searched words of 2023. hamas attack in israel, the war in gaza topped the list followed by the titan sub and turkey earthquake. hurricane. most searched people. damar hamlin who made a remarkable comeback after his heart stopped on the field during a game in january. then actor jeremy renner who suffered a terrible injury in a snowplowing incident. scoring a place in the top five travis kelce not on the list, taylor swift. my thought is, the swifties were checking out kelsey to see what the deal is with him. >> molly: i think you nailed that one for sure. the most likely thing for travis kelce, that's for sure. yet another record setting month

at the southern border as cbp sources tell fox news that december saw the highest monthly total of migrant encounters ever. this comes as another caravan of thousands of migrants is heading towards the united states just three days out from a new year. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom," i'm molly line. mike. >> mike: good morning. i'm mike emanuel. bill and dana are off. new numbers from the southern border reveal agents stopped more than 276,000 migrants in december smashing the previous record of nearly 270,000 set back in september. that figure does not include the migrants who weren't caught known as gotaways. all of this as sanctuary cities say they are buckling under the surge of migrants arriving from the border. >> molly: we have fox team coverage on this. garrett tenney is live in chicago with the latest on the migrant crisis there. go to william la jeunesse on the record breaking numbers.

>> to put that in perspective the population of pittsburgh is 300,000. we are approaching that in a single month, not to mention as mike said thousands of gotaways. the point is the immigration system is overwhelmed and the administration has no solution. in many sectors agents have stopped patrolling the border and closed checkpoints so they can process migrants for release. with no end in sight. >> when does this stop? when is it ever going to end? if it continues to get the way it is now, i think we are going to find ourselves seeing a significant terrorist threat occur. >> president biden did seek mexico's help agreeing to keep u.s. border crossings open in exchange for mexico to harden its southern border. troops here yesterday made no attempt to stop this caravan. president obrador says he and biden agree enforcement alone won't solve the problem.

>> it is a phenomenon that has to do with the poverty of the people of the countries. it is a social problem and not solved with coercive mesh us alone. >> the two also discussed regularizing or giving amnesty to illegal immigrants already in the u.s. republican house speaker mike johnson called that unconscionable encouraging more illegal immigration when the pipeline is already full of migrants like this one. >> we have sacrificed a lot and we have taken a lot of risks. we have no food, we have no place to sleep. we have no money. and they should solve it for us. we hope the government will solve it. >> despite adding more judges here, about 400. the administration releases two out of every three migrants who cross illegally. the immigration court backlog jumped 1 million just this year. what that means? right now u.s. has more migrants waiting for a court date than the city of chicago.

molly. >> molly: it's mind blowing. thank you for bringing the big picture to us. appreciate it. mike. >> mike: the migrant crisis a border city. it is so bad in chicago it's spilling over into the windy city suburbs as bus loads of asylum seekers stream in from texas. brandon johnson said the cities and others cannot afford to keep caring for all those migrants. garrett tenney is live at the union station, one of the busiest stations in the country. good morning, garrett. >> good morning to you. a lot of suburbs are growing frustrated with the fallout they're having to deal with thanks to chicago's sanctuary status and due to mayor brandon johnson's crackdown on migrant buses. one example is in this county 60 miles southwest of the city. officials put up the sign along the highway saying no migrant buses and directing the buses to keep heading to chicago. the sheriff there says mayor brandon johnson is creating

chaos for the suburbs with his crack doufrn on busing that fines or im pounds buses that don't comply with new rules the city put in place when and where migrants can be dropped off. in response, buses have started dropping off migrants in the suburbs where they then get on trains to come into the city since this is where they say they want to come. at least ten suburbs have taken steps to try to prevent buses from coming to their towns including the village of el burn 50 miles west of chicago. >> when they show up at our station, fine, let's get them on the train. let's get them downtown. we don't have a place to shelter them. we don't have to way to feed them to make sure that they are taken care of. >> mayor brandon johnson says he is encouraging suburbs to crack down on buses as well to create more order in how migrants arrive. it is pushing chicago's finances to a breaking point and begging the federal government to step

up its support. >> we have reached a critical point in this mission that absent real significant intervention immediately, our local economies are not designed and built to respond to this type of crisis. r johnson has not taken that position and continues to say all are despite the city's struggling to handle the 30,000 migrants it has received over the last year. mike. >> mike: garrett tenney, live in chicago. thank you very much. >> molly: incredible development here . former president trump has been removed from the 2024 ballot in maine. the democratic secretary of state issued the decision late last night. her 34-page ruling cites the

insurrection clause of the 14th amendment. maine splits its electoral college votes. this is important. could be a crucial state in next year's election. trump took one of the four electoral votes in 2020. she made this move unilaterally. one state republican lawmaker is outraged. >> with this edict bellows has disen franchise eid maine voters with this partisan news. our nation is a republic. maine is made up of citizens. >> molly: let's bring in karrie. this is amazing. the secretary of state herself notes i'm mindful that no secretary of state has done

this. besides making this as a unilateral decision, is she making herself in essence a judge and jury as far as insurrection comes? president trump hasn't been charged or convicted of this. >> taking away the right to vote in maine who want to vote for donald trump. it's stunning a single person could do that in a democracy like america. it is wild. i really think at this point between the colorado decision, what happened in maine last night we are hurtling towards chaos if the u.s. supreme court does not get involved. >> molly: should the courts get involved? we expect this decision in maine to be legally challenged, as in colorado. >> at this point i think the supreme court has to because the chaos that is going to ensue if states starts unilaterally removing the gop frontrunner from the ballot and depriving people of their right to vote for the candidate of their choosing, it will offend the entire political process in the

united states. this is -- i don't see a path forward unless the u.s. supreme court gets involved and resolves this issue for everyone. >> molly: there are quite a lot of states. we have a map here that are talking about this issue. talking about the potential removal of trump from ballots. a wide swath. a lot of eyes on colorado you can see bright red. is this the type of thing or we could see something like this unfolding in another state and we've seen in maine and colorado and look at maine and colorado and becomes a domino effect. >> absolutely. a state or a single election official like in maine could look at the rationale of an opinion in colorado and borrow it for themselves. it is important to remember donald trump has not been charged, not just convicted, not even charged under the federal statute that prohibits insurrection. with that federal statute comes penalties. fines, prison, disqualification. the federal government themselves, jack smith special

counsel chose not to bring it against him. colorado says it doesn't matter. state law allows us to do what we did. i would argue it does matters. with that statute comes due process. what the secretary in maine did last night, what the colorado supreme court did, they made this decision and there is no due process. standards of proof. a bench trial. the rules of evidence. they are enshrined within our system of justice to insure every person donald trump, me or you have a fair shake and an outcome. what they are doing is completely pushing that aside and just making this decision for themselves. >> molly: speaking of making decisions for yourself, shenna bellows is a democrat and ran for senate in 2014 against senator susan collins and bellows lost by a wide margin, collins ultimately getting 68% of the vote back then. this is someone who is a notable

partisan. long-time democrat who won for election in the state herself. she writes i conclude, she writes, that the record establishs that mr. trump over the course of several months used a false narrative of election fraud to inflame his supporters and direct them to the capitol and she goes on. what grabs my attention is the i conclude part. >> exactly. that's not how we do justice in this country at a minimum. what's interesting about all of this is mix of law and politics. it is messy, uncharted territory. everything seems to be with the former president of the united states. one thing i just think people should think about. people may not like donald trump and may think he is culpable in company of these cases. the damage being done to our political process and our justice system in an effort to make sure that trump is not president i think will be far, far more lasting than anything any single person could do. if donald trump is not president again another person will be. if our justice system is damaged

and continues to be damaged in this way, you don't have a free country. so i think people really need to consider that as they -- whether they support or whatever their thinking about this that's what is at stake here. >> molly: thank you so much for chatting with us and talking with us about it. also the potential ramifications down the road and the broad ramifications. lots of legal stuff happening in the cusp of 2024 election year. appreciate it. thanks. [gunfire] >> mike: israel's military starting a blitz in the area where hamas began its october 7th massacre. the latest on the widening ground offensive in gaza. >> molly: dangerous surf pummeling california coasts. there are more big waves in store. >> mike: the astounding story of a marine veteran fighting brain

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>> molly: the israel defense forces targeting the area where hamas terrorists launched their october 7th attack. the raid comes as israel warns the war in gaza could last for months. matt finn has the latest from our london bureau. matt. >> israel is advancing deep into gaza hoping to clear out the remaining hamas fighters and as this fighting intensifies, we've been updating our audience on egypt's proposal to end this war and today it's being widely

reported that hamas delegation has been or is in cairo to consider egypt's proposed deal. it calls for a cease-fire, hostage swaps and for hamas and islamic jihad to relinquish power in gaza. trey yengst reported on the ground that palestinian factions were unwilling to consider a proposal that requires they give up power in gaza. israel has been clear that hamas will not be in control after this war in gaza ends. israel's unprecedented air and ground strikes from displaced 85% of gaza's 2.3 million people. hundreds of thousands are seeking shelter in areas designated safe by israel. more than 21,000 people have been killed and a quarter of gaza is reportedly left starving. we're hearing for the first time from one of the hostages taken from the nova music festival october 7th. she was held as a hostage for 54 days.

kept in a dark room by a family in a home with children who held her hostage. >> it is families under hamas. in retrospect i realized i was with a family and started asking myself questions why am i at a family's house and why are there children and a woman here? >> "the new york times" has a lengthy new article that goes into heartbreaking and disturbing detail about the sexual assaults and the graphic sexual abuse some of the women endured at that music festival as well. >> molly: i read that article as well. matt finn, thank you very much. appreciate the reporting. mike. >> mike: let's bring if richard goldberg, senior advisor at the foundation for defense of democracies and a former national security council official. good morning. >> good morning. >> mike: so the israeli army further advancing into gaza. we also have some widespread air strikes into lebanon. what is your assessment of the

war at this stage? >> well, in gaza-israel has advanced quite well in northern gaza signaling the days of hamas in northern gaza are numbered. we're seeing israeli control of gaza city in most parts. some of the neighborhoods and cities north of gaza city. so that part of the campaign is going well. the south is where a lot of the work remains. weeks probably on end to clear out hamas from some of the larger cities. we think of khan younis, where we believe hamas leader is hiding. where many hostages may be hiding. israel is finding intense urban warfare there and discovering an intense tunnel infrastructure much larger than previously assessed in the south. >> mike: i want to put president biden's statement on the death of two american hostages on the screen. i will never forget their daughter and family members of other americans held hostage in gaza are shared with me.

they have been living in hell for weeks. netanyahu and i met with hostage families. how big a headache is the hostage issue for him at this stage? >> it's important for all americans to remember it is one of the largest terror attacks on american citizens, not just israel. the death toll is increasing. confirmation of hostages being dead. at least 34, i believe. so we think about six to eight hostages remaining in gaza, we also need to say where is the president to put pressure on qatar to actually deliver these hostages? qatar is supposedly a u.s. ally hosts a major base. no statements from the white house saying we want doha to secure their release. we will penalize them and downgrade our relationships if we don't see american citizens release. there is widespread political support for this campaign to continue.

>> mike: let's play sound from an idf spokesperson of the headache is iran. >> iran is the problem not only for israel but worldwide problem. we see the nature of how hamas conducted their attacks. we can't let that be the new normal of terrorism, can we? >> mike: what needs to be done about iran. ? it's unconsciousal 10 billion being made available to the regime issued a waiver after october 7th to make that money available. that should be locked down. a bill in the senate waiting for the senate to take it up. the house passed it. we should crack down on oil sales and transports to china. snapping back the u.n. sanctions as well. we also have to have a military deterrence in effect. that applies to yemen. we haven't seen a military response against a houthis and need to support israel against hezbollah in the north. hezbollah is ten times larger and more lethal than hamas.

that has to be a threat dealt with sooner or later. israel will not allow that threat to remain on its border. >> mike: thank you for your time and analysis today. >> the price of food has gone up. when is the last time biden or any of his pals went to the grocery store, bought food for themselves and their family and been man, this is really high. >> molly: voters struggling with the cost of inflation despite record gains on wall street. what's driving the disconnect? the hosts of the big money show will dig into that plus a deep freeze could bring snow to the south.

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every day with relief factor, a daily supplement that fights pain naturally. call or go online now for our 3-week quickstart, just $19.95. >> molly: massive waves and dangerous storm surge pounding the northern california coastline and causing serious flooding. a similar situation unfolding an hour south in santa cruz with

high surf. ventura county, a rogue wave topped the sea wall sending eight people to the hospital. first responders rescued a couple of surfers from the massive swells. >> mike: wow, that's expensive real estate. i would think moving a block or two off the beach might be a good call in the months and years ahead. >> molly: that's incredible video. it is amazing. >> mike: remarkable. freezing winter temperatures are sweeping the south ahead of new year's eve. the chill could even bring rare snowstorms to some southern cities. nichole valdez is live in nashville, tennessee with the latest. good morning. >> our team at fox weather is tracking a more organized band of snow that is slowly making its way toward the southeast and taking aim at music city. the city that hasn't seen snow in more than a year. the last time it actually saw any measurable snow was in march

of 2022. as you can imagine all eyes on the skies here right now. that was more than 600 days ago the last time we saw snow here. typically this region doesn't see a lot in the way of measurable snow in compareson to the midwest or northeast. four inches a season. when it snows, it is a big deal. not getting anything, even a tenth of an inch is also notable. looking back at last year, one storm dumped more than six inches of snow over nashville in a day or two. the impacts from that felt across the state leading to dozens of flight cancellations, crashes. what we are seeing is the expectation -- not the expectation of any major travel delays or issues from this system. more like maybe a dusting or flurry. could we break the record set back in 1908 for a calendar year without an inch of snow on the ground? mike, we'll have to wait and see

what this system does. all of music city is paying close attention to this one. >> mike: thank you very much. molly. >> molly: the bell at the new york stock exchange ringing the last hour to kick off the final trading day of 2023. stocks have been on a record streak this year but it doesn't seem to be resonating with the voters out there. why the disconnect between what they are seeing on wall street and what we're seeing on main street? let's bring in jacque deangelis and brian brenberg. one more day. your thoughts on how things are closing out on the stock market before we move into this disconnect? >> we'll start with stocks. this has been a banner year. we had a rough year in 2022. if you were invested you got the money you lost back and you've gained a little more. the nasdaq saw more than a 40% gain over the course of the year. phenomenal. where is the disconnect? the fact is the "wall street journal" reported that 58% of

americans in 2022 as reported by the fed are invested in stocks. that's the highest we've seen in this country. so everyone is touching it a little bit. a lot of that money is in pensions and retirement accounts. so that is paper money that people don't have access to right now. you might look on your account page and see the numbers are up. that's not something that will help you at this moment. the reality of this moment is when you take people's highest costs, food and shelter, those costs in the last three years are up more than 20%. wages have not gone up 20% for most people. as a result of that, people feel squeezed. >> molly: we have the poll america's personal finances. excellent and good 36%. fair or poor. 68%. >> you want to see a connection between the real economy and the stock market. i think the reason people aren't celebrating with three cheers the stock market is because they feel like the real economy isn't quite there yet. yes, unemployment is low but

inflation is still high. interest rates are still high. they are struggling to keep up. and i don't think they believe actually that this administration and its policies are driving better things in the stock market. there is a disconnect between politics and the market and so they are hesitant to say let's give credit to the administration and let's celebrate this. when you start to see people feeling at home like their budget matches what's happening in the stock market you will see them say i feel better. >> molly: you have listened to some of these voters. listen. >> a small restaurant, like a mom and pop restaurant, for us is very difficult because our bottom line is being pushed down. and we cannot afford to keep like this. >> you are having to pay $3 hundred a week in gas just so i can triple my food failer there. that's not taking into

consideration the price of my raw materials. the price of food has gone up. >> molly: they are talking about the real stuff. gas, where you live. you were talking about the cost of general living and keeping a business going. >> when president trump was in office everyone loved to say there was a disconnect and the economy is not what's happening in wall street. let's be consistent and say that now, too. president biden can't take credit for this. when you look at companies to the point brian was making how they can make numbers work, lay off workers, cut costs, there are ways to work on the income statement and the balance sheet to make the numbers look good so you are returning for investors. that's not policy driven and it doesn't necessarily reflect what the rest of the country is feeling. you look at these basic costs and people feel that one voter was on at one point saying i feel like my costs are up 30%. almost impossible for people to get by. it feels worse for them. the only issue will be, we've been saying it's the economy for quite some time. will people vote on that issue?

>> right. >> molly: there is a strong possibility. we have last thing to show you before we go. the side hustles. if you are doing all right and you are making enough for your family, maybe you wouldn't be doing this. these are some of the big side hustles out there right now. >> notice where they all revolve around, in the tech space. the tech space is where we saw a lot of the big layoffs happening. you have workers maybe out of a job or maybe holding onto one but thinking i have to find a bridge to something else. this is the way they do it. look, when you have more people working two jobs, even if the stock market is soaring they will say i don't love that i have to have two jobs to make ends meet. all apologies to the stock market, i need my revenues and expenses the line up better in my own life first. >> molly: great points. thank you both so much for coming on. happy new year to you guys, appreciate it. mike. >> mike: molly, the vibes are right in the study of a new pill

that could be a minimally invasive way to fight america's obesity problem. would you and should you take a pill that literally vibrates after you ingest it? dr. marc siegel on that next. the minimum wage set to rise in cities across the country next year. will higher pay lead to more layoffs? >> you will price out of the market anybody with low skills. the people at the bottom of the economic ladder are the ones who get killed by that. if you can't get on the bottom rung of the economic ladder you can't claim up the economic ladder. 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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>> mike: emoji is worth a thousand words. crying with laughter took the

top spot. top ten are all upbeat. red hearts, sparkles heart eyes. one in every five used emojis. do you have any favorites >> molly: we're still using some. >> mike: i use the praying hands a decent amount and a christmas tree a lot over the ten to 15 days to wish family and friends a merry christmas. my teenagers are kind of over my emoji game. >> molly: still go with the hearts. shoot them full hearts. new year means higher pay for minimum wage workers in 22 states and 42 cities. the hike isn't all good news. mom and pop stores say they'll need to raise prices to cover their payrolls, even big chains like pizza hut say they have to lay off workers and cut hours to foot the bill.

fox business's kelly is in chicago digging into it for us. >> illinois is one of 22 states that will increase the minimum wage in the new year. january 1st all workers will see a $1 increase to the minimum wage. non-tipped workers make $14 an hour. tipped workers will receive $8.40. the land of lincoln will have the highest minimum wage in the midwest. 11th highest in the u.s. for people like russ, a minority co-owner of a bubble tea shop the wage increase is more than just that dollar per hour. listen. >> you have the dollar per hour somebody is making. that's a piece of what that increase costs. now also the percentages that you pay into for worker's compensation, for social security, those sort of things. all those increases happen also. for a business like ours, it is a big step every time that

comes, the dollar per hour that it's costing a business is much more than that. >> supporters of the hike say this will help businesses hire and retain employees. for example, they're saying minimum wage increases are a great way to start the new year and help workers put food on the table and keep a roof overhead and boost the consumer spending that businesses depend on. fair wages help businesses hire and retain employees and deliver the reliable customer service that leads to repeat customers instead of lost customers. over in california, two pizza hut franchises say they'll lay off drivers. new york see uber, door dash and grub hub drives will be paid $18 an hour. many workers say a raise in pay, businesses could be seeing that hit to their bottom line, molly. >> molly: a great point. kelly, thank you. >> mike: listen to this one. m.i.t. engineers developed a

vibrating ingestible capsule that might help obesity. they say the results of a study on animals look promising and hope to launch human trials in the new year. dr. marc siegel joins us now. doctor, what do you make of this ingestible capsule that vibrates and do you think it could help obesity? >> it's fascinating, mike. it is called ingestible stimulator and what happens in animals. the size of a large vitamin. it works about 20 minutes before you ingest food. the animals lost -- decreased their desire to eat by 40%. took in 40% less food. it stays in your stomach four or five days and passes and you could actually replace it with another one. the key here is going to be that it is a smart pill that artificial intelligence can

regulate. send signals back to a computer that are then analyzed and figure out how much to make this thing vibrate. m.i.t. is top at this. they are top at artificial intelligence. i want to compare it for a minute. ozempic empties through the stomach and has the same effect. they do two other things. improve insulin and glucose management that is more effective and stop your brain from wanting to eat. it works in four different ways. i actually think that's metabolically an advantage over this. not everybody can tolerate those. not everybody should have that. it is doing too much. some people have side effects. this may very well be an alternative. i think it's exciting and i think it's on the road to smart pill technology.

>> molly: according to the national institutes of health 30.7% of overweight, one in three. obese 42.4%, more than two in five adults. severe obesity 9.2%. one in 11 adults. that's a significant public health issue, right, doctor? >> what that means to me as an internist i hear obesity and i think high blood pressure and diabetes. if you are thin you may not have diabetes. if you actually gain weight, you have less insulin receptors around you may become diabetic. increased risks of stroke, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and even cancer, huge reasons to get people exercising, eating right and get the weight off. >> mike: a lot of health headlines in 2023 were ozempic, a.i. drug shortages, drinking alcohol, dr. siegel.

what do you anticipate for 2024? >> i think first of all a.i. will be center stage for 2024. it is changing how we read radiology, how they read films and cat scans, how cardiologists work. there will be implantable technology or wearable technology that signals a.i. and we monitor the heart remotely. that's the direction we are heading in. at nyu langone we have used more transplants using pig organs. zdeno transplant technology going forward. really exciting. another thing that's been happening is implants in the brain. implants in the brain that have people paralyzed walking again, feeling their legs, seeing and hearing again if they can. most important thing for 2024, i am hoping, that the cdc's shift of direction toward the doctor/patient relationship. inform the doctor rather than scare the public. doctors were back in center

seat. we better behave and rely on what patients are bringing to the office, not what our mandates are or our superimposed dogma are. listen to the patient for 2024. >> mike: great advice. thank you very much. >> happy new year, thank you. >> molly: there is no slowing down this american hero. when we return you'll meet marine veteran hank donagon. his inspiring story and what he wants to accomplish on new year's day.

-hey there. -hey. -hi. hey there. how are you? i'm with disabled american veterans. i was wondering if you had a quick minute to thank america's veterans for their service and sacrifices -of course, why not? -oh, sure. -absolutely. -sure. all right. well, come on in here. i'm just going to hit record on this.

i would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. i can't even think of the words to say of how grateful i am. i want to tell you guys how much, how much we appreciate. but most importantly, i want to thank you for your courage and bravery. wow. thank you. someone here who'd like to say something to you? oh god, you guys are awesome! someone has something they want to say to you. oh my goodness! how's it going? awe! so i will let you know how much appreciate it. how much we appreciate it! just feel honored, for everything you've done. thank you for myself, thank you for everybody. i get to live every day, you know, in peace because of you. a lot of people thank us, but we want to take the time to thank you, honestly, for giving back. and when you gave to dav, you are supporting veterans like dave and myself. so thank you so much. thank you, you guys are amazing.

thank you. thank you. you can say thank you to our nation's heroes, by calling the number on your screen right now, and giving your monthly support of only $19. say thank you by going to helpdav.org right now, 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

>> mike: breaking news moments ago. ohio's governor vetoes a ban on gender affirm care and transgender athletes playing sports. one of the few republicans to do so speaking about that decision in columbus right now.

before his veto dewine told the press he visited three ohio children's hospitals to learn more about transgender treatment. the ohio general assembly is controlled by a republican super majority and could potentially override the governor's veto with a 3/five vote. >> molly: here is a truly inspiring story of an american hero. this is marine corps veteran running 50 marathons this year alone. bringing his lifetime total to 250. on new year eve he will accomplish that goal three weeks after brain cancer treatment and five months after having brain surgery. retired marine colonel hank donigan joins us live. thank you for your service and coming on and share a little bit of your inspirational story with us. i think to start i will ask what drives you through all of this?

>> so i think i have a concern about wounded warriors and their enduring needs and i would put my running towards something beneficial in raising funds for the semper fi and america's fund to help injure the needs of wounded warriors and their families. >> molly: congratulations on getting so close to the milestone. how are you feeling with all of these treatments as well? >> i'm feeling great. i'm feeling really good. >> molly: how do you keep going physically despite all of that? >> well, just a matter of training and you have to live right, so getting enough sleep and having a good diet. i've been running a marathon a week with a little bit of a break for my brain surgery, but, you know, running is a litmus

test. if you aren't living right your body won't let you do it. it is just doing the right things. >> molly: you were a marine for 30 years visiting 45 countries, seeing combat in irrelevant rack and afghanistan. you have a lot of insight who the young marines might suffer and what they go through. is that part of this being able to give back? >> yes, i try to be an advocate for veterans and the idea of helping these veterans, you know, sometimes their wounds aren't readily apparent and they ride under the radar scope. even now we have active duty folks serving in places like the middle east that are incurring wounds and will have needs. the idea that i can do my little bit to help support them keeps me motivated. >> molly: you have a goal of getting to $102,000.

getting closer and closer every day. semper fi and america's fund. what sort of work do they do? why did you choose this organization? >> well, they started out back at the beginning of the gulf war back in 2003 we had some marine wives here at camp pedestrian el ton who came together to address the needs of the wounded and their families. it grew into what became the semper fi fund. it was focused on marines and sailors. now it is grown to take care of the needs marines and families in all services. a very worthy charity and it is rated in the top 2% of all charities in the country. they have very low administrative costs. so that keeps me motivated to pound the payment and try to help them out. >> molly: all right. hank, retired marine colonel.

we wish you good health, a good run and happy new year. thank you for sharing your story and the veterans and how people can help. we really appreciate it. >> all the best from san diego. >> molly: wonderful, thank you. all the best to you, mike. >> mike: what a remarkable guy. look at times square. the earth came giving us a look at where the ball drops in three days. it was revealed earlier this week. any new year's resolution? >> molly: one year we went vegetarian for the month. i think this year i want to declutter. clear space. what about you? >> mike: maybe i'll take the month off from drinking. we heard there were good benefits. >> molly: going to join the dry january club? >> mike: "the faulkner focus" is next, julie banderas in for harris. >> julie: fox news alert. maine is now the secon