it just needs a little bit of work! just a little bit of work. i'm going to take care of it in my garage. bill: $150,000, probably forbes a fender-bender. see you tomorrow, everybody. martha: see you tomorrow! jon: a little bondo, some paint, that car are be looking good as new! good morning to you i'm jon scott. jenna: hi everybody, i'm jenna lee. we're here in the fox newsroom, glad you're starting your week with us, "happening now", we're less than month away from the iowa caucus and check out this from the demoines register, a seismic shift in the gop presidential field, newt gingrich, solidly in front with 25 percent of likely caucus goers, ron paul together theo taking the number two spot, mitt romney rounds out the top three. if you take a look at real clear politics average of state polls which we like to take a look at this, gingrich is still ahead leading the pack by ten points. jon: pretty amazing surge

for the former speaker, h. man cain and michele bachmann tied with 8 percent in that survey. the results obviously gathered before cain's abrupt suspension of his campaign over the weekend, and although cain is not officially out, there are reports he might be endorsing gingrich as soon as today. speaking of endorsements newt is meeting with donald trump as we speak. let's bring in our polit coal correspondent carl cameron. what does this mean for a candidate's campaign? >> reporter: potentially significant. mr. trump has had the capacity to get an awful lot of attention in this campaign over the last year and it matters. it matters that the demoines register and the poll you're talking about there, there are traditionally three tickets out of iowa and into new hampshire and beyond so if mr. gingrich can get his ticket punched having mr. trump standing by as one of the train conductors would certainly help. it's a big push to get

trump's coveted endorse men and he said he'll endorse somebody and if they don't get the nomination he may run as an independent and mr. gingrich says he's looking part in taking 35r9 of -- part of a trump-hosted debate just before new year's, after christmas, the former speaker saying he's looking forward to take part -- taking part of a debate. this is an opportunity. there will be a news conference with the two of them in a couple of hours. jon: herman cain has suspended his campaign. a lot of questions about who he will endorse, when that might happen. what can you tell us about that? >> there were actually rumors this morning he might announce his endorsement of newt gingrich today. that is not the case. his aides have suggested mr. cain does lean towards newt gingrich, they've known each other for a long, long time, in fact a longer relationship than cain has with the other candidates. they go back decades, in atlanta. they've known each other for a long, long time. it's a distinct possibility.

in the meantime cain is continuing his campaign, so to speak. though he's in suspended mode he'll continue with a fundraise ner oklahoma city and take part in videoing the rollout of his big energy policy. all of this will be transferred to the web project and won't be part of his presidential campaign but he is going to continue to go on and keep the prescheduled event necessary order to raise money to retire his debt and keep his appointments agreed to. jon: cain, and suspended campaign. for more on this, we'll bring in a.b. stoddard and of course carl is hanging around as well. a.b., you say newt gingrich's surge is surprising and significant. why is that? >> well, it's surprising because he was less of a political jag a few months back, we were all chuckling about his tiffany bills and pretty much the core team left him enmass and he refused to come home from a

greek vacation, touring the isles with his wife, at the urging of his campaign, and now he's the frontrunner and ahead in three of the critical early states. this close to voting it's not a joke. it might have been in september, but this close to the actual voting, it is significant, and it is -- newt gingrich has a real chance now. jenna: carl, taking from tipping point from something that was a joke to something serious, what was the major change in the campaign? >> we've seen this in all the polls, the antiromney candidates have come and gone, gingrich is staying. we're now 28 day, 29 days from the first caucus votes, and as a con skwerpbgs there's not a lot of time for him to be knocked out and he's faced some of the heat. he's faced questions as one of the frontrunners in debates, and hasn't taken -- there hasn't been much erosion of his polls. in fact, with cain now suspended it's entirely likely gingrich can get a little tpwroupbs some of the cain organization, and that's where gingrich desperately needs help. jenna: let's stay on that for a moment.

i was taking a look at the race in 2008, 2007 december at this time in iowa mike huckabee was leading and when it came to the caucuses he won in iowa as well. as a.b. mentioned, tpwhaoer that important time period but just on friday you and i were talking about he doesn't have the infrastructure. >> it's very, very difficult, and they acknowledge that to put together a comprehensive traditional iowa caucus campaign is virtually impossible. they will have to shatter every single land speed record for political organization ever set in order to catch up. but gingrich argues that he runs a different kind of campaign, relying on social media, relying on his own buzz and his ability to garner attention. it was a quick sound bite that doesn't necessarily require him to have the huge boots on the ground which may acknowledge it's going to be difficult to put together, in the whole host of states there, petitions that have to be put together, there are onerous ways in which you have to qualify to get and the primary caucus ballots in various states which they are behind on and acknowledge. they can catch up but they've got to do three

things at the same time: one, dodge the bullets for rivals, newt gingrich we're talking about, two, not shoot himself in the foot which a lot of former colleagues could say could ago challenge and three, build an organization, all contemporaneously and not just in iowa and new hampshire but basically around the country. it's a big, big challenge and frankly the romney campaign is arguing that over time, it may come down to a 2-person race and long battle, but they've got more infrastructure to outlast newt gingrich. jenna: a.b., i want to pick up on something else happening in the polls. obviously we're going to spend a great deal of time talking about newt gingrich and mitt romney. someone else is in the top there, that is ron paul, he has steadily stayed at the top. this is a real clear politics average. what do you make of him? we've been asking a lot. is herman cain a serious candidate. let's ask the same question of ron paul, is he a serious contend tender and how does he change the dynamic of this race? >> it's not likely that ron paul is a serious contender for the nomination, butsy a very serious contender for

the iowa caucuses. and he is a real threat to newt gingrich and mitt romney in iowa, because he's been working it hard, he has very loyal supporters, and he's been very organized on the ground. you have to organize in iowa, as carl mentioned and you have to get your voters out. i know michele bachmann has been working hard to hold hers, she will have an impressive organization and i think ron paul will do much better than she will and i think that is a problem for the top two frontrunners, because it is going to be a split vote and ron paul is going to be real problem. jenna: something we'll continue to watch as we get through the first stage. we have all the way until next june, really, to follow this. we'll be back again, you guys. thank you very much, carl and a.b., always nice to have you. >> thanks. >> thaw. jon: there is new reaction to iran's claim it shot down on unmanned u.s. spy drone. the plane, like this one, went missing during a mission over western afghanistan last week, not far from the iranian border. national security

correspondent jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon with the very latest. so jennifer, the iranians claim they shot down this drone. is the pentagon confirming that? >> well, the speaking not commenting publicly about this, and nobody is confirming that the unmanned aerial vehicle, the uav, was in fact shot down. they say it went down. here is the statement released by nato officials over the weekend, quote, the uav to which the iranians are referring may be a u.s. unarmed reconnaissance aircra that may have been flying a mission over afghanistan late last week, the operators of the uav lost control of the aircraft and had been working to determine its status. no one is confirming yet what kind of drone it was, whether it was an rq-170 centinal, which is what the iranians are saying they have in their possession now jon. jon: what about the technology? do the iranians have their own drone technology? >> reporter: well, they certainly don't have anything as sophisticated a the rq-170. that is why the u.s.

military, when these kind of self-aircrafts go down in places like -- you remember burg the -- during the bin laden raid, they destroyed that apache or tried to destroy it because there's such concern the iranians could reverse-engineer this. again, the iranians say this is an rq-170 sentinel drone, the one that was used to monitor the bin laden compound. it's very sophisticated. three years ago iran had announced it built its own unmanned drone that was capable of flying 600 miles. that would allow it to reach israel. jenna: thank you. steel stay -- we'll stay down in washington, d.c., democrats expected to make a big offer for a compromise on capitol hill. senate majority lead harry reid purportedly with a plan to extend the payroll tax cut without imposing tax

cuts on the wealthy. mike emanuel, what do we know about the possible comp -- compromise today? >> reporter: we've been working it hard trying to get the details of that compromise. we understand from what we heard yesterday from kent conrad on tpao*bgs news sunday senator reid was going to lay it out today but democrats i've talked to around the hill and our colleague trish turner, who covers the senate like a champ, we've not gotten the details yet but we continue to work it. here's what we know. here's senator conrad from fox news sunday: >> it will be paid for, it will be paid for in a way that's credible and serious, it will represent a compromise from what was voted on last week, and that it's a serious attempt to move this ball forward, because we should not have a tax increase on the middle class. that just makes no sense in this economy. >> reporter: so it's unclear what the payed fors will be, whether it will be the ideas developed by that bipartisan supercommittee that recently failed to come

up with $1.2 trillion in cuts but did develop some other ideas, but precisely what it will be, bottom line, we are working t. we'll obviously bring it to you as quickly as senator reid is ready to unveil the details. jenna: we're looking for it as well, because the clock is ticking, mike. twenty shopping days until christmas. we're almost to the end of the year. any chance lawmakers will allow this tax holiday to expire? >> >> reporter: it appears unlikely. because you consider the fact that we are going into an election year, so there's got to be concern about what the impact would be on raising taxes, even a small amount on the american people, heading into an election year. there are also the concerns about the fragile economic recovery. bottom line, leadership is on board with the deal but a lot of rank and file are concerned about the impact, whether the payroll tax holiday has actually worked. there are others who are expressing the concerns about the idea of taking money that is supposed to go toward the social security trust fund, whether that's the slippery slope, and whether this will be one of

those tax holidays that ends up getting extended year after year after year. and so there are some folks with concerns, but all indications are they will extend it at some point, jenna. jenna: look forward to the details. do you have your chis mass shopping done, by the way? >> >> reporter: not even close! jenna: me, either. >> we're in it together. jon: he's going to wander down to the the house and tpweuft shop. jeanne jeanne convenient, special. if we get one of those, we know why. skwro* jon those snow globes. most of the remaining candidates going head to head in a presidential forum. did you see it here on fox news channel? the major difference, though, equal time, no fight, just some hard hitting policy questions. virginia's attorney general, ken cuccinelli, one of those people asking the tough questions. he will join us with his take, next. jenna: we're looking forward to that. also we've done a lot of stories about teen sexting, teens sending inappropriate pictures over the internet, cell phones, all of that.

but how common is it, really? the surprising results of brand new study, just ahead. jon: also the so-called geezer bandit, no sexting here, this guy is at it again. his latest heist and all the breaking details, next. [ male announcer ] cranberry juice? wake up! ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

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jon: well, 669 remaining gop presidential candidates taking part in a special event over the weekend, a presidential forum hosted by former arkansas governor mike huckabee on the fox news channel cohosted by three states attorneys general. it was all about policy, texas governor rick perry taking the opportunity to sneak in a little politicing asking for a recess with

voters. take a listen. >> it's an wild and wooly ride in this primary and i expect it's going to stay the same so i hope everyone will give me a second look and take a look at my plan that cuts taxes and balance the budgets, that gets america working again and overhauls washington. jon: meanwhile, former governor mitt romney defending his massachusetts health care law, blasting president obama's national overhaul. >> do i like the bill overall? yes. am i proud of what we did for our state? yes. but what the president has done is way beyond what we envisioned. we were trying to take care of the 8 percent of our population that didn't have insurance. the president, it's not -- it's not just worried about the people without insurance. omabacare is about taking over 100 percent of the peoples' insurance in this country. jon: with us now, one of the cohosts of that forum, virginia attorney general ken cuccinelli, he is also a republican candidate for governor of that state. general cuccinelli, some observers say that you were harder on mitt romney -- i'm sorry, harder on newt

gingrich on the other candidates. do you think that's a fair assessment? >> well, whether i was or not is not the function of my intent or anything that reflects my own thoughts, but he wasn't giving me the assurance i was looking for. i mean, he holds himself out as a conservative, and he has elements, as he pointed, of his record that are conservative but he has some elements of his record that are anything but conservative, so what i was pressing him hard for was give me some assurance, what -- who's going to be your chief of staff, who's going to be your vice president, who are going to be your cabinet members, give sphe assurance that what's going to come out of your add session is going to be limited government ideas. i mean, when he sat there during his 11 minutes, in other segments, he talked about other ways the federal government can help in education, which he said was local. well, which is it? so i pressed hard there. but while at the same time, with mitt romney, i thought his answer to my question on

how he would deal with the president in the debate on the health care issue really made his program sound like omabacare-like, and i'm not sure that helped him. jon: mr. romney said there were problems with the massachusetts health care law that his administration enacted. now, he blames part of that on the legislature, but if it didn't work or elements of it didn't work, why not just call it a missnake.e. >> right. i completely agree with you, and frankly, i think politically and policy wise, that would have been the best thing he could have done. but he has adamantly refused to do that. and one think newt has got over romney is that he admits some of his past mistakes. not all of them, but he concedes that he's made mistakes. and the health care bill in massachusetts, while it might have been a useful experiment, the results are in. it's a failure as measured on the liberty scale or the economic scale. i mean, it's a disaster for them. and he should call it that

and move on. jon: you have seen pretty much each of these candidates surge in the polls, sometimes to the number one spot, or at least number two, and then fall back, the latest, obviously, is newt gingrich. >> right. jon: does it mean that in the anybody but romney sweep stakes and there are those in the republican party who would like to see anybody but romney, does it mean that newt gingrich is going to be the guy? >> no, i don't think it means that at all at this point. i mean f. i'm going have a surge -- you played the clip from governor perry, give me a second look, if i'm going to encourage -- surge, i'd rather surge in december before january voting than in september. and so newt gingrich is rising in a good time, but also, the delegate selection is very different this go round. john mccain wrapped the nomination up by early march. no one will wrap this nomination by early march this go round. that isn't going to happen because of how strung out the delegation process is. so they're going to have to

taerpb and they're going to have to earn it in a number of states. it isn't going to be just who wins iowa and new hampshire wins the whole thing. jon: ken cuccinelli, florida's attorney general, thank you. >> thank you. jenna: it was interesting to watch. there's going to be another forum as well. we'll keep you posted on that. but a very interesting way to ask the questions. jon: they had time to go in depth. jenna: enjoyed it. the fallout from pakistan, we have a live report from washington. also, you know it's a problem sparking growing concern, really, kids sending racy cell phone photos of themselves, videos, things like that. what is going on here? who is doing it, how bad is it? we're going to talk to the author of a study that shows we may have this story all wrong. we have that just ahead.

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jenna: sphe developing stories we're keeping an eye on in the news raol and control room as well, starting off, julian assange, asking the british supreme court to prevent his extradition to sweden. assange has finish london for a year. he faces rape charges in sweden in his ongoing case. in the meantime the u.s. supreme court has agreed to hear an appeal from secret service agents who say they should be shielded from a lawsuit brought by a man they arrested for confronting then-vice president dick cheney. he claims the agents violated his free speech rights. and the end of overnight mail, the postal service plans to cut out first class mail service to slower delivery in 2012, one of many changes coming to the postoffice as the service tries to stave off bankruptcy. jon well, it's something every parent needs to know about. teen sexting. kids, sending racy photos

online, or over their cell phones. but a new study in the journal of pediatrics now suggests the phenomenon may not be as prevalent as originally thought. joining us on the phone is the study's co-author and senior researcher at the crimes against children research center, janice wolak. janice, the impression that a lot of parents have is just about every teen is online doing this kind of thing. not true? >> yes. not true. our results were very reassuring. we really focused in our research on whether kids were unwittingly violating laws against child pornography, in other words, situations where kids could get in real trouble by producing images that were secy explicit. and we interviewed a representative sample of young people between the ages of ten and 16, we -- 17, i'm sorry, and we did

telephone interviews with parental permission. now, we have a lot of safeguards in our telephone interviews, we're very experienced at interviewing young people about sensitive issues to make sure that they can talk to us privately and confidently. and what we found was when we asked kids if they had appeared in nude or nearly nude images about 2 percent of kids said yes. and then when we asked them more details about the content of the images, we found that only 1 percent of kids had appeared in images that were really explicit. and the other images were more -- i think you used the word racy. you know, kids in swimsuits, kids in sexually suggestive poses, but wearing clothes. more typical kinds of pictures. and we also -- >> jon: i read a quote, and i think it was from you,

that suggested that, you know, teenagers are sort of buy logically -- biologic ally predisposed to doing dumb things and sexting was one of those things. >> you know that, wasn't our quote. that was someone else that was interviewed, and i think that's really giving teenagers a bad wrap. we do a lot of research here about youth internet use and what we find is the great majority of teenagers are very responsible, and there's also a lot of research out of places like the center for disease control that tracks indicators of kids' sexual behavior, and what we find is that kids are becoming more responsible in their sexual behavior in the -- behavior. in the past decade we've seen decreases in teen pregnancies, increases in the ages at which kids become sexually active, and a number of measures like that, that suggest kids are actually becoming more

conservative in their sexual behavior. so there always are a certain percentage of kids who you're going to find are acting up sexually in various ways but it's a small percentage. and i think we need to have more faith in our kids. and the other thing i want to say is when we talk about kids being programmed to do dumb things -- things, and things like sexting, very often what are kids doing? they're imitating adults. >> jon: touche! janis, we have to say goodbye. those of us who have teenagers will take heart in that conversation. >> you should. jon: and take that, adults! make you feel a little better hearing that study. something happening -- happening con capitol -- happening on capitol hill, a controversial bill being introduced in the house. it's legislation that will ban certain abortions that are based on race or gender. it's known as the prenatal

nondiscrimination act. shannon bream will join us to explain what's going on here. a live look at the big board down on wall street today, it looks like it's a pretty good day there. there's a crucial meeting taking place in europe that could have a direct impact on your wallet. we have a live report, up ahead. looking good! you lost some weight. you noticed! these clothes are too big, so i'm donating them. how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios... five whole grains, 110 calories.

jon: a fox news alert. we are winding down the case of joshua komisarjesky and i think we all will be grateful when we no longer have to bring you the details of that horrible crime for which he was

convicted, komisarjesky, convicted in the murder of a connecticut woman and her two young daughters who were tied to the bed while their house was set on fire. the judge has begun charging the jury in the penalty phase. the jury has to determine whether komisarjesky will be sent to the death chamber or will receive automatic life in prison. there are 42 mitigating factors that must be read to the jury before they can begin deciding. they've already convicted him. now they have to decide the penalty phase. forty-two mitigating factors to be read. it will be tedious, but the judge says it's necessary. we will keep you apprised. jenna: in the meantime, some mounting tensions between our country and pakistan. u.s. military announcing plans to vacate an air base used to launch drones at pakistan's request. we're also getting new reports the u.s. ally, i say this in quotes, is now deciding to halt all

existing antiterror agreements with the united states. all this, of course, is following the deadly nato air strike that recently papd. chief washington correspondent james rosen is catching it all from the d.c. bureau. >> reporter: good afternoon. secretary of state hillary clinton telling repters in germany this morning she's encouraged by the latest remarks on pakistan, the prime minister suggesting the latest flare-up in our relations with the nuclear- armed south asian country may come to an end, last week the pakistani military laid to rest the bodies of 24 soldiers, killed by a nato chopper on november 26th. that allied mission won awry from launched from afghan soil, the fact that led the pakistanis to skip today's international tkproepbs in german aimed at safeguarding the future of afghanistan, after most u.s. an other foreign troops leave that country by the end of 2014. secretary of state clinton, who attended the conference this morning add earlier

expressed regret that pakistan was boycotting it quoting the interest in a safe, secure afghanistan. >> everyone knows pakistan will be a major participant in what occurs in the future, so i would express regret and hope that perhaps there can be a followup way that we can have the benefit of pakistani participation in this international effort to try to work toward a stable, secure, peaceful outcome in afghanistan. >> reporter: last month, nato nato's strike led pakistan to block nato supply routes that run through pakistani territory and issue an ultimatum to washington to vacate its air base in samzi pakistan which the u.s. used as a staging area for the unmanned drones that played a central role in the obama administration's prosecution of the war on terror, evidence that awfully those orders may be rescinded or

were purely symbolic in the first place comes from the pakistani prime minister in which he said, quote, it won't take long before the u.s. and pakistan have patched things up once again. jenna. jenna: we'll be discussing this more next hour with the former cia officer. james, thank you very much. >> thank you. jon: in washington, republican congressman trent franks is turning heads, planning to introduce a controversial bill that would ban many abortions. it's known as the prenatal nondiscrimination act. it outlaws abortions on the basis of race and gender. what's that all about? shannon bream, live in washington. shannon. >> reporter: well, jon, congressman franks says he's uncovered evidence there's a growing problem in the u.s., having abortion based on the sex or even the race of the child they're carrying, he -- he told me he thinks americans should be able to agree that's bad policy. >> this is something where 85, 90 percent of americans believe that it's wrong to abort a little baby because

a little baby is black or hispanic instead of white and they believe it's wrong to abort a little girl because he's a girl instead of a pwoeufplt this is not rocket science. this is not something we should struggle with as a nation. >> reporter: by the way, none of the penalties in the bill would apply to the woman who seeks or has an abortion. franks says it's more about the people who would council her or provide an abortion based on sex or race selection. jon: you can't touch on the issue of abortion without bringing out the points. what are they saying? >> a number of prochoice groups have joined together in a letter to congress saying franks is an antichoice extremist and adding this, quote, instead of adessing health dispairies and assessing competent medical care for all women the prenatal nondiscrimination act will isolate add staying matize women from practicing their fundamental right to make decisions about their reproductive life. they think it's about a bigger battle over questions about roe v wade. jon: what about the chances

this actually gets to a vote? >> he told me he has 60 co-sponsors to the bill. there is going to be a big hearing on capitol hill tomorrow at which time he'll hope to persuade others to join in. he says it's a tough road ahead but even if it fails it sparks a conversation about life, jon. jon: shannon bream live from washington, thank you. jenna: right now begins a crucial week for the put of the globe at economy, german chancellor angela merkel and french president nicolas sarkozy are hashing out a way toup the -- to help the european union. investors seem to be relatively optimistic. we're coming off a big week on wall street, and you can see where the dow is. ashley webster joins us live from frankfurt, germany. ashley, how important is the agreement between france and germany? >> reporter: it is very important, jenna, because let's face it, german and france are the two biggest economy in the european union and it's a critical step as the euro -- if the

eurozone is ever to get a handle on this deepening debt crisis. today both france and germany agreeing to stronger measures to punish those countries who overspend and to hav some sort of mechanism that allows the union to take care of these budget decifits without it affecting the system as a whole, and certainly bringing instability to the financial system. that plan will be taken to brussels on friday, where it will be discussed by all of the member states and then some sort of blueprint will come out thaf, then they are hope to go change the european treaties or reflect these changes by early next year. we're also expect to go hear from the european central bank outside the office of which i am standing this week. they may also step up to the plate and add more money to the system. now, u.s. treasury secretary tim geithner will be doing a whistle stop tour throughout europe, he'll be coming here to frankfurt tomorrow, as well as berlin, then paris, then franks, marseilles, to italy and milan where he'll

meet with the italian prime minister. it's all part of the obama administration strongly urging e.u. leaders to forcibly take action to get a grip of the debt crisis and again bring stability to the financial system. so jenna, it is a critical week and certain steps are already being put in place, that by the end of the week, confidence may indeed be restored not only to the eurozone but the global economy as a whole. jenna: we'll see if the treasury secretary picks up any tips as we look at our own debt and budget issues at home as well. ashley, thank you very much, from frankfurt, germany today. jon: nice posting. i'd like that assignment! u.s. surveillance drone, all of its advanced technology. is it in the wrong hands? iran claims its military shot down that u.s. drone. how should the u.s. react if it's true? we'll talk with a u.s. senator who's calling for a tougher line against tehran. also, new developments in the hunt for this guy, the

so called geezer bandit, investigators looking for an elderly looking man who they say is behind a string of bank robberies. [ baby coughing ]

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jen tensions are surging between the united states and iran over a lost aircraft. iranian state television report thank iran's military shot down on unmanned american spy plane along its border with afghanistan. the drone reportedly like this one is in the hands of the islamic regime. nato says that operators lost control of an unarmed drone or aircraft during a mission, but a u.s. military source says there's no sign that the iranians shot it down or really what condition it's currently in, if it's on the ground in iran. our next guest has been out in front, calling for stronger sanctions again iran. we're going to talk about that with senator mark kirk from illinois. senator kirk, before we get to this, just drawing upon your experience as an intelligence officer what do

you know about this situation with this unmanned aircraft? >> all we know is what "the washington post", iranian press and nato press said, that the iranians claim they shot down this drone, the iranians have claim they've shot down many american and israeli drones before and those reports turned out to be not true. but in this case, nato, isaf, and afghanistan says one of the drones is missing. so it may be that we had a mechanical malfunction, and there is a possibility the iranians have this air frame. jenna: is it possible that they have the capability to shoot it down from the sky? >> it's less likely than not. it's more that the iranians may have taken advantage of a mechanical or computer malfunction, and then used it for propaganda purposes. but in the past, they have claimed these shoot downs and been unable to produce any pieces of the drone, and currently, they have not exhibited any piece of the rq-170 yet.

jenna: just so our viewers know, we are showing video of what this looks like. the iranians have no video or pictures of what they say they have on the ground. they are showing silent video as well. let's talk about the sanctions that you read in the senate, 100-zero when it comes to a vote in support of this and that type of bipartisanship, you don't see these days in washington but this requires sanctions on financial businesses that do business with iran. can you tell us who that affects and why you think an extension like that is needed? >> well, we saw the iranians had a bomb plot to blow up a washington, d.c. restaurant to kill a saudi arabia ambassador, the u.n. reports they're getting close to building a nuclear potential for weaponry, they oppress their own people, especially their citizens and support terror around the world. that's where senator wenen dez got together to collapse

the central bank of iran, to say to entities if you do business with the united states you cannot do business with iran to force everyone to choose between the shrinking $300 billion iranian economy and the $14 trillion u.s. economy. despite the president of the united states opposing these sanctions, the senate voted 100-zero, every single senator, stood with us, sthaeug we should sanction the central bank of iran. jenna: did you get any response from the white house since that passed? >> the president still strongly opposes this amendment, but not a single senator stood with him. the central bank of iran, according to the treasury department, is a money launderer for terror and nuclear parts. it's the center of the payment structure for hamas and hezbollah. jenna: sure. sen to, sorry to interrupt. i have to run quick. china and russia do a lot of business with iran. do you -- are you sthaeug any banks in china and russia that do business with the central bank of iran will not be allowed to do business with nous the united states?

>> that's right. what we do is we give weeks if not months for everyone to adjust. there is a national security waiver in the legislation, just in case the president needs an absolute out, and we want to work with oil suppliers, particularly libya, which is going to double production, iraq, saudi arabia, all who are probably pretty interested in helping out this diplomatic effort against iran. jenna: something like this hasn't been done before. we'll see if there is progress in the house and if we have a response from the white house as well. senator kirk, thank you very much for joining us today. >> thank you. jon: we're going to take to you california where the fierce wind is not letting up, gusts as high as 65 miles an hour, knocking down trees in several community, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power. the fearless lauren savon with our affiliate kttv is out there braving the winds for us right now. try to stay grounded, laura. we'll be talking to you next. plus, a car collector's

nightmare! a pileup of more than a dozen super expensive sports cars. how and where did this happen? that's coming up. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8.

jon i folks your folks' house is still there. there have been fierce winds out west. starting in utah, the national guard help to go tkraoepb up -- clean up debris from last week's storm while preparing to deal with another one, forecasters predicting wind gusts up to 75 miles an hour. in southern california, hurricane-force winds leaving a colossal mess. thousands of families are living without power for days, after a wild storm. they're now being told by utility crew that is light is on the way. let's check in with fox

affiliate kttv, lauren is long in fon tan kwrarbgs california. i'll glad you were able to stick with us through that commercial break, lauren! >> >> reporter: me too! me too. had a few chances to blow away this morning. yeah, as you mentioned, there are about 30,000 people in southern california still in the dark today after those fierce santa ana winds have whipped through and they are kicking up again today. take a look. we're sear outside interstate 15. now, this is a popular route for folks headed out to vegas from los angeles. it's also a popular route for those 18 wheelers. and big rig drivers have been telling us they're just pulling off the side of the road when they feel those winds kicking up, because their trailers are really shaking, and it is very dangerous to head through this path with those wind gusts of up to 60 miles an hour today. so they're not taking any chances. and you can tell why. take a look at some of the damage we've seen all across southern california. ninety-seven per myoo 97 an

hour per mile wind gust, 400,000 customers without power. as crews continue to clean up that mess, and try to get the juice turned back on for folks across this area, these winds are kicking up again. if you take a look here out back with me, these trees over here, right off the interstate, well, they're permanently tilted in a southwest direction, because those off shore winds are coming from the northeast at such a rapid clip, bending those trees. so as cleanup continues throughout southern california, the santa ana winds are kicking right back up. jon. jon: hope they get the power back. lauren sivan, thanks. jenna: right now the feds are stepping up the search after a shocking new bank heist. patti ann brown is working the story for us. patti ann. >> reporter: they think right now actually this is the 16th bank to be held up by the so-called geezer bandit. this time, it was a bank of america branch in san

obispo, california, the bandit entered the bank on friday, waving a gun and wearing a hat and glasses. he apparently dropped a lot of the cash in the parking hrofplt it was scattered over several spaces. it's not clear how much loot he drove off with. this man was first accused of robbery in sante in 2009, most of the robberies have been in san diego and its suburbs, others in temecula, bakersfield, moro bay. the man is described as 6-foot tall, white with gray hair, in his 60s or 70s, but there is some speculation he might be wearing a mask that makes him look older. in any case he's become somewhat of a folk here oerbgs there are several facebook fan pages and t-shirts featuring his image but police remind the public this man is pulling a gun and stealing. they are offering a $20,000 reward and asking anything with information to call the fbi:

>> jenna: more as we get it. patti ann, thank you. jon: new developments in the investigation into operation fast & furious. that's just ahead. [ male announcer ] medicare...

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don't wait. call now for free information about the additional coverage you may need. ♪ jenna: near noon on the east coast. glad you're with us, everybody. hopefully i'll learn to speak over the next hour. jon: it's okay it's monday. jenna: red leather, yellow letter, i've got it. hello, i'm jenna lee? i'm jon scott. we begin a brand-new hour with new developments in the fast and furious scandal skwraot justice department admitting it gave senator chuck grassley inaccurate information about the botched gun-tracking sting. that is one of the surprising details of 1400 pages of documents quietly released by the justice department late on friday while so many in washington were preparing for the weekend. didn't get it by william la

jeunesse, though, he's live in los angeles. what is in all the documents? >> reporter: what we're talking about is what got this ball rolling in the first place. a whistle-blower you might recall went to senator grassley with the allegation back in february that the u.s. was helping arm the mexico cartels. grassley asked, is this true? a response was coordinated by lani brewer. he said categorically no, the atf did not knowingly have guns going to mexico and none of the guns showed up at the brian terry murder scene. now we know both of those statements are false. friday he blamed the inaccuracies on dennis burke. kenneth mels on bill newell among others, sayin saying his office relied on the assertions that the agency was not involved. the justice department took the extraordinary step friday of withdrawing that letter because it contained so many

inaccuracies, jenna. jenna: can you give us a few more examples of what specifically we are talking about here? >> reporter: sure. for one they claimed that jaime ila who you see here was not under investigation when he bought the guns that killed agent brian terry. therefore, the atf could not have stopped him. well that is inaccurate, avila was a suspect according to their own records 46 days before he bought those guns used in the murder, and he could have been arrested earlier but they didn't. secondly, the letter said that the atf did not let illegal guns go to mexico, that is not true. dozens new that was the strategy and they told grassley just the opposite, yet listen to how indignant u.s. attorney burke was that grassley even suggested they let guns walk and i'm quoting. what is so offensive is that grassley's staff acted as willing stooges for the gun lobby allowing this reckless

despicable accusation that the atf is complicit in the murder of a border patrol officer. it never crossed my mind that they would stoop this low. there is videotape of the buyers out there that the atf has, and they are afraid that is going to get out. number two, there are about two dozen people who reviewed this letter from all three federal agencies, and some of those, i can tell you, did know that there were false statements in that letter to congress and yet they signed off on it any way. that will be a problem for them in the future. jenna: we will quick, here, william, what is next? >> reporter: well, attorney general eric holder is going to appear before the house judiciary committee on thursday and he's going to be unthe microscope and it will be under the microscope and it will be much more intense.

it will be a lot of heat. jenna: thank you. >> republican candidates are out there attacking the president for everything real and imagined. that is the nature of politics. we have legitimate differences with the republican party mostly about how we rebuild a middle economy that works for this country. we'll have a big debate about it. yes, we are going to challenge them when we think they are wrong. jon: that is david axelrod yesterday on "meet the press" defending the president's policies against what he calls republican attacks. his remarks sparking a swift and sharp response from the chairman of the republican national committee. let's talk about it with bret baier the anchor of special report. the overall theme, and these campaigns u know, seem to run in themes, bret, the overall theme that the president's team has adopted is that democrats are trying to protect the american middle class, and they say that republicans are out to enrich

the rich. would you agree? >> reporter: sure that is the political issue that they are trying to capitalize on, that is the one they are trying to run on. they've done a fairly good job politically speaking of putting republicans back on their heels a bit on this payroll tax cut battle up on capitol hill, but when you look at that interview on "meet the press" really one thing stood out, david gregory effectively pushed david axelrod on the issue of the president essentially leading from behind, or not leading on the issue of debt reduction, and when it came to the question of simpson-bowles, the deficit debt commission, and whether the administration was going to embrace that, it didn't. and you had a sound byte from erskin bowles, and he is a

democrat. he believed the chicago element inside the white house was pushing the president to not endorse the deficit and debt commission and let paul ryan go first and essential low that he would be the bigger person and the more reasonable person when it came to entitlement spending. it was a powerful moment, because david axelrod, and the white house really doesn't have a great answer as of yet to that charge. you heard it from governor romney's du supporter, governor chris christie that the president has not led. jon: the chairman of the republican national committee who i mentioned in the introduction says that essentially the president and his team are trying to turn this into the divided states of america. i want to get your reaction to what he had to say. >> people in this country don't think that this president is real any more. he's not genuine any more. he came to this country across

this country as a candidate and he promised to be the great uniter, david, he was going to be different e was going to bring everyone together. he was going to listen to the debt commission, do you remember that? guess what? now he's going out around america and i just heard david talk about it as the great divider. jon: is that more of the class warfare argument that republicans are trying to make. >> reporter: it is and it's a powerful argument for republicans to make along the lines of governor christie and others who said that the president hasn't really taken the reigns. the response from the administration was that was the basis of the negotiations with speaker boehner and they fell apart they charge because speaker boehner couldn't get his caucus to embrace the negotiations that were going on. it's still powerful when you talk about a president that can't get it across a finish line. on the flip side democrats have effectively pushed this taxing millionaires and billion heirs and saying it's reasonable for everyone to pay their fair

share. that is an attractive political statement and one they are trying to capitalize and around the country. jon: the white house seemed to think mitt romney was going to be the nominee and they have directed their fire at him ignoring all others, including newt gingrich who seems t be the number one opponent right now. why? >> reporter: that is a good yes. there are some democrats in certain circles that believe that newt gingrich would be a much better nominee for them to ru against, weaker as far as the republicans are concerned, and i think that they believe that mitt romney is the biggest challenge, and hence they are spending money to -- on democratic ads, et cetera. i will say that we heard for the first time overseas, vice president biden commenting today, or over the weekend in a meeting with the turkish prime minister, the meeting was going long and biden said, i don't want to sound like newt gingrich, i don't want to sound

like i'm inflating my importance or my relationship with him, the prime minister. so perhaps you're going to start seeing some digs from administration officials on newt gingrich as well. jon: i imagine your panel will want to play with that a little bit tonight. bret baier thanks. bret will bring you all of of the day's latest from capitol hill and the campaign trail. do not meet special report, great political incite together, 6:00 eastern time. jenna: america's postal service making big changes today to help with serious money problems. we are still going to get the deliveries through rain and sleet or snow, you know that saying, but starting today you may have to give them just a little bit more time to do it. doug mcelway is live in arlington, virginia with the latest. >> reporter: the good news about this is that the christmas and holiday deliveries will be unaffected by some massive changes that are coming down the pike, the reason being that these proposed changes have to be put in the federal register,

there is a public comment period, they have to be approved by the regulatory commission. it's probably early april before we see the changes taking effect. that said, the postal servi is absolutely hemorrhaging money, it's going to have to slash both its spending and its staffing. here is dave williams the vice president of operations speaking at a press conference earlier this morning. >> our network is simply too big to handle the revenues that are coming in today, but more importantly way too big for what we are projecting in the future. we have to do this. we have to make this change in order for the postal service to become financially viable. the postal service if it continues to lose 8.5, 10 billion, this year we are ear project ago 14 billion-dollar loss -- >> reporter: here are the changes we are talking about, $3 billion in cuts. 250 of almost 500 postal sorting facilities will be shut down. first class mail deliver

raoerbgs the one to three daytime frame for first class delivery will be hrepblt end to two to three days. 51% of all first class mail service is expected to arrive in two days, the rest of it likely in three days. this is the beginning of the savings that they are looking at. they want to shut down 3700 post offices across the country, resulting in the loss of a hundred thousand postal service jobs. the postal service is already in jeopardy right now on defaulting on a $5.5 billion payments to its retirees health fund. we are looking at tremendous changes down the road again, most of them happening, beginning in the month of april, jenna. jenna: a time for tough decisions as well, doug, thank you. jon: there is a desperate search underway for a missing two-year-old girl. why police are asking her father some tough questions. plus, a new development in pakistan, why the prime minister -- or what the prime minister is saying today about future relations with the united

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jon: an update to a story we told you about on friday. police are looking for a missing girl in detroit and are questioning her father's story of a carjacking. the guy says two men drove off with his 2-year-old daughter in the car. he has failed a lie detector test. patti ann browne has more. >> reporter: a frantic search continues for bianca jones of detroit. investigators are skeptical of her father's version of events. the father, deandre lane says friday morning he was forced out of his car at gunpoint. he says the two carjack eurs drove off with his daughter in the back seat. his car a 2004 mercury grand marquis was found a new minutes later after police responded, but bianca was gone. the police chief says, quote the credibility of the original version of events is under

intense scrutiny by our investigative deem. he failed a lie detector test on friday. he served two years in prison on firearm and drug charges. he is being held on an unrelated warrant. f.b.i. agents are searching for evidence at lane's home. officers were going door to door and searching a vacant field nearby. police have released a sketch by lane on one of two men that carjacked him. the missing girl, bianca is 2 to the 5, 25 pounds with a light complex ion. her mother and seven-year-old sister held a tearful press conference asking for help to find the 2-year-old girl. there is a reward of $170,500 for tips leading to the toddler. anybody can information can call 800-speak up. jon: hope they can find that little girl.

jenna: new information on rocky relations between our country and pakistan. the prime minister now saying his country wants to rebuild ties with the united states, and he sees signs of progress. these latest remarks come as u.s. personnel that operate drones vacate an air base in pakistan. they were ordered to leave in retal skwraeugs for a nat reretaliation for a nato strike. this you look a few paragraphs down in this article the associated press says this the civilian government is in many respects subject serve kwrepbt to the army in pakistan. if you could read between the lines a little bit in the prime minister's statements what do you think he has to say. >> i think it's window dressing. they decided not to go to

afghanistan. the border crossings are still closed for our supply route into afghanistan. there may be some things going on behind the scenes, but publicly i don't see any real change in this already tortured relationship. jenna: we are looking at video of the pakistanis, some of them burning american flags, burning pictures of secretary of state hillary clinton d also the president. it makes me wonder, there have been many reports, and we've talked about some of them, peter, where we've heard pakistan harboring terrorists or letting militants use parts of their bases to fire on the united states and afghanistan, so this is their retaliation for what is being described as a confusing mistake, what is our retaliation for some of their actions? >> there is a problem here. jenna, one of the reasons you're showing this video, which i can't see, but as you described is when they closed this base it's probably also for the domestic audience in pakistan, in other words saying we are playing tough with these americans, even thee the united

states had drawn down its activities since the osama bin laden raid. pakistan was outraged by what happened there, and wanted to close this air base, which some people believe had hosted the drones that were used in the take down of osama bin laden. so this may be for domestic consumption. we're getting tough on the americans, we're closing this base. they have to deal with their kphes particular constituency, it may not be pointed directly at the ooh night states. jenna: when we found that osama bin laden was hiding in the pakistan the american people didn't take to the streets and start burning pakistani flags. it shows the difference in the relationship of our two countries and reaction from the public. what is the relationship at this critical point. >> we still need pakistan. it's a marriage of necessity unfortunately, not a marriage of affections. the welcome light is on, and

the -- the light is on and the welcome mat is out in the tribal areas for the hakani network and the taliban and al-qaida who are operating in afghanistan. we need the southern distribution network to get our supplies into afghanistan. the others come through the north through russia and other places. we still need this cooperation and pakistan needs us for military and security assistance. i think that both sides are trying to find a way to go forward. i think that the prime minister is trying to say, okay we are willing to talk to more about how we can move the relationship forward. it's not clear how that is going to come about. we are, like i said in a marriage of necessity that both sides needs the other and they need to find a way e and accommodation for working together. jenna: i prefer marriage of affection, right, peter if you had the choice. >> reporter: absolutely. jenna: always nice to talk to you. jon: the strange case of the florida mother who has disappeared, missing for weeks.

now there is a new search for michelle parker. we'll tell you about the focus of the police investigation. also out of the jail and into a job, how one state is encouraging businesses to put former prisoners to work. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, you won't just find us online, you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal service starts with a real person. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our support teams are nearby, ready to help. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade.

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stories we're keeping an eye on for you. a team of investigators specializing in abducted children are joining the search for missing seven-year-old girl. she disappeared from a georgia playground on friday. there is a look at her. the manhunt for an escaped inmate is in its fourth day. he is 34 years old, he's a burglary suspect. he escaped from a new hampshire jail last week. they consider him armed and dangerous. police and volunteers are making

a new push to find missing orlando mother michelle parker. she was last seen dropping off her children with their father dale smith jr. police say he is the main suspect but have not arrested smith for filed charges against him. jon: just in, a 12-year-old boy charged as an adult with first degree murder for killing his two-year-old half brother. easy peering in courhe is appearing in court in florida today. he could spend the rest of his life in prison after rejecting a plea deal offered to him. phil keating live in miami with more. >> reporter: hi, jon, despite international outrage and demands to get a plea deal happening, it appears no plea deal is going to happen now for 12-year-old christian fernandez. as you mentioned the defense team rejected the one that was offered by the state, this means the boy, christian fernandez, could if he's convicted, never have another day outside of a courtroom or jail for the rest of his life.

a judge in jacksonville this morning setting a trial date now for the youngest person ever to be charged as an adult with first degree murder in jacksonville. february 27. he's accused of pushing his two-year-old brother so violently into a bookshelf that the boy never woke up and could not be saved by the time he got to the hospital. the prosecutor had offered a plea deal several weeks ago. that would force the boy to admit to murder in exchange he'd be charged with second-degree murder and freed when he's 21. because that would also bring up the possibility of him serving some of that time in adult prison his defense attorneys rejected it. his mother who was 12 years old when she got pregnant with christian is also being held i in prison without bond. she is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child, culpable negligence and here is why. police searches on her laptop showed a google search, when somebody gets knocked out. concussion on children a few

hours later, followed by her allegedly checking her own bank -pbgt, downloading music and finally looking up the address of the nearest hospital more than four hours later. a doctor told police that had that boy been rushed to the hospital immediately his life could have been saved. because of the evidence not all of which is open to the public, a grand jury of adults weighed all this out and determined that 12-year-old fernandez does deserve to be tried as an adult. they made a brand-new motion to have the entire felony murder case against this 12-year-old boy tossed out based on illegality and they say it's not applicable here for this boy. it doesn't appear likely the judge is going to rule in favor of the defense and the 12-year-old boy. as it stands right now he will begin his first degree murder trial on adult charges less than two months from now. as for the mom, she is in jail, no bond, her youngest boy is dead, her other two kids are now

in foster care, and her eldest, well he's now charged with murder. jon: and a deal that could have sent him to prison for nine years, his side rejected that. >> reporter: it's because of the permanent murder admission on his record and they really do fear for his safety if he's put into the adult population. jon: i got a fear he's going to go to prison for life under this new arrangement or new possibility. phil keating thank you. jenna: we'll continue to watch that one. in the meantime in san francisco leaders there are getting ready to vote on a controversial plan thaeupb tends to bring felons back into the workforce. the proposal will give businesses who hire felons a tax break. even though other cities and states and even the feds are already taking part in this many are wondering if this is the most effective use of a tax break at this time. claudia cowan is live in san francisco with more. >> reporter: the proposed law here is modeled after a similar program in philadelphia that motivates businesses to hire a felon by giving them a $10,000

payroll tax break. supporters argue it will help criminals fly straight and reduce unemployment. and as california releases thousands of inmates as part of a move to help balance the state budget they say it's critical to help these people find jobs in the private sector so that they are less likely to reoffend. >> people are coming out of the prison system and the jail system, they've done their time. they are not getting access to housing or employment, so we need to try to inch seven ta vies the private sector to help us in hopefully employing people. >> reporter: critics like victims' rights advocates argue it's just wrong for the government to give felons special treatment. >> i think it's totally unfair for the people that have been out there obeying the law, and worked their way into a skill set where they can get the job and they are displaced because the city is paying someone else to get hired. >> reporter: he also worries the program will turn san francisco into a magnet for criminals.

some genuinely look for jobs, some not so much. other cities and states that have similar programs for felons have not seen a lot of success, so if the idea is approved here supporters plan to launch a marketing campaign to convince private sector employers to participate. they'll then review the program in two years to see in there were any takers and whether the public supports a program that gives competitive edge to criminals even as many law abiding citizens, including some crime victims, general arout there looking for work. jenna: what an interesting story. after this friday we got the jobs report and the average unemployed person is unemployed for ten months or more. interesting to hear what tax incentives could be given to felons to get them back into the workplace. it's an interesting story, claudia. thank you so much for bringing it to us. >> reporter: you're welcome. jon: gasoline prices are trending downward as we head towards the holidays. where will they be by spring? let's hope a lot lower. a look at the media's coverage of ron paul's presidential

campaign. should he be getting more air time?

like many chefs today, i feel the best approach to food is to keep it whole for better nutrition. and that's what they do with great grains cereal. see the seam on the wheat grain? same as on the flake. because great grains steams and bakes the actual whole grain. now check out the other guy's flake. hello, no seam. because it's more processed. now, which do you suppose has better nutrition for you? mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal.

jenna: a drop in fuel prices is good news for drivers heading to the gas pump, for the rest of us who need extra cash to do holiday shopping. the national average nor a gallon of regular unleaded is 3.28, a 14-cent drop from one month ago. colonel mcshane is here to talk a little more about this. what is behind the drop. >> reporter: oil prices of

course have gone up if you've been following the markets, now that. the reason gas prices have not gone up, according to the people who put together the l u.n. berg survey, the people who sell the gasoline don't have the quote unquote pricing power to pass along the price increases. the economy is so weak, they can't hike up the gas prices because people are not willing to pay for it. their margins are very, very slim. will it last? i don't know. the cheapest gas in the usa is in albuquerque, mexico at 2.84. if you're in san francisco you'll pay 3.67 per gallon. it does depend on where you are. in terms of whether the relatively low prices will last, we don't know. most of the people we speak tor betting on, no they won't for a couple of reasons. number one you have iran. over the weaning end iran with santa barbaraer rattling talking

about the possibility of jacking up the price of oil but also claiming to have shot down an american drone, which brings you to the question will tensions escalate even more than they already have between the united states and other countries and iran? that consistent hurt gas prices. if the economy improves gas and oil prices could go up because there is more demand. we'll see what happens. jenna: we'll take it for now. thank you. jon: the republican candidates have just four weeks left to campaign before the iowa caucuses. a new des moines register poll shows newt gingrich on top in iowa with 25% of the vote up from 7% in october. he is followed byron pau by ron paul, with 18%. and mitt romney has 16%. the news media rarely mentioned ron paul. joining us now is alan colmes,

and rich lowry. why doesn't the media talk more about paul. >> i don't agree with the the premise, he's in every doe bait. i've had him on my radio show a lot. i've seen a number of segments, how the media doesn't talk about ron paul while they are talking about ron paul. people know who he is. if you are following this stuff -- that is one of reasons he might be doing well, people do know who he is and he resonates with a good percentage of the republican election threat. i don't think he'll get the nomination, antiwar, league lyle drugs, a series of positions that are too libertarian for the republican party. here we are talking about giving him media attention and we're giving him media attention. jon: might they go to ron paul. >> i think all the polls show cain's people are going to go to newt gingrich.

on the merits you look at his standing in the polls, the fundraising he's doing, the kind of organization he has on the ground, and he is not getting the media attention commensurate with awful those things. the most notorious example he came in second in the iowa straw poll, a traditional winning event in the republican season, and there was a notorious red line that says michelle bachmann finishes thirst and tim pawlenty finishes third, skipping over ron paul. people at the end of the day don't think he has any chance of getting elected president. if you look at all the indicators and how serious he is, especially compared to a lot of people who have got even more attention than he has, then he's not getting his fair share. jon: his supporters, alan, few in number as they may be, and i'm sure you hear from them on your radio show, they are fervant in their support for them.

>> he appeals to some libertarians. with the pay three at act he is at odds with the rest of his party. he came out against the patriot act, everybody beat um on him. one of the reasons rich might have a point is he's outside the republican mainstream and is not in some quarters taken as seriously as he should be. >> that's the nicest thing alan has ever said about me. i might have a point, might. >> that's not true. jon: let's talk about herman cain. i talked to you about this drip, drip, drip of accusations against him. you were, well, concerned i guess in the early going, now he's out of the race after this latest woman comes forward and says she carried on a 13-year affair with him. i guess the question is did he get a fair shake in the media? >> it depends on how you look at it. if you look at his campaign basically it was a bit of a hr-rbg and a selfpromotional venture, then he got way more attention from the media and was

taken more seriously by the media than he should have been. i think the problem is, jon, he's not acting like an extremely innocent guy. i mean, if ginger white's allegations are totally false he should sue her for liable. he owes it t himself and all the people who chipped in in his campaign to soldier on. hinstead heedinstead he had this strange event on saturday. he's sitting on millions that people have thrown into his campaign coffers. it was quite a flame out. jon: alan he suggests that some of the money should be returned. what do you think? >> well, you know it's hard to give back the money when people in good faith gave it at the time they thought he would be a credible candidate. if you thought he was a credible candidate you've got a screw loose. he was on a book tour. he didn't have a fundraising

apparatus, he didn't have, you know, precincts covered in iowa and new hampshire. so, i mean, he wasn't -- it wasn't really a presidential campaign. it wasn't the media's fault. the media gave too much coverage for somebody who wasn't really running for president, but running for his next media job. >> i would say alan might have a point. jon: should the media vet these candidates more? i remember when he announced everybody thought he was kind of an after thought. >> this is the vetting process. we've watched these people come out and talk about these different allegations against him. we've seen him go on these shows and give convoluted answers on abortion, immigration. he can't give a straight answer on the issues. he's antiabortion, it should be illegal, but family should be allowed to make up their choice. he can't give a straight answer to a policy question. >> the media didn't drive the surge, it was driven by genuine support among republicans out

there in the country, and his surge in the polls ratcheted up the media attention. his very worst moment in the media was an extremely sedate, polite civil meet where that milwaukee newspaper where he was asked his view on the libya war and basically continue give one. jon: one thing the media won't be reporting on is his meeting with mrs. cain. >> that's the one we want to see. jon: i imagine there would be some fireworks there. thank you both. appreciate it. jenna: ferrari fans you may want to avert your eyes for this next story. we'll tell but a 14-car pileup in japan that ha turned into a $14 million mess. look at that. syria may be send ago message to the world. we'll tell you why their annual war games, that's right, annual war games are raising some serious alarm. i'd race down that hill without a helmet.

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president obama suggests that some in america are unfairly suggesting that the united states is slipping. his critics say he is talking about himself. little lisa irwin's parents make a shocking decision that seem to violate the very first rule in finding a missing child. we'll tell you what it is and why john walsh is taking aim at the couple. see you at the top of the hour. jenna: right now new information on stories we're keeping an eye on from across the nation and around the world all from inside our control room today. starting off first with evangelist billy graham making big strides at the hospital. doctors say the 93-year-old is doing just fine today. a dream car cruise turning into a million dollar mess in japan. take a look at this. you have eight ferraris, two

mercedes, a lamb bor a lamborgini. the damage could be easily a million dollars. tiger woods getting back into the swing of things, winning his first tournament in two years. his first tournament win since his major sex scandal. jon: syria raises the stakes in the middle east launching missiles and conducting ground operations during war games. the show of force is after growing pressure from the arab league. leland vittert is keeping an eye on it live from jerusalem. >> reporter: this is a thinly veiled threat, it is a very thin reveiled threat from president assad of syria, not only to the world but protestors within his own country that if you mess with me i will come out and kill you and this is what you will be facing. syria tv brought out what they

would for a big battle. first came the scud missiles that they launched, not only to hit israel but to hit turkey to the north, a western ally that came out against syria. president assad has promised a regional war if anyone gets involved in regional politics there. also tanks, a rocket launch system, that would be used against his own people in some kind of civil war, which is what syria is quickly descending into. they wanted everyone to see this video. it was put out on state tv, it was very slickly produced. the warning was to anyone who would be an aggressive to syria. that's who they focused these threats on. 4,000 people have already died inside sear yeah, they were all protesting, demanding a better life and they've brought out the military against them and government thugs, they've shelled a number of towns. these people are in the streets and the international community keeps coming out and demanding that assad stop the violence but

he is protected by very powerful allies, including iran, china, and russia is not only standing up for syria in the international community, but they are also standing up for them by arming the stee the syrians. just in the past couple of whraoebgweeks syria has received supersonic cruise missiles. if the u.s. wanted to get involved like they did in libya and put even end to the assad regime. back to you. jenna: bear hunters in new jersey getting the green light today, the law is with them. we are live with a preview of this story. >> reporter: jenna, animal rights activists tried to stop this hunt. it's on. hunters are having no problems finding prey. we are in a check in station in northern new jersey, we'll show

you what is going on after this commercial. and i do. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ mike ] listen to the doctor. take it seriously.

jon: hunting season for black bears begins today in new jersey. and appeals court clearing the way for that state to issue thousands of permits. the animal rights groups who fought to delay this hunt 4 say the battle is far from over. rick leventhal is live at a bear check station in oxford, new jersey. it looks like at least one hunter was successful. >> reporter: a lot of hunters, jon, at least 10 or 12 bears have been brought in already. we don't want to get too graphic. we can show you the back of this pickup truck, the biggest pair we've seen so far is probably 500 pounds according to the hunter who brought it down. it's not that unusual here in northern, new jersey. this area has one of the highest densities of black bears in america. 3400 of them in a thousand

square miles. it needed to control the situation. it issued permits to more than 6400 hunters who many of whom set out before dawn today with shotguns and rifles and camouflage and orange vests. despite aggressive protests by animal right activists, they filed lawsuits and appeals to try to stop the hunts, but it's on. >> bear hunt doesn't protect property or public safety, and the bear hunts will not reduce the population. >> reporter: well the first bear this was brought into the check in station here this morning was 166-pound female. she was killed with a shotgun by a first time hunter who says it only took him half an hour to find his prey. hunting advocates say this is the most effective and safest way to control an animal that they say can be very dangerous. >> the new jersey department of environmental protection cited

almost 3,000 incidents where there was human-bear interface. 46 of those involved bears actually entering into a residential home. i don't think you want to come home and find a black bear in your kitchen when you're ready to make dinner. >> reporter: well the bears are being processed inside that garage. they are weighed, and the state takes samples of blood and skin, and then they are returned to the hunters. and this hunt does last through saturday, jon, although the opponents say they will continue to protest every day this week until the hunt is finally stopped. jon: that first time hunter you said got a bear? all right, thanks. jenna: breaking news out of washington d.c. right now. we are getting record that the president is going to make a statement in about 30 minutes from now. according to the information that we just got he will deliver a statement urging republicans and congress to join democrats to insure taxes don't go up on middle class families next year, only assuming now as we get more details this is about extending

the payroll tax cut. we did hear that senate majority leader harry reid has a compromise he's willing to offer. the details of that compromise dribbling in at this moment. we'll bring you up to date on potentially what the compromise might be, as far as the offer to republicans and we'll have the comments coming from the president live for you in about 30 minutes. we'll be right back after a quick break. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

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