Transcripts For FOXNEWS Americas Newsroom 20101123

belligerent actions, north korea, attack a heavily populated south korean island, setting fire there, civilians have been fleeing. we're getting amazing pictures and photographs of all of this. so far we know two south korean marines are dead, countless wounded, the south unleashing fire retaliation. it's not clear if the south hit anything in the north and the north then warning this is just the beginning. jennifer griffin makes sense of it live at the pentagon, how serious is this jennifer? good morning. >> reporter: good morning bill. well, it's being taken very seriously at the pentagon, we're told the shelling began at 2:00 a.m. local time, it lasted for about 90 minutes, we're told about 200 artillery shells were fired, it was even between the two sides but north korea fired the first artillery shells on to that island. this is the most serious escalation between the north and south koreans since back in march, remember the north koreans sank that south korean ship, killing south korean sailors, there's a de militarized zone between the two countries, however, nothing like this has happened in terms of artillery fire. bill: the white house called it an act of belligerence. what is the reaction at the pentagon? >> admiral mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs was awoegen by aides when this started, he informed secretary gates and we're told that president obama was awoken at 3:55 a.m. in the morning here by his security individualsor, tom donilon. it's being taken very seriously. a senior defense official says nobody wants the situation to escalate but they're keeping a very close eye on the situation, the white house calling for a halt to the belligerence by the north koreans, all of this comes a few days after the north north koreans revealed it has a second track to producing nuclear weapons, bill. bill: we have thousands of u.s. forces stationed in south korea, it's been that way for 50 some odd years. any u.s. troops involved in this, jennifer? >> no. of course, there are 30,000 u.s. troops on the ground in korea, it's been that way, i should mention, since the 1953 armistice. technically north korea and south korea have been at war since then. no u.s. troops were involved in this incident, they weren't involved in the exercise. if it were taking on yu -- on yoengang island, the north koreans knew about this but this island community was stunned when the artillery shells came across and we understand that residents are fleeing that island as we speak. bill: thank you for that, our lead reporter at the pentagon. we'll be in touch with you, jennifer. thank you. martha has more now. martha: here's background on the dispute between north and south korea, the korean war started in 1950 and ended three years later with neither side claiming victory, both nations signed an armistice which was only supposed to be a temporary measure. more than 50 years later, that simple truce is all that is preventing north korea, the u.s. and its ally, south korea, from resuming the war, no peace treaty between the two were ever signed. bill: now, the overnight strike is just one of a long list of incidents between the north and the south this year alone. in january, north korea, firing land-based artillery rounds into the water, that is near the inter korean border, the yellow sea, in march, a south korean navy worship sinks, 46 sailors dead, north korea suspected of firing a torpedo that sunk that ship, that, though, has not been confirmed of the just last month, north and south korean soldiers exchanging gunfire again along that border. martha: for complete coverage of the tensions on the korean peninsula, join us, foxnews.com, you can get more on the stoerbg the background to all of this, plus the latest reaction from the white house, that is still coming in, we will bring you that throughout the next two house, the international community responding as we, waiting for statements from them, waiting for a possible meeting convened at the united nations. we'll bring it to you right here. bill: in the meantime want to get back to this firestorm over body scans and patdowns. a new poll finding two-thirds of americans support the new full body skopbers -- scanners despite the fact the images leave little to the imagination but in the polls half say the patdown searches go too far. city leaders in l.a. now, home to one of the busiest airports, lax, giving the new scanners a thumbs up. >> when i fly with my grandchildren, i want to know for a fact that everyone sitting on that plane with me has gone through the most intense, scrutinizing security. we've got to stay one step ahead of the minds that would destroy us. bill: well, a day now before the busiest travel day of the year. we're going to hear a lot more on this story tomorrow. every year we talk about the big getaway day, on the wednesday before thanksgiving so, that will be front and center tomorrow. we'll see how it all goes. if they're going to push for this opt out of some of the major airports like knock and chicago, in l.a., you get the major backups and delays. we'll see whether that happens tomorrow. march pharpbd or singled out for that treatment and how quickly they want to move through, of course it's a big concern, a big travel day and a concern that anybody might try to pull off. it's going to be a rocky one we suspect and in the meantime, the controversy over the islamic center and the mosque to be built near ground zero is taking a new turn this morning. the backers of that project have applied for a federal grant from the same pool of money set aside to build lower manhattan following the september 11th attacks, as you would imagine, that has a lot of people outraged this morning. senior correspondent eric shawn is live outside from proposed site. what exactly are developers asking for? >> martha, there is a fund that is supposed to go to community groups and others to help dee redevelop lower manhattan, where we are now, because of the 9/11 attacks. weg,o woel, the backers of the so-called ground zero mosque, they want some of that money, about one third of it, to go to them, to help them build the so-called ground zero mosque, that is causing a lot of anger among some people around the country this morning. the money comes from the lower manhattan development corporation, about 265 groups have applied for the $17 million funds. the park 51 group, they want $5 million of that, in a statement, they say, quote, they are committed to exploring all sources of revenue and funding to build the community center. the grant would in part they say fund social service programs for all residents of lower manhattan. they say those programs include services for homeless veterans, arabic language teaching, immigration services, but they don't say exactly how much of the money could go to help exactly build this project that has caused this controversy and contention across the country. martha: it's interesting, eric. one of the problems was that they didn't have the money, and a lot of people thought that that might be a barrier to this ever being built, so now if the federal government gives them the money to build it, what do you expect the critic -- of critics if that's how this goes? >> people blasting the fact that the sponsors have their hand out this morning for american taxpayer money, among them, peter king, long island congressman who is likely to become the chairman of the homeland security commission committee, he says, quote, it is entirely wrong for any taxpayer money to be used to fund the ground zero mosque, this is particularly true when it is being done in such a secretive way, he says. this further offends the memory of all who were murdered on 9/11. andy sullivan of 9/11 hard hat pledge.com can't believe it. >> if that happens, it's over, okay? first of all, they're going to build a mosque at ground zero, period, i think it's over. they're going to get us to do anything. now they're going to actually make us pay for it? i'm moving. >> reporter: the response to the project say it is being built for peace and understanding. apparently they haven't raised very much money yet to the project. martha: eric, thank you very much. as you might imagine this story is getting a lot of reaction from our viewers today. log on to foxnews.com, answer the you decide question, we'd love for you to take a minute to do this for us, because we want to know what you're thinking, should the new york city mosque project get federal funds. right now almost 53,000 people have weighed in on this, 95 percent are saying no. you can still get in on this nine sign -- nonscientific survey, let us know what you're thinking about this hot topic. bill: thousands of votes every day on that. hey martha, did you know the mid terms are still going on? they're still counting votes. a couple of election updates, a close house race in texas is now over, democratic incumbent solomon ortiz concedes to newcomer farnethold, ortiz was ousted from the gulf coast district after 28 years in washington republican seats gains in the house now at 62 with a handful of races undecided. we say a handful. about three or four yet to be determined, so stay tuned for more on that. martha: on and on and on. it's the next big debate in congress and an issue that will affect millions of americans come january 1st. will lawmakers extend the bush tax cuts before they expire in just about 5 1/2 short weeks from now? we'll ask a democrat why he thinks that the tax cuts should be extended for everybody, of all incomes across the board. bill: the woman screen right told the president screen left she was exhausted and tired of defending him. back in the news today. her greatest fear is now realized. what happened to vel ma hart? martha: quite a story. a big surprise for military families. wait until you see this moment, folks. see this mom and daughter? they are talking to their soldier dad and husband as he is fighting the war in afghanistan? wait until you see what happens. >> it was like a wedding day all over again. martha: we've got decent economic news this morning, growing slightly faster than we thought, benefiting from stronger spending by u.s. shoppers, commerce department just coming out with the data showing gross domestic product grew 2.5% in the july-september quarter, and that was better than 2 percent that was estimated at the top of the month, 2.4% is the number that folks were looking for, unemployment, of course, still hovers at 9.6%. we'll see how the markets open on that news this morning. slightly better than expected. bill: in the meantime martha, the woman who made headlines for giving president obama her honest opinion about his job and polices is now the latest victim of the u.s. economy. vel ma hart said this to the president at a town hall meeting in september: >> and i'm one of your middle class americans, and quite frankly, i'm exhausted. i'm exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the man for change that i vote fod and deeply disappointed with where we are right now. i have been told that i voted for a man who said he was going to change things in a meaningful way for the middle class. i'll one of those people and i'm waiting for -- i'm waiting. i don't feel it yet. bill: she worked for amvest a nonprofit maryland-based services administration. george pataki is here with reaction to what's happening in the economy. >> good morning, bill. bill: tough to see vel ma hart. she spoke for so many. >> it's very tough. your heart break phos her because she is someone who worked hard, wanted to live the american dream and for the moment it's suspended and she's not alone. we just are not seeing the job creation we need. bill: we'll talk about that. what we talked about, she and me husband did not want to eat hot dogs and beans, she thought those years were over, and her employer said she got bit by the same snake that has bit a lot of people, most nonprofits are seeing their pennies pinch pinched. you were governor of the state for years. what are the priorities now? >> i think it's important that republicans have control of the house starting january 31st, that we not just criticize but have an active agenda and one of those agendas should be to let businesses large and small know economic certainty going forward that their taxes aren't going to be raised so one of the priorities should be to just make it plain, that in a recession, when people are still losing their jobs we're not going to raise taxes on anybody. the other side of that coin is republicans can't forget as we did when we had power that there's a budget that has spending, and if you're not going to raise taxes you have to reduce the decifit by not spending. so i would start out early in the process working to find cuts that can be enacted right away on discretionary programs, spending binges that have been created over the last years. bill: do you think the earmarks -- the last one you said was unemployment? >> well, unemployment is obviously what we have to focus on as a country and i think republicans need to have an aggressive agenda to help create the jobs. bill: with regard to spending, the earmark push that we saw last week,. >> very positive. bill: is that a good place to start or a drop in the bucket? >> i don't think it's a drop in the bucket. it's not in terms of the budget a huge amount of the revenue but it's more than symbolic because that is where an awful lot of the corruption with a small c happens, that's where the lobbyists get to their legislators and say my client needs 5 million for this or 10 million for that. the republican commitment to end earmarks is very important and a very solid first start but it's only a start. bill: we're going to have a democrat from pennsylvania, jason alm -- altmeier is in favor of keeping tax cuts where they are right now. >> that's what we need. >> do you continuing will happen? >> i think it will. the house will pass an extension at the very least of the existing laws so we don't raise taxes and i think the senate is going to be under enormous pressure to do the sail and if they really care about jobs as opposed to trying to make a political statement, they will pass it. you know bill, this is a great country and it's never been us against them, the rich against the poor. we have been a country that has always understood that when america moves forward, we all move forward together, and this rhetoric of the past few years, not just rhetoric but polices targeting those who work hard and are successful, for almost -- we're almost like penalizing them because they have been successful. it's not the american way and one of the reasons we're not creating jobs. bill: put a theme together in the 20 seconds we have left. you put the earmarks, along with the tax cuts. >> right. bill: and you change the mentality of the country? are you now telling americans that we're shifting this ship in a direction that will be positive? >> three things. one, we have to have a plan to reduce the decifit to zero over the next 4-5 years without raising taxes. bill: not easy. >> not easy. second, we have to have programs to help small businesses, for example, working with community colleges though to have programs where they can add high quality workers into the work force. third, something i don't think we should ever give up on is make things in america again, have manufacturers to have factories and goods that are produced in america, instead of bringing them in from china. bill: and that will create jobs. >> it will. bill: thank you for coming n happy turkey day! >> happy thanksgiving. bill we have breaking news. martha: we sure do, bill. we just got this coming across the wires moments ago from the a.p., south korea's president says that the south will unleash, quote, enormous row taliation should north korea attack again. this is an increasingly tens -- nence -- tense, volatile situation. we have new video coming in from the island that was attack in north korea. we'll have a panel coming up to discuss this, tony schafer, who spent quite a bit of time in north korea, very familiar with the area. bill: a lot of headlines on that story. a common path to citizenship or amnesty for millions of illegals. lou dobbs weighs in on the fight over the dream act, heating up in congress. bill: another fox news alert from the korean peninsula, an incident that provoked the attention of the word, north korea slamming a south korean island with artillery shells, killing at least two south korean marines, wounding at least 16 others, south korea responding, although the extent of that response is not known just yet, some of the rare images we're now getting out of that area. the president in south korea, moments ago, this is the south korean president, says it will unleash, quote, enormous retaliation if north korea attacks again. we're watching this certainly in pong yonk and in seoul, south korea, also from washington, d.c. and the white house. we're getting reaction in a moment from the president, what's happening there, and also in beijing, china, how will the chinese react? will they condemn this or will they go along with it? all of that still to come on "america's newsroom". martha: this story for you now, the death toll rising from the stampede at a cam bodian festival. this is an awful, unbelieve able story, at least 37le people with dead, hundreds more were injured. a heartbreaking scene, as people try to escape over a narrow bridge, many were either crushed under others or tum bled into the water. it's not clear what sparked all of this, how all of this began. the festival organizers say they had closed another bridge earlier in the day and that forced tens of thousands of people to use this single narrow span, and you can see the awful results of what that led to. violent storms in illinois spawn ago tornado, 80 miles west of chicago. it was in the town of caladonia, homes, businesses and a silo, torn apart. fortunately, no major injuries were reported. frayed a lot of nerves, though. >> i was like oh dear, don't let that come down on me. >> up there is a tent from across the street. >> i saw a lot of swirling outside my window. >> buildings gone, parts of the mill are gone, houses, a school bus overturned, a kid got hurt. martha: according to the local sheriff, none of the injuries thankfully were serious. what a night. bill: we have remarkable weather for a lot of folks. a huge cold weather system moving in and old man winter is not going to go away. martha: and there's that band of weather. bill there she goes. in the meantime, we've got new reaction out of south korea, north korea's communist regime launching what's considered the most aggressive attack in more than 50 years. what will the u.s. do now to step in and help its ally? we're watching that story, that angle. martha: have you heard this? louisiana governor reveals his tension flare-up with president obama. >> he was so angry, and at the same time he was getting mad at me rahm emanuel was cursing out my chief of staff on the same tarmac. martha: what had president obama so upset with the governor of louisiana. bill: 9:30 in no, it's a busy tuesday morning. police are searching for a suspect after an attack on a u.s. border patrol agent in california, the agent making a traffic stop when hit by a car, the officer suffered a dislocated shoulder. grim story in los angeles, only moments before a two-year-old plunged 30 feet to his death at the staples center in l.a., police say his family was taking pictures inside of a luxury suite. this was at the end of the game, the mba l.a. lakers playing the clippers. child services is now investigating that. we are waiting for an announcement from investigators in aruba in whether or not a jawbone found on the island belonged to missing teenager natalee holloway, dutch investigators requested holloway's dental records as they analyze the bone found by a tourist. that announcement could come at any moment. 9:30 now. here's martha. martha: well, south korea, with a stark warning now to the north, saying attack again and we will unleash a, quote, enormous retaliation. it remains to be seen what form that would take. the communist regime said it started firing on the island after military exercises with 70,000 troops. the white house condemning the attack. here's what we have so far from the white house this morning. the united states is firmly committed to the defense of our ally, the republic of korea, and to the maintenance of regional peace and stability. now, what form that commitment will take at this hour remains to be seen. reserve lieutenant colonel tony schafer actually ran operations into north korea, he iso he is with the center for defense studies. colonel, good to have you here today. what you -- when you saw the fire coming from this island this morning, a hit from north korea, what was your initial response? >> it's clear leprovocation. it's not the first time this area of the world has had this, especially this island. this sort of thing happened in '99, as well as 2002, so what's happening here, essentially, is another form of bringsmanship, the north koreans have been masters at this. we haven't been paying enough attention to them, especially with the change of regime going on, so i think what you're seeing here is the north's perception that they want to strengthen their position in the upcoming 6-party talks and the consequence of that obviously is this provocation. martha: obviously, the news of this uranium enrichment facility in the past few days has caused the white house to sit up and take notice, a lot of people think that this is north korea's way of saying hey, we're over here and in the past, they've been able to garner a lot of favors out of these kinds of situations president pw-rpl hasn't had to deal with this personally, this is physical his -- his first situation. how do you think he's going to respond? >> the way he's going to have to respond is the statement out of the whourbgs they have to stand by the south koreans. we have about 39,000 troops there in south korea. so any provocation which results in actual combat, we are in, whether we like it or not, and the second issue relates to our allies. there's been strong indication that the north koreans have been working with the pakistanis and i hate to say that but it's true, the congressional research service has done reporting on this, where the north koreans have been working to develop the ability to put nucleolar weapons on their missile the, and this means they can threaten not only south korea, but our allies in the region, too. martha: obviously, tony, that is a huge concern. >> absolutely. martha: you know, but what you said a moment ago, it raises this question for me. you know, we've seen these kind of things happen before, we've always had to stand by south korea, but in what form? when you look at the 46 sailors who were lost on the south korean warship, we're still waiting for an official apology from north korea, we've never received that. >> you never will. martha: and some feel our response needs to be stronger and need to have a serious talk with china about where they come down on all this. >> two good points and i would add to this, we also are exercising with the south koreans -- back in the '80s and '90s we did an annual exercise where we showed our resolve by sending troops and equipment there to basically tell the north koreans we're very serious. i think there has to be a lot more of that. frankly at this point in time, since the north koreans have poked everyone in the eye several times, it's time for a response. this is the question the at white house, what will be the form of that response. they've tried sanction, they kept the bush administration sanctions in place, which is good, but clearly it may be time for something more dramatic here. martha: if they're dealing in highly enriched uranium, that would certainly bring money and attention on the national stage. how different, how much more serious is that, you know, with the double whammy of this island attack on these four people this morning? >> well, the nucleolar issue has been the core issue for all sides for the past i'd say since 1992, when this first became an issue, when we first realized north korea had nucleolar weapons, and frankly the thing that has to be done is looking at what the nucleolar program is doing. if you recall the last blast that north koreans tested was kind of written off as a very small blast. i was right here, and talked about that issue being of concern. they're not going to big blasts, they're going for small blasts because they're trying to go for miniaturization. miniaturization means -- martha: that's a frightening thought. it's an excellent point, colonel schafer. there's a lot or concerned about here. we're awaiting response from the white house, more response from china, we're going to see what their reaction is this morning, so stay tuned everybody and we'll keep new the loop, colonel schafer. thank you very much. >> thank you. bill: a couple of political notes quickly. the tea party, a u.s.a. today gallup poll finding many americans want the father backed congress to take the lead in setting policy. in the same oling -- polling more folks want republican congressional leaders, not democrats, to set the agenda. speaking of republicans, louisiana governor bobby jindal, slamming president obama for his response for the gulf oil spill in a new book just out and in an interview last night with our own sean hannity, jindal tells a story between himself and the president during that crisis. >> this was the second time he comes down to the state of louisiana after the oil spill, tells me and billy, stop going on tv to criticize me, then ironically, immediately afterwards, he goes out to give his remarks in front of the press, his staff person wants know stand right next to him in a camera shot. fortunately, governor crist moved me out of the way, i was more than happy to give him the ground, but here's the crazy thing, they were so worried about perception, as i say in "leadership and crisis", don't worry about the poll teurbgs worry about getting the job done and it will take care of itself. >> when asked about a possible run for the white house, jindal says he has no intention of running for president in 2012, he's happy in louisiana. i guess that's why you write books, right? you can say things like that that are behind the curtain that you don't see. martha: it's been raising a lot of questions about the discussions he had on the tarmac as well, early ner that whole incident when they came in. bill: wonder what the president's version of that story is. martha: i'm sure he has his own version of it. bill: have to wait until 2012 or 2016 to get that when his book comes out! >> martha: your tax bill, sorry to tell you, could jump in less than 40 days from now if congress does not act to extend the bush tax cuts. we asked a blue dog democrat on the chances of a deal that might extend the tax cuts to everybody. also, this is coming up: >> what do we want? when do we want him? bill: a lot of folks unhappy with a popular christmas shopping destination. was that toy story? a 60 year old woody! what union workers say are the popular toys that every parent need to know about. you wonder -- martha: the big today set, we learned the date of prince william and katharine, who is to be his bride, they're going to get married on april 29th, which is a friday, which is a bit different. there you see katharine there in a red jacket. the government is going to declare this a public holiday now, bill, it will be a national holiday, the royal family announcing the location, westminster aby is where this will take place, the same church where queen elizabeth and the late mum had their weddings there, as well as the site of princess diana's funeral. the aby is also where the british queens and kings are crowned as you well know! so -- >> bill: so a what friday? -- why friday? will they save money? >> i don't think this bride groom care basketball that. do you get security? because people are already working that day. but if you get a national holiday, is that moot? they're cost conscious, aren't they? >> martha: they are. they are supposed to be exercising caution with how they spend money on this thing, so we'll see. bill:bill the red hot debate ovr your taxes taking shape in the lame duck congress, the white house push to go extend the bush tax cuts for everyone except for those over $250,000 a year. my next guest disagrees, he's a democrat, jason altmeier out of pennsylvania, chairman of the subcommittee on small business. how you doing and welcome back here. i cake it you're back home in pittsburgh today. what's going to happen with these tax cuts, what are democrats going to do? >> that's what remains to be seen. i do think that we need to extend all the tax cuts, because this is not the time for anyone to be having a discussion on increasing taxes at a time when the economy is at a very slow recovery. i'm hopeful that that's a decision we're going to make but there's still a lot of details that need to be ironed out. bill: you seem to be in the minority. you told neil in your world on november 15th you want to make the tax cuts permanent for everyone, not just an extension but permanent. do i have that right? >> i do. i think it's the right thing to do. a lot of small businesses file in that upper bracket, they need to make long term decisions and need to have certainty. one of the reasons that small businesses are less willing to make those decision social security they don't know what the tax rate is going to be, they don't know what the regulatory environment is going to look like a year or two from now, and i just think that we need to give them that certainty and allow them to run their businesses. bill: you sound like a republican! >> well, on this issue, that's what i believe. i'm hopeful that we're going to be able to achieve a bipartisan consensus before the end of the year. i know that the politics are going to be a little different that was the first of the year but by that point it's too late. we have to do this before december 31st. bill: that's a great point. what if it's not done, what if this lingers into the new year, what's the impact on the american economy and the people that you speak tporbgs small businesses in your district? >> i think a possible outcome is most of the tax cuts, except for that upper bracket, would be extended, maybe permanently, but certainly for at least a couple of years, and then right from the beginning, we're going to have to have a discussion about how we extend that top bracket of tax cuts. i'm not going to hold hostage esh else's tax cut while we hold that argument. i think we need to do it together but at some point we're going to have to decide what to do with that top bracket. >> senator schumer, democrat out of new york, he's out there saying you take it up to a million, anybody under that, you get the tax cut, everybody over that, you don't t. would revert back to the old -- i don't know if that's the way it's going to go, but that's on the table to be discussed. you won in your district after voting against health care. >> right. >> would you have been reelected had you voted for health care from your district? >> i think it would have been a challenge. i won a very close race, i have a republican leaning district, all of the other races on my ballot, both above me and below me were landslide republican wins. i think it would be tough to hold on if i made a couple of bad votes but that's what democracy is all about. if they like the job you're doing f. they like the votes you're casting on behalf of your district, they'll send you back and if they don't, they won't. bill bill i think 62 percent, i saw this number, 62 percent of democrats are opposed health care are gone, they did not win reelection. you know -- you bucked that trend. you talked a lot about tax and we asked george pataki about this 30 minutes ago, he said these taxes are nothing unless you cut spending, the rasmussen survey went out and found 66 percent of voters favor a proposal to cut the federal payroll by 10 percent over the next decade. is that something you would support in. >> we're going to have to look at how that affects the security programs, as well as medicare and social security. when you look at the fence, homeland security, the v.a., especially, and the state department, i don't want to haphazardly do an across the board cut, i think we needor moe precise on waste and abuse, you don't want to impact our security but on most of what's left with discretionary spending i think an across the board cut is appropriate. >> would you agree to the plan that republicans have agreed to? >> the thing about earmarks, you don't save money. they're not add on, they come out of the existing budget. >> so you wouldn't support it? >> i will abide by it, certainly. i think as an elected representative, i should have the ability to survey the need in my district, and fight for the six counties that i represent, and that's where i stand. i understand the public's discomfort with earmarks, but they should understand that you're not saving money by doing away with earmarks. bill: but others would argue okay, you take care of the earmarks and you have a psychological impact on the direction of spending in washington. and that -- >> i understand that. bill you buy that argument? >> i do. i understand that. i don't agree with it. i will abide by the ban on earmarks if there's a voluntary moratorium. i don't know what it's going to look like in the next congress, but i do think that the problems are much deeper than something that's not even adding one penny to the federal decifit. bill: you would agree you got to start somewhere and if you don't start there, where do you start? >> you start with across the board cuts like you're talking about, but again, earmarks are not additional spending. they come from the existing budget. so i would certainly support limiting the payout for each of those discretionary accounts, outside of the security accounts, but whether or not earmarks are a part of that does not affect the overall cost at all. >> okay. jason altmire, thank you for coming in. by the way, do you support nancy pelosi? >> i voted against her. no, i voted against her, and when it comes to the floor in january, i will vote against her again. bill: jason altmire, thank you for your time, democrat out of pennsylvania, thank you. martha: he's sort of out on a limon a number of things. very interesting. and here, what is it, tuesday, thursday, thanksgiving, we're on the brink of the busiest travel day of the year. we're going to talk to somebody who works for one of the most secure airlines in the world, maybe he's not some ideas about how we could fix this situation. why he says the new tsa procedures are getting it all wrong. bill: get it right, right? a military wife, winning an essay contest about why her husband is a hero, the prize puts her on the field for an nfl game for a huge surprise. next. martha: let's get you on wall street, we are seeing stocks lower, down 127 percent now -- 127 points and word is this is because of the tensions on the korean peninsula. at least that's one of the driving factors. you've got the global economic picture weighing on the market for some time but this is what folks on wall street are watching this morning, these stunning images coming out from this island off of the coast of south korea. now, the president there saying that they will retaliate in a very large way if they are attacked again. we're watching all of this and waiting for more leadership to weigh in from the white house, and also, -- >> disturbing thing to wake up to. members of religious groups, sharing more than their faith, some are now sharing health care expenses. jonathan serrie is on that story live in atlanta. what gives down there jonathan? good morning. >> reporter: good morning bill. it's a small but growing number of americans who are participating in the health care sharing programs. it's basically a religous alternative to health insurance. >> when joan patrick found out she had breast cancer she and her husband michael turned to their faith, not just for spiritual support but medical expenses. they belong to medishare, a religious nonprofit group whose members help pay each others' medical bills. >> because it's a christian organization, there's almost more of a security. >> the concept is really to bring like-minded individuals, christians, who choose to share their medical bills. the burdens in their life. >> the florida-based organization has nearly 50,000 members, each pays a monthly fees and assumes the cost of routine checkups and prescriptions but medishare distributes the funds to other members when major medical expenses arise. >> things like a broken leg, cancer, or a car accident, those are burdens, and those are the type of expenses, medical expenses, that the membership shares in. >> joan patrick, who is cancer free, says medishare is a good fit for her family, not just for catastrophic medical coverage but also providing the support system rooted in their christian faith. >> it's so nice at the end of the conversation have someone say to you i hope you have a blessed day or we'll be praying for you. >> and ph-fpt edishare says it's actually seen an influx of new members whose federal health care reform legislation passed. you see programs like medishare are exempt from the federal mandate to buy health insurance, bill. bill: medishare it is. thank you jonathan serrie, from atlanta with that. martha. martha: a big battle brewing over immigration reform. a path to citizenship or rewarding illegal bee behavior? that's the question and lou dobbs will weigh in on that debate. bill: we are watching what's happening in korea. if you're just waking up there is breaking news in the korean pen la where the north fired artillery at the south. it is at least two dead. what is america's commitment to south korea, what does that mean for our military, 36,000 strong? the american presence in south korea today. top of the hour, top story this morning. i can't find it. ♪ [ female announcer ] new tide with acti-lift technology helps remove many dry stains as if they were fresh. hey! you found it. yeah, it must have been hiding in my closet. 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( announcer ) don't take boniva if you have problems with your esophagus, low blood calcium, severe kidney disease, or can't sit or stand for at least one hour. follow dosing instructions carefully. stop taking boniva and tell your doctor if you have difficult or painful swallowing, chest pain or severe or continuing heartburn, as these may be signs of serious upper digestive problems. if jaw problems or severe bone, joint, and/or muscle pain develop, tell your doctor. ask your doctor if boniva can help you stop losing and start reversing. and join the myboniva program. join today and get a free month of boniva at myboniva.com, or call 1-877-287-9140. martha: there's a bold new warning from south korea, after an act of war by the north today, south korea's president is now saying that he will unleash, quote, enormous retaliation, look at these pictures. on this island off of south korea. and he says he will indeed retaliate if it happens again, if they are under attack by the north, smoke billowing up and the south korean territory attacked by the north, and that is how we start a busy morning on tuesday, today, "america's newsroom," we're glad to have you with us, i'm martha maccallum. bill: good morning, martha. martha: good morning, bill. bill: i'm bill hemmer. two south korean marines are dead an 16 injured on the small south korean island. the idle lies about even with the official armistice line, the 38th parallel. martha: the billowing comes after 90 minutes of shelling from north korea. wendell goler is live at the white house with reaction there. wendell, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, martha, the incident serious enough that president obama was awakened well before dawn, and briefed by his national security advisor, tom donelon, a we're told he phoned south korean president, well before dawn, in fact, press secretary robert gibbs released a statement, saying, quote, the united states strongly condemns this attack and, calls on north korea to halt the belligerent action and fully abide by the terms of the armistice agreement and the statement said the u.s. is fully committed to defend south korea and the island, yeonpyeong is in dispute, south of the 38th parallel, the armistice line divided north and south korea without a formal peace agreement since the war ended in 1953. martha? martha: so, wendell, talk about how all of this started. and, if you do know, when we expect to hear any more from the white house, on the next move. >> reporter: well, it is unclear when we'll hear from the white house, about this. the president has an appearance in -- outside of kokomo, indiana and he may reference it, though the speech itself is on the economy. the south korean military was involved in an annual landing exercise on yeonpyeong island that has in the past involved u.s. troops, though, in this case, u.s. soldiers were not involved. and probably is a good thing, and some experts also think the attack may have been a response to south korea hosting the g20 summit earlier this year which showcased north korean backwardness and the president, you remember, noted at night from the space you can see the divide between north an south korea with the south fully lit up, and the north completely dark, and the south has lashed out -- the north lashed out in the past when it is embarrassed, 1987 when south korea was awarded the 1988 olympics and the north accused of downing a south korean jetliner. martha: wendell, thank you very much, we'll continue to get the latest from the white house and it may be a world away but there are quite a few americans as wendell talked about, who are in harm's way, over there. more than 28,000 american troops are stationed in south korea. along that border line there. the demilitarized zone. more than 100,000 american expatriates live in the capital city of seoul and, now, south korea is the 7th largest trading partner with the u.s., and is of course a strong u.s. ally, and so far, what we've heard from the white house is we'll defend as we always have in the past, south korea and we wait for the next move on all of this. bill: another "fox news alert," announced moments ago, there are new anti-terror sweeps in europe. ten people reportedly detained with homes searched in belgium, the netherlands and germany. authorities saying those who were targeted are suspected of plotting a possible attack, in belgium, the investigation also led investigators to various other parts of the world. meaning spain, morocco and also, saudi arabia. just crossing the wires, now, let's keep an eye on it from here, martha. martha: there is a potential huge set back for peace talks between the taliban and the afghan government. we have been hearing a lot about these developments in these talks, a man who claimed to be a top taliban leader, and was meeting with the government to promoted peace, was apparently an imposter and the fraud as he was called by one source, had a meeting with hamid karzai and he denies that he met with the imposter and nato leaders are not commenting on the roeport yet, but if true to be a blow to the push to find a practical resolution to the nine-year war. bill: let's talk about the u.s. economy now, crossing on the wires, "the associated press" reporting sales of previously owned homes slipped in october. slipping as the housing market continues to battle tough times, across the wire. watching the big boards, stocks are getting hammered now, the last 33 minutes. down 140 points, right now, right above 11,000. so, put that together with what we watched yesterday in ireland, political and financial chaos. in ireland. possibly a frightening forecast of things to come here, at home, the prime minister of ireland, now facing a mutiny, his own party trying to oust him out of office and it could impact the potential $135 billion bailout, ireland hopes to get, from the european union. 135 billion dollars, for ireland alone. that country on the brink of bankruptcy because of real estate speculation by irish banks and, who better to talk about this than steve forbes, editor-in-chief of "forbes" magazine. how are you doing? >> good to be with you. >> when we see it we wonder if it will come here and you saw what happened with the school issue in california a week ago, far separate from what we see in ireland now. but, what do you make about the call for ireland to get $135 billion, and now, the talk of others getting in line as well? are we back to bailout world? >> well, unfortunately, the irish situation was not a necessity at all, ireland made a mistake, two years ago, when it decided to guarantee not only the depositors in their banks but all of their creditors as well, no country is big enough to do that with a banking system, small country, switzerland couldn't do it. switzerland got outside help during the crisis in 2008. so, they are paying the piper for it and it is too bad, bill, because ireland itself has taken real austerity measures the last year-and-a-half and did not wait to hit the wall like greece did and they have to find a way out of this. and the bank situation... bill: if that is the case, maybe ireland is okay on good footing eventually but are we back to the question, are we back to bailouts? >> well, in this case, they did it. and i think that is why the prime minister will be, perhaps, having new -- to search for new opportunity in his professional life and we have a situation here at home, california, illinois, number of municipalities, and counties, and what you will see there is not a blanket bailout, bill, what you will see is the united states, these countries -- counties, these states are going to have to make major restructuring, like new jersey is now with its own finances, congress is not going to step in and bail them out, the federal reserve tries it, you will see a real mutiny and political storm. bill: back to the federal reserve point in a moment here, you are saying that with regard to new jersey, the measures, the governor is pushing this, chris christie, are others following his lead? because clearly you know they are studying him. now you think of what is happening in california, a $20 billion debt in california, one state alone. i don't know what your view is. is california capable of bailing itself out? or ultimately does the price tag go to washington which reflects upon us, the taxpayer. >> i don't think politically it will happen. virginia is also taking steps, they weren't in as bad shape as new jersey but i think the unions in california, i was there a couple days ago, the word is they are beginning to realize, especially now they have their own governor, inju in jerry brown, may be more willing to listen to him than perhaps a republican and realize it cannot continue, there is no magic bailout coming and they have to make major restructuring which will be a healthy thing in california, illinois and elsewhere, messy but necessary. bill: do you think new jersey is successful? >> new jersey has been successful so far. they passed the budget as you nobody several months ago, and spending levels were less than they were four years ago. this was a republican governor with a democrat legislature. and he also got through a cap on property tax increases, also, got through cuts in the top income tax rate, let that increase expire and you put all that together and, yes, people are recognizing, popularity -- people are recognizing, bill, this cannot continue, crazy spending and taxing of the last ten years, has to stop, has to change. bill: how do you think the decisions of christie are being viewed, embraced, or are people running from them. >> no, i think people are -- you will have the slew of new governors coming in, in january and new jersey will be the template for these new governors, number of them, have contacted christie, how do you do it and what do you need to do and they know they cannot continue on the presents path an drastic measures are in order and you can do it and survive, politically as christie has demonstrated. bill: you see people like mitch daniels, merging in indiana, a lot of kudos for -- >> and mitch daniels has shown if you practice responsible fiscal policies over a period of time, you can take a state that has been hard hit by the recession and still maintain a aaa credit rating, he reduced the size of governments over the years and 35,000 employees down to 30,000, and just doing small things, savings, step-by-step and between christie and mitch daniels, i think governors have a blueprint, short-term and long term, to get their states back on their financial feet. bill: if that is the case, watch the republican governors, steve forbes, thanks for your time. happy thanksgiving to you and your family. >> you, too, thank you. >> we're getting new data on home sales and it's not positive. this is the october home sales number for previously owned homes. dipping 2.2% in october. putting additional pressure on the market. we had increases in existing home sales in august and -- july and august and so it looked like they were headed in the right direction. now we see a dip in october, down 2.2%, another tough sign for the housing market and the dow jones industrials trading off about 142 points, right now, about 1.25%. tough picture this morning on wall street. bill: indeed it is, supporters in the meantime, martha, calling it a path to citizenship and critics say it is a path to amnesty for illegals, lou dobbs on the latest republican plans to block the so-called "dream act" will that work? martha: and a super highway for drugs and guns and people. to get into the u.s. we're climbing inside a smuggler's best weapon as uncle sam seals it shut, live. bill: you say you don't want to full body scan. martha: nope! bill: you say you don't want the pat-down. martha: nope! bill: how do you keep the friendly skies friendly? answers from arguably the best security team on the planet. here today. >> got the pat-down myself and i just think that would be too questionable, especially from a -- you know, somebody with training for like maybe an hour of training. >> the scanning has radiation and i happen to be one of those people who gets lots of radiation during the year, x-rays and that type of thing and i prefer one-on-one. bill: winter coming early for the northwest, washington state, seattle, winter storm blasting the seattle metro area, they are hearty folks and powerful winds and snow making travel mess and the areas picked up four inches and a thick layer of ice calling for a lot of scraping and the chains are going on the tires! >> basically, just trying to get the ice off so i can see and then... yeah. i think that is good enough. >> some folks don't have that, that are they in trouble. >> oh, yeah, they'll need to take it slow, i wouldn't put my kids on the school bus, this morning. bill: get the ice down to levels where you can actually see! because of the icy roads, some schools closed because buses were not equipped to handle the bad conditions out there in seattle. 13 minutes past now. martha: we have brand new polls, that show that nearly 2/3 of americans prefer to go through the full body scanner, to those controversial pat-downs and who can blame them, according to the poll out this morning, 64% say give me the body scanner, over the pat-down. half of americans, 50%, say, the enhanced pat-downs go too far and that is not a big surprise, considering what we have learned about that, the past couple of days. israel has one of the most secure airports in the world. a lot of folks are putting attention on what they have done to see if there is a way to adapt it to the numbers of people we have here. and make it work. the former director of israel's equivalent to the fbi and is a former internal commissioner of israel and, a former member of knesset. welcome and good to have you with us this morning, avi. >> good morning. martha: we have a little bit of a delay -- >> i think that is... since metal detector became... i think scanners are the best replacement for that. i know the real body, that you can see due to the scanners are not that good results and i hope, probably the perfect result would be to... meanwhile, scanners are better than the basic check, let alone better and the metal detector. martha: perhaps, the scanners are a little bit of a step senate right direction. your opinion, but, you had said that in israel, you spend about 90% of your focus and security efforts on 10% of the flying population. you ask them questions, you narrow down that group, that needs to be focused on, called "profiling" here, and, a lot of folks have a problem with that. a lot don't, we'll show you a pogue numb poll number in a minute, the 10%, what do you ask them and how do you pull them out of the line? >> well, of course, if you have to check all people, the best profound way, it means you check nobody. so you have to see the hallmarks of some people and the behavior of some people, that due to those two things, you can categorize them to a more profoundly check and in with any is a, the security is based on three things, the first is intelligence, if you don't that he have intelligence, you need all the checks you mention and the third ring, by the way is the security on board, on any passenger, an aircraft and that one of the most issues we use in israel and i'm not sure it is used in any other countries, even the u.s. martha: tell me more about that. how does that work? >> let's analyze, with your permission, the 9/11 event. we all understand 9/11, the most horrible terror attack in the history of terrorism, 19 terrorists came aboard four passenger aircraft with nothing but bad intentions and there is no detective machine on the ground to detect bad intentions and once the aircraft takes off nothing will solve the problems, if they are already on board, except sky marshals and except of course in the movies the air force one and et cetera, real life, if you don't have sky marshals on board and something is getting worse, like 9/11, you have to answer. the biggest bomb can ever be supplied to terrorists is given by the company, the jet itself, has the fuel of a real explosive. martha: and boy, we learned that the hard way, here on september 11th. we thank you for being with us today. a lot of work to be done on this end in order to narrow down those numbers and the best personnel to carry out these kinds of search and intelligence work on our end. avi, thank you very much, sir, good to speak with you. bill: this is a "fox news alert." and, it is considered an act of war in almost any level, if you are waking up this morning, at least two south korean marines are dead after and attacks by the north. south korea's latest warning, only minutes ago. we'll update you on that story, here in "america's newsroom." martha: part can politics takes a back seat to the life-and-death struggle for this man and his family, the president's right-hand man and his most important assignment coming up in part 2 of this very special series. with david axelrod, we'll be right back. we know why we're here. to give our war fighters every advantage. ♪ [ man ] to deliver technologies that anticipate the future, today. ♪ and help protect america, everywhere. from the battle space to cyberspace. [ female announcer ] around the globe, the people of boeing are working togethe to givour best, for america's best. that's why we're here. ♪ martha: we're continuing to get bulletins on the situation in south korea, this is the first indication from the pentagon, they say no additional u.s. military assets will be moved to the region to cover what is going on in north korea, in terms of the attack on this island, that is right on the parallel on the 38th parallel there. no additional u.s. troops will move to the korean peninsula and the pentagon declined to comments on whether u.s. forces are at a heightened state of alert in the area. which is interesting. pentagon says it is too soon to discuss boosting korea military deterrents, following the shelling of that island that lies on the parallel and, you know, you just can't -- nothing replaces the images we have seen out of the island, clearly an hour at least of shelling from north korea onto the island and we don't know, yet, about casualties, how extensive they are, we know at least two casualties so far. bill: so many headlines out of north korea the past month. new successor and, you go back to march and the ship that sunk, 43 sailors dead as a result. back to north korea and the notice from the pentagon and the white house in a moment, first, new reports today of drug related violence like this in mexico. nine people dead, among them two mexican soldiers and a rural police commander. coming as the feds work to permanently seem a major smuggling tunnel on our border. william lajeunesse is live near san diego with more. what is happening there? good morning. >> reporter: america's war is fought on many fronts and increasingly in san diego is underground and the border is just past the building a few football fields away and the warehouse, looks like any others along the border, nondescript and, these were supposed to be stacked with toilet paper and, paper goods, but what was here, underneath the weaned cabinet was a trap door into the tunnel, and, i'll go inside and, it goes 1800 feet, more than a quarter mile, and this is about the -- there's about an increase of about 62% of the number of tunnels they are finding, here in the san diego area. this is real soft clay. very stable, and, this goes as i said, about a quarter mile, back to mexico and they use jack hammers, and concrete saws, and it took a year and probably a million dollars to build this tunnel. they got about $32 million of marijuana, the second largest seizure ever, in the u.s. now we spoke to the heads of the san diego task force yesterday and, he showed and told us, how they get away with this: >> in this area, and the area of san diego you fit right in, there is commercial on both sides of the border, and you can get come warehouse to warehouse across the border, bring your tractor-trailer and loads the drugs inside the warehouse and it fits right into the every day business. >> reporter: this is the second busiest commercial ports coming from mexico and the truck traffic blends right in and they took out 100, 150 loads of excavated soil and got away with it, and prays probably in operation three months before it was discovered. bill: how did they discover it, william? how did they find it? >> reporter: well, they got a tip and had this particular warehouse under surveillance and we'll show you video, right now of the detection equipment, there is no acoustical equipment now they can use to detect it because there is so much ambient noise and truck traffic they can't hear it and they do have robots to come in and make sure and check the oxygen level, so people can go in and a ground penetrating radar but it only sees ten feet deep and this is up to 70 feet deep on the mexican side and, the coolest part here, was, they had a -- basically a steel pipe and a sled with a car battery on it and would run the bundles of marijuana from mexican side over here, on this little sled and they'd pull it up here, and we're talking again, 32 tons of marijuana. going through the hole. it is described as the goose that lays the golden egg. back to you. bill: live shot of the day, william. well done. get out of the hole, william lajeunesse, near the mexican border in san diego, we are watching the story rather closely, as you know, from our reporting and while you watch "america's newsroom" check out our on-line section. of the original fox news stories relating to the border security, a click away. foxnews.com. thanks to william, there. martha: let's show you the storm damage we have told you about, the storms in the midwest an november tornado that ripped through the area. we're getting new pictures in. of the air and look at this. unbelievable. we heard people on the ground, talking about rooftops that were ripped often and a school bus turned over and with middle schoolchildren in it, a huge tornado that ripped through here, 80 miles northwest out of chicago, a small town, caledonia, illinois and they have woken up to a huge mess, this morning. lots of damage, new pictures coming from wfld. bill: we talked about the weather system, right, warm air in the front and cold air from the behind, a deadly mixture, in a moment one of our biggest stories of the day, what is happening with the koreas, will it be war, the pentagon refusing to comments on whether or not u.s. forces are on a hoeightene state of alerted, more by the minute here, on fox. martha: and, enlist in the military, enroll in college and you are an american citizen, the g.o.p.'s latest plan to block the "dream act", lou dobbs is here, in the house, and he'll weigh in on this after the break. >> these are your brothers, cousins, nephews, part of your family, coworkers and kids going to school with you and you care about them immensely and it would be great, it is really one family of people out there. they came as children, and we shouldn't hold children responsible for the actions of adults. join the jaguar platinum celebration ! come celebrate exciting cars that are stunning to look at, exhilarating to drive and worry free to own. celebrate this holiday season with the gift of platinum. jaguar platinum coverage: five years or 50,000 miles of complimentary scheduled maintenance, and no cost replacement of wear and tear items visit your jaguar dealer during the platinum celebration foa $599 lease offer on the 2011 x my professor at berkeley asked me if i wanted to change the world. i said "sure." "well, let's grow some algae." and that's what started it. exxonmobil and synthetic genomi have built a new facility to identify the most productive strains of algae. algae a amazing little critters. they secrete oil, which we could turn into biofuels. they also absorb co2. we're hoping to supplement the fuels that we use in our vehicles, and to do this at a large enough scale to someday help meet the wor's energy demands. martha: this is a "fox news alert," we now have reaction coming from the united nations this morning with regard to the situation in north korea. so far, u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon says there is no plan for a concrete plan of a security council meeting on the crisis and members of the council have been speaking on the sidelines about all of this and are monitoring the situation and will give an update of the changes, so far, we see sort of a number of elements of this weighing in as standing pat, waiting. the pentagon says, no change in the troop position. they have not sort of increased to a level of high alert. in terms of our troops in south korea today. so, a lot of watching what is going on there. and waiting to announce whether or not there will be any change in our posture. as a result of this artillery strike near the demilitarized zone, you can see the island highlighted there and we'll bring you the latest when it comes in. bill: right now, 32 minutes pasts the hour, democrats on the hill, now pushing for a lame duck vote on the so-called dream acts. the dream act would grant u.s. citizenship to illegal immigrants who enroll in college and enlist in the military and critics say it is another form of amnesty and plan to block the bill, but can they, lou dobbs, from the fox business network with me now, official full-time staff member, what in the world took you so long, man, we have been waiting for you. good to see you. >> nice to be with you. bill: will this pass. >> absolutely not. and, the reason is, less the charge of the republicans than the failure of the democratic leadership. this is a show boat. it is a show boat designed to, if you will pay back certain advocacy groups who have been helpful in securing a vote. unfortunately there's merit to the idea of giving certain illegal immigrants who are in school, some special consideration. but, again, the effort here, is to gain the american people and to gain the system. bill: here's what the dream act requires requires. first you have to enter the u.s. before the age of 16 and have to be in the country at least five years and have to have a high school diploma, ged or accepted to a college or university and you must be between 12 and 35, by the time of the application and you have to have good moral character which i interpret to mean you cannot be in trouble with the law, or can't have a record of running from the law. >> well, no, that is not quite the case, either, and, jeff sessions circulated this and i don't know if you can see this, a four page, ten-point manifest against the legislation. by the way, it permits those who have avoided their deportation hearings, have avoided hearings of all sorts of immigration... those guilty of misdemeanors, dui, all of that is wide open and by the way, you mentioned military service an education. there is also an exemption here, bill, for anyone who finds a hardship to either go into the military or vocational school or institution and that is automatically waived. bill: there is a lot of opposition but there are moderate democratic senators up for reelection in 2012 and come from states, namely, west virginia, joe manchin, jim webb, virginia and immigrations a hot topic. >> immigration, leiillegal immigration is a hot topic across the country and you mentioned one of the names, senator james webb, one of the moderate centrist voices of reason in the democratic party and he will be listened to and is constituents will watch him carefully as they will other centrist democrats. bill: i've seen a number, i don't know what your numbers tell you, 2.1 million hispanics, is that about right -- >> illegal immigrants, that would include all ethnicities, all the way -- >> point taken, understood. but that -- >> the number is considered to be conservative. bill: conservative at the loaned, yloanew end, you say then. >> right. bill: that would be a huge bloc of votes, if harry reid got -- >> bill, that number is part of gaming the system. remember, we are hearing a number of advocates talk about, do this for the kids and these aren't kids, we are talking about up to 35 years of age and one piece of legislation, three bills, one, there is no abge limit and the 2.1 million is a conservative, lower estimate in the minds of many, but is only a down payment. because, they would be allowed to then, upon achieving amnesty status, legal status under the dream act, to bring in siblings, their parents, and, have quite a significant impact on... bill: an issue and i want to make this pointed about the lame duck history in congress will tell you the insurgent party in the case republicans, there history of it having success. >> and i think that is absolutely true. but, again, i think the real failing here and the real opposition to any mutuovement h been created by the obama administration and the democratic leaders, the way they've proceeded. >> lou dobbs says the dream act will not happen. >> correct. bill: six weeks to go. thank you, lou. welcome on board, you have met my friend, martha. martha: good to see you and welcome, welcome, good to have you here. coming up we have this story: one of the most powerful men in the white house. but, at home, president obama's senior advisor, david axelrod has the important duty of being a dad. we'll give you an up-close look at his battle to save his daughter's life. >> i was having a hard time understanding why i was living in washington and not home and she'd say, how come barack obama needs so much help. >> what do you think about working for the president. >> i miss my dad when he's been in washington this year. [ female announcer ] humana and walmart are teaming up to bring you a low-price medicare prescription drug plan that has the lowest national premium in the country of only $14.80 per month. so you can focus on the things that really matter. go to walmart.com for details. the same old way... consider this: things just got beautifully simple. introducing the duracell mygrid™. simple and smart. it's mygrid™. from duracell. trusted everywhere. think you can only charge one thing at a time...? consider this: drop & go charging for up to 4 devices at once... the duracell mygrid™. simple and smart. it's mygrid™. from duracell. trusted everywhere. bill: president obama's senior advisor, david axelrod will be leaving the administration sooner than thought. senior white house officials telling fox news, david axelrod is moving up his departure date to january, or february. before embarking on the re-election campaign. out of chicago, earlier in november he said he'd stay 6 more months but his desire to spend added family time is shifting the departure date from washington. martha: and, his need to spend more time with his family brings us to part 2 of my interview with him, david axelrod and his wife, susan, to most he's the high powered close advisor to president obama, of course. but, to his daughter, lauren he's dad and lauren, as we have told you, through this series, yesterday, the first part of it, she suffers with epilepsy and david and susan have been on a long and often frightening journey to deal with the debilitating seizures and the outcome is a happy one, she's seizure free, learned to live more on her own and lives at a special place, that caters to people who have been dealt shall we say a tougher set of cards than the rest of us have. called misericordia, outside of chicago and we'll take you there, to see how the axelrods and many others have found a safe harbor. >> ♪ ♪ god made me... >> reporter: she's one of the daughter of the most powerful men in washington. her dad, david, is a senior advisor to president obama. since lauren has an infant she suffered an onslaught of epileptic seizures, literally assaults to the brain and sometimes she endured as many as 25 a day. until, finally, a drug came along, that gave her relief. a new anti-convulse sant medicine known as keppra. still, because of her developmental disabilities she needs around-the-clock support. in 2000, her parents, susan and david, decided to send her to a remarkable place, called misericordia, which means "heart of mercy." that is exactly what the home is. >> it changed our lives. probably almost as much as hers. >> reporter: based in chicago, it's a haven for the disabled. >> ♪ happy birthday to you... >> reporter: it gently guides people to reach their greatest potential. >> people realize how difficult people with developmental disabilities are. if they have an environment that loves them and respects them and challenges them. >> reporter: sister rosemary connelly, or as most call her, "st. rosemary" has run the nonfor profit home for 40 years. >> we have so much to be grateful for, don't we? >> yes, we do! >> it is what will make them happy and fulfilled, as people. and that is what we work at. >> reporter: the goal, a full independent life. for all of the 600 residents on miser misericordia's 31 acre campus, it costs $51 million a year to run it and families pay what they can and they get the rest from the state an outside donors which has been especially hard in these tough economic times. >> reporter: how hard is it to cover costs every year. >> we have to raise $14 million this year, and that is the deficit. we also have to raise money for construction. and make room, and we are trying to create an endowment. the government, presently they owe us $7 million in back payment. >> reporter: sister connelly is dedicated to keeping it going, so people like lauren can live here and thrive. >> do you want me to help you with the sausages, too? >> reporter: now he lives in an apartment on campus and is learning how to cook and clean. for the first time she has a rich, social life. her happiness has given her parents a great gift. relief from what has been an extremely high anxiety existence. >> i was so worried that somehow lauren would feel that we were giving her away. i couldn't live with that. now, i realize that what we gave her was the opportunity to have a life of her own. >> also, i think, to know that should something happen to us, that she is en a really gad place. -- good place. >> she likes boys. >> do you like the boyfriend, are you okay with them. >> i don't want anybody near my daughter! no, i think they are very sweet. >>... i want to come to the white house. >> you have to come and visit. >> lauren keeps asking about that. and i'm so busy, you know. >> yes. >> for to us have those conversations with her, is really incredible. >> incredible thing, a great treat. >> reporter: it was 8 years after lauren moved to miser tha david axelrod, became the mastermind behind president obama's historic campaign. >> should i go on the campaign trail, and, those decisions have been hard for you to feel free to do. >> there were several times i had opportunities to work on a national campaign and i would have done, if our circumstances were different. >> reporter: how does lauren feel about you working with the president and him taking your time away. >> she was having a hard time understanding why hivi was livi in washington and, not only and she'd say, how come barack obama needs so much help. >> what do you think about your dad gone in washington, for so much work. >> i miss my dad, he has been in washington, this year. >> reporter: lauren is always in his thoughts and one of her paintings hangs in his west wing office. it's the white house but she added a reflection of the chicago skyline in the water. >> the first thing i see when i walk into my office, every day and is a little piece of home. >> reporter: he will be leaving the white house, soon. returning to chicago, to be closer to his family, and to start president obama's re-election campaign. >> it is a privilege of a lifetime, to serve and to serve in that building, but, it is a privilege to be susan axelrod's husband and lauren axelrod's father, and, i want to enjoy that privilege, as well. >> reporter: a privilege that comes with knowing that at any moment the seizures could return. but, lauren and her parents have made it their mission to give hope to other. >> the reality is, we can't get back what lauren has lost. but, as susan always says, it would be a tremendous legacy for lauren if other people didn't have to go through this. because of the advances that we're able to make. ♪ ♪ martha: the privilege was for me to go to misericordia and see the community and the love and nurturing and families and how they're involved in it. it's an extraordinary experience, if you want to learn more about it, there's a link on our home page now, go to foxnews.com, and you can click on "www.misericordia.org" and you can make a donation and if you are moved to do that. that would be much appreciated and it was a tremendous experience, for me, to get to know the families and we cover politics here, so intensely and it was nice to step out of that, and get to know the family, incredibly close family and one of the questions i asked susan and david was, this kind of situation can be hard on the marriage sometimes and david said, it goes one way or the other and for you, david and susan, it brought them much closer together than they ever thought they could be and is an extraordinary family story in many ways. bill: they have a lot to give thanks for, she's one beautiful young lady. martha: she is, she's really terrific and the two boys, i met one of them, who are great, and as they mentioned, they seem like they're in a great place. bill: and you mentioned susan, meeting her yesterday in new york, she's one strong... martha: yes. bill: solid. martha: she is, great. martha: glad to bring it to everybody. bill: a big surprise over the weekend, a message from the sergeant overseas, came to life on the 50 yard line, this will make you feel great. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. you don't get 100% daily value of any vitamins. unless you do this. but total is the cereal that gives you 100% daily value of 11 essential vitamins and minerals and crunchy oat clusters. total. are you getting 100%? bill: president obama, vice president joe biden on the way to indiana and a state hit hard by unemployment and the plan is for the president to talk about how stimulus dollars improved the economy but not everyone is buying that. mike tobin is live in kokomo, indiana, 30 miles north of indianapolis, and chrysler is the town's largest employer and do people notice a change in the economy, mike. >> here in the... here in the plant, bill they do and that is after chrysler got $7 billion, in bailout money, and, they were able to apply $343 million, to this facility. where they have retooled it, to produce a new hb transmission designed to save fuel with cars and in doing so, chrysler was able to recall 400 laid off employees. and, that is part of the victory that the administration will be touting when they show up here today. they'll also be talking about unemployment, and the unemployment figures in kokomo were 6.8%, when the president took office and shot up to 20%, but have been able to beat that figure back to 12.8%. that comes after a massive investment in the area. in other manufacturing, even $800,000 to revitalize the downtown, and, one shop owner, kokomo, tells you, he hasn't seen it this bad since the depression. >> and, unfortunately, the young people are all leaving, because, there are no jobs here. they get out of school and get some training and have to go to to indianapolis or chicago, to find work and, of course, they relocate. so, what we are seeing is a city that is getting older and older. >> reporter: the president of the local economic development alliance is defending the bailout in the way it has been applied in indiana, saying when you secure the jobs with the core manufacturers that attracts the smaller manufacturers, and, their suppliers. bill? bill: mike tobin, thanks, live in kokomo, indiana. thanks, we'll await the arrival there a bit later. martha. martha: from a trip to indiana to the road to 2012, new details on the possibility that president obama could face a primary challenge? could that be? and thanksgiving comes early for one family of -- a very emotional reunion, how a professional football team got in on the act. ( woman ) even with an overactive bladder, i don't always let the worry my pipes might leak compromise what i like to do. i take care with vesicare, because i have better places to visit than just the bathroom. ( announcer ) once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle, and is proven to treat overactive bladder with symptoms of frequent urges and leaks, day and night. if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. vesicare may cause allergic reactions that may be serious. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue, stop taking vesicare and get emergency help. tell your doctor right away if you have severe abdominal pain or become constipated for three or more days. vesicare may cause blurred vision, so use caution while driving or doing unsafe tasks. common side effects are dry mouth, constipation, and indigestion. ( woman ) you have better things to join than always a line for the bathroom. so, pipe up and ask your doctor today about taking care with vesicare. martha: there's a big thanksgiving surprise, the tennessee titans football game, for the family of a soldier -- soldier serveing in afghanistan. take a look. >> sergeant stpo*ers member of the 101st airborne division -- division. >> [inaudible [stkpwhraoepb here he is! >> i love you. >> i'm used to waiting. i'm in the army. hurry up and wait on everything, but when she was two blocks away and when i got here and i sat down in that room for 3 1/2 hours while she was here walking around, it was -- >> we've been married 15 years. >> it's just, i don't know, like a wedding day all over again. martha: oh my gosh. tearing

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