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 dome"

intercepting multiple rockets, comes after iran's president issuing a threat against israel after one of their commanders was killed in syria. trey yingst is live in tel aviv with the latest. trey. >> trey: good morning. overnight, according to u.s. central command, three strikes destroyed the targeted facilities and likely killed a number of kataib hezbollah militants. attacks in response to a drone strike against the irbil air base, three americans were injured, one critically, total number of attacks in the middle east to 103 since mid october. lloyd austin released a statement after the response saying let me be clear, the president and i will not

hesitate to take action to protect the troops and we do not seek to escalate conflict, we are further prepared to take necessary measures to protect our people and facilities. after israeli forces were on high alert following an airstrike in syria that killed sayyed mousavi, the iranian president said it's an act of the zionist frustration and weakness in the region for which it will certainly pay the price. the possibility of a broader conflict with iran comes as a top adviser to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is in the united states today, he will reportedly meet with the biden administration to discuss the next steps for the war inside gaza. guys, back to you. >> griff: trey, what is the situation, how intense is the fighting becoming now in southern gaza right now. we saw a plume of black smoke earlier today. is it sort of where it's been the past few weeks or is there

an escalation? >> trey: the fighting has intensified in southern gaza, specifically around khan younis, according to sources inside the trip, it's not just the hamas cells but also small factions. the israelis have lost 19 soldiers in the last couple days, and some images released by hamas jihad and they are fighting street by street, block by block, extremely bloody and intense battle and the israelis are not letting up. benjamin netanyahu said the coming days will see an increase in fighting as the israelis look to go after hamas leadership in the southern part of gaza. >> joey: i spent a lot of time on the network, the weeks leading into this offensive before they went into gaza and

tried to guess what the tactics would look like, what the urban warfare might look like for the israelis. didn't see it in the north as much. seems like the south we are seeing it. are you starting to see the israeli defense force adapt to the techniques and tactics that hamas is using, are there any major prices or pretty much prepared for what's getting thrown at them? >> trey: we have been inside gaza with the israelis a number of times since the ground operation began and you see the threats up close. the soldiers are incredibly concerned about being hit by things like anti-tank guided missiles, but specifically rpgs, many made inside gaza so popping out of tunnels and firing on israeli forces. in the south they did not face as much in the north is roadside bombs. hamas released a video over the weekend of them planting and detonating a roadside bomb next to a jeep of israeli soldiers, and a number of casualties took place. so israel is facing not just the

threats on the ground, there are sniper positions, and using all the different mechanisms and aspects of the battle to strike israeli forces in the strip. why the casualty rate is high over the weekend. >> carley: can you talk about the significance of taking , apparently he was close to soleimani, coordinating the alliance between iran and syria, and now iran and irgc are saying israel will pay the price for killing him. tell the significance who he is, why israel decided to take him out and could this mean the wa are is going to widen as a result? >> trey: what we saw this weekend with the targeted assassination of sayyed mousavi is a significant escalation in

the conflict. we should not be quiet about this, we have not yet seen this since the conflict began with the october 7th massacre 81 days ago. likely an israeli strike. they are not on the record for taking responsibility of it. just south of damascus, the strike, and mousavi is a man who was close to the irgc leader soleimani, taken out in a drone strike in 2020 in baghdad. but this man was responsible for the funding and support for iranian proxies across the middle east, focusing on syria but also getting precision-guided missiles and other supplies into southern lebanon to be used by lebanese militant group hezbollah. so this is a signal by israel they are willing to go after iranian leadership across the middle east and part of the reason you have seen such the iranian response, they say the

zionist regime will pay a price, and the foreign minister saying tel aviv should count down, these are direct threats. it's part of the reason israeli forces in the north remain on high alert, they are concerned there would be a direct response, and iranian-backed group hezbollah has things like precision guided missiles that could target this city. it's not just the border they have to be concerned about. >> carley: going on in israel, gaza, all encompassing. trey, thank you so much. >> griff: stay safe. >> carley: yesterday christmas, and new york city, marked by serious clashes between pro-palestinian protestors and the nypd. have you seen this video? look at what happened in midtown manhattan yesterday, and

apparently, guys, the nypd moved to a level 3 police mobilization, that is the second highest level that the nypd has. it got violent. >> griff: you have in this country the right to spend christmas however you like. and if you want to get your first amendment on, go do it. even if you want to go out there, maybe not fully understanding. i'm convinced a lot of the protestors don't fully understand from the river to the sea. but to go out there and unleash violence against the nypd, men and women in blue who are protecting the city on the day that most families are at home opening prints, so let's not forget they were working christmas to begin with, then attacked by these mobs that are demanning a ceasefire, calling for an end to violence in gaza while unleashing violence on our streets of new york, it's kind of embarrassing to their

movement. >> joey: maybe you are convinced a lot of them don't understand, i don't know if they don't understand or don't care, maybe they are not fully enveloped in it, fully understand what from the river to the sea really means or what it's actually calling for, but do they care that on october 7th people were massacred, do they care that they are truly uninformed about what is happening around the world? we interviewed emily austin, a pro israeli activist and journalist and this is what she had to say about these people protesting. >> 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. most college students and gen zers have no idea what's happening in the middle east. if they build the common denominator of victimhood and gather and unite, they fell

empowered, by grasping the victim mentality, today it's israel, tomorrow black lives matter, the next day another movement. >> joey: she said victimhood, what it is, a form of indoctrination organization and thought here, decolonizing, anti-colonist idealism that anywhere in the world that there is a group of people that maybe weren't there a few hundred years ago, even if they were there 1,000 years ago, they are looked at as colonists, and this villianous label attached to america to most of europe, to israel, and is it current with modern day politics, current with what's happening in the world today, it's a way to envelope those that call themselves oppressed in any manner and come out and get hateful like this, and they hate our country, they hate israel, hate anything that stands for freedom and prosperity in the modern day. >> carley: a lot of these protestors say that israel, they

are white colonizers and the themes you see pop up on college campuses that trickle down into what's happening on the streets and cities across the country and it's by design. hamas has had -- a "wall street journal" report about a meeting they had decades ago how to infiltrate college campuses, if you can believe it, and after the october 7th attack there were members of hamas, media members of hamas saying what's happening to palestinians is the same as george floyd. they know what they are doing, they know what to say, and these people are taking the bait. it wasn't just new york, by the way. palestinian protestors were also in washington, d.c., apparently they protested outside lloyd austin's home and said austin, austin, rise and shine, no sleep during genocide. >> griff: we had pro-palestinian mobs in dc and new york, in southern mexico, a caravan is coming, this one reported up to

15,000, video of it, it comes as you've got blinken, secretary of state antony blinken and mayorkas going down to mexico city to meet with the president of mexico tomorrow to discuss how to get it under control. and by the way, in this caravan we showed a second ago, the guy is holding a mexican flag. you are already in mexico, buddy, you don't need to carry that and march to the u.s. but the activist organizing the caravans in 2018 and 2019, marched in the very streets where you are seeing the migrants there, that's the southernmost city where they start, the activist realizes that this administration has had such a welcoming, open door policy, guaranteeing a majority of migrants will be released into the u.s. giving the migrants their intended goal, which isn't by and large to

escape from credible fear reasons, but to get a job for economic -- there is the mexican flag guy. you are already there, you don't need to bring it across the u.s. southern border. but what you are going to see, i think, is a lot of word salad statements from blinken and mayorkas how mexico is cooperating but the border patrol officials will tell you mexico's resources for their i and m, mexican immigration, they are broke, out of money, and mexico has traditionally as these numbers have increased over the past two and a half years, become a transit country, they know the migrants don't want to go to mexico city, they don't want to live across from eagle pass, they want to come to the u.s. so mexico moves them along, keep moving along. it's a drain on our economy, we now know three out of five illegal alien households are on

welfare, mexico doesn't want that,s they are a more fragile economy. president trump took economic measures, harsh ones against mexico and that changed obrador then, this administration has not shown anything they are going to do something now. >> carley: you spoke to julio, he's been covering the border for years, what he had to say about the current situation. >> just the worst i've ever seen it and it's not even just eagle pass, it's multiple places along the border are seeing this and this caravan that's coming, that's just the norm now. it was big headline news when there was the caravan under the trump administration and that was 1 or 2 times. and now we are seeing caravans on a pretty consistent basis. national security risk, putting the general population at risk, and it's just -- it's not racist to say that, it's not because we are scared of foreigners, no. when you have people who we have no idea who are coming across, they could be anybody and it's

just -- it's just a very big problem. >> carley: reasonable argument there and i think the meeting between blinken, mayorkas and the president of mexico is interesting timing that it's happening during the week between christmas and new year's, but also happening, they don't want to get too many headlines out of this, but also happening because you hear democrat politicians at a local, state and federal level all saying something needs to change. so this argument has gone from one that was partisan only republicans speaking out against it to now bipartisan because democrats are as well. the other thing i want to point out quickly, this guy that's organizing this caravan, they are in southern mexico right now and he said something interesting. i believe it's the same guy who spoke to the bbc, said the problem with the southern border with guatemala is open and 800 to 1,000 people are crossing it daily. if we don't get out of this city, the town will collapse, so even though he's leading the

group of illegal immigrants, he's acknowledging they, because the numbers are so large, is a huge problem for this community and also pointing out the southern border of mexico between mexico and guatemala is wide open. so, maybe that's an area where mayorkas and blinken can say how about you close that border? >> joey: trump had the remain in mexico policy. the policies of this administration beyond the border is what is attracting them. i come from a border town, dalton, georgia, predominantly mexican, i went to school with them, they are my people. they see this and don't recognize this as what their grandparents and parents were a part of. this is different. it's not the ethnicity or race or culture, it's why they are coming and what they do when they get here and the federal government is responsible for that. >> carley: fox news alert, a

mass explosion in russian occupied crimea. according to ukrainian officials, explosion was a successful strike on a russian warship. the kremlin confirms the ship did suffer damage and vladimir putin has been briefed. the attack could hinder an attempt to cease more ukrainian territory along the coast. and kansas city suburb, approved a students' request to form a satan club. they say it met the criteria to establish a student-initiated club and now recognized as the student-initiated club at olathe northwest high school. another student who started a petition, received over 7,000 signatures. and new york city is no longer the best city in america to ring

in the new year, interesting, tell me more, ok, i will. orlando first place beating out big cities like san diego, los angeles and atlanta. a lot of people say they are not into the idea of times square because it's expensive and overcrowded, and nowhere to go to the bathroom. oh, but we had our fair share of fun in time square. griff even made crowd surfing a thing. look at you with your glasses and your pants and i did it on new year's eve in 2018. maybe again this year, you never know. that was 2018. >> joey: you did it better. >> carley: griff and i did the count down show on fox news and he crowd surfed in 2007, and he's like you should do it. and you only live once, why not. >> griff: she did it like a champ. this is how you professionally do it. >> joey: if i did it, it would be cool, i could go one direction, my legs another, parts of joey all over the

crowd, i'm lighter weight that way. the list, you don't have to pull it up but the cities the top five, atlanta is the first place to do new year's, as a guy who has to fly into atlanta on january 1st, don't go there, it's a terrible place, don't do new year's there. >> carley: did you make atlanta all about you? i think you did. >> joey: from co-workers to connected for life. remarkable story of how a work friend saved a banker's life. that duo here life. >> griff: the president who grew up watching colored tv. waves in the democratic party. >> carley: china is reported by stealing a.i. secrets for spying. frightening secrets coming up next. ♪ we will pop champagne and

raise a toast ♪ ♪ to all the queens fighting alone ♪ ♪ you are not dancing on your own ♪ ping and cookies and trees. but we know christmas isn't about something you buy at a store. it's about something so much greater. it is the day we celebrate the incredible truth that god so loved the world that he gave his only son. it's not about presents. it's about jesus. join me this advent in praying every day on hallow. cut through the noise and find god's peace.

>> banl has long -- beijing has long targeted a.i., a field where the u.s. and silicon

valley lead the world and now working to use a.i. to improve their massive hacking operations using our own technology against us. it is outrageous. >> joey: as we head into the new year, united states intelligence officials are doubling down on their warning about china using a.i. to ramp up spying efforts against america. our next guest has been sounding the alarm on this issue, gordon chang joins us now. thank you for joining us, happy holidays. it's kind of simple, the freedom in america and business is working against us now. is that what this comes down to? >> well, certainly, joey. because we allow china to buy our tech companies, including companies with artificial intelligence technology. and you know, and we have these technical cooperation agreements with china so we are making it easy and really what we need to do is to not allow china to own

these companies and end all these tech cooperation agreements and impose costs on china for stealing our technology. it's simple, we know what to do. the business community is preventing the political process from doing what's absolutely necessary. >> joey: it's a big issue, we have to wrap this up, apologize for cutting it short. but it's tough, tough for freedom and also have security but that's what the country should be able to figure out. gordon chang, thank you for joining us. coming up, president biden hag this to say about bidenomics. >> about the economy, sir, what's your outlook on the economy next year. >> all good. take a look. start reporting it the right way. >> joey: yeah, polls show only 14% of americans feel helped by the policies but the blame game goes around. plus a mission to help families of our nation's heroes this holiday season. how the sister of a fallen iraq

veteran is inspiring young people to say if not me, then who. what can i do to make a better cotton crop? we believe that the best products are made in america and come fresh from the family farm. and produced under the most sustainable farming techniques. from our sheets to our blankets and quilts this is a product that can be passed on. it could be a family heirloom. go to red land cotton dot com and receive 20% off your order with code fox 20. i suffer with psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis. i was on a journey for a really long time to find some relief. cosentyx works for me. cosentyx helps real people get real relief from the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis or psoriasis. serious allergic reactions, severe skin reactions that look like eczema, and an increased risk of infections, some fatal, have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to or if ibd symptoms develop or worsen. i move so much better because of cosentyx.

ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx.

hey, doc, if you had to choose, would you give yourself a root canal or run payroll? oh, run payroll. paying my team with gusto takes just a few clicks. they automatically file my taxes for me too. can i run payroll too? choose payroll without the pain.

>> carley: back with headlines. detained marine veteran paul whelan sending a christmas message to president biden after his fifth christmas behind bars in russia. he writes in part, mr. president, you promised to bring me home. i feel alone, feel i've been left behind. the u.s. insists he is wrongfully detained, serving a 16-year sentence, and wall street reporter evan was behind

bars also. and there were swatting calls on christmas, someone falsely reports a crime to draw law enforcement to a certain location. green responding on social media saying after today i have been swatted eight times but the fbi can't seem to figure out who is responsible for the swatting and says the law does not allow them to track them down. to a fox weather alert right now, there are blizzard warnings in effect across the central u.s. and the storm is expected to cause travel delays for millions of holiday travelers and in nebraska, state police sharing photos of 18 wheelers that slid off the road, partially blocking interstate 80. adam is here with the fox weather forecast. a lot going on across the country. >> yeah, carley, really is. a true white christmas for folks in the middle flt country thanks to the blizzard moving on through, if you live in the eastern half the country things are relatively mild.

this is the area, and that's the northern plains you are talking about, nebraska into the dakotas, winter storm warnings everywhere and the orange one is a blizzard warning, that means white-out type conditions and the wind is intense. some of the breezes are gusting from 40 to 60 miles an hour, 70 miles an hour in rapid city. insane winds and that's obviously going to be taking down power lines, perhaps, and really just kind of a nasty situation for those folks. as that system moves april cross the country, if you are flying today, these are some spots to pay attention to, from denver, towards kansas city, all of these areas as this system moves on through the country. those are going to be the spots that maybe slow down over the next couple of days, if you are travelling over the holiday weekend. i will leave you with today's forecast, some rainy weather moving into the east coast as well. those are your weather headlines here on fox square. for now, tossing it back to you, griff. >> griff: all right, adam, thank

you very much. as we celebrate this holiday season, important to salute those who protect and defend america and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice like first lieutenant travis manion, killed while protecting his marines brothers in 2007 in falujah. his sister and ryan join us announcement ryan, hope you had a great christmas. my best to you and your family. >> thanks for having me today. >> griff: i have participated with ryan in the travis manion foundation, running the marine corps marathon, because the foundation was started there, quick short story, travis was going to run the marathon in washington, he did not make it home, ryan and many members of

her family, his father and others ran the marathon in his honor, and out of that grew the foundation, these many years later, i can show you the impact you have had. you have empowered more than 78,000 veterans and survivors, 200,000 plus spartan members have since become a part of this organization you started in your kitchen and there have been more than 550,000, half a million youth impacted by organization. talk to me about this journey you've been on and reflect on the year that you've had. >> thanks, griff. you know, you are a great spokesperson for our organization but you know, what we do is pretty simple. when veterans are taking off their uniform, leaving active duty, we provide them with community, connection, and additional sense of purpose. and so that's what we provide to our military community, to families of the fallen like myself, i can say when my brother was killed i was

searching for what came next. how could i live a life worthy of his sacrifice while also serving others. and so that's what we do. we make sure we are getting out into communities, we are working with kids, you can see half a million children across the country have been mentored by our veteran mentors, and so for us it's a simple method of just making sure that we are providing that purpose to our men and women after they serve in the military and saying hey, we still need you to serve and these are the ways that you can do it. >> griff: travis's motto, if not me then who, but as a survivor, a gold star sister, ryan, for family members that may have gone through a very difficult day yesterday not seeing a lot of hope on their horizon, what do you say to them? >> you know, i remember the first christmas after my brother was killed. all i wanted to do was curl up in a ball and the sense of

isolation was crippling. and so i think we have to make sure that we are reaching out to those that are feeling that way, making sure that they know that there are places, there are communities that they can be a part of. the travis manion foundation is just one, right, but we are the community that you can turn to. today, because of the travis manion foundation, because of the thousands of members of our spartan community, i feel no matter how lonely, how isolated i may feel, i know that i have people that are right there beside me that are going to build me up when i'm feeling at my lowest. >> griff: and there are not enough hours in the day, ryan, to recount the stories i've personally witnessed and people i have met that were that broken brother or sister or spouse or parent that was curled up in that ball, but yet through the participation, through the spartan leadership program and other things that the team is doing, you have made a

difference. is there one story that stands out for you? >> you know, i think for me, i'm travelling to puerto rico in january for the fourth time with a group of families of the fallen and i take with me a young woman named veronica ortiz, she lost her husband jave, he was puerto rican decent, and she said i don't want to be part of a widow's club and i promise you, that's not what this is. this is an organization we are going to push you to be a part of something bigger than yourself and give back in your husband's name, and now here four years later veronica is leading the expedition. a gold star spouse, out there serving the greater community to give back in honor of her loved one's legacy. >> griff: the organization, the travis manion foundation, ryan,

thanks so much for taking the time and sharing your message and the work you are doing. >> thanks so much, griff. >> griff: coming up, president biden ripping the media over the economy, watch. >> about the economy, sir, what's your outlook on the economy next year? >> all good, take a look, start reporting it the right way. >> griff: tammy bruce on the 2024 blame game coming up. here she is. ♪ makes me crazy ♪ ♪ if you don't do it right ♪ ♪ lord save me, my drug is my baby ♪ ♪ i've been using for the rest of my life ♪ to find some relief. cosentyx works for me. cosentyx helps real people get real relief from the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis or psoriasis. serious allergic reactions, severe skin reactions that look like eczema, and an increased risk of infections, some fatal, have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to or if ibd symptoms develop or worsen. i move so much better because of cosentyx.

ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. hi, i'll have the avocado toast... minus the avocado. so, toast? yeah. everything is so expensive these days. hey, chevy gets it. that's why they're keeping prices down to earth. like on the most affordable ev in america. ♪ a super strong and capable chevy truck. ♪ and a high-tech chevy suv. ♪ why is chevy making affordable vehicles, connected by onstar? so together we can do more.

narrator: time is running out to give a year-end gift like no other, a gift that can help st. jude children's research hospital save lives. ava: it is my first time having cancer, and it's the very worst. woman: you just have to give. you have to give someone that hope. because of st. jude, she has a chance at life. narrator: every gift counts, and whatever you can give will make a difference for children like ava.

make your donation today to help st. jude save lives.

loving this pay bump in our allowance. wonder where mom and dad got the extra money? maybe they won the lottery? maybe they inherited a fortune? maybe buried treasure? maybe it fell off a truck? maybe they heard that xfinity customers can save hundreds

when they buy one unlimted line and get one free. now i can buy that electric scooter! i'm starting a private-equity fund that specializes in midcap. you do you. visit xfinitymobile.com today. >> what's your outlook on the economy next year? >> all about. look, report it the right way. >> carley: president biden blaming the media for america's frustrations with bidenomics as a year-end poll report 39% approve of his economic agenda. fox news contributor tammy bruce joins us now. i have a feeling that people in the biden white house heard that and said oh, no, that is not the message, because all good is not how americans are feeling right now. >> tammy: you heard privately

the media is not covering it right, his other mistake, like he's unedited and kind of good sometimes, we learn what they are discussing, so they are complaining about the media, his team is, and on the other hand he then says the line that he is supposed to say, which is everything is great. but the fact is, americans know it's not and they talk that it's about coverage, it also reveals that they are really out of touch with what the day-to-day life experience is. we think about inflation, inflation is down, that's core inflation. eliminating energy and food, what we experience on a day-to-day basis. rents are up, like over 6%. inflation itself, i think in january 2021 it was below 2%, it is now above 3%. so, clearly the answer for them, if i was advising but i'm not, is be honest. you know, what americans are frustrated at is being ignored through this kind of lying by omission about our day-to-day

experience. so, that's their problem. but they do believe, if the media covered it right, that americans, and this is the contempt, would just, you know, we are like empty-headed zombies waiting to be told about our life experience and that's not happening. maybe you can do it about the middle east because we are not there every day, something else, global warming, you can't really define, but you can't do it about our pocket books. >> carley: you can't tell americans that everything is a-ok when they feel it, seeing the price of things at the grocery store, the cost of gas and so you are right, i guess the best message the president can give is i understand your pain and we are working on it. one of the areas, though, tammy, that he is trying to chip away at is student loan debt. he has canceled like $132 billion worth and polling shows that young people don't think it's enough, so you could criticize the young folks there, but he's got a youth voter turnout problem. >> tammy: as a matter of fact,

when polled, young people are now going not just to an alternative democrat, but to trump because while we've got a problem with what the education has done to them, when they expect in life and entitlement issue in a sense, if somebody comes up and says here, have this present and then keeps doing it, you are going to start looking funny when it stops. so there is a problem there. but what we also know some new statistics, even with the loan repayments beginning, millions of people have not started to pay. they have just kind of said never mind. so this is that kind of reversal or a slack-off when it comes to responsibilities, because the rhetoric they are hearing from the democrats is, especially with forgiveness, is that i didn't get my money's worth. i deserve to be -- i deserve a refund, and that's what the democrats have reinforced, and partly it is an effort to get those people to vote for them,

like buying those votes, but young people also know that we have problems in other areas. >> carley: what do you think of joe manchin, on this listening tour, you know, if there's an appetite -- i love the listening tours, he's going to politics and egg in new hampshire that a lot go to, do you think he's going to jump into the race? it's getting real late. >> tammy: a lot of people run for president because they get attention for the issues, try to move the conversation a certain direction, they know they are not going to be the nominee but boy, it's fun, it's in a way like a pageant for politicians so. manchin has a problem when it comes to how he's perceived, i think. being a politician is not just doing the job as we know, rarely is it. but it is about the attention and about talking about the issues. i think they argued, oh, you'll be a spoiler if you enter into it, and this is the problem.

he said i've never been a spoiler in my life. you need to look at reality. he really would be. and then he has a new organization he's promoting, an opportunity for that, something about the -- being for the middle, right. what do you think the middle for, the middle of the high inflation or just not quite as high inflation. the democrat policies are the problem, he still is a democrat, and that's a problem for him. >> carley: tammy, thank you for joining us. appreciate it. you are great. >> tammy: my pleasure. >> carley: from co-workers, to connected for life. how a work friend saved a banker's life. the duo explains what happened coming up next. ♪ i need a hero ♪ ♪ holding out for a hero to the end of the night ♪ ♪ he's got to be strong and he's got to be fast ♪ ♪ got to be fresh from the fight ♪ ♪ i need a hero ♪ ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ [bell ringing] and doug says, “you can customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual.”

he hits his mark —center stage— and is crushed by a baby grand piano. are you replacing me? with this guy? customize and save with liberty bibberty. he doesn't even have a mustache! oh, look! a bibu. [limu emu squawks.] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

>> griff: headlines starting with this, check out this officer dressed up as santa leading a drug bust in lima, peru, busts down a door with a sledgehammer before finding

cocaine and marijuana. four taken into custody were clearly on santa's naughty list. and shoppers may need to race to return unwanted gifts, major retailers update policies this holiday season. this includes amazon, cut the return window by three weeks, walmart, moving the deadline to january 31st, and macys will now charge almost ten bucks to return online orders, and not the only ones making changes. 40% of retailers will tackle on a fee for online returns this year, and those are your headlines. joey. >> joey: all right. hopefully i don't have any returns. call it the ultimate christmas gift. two bank employees, now sharing much more than just an office after one donated a kidney to his colleague saving his life. >> carley: can you believe it. joining us now, usb bank employees, good morning to you both. this story is so incredible.

i don't know who i want to talk to first, but bill, i'll start with you. tell us about your journey towards finding a kidney and what did it mean to you when lane said i'm a match. >> well, good morning, guys. thank you so much for having me on. i mean, lane is the real hero here, i shouldn't even be on the screen. he's the hero, graciously, graciously, without hesitation stepped up and gave me a kidney, allowed me 32 days later to walk my daughter down the aisle, which was really my concern when i found out back in may that i needed a second transplant. my wife had given me the first one. and quite frankly, i was starting to think about what's going to happen with this wedding, am i going to be here, it was terrible for my daughter kelly, and she and the rest of the family were amazing, not worried about the wedding but about me, the holiday song you

hear lately, "angels among us" and lane was my angel and made sure, a, i walked my daughter down the aisle, and b, more importantly, i'm still here and we called him yesterday on christmas day and said this family celebration and everything good in my life is because of you. >> griff: wow, bill, you give me goose bumps. lane, the simple question is what made you decide to do this? >> well, listen, thank you for having me also. i think the number one thing i thought about is my time spent with bill, both as work colleagues and, you know, becoming friends through that work relationship. good friends, close friends, i thought to myself, if the roles were reversed, i'm confident that if he was able to he would do it for me, and when i went through the testing and found

out i was healthy enough to donate and then found out that i was a perfect match for him, the thought that ran through my head is how could i not do this for him, and make sure he's there for the wedding, his grandchildren, and everything else that his life has to offer for the rest of it. it was really quite easy decision. >> joey: you work together, a community together, whether it be your work, church, family, you work at ubs, is this something more businesses should highlight or even promote? >> i would tell you you mentioned ubs. the culture, starts with our ceo, and the people we work for, but throughout the organization it's just one of caring for each other, certainly caring for clients, that's the business we are in, but caring for each

other and i think lane epitomizes that more than anyone, obviously, i've ever seen. but what was so incredible is that so many ubs colleagues stepped up to get tested and a side story to this not in the written article, there's a gentleman, one of our executive vice chairman, brian hall who got tested and found an 11 centimeter mass on his spleen so saved his life by discovering that and removing it. you talk about the tentacles and the story and the goodness of people and how it helped another person, amazing. >> carley: amazing. so lane, you saved bill's life and through your journey you could have saved the life of another. this is amazing, we need to highlight more stories like this in the news and we are so grateful to have you both on this morning to close out our show. thank you so much for joining us, god bless you both. >> have a good day. >> carley: bye, everybody, have a great day.