>> what's left. >> trace: to blizzards, to nightmarish floods. >> i have no place to live. >> we lost everything. tonight, a look back at disaster on an unprecedented scale. but just into fox news, a major development in the case of a gunman accused of shooting a soldier. i'm trace gallagher in for shep and fox news has now confirmed that the man accuse of shooting a army specialist during a welcome home party is in custody. he surrendered at a sheriff's station not far from san bernardino, california where the shooting took place. family members say specialist christopher sullivan is in critical condition after the shooting. he had only been home for two days. relatives say he had been recovering from injuries he suffered during a bombing in afghanistan and he was at that welcome home party when witnesses say his brother and another man began arguing about football. >> he went to defend his brother and the guy pulled out a gun and shot christopher twice, one in the buttocks and one in the upper -- in the neck. and christopher will never be able to walk again. >> trace: he will never walk again. an american hero wounded in afghanistan now paralyzed in california. police say this man is the suspect. reuben ray jarado he is now behind bars. what are you hearing tonight? >> trace, the san bernardino police department has confirmed to me in the last half hour that the primary suspect in this hearing ray jarado did surrender in chino hills, he has since been transferred to the san bernardino police department. we don't know what his demeanor was when he was surrendering. he will remain in custody there when the officers determine whether he will be arrested and charged. no word on his demeanor or what he said. the primary suspect in this tragic shooting is in custody tonight. if he is arrested and charged, a court appearance could take place as early as next week. back to you. >> trace: what more do we know about christopher sullivan's condition. >> he is he in critical condition in a local hospital. is he waiting for two bulls to be removed. his mother suzanne who has been at his bedside since this tragic shooting. her son is hanging in physically. he is on 100% life support. he can move his head from side to side and respond through blinking and nodding. apparently he was able to ask what happened to him. the family did tell him. he asked why and then closed his eyes, trace? the soldier's family, anita, how are they holding up. >> the mother suzanne has spoken openly about the fact that the family is having a very hard time dealing with this. christopher is the oldest son in a single parent home. according to the "l.a. times," he always made it his duty to support the family, off sending home his entire paycheck from the army so his mom and his siblings would have enough money for food and clothes. and think about it to survive a brutal attack like he did in afghanistan that killed six fellow soldiers only to be tragically injured at home is a lot for any family to take. tonight they are hoping for justice. >> trace: and at christmas time. anita vogel live for us in los angeles. police in texas working to figure out why a man dressed as santa massacred his family. according to officials in the dallas area suburb of grapevine, the family had just finished unwrapping their christmas gifts. that's when cops say a relative in a santa claus costume opened fire and then killed himself. the family's neighbors left struggling to understand. >> quite terrified that this could happen less than 25 feet from where you sleep. >> there hasn't been any crime in this complex that they know of, not even a break-in. so to hear something like, this it's just shocking. >> police say they responded to the home after someone called 911 and hung up. when they arrived, cops found four women and three men dead. one of them the shooter. we're told the victims ranged in age from 18 to 60. officials say they won't release the victims' ids until autopsies are complete. and a fox urgent now and three people are dead after a medical helicopter crashed in florida. about an hour south of jacksonville. it killed the pilot as well as two members of a transplant team from jacksonville's mayo clinic, including the team's surgeon. that's him right there on the left. we're told the team was on its way to retrieve a heart from a transplant at the time. >> we have set a perimeter around the crash site and the f.a.a. should be here shortly to do the investigation. we have got our investigators on site. we have had an helicopter up in the air to take aerial photographers of the scene. until the f.a.a. gets here we are kind of on hold. >> trace: the national transportation safety board also on hand to figure out exactly what caused that helicopter to plummet from the sky. ryan smyth from waws action news in jacksonville live at the scene in clay county, florida. ryan, we understand this was supposed to be a pretty routine trip. >> trace, that trip attempting to stabilize in the end claimed three lives. that helicopter crashed in these woods behind me about 150 yards back. and i can tell you it's still a very smoky scene here as multiple fires erupted burning through about 10 acres following the crash. deputies discovered the wreckage around 12:30 today. two mayo clinic employees along with a pilot were on their way to pick up a heart at the university hospital. now that heart cannot be used because its liability has expired. i have learned tonight that this area is covered with thick woods which i'm told is owned and operated by a local hunting club. and deputies now say that the f.a.a., a team from miami is on their way tonight to begin the investigation as to what caused this chopper to crash. trace? >> ryan smyth from waws fox 30 action news there in jacksonville, ryan, thank you. well, fox news is america's election headquarters and we are now just eight days from the iowa caucuses. the first in the nation presidential contest. one that could set the tone for the months of campaigning ahead. now that christmas is behind them, the candidates are ramping up their campaigns again for a final push to secure support before the caucuses. the latest real clear politics poll average shows texas congressman ron paul in the lead in iowa. he is in a statistical tie with the former massachusetts governor mitt romney. and the others not all that far behind. it's also worth pointing out all this fussing and fighting is over support from a tiny fraction of the country's population. but that population does have a decent record of at least predicting the overall outcome because since 1976, the winner of the iowa caucuses has won the republic nomination half of the time. carl cameron with the news live in des moines, iowa. carl, set the stage for iowa's big moment if you will. >> hi, trace. well, eight days from now if the first in the nation caucuses will begin. this has been a much quieter caucus campaign than anything we have seen in the last 35 years. despite all of the hundreds of town hall meetings. the millions of dollars of attack ads that have been running. despite all of the campaigns that's been happening, it's been substantially quieter. contest anywhere from 120 caucus goers. in a state of 3 million that's a tiny slice. explains why the candidates work on their get out the vote efforts. still ba banter back and forth a and call one another names. take as back seat to trying to find people. 120,000 people divided in a seven candidate race means any candidate could potentially win with as few as 40 or 50,000 votes, trace. that's not enough to win a mayor's race. this is a tremendous effort. the caucuses take place at 7:00 p.m. a week from now. when that happens, each campaign will have five minutes to give a speech. that will take an hour. then the folks who show up will have to do write in for their choices. it's laborsome process. those who could do show up to get the word out wins the race. >> trace: romney and paul are in a battle for first place. >> they are. these are the two candidates who campaigned and competed in iowa before. ron paul and mitt romney were borat on in the ballot. he romney came in second place to mike huckabee in that race. he has maintained a large percentage if not all of the support he had four years ago. for mitt romney this could be a surprise. he spent a tremendous amount of time down playing expectations in iowa. and the apparent fall by newt gingrich in the polls and his lack of organization means romney could do well. ron paul on the other hand has very, very strong support. both with younger voters and the colleges and universities across iowa as well as with seniors no make up -- hot 65 is the median age for caucus goers. ron paul does have strength there as well. >> trace: what about the huckabee supporters this time around, carl? half of caucus goers are christian conservatives, right? >> that's right. right now the huckabee coalition, if you will, from 2008 has not picked anybody. the competition is really between rick perry the texas governor, rick santorum and michele bachmann but they have not been able to coalesce behind anybody. that leaves half of the caucus up for grabs. very important to point out that half of all caucus goers have likely change their mind in the final week anyway. >> trace: carl cammeron live for us in des moines, iowa. thank you. hackers strike back. members of secretive underground hacking group are targeting some of their recent victims who dared speak out. coming up insult to injury on people's credit card statements. and heart break in connecticut as a fire christmas morning wipes out five members of one family. just ahead, what we are now learning about those who escaped and those who could not. that's all coming up on "the fox report." [ male announcer ] how'd you learn to do that? when did you start that project? every new year comes with a few stories waiting to be built. it's when our brand-new to-do lists become "you did that yourself?" so when we can save more on the projects that let us build, make, and even store more, well, that just makes the stories even better. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. make room for savings with these sterilite totes for a new lower price of just $5.88. when we resolve to stop snacking and slacking. resolve to start reading and running. ♪ this year, resolve to help someone else, too. resolve to give to the american red cross. because the red cross provides hope, help and compassion, not only during disasters, but every day. donate to the red cross and give something that means something, before the new year. visit redcross.org today. from victims' accounts donating money to charity for christmas. tracking down these cyber thieves is extremely difficult. >> my understanding it's a very informal, loosely formed group. and then some people who do this, label themselves as anonymous so they may actually take on the title of anonymous. so it's not quite clear exactly who this is. >> trace: tonight it, seems this is no bluff. already, some victims report hundreds of dollars in unauthorized charges to their credit cards. doug mckelway with the news. is he live from our d.c. newsroom. doug, of all places to be hijacked, this think tank stratford security threats. >> stratford provides political and security intelligence. it's ironic this think tank was itself hacked and information compromised. bank of america, defense department. doctors without borders, lockheed martin, loss an lois laboratory. hacking group anone news claims privileged details and other data because stratford didn't bother to encrypt it. if that's true it's a major embarrassment for stratfor. fox news national security analyst k.t. mcfarland. >> this is a pretty serious invasion. if some place like stratfor which is the super secret community around the world is getting hacked into then you kind of wonder is anything safe? >> run client reports he had $700 missing from his account. money later deposited into the accounts of the red cross, cair, and save the children. >> trace: how is stratfor combating this. >> its web site is shut down. working with authorities breach. a process lot of people say is easier than done. >> very difficult to trace this back because of the way the cyber cat burglars in a certain sort of way are able to cover their tracks through any number of servers around the world. >> stratfor will also be closely monitoring any more releases of confidential data and anonymous promises to release more on a statement published on a blogging web site, somebody claiming to be to be part of a hacking network. not as many as you expected. worry not pirates and robin hoods, these are just the a's. they claim to have 200 gig-a-bytes of secret data which they claim will be released through the coming week, trace. >> trace: word tonight that hackers might target these victims yet again. >> yeah. in a posting late today anonymous claims that those victims who spoke out to the news media today or on facebook will be punished with more with crawls from their bank accounts, trace? >> trace: dress pat search for a 9-year-old girl with a history of sleeping walking. fbi is on the case. details of that straight ahead. plus, add up all the blizzards, tornadoes, wildfires and hurricanes that hit the united states in 2011, and you have one of the most expensive natural disaster years on record. the cost of mother nature's wrath is coming up. you want to save money on car insurance? no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance? no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things? fuggedaboud it. this is new york. hey little guy, wake up! aw, come off it mate! geico. saving people money on more than just car insurance. have asked yours truly to teach you about treating frequent heartburn. 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[ male announcer ] one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. block the acid with prilosec otc, and don't get heartburn in the first place. available at walmart. trace fras the fbi now joining in the search for a missing 9-year-old in indiana. alayna lemon disappeared from a family friend's mobile home on friday. her mother says elena has vision and hearing problems. some unspecified emotional issues. and a history of sleep walking. over the weekend police acknowledge they don't have many leads. >> we have not been able to locate any trace of her so far. so it's -- we have boats out in the river. some ponds, we are checking every place we can. >> trace: the associated press reports the mobile home park where alayna was staying is a known haven for sex offenders with some 15 registered sex offenders in a couple of dozen homes. so far no evidence that any of them were directly involved with her disappearance. well, a major winter storm still causing big-time delays in colorado days after it hit. we're told it kept at least a 0,000 packages from making it under the tree. and according to the folks at u.p.s., most of those still have not arrived and won't make it to their final destinations until tomorrow. that's because last week's heavy snow stalled trucks and ground deliveries. about 200 people reportedly took it upon themselves to go get their stuff and spent christmas eve lined up outside a u.p.s. building near denver. some of them say they waited hours only to find their packages were not even there. well, that huge inconvenience coming at the end of a year that certainly reminded us mother nature can be a powerful and costly force. the federal government reports weather-related events across the u.s. killed more than a thousand people in 2011, causing more than $52 billion in damage. with the highest number of costly disasters in u.s. history, there were wdfires and floods, blizzards, and tornadoes. many of which might have become the story of the year in any other year. the chief meteorologist rick reichmuth reports. >> never get normal. >> normal was just another casualty here in tuscaloosa, alabama when an ef-4 tornado touched down last april. >> what's left of a 6-mile long mile wide scar across our city. >> the mayor says the rebuilding is just beginning eight months after the storm killed 42 people. flattening one out of every 10 buildings here. >> it's one thing to have damaged the power lines and streets. it's another thing to have 5,000 plus homes gone and 600 businesses destroyed. >> oh my god. >> part of a three-day outbreak that spun the most tornadoes in u.s. history. 353 of them in almost half of the state. costing more than $10 billion. [sirens] >> that was merely one of what the feds report were a half dozen tornado outbreaks in which losses topped a billion bucks. >> oh, gosh. that is a monster tornado. >> like the one that produced an ef 5 tornado destroying a third of joplin, missouri, killing 158 people and costing more than $9 billion. >> thank you very much. >> 2011 saw a wide range of other weather catastrophes as well. the groundhog day blizzard brought chicago to a stand still resulting in a financial loss of almost $2 billion. in late spring, the mississippi river flooded at historic levels costing communities along its banks up to $4 billion. a drought in the scorching summer heat waive in the southern plains cost $10 billion in livestock and crop losses. wildfires burned more than 1500 homes in texas. while arizona and new mexico fought their largest fires on record the loss there more than a billion dollars. and hurricane irene catastrophic flooding across the mideast $700 million in damage. >> the real issue is dollars for recovery. >> mayor mad dicks says all of these disasters has diverted attention and possibly assistance away police community. >> it's reality. we can debate whether congress should or should not appropriate funds. the truth be told we have to do it with less here in tuscaloosa. >> 12 weather disasters $12 billion. up just 12 in the 1980s even when you adjust for inflation. trace? >> trace: the chief meteorologist rick reichmuth. we should note that 2011 had the most billion-dollar disasters but it wasn't the costliest year ever. that distinction still belongs to 2005. the year of hurricane katrina. well, we have all heard of black friday and cyber monday. but did you know that today is mega monday and it could be just as crucial as those other days to our struggling economy. we many tell you why. crowds searching for savings find a deadly scuffle that closes down a world famous shopping district. stabbing at the foot locker coming up. and some professional wrestlers take on a brand new rival outside the ring. next, wait until you see what they did when a grinch, who stole one little boy's christmas. what's going on? we ordered a gift oine and we really need to do something with it... i'm just not sure what... what is it? oh just return it. returning gifts is easier than ever with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus i can pick it up for free. perfect because we have to get that outta this house. c'mon, it's not that... gahh, oh yeah that's gotta go... priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.95. only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship and return. goals for the future... what if they were stolen from you? by alzheimer's. this cruel disease is the sixth leading cause of death, and affects more than 5 million americans. the alzheimer's association is taking action, and has been a part of every major advancement. but we won't rest until we have a cure. you have dreams... help the alzheimer's association protect them. act now, go to alz.org. gives you a 50% annual bonus! so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. 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[ giggles ] >> trace: if you didn't mark your calendar, time is running out to find a major deal on today, which is mega monday, many stores trying to take advantage of the day after christmas offering big savings to customers who might have a new gift card to use or present they may want to exchange. in fact, some analysts say this could be the third busiest shopping day of the year. earlier today on "studio b," personal finance expert jordan goodman explained this could be an effort to get folks inside stores despite the convenience of going online. >> people can shop and get the delivery in many cases spree shipping, no sales tax and they -- the selection is tremendous. it's definitely taking a toll on retrailers. they are responding as well trying to get deals in the store. this is clearly the future online shopping. >> ibm shopping shows online sales surged by 16% yesterday compared to christmas day of 2010. and a busy day of shopping turned deadly in the united kingdom after someone stand 18-year-old at london foot locker store. police say the victim died before a medical helicopter could get to him first of two separate stabbings oxford shopping district. authorities closed off part of the area and report 10 arrests in connection with with the first incident. they say they expect the second victim to survive. well, despite the violence and a one-day strike by london subway drivers. british still came out in droves. one of the most poplar department stores reported biggest ever first hour of sales today. 10,000 customers in the first hour at one outlet. the subway drivers union staged that strike. it wants extra pay and day off for members working on the holiday. i'm trace gallagher in for shepard smith. this is "the fox report." and iran launching high profile war games in international waters. and warning anyone who gets close to get lost. the drill started saturday in the strait of hormuz, a strategic shipping lane for oil shippers at the mouth of the persian gulf. according to officials iran's navy warned off a foreign chopper that flew too close. the military exercise could bring iran ships close to u.s. navy vessels in the same area. the latest show of military force coming as tensions escalated with the west and apparently with iran's neighbor saudi arabia. there is word that kingdom could be planning its own nuclear arsenal to keep up with the islamic public and another neighbor. david lee is in our new york city newsroom. >> the fallout continues after recent remarks by the saudi prince who served as this country's ambassador to the u.s. and intelligence chief. the kingdom might pursue nuclear weapons to protect itself from iran and israel. many analysts believe unless halted iran's expected push for a nuclear arsenal could be the tipping point resulting in a nuclear arms race in the region. >> bond bomb, as soon as the iranians claim theirs the saudis will respond. >> nonpolice officerration treaty. acquiring nuclear weapons. one expert there is a loophole. of the saudis could turn to pakistan only nuclear bomb in the muslim world experts say saudi arabia helped to pay for. >> saudi arabia could actually legally have pakistan station nuclear weapons on its territory the way nonnuclear states like germany, italy, turkey and belgium have u.s. nuclear forces staged on their territory. we do it for nato, saudi arabia would argue they deserve nuclear treatment. >> those worried about a nuclear armed saudi arabia are also concerned about u.s. efforts to help develop a saudi program that could be used for things like energy and medicine. underway in a number of countries united arab emirates fuel could be used for weapon. saudis have been reluctant to accept that condition. even if they do in the words of one analyst if the u.s. goes ahead with such a deal, we are giving saudis the nuclear rope they could use to hang us. trace? >> david lee miller live in new york tonight. david lee, thank you. important agreement in the works between the united nations and the iraqi government to relocate thousands of iranian exiles. they are part of a group that's giving the united states valuable intelligence on iran. that group is known as the m.e.k., its members now at a refugee camp outside baghdad near iran's border. secretary of state hillary clinton praised relocation plan saying it could include a temporary stay at camp liberty. the former military base near baghdad. interesting descontinue nation while the mek has helped the u.s. in the past, it is on the state department's list of terrorist organizations. we are also hearing reports of a rocket attack on the camp hours after the agreement was announced. jennifer, what you can tell us with this group? >> >> iran ran dissidents based in iraq since in the 180s. >> there is a dam gave them protection because they are fighting the mullahs in iran. ever since saddam fell they have been demanding the iraqi government push them out which has led to violence against the camp. this is a complicated group. technically still on the state department list because they allegedly killed six diplomats during the 1970s, they have also helped the u.s. they were the ones who provided information about the secret uranium enrichment facility in that tans key intelligence brake through by the west. iran so threatened by them when an agreement was signed in recent days, militia associated with iran reportedly fired these katyusha rockets at their camp in iraq, trace. >> trace: why does the u.s. have a responsibility to help them here. >> after saddam fell the u.s. military got them to disarm in exchange for u.s. protection. this is the later -- letter from major general who was commander forces in iraq promising protection. the u.s. military wiped their hands of the situation in 2009. >> the united states general gave a guarantee in 2003 when we invaded iraq and they surrendered their arms, heavy arms and light arms that they could have used to defend themselves, we gave them a guarantee that they would be treated as protected persons. we asked a group of people to disarm themselves to give away, surrender their capability of defending themselves. and in exchange for that, we promised them, we made a commitment. that we would provide for their safety and security. without u.s. help, these 3400 iranian exiles could be killed. a new deal calls for them to be moved to camp liberty near baghdad but it's not clear whether they will be safe there and where they will be able to go from there if they are not taken off the state department's terror list, trace? >> jennifer griffin live in the nation's capital, thank you. a former south korean first lady among the mourners sent to offer condolences on the north korean leader's. the delegates arrived in north korea today. the country's former dictator kim jong il died for more than a week ago. his funeral is apparently scheduled for this wednesday. his sun kim jong un is set to rule the country reportedly as part of a power sharing deal with relatives and with the military. another deadly day in syria. president bashar assad's regime continuing a bloody crackdown on its own people even as arab league observers arite in the country to monitor a deal to end the violence. activists say the government forces killed at least 23 people in the central city of hamas today. the city is imeerg up -- gearing up for a massive assault. [gunfire] >> this is amateur of government troops apparently shelling buildings in hams. we can't confirm that since syria won't let foreign journalists into the country. activists say government forces have killed 275 civilians in the past week since president assad agreed to let the arab league send in monitors. filibuster well, after a busy year in d.c. president obama is taking a break in hawaii and getting to know some of his supporters. his close encounter with a very curious baby. plus new polling numbers ahead. the latest for a search for a missing toddler in maine. what police say they think led to her disappearance more than a week ago. that's next. are >> trace: he is president of one of the most unstable nations in the middle east, a breeding ground for terrorism. and now the white house says it's considering whether to allow him to set foot on american soil. a senior u.s. official says the president of yemen has asked to undergo medical treatment here. back in june he barely survived an aassassination attempt at his presidential compound in the capital of is sanaaa thousands of his own people have demanded that he resign. agreed to giving up power early next year. analysts report he has already backed out of such deals more than once. plus, experts say there is a growing threat from the yemen based terror franchise al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. the white house says it's still considering his request for entry. one senior administration official adding if it happened, it would be for, quote, legitimate medical treatment. well, the president taking time off for the holidays with the first family in hawaii. but fresh from his victory extending the payroll tax cuts and with the election less than a year away, you can bet the white house is working to keep that momentum going in the new year. doug is traveling with the president. is he live tonight in honolulu. doug? >> hey, trace. it is all about momentum. any white house is obviously concerned about a president's image, especially during a vacation and especially heading into an election year. that's clear from the sorts of things we have been seeing and the sorts of things we haven't been seeing during the course of this vacation. on the one hand in the president and first family went to church yesterday for christmas services. cameras were allowed up close front row seat to watch the it the and first family walk into church. on the other hand, when the president goes and plays golf and he has done this twice now since arriving here in hawaii, all we see is this the presidential motorcade to and from the course. we never get an actual shot of the president. republicans have been critical of the number of rounds the president has been playing. this was his ninth round today. political strategists will tell you in a setting like this risk. >> he stayed in found for the payroll tax fight which was a clear victory. is he looking to avoid shots that has him on the golf course or otherwise doing things that imply anything other than full attention to family or to business. which is all the more reason why the president shoulding guarding his image very carefully. these images will come back to haunt him once it is narrowed down and the g.o.p. has their nominee selected. >> now, yesterday thank service members. and you had the small child who put his hands right in the president's mouth. that was a fun moment. sort of image the white house loves to z in fact, trace, this began the official white house photo of the day yesterday. >> and it was a good one, doug, we are also getting new numbers on the president's approval ratings. >> new gallup numbers, trace. relative terms, these are good numbers for the president. these are the president's approval numbers and for the first time since summer we will take a look at them here, the president's approval number is higher than his disapprove number. 4'% to 45%. that may not be great you want to see your numbers above 50%. the trend here improving numbers certainly welcome numbers for the white house heading into 2012. >> doug luzader traveling with the had president in honolulu. >> new developments in the missing toddler in maine. now learning that someone took the 20 month old from the dad's home. that's the word from the police chief. ayla reynolds has been missing more than a week now. this is the first time cops in the case have come out and said she just didn't wander away from her home. we are learning folks from the community came in to put up $30,000 of reward money to find her. a state official says it is the biggest ever offered in maybe for a missing person. well, facebook isn't just a way to keep in touch. it looks like the web site may have actually helped save a woman's life. friends and family contacted police after the woman posted on facebook that she and her son would be dead by morning. when police showed up to the house south of salt lake city they say they found a man holding the woman and her child captive. police say the woman told them the man had sexually assaulted her and wouldn't let her leave the house. she apparently slipped into a closet with her laptop to post the facebook message. well, a bunch of tough guy wrestlers in kentucky showed their softer side. when they came together to help a 7-year-old boy. lucas smith had been looking forward to christmas but then somebody broke into his dad's storage unit that was holding all the family presents. nothing left. when the wild cat championship wrestlers heard about it, they decided to help. each wrestler brought lucas a christmas gift. they asked fans to bring one as well. >> we can be the baddest guys in the world inside the ring. outside the ring, you know what? it's christmas time, bro. everybody can be good one day a year. >> there is a little boy sitting right there lucas. he deserves everything that he wants for christmas. lucas, lucas, lucas, lucas, lucas, lucas. >> we are told wrestlers and their fans donated everything from action figures to a brand new bike. well, one whirlwind of a year now coming to a close. we saw stories of disaster and survival. watched history unfold in the middle east. welcome troops home from a nearly decade long war. shep looks back at all the big news of 2011 next. >> trace: only a few more days until we ring in 23012 and ring out a year in which the arab spring spread across the middle east and northern africa. a team of u.s. navy seals killed usama bin laden and william and kate finally said i do. and that's just scratching the surface. shep takes a look back at 2011. >> shepard: 2011 began like any other year, hope for a better year ahead and, of course, resolutions. but just days into 2011, chaos and unspeakable violence erupted at a grocery store parking lot in arizona. [siren. >> shepard: gunfire interrupted a political event near tucson. a gunman shot congresswoman gabriel giffords in the head. he wounded 18 others. six of them killed. amazingly giffords survived the assassination attempts and made a triumphant return to washington a few months later. [ applause ] a wave of unrest across the middle east in northern africa. citizens toppled long-time leaders in to your knowledge and egypt. but it was the dangerous dictator of libya, muammar qaddafi who put up the biggest fight. his 40 year reign of terror finally came to a gruesome end when firefighters killed him in his hometown in october. the arab spring as it became know stretched in protest in syria and yemen. a massive earthquake shook his hand. the magnitude 8.9 quake unleashed a devastating tsunami and triggered a meltdown at this power plant. a stormy spring in the u.s. meteorologists said there were more than 750 tornadoes in april alone. hundreds of people were killed. but the hardest hit city was joplin, missouri, a powerful ef five tornado left 157 people dead. making the joplin twister the deadliest in decades. a new era of british royalty began when prince william and his publishing bride kate swapped vows. may 1st dramatic late night announcement from the commander and chief a team led by navy seals swooped into this compound in pakistan where they said they found usama bin laden. the seals reportedly shot him in the face and defense officials say the world's most wanted man was later buried at sea. uncle sam maxed out its credit cards. lawmakers spent much of the summer fighting before ultimately increasing the government's ability to borrow more money. who is in and who is out? >> i'm running for president of the united states. >> as a candidate for president of the united states. >> i'm announcing my candidacy for president of the united states. >> i am suspending my presidential campaign. >> race for the white house began to take shape. >> we, the jury, find the defendant not guilty. >> shepard: a jury acquitted cast anthony of charges she killed her2-year-old daughter cailee. >> what about cailee? who killed cailee? >> one juror said it was a horrible decision to make but that there was reasonable doubt. >> liftoff. >> shepard: shuttle "atlantis" rolled into space it was her last flight and the last for the 30-year-old shuttle program. an historic hurricane made landfall in north carolina. irene didn't stop there. it tracked up the eastern seaboard from d.c. to maine ♪ ♪ as the rockets red glare. >> shepard: september the 11th, the nation marked 10 years new memorial opened in the footprints of the twin tawrs and the other in shanksville, pennsylvania. >> 9/11 is that our spirit is mightier the bonds are thicker and the resolve is former concrete make up that behind me. >> shepard: occupy wall street started as a single protest in downtown new york and exploded into a global movement. the 99%ers lashed out at the wealthy 1%. >> the most amazing iphone ever. >> apple unveiled its latest gadget in early fall. news overshadowed by the death of the company's iconic co-founder steve jobs. >> we, the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant conrad robert murray guilty. >> shepard: two years after michael jackson died, jurors convicted his personal physician of involuntary manslaughter. weeks later a judge sentenced him four years in prison. after eight years and thousands of casualties, the white house ordered virtually all troops out of iraq. >> it's good to know that i'm a part of history and it's good to know that i'm leaving iraq a more stable country. >> mid december the death of yet another tyrant. north korean state television reported the dear leader kim jong il died of a massive heart attack. [wailing] >> shepard: well now we look ahead to next year. 2012 begins with a flurry of caucuses and primaries as politics returns to the spotlight november election. plus the pentagon expected to start winding down the decade long war in afghanistan. and fox news will be covering it all as it happens. in new york. i'm shepard smith. fox news. >> trace: an astonishing news year. if you have an iphone you probably know those batteries don't last forever, right? there is big news tonight. reports that apple's developing new technology that could power your phone for weeks with no need to recharge. and that's next i took some stees in my teens. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 yes of research. [ femalannouncer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serio side effect. [ man ] still lo that wind in my face talk to your doctor. don't kid yourself about the risk of heart attack and stroke. if lipitor's been working for you, stay with it. lipitor may be available for as little as $4 a month with the lipitor co-pay card. terms and conditions apply. learn more at lipitorforyou.com. [ woman ] ♪ what i want this season ♪ if you'd like to try and guess ♪ ♪ it is something very special ♪ i would readily confess [ dogs barking ] ♪ 'cause all i want this season ♪ ♪ is something from your heart ♪ la da da, la da da [ male announcer ] thinking of others this holiday season, travelers. on the 4g lte devices you love. like the droid bionic by motorola for $199.99. or the pantech breakout for $49.99. our lowest price ever. get the technology you love, on the network you deserve. and for a limited time, get twice the data for the same low price. verizon. shouldn't it be given in an amazing way? ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is here, but only for a limited time. see your lexus dealer. >> trace: according to the tech blog mashable. working with fuel cells that could power electronics for days or weeks in two patent applications apple claims the power source would make i phones, laptops and tablets lighter and smaller. who knew? well, it's cool critter time and eighth international elephant race getting underway in central nay pal and just look at these big guys move. 20 elephants and teams from several countries involved in the three day event which the locals also call the elephant festival. hand alreadies don't use any sticks to prod the animals. all to promote tourism and help conservative the asian elephant. there is also an elephant beauty pageant and soccer tournament. updating some of our fox stories tonight. the suspect in the shooting of a soldier at his homecoming party in california turning himself in to police. doctors say that a 22-year-old soldier will never walk again. a medical chopper goes down in a fiery crash in florida. the pilot and surgeon killed, a mayo clinic spokesman says the heart they were picking up for a transplant is no longer viable. the g.o.p. white house hopeful stumping for support in iowa just 8 days before its first in the nation presidential contest. and on this day in 1972, the president who authorized the dropping of two atomic bombs in japan died in missouri. long before harry s. truman agonized over that decision, he he joined the army in to fight in world war i. then it was the senate and the vice presidency under franklin roosevelt. when fdr died truman became the 23rd president of the united states. two therms pushed through the marshall plan which provided aid to european nation. the war had devastated. he supported the establishment of the state of israel. truman later developed