our fox news contributors. you can find all of that at foxnews.com/debate. it will be a big night for us and the country. julie: yeah, it sure will be. the head of the faa grounded. randy babbitt stepping down as faa administrator after a weekend arrest on suspicion of drunk driving. virginia police say babbitt was spotted driving on the wrong side of the road. as faa administrator babbitt over saw drug and alcohol testing programs for air traffic controllers and the pilots. the faa number two taking over babbitt s post. bill: get ready. winter is knocking on the door. extreme weather bearing down on the east coast. it is already snowing in the south, threatening to cause travel delays for the rest of the country and it is moving toward the east. meteorologist maria molina in the fox weather center. what are you see, maria. winter weather is starting ahead in the northeast. three inches of snow has fallen across parts of the south, in tennessee and
air traffic controllers association has said he wants controllers to be able to take naps during nighttime shifts and daytime shifts. that was one union suggestion for fighting fatigue. the faa administrator babbitt and transportation secretary lahood have both said that is not going to happen. rick: peter doocy in washington, thanks. arthel: president obama taking on something near and dear to every american s wallet. skyrocketing gas prices. using his weekly radio and internet address to outline several programs aimed at helping families at the pump. top republicans say the administration s policies are doing the opposite. molly henneberg live in washington with more. the president suggests there s a lot of political posturing going on in washington over these gas prices. what does that mean? reporter: can you imagine that political posturing in washington? the president says, despite what you may hear from politicians there is no quick fix to get back to cheaper gas
jackson and broadcast for three full minutes over the frequency, over the radio. it had to be a military plane that called in and said hey, you re clogging up the radio with a movie. that s that s different. circumstance, that s ridiculous. look at our reaction. maybe it will serve a greater public good here. it s so ridiculous and the examples are so ridiculous, that s why i think administrator babbitt and the faa have done a good job digging out of a hole they inherited. they ve made some changes but i think what the wake-up call is, it is important to take a comprehensive look as they are this week going around the country, look at the controllers, how are we staffed, do we have enough, are we recruiting enough, paying them enough? one last example, in new york, radar facility, the most busiest airport air space in the world, 270 controllers that are authorized. they re down to 148 fully capable controllers right now. they can t bring on the trainees, it takes three to four
latest this past weekend in miami. they met here at this facility with a group of controllers to hear their concerns and issue a few messages. part of it was cheerleading saying that 99.9% of the time you guys are professional and do a great job, but any mistake is important, and that is something else they talked about. they said scolding in part, we have to do better. here is part of the administrator babbitt s remarks to the controller controller. just because 99.9% of us are doing it right, we have to have all of us doing it right. this is one business where one mistake is one too many. reporter: they have made changing in the scheduling and maybe more in the offing as they continue this investigation. commissioner babbitt said it would cost $2.9 million a year to institute the changes they have already talked about. they do say that they want to be fiscally responsible, but there
terminal for two months. richard engel, thank you very much for your insights. you re going bab tomorrow? i m going back very soon. thank you very much indeed. to your safety in the skies now. new rules are being instituted after another air-traffic controller fell asleep on the diop over the weekend. the sixth incident in recent weeks. controllers will be given at least nine hours off between shifts and there will be extra staffing at towers during the late night and early morning hours but the federal government is saying no for the moment to suggestions of carefully controlled naps on the job. aviation analyst michael boyd joins us from las vegas. good afternoon, mike. good afternoon. controllers are having real trouble staying awake these days. another caught sleeping on saturday in miami. do you think these rules are going to be enough to deal with the problem? i think they will, and i m the biggist critic of a lot of what the faa does, but it s clear to me what admi