keeps on giving! another mile high miracle in denver. as the little engine that thinks he can did it again. "fox & friends" starts right now. >> this is a great -- >> it is. i hope you had a great weekend and today we have dave briggs in from our weekend show in for brian. why? because brian is -- he's not taking the day off. >> no, he's not. >> he's actually up in manchester, new hampshire. he'll be sitting down with governor mitt romney in this diner in about an hour from now. and it will be live right here on "fox & friends." >> fantastic. if you're in manchester right now, this would be a good time to get a seat if you need some hot coffee. >> i think so. >> i got a feeling they'll sited -- sit in those two director seats right there. >> i'll bet you 10 grand that

happens. >> i know where i've heard that before. >> would you like a director's chair or would you like to be in a booth? >> 10 bucks is more our type of bet. it will be interesting to see how romney reacts to that whole gaffe. he'll have to laugh it off and say i've never made a bet in my life. therefore, i wasn't able to handle my first. >> his wife said to him immediately after the debate, there are things that you're very good at and one thing that you're not and betting is not one of them. >> meanwhile, let's talk a little bit about this. the president of the united states sat down with steve kroft in the cabinet room of the white house and it's interesting, they had a wide ranging conversation. this was right after his speech, his 55 minute speech out in kansas and listen, listen carefully to the president of the united states talk about how none of this stuff is really my problem. i inherited it. but -- and you got to give steve kroft props. he starts with the president's cratering poll numbers.

watch the look on the president's face. >> 75% of the people in the country think it's headed in the right direction. 75%. >> uh-huh. >> and 54% don't think that you deserve to be re-elected. i mean, those are not good numbers with 11 months to go before the election. >> look, we've gone through an incredibly difficult time in this country and i would be surprised if the american people felt satisfied right now. it is my job to put forward a vision of the country that benefits the vast majority of americans. >> if i can't get republicans to move, partly because they've made a political strategic decision that says anything obama is for, we're against because that's our best chance of winning an election. keep in mind, i'm talking about republican members of congress. not talking about republicans around the country. >> they don't like you much better. it's only 7% approval rating.

>> yeah, no, i understand. but i think that they like the ideas that we put forward. i mean, the interesting thing is the majority of republicans actually think we should have a balanced approach to deficit reduction including tax increases for the wealthy. the majority of republicans do think that we should make investments in roads and bridges and improving our airports and investing in basic research and medical research. >> you say that you've rallied the country but these poll numbers show otherwise. >> steve, here's the thing. as long as the unemployment rate is too high and people are feeling under the gun day in and day out because the bills are going up and their wages and incomes aren't or they're out of a job, they're going to feel unsatisfied. there's no secret to this.

>> he's right in saying how else is he going to answer those questions? steve kroft kept coming at him with the idea that people are not happy right now. i don't know how you answer those any better than he really did in that. now, whether or not he's done the right thing, that's a separate argument. how he answered the question -- >> clearly, he said how he's going to campaign. the republicans aren't letting me do what i want to do. what has he not gotten? he got the stimulus. he got health care. he has gotten most of his big goals in the white house. so unless they fail to pass this payroll tax cut which we think they will this week, what will the case be that he brings to the american voters? >> while steve kroft was bringing up the cratering poll numbers, steve kroft said don't you think there maybe is ray possibility that you overpromised during the campaign in 2008, you might have promised too much? you might have said we're going

to change things? interestingly enough, listen to the soundbite from the president when he says i always believed it's going to take longer than he had led us to believe earlier. >> i didn't overpromise and i didn't underestimate how tough this was going to be. i always believed that this was a long term project. reversing structural problems in our economy that had been building up for two decades. it was going to take time. it was going to take more than a year. it was going to take more than two years. it was going to take more than one term. probably takes more than one president. >> why didn't he tell us that? >> i think this is where he does get it into difficulty because listen, so many americans loved the idea of hope and change. that whole campaign. i think if you went back and interviewed, all the people who voted for him in 2008, and many of them will say because we believed in this transformational president who was going to change things in washington and you ask them now, did you think it was going to

take longer than four years, the majority would say no. this is where i think it gets a little sticky for the president to say i didn't mean hope and change right away, i meant it in my second term and in that soundbite, he's admitting maybe not even in the second term. it would be another president after me -- he said another president. >> that's going to be a campaign ad. another $10 bet, some republican will use that as a campaign ad whoever the nominee is. it might take more than one president. that has to be now. not in 2016. >> and for the fact that he says well, it might take -- it might take more than one year, two years. he didn't say three years. interestingly enough, he did do an interview with "the today show" that he did mention three years. if he didn't fix the economy and he said this three years ago, if he didn't fix the economy in three years, he was toast. listen, flashback. >> a year from now, people are going to see we're starting to make some progress. there's going to be some pain out there. if i don't have this done in three years, there's going to be

a one term proposition. >> and those three years are up next month and i read on line every major economic category worse off today than when he took office. >> that was two years ago and two shades darker hair for the president. >> remember when she show all the presidents and every president, unfortunately, ages like that. the four year, eight year time span, amazing changes. most stressful job in the world. one that's not is to read your headlines and we begin with an incredible story of survival. after being held for five months, an american teenager out with his terrorist captors in the philippines and he manages to escape. the 14-year-old and his mom were on vacation in the philippines when they were snatched. his father paid ransom but only kevin's mom was first released. kevin eventually earned his captors' trust and convinced them he was going to take a bath in a stream but he made a run for it instead. he wandered for two days in the jungle before someone found him. kevin's dad says he is relieved and proud. >> nobody in the world has any

idea how i feel. i'm just so happy. >> the kidnappers are believed to be members of a terrorist group with ties to al-qaida. united airlines investigating what caused a plane's engine to fail forcing it to make an emergency landing. boeing 757 was headed from denver to los angeles when the engine actually shut down. the jumbo jet landed safely in western colorado at a small airport that normally handles smaller planes. with the u.s. withdrawal of american troops from iraq just weeks away now, all eyes will be on a meeting at the white house today. president obama and iraqi prime minister will get together to talk about the next phase of the relationship between their two countries. they will also lay wreaths at arlington national cemetery. american troops are set to leave iraq on december 31st marking the end to an eight-year war there. president obama singing christmas carols are justin bieber?

>> the first family joined by the band perry, victoria justice and the biebs at the 30th annual christmas in washington concert last night. and that's my favorite time of year when you can actually go to somewhere and sipping all those christmas carols. i was at my church last night doing the same thing. >> you never want to be next to someone who can sing real well. when you're someone like me, your bad voice seems to be loud and proud. >> you just lip-synch, you know. >> this is the feel good story of the day. two minutes and eight seconds remaining in the game. chicago bears up by 10. the broncos at zero. tim tebow did a little praying. we saw it in a cutaway. then what happened? dave briggs with the play. >> tim tebow brings them right down the field and they get a touchdown to tie it here. still, you think this game is most likely over because there's

an onside kick for the broncos. they don't get it. the bears get the football. and again, this game has to be over. the broncos drive down the field, once again, they get a 59-yard field goal to put it into overtime. >> how surprised is the kicker that he made it? >> matt prater who i suggest they change the t to a y and make it prayer with a 51 yarder in overtime to win it. tim tebow is 7-1 now as the starter. they call him the mile high messiah in my hometown. >> no kidding. he's won six straight. i had a bet before this game on friday night, his bet was that tim tebow will be out of the league by next year. i was like are you crazy? there's something -- he's like he doesn't have the most accurate pass. i'm like that doesn't matter. you see, the magic behind tim tebow besides many people believe his christianity and speaking out about it, is the fact that his players want to play for him. >> that's everything, gretchen. >> he's a leader.

you can't teach that to people, folks. and i bet and you interviewed all of his players, what is it? it's that thing, whatever that word is in french, you can't put your finger on what it is. >> i sure can't as a bronco fan but it's wonderful to watch. they play the patriots on sunday. tom brady vs. tim tebow. a ew people may be watching that game on sunday. >> lot of fun. >> congratulations to mr. tebow & company. meanwhile, did you see "saturday night live" poking fun at donald trump? >> i might run as an independent. i could beat all of them especially these two nobodies. >> he's pretty good. donald trump, the original will join us live in 15 minutes to react to that and so much more. >> and millions were spent. answers are few and far between. the two big weekend summits to fix the debt and the environment are going to hit you where it hurts. [ male announcer ] cranberry juice? wake up!

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>> two major summits over the last 72 hours. one to solve the european debt crisis and the other to address global climate change. both claim success. >> but why is stewart varney saying that both are complete failures? good morning to you, stu. >> i am saying that both are complete failures. >> let's start with europe, then, why is this a failure? what happened? >> 48 hours ago, they agreed to a framework deal which would improve europe's debt situation. fast forward to monday morning, right now, the italians still having trouble borrowing money. they got to pay an arm and a leg to borrow money. the germans are now saying we don't like the way you're getting all this rescue bailout money together and cameron, the prime minister of britain who said i don't want any part of this summit deal, he's returning to britain this morning.

he's a conquering hero because he split them. he left europe. now, that's a big deal, that european summit is a failure and stocks on wall street are going to go down this morning because of the failure of that summit. >> futures are up, that's good. >> futures are down. >> really? >> no, your future is up. >> i was just checking, they must have changed. all right. >> so you've got the e.u. agreement last friday. now it's in tatters. what about the climate summit? >> that's another one that they claim huge success, 194 people -- countries got together in south africa. the chairman of this conference says we have just saved planet earth. all they've agreed to is binding restrictions, legally binding restrictions on carbon emissions after 2020. 10 years away. >> how does it impact these basic countries wea we've got o on the big board, brazil, south africa, india and china. >> everybody has agreed to limit carbon output, ok, but only after 2020, 10 years down

the road. that's the point here. they've agreed to legally binding restrictions but it's miles down the road so you're going to have one, two, three, five more of these mega summits before then. >> real quickly before you go, the president on "60 minutes" last night, said he did not overpromise on the economy. you say? >> on the budget that he signed in 2009, he said we would have 7.1% unemployment in 2011 and 4% growth. we've got neither. we've got 8.6% unemployment, actually more like 9% for the year and 1 1/2% growth. he did overpromise. >> well, he also says that he essentially blames bush, you know, he inherited this big, fat mess when he came into office but he also says it's politics. at the end of the day, the republicans are standing between him and his vision for america. >> i would disagree with that. i'd say it's the failure of his policies. the stimulus plan, record spending did not work. did not bring unemployment down as much as he said it was going to. did not stimulate the economy.

>> did his policies make it worse? >> in my opinion, yes. >> certainly made the debt worse. $4 billion extra in debt every single day because of his policies on spending and stimulus. >> check it out on varney & company. >> that's just an opinion. >> that's why you're here. >> first thing monday morning, i'll give you an opinion, ok? >> got a million of them. >> i do. >> thank you, sir. >> straight ahead, a new study shows hundreds of thousands are fleeing the democratic party in battleground states. that's really bad news for the president but it may not hurt him in the election. our washington insiders will explain that next. >> then only two candidates signed on to donald trump's debate. so will he be forced to cancel? the donald will answer that question live at the bottom of the hour. ugh, my sinus congestion,

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>> some quick headlines on your monday morning. the battle over arizona's tough new immigration law heading to the u.s. supreme court today. arizona is asking for permission to enforce parts of the law that were blocked by lower courts at the request of the obama administration. and the u.s. military and c.i.a. meeting the deadlines set by pakistan to leave the air base. pakistan ordered the u.s. out following a nato air strike that accidentally left 24 pakistani troops dead. american drones no longer allowed to launch from that base. gretch? >> thank you, dave. in 2008, then senator barack obama took a strong hold in key battleground states but three years later, the map is looking a whole lot different as the president gears up for

re-election. according to the moderate think tank, third way, blue dog democrats in states like iowa, pennsylvania and florida may be having a change of heart. engining me now for a top debate, top news services correspondent and washington staff writer haley peterson. good morning to you guys. >> good morning. >> what do you make of this? i heard an interesting quip over the weekend that maybe what the president has to deal with is not necessarily the economy right now but it's getting voters to go out and vote. do you agee with that? >> i agree with that. aside from the economy, his biggest hurdles in 2012 will be enthusiasm and turnout among democratic voters and among independent voters and the fact that democrats are fleeing the party and keep in mind, republicans are also fleeing their party but at a lower rate, it means that these voters are feeling really disillusioned with political gridlock in washington. and losing their party identity as kind of a way of washing their hands of that -- that gridlock.

so both republicans and democrats -- and president obama are going to have to really make the case to these voters that they can make something happen in washington. that they can, you know, pass the legislation that's going to turn this economy around. >> isn't that what we just heard the president say in the "60 minutes" interview and that's what we heard him say when he was campaigning that hope and change would be right on the way. at least do you believe that was the impression that he gave voters and now he's saying it might take two terms and might take another president to accomplish that? >> that was one of the most honest things i've heard a president say for a long time. independents are independent basically because they're sympathetic to fairness. and these are independents who are interested in fairness rather than income and equality and that's the case that the democrats are going to have to make in 2012. that the republicans are for income and equality. if they can make that case effectively, they can get these

democratic leaning independents because that's what they are, they have not registered republicans. they can get those independents. >> do you think that's sort of what people have deemed class warfare rhetoric, haley, is going to work because a lot of people have come out and said that the rich, for example, are already paying their fair share. >> you know, i -- i think it will be -- the republicans are going to try and paint this as class warfare. but i think a lot of people really do want millionaires to pay more in taxes. and so i think this is actually going to be a good argument for -- on president obama's behalf. and i think he's going to continue to make that argument and he's going to continue going to the battleground states and taking that message to the voters and i think he's -- that strategy so far has had mixed results but it's had more positive results than negative. >> victoria, do you agree with that blaming congress that has a

lower approval rating than congress even though his numbers aren't great, that will work? >> i think it will. i think if the president continues to ask the question, if you can't have a conversation about inequality in income, then what are you afraid of is a good one for voters that they will stop and say, why are you afraid of having this conversation? is it class warfare to just talk about income and equality? and i think they're going to say no, it's not. >> very interesting discussion. victoria, haley, hope you had a great weekend. thanks for getting up bright and early. >> thank you. >> did you see the bit on "saturday night live" poking fun at donald trump? >> i might run as an independent. i could beat all of them. especially these two nobodies. >> donald trump, the real one, will join us after the break. then tom brady is usually known for keeping his cool. what started this sideline fight? we'll show it to you later. and happy birthday to dionne warwick.

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>> welcome to "fox & friends" live from new york city. you know what it would be great right about now, plate of eggs, hash brown, toast, that would be wonderful. >> i wonder where we can find that. >> brian kilmeade is at the diner in manchester, new hampshire. good morning to you, sir. >> right, steve. that will cost you approximately $7.99 which won't be expensed because you have some -- an opportunity to eat something in the green room. how are you guys doing? >> doing ok. >> we're doing great. we'll tip your server as well. you have big interview this morning. >> yes. mitt romney will be here in about a half-hour. he'll be sitting right here next to me and he will be talking to us for about a half-hour and he's taking questions from the people in this diner. he's got a big announcement. the mayor is going to be endorsing him of manchester, huge news considering the newspaper did not go his way and this is -- earlier, you brought up the fact that you were hungry and i want to tell you, mondays

at the shea are roast pork for $6.49. the park pie for $7.49. and the chicken tenders for $5.99. if you have young children and gretchen, of course, with young children knowing that you can get chicken tenders will make you come here. >> beautiful. >> that would be fantastic. all right, if you could just, you know, somehow fed ex or put something quickly in the mail, my order would be an omelet with all the vegetables that they have in the entire kitchen, ok? and some rye toast. >> all right. all right. you got it. rye toast with an omelet with vegetables. anything for you? >> just a side of romney. that's it. >> side of romney. that will be fine. hopefully a side of romney we haven't seen. >> exactly right. >> very good. >> very nice. >> we'll have him commenting on what president obama said last night as well as the debate from saturday night while previewing thursday's debate which will be on fox. back to you guys. >> all right, thank you very

much. >> look forward to it, brian. >> brian is there at the shea and we will join him live for that interview with mitt romney in just about half-hour. in the meantime, we have headlines for you on this monday morning. take a look at new video of a wheelchair bound manuel noriega returning to panama for the first time since he was arrested back in 1989. the former dictator was extradited from france and could spend the rest of his life in prison in panama. the 77-year-old strong man has done prison time in the united states and france as well for money laundering and drug trafficking. he was, of course, convicted of murdering political opponents back in the 1980's. >> a facebook post leads police to a grizzly discovery. cops in fort wayne, indiana were called to check on a home after a woman in washington state saw an eerie facebook post that read in part "i've killed two people and myself. people were warned not to play with me and ruin me."

police believe a man shot and killed a 19-year-old woman and 19-year-old man before turning the gun on himself. >> the tsa is being asked to police itself. new york senator chuck schumer calling on the tsa to assign what he calls passenger advocates to handle patdown complaints at airports. the plan is in response to complaints from three elderly women who say they were strip searched at j.f.k. >> come to the tv screen, you have to see this incredible video. it catches the exact moment that a tanker explodes in flames. you can see the tourists running for their lives. this went down in melbourne, australia. torched two cars in the hotel parking lot. the driver of the truck made it out alive with burns only to his arms and his legs. and now because dave is here today and brian is not, you're taking over the sports duties. >> it's an honor, gretchen. new england's tom brady known

for the three super bowl rings, not to mention a super model wife and he's also known for keeping his cool. not so much on sunday. check this out. brady and the patriots taking on the redskins, fourth quarter, pats up 34-27. brady looking for the end zone. the pass is picked off on the sidelines, brady into a bit of an argument with the offensive coordinator bill o'brien. you know that's tom brady, right? the two had to be restrained and it's all good, though. santana moss intercepted and we're all hugs, hug it out, baby. 34-27 patriots, broncos, brady, tebow on sunday. i'm a bit excited. meanwhile on sunday night football, battle for first place in the nfc east between the giants and cowboys. giants down by five with under a minute left in the game. brandon jacobs fights his way in for a touchdown. 37-34.

giants make a two point conversion. last second chance for dallas. 47-yard field goal and watch the ref. he's boxed in there. ok, they'll freeze him. they'll get another shot. it is blocked. the giants, you know, if it weren't for tim tebow, the giants might be the story in the nfl in terms of their fourth quarter finishes. giants and cowboys meet in the final day of the regular season, january 1st and it will be an epic matchup. >> have to watch that one. >> what a weekend for football. let's go out on the phone to donald trump, the author of a brand new book called "time to get tough." good morning to you, sir. >> good morning. >> did you see the president of the united states sit down with steve kroft on "60 minutes" last night? >> he's very hard to watch as far as i'm concerned. i listen to him and i keep hearing him say things and he's really very hard too watch so i knew i was going to do this interview. i knew i was supposed to watch him but i was on an airplane and i made no effort. >> zero. >> one of the quotes that he had

from the night was he was asked what he believes that he has accomplished in the last three years. here's what he had to say. >> not only saving this country from a great depression, not only saving the auto industry, but putting in place a system in which we're going to start lowering health care costs and you're never going to go bankrupt because you get sick or somebody in your family gets sick, making sure that we have reformed e financial system so we never again have taxpayer funded bailouts and the system is more stable and secure. ending don't ask don't tell, decimating al-qaida including bin laden being taken off the field. when it comes to the economy, we've got a lot more work to do. and we're going to keep at it. >> it's interesting that he waited to talk about al-qaida. many think that's been his greatest achievement. >> many of those things that he

really just said are also bad things. obama care is a disaster and it will drive up health care like nobody has seen before and it's an absolute disaster. as far as the military is concerned, the military is doing a good job. i listen as he talks about bin laden and i'm the only one that said it and you can take it for whatever it is. he was sitting in the white house and he said we have bin laden. good, go get him. who wouldn't say that? he could have said don't get him and nobody would say that, ok? he had a choice, take him out by a miss he will or go in and get him. anybody sitting in the white house would have said either go get him or hit him with a missile, it's the same thing. >> he could have involved the pakistanis which, of course, would have changed everything as we now know but he chose not to. we want to ask you about your -- >> by the way, if they respected him, they would have given up bin laden four years before or three years before. >> of course. >> ok. >> looking the other way. >> would they have done something different with

president bush? hasn't pakistan been sometimes that on again and off again. >> i'm not going to justify president bush, i'm not the biggest fan of president bush. the pakistanis played us like fiddles, that would be bush and certainly obama. we gave them billions of dollars and bin laden was hiding out next to their military fort. give me a break in the biggest louse in that town so, you know, say what you want. but you know, when he gets credit for bin laden, it's an absolute outrage because anybody would have done the same thing as he did. he said go get them and now he's a big hero. >> absolutely. you know, one of the things that the president said they were talking a little bit about how, you know, when they were trying to come to an agreement, change the entire tax structure in the country, the president said look, if you lower taxes, you have to raise revenues. you have to raise revenues. he kept going over and over and over. steve kroft said there is another alternative. you could cut spending, mr. president. >> raising taxes at this point is a very dangerous thing. we are really at a tipping point

in the economy. we could go very, very bad very quickly. i think raising taxes now is a very bad idea. now, to cutting the spending, it's incredible that this super committee, this horrible idea of a super committee which we have only because we don't have a leader. in other words, the leader can't get anything done so they appoint a super committee which can't get anything done. they're looking at $1.2 trillion. they couldn't get that done and the numbers should be $4 trillion in cutting and that would be easy. there's total gridlock in washington because we have no leader. >> you point a lot of this out in your brand new book which is doing very well. and one of the other things that you've become involved in now is the debate. so i want you to take a look at what they did to you on "saturday night live." i know you have a good sense of humor. you're probably going to laugh at it. let's take a look. >> the question of cowardice vs. courage. newt gingrich isn't afraid to come. he has guts. rick santorum has even more guts

because let's face it, the guy is a real loser. >> hey! >> excuse me. he's a lightweight, yet he still has the guts to come. mitt romney, rick perry, they should be ashamed of themselves. >> what do you make of it, donald? >> well, you know, that's daryl hammond and he's pretty good. he's pretty good. there's nothing i can say. >> what you can say is the debate on now that there's just two? are you definitely committed to still having this december 27th debate? au >> you know this is a news max debate, very powerful group and they asked me to do it and they want me to maybe and it could happen this way, i have a lot of respect for newt and you know, if you look at the courage that some of these people have shown which is none and look at what's happened to them, i mean, in all fairness, i like mitt romney. he's a really nice guy. you'll be interviewing him soon but his numbers have gone very substantially since he said no and a lot of people think it's because it showed a lack of decisiveness or a lack of courage in going into this

debate. and you look at what happened with newt, newt has gone up like a rocket ship. so, you know, i respect that. we may just do a chat. newt and i may just do a chat. >> what do you mean about that? >> we may talk about the world and the economy and it maybe it will be interesting to people. >> you're not going to have senator santorum take part anymore? >> he would because he showed the courage to do it. >> ok. let me ask you this, going back to your book "time to get tough" i'm sure if you're going to have a chat, you would bring up some portion of that book and , you know, talk to newt and mr. santorum about that as well, right? what in particular might you highlight? >> well, look, my big thing is what's happening to this country from the outside. every country in the world is ripping us off. every country in the world is taking advantage. taking our wealth. they're sapping our wealth. so we don't have money for social security and medicare and medicaid and we're always talking about cutting very good programs that we shouldn't be cutting because if we could become a great nation again and

a rich nation again, we wouldn't have to be talking about the kinds of things that we're talking about and hurting a lot of people. so i discuss that and unfortunately, it's not brought up at the republican debates very much. almost never. and obama doesn't discuss it and they're ripping him, they're playing him like a little boy. >> there you go. all right. >> the debate is still on two days after christmas. and the book is great. grit christmas gift. it's called "time to get tough." >> thank you very much. have a great week. >> the same bill that brought you the super committee, we were just talking about that, had something else tucked inside and it comes to a vote this week. senator mike lee of utah here to reveal what it is. >> a college lecture sparks a nationwide outrage by saying "soldiers get paid so they shouldn't get christmas gifts." comedian brad stein here with his reaction. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics...

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>> the law that raised the debt limit and created the debt reduction super committee also created something else. a mandate that congress must vote on a balanced budget amendment. our next guest says that bill must contain four things. what are they? mike lee, the author of the new book why a balanced budged amendment is essential to government. he's at the desk today. good morning. >> good morning. >> it's mandated and you have to vote on it. there's two competing versions. one you say is perfect and the other that's being offered up is not. >> correct. the bill that's being offered up by the republicans, the balanced budget proposal would require congress that it balance its budget each year and would restrict spending to a fixed percentage of the economy. and it can't be circumvented without a super majority vote and the other one, not the same. it doesn't do that. and so congress can get around

it by a simple majority vote. that's no good. it's a trojan horse. >> you just touched on some of the stuff. the four things that you say must be in the balanced budget amendment must apply to all spending as you can see right there. must cap spending in a certain percentage of gdp and would need super majorities in the house and senate to raise tax limits as well. you just touched a momenting on on a trojan horse. you said the other bill being offered up by the democrats could be a trojan horse where there would be so many loopholes, they could do whatever they wanted to. >> so many loopholes and one in particular, that congress may decide it doesn't want to follow this. all it has to do is say we're in a military conflict which we always are and they don't have to do it. that's why it's such a problem. >> i would imagine if you're a member of congress and you vote on the balanced budget amendment, you pretty much got to vote yes but because you have two different alternatives if you're a democrat, you'll go with the democrat version and if you're a republican, you'll go with the republican. who is going to win?

>> well, republicans are going to win the version that i'm pitching is going to win at some point. it's just a question of how long it takes. but i feel so passionately about this, i've written a whole book about it called the freedom agenda. what it explains is whether you're someone who is most concerned about protecting our ability to fund national defense or most worried about funding entitlements you ought to want a balanced budget amendment. you ought to want one like this one. >> we'll be watching to see what you do. thank you very much. senator from the great state of utah. we told you about the college lecturer who said soldiers shouldn't get presents because they already get paid. conservative comedian brad stein has something to say about that guy and he's coming up next. then brian sits down, look -- apparently he's standing up with an awfully tall mitt romney live from new hampshire. a big conversation with the former governor coming up in just a couple of minutes. so who ordered the cereal that can help lower olesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal?

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>> welcome back, everyone. we told you last week how iowa state university lecturer thomas walker slammed the university's college republicans for collecting money and supplies for care packages to send to the troops. >> in the school's newspaper, walker said this in his letter to the editor. "don't their families send them yuletide goodies. aren't g.i.'s paid enough to buy what they need? necessities should be doled out to people who really need them." so is this a case of anti-military or is thomas walker just the ultimate scrooge? >> standup comic brad stein joins us now bright and early with his input on this. i see you shaking your head. i'm going to say go. >> well, you know, some things just warm my heart this time of year like getting with the family and going to, you know, christmas pageants at church or nat king cole but nothing does

it like an anti-military bigot shoving their propaganda down our kids' throats. you know, if anyone has mastered the art of taking the freedom that the military has given them, so that they can disparage the military, it's a liberal progressive and what's amazing is he teaches english! this is fascinating to me. he hates the military and he teaches english. you know what? if it wasn't for the military, we wouldn't be speaking english. we'd be speaking german or japanese so i think you should learn to respect them but they don't and that's the beauty of this country. they don't deserve america but they get it because of the military. that's why we're great. > >> all right, what do you make of the fact that he's comparing apples and oranges. don't they already get paid? is he missing the whole point that they live half way around the world away from their families for six months to a year or longer. it's the thought that counts? >> that's exactly the case. they hate america. they hate the military. and christmas. it's the trifecta.

i mean, of course you should send gifts to these people. and that's the thing. here's what really bothers me. it's the presidents at these universities that don't stop this nonsense. let me explain something to you. if you're an american teacher in an american university teaching american kids to hate america. that's not education. that's indoctrination, ok? people like that should be removed. go teach in venezuela. that's what you should be doing. for crying outloud, if they fire the guy quick enough, he'll have just enough time to find churchill and the two of them can go carolling. that's what they should be doing. >> whoa. >> remember that professor from out in colorado. >> yes, i do very well. thomas walker says i do not want or warrant notoriety. moreover, i don't want to see my viewpoint sensationalized. your thoughts? >> well, yeah, no, no, nothing endears you to the heart of america in putting down the military in the middle of the war. this is what's unbelievable to me.

i don't know when it's going to end. here's what i know, until americans decide we're not going to put up with this. we're not going to give this nonsense anymore credibility especially when they use the first amendment. the university guy said we don't believe in this point of view. let me tell you something, if you hire a guy from the university. if you pay him, then, unfortunately, you -- he does represent you. so you've got to stop this nonsense. lift up america, it's the greatest nation on earth. i've always said so. >> all right, brad. great to hear your thoughts on a weekly basis. merry christmas if we don't get a chance to see you before then. >> merry christmas to you. i'll be sending you a care package soon. >> looking forward to it. >> coming up next, the democrats trying to help newt gingrich win because they think he can't beat obama. we'll ask the dnc chairman debbie wasserman schultz when she joins us live. >> brian sits down with breakfast and an interview with republican presidential candidate mitt romney. we're live in new hampshire at the top of the hour. don't miss it. right back.

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>> good morning, everyone. hope you had a great weekend. it's now monday, december 12, 2011. i'm gretchen carlson. thanks so much for sharing part of your morning with us. governor romney doing damage control now after making a bet for $10,000 during the debate on saturday night. did he alienate mainstream americans? brian goes one on one. there's a live shot right now with mitt live from new hampshire. >> and president obama giving his take on the g.o.p. competition with "60 minutes." >> between where i want to take the country and where they say they want to take the country. >> he'll ask mitt romney about the president's comments in minutes. >> 'tis the season to believe in tebow. mile high miracle. tim tebow fighting controversy with a pass and a prayer.

what a game. if you missed it, we got highlights. "fox & friends" hour two for a monday starts right about now. >> it's good! >> good morning, everyone. hope you had a fantastic weekend as you're getting ready for the christmas season and hanukkah, etc., it's upon us now and you know where brian is, dave briggs is in for him today because brian is in new hampshire sitting down in a diner live with governor mitt romney. brian, great job! >> yeah, it's going to be great. the governor is here. he looks like it's 12:00 noon so again, he does not feel these hours and if this doesn't work out, he could do a morning show. that's just my opinion because he does like the early hours. this is the diner that is legendary around here. this is an area of new hampshire, i understand, according to our great carl cameron who says that french is often spoken as the number one language and this is a place where bill clinton loves so it's got a lot of history to it. pictures all over the walls.

and the romney campaign is here in great numbers this morning. and it's going to be a great -- i hope, a great half-hour. >> fantastic. ok. live from shea where according to farmers, manchester's french-canadian heritage lives on. brian is going to sit down for a little brunch chat very, very shortly. >> order the governor a chocolate milk. i understand that's his one vice. see you in a bit, brian. >> all right. let's see some headlines. in the meantime, al-qaida militants stage a prison break in yemen. at least 10 convicts escaped through a 130 foot tunnel that took them from under the western side of the prison to just outside of the prison walls. most of those militants were convicted for the killing of security officials in a bank heist. from one escape to another, after being held for five months, an american teen outwits his terrorist captors in the philippines and breaks free. 14-year-old kevin and his mom were simply on vacation in the philippines when they were

snatched. his father did pay ransom but only kevin's mom was released. kevin eventually earned his captors' trust and convinced them he was going to take a bath in a stream. but he made a run for it instead. he wandered for two days in the jungle before someone found him. kevin's father says of course he's relieved and proud. >> nobody in the world has any idea how i feel. i'm just so happy. >> the kidnappers are believed to be members of a terrorist group with ties to al-qaida. as the u.s. prepares to withdraw troops from iraq, all eyes will be on a meeting at the white house today. president obama and iraqi prime minister are going to sit down to talk about the next phase of the relationship between their countries. they will also lay wreaths at arlington national cemetery. american troops are set to leave iraq on december 31st marking the end to an eight-year war there. >> and they've done it again. for 58 minutes, tim tebow and the broncos were in big trouble.

then another miracle from whom they're calling the mile high messiah, over two minutes left against the bears. tebow rolls right and finds thomas who dropped a touchdown earlier 10-7. they would go to overtime thanks to a 59-yarder from matt prater and then in o.t. from 51 yards out, the broncos have done it again. they were 1-4. they are now 8-5 and first place in the afc west. 13-10 is your final. guys, i try to explain to my kids why i'm yelling so much and i can't explain what tim tebow and the broncos are doing to my kids. you want to answer the questions but no one can explain what's happening in denver. >> i can. magic! >> magic. and it keeps coming back against all his critics. got to love him. maybe mitt romney will be doing the same thing, right, brian? >> yeah, i think dave briggs got it wrong. he was cheering because the giants came back late to beat the cowboys and blocked a field goal at the end.

different era. hey, welcome to the diner. this legendary diner in the new hampshire area is playing host to mitt romney and in a short while, the mayor will be endorsing you as the mayor of manchester, what does that mean? >> it's big news. a lot of folks here know teddy gatz, he was senate president and leading republican in the state. he's big manchester, new hampshire, sitting right behind me here. looking tan and rested. i'm very jealous, i got to tell you. great to have him on board and have his help. he endorsed the person who won last time, john mccain. this is a big get. >> hoping he's 2-2. >> yeah. >> i watched the debate on saturday night but i'm looking more forward to fox's on thursday, i don't know why but the one exchange that people are talking about a lot, as you know, you were fed up with governor perry saying over and over again that there's two versions of your book and you decided to call him out on it. let's listen. 4>> i read your first book and

it said in there that your mandate in massachusetts which should be the model for the country and i know it came out of the reprint of the book but, you know, i'm just saying, you were for individual mandates, my friend. >> you know what? you've raised that before, rick, and you're -- it was true then and it's true now. >> i'll tell you what, rick, $10,000 bet. >> i'm not in the betting business. >> ok. >> since that time, you wanted to bet him $10,000. do you think you sent the wrong message to the people of iowa especially? >> this was an outrageous number to answer an outrageous charge from him and it's been proven wrong time and time again. he keeps raising it and i said ok, let's put something outrageous out there it's like saying hey i'll bet you a million bucks x, y or z. let me tell you, afterwards, my wife came up and she said mitt, it was a great debate. you're great at a the lot of

things. just not betting. so we're over with that. >> but do you understand how people can misinterpret the 10,000 and that being the headline and do you regret saying it at all? >> look, what american people are tired of listening to is president obama trying to find some way to deflect blame. he's been pushing this idea that somehow i'm not in touch with everyday people because i put out an outrageous number for an outrageous charge. but look, the president is the person who has failed the american people and the middle class. he's played, what, 80 rounds of golf as he's put in place a series of policies that people have seen declining incomes, declining number of jobs, home prices decline. he's going to do anything to deflect from his record and frankly, it's not going to work. >> newt gingrich and you clearly get along but you disagree on certain things. besides you're winning in new hampshire and in some polls by double digits but if you look at florida and look at south carolina, you look now even at michigan, it looks as though and iowa, of course, even you're trailing in michigan. what is he doing that you're

not? >> you know, this is an early time in the process. it's very fluid. people are going to get a chance to see us or the coming months, look at our records and experience. and in the final analysis, i think i'll be the guy that wins the nod. but, you know, that's the nature of the process which is take a close look at the candidates, get to know what they believe, and you know, i've seen over the last year a lot of people who have risen in the polls and over time, it's people that are taking a closer look. they come back down. i think as people look at our respective records as leaders how we have performed as leaders, they'll come to the conclusion that i'm the guy that should go up against president obama. >> is he a better debater than you? >> no. look at all the debates, see how people have scored them over the entire run, and i've been -- i've been leading in a lot of those debates. he's led in some but i think i do a better job than he does. he thinks he does a better job than me. i'm biassed in that regard. >> let's talk about newt gingrich and he talked about the ottoman empire and put it in perspective and said

palestinians whatever they are are raising a generation of terrorists in different way, shape or form. is he going against the israeli stated national policy when he says that? >> what he's doing is getting ahead of our own ally. when you have an ally that faces a threat and rockets coming in every day, you don't jump in and speak for the ally. you stand behind the ally. you speak -- you speak with an ally. not for an ally. and so, of course, we can stand with israel. we can talk about the outrages that come from the palestinian people and the militants among the palestinians, hamas and those in fatah who say we should eliminate israel as a jewish state, but we don't go out and say something like the speaker said. it shows a level of let's say erratic outspokenness which may be great in a campaign but is not great for someone who is running for president of the united states representing this country. >> governor, something else newt gingrich made clear is that he had a consulting business. he was in the private sector after he left the speakership and he was one of the people

that consulted was fannie and freddie. number one, do you believe he's a lobbyist really? and do you believe that since he took money at fannie and freddie, defunct pretty much hated agencies now, do you believe he should give that money back? >> i sure do. he was on a debate saying that politicians who took money from fannie and freddie should go to jail which is outrageous in itself but look, he says he was in the consulting business. that's very different than the consulting business other people have been in. he was in the business of connecting folks with government. this was a connection with government kind of business. it's very different than the private sector. >> one of the things that i think people recognize in washington is that people go there to serve the people and then they stay there to serve themselves. and contacts in washington working for freddie mac, getting paid $1.6 million. by the way, a very different number than he said in the first debate. he said $300,000 and he was there as an historian.

that would make him the highest paid historian in history. look, the -- this whole washington crowd of insiders that stay there, get paid a lot of money there because of their associations, i think it's something the american people are tired of. >> let's talk about president obama. he sat down on "60 minutes" along with giving a huge speech over in kansas, talking about his philosophy. i want to hear what he has to say about the republican party well as mitt romney last night with steve kroft. let's listen. >> it doesn't really matter who the nominee is going to be. the core philosophy that they're expressing is the same. and the contrast in visions between where i want to take the country and where they say they want to take the country is going to be stark. >> what do you make of this surge of former speaker gingrich? >> he's somebody who has been around a long time and is good on tv. is good in debates and, you

know, but mitt romney has shown himself to be somebody who is good at politics as well. he's had a lot of practice at it. >> a little dig. a lot of practice at that because you always say that you're from the private sector. >> well, don't forget, 25 years in the private sector is a little more than barack obama. oh, yeah, zero years in the private sector. so pretty different background. >> your reaction to the president speaking last night about it doesn't matter who the g.o.p. nominee is, the same old philosophies got us into this mess and i paphrase. auto atted president has been in office for three years. i think he forgets that. he'd like to talk about what he'd do in the future. he's been president for three years and three years ago, he said if he couldn't get the economy turned around in three years, he'd be looking at a one term proposition. i'm taking him up on that. in addition last night, he said that in order to get to these economic woes, it's going to take more than one president. i agree with him on that, too. but let's -- >> when that other president starts. >> let's get that done right

away. >> governor, when we come back, we're going to take some questions from the people in the diner. even go in the kitchen and find out what everybody in new hampshire -- >> sounds good. >> thanks so much. we'll be back in a second. we'll go back to the studio and hear from somebody who might disagree with about everything you said. >> all right. >> that's right. brian is talking about dnc chairwoman debbie wasserman schultz live in our studio. good morning to you, ma'am. >> good morning. >> she will respond to brian's interview with mitt romney when we return live from new york. >> they agreed on newt -- ♪ ♪ mom? dad? guys? [ engine turns over ] [ engine revs ] ♪ he'll be fine. [ male announcer ] more people are leaving bmw, mercedes, and lexus for audi than ever before. take advantage of exceptional values during the season of audi event.

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veterans and their families. from investments... to life insurance... to health care options. learn more with our free usaa retirement guide. call 877-242-usaa. >> welcome back, everyone. we just got done talking to mitt romney, the governor. here to react live is the dnc chairwoman, florida congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz. good to have you in studio. what's your reaction to the governor? >> well, i think the governor consistently makes clear that he remains out of touch with working families. this is a person who stands up to fight for the wealthiest,

most fortunate americans and you can't think about where he is on anything at any given day. particularly, i think it's offensive to most people that he opposed a payroll tax cut. now he says he's in favor of it. america wants a president who has some conviction even if they don't completely agree with the president, they know that they need to know where they stand. >> it seems like we knew where he stood at least in that interview. he answered brian's questions. >> well, answering questions with mitt romney is fine except you only know what he stands for at that given moment and then when the wind blows differently and he needs to follow what's politically popular, he changes his position. so -- and we have inconsistency. >> is that something that politicians all suffer from? >> mitt romney has a particularly bad affliction when it comes to switching his positions on issues. >> all right. so you're the head of the dnc. would you rather see newt gingrich in that position for president obama to go up against? >> as the president said last

night, it doesn't much matter on who he faces. he's focused on being president of the united states and he's focused on creating an environment in which we can move the environment forward. he's working to help the middle class and working families get back on their feet and keep people in their homes. at the end of the day, the republicans are basically all the same. they -- >> they wouldn't agree with that. >> they have pretty similar policies particularly on the economy. >> let's be truthful, though, the president does care. >> i'm always truthful. >> the president does care who he goes up against and if you look back in the last couple of mont, the administration has gone out of their way to attack mitt romney. >> mitt romney has spent months and months attacking president obama. so we're not going to just sit idly by and roll over and take it. we have to make sure that people understand that mitt romney says one thing and on one day says another on another day. is really out of touch. when you call the payroll tax cut of $1500 or working families a little band-aid, i mean,

corporations are people. casually threw out a $10,000 bet the other night like it's -- like it's a dollar or $5 for other people and this is a person who really doesn't understand what's going on in middle class america. >> ok, and a lot of people would argue that president obama doesn't understand how to fix the economy. because it's been three years now since he's been president. >> and he's had 21 straight months of private sector job growth when when he took office, the economy was dropping like a rock. >> unemployment has gone up precipitously since he took office. >> that's not true. unemployment has dropped below 9%. it's continuing to drop. he's been focused on -- >> yes, but it's higher than when they promised the stimulus would lower it to 8%. >> that narrative doesn't work for you anymore. >> not my narrative. i'm talking about the facts of the unemployment numbers. >> you said the unemployment rate is going up. >> is unemployment higher now than when president obama took office? >> what's happened since president obama -- >> is unemployment higher than when he took office?

>> unemployment is nearing right around where it was when president obama took office and it's dropping. you just said that it's been increasing and that's not true. >> well, what do you make of the fact that the president now said last night to steve kroft that maybe he couldn't promise or keep that promise of hope and change in his first term as president, even though i really do believe that a lot of voters filt when they voted for him, that's what they were going to get. they thought he would be a transformational president. they bought into it and now he's saying that he couldn't accomplish that in the first term, it might take two terms. it might even take another president. >> well, president obama inherited the largest set of problems of any president in history, perhaps except fdr and maybe abraham lincoln and when you have that many problems at once, particularly with an economy about to go over a cliff, thanks to republican policies under president bush and then he not only came in and passed the recovery act that created or saved almost three million jobs and rescued the american automobile industry and passed the health care reform to make sure never again people can go medically bankrupt, insurance

companies can't drop you or deny you coverage. he's brought change and he's begun to turn things around. >> those are his own words last night. always great to see you. thanks so much. we're going to go back out -- >> we're going to go back out to new hampshire. welcome idaho, where they grow america's favorite potoes. everyone knows idaho potatoes taste great. but did you know they'reood for you too? they're high in vitamins and potassium. and idaho potatoes are now certified to carry the heart checkmark from the american heart assoction for foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol. so they're good for my family, and for yours. heart smart idaho potatoes. always look for the grown in idaho seal. ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for unsurpassed fru and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion.

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>> all right. welcome back, everyone. we're at the diner here in beautiful new hampshire. french canadian area and governor mitt romney, before we go and talk to some of the people here in the diner this morning who have questions for you, debbie wasserman-schultz the dnc chair called you a chronic flip-flopper. your reaction? >> she ought to take a look at her president on a whole host of issues but with regards to my own record, i wrote a book about the things i believe. people can read that and understand my core. have i ever changed on any issue in my life? of course.

in the private sector if you don't learn from your experience, when you find you're wrong, say you're wrong, why, you'd be fired. so of course, we learn from experiences. >> mitt, i'll go out and talk to some of the people in the diner right now and find out if they have any questions for you. and i believe they do. sir, your name? >> my name is mark lavalli. >> question for the governor? >> yes, i'm a disabled veteran and i'd like to know what your feelings are on the budget cuts and everything that the v.a. is going through, if they're going to be increased, decreased or that's my question. >> ok. thank you, mark, very much. did you hear that, governor? >> you got to shout it out because i'm across the room so i can't quite hear it. >> governor, essentially he's a veteran and concerned about the budget cuts and how it's going to affect health insurance for them dowthe line. and how it's going to affect those who serve. >> well, the veterans care falls within our department of defense budget and that's been cut and i know our president wants to cut it more and more and more. one thing i will make sure we do

is keep our defense department based budget at least at the level it's been which is about 3.8% of it to get up to 4% of the gdp so we can have the ships that we need, the aircraft that we need, the active duty personnel we need and we can care for our veterans in the way they deserve to be cared for. we have a lot of men and women coming home from iraq and afghanistan that need our care. we have to spend appropriately. these guys have sacrificed for our country. it's time to make sure we follow through on our commitments. >> thank you very much. what's your name, sir? >> jeff hatch. >> jeff hatch? >> yes. >> what's your question? >> my question for the governor is once you get elected, what's the first thing you're going to do once you're in office? >> the very first thing you're going to do, governor, once you're in office. >> i have the occasion for filing a whole series of executive orders. the first order is to make sure we stop obamacare. i'm going to do that by directing the secretary of health and human services to grant a waiver for obamacare to all 50 states and then i'll go about getting it repealed all

together. number two, i'm going to put in place an executive order that opens up more drilling for gas and oil so we can use our energy resources. number three, i'm going to stop some of these pro union agreements that have been put in place by the president to say if you're doing federal work, it's got to be done by a union. that's just getting us started. i'm going to reduce tax rates on corporations that are not competitive with globally in tax rates and i'm also going to go to work to do something that the middle class needs. i recognize that the very poor in our country have a safety net. we need to keep that safety net in place. the very wealthy are doing just fine. i'm really concerned about the middle class in this country and so i'm going to put in place an immediate middle class tax cut which is to say that anybody who is earning under $200,000 can save their money for free. no tax on interest, dividends or capital gains for middle income americans. thank you. >> pretty big first day and first week. >> thank you. >> some real legitimate questions. you have to go to the kitchen

for that answer. matt, come on out here! matt is actually working behind the line so if anyone wants scrambled eggs or a vegetable omelet, it's going to be delayed. >> i want to see the hair net. i want to see the hair net on you! >> all right. all right. matt. >> thanks so much. >> matt, do you have a question for the governor? >> i'd like to know what's been done to stimulate the job economy for people in the economies like myself, people with less experience in the work force coming right out of college. going to help them to get into the workplace. >> talk to your friends and they're frustrated. >> yeah, some of them are. a few of my friends just got laid off and they're looking for jobs, things that they're qualified for and they're not there anymore. >> how do you prime the pump for the private sector? >> well, one of the things to do is stop doing what president obama has been doing. i go across the country and i find people with various backgrounds and i've had some meetings with the chamber of commerce and small businesses and i say does anyone here believe that any of the actions that the president has taken have actually helped encourage you to hire more people? and i see not a single hand go

up. people recognize that what he has done has made it harder for america's economy to reboot. what i will do is make sure that the tax rates for employers are competitive globally. that regulators and regulations encourage the private sector, that we take advantage of our energy resources in this country and we also have trade policies that open up new markets for american goods. and that we do what we got to do to clamp down on the cheaters like china that have been taking american jobs. that's just getting us started. i have to make america the most attractive place in the world for small business, for investment and for job growth. you need to have a president who has had a job if you want to be able to create jobs. >> wow. thank you very much, governor. >> thank you. >> we're going to talk to the mayor behind you formally in 15 minutes and we'll set back and bring an interview back to new york. >> terrific. >> great of you to to be here this morning and thanks all of you for showing up and the everything is on my producer,

shawn. so he's got a credit card. so you won't be paying for anything. >> all right, guys. back to you in the studio. >> very good. that was nice to see and brian, you heard the governor. if you go back in the kitchen, make sure you have a hair net on. >> unless you have no hair. >> it's the law. >> brian has hair. >> synthetic but it's hair. >> no, it's real! all right, does this look familiar? these are drawings for new buildings that look an awful lot like the burning twin towers. not that. right there! who would build this? we'll tell you coming up. >> that was the reminder of the big debate here on fox thursday night. plus clothes, jewelry, elizabeth taylor's private collection up for grabs. we have your sneak peek.

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powered by verizon, this droid is too powerful to fall into the wrong hands. >> welcome back, everyone. take a look at these twin towers and see if it reminds you of anything. yeah, you might think that's downtown new york city. of course, the images of 9/11 but actually these two buildings are in korea right now and a lot of people are upset. >> that's the mock-up. that's the artist mockup. they're not done. >> a dutch firm that the title of the company is mvrvd have come up with this. these are two 60 story buildings. in the middle, there's 10

stories. they call it the cloud, pixalated cloud where those are apartments sticking out there. it's interesting, when this design was floated in south korea and the press had glowing reviews. they said it was fantastic. nobody mentioned, wait a minute, it looks like the twin towers. it wasn't until it hit the international press where people started going, come on, you can't do that. and now the company is facing a real firestorm. >> well, they're not backing down, though. here's what they say, we regret deeply any connotations the cloud effect evokes regarding 9/11. it was not our intention to create an image resembling the attacks nor did we see resemblance during the design process. >> how is that possible? >> they go on to say we apologize to anyone whose feelings we have hurt. there's no plans to back down. it should be finished around 2015. if you want a conspiracy theory, the architect that designed the plaza where those towers sit actually helped do the redesign on the world trade center so it's hard to believe there's not

some type of connection there. but they say it wasn't intentional. >> very interesting. 9/11 victim's father is now slamming that company. i think it's a total lie and they have no respect for the people that died that day. they're crossing the line. it looks like the towers imploding. they're trying to sensationalize it and it's a cheap way to get publicity. >> what do you think? let us know on twitter at "fox & friends." hard to imagine seeing anything else in those towers. >> let's get to some quick headlines for you now. newt gingrich nabbing some high profile support at the expense of john huntsman, former new hampshire state official richard brothers who once supported huntsman is joining team gingrich in the granite state. in florida, marco rubio's former campaign chief will direct operations there. gingrich is way ahead in florida, new polls show. >> a convoy of trucks loaded with fuel and supplies in afghanistan attacked and torched in pakistan overnight. apparently, militants on motorcycles ambushed the convoy and set it on fire.

at least one truck driver has been killed. on friday, 34 nato trucks were destroyed in a rocket attack on a trucking terminal. pakistan closed its borders refusing to let nato trucks through after an american air strike left 24 pakistani troops dead. gretch? >> well, the tsa is being asked to police itself. new york senator chuck schumer calling on the tsa to assign what he calls passenger advocates to handle patdown complaints at airports. the plan is in response to complaints from three elderly women who say they were strip searched at j.f.k. airport. dave? >> a swat team storms the home in santa maria, california, ready to bust a suspected gang member. problem is, he's already behind bars. police raided his parents' home at 5:30 in the morning. they fired flash bang grenades and pointed guns at the surprise couple. the cops left after the convict's mom showed them a

letter he recently sent from prison. oops. guys? what do you got? >> all right. thanks, dave. elizabeth taylor used to say big girls need big diamonds and boy did she live by that motto throughout her life? now, you have a chance to live her luxurious lifestyle, too, you, too, can be like la liz. >> they are auctioning off more than 950 items of jewelry, fashion, accessories and memorabilia that once belonged to the film legend and joining us is editor in chief of christie's magazine and fashion curator for the collection of elizabeth taylor, meredith etherington smith. good morning. >> what a fantastic job that you have. >> well, yeah, it was a lot to sort out. elizabeth taylor really loved going shopping. >> yes, we heard that. so are we going to start with the dress over here? >> mini dress right there. >> what i'd like to say about all these things before we start, this is the on-line auction. it's like ebay, it's the first time we've ever done it and it goes on until december 17th.

>> all right. >> starting with the liz taylor red mini dress. and she was actually -- the mannequin is very tall. she was a little bit shorter. it wasn't quite as mini as it looks there oochlt ooin the feeling. >> all right. and that's oscar de la renta. >> that's oscar. >> this beautiful purple coat, i'll step out of the way. >> that's fabulous. it has with it a dear little bag. can you be find and hold it up? >> all right. it's empty, though. you have to -- >> yeah. >> you'd have to buy it and put something in it. >> contents come separately. >> all right. what about these cowboy boots right here? >> well, she -- my theory about her massive collection of cowboy boots. >> she had a big collection? >> huge. like everything else, she did not go into anything half way. i think being in a film set her off. >> really? >> ok. that particular pair is fabulous.

>> it says "e.t." on the side. >> elizabeth taylor. >> got to love that accent. all right, let's get to some of the jewels because i can't stop taking my eyes off of this ring right here. what's that? >> that is the huge success story. it started $100. it's a lilac colored sapphire and started as $100 on our on-line auction and it's gone up to, i think, it's something like 17,000 women. >> may i touch it? >> you may. >> i just have to say that once i wore -- oh, my goodness. >> that's gigantic. that's like a baked potato. >> hello! >> yeah, it's kind of -- >> no kidding. now, right over here behind gretch is elizabeth taylor's director's chair. do we know when this is from? >> well, it's quite recent because on the back, if you just look at it, it says dame. and she was made a dame of the british empire, which is incredibly distinguished. and i think in 2000 and her mortal -- because she's very

funny. her comment was i used to be called a broad and now they are calling me a dame. >> no kidding. >> where can people go to participate? >> you go on line. you go to www.christies.com and go to the elizabeth taylor site and it takes you straight in to what we call lot finder. everything is on line. you can see everything. >> fantastic. and if you didn't get that web site, we will have it on ours, go to fox and friends.com. thank you very much for dropping by. >> my great pleasure. >> put in a bid. >> ok. >> during a commercial. >> you get the boots and i'll get the ring. >> mitt romney just said his $10,000 bet comment was an outrageous answer to an outrageous question. will voters buy it or is the damage done? frank luntz joins us next.

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the iowa caucuses just a couple of weeks away but we already have had plenty of debates to measure the g.o.p. candidates by. here to break down the best and worst clips from the republican debates to date, fox news contributor and author of the book "win" frank luntz. good morning to you. >> good morning. and actually we're going to be conducting a poll after this segment is over on weigh-in. i would urge people who are watching to go to the web site when it's done and they're going to answer some questions about gingrich and romney and it's a good opportunity for them to be heard. >> fantastic. all right. just about a half-hour ago, brian kilmeade asked mitt romney about this soundbite this past saturday night. listen to this. >> i read your first book and it said in there that your mandate in massachusetts which should be the model for the country and i know it came out of the reprint of the book but, you know, i'm just saying you were for individual mandates, my friend. >> you know what? you've raised that before, rick,

and you're -- it was true then. it's true now. >> i'll tell you what. 10,000 bucks, $10,000 bet. i'm not in the betting business. >> ok. >> it's a good thing, from what i've read, perry would have lost the bet but you make a very important comment about what mr. romney did there. >> yes. he sounded like a junior high school debater. now, i must be the only person and the only pundit in america who believes that mitt romney did very well in that debate other than that line. and the problem is he's being sunk because his team are trying to stand behind . it's kind of like -- like sticking your tongue out at someone you disagree with. he wanted to back perry off and he knew don't touch him as he did in a previous debate and he wanted to push perry back but you don't make a bet like that because iowa voters, this is christian conservative. this is born again, fundamentalists, and they don't want to hear politicians betting each other. they took it not as a joke but

at face value and it's playing very badly and the tragedy for romney is that he was very steady, very effective in that debate other than that comment. >> all right. now, let's move on to -- of the 275 debates so far, you say that this is the best moment starring newt gingrich. >> mr. speaker, why are you shaking your head? >> i think this -- >> not an important question? >> i think this super committee is about as dumb an idea as washington has come up with in my lifetime. i mean, if you will for a second, still run the house of representaves. i have some general notion of these things. the idea that senators and congressmen will sit around for four months while 12 brilliant people mostly picked for political reasons are going to sit in a room and brilliantly come up with a trillion dollars or force us to choose between gutting our military and accepting a tax increase is irrational. they're going to walk in before thanksgiving and say we can

shoot you in the head and cut off your right leg, which do you prefer? >> and look at those dials right through the roof. >> yes, it's got the three key components. number one is passion. you can hear the intensity in his voice. number two is engagement. you hear the audience reacting several times in that clip. and number three, it's anti-washington in every factor and then what makes it so great is that it's also -- it makes you laugh as you shake your head and agree. >> all right. let's go to the polar opposite. the worst moment starred rick perry and mitt romney. here's the clip. >> standing from my perspective because you hired illegals in your home and you knew about it for a year and the idea that you stand here before us and talk about that you're strong on immigration is on its face the height of hypocrisy. >> governor romney? >> rick, i don't think i've ever hired an illegal in my life. and so i'm afraid -- i'm looking forward to finding your facts on

that because that just doesn't show what the facts are. i'm speaking. i'm speaking. >> when rick perry is making his comments, the -- you went down and then you started to bounce back up when mitt romney started explaining. >> well, the problem with that is that it illustrated what rick perry did wrong in this campaign which is go at mitt romney and go at him and go at him. not over principle. not over substance but over these sidelights and no one taught rick perry that there's a good way and a bad way to challenge someone. the interaction between perry and romney has hurt both candidates significantly and you would have thought that their debate prep people would have figured that out. >> no kidding. all right, thank you very much, frank. and good luck with the research that you're going to do right now after this segment. >> thank you. >> got to go to weigh in.com and get a chance to vote. >> you don't have to weigh yourself which is good news. thanks, frank. it's the gift that keeps on saving. a gadget that cuts your power bill by 10% by plugging that in.

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>> can you believe it? christmas is just two weeks away. if you're still looking for that perfect gift, why not get something to help you around the house? the people at this old house have put together the top 100 best new home products of 2011 and they are here to show us some of their top picks. joining me now is eric haggerman, editor of "this old house" and he brought us some good stuff. a bit unconventional but you need stuff that you can use. >> absolutely. dave, we know that our readers love their old houses but we know they love new ways to fix them up. so this year, we did our first

annual, "this old house" top 100 which is a list of the best 100 home products of 2011 chosen by the readers of the magazine. >> start with this air purifier for folks with allergies? >> yeah, i mean, people with allergies, my wife and i have an 8-week-old at home so we have it around her crib. it's an air purifier that creates a pocket of purified air in a certain zone where you sleep and it works better than hepa filters they say. >> much quieter. >> much quieter, yeah. >> this is not because of breast cancer research. >> no, this is one of these why didn't i think of this ideas? it goes on bubble gum pink and then you -- when it dries white, that's your all clear sign that you can paint it. it's a very simple idea that's been a long time coming. >> that's pretty simple. >> what's this? >> this is a way to save yourself money that we can all use rht about now.

put this in the outlet and plug your cable box into it or your phone charger or any of those devices that are sort of always drawing fire power and it cuts that flow of energy and your dollars going right out. >> how is it cutting the flow? >> it has a device in here that stops -- >> shut off device. >> exactly. >> when you're not charging that phone, people need that. all right, you can make any water, add a little flavor. >> the soda stream has been around for a while. you've seen this before. but they added a new twist this year which is great. it lets you -- it tells you exactly how much carbonation -- pardon me there, dave. shows exactly how much carbonation you're getting so you can stop at the desired amount and then you're done. only afterwards, you can put in some sir -- syrup if you want to have a soda. or just have carbonated water. >> i like fruity flavor. >> this is like gumby, this is

one of our favorite things in the issue. it's simple but ingenious. you put this -- it's a funnel that you can bend however you like. you get up under your lawnmower or some hard to reach place and it lets you like drain your oil and direct it into a bucket. vs. like a hard funnel and it's just one of those things that even if you don't use it for that, you can keep it on your desk and it keeps you amused for hours. >> it's very gummy. that will keep me entertained for the rest of the show, gumby. lastly, let's talk about this, you don't even have to necessarily touch it to turn it on. >> perfect for this time of year with germs going around, this is the addison faucet from delta. you get within four inches of this and it turns on automatically and you can touch it to turn it on and off but it works much better than like the faucets at our work places, you know, where you have to play hide-and-seek with the infrared. >> a few other products you can find them at thisoldhouse.com/top100. we'll link that at our web site. thank you.

good stuff. >> thank you, appreciate it. >> president obama defends his policies despite repeated drops in the polls. are americans sick of hearing it or will they elect him another term? dana perino offers her insight when we come back. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually se arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammatio plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. a celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain,

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>> gretchen: good morning, everyone. today is monday, december 12, 2011. i hope you had a great weekend. i'm gretchen carlson. thank you for sharing part of your day with us. president obama says the republican strategy is this. >> you know what? we really scared up the economy. obama seems popular. our best bet is to stand on the side lines 'cause we think the economy is going to get worse and at some point, just blame him. >> gretchen: will voters buy that or is it just more of the same blame game? dana perino is here to weigh in. >> steve: and just when you think you've heard it all, there is more. if america doesn't go green, we could be headed to climate court and forced to pay our historical climate debt. details straight ahead.

>> dave: the ultimate insult in islamic culture. who could forget? it just happened again, only this time to a different world leader. "fox & friends" continues right now. >> this is mike roe from "dirty jobs." you're watching "fox & friends," cleanest people i've seen in ages. >> steve: dana perino, who will be with us in a moment, when the guy threw the boat, you hear that scream? that was her, she got hit in the face with one of the microphones. >> dave: dangerous job, dana. >> really tough. >> gretchen: she survived and will be with news a few moments. al-qaeda militants stage a daring prison break in yemen. at least ten convicts escaped through 130-foot tunnel which took them from under the western side of the prison to outside the prison walls. most of them were convicted for the killing of security officials and a bank heist.

from one escape to another, after being held for nearly five months, an american teen out with his terrorist captors in the philippines and breaks free. 14-year-old kevin and his mom were on vacation in the philippine when is they were snatched. his father paid ransom, but only his mom was released. kevin earned their trust and convinced them he was going to take a bath, but made a run for it instead. he wandered for two days in the jungle before someone found him. kevin's dad said he's relieved and proud. >> nobody in the world has any idea how i feel. i'm just so happy. >> gretchen: the kidnappers are believed to be members of a terrorist group with ties to al-qaeda. as the u.s. prepares to withdraw troops from iraq, all eyes will be on a meeting at the white house today. president obama and iraqi prime minister will sit down to talk about the next phase of the relationship between their countries. they will also lay wreaths at arlington national cemetery. american troops are set to leave iraq at the end of the year,

these 3 -- december 31, mashing the end of an eight-year war there. you'll recall this video of a protester in iraq throwing his shows at president bush in 2008. it's happened again. an iranian web site report ago man threw his shoes at president ahmadinejab. the major insult in islamic culture, the man reportedly jobless, upset because he hadn't received his unemployment check. according to reports, the shoes did not hit ahmadinejab. those are your headlines. >> steve: after you got hit by that boom mike, dana perino, star of the five, how long did you have the shiner? >> through the rest of the administration. it lasted six weeks. it was the perfect way to end a great six months at the administration. >> steve: that's right. >> gretchen: then your administration ended and

president obama had been elected and now it's been three years. >> i still feel guilty about it. >> dave: you're still being blamed. we still hear the president looking backwards and blaming the current situation that our economy is in. what do you think? >> i think they can't help themselves. even when they're polling continues to go down every time they do more and more blaming, he it's like they can't help themselves. they have to remind everybody how bad it was and how much worse it would have been if he hadn't been there and it's a worse argument. and when looking at obama, it's as if his speech last wednesday, which was laying the foundation for his reelection, he's sort of forgotten about it because what they really want to talk about is how terrible george bush was. >> steve: if anybody missed have the view last night with steve croft and the president, here is the current president blaming her boss.

>> when i came into office in 2008, it was my firm belief that at such an important moment in our history, there was no reason why democrats, republicans couldn't put some of the old ideologycal baggage aside and focus on practical solutions to the tough problems we were facing and i think the republicans made a different calculation, which was you know what? we really screwed up the economy. obama seems popular. our best bet is to stand on the side lines 'cause we think the economy is going to get worse and at some point, just blame him. >> that's really unfortunate for the president of the united states to say that because it assumes that the intentions of the republicans was to make the economy worse. instead of thinking that on principle, based on their conviction, they think that the stimulus spending was not set up for success, that socialized medicine is not the way to go, which is what we got. there was no willingness to

compromise. and that everything that the republicans want to do is make the country worse that. is not setting things up for better compromise. >> dave: he's gotten the things he's wanted. how have the republicans hurt his agenda, really? and he might still get the payroll tax cut. >> i think he will. and the question hasn't been whether not the republicans want to extend the payroll tax cuts. it's do we pay for it now or do we add it to the deficit? i don't think it's unreasonable to ask that we might be able to find some way to pay for it because it's so temporary and it's also such small ball. i was surprised how like a flea on an elephant, the president's arguments were last night. >> gretchen: i don't think the payroll tax extension is permanent. i think it could be the new norm because a lot of people are used to it and we'll have to figure out a different way to fund social security which we can't fund. i want to move on to the debate. newt gingrich explained his thoughts about whether or not mitt romney was actually a career politician or not.

listen to this. >> okay. let's start with the last one. let's be candid. the only reason you didn't become a career politician is you lost to teddy kennedy in 1994. >> wait a second. >> no, and i'm just saying, i looked and i thought, i'm a citizen, i've served the country in many ways. you're a citizen, you served in many ways. but it's a bit much. you would have been a 17-year career politician by now if you had won. that's all i'm saying. >> dave: romney got to a good answer because he did eventually say, i also wanted to be in the nfl. i wasn't. being in the private sector helped me become who i am and understand how to create jobs. so i think he did get around to the right answer. >> if he wanted to provide a shift back, it would have been, and one of the reasons that you left politics is because your colleagues wanted you to go. we could do this all day long. the thing is that both of them wanted to serve. they both served in different ways, as governor, as speaker,

serving in the olympics, in the private sector. when president obama even talked about that last night, i'm like, aside from community organizing and serving a couple of years in the state senate and united states senate, what else has anybody done? the ultimate outsider that people really wanted was herman cain. and he's not in the running anymore. so all of them want to be position additions and serve and i think this argument is not going to go long. >> gretchen: did gingrich not take away or at least attempt to take away one of the most important points that mitt romney has as he's running for president, which is all of his experience in the private sector? >> i think he tried, but i don't think it will necessarily work. i also think a lot of this noise is irritating people and what we really want is a more substantive, we know you both want to be in politics. if you get there, what are you going to do? how are you going to fix this?

>> steve: the way things have turned out for newt in the last week, though, is how many washington insiders are people who have worked with him, have come out and said, you know what? i worked for him and he would be unfit for the office and stuff like that. you've got all these insiders saying, he's bad. but people across the country seem to like something about him, and in particular at the debate. >> it's le the more the insiders say we don't like almost the outsiders -- like him, the outsiders love him. when president obama was running, one of the things in his book was i'm a blank slate. people can paint me whatever they want because nobody knew him. everyone knows a lot about newt. >> steve: this strategy, it's working right now. but this is the primary. could it work right through the election in november of next year? >> probably not all the way through. but i do think the next four weeks is really important. you're going to see what mitt

romney -- be making hi closing argument between now and iowa and then new hampshire and south carolina voting early. that's only three weeks away. so now they have to start sealing the deal and then the chips will fall where they may. >> gretchen: somebody used to making a lot of arguments for her side of the fence is debbie wasserman schultz, the head of the democratic national committee. i've had several interviews with her. we usually is a very feisty discussion. here she was talking about mitt romney, she believes being a flip flopper. >> answering questions with mitt romney is fine except that you only know what he stands for at that given moment and then when the wind blows differently, and he needs to follow what's politically popular, he changes his position. >> gretchen: is that just something that politicians all suffer from or just mitt romney? >> he has a particularly bad affliction. >> gretchen: we all do it, but he's worse than me. >> if you want to talk about flip flop of flops, you could talk about gitmo, we could talk

about tax cuts and president obama and what he promised in the campaign and didn't deliver. that's not to say that mitt romney doesn't have a problem and so does newt gingrich. >> dave: they're not talking about newt's problems. they aren't going after newt gingrich. why? >> i think they were all prepared to run against mitt romney. newt gingrich all of a sudden surges and now they're like, oh, shoot. >> gretchen: i gave her the chance today to say that she was going to start attacking newt gingrich and that she went right back to romney. >> maybe she doesn't have her talking points yet. the dnc that she's chairing, they just did an ad friday or saturday morning about newt gingrich in particular. so i think that they have to hear back up. >> steve: dana perino will be at the "five." >> five people at 5:00 o'clock

on fox. >> gretchen: thank you. >> dave: just when you thought you were paying enough taxes, there is this, -- the man had to climb to climate court and pay our debt. >> gretchen: building sparking outrage and it brings back outrage of the twin towers. what do you think? we'll share our thoughts later this hour ok, people. show me the best way to design a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately.

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that developed countries, like the united states, owe underdeveloped countries for our climate change. joining us, fox news legal analyst, peter johnson, jr. >> good morning. they finally came to a deal in durbin, south africa with some modest changes, but there is a lot of countries not going along. china, india and as we know, the united states has not signed on to these deals in the past. it's been under attack in some quarters for that. but what the u.n. came up with this week and it was a very well thought out proposal, 138 pages, to come up with an international climate court of justice, whereby the united states and europe and a few other countries would pay billions of dollars over time to underdeveloped countries because of the crime of climate change, that we would

pay reparations, we would pay economic damages to those countries in the amount of the cost that we spend on our own defense. so for violation of mother earth, there would be reparations paid by the big, rich u.s. of a. >> steve: in fact, the terminology is mother earth. >> mother earth. >> steve: where if you do something bad to the earth, you should pay the big shall pay the small. >> correct. and talked about a historic responsibility. what they also talked about -- and that's the othos surrounding this conference on chime change and what the u.n. is really trying to do, a world wide cap on trade, a world wide tax on shipping and aviation fuel, a green climate fund, and they're talking about that now already, a fund to assist, to be paid into again by the united states and developed nations.

so we say, and other folks say, what is china going to be doing? what is india going to be doing, because when you look at the amount of coal process that goes in china, if climate change is really as a result of that, then what is china doing? are they doing the same things that we're doing to reduce those emissions? >> steve: we got a little clip here, a statement from todd stern, the u.s. climate negotiator. he says this is a very significant package. none of us like everything in it, believe me, there is plenty the united states is not thrilled about. but we are talking about climate change and climate change, is it settled science? there are a lot of people who say absolutely. >> of course it's not settled science. it's deep, deep in dispute and that sends some people off the edge. >> steve: ould we wait? >> when fox say that on the fox news channel, they have a mental breakdown when you say it. it's highly in dispute.

and the united states did not sign the 97 accord and the united states in some ways is taking a firmer position than those folks want. but when you have 138-page document that calls about an international court of climate justice, then, you know, i don't think we're paying enough in tax dollars. let's pay for something that happened 5 or 600 years ago. >> steve: that's interesting. thank you for bringing that to our attention. >> take care. >> steve: straight ahead, did mitt romney's $10,000 bet with rick perry paint him as a wealthy and out of touch guy? romney explains why he said it coming up. then this christmas, why not give the gift of a warm, loving home. how you can help rescue those dogs after this break. are they adorable or what the droid razr by motorola.

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>> steve: you want news by the numbers? got them right here. 100 million bucks, that they the price tag for a new program called brand usa. its purpose? to entice foreigners to come to the united states. the money would come from taxpayers and corporations to brand usa. next, 15%. according to new stat, that's how much on-line shopping is up this year and today is supposed to be the busiest on-line shopping day because it is considered the last day you can get that gift sent in time for christmas without paying extra for shipping. finally, $13.7 million, the new comedy "new year's eve" winning the box office. but this was the worst box office total in almost three years, raking in only

77 million. dave, gretch, only to you? >> dave: run right ou and see that one, steve. why buy another sweater that won't fit or he'll never wear? instead, give something meaningful this marks the gift of pet rescue. "fox & friends" is bringing back our paw force a cause series and showing you how you can help your four legged friends. >> gretchen: robin is here, the executive director of small paws rescue, inc. it's the largest breed resendez-ramirez cue in the country. over the past 13 years, they rescued over 13,000 bichons. good morning, great to see you. >> great to see you. >> gretchen: this started when you rescue add bichon. >> it did. back in 1998 and i found an ad on the internet. i didn't know what i was doing and i was looking for a dog for my other dog after having lost one and i ended up on the steps of one of the worst puppy mills in missouri. it was the beginning of the beginning and since that time, we rescued over 8500 bichons.

>> gretchen: that's fabulous. two of them up for adoption today. we have bebop and boo ray. >> this is louis, one of our fabulous volunteers from massachusetts. he's got boo ray and bebop. they're a bond pair about a year old. he came in from a shelter and they need to go to a home together. they love everybody. they need to be adopted together. we'll do it for a two for run adoption fee so they can stay together. >> dave: you don't want to be impulsive. >> we don't do dogs as christmas gifts. we want the adoption of one of our dogs to be a lifetime commitment to them and we don't want to see them coming back into rescue or at a shelter after the first of the year, after the new wears off at christmas time, which happens in shelters all across the country. so these little guys -- she's just making some puppy noises -- these guys will make a great addition to your family for years to come. >> gretchen: one of the great

things about bichon, they don't shed and are great with kids. >> they're great with kids. they love everybody and everything. i have a cheery personality. bebop and boo ray are just so happy to be rescued. they know that they need help and others like them need help. >> dave: you need help as well. what do you need people to do? >> this is the time of year that the need is the greatest and donations are the slowest. so we do need help. we are a 501 c 3 organization. we post our bills on our web site and are in desperate need of volunteer foster homes, especially in areas like the south texas, oklahoma. but we also need homes -- we need foster homes everywhere and we pay all vet bills. so if you have a home to give a little one a place to hang his hat, then we need you. there is an application to do that on our web site. >> gretchen: how long typically does a foster family take care of a bichon? >> you never know.

with these two, they will probably fly out the door after being on your great show this morning. we have some others that may be a little older that may be in rescue a couple of months and then we have some hospice dogs in rescue not really for adoption. they're there and we're taking care of them until god tells us it's time. and so we have about 200 bichons and mixes in rescue right now. you want to talk! >> dave: thank you to bebop and boo ray and i'm sure they'll find a home soon. >> gretchen: we'll link it to "fox & friends." we'll have more dogs on wednesday. >> dave: coming up, does this look familiar? these drawings for new buildings look an awful lot like burning twin towers. we're reading your e-mails on this coming up. >> gretchen: then we're letting the dogs out and the cats in. and we're talking about big cats. what is that mountain lion? is it in the studio? who has it

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>> steve: welcome back to "fox & friends." it's not every day that 60 minutes gives an interview subject two segments. but that's exactly what they gave the president of the united states last night. it was in part a hard hitting interview with steve croft. he started by saying, mr. president, you've got 75% of the country that think it's headed in the wrong direction. then the president came back and said, look, there are a lot of republicans who like what i'm doing, but it's those republicans in congress who are stopping me from getting anything done. >> if i can't get republicans to move, partly because they've made a political strategic decision that says, anything obama is for, we're against, 'cause that's our best chance of winning an election. keep in mind, i'm talking about republican members of congress. i'm not talking about republicans around the country. >> they don't like you much better. >> no, i understand. but i think that they like the

ideas that we put forward. >> all 7% of them. >> gretchen: i'm not sure that's true. i don't know if the republicans like the ideas, like the overhaul of health care and more stimulus spending and now talk about they should have done more stimulus spending. i think that's why they're republicans. they don't agree with a lot of the democratic philosophy. >> dave: to make that case, you have to have something you didn't get, in order to make that case against republicans and i'm not sure what that thing is. what's that thing he wanted, what? more stimulus spending? that won't be pallatable. it may be a hard case to take to the voters in the next couple of months. >> gretchen: in the meantime, he also spoke -- no. mitt romney spoke about president obama, brian was in new hampshire this morning live with the former governor of massachusetts at a diner and he responded in this way to the president. >> what the american people are tired of listening to is president obama trying to find some way to deflect blame. he's been pushing this idea that

somehow i'm not in touch with everyday people because i put out an outrageous number for an outrageous charge. but the president is the person who failed the american people and the middle class. he's played 80 rounds of golf? as he put this mace a series of policies that people have seen declining income, home prices decline, declining number of jobs. >> steve: also brian asked governor romney about what some are saying was big gaffe at the saturday night debate where mr. romney made a -- tried to make a $10,000 bet with the governor of texas. the governor didn't bite. some on the left said looks, it paints romney as a guy completely out of touch if he thinks he can afford a $10,000 bet. here is how he responded. >> this was an outrageous number to answer an outrageous charge from him and it's been proven wrong time and time again. he keeps raising it. i said okay, let's put something outrageous out there. it's like saying, hey, i bet awe million bucks x, y or z.

afterwards, my wife came up and said, mitt, it was a great debate. you're great at a lot of things, just not betting. so we're over with that. >> steve: i bet he'd like a do over on that. >> dave: if you know the squeaky clean guy he is, you can probably bet he never made a bet in his life. i know the church of latter day saints doesn't want you to bet on anything. >> gretchen: we've made bets on this couch. >> dave: more in the $10 variety. >> gretchen: correct. they've never gone up to 10,000. the biggest key about a truthful person is whether or not they pay off their bets. that's the way i look at it. this is probably -- so many people have said something like that before, a lot of people. maybe it wasn't the right thing based on where we stand right now in the economy. >> steve: and the larger the bet you make, generally shows you how much you believe that to be true. so if he's saying $10,000 bet, then he must have thought -- it's good for rick perry that he didn't take the bet because he would have lost. >> dave: that was very good

move. it was yesterday, written about how mitt romney is actually very frugal. >> steve: cheap. >> dave: the real mitt romney doesn't like to throw money around and spend money on anything. >> steve: he didn't think people should get cell phones while they had pay phone. and one of the things he likes to do is look for cheap flights on jetblue. let's look at the headline force monday. newt gingrich nabbing high profile support at the expense of jon huntsman. former new hampshire state official richard brothers, who once supports huntsman s joining team newt in the granite state. and in florida, marco rubio's former campaign chief, jose malia, will now direct operations there. he helped steer marco rubio's come from behind victory in the 2010 senate race. >> gretchen: come to your tv screen now because you tonight want to miss this amazing video. incredible surveillance video captures the exact moment a gas tanker explodes in flames. you can also see tourists at a

hotel. they're running for their lives in the video. this went down in melbourne, australia. the truck was unloading when suddenly blew up. it torched two cars in the hotel parking lot. the driver of the truck did make it out alive with some burns to his arms and legs. >> dave: mile jaime sigh i can't as some are -- mile high messiah has done it again. asked them to stop the madness. but there is two minutes left in the game. and that's when tebow is at his best. he finds thomas. 10-7. they went to overtime thanks to a 59-yard field goal from matt on a wing and a prater. that from 51. this thanks to the runningback for the bears who ran out of bounds when they were trying to run out the clock and then fumbled in overtime.

you just saw him. barber is the bartman, the goat for chicago fans. tim tebow fans inspiring the nation. >> gretchen: he won six trait for them. president obama singing christmas carols with justin bieber? ♪ the first family joined by the band perry, victoria justice and the bieb at the 30th annual christmas in washington concert that aired last night. that gets knew the christmas spirit. >> steve: it sure does. all right. let's talk a little bit about this. earlier we told you about how there is this european company that has designed some twin towers for seoul, south korea. they refer to it as the cloud because right smack dab in the middle, they call it a pixelated

cloud. those are actually -- this is an artist depiction of what it would look like. those are apartments. now, believe it or not, the company says, what do you mean it looks like the twin towers on 9-11? that never dawned on us! we asked you if you bought it. most of you don't. >> gretchen: so this e-mail from ron in virginia, the proposed towers are an insult to this country and the victims of 9-11. >> dave: and an e-mail from brad, maybe the designers have all but forgotten the misery of that tragic day. short-term memory seems to be the norm these days. >> steve: mike in texas says, i looked at the korean towers as more of a colossal tribute that will be a constant reminder of the events that occurred on 9-11. the glass is half full. if they're going to build it, that would be one way to put a good spin on it. >> dave: i suppose. doesn't feel like much of a tribute. >> gretchen: i just realized that they are actually apartments. but obviously the image that

many people think they want to display is the clouds. >> dave: they have no plans to scrap that design. >> steve: would you live in that building? somebody has to live in it and work in it. >> dave: no, i would not. >> gretchen: coming up, president reagan ushered in 20 years of prosperity. but president obama says the trickle down policies never worked. reagan's former advisor on this next. >> dave: and they're as american as apple pie. that's what you're about to hear about mountain lions. yeah. stick around. they're about to roam right into our studio. >> steve: that's our nice furniture. down, kitty, kitty, kitty my name's jeff. i'm a dad, coach... and i quit smoking with chantix. knowing that i could smoke during the first week was really important to me. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking.

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>> steve: qick headlines for this monday morning. the battle over arizona's tough new immigration law heading to

the u.s. supreme court today. arizona is asking for permission to enforce parts of the law that were blocked by lower courts at the request of the obama administration. and this brawl leads to a flurry of suspensions. four players from the university of cincinnati and four players from xavier university being punished for this. three players received six game suspension, including one player who threw a huge punch that bloodied somebody's face. that was it right there. dave, over to you. >> dave: nasty. thank you, steve. president obama blasting republicans on the economy, claiming that, quote, trickle down economics and the free market don't work now and never have worked. >> the market will take care of everything, they tell us. if we just cut more regulations and cut more taxes, especially for the wealthy, our economy will grow stronger. sure, they say, there will be

winners and losers, but if the winners do really well, then jobs and prosperity will eventually trickle down to everybody else. but here is the problem, it doesn't work. it has never worked. >> dave: a man behind that trickle down theory, here to respond, former economic advisor to president reagan, art laffer. good to see you, sir. >> hi, dave. how are you? >> dave: i'm doing good. he said it does not work and never has. true or false? >> false. i mean, it's sort of sad he's grabbing for straws here. he's got the worst single economy after being in office three years and what's happened to this economy and now he's blaming reagan? for foodness sake's, look at the boom we had and look what we had with stock market, inflation, and now he's saying that reagan didn't work? i mean, where does he come off with that? i don't get it. >> dave: you double down on the theory. last night on "60 minutes," here is what he said. >> i know.

>> the math is the math. you can't lower rates and raise revenue, unless you're getting revenue from someplace else. now, either it's coming from middle class families or poor families, or it's coming from folks like you and me that can afford to pay a little more. >> dave: i have to ask you a question based on your laughing. but it certainly works in the reagan era. now, i guess what he likely is talking about is the bush tax cuts did not necessarily work for this country because the recession happened in spite of those bush tax cuts. >> whenever a lawyer says the math is the math, you know you got a problem. you know, you can cut tax rates and what you do is people stop using accountants and lawyers and deferred income specialists and they report their income and they pay their taxes. they increase output. that's what it's all about! this guy doesn't get it. he think if we tax people at 110%, so that every time you go

to the office, dave, instead of getting a check, you get a bill, how long would you work? this guy just doesn't get the math. but a lot of lawyers don't, but i'm surprised the president doesn't. >> dave: mitt romney and newt gingrich both proposed the front runners in the gop race, both proposed lower taxes for the top rate and for capital gains as well and i think newt gingrich says zero capital gains. he has tried perhaps more than any modern politicians to try to adopt the mantle of ronald reagan. does that shoe fit? >> it sure does. i think all these candidates are extremely good. i think newt gingrich is spectacular. i think he's got the stuff, he's got the experience all the way through. you know, what amazes me, dave, if i can go back for one second on the president's comments, in the '86 tax act, we dropped the highest rate from 50% to 28%. that's a pretty big drop on the rich. and we had 97 senators voting in favor of that, including al gore, including joe biden, and

including dodd, including teddy kennedy. you know, this is the type of division that's causing bipartisanship to be a myth. we could get back to pro growth policies. the democrats know how it works and they know it's got to work that way. you can't hate job creators and love jobs. you just can't do it. >> dave: you say the highest 1% of income earners pay more taxes as a shared gdp in '88 at lower rates than they had in 1980 at higher rates. >> way more! >> dave: what this economy needs is lower rates across the board, in your opinion? >> well, i think it needs lower rates and less deductions, exclusions, all the loopholes. we need a low rate, flat tax. that's the best way to create this prosperity, through the tax codes and we need a lot of other policies as well. that's the beginning of all good economics, low rate, flat tax. >> dave: former advisor to president reagan. art laffer thanks for being with us. >> thank you, dave.

>> dave: they're probably in your backyard right now. yikes. and you don't even know it. we're talking about mountain lions. one of the most elusive animals in the world and this one headed right into our studio [ male announcer ] what if that hemorrhoid pain is non-stop to seattle? just carry preparation h totables. discreet, little tubes packed with big relief. from the brand doctors recommend most by name. preparation h totables. the anywhere preparation h. ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

>> gretchen: we have -- >> we have a lot to talk about. president lays down 8% as an achievable unemployment number. stewart varney on why he says that won't matter. the president also promised he would get us out of iraq when he ran and now it is happening. general keane is here to tell us why president obama may regret that pullout in the end, when we come up at the top of the hour. we'll see you then. >> steve: we'll be watching. they're big, beautiful and might be in your backyard right now. but mountain lions are rarely seen in the wild because they're

so elusive until now, that is, thanks to nat geo. >> i know they're out there watching me. but in all my years in the wild, i've never caught more than a fleeting glimpse of a ghost. >> every second of cat footage that you get is like gold. but the treasure hunt is on. had one come out of a tree, headed that way. better follow. >> gretchen: joining us now, casey anderson, the host of nat geowild. stalking the mountain lion. >> dave: there is some bonding between you. there is a nice kinship. we shouldn't be afraid of these big cats? >> we should definitely be afraid. not afraid, like i like to say they should be in the wild. in a perfect world, all cats should be. that's what we're trying o do, is get people to appreciate these big cats and try to do something to save them. >> dave: can i put him?

>> yeah. >> steve: casey, you say even though they got big teeth and big claws and stuff like that, chances are, you would be more likely hit by lightning than having one of these things chew on you? >> absolutely. mountain lion, cougar, you heard all kinds of names, they range from can did all the way to the tip of south america. they're out this. >> steve: could they be in our back yards? >> yeah. they eat deer and there is deer in your backyard. they're not going to hurt you. you encounter one, the best thing to do is act big and tough. they're shy. they'll run away. >> gretchen: there was a big scare at a school out in my community where i live in connecticut because a huge mountain lion was spotted and people took photos of it in their backyard. that was a -- just like that. so what should people do to keep themselves safe? >> these animals are shy. they don't want to be around people. if you see something like this, just present yourself as a human and they'll go away. we shouldn't be afraid of them. these are essential to every eco

system, even connecticut. we need them to keep the deer population in check. these animals are really, really important. >> steve: if they're moving to connecticut and other places, that's because they're getting squeezed out. right? >> it is part of their original home range. we've squeezed them out. now they're coming back. they need to be there. >> steve: that's a good thing? >> this is a good thing. >> gretchen: what else did you bring? >> i'm going o take these guys here. >> steve: let them jump. they have 20-foot vertical jumps. and zonally, ready. the next cat snot a big cat. -- is not a big cat, but it's a big contaminate this is a eurasian lynx. they don't really know exactly why they have them, but there is a few things. detecting vibrations. >> dave: like whiskers, they use those in some capacity. >> look how awesome it is.

>> steve: what's the deal with the short tail? >> i don't know. i don't know why they have a short tail, but some cats have short tails tails and some haveg ones, like mountain lions have a long one for balance. long legs to jump, go after birds in the air. >> gretchen: one thing they all have are huge paw. >> very huge paws. usually it's for walking on top of the snow. it's like a snow shoe. >> gretchen: we're going to have one more big cat. when we come back. let's tease it up that way. see what cat we pull out of the bag, two minutes away. >> dave: head butt, nice n a budh expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? 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.

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