Transcripts For FOXNEWSW FOX And Friends 20111222

peter doocy live in washington with the latest on congressman's fight before christmas and the phone call between the speaker and the president. >> yeah, brian, president obama called speaker boehner yesterday and told him he agrees with the speaker, there should be a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut. but the president says the house is going to need more time to negotiate that so he says they should pass the two month long short-term extension already approved by the senate just a week and a half now ahead of their new year's eve deadline. >> the ball is in the house's court. there is a compromise available, an avenue out of this blind alley, if you will, that they've driven themselves into. and it is the senate bill. vote on it. pass it. and we can move on to discussing and figuring out a solution for the year long extension. >> so as the clock ticks down to a payroll tax hike and most of congress is already home, the president went christmas shopping yesterday. he also put in a call to the senate majority leader, harry reid, and he told reid, he did a good job negotiating with the senate's top republican mitch mcconnell but g.o.p. leaders in the house who have been taking a lot of heat recently say reid does not deserve such a firm pat on the back. >> really, it is up to harry reid to make sure that taxes are not going to go up. what we're saying is a year is what everyone wants. we can get there. the differences are not that great. >> president obama tweeted just yesterday, everyone should know -- everyone should see what $40 means to folks. groceries, daycare, gas, co-pays, keep it going. i'll talk about this tomorrow at 12:15. part of a new white house twitter campaign and they stay people's paychecks will have $40 shaved off each week if the payroll tax holiday ends. you remember back in 2008, the obama campaign was very successful with social media and now they've had over 25,000 responses with people saying what the $40 will mean to them and we'll wait to see what the president is going to say at 12:15. we expect it will be more than 140 characters. back to you. >> plenty of characters in this story. thank you very much for the good report. >> nice. yesterday, let's tell you what happened -- >> we should ask people to e-mail us or twitter to us, what would you do with that extra $40 that you would get -- that would be taken out of the payroll tax cut? >> that normally would go to social security. what would you do if you didn't have to pay the social security out of your paycheck? >> about $20 a week. >> yesterday was supposed to be this procedural pro forma day on the house floor. they were going to, you know, come down, very ceremonial and go off to recess. that's not what happened. they are, of course, embroiled in this payroll tax cut. so when the acting, presiding officer michael fitzpatrick got up to bring down the gavel, all of a sudden, steny hoyer and chris van holland began yelling at him. listen. >> section 3b of house resolution 493, the house stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on friday, the 23rd of 2011. >> mr. speaker! i'd like to ask for unanimous consent that we bring up the bill to extend the tax cut for 160 million americans as you walk off the floor, mr. speaker! you're walking out! you're walking away as so many republicans have walked away from middle-class taxpayers, the unemployed and very frankly as well, from those who will be seeking medical assistance from their doctors, 48 million senior citizens. >> steny hoyer had a little speech planned and the method was he wanted to get on a vote on this. there is a sense the senate bill might pass with the two monthly extensions it was put to a vote. yesterday or two days ago, they voted to stay aside and not vote on the bill and go to kfrnls. problem with going to the conference, there's no one on the other side of the table from the senate. they have left the building. they have left the town. they're back in their home and in their shorts by the pool. they're not coming back. >> it's kind of ironic that hoyer was complaining, you're walking out! you're walking out! didn't the senate walk out before conferring on the house bill in washington. this is what happens, the house passed exactly what the president asked for. he wanted a one kniyear extensi of the payroll tax cut holiday. the house gave what they wanted. the senate said it's too long. we'll give him two months. generally then what you do is you confer and try to figure out how to do it but they walked out. the democrats in the senate and now that's what boehner is doing. he's sitting right there waiting for a conference and as peter just told us, that's one of the things that boehner told the president yesterday, why don't you have harry reid appoint those guys so we can settle this? >> of course, the maddening thing is that the president wants a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut. republicans say they want a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut and -- >> house republicans. >> and democrats say they want a one year extension. so everybody -- it shouldn't be this hard. >> senate democrats want a two month right now. that's what's on the floor. >> however, they could -- we're close. >> that's what eric cantor said. >> they could be close. everybody wants an extension. this shouldn't be that hard! >> oh, by the way, we're going to talk to michael fitzpatrick about the drama that we just witnessed and find out the inside story and how the house is true, they have a dimmer and they do dim the lights when the day is over. >> you know what? it's a clapper, brian. you clap and the lights go out like that. >> this is one thing they could that the president brought up on the phone call. the president listen, why don't you promise to sign off on this two month extension and i'll promise in january that this is negotiateded to a year. maybe they'll go for that. >> the president getting a little bounce in his approval numbers and there's an item in "the new york times" today that says "obama gets a lift from tax battle with the g.o.p." because, you know, the g.o.p. taking heat for not caving to the democrats before christmas. it's interesting, though. the -- and we'll put up the president's numbers right now. you can see right now, he has an approval rating of 49%. 47% disapprove and that is an improvement, as we look at the numbers from a month ago. but the time says that democrats fret that mr. obama's vow to stay in washington through christmas and new year's eve to get a deal would backfire should he join his family in hawaii before a resolution. so that's why the president yesterday said, i'm not going anywhere. and in fact, went to petsmart and bought bo a rubber bone. >> he could have gotten it on his ipad and used face time to talk to his family and get his approval ratings up. maybe he did do that. his approval ratings, they say he's benefitting from the confrontation so far and as one g.o.p. strategist says, this is a self-inflicted gunshot, a gunshot to the head for the republican party. >> the one theory is that it's working because he seems reasonable and congress doesn't at the moment but another theory is that the economy has actually ticked up with the unemployment number coming down and that's why his approval ratings have gone up. >> and the other thing is real money is hanging in the balance. $20 a week for the average family. karl rove was on the channel last night and he was talking and this is the bad part of the information that we've got poll wise for the president. he is seeing some real decay in some important demographics. watch. >> he's in trouble. take a look at these key groups that were critical many of them to the president's election in -- >> got to get my glasses! ok. >> here's the approval rating today among independents, it's 38. that's down 24 points from when he got sworn into office. among seniors, 39. down 23 points. among those who are middle class, 41. down 26 points from where he was when he was inaugurated. midwesterners where the battleground states, many of them are found 41, down 24 points from when he was sworn in three years ago. college graduates, down 26 points. young people, down 27 points. he'll probably win young people in this election but he's not going to win them by 68-32. look at latinos, down 26 points from when he was sworn in. the president is in deep trouble in these polls among key voter groups that are with him this time around and not with him this time around. >> "the wall street journal" poll, "the wall street journal" column that he did in yesterday's editorial, he said if republicans want to know what they're up against and the strategy that will be employed against him, read the kansas speech that he delivered and watch the "60 minutes" interview at which time he made it clear he'll be battling for the so-called middle class eeshgs the man for them and he wants to leap off the power of resentment which he says is not an effective political appeal but he's going to try to get people to resent the most successful people. >> because the president is saying that the system is rigged again for the middle class nowadays. >> you know what's so strange in 1998, they asked the question about the disparity problem in the u.s. 52% said yeah, there's a major problem. they asked the question in 2011, 45% so it was actually less. >> karl rove writes in the wall street general can say that now, there's a class warfare thing and the system is rigged that is with the regulators, karl writes that the president had a chance to change fannie and freddie when he was senator but he filibustered. here we are. >> a lot more news to tell you about beginning with fox news alert. days after american troops pull out of iraq, a bloodbath in baghdad. >> at least 57 people are dead and more than 200 injured after 14 bombs exploded across baghdad. no one taking responsibility for the attacks just yet. but the planning and coordination points to al-qaida. the violence, the worst since the political crisis between sunnis and shiites erupted this weekend. closing arguments in the case against army private bradley manning accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of classified documents and giving them to wikileaks. the military wants to court-martial manning and put him behind bars for life. it will be announced on january 16th. just in time for christmas, a massive snow storm in colorado moving east at this hour. this is new video into "fox & friends" from fort collins where a foot of snow is expected. even if you're not seeing snow right now, this storm could wreak havoc on your holiday travel plans. some of the country's busiest airports are expecting major delays and cancellations today and throughout the week. some airlines like united and american are waiving fees for passengers who want to switch their flight. it is a boy for former new york congressman anthony weiner and his wife. she gave birth yesterday to jordan zane weiner. he weighed in just over 7 pounds. that's not so little. he arrived 10 days early, he was due on new year's eve. congratulations to them. those are their headlines. >> they wound up with a headline in "the new york post." congratulations. >> for a while, it looks like he was going to be raising gracie mansion. i don't know what happened. straight ahead, vice president biden says the taliban is not our enemy. could it be because the terror group is our latest partner in afghanistan. a colonel with insight on those dangerous negotiations next. >> plus easy come, easy go. what happened to one man's $380,000 lamborghini hours after he won it? >> oh, man. doesn't sound good. 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>> yes, this is the key. i've talked to a number of folks about why would he make such an outlandish statement. they're prepping the public for this announcement about the partnership with the taliban and there's two problems with it. first off, the very people that have to live with the outcome of the negotiations, the pac, the afghan government are not involved. they do not want to be involved. and this is not as the white house has stipulated an "afghan led effort." secondly, one of the things that's necessary to achieve piece is regional partnerships and again, i'm not seeing that from the people i'm talking to. >> you know people that are fighting right there now. you have been on missions yourself there. what does it mean for the soldier to find out that people trying to kill them are not our enemy from our leadership's perspective? >> well, i don't understand that, brian. i did some research. i've got the law right here saying that the taliban are our enemy. so no matter how you cut it, by law, they are the adversary and frankly, it is a moral -- it is just demoralizing to have the vice president saying something like that when your buddy and your friends are being hit by these guys all the time. the taliban, whatever you want to call them are still killing our troops and the idea of calling them not an enemy at this point is pretty close to being the same. >> what is your take on how much the vice president and president should really know as compared to the military leaders? the fact that they seem to be out of the loop, does that bother you? >> it bothers me that both sides do this, brian, and you know, rick santorum was on the other day and he oversimplified the taliban. the taliban are a tappestry and the bottom line is we talked about, you and i talked about it on the radio that the pakistan and the isi, intelligence service there controlling the taliban are the real issue. president obama has said this. other folks have said this. we never talked truthfully about how to deal with thatti issue. >> unbelievable. i have not read it anywhere. there is direct proof that the taliban are a threat to our shores. what is it? >> well, the times square bomber right there in new york city was, by all accounts, trained and his family was linked to the taliban. so the idea that this was conveniently left out of the discussions about the so-called, you know, taliban not being our adversary tells me that people aren't being totally honest and again, we shouldn't be politicizing national security. it is the job of the government to protect the american people, not deceive them and try to pretend that things are other of what they are. >> i think about people fighting and have the spirit that they might be as they pick up the paper and confer with a family member and let them know what's going on here. thank you so much. you're with the center for advanced defensive studies. we like to hear from you. thank you. >> thank, brian. >> straight ahead, remember the underwear bomber? well, the guy who stopped him now wants $10 million. find out who he wants to pay up for his heroism, i should say. plus one school is skipping the holiday classics and taking on corporate greed instead. the production -- occupy north pole. tucker carlson weighs in. he didn't make the catch. he tried out for the cast but tucker didn't get the part. he's bitter! 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>> let's ask tucker carlson, a fox news contributor and founder of "the daily caller." hi, tucker. >> good morning, alisyn. >> look, this is a private boarding school. they can do -- >> quaker school. >> a quaker school. >> they can do whatever they want, right? >> and i'm so glad they did because this is a parody. this is what conservatives imagine the left is up to and it turns out they're right. i mean, look, if there are parents out there, masochistic enough to want to spend $40,000 to have their kids learn why capitalism is evil, i guess there should be a market for that. but it doesn't serve the kids. >> well, the woman who -- we've got a statement from the publicity director at the school. they say this year's theme "occupy north pole" can be seen as a modern day version of "a christmas carol" where ebenezer scrooge's heart is touched by a child. the 20 minute dance production featured a similar message with the audience experiencing the peace and happiness achieved when santa and the elves reach out to their adversary. the performance concluded with everyone on stage joining together to live in harmony. now, tucker, do you feel that the teacher was just being thematic and grabbing something out of the headlines, you know, occupy wall street, let's turn it into occupy north pole or is there a little indoctrination in there? >> there's a lot of indoctrination in there and for the activists left, there's no part of civic life, personal life, no part of life period that's beyond politics and beyond politicizing. here's the bottom line as far as i can tell, american children growing up now will live in a world in which they compete against the smartest people from around the world. it really is a global economy. and if we're teaching them that the highest form of moral expression is to sit in a park with a sign protesting things, we are not preparing them for a truly competitive global economy. i mean, this is actually not helping the kids it's meant to. schools like this and i'm very familiar with schools like this, trust me, spend an awful lot of time lionizing various protest movements. like that's the greatest thing you can spend your life doing is protesting this or that and again, that's just frivolous in the end. that's not really education. that's politics. and it's just not helpful for kids at all. >> to be fair, we've only seen that clip that they've released. we haven't seen the whole play. is it possible that they're just trying to use a clever peg and make it timely to sort of appeal to high schoolers more than, you know, a christmas carol would otherwise. >> well, i guess that's the point, trying to make it appeal to high schoolers, you know, make the idea that, again, sitting in a park with a sign is what all responsible adults ought to be doing. look, there's a self-seriousness here. if you read the entire explanation from the school, it is remarkably self-righteous, you know, this is -- this is about human rights. this is, you know, this is something that all progressives ought to be engaged in. it's just political to its very core. i mean, i personally think it's amusing and highly revealing because it's like pull back the curtain, this is what they're really like. this is a leftie christmas pageant. it's pretty funny. >> leftie christmas pageant and i wonder how many of the kids know what they're doing much like they did at zuccotti park. always a pleasure. have a great christmas. >> well, i hope you do, too! >> merry christmas. happy new year. >> dozens of officers forced to turn over their credentials being told they can no longer enforce immigration laws. why the feds step in here next. >> and video games, pancakes and rock music. that's where our tax dollars went. stuart varney is steamed and he is here with waste that's happening in washington. he wants to put an end to it. but first happy birthday jordin sparks, the "american idol" winner is 22. >> is that all? 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[ femalennouncer ] using less never felt so good. we all go... why not enjoy the go with charmin ultra soft. >> as they do every year, al-qaida is threatening to launch christmas attacks. but, of course, they have to be politically correct. now they're calling them holiday attacks. yeah, they don't want to -- they don't want to offend anybody. >> not kidding. >> you realize we got to the point where al-qaida attacks now in the monologue? >> and we're joking about them. >> i know. we've come a long way. >> hey, shortly, we're going to have on this very show, senator mccain will be on the show, the man who presided over that uproar at the house yesterday, he'll be on our show. congressman fitzpatrick. >> christmas is a couple of days away and the guy that presides over st. patrick's cathedral, archbishop dolan is in the house and sharing his christmas message to our vast audience. >> everybody pales in comparison to archbishop dolan. he's amazing. >> i'll put a good word in for you. >> i'll need it. >> nato revealing what caused a deadly coalition attack that killed 24 pakistani troops and put several u.s. troops in danger. it happened near the afghan-pakistan border last month, you may remember. a nato official now says that pakistan may have accidentally fired at the u.s. afghan commando unit. the official says nato misread maps believing there weren't any pakistani soldiers in the area when they returned fire and they did it twice resulting in 24 deaths. >> it's a ray of light in a tragic story. the partner of slain nypd officer peter fagowski will be promoted tomorrow. he was praised for chasing and arresting the gunman who killed his partner during a robbery last year. his boss also getting a promotion for helping his men through an emotional loss. he leaves behind four daughters, the nypd has set up a scholarship fund for them. if you want to make a donation log on to the nycpoliticianfoundation"org. >> i believe they already raised a million dollars. >> good for them. >> the federal government has stripped sheriff joe apaio of his authority to enforce immigration laws in his jails and now 92 of his deputies who were trained by ice to screen inmates have turned in their ice badges. they will be replaced by 50 ice agents. so far, only one federal agent has been assigned to do the work of those 92 deputies. i guess it shows you the feds' priorities. >> listen to this story. he was happy to win a $300,000 lamborghini but now not so much. >> what are you going to do now? >> i think he's excited. that was david dobbs' reaction to winning the car. >> that would be everybody. >> in a contest. his excitement didn't last long. six hours after he got the 640 horsepower beast, he wrecked it. he hit a patch of black ice and smashed the rear fender and now he's selling it. he can't afford the taxes on the car or the $7,000 a year for insurance. >> it was fun while it lasted. >> right. >> everyone celebrates differently. he went down to do squat thrusts. holiday bowl season under way. alisyn is a little tired. she loves college football. poinsettia bowl that are commemorated on our set. it looks like louisiana tech may pull up the upset, pulling ahead in the third but the horned frogs hang twice and bounce back in the fourth. 42 yard touchdown strike. tcu wins 31-24. i'll change the case of my voice, this is a bad story. boxing champ gets sentenced to 90 days in jail. he pled guilty to reduced charges of violence in 2010 accused of roughing up his girlfriend during an arc um. he reports to jail on january 6th and on the table is about $100 million fight with manny pacio. maybe he should take that before he ends up in the big house for a long time. coming up on radio between 9:00 and noon, geraldo rivera will be there. he seems nice. mark stein has a deep voice and paul maturio is very funny. >> that should be a great show. >> listen to this. >> tell me a story, ali. >> i want to. 'twas the week before christmas and all through the house and the senate. well, there's waste -- >> that doesn't rhyme. >> that's not catchy. >> tom coburn's annual waste book is out and it shows the government added $5.6 billion in wasteful spending this year. >> yep. stuart varney is joining us live. ho, ho, ho hold it, what's this? >> don't make me out to be the grinch that stole christmas here. >> absolutely. you're just reporting on how they're blowing our dough in d.c. >> do you want a list? let me rip right into it. how about $113,000 for video game preservation? $765,000 for pancakes for yuppies in washington, d.c. >> hold it right there. i don't know -- >> wait, wait, wait. wouldn't yuppies prefer like a crepe rather than a pancake? >> what are pancakes for yuppies? >> i don't know. >> how about $10000000 to remake "sesame street" so you can export it to pakistan? >> $10 million? >> they need new costumes for all the characters. $764,000 to figure out how students use mobile devices as a social networking device. >> they use them all the time. >> there's a function for government, right? we need more government in that area. $550,000 to create a documentary to show how rock music contributed to the decline of the soviet union. >> i'm interested in that, actually, but i could have done it for $50,000. >> back in the ussr. >> you know it? >> sing it for us. ok. here's another example of how local politicians bring home the bacon at our expense. $48,000 to promote the chocolate industry in hawaii. can't you just see a local guy saying, you know, i got a chocolate business here. i've given money to this politician. give me some back, promote my industry. >> chocolate is -- everybody knows you go to hawaii and chocolate is the best kept secret. >> obviously, some of these sound like chump change because we're into such astronomical numbers. it adds up. >> that's the point. >> $6.5 billion is what senator coburn finds overall. it does it every year. the bottom line is this, government is bureaucratic and wasteful. the more government you got, the more waste you've got and we've got a lot more government now than we had a couple of years ago. that's the bottom line. only way to stop this is to expose it, ridicule it like you just did, ali, and then cut spending. >> but that's -- >> that's the only way to stop it. >> ok, we've seen this once before and we have ridiculed it. >> oh, yes. i forgot. >> these lawmakers, in the cover of darkness, they write stuff down, it goes into bills. writers and stuff like that. next thing you know, we're promoting the chocolate industry in hawaii. >> do you remember the shrimp on the treadmill? >> absolutely. >> i don't know if we have it available but that was the all time favorite waste. shrimp on the treadmill. there you go. what are we trying to do with that thing? make it fitter or something? >> how much did that cost? >> i can't remember. >> hundreds of thousands of dollars. >> it was. the research project that put shrimp on a treadmill. that was last year. this year, we got chocolate to hawaii. >> i don't mind if red lobster does that kind of research but when we're paying for it -- >> why are your shrimp so lean? they work out before we kill them! >> you want to pay more money in taxes so we'll put shrimp on a treadmill. it drives people crazy. >> tom coburn pointed out that some of these went to his home state. everybody has earmarks. >> not for him. >> no, but people like it going to their home state, these little projects. >> he pointed out that $400,000 went to decide which color affects vegetable growth. that was in oklahoma. senator coburn's state. >> what's the color of sun? i think that was the answer. we'll be watching tonight and steeg you tomorrow. >> you got it. >> all right. censoring medical information about the bird flu because it could get into the hands of terrorists. >> what? >> do we need to be worried about this? dr. marc siegel is here to explain next. >> and i'll have a number 2, a medium beer, please. >> a little early. >> not for me! not for the morning show people. this is noon for us. which fast food giant is considering adding booze to the menu and when can we line up? >> as an adult i'm proud to serve the community i grew up in. just carry preparation h totables. discreet, little tubes packed with big relief. from the brand doctors recommend most by name. preparation h totables. the anywhere preparation h. let's do it, let's go to vegas. vegas baby! maybe we should head back to the dealership first? vegas! no, this is a test drive. vegas! [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a jetta. that's the power of german engineering. get zero first month's payment, zero down, zero security deposit and zero due at signing on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com. >> headlines now. but that will be coming up shortly. that's going to be a quick look at our medical segment. don't mess with sam jones, the mayor of mobile, alabama, he came home and found a burglar in his garage. pulled out a .38 caliber pistol and held the suspect at gun point until cops arrived and one of the country's biggest fast food chains added alcohol to the menu. i'm not talking about rubbing alcohol. white castle is testing out a new hybrid restaurant that sells beer and wine for under $5. right now, it's only in indiana but could expand nationwide. brings me back to quarter beers at the local tavern. >> the federal government is concerned that terrorists may try to hijack the information and create a deadly virus so they are asking two journalists to withhold the details of scientific experiments. those experiments study how the bird flu could be spread from person to person. >> but is the bird flu something americans should worry about? what if it gets into the hands of terrorists? dr. marc siegel joins us now from our fox news medical a team. dr. siegel, is this a concern? >> brian, this is absolutely a concern now. now i've been writing about this and talking about this for several years now. this bird flu virus has been around since 1995. and it has killed millions of birds all over the world, especially in asia but i've always said, wait a minute, it's not getting humans sick. there's only been 500 odd cases in those 15 years with about 300 deaths so it's quite deadly. if it does infect a human. but that rarely, rarely happens. >> ok. but now so the government doesn't want the national science advisory board to publish or i should say these two science journals to publish any of the details of these biomedical experiments, that makes sense, right? if it slips into the wrong hands, this could be obviously a horrible terrorist attack. >> alisyn, that's absolutely right. let me explain this. two group of researchers in wisconsin and netherlands have taken this bird flu virus and caused it to change. they've given it mutations. now it's affecting rodents that are a lot like humans and it looks like it could be a pandemic virus, the one they've created. now, i don't think it's going to happen in nature like that but what if a bioterrorist gets a hold of this? so they don't really want science and nature, these two big journals and publish a road map to say hey, already enough road maps on the internet for nuclear weapons, etc., they don't want a new one for this virus and i think they're right. now, there are first amendment issues here but i think they're right. they're going to allow the journals to publish an abbreviated version and real scientists, brian, can get this code but not on line and not in the actual journal. >> so far the layman, tell me why the bird flu is especially dangerous and can be engineered in the way you explain. >> the answer is, brian, because the bird flu virus is extremely deadly to anyone that gets infected with it. be it a bird or be it a human. up until now, humans, no matter whether they've handled birds or not are very unlikely to get it. then they don't spread it from human to human. brian doesn't spread it to mark. mark doesn't spread it to alisyn. with this mutation, with this change, it is now easy to spread human to human and it keeps being as deadly, you got a big problem. you could see contagion out there, the movie contagion. >> that sounds terrifying. should we be panicking? >> not as long as this information doesn't get out. again, i don't expect this to happen in nature. i think as long as we put the kibosh on putting this code out, the chances are we won't see contagion tomorrow. >> we need to keep an eye on this. i don't want everyone out there think this is something you'll be hearing about with your breakfast tomorrow. no way. >> so it makes sense with the national science advisory board is asking these two journalists to do and since they're letting them publish excerpts, it's not really censorship. >> the community has always been against this, alisyn, and i think they're coming around. under president bush, this first came out. we got bioterrorists out there. let's restrict the amount of information they can have. i'm all for that and now these two journals look like they'll go along with it, too. >> don't tell ron paul. probably not going to like it. >> this is one incident where i believe in big government. >> right, 13 minutes before the top of the hour. that's dr. marc siegel. >> on sunday at 10:30 with dr. sumadi. >> coming up, should our leaders offer condolences to the family of kim jong il, a dictator blamed for thousands of deaths at least? president jimmy carter just did and sparking controversy this morning. >> first, what's the true meaning of christmas? archbishop timothy dolan is doing his best to do a walking confession with steve doocy and tell us exactly what steve's sins are when we return. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. ♪ this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. >> welcome back. christmas, of course, is a celebration of the birth of jesus christ. but more often than it's true meaning tends to get lost in the commercialization of the holidays. so what should we remember when celebrating this year? joining us right now with a special message, new york archbishop timothy dolan. good morning to you. >> steve, nice to be with you always but especially this christmas season. thanks for the invite. >> thank you very much. we're going to get into your -- we're going to get a preview of your sermon for christmas in a moment. >> thanks for presuming i prepared it. >> but first, you know, we've talked for a while here on the fox news channel about how there has been a war on christmas. have you seen it? >> i'm afraid so. now, i'm not one of these who gets up in arms or puts on the armor and gets out the sword, no, because this is a great season of celebration and happiness. but i'm afraid there is. i'm afraid, steve, it might be a subset of a general cultural antagonism towards religion in general and obviously, that would be most dramatically evident in a season when religion and faith seems to be on front burner. so i think there is. i do think there's a -- there's a desire by some to put duct tape over the mouth of people who speak with religious convictions. and i think one of the ways that might be used, one of the tools that they might have in their toolbox would be to try to dumb down the meaning and the significance of this most overtly religious season of the year, christmas. >> or try to take christ out of christmas. becomes the holiday. >> more than the holy day. that would be tantamount to saying we shouldn't really speak about patriotism and the flag on fourth of july. facts are fact. what is the reason for the feast? it's the celebration of the birth of the messiah jesus christ, that has complications for people who might be identifying christian and we're thrilled they're celebrating the meaning of the season but let's not dilute it to lose the meaning of what it's all about. >> sure. unfortunately for a lot of people, christmas has just become a gift event. >> yeah. yeah. i wonder sometimes if we religious leaders make a mistake by being too -- by condemning that all the time. let's try to make lemonade out of lemons, ok, you're right. a lot of buying. a lot of giving. well, should we condemn that and shake a finger at that or should we say why? where did that tradition of buying and gift giving come from? this came from the greatest gift of all, the gift of god the father of his only begotten son, our lord and savior jesus christ who was born christmas day. that's the most sublime gift of all so if we can use gift giving even if it's gotten a little out of hand to draw us back to the original message, why not? >> sure. what's your christmas message going to be? >> i've been thinking -- you're right, obviously i've been thinking a lot about midnight mass. that's a biggie. i have had some other things to do but the -- what is it? we're not alone, steve, and i think one of the most haunting sentiments a human being can have is to think he or she is all alone. we're all by ourselves. nobody knows what i'm going through. christmas is god's way of saying, that's not true. you're not alone. i'm always with you and i know what you're going through because i became one of you. i took on flesh. i became -- i became one of you. so nothing's alien to me. i'm part of you. i'm part of your family. and by the way, i had difficulties in my life as well. i happened to be born homeless. there wasn't room for me. all the angst, all the suffering, all the tears that's associated with the human condition, god took on in what we call the incarnation, it was what christmas is all about so we're not alone. we need god. god is with us. he knows what we're going through. if that doesn't give us consolation and hope, i don't know what does. >> that's your message. >> is that all right? will that come out ok at st. patrick's? >> absolutely. >> how'd it be that short or a little long sner>> usually it's about 20 minutes. >> do you have a message to nonchristians? >> yeah, glad you're celebrating with us. we love you. the very part of the message of the person whose birth we're celebrating, the son of god, is that we're all god's children. and that we all -- we all are to treat one another with dignity and respect so that has a universal implication, doesn't it? so there is that universal dimension of christmas which sort of embraces everybody so we're thrilled when the world celebrates christmas with us. >> and this, of course, christmas week and it is always a pleasure. >> thanks, glad you feel this way! don't wait until easter to have me back, all right? >> all right. what are you doing on valentine's day? >> how about st. patrick's day? >> all right. >> we'll be busy that day. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. blessed christmas, steve. >> thank you, merry christmas to you, sir. >> all right. straight ahead, wow, this is a change. the president probably didn't want to believe in actor matt damon now saying the same thing about him as michelle bachmann. wait until you hear it. then with democrats, we're done fighting but pennsylvania congressman mike fitzpatrick walked out anyway after he -- there you go, hit the hammer, why? he's here to explain in just a couple of minutes. 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"fox & friends" hour two for this thursday before christmas starts right now. >> good morning, everybody. thanks so much for joining us this morning. good to see you in this prechristmas week. >> good to have you. ali, gretchen is starting her holiday a bit early. good to have you today. >> we have a lot to talk about today including a lot of special guests coming our way. >> don't tell us who they are. >> just guess one. >> i'm going to go with congressman michael fitzpatrick? >> very good. senator john mccain. i don't have time for you to play games. >> this is a big show. ali has the headlines. >> now with the rest of the headlines. we begin with the fox news alert. days after troops pull out of iraq, bloodbath in baghdad. at least 63 people are dead and more than 185 injured after 14 bombs exploded across baghdad. no one taking responsibility for the attacks yet but the planning and coordination suggests it's al-qaida. the violence, the worst since the political crisis between sunnis and shiites erupted this weekend. just in time for christmas, a massive snow storm in colorado that is moving east at this hour. this is the new video just into "fox & friends" from ft. collins where a foot of snow is expected. people in oklahoma also waking up to the white stuff and even if you're not seeing snow right now, this storm could wreak havoc on your holiday travel plans because some of the country's busiest airports like denver and newark international are expecting major delays and cancellations today. and right through the christmas weekend, right now, airlines like united and american are waiving fees for certain passengers who want to switch their flights. call the airport before you head out. >> good idea. >> closing arguments on the case against army private bradley manning accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of classified documents and giving them to wikileaks. the military wants to court-martial manning and put him behind bars for life. the decision -- whether manning will be court-martialed will be announced on january 16th. good thing she wasn't driving. check out -- >> oh, boy. >> this surveillance video of a woman who reportedly had too much to drink. they stumbled out of a train car in england, fell off the platform and rolled under the train. british police released the video to highlight the dangers of riding the rails while wasted. the woman is ok. thank goodness she was pulled to the platform by a stranger who saw her fall. well, you know, they don't want to you drive while drunk. they want you to take public transportation. >> so then you do, obviously she just had 12 too many. >> ok. >> watch the gap. they have this little sign. >> they do. >> meanwhile, a very special guest in the bull pen. >> we do, brian. the fight over the payroll tax cut extension starting a war of words between two members of congress. take a listen as house minority whip steny hoyer tries to force a unanimous vote on the two month extension of the tax cut. >> section 3b of house resolution 493, the house stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on friday, the 23rd, 2011. >> mr. speaker! mr. speaker! i would like to ask for unanimous consent that we bring up the bill to extend the tax cut for 160 million americans. as you walk off the floor, mr. speaker. you're walking out, you're walking away just as so many republicans have walked away from middle class taxpayers, the unemployed and very frankly as well from those who will be seeking medical assistance from their doctors, 48 million senior citizens. >> well, it was a nice little speech. joining us right now is the man who walked away, yes, he was walking away. pennsylvania republican mike fitzpatrick. congressman, welcome. it seems as though you almost expected this rant. did you? >> i did not, brian. good morning. it's good to be with you. >> good morning. >> you didn't expect it but you knew exactly what to do. put your head down and get out! >> well, you know, brian, you know, there are rules and there are procedures that govern the operation of the house. all parties know them. both parties have complied with them. they go back through speakers, all the way back to tip o'neill in 1981. steny hoyer knew what the rules were. he should know more than most because he's a former majority leader of the house of representatives. yesterday, he tried to -- he tried to break those rules and he tried to have me break them but my job was to enforce them and i did. >> so congressman, your point is that you couldn't have taken up the issue of the payroll tax cut because this was just a procedural sort of pro forma day. you were supposed to be, i guess, heading out to recess. but this all does seem just a little childish. was there any way to make it more substantial yesterday? >> well, the -- what they called yesterday was a pro forma session of the house of representatives. both parties know it's to avoid the house going into recess. we're keeping the house open for the purpose of having the conference. we need to send it and specifically to democrats to come back to washington to do the jobs that they were elected to do and to work this around. there's still time to do it. the publicity stunt on the floor of the house was not helpful. mr. hoyer knew it and i had to adjourn the house. >> we should point out that while the republicans turned off the tv camera yesterday, before you became a member of congress, nancy pelosi & company killed the mikes and the cameras in 2008 and refused to schedule a vote allowing off-shore drilling. so turn about is fair play, i would imagine. so where do we go from here, congressman? >> well, you know, there are important things we have to get done, steve. you know, first of all, the house of representatives gave the president what he asked for, a 12 month extension on the important middle class tax cuts. we all know now that the senate voted for a two month extension and left town in the middle of the night. i think it's time for the president to call all the parties back to washington to do the job that they're elected and frankly that they're paid to do. i think the senate should come back. for the past 10 days, i've been speaking with my constituents back home in bucks county, pennsylvania and everybody agrees a 12 month extension is better than a two month extension. >> sure. >> we really need to get back to work and we need to do it now. >> congressman, we know that the phone call yesterday between the speaker boehner and the president included this from the president. sign what they gave you from the senate and then i promise you by january, we'll work it out and expand it for an entire year. would that be enough? >> you know, that -- it sounds like they're talking which is good. i think we need to continue to talk. we need to get the conference and get the compromise done. a short term extension with a specific agreement to go to conference, that may very well get it done but you have to get the people back to work, brian. if you didn't show up for work this morning. if you went on vacation before the work was done, what would fox do? i mean, i think that -- i think you know what they would do. we need to get everybody back -- >> brian, if you didn't show up, we'd turn off the lights and pack it up. >> i don't know, there would be no show without me. they wouldn't know what to say or what to do. be just aimless, just wandering around with the camera. >> our intellectual leader. what do you think the chances are that the senate is going to come back from their home district to go into conference? >> well, i'm hopeful. we still have 10 days. when they left town, there were 15 or 17 days left to get this job done. in my home, when there's an important job to do. when there's a deadline coming, everybody pitches in. it's called all hands on deck. we need to get the people back here to washington. i understand it's the holiday season. i'd prefer to be at home as well. but we need to get back to washington to do the work that they were elected to do, to do the job that we're being paid to do. there's plenty of time to get it done. it may be a compromise. we'll have to see. but they have to get back here. >> all right. congressman, we thank you very much for joining us during this -- the christmas week and your busy week there on capitol hill. thank you, sir. >> thank you, guys. >> couple more days to do it unless they're going to do it in january and make it retroactive. >> they have it until the end of the year. so many people are talking you're going to lose that 20 bucks a week or $40 biweekly in the extension, let's say they wait until the first or second week in january, they'll make it retroactive and everybody will get that 20 or 40 bucks back, so, you know, i see where the republicans are. they're standing on principle. they're saying we were elected in a landslide last time to change the way washington works and for the senate democrats to simply kick the can down the road, i get it. >> no, but senate republicans, too. senate republicans, too. >> absolutely. >> i mean, this is the problem. is that again, as we talked about last hour, they're so close. everybody wants an extension. two months, a year. it's not that far apart. this is why people are so frustrated with congress. can't they just talk to each other? can't somebody just sit down and can't reason prevail? i mean, everybody thinks that this will help working families put a little bit more money in their pocket for next year since everybody agrees they should be able to get this done. >> what we really need is we need fundamental changes in the way we are taxed. and then you wouldn't have to worry about a little 2% here, something like that. just make it fairer and if they want to do something big, do something big because people out there are watching and they're going it seems like small beer but let's go ahead and try to do something big. >> the keystone pipeline is included in this. a lot of people out there don't think that 56 weeks plus of unemployment insurance is going to help anybody get a job without any incentives built in to get a job or retraining factored in there. there's a doctor fix involved so there's a lot of money and direct impact on people. i'm curious to see if the republicans will do something before christmas even though they have 11 days to get it done. >> here on the set, we have beautiful poinsettias from our friends at 1-800-flowers if you ever have a birthday, i use them a lot. if you have to send condolence flowers, a lot of people use them. i wonder how close jimmy carter was to actually calling 1-800-flowers when kim jong il died. >> wait a second. >> because we understand he apparently sent condolences to his family and wished his son who is going to be the next dictator over there in that crazy country good success. >> that's what the official north korean news agency is reporting, jimmy carter sent his condolences. >> to a dictator's family. >> i mean, right. >> who starved hundreds of thousands of people. >> two million some estimates say. with the famine that was in north korea. two million. jimmy carter has a history with north korea. he went there twice. he believes that he has some success, he's north korea kind of friendly in that way. it's hard to imagine what the white house thinks of jimmy carter sending this saturday of condolence letter. >> that's true. and by the way, bill clinton administration wasn't too thrilled with jimmy carter's work in undermining the state department when he was in office and by the way, the state department decided we are not going to send condolences but the former president is. how did john mccain feel about it? here's what he said earlier this week. i can only express satisfaction that the dear leader is joining the likes of qaddafi, bin laden, hitler and stalin in a warm corner of hell. i don't know if 1-800-flowers took a little briefing like that. >> did jimmy carter send a condolence note to the bin ladens? >> i hope not. >> seasons greetings to ahmadinejad? >> not that i know of. >> happy mother's day to the sea witch from little mermaid? >> we'll have an opportunity to ask the senator john mccain. he's coming up at 8:15 what he thinks about jimmy carter's move. >> kind of kooky. e-mail us, friends at foxnews.com. >> here's a change, the president probably does not want to believe in. what matt damon is now saying about the president. he was at one time his greatest supporter. >> and alec baldwin has made up his mind. will he or won't he run for public office? stay tuned. >> well, folks, we are learning more and more about the death of north korean dictator kim jong il. it seems he died of a heart attack while riding on a train through north korea. i don't think kim jong il was little but the train he died on was going around his christmas tree. 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[ louder ] hello? but we still need your signature. right now during sign then drive, it's never been easier to get the allew passat, the 2012 motor trend car of the year, for practically just your signature. that's the power of german engineering. visit vwdealer.com. >> is hollywood losing its love for president obama? well, one of the president's most ardent supporter actor matt damon is voicing discontent. he said in a recent interview, a one term president who got something done would be in the long run of the country much better. he didn't stop there. he went on to say i talked to a lot of people that worked for obama at the grassroots level and one of them said never again. i will never be fooled again by a politician. joining us now for reaction is fox news contributor juan williams and co-host of "the five" andrea tantaros. good morning. thanks for being here. >> good morning. >> juan, i want to start with you. it sounds like matt damon is learning the difference between a candidate and a president. sometimes people say things on the campaign trail that then as president they don't follow through on. how do you read this? >> well, you know, i think it's an indication of the disappointment in president obama that extends into the left wing base, you know, that especially young people and celebrities. people who don't usually get involved with politics but who were so enthusiastic about him back in the 2008 campaign and the, you know, politics of change and hope but, you know, the fact is if you look at matt damon and the kind of complaint that he has which is that, you know, occupy wall street is out there and they're rudderless and leaderless because president obama hasn't picked up the baton, i think he would find, in fact, that -- and he blames president obama for just backing up wall street. i just think that he'd find that most americans don't agree with him that they would think it's inappropriate for the president to be leading occupy wall street or to have abandoned -- to be leading occupy wall street or to have abandoned the stock market. >> andrea, it's not just that. matt damon who i believe his mother is a schoolteacher, he also doesn't like president obama's education policy. he thinks it's just, you know, old school, too testing centric, not sort of progressive enough. so is this what the president has to face that liberals are so disenchanted? >> absolutely he has to face this. think of how naive young people, hollywood, anybody who voted for president obama now, they're feeling pretty naive. i mean, about the promises that he made. but politicians, they can't live up to the promises. obama raised the bar so high that he can't fulfill them and if you look at some of the other things that damon said, he said that democrats had a real mandate when they came into office and the president did, i would agree with that. voters went along with hope and change. but he blew it! he blew his mandate on obamacare and i think that was a huge mistake not focusing on the economy right away. but he has gotten a lot of stuff done. i mean, think about what damon is saying. people don't like what he's gotten done so i think it's funny. i love watching hollywood turn on the president and i love watching the president try to win them back. he will. if he gets a second term and believe me, he will do all the left wing things that hollywood wants him to do but it is pretty amusing for me to watch actors not even being able to act now like they like the president. >> juan, is andrea right? will he do all the left wing things that liberals want him to do or as president, must he be more in the middle by definition? >> i think the president has to be more in the middle and i think especially when you're in a political mode, you know, you find yourself kind of hopscotching, you're a little bit of a chameleon because you're trying to figure out what the american people want from their chief executive. at the moment, the president's numbers are up 49% or 50% which is the highest it's been in some sometime and especially with independents and if you look at democrats, it's 80 plus percent of democrats are in their corner. a surprising number of the independents at this point because he was down badly with them so i don't think that matt damon is representative of the left wing being totally disenchanted with president obama. andrea is exactly right when she says the bar had been raised so high and a lot of people that are unfamiliar with politics and i don't care what kind of politics, conservative or liberal would find, oh, my gosh, he said he was going to do this and he was going to change the world, you know what? it didn't happen. he's not jesus christ. >> most importantly, i think, alisyn, the president was unfamiliar with politics and that was the biggest issue. >> well, the president -- >> he was too green. >> president obama had a funny line where he says you know what? i saw matt damon's recent work and i'm disappointed, too. juan and andrea tantaros, thanks so much for coming into debate it. >> you bet, merry christmas. >> you, too. >> hundreds of thousands of your tax dollars at work being used to subsidize chevy volt. believe it or not, there was a time that airline travel came without the hassle. unimaginable now. "fox & friends" will take you back to the 60's with pan am. 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[ male announcer ] sorry, buddy. truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. really? [ male announcer ] you need a more complete cold formula, like alka-seltzer plus liquid gels. it's specially formulated to fight your worst cold symptoms, plus relieve your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels. ♪ oh what a relief it is! ♪ >> news by the numbers, first $250,000. that's how much of your tax dollars goes to every chevy volt sold. it comes through the government loans, rebates, grants and tax credits for going green. wow! next, 15 million bucks. that's how much the ceo of "the new york times" will be getting when she steps down later this month. this while the cash-strapped company is forcing to sell off several local newspapers nationwide and finally, two. that's the number that arrived yesterday in times square. the 7 foot tall digit will be swapped out for the one foot from last year to make 2012 and good news, it's l.e.d. bulbs meet next year's stricter lighting efficiency standards. what a relief. >> so do the l.e.d. bulbs. >> what did i call them? led? >> i apologize. >> that's ok. >> long lines, baggage fees and no leg room. the list for why air travel stinks goes on and on these days. it wasn't always like that. all you have to do is look at the show "pan am" on tv and you can see air travel was a fun and classy experience once upon a time. joining us is the author of two books about the iconic pan am company, jamie baldwin. good morning to you, jamie. >> good morning. >> and you know what? there's a whole generation of people that have to pay for their meals and they have to pay for their pillow and they have to pay for that extra bag but once upon a time when pan am was king, flying was fun. >> that's true. that is true. i put this book together primarily to educate people, the latter generation, those who were born in the 1980's and the 1990's so educate them about the importance of pan american royal airways in the development of civil aviation and for all intensive purposes, they set the standard to the level of aviation safety, in flight service on international flights and all sorts of things that we take for granted today. >> once upon a time, jamie, pan am pretty much was the world's airline for the united states of america. if you wanted to travel around the globe, you got on pan am. >> exactly. it was known as what was -- a phrase called the chosen instrument. and it represented the united states, government employees traveled on pan american. military people traveled on pan american. and business people traveling overseas used it all the time. >> what was the food like? back in the day, what was the food like on pan am because i know i see the tv show and it looks like they've got linen and they've got china and they've got fillet mignon. >> that's true. i remember i was once on a flight traveling first class and we had caviar and we had chateau brignon and the best wines. if you look at some of the menus from those days, actually the 60's, the 70's and maybe even into the 80's, the early 80's, the food service was extraordinary. five star. five star all the way. >> well, we tonight have caviar these days in first class but i understand they do have mixed nuts and back in those days, people actually would get dressed up to go on an airline. my, how the mighty have fallen. now -- go ahead. >> yes, when i was -- my first flight was on a pan am d.c. 6b from los angeles to guatemala and i remember, i was, i think, 9 years old and i was dressed up in a suit and tie and my sisters wore dresses with gloves and i think what was the funniest thing is when they served -- we were flying tourist class, they served us a meal. we had to have pillows on our laps and for the adults, they had a little pack of 10 pack cigarettes. >> those were the days, weren't they? well, check out jamie's book "pan am world airlines, images of a great airline." these days if you wear a tie on board, they probably will think you're a sky marshall. if you want to make sure the series stays on the air, you can sign an on-line petition. go to foxnation.com and find out how you can do that. meanwhile, 28 minutes after the top of the hour. coming up, many think ron paul will win the iowa caucuses but if he does, should that state lose their credibility as the pre-eminent political predictor? we're going to talk about that. plus one mall putting shame on shoplifters. we'll show you the new holiday decor, decking the mall. and somebody is looking for love this christmas. well, if you are, we've got 200 paws waiting to take your hand. right after a quick break. 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[ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! i know you're worried about making your savings last and having enough income when you retire. that's why i'm here. to help come up with a plan and get you on the right path. i have more than a thousand fidelity experts working with me so that i can work one-on-one with you. it's your green line. but i'll be there, every step of the way. call or come in for a free portfolio review today. >> ♪ who let the dogs out ♪ who who who ♪ who let the dogs out ♪ who who who ♪ who let the dogs out ♪ who let the dogs out >> all right, everybody, welcome to national pet safety day and we have a lot of pets. a round of applause because the pets are finally getting the attention they need. ladies and gentlemen, let's applaud national pet safety day. >> whoo! >> so organic and so natural. i want you to now the ceo of morton salt, dr. camille declemente, welcome to both of you. >> you have assembled a fine cast behind you. what reason? >> it's unusual, very warm day here in new york. there's no question that the cold, winter weather is around the corner. with this in mind i'm pleased to announce that morton's salt has collaborated with the aspca to designate today as pet safety day. >> thanks for joining us this morning. doctor, i guess the waiting room is empty. you're here early. tell me what we should look out for pets. what kind of injuries do you see and what kind of illnesses come winter? >> we want to make sure that we're keeping everybody safe and warm. so one of the things we wanted to let everybody know is to remember at this time of the year to make sure you keep your pets on leash and make sure they're i.d.ed because more of them get lost at this time of year and we want to make sure they're nice and warm so if you're cold, that's a good clue for you to not keep them outside very long either. >> doctor, i got these dogs -- i have one dog that doesn't want to come in when it gets cold. the malamutes and huskies don't want to come in. how do you know if a dog doesn't want to get in and one that belongs out there? >> that's a great question. what you want to do is keep an eye on them for their behavior. if you have a long haired dog who is used to being in the cold, they can stay out longer. it's sort of a common thing. if they're hanging by the door and don't want to get out when you get their leash ready, that might be a clue they're not happy out there. >> let's take a walk around. what kind of dog is this? >> chihuahua. >> chihuahua. does a chihuahua need a coat in this weather? >> it would be a good idea for a chihuahua to have a coat. she's got a lot of short hair and shivering probably because she's a little nervous. >> a lot of money went into this hair style. professionally i'm wondering do you think this dog belongs indoors or outdoors? >> this dog should be wherever she wants to be. beautiful! >> let's adopt this, get this dog adopted. what kind of dog is this? i'm sorry. >> cocker spaniel. >> this is available. look at how nice this dog is. >> this dog is three legged, i think. >> this dog is saying to you, adopt me. actually, that's what the vest says, adopt me. >> adopt me. >> who knew that? all right, do we have another adoptable dog here? here we go. what kind of dog is this? >> this is a pitbull mix. >> a pitbull mix named patsy. extremely nice and extremely athletic with a very strong neck. >> yes. >> and then this dog is extremely happy and adoptable, correct? >> yes, she's waiting for her forever home at the aspca. she's just a year old and waiting to go home. >> all right. what kind of house pet would you be? be honest, what are you bringing to the table? what are you bringing to the table? what are you bringing to the table if we bring you home? >> love. >> a lot of love. there you go. you can take that. go ahead. >> go heyed, take it. you can have it. go ahead. we'll get another microphone. it doesn't come out of my budget. hey, good job. nice thing to do in the morning. and doctor, thanks so much for coming down here. and thank all of you for getting your dogs and coming out and making this really cool. hopefully these dogs will find some homes gchlt to twitter.com/fox and friends so we can communicate if you want to adopt. back inside. >> thanks, brian. >> during that segment, brian, we had about 10 "aaahs" here in the studio. >> i had no idea. >> wasn't exactly an aah. all right. >> get my mike back. >> we got some headlines for you on this thursday. wal-mart pulling enfamil newborn powder after a baby in missouri died from a rare infection. the 12 1/2 ounce cans come with lot number zp1k7g. the same formula is sold in other stores besides wal-mart but wal-mart is the only one pulling it from the shelves. the companies say -- says that is the move is simply a precaution. but if you got that at home, beware. >> yeah. remember this scene from "home alone 2"? >> well, a 9-year-old girl from danbury, connecticut, had a similar scare. she was flying alone to see her grandmother. she thought she was going to land in new york but because of bad weather, she landed in baltimore. >> holy cow, i'm not supposed to get off here. supposed to get off at laguardia. >> after a few -- after a few scary moments for khloe and her family, southwest put on her another plane and she's now where she belongs visiting her grandma. holy cow. >> thank you. alec baldwin saying he will not be running for mayor of new york city in 2013. the star of "30 rock" had planned to quit tv and enroll at harvard's kennedy school of government to prepare for his mayoral run but now, he's having a change of heart. he says he's just not cut out to deal with the cut throat world of politics. he also had some other colorful comments we can't run on the morning show. >> i'm going to have to agree with him. a mall in staten island, new york, taking a unique approach to prevent stealing. take a look. the mall putting up an electronic sign displaying mug shots of five shoplifters. all of them were convicted of stealing from this very mall. the signs have a double purpose. not only will shop owners be able to identify repeat offenders but hopefully they will deter other would-be shoplifters who don't want their mug plastered all over the mall. shame, punishment, it works. >> there you go. meanwhile, from shopping to shipping. today is -- who smells like dog slobber? today is officially the busiest shipping day of the year. >> joining us now at a ups depot in parsippany, new jersey, fox's business reporter adam shapiro, we should have sent you our packages. what's it looking like there, adam? >> i haven't seen this much activity since they brought free donuts into the green room back on sixth avenue. take a look at what's happening behind me because 120 million packages. that's how much u.p.s. will ship in the 10 days before christmas. this is what they call the box line chargers. these guys and there are four of these setups in the facility are loading these carts that are on a conveyor belt and they move down this line and people like this man here, that's david lackey from new jersey, he loads the truck. it's a little bit complicated and coordinated by color. you got green, blue, red, white. it's all coordinated on your tracking label. david who is in one of the trucks right now can read that label and he knows it has to go to this truck in this level of the truck so that the driver can then deliver. at 9:00 a.m., all of these trucks, take a look at how packed they are, by the way, take a look inside here. all these trucks will pull out at 9:00 a.m. and begin the delivery. this facility like all the facilities at u.p.s. across the country have doubled their capacity because of the holiday season. 25 million packages in the 10 days up to christmas. 26 million today. it's their peak day and then tomorrow is their peak air shipping day. so a lot of people getting ready for the christmas rush. here at u.p.s., they are on board and again, it's a massive operation. we started earlier this morning but at the -- what they call the small sort and watch how labels get applied to the packages and all you need to know is it gets to your door by christmas but the numbers are huge. 450,000 employees worldwide. 55,000 temporary employees. just to help move all this stuff in time for christmas. i'm going to throw it back to you and save me one of those free donuts. thank you. >> santa couldn't do it without those guys. >> with all those packages, post office is basically going belly up. they can't turn a profit. >> something has gone wrong with the business model. >> right. >> the problem is the pensions. >> yes. that's part of the problem. >> sorry to bring down the couch. >> it's ok. >> all right. straight ahead, on this thursday before christmas, you've seen them. shared them, and watched them again and again. and you know what i'm talking about. ♪ it's friday it's friday ♪ ♪ got to get down on friday ♪ everybody is looking for >> ♪ it's friday friday ♪ ♪ got to get down on friday >> i love that song. >> i can tell. >> coming up next. >> plus santa's helpers standing by but instead of a sack of presents, he's got a sack of your e-mails, it's bob massi we'll be joining him shortly. i have copd. if you have it, you know how hard it can be to breathe and what that fes like copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms... ...by keepinmy airways open... ...a full 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintence treatment that does both. and it's eroid-free. spiriva doesot replace fast-acting inlers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and call your doctor right away if your breathing suddenly worsens,... ...your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain,... ...or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps meeathing with copd is no small thing. ask your doctor about spiriva. >> you've seen the videos. those you tube clips that become on-line overnight sensations. well, you tube has just announced its top 10 most watched videos of the year. >> joining us right now to reveal that list, you tube's trends manager, kevin alaka, welcome. >> thanks for having me, guys. >> first off, let's begin with number 10. this is cat mom hugs baby kitten. >> this is a really adorable video and actually it comes to us from russia and, you know, cat videos are one of the vintage genres of you tube, if you will. very popular clip. 37 million viewers. >> look at that! >> a lot of our most popular pet videos right now and cats are not coming from the u.s. but all over the world and they get shared from different countries. >> do you think they're much more emotional in other countries? >> it's the wild kingdom, brian. >> that's the cutest thing i've ever seen. >> wait, we got more. >> your kids love that comment. >> thanks, mom! >> great. here's number 9. the force commercial. >> the farce be with you with the remote. >> this is the third year we've had an ad in the top 10 list and last year was also a funny ad, another super bowl ad so what's happening is that after the big game like a lot of people are going straight to you tube to look at these things. before, you have to wait for it to air again. that's one of the big hits of the year. >> number 4 is talking twin babies that we've leaped ahead a few. >> so this -- this clip is really adorable. a lot of people may remember this. 60 million views. these videos and it's just -- >> let's listen to this. >> this is a lot like what's going on in the washington, d.c. area. >> that is great! having twins, i can tell you that is the language that they speak to each other. >> you would know. >> that's adorable. number 2 is the ultimate dog tease. oh, gosh. people loved this one! this got a ton of hits. >> yeah, this got -- this is our second most viewed video, 75 million views, somewhere in the neighborhood of that if you want to listen. >> the maple kind, yeah. >> maple kind. >> yeah? >> so i took that out and i thought i know who would like that. me! so i ate it. >> ahhh! you're kidding me. >> this video was made by a voice-over guy from canada. people submit their pet videos to him and he does these voice-overs. he has a bunch of them. >> niche talent. >> yeah. >> i can't how many times my children have sung this song "friday" by rebecca black. it's true. here we go. >> ♪ it's friday friday got to get down on friday ♪ ♪ everybody's looking for a word for the weekend ♪ >> and the crazy thing about this is it continues to be popular. this wasn't a one time thing. >> i'll tell you what, if we went back and looked at the numbers on this video and if you look there's a spike in views every week, even this past week. every friday, this video, people are searching out this video. it's a phenomenon. it exists beyond the -- it's not just about the song at this point, right, it's about sort of there's parodies of it. it's got 180 million views. it's just -- it's a global thing that happens. to this young girl from southern california. >> who just put it up there. she thought she was a talent and wasn't waiting for a big break. >> 13-year-old girl put up this video. it blew up and now she has two other songs and she was in katy perry's music video. big year for her. >> all right, from you tube, kevin, always a pleasure. >> thanks for having me, guys. >> happy holidays, merry christmas. >> bob massi is playing santa's helper this morning digging into his mailbag to answer your questions. >> santa on the strip! >> and that's my lawyer. >> first this day in history, marvin gaye had the number one song in america with "i heard it from the grapevine." [ male announcer ] what can you do with plain white rice? when you pour chunky beef with country vegetables soup over it... you can do dinner. four minutes, around four bucks. campbels chunky. it's amazing what soup can do. with thermacare heatwraps. thermacare works differently. it's the only wrap with patented heat cells that penetrate deep to relax, soothe, and unlock tight muscles for up to 16 hours of relief. that's 8 hours while you wear it, plus an additional 8 hours of relief after you take it off. can your patch, wrap, cream or rub say that? so if you've got pain... get up to 16 hours of pain relief with thermacare. >> holidays can be stressful enough without worrying about losing your home or having your wages garnished. we're asking questions with bob massi who is working as santa's helper today dipping into the mailbag. >> merry christmas! ho ho ho! merry christmas, everybody! >> wow. bob, you are going above and beyond the call. let's go right to our first e-mail, ok, bob? because this one sounds serious. he says, bob, i filed for bankruptcy and included my condo in the filing. what's the difference between a deed in lieu of foreclosure and an actual foreclosure? will the bankruptcy discharge the debt? >> well, you know, actually, the messages were sent to santa and santa's helpers are up and out of here so let me explain, the bottom line is this, when you have a foreclosure as i've explained before, it's through the law and through the courts generally speaking but if you do deed in lieu of foreclosure it means you and the lender have agreed. as a result of that, it's voluntary between the parties. if you filed a bankruptcy and it was a discharge in bankruptcy, in other words the court forgave it generally speaking you don't have to worry about it. make sure you get a bankruptcy lawyer and the answer that bob sent here are so smally written, i hope i'm getting it right. between the hair and the way he writes, i'm getting him scissors for christmas. >> and your beard is also probably getting in the way of your thinking. e-mail number 2 says bob, my mother is in a nursing home and i'm her legal guardian. she gets social security and a pension. can the mortgage company garnish her retirement? >> a few weeks ago, we talked about asset protection and asset protection is what -- how do you protect your assets? social security is exempt on a national level. 401ks, your retirement are exempt, unlimited on a national level. but i.r.a.'s and different types of keough plans, you have to make sure from state to state and make sure that's all taken care of. >> next. bob, i have no health insurance and i live in north carolina and have equity in my home. if i get sick, is my home at risk? i'm sure a lot of people are in this predicament. >> that has to do with the homestead law and every state has a different homestead law. you have to make sure your state, what's the limit of the homestead? i actually looked from the north pole yesterday and found out that carolina has about an $18,000 or $37,000 homestead which means whatever equity you have in your home, it's protected to that amount. mrs. santa! take it easy over here? she's been making meatballs and the reindeers are going crazy. she's italian lady. settle down over here. bob massi, thank you very much for all the shattered dreams. i love you, viewers. merry christmas and happy new year! thank you, "fox & friends." we love you at the north pole! >> i mean, santa's helper, we love you, too. thanks for getting up and putting on all of your regala there. >> merry christmas, everybody. merry christmas! >> have a great christmas, bob. >> ho ho ho ho! >> wow, it's even earlier in vegas. all right. kim jong il is blamed, as you know, for killing thousands, maybe even more. but president jimmy carter sent his condolences for the death. senator john mccain who hopes the north korean leader is in hell will be here with his reaction to that letter. plus the fight over $40 in your paycheck. what would you spend it on? we have your e-mails at the top of the hour. 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[ male announcer ] osteo bi-flex. the #1 doctor and pharmacist recommended brand. >> alisyn: good morning, everyone. it's thursday, december 22. the worst violence in months breaks out in baghdad overnight killing nearly 60 people. this just days after american troops left iraq. we've got the latest details for you. >> steve: meanwhile, republicans walking out over the payroll tax cut debate. >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker! mr. speaker, you're walking out. you're walking away as so many republicans have walked away. >> steve: yeah, but not only did they walk away, the republicans turned off the microphones and the tv cameras. the latest from washington straight ahead. >> brian: got an announcement, anthony, we got a new wiener. former congressman anthony wiener has something to feel proud about this morning. >> steve: i am so confused. >> brian: a new wiener in the world. "fox & friends" starts right now >> it's "fox & friends". >> steve: thank you. i'm sure he'll want to hear about bigot wiener story. >> alisyn: it's a good story. >> steve: it is. >> brian: john mccain will be joining news about ten minutes and john mccain, that was one of the nice things he said about us. he also called us jerks before. >> alisyn: yeah. >> steve: but he's shown up. >> alisyn: he has mixed feelings about us, but he'll be here to talk about what's going on on capitol hill, among other things. >> steve: speaking of that, it's the fight before christmas in washington, d.c president obama's hawaiian vacation on hold for how long, we don't know. along with that payroll tax cut extension, nothing seems to be happening. >> alisyn: shannon bream is live at the white house with the latest. what is the latest today? >> this morning here at the white house, it doesn't seem like the two sides are any closer to hammering out some kind of agreement on the payroll tax cut that is set to expire at the end of the year. we do know this, the president will go public today with an appeal we expect two republicans to pass that two-month deal that the senate passed. from the president, although he wants that two-month deal out of the senate approved, it doesn't sound like john boehner is on board with that idea. here is what he's got to say. >> the house produced a bill exactly what the president asked for. the senate only produced a two-month bill. the process is to sit down and resolve the differences and we're here ready to go to work. >> the white house put together a blog saying that just about every average american will be impacted to the tune of $40 per paycheck if this deal isn't done and they've asked folks across the country to write in and tell exactly how much that $40 difference would make in their average daily life. jay carney says tens of thousands of stories like this one have come in. >> in west virginia, someone wrote in saying, after everything that comes out, including my mortgage, my take home pay is $150 every two weeks. so minus 40 would be $110. i can barely get by now. that 40 bucks is my gas for my car to get to work. taking 40 away from my pay would just about put me under. >> we don't know how much the president spent on his shopping spree. he we want to petsmart and best buy. his family is over in hawaii, maybe he's doing shopping for them. initially he had said he would not join them until this deal was worked out. but for now we're told his travel plans to hawaii are pretty much uncertain. also we have just learned there will be dueling press conferences on capitol hill this morning. republican leadership expected to head to the microphone first, about 10:00 o'clock eastern, immediately followed by the democrats. so a lot still to hammer out here in washington. back to you. >> steve: no kidding. shannon on the north lawn of the white house, i think we do know how much the president spent on that rubber bone for beau. spent 14 bucks. which is close to what the white house is asking people to send in what, would that $40 mean to you? we just heard jay carney talk about that. >> brian: i've never taken my dog shopping. he took his dog shopping. >> steve: you can do that at the store. >> brian: you can do that? >> steve: yes. >> brian: i had no idea. so i can go to macy's with my dog? >> steve: no, no, you can go to petsmart with your dog. if you're going to take your dog anywhere, you would think you could take him to a dog store, a pet store. >> alisyn: you may want to pick something out. >> brian: he wants to lick for himself. >> steve: they usually do. we asked you what you would do with the 40 bucks and mary beth from missouri wrote in, with 40 bucks means to me each week, it's not lights, shoes or gas, which yes, are all necessities. it means the president is not doing his job. >> brian: right. >> alisyn: sue gillette says i would put the extra money in my 401(k) because i probably won't have social security. >> steve: i'm surprised jay carney didn't read these yesterday. >> brian: i would buy 20 we can't afford -- i would buy 20. we can't afford your hope and change bumper stickers with the $40. this is a different take. >> steve: kind of. fair and balanced. wayne in pennsylvania says maybe workers should cut out the middle man and just ask their children and grandchildren for $40 a week. >> alisyn: good idea. jean -- >> brian: we have a lot of responses. >> alisyn: i could use that to buy three quarters of a tank of gas. >> steve: right. 'cause now it's north of three bucks, when the president of the united states took office, i think it was 1.85 a gallon. >> brian: right. everything was simpler then. you want to hear drama? you want to see unscripted reparte? let's go to the house yesterday on the floor. the day was ending, but not for all. >> section 3 b of house resolution 493, the house stands adjourned until so a.m. on friday. >> mr. speaker? mr. speaker? mr. speaker? would like to ask for unanimous consent that we bring up the bill to extend the tax cut for 160 million americans as you walk off the floor, mr. speaker. you're walking out. you're walking away just as so many republicans have walked away from middle class taxpayers, the unemployed, and very frankly, as well from those who will be seeking medical assistance from their doctors, 48 million, senior citizens. >> steve: you know what that reminds me of? what nasa launch has rocket, they say, and it's off. as nasa embarks, blah, blah. >> alisyn: that was the voice of steny hoyer and he was taking that opportunity, he knew that would be happening because yesterday was a procedural day. pro forma day. they warrant going to be voting on anything. but he saw it as an opportunity to say, well, we could be doing some work if we weren't having this pro forma take and you're walking away again. we had fits patrick there serving as the presiding officer. we had him on about what he thought about that moment. >> yesterday he tried to break those rule and he tried to have me break them. but my job was to enforce them and i did. the house of representatives gave the president what he asked for, a 12 month extension on the important middle class tax cuts. we all know now that the senate voted for a two-month extension and left town in the middle of the night. i think it's time for the president to call all the parties back to washington to do the job that they're elected and frankly that they're paid to do. >> steve: we should point out that the republicans, because they control the tv cameras there, they turned off the mics and tv cameras and somebody said why would they be so childish? go back to 2008, nancy pelosi turned off the mikes and the cameras and refused to schedule a vote on offshore oil drilling, did exactly the same thing. >> brian: the original childish behavior. >> alisyn: there is a lot of that to go around. it's not just that moment. it's the dueling press conference, it's the not speaking to each other. >> steve: welcome to washington, baby! >> alisyn: this is why people, americans are so frustrated with congress. >> brian: what you're saying is, if i come into the house, say we lived together, and the socks are on the floor, and you start yelling me, i would step back and go, this isn't about the socks, is it? it's because i don't come home on time. i'm not responsible. >> steve: you're drinking too much. >> brian: don't get caught up in the repartee. the problems are much deeper. >> alisyn: you must have given this a lot of thought. >> brian: i really have. >> alisyn: wow. i think that was window into something that's going on with brian. let's get to your headlines. we have a fox news alert. breaking news now because just days after american troops pull out of iraq, there is a blood bath in baghdad. at least 63 people are dead and more than 185 injured after 14 bombs exploded across baghdad. no one is taking any responsibility for the attacks at this point, but the planning and coordination point to al-qaeda. closing arguments today in the case against army private bradley manning. he's accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of classified documents and giving them to wikileaks. the military wants to court-martial him and put him behind bars for life. the decision whether he will be court-martialed will be announced january 16. just in time for christmas, a snow storm in colorado that is moving east at this hour. let's take you live outside to highland ranch in colorado where as you can see, there the snow is coming down. >> steve: that reporter loved it. >> alisyn: poor reporter. >> brian: not that ali. i'm not speaking to her. >> alisyn: i don't blame him. a quarter of the white stuff is expected when this is all said and done. people in oklahoma also waking up to snow and even if you're not seeing snow outside your window right now, this storm could still wreak havoc on your holiday travel plans. denver and newark airports are expecting major delays and cancellations today right through the christmas weekend. right now, airlines like united and american say they're waiving fees for certain passengers. i think they want me to move on. call the airports if you're heading on. it's a boy for anthony weaner and his wife. >> steve: this is the wiener story. >> alisyn: she gave birth yesterday to jordan zaun wiener. he weighed in at just more than 7 pounds. jordan arrived ten days early. he was due on new year's eve, but he couldn't wait to get here. that's very nice story for that couple. >> steve: congratulations. meanwhile, there was an electrifying headline on the drudge report and it was the results of a brand-new rasmussen poll. as we take a look, who is in the lead in iowa, let's take a look. mitt romney 25%. he pulled ahead of ron paul, who had been surging and newt gingrich, his numbers have really moderated. it's those ron paul ads, certainly have taken their toll. >> brian: ron paul, michelle bachmann, mitt romney really weighed on newt gingrich. but in iowa, some are looking at the rise of ron paul, while they appreciate the organization and how much work they've been doing for the last six years there, you have rich lowery writing that if they win, if ron paul wins in iowa, iowa looks horrible. here is his quote. iowa caucus goers are protective. if they deliver victory to a history making ron paul, no one should take them as seriously again. >> steve: talking about the state of iowa. >> alisyn: yes. his point is that ron paul's foreign policy stance, among other things, basically disqualifies him, that he's said some out there things such as the u.s. wants to go at war against muslims. 1.2 million muslims. >> brian: they have no choice to bomb us because we've been bombing them and 9-11 justifies it. >> alisyn: so he has an interesting editorial you can read. but the problem is, it's called democracy. sometimes voters vote for people that you may not like. that's what happens in democracy. >> steve: but if you look at the conventional wisdom is given his somewhat -- some would characterize them as crazy things on foreign policy, there is absolutely no chance he could win the general. so if iowa goes ahead and selects him as the number one finisher, what does that say about iowa, where they pick somebody who absolutely can't win? >> brian: right. so ron paul will take that momentum to new hampshire, unlike governor huckabee, no one will be looking for him to take new hampshire. but there is a lot weighing in. do you think lowery is on the money or is ali in this tell me accuracy thing? >> steve: it's probably something bigger than the democracy. >> brian: exactly. >> alisyn: you can send it to us. >> steve: straight ahead on this thursday, kim jung-il blamed for killing thousands of his own people. why is jimmy carter, the former president, offering a up condolences to his family? senator john mccain who hopes the north korean leader is in hell joins us next. >> alisyn: and why dozens of officers in arizona are throwing in their badges. literally i take an omega for my heart. but to be honest, i find the omega choices overwhelming. which one is right for me? then i found new pronutrients omega-3. it's from centrum, a name i trust. it goes beyond my heart to support my brain and eyes too. and these ultra-concentrated minigels are much smaller than many others. it's part of a whole new line of supplements. there's probiotic and fruit & veggie too. new pronutrients from centrum helps make nutrition possible. of how a shippingiant can befriend a forest may seem lie the stuff of fairy tales. but if you take aw the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the storybook narrator... 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[ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter. am. >> brian: time is running out for congress to pass a payroll tax extension. house republicans continued wednesday to call on their democratic colleagues to return to the negotiating table to work on a long-term deal in the senate. so will we get a deal before january 1? joining us right now, republican senator from arizona, senator john mccain. senator, are your colleagues going to come back and work something out with the house members in a conference? >> i would hope so, but i think that the president should play much more of a lead role rather than go shopping for his dog, maybe call these people to the white house, as previous four presidents that i served under would have done and see if we can't hammer something out. the fact is, reality is, brian, that this issue is hurting republicans, democrats are exploiting it and i would hope that maybe house members might come back and vote the same bill the senate passed only make it a year instead of two months and then send it back to the senate. i think is one way out of this. but you know, it's a sign of how dysfunctional washington is these days. there are 160 million americans who are caught in the cross fire here partisanship and they deserve better from washington. just reminds you in the senate, we did not pass a budget for the last two years. on saturday morning, we voted on a $900 billion appropriations bill. it was 2,000 pages long. we have 15 minutes of debate. i identified 3 1/2 billion dollars of pork just in the defense part of it. so when our democrat friends are sort of taking up on their high horse, the senate has been dysfunctional for the last two, three years. >> brian: i know it's agonizing. the only thing you can do is help your party win back the senate and we like to think maybe that wouldn't happen. i want to move on to something else. jimmy carter did something you didn't. he sent condolences to king kim jung-il's family and good wishes to the new ruler of north korea. why are you guys differing on this? >> we have differed rather dramatically in the past. look, north korea has killed 200,000 people under the worst conditions you can ever imagine, starvation. the average north korean is three inches shorter than the average south korean. the nuclear weapons, the provocations with south korea. this is a gulag and the chinese are the country that control it and it's time the chinese acted in a mature fashion and help bring about change that is so badly needed. this is a very terrible rogue regime and george bush was right when he called on the axis of evil. >> brian: let's talk about the iraqi troop withdrawal. series of explosions over the last 24 hours and an issue of a warrant for arrest for the vice president who is sunni and a call for the kurdish to give him up by the leader. this thing seems to be falling apart within 48 hours of our exit! >> day before yesterday, the president said iraq was strong, stable, and democratic. the president pledged to get out of iraq. he said the surge would never work. they're now putting out propaganda that the reelection campaign called promises kept and he's saying all these great things about iraq. general keane, who i know has been on the show and i and others who supported the surge believed strongly that we had to have this residual force. we all knew we needed it. but the president wanted to fulfill his campaign promise and it's really tragic because this place could unravel and that would be so tragic because we did spend 4474 young american lives and as general keane said, we won the war, and now we're losing the peace. >> brian: i love the fact you don't round off the number and you list the number exactly. but in the big picture, do you think the president does not care how this war turns out because he never wanted it to begin with? >> i don't know what his feelings are. i know what he campaigned on. i know the way he got the nomination was campaigning against hillary clinton's vote to authorize the war in iraq. he has promised to get out. he's fulfilled that promise and already his reelect committee was using this as part of the propaganda for his reelection and it's really sad and we are making the same mistake in afghanistan. him saying pulling out before we have completed the job at much greater risk as every one of our military advisors say. we're seeing this again. it's called leading from behind. >> brian: yeah. senator john mccain, have a great christmas. >> could i mention, you went through the weather report and a big storm moving east. i'd like to mention temperature in the valley of the sun in the next few days will be in the high 60s and low 70s and sunny. please come and stay with us. >> brian: i'm getting reports of 500,000 americans agree to come to arizona. so you got more people. >> we'd love to see them. >> brian: it would be great to be in the valley of the sun come christmas. have a merry christmas, senator. >> thank you. >> brian: still ahead, should illegal citizens have the right to vote? peter johnson, jr. says yes. his reasons after the break. santa's helper pulled the surprise of a lifetime. you can't wait to hear this story. that makes two of us, 'cause i can't wait to hear it either the droid razr by motorola. the droid that wirelessly pulls files, music and movies, all at 4g lte speeds. and introducing the droid xyboard. with an 8 inch hd screen and adaptive surround sound, a home theater for your hands. powered by verizon 4g lte, these droids are too powerful to fall into the wrong hands. buy a droid razr and get $100 off a droid xyboard. most powerful trading app ? total access - to everything. from idea to research to trade. including financials, indicators and real-time streaming quotes. whether you check your investments every day or every minute, our app can take them from thought to trade. at scottrade, seven-dollar trades are just the start. try our powerful mobile app. it's another reason more investors are saying... i'm with scottrade. >> steve: welcome back. should illegal immigrants have the right to vote in the united states? according to the mayor of new haven, connecticut, the answer is yes. his proposal would allow undocumented aliens to enter the ballot box and according to him, it's about time. >> what it's meant to be a citizen and what the rights and privileges of citizenship have been have changed over time. i actually think it's very consistent with this core virtue in strength of america of always broadening the meaning of citizenship. >> steve: so he would like to allow illegals to vote. is that a good idea? joining us now with more is fox news legal analyst, peter johnson, jr. a couple years ago, peter was the chairman of a bipartisan task force on election modernization. >> that's right. i want to be charitable. it's the hanukkah season, it's the christmas season. that is really crazy. that is just really off the wall. we know in some cities, you can vote as a undocumented immigrant in this country in school elections and others. but it's wrong. it's not what we're about. citizenship confers certain obligations and certain responsibilities. and it's something that we should be dearly possessing of all its rights and its responsibilities. so to say, well, i have a foreign passport, to say that i have never taken a citizenship test, to say that i don't have the capacity to understand the english language -- >> steve: i'm not going to stand in the line and do it the right way. >> and i'm going to vote because i pay taxes indirectly as a representer or directly as a homeowner, that's plainly not what we're about in this country. now, in the past, some of those folks used to vote. it changed in the 1920s. but i think it's really off the wall. >> steve: i got something else for you. here is the attorney general saying that voter i.d. laws, where people actually produce i.d. before they vote? >> yeah. >> steve: they're wrong. discriminatory. watch. >> we have seen time and again instances of discrimination, instances where people have been denied the fair access to the ballot on the basis of color of their skin, their ethnicity, their income. >> steve: okay. so do voter i.d. laws discriminate against minorities? according to a poll, 22% previous they do. 69% of you believe they do not. >> in 31 states, there is voting i.d. requirements. 16 of those states have a photo requirement and in 16 other states now, there is pending legislation to impose an i.d now, when you go to the -- people go to the bank or someplace else and you want to cash a check, do you use i.d.? >> steve: you can't do it without it. >> yeah. when you went to the building today, did you use i.d.? yeah. >> when you get on an airplane, do you use i.d.? many many times. >> what about amtrak? >> steve: once in a while. >> what's the big problem? >> steve: we do it all the time. >> if you're a registered voter, then there should be proof of registration. so to listen to this. we hear it every election cycle saying oh, no. the republicans are trying to suppress your vote. they don't want you to vote. well, it should be prosecutors, republicans and democrats across the country should not want people who are not allowed to vote to vote or to vote twice. that should be the law. it shouldn't be a political hot potato. it's really simple. say yeah, i'm peter johnson, i'm entitled to vote, here is my voter registration card. here is my passport or here is my driver's license or state i.d yeah, i'd like to vote. thank you very much. not a big deal. >> steve: i'm peter johnson and i approve this ballot. all right. thank you very much. >> pleasure. >> steve: interesting. all right. still ahead, take a look at this. why dozens of officers in arizona are throwing in their badges literally. yep. there they go, right there. plus, the latest weekly jobless numbers coming in the news room right now. we will break them down with that man from "the five," eric bolling, after a break [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually se arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammatio plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. a celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naen, and melocam have the same cardiovascar warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart dease or risk factors such as high blo pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach anintestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you'v had an asthma attack, hives, oother allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. @ visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. ♪ sing polly wolly doodle all the day ♪ ♪ hah @ >> alisyn: fox business alert. the labor department just releasing the latest weekly jobless numbers. 364,000 first time unemployment claims were filed last week. they were estimating 375,000 claims, so it's lower than expected. also just 1.8, the estimate was 2%. let's bring in eric bowl to go give us some context and talk about all this. what do you make of the jobless numbers? >> really good news and really not so good news. the really good news is the 364,000, that's huge. that's a big number. we've been doing this weekly for the better part of two years now. 350,000, you want to get below that. it starts to look like a good economy. 325,000, you're going to started aing jobs. 364,000 people walked into unemployment office for the first time last week, below expectations, and by the way, the trend has been fantastic. we were at 400 for a long time. started to work its way into the 380. that's the lowest i've seen in a couple of years. >> steve: we have heard about so many people have become so discouraged, though, they said, i'm going to throw up my hands and not do it. can you factor that in there or is this thank is -- >> the number you're talking about, and it's 100% right. on a monthly basis, they call it the employment situation where you come out with that 9% unemployment. 8.6% unemployment. that's a phone survey. it's an estimate. they can play around with things like 315,000 people left the work force. that's why unemployment went down when there weren't that many jobs created. this number is the actual number of people, physically walk not guilty getting a check. >> steve: they know? >> absolutely. in gray area with this number. so that's good news. the little down side on the numbers that got released is gdn got revised downward. doesn't seem like a lot, but on a $14 trillion number, that's a lot of economic growth that went away. >> brian: compare that to china's growth. >> we don't know what that is. it tells us -- again, we're relying on what they tell us. china grow, they hope to keep their growth down. they're worried about growing too fast. they grow around 7, 8, or 9%. >> steve: they rig the system, though. >> they might. they very well might. but remember, we want our gdp to go up because we need economic activity. they want to give the world a perception that they're not growing fast so that inflation doesn't explode, so gas prices don't go up. they really need a lot of the building materials, the gold, copper, the silver. they need that. if inflation goes up, that's a lot more expensive for them to build the economy. they are growing. >> brian: so you know about the big confrontation in the house with this tax holiday. correct? the one thing is clear, even though we don't know how, the president seems to be benefitting. the latest real clear politics collaboration poll shows him at 46.8% and with one poll in december 2011, near 50% with approval ratings. why is he benefitting from this? >> they somehow figured -- 'cause the republicans in the house basically threw him the ball and said make us look bad and he did. america wants a tax cut. i get it. they both want it, but somehow the message that the white house has made and the senate democrats have made, we passed the tax cut. hey, why can't you pass it now, house republicans? really, they're winning that communications battle. the bottom line is, what they really should be talk being is a balanced budget amendment. again, you're not going to hear that. >> alisyn: also, that leaves the analysts say that his poll numbers may have tick the up because the economy has ticked up a little bit and that the jobless claims are going down. so all of that is working to his favor. >> it's a couple years. the economy was going to turn around anyway. recessions last, or economic stifling of growth lasts on average 18 to 24 months. we're almost four years into this. things are going to come around anyway. >> steve: sure. so the numbers are coming around for the president approval wise and yet, when you look at who is going to vote next year, karl rove had some bad news for the president. he's losing a lot of his demographic. >> he's in trouble. take a look at these key voter groups that were critical, many of them to the president's election in 2008. here is his approval rating today. among independents, it's 38. that's down 24 points from when he got sworn in to office. among senior, 39, down 23 points. among those who are middle class, 41. down 26 points from where he was when he was maturitied. midwesterners, where the battle ground states, 41, down 24 points from when he was sworn in three years ago. college graduates, 43, down 26 points. look at this, young people, 48% approval. down 27 points. he'll probably win young people in this election, but he's not going to win them by 68, 63. look at latinos, 51% approval. down 26 points from when he was sworn in. the president is in deep trouble in these polls among key voter groups who were with him last time around examine who are not with him this time around. >> steve: they're not with him this time around because they don't buy his blame game. >> blame game, the economy is still bad. a lot of people are out of work. can i point something out? this is gallup's polling. this is up to date -- >> steve: nice handwriting. >> at this point in the presidency, obama's approval rating, 42%. okay. it's up from 39%, but look at it against some of the other presidents. jimmy carter, who some would say was the worst president ever. 56% in the same time. bush, 53%. my personal hero, ronald reagan, 59% approval rating. that's gallup and very reliable. >> steve: double digits below any of that. >> alisyn: again, you have to factor in how people feel about congress and how they feel about the republican poll to see whether or not what all that means for 2012 and what -- it's interesting, the silver of the political column said the real clear politics number, that's exactly the tipping point, below 46.5, you don't win reelection. 46.5, generally above it, you can. >> the great number that we keep watching is obama versus generic republican. he still doesn't win. you put him up against gingrich or romney, yeah. once you unite, when there is someone, then you get a name and against generic, he still loses. >> brian: newt and mitt were a dead heat in the usa today poll. we'll see you today at the fife fife -- "the five." >> we had our christmas party last night. >> brian: you're here. >> alisyn: let's get to your headlines. array of happiness in an otherwise tragic story. the partner of slain officer will be promoted today. he was praised for chasing and arresting the gunman who killed his partner during a robbery earlier this month. his boss also getting a promotion for helping his men through such a difficult loss. he leaves behind four daughters. the nypd set up a scholarship fund for them. >> steve: a new twist in arizona's border battle. the federal government stripping joe arpaio of his authority to enforce immigration laws in his jail. and now 92 of his deputies who were trained by ice to screen inmates are turning in their badges. you just saw that. they will be replaced, the 92 will, by 50 ice agents. but so far, only one federal agent has been assigned to do the work of those 92 deputyies. >> brian: santa claus really coming through on this one. watch what happens when a little girl from north carolina asks old saint nick to bring her dad home from iraq. >> i want my daddy. >> okay. let's see what we can do. >> daddy! [ applause ] >> steve: whoa! >> brian: that's fantastic. that is seth hall, surprising his daughter, mattie, after a seven month deployment overseas. made says she had no doubt santa would grant her christmas wish. >> santa, i have to think about it, but i really think this was going to happen. >> brian: this was his second deployment in iraq and he says he can't wait to make up for lost time with his girls. >> alisyn: that's one powerful santa. >> steve: no kidding. that was fast. >> alisyn: talk about storming off, watch what happens a testy tv weather man -- >> steve: wait a minute, wait a minute. >> alisyn: maybe it is doocy. >> it's so interesting, i'm in the communications business and it seems like there is so little communication. when you send a weather man out to do the weather and also sending to him do a story action you might want to give him a little extra time. but that's just me. so i'll tell you what, we'll have somebody else handle weather. we'll send it back to you in the studio. >> brian: wow! >> did he just have a fit on live tv? wow! >> alisyn: we hear that from rick every weekend. this video comes from an affiliate in los angeles. the best part, the weather guy was supposed to be doing an interview about charity. and the spirit of christmas when he threw his temper tantrum and walked off. wow. >> steve: who is going to tell us about the weather right now at big bear? i got feelings! don't do it again. >> brian: still ahead, is the world really as bad as they say it is? >> biological attack is possible. >> swine flu panic grips the nation. >> steve: then wolf blitzer stormed off. >> brian: up next, john stossel tells us why our world is wonderful and getting better. >> alisyn: it's wonderful. here is a wonderful story. bring on the girl scouts in nassau county. they're here to spread their cheer with beautiful christmas songs >> this is the day when men realize nothing they order on-line will get here by christmas capital one's new cash rewards card gives you a 50 percent annual bonus. so you earn 50 percent more cash. if you're not satisfied with 50% more cash, send it back! i'll be right here, waiting for it. who wouldn't want more cash? [ insects chirping ] i'll take it. i'll make it rain up in here. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? sorry i'll clean this up. shouldn't have made it rain. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some people just know how to build things well. give you and your loved ones an expertly engineered mercedes-benz... ho ho ho! ...at the winter event going on now. but hurry -- the offer ends january 3rd. [ man ] we've been in the business over the course of four centuries. 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[ woman ] we're all going after one common goal, which is to spread the joy of baking throughout the whole world. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> steve: we want to clarify a poll out of new hampshire that we used yesterday at this time. it had mitt romney polling twice on the screen when it should have had mitt romney once with 35% of the vote, and ron paul with 19%. now you know. all right. brian, ali, over to you and john. >> alisyn: all right. >> brian: stossel, perhaps, with the news of crime, down economy and natural disaster, many find it hard to believe the world is actually a wonderful place to live. >> alisyn: john stossel says we're overlooking the obvious. >> four years old when i saw my mother load the washing machine for the very first time in her life. that was a great day for my mother. even grandma was invited to see the machine. throughout her life, she had been heating water with firewood and she had hand washed laundry for seven children and she watched the entire washing program. she was mesmerized. to my grandmother, the washing machine was a miracle. >> brian: okay. we need someone to explain this. john stossel, help us look at the good and not the bad. >> this has been hit 10 million times, by the way. we take for granted things like the washing machine. women, mostly women, used to have to spend hours of the day on menial labor and now at least 2 million of the 6 billion people on earth don't have to. that frees up our brains to invent new things that keep making life better and life spans are going up. incomes are still going up despite what you hear in the media, and it's our job in the news business, we talk about the problems. if you make a mistake on this show, people write about it. if you get it right, it's nice, but not news. but it's nice at the end of the year to talk about the good stuff. >> alisyn: right. so you're here to tell us really how wonderful things are. >> i'm not saying wonderful necessarily, just better. we forget people used to die before age 40. now life spans go up every year. health care does improve despite the problems problems and people artificial knee, live longer, more comfortable lives. >> brian: we are in a rush, we go to the subway. that's brand-new. mass transportation is relatively new. we don't have to hunt for our food. we don't have to shoot squirrel and have lunch. >> we have air conditioning. we don't have to walk miles to haul water. >> brian: exactly! >> alisyn: count our blessings. john stossel, you're the host of "stossel" on "fox business" network. thank you for reminding us we have many blessings this season. >> we do. and more coming. >> alisyn: there you go. >> brian: despite modern technology, john stossel still takes his bike to work. walking in a winter wonderland with the girl scouts of nassau county. they are here to perform the holiday hit next. >> alisyn: first, let's check in with martha mccallum for what's on at the top of the hour. >> i'm a big fan of the dishwasher myself. love the dishwasher. thanks. coming up this morning, newt gingrich says it is a real mess. ed rollins tells us why what happens in iowa may surprise everybody, folks. karl rove is here with a solution to the payroll tax mess and part 2 of my sit down with governor chris christie and his wife. they talk for the first time about their marriage, the pivotal weekend they decided not seek the white house this time, and what they really think about the vp buzz, coming up at the top of the hour. bill and i will see you then le. alright, let's do it. let's do it, let's go to vegas. vegas baby! maybe we should head back to the dealership first? vegas! no, this is a test drive. vegas! [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a jetta. that's the power of german engineering. get zero first month's payment, zero down, zero security deposit and zero due at signing on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com. >> the girl scouts are more than just cookies and young salespeople. they also have an amazing chorus. >> alisyn: the girl scouts of nassau county and chorus directors are here to sing their rendition of "winter wonderland." welcome. >> steve: good morning. >> alisyn: we heard you guys practicing and everybody sounds beautiful. do you have auditions? how come everybody has a great voice? >> we do have audition, yes. all of the girls had to come and prepare a song and sing for us. >> alisyn: like "american idol." >> kind of. but we're a little bit nicer. >> brian: if they don't make it, do you just tell them to go find a sport or something else to do or do you give them another assignment? >> they're invited to come back and audition another year. for example, sometimes the younger ones need to, you know, wait for their voices to mature. >> steve: these girls are from throughout nassau county in new york, right? >> yes. >> brian: which i hear is beautiful. >> steve: that's where you live. you would know that. >> brian: i didn't know, i forgot. >> steve: so girls, before you leave, everybody needs to hit mr. kilmeade up for some cookies. >> brian: i got room in my station wagon. >> steve: what are you ladies going to be performing today? >> we're going to perform "walk not guilty a winter wonderland." >> we're going to walk off and here are the girl scouts of nassau county. this is going to put you in the christmas spirit. ♪ sleigh bells ring ♪ are you listening ♪ in the lane snow is glistening ♪ ♪ a beautiful sight ♪ we're happy tonight ♪ walking in a winter wonderland ♪ ♪ gone away is the blue bird ♪ here to stay is the new bird ♪ he sings a love song as we go along ♪ ♪ walking in a winter wonderland ♪ ♪ in the meadow we can build a snowman ♪ ♪ and pretend that he is parson brown ♪ ♪ he'll say are you married ♪ we'll say no man ♪ but you can do the job when you're in town ♪ ♪ later on we'll conspire ♪ as we dream by the fire ♪ to face unafraid the plans that we made ♪ ♪ walking in a winter wond wonderland ♪ ♪ in the meadow we can build a snowman ♪ ♪ and pretend that he's a circus clown ♪ ♪ we'll have lots of fun with mr. snowman ♪ ♪ until the other kiddies knock him down ♪ ♪ when it snows ain't it thrilling ♪ ♪ know your nose gets a killing ♪ ♪ we'll frolic and play the eskimo way ♪ ♪ walk noting in a winter wonderland ♪ ♪ walking in a winter wonderland ♪ ♪ walking in a winter wonderland ♪ >> steve: very nice! [ applause ] >> alisyn: beautiful! >> steve: we'll be right back. the right relief for nasal congestion...in a pill. ♪ ne from robitussin®. relief made simple. ne from robitussin®. everyone believes in keeping their omises once a year. but we believe in helping people take steps to keep them every single day. that's why every day we help people across the country get into their first homes. prepare for a comfortable retirement and protect the people and things that matter most. at genworth we believe every day is the right day to take a step toward tomorrow. and video chat with up to 9 of your friends with the galaxy nexus by samsung, or get the samsung stratosphere, and for a limited time, get twice the data for the same low price. verizon. >> steve: before we leave you, sarah here, how many boxes of cookies did you sell? >> about 500. >> steve: fantastic! >> brian: top seller in the troop, the whole nassau county troop. >> steve: get out your wallet, pal. >> brian: too late. >> alisyn: i wish they had some. do you have any on you? >> no. >> steve: tomorrow if you join us on this here telecast, geraldo rivera will be joining us live. plus judge jeanine pirro has something she's looking into and you won't want to miss it. >> alisyn: also log on for our after the show show. you all are going to sing

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