because some of their buddies simply weren't accounted for in that fire. they thought they were trapped. right now we're getting breaking news that all the firefighters at this fire are accounted for. we do have 12 taken to the hospital. their conditions, unknown at this time. it certainly was is big blaze. again, in an empty commercial building on the south side of chicago. a fire, a frantic rescue, and now, some free firefighters that we'll continue to watch throughout the next two hours on "happening now". jon: great news there! now this. a live picture from encino, california, this kurty of -- courtesy of kt tv, you're looking at one of the rescue choppers. appears it might be a coast guard chopper, looking for a person who is thought to have been swept away in the river that runs through encino. there has beenter earnings -- torrential rain falling in california, as you well know, if you've been following it on our fox weather, torrential rain, rivers pushed over their banks and encino is no exception. it is thought that a person was swept away, not a lot of information about it, but they have the helicopters up there, looking for that person. if we get more information or get a sighting of the swept away person, we'll bring it to you here on "happening now". good morning to you! i'm jon scott. jenna: weather is certainly one of our biggest stories, unbelievable. hi everybody, i'm jenna lee, here in the fox news room, "happen position now", we're going to bring you down to capitol hill where we're awaiting a key senate test vote on the 911 health bill, the legislation would provide billions of dollars in aid to first responders, those who got sick from toxins at the world trade center ruins. jon: it is one of the final unfinished pieces of business in this lame duck session. steve centanni in washington, exactry where do we stand >> reporter: negotiations continue for a vote in the senate possibly today but still not deal at this point, the price tag, apparently the sticking point according to sources on capitol hill, right now it's a $6.2 billion bill, that would come down substantially in the negotiations if the parties agree. one sponsor of the bill is urging president obama to get more involved in promoting the measure, the white house says the president does support this bill and has cut out statements to that effect: >> i think mitch mcconnell and republicans ought to pick up the phone and talk to each other about this. every democrat is for this bill. fifty-eight democratic senators, out of 58 democratic senators, support this bill. >> reporter: meantime, a spokesman for senate majority leader harry reid is slamming the gop for standing in the way of this bill and other legislation. in a statement, he said republicans are previewing an arrogant, reckless agenda for 2011 that is more focused on playing political games than common sense problem solving. one senator, tom coburn of oklahoma, was threatening to block the 9111th responders bill and he's in these negotiations now and we'll see if that deadlock is broken today jon. jon: as we just heard, democrats are all for it. what are the republicans' main objection? >> well, they don't like the high cost. they think it could lead to wasteful spending. and they say the lame duck session doesn't allow enough time to consider all the options. >> understand, this is not a bill that was considered by a committee of the congress and fixed so that when it came to the senate floor, the main issues were resolved. >> reporter: but in fact, there was a hearing before the full senate committee on health and education last june, on top of that, there were 22 hearings in the house, where this bill originates, so it certainly has had committee considerations, jon. jon: steve centanni, live from washington, thanks. jenna: for mou on this, i'm joined by congressman carolyn maloney, democratic congresswoman from new york. there's talk about changing the version that is sent to the senate. if it is changed, a lower amount, will you vote for this bill and the passage of it no matter what? >> absolutely jenna, and i'm not leaving uj we have a vote on this bill and move it forward. it's the right thing to do. it's the right time to do it. and it's the right season to do it. we should have a christmas miracle, a christmas gift to the responders by passing this important bill. i understand, jenna, the senators worked through the night and we're hoping to come up with an acceptable bill that we can bring to a vote now before we journ. we have the votes on the democratic side, we have the senate votes, i'm told by our two senators. all we need is the political will and the time get it done. so i'm imploring senator coburn and the republican leadership to work with us, not run out the clock and allow a vote on this important bill. it's important to national security, and it's important to the lives of thousands of first responders across this country. jenna: i want to talk more about the political process but first on those first responders that this intil supposed to help, how many first responders exactly would this help? >> well, there are roughly 36,000 responders and it's construction workers, it's lead workers, iron workers, the keep who came -- the people who came to the pile to go into the debris to save the lives of others and then continue to work on a cleanup on the pile, and not only are they the first velt rans of the war against terror, our governments told them to come back, that it was safe. we now know it was terribly unsafe. there's a double responsibility of our government to help these men and women. there are 36,000 men and women across the country, there are 36,000, 71,000 in the registry and 36,000 being treated right now with what they call the world trade center illness that is unique to this terrible tragedy in our country's history. jenna: let's talk more about the political realm and thank you for those numbers because it does give us an idea of how many people this fund would help. "the new york times" had an editorial today that was critical of the president saying that he should step in and insist that congress pass the bill. he's been relatively quiet over the last week on this bill. what are your thoughts about the role of the president? what role should he take here? >> we are very grateful that the president is supporting the bill, that he has said publicly he will sign the bill into law, we have to get it to his desk so he can get it into law. he's a very popular, dynamic reader in -- leader in our country and when he starts what i call the drum beat, talking about an issue, talking about its importance, it's like a wave comes and you can't stop it. i'd like to see that same type of determination that he's shown in other issues here for the first responders. we need his help with the ninth inning and we need a good closure and need somebody to rescue the rescuers. he's the commander in chief, he's the chief rescuer. we need him to come in and rescue this and leadtous victory. jenna: congresswoman carolyn maloney, so nice to talk to you and we look forward to talking to you again, ma'am. >> thank you. jon right now, you see the line of mourners who are preparing for the funeral of a border patrol agent, killed last week in the line of duty. harris faulkner is watching it from the breaking news desk. >> reporter: this procession has been going on for almost 20 minutes. you're seeing so many border patrol. but jon, they are joined by almost every available off-duty police officer right now in that detroit area. that's because 40-year-old brian terry was a police officer, in lincoln park and lower michigan city before joining the border patrol down south of tucson in 2007, flags at half staff in southern arizona and now a huge funeral procession at the greater grace temple in this area of detroit, michigan. and again, i mean, i just want to mention how many people this is really -- have taken a part in this. they're waiting for everybody to get in there, they're carrying american flags, all around a circle, as they have this procession into the temple. terry was with a number of other border patrol agents who took on, on december 14th, just a week or so ago, some bandits who are known for targeting illegal immigrants just south of tucson as they come across the border. he was killed in gunfire exchange. and those border towns, real rico, back to nogales, have been honoring this border agent in a very visible way in southern arizona but today the visibility has moved to michigan as he is survived by his mom, dad, and two sisters as they mourn along with at least a couple of cities in michigan the loss of this border patrol agent. jon: and so sad he survived his time in the marine corps, his stint as a ploafer and winds up dying on our border. thank you, harris. >> reporter: sure. jenna: a fox news extreme weather alert, epic center that -- weather that will go down in the record books. homes in arizona, watch this, justatching -- washing arrest and dozens more in neighboring nevada and utah, still in danger from flash floods. also in a rain-battered california, families living in areas prone to mudslides not taking chances, spending the final days before the holiday packing up and heading to safety. and what's more, they may not have actually seen the worst yet. let's talk to maria molina in the extreme weather center. i guess extreme is appropriate. >> it is extreme, a lot of problems and i'm happy to see that people are taking those warnings and evacuating out of those areas. it's really important to take this very seriously. we've seen a lot of rain, between 5-20 inches, generally, across southern california, and like you said, it is not over just yet. here we have the low pressure system moving eastward, ahead it, a lot of rain around san diego and los angeles, bakersfield and east of san francisco and also higher elevation snowfall in the sierra, but that's high up, about 7000, 8000 feet, that's where we've seen the really impressive snowfall amounts, up to 13 feet of snow. otherwise, the rain, reallile big story and later on this afternoon we'll see thunderstorms firing up that could potentially produce some severe weather. we're talking hail and isolated brief tornadoes and even damaging wind gusts, and that can add to the problems we're already seeing because of the rain and also flash flood warnings, that's east of los angeles and also including las vegas. so we're going to continue to they that -- to see that urban flooding in those cities. the rainfall total is 20 inches in california, crestline, east of los angeles, very impressive amounts, ground already saturated so you get additional rainfall from the system before it exits that region and we're talking more of what you saw in that video jenna. jenna: unbelievable. maria, stay close, and with those reports, for the next few hours so make sure we stay on it. maria molina, thank you. >> thank you. jon: a fox news alert out of chicago. we are looking at this, the remnants of a fire that burned in chicago on the southeast side. it was a vacant commercial building as we understand it there are confusing reports, frankly, coming in as to whether firefighters who were trapped have been injured or maybe even killed in this fire. there are conflicting reports. that's the best i can tell you. reports coming out of that city say that two firefighters actually were killed in this. we're trying to run down these reports. we'll get you the latest as soon as we get the information. also, a big scare when a television news station finds itself at the center of breaking news. a distraught woman with a gun, barricades herself inside the station during the evening newscast. what police think led to this. also the tragedy that helped launch toyota's massive recall. four people who died when a lexus speeds up out of control and crashes. harris has some breaking developments on that. >> going north 125? >> uh-huh. >> i'm sorry? >> our accelerator's suck. our accelerator's stuck. jenna: to north carolina a bizarre and scary scene at a share lot tv station when a woman said to be distraught over her financial situation barges into the lobby, pulls out a gun, puts it to her head. the station's general manager says the gun wasn't loaded thankfully, the station went off the air for about an hour and the building was evacuated and locked down. scary situation, but luckily no one was taken hostage or injured. jon: president obama ends the military's don't ask don't tell policy with a stroke of his pen this morning. it raises an interesting question: can rotc programs now return to some of the liberal campuses where they had long been banned? some ivy league and other universities have locked rotc programs from their campuses since the vietnam war, even though that war ended decades ago, the ban continued among many of those schools and they used don't ask don't tell as the reason why. so does the repeal of that measure mean that rotc could return to some of those elite schools? joining us now, editor of the weekly standard, bill kristol, fox news political analyst. you think there is no excuse for these schools not to put rotc on campus, huh bill? >> that's right, there's no reason not to fully recognize rotc. harvard president made a strong statement over the weekend, drew faust, columbia-yale, i hope they do it, i hope they will do it for the country, i hope president obama weighs in. in 2008 during the campaign he said he favored having full recognition of rotc on campuses, he said it at columbia in which it's not recognized, where if students want to serve the country they have to take the subway to do it, columbia doesn't provide facilities, help, recognition. in 2008, even before the repeal he said he favored recognition of rotc. i hope president obama weighs in, he has clout with the liberal college presidents and i hope he does the right thing. jon: columbia is the university that the president attended. let's look at the schools that currently ban rotc, mostly ivy league schools, brown, columbia, stanford, tufts, university of chicago, and yale. the point has been made that the military might not necessarily want to go recruiting on some of those campuses, that the kinds of students they might find there wouldn't be the students that necessarily would make good military leaders. what do you think about that argument? >> i think there are terrific military leaders from those campuses, but they -- it should be made easier for students at those schools to serve their country by joining rotc. the military needs to recruit a whole bunch of offices and understandably they don't want to bash their heads against a wall and go uphill when they can go to welcoming campuses in the midwest and south and get tons of officers and those are great officers, too, but there's something about the diversity in the office of corporation, good for the universities about seeing young men and women who want to serve their country. it happens at harvard, they go to mit and fulfill their duties there but it would be healthier for the elite campuses to welcome the military and i think it's right, the military, too, needs to step up and say we're going to spend a little more money and a little more effort to make sure we have a presence on all campuses. jon: i know a little about this because i have a nephew that went to rotc at mit, even though he was a student at harvard, but you mentioned the fact that college professors, if they want to make life difficult for the rotc kids, they can refuse them absences, excused absences to train, that kind of thing. what about the overall university reaction, even if the administration of some of these schools says yeah, we've lost our fig leaf now, we can't use don't ask don't tell, we've got to let rotc in? >> a lot of kids have done this in recent years and i'd say the students are terrific about it. other students respect students who serve their country, go into harm's way at the elite schools, they may personally be liberal, they may not be in favor of fighting a particular conflict, or whatever, but i don't think there's much problem in the student body. there's some problem with administratives, faculty left over from the '60s and want to fight that fight but i think even they're the minority. i think if the military makes clear it's willing to spend extra time and effort in establishing rotc on the campuses or at least making it easier for students to do rotc on the campuses, i think that would be a good thing and it's doable. the burden is on the college administrators to step up and those who deal with the college administrators, the professors and administrator, to step up and say you had your problems with don't ask don't tell, that's gone, now it's time to really fully recognize young men and will and help them serve their country. jon: so all you administrators at brown, columbia, harvard, tufts, stanford, chicago, yale, you got your work cut out for you. >> i think the alumni watching this show should call their presidents. jon: bill kristol, thank you. >> thank you. jenna: we have brand new numbers on the housing front, plus we're going to tell you why some lenders bailed out on your dime and are actually choosing foreclosure over another option who could help those story, just ahead. jenna: some breaking news today. existing home sales are up and that's actually the third increase in four-months, following a pretty harsh summer when it came to home buying and home sales in general. but any alcoholismero glimmer of good news may not be of much help for millions of underwater homeowners. few people are getting relief from the obama administration's main foreclosure program. sam shannon is chief economist at real capital analytics and is our guest today. sam, talk to us about this recovery, we're seeing existing home sales, is this a recovery we can believe in? >> right now it's not. ultimately we need meaningful job growth in the united states for home sales to pick up, for people to be able to enter the housing market, to buy homes, to be able to make those mortgage payments in a way that's sustainable that, contributes to the overall economy. we first need job growth and we don't have those real job growth numbers in the economy yet. that's a real challenge for us. jenna: we're hearing so many different reports about folks looking to get a loan modification and actually not getting it, to someone that's arranged a short sale for their home, their bank won't accept it, foreclosures on the home, then actually sells it for less than the short sale. that can be confusing after we poured so much money into this market to help it out. >> there are very lrnlg numbers of house hold that is did not qualify for the programs, as an alternative, the government introduced a program earlier in 2010 that's designed to provide alternatives to foreclosures, in particular, to provide the bank with some incentive to allow the owner of the home the option of engageing in a short sale, so i'll find a find -- i'll find a buyer who can make a payment, i'll probably get back a lot of the money against the mortgage, so the bank will recover some of the money. they won't have to go through the painful, expensive process of a foreclosure. a lot of the time the bank has opted to say to the owner, you know what, we're going to proceed with a foreclosure, we don't want the short sale option. part of the challenge here is the bank's perception that you know what, we need to recover as much as possible. jenna: that's when banks trusted a homeowner with lets they was $500,000 now they're not trusting the same homeowner, getting them a deal for that house. >> absolutely. the part of the concern is the homeowner doesn't necessarily have a lot of incentive to make sure the bank is recovering as much as possible. their incentive is to find a buyer. and so the bank may feel that you know what, that recovery isn't going to be maximized if i leave it up to the homeowner. as for how the banks' view of its relationship with the homeowner has changed over the last couple of years, very clearly, they're far more risk-averse in how they approach that relationship. jenna: that's when the government said we're going to step in, provide incentives so we can balance out this relationship a little more and help out the home other than. is it plainly clear the programs aren't working? and can they actually be fixed and improved on, or should we get the government out of the market? >> if the program can be designed in a way that the bank feels you know what, that homeowner has some incentive to maximize the recovery, to really get the best possible offer for this house, i think that will go a long way to making sure that the banks feel you know what, the home other than and my institution, we're on the same page, we're on the same side, we have the same set of incentives, we want the same outcomes. if we're working towards the goal together, that can go a long way, and that's not how it's designed now. jenna: many of our viewers are probably wondering we already helped the banks, why help them out. is this t too late to have government intervention into these programs with the housing market tripping along here over the last few years? >> in washington, the nature of where the dialogue sits today, it may not be possible to engage in an expansion of any of these programs. what i can suggest is that for a homeowner who is thinking about how they might engage with their bank, if you can really show that you made a serious effort to find very well qualified buyers and maybe you get a couple of offers, maybe you get strong independent appraise always of the value of that asset, if the bank really feels you've made a good faith effort to maximize the recovery, i think that can be helpful in moving this along. i wouldn't count on an expansion or modification of the actual foreclosure program at this point. jenna: good advice in the short term. thank you very much for that, sam, always nice to see you. jon, really quick, the only area, the healthiest major city market in the united states when it comes to home sales? washington, d.c. is the biggest job growth, by the way. kind of an interesting fact, jon. jon: lots of politicians moving in there, i suppose! then there's this. the federal communications commission, an unelected body s. laying out new regulations for what it wants to do on the internet. is this a necessary step? or a power grab by the federal government? republican senator kay bailey hutchison gives us her take. and congress considers a bill to help 9/11 first responders cover their mounting health care costs. supporters of this bill fear that lawmakers will head home for the holidays without dealing with it. ahead, we'll talk to one man who raced into that toxic cloud. >> you will not go home early. the budget i brought down here will block the airport, will block the roads out. the people behind me that traveled with me, they will get arrested with me. jenna: the defense authorization bill now going back to the house after the senate approves the legislation but not without a few revisions, on this on the day the president signed the repeal of don't ask don't tell which was for the very first time allows gay men and women to serve openly in the u.s. military. >> this law i'm about to sign will strengthen our national security. and uphold the ideals that our fighting men and women risk their lives to defend. no longer will our country be denied the service of thousands of patriotic americans who are forced to leave the military, regardless of their skills, no matter their bravery or their zeal, no matter their years of exemplary performance because they happen to be gay. jenna: joining us now, congressman pat akin, republican of missouri on the house armed services committee as well. congressman, nice to have you as a political voice but also the veteran and father of three marine as well. one of the big questions that comes out of the seeing the repeal of don't ask don't tell become law is how will this change of military. >> well, the people to ask that question to obviously first of all are the people that are in the military, and if you take a look, you have four service chiefs, that is, the general over the air force, the general over the army, the general over the marine course, the admiral over the navy, and of those four, three of those that say don't do this, it's bad for us, one even stuck his neck out politically, general amos, saying this will end up with more deaths, if you take a look at the survey that was doctored to try to sell it politically you had the people who were most serving in the front lines are all opposed to this idea, and there's a lot of misunderstanding. but if you ask the people that actually serve in the military, they're going to tell you, this is a bad idea. jenna: this being the law of the land now, the next question is implementation. before we get to that, do you see any sort of effort to overturn this law? >> well, with the current congress, the democrats have a wide open hand, they can do anything they want, they've been doing that for two years. this was a very big political agenda. it's interesting that we do not have a defense bill. this is the first time in 46 years that congress does not have a defense bill and yet we've pry prioritized this effort for a very small minority of people. it's interesting, also, that there's a misunderstanding. if people are gay, they can serve in the military now. it's just that they can't allow their gayness to get in the way of getting the mission done. jenna: you talked about the congress being the congress, as you mentioned, over the last two years, but as you know as of january, you're going to -- going to be back in congress and things will change, you're going to have more republicans, a tea party-influenced group as well. do you think there will be an effort to repeal the repeal of don't ask don't tell? >> certainly in the house we could pass a measure that would repeal it. of course the problem is it would never get past the senate and the president would veto it, so the answer is yes, you will see much more conservative legislation coming from the house. it's going to be legislation that focuses, because i'm on the armed services committee, we're going to focus on national defense, not making social statements. jenna: we've seen a lot of discussion about the implementation, the president today -- implementation i should say of the repeal of don't ask don't tell, the president today saying the government should not drag its feet on this, it should be implemented quickly. we just talked to the spokesperson for the pentagon yesterday who said it's going to be very methodical, could take weeks, months, maybe years potentially. what do you think is reasonable? >> well, if you take a look at you're a mid-level officer, and the way the policy works now is if somebody is gay, that's not a problem, as long as it doesn't get in the way of their performing their job, but if it starts to become a big issue then you have the ability to basically remove the person from the service. now, when you repeal that, let memoo what then do the rules become? someone can be openly gay. to what degree. jenna: so there are questions that remain. a quiek thought, the defense authorization bill is coming back to the house for a vote, we're also going to see potentially the 9/11 bill come to the house for a vote, even though it passed earlier back in september. will you stay around and stay until there's a vote on the 9/11 first responders bill? >> well, the way i see it, it's our job to stay here and to do the legislation. obviously, the way things are being managed is miserable. the house is in and out, we have no idea what the schedule is, we don't know what the senate is going to do, there's no plan, there's no organization. that's frustrating but it is our job to be here, to vote, and to make the different decisions, and so i personally will stay to make those decisions. jenna: congressman akin, so nice of you to join us, thank you very much. >> thank you very much, jenna. >> who has been to 44 funeral necessary the last four years. raise your hand? anybody? me. who is here, donated to each family of the loved ones of those lost? raise your hands. me. if i can do this, why can't the senate help these men and women? jon: that's john fe. le, an army veteran and demolition supervisor who was among the thousands of rescuers and cleanup workers who converged on the smoldering ruins of the twin towers after the 9/11 attacks. he has spoken out on cap toil hill as the senate heads toward that key vote that jenna was talking about with congressman akin, a vote that would provide medical care to responders like him, many of whom who are now sick, some dying from the toxins in the air apparently from ground zero. mr. feel, a founder of the feel good foundation joins us now. we understand from congressman chuck schumer, he says the senate will vote in about 20 minutes is his estimation on this 9/11 bill. is that your understanding? >> sir, our sources confirm what senator schumer said, and senator schumer has been negotiating all night and all morning with republican leadership, and we have complete faith and confidence that our two new york seb force are going to get this done today. thank you for having me on your show today. jon: thank you for the work you did at ground zero. you yourself were injured in the immediate days after the attacks, right? >> sir, on the 17th of september, 8000 pounds of steel crushed my left foot and i spent 11 weeks in the hospital, gangrene and i wound up losing half of my foot but my injury pales in comparison to the disease that is have taken so many men and women's lives and this bill is a measure that will aid these men and women and lift the financial burden that's been placed on them over the last nine years. jon: republicans in the senate have had concerns about the way this bill has been presented to them. apparently if senator schumer is correct, they are going to get past a cloture vote and get a bill out of the senate but then it has to be reconciled with the house version. the two versions do not match, correct? >> sir, that is correct. i know they have to send it back to the house but we were promised by the speaker and majority whip that congress is going to be around to vote for this today and i've always remained confident this bill would get done by the end of the year and i'm going to stick to that. jon: give me your best sales pitch to the american people. why do you think their elected representatives in washington should approve this? >> there's 435 congressional districts in the united states. four hundred thirty-one of them are represented at ground zero. this isn't a new york city, it's a national issue. everybody from -- somebody from every state came to new york and worked around ground zero on the pile. so there are over 990 people that have died from their heroic actions and the american people need to get behind this bill and support this bill. the bill does not add to the american decifit. in fact, it reduces the decifit. and the new pay for actually helps the government. the two wars going on since 911, they're not paid for and have added to the decifit. we're talking a few billion dollars to save lives. this is a no brainer. >> john feal, we'll continue to update our viewers, and see if this proceeds to the senate, assumeing it gets out of the house. >> sir, thank you, and happy holidays. jon: and to you. jenna: brand new developments in the case of tyler clemente who killed himself after his roomates spied on him using a web cam. why the college says -- why the family says the college is to blame and what they're doing about it. jenna: from the ftc's approval regarding internet traffic, while president obama says new regulations will preserve the free and open nature of the internet, other lawmakers are concerned this is just example of too much government. let's talk more about this with texas senator kay bailey hutchison, ranking member on the commerce committee and she joins us now. senator, what's at stake here? >> what's at stake here is the freedom that we have had in the internet that has ploated the growth and innovation of this sector of our economy, which is about 5/5 of the total economy of america and now we are coming in with a heavy hand of regulations where we're starting to see the ftc say you have to come to us to get permission to manage your own website. and this is a huge problem for many of us who want freedom and the markets to govern the internet. jenna: some that are in favor of the bill say listen, the internet right now is like the wild west, you only have a few companies that give you access to the internet because you get them through a phone company or big telecommunications company and hey if the government is not there to watch out for you the consumer, there's a chance you the consumer could get a raw deal here. what's your response to that? >> first of all, there's not been an outcry from consumers. and the companies that do have the traffic on the internet are trying to manage it so they can give the best service where there's a specific need for a certain type of service and to the general public so that something that is a data dump on an internet doesn't slow the service to the rest of the consumers. but to have another regulatory requirement, where you have to go to the ftc to get permission, to offer something special like a hospital trying to offer telemedicine to consumers at home or in doctor's offices, then you have a rate, you have your competitors find out what you're doing, there's proprietary information, it's going to gum up the marketplace. jenna: so the ftc is not an elected organization? obviously as a senator, you are. so what can congress do about it now? >> i think your point is very well taken, jenna, because the fcc tried to do theirs on a comcast legal case, and the court turned them back. the court of appeals said no, the ftc -- fcc doesn't have the authority to do this, they can't threaten the internet operations. it's congress that has to make these decisions. elected representatives. congress has not delegated this power to the fcc. now the fcc is coming back with these new regulations to try to do the same thing under a different part of the communications act, and it will be litigated for two years, and it will slow down the investment of the major providers in the innovations of the internet, while we wait to see what the court does this time. >> senator real quick, we understand there might be a vote coming up in the next few hours about the 9/11 first responder fund. what can you tell us about that, are you going to vote in favor of moving this bill along in the senate? >> well, let me say, jenna, that i think everyone would like to vote for a reasonable bill that prescribes to people who are eligible and covers their needs. we have not seen that. this bill started out at $10 billion, and then $6 billion, without specific ways to tell who is eligible and i think that the negotiations going on now are to provide the correct amount of money for the people who are certainly deserving and certainly need this and we have to see what the final result is of the bill that they are now negotiating. jen it seems like things are changing minute by minute and we patient your time today, senator, thank you very much. >> thank you. jon: another senator with decades of public service about to come to an end. that hardly means that senator arlen specter is done with his work, though. next, the veteran reflects on his years of service in washington, his republican successor, and what he hopes he's accomplished in his remaining days in office. jon: there will be a lot of changes on capitol hill when the next congress takes over. one of them, the departure of long time pennsylvania senator arlen specter. he's been in that post for 30 years. he joins us now. your reflections, senator specter, on leaving office after all of this time. >> it's a very different place. the collegiality is gone, compromise is now a dirty word, politics is the art of the possible, but if we'll are obstinat, as so many are now, it's very hard to get the public work done. we've had real problems on both sides of the aisle, both republicans and democrats are to blame, the senators can't offer amendments as they could when i came to the senate. that has produced a filibuster. you have senators going into other senator states and campaigning against them, you have even senators within the republican party going out to campaign against other republicans. pretty hard to legislate and have collegiate -- coll collegiality. it's a tough place now. >> are you saying that -- some observers have said when you left the republican party to run as a democrat, you were just sort of putting your finger in the political winds and that in and of itself contributes to some of what you're talking about, the political gridlock on capitol hill. your response. >> well, when i cast my vote for the stimulus package, which i thought was indispensable, to save the country from the depression, that was unacceptable to the republican party. so it wasn't -- really wasn't a matter of choice. i felt that i wanted to stay in the senate, and worked, tried to increase the funding for the national institutes of health, to televise the senate, important issues on foreign policy, and there was no place for me in the republican party because of one vote cast out of 10,000. jon: did that stimulus work in your view? >> well, i think that had we not had the stimulus, it would have produced a depression. there is a consensus that the money could have been spent better, but absent the stimulus, we would have been in a 1930-style depression. so i think it did work and i think that's the consensus of the economists. jon: it's our understandings, we were aus talking about this -- understanding, wurp just talking about this, our understanding from senator chuck schumer that there is about to be a vote on this 9/11 first responders bill. are you of the understanding that will be voted on in the senate today? >> well, it depends upon whether senators will allow it to come up for a vote. that's the thing about the united states senate, any one senator can stop that bill from coming up to a vote. so you've got to serve 99 other senators. as far as i'm concerned, i'm ready to vote. jon: but that system has worked pretty well, ever since the founding of the republic, hasn't it? >> well, i think it is a great institution, and i learned a long time ago that the senate was a lot smarter than i am. and it has been a great bastion. it saved the independence of the judiciary in 1805, with the acquittal of supreme court justice chase, preserved the power of the presidency, acquitting andrew johnson in 1868, and there is great constitutional strength, but there could be greater strength by some of the members but i'm very optimistic about the future of our country generally. as i said yesterday, on my closing argument, and i'm confident about the importance of the senate as aninstitution to start our constitutional values. jon: probably the last time i'll be speaking to you as senator. senator arlen specter, thank you for joining us today. >> nice to talk to you, thank you. jon: we'll be right back. helps us reduce sodium, but not flavor. so do a few lifts. campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ oh, my gosh. 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[ male announcer ] together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you'll pay no interest if paid in full by january 2012. i'm hugh jidette. as president, i promise your taxes will help build roads, bridges and schools. oh not here, overseas. i'll keep using your taxes to pay over one hundred billion dollars a year in interest to foreign lends, helping their economy. hurting ours. i'm hugh jidette, let's keep borrowing. oweno, let's not. with a plan we can stop sending billions to foreign lenders, grow our economy and meet our needs. visit oweno.com to stop hugh jidette. jenna: breaking tkefpl -plts out of chicago today where we've been watching this massive fire burner lee this mourn. what you're taking a look at is some of the tape we have from the scene that shows where the fire took place. there's been a lot of different reports coming out about this fire. we do know it was in a commercial building and there seems to be reports that no one was inside of that. here is where we're getting a little bit of a conflicting information. we heard earlier that all the firefighters that were trapped, because we heard there were several were pulled from the scene and sent to the hospital. local reports are now saying that two firefighters died in this fire. but there's been a lack of confirmation. we've been working to confirm that. we are awaiting a press conference from local authorities to see if we can get more incite on exactly what happened here. we are looking for the cause of the fire. it was in a dry cleaner's building. you can see frigid weather out in chicago and a tough fire to battle. we saw dozens and dozens of firefighters on scene, and again conflicting reports about who was injured, who got out of that fire and who unfortunately perished in it. as we hear more and can confirm the details we will bring it to you. and we start our second hour with breaking news and a lot of developments coming from all parts of the country and the world. hi, everybody i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. fox news alert from cooperate toll hill, the senate expected to vote on the s.t.a.r.t. treaty with russia. that would limit the number of nukes for both nations and restart weapons inspections. vice president biden and secretary of state hillary clinton have been at the capitol lobbying lawmakers. it looks like they have another two-thirds vote and it would be a victory for president obama. carl cameron on capitol hill for us. looks like this is going to pass. >> reporter: it does. the senator you see is bob korbger of tennessee. he is one of the cosponsors, along with dick lugar who join john kerry, the massachusetts democrat. it requires a two thirds votes of all those present, a super majority. if there were a hundred senators voting they would need 67. if it were 99 they would need 66 and so on. the very real possibility that arizona senator john mccain who had been a chief critic of all this and had been fighting behind closed doors for a whole series of adjustments may end up supporting it on the floor. just a moment ago he was praising john kerry for sheparding this through. it will be a big achievement for president obama after its rad tpaoeu indication he will come out and speak to the people about it. jon: what are the big concerns about the senators still on the fence. >> reporter: this treaty would reduce the warheads of russia and the united states. the principle criticism is there has been in the nuclear disarm or meant negotiations discussions of missile defenses. critics of the treaty believe that u.s. options for a global-missile shield are being inhibited by this treaty. they've sought a whole host of language that they wanted to have added to the preamble to the treaty, not the treaty itself so it wouldn't require the thing to be renegotiated with the russians. they've wanted to strengthen u.s. missile defense commitment. the president has acknowledged a plan, with senators, the joint chiefs all that there will be a national missile defense program by 2020 and they wanted to make it very clear that that's what they want, the ratification suggested at least a dozen of those republicans will be satisfied with what they heard. jon: carl cameron, thank you. jenna: it seems like you can count that potentially as a victory for the president. the president also signing the "don't ask don't tell" repeal into law today. it's one piece of what could be a growing list of so-called wins for democrats in the lame-duck session. our next guest this is the most productive lame-duck session since world war ii. larry sabado is the author of the upcoming back, pendulum swing. we saw partisan politics bubbling over in american politics. how did this become the most proceed tubgt tiff hr-d session since world war ii. >> there have been 15 lame-duck sections since world war ii. this one has passed the most legislation. whether you consider it productive or counterproductive is your point of view on the legislation. this is the old congress, there are 58 democrats in the united states senate, there are still 255 democrats in the house of representatives with 218 needed for a majority. so, this is the old congress, it is the congress has given barack obama most of what he's wanted for the past two years, obviously a very different congress is being sworn in on january 5th, and i expect conditions will change proet i y substantially. jenna: we definitely want to talk about that. we want to look at productivity and its connection or lack of connection to popular hrart. a gallop poll came out showing the lowest approval ratings we've ever seen. what does it mean when we see a productive congress but not a popular one. >> you've got dozens and dozens members of congress, mainly democrats who of course are going out of office, most of them never to return to public office. they have absolutely nothing to lose one way or the other during a lame-duck session. that 13%, by the way is the lowest ever recorded in modern times for a congress. this is clearly not a popular congress, but under our constitution they have fixed terms, they have full power for the entire two years of a congress, and they are clearly exercising it almost up until the last day. jenna: so we look at some of the list of different issues that have been brought up, they include major foreign policy issues, major domestic a agenda items as well. what do you think will define the next two years for this congress. what initiatives, bills potentially could define the congress over the next two years. >> i don't know if it will be a bill or bills as much as it will be an attitude about the deficit, the debt, spending, taxes. clearly this new incoming republican house, and a democratic, but more republican senate what's elected on the basis of those issues, on the economy, plus taxes, spending debt, et cetera, so you're going to have a real focus on that. and at some point we do have to come to grips with this enormous national debt, and one would hope it's sooner rather than later. that may be one hopes the hallmark of this new congress. jenna: i was curious about some of the bills because it seems that so many republicans have talked about repealing bills that have been put in place. i'm curious about your thoughts of whether or not the definition could come from unwinding what actually has been done over the last two years. >> i think repeal i l the senate, the democrats control the white house. remember the house being republican has a major advantage. the constitution says revenue bills originate in the house. that means they have the first crack at funding many of these programs, funding pieces of the healthcare legislation, for example. so they can squeeze it. i don't think they can repeal it but they can kwaoes it and theyy are clearly wanting to show progress to the con state unit see that elected them. jenna: thank you for joining us, thank you very much. >> thank you. jon: well it is a mess in a lot of parts of this country. forecasters warning of a massive storm heading for the west coast. this ha as state of emergenciese declared across four states. check out this video in nevada, they are underwater. folks try to head home for the holidays. maria is in the fox weather center. >> reporter: not going to be easy along inch certificate state 5 and all the other roadways. all of this rain has basically just been here since six days ago last week on friday, that is very similar to what we are seeing here today. that is a whole lot of rain, some spots picking up to 20 inches and that's all because of a massive area of low pressure that is slowly tracking on eastward. we'll see some improvement as we head into tomorrow. some thunderstorms will be possible here later on this afternoon as we begin to get a little daytime heating and a slight risk of seeing some hail, and maybe a small tornado. not a huge deal compared to the amount of rain from flash flood warnings in effect. those will be expiring in the next couple of hours, and also watches, they have been pushed eastward just to the west of the city of phoenix and flagstaff. once again the storm will continue to move on eastward. we'll see snow for the higher elevations. snow levels will be dropping across colorado and utah here as we head into tonight. jon: maria molina at the fox weather center, thanks. jenna: a flurry of economic reports coming out today, the latest on the growth of our economy, home sales and jobs as well. doug is live in washington with all the details on this. >> reporter: we didn't really see any numbers today that would signal a big turn around in the u.s. economy, an economy whose growth remains stubbornly slow. the grows domestic product, the u.s. economy expaneledded at a 2.6% annual rate in the third quarter. that's less growth than many economists had forecast. spending growth was cut. the good news in this is that analysts say that report is backward looking. wall street set it sights on the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year. with congress passing the extension of the bush tax cuts some analysts hope it will provide enough predictability for small businesses to invest more in growth and hiring. other important numbers from the day, from the national association of realtors, they say that the report on sales of existing homes for november are not all that exciting, in fact they failed to meet expectations, 4.68 million units sold, that's an increase of 5.6% from october. but short of forecast. again realtors complain that overly stringent lending standards are hurting the market. from the bureau of labor statistics, mass layoffs, layoffs of 50 people or mow they slowed their pace a bit last month down about 65 from the previous month. one more important number coming out, jenna that from the u.s. energy administration. they expect the week's numbers in petroleum and a treurs for oil may mean that the world economy is heating up. we expect that at 1:00 this afternoon. back to you. jenna: thank you very much. jon: we will update you on this devastating fire in chicago we've been telling you about, about a dozen firefighters went to the hospital. we are expecting a news conference any moment now. we are going to bring you the late-breaking details on what happened to those firefighters as we get them. also fox news has learned the white house is drafting an executive order about the guantanamo bay detainees. details about what we've uncovered be, coming up. we've saved people a lot of money on car insurance. feels nice going into the holidays. ohhhh.... will you marry me? oooh, helzberg diamonds. yeah, well he must have saved some money with geico. reminds me of the gecko mating call. really? how does that go? shoo be doo be doo. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. jon: "happening now," we could learn details any time now on the settlement between toyota and the relatives of four people who died when their car apparently accelerated out of control and crashed last year. harris has that story at the breaking news desk. >> reporter: what we are learning right now in addition to the 16.4 million that toyota has paid the u.s. government for the handling of the recalls that was triggered by the very event you just talked about, jon. by january 14th they'll have to fork over additional money, fees to the u.s. for the way it handled the recalls at the heart of the safety crisis. the problem was the sticky gas pedals that would get caught on the floor carpeting, also the steering relay rods that somehow would malfunction and the cars would go out of control. so toyota looking at paying some more money to try to to stave off long disputes and civil litigation. here is the deal for toyota and this is a big sticking point and maybe in the future a flash point for this company. this does not mean that the potential prim charges could go away. the justice department could still investigate toyota and has said it will look into doing that for any crimes that were committed, in terms of how it handled -- now remember it didn't tell people right away about what was going on with the recalls and that's at issue. then the scc would go after them for other civil penalties that they are looking at. the scc here in new york is looking at toyota. there could be a lot to come. $32.4 million more in fees from toyota to the u.s. government is the breaking news. jenna: we've been talking about the stormy weather out in california. how about a little bit about the stormy finances for that state as well. certainly no secret at this time. some say public employee pensions are only digging the hole deeper. but attempts to reign them in is hitting a wall. william la jeunesse is with us. >> reporter: if you got hired with the city of san francisco prior to last year you got a lifetime of healthcare benefits for you and your family for free forever. now as politicians try to unwind these deals unions are saying no. >> it feels like a penalty when you've given your life, your career to the university. >> reporter: across california public employees fight to protect their generous union pensions. >> the pension benefits for uc workers for the last 20 years have been a hundred percent funded by taxpayers. the employees have not paid anything towards their pensions. >> reporter: at the university of california employees can retire at age 60 with full benefits. when the university tried to increase that to age 65 the union said, no deal. >> it's very easy to say, oh, i don't have this so they shouldn't have this. people don't realize that people have made deals and people are going to make deals where they will get less pay and better benefits and that's what keeps people at a public institution. >> reporter: another problem pension spiking which allows employees to boost their annual retirement from say 80 grand to $120,000 by pumping their final years salary. lawmakers tried to reform the system but the union said no. >> they work real hard for one year, cash out their vacation and holiday and take extra duty and that all goes into their final pay for pensions. that's how you get 20 to 30% of your salary. >> reporter: in san francisco taxpayers pay 80% of retirees healthcare. a ballot proposition would have capped the exposure to 50%. union said no. in l.a. teachers are fired based on seniority. that last hired first fired policy december mates poor performing schools where staffs are predominantly young. when the district tried to change the policy again the union said no. this battle, this battle is being played out not just in california but around the country, general a you'll have taxpayers versus the union members and the politicians in the middle. back to you. jenna: big battle. william la jeunesse on that story in california. william, thank you. jon: there are new developments in the tragic story of the rutgers university student who committed suicide after a problem with his roommate. his parents have now taken a step that could land the school in court. we'll talk about that. plus, hundreds of south korean troops are on the move preparing for new military drills. we'll tell you what leaders in seoul say would happen if north korea were to attack the south again. a must-see moment caught on tape, a monkey on the loose causing chaos in florida. how would you like to have this guy on your roof? you might be surprised how animal control got him back in his cage. [ male announcer ] this is lara. her morng begins with arthritis pain. that's a coffee and two pills. the afternoon to begins with more pain and more pills. thevening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. just 2 pills can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lara who chose 2 aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. jon: south korean troops, tanks and helicopters getting into position for a planned military drill. it comes amid rising tensions on the korean peninsula north korea attacked the south saying it was inee tal kwraeugs nor a similar military exercise. that attack killed four south koreans. south korea warns it's ready to, quote, completely punish north korea if they do it again. let's talk about it with michael auslin he is from the american enterprise institute. this is tough talk and action from south korea, some of the exercises, the largest they've done take being place a few miles from the north korean border. would you say that is wise? >> jon, you're right. i think it's a sign that north korea may have gone too far. the south korean government has made it clear after a bungled response to a shelling of its island that it would respond with massive force to any future aggression. for the first time in a longtime i think the south koreans and americans are doing the right thing. they are not asking the north koreans to come back and negotiate, they are saying there are responsibilities that north korea has to uphold agreements and act like a civilized nation. i think the exercises are the right thing to do. jon: what happens this north korea then does launch another attack like it did on yeongpyeong island? >> i think it won't. what history has shown is that the north koreans are very, very careful. they act, attack, or provoke when they know that the balance of forces are in their favor. we've also seen when we push back they withdraw. i actually think they will not attack. if they do attack the south should by every means use the forces at its disposal to defeat whatever forces are attacking its own. jon: north korea is after all a nuclear-armed nation and they have threatened the use of nuclear weapons if they were attacked. would they go that far? >> well i don't think we know that they have nuclear weapons yet. we know they are able to set off nuclear explosions. there is a big difference to make a nuclear package into a weapon and detonate it. you have to deliver it, be able to transport it. i think most people and most governments don't think they are at that stage yet. now they are moving towards that stage and that's why we still demand denuclearization. i think you'll see that north korea isn't going to do anything. they backed down earlier this week and i think they will back down this again. given the nature of this regime, will it continue to back down? will it lose face, will elements within the regime, the military want to strike out to show they are not being cowed by the south koreans or the americans. i will bet you'll see nothing happening from north korea that will let lose this massive bombardment that the south says they are ready to take. jon: are we on the same page as the south koreans? is there a danger that they may launch some kind of an attack that causes all out war there? >> jon, that is a great question. it's a question question. for so long it's the south koreans who said to us, slow down, let's not make it worse than it is. now the south koreans are moving ahead and we need to be in very close consultation, which we have been with them. whether we are prepared to go all in, i think we are, but the south koreans may decide that this is something that the government will fall if they don't respond to and widen the type of attack that could be expected. then the united states would be dragged n. we would have to have forces coming in from japan, other fortress in the region. make no mistake, this could be a major conflict if it breaks out. i'm still betting that it's not going to happen. jon: we all hope it doesn't come to that. thanks. jenna: a story we've been watching closely outside of chicago where we saw dozens of firefighter ballistic link a blaze this morning. a roof collapsed. a commercial district. we heard firefighters were injured. it soupbed like most of them made it to the hospital. we are hearing confirmation, the associated press has confirmed as well that two firefighters have been killed in this firefight in chicago. we are hearing that 14 others are injured, four of them in critical condition, but they are expected to survive. many of those injured were injured going off their colleagues that got trapped when the roof collapsed. a tough story, so near the holidays as it is, stuff any time of year, but particularly this time of year. we are waiting to hear more from some of the local authorities. they are supposed to be holding a news conference, we heard at any moment. as we hear more about this story we will bring you the updates. well new fallout from the british terror raids this week, why u.s. officials are brings link about the arrest of 12 terror suspects. also, a new development in the death of tyler khr clementi, the student who killed himself after he was secretly videotaped by classmates. find out who may be responsible for his death. that story straight ahead. 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>> reporter: that's right. james clapper was doing an interview with diane sawwer of abc seemed caught off guard. didn't seem aware of dozen arrests made in the united kingdom. now officials say clapper was not briefed on the arrests before the interview. they tried to reassure people he was on the job. that he was working on other classified matters. was looking at the situation between north korea and south korea. was also talking with lawmakers about the s.t.a.r.t. treaty which they're trying to get through the senate. making the case he has been working hard around the clock but at that point, at that time of the interview he had not heard about the arrests. and they also defended him saying he is not sitting around watching cable news all day long. he is doing his job. so the white house trying to reassure the american public that the dni is on the job, jon. jon: mike emanuel at the white house. nothing wrong with watching cable news all day. by the way. can i add that the. >> reporter: watching you. jon: we hope. jenna: excellent point to underscore there. the white house reportedly drafting an executive order involving gitmo detainees. this order would affect detainees that could not be brought to trial or considered too dangerous to release. james rosen is live in washington. james, we're hearing this is just in a draft stage. what does that mean? >> reporter: that's right, general ma. it means people and lawyers are looking it over and recrafting it and rewriting. press secretary robert gibbs emphasized to reporters this morning that the document has not even been vetted at deputy level let alone read and approved by president obama. white house officials tell fox news the draft executive order is consistent with guidelines laid down by the president in a speech at national archives in may 2009. aides say the document addresses fate and legal options of some 48 inmates of the total 174 still detained at guantanamo bay, who as you say, too dangerous to be released but can not be put on trial to protect sensitive intelligence. this draft would enable prisoners periodically challenge their detention with the aid of a lawyer. >> i would say broadly the president does not believe that our national security and protection of our homeland has to be in contradiction with our val sues as -- values as americans. that is what an any mates him in this entire process. >> reporter: but, some analysts view this draft executive order perhaps as a back doorway of institutionalizing permanent detention. the american civil liberties union told fox news this morning and i quote, we have serious concerns about any order that would institutionalize indefinite detention for guantanamo detainees. where credible evidence exists against detainees they should be charged and prosecuted under your criminal justice system which has successful record prosecuting terrorist suspects. we may learn more about the initiative we believe will happen, president obama himself takes reporters questions later this afternoon. jenna: that will be interesting to watch the issue of gitmo detainees seems to pop almost at random. there was a critical vote this morning on capitol hill that may, some say, complicate any white house plan for this executive order you were just talking about, james. tell us a little bit more about that. >> reporter: that's right. the house and senate approved the defense authorization bill this morning, jenna. it now goes to the president for his signature. one of the key provisions bans the transfer of detainees at gitmo to the u.s. for any purpose. this may effectively force the obama administration to continue those military commissions for trials and to conduct them at gitmo, jenna. jenna: interesting story. james rosen at d.c. >> reporter: thank you. jon: the family of university student tyler clementi reportedly has filed notice they could you zoo rutgers university -- sue rutgers university at least preserved their legal rights to do so. klementy is the freshman that killed himself after a roommate spied on his sexual encounters. the family says they failed to enforce policies that could have prevented that. how far should colleges and universities have to go to prevent tragedies like this from happening again? let's bring in trial attorney stuart cohen and criminal defense attorney, joseph ben debt toe. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. jon: why would this be the university's responsibility if this was something took place between two roommates essentially? why does the university have a role here? >> well, first of all, we don't really know the facts of this case and the notice that has been provided by the clementi family preserves legal rights going forward. so we can't make any assumptions based on that. having said that, universities are in the business of providing housing and they undertake responsibilities and in fact, as landlords they have the highest standard of care in making sure that their tenants, the students, are taken care of. for example, if a student reports the smell of gas in the dormitory, there is no question that should be properly investigated. and if there is a dangerous condition or situation, that that should be immediately taken care of. i think everybody in this discussion would agree that should happen. jon: you mentioned that they have, let me interrupt you for just a second. you mentioned what they have filed is a piece of court paper that essentially preserves their right to sue and that is what paul minardi, the family's attorney is saying. here is part of a statement that we received from him. he says, nothing has been filed with a court. we have not reached a final decision as to whether a lawsuit will be commenced against rutgers. the notice of tort claim is required to be filed within 90 days by a new jersey statute to preserve the right to sue a public entity. but clearly, joseph, they are thinking along those lines. should they sue the university? i mean is there a case here if they sue the university? >> jon, let me get this out. this is clearly a tragic event. no one should be forced to endure the pain associated with this allegation. however, if a suit is in fact filed, it is highly skeptical. it is clear from the evidence here that rutgers university clearly did not have knowledge this did in fact happened. i mean what are we looking to do? are we looking to create another chapter from the great book of 1984 where big brother is watching? do we have to instill cameras in dorm rooms? this is highly, highly skeptical suit. it is clear from the fact thats we know thus far that it would be a stretch to assume that rutgers university would in fact have knowledge that this gentleman would go this far and take his own life. jon: here's a statement from the university. we at the university share the family's sense of loss of their son, who was a member of our community. we also recognize that a grieving family may question whether someone or some institution could somehow have responsibility for their son's death. while the university understands this reaction, the university is not responsible for tyler clementi's suicide. at the end of the day, stewart, he did take his own life. >> again, we really don't know the facts but let me say this. universities put resident assistants in charge of dormitoris. let's assume for purposes of this discussion that the resident assistant was warned that there was harrassment going on and that the resident assistant took no action. in my -- >> let me get this out, stewart. >> let me finish. you want to let me finish. >> did he request to be removed from that dormitory? >> you don't know -- >> from the information we've got the answer is no. >> you don't have any of the facts more than i do. so what i was about to say was, that if, if the facts of the case develop that a resident assistant had that information and the took no action, that would create a legal duty for the university to act. and before anyone comes to a quick judgment, i think we ought to let the facts play out and not limit the ability of the family to investigate and think about this tragic situation and what their alternatives are. >> i agree with you. the issue is notice, whether or not they had notice of the situation. but based upon the facts as we know them currently there is nothing that states that the university was placed on notice and quite frankly, it is a stretch to even imagine that even if they were placed on notice, that this in fact would happen. jon: gentlemen, we'll have to end the discussion. joseph and stewart, thank you for joining us. we'll keep our viewers apprised what happens in that case. >> thank you. jenna: did you do any online shopping for the holidays? jon: i did. i did. does any of it have your name on it? no, i'm sorry. jenna: oh, man. thank you, the newsroom is upset about that as they should. as they should. jon: i gave her a little something. it was edible though. jenna: that's right. he did. listen, if you any did the online shopping and turned towards the internet at any point during the day, the first step changing the way you shop, browse and surf the web is now in the works. jon: uh-oh. jenna: uncle sam's new rules and how it will affect you and i will deal with jon during the break. >> hey, everyone i'm megyn kelly. nancy pelosi says her biggest single achievement as house speaker was the health care reform law. claiming it had nothing to do with democratic losses in november. really? we investigate. plus is the labor department hiding a report about union corruption? this thing was due out nearly a year ago. so why can't we see it? the father of imprisoned american, amanda knox in italy has been given a chance to speak with her. he will join us live immediately after the conversation in an exclusive report. and are some women on some cable channels shrinking violets when paired to their male co-hosts? or is it sectionism at the anchor desk? our power panel weighs in on that. and infidelity, see you at the top of the 1:00. jenna: the ftc approving a plan to start regulating access to the internet. and that can mean companies you're now paying to get online may start charging you more for things like watching videos or downloading big files. there is still a lot of question when it comes to this. this comes at a time when millions of people are shopping online. it is sparking some concerns as some of the changes in some of the regulations could actually damage the economy. fox news digital policy editor is here for today's power play on this. chris, this is a ruling from the ftc yesterday. nothing taking place right now at this moment but what is the potential effect for consumers? >> the long-term effect, jenna, the government would be the traffic cop on the internet and determine who gets to go where, how fast they go, how much they're able to download and see once they get there. so this is sort of a fundamental political battle for our time. democrats in charge of the ftc says the internet needs to be govern and regulated. the republicans on the minority say leave it like the wild west. leave it wide open. let whoever can win come out on top. this is a struggle to affect consumers to determine what their internet service is like. jenna: saying the government keeps an eye on us when we're driving on the streets every day so why wouldn't they keep an eye on internet traffic as well. >> that is the argument that the democrat take chairman, julius genachowski has made. but the counter argument the republicans are throwing out the government can not predict what the problems of the future are on the internet because it is evolving so rapidly. if they put in regulation to take control they will be stifling creativity and opportunity because they will look backwards instead of going forwards. this affects trillions of dollars of commerce and really the lives of every american now. jenna: this comes down the we access is internet is right we have because the internet is so pervasive or still a privilege. how would you break that down? >> you've hit right at the core of the question, jenna. the answer to that is going to be up to the courts and it is going to be up to congress because what the ffcc has done is made a bold grab of power. they say he have the authority to make that determination but it will be up to the congress and courts to see whether they make it stick. jenna: till be interesting to watch. chris stirewalt with our power play today. jon: i would like to bring you a good news christmas story but this is not one of them. hard to believe anybody could be this horrible. a thief breaks into a "toys for tots" bin and steals donated toys intended for unfortunate kids. we're going to be talking with the detective who is trying to hunt down this grinch. jon: dozens of strangers are pitching in now to help needy kids this holiday season after a real-life grinch stole thousands of dollars worth of toys from "toys for tots". detective matt leery is with the burlington, massachusetts, police department. he is working the case and joins us on the phone. detective, what happened here? they broke into a storage bin? >> good afternoon, jon, yes. early saturday morning between 2:30 in the morning and 6:00 a.m. unknown suspects used a pry tool to break into a storage pod to steal $1500 worth of toys. jon: did they know the toys were in there or they figured if was something worthwhile? >> baseds on our investigation they had knowledge what was in there. it was certainly not a random event. jon: these were all donated. the marines would be distributing them through the "toys for tots" program? >> that's correct. jon: what happens now? how do you replace so many toys? >> at this point if there is shining event in the whole tragedy the public has been fantastic. donations both in cash and toys is far surpassed what was lost. the outreach has been amazing. jon: all right, outreach of just folks who have heard the bad news and stepped forward to make a donation? >> that's right. area businesses as well as all the citizens here have really done a good job and pretty much, not to sound, saved a christmas for a lot of kids. jon: thanks. detective matt leary, of burlington, massachusetts police department. you folks in massachusetts thanks for making christmas right for a lot of kids. jenna: turned out to be a good story. jon: it starts with a anything gel of evil. jenna: that's good. jon: grinch? very bad. jenna: we're glad for a happy ending there. meantime we have a couple stories to get to. wait until you see this, a florida fooge fugitive on a roof tap. the banana didn't get him down. wait until you hear what actually did. it's that time of year. time for campbell's green bean casserole. you'll find the recipe at campbellskitchen.com. campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ jenna: turning now on the road to recovery, what is working in this economy, data storage farms are helping to breathe new life into a stretch of rural north carolina. jonathan serrie is live in atlanta with the story. >> reporter: a region known for cotton mills is attracting high-tech companies, such as apple, google and facebook. the foothills of north carolina are famous for furniture and textiles, but as jobs in the industries moved overseas local leaders worried about too many closed factories and skyrocketing unemployment. >> we had unemployment as high as 17.9%. a lot of that is attributable to textile operations closing. >> reporter: they banked on a high-tech future and started luring companies such as apple, google and facebook to build massive computer data centers. >> north carolina has an abundance of power, it has nuclear power, a pro-business environment. >> reporter: the region is now aggressively marketing itself as a data center corridor, a move that is creating much needed tax revenue. >> the opportunity that these facilities are providing goes long beyond just the taxable opportunities. >> reporter: unemployed textile workers won't immediately move into high-tech jobs. >> a typical data center may have 35, 40, 45 jobs where as a textile company may have 450, 5000 jobs. there is a huge difference in the employment, but there is also a huge difference in the investment level. facebook was announced at $450 million. >> reporter: and that investment e