you are in line you see gen y texting. when you see us we are in the bathroom talking on the cell phone. we are constantly connected to the technology and smart employers will say how can we use facebook or social media. test out this technology we are considering and gen y is so eager to do that and so quick to adapt to the technology and several companies that are in my book were able to get gen y to go either test new technology or create few applications within the technology that really moved the company forward and did so without spending any additional money and i think right now that is really the key. >> shannon: jason dorsey, they bring a lot to the table. thank you for breaking it down for us today. >> thank you for having me. >> shannon: they may have one of the best how we met stories. it wasn't school, it wasn't work. it was a plane crash that brought them together. you will hear from them. the pope pays a get well call. he wasn't hurt in that christmas day attack but not everyone there was so lucky. stay with us. s >> shannon: more now on the breaking news involving jay leno. nbc universal chairman says that leno ifs 10:00 at night prime time show is going to end at the beginning of the olympics that start february 12th. nbc wants to the return leno to his old time slot at 11:35 and wants conan o'brien and jimmy fall laon to shift back an hou. looks like jay leno says with nbc. after making racially insensitive remarks about then candidate barack obama, harry supporters and suspects distracters. gop chairman steele says harry reid should step town. the democratic party chairman sasse i says reid's comments shouldn't affect his position. more problems at two major airports today starting with major are delays at cleveland hopkins international airport due to a power outage. the power went out throughout the airport shortly after a blue flash was seen this morning. continental airlines has suspended operations through 6:00 p.m. plus, a united airlines flight forced to make an emergency landing at newark liberty international airport because of landing gear problems. flight 364 was flying from chicago when the pilot reported the problem. the plane safely landed and no injuries were reported. three people are dead after a snowmobile accident in vermont. police say three snowmobiles went through ice on lake dunwood yesterday, killing a man, his daughter and three-year-old grand daughter. five of the six people on the snowmobiles had to be pulled from the icy waters. a four-year-old child was pushed to safety before falling into the lake. pope benedict made a visit yesterday to a hospitalized cardinal who broke a hip when a mentally disturbed woman knocked the pontiff down in on christmas eve. pope benedict embraced the 87-year-old cardinal and the two chatted for a 30 minute unannounced visit. the woman who went after the pope is now being treated in a psychiatric clinic. those are the top stories. shannon, back to you. harry reid has apologized to president obama for private comment he now says he deeply regrets. the controversial words come as his approval ratings are sagging. so far they have only drawn mild criticism from fellow democrats. it was a topic of discussion on "fox news sunday." chris wallace has this report. >> harry heed i reid is in fule control this weekend after a new book "game change" reported that reid thought americans might vote for barack obama because he was a "light skinned african american with no negro dialect unless he wanted to have one." reid apologized. today on "fox news sunday," republican chairman michael steele said that wasn't good enough. >> temperature crates feel they can say -- democrats feel they can apologize and say these things. when it comes from the of any one else it is racism. >> steele and jon kyl noted republican leader trent lott was forced from his post back in 2002 after he praised strom thurman. they say if lott had to step down, so should harry reid. >> if the standard was one we saw with trent lott as leader at the time i think this falls into that category. it is more than just an apology here. it is a reflection of an attitude. >> if he should resign harry reid should. when these people apologize you know what is in their heart, they shouldn't. i would like to see the same standard applied to both. >> the democratic party chair, governor tim kaine stood by harry reid. >> he is doing heavy lifting, wonderful lifting to get the healthcare bill over the goal line. >> reids comments come to light as the latest poll in his home state of nevada shows him with a 52% unfavorable rating but reid told a las vegas newspaper he is absolutely running for reelection in november. in washington, chris wallace, fox news. >> catch owl of "fox news sunday" right here on fox news right after our show at 2:00 and 6:00 eastern time. well, a chilling video released this weekend showing cia bombing suspect human was the current pakistani taliban chief. this as the reports come that he was associated with bin laden. rich joins us live from new york. rich, great to see you today. >> great to see you, shannon. >> how closely do you think the attack at the cib base was linked to osama bin laden or any of this is closer associates? >> well, given the connections in pakistan, probably pretty high up in al-qaeda. remember, the cia hoped that baliwi would lead them to zarkawi -- identifying a location for zwahiri would probably lead to a drone attack and kill him and lead to the crippling of the organization. the latest shows that al-qaeda and the pakistani wing of the taliban of closely connect. >> what is their relationship like? how do they work together? how coordinated are they? >> the analysts have been fighting about that for years but we do see people who go back and forth and fight alongside al-qaeda, typically arabs from the middle east who are not ethnic pashtuns for example and shift to another al-qaeda funded terrorist group maybe in cashmer kashmir and to back to al-qaeda. people and techniques get transferred back and forth. if al-qaeda is the bombmaker or needs someone to teach some of the recruits how to use an rpg they might get that from the taliban and vis versa. >> and he was referred to a double agent. what do we know about the the possibility there are other like minded double agents, folks out there? >> it is possible. one of the rumors going around arab in at the against circles is there was another double agent inside al-qaeda who did not like him and arranged for the suicide mission to keep it to himself. when the jordannians recruited this suicide bomber he was -- sorry when was recruited, he was a suicide bomber. he was arrested before he could detonate himself. he already has the predisposition to do this. that is one thing that ought to be looked at when screening double agents, make sure they are not committed to martyrdom. there is no reason why there should be seven cia intelligence agents in one room. usually they would compartmentalize and a key source would meet with one or two people but no more than that at a time. >> thank you nor the information and we look forward to the new book as well. >> thanks, shannon. >> shannon: as of january 1st, 19 states ban texting while driving but the states might have to think about tweeting while driving as well. the ford motor company abued technology features and new dash board design that brings wi-fi and web apps to ford models starting in 2012. twitter and social networking sites are becoming a speed bump in the justice system, making it harder to pick juries. in new york a orsent a facebook friend request to a witness in the case. does the internet make it harder to get a fair jury in a trial? doug joins us from austin. thanks for joining us today. >> thank you, shannon, my pleasure. >> shannon: technology gives you so much information and people google and get all kinds of info when sitting on a jury. how difficult does that make it. >> it can make it more complicated especially if we don't teach them exactly bahar it is that is expected of them and how the technology that people are accustomed to using today can make things more complicated. >> shannon: and when you are picking a jury or advising clients on trying to sort through potential jurors are you looking for this kind of person, somebody who seems to be attached to the pda or be tech savvy and have potential worries about how that will affect the service as a jury? >> 75% of people in the united states have web access and 85% use search engines on a regular basis. there is no escaping the potential complication that the internet represents. so one of the things that we are focusing on isn't so much being afraid of people who have internet access but figuring out ways to instruct them about the reasons why it isn't a prudent thing to do when sitting on a jury. a lot of courts have yet to really implement procedures to teach the people how on a very commonsensical level it hurts the process if they go and collect information outside of the courtroom. >> shannon: have you heard of any specific examples where this has caused problems in a potential trial? >> there are a lot of them. the greater complication i think is when people look things up on google or bing or yahoo search engines and actually bring that information that they gather there into the jury deliberations instead of allowing the witnesses and the evidence in the trial to actually govern their decision making. and that happens with some regularity in courts that don't emphasize the need to stop doing that. we have cases in the taser case that recently was resolved, nine out of the 12 jurors were looking things up on the internet and it created a tremendous problem. judges need emphasize not only the fact that this is an improper behavior for jurors but explain to them why. the fact that you can't put wikipedia on the stand and face your accuser is a good reason not to have wikipedia information show up in a courtroom. people don't necessarily appreciate that until it is taught to them. >> shannon: and facebooking a witness as a potential friend, now i have heard it all. doug keene, thank you very much. my pleasure. >> you heard about the miracle on the hudson but how about love on the hudson? that's next. and the latest on the late night shakeup involving lay leno and conan oh brie penn state respected. involving jay leno and conan o'brien. that's everything@@@@ for chicago. and fedex ground will get ithere fast. wait. fedex has ground shipping? oh, that's right. you just woke up from a 23-year coma. yeah, it was a long one. did i miss anything? uh, the cold war ended. [ man ] pluto's no longer a planet. culture club broke up. the berlin wall came down. wait. the club bre up? i never saw them live. that was too soon. what have i done? [ male announcer ] we understand. you need it there fast. fedex ground. >> shannon: e >> shannon: despite his admittedly poor word choice, democratic leaders are standing by harry reid. reid described obama as "a light skinned african american with no negro dialect." the gop chair michael steele says he should step down as party leader and that democrats have a double standard. >> there is the standard where the democrats feel that they can say these things and apologize when it come from the mouths of mother ow their own t comes from somebody else it is racism. >> he is doing wonderful lifting right now, to get the healthcare bill over the goal line. >> reid is facing a very tough battle for reelection to his senate seat. a las vegas review journal poll shows him with just a 33% approval rating. more on the breaking news on jay leno. the associated press is reporting that nbc has confirmed that the late night experiment with jay leno is over. the 10:00 p.m. prime time show will end on february 12th when the winter olympics begin. the network is trying to return leno to his old time slot at 11:35 but they want conan o'brien and jimmy fallon to move back a half hour. ratings met expectations but affiliates complained it was a weak lead in for the local 11:00 p.m. newscast. tonight, retrace the steps of flight 159 at 9:00 eastern on tlc as harrison ford narrates brace for impact, the chesley sullenberger story. >> we are out of time. we are out of speed. >> 1529. >> we can't do it. we're going to be in the hudson. >> i'm sorry, say it again, captain? >> i'm looking out a window and thinking i'm going to freakin' die. >> when the passengers and crew of flight 1549 were saved that day, everyone not a new lease on life and two passengers also got a chance at love. joining us, laura and been. two passengers from the miracle on the hudson flight. they are now a couple and they have coauthored a book with other passengers on the flight. entitled miracle on the hudson, the survivors of flight 1549. great to see you. sounds like a fascinating book. how did you eventually wind up as a couple. >> hi, thanks for having us, first of all. we connected at our six month reunion and that was the first time i ever met laura. i actually saw her in the airport that day but we weren't really formally introduced until the six month reunion. >> and at that reunion you all obviously made some kind of connection. do you believe in the concept of destiny or fate or some devine intervention to bring you together through this situation? >> i'm not sure about that. but a lot of the passengers did have a strong connection immediately just because we went through the same situation and when you are faced with, you know, what you think are your last moments any one that goes through the same situation you really have that bond with them and when i met ben not only did we have that bond but the more that we hung out the more we got to know each other and the more fun we had. i think that all of those combined really helped us out when we first got to know each other. >> you have an unbeatable how we met story. tell us about the book and the other things we would learn from other survivors part of the book there. >> i think the part i like about it is just hearing everybody else's amazing story. t is not just mine and laura's. like all of my friends and family they have heard my story many time but i took a way a lot of other wonderful stories from the passengers that participated in the book and a lot of those experiences are shared but they are all unique this their own way. >> shannon: how has the entire incident impacted you in the way that you see life now? >> i think that i probably live a little bit more in the moment than i used to. weeing in the roux tail apparel in -- being in the retail apparel industry i'm always looking forward six months in advance and a year in advance working on what the next new item is. now, i really learned to enjoy just what is happening right this second and knowing that perhaps i'm not guaranteed another minute or tomorrow so i really learned to just live right now. >> shannon: and ben apparently you spotted laura before getting on the flight. ma made your take the step at the six month reunion to reach out to her. >> i kind of some what got to know her through facebook and e-mail. the only thing i really knew about her at that point was she had a fabulous sense of humor and i think that kind of attracted me to her even more. when i got to know her and found out she was just a wonderful person we just connected. so that, you know, made me want to spend more time with her, of course. >> shannon: well, ben and lara, we are glad that you found each other through this amazing story and we wish you all the best and look forward to the back as well. thank you both. >> thank you shannon. >> shannon: if you have seen silence of the lambs you will remember the serial killer buffalo bill. the real killer that the book is based on is now the subject of a new movie and it is a musical. you can imagine it is causing a huge controversy. we will talk to the star of the movie, up next. #ñ#ñ#ñ#ñññññ >> shannon: the character norman baits from psychohas become on acon for who are roar movies. baits characteristic is based on ed geane. a small budget movie documenting his life is causing controversy in wisconsin. can we mention it as musical? dan davies is the star and writer and joins us live from milwaukee. first question, dan, why? >> well, shannon, you know, why not? a lot of musicals are based on the ma cabe. chicago the musical based on the 1920s. sweeney todd based on the murderer killer in the 1800s and mel brooks with spring time for hitler. it is nothing new, that genre and we believe it shouldn't always be about when a puppy craps it shouldn't crap out rainbows and butterflies, sometimes it just caps. >> dan, let me ask you, you had to know you were going to get pushback from people who thought this was inappropriate material for a musical? his father beat him and his mother sexually molested h him. we don't glorify him or his actions or demean his victims but we knew that controversy would come with it. it surprised us we got death threats and threats of mutilation from every single state of the nation which we expected. we don't think people would go that far but if they see the movie they will riz realize its literally a morality film. >> why music? >> it has done many times. not only movies about ed gene the butcher of plainfield but like you said earlier, silence of the lambings and psychoand texas chainsaw massacre. since we are wisconsinites we thought we were qualified to do it since i'm from the area originally. >> what are the hopes for this picture that you made with a reasonable budget. >> it was $9,000 budget and people can pop on to the website which is ed gene the musical.com. we have a local theater through the midwest that wants to show the movie and we have a couple of bites doing it national via national theaterriccal distribution and then a national distribution via dvd. >> thank you very much for joining us today. >> thank you so much, shannon. >> well, arguably conservative talk show host rush limbaugh, not also immune from any treatments, chicago comedy troupe is set to debut rush limbaugh the musical. this is the same group that gave the world rod blagojevich superstar. it is expected to debut next month. rumors swirled about the fate of the jay leno show. leno's show was cheaper to produce than a big-time drama but did it work. nbc now making a decision about the tonight show. breaking news. if you're buying store-brand ibuprofen, you may save a little money on your arthritis pain relief. but you could end up taking twice as many pills... compared to aleve. choose aleve, it just makes sense. just two aleve have the strength to relieve arthritis pain all day. >> shannon: gop chairman michael steele says senator harry reid should step done for his controversial comments about then candidate obama. he said democrats would call for the same thing if the comments came from a republican. reid said in 2008 that obama was helped by being "light skin the" and having "no negro diia dialect." ali abdul la says he will talk to members and renounce violence and promising he will track down any terrorists who won't commit to that. power is mostly back up and phones working again in humboldt county in northern california injuries residents are cleaning up and checking for structural damage in the aftermath of a 6.5 earthquake. although the saturday afternoon trembler scared residents they fared well given the magnitude of the break. an arctic blast in florida this morn. temperatures dipping well below the freezing mark. snow and frost causing major headaches for citrus growers have,. it looks like the time slot for nbc which is reporting. gasman says no the is yet a done deal. conan o'brien has made light of the situation. >> there is a lot of speculation out there and i just wanted to go over just some of the rumors that have been flying around. check these out. the jay leno show is going to be canceled one. jay is moving back to 11:30 and i'm moving at midnight. both will be running simultaneously in split jean. jay and i are quitting both our shows and starring in a new buddy drama called cocoa and the chimp. jay and i will be joining the cast of jersey shores, a new character called the awkward situation. i'm pregnant with jay's baby and' he's pregnant with my baby and we're both pregnant with tiger woods baby. >> always good to have a sense of humor about these things. as you can see, he does. before we go, it is the most famous office in the world and mr. obama is making the oval office his own. in light of the bad economy, president obama has not done any major redecorating but there are interesting subtle changes. the table behind his desk is filled with family photos and he says they remind him of why he is doing what he is doing. and he brought in a bust of martin luther king. and h. the traditional m & ms still kept on hand for the kids and let's face if for us adults, too. stay tuned with chris wallace's interview with tim kaine and rnc chairman michael steele. i'm shannon bream. thanks for watching fox where more news is always on the way. captioned by, closed captioning services, inc.

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