>> this iss. your moment. >> order. >> set your dvrs. so you never miss an episode of the fife. "special report" is next and new year's eve 9:00 p.m. eastern. i'm gregg jarrett. glad you're with us. welcome to a brand-new hour inside america's news headquarters. >> i'm arthel neville. topping the news this hour action the big holiday travel push running into some big trouble as another winter storm is set to cripple plans for millions. we are live in the fox extreme weather center with the forecast. and two american astronauts venturing outside the international space station making very quick work on some big and urgent repairs. the details on their impresssive job. >> plus, streamlining your holiday shopping. which tablets really are harder, better, faster and stronger?

"consumer reports" here with those answers. some wild winter weather posing trouble for travelers out there. we're talking snow, freezing rain, maybe even some tornadoes. here in green bay, wisconsin, they're shoveling out lambeau field, home of the packers, ahead of tomorrow's football game. that's a big tradition. a way for folks to make extra money. >> pretty exciting. we have some first-timers and regulars that come every time we shovel out. we couldn't do it without them. >> it's a party out there. but not like it is here in new york. meteorologist janis dean live in the fox extreme weather center.e our building says 64 degrees. >> 64, yes. it could even get warmer, even hotter than that tomorrow, gregg. we're expecting highs in newark around 70 degrees.

there are your current temperatures. 61, i believe that is at la guardia. not at central park, which is where that reading came from. look at the difference here. i mean, that is a cold front. we've got very warm unstable air. we're talk being december 21. this is the first day of winter. it's 72 in memphis. 30 in kansas city. it's just is a mess. the weather outside is frightful. tornado watches, three of them right now and they go 'til 11:00 p.m. central, pushing towards tennessee and kentucky, even in towards ohio. several tornado warnings, south of alexandria, louisiana, up toward greenville on the border of arkansas and mississippi. we're seeing roam taking with these thunderstorms that are moving through and the potential for tornadoes throughout the evening. unfortunately. and the flooding in some cases, we could see ten inches of rainfall. maroon shaded areas are flash flood warnings in effect.

they really extend up toward new england. because it will be so warm, that snow pack is going to melt. so yes, ice, tornadoes and i just want to make mention, ice storm warnings up towards new england where we could see over two inches of ice. people are comparing this to the 1998 ice storm of new england. so this could be really crippling. we'll keep an eye on it. >> crazy weather out there. we'll check back with you. janis dean, thanks. two american astronauts conducting urgent repair work hundreds of miles above the earth successfully removing a pump with a bad valve from the international space station during today's space walk. they finished the work sooner than expected. but the difficult mission to fix it crippled the cooling line is far from over. dominic deany tool is live with the details. >> yes, they were out there for 5 1/2 hours on that space walk.

it's by no means a record, but certainly a challenge and a physical toll taken by the astronauts when they're out there. they also had to confront neighbors of highly toxic ammonia which was leaking from the repair site. so the astronauts managed to remove the bad pump module from the exterior. you can see it on the screen there. they had to disconnect all the fluid lines, take out electrical power talks remove the mounting bolts, and then they unhinged that pump out of the cooling system. it wasn't exactly a scene from "gravity" or "apollo 13", but the danger was chilling the ammonia too much, it risked freezing the water cooling system inside the labs. so they had to shut that down of the the real problem there being that with one cooling system down, there is a secondary one busted, they would have been in a critical situation where they would have had to shut down most of the space station. tricky work to be done.

the next space walk, which is due in the next few days, is by no means going to be any easier. take a listen. >> they'll go back monday and retrieve the spare cooling pump that will be removed, put on the robot arm, transferred to the new site and then put into place and reconnected. if they get through all of that on monday, they won't have to go outside on christmas day. although that's sort of a secret christmas gift that they actually have to do a third one. >> well, they might not have to do a third one and it appears it's not going to be monday now. mission control at the johnson space center in houston tweeting on its official feed that the next space walk will now be tuesday, december 24th at 6:15 a.m. eastern time. apparently they made such great progress today, they may only need to do that walk on tuesday. that would save them from doing another one.

>> dominic, thank you very much. the pentagon now confirming that four u.s. service members on a rescue mission in south sudan injured by gun fire while trying to evacuate american citizens. military officials say three ospreys like the ones you see here, were hit by small arms fire. not clear who fired the shot. all four troops are being treated in kenya now. they are in stable condition. reaction from the president at the bottom of the hour. four men are now in custody facing charges of murder and conspiracy in connection to the deadly new jersey mall carjacking where -- these are the suspects here -- where 30-year-old dustin freedland was shot and killed last weekend. two men allegedly took off in his range rover, which was found the next day ten miles away. ryan is live in new york with the details. >> reporter: those four men were arrested and charged overnight, ending a five-day manhunt. the men now face up to life

behind bars, accused of shooting dustin freeland in the head last sunday night in a parking garage at short hills mall in new jersey as his wife watched helplessly. the suspects have been identified as 31-year-old coo reef ford, p 3-year-old kevin roberts, 29-year-old thompson, and 32-year-old henry. in addition to murder, they face several charges, including carjacking and possession of a weapon. they are each being held on $2 million bail. police confirm the four men were targeting freeland's 2012 silver range rover in the mall parking garage. freeland was about to get in the driver's side of his suv when he was approached by two of the men and shot. the attack was just the latest in an epidemic of carjackings in essex county, new jersey. there have been 450 carjackings in he is sex in 2013 -- esse is x in 2013. according to the national insurance crime bureau, there was a national increase in car

thefts in 2012 for the first time in eight years. and that number is expected to rise again this year. the nicb also says the new york, new jersey area has the highest number of suv and cuv thefts in the nation. just this week, officials in the new york tri-state area sent out an alert warning drivers they are seeing more luxury cars targeted. >> in new york city, a lot of times those vehicles that are stolen, high end vehicles, not just suv, they're stolen for a reason. it is to get them in containers and ship them out of the country where they bring top dollar in a foreign market. >> there are about 2,000 cars stolen on average every single day in the u.s. but experts say the threat of violent carjackings has increased over time as car technology has made it harder to steal a car without the owner present. arthel? >> boy. thank you very much for that

report. jp morgan chase putting limits on debit cards used at target stores following that security breach. the bank now says that the daily limit for cash withdrawals, $100. the limit for purchases is $300. this comes after target reported the credit and debit card information of about 40 million shop shoppers were stolen. target has not disclosed how the breach occurred. but the company says it fixed the problem. it's also offering a a 10% store discount and free credit monitoring. today marks 25 years since the bombing of pan am flight 103, the terrorist attack killed 259 people over lockerbie, scotland. 11 more people were killed on the ground. it was the deadliest terrorist attack on british soil. a memorial service for the victims being held at the national cemetery in arlington, virginia. molly henneberg is live in washington with more. >> reporter: it was this day in 1988 that pan am flight 103

exploded in the sky less than one hour after taking off from london enroute to new york. today attorney general eric holder told victims' families and friends at a ceremony at arlington national cemetery that no amount of time or distance can erase the loss after what he called, quote, a heinous and cowardly act of terror. >> we will always remember the heartache, devastation, and the pain that was etched into our collective memory on the 21st of december, 1988. but we also recall as we gather each year the tremendous generosity of the scottish people, particularly the people of lockerbie who despite their own losses, opened their homes to the victims' families. >> reporter: there was a remembrance ceremony for all the people who died on board the flight and 11 people killed on the ground.

one mother of an american college student on the pan am 103 flight spoke about why she attended the event in scotland. >> i wanted to come here not only to honor thomas, but the other 269 victims and i wanted to stand in the place where my son took his last breath. and say a small prayer. >> reporter: one libyan intelligence officer was convicted of 270 counts of murder. prosecutors said he planted a suitcase bomb on the plane. he was sentenced to life in prison in 2001. scottish authorities decided to release him in 2009 on humanitarian grounds. but he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. they expected that he would die within about three months. but he returned to libya to a hero's welcome, by the way, and lived another three years. he died in may 2012. arthel? >> molly henneberg, thanks.

there may be changes coming to a controversial nsa surveillance program. earlier this week, a federal judge ruling the collection of phone records is likely unconstitutional. president obama stands by the program while saying he will look at the recommendations from a white house task force. elizabeth prann has more from washington. >> reporter: president obama acknowledging he has some work to do over the holiday break. he'll be reviewing the intelligence advisory panel's review of the national security agency. some of the 46 recommendations urges the administration to dial back its mass collection of data records. >> i'm going to make a pretty beginsive statement about all of this in january where i'll be able to say, here are the recommendations that we think make sense. here are ones that we think are promising, but still need to be refined further. >> reporter: the president did defend the nsa on friday, saying there was no evidence the agency

acted inappropriately. experts say his tone indicates there will most likely still be reform. americans need to decide how much privacy to give up in exchange for safety. >> americans are going to have to decide whether or not they have defined the war on terror as a war, which i happen to believe it is, or whether it is a crime. >> reporter: on saturday, the director of national intelligence declassified documents showing when the nsa began collecting data, dating back to the war on terror, just after september 11. in a statement, james clapper rights in part about the policy then procedures to insure nsa's missions and functions are conducted in a manner that safeguards the constitutional rights of u.s. persons. it details former president bush's authorizations which were eventually replaced by a law requiring a secret court to approve the spying. gregg, back to you. >> elizabeth prann.

during his end of the year news conference, president obama acknowledged many months of trust railing ups and downs during his year in office. next we'll look at promises for 2014, plus a soldier returning home with a huge surprise for his girlfriend. that story just ahead. ♪

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i think 2014 needs to be a year of action. we've got work to do to create more good jobs, to help more americans earn the skills and education they need to do those jobs, and to make sure that those jobs offer the wages and benefits that let families build a little financial security. >> that was president obama speaking yesterday as he tries to reignite his second term agenda amid plummeting poll numbers. the latest fox news poll shows more americans disapprove of how the president is handling issues like the economy, job creation, health care, and the deficit and with congress also getting low approval ratings, what can we expect? will we get it done in 2014, a midterm election year? joining us with some answers, richard goodstein, political

consultant and former advisor to hillary clinton's presidential campaign and cal thomas, fox news contributor and syndicated columnist. good to see both of you. >> hi. >> cal, i'm going to start with you. the president is forecasting a year of action in 2014. if this comes to fruition, would you say it's because of pro-active measures by the president or will it be due to a reactive congress reacting to public opinion, trying to get a more favorable reputation as they want favorable votes as we move closer to midterm elections? >> probably a little bit of both. but if you notice in that clip and in another clip that wasn't aired about the president saying he's going to work harder, i always love it when politicians of both parties say this. it makes me think, what have they been doing up to now? loathing? what is working harder mean? 15-hour days instead of 12-hour days? given all this president has done and the train wreck of obamacare, i'd like him to work less. but if working harder means less

time on the golf course, fewer multi million dollar vacation, then i'm all for it. but he's got a small window of opportunity. the 2014 elections are just ahead and if something doesn't happen dramatically to fix obamacare in the first six months, i think he'll be resembling a lame duck. >> richard, i give you an opportunity to respond to cal. >> sure. first of all, he regarding his poll numbers, his poll numbers were not appreciably higher a year before he handed mitt romney a fairly considerable loss. so as he said yesterday, his polls go up and down. i don't know we should make too much of this. whether there will be action by congress, where there will be kind of an incentive for republicans to share the outcomes that the president wants. so take immigration reform. i think the republicans running for president 2016 don't want a repeat of the self deportation or other kind of rather inflammatory remarks that turned off hispanic voters. i think they want a farm bill to

pass because they don't want to see $8 a gallon milk. they don't want to see a galt op our national debt because if there is even any talk of that, the business community will abandon republicans, i think, in droves. even the minimum wage -- >> okay. >> we've seen recently has actually a positive for the economy. i think there will be places where the president and congress can work together. >> that's where i wanted to go. cal, listen to me, because i want you -- talk about the balancing act for those lawmakers up for reelection who don't want to sign off on too many items that come from the opposite side of the aisle, yet they don't want to get in the way of progress because americans are tired of the gridlock in congress. so how do they handle it? >> yeah. that's true. but democrats had the same concern. there are a number of democrats up for reelection, mary landrieu, among others in louisiana who are in trouble, who have come out in opposition to some of the president's programs. look, richard is right about the him middity of some republican, especially on the national debt.

they didn't want a government shutdown because they know it hurts in the polls. they signed off on this budget deal. a lot of conservatives are angry about that. but the way to channel that age service to elect more conservatives, not just republicans. so a lot of young people are very concerned about the debt. they're concerned about the cost of health care. so i think if republicans frame this correctly as the president's poll numbers continue to fall, they've got a good chance to take back the senate and then to do something with it. >> richard, i'm going to ask you this, so what would you be fearful of, if you will, on the democratic side if the republicans frame it right, as cal just suggested that they should do? >> well, again, i think politicians work out of self interest. the issues that i mentioned are ones where democrats and republicans, whether it's mary landrieu or mitch mcconnell or lamar alexander who is facing challenges of their own, where they kind of see the outcome works for them. they're not going to do any favors or give any gifts to the other party. they're going to do what they

think works for them and the fact is the way these issues are kind of coming together, we will see that there will be a coming together and let's not forget the president has all his executive authority that he could use on issues like climate change and health care to reach outcomes that have a fairly broad popular support. so he has a lot of arrows in his quiver that frankly even if congress remains somewhat dysfunctional, he can get a fair of it done. >> let me reset with you, cal. so is 2014 going to be the year of action? >> well, it depends what kind of action we're talking about. richard just had some breaking news there. politicians do things that are in their self interest. who knew this? this is new to me. i never knew that before. this is a problem, by the way. as long as they focus on their self-interest, whether republicans or democrats, instead of the national interest, we're still going to have dysfunctional government. we're still going to have divided government. and the only politicians with convictions are going to be in jail. >> richard, last word on this one. >> well, the fact of the matter is, cal is right.

the good news for the president is that on a lot of the issues that he cares about, if you poll the public, they support the outcomes he wants as opposed to those who are trying to bring the president down. so i think if it is in the public interest, the president stands a pretty good chance to have a successful year. >> i finish with you, richard, i started with cal. good to see both of you. we'll talk to you next time. >> thanks so much. >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas. speaking of christmas, an early christmas presents for an arizona woman. her soldier boyfriend returning home from overseas and, well, he had a surprise for her at the airport. jessica flores from our fox station in phoenix has that story. >> reporter: she at phoenix sky harbor waiting for her boyfriend. he's an army soldier based out of fort rucker flying in after nearly two months apart. >> our first christmas and his birthday and our first new year's together. >> reporter: what she doesn't know, her boyfriends is about to ask for her hand in marriage.

and fox 10 has been invited to catch the moment on camera. >> i can't breathe. >> we don't want to spoil the surprise, so we tell her we're doing a soldier homecoming story. >> i love him and i've been waiting for this day forever. >> he finally arrives. >> will you marry me, honey? >> oh, yes. >> reporter: the proposal, applause all around. >> she's been there throughout the whole time. it's been a long distance relationship from the beginning. she's been amazing with everything. i look forward to seeing her every time. >> reporter: southwest airlines gives the couple champagne and a travel voucher. the two just beginning their

journey together. >> he's my other half of my heart. i never knew i had. >> we wish them a long and happy marriage. that was jessica flores reporting from our station in phoenix. >> absolutely. still ahead, president obama going on his annual vacation trying to kick back in hawaii. but work is certainly intruding. doug mckelway is live in honolulu with a preview. >> that's right. no sooner had president obama landed in honolulu last night than a new international incident reared its head. four u.s. service members wounded in an evacuation attempt in south sudan. we'll have the latest. >> all right. thank you very much on a tough assignment in hawaii. >> yeah. wasn't that diamond head behind him? >> yeah, yeah. and the incredible ways that dogs touch our lives. we're talk being a new book showing how our four-legged friends mean so much to us. the author and some amazing canines, one of them right there, still to come.

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americans still trying to get a handle on health care as a key deadline looms on monday to get coverage. the president now beginning his vacation in hawaii and is said to be getting regular updates on the health carrollout while on that vacation. the administration continues to tweak the law as confusion continues over eligibility. doug mckelway live in honolulu with more. >> reporter: certainly no rest for the weary here in honolulu. the president not expected to have much in the way of public appearances or scheduled events. there is no respite for the weary in terms of the burdens of obamacare, with two important milestones looming in the coming

days. the first of those deadlines is december 23rd. that's when people who seek insurance coverage through the exchanges will have to sign up to get coverage by january 1. then the second milestone is january 1 itself when the coverage takes effect. but the confusion for the insurance industry is a great unknown. this became even more evident on thursday when the administration exempted people who had lost their coverage from the individual mandate and provided them catastrophic coverage. it's an easy thing for him to say. a much more difficult thing for the insurance industry to carry out. >> it's important to understand, the pool of people who have covered in the catastrophic policies are separate from those who are in the broader marketplace. so for people who are going into the exchanges and buying coverage, they're all pooled together. if you take out young and healthy people and they buy coverage that is separate, that's going to mean everybody in the marketplace is going to see their premiums increase and it creates tremendous amount of instability. >> reporter: the president is

also taking tremendous heat from republicans who say that these tweaks are a case of executive fiat at best and at worst, a case of unlawful executive action. but the president on friday said he will tweak away with obamacare as long as it's necessary. >> there are a whole bunch of things that we've been taking a look at and i'm going to be making appropriate adjustments once we get through this year and we've gotten through the initial surge of people who have been signing up. >> reporter: the president added at that press conference that the web site is fulfilling its major obligation. he said 500,000 of americans signed up for health care insurance in the first three weeks of december. gregg? >> did the president also receive an update on the u.s. service members wounded while trying to evacuate americans in u.s. sudan? >> -- south sudan? >> reporter: no sooner had he gotten off the plane here last night at 11:30 when he was briefed on this ongoing situation in sudan. he had a secure conference call with his national security team

this morning about that. he also implored them to communicate with these warring factions in sudan, saying, quote, any effort to seize power through the use of military force will result in the end of long-standing support from the united states and the international community. he also expressed a pleasure that these four wound american service members who were wounded in this evacuation attempt are now reported to be in stable condition. so some good news in that ongoing situation in south sudan. >> good news and we wish them a speedy recovery. doug mckelway, thanks very much. okay. a dramatically illustrates many ways dogs can positively impact our lives. we're talking about this book here "devoted, telling -- that prompter jumped. "telling us great stories about dogs and the ways they enrich our lives." i read the book. joining us now is author rebecca

asher welsh and two of the dogs and their owners in the book. this is rebecca, this is steve and this is wilma and that's brook and david and that is lieu coo. i'm going to talk to you, rebecca, first of all. i thumbed through your book because you have great stories in there. these two dogs happen to be pit bulls. they're not all pit bulls. different breeds of dogs. i want to ask you, why did you even compile this book? >> i really wanted to focus on stories about amazing dogs because everybody loves amazing dogs. but i also really wanted to highlight how people's lives can be profoundly changed by simply loving a dog. >> yes. >> so those were the stories that made it into the book. >> those were the stories that made it into the book. steve, your story made it into the book. steve a firefighter and wilma here has, if i recall the story, that wilma had an immune deficiency or disease that caused her to just kind of really have a hard time of the

she was biting her paw pads. you took her over because why? >> because i was just so in love with her. she was so enthusiastic all the time. >> yeah. how that happened with steve was basically wilma was at the fire house and each of the guys got a chance to take wilma home for one night. steve wanted wilma right away, when he first saw her. he thought he could really help this dog. and your probably daughter is how you feel about her. but you ended up after like getting into debt to the tune of $8,000. you finally said enough with all of these medicinal -- the medicine and various things the vets were saying. you took to some wholistic approaches and tell me about that and how it helped you. >> well, she was just getting worse and worse. then i started to look at her and her deficiencies and just started to obsess about herbs

on-line and had so many people come forth that helped me. a store named whiskers helped me so much. herbalistsistsalists and helio . slowly but surely, she got better. >> she healed you in the process, too, i think. >> he's a hear, as well, who got me over pneumonia. it's the real deal. wilma saved my life. >> dogs are lovely. i'm going to go here. i'm going to get closer to brook and dave and they have luca here. luca is -- how old is luca? >> six. he's deaf. >> yes. >> was he born deaf? >> he was. he was born deaf. we knew he was deaf when we rescued him from the shelter. >> you have over -- they're like kids. can you give wilma some of those treats? so luca is deaf, but you have -- you taught him some sign

language, but also their own special sign language to him. tell me more about it. >> we needed a way to communicate with him. we figured sign language is the of our own hand signals to just tell him that he's a good boy, to keep him safe. come to us. this is good boy. and he's very responsive. he's very obedient. it's been working out for us. >> you take him around to people who are ill and various things, right? he's a therapy dog? >> yes. he visited schools and people who are ill and he spreads his love. >> and that's the thing about dogs. many animals, but i have dogs and i'm partial to dogs. i want to wrap up with you. thank you, brook and dave. i want to wrap up with you, rebecca. come filing this bookers i love the subtitle, stories of love, loyalty and life with dogs. love, loyalty and life. that pretty much sums it up about these guy, right? >> absolutely. i think all of us who have dogs

feel our dogs do, too. they're well worth having in our life. >> indeed. you have dogs yourself? >> i do. >> thank you very much. the book is called "devoted." we appreciate you stopping by. >> thank you so much. >> you guys are both very good puppies. gregg, over to you. >> good looking dogs. all right. the president expected to announce changes in the nsa surveillance at the beginning of the new year. this as he tries to calm americans and allies alike still angry over reports that they were spied on. does the president's legacy weigh on his plan? >> i have confidence in the fact that the nsa is not engaging in domestic surveillance or snooping around. farmer: hello, i'm an idaho potato farmer.

and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it. it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks. what?

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president obama signaling at the end of the year news conference yesterday that he will not scrap the nsa surveillance program, but he may be ready to rein it in. >> i'm going to make a pretty definitive statement about all of this in january where i'll be able to say here are the recommendations that we think make sense. here are ones that we any -- think are promising but need to be refined further. >> the latest fox news poll showing the president's level of trustworthiness among the public is falling. susan estridge, fox news contributor, professor of law in political at usc joins us from

beautiful southern california. are you surprised by those numbers? >> you know, i was, gregg, but i was surprised they were so good. >> right. >> i don't mean to be nasty, but i would have thought that the president's approval would have dropped more than a point or two. it hadn't been a good six months. >> no. >> so actually i thought they were better than they might have been. >> over the summer, the president insisted that he had already struck -- these are his words -- the right balance between security interests and privacy interests. now all of a sudden yesterday he's saying something different, susan? >> well, you know, i hate to say this, but it's odd. you and i have talked about this, neither of us are fans of mr. snowden. but we keep learning more and more about what the nsa was doing and some of it, frankly, looks pretty much like overreaching. you had a court this week,

gregg, as i'm sure you know, a court in dc, george bush appointee who literally declared the program to raise serious constitutional problems and need to be stopped. so obviously there is problems here. >> sure. >> the challenge for the president, i think, is you still got to draw the right balance. there are folks out there, you and i both hear from them, who are ready to say the nsa should stop doing any kind of surveillance like this at all. well, i think there is still a real danger of terror out there and there is still a need for information. and certainly some of what they're doing may well be helping to keep us safe. so you got to draw a balance. >> you wrote a great column this week about this federal judge, richard leon, who is the first really nonfisa judge to rule on the nsa program and he basically said that it infringes on the privacy the founders enshrined in the 4th amendment. then you wrote this.

let's put it up on the screen. i love what you wrote. so you have an independent judge appointed by a republican president reviewing a program that most republicans, along with a democratic president praised him. what happens? he makes an independent decision. those founding fathers of ours were clever guys. does it restore your faith in an independent judiciary, susan? >> well, i always have believed -- i think what's happened with confirmation, it's so wrong, this whole politicalization in the process where all people seem to care about is are you on miami side or the other side? do you agree with me or the other guy? what we want in judges, i think you would agree -- is we want people of independence and character and intelligence, 'cause those are the people -- in this case, it was a bush appointee with a long background in government who had the guts

and the independence to stand up there and say, this is not a republican versus democratic issue. this is not whether i'm for or against obama. i'm interpreting the constitution and this is how i read it. you know, this is what judges should do. that's going to go up on appeal. there will be many more arguments. but it's the way the system should work. i actually, for 30 seconds this week, felt pretty good about being a lawyer and a law professor. >> good for you. we're very pleased to have this lawyer and law professor with us on saturday. good to see you, susan estridge. thanks so much. >> merry christmas, gregg, to you and your wonderful family. >> thank you so much. happy holidays to you. don't forget, catch susan estridge's syndicated column in newspapers every wednesday and friday. >> for 30 seconds, susan is like, i had it going. happy holidays to you, susan. look at me, i've got this nice gadget in my hand. a lot of people want gadgets for

christmas gifts. so we have some good choices coming up next in our "consumer reports" with the best tablets for your money. stick around this is for you. ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. [ m'm... ] great taste. [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good.®

they are lighter and thinner and faster than before.

the newest tablet computers are attracting many holiday shoppers. >> that's right. but with so many in the marketplace how do we know which one to choose? we turn to consumer reports. we have terry sullivan who is here with the result. we'll begin with the apple ipad air. >> great to be here. what i would like to show is a little bit of a demo of a slide she that is done on any sort of app. this slide show of my kids. in addition to embarrassing my kids, you can do not only single but groups with sound. i did that song on the apple iowa pad and this is the latest one, the air. $500 and great resolution and 1548 by 826. and a super powerful processer for the slide shows and video.

they have an app store. the apple store is the biggest. and the one down side for doing a video like that that i just showed. i have to use itunes. some people don't like that. surface, two, this is microsoft surface two, it is a windows operating system and so you can get a lot of apps and you can get the windos office app. word for winnows and wonderful co board and stand. people like this. and longer bat ary life than usual. >> price tag? >> this is $450. >> and the ipad is 500. >> and you are looking for cheaper, samsung galaxy note eight. it has a stylist here that comes

off of the side of the equipment and it also has recognition equipment. you can write your name and it turns into a text that you cannous or e-mail and word processing program. and so this is a longer battery life andous two apps at once and checking the e-mail while watching the video. and this issan android system two, and you can hook it up to your computer and down load various things quickly and easily. >> and for a smaller screen it has great resolution. >> 2080 by 800. that is niece for this size. and lots of pictures and images look great and video looks great also. if you are looking forran android type of equipment this is what you look for.

n380. >> and noise and light weight. >> all of these are great. >> they are more than stocking stuffers. but the most bang for your buck would be? >> it depends on your budget. the 380 is a lot of processer. and i like the surface in the samsung and tact tile co board. and you cannous it with your computer devices and get it quickly. you know, down load and upload images and a lot of your media. this is a nice gift. >> and it is hard to boat the apple ipad air. >> thank you terry for dropping by and bringing goodies. >> consumer reports gives us the best info. thank you so much. harris faulkner is up next with the fox report. >> merry christmas, you will

miss me. nmerry christmas and happy holidays. you look noise. >> oh. you are in kelly groeen. around here you don't make excuses. you make commitments. and when you can't live up to them, you own up, and make it right. so people think the kind of accountability has gone missing in e placesets where it's needemost. but i know you'll still find it when you know where to look.

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four american service members are recovering tonight after being wounded after flying a rescue mission on the other side of the world. unknown forces were shooting at our u.s. military planes as they were evacuating american is thes in remote parts of south sudan. here is the picture of our troops trying to get people out of harm's way. the military just released the picture. the pentagon confirmed the aircraftoused by special forces were approachin t