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the u.s. striking three facilities in iraq used by iranian backed militants. >> carley: the act of retaliation comes after three u.s. service members were hurt in an attack on a base in northern iraq. >> griff: right now black smoke rising over gaza. the intense fighting comes after iran's president issuing a threat against israel after one of their commanders was killed in syria. david spunt is live in washington with the latest tracking all of it for us. hey, david. >> hey, griff, hey everyone, one of our service members was injured critically. president biden ordered the strikes after u.s. forces came under attack by a drone. according to national security sources, the iranian-backed militia hezbollah and other affiliated groups under the umbrella of iranian backed militants claimed credit for this christmas day attack. the president was briefed by national security team yesterday at camp david. defense secretary lloyd austin saying in part let me be clear, the president and i will not hesitate to take necessary action to defend the united states. our troops and our interest.

there is no higher priority. while we do not seek to escalate conflict in the region, we are committed and fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities. the white house says the president place no, sir higher priority than the protection of american personnel serving in harm's way. the united states will act at a time and manner of our choosing should these attacks continue attacks on our forces days after hamas targeted israel and the united states, of course, has stood with israel since october 7th. some of the attacks are more dangerous than others. iranian leader ibrahim rye easy criticized the west after he had claims israeli airstrike took out iranian commander on monday. you see the video there. he says this act is a sign of the zionist regime's frustration and weakness in the region for which it will certainly pay the

price there also news from the ground that hamas rejected and still will not commit to fair and free elections in gaza. back to you guys # hundred attacks on floops syria only a matter of time for something serious to happen. that happened yesterday. now one u.s. service members in critical condition. now the biden administration is going to face a lot of questions. why did it get to this level? 103 attacks when it was clear that it was only a matter of time for, like i said, something serious, critically injured service member or a death to take place. and what are you going to do now to stop it? >> yeah. we looked at this map earlier. you see it on the screen all over iraq. all over syria. we remember president trump standing there saying hey, i have defeated isis. this region is no longer a threat. right after that we have president biden coming, is he

taking all the troops out of afghanistan, says we have this over the horizon capability. well that capability in large part is coming from iraq and syria. puts the spotlight really right back into that region. simply because we are no longer in afghanistan. we had someone on this morning rebeccah heinrichs foreign policy expert her response saying what our admin's response should be to iran who she says is behind all of this. >> it's still just not enough there needs to be more to compel the iran regime to understand that this is not going to be word it for them. that the united states is going to defend our troops. and we're not just going to play kevin's defense. we are going to go on the offense. iran is trying to assert global power, hegemony over the middle east against our gulf partners the emiratis, saudis and of course they see israel as their primary enemy and the united states. that's what our forces are doing there in the region. and they got to stay safe. they can't just be sitting ducks, joey. they got to be permitted to go

on the counteroffensive. weave know where these people are we know where these terrorists are we must hit them hard. i think we have significant fire power in the region. it's not there just to be seen. we got to use it. >> joey: got to use it. carley, you asked an important question which is how do we get to this point? but the other question is, why didn't we stop it? getting to this point. and we have had, you know, warning issued one after the other. and i think what rebecca is really putting her finger on is we keep hearing the defense secretary talk about the fire power in the region. let's use it as a deterrent rather than just sitting as you point out a sitting duck troops are sitting there until i think we will see if this latest response, which, in fairness to the administration is more significant than what they have done up to this point. we will see whether it's a deterrent now. >> carley: apparently in this response, members of hezbollah did die and rebeccah heinrichs said that an appropriate response now would be a massive attack all at once instead of targeting weapons facilities

here and there and intermitt tent way. i can't imagine being the service member and hearing loved one critically injured after 102 warning signs, previously before the attack that injured their loved ones. >> joey: if the ground level view is this small group is attacking us or couple small groups attacks us, 30,000 feet iran is backing them. what is 60,000. what is the big global view what do these attacks mean? are they baiting news larger response. as someone who fought a 20 year war. i fought in iraq and afghanistan. i think it's my duty to stabbed here and say before we tell our government to go to war, ask why. ask what their strategy is ask what the better bigger picture is here. it's not whether or not we should defend israel. it's whether or not we should as a country and people and culture say as a commitment to israel means being at war in the middle east forever. is that really what that means? then be honest with us. >> as much as i really like to kind of go against a lot of what

lindsey graham says. i will always say he was the most honest person in congress about afghanistan and iraq. because he always said leave them there forever. >> carley: joey, do you bring a good point is iran baiting us? what is their end ghol you have to keep in mind we are a nuclear power, iran is not. although they are moving in a direction. >> joey: we are hoping. >> carley: i thought senator bill harkt he brought up good points the response from the biden administration their strategy has been all over the place. where we have these two aircraft carriers in the region. which is a significant military presence. but, at the same time, during the trump administration, they brought down iran foreign currency reserves to below $8 billion. joe biden enters office. takes the iran sanctions off and now they are rich because of these oil sales. they have over $100 billion. so, it's like on one end militarily we are doing one thing after the war in israel started. but, diplomatically and also

financially we are doing something else entirely. >> griff: that would be a good question for the next presidential debate for republicans. you bring up a good point by the way. the trigger pullers ought to have the truth first. they never do get it. multiple administrations. republicans and democrats. get me fired up on that point. at the next debate. they should ask republicans about specifically law are asking about. by the way, what happens every four years in the northeast, when it's an election year? new hampshire primary. we got a debate coming up. and just a month and a half, right? you got joe manchin, stoking rumors now. joe manchin, of course, was the most important person in washington because of the power he wielded. now he is going to step off stage and now is he stoking rumors he may run for the white house. that could really make things interesting. >> carley: yeah. that's right. he is not running for re-election. so he is ending his term as senator. and when he announced that, everybody said oh my gosh, is he going to run for president?

what would that do to joe biden's chances? could it help the republican candidate? it looks like it's going to be joe biden vs. donald trump. if manchin gets into the mix. what's going to happen? and he just announce that he had is going to be speaking hat this event in new hampshire, it's called politics and eggs. >> joey: it's a big one. >> carley: most of the time people running for president speak at this thing. is he on this listening tour to see if there is room for a third party candidate. and now he going to new hampshire. key jump into the race? >> joey: i hu hate to throw a dp blanket. i don't think is he going to jump in the race. there are facts about joe manchin. one of the most parochial senators to have existed in our lifetime. it was good for west virginia, it was good for joe manchin. and that's how he presented himself. s that's how he was age to weave between conservative and liberal policies. some of the other things the reason why he wouldn't switch from democrat to republican was because he would go from one of

the most senior senators in the democrat party to the junior republican from west virginia. so, joe manchin knows how to do things for joe manchin. i think this may be more about setting himself up after his political career or maybe even as a potential vice president choice. i don't see americans voting for joe manchin the way maybe west virginians have held their nose and a party affiliation and voted. >> griff: maybe joe manchin is taking a political opportunity. politics and eggs is a really big deal in new hampshire. it's kind of the kick-off for the political season. joe biden, president joe biden dissed new hampshire. right? he has put all his eggs. >> carley: is he not going to be on the ballot. >> griff: in south carolina. and 9 grant staters don't take kindly to being snubbed like that. islands don't and they don't. by the way, let me show you the calendar. >> carley: so much is hang so soon. >> griff: coming up in just days january 4th. crunch time in colorado. january 8th debate in iowa. closing arguments begin in

trump's civil fraud trial january 11th. january 15th. decision day iowa caucuses. january 23rd new hampshire making its choice. this is getting really interesting and it's about to take off for the first time ever running parallel to the legal issues that former president trump is facing. >> joey: january 4th is on there crunch time because ballots get printed the next day on january 5th. if you are not on the ballot when they are printed you are not on the ballot when people vote. what's the cascading effect if the colorado -- if that gets seen after january 5th? >> carley: it's all happening so fast it. feels so far away every time we talked about in 2023 we are still in that year but we're still close to 2024 which is an election year. so you have absolutely historically low approval ratings for joe biden vs. what 91 federal indictments against donald trump a wave of datsd

between now and november where all of these different things are happening. people are going to court. there is also hunter biden and then everybody is going to be voting. it's going to be a busy year, guys. buckle up. >> griff: a lot more to say about that. coming up months into restart of the student loan payments. almost 9 million borrowers haven't started paying the bill. how is this negatively impacting our economy? we will ask danry cotto. >> carley: governor of colorado roasted over this christmas greeting. the feliz navidad fiasco still ahead. ♪ feliz navidad ♪ feliz navidad ♪ feliz navidad ♪ p government mandates

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>> carley: the fbi is investigating threats to the colorado supreme court justices who ruled that former president donald trump was disqualified from the state's ballot in 2024. according to reports. some of those justices have received death threats. the fbi saying, quote: we will vigorously pursue investigations of any threat or use of violence committed by someone who uses extremist views to justify their actions regardless of motivation. and the royals reuniting for

christmas. king charles and queen camilla leading the family on a walk from house to saint mary magdalene church. it's part of a longstanding tradition part of a family outing. prince william and princess of wales indicate middleton weren't far behind and king's brother. prince andrew and ex-wife sarah ferguson were seen walking toward the church. she has not appeared at the church services since 1991. and florida deputy saving christmas for a family after a car crash. authorities say the mother hit a pole. her car filled with presents and ended up in a ditch filled with about 3 feet of water. expected to be okay. the deputies both sprang to action. forming a human chain to recover the christmas gifts. and those are your headlines. griff, over to you. >> griff: first responders, we count on them so much. thanks, carley. >> carley: you have are welcome.

>> griff: pause on payments. 9 million haven't paid back a cent since payments resumed in october. president biden already forgiving 132 billion with a b, billion dollars of debt for anotherly 4 million and still pushing for more. despite a supreme court ruling that the borrowers are on the took. personal finance expert dan roccato joins us now. i hope you had a great christmas. now here we are back to the news turns out # million folks don't want to pay the loan. explain why is this happening and why does it matter? >> hi, griff, happy christmas to you. it matters because essentially what has happened is after the three and a half year pause, the borrowers were faced with an october deadline to start paying again. as you reported, many of them are choosing not to do that. and i think to your point, there is some confusion out there. the administration hasn't done a really good job, i think, about communicating, number one, that the payment pause is over what

is the consequence if you don't pay. we have had this sort of well for the first year on ramp where you don't necessarily have to pay. you it won't hurt your credit rating but the interest continues to accrue. so i think a lot of borrowers are frankly confused and another group of borrows saying i am hoping this goes away and payment book in my sock drawer and hope it goes away. >> griff: to your point about hoping and kind of not knowing, do you believe that this administration is creating a sort of ambiguous false hope of sorts, trying to say one thing when reality is hitting them a different way? >> yeah. there is no question. hope is not a good strategy when it comes to your student loans. i don't counsel anyone hope comes out of washington, d.c. that going it wipe away their loans. we saw what happened to that notion in january. now, while there may be further relief programs in the future for certain bor borrowers, grea.

the reality for most borrowers at this point in time looks like you are on the hook for the contract, yes, the contract you signed to pay back your loans. >> griff: you know, dan, i have found in life that unfulfilled expectations is a great source of grievance for many people. and so now these students, do you think that an expectation is being built for a great number of students? >> yeah. i think that's probably fair, griff. in fairness to the students, there is a lot of confusion around this topic. many of them are now looking back on their years in school, if they finished that degree with some regret. wondering whether or not there was true value there. and that is really, i think, where we should have been spending our time and effort over the last few years, griff. you heard me say this before. we missed an opportunity to have a real discussion about how we pay for college. the value of college, which is important. and our broken system today.

rather than focus on forgiveness, we should have been focused on reform. >> griff: good point there now, let me broaden it just a little bit, dan. inflation, everybody felt inflation at the malls and christmas shopping because things cost more and at the grocery store. the administration says but the numbers are going down, the economy is in great shape. people didn't feel that this christmas. will this specifically, this 132 billion debt, will that impact inflation or does that really effect us in our every day life? >> it does. but in a very small way. at least this time around. the reality is whatever washington, d.c. or state government throws money into the system, you know, pours money into the system, well, of course, that's going to work adversely to what the fed is trying to do to bring inflation down. there is no question about that. the numbers here are pretty small. it's probably about $50 billion a year that the government is still subsidizing with respect to students or former students

not making their payments. so the numbers are fairly small no. question it kind of works counter to what the fed is trying to do with really winning this battle against inflation. >> griff: dan, it is your lucky day. we have run out of time i'm not going to make you pick up that gershwin guitar you put in that live shot. next frie time, my friend you we playing tunes. >> there goes our ratings. thanks, griff. >> griff: a fox weather alert, a blizzard impacts holiday travel for millions of americans across the central u.s. a live report on what you need to know before you head to the airport. but, first, pro-palestinian protesters, did you see this? not spreading the christmas tree yesterday clashing with the nypd forcing them to reportedly move to a level 3 alert. what are the highest? more of the unbelievable scenes on the new york city streets coming up. ♪

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♪ >> joe: anti-israeli protesters turning violent wreaking havoc in new york city. clashing with the n ld who reportedly moved to a level 3 threat alert. second highest from the department. emily austin is a journalist and pro-israel activist. she joins us now. emily thanks for coming in this morning. >> thanks for having me. >> doing research on not only topic but to you. very personal to you. israeli citizen. you have a career in sports broadcasting but what happened on october 7th brought this to the forefront of what you are reporting on now. i saw that you interviewed folks that were released from hamas and the families of those before they were released and you went to israel and you saw this

firsthand. obviously it's personal. when you see protests like this out on the street what do you make of it. think these people are hateful or ignorant or evil? >> i of course think they are hateful. i don't know if the world remembers october 7th before israel even had a chance to retaliate. so as far as the world knows israel was slaughtered in their own home. october 8th they were marching on the streets chanting intifada. the world thinks this is some freedom movement but they don't understand it's like a mask to just cover jew hatred and justify violence against jewish people. >> joey: what do you think the attraction is to young americans who maybe aren't that political but jumping on to this. we see the street interviews all the time go up to cleaning kids and ask them about this. and they get the facts wrong. they think and believe that israel is oppressive over the -- over talking points that are actually what hamas does to

palestinians. why is it that young americans are so easily influenced to be anti-israel or even pro-hamas? >> quite frankly it's attention-seeking. there is no rational explanation behind it. most college students and most gen zers have no idea what is happening in the middle east. however, if they build this common denominator of victimhood and all gather and unite they feel empowered. they feel empowered by grasping this victim mentality and go and march the street. today against israel. tomorrow it's black lives matter. the next day another movement that doesn't go incite riots in the street. this is how they seek attention. maybe they lacked attention growing up and this is how they compensate. >> joey: hard to believe in the age of social media lacking of attention. one thing to see showing up at defense secretary austin's home. showing up in the streets in the middle of christmas here in new york city to just try and disrupts and now become violent for people's christmas celebrations but, if you are an israeli american citizen or you are jewish and in this country,

do you feel safe at all? >> it's tough. it's definitely not easy to walk the streets without having eyes behind your head. this delinquency will go on as long as authorities tolerate it. the police amping up. go ahead and amp up. it's going to continue as long as it's tolerated. we need to put the nail in the coffin. people feel too comfortable inciting violence on the streets of new york without facing heavy consequences and that's why it's going to continue. >> joey: the fear is when we have something like christmas or a new year's eve celebration coming up in the city, what is the police doing to make sure something like this doesn't happen for those that could be targeted which i believe are any of us that aren't celebrating terrorists. let's hope that the police and our government are at least doing something. >> i hope so. i hope this is a lesson for all the defund the policers out there that it's not going to work that way. >> emily austin, thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> joey: griff over to you. >> griff: turning to headlines. scientists have a new theory on

what caused the maui wildfire that killed 100 people. according to experts high wind paired with downward facing slopes caused the flames to tear through lieu line that. fueled by hurricane posting this video of him singing feliz navidad ♪ feliz navidad ♪ feliz navidad fee lease. >> joey: can't unseep that. he shared the performance on x spanish account. some called it cringe worthy. and, in florida, a woman's practical joke on a delivery driver is going viral.

ginger bread springs to life and startles the driver as he walks back to his truck. the woman who wore the costume and posted the video says she just wanted to play a fun prank and the driver says the joke made his day. scary ginger bread man and those your headlines. carley? actually hold on turning to a fox weather alert. a live look at denver as heavy snow is limiting visibility. blizzard warnings in effect across the u.s. storm is expected to cause travel delays for millions of holiday travelers. and nebraska state police sharing these photos of 18 wheelers that slid off the road, partially blocking interstate 80. meteorologist adam klotz is here now with the fox weather forecast. hey, adam. i promise i didn't mean to almost forget you. >> adam: no worries about that.

you know what? those weather stories you are talking about actually really big. we are talking about a massive winter storm system currently spinning in the middle of the country that has cause for polizzi warnings dive into it and show you who is most affected this morning. talking about areas in nebraska and south dakota. the spot where the weather is at its worst here this morning. denver still seeing some of that as well. temperatures down in the 20's. blizzard warning in place across the dakotas. >> that's nebraska also included in it. this is going to be here for a little while. wind gust up to 40, 50, even 60 miles per hour. so drifting snow is also a major concern with this system. certainly be safe if you are trying to travel today. i will leave you with your travel forecast and that is the airport delays. mostly, wherever the weather systems are. that's where we are seeing some delays on this day after christmas. those are the headlines and weather. for now, i will be tossing it back inside to all three of you. >> carley: thank you, adam.

>> joey: i didn't forget but adam. >> carley: neither did griff. >> griff: talking to adam right before that hit. what is wrong with me? maybe because it's boxing day in the u.k. halls no connection whatsoever. >> carley: what is the history of boxing day real quick? >> griff: boxing day is a big deal in the u.k. and caribbean, jamaica. huge holiday. booking day was started because the lords and lady the royalty had christmas so all the servants had to work, right? and serve them. and so after the day after christmas. that was their time to celebrate and open their boxes. >> joey: we got on ships and sailed to a country to have our own christmas day is what you are saying? >> carley: exactly. >> griff: exactly. translation. >> carley: that's cool. a lot of football games yesterday on christmas day. do you want to talk about it? >> griff: i watched one. >> carley: which one? >> griff: kansas city chiefs because taylor swift. she arrived with santa claus. >> carley: what do you mean?

>> griff: nfl posted on instagram taylor arriving to the game with santa claus probably because taylor is maybe bigger than santa claus. i don't know it's. >> carley: santa claus to the left of the screen that she arrived with? >> griff: i'm not sure. could be another santa claus wanted to get close. >> griff: each of their hype is predicated on made-up stuff. they think taylor swift has all this talent. >> griff: wow, woe. >> carley: absolutely chaos. >> griff: flag on the play. >> joey: i'm kidding. >> griff: she has done more for the economy and the g.d.p. than the president of the united states has this year. >> bunch of 20 somethings to max out their credit cards for tickets helping the economy or hurting it. >> griff: father's credit cards. >> joey: need economist to see if it was helpful or hurt? >> griff: they have really slid. patrick mahomes who is a super star quarterback and led the

chiefs to multiple super bowl wins is thought playing so well now. >> carley: who did they play yesterday? >> griff: the raiders. >> carley: chiefs are supposed to win? >> griff: lost 35 bucks. they were a big favorite to win. some people, these are sports fans i'm speaking of that wonder is taylor swift becoming this distraction because she is dating travis kelce. tony romo. made the mistake in the broadcast booth yesterday saying well, travis' wife is in the booth. >> i know he did it like weeks ago. >> carley: tony romo gets everything wife. he keeps calling her his wife. >> joey: got to get rid of the distraction. >> griff: yank of a good example now there are girlfriends of football players in the past. and they blame it on the poor girlfriend. i was worried i'm getting stuck in this uncomfortable place between a rock and a hard place

where i want taylor to not be the problem because i like taylor but is she a distraction? >> carley: she is not the problem. >> griff: adam klotz had the perfect solution. you know what, griff? you are thinking about it wrong. taylor swift is bigger than the entire kansas city chiefs organization. >> joey: that's the real question is the chiefs doing bad is that going to hurt taylor's ability to do her job and perform well and write songs about the guy she used to date and things like that. >> carley: to adam's point it would be interesting to see how much revenue taylor swift brought into kansas city if she ever went there for one of her concerts vs. how much a kansas city chief's game brings in. to see who is the bigger celebrity. the whole team or taylor swift? >> griff: i can tell you i think it's going to be she brings it. she did it with her tour. all the money and tourism. yo joey you want an outstanding tight end, pro bowl, super bowl worthy that doesn't come with all these distractions there is a guy named brock bowers from the georgia bulldogs.

>> carley: i like that name. >> joey: going to be the guy. all the positives and none of the girlfriends. >> griff: agree with you there. >> carley: swift impact and beyonce. she does that too. >> griff: whatever mahomes has he can't shake it off. >> carley: totally separate topic entirely about education in america. >> griff: coming up, congressman cory mills joins us on the committees late tensions in the middle east. ♪

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♪ >> griff: a fox news alert. the u.s. striking iran-backed militants in iraq after three of our service members are hurt. one critically and another attack on american bases. that's more than 100 attacks since october 17th. g.o.p. congressman and iraq war veteran cory mills sits on the house armed services and foreign affairs committee. he joins us now. congressman, what do you make of this response? was it enough and what do you make of the fact that we can't seem to stop them from these attacks? >> well, thanks for having me. look, it's not enough. i can tell you with 100 plus attacks that's gone on, we are now seeing where the intense attacks are starting to happen in the north which was known as

a relatively safer area in the kurdish region when you think about erbil and places like dahook and sacco. interlinking what is going on in israel. geopolitical perspective. hamas iran backed minute who has continued to move forward doing genocide and barbaric attacks on people of israel. now you have got where the iran backed houthis are starting to take attacks on the shipping lanes and also looking at maritime and commerce distractions. then you fast-forward into iraq again and iranian backed militia, which hezbollah is backed by hassan nasrallah, the head of all of hezbollah and lebanon who are now trying to launch out against the west. these are continue yaptions of terroristic behaviors by the iranians. and we have to understand that that geopolitical alignment of china, russia, iran, and north korea need to be a broader topic for us to be discussing, not looking at attacks as singular

areas. al amman do youy, obviously not impacted by this who actually resulted in a real impact. that was the same thing as the counter-terrorism attack by trump when he took out kasem soleimani. this type of attack where you are getting one off, two off non-militia leaders isn't going to do much when you talk about 103 attacks already occurred on american bases. >> joey: congressman, you understand what serving in war is you understand what this 20-some year odd war we tried to end and did so terribly looked like, i remember, you know, on 9/11, some guys from mountains in afghanistan that were actually saudis took down some buildings here in our country, killed thousands of us, next thing you know, 18, 24 months later we are at war in iraq to take out saddam hussein. and a lot of americans are were left trying to put the pieces together to try to understand how that wanted ha. 20 years later we are trying to hand how that happened. on october 7th.

israel was attacked by hamas within their own borders in gaza and now we have over 100 attacks on american troops in iraq and syria. how do we not get into a similar situation where americans sitting here a year and a half from now and go why are we at war with these people and this place now? how does congress? how does the administration explain to the american people the way this is cascading and the way they are going to prevent it? >> well, joey, that's a great question. one of the things that myself and only about 20-plus of us had voted for in congress was to eliminate the amufs, authorization of use of military force. they are abdication of article 1, section 8 clause 11 of our war power authorities. this has been a cart blanche warfare by republican and democrat presidents in the white house that bypassed this congress. the reality is you are right, joey. we went in to afghanistan, after the 9/11 attacks to eliminate afghanistan from being a safe haven of terror. fast-forward to the biden administration, 20-plus years later, thousands of lives, trillions of dollars, and we

actually created a bigger safe haven for terrorism for taliban and all the rest. we are doing the same in iraq. george w. bush ne-yo conservative world police kind of mentality or ideology does not work. it drains down our treasures and cost american lives with no real understanding of u.s. national security interest. what our actual overarching goal is bush and everyone else wanted to do this nation building approach. that's not what america is for nation building eliminating bad guys and get everyone home. my opinion until we understand the mission and what the strategy is, we shouldn't be in iraq and syria to begin with. let's bring our troops home and start thinking about how do we build up a robust defense here at home when we have open borders that are actually allowing an invasion and actually i think we are going to see further attacks here in the u.s. as a result of the millions of undocumented individuals coming in from our southern border. so, let's prioritize the real priorities here, which is our southern border and american lives. not trying to protect the borders of other nations or get us into interventionist warfare

that we don't have a real solution for how we actually see success. >> carley: congressman, let's talk about the economy. according to the latest fox news poll, only 1% of americans think that president biden's policies have helped them in terms of their economic position. president biden was just asked abou what he said. he actually blamed the media. watch this. >> about the economy, sir, what's your outlook on -- >> -- all good. take a look. go report it the right way. >> carley: so he says the economy saul good. is all good's it the reporting that's the issue what do you think about that. >> every single american as we went out this holiday season and we went out for christmas and bought our turkey and baked hams and things like that. we know the economy ♪ better. we know that the price of gas is still extremely high when you think about what it was in the previous administration. they are drowning right now with 39% approval rating and overall job. they see exactly what is happening. and every average american knows when they stick their hand in

their pocket under the biden administration or bidenomics, you have far less than what you had during the trump administration. >> griff: thank you, congressman. making a lot of sense day after christmas. have a good holiday. thank you for getting on and being on with us. merry christmas. >> thank you, merry christmas. >> joey: up to a reported 15,000 migrants are trekking through mexico headed right for our southern border. you just heard the congressman talk about it. what top biden officials plan to say to mexico's president to curb the flow. >> carley: plus, brand new research shows charter school students significantly outperformed public school peers. expert joins us on why coming up next. ♪

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>> carley: new reports revealing that new york city charter school students are significantly outscoring their public school peers on standardized tests. according to the analysis, charter school students scored 7% higher on state english exams and whopping 13% higher on the state math exams. here to react is american federation for children senior fellow, cory deangeles. >> thanks for having me. >> carley: you say charter schools are doing more with less. what do you mean by that? >> it's not money that explains the difference. government schools in new york city spend $36,000 per student, charter schools 20% less than that each student, so doing more with less money, and black students in particular, the charter schools are blowing their government school opponents out of the water, beating their government school

funds by 20 to 30%, whether it's reading or math exams, they have to cater to the needs of the customers. underperforming charter schools shut down. underperforming government schools get more money year afterover, only accountable to the union, the charter schools are accountable to families and children. >> carley: how do you think the teacher unions are going to respond to the new study? they don't want the parents to know about this. >> they will act it's not real, divert attention to something else, say they need more money like they do over and over again and continue to try to restrict their competition as much as possible. they did this already with the enrollment cap on charter school students in new york city which has over 30 or 40,000 students on wait lists in new york city trying to get into better opportunities for their kids' education, and you have this funding differential which makes no sense. why should a child be punished because the government school does not work for them.

you should receive the same amount of money whether you go to a public government-run school or charter school or even a private school, families should have that option, too. >> carley: the allegation that teachers' union give so much to the democratic-run party, they don't want to speak out against the unions, because the money would go away, but who is the victim, it's the students. >> it's a never-evening money laundering scheme, to the teachers' unions, and then the democratic party, and the teacher school, and wash, rinse, repeat, all about power dynamics, nothing with logic or right for the kids, test scores are great but only measures what's on the test, math and reading, what families also care about is safety and the culture of the school and having a specialized mission, so parents are choosing these schools for a lot of reasons. this is just one part of the

story and parents are voting with their feet to charter schools in record numbers. since 2019, charter school enrollment is up, and government-run are down. best metrics of success, letting families choose what's best for their own kids, kids don't belong to the government, the parents should make that decision. >> carley: cory deangeles, thank you for joining us this morning. the third hour of "fox & friends" starts right now. >> griff: u.s. striking three facilities in iraq used by iranian-backed militants, three u.s. service members were hurt in an attack on a base in northern iraq. >> joey: fighting is raging along the israel and gaza border. half hour ago "iron