prison with sentencing expected in march. there was plenty of success on the field. questionable actions behind the scenes for the university of michigan's football team. analyst for the team accused of in-person scouting against opponents. head coach jim harbaugh denied any knowledge of the wrongdoing accepting a three-game suspension. the scandal not affecting their performance. the team is set to play for their chance at the national championship on new year's day. 2024 is sure to bring some scandalous stories, fox news is here to cover them all. in new york, ainsley earhardt, fox news. >> claudia: the u.s. military strikes back. president biden ordering the pentagon to take action against iranian-backed activities in iraq. u.s. air strikes hitting three targets in response to a series of more than 100 attacks against u.s. personnel in iraq and syria. welcome back to a second edition

of "america's newsroom," i'm claudia cowen. >> mike: i'm mike emanuel. the act of retaliation coming after an anti-american sanctioned group launched a drone attack on erbil air base in northern iraq that injured three service members, one critically. former national security member telling us last hour president biden should have taken action sooner. >> i'm glad that he finally hit back, but he should do it earlier in the cycle. his red line seems to be if a u.s. troop or a u.s. contractor gets hit, injured or killed, then the united states will hit back. i would rather us hit hard earlier in the cycle so that we can prevent someone from being injured in the first place. >> mike: right now black smoke rising over gaza as the idf ramps up attacks on hamas terror targets. israel's prime minister visited

troops in northern gaza saying there can be no peace until hamas is destroyed. >> claudia: bring us up to speed, trey. >> good morning. overnight president biden ordered the u.s. military to strike a series of targets belonging to iran-backed iraqi shia militias. we know according to centcom that three strikes destroyed the targeted facilities and likely killed a number of kataib hezbollah militants in response to a drone attack against the erbil air base that houses u.s. service members. three americans were injured in that attack and one critically. the total number of attacks against american interests in the middle east to 103 since mid- october and israeli forces remain on high alert after an air strike yesterday in syria killed a commander mousavi.

iranian president said this act is a sign of the zionist regime's frustration and weakness in the region for which it will certainly pay the price. israel's defense minister saying this morning this about the situation. >> we are in a multi-front war and are coming under attack from seven different players. gaza, lebanon, syria, iraq, yemen, and iran. we have already responded and taken action in six of these threats. i say here in the most explicit way, anyone who acts against us is a potential target. there is no immunity for anyone. >> the possibility of a broader war with iran comes as a top advisor to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, a man is here in washington to discuss the next steps of gaza war. >> claudia: thank you for that

report. >> mike: for more let's bring if retired u.s. marine mark geist, a member of the benghazi security term and founder of the shadow warriors project. welcome. >> thank you for having me. >> mike: at least 103 attacks on u.s. forces in iraq and syria since october 17th. what more should president biden do to signal to the iranian regime they must stop. >> i think the first thing from a non-military response would be to hit them economically with sanctions. put back in the sanctions that they had backed down from when biden took office. we need to cut off their supplies of oil, their ability to sell oil, we need to hinder all of that and hit them economically at home as well. we are going to continue seeing this. this has to be a war on all fronts. maybe that's the wrong word is war but we're in a proxy sense of a war with iran as well as

hezbollah, hamas, and all the shia militias that are backed by iran in iraq itself. we will continue seeing these attacks. >> mike: idf air strike took out what is believed to be a top revolutionary guard commander. they are warning israel will pay the price. what's your assessment? >> i think they have to say that. they have to say that to be right to the people and to their people and to -- they've had this bully mentality ever since biden has been in office. and the way they've been treated. opening backup money they can have. putting billions of dollars back into their economy. we need to shut that down. israel is doing what they need to do and i think it's fully justified. >> mike: prime minister benjamin netanyahu writes in the "wall street journal" about israel's

prerequisites for peace saying palestinian civil society needs to be transformed so its people support fighting terrorism rather than funding it. that will likely require moral leadership. palestinian authority leader abbas can't bring himself to condemn the october 7th atrocities. such a cultural transformation will be possible in gaza only among palestinians who don't seek the destruction of israel. is your view what he wrote there basically signaling this is going to be a very long and painful process? >> yeah. it has to be. what we would see if they pulled back now the hamas just would rebuild, restructure, take all of the money that will be given to them because of -- through all of the aid packages, because they are pilfering off that as well. they would just rebuild, work with iran and continue to attack israel. they have to have the authority

and ability and the support to defend their country and defend it on all aspects. >> mike: israel's minister of strategic affairs is expected in washington for meetings at the white house and state department to talk about israel's plans for eventually scaling down the war. that's according to reports. how significant is his presence in washington and these meetings today? >> it's very significant. it not only gives word or information to us as the people of america of what israel is doing, but it also plays back to their own people and they have to stand strong. biden administration needs to stand behind israel as we always have historically as a country and we need to continue that. i know that it opens us to some attacks. we're already getting those attacks whether or not we have that strong support of israel or not. >> mike: mark, thank you for your service to the country and for your analysis today, sir.

>> thank you very much. merry christmas to everyone. god bless. >> mike: merry christmas. >> claudia: anti-israel protestors flooding the streets of lower manhattan yesterday shouting christmas is canceled. demonstrators also carried a large blood red nateivity scene and the crowd quickly grew violent. at least one nypd officer was hurt. let's check in now with alexis mcadams live on the streets of new york city and has more. good morning, alexis. >> things got briefly out of control here in new york city. you can see it in a few minutes on your screen. we saw hundreds of protestors where i am right now and on the street near rockefeller center chanting they were going to cancel christmas in new york city and interrupting a lot of celebrations going on. things did get briefly out of hand. watch this. [shouting]

>> that was the crowd clashing with police. nypd was on high alert. at least six people were arrested. one police officer was injured. so organizers were calling to cancel christmas targeting the busiest areas of the city. mid town protestors carried these blood red mock nativity scene you can see there long live intifada and calling for an up rising and swarming of the christmas tree at rockefeller center. many tourists were in town for the holiday and they stopped traffic. [shouting] >> protestors were not gathered just in new york city but also in d.c. at the house of white house national security advisor jake sullivan.

and in virginia at the home of defense secretary lloyd austin. protestors accusing the two officials of being complicit in the genocide against the palestinians. back live in new york city we can tell you there is a lot more chatter on social media groups planning protests across new york city in the coming days. nypd as usual says they are ready to handle it. claudia. >> claudia: we hope that officer who was injured recovers swiftly and fully. thank you so much for that report. >> mike: the u.s. embassy in haiti is in lockdown after heavy gunfire erupted in the area on christmas day. staff under a shelter in place order since july. the state department has warned americans not to travel to haiti due to crime and civil unrest. the embassy sent out a similar alert about heavy gunfire nearly three weeks ago. >> claudia: overnight attack on

a russian warship in crimea. ukrainian air defense forces launched a series of cruise missiles killing at least one person and badly damaging the landing ship. what this means for the war there. >> mike: waiting to be processed by immigration officials biden's top officials are going to mexico tomorrow to hold talks on the border crisis. critics are not buying it. >> i have 0 confidence that their efforts down there are going to have any consequence or result. i don't believe they really want to fix it. 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,

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large russian warship in crimea overnight. russia said guided missiles killed at least one person. the attack could prevent russia from seizing more ukrainian territory along the black sea. kitty logan is live in london with more. >> hi, mike. russia's defense ministry has confirmed this very brazen attack on one of its naval landing ships. it was in dock at the time. ukrainian authorities say they targeted the ship in an air strike. it was hit while in the southeast coast of russian-controlled crimea. that attack sparked a huge fireball. you can see how huge it was. visible from a large distance. the size of the blast causing speculation that the ship may have been loaded with weapons at the time. that explosion so powerful windows shattered in surrounding

buildings. killing one person and injuring two others. russia says the ship is damaged. it is not yet clear how badly. but hitting a large landing ship like this is a significant victory for the ukrainian military. it is not known exactly what was on board. it is capable of heavy armor like tanks. in u.k. the defense secretary says ukraine has destroyed 20% of russia's black sea fleet since the start of the war. the latest attack shows there is no stalemate. on the front lines as we know there is little substantial progress on either side. the spring offensive has turned into a deadlocked winter. russia ready to take advantage of any drop in western backing. but this strike is no doubt a boost for the ukrainian military and setback for russia. whether it changes the outcome of this war is open to question. mike. >> mike: kitty logan, thank you

very much. top officials in the biden administration prepare to meet with mexico's president, a large caravan of migrants continues to trek towards the u.s. at the same time, senators plan to resume talks on border security. senior congressional correspondent chad pergram is live in washington. chad. >> mike, good morning. the talks took a brief pause for the holidays. negotiators have a long way to go. asylum remains a sticking point. so is parole and even migration numbers. there is worry even a change in the law will not stem the flow. >> we're going to need an enforceable law, one that's enforceable over the president of the united states's attempt to make policy changes and say that his hands are tied. that is going to be difficult. difficult to put something in that says it is an impeachable offense not to secure the border. >> some republicans are leery of any immigration deal but democrats are wary, too.

they worry about cracking down on migrants trying to escape political oppression and then there is the demand for high-skilled workers in the u.s. >> immigrants play a very important role in the technology industry. so many come to the united states to be educated here. but once they are educated, if they cannot get a green card, they have to leave. >> now the bigger concern is how the border surge could lead to a domestic terrorism strike. >> the terrorist threat is beyond imagination. all the lights are blinking and we are on a path to have 3.6 million encounters at the border in fy24. this december encounters at the border are up 440% over december 2020. >> even if the talks reach an agreement it takes time. senators are the hunt for votes.

60 yays are needed to jiver come a filibuster. just because it passes the senate means nothing. the house remains a wild card. mike. >> mike: chad pergram live in d.c. chad, many thanks. >> we don't know who they are or where they're going. we know that quite a number of these people some on the terror watch list. they are getting spread out throughout america with the notice to appear that many of them simply ignore. so this is a crisis that is a true danger to our country. >> claudia: florida congresswoman laurel lee with us last hour on national security concerns over the unchecked migrant surge at the southern border. charles marino is a former department of homeland security advisor and national security analyst and the author of "terrorists on the border and in our country." before we talk about the national security threat let me get you to react to the latest surge, some 6,000 illegal immigrants pouring

across the border into texas seemingly flying in the face of president's claim the border is secure. >> it's never been secure under this administration and we've known it. their policies are built around enticement, expanding legal pathways into the united states, even if they fall outside of the statutory requirements like allowing asylum claims for things like poverty. they will let as many people in as they can. they are for open borders and their policies reflicked why they struck down remain in mexico and fought title 42. no way that we can vet any of these people coming into the united states thoroughly enough. so it increases and enhances the risk to the country exponentially. >> claudia: take a look at the graphic picture that appears on the cover of the "new york

post." they call it new year's wave. you look at all of these people, most presumably coming here for a better life and good jobs, but still we have to do something to get a handle on this situation. we have the high profile diplomatic excursion to mexico city with mayorkas tomorrow and others, blinken as well. what do you think will come out of these talks tomorrow? >> not much. we should not expect any major policy results or changes coming out of this regarding a wholesale change to strategies. both for mexico and the united states. both presidents obrador and biden are for open borders. i think if you look at the combined policies of mexico and the united states, they very clearly reflect that. what these meetings are about are about the optics, the administration has a huge problem here. this has come up to the top

three list of issues coming up to the u.s. elections. i can tell you it is all about the optics. it is about better controlling the flow of illegal migrants. not to stop the overall processing into the united states, but to do it in a more orderly fashion. that's what this is about. >> claudia: you talked a lot about the growing number of encounters with individuals who are on the terror watch list and indeed the numbers there are staggering. take a look at since fiscal year 2017, just a couple of encounters there, and the numbers steadily grow. fiscal year 2023, 169 and 30 so far since october 1st this year. we have reason to be concerned because these are just the people that we know about, of course. there are many more that slip through completely undetected. we have no idea who these people are. >> that's right. look, again back to the policies which are the achilles heel of

this administration and going to be the achilles heel when there is another terrorist attack in this country. what it does is it undercuts every program, policy, department, you name it that was created in response to the attacks on 9/11. look when you have the f.b.i. director and the secretary of homeland security sitting side-by-side contradicting each other in front of congress. the f.b.i. director knows that this undercuts on a daily basis the efforts of his men and women to prevent a terrorist attack from occurring in the united states. and you have the secretary of homeland security and a president who think they are exactly on the right side of this issue and are not increasing the threat against the country. they are dead wrong. dead wrong. >> claudia: we'll see what comes out of the high-level talks in mexico city this week. but we thank you for joining us today. have a great day. >> thank you, you, too.

>> mike: claudia, violent crime taking no holiday in chicago. shootings, stabbings and more casting a shadow over the windy city's christmas. shoplifting taking a major toll as retail theft jumps across the united states. which cities are getting hit the hardest? and with innovations in natural gas and oil, america can deliver. but washington keeps pushing extreme policies that limit america's energy. their plan? restrict oil and natural gas produced in america. government mandates for how we fuel our cars and cook our food. a future where energy could be less reliable and more expensive. tell washington - stop the extreme policies and let american energy deliver.

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>> claudia: welcome back to a special edition of "america's newsroom," our top story this morning u.s. forces in the middle east retaliating against iran-backed proxies in irrelevant rack. the pentagon says it launched a counter strike targeting three facilities used by hezbollah and affiliated groups after one service member was critically wounded in a one-way drone hit yesterday. we are monitoring developments overseas and bring you updates as they happen. >> mike: it was a violent holiday weekend in chicago. 19 people were shot across the city indicating crime is still

the problem it's been all year long in the windy city. garrett tenney is live in chicago. good morning, garrett. >> good morning to you. one of the shootings was at a train station saturday night. a man with a knife got into an argument with another person and was shot. those 19 shootings over the weekend add to the more than 2300 so far this year. a stat the mayor is touting considering it's a 13% drop from last year along with murders. violent crime overall is still up 17% and when you look at where the city was pre-pandemic before homicides reached their highest levels in a quarter century it shows there is a long way to go. crime is up almost across the board led by carjackings that have more than doubled in the past four years. mayor brandon johnson played lori lightfoot for a lot of the problems he is facing including crime. his recently unveiled safety plan is very similar to what lightfoot tried to do the curb crime by focusing on the city's

most dangerous neighborhoods with police but with more resources and investments in those areas. >> unfortunately for too long this country has had an addiction on incarceration, spending more on incarceration than we do to educate the family. but aren't you glad there is a new day in the city of chicago? >> johnson says his plans to address the root causes of crime will take time and that is causing a lot of concern and frustration for folks who want to see more done to address the increase in crime that the city is seeing now. mike. >> mike: garrett tenney live in chicago. thanks very much. >> claudia: after a busy holiday shopping season retail theft is one of the biggest trends of the year. shoplifting and smash and grab robberies spiking dramatically across the united states. new york and los angeles topping the list of cities with the biggest increase. paul mauro is a former inspector with the new york police

department. certainly no holiday for thieves here this year especially where you are in new york. take a look at the numbers. los angeles and new york obviously are the two biggest cities in the u.s., but we have some other cities to talk about, too. for retail theft new york it was up 64%. los angeles retail theft was up 61% and virginia beach, virginia, 44% there. although we do want to mention a couple of cities did improve in this area. st. petersburg, florida, crime was down 78% in terms of retail theft. st. paul, minnesota it was down 65%. and 57% drop there in minneapolis. so good news for those cities but not where you are in new york city and these are organized crime rings by and large in charge of these gangs that go in and do these smash and grabs. why can't new york and los angeles and apparently virginia

beach get a handle on this? >> there seems to be month real political will to interdict any of this stuff. the statutes on the books from worked for generations and could still continue to work. there is two types of perpetrator who engage in the stuff. the 1 types street people lack of a better term. living on the street. dealing with mental health or substance abuse issues. those are the people he generally see filling their pockets with baby formula and things they can sell to other outlets. then what you are talking about, the organized groups. they are doing smash and grabs, taking designer-level label stuff, expensive stuff, felony-level stuff and selling it on the internet. both of these things are interdictable if we had the political will. in new york city essentially these days they are down 3,000 cops. there is no will at the prosecutorial level. the cops will do the job but when you do just essentially a summons is what you get

essentially for most larceny in new york city, you aren't -- they know they can get away with it. the riots with the smash and grabs brought home to a lot of people that nobody would come looking for us. we can sell it with impunity. a good business model for these people and unfortunately it will continue and we see it in the numbers. >> claudia: a good business model. the median value of what is being stolen is growing as well from 75 to $100. that concern too. mayor adams said a third of arrests involve the same 300 or so criminals. they are committing the crimes without fear of being caught or having to spend more than a few hours in prison. they are committing these crimes in front of patrons, filming it on their cell phone in front of security guards wore eft they could get fired if they get involved. what needs to happen here?

you mention the political will. more task forces and officers on the street and more community and neighborhood watch programs? >> it's very systemic. you have a problem also at the judge level because one of the issues that occurs, the police won't be there all the time. they have to respond. the security guards all know that if they tussle with somebody what would be let's say a misdemeanor larceny will bump to a felony robbery. then you have insurance issues. the stuff goes into the courts, the places get sued, individuals get sued, there is disaster across the board. we have to go back to seeing this stuff as a negative in society as opposed to some sort of benefit that is allowed for people that we consider to be leading -- slipping down lives and need a helping hand. this is not a helping hand. it is putting them on the wrong path. >> claudia: so much to unpack

with retail theft. shoplifting, smash and grabs. we appreciate your analysis and thoughts on how things can improve hopefully in 2024 with all these numbers. thank you very much. >> mike: outrage over a christmas message from progressive fire brand alexandria ocasio-cortez. how she compared the birth of jesus to the situation of modern-day palestinians in gaza. plus more schools are under investigation over accusations of anti-semitism as fallout keeps growing over the israel/hamas war. >> i mean, we have this range of ideologies that can motivate and inspire individuals to violence. in the current conflict, it is causing, i think, contributing to a heightened threatened environment.

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and give just $19 a month. when you do, we will send you this dav blanket as a thank you and a reminder that you support those who serve please call or go online to helpdav.org right now. your support says thank you to our nation's disabled american veterans 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.

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>> claudia: more elite universities under scrutiny for anti-semitism. they're calling out the president of northwestern over rising hostility towards jewish students. new reports the harvard university board has called on embattled president claudine gay to resign. fox business's kelly is at northwestern university in evanston, illinois. good morning. >> the ad says the president of the university michael she'll she'll denounce anti-semitism. the ad first aired over the weekend during the school's bowl game with utah saying the school has been supporting hamas. take a listen. >> it's time for president to adopt the internationally accepted definition of

anti-semitism. stop the hatred. stop making us live in fear. define and denounce anti-semitism. is that too much to ask? >> it's a six figure ad campaign created by alums for campus fairness. they work at campuses across the nation. on november 14th the president announced the school is creating the president's advisory committee on preventing anti-semitism and hate. i spoke to one northwestern alumnus doesn't believe northern's president is anti-semitic but not a strong enough condemnation of the october 7th attacks. the students need to feel supported here. >> something that needs to happen now because this is when all the aggression is going on when it is fresh in people's minds. i don't know if the school is just hoping it will die off and go away. >> the university responded saying these are outlandish claims not based on facts including the claim that student

and faculty groups resoundingly support hamas terrorism. acts that violate our codes of conduct will be immediately addressed and individuals held accountable under university policies and procedures. northwestern does not tolerate anti-semitism or discriminatory acts against any members of its community coming as donors and alumni are calling for harvard's president to step down after her testimony in front of congress about anti-semitism on campus. 700 faculty members have signed a petition asking the board keeps her on despite outside pressures. northwestern and harvard are just two schools that are under fire for their response to the israel/hamas war, claudia. >> claudia: they sure are. thank you very much for that update. we appreciate it. mike. >> mike: claudia, "the new york times" causing an uproar running an op-ed from the mayor of gaza city handpicked by hamas. david markus is a fox news

columnist. he joins us now. let's show the audience "the new york times" headline. it says i am gaza city's mayor, our lives and culture are in rubble. "the new york times" has taken some heat. some critics suggesting they are amplifying jew hate. what is your thought? >> this is outrageous and wrong. this man is a terrorist. he is an ally of hamas. there is an important context here. in 2020 james bennett was the editor of the times opinion page. i actually wrote for him there a few times. he was interested in conservative voices. he was forced to resign in 2020 for running a column by senator tom cotton advocating for use of the national guard during the deadly george floyd riots. let's be clear where the gray lady is today. running a columbia republican sitting u.s. senator is a fireable offense, running a columbia known terrorist, an ally of hamas, that's good

journalism because we have to show everybody all sides. this is emblem attic of the -- >> mike: some questions if they have would have run something from al qaeda after the 9/11 attacks. >> 2001 i think the answer to that question is no. today i'm not so sure. maybe they would. would you be shocked? i wouldn't. >> mike: then there is new york congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez writing on christmas eve comparing jesus with the palestinians of today saying, quote, in the story of christmas, christ was born in modern day palestine under a government in the massacre of inoh center. right wing forces are occupying bethlehem as similar stories unfold for today's palestinians. what about this one?

>> first of all this is basically ahistorical nonsense the progressives like to throw around. it shows something deeper. the progressive left, non-religious progressive left love three or four parts of the bible. love thy. the rest of the bible, that they don't like so much. these people watch half a season of the chosen and think they are ready to teach catechism and lecture christians about our own bible. i believe in the south there is an expression that goes bless your heart. i think that's probably the appropriate response here. >> mike: critics note aoc did not mention the october 7th attacks or the victims of terrorism. what about that? >> she doesn't tend to do that nor the rest of the members of the squad. we are supposed to forget that october 7th happened. have israel stand down and wait for it to happen again.

thankfully israelis aren't going to do that and most americans aren't willing to watch that happen, either. >> mike: thank you so much for your time today, david markus. claudia. >> claudia: blizzard conditions are sweeping across the plains threatening to snarl holiday travel for millions of americans. plus it's not so much many happy returns but more and more unhappy returns. stores are tightening their policies on unwanted gifts. the how and the why coming up next. ♪ is all about presents and shopping 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

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>> mike: shoppers might notice the shelves at apple look different today. the international trade commission on two apple watch models has gone into effect and the company can no longer sell its latest models the series nine and ultra two.

they infringe on the patent of another tech company's patent blood oxygen counter. president joe biden declined to overturn the ban. >> claudia: a white christmas remained a dream across most of the u.s. but for many in the central plains, it turned into a nightmare with blizzards causing white-out conditions and ruining travel plans. fox news meteorologist adam klotz has more from the fox weather center. hi, adam. >> that system continues to spin with very little movement over the last couple of days. i can take you in on it. it sits across portions of the northern plains back into areas in denver. temperatures are around the upper 20s getting closer to freezing. snow is lighter now than it had been this time yesterday. one of the big problems has not backed off hardly at all are the winds. gusting winds. you see them. ranging anywhere from 40 mile-per-hour gusts to getting

up to 60 mile-per-hour gusts. the snow that has fallen is blowing around and it continues to drag on these white-out conditions. you are looking at snowfall totals are six to eight inches on the high-end and the winds are pushing it all over the place and dangerous on the roadways. a blizzard warning includes parts of the dakotas, nebraska and some spots in colorado as well stretching up into the north dakota as well. the winds has probably been the most dangerous part of this system as you look at wind gusts getting from 50 to above 70 miles-an-hour. that is blowing all that snow around continuing to make for a dangerous situation. that is why we're currently seeing major delays at area airports in the center of the country. this will be the weather system to watch over the next couple days because it will slowly track itself toward the east and as it makes that move, that is where the delays are going to be. you get into wednesday and tuesday, you just follow that

system move. some of these spots where you look at the yellow is where you see at least some delays as we continue to track this system. claudia. >> claudia: all right, adam, thank you for that update. mike. >> mike: today is a very well-deserved day of rest for santa and the reindeer. the race is on to return or exchange holiday gifts. the headache for retailers keeps getting worse. gerri willis reporting for fox business at the willow brook mall in wayne, new jersey. good morning. >> that's right. $173 billion is the amount of christmas gifts that shoppers will be returning today and through the coming weeks. that's $2 billion more than last year. the number is growing. we're at willow brook mall here in new jersey. i'm here with the senior general manager, ryan. he will talk to us about how much money is going to come through these doors. let's talk about the number of people. how many people are you

expecting? >> the entire season we've been exceeding the numbers from last year. over 50,000 people here on saturday and we expect a similar number here today. >> already i have to tell you we see people coming into the mall and it isn't even open yet. what they'll find if they return the gift is shorter return periods. one in seven companies are saying you can only have a week to make your returns. higher fees and guess what? fewer free return offers. if you were relying on, i don't know, say fedex to return your gift and thought the company would pay, maybe not. mike, back to you. >> mike: have fun at the mall. thanks so much. >> claudia: mike, police and firefighters in florida formed a human chain to save a family's christmas presents. the mom was driving her three young kids when their car veered off into a watery ditch.

the family had only minor injuries but the presents were going into the water. first responders sprang to action and managed to salvage most of those gifts. the sheriff's office said they hope that their efforts made the family's christmas, quote, a little bit brighter despite the crash. i'm sure it did. what a story, mike. >> mike: sorry about the car, but the good news is they rescued christmas and obviously thank god the people weren't hurt. that's really wonderful news. >> claudia: that's right. what a great job by those first responders and great news for that family. >> mike: pleasure being with you today. thank you for watching this special edition of "america's newsroom." "the faulkner focus" is up next. here is julie banderas, who is in for harris today. julie, have a great show. [shouting]