because this search is taking place in the adriatic sea, there are italian rescue boats involved as well. if we hear anything more on this, jon, we ll certainly pass it along. back to you. jon: let s hope they can find him. rick folbaum, thank you. patti ann: a new battleground in the war on terror, the u.s. reportedly ready to sign a deal with niger to open a new drone base in west africa. it brings u.s. forces to the border with mali where french troops have been helping battle islamist militants. al-qaeda-linked groups are making northern mali a base for terror operations, so let s look at what this might mean. we re bringing in general jack keane, former vice chief of staff for the army and a fox military analyst. thanks for joining us. glad to be here, patti ann. patti ann: this u.s. and niger signed a status of forces agreement, and that is considered the first step, but it is so far not approved by the pentagon, the white house or
previous month, and december was already a month of record sales, and for the year 2012 saw 19.5 million background checks for firearms. that is a new year le lee record. we can expect to see vice president biden s recommendations on gun concerns, that comes out tomorrow. and big concerns what gun advocates are having ahead of the announcement. bill: the u.s. is now helping france battle islamist militants in the west african country of mali. the u.s. is providing communications help and transportation for military personnel, fighting to take back full control of the country. at the 1 ao 3 at the map behind us we can show you the location from mali. this has been a topic of discussion for some time now when it comes to islamists and powers and the future government of egypt. we ve talked quite a bit about