president obama so is mitt romney ready to deploy the new jersey governor for some much needed campaign support? stat! >> all right. they blew through billions of tax dollars and came crawling back for more. why are mortgage monsters fannie and freddie throwing lavish conferences, huge christmas parties all because america lost money? is that a reason to celebrate because we've been foreclosed? we'll examine. "fox & friends" starts right now. >> hi, everybody. welcome to studio e live from rockefeller center where we lit the christmas tree last night and as gretchen said a moment ago, it's december 1st. if you're down in south carolina may i suggest a great way to start the morning would be to do what sean hannity did yesterday and that would be to stop by tommy's country ham house in

greenville the food looks delicious. >> and? >> and if you like food and the festivities and politics, that's the place to be. >> because newt gingrich ended up showing up with a christmas tree in the foreground. >> that's right. he's ahead in the polls there now as well as you see the florida polls? i mean, newt gingrich is running away with this thing. 47% approval rating or people who would vote for him down in florida. i think mitt romney was second at 15 or something like that. newt now considering himself and proclaing himself as the front runner. there's that poll i was talking about. mitt romney actually 17%. herman cain still 15%. is newt the true conservative now in this race? a lot of others have been claiming that. but here's newt's claim. >> by any rational standard. i mean, i had a 90% american conservative view for 20 years. i helped ronald reagan and jack kemp develop supply-side

economi economics. i helped the speaker of the house balance the federal budget for four straight years and reform welfare as an entitlement, first tax cuts in 16 years. take what your list of conservativism is, there's places in my career where i've done that stuff and i've been consistent about it. i was for ronald reagan long before people began just to quote him. so that part, i think, there's no contest. >> well, there you go, see, very good point that he made was i was for ronald reagan before being for ronald reagan was cool. >> i did something interesting yesterday, he said something to all his reporters saying i will not. i'm pledging not to attack another republican in my effort to become the nominee. >> he's been good. >> not going to be a negative campaign. if you look at mitt romney's attacks, newt gingrich in formal press releases as opposed to rick perry, zero. zero. >> what do you mean by that? >> verbally, in terms of like attack and look at what governor perry said here. >> to brian's point, there's an

item on real clear politics this morning that talks about has mitt romney been focused on the wrong rival? since september, romney's press shop has put out 59 missives about the missteps of rick perry, the governor of the great state of texas. how many have they put out about newt gingrich? absolutely zero. >> that's all changing now, though. rick perry was neck and neck with mitt romney. it makes sense as to why they would have done that. it will be interesting to see if they too that now because gingrich may have more staying power than other candidates. in an interview last night, i thought it was very interesting and probably strategically on point for newt gingrich to compliment every other candidate in this race and he worked that into the interview and i thought that was very important. it's been sort of his way of doing things and is that what people also like about him? is that an undertone that they like about him? >> well -- go ahead, bri. >> he also went ahead and one thing about newt gingrich, you

leave an interview with something new. and for example, he didn't say oh, if i take on president obama, i'll challenge him, he even had a plan for this. and how he'd do it. listen. >> when i am the nominee in tampa, and we're there and we're doing your show, at the time of my acceptance speech, if the president has not accepted, i will announce that the white house is now my scheduler and wherever the president goes, i will follow him four hours later. >> how long would you be willing to keep that up? >> until ee he -- election day. we'd have gingrich taking apart the obama speech three or four times a day. >> he'd be very busy. gretch touched a moment ago on the florida poll where he's absolutely flourishing. let's take a look at rasmussen where they link up the president vs. some republicans and add you can see right there, for the first time, newt gingrich is actually eclipsing the president of the united states. it is, however, as you can see,

margin of error is 3. they're within that. versus mitt romney right now as you can see, the president would beat him. the president would also beat handily herman cain if the election were today. don't worry, it's not. >> couple of interesting points is that gingrich challenged obama to seven three hour lincoln douglas style debates where there would be a timekeeper, maybe a moderator. that would be interesting to see. a lot of people would pay to see those particular debates. you and i have talked about this on our radio show. did you see some of the staffers that left newt gingrich high and dry over the summer that people said he would never be anything, they said we made mistakes. there are no competitors. he is the best in the business. that's the quote from one of them. he took some of those people back. would you have done that? taken staffers back that left you to die and now they say maybe we should get on this train. it looks like you're doing pretty good now. >> the newt train rather than the cain train. it would be hard to take somebody back if they bad

mouthed you in public. >> but private is ok? >> they all do it. it's politics. >> despite newt being in the front in the polls and has the wind at his back, he doesn't have an infrastructure in two or three states. he's on the rise in new hampshire. basically on his national appearances, and many people should think and you've said this, look what happened four years ago as the republicans were vying for the nomination. rudy giuliani at this .4 years ago, up. fred thompson was still the flavor of the month but people were starting to take a lick and not like. john mccain -- >> take a lick and not like? >> made it up. maybe i'll retract it for the west coast. >> you're talking about herman cain's ice cream. >> yes, i was. black walnut. mitt romney ahead of mike huckabee. we know huckabee would get momentum winning iowa. >> very interesting. never count anyone out is the message there. let's do a couple of headlines for your thursday and speaking of herman cain, he says he'll decide this week whether he will quit his run for the white house

and the republican presidential candidate says he'll sit down with his wife tomorrow to discuss his future that he's getting tired of discussing the whole thing with some folks in the media. >> you are making an accusation quite frankly that is not true. i said face to face -- now, are you going to be contentious or do you want me to answer the question? i have talked to my wife many times since monday about this situation. i have not talked to her face to face. that's what i said. >> ginger white alleges she and cain were involved in a 13-year sexual relationship. cain denies those accusations. the children of missing orlando mother michelle parker back with their father, the prime suspect in her disappearance this morning? dale smith jr., a convicted criminal as well as i just said the prime suspect, still a judge says he does not pose a threat to his 3-year-old twins. surprisingly, parker's mother

was seen hugging smith following the hearing. she says she will not fight for custody. parker disappeared exactly two weeks ago, the same day she and smith appeared on an episode of "the people's court" arguing over the cost of an engagement ring. today, crews will help police look for parker, the same group that searched for caylee anthony. coming up next hour, we'll talk to john welch about this case. an american man back on u.s. soil, gary giordano arriving back on american soil. the two flying first class back into new york city. he is now a free man four months after robin gardner disappeared. an aruban judge says there's not enough evidence to keep them behind bars. the 2011 grammy nominations announced last night. >> ♪ we could have it all

♪ in the deep >> adele, bruno mars and the foo fighters each getting six nominations. kanye west, though, leading the pack with seven. >> ♪ something about this place ♪ ♪ with the lipstick >> performance by lady gaga who went wild on the eyeliner. >> you think so? >> and sugarland, the grammys will be held february 12th in los angeles. and i thought i had an eye problem today. i have this huge allergy in my eyes. i don't think i look quite like that yet. >> you know what it reminds me of? the dog on little rascals. with the one eye. >> we're not allowed to watch little rascals anymore. >> no. >> that's right. >> right. we're told not to. >> if i'm caught watching it, it's like killing a praying mantis. >> you might feel the same way

if you get caught at a christmas party most -- hosted by fannie and freddie. >> wait, they can't have christmas parties. they bought the real estate culture down. >> they've been spending something like $640,000 to send 100 employees to a chicago conference about mortgages this past fall and there's a congressman, a republican from the great state of texas who said are you kidding me? that's really, really lavish. we got a breakdown on all the dough they spent and it is a lot and given the fact that we've had to bail them out to the tune of $151 billion, some people are going should we be spending $342,000 on travel food, hotel rooms and meeting space for these people. >> it's easy when it's not your money and you don't have any shareholders to answer to, just us. it's the same mind set when you lose $200 billion for solyndra. sorry about that. i need to apologize. there's registration fees,

$68,000 and you have a total bill that's off the charts of $177 billion in terms of what fannie and freddie needed in terms of a bailout and they're still not solvent but they're ok to spend on this. >> i guess their argument, if i had to make one up, is they still have to go out and garner some business and that's the way that they try to do that, spending $640,000. meanwhile, the guys at the c.i.a., in fact, the guys who actually found bin laden are cutting back on their holiday parties this year. they say that because of the economy, it's a good time to not spend as much money. so it's kind of a dichotomy here. on one side, you have the government funded fannie and freddie now continuing to spend the money and getting those types of bonuses for their executives and at the same time, you have the people that killed usama bin laden not having a a little egg nog to celebrate. >> a year ago, leon panetta was in charge, he had a huge celebration, directors were there. everyone shook hands. they had quesedillas that you know are pricey, grilled shrimp

that you know are big ones and the fried oysters, together, you had a lavish spread and i would believe those people who get very little acclaim for what they do deserve it but they're tightening their belts on their own. >> this year at the c.i.a. and the director of national intelligence, it's going to be smaller. it's going to be cheaper. and they're not going to allow any members of the press in to do any reportage about how many they're spending. it is largely symbolic. keep in mind, these parties generally cost about $50,000 which is a drop in the bucket when you look at our intelligence bill? >> what about our christmas parties? that's outdoors. >> i don't know. our christmas party last year was not $54 billion and that was what the budget was -- >> we had a lot of streamers and for 90 minutes we had an open bar. you never know. >> and a lot of crew members who needed a drink. anyway, let us know what you think about that. in the mean time, we showed you a new poll that put newt gingrich ahead of mitt romney in florida in a become way. has the former massachusetts governor been focused on the wrong candidate the entire time?

>> call him the governor who stole christmas. lincoln chafee says -- >> that's me! >> rhode island's official spruce is a holiday tree. is he being too p.c.? the farmer who donated that tree coming up next but first, more from the band perry, the only country act that got a mainstream nomination and debuted their song, i believe on our very show. why settle for a one-note cereal? ♪ more, more, more... get more with honey bunches of oats 4 nutritious grains come together for more taste, more healthy satisfaction. get more with honey bunches of oats.

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somebody who has been down this road many times, a former media advisor to president george w. bush and so many others and a global vice chairman and a busy guy but sitting this one out, observing and analyzing. first off, do you think that mitt romney has been wrong, mark, in not emphasizing or not looking at or getting an opposition strategy for newt gingrich? >> there's so much irony here, brian, it's so much fun to watch the physics of politics because four years ago, we were in such a similar situation with john mccain, as you recall, his campaign melted down in june and was on the ropes. and everybody talked about how strong mitt romney was. and we're seeing the same thing here and everybody was talking about how mitt romney had learned so many lessons having been through this before. he may have forgotten the most important lesson of all, that's keep your eye on the guy who has a perception as having strength because that's the one attribute that voters care about most when they're voting for a president. they don't vote on single issues. the thing they really want to see is strength and muscle and

bold, boldness to step up and that's exactly what newt gingrich is. there's nobody bolder or stronger than newt gingrich. and so it really shouldn't be any surprise that he's risen like he is. >> but isn't that hindsight 20/20 a little bit, mark? i'm thinking about all the debates that we all watched. no doubt they helped newt gingrich. that's why one of the main reasons he's in the polls where he is. you could argue all the candidates have been strong from time to time. >> well, of course, it's 20/20 hindsight but that's the value of seeing what's happening in the polls now. >> yeah, but if -- >> but if you look at all those candidates on paper and you said, ok, all these people, herman cain, perry, bachmann, you'd say ok, who is the strongest of them all? no question, it's newt gingrich. he's the guy who gets on stage, absolutely dominates. he's the smartest guy in the room. he's the toughest guy in the room and he's the guy that always looks the strongest against obama.

>> one more theory, could it be that he did size up newt as formidable but he didn't want that fight and has to be careful how he has that fight because it's not perry and it's not cain? >> yeah, sure. part of the problem is that, you know, romney is in many ways has run a great campaign but at the bottom in many ways, he's running a cautious campaign that reminds me of walter mondale's famous campaign theme "dare to be cautious." you know, and the problem -- the problem is that in the end, you got to be bold and that's what newt gingrich is doing. that's why he's breaking through. >> they're very different in that way. that's such an important point. i'm thinking back to that ohio ballot initiative when romney didn't take a stand. the minute you said it, that came up. >> look at how happy he is not to be involved here. >> is this mitt romney or his advisors? >> it's a little bit of both. there's "the new york times" big story over the weekend or very recently where the advisors were

all talking about how smart they are to keep things cautious or keep mitt romney on a leash. now they may be paying the price for that. >> very interesting. great to get your thoughts. thanks for getting up bright and early. >> kick it hard. thanks. >> got 12 hours before anybody else wakes up down there. it will be interesting. still ahead, a river in germany dries up. you'll never believe what was found at the bottom. a bomb the size of a truck. germany and bombs? how does that happen? >> don't call it a christmas tree. rhode island's governor says the capitol spruce is a holiday tree. many are outraged including even thehristmas tree farmer who donated that tree. he joins us next. >> outrageous! [ sniffling ] [ male announcer ] all stuffed up?

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>> welcome back. rhode island governor lincoln chafee facing a firestorm after refusing to call the state's official christmas tree a christmas tree. he calls it a holiday tree. despite the backlash, chafee is not backing down from this declaration and our next guest is upset. why? because he's the one who donated the christmas tree. he says the governor is being too politically correct. what do you think about this? john timothy layden is the owner of the big christmas tree farm and joins us live from providence, rhode island. good morning to you. >> good morning. good morning and merry christmas to everybody! >> that's right. thank you very much. we lit the christmas tree here in rockefeller center last night so -- >> exactly, a christmas tree. >> exactly. now, you grew the christmas tree. you donated the christmas tree. when did you find out the governor is calling your christmas tree a holiday tree? >> basically, i heard on a

radio talk show host and you're right, we grew that tree. we are a christmas tree farm. we're not a holiday farm. we're certainly not an x-mas tree farm, we're a christmas tree farm where we sell christmas trees and that particular tree for the statehouse was roughly about 40 years old. we've been planting and growing trees for about 40 years. it was one of the original trees that we actually planted and we did, we had a very soft spot in our heart for that tree. it's a beautiful blue spruce. it's about 20 feet tall and to be called anything less than a christmas tree is missing the point. >> the governor says, you know, he's trying to be respectful of the state history where they respect people of all religions and so they don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, they're going to call the christmas tree the holiday tree. what do you think is going on there? >> you know, i think that you can go politically correct so far. you can't say to your friends and neighbors or strangers pa passing merry christmas. people wish me a happy hanukkah,

i wish happy hanukkah back. are we going to get to the point on the calendar, december 25th, it's going to say holiday instead of christmas. >> there are a number of people across the country that would like to see that. >> i'm opposed to that, let me tell you. >> i understand it. here's a statement from lincoln chafee. he says the use of the term "holiday tree" is a continuation of past practice and does not represent a change, of course, on my part. i would encourage all those engaged in this discussion whatever their opinion on the matter to use their energy and enthusiasm to make a positive difference in the lives of their fellow rhode islanders. what he's telling people to do is if you're steamed about this, go out and volunteer for something. i understand you are steamed about this and in the future you may not donate a christmas tree to the governor. >> that's correct. we have donated trees for probably the last six or seven years. we support representative doreen costa in herursuit and we will

also donate a tree to doreen costa and we encourage her. we back her 100%. >> sure. yesterday when we had her on the program, we encouraged people who are not happy with this decision to contact the governor of the great state of rhode island. so folks, if you didn't get the phone number yesterday, his phone number is 401-222-2080. you're not going to talk to the governor himself. but you'll talk to a member of his staff. please be nice and just state your opinion. what you think about this idea. all right, john timothy, we thank you very much for joining us today. >> i appreciate your time also and i encourage everybody to go out and support their local tree farmers and thank you very much. and merry christmas. >> merry christmas to you. we have a live tree at the doocy house and always have and always will. nothing beats the smell. thank you, john. what do you think about that? e-mail us, friends at foxnews.com. speaking of governors, new

jersey governor chris christie is on the attack again. >> as i said before, it's a sad day in our country's history to have a bystander in the oval office. >> ouch! is christie kicking off his campaign for mitt romney who he has endorsed? we'll report, you're going to decide. he just received the nation's top military honor and now dakota meyer suing his former employer saying he's mentally unstable this morning. his family is coming to his defense. his story straight ahead. i've got nothing against these do-it-yourself steam cleaners. lugging around a hot water extraction unit can be a rush! that's why i'm carpet for life. but if things get out hand, there's no shame in calling us. ♪call 1-800-steemer.

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booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia. >> well, newt gingrich's campaign, newt gingrich is surging, ladies and gentlemen. so much so he's opened five new offices in south carolina. now, they say the race is between newt and mitt. newt and mitt. remember a couple of years ago we thought barack was a weird name for a president. it's like a hobbitt is running for president. >> would you prefer will yard? >> i was going to say you could go back to your real name. is newt really his name?

>> that's a trivia question today. >> isn't that short for newton? >> could be. we'll have to check. >> never thought of that. >> you didn't? no. >> fig newton maybe. >> newt gingrich will fade. >> huh? >> that's right. that's what chris christie said yesterday at the republican governors association down in orlando, florida. he had a lot of talking to do about what he thinks is going on. he also says that he thinks the democrats' attacks on mitt romney are the greatest thing in the world for mitt's campaign because it shows that mitt romney is the person they're most fearful of. >> right. we've had democratic strategists on the show that have said the very same thing. what caught my attention yesterday they still say that barack obama will probably win the 2012 election. that you should not just sit back and say hey, it looks like it's going to be a landslide for the republican. i thought it was very interesting that they all echoed

that same sort of sentiment. >> governor christie weighed in yesterday. let's weigh in with him. >> best way to get our country to move forward is set an example of that real leadership looks like and real leadership is not what you see in the white house right now. as i said before, it's a sad day that our country's history to have a bystander in the oval office. >> is the theme that i'm surprised that mitt romney didn't pick up on because he's quoting mitt romney because it's very clean and crisp and governor christie was so good a couple of days ago in being very clear in his delivery about why mitt romney is the right choice and he's going to be taking that message to iowa. it looks like, i bet you as he continues to rise, i see the romney camp using it more and more. >> using what? >> using governor chris christie. >> why not when you've already got the endorsement and the other important thing is the romney camp refocusing on iowa.

first strategy was not to do anything in iowa and now it may be the case where they have to sink some dollars and some time into that state. >> the fella that's surging in iowa right now is newt, newton leroy gingrich. >> everybody knows that. >> that's his full name. >> now for your headlines, the secret service says john hinckley jr. is still obsessed with president reagan, the man he tried to kill 30 years ago. he's trying to get released from a psych ward in washington. his lawyers are claiming he's not dangerous. the secret was during a trip to his mama's house earlier this year, he lied about going to the movies and instead went to the bookstore and looked at books about ronald reagan and presidential assassins, i should say. the judge will rule on hinckley's request next week. >> meanwhile, the family of marine sergeant dakota meyer coming to his defense weeks after receiving the medal of honor, as you can see right there, the medal of honor recipient says he's having trouble finding a job. so now, he's suing his previous

employer for alleging he has a drinking problem and is mentally unstable. meyer's family insisting to fox news he's not a drinker. meyer says the defense contractor bae systems started spreading bogus rumors because he objected to the company's sale of high-tech sniper scopes to pakistan. meyer received the nation's top military award for saving 36 comrades during an ambush in afghanistan and now he can't find a job. >> i don't know how he could be out of shape. he was on a verandah a couple of weeks ago. he was in unbelievable shape. >> moving on to germany that hasn't seen an evacuation like this since world war ii. residents ordered to leave after a 1940's era bomb was found in the rhine river. members of the army will try to defuse the explosive. truck sized bomb was spotted after a dry november lowered water levels on the rhine. truck size bomb? holy cow! >> 24 minutes before the top of

the hour. you got to see this. you have a mall santa claus getting himself into a ho, whole lot of trouble in palm beach. yes, the fake st. nick trying to make a grand entrance by rappelling three stories from the ground. >> it is rope-pelling. he's using a rope. >> that's when his beard got stuck in the pulley and he was stranded in mid air. he eventually made it down safe and sound. tomorrow, you can catch our own very rick reichmuth attempting a similar stunt without the beard. it's probably more dangerous. he's carrying on a christmas tradition by rappelling, spelled differently, off the landmark building in connecticut just like he did last year with yankees general manager brian cashman. that is cool and gutsy. >> so funny how i remember that story. exactly. two years ago, the obama administration agreed to double the u.s. contribution to the imf. now they may add even more aid in the european bailout effort. >> so should the united states be putting so much into a

bailout of europe when even some of its own member countries refuse to get involved? stuart varney joins us live right now. stuart, we're bailing out europe again. >> has president obama been outmaneuvered by angela merkel of germany? why don't the germans put their own money to bail out their own country? they certainly do not want to but president obama, he does not want europe to sink into some kind of depression which would really hurt his re-election chances. so the federal reserve pumps american cash, dollars that is, printed dollars, pumps it into europe. and in reserve, we've got the imf fund. if the europeans eventually decide we have to bail ourselves out, they may look for imf money. we have direct taxpayer, american taxpayer money in the imf. that's how our taxpayer dollars would, in fact, be used to bail out europe. if they call on the imf. >> isn't somebody mad yet?

>> yes. >> that countries that actually money are the ones that always have to bail out the other ones that have terrible social programs and end up making them go bankrupt? when is somebody going to figure that out? >> it's a very tough political sell for president obama. people are very angry that american dollars are being used to bail out those thankless europeans and yet the president has to make the case it is in america's interest to bail out the europeans so they don't go into a depression. >> and it is because they say, the stats read that 53% of american profits are generated from sales to europe. so if they collapse, where's that go? >> granted, we do not want to see them go into a depression. does this federal reserve pumping in the dollars, does that work? it's purely buying some time. they've got to come up with a solution of their own. that's the only way around this problem. they showed no signs of doing it yet. >> since the stock market went up about half a million points yesterday, i'm sure we'll be

talking about this and so much more in your program on fox business. >> at length. at length. yes, sir. >> thank you very much. we'll be watching. >> print some money for us, won't you, stuart? >> i think that's illegal. >> ok. >> a new generic version of the cholesterol pill lipitor now available. what's the difference between the generic and name brand? our medical a team with what you need to know. >> the irs owes you money, how to make sure you get what's owed.

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i'll be right here, waiting for it. who wouldn't want more cash? [ insects chirping ] i'll take it. i'll make it rain up in here. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? sorry i'll clean this up. shouldn't have made it rain. >> we've got some headlines for you. the reverend billy graham was tested for pneumonia after suffering from congestion, a cough and a fever. he's said to be alert and smiling.

meanwhile, the i.r.s. trying to track down 100,000 americans but not because they owe government money. the i.r.s. has refund checks for them and they're not chump change. the average undelivered refund is more than $1500. if you think you might need one or are owed one, go to irs.gov to see if there's a refund in your name. i'll look on that right now and see if mr. kilmeade is owed cash. >> if i am, steve, i'll buy coffee at the top of the hour. but meanwhile, first thing is first. it's the biggest selling prescription drug in the word. now a generic version of lipitor is finally available to the public. the cholesterol lowering drug advertised heavily has proven to be effective for millions of americans. essentially, it works. will there be any difference now that there's a new generic drug to choose from? dr. david sumadi is a member of our fox medical a team. that's on the top of his

business card. he does something on the side, chief of division of robotics at mount sinai. doctor, what is it -- we see lipitor everywhere. for those who don't have cholesterol issues, what is it? >> it's a cholesterol lowering medications and really, when your cholesterol is up, you can have plaques in the arteries. it can cause it and as a result, it can reduce the blood flow to the heart and you can get heart disease and you can get stroke. this medication since 1997 has been extremely instrumental in lowering the cholesterol, especially the bad cholesterol by 50%. so it can prevent and it can help your heart disease. >> in terms of money, it's worth? >> in 2010, brian, 8.7 million people used this medication. over $10 billion industry in this medication alone. unbelievable medication and you can see worldwide, there's a lot of use for lipitor. >> when the f.d.a. says, ok, you can use this drug. we think it works. so put it out there on the market, you turn around and say how long can i keep it exclusive? and they gave them a deal and

now that deal for pfizer is up. what does it mean for the consumer for someone who needs lipitor now? will the price go down? >> absolutely. and we're going to see that with more generics coming in after this, the price of it is going to go way down. the big news is that yesterday the patent ended and now it opens the door for a lot of other companies to come up with a generic version of it. if you don't have insurance, the cost of this medication would be somewhere around $150. with insurance, it would be somewhere in the range of $50. now that the generic is coming in, pfizer is marketing it at $4 a month and pfizer is pushing to get the same brand for $4 a month. which is lower than some of the wal-mart prices and things that we've talked about in the past. big news. >> they can control the market. here's the bigger question. if i'm out there and i'm wondering, pfizer didn't make this lipitor. should i buy it? what would you say to them? >> the ingredients and the

component of the medication has to be identical, has to be the same and the f.d.a. looks very seriously into this. the way it works, the color of the pill, the shape of the pill may be different but the ingredient has to be the same cholesterol lowering medication and the generic name and i think like now patients can get this medication for much lower price. it's great for consumers. this doesn't apply to medicare patients, by the way. >> and doctor, they knew the day was coming in pfizer. it will affect their price and value. >> they're reaching out to all the people out there to insurance companies and pharmaceuticals to make sure they get the medication at a low price. >> good luck with the robot today. >> i have a lot of them. >> you have a lot of surgery? >> we have five surgeries and it's a great day and we're having a great time saving people's lives. >> that's fantastic. thanks, dr. sumadi. still ahead, president obama fundraising in new york city asking millionaires for some cash. are those the people he wants to tax?

and i think the answer is yes. and the husband of congresswoman gabby giffords, astronaut mark kelly reading never before heard letters he wrote to his wife. almost tastes like one of jack's als. fiber one. h, forgot jack cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! [ jack ] yeah, ts is pretty good. [ male announcer ]alf a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. mary? what are you doing here? it's megan. i'm getting new insurance. marjorie, you've had a policy with us for three years. it's been five years. five years.

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>> it's been just 10 months since the tragic shooting in tucson, arizona but congresswoman gabrielle giffords is making unbelievable strides in her recovery. she's talking to her constituents and even thinking about running for re-election in 2012. standing by her side the entire time, her husband, captain mark kelly. he's an astronaut and the author of the new book "gabby, a story of courage" and my guest on the kouch. >> great to be here, gretchen. >> so many people are pulling for the two of you as a couple and the one image that comes

back to my mind as a journalist is seeing your wife back on the floor of congress for that vote this summer. >> yep. >> what was it about her spirit that said i want to be there? >> well, she doesn't give up and she knew it was going to be an important vote. she had been following the issue for such a long time and we talk about that moment a lot in the book and it was, you know, really exciting to see her walk out in front of the floor and have her voice heard. >> it was so emotional, i can imagine for her. and seeing all the members of congress there. the other thing that sticks out in my mind is the decision that you made to go back into space. and one of the chapters you write back in the book is entitled "a family of risk takers" this was in your blood. was it gabby's to go back up there? >> absolutely. i wanted her to be part of the decision process but at the time she couldn't communicate well enough to do that. i knew what she would want and that's for me not to give up on my dream which was to go to space for a fourth time. >> in the book, you write

letters, poignant letters to your two daughters, claudia and claire. and to gabby. in case you don't return. and i would like you to read part of one of those. >> shuttle flights are incredibly risky. the odds are not in people's favor, you know, on a lot of these flights so we do that. we would write a letter, you know, just in case we didn't come back. and this, you know, out of -- out of this chapter on my mission, out of the book, it says next i wrote to claudia and claire. my letter to claire began, "if you are reading this, things didn't turn out as we expected and i will not be with you anymore. i told her i loved her more than she'll ever know and she's my little buddy and that uncle scott would be there for her in my place. i reminded her, i'd always be proud of her and that she's smart, loving and beautiful. i also wrote please try to stay connected with your stepmom. gabby loves you very much and needs you in her life. you need her, too. she will get better. please help her with that. >> wow.

you know, i'm thinking about all that you've gone through this year. with gabby. >> yes. >> to think you'd have to write a letter like that to your children? >> yeah. it's been -- it's been a tough year. and it's one of the reasons we decided to write this book is, you know, while it's all fresh in our minds to put it down and , you know, i think people will be, you know, be very interested in the story. >> so one of the challenges now she faces in her recovery is actually the communication aspect of it. >> yes. >> where does she stand right now as far as trying to get her speech back? >> she's still improving all the time. i think a lot of folks saw her with, you know, there was a special that showed about where she was a couple of months ago but she's starting to strung a couple of sentences together and, you know, with a lot of hard work, you can recover from this type of injury. >> one of the other things that was so difficult for her to realize was that other people had died. and we were covering it here on "fox & friends" that next morning and i interviewed the mother of kristina green, a

young child and her mother roxanna. does gabby know that little girl came to see her that day because she was her role model? >> she does. and, you know, part of the reason is, you know, part of our book that goes over that day talks about why kristina was there and what the last words that she heard, you know, right before she was killed. and it was about, you know, that one day you could possibly grow up and be like gabrielle giffords. so, you know, very, very tragic day for so many people. >> uh-huh. >> as far as the future holds i know you're going to make a decision together about whether or not she'll run for re-election after the first of the year. what will go into that decision? >> first, she'll make the decision. i might have, you know, i'll give my opinion. the decision is ultimately hers. it's going to be, you know, whether she feels she can do the job. being a member of congress is really hard work. from what i've seen, the way gabby does the job, it's an incredibly brutal schedule. so, you know, it's going to be,

you know, she'll have to decide whether she can do this. >> finally, jared loughner, the man allegedly responsible for this, what do you think about him? >> he's incredibly skits fr-- schizophrenic. when he's on the medication, he does a little bit better. i don't talk about him too much in the book. the book is very positive. it's, you know, positive and i think it's more like a love story than anything else. a real life daniel steele novel. >> no doubt that's one of the reasons she's improved so dramatically is the love you have for each other. amazing book and very inspirational especially during this time of year. great to see you. >> thank you, gretchen. >> coming up on our show, john walsh, the ultimate authority on finding missing people and he's here with new and breaking details about that florida mom who went missing after appearing on the people's court. president obama is telling millionaires in new york he

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>> top of the morning to you. it's thursday, it's december 1st, of course, 2011. i'm gretchen carlson. thanks for sharing your time today. president obama said if he's one and done, then he can -- then he did one and done if he couldn't turn the country around. that's what it was. he's telling millionaires in new york he needs more time and some much their money. >> the latest g.o.p. frontrunner says america has spoken! and newt is the man to beat. plus how he plans to take president obama down as the nominee. >> all right. and christmas has been banned from government buildings all across the nation as we've told you but not here on "fox & friends." that's right. as you can see, you've got mary, joseph and baby jesus here live.

and a camel! a live nativity scene. what is that about? the details straight ahead. you're watching "fox & friends." >> it's really cool. that was in front of the u.s. supreme court yesterday, that living nativity scene. and today, it's on our plaza. >> right. >> going to go out and talk to those folks about that. >> soon, i'm going to see if that will go under my tree for the entire christmas season. >> that would be great. >> your holiday tree? >> one of the last things that's remaining in new york city that hasn't been touched by political correctness yet is the live nativity scene at the rockettes show as well. if you're coming to new york city and you want to celebrate christmas and get into the spirit, you should go to the show, yes, i'm promoting it because at the very end, there's a very moving live nativity scene. hasn't been taken away in 2011. >> right and i saw spiderman.

so it's a little different. >> what kind of message -- >> that's all i was thinking about, oh, my goodness, i wonder if he's going to fall. how does he fall from here? would that hurt? other thing i would like to bring up, too, i'd like to take another shot outside for a second, there's a lot of debate of whether or not there's a drummer boy or not. do we have a drummer boy out there? exactly. >> that's a good question. i remember this conversation, we have had this in past christmas seasons, weren't you the drummer boy in your pageant? >> no, you're thinking of another host. >> no, no. it's not that. >> i was never a drummer boy in the pageant. >> you brought up that question. it's a deep one and as soon as we go outside in a half-hour. >> thanks for the idea later when we tape our christmas special. brian as the drummer boy. let's talk some politics, shall we? newt gingrich now says he's the new frontrunner on the republican side and it's because the american people have spoken and put him there. listen to this.

>> it's clear the country is talking to itself and it's clear that across the country, people are saying, you know, i think we need newt gingrich because we need somebody who can debate obama. we need somebody who has actually done it before. we need somebody with very substantial, big ideas and so i think whereas i would have thought originally it was going to be mit and not mitt, it may be newt and not newt. and that's a very different formula than frankly -- i'm willing to redesign our campaign strategy because we're at least 60 days ahead of where i thought we'd be. >> two scenarios. if this plays out the way it is and we're too savvy at this point to predict. who would have thought this thing happened with herman cain, who would think that governor perry would have the problems he did? let's say it does play out. if this goes on for eight months, a lot of republicans say this is great. it's going to be like president obama and hillary clinton is going to dominate the news waves. how they fight is key. are they going to be tearing each other down, ripping apart each other's records or are they

going to be debate issues? if they debate issues, this could be a momentum thing. if they start picking on people's pasts and vulnerabilities and do the work of the other party. >> they'll do that! >> there will be nothing left standing. >> let's ask our viewers that. do you think that newt and mitt will go at it really hard now or will they stay on the surface? i think this is the biggest question for both of their group of advisors right now is how they're going to move forward. brian, that's an excellent point. because will mitt romney really want to go toe to toe on every single debate and policy issue with newt gingrich? i don't know. >> his press department, mitt romney's has been picking on rick perry thinking that he was the biggest rival to him and that was a big mistake. we were talking a little bit about that because last time, mitt romney focused in on -- in 2008 focused in on rooney and it was john mccain and didn't take a shot at john mccain until it was too late. newt in that interview featured on the hannity program last night from greenville, south

carolina, and tommy's country ham house, newt talked a little bit about if he is the nominee, a little stunt he would pull against the president of the united states. >> when i am the nominee in tampa, and we're there and we're doing your show, at the time of my acceptance speech, if the president has not accepted, i will announce that the white house is now my scheduler. and wherever the president goes, i will follow him four hours later. >> how long would you be willing to keep that up? >> until election day. that would mean we'd have gingrich taking apart the obama speech three or four times a day. >> let's hope the president is not doing midnight basketball because newt will be speaking at 4:00 in the morning. >> fresh for the morning. >> remember how the media chased after sarah palin and her bus and never knew where she was going to be. can you imagine the media chase off newt gingrich to be there in four hours? >> be there in four hours. >> not even running.

we got some polls to show you this morning how much newt gingrich is surging. as you can see, this is the very latest rasmussen report poll, and the margin of error is 3%. nonetheless, newt gingrich, if the election were held today would beat the president of the united states by two. the president would, however, beat mitt romney at this stage and he would also beat herman cain. currently, newt gingrich is leading in three of the four early voting states. >> check out florida which we all know is very important state when it comes to the general election but look at newt gingrich now in the florida g.o.p. primary. 47%. 30 points ahead of mitt romney at 17% and herman cain at 15%. >> remember four years ago, we were just kids trying to make our way in the world and so -- >> you were a drummer boy back then, were you? >> that's a rolling pageant. listen, there were republicans trying to become the next nominee and rudy giuliani was out on top. by far the most popular.

thompson, mccain and mike huckabee rounded out the field and ron paul pulling up the rear. everything turned on its head. >> that's why all the pundits said all the people should drop out of the race three months ago. all you needed to do was go back four years to realize that things can change on a dime. still might. >> it isn't over until it's over. yesterday, they were predicting it could be the worst traffic nightmare in new york city history in the last 10 years. not only were they lighting the tree with an appearance by justin bieber just a block away from us but the president of the united states came with hat in hand asking people for money. and -- >> three different fundraisers. >> he did and they were pricey. let's take a look at the big board and find out how much -- at one reception for 30 people at a private home, i think the tickets were something like 30,000 dollars a piece. no at jack rosen's house, cocktails were $10,000. at the gotham bar and grill in

the east village, tickets were $28,800 a piece. >> i think they were higher, the private home was 30 and the restaurant 35 and the sheridan would only cost you $1,000. >> doesn't this fly in the face of the occupy wall street protesters who were arguing about the 1%? you're in the 1% if you can afford to go to those events. guess what? they were protesting outside the sheridan here against the president last night saying, you know, isn't it a little disingenuous that you would come and try to raise money for millionaires when you were calling out millionaires and billionaires for the last four months and also supporting the protesters. something doesn't add up there. >> that's one thing. for those who sleep in zuccotti park to protest the president, when the president has done nothing but praise them. that just shows how delusional the whole movement is. >> they were called -- the occupy people yesterday called the president of the united states a corporate puppet. also, remember a while back, the president of the united states sat down for an interview with nbc news and he said, you know what? if i can't fix this country

economically in three years, then i should only be a one term president. last night when the president was here in new york city, he has completely changed his tune. >> after all that's happened in washington, it may be tempting to believe that, you know what? change isn't as possible as we thought. real change, big change is hard! it takes time! it takes more than a single term. it may take more than a single president. >> well, for all the people -- >> another term. >> for all the people who voted for hope and change, i think, just speculating a lot of those people thought that hope and change would come in the first term. that's why they voted for this president. >> they thought the first year. >> they thought he was going to be a new kind of president that could actually evoke change on capitol hill. and now he's saying that actually it takes eight years to do the whole hope and change. so will the voters go for that? >> 9 minutes after the hour. let's go for the headlines. >> herman cain will decide this

week whether he'll work out his run for the white house. in new hampshire yesterday, cain came tired discussing the whole thing with some folks in the media. >> you are making an accusation quite frankly that is not true. now, i said -- now, i said face to face, now, are you going to be contentious or do you want me to answer your question? i have talked to my wife many times since monday about this situation. i have not talked to her face to face. that's when i said we have had many lengthy conversations. >> well, ginger white is the one alleging that he and cain were in a 13-year relationship. cain denies those allegations. the children of michelle parker are back with their father this morning. they are back with the prime suspect in michelle's disappearance. the judge says he does not pose an imminent threat to his 3-year-old twins. surprisingly, parker's mom was

seen hugging smith following the hearing and she says she will not fight for custody although she was on our show a couple of days ago saying she did want to. parker disappeared two weeks ago, the same day they appeared on "the people's court" arguing over the cost of an engagement ring. the same group will help look for parker, they found caylee anthony in florida. we'll talk to john walsh about what he knows about this case. secretary of state hillary clinton says she's encouraged by recent policy changes in the nation of burma. she challenged their president to continue to pass the reform. she called for release of political prisoners and an end to ethnic violence. in return, the u.s. would establish even greater diplomatic relations in the near future. clinton is the first secretary of state to visit burma in over 50 years. the rockefeller center christmas tree lit up right across the street from our studios here in new york city last night. >> three, two, one!

>> there it is, the norway spruce shipped in from a small town in pennsylvania. it's 74 feet tall. covered with more than 30,000 lights and stars like justin bieber there to spread some holiday cheer. >> ♪ poor boy too ♪ i have no gifts to bring ♪ ♪ yeah ♪ to sit >> justin bieber believes in the drummer boy. that's what's important. >> drummer boy. >> he finally got a haircut. tony bennett, neil diamond and usher also sang some of their favorite christmas carols. >> all right. we'll get to the bottom of was there a drummer boy? write us or twitter us, we have to find out. >> straight ahead, lawmakers promised to ban pet project in all those earmarks. did they lie?

they're sneaking them back in. two senators want to put a permanent end to that practice. senator clara mckaskell and senator toomey. they agree on that. >> water powered jet pack. >> a jet pack again? >> good for you. >> details on the luxury toy. if your wife is listening, that's what you want. >> i would really like that. i would like to fly away and not know how to land. [ male announcer ] if you're giving an amazing gift, shouldn't it be given in an amazing way? ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is here, but only for a limited time. see your lexus dealer. but also a caring touch. you learn to get a feel for the trouble spots. to know its wants... its needs.its dreams.

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>> 16 minutes after the top of the hour. the nation's debt $16 trillion and counting, new records show that members of the house and senate are trying to pack their bills with pork. those pet projects for their home communities. they're asking for millions of dollars in earmarks for their constituents. this comes despite the fact that

they agreed to a two-year moratorium on the practice just last year. joining me now, two lawmakers trying to ban earmarks indefinitely, the missouri senator claire mccaskill and pennsylvania senator pat toomey. good morning to you, senators. >> good morning. >> i have to say, i'm going to be optimistic again about fact that there's a bipartisan effort here. i thought after the super committee that maybe we would never see republicans and democrats coming back for anything. but senator mccaskill, the two of you are together to do what? >> we want to make sure that this is not just a political talking point, that we're going to not do earmarks. we want to put it into the law. we want to make sure there's an enforcement mechanism because as you mentioned, gretchen, we've already seen members say one thing and do another when it comes to earmarks. >> well, you're speaking maybe about betty sutton, democrat from ohio who tried to add $33 million for corrosion protection projects. not sure exactly what that is and on the other side of the fence, congressman duncan hunter, republican from california added $5 million for

night vision advance technology. senator toomey, is this the kind of stuff you're talking about? >> sounds like it. you know, i think it's just really important that we change the culture of congress. the culture has historically been let's see how much money we can spend. well, when you're running $1.3 trillion deficits and you've got a $15 trillion debt, it's time to develop a culture that says how much can we save? and i'm delighted to be working with senator mccaskill on this. >> it's interesting, senator mccaskill. you made it a pledge when you came into the senate along with a handful of other senators that you would never take an earmark and i find that fascinating because one of the reasons that politicians do it is because they think that it helps them in the re-election efforts to bring things home to their people, right? >> well, i didn't really campaign against earmarks when i got here, gretchen and i saw the process, i said this was -- i was a government auditor and i said this is wrong. i am not going to play this game where you go in the back room and sprinkle fairy dust and all of a sudden, you get all this money for your district.

and it's not done fairly. it's not done transparentally. it's not done on merit and people told me i'd be politically dead if i didn't take earmarks and i said, you know, i have a feeling that missourians will appreciate this attitude more than they appreciate the pork. >> very interesting. senator toomey, the critics will say that only 1% of discretionary spending turns up an earmark so it doesn't make that big a difference against our $15 trillion debt. your response? >> it makes a huge difference, you know, in 2010, it was $36 billion in earmarks and what's more important in my mind is, as i said, changing the culture and realizing that earmarks has historically served as grease on the skids of big, bloated spending bills. it's a way to buy votes for spending that we can't afford. >> ok. >> you got to start somewhere. this is a good place to start. >> senator toomey, before i let you go, the super committee failed as we all know a couple of weeks ago. now the republicans on the super committee were getting together yesterday and the day before. what can you tell us?

>> we got together to say a big thank you to our staff that worked really, really hard. and i'm afraid it's nothing more exciting than the fact that we wanted to say thanks to people who put in a lot of work. >> gretchen, there's many of us still working on this. i know pat is part of it. we are working in a bipartisan way. we know we need to go big and look at our debt structure and many of us are working at it every single day. >> all right. that's good to hear and i started out by saying bipartisanship may be alive again with the two of you working on this. maybe we can tackle the debt together as well. senators, have a great day. >> thank you. merry christmas. >> merry christmas to you. she went missing after an appearance on "the people's court". john walsh, the ultimate authority on finding missing people here with new and breaking details about that florida mom. needs no finish lin. ♪ in her eyes... the world is never too big. in his...the weather should never keep you inside. ♪ because they see no limits, there's eukanuba nutrition

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>> the search for missing florida mom michelle parker continues. yesterday, a judge ruled the parkers' former fiance dale smith, the prime suspect, i do believe, can retain custody of the couple's two children despite the fact that he is still a key suspect. >> this is bizarre. joining us with more on this, the host of "america's most wanted" our good friend john walsh. you have some exciting news but first, some disturbing news that maybe you have a perspective on. >> well, first, great to see you guys. >> great to have you. >> and i guess -- i think they should have focused on this guy a little bit sooner. and i've said it over the years. anybody who is genuinely concerned with their missing ex, especially if they have twins together, should go right in and get polygraphed. when adam was missing, my son went missing 30 years ago, the first thing my wife and i said and it's police work 101, you go in and get polygraphed. they look at friends and family and at the same time, do a parallel search.

this guy has been nothing but resistant. he refuses to take a polygraph. he's lawyered up. and he wants to take care of the kids. in my humble opinion, he knows exactly what happened to that woman. >> the thing about this story is she vanished the day she appeared on "the people's court" where they were having a dispute. >> exactly. >> i can connect those dots myself. >> a contentious experience that day. and, you know, he -- there's no other way to say it. i believe he knows exactly where she is and if he -- if he doesn't want to cooperate, it's a red flag. i mean, the first thing when -- it doesn't matter if it's your ex. they share a set of twins together. the first thing that happens in real life and if you're really honest and you're telling the truth is to say i'll do anything to get the mother of those twins back. i'll do anything to prove to you -- >> you don't get a lawyer. >> and you don't refuse to take a polygraph. you say what do i need to do? can i go out and help with the search? can i go on a program and talk about her?

so tough, tough case. >> i want to talk about a program. your program. america's most wanted not on fox for a couple of years but now it's back. it's going on lifetime. >> well, we ended the saturday night run on june. in the two months we were off, we caught five guys. people never stopped going to our web site. >> great. >> and i'm still doing specials for fox. i want to make that clear. i'm still working with the fox family but my new home is the wonderful people at lifetime. tomorrow night, 9:00 on friday, a new night for me, i hope it will be a good night, i'll be doing the show on lifetime. and for the first time, lifetime will repeat the show during the next week. >> that's great. >> i think it will up my capture rate and i wondered why fox didn't rerun the show because these guys are out there and the more you look at their faces. so the people at lifetime get it. same mission. not changing the show. looking for bad guys. looking for missing children. we've had a great track record. we've caught -- >> how many? >> up to -- almost 1,200 in 35

countries and 60 missing people and kids including elizabeth smart. maybe our biggest -- our greatest recovery. possibly the most famous and you return now for your 25th season. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> and you haven't aged. >> i'm still in there. >> still got his original leather jacket. >> i got to get the leather clothing dea that he's got. >> no kidding. >> oh, man. i have to get a book of records of leather coats. >> we'll be watching on lifetime tomorrow night. always a pleasure. >> always nice to see you guys. >> great to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> straight ahead on this thursday morning, new jersey governor chris christie attacking president obama again. is he launching his campaign for mitt romney officially? he's already endorsed him. >> remember dr. oz said there was too much arsenic in apple juice. the debate is up in the air. could new restrictions be on the way, though? >> plus christmas has been banned from government buildings across the nation. not here on "fox & friends." that's right, a live nativity

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>> speaking of television, victoria's secret big special aired last night. we have a clip from victoria's secret's fashion show and it was a great night. take a look. >> oh, very cute. very, very, very cute. >> now all we need to do is superimpose a shot of steve and brian in the audience and the reaction that they would have if they were sitting in the front row. >> or we could just do a live report from the next one. >> i think we should. because there must be some type of scandal we could blow the lid off of. >> all right. >> jam packed abs? >> that's what i'm thinking. >> there you go. >> are those manmade? >> yeah.

meanwhile, let's talk a little bit about presidential politics, the republican governors association is convening down in orlando, florida, there you can see chris christie was in attendance and it's interesting. here's a little sound bite from the governor on whether or not christie himself can give romney the boost he needs because mr. christie is heading to iowa next week. >> the best way that we could help our party to move forward and our country to move forward is for us to go back to our states and do our jobs. and do our jobs well, set an example of what real leadership looks like. and real leadership is not what you see in the white house right now. as i said before, i think it's a sad day in our country's history to have a bystander in the oval office. >> ouch! >> and you know, it's a direct hit and second one in three days and it's not going to be the last. he's going to be going to iowa next week and look to see, i think mitt romney will see what an asset he is.

>> at the convention or association meeting, they say as a group, they say a republican governor will be elected president of the united states. they just don't say which one. will it be mitt romney? will it be rick perry? >> newt gingrich was never governor. that's interesting. now to your headlines. american man suspected in the disappearance of his travel partner in aruba now back on u.s. soil. we're talking about gary giordano, he's arriving in miami along with his lawyer, jose baez. they are flying first class to new york city. he's a free man four months after robin gardner disappeared. prosecutors are working on building a case but for now, the aruban judge says there's not enough evidence to keep him behind bars. giordano claims he was pulled out to sea by a strong current as they snorkled. there's also a life insurance policy they took out on her. >> reverend billy graham spent the night at a hospital near his home. the famed 93-year-old preacher being tested for pneumonia after

suffering from congestion, cough and a fever. he is said to be alert and smiling at this time. >> is there too much arsenic in apple juice? under pressure from consumer groups, the food and drug administration may tighten restrictions on how much of the chemical can actually go into that drink. most arsenic is organic. and passes through the body safely. inorganic arsenic found in pesticides can pose cancer risks if high levels are consumed. studies show arsenic levels in apple juice are low and the government says it's still safe to drink. >> there's arsenic in some water. >> brian, it says -- >> hey, quick -- check your checkbooks. see if you have enough money for this. $99,500. >> $100,000. >> ok. $100,000, you can get this water-powered jet pack sold by florida's jet leave technologies. >> that's so cool. >> for another $3500, you get to choose the color. >> wow. >> the company says it cruises at about five miles per hour.

but can go almost 30 miles per hour. >> look at that big hose behind it, though. you can only go so far because you're trailing a power hose. >> while you go to the victoria's secret thing next year, i want to go with those hunks out there and do that. >> right. >> i'm sure you do. >> and -- >> well -- are you upset because you want to be there? >> i'm a little bit upset because i thought this was further along, the technology is a little disappointing. >> your dream has been to own a jet pack like those guys who rode into the super bowls. like that. you want to come to work like that. >> i want everyone to have a jet pack and very few people -- and either walk or jet pack. but my thing is using water technology is not going to get us anywhere. we need jet propelled jet packs. >> absolutely. if they can perfect it. can you imagine police departments across the country can use them to stop crime. >> yeah. that will be great to fight crime somewhere. >> either that or hire superman. >> caped crusaders with jet packs. let's take a look. we got a little bit of rain and

snow across portions of the great lake states at this hour and also, a little bit of rain in southern portions of nevada. otherwise, the balance of the country is nice and dry on this first day of december and it feels like the first day of december out in rapid city and missoula at two dozen. you have 36 in minneapolis and it's only 28 right now in chicago and 30 in cleveland. 30 as well in raleigh and atlanta but later on today, things are going to warm up into the 50's across much -- 50's and 60's across much of dixieland. 40's for the most part across the ohio valley. 30's in new england. and the northern plains and way out west, provo, utah, today, the high temperature will be 39 degrees. all right. brian, tell us about cheerleading. >> fine. it's part of my past i'm very proud of. >> good. >> you want to know about this story you mean? >> yes, give me a story! >> for people who say cheerleading isn't a real sport, the video will show you how dangerous it can be. watch this nasty fall. a michigan state cheerleader

crashes face first into the floor while performing a routine. >> ow! >> she was on the ground for several minutes while receiving medical attention and she was eventually carted off the stretcher with a smile on her face. giving a thumbs up, doing ok. you can call an audible for jay cutler, quarterback for the bears. now he has the right play called. you might remember when he broke off his engagement to kristin cavallari, the whole wedding was practically paid for. well, they are engaged again. >> wow! >> yeah. >> fantastic. the cute couple says they're back together and plan to get married though no date has been set. the problem -- the thing that we should walk away with saying, these two kids are in love. they went through a rough spot. marriage will be just nothing but blue skies. they'll never argue and they're in for the long haul. >> it's understandable that most people who aren't patriots fans don't like tom brady but

this kid may be the king of brady hateers. >> what? >> tom brady. >> why are you so mad at tom brady? >> well, i think tom brady is an idiot, too. he might throw a pick. >> why don't you like tom brady so much? because he's mean? >> no, i hate him! >> oh, christopher! don't get so upset. >> why does he hate him? because tom brady is too good. and he likes the eagles. brady threw three touchdown passes. he beat his eagles 38-20. and he made a little kid cry. how could tom brady actually sleep tonight knowing a child is crying because he decided to win a game? >> i used to cry, too. >> by his wife. >> that's true, giselle buncheon. >> the polls are coming in on the little drummer boy, not part

of the original christmas story with jesus. >> get out of here! >> we're going outside to find out -- >> i know what they're going to say. >> then go get your costume and head outside. >> listen, we want to know the right answer. not what you think. we want to know the truth. if anyone was around then, help. >> all right. meanwhile, newt gingrich's momentum continuing to build in the 2012 race. he's now calling himself the frontrunner. so how should mitt romney who also would like to call himself the frontrunner handle the competition? a fair and balanced debate still ahead. [ male announcer ] every day, thousandof people are choosing advil®.

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>> 44 minutes after the top of the hour. border agents find it the most sophisticated drug tunnel they've ever found. it links warehouses in mexico to san diego. it's 600 yards and equipped with a hydraulic lift, staircase and electric rail carts. don't we find one of these like every week? and talk about a real life grinch caught on camera. check out that woman stealing a purse right there from an elderly woman in new jersey. she taps the woman on the shoulder and tells her she dropped some cash. as she reaches down, she takes off. she stole $150 and some credit cards. what a grinch. >> thank you very much, gretch. they've been spreading the magic of christmas for the last five years and last year, a live

nativity scene made it to the steps of the supreme court. today, the nativity project joins us live on the plaza. with us, the president of faith in action, reverend rob shank along with angels, shepherds, wisemen, baby jesus and some camels. to answer brian's question was there a drummer boy at the first christmas? the answer is -->> i wasn't there but i certainly hope so. >> because this story -- >> it certainly would enrich the story. let's believe there was. >> very good. now, for a number of years now, you've gotten a permit and i think -- >> in fact, i have it in my hand here. here's the permit. >> this allows you to go ahead and have the live nativity scene there at the supreme court. >> that's right. >> tell me about the reception you had yesterday. >> well, actually, the reception was very positive for the first time in all these years, we have seen personnel come out of the supreme court to listen to the choir that is singing, to watch the display of the nativity. very positive response. we even had two reporters say this makes me want to go back to church. that's what we want to happen.

>> that's awesome! you know, we've been featuring a number of stories about how people are trying to take christmas out of what you talk about this month. across the country, i know that up in oregon, they pulled a permit on a nativity scene, same thing for leesburg, virginia, as well. >> well, the freedom from religion foundation declared what they called a war to secularize christmas. that was in the little town in oregon. same thing happened in warren, michigan and in leesburg, virginia, they tried it but the folks there who are participated with us at the supreme court went before their town council and they said, look, we did this in front of the united states supreme court. why can't we do it here? the town council relented and said we'll give you a permit. that's what we want to happen across the country. >> earlier this morning, we were doing the story about how in rhode island, the governor there won't call it a christmas tree. it came from a christmas tree farm. and yet, to him, it's a holiday tree. >> you know, i think the american people are getting on to that and they're getting a little tired of the political

correctness. >> is that what it is? >> christmas is universal. it transcends all the sectarianism. i've been in other countries that are not christian in their culture but they want to celebrate christmas. it's part of the american tradition. and we shouldn't be apologizing for it. >> and the thing is if you don't exercise your constitutional rights, like you did yesterday at the u.s. supreme court, what happens? >> that's what we say. if you don't use your rights, you lose your rights. that's why this is, of course, the telegraph, the real meaning of the season but to say look, we have first amendment privileges and we need to exercise those privileges. that's why we do this. >> real pleasure. nice to see you again and thank you very much. >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas to you as well. >> thank you. >> meanwhile, we roll on live from new york. newt's gaining steam in the g.o.p. race as the presidential nominee. how can mitt romney get back on top? should he attack gingrich? we'll have a fair and balanced debate coming up next. and on this date back in 1992, alabama has the number one song

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>> mitt romney losing his lead to newt gingrich now. in a recent quinnipiac poll, mitt trails newt by four percentage points among g.o.p. primary voters. attempting to stop the surge, romney is taking a shot at gingrich's immigration stance. listen. >> they should not be placed ahead of the line, they should instead go to the back of the line and they should not be allowed to stay in this country

and be given permanent residency or citizenship merely because they've come here illegally. >> isn't that what gingrich is saying? isn't he saying short of -- >> i can't tell you what speaker gingrich is saying. >> yet you call it -- >> no, if he's going to do what i believe he said he was going to do for those people who would be allowed to stay permanently and become citizens, that would be providing for them a form of amnesty. >> wow, critics say romney seems a little frustrated by the questioning and the tone. perhaps since he's behind in the polls, it might be reflected in his interview. how should he handle the latest competition? joining us right now, fox news contributors and not competitors, co-hosts of "the five" andrea tantaros and juan williams. put yourself in romney's camp, how do you fight against newt different from perry and cain. they were threatening mitt as well. >> they have been talking to the press about how they're going to do this and one of the things his campaign says they're going to do is they'll start to paint him as a flip-flopper and a washington insider.

they're hoping that by painting him as a flip-flopper, this inoculates romney from that same criticism but i think the romney camp has figured out they're not going to be able to stay ground out on the far right. they can't out right wing newt gingrich. that's their plan going forward. will it work? i'm not sure. mitt romney should have come out much earlier with his stance on immigration and that interview did not do him any favors. our colleague, bret baier deserves major kudos for that interview. romney stumbled a little bit and he still wasn't clear what his answer is on immigration and as bret said, their positions are very similar. so romney just stake some ground finally. >> juan, you heard the strategy that andrea believes they're going to implement. is it a good one? >> the insider argument is there to be made especially with newt having, you know, former speaker gingrich having gained from freddie mac and fannie mae large targets of conservative ire but brian, i think it goes

beyond that. i think now you've got to imagine that they will also begin to make claims about newt gingrich's character. i can imagine very quickly a comparison between newt's personal history and mitt romney's family history. and then i think the ultimate argument to be made on behalf of candidate mitt romney is electability. who do you think is going to have the best chance to defeat barack obama and isn't that what it's all about? if you look at the numbers, most the republicans think that romney is a better candidate to defeat obama. >> if juan is right, andrea, that's bad news for the republican party, isn't it? because whoever is left standing in eight months, they're going to have personal attacks, probably is not going to be ready to take on president obama, there's going to be too many holes. >> i don't buy into that. look, there was a prolonged fight between hillary clinton and barack obama and barack obama won by a wide margin. so this is good for the g.o.p. i do agree with juan, i think the romney campaign is going to try to talk about personal issues and newt's marriages. when the economy is the way that

it is, people don't care! look what happened in 2008. they didn't care about jeremiah wright. they want to hear newt's solutions so we'll see what happens. but i do -- i'm also not buying this strategy that mitt romney is the most electable. i think when you flip-flopped on so many issues, that's problematic with independents when you flip-flop on choice issues and global warming. so that's going to cause problems with democrats and independents. >> and juan, overall, the problem -- the difference between governor perry who was leading and herman cain that was leading, i think that newt gingrich has experience and competence. no one doubts his ability. >> no. and he's been speaker of the house. and so he's been around republican circles and you know, the books, the speeches, the travel, people know him. there's a sense that you know what, he has been in the trenches as a true conservative and i think that that's what newt gingrich is going to say to voters in the face of all the attacks and believe me, you know, the romney camp wasn't ready for this. they've been fighting against rick perry. they were consumed with all of a sudden the kind of sensation

around herman cain for a while. they weren't ready for newt and now, as that fire begins to come in, i think what you can anticipate is that romney will point back at -- at mitt romney and say, you know what? this guy is a flip-flopper. he doesn't know what he's been doing. i've been here. i'm a true conservative. >> it's interesting. i think it's going to be a great race and i think the next debate is going to be fantastic. andrea tantaros, juan williams, thanks. see you in "the five." >> have a good day. >> ok. still straight ahead on our show, we have plenty more show left. with rising foreclosures, how do you make sure your assets are protected? bob massi has what you need to know about your assets and after 16 years in office, barney frank says good-bye. but he's calling for one more thing before he exits. we'll tell you what it is and get reaction from michelle malkin. i'm sure it wouldn't be something that makes michelle happy.

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>> gretchen: good morning, everyone. hope you're going to have a great thursday. mark your calendars, it's december 1 today, 2011. i'm gretchen carlson. thanks for sharing your time. newt gingrich the latest front runner now, he claims he's the most conservative republican candidate out there. >> i was for ronald reagan long before people began just to quote him. >> gretchen: michelle magazine kin knows something about being a conservative and not buying what he's saying. >> steve: meanwhile, he said she disappeared while snorkeling. now the main suspect in the case of that missing woman in aruba is blaming human trafficking. he spoke moments ago. we'll tell you his story now. >> brian: and they blew through billions of taxpayer dollars, then came crawling for more. why are mortgage monsters, fannie and freddie throwing lavish conferences for their employees while the rest of america is being foreclosed?

think about that for a second. meanwhile, it's time for me to say "fox & friends" starts right now, so i will. >> i'm joe biden, you're back fox and "friends," and i tell you what, you'll enjoy it. >> gretchen: thank you, joe. >> brian: was that live? >> steve: no, that was from the last time he was on. >> gretchen: when i started the show, at least five years ago. we were in the old studio across way yonder. >> steve: i think he was on during the convention. >> brian: yes, he was. >> steve: that was his last time. heck of a job. >> brian: a lot of people on the crew, they need me and they leave. >> gretchen: you interviewed him at the intention? >> brian: uh-huh. >> gretchen: that was like 4:00 a.m. denver time. right? >> brian: no, it wasn't denver. >> gretchen: okay. i can't even get the city straight. hopefully i can do better on the headlines. herman cain says he'll decide this week whether he'll quit his run for the white house.

the republican presidential candidate says he will sit down in person with his wife tomorrow to discuss his future. in new hampshire yesterday, he became tired of discussing the whole thing with some folks in the media. >> you are making an accusation, quite frankly, that is not true. now, i said face-to-face. you're going to be contentious or you want me to answer your question? i have talked to my wife many times since monday about this situation. i have not talked to her face-to-face. that's what i said. we have had many lengthy conversations. >> gretchen: well, what are they talking about? ginger white, because she's the one who is alleging she and cain were involved in the 13-year sexual relationship. cain denies those accusations. brand-new this morning, the man suspected in the disappearance of a woman in aruba breaking his silence. he had said that robin gardner disappeared when they were snorkeling together, but he spoke moments ago and he now has another theory.

>> if a person that i cared about, okay, a companion. you know, if a person has disappeared on my watch, it will weigh heavily on me for a very long time. what you don't know about aruba is they have two main sources of income, and it's not tourism. it's cocaine and human trafficking. where we were, it takes a half hour to drive a boat to venezuela. >> gretchen: he also explaining why he took out that 1 1/2 million dollars insurance policy on tabard they are. why would he do that? he describes it as a travel policy he takes out any time he travels. president obama raking in big bucks in the big apple last night, adding almost $2 million to his campaign war chest at three fundraising events. the president who wants to tax millionaire, rubbing elbows with plenty of them. he attended a private reception for 30 people at $10,000 for

ticket a restaurant dinner, and a sheridan hotel event. the 2011-grammy nominations announced last night. ♪ >> gretchen: hopefully adell will get her voice back after vocal chord trouble. she was nominated, bruno mars and fu fighters. kanye west leading the pack with seven. and then there is lady gaga, leading the pack with this performance. ♪ >> gretchen: i think she thought it was still halloween. the grammy also be held february 12 in los angeles. >> steve: to her, every take is

halloween. >> gretchen: no doubt. >> steve: let's bring in michelle malkin, she's live in colorado springs. good morning to you, michelle. >> good morning, steve. >> steve: i'm sure you caught a bit of sean hannity's interview yesterday, tommy's country ham house, and he had newt gingrich there. newt gingrich, we want to play the sandpit for you. he says he's not only the most conservative guy running for president of the united states, he's a ronald reagan conservative. listen. >> clearly i'm more the conservative candidate by any rational standard. i helped ronald reagan and jack comp drove supply side economics, i led the effort to defeat communism. i helped speaker of the house, balance the federal budget for four straight years, reform welfare as an entitlement. first tax cuts in 16 years. take whatever your list of conservatism is, there are places in my career where i've done that stuff. i've been consistent about it.

i was for ronald reagan long before people began just to quote him. so that part, there is no contest. >> steve: what do you think about that, michelle? >> well, i think that if he's talking about his historical arrest cake record, then nobody can argue about his conservative accomplishments decades ago. i think the problem that many tea party conservatives and long-time conservatives and long-time former admirers such as myself have had with newt gingrich are his activities of late, over the last several years, over the last decade. and it's not just the fannie, freddie money, it's not just all of the lobbying and usual beltway creature activities. but it's like galavanting around with al sharpton and art duncan as he did promoting obama's education agenda. it was his support for the new

york 23 congressional district race where he was trashing conservatives who were questioning his support for somebody who was a big labor tax and spend liberal and pro-abortion radical. and, of course, there is the sitting on the couch with nancy pelosi and more worrisome proclivities toward the sort of fattish third wave progressivism that he's been dabbling with for years. >> gretchen: the interesting thing is, now with gingrich and o romney both at the top of the pole, where will you go then? >> well, that's the quandary that so many of us face. and i've been joking about manufacturing a set of nose plugs for this election for conservatives who are in despair. look at mitt romney and he's ill equipped to go after some of these lapses of newt gingrich.

>> gretchen: in the big picture -- >> not only ill equip to do debate fiscal conservatism and their records versus their rhetoric over the last decade, but so many of these candidates are cup cakes. they can't even handle press questions from bret baier! i mean, they're going to have to go after the raptors of the liberal media in the general election! >> gretchen: but my question is, isn't there eventually a big picture outlook? isn't the main focus for you, as a republican, to beat barak obama? >> i'm not a republican. i never have been. i think this is the distinction that many people fail to understand. but this is what the tea party made clear over the last couple of years. that there is a huge distinction, a fundamental one, as both newt gingrich and barak obama like to use, their favorite adjective, fundamental one, between conservatives and republican party partisans and

this is what this primary season is all about. and none of these candidates can feel entitled to some cakewalk into the competition. it's a competition, not a coronation. and i don't think any of us should shut up about the warts that all of them have, unfortunately. of course, it's a political world, but it's not one in which we should be quiet about it. >> brian: we're going to watch those two fight about it and, of course, we'll have you analyze. barney frank calls it quits and i can just hear you crying. but i want to move ahead. he says before he leaves, he wants to remove the death panels from the health care law. that's an incredible exit strategy, isn't it? >> i'll say. but this is probably one of the last cynical moves of his that i'm sort of not inclined to criticize. i think the more, the merrier when it comes to repealing this unaccountable, independent advisory board that would have

really untold powers and the goldwater institute in arizona has been at the forefront of challenging the legality and the constitutionality of this board. barney frank is the first and most prominent democrat to sign on to the effort to repeal it for him. >> brian: obama it is care is going to that board. and they're going to decide major decisions about you or i on health care. if that board dissipe, that is a body blow to obamacare, from barney frank! >> yeah, yeah. it certainly would be. and, again, i'm just going o say, better late than never. and i hope more democrats who are continuing to stay in office will follow his foot steps there. >> steve: bye-bye barney. and bye-bye michelle. thank you very much for joining us from colorado springs. have a great december, since today is the first day. >> brian: i've never seen that look before from michelle. never directed at me. >> gretchen: the foreclosure crisis continues and millions of people are losing their biggest

assets, which is their home. coming up, bob massi will tell us how you can protect your assets from foreclosure and the banks. >> brian: call him the governor who stole christmas. he's calling the official spruce a holiday tree. the farmer who donated it is speaking out. now the band perry. they're one family, three people. chafee

>> brian: we all want to make sure our home is off limits, especially if we run into some

legal trouble. now with rising foreclosures, more and more people are looking into asset protection. so what are some of the things that people need to know, like you, to protect themselves, even if you're not in trouble yet? bob massi joins us to break it down. first, you'll too a series on this. describe an asset. >> an asset is something that you own, it could be a vehicle, a home if it has equity in it, tangible things, personal property. what i want assets from judgment if you get sued down the line? it's actually part of what we call estate planning, when you do a will, when you do a trust, part of the things that a competent lawyer does is talk about potentially protecting those assets in the future.

>> brian: all right. so why is asset protect so important right now? is it because what's happening with the real estate market in particular? >> it is, but what's important is and what we'll talk about in the next few weeks is that if you already have been foreclosed on or people or creditors are coming after you, asset protection many times won't work because there is this theory that you can't start transferring things once you know you owe somebody money. it could be fraudulent in nature. but there are things we're going to talk about. for example, we're going to talk about in the next few weeks, are there certain types of trusts you could set up? are there certain type of business entities you can set up, like corporations or llc's? what about transfer of ownership? we'll be very specific in this explanation, but again, everybody needs to get professional advice because there are tax consequences when you do these type of things. >> brian: all right. one of the most common methods of asset protection, would you say?

i would say what you're seeing more than ever before, brian, is people setting up corporate entities. for example, let's say you have a home and it has equity in it. you go to a lawyer and say, listen, i want to make sure, god forbid n years from now, if i get sued, how do i protect that asset? and that lawyer may say to you, look, brian, we could put it into what's called an llc, limited liability corporation, which we'll talk about in the next few weeks, or regular corporation, or we could put it in a certain type of irrevocable trust that could protect that asset if something happens down the line. one thing is this, brian, any time you transfer an asset to protect it, thralls a look back period. in other words, if i owed you $100,000, brian, and i start transferring my assets into these things, there is usually a period of time that you could look back and say, hey, you transferred that valuable asset into a corporation. that was fraudulent. that was done because you owe me the money. i'm going to try to set that

aside. these are the type of things i hope to educate our viewers on in the next few weeks. >> brian: i would not be calling you massi, it would be bob or mr. massi. but bob, you can actually take questions. correct? we can e-mail -- you can e-mail us here and we'll get them to you. >> thank you. >> brian: thanks a lot. he tried to do it before, but can the only suspect in the disappearance of a woman in aruba cash in on the insurance policy that he took out? arthur is here. the tax man may owe you money. stick around.

>> steve: quick headlines. the reverend billy graham spent the night at a hospital near his home in north carolina. famed 93-year-old preacher tested for pneumonia after suffering from congestion, a cough and a fever as well. he is said to be alert and smiling this morning. 45,000 residents in the german town ordered to leave after a 19 40s era bomb was found in the river. members will attempt to defuse it. the truck-sized bomb was spotted after a dry november lowered the water levels op the river. now to gretch and somebody

who is celebrate ago birthday today. >> gretchen: he is. after almost four months in custody, aruba police releasing gary giordano, the man suspected in the disappearance of robyn gardner. with him free leave the island and come to the u.s., is he free o collect on the insurance policy. >> how are you? >> gretchen: you still decided to come here and give us your legal analysis. let's get back to what we're talking about, this giordano guy took out a travel policy on this woman that he barely knew and went to aruba with her and suddenly she's missing. can he collect? >> i learned a lot about this. i called american express and they have different kinds of policies. it really depends on which policy he got. but what they claim, and this was a person i spoke to didn't know the specifics about him, but usually the travel insurance

policy that we would typically get covers, if you die in the airplane, if you die in a train, if you die on a bus going from the airport back to your house or in a taxicab, it does not cover risky behavior like scuba diving, like sky diving, like skiing. >> gretchen: or snorkeling. >> or snorkeling. so if he's going to stick -- i know you've informed me he's changing his story to some degree. if they're changing it to well she went snorkeling and he died, i think american express will say no, no, no, god forbid there was an accident in a cab. but not if she takes a high risk adventure. >> gretchen: right after she disappeared, he called on this travel policy to try and collect it and now he's defending why he did just that. >> michael lopez, he told me, he said, you need to call the insurance immediately because the helicopters, the scuba

divers that were going to go into the water, he said, they might send you an invoice, charging you for this 'cause these are civilians. he said you need to call your insurance company and ask them specifically how do you deal with these expenses that might be coming in? there is a handbook for travelers, a holland handbook for travelers. it tells you what to do in case of a missing person. the first thing it says is call the authorities. the second thing is call your insurance company. >> gretchen: you buy it? >> who carries around the holland handbook for travelers? oh, my gosh. i go to europe on a regular basis, i don't carry the italian handbook for travelers and look up the section of what happens if somebody is missing. i don't know. i can't believe he was on national television today and if i was jose baez, i would say, let's let the dust settle and be quiet for now. >> gretchen: maybe bea. >> is feeling lucky. let me ask you this: is it normal to buy this type of

insurance for companions and he said he buy it is all the time. that in a trial could come back to haunt him if they prove he hasn't. >> this case right now, if there ever is a case against him, it will be a circumstantial evidence case at this point because even if she's recovered, her body will be so decomposed as in casey anthony or caylee was, that there is not going to be a lot of evidence there. this would be a piece of circumstantial evidence that is used against him and the f.b.i. says people who have premeditated murder thoughts often, it is very common, they pie insurance prior to their actual act. >> gretchen: very interesting. because he did all that research today, happy birthday to you. happy birthday to you. happy birthday, dear arthur, happy birthday to you. >> wow. singing me happy birthday. >> gretchen: coming up, they blew through billions of tax dollars and came crawling back for more. so why are fannie and freddie throwing lavish conferences for their employees? we want to know and you probably do, too. we're moments away from the weekly job numbers. eric bolling is standing by to

tell us exactly what they mean. he's checking them out

hugh >> steve: we got a fox news business alert. the labor department just releasing the latest weekly jobless numbers.

402,000 first-time unemployment claims were filed last week. they were estimating 12,000 less than that. eric bolling joins us live right now in the studio. >> gretchen: good morning. >> good morning. >> steve: big number. >> it's a big number and the trend was going down, it was headed in the right direction. those are first-time claims, people walking into an unemployment office for the very first time for the week. we are expecting 390,000. again, those numbers are elevated. people skewed the number high because things have been bad. when it comes in at 402,000, we had a couple weeks where it was below 400,000. tomorrow morning, the unemployment number, the monthly jobless number, economists are looking for the same 9% unemployment rate. 100,000, 150,000. >> steve: that's even though the fact that the paycheck manufacturer came out yesterday and said it looks like we added 200,000 jobs? >> you may see 100 to 150,000 jobs. that's private. those are actual private

employees and the number is -- tomorrow's number is an estimate on a phone survey. but the number is elevated. >> brian: you saw the market rocket yesterday. what is your take on it and how long will it last? >> the market reacted to the fed printing literally hundreds of billions of dollars going forward. what we -- >> steve: bailing out europe. >> we bailed out europe. we printed for europe. they can't print because they're a united currency. so italy can't print for themselves. greeks can't print for themselves because there are other countries in that one currency. so what they did, they said, hey, u.s., can you print for us? we said, sure, we'll print for you, even though we're 15 trillion in the hole. bernanke says it's not printing money. it's printing money when you are deficit and you're printing money. if we were in a surplus, we would be. but i think he's misguided on this. so we bailed them out. >> gretchen: where does the stock market go today? >> it can go higher. the thing is it drives things

higher. >> steve: what's mystify to go a loft people on wall street is the fact that the market went up close to 500 points yesterday, but the problem hasn't been fixed! >> no. the problem hasn't been fixed, but i will tell you, if the economy recovers, the global economy gets a little better and there is growth. growth is the important part. if growth starts to come back into european continent and certainly into the u.s., it will mask all the problems. >> steve: they revised it last quarter. >> they revised it down. but if somehow things start to get better, feels like things are getting better. there are auto numbers coming out later today. the number looks like there will be a million more units sold this year than last year. that's good sign of things starting to get better and certainly, don't get this wrong, not because of anything that's going on in washington, d.c not because of gridlock. not because of debt problems. not because of super committee not being able to cut. mostly because we've been in a

recession for two years, almost three years. not technical recession, but go out on the tree and ask people if they're doing better. we've been in a recession. >> gretchen: you know how it is when you spend your own money. a little bit more painful. but if somebody just hands you a bunch of money, it's very easy to run out there and spend it all. right? it makes me think of fannie and freddie because now they are a government infused cash operation and now they're spending $640,000 to send their employees to a chicago conference this fall. whatever happened to sort of the cut back mentality? >> this is outrageous. look at the numbers, conferences and what not, that's 650,000 taxpayer dollars. here is why. fannie and freddie are in so deep to the american taxpayer, $187 billion and counting, they're backing all the bad subprime loans that barney frank who is stepping aside, who was at the helm of during the 2000 to 2003 housing bubble that they

created 'cause they were trying to get loans into anyone's hands, even if you didn't have a job or any money, saying here is a home loan, get a house. the housing market collapsed. fannie and freddie was there to catchll those bad loans. that's the taxpayer. now, they've been exempt from all legislation because it's now a government-sponsored, meaning we will continue to fund them as they need it. right now they're into us for 187 billion and it's expected it could be as much as 250 billion. >> brian: when you think about fannie and freddie and what they're doing, look at the c.i.a. and what they've decided to do on the holiday season. they are scaling back big time their celebration and these are the guys that laid the ground work that allowed the special forces to go in and kill bin laden. they've had an incredible year, they've lost lives in the process. but this year they'll be scaling back. they're not going to have what the last year a which was the wine, the fried food, grilled shrimp. they're not going to have a

cavernous hall. >> gretchen: and no fried oyster. >> the c.i.a. doing things right. things are tough. they're cutting back. they're supposed to cut back. we're trying to find a trillion two in savings. they're doing their part. meanwhile, these i yoyos, we pad them $15 million, the executives just a couple weeks ago as a bonus. really? >> gretchen: for modest performance expectation. >> modest? for failure. >> steve: some say you got to spend money to make money. since we're on the hook for so much, what's another couple of million bucks? >> it's our money. >> brian: we are going to watch you on "the five" today. >> please do. >> steve: it's like money in the bank. very popular program. top five show now. the find at 5:00 o'clock with five people. >> thanks. >> gretchen: your headline, the children of missing orlando mom michelle parker back with their father this morning of the dale smith, junior, a convicted criminal, as well as the prime suspect in parker's

disappearance. still a judge says that -- the judge believes he doesn't impose an imminent threat to his twins. john walsh joined us earlier with his take on this case. >> i've said it over the years, anybody that is genuinely concerned with their missing ex, especially if they have twins together, should go right in and get polygraphed. in my humble opinion, he knows exactly what happened to that woman. >> gretchen: well, the search for parker continues this morning. she disappeared exactly two weeks ago, the same day she and smith appeared on the episode of "the people's court" arguing over the cost of an engagement ring. >> steve: that's not good. the secret service says john hinckley, junior is still obsessed with president reagan, the guy he tried to kill 30 years ago. mr. hinckley is trying to get released from a psych ward in washington, d.c his lawyer is claiming he's not dangerous. the secret service says during a trip to his mother's house earlier this year, hinckley lied about going to the movies and

instead went to a book store and looked at books about ronald reagan and presidential assassins. the jud will rule on hinckley's request coming up next week. >> brian: the irs trying to track down 100,000 americans, but not pause they owe the government money. the irs has refunded checks for them and they're not church change. the average undelivered refund is more than 1500 bucks. go to irs.com to see if you are owed a refund. -- dot gov. >> gretchen: we've been telling you about this christmas tree in rhode island that the governor is calling a holiday tree. the person who grew that tree is taking exception to that. >> it was one of the original trees that we actually planted and we did, we had a very soft spot in our heart for that tree. it's a beautiful blue spruce. it's about 20 feet tall and to be called anything less than a christmas tree is missing the

point. >> gretchen: governor lynn cannes chafee says calling it a holiday tree respects all religion in rhode island. >> steve: meanwhile, this is the governor doing the weather now. take a look in rhode island, beautiful dry day right now, as you can see from the satellite and radar. a little bit of rain moving through portions of the great lakes states. also some in the four corners -- not four earn -- corners, arizona and western partials of california. otherwise the balance of the country is dry on this first day of december. here in new york city, we had 38 degrees. it's 30 in caribou, main. it will eventuallically imup to 50 in new york city. almost 60 in raleigh. that's what they will have in atlanta. 51 that's right -- later on today in kansas city. brian, you got one of the pictures of the day. >> brian: for people who say

this is not a real sport, it shows you how dangerous it can be. watch this fall. as cheerleaders try ratchet it up with all the gymnastistics, a cheerleader crashes face first. she was on the ground for several minutes while receiving medical attention. she was eventually carted off with a stretcher and a smile on her face and she gave everybody a thumbs up. it's understandable that most fans who aren't patriots fans don't like tom brady. he wins, he's good. he's got a hot wife. but maybe the king of brady haters was caught on camera. what? >> tom brady. >> why are you so mad at tom brady? >> i hate him! >> well, i think tom brady is an idiot, too. he might throw a pick. why don't you like tom brady so much? >> brian: he's an eagles fan.

the eagles got blown out and their playoff hopes down the drain. that child is crushed. >> steve: there he is watching brady. amazing. >> gretchen: but he's a fan at an early start. he'll be a life long eagles fan, i bet. >> brian: right. >> gretchen: coming up, he received the top military honor, but now sergeant dakota mire involved in another fight. he's suing his former employer. they say he's unstable. does he have a case? peter johnson, jr. weighs in next. >> steve: plus, saving dogs all across the country, petsmart here this morning with some adorable pups that you can take home. you need a dog? today could be the dog to have that one at your house [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil

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>> gretchen: couple headlines. border agents call it the most sophisticated drug tunnel they've ever seen. in tijuana, mexico and san diego, 600 yards, equipped with a hydraulic lift, staircase and electric rail car. this duck hunter from utah didn't want to show his face or talk to reporters because he had just been shot by his dog? he went to the front of his boat to pick up some decoy ducks. then his dog accidentally stepped on his gun, causing it to go off. the man's backside blasted with 27 pellets. he's okay. one of the plastic decoys also hit. steve? >> steve: listen to this, sergeant dakota meyer received the medal of honor for saving the lives of three dozen americans. 36. but now the decorated marine is involved in another battle.

this time he is filing suit against his former employer, defense contractor. he claims bae systems defamed him because he criticized the company. joining us now is fox news legal analyst, peter johnson, jr. all right. >> good morning. >> steve: we saw him receive the medal of honor in the white house not too long ago. >> september. >> steve: now we see the story about he was trying to do the best thing for this company he worked for and now he's having trouble -- >> displayed unbelievable courage in the battlefield, now he's in the mine field of civil litigation. he's gone to court to say, you've done two things to me and he sued a big, big contractor, one of the biggest in the world, makes about $2 billion a year from the united states. saying, i wanted to go back to my former job, but you guys trashed me, saying that i was unstable mentally and i had a problem with social drinking. so he sued them for slander, saying that they said untrue things about him and something called tortious interference contract, meaning that he had a

prospective job with another employer, but they stepped in and said untrue things about him. so he's gone on to a court of law to clear his name. >> steve: okay. here is what precipitated it. he was working for bae systems. >> right. >> steve: and he didn't like the fact that they were about to sell these high powered scopes to pakistan. obviously a lot of americans have got big targets on our backs. he said this, he wrote this: we are simply taking the best gear, the best technology on the market to date and giving two guns that are known to -- >> he's saying these guys that are known to stab us in the back. so we all understand the torture and torture -- tortious history with pakistan in terms of perhaps harboring osama bin laden and it goes on and on and on. and he said listen, the weapons and the scopes -- this is a scope for rifles. he's an expert sniper. >> steve: will be used to kill us! >> we have sub par scopes for our marines, for our men and

women in the battlefield and we're going to sell pakistan these optimal scopes. and so he says on that basis, the company and his supervisor, who is also a former marine, and the company and the former marine that he sued dispute it. they say it's not true. they held this against me and they went to this other company to whom i had been employed well after my discharge and said no, you can't take him back because he's a problem and he didn't get the job. so this is risky business for everybody. once you bring a slander lawsuit, you're putting your entire life for inspection. so he's trying to say, i didn't do a blessed thing wrong. >> steve: what is the company saying? >> the company is saying they're absolutely free of any liability. although we strongly disagree with his claims, which we intend to vigorously defend to -- through the appropriate legal success, we wish him success. >> steve: oh, they do not. >> they need to say that!

he's one of the most distinguished americans that we have. >> steve: they've been trashing him! >> he's the only living marine to get the medal of honor sips the vietnam war. so they' saying, we're going to defend the lawsuit. we believe our claims are true, but at the same time, this is going to be settled, this has to be settled. he's an american hero. whatever the claims are, it has to be resolved. >> steve: real quickly, it wasn't apparently up to the company whether or not to sell these high powered scopes to pakistan. it's up to the state department and they -- >> it's a matter of public policy of what the government is doing. but he had a problem with it and he said he was being punished for it. >> steve: what a story. thanks for bringing it to our attention. thank you. next up, the rescue wagon comes to "fox & friends" with some adorable dogs. find out how you can help the cause. first, let's check in with bill hemmer with a preview of what happens in 11 minutes. >> happy these to you. >> steve: thank you, sir. >> more on the breaking news on the jobs front. yesterday the 7th highest gain for stocks in u.s. history. what is our government going to

do today? alabama is under the gun for its immigration law. we'll talk to attorney general in that state. what will herman cain do? he drops major hints on fox last night. more on solyndra and these defense cuts. can they be avoided? we'll see you at the top of the hour, martha and me. e-note cere? ♪ more, more, more... e-note cere? get more with honey bunches of oats 4 nutritious grains come together for more taste, more healthy satisfaction. get more with honey bunches of oats. is all the wrapping a gift needs. wait a minute...i... [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] the lexus december to remember sales event is here, but only for a limited time. see your lexus dealer. how do you know which ones to follow? the equity summary score consolidates the ratings up to 10 independent research providers into a single score that's weighted

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>> since 2004, they helped save the lives of -- 60,000 dogs? so they've been trying to save the lives and one woman has been wholeheartedly responsible. sue, vice president and executive director of petsmart charities, inc., right? >> you got it right. >> gretchen: you saved a lot of dogs. >> yes, we have. more than 50,000 since 2004. >> brian: everything was -- these dogs were being

euthanized, i got to take action. what kind of action did you take? >> we're able to transport these dogs and puppies from where they'll be euthanized to shelters where we can find homes for them. in the source communities, we actually provide spay, newter funding and grants where those shelters will get to a point where they can place their own dogs. >> gretchen: who do you have today? >> this is sammy. he has kind of a great story. he was actually found and he was pretty much no hair, covered in ticks and fleas. he's an older guy, border collie mix. he'll go to his home. all of these dogs are going to the saint hubert animal welfare center in madison, new jersey. and they will all find homes. >> gretchen: all right. what's brian up to over here? >> brian: i want to look at all these other dogs. this dog is unbelievably well behaved. >> gretchen: he wants you to pet him, i think. who do you have? >> i have bear. bear came from a hoarding situation in virginia and as you can see, his head is a little

shaved. they had to stitch him up. the other dogs ganged up on him in the house. they fixed him up and he's ready to be adopted. >> gretchen: very cute. he feels like i do right now. frozen! >> a little bit. >> brian: did you notice the barking stopped? he needed attention, that's all! >> gretchen: i have a feeling this one is going home with you? >> brian: i tell you what, he was a wild one a second ago. as soon as you hold him. this will cost how much? >> they actually, when they get to the shelter, they will get shots, they'll get vaccinated, sterilized, licensed. they'll be all ready to go. so you'll pay the adoption fee and the dog will be ready to go. >> brian: do you think i'm helping the dog by showing all its equipment on television today? should i be doing this? that's not really nice. >> gretchen: i have to go over to this police officer 'cause this police officer has the cutest beagle type look dog.

do you know who this is? >> bassette hound mix, right? >> gretchen: is this one going home with you? >> i would hope so, but i don't know. >> gretchen: he gave a look of yes. he's gorgeous. >> brian: we have three more just like him. so if people at home, write us right now, tell us you're interested and we'll make it happen. right? >> sure. >> gretchen: all right. we'll be right back with more pups coming up capital one's new cash rewards card gives you a 50 percent annual bonus. so you earn 50 percent more cash. if you're not satisfied with 50% more cash, send it back! i'll be right here, waiting for it. who wouldn't want more cash? [ insects chirping ] i'll take it. i'll make it rain up in here. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash.

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