we have had the great honor of having so many browns on the curvy couch right now. we can't wait. you're going to stick around for the after the show show. >> absolutely. >> thank you for joining us on "fox & friends." we'll see you soon. >> reports of a ship with hundreds of people on board in distress off the greek island. there are an estimated 600 migrants on board. one of them is believed to have made the distress call. this is happening two days after a greek passenger ferry caught fire with 10 people on board in the same area. a grim discovery in the search for airasia flight.

6 bodies and degree found in the location. heat require appears to be a tragic ending. families were waiting for any word on the fate of their loved ones. >> reporter: the pilot requested a change of altitude because of stormy weather. the request was denied. >> reporter: there is a breakthrough in the search for airasia flight 8501. debris has been nowntd past several hours. recovery teams coming through

the door, a life jacket. the plane mostly broke you have as it hit the java sea. bodies have been found floating on the surface. something like 40 so far. there were 162 passengers on board. the outline of the main fuselage can be seen in the water. the java sea relative live shallow in that area, 60-100 feet. indonesian tv even ran some of the scenes of the bodies being recovered. but they are leaving the door open for finding survivors but the possibility is slim. heather: what's next for the investigation? >> reporter: they shift from

rescue to recovery. helping out in the recovery the u.s.s. sampson a u.s. navy ship is at the scene right now on board two helicopters, car go lifts. and we have got word that a second ship is being readied to come as well. those two will join ships and helicopters as first recovery of the bodies continues identifying them. identifying most of the wreckage and getting ahold of the black boxes which could indicate any kind of mechanical problems. weather is thought to be a main factor in this disaster. heather: gregg palkot live for us. trace: there is still a question

about what happened to flight 8501. it looks like a shadow on the bottom of the ocean that could be the fuselage. if it's largely intact, what does that tell us about the crash? >> i think it hes us how it crashed. we are hearing there are relatively large pieces. for my experience it tells me that plane probably entered the water not going to speed. it may have been a controlled crash or an instance where the pilot lost the capability to fly that aircraft and it basically fell into the ocean. trace: there are reports there was an exit door and a slide and a life jacket. does an exit door just blow off

when you hit the water? >> when you hit the water it will blow off. the investigate jars will want to -- the investigators will want to see if people are buckled in and are they wearing life jackets. the pilot may have told people to get ready for ae going to hit the water. trace: the body so far were not wearing life jackets so that will tell you there may not have been a great deal of time between when they knew they were going down to when they hit the water. >> it sounds like the pilot got into trouble pretty quickly. i want to know who was piloting the aircraft. was it the senior officer or the copilot.

which of the two in a case like this do you believe is the most important? >> the flight data recorder will be the most important. that will tell what you the airplane was doing. but what you normally have in a situation like this is how are the pilots working together. that will help us understand why this plane crashed. trace: i would be curious if you didn't hear a stall alarm. there has been a possibility that the plane may have stalled. >> i would assume you are going to hear lots of warning coming from the aircraft. all different times of alarms that will be going off and these pilots frantically struggling to keep the airplane in the sky. heather: new york congressman

michael grimm resigning after he pled guilty to tax evasion. before he -- he now faces up to three years in prison. grim says he will step down next monday one day before congress is sworn in. trace: each scalise says he spoke at a group of white supremacists but he said he didn't know about the group's affiliation at the time. he said if i had anyone wouldn't have gone. i detest any kind of hate group. heather: tensions are high in

los angeles. a second gunman still on the loose after police say he opened fire on officers in an unprovoked attack. what are police saying at this hour? >> reporter: they are treating this as a possible ambush, not unlike the one in new york city where two officers died. two officers in a black and white responded to a call when they say they were fired at. they saw a muzzle flash from the gun. later detained a man. whether they rolled into a gang shooting is a question. heather: this comes as the autopsy report is released on the shooting of an unarmed man by lapd.

>> reporter: because he was shot in the back they believe it maybe a crime. but the autopsy report released yesterday on the 25-year-old man. police shot ford in august, two days after michael brown was shot in ferguson, missouri. protesters last night tried to stop traffic. witnesses say ford attempted one officer and attempted to grab his gun prompting officers to fire. leading in the according to the autopsy a muzzle imprint on the skin. >> let the system work. i do not support every one of my officer-involved shootings. i'm not that kind of chief. i believe in my police

department, but i also believe we are as good as we can be because we carefully scrutinize what we do. we'll find out the truth of what happened on that august night. >> reporter: lapd says no witnesses have come forward. the family says they are being intimidated. heather: william lajeunesse, thank you. trace: we are getting brand-new information in the story of a greek ferry. people are speak out. >> it's another example of how the president is giving away things and getting nothing in return. the reason is his ideology.

heather: former ambassador john bolton with some tough words over his handling of iran. trace: the president is talking tough, too saying he's ready to use his deal pen when the republicans take charge of congress. >> let the president show where the party stands and let the country know with a new republican president this stuff which is very popular will be able to get through.

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toews two albanian tugboat operators died when they were trying to secure a ferry. 427 people were rescued off the boats and the search continues for more victims. >> on the first night there was a bit of problem because the fire was basically cook everybody's feet. everybody was on the light boat with the heat being so enormous. i didn't even try to get on one. we just stood upstairs and hoped for the best. trace: rescuers are still trying

to figure out how many people were actually on board. they fear more bodies may still be inside. they are towing the ship to italy for a criminal investigation. heather: president obama threatening to bust out his veto pen to shoot down any bill he doesn't agree with. big ghaints mid-term giving republicans control of both houses of congress. >> the republicans ought to say bring it on, mr. president. there is no better way for the gop to position itself for the 2016 election than to show the country two things. with harry reid gone and mitch mcconnell running the senate,

they have an agenda and they should be able to pass whatever they can and to dare the president to go ahead and veto. let the president show where the party stands and let the country know with a new republican president this stuff which is very popular will be able to get through. heather: robert hoops is a former dnc chief of staff to vice president joe biden and rich lawrie, a fox news contributor. charles krauthammer says to the president, bring it on. what should the republicans gain or lose if they take that strategy. >> there are still things they won't be able to get through the

senate because harry reid will still thereby to be an obstructionist. the first one will be the keystone pipeline which will get democratic support. it will be a big bipartisan jobs and infrastructure bill and the first thing the president will have to do is veto that bill which will put him in an awkward place politically. heather: the latest fox news poll shows 58% of people believe keystone should be built. what will the president do? >> i don't know what the president will do. there is no legislation yet. if it gets passed, what the final version will look like, this sets up the opportunity and frankly the threat for republicans. this notion of bringing it on really depend on what it is.

when you are the opposition party like the republicans have been in the last six years. it's easy to be against everything. no is a very big place. yes is harder. it's much smaller. and it's going to be very difficult for the republican party like it is for anybody. to find that space on things they agree on. you may see one or two things out of the gate quickly. harder issues like healthcare reform and immigration reform and growing the economy, there are profound differences within the republican party. particularly in the senate. >> what about the president, he has the power to say yes@as well. will he take a more difficult road? >> i think so. he won two national elections.

he has a point of view. he has been candid with the american people what that is. i think a congress that's high functioning producing legislation passed by both parties will be really welcomed in this town and by the american people. i think that's a big opportunity for both parties. heather: fine -- final word for more common ground? >> i wouldn't be optimistic. the way harry reid governed the senate was to do everything he could to keep the agenda from going forward. he was the commander in cheech of obstruction. he will just filibuster everything. republicans need to come up

with bold idea on healthcare and the economy. trace: a major tax increase is about to take effect when the clock strikes midnight. obamacare fines set to skyrocket and the irs is preparing to make sure you pay up. what does this mean? how much? that's next. heather: new york city bill -- the new york city mayor get something boos at the police academy graduation.

trace: shake shack is going public. it was founded more than a decade ago. it started off as a hot dog kiosk and became a permanent fixture in the park. the company will list on the new york stock exchange early next year. it didn't say how many shares or what price per share. trace: i used to love the shake shacks. now i have to set the for shaka. bill deblasio is getting ready

to sit down with police unions today. yesterday deblasio spoke at the police graduation ceremony getting mixture of cheers and boos. >> announcer: the honorable bill deblasio. >> thank you. congratulations, officers ... trace: david lee miller in the newsroom with more. >> reporter: he never acknowledged the chilly atmosphere. while the recruits sat silent, some in the audience booed during his introduction and also interrupted him as he spoke. >> we'll confronts all the problems that playing our society, problems that you didn't create, but you will confront poverty. you will confront mental illness. trace: in case you missed it someone shouted you did.

other respond bid applauding the heckler. the marrying mored the interruption and went on to talk about what he called the noble calling of the nypd. >> this afternoon the mayor will meet with the union leaders and the police commissioner. he will be meeting with the head of the patrolmen benevolent association who accuse the mayor of having blood on his hands after the execution of two officers. deblasio's critics wants him to show more solidarity with police. >> we need the support of the higher ups. >> i can't say he has blood on his hands but i believe he placed a large part in what's taken place. >> reporter: the meeting expected to get underway late this afternoon. many of them expect him to

apologize. one says the mayor needs to humble himself but admits a public apology is not likely. heather: a rounds of golf got in front of one couple's most important day. trace: the president gave his take on iran's nuclear program. but is continuously extending those talks sending the wrong message? >> if america gives up of any protect of trying to contain this. the iranian re scwhreem say i guess the americans are okay, it's dangerous for the country.

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[♪] heather: one couple tying the knot in hawaii and a little leed off. two army soldiers had to move thank their wedding to accommodate president obama's golf game. what happened? >> reporter: the plan was fortunately * and edward mallue, the -- for that * for natalie heimel and edward mallue to exchange vows on the golf course but they were moved to above the 16th hole where some wedding guests were able to watch the president putt. the president said you guys sound like a wonderful couple.

congratulations. sorry for the change of plans but it sounds like you will have a great wedding and at least you have a great story to tell. the whole wedding party hovered around the speaker phone while the president was on the line. he asked where they were going phone their honeymoon and they stled was nothing planned yet. heather: what is the white house saying? >> reporter: they are saying they did not know. it was the course manager who decided to let the president play through and moved the bride and groom without speaking to leadership on the base. the president said he would have skipped the 16 if he had known the bride and groom were there. fan every had skipped the 16th

hole his score would have been better. heather: it would have made an awesome photo bomb fourth wedding pictures. thank you peter. trace: president obama speaking out about a possible deal with iran. in a new interview with npr the president explains why the stakes are high, saying, quoting here it would be a very successful regional power that was also abiding by tints national noarms and international rules and that would be good for everybody. they have a chance to get this right with the world. this is not just about us. with me now is jowrn bolton, a former he ambassador to the u.n. when the president says good for everybody. i think some of our allies in

the region might disagree with that. >> that get you just read from the -- that quote you just read saying they could be an international power if they agreed to international noarms and international rules. that's the best statement of his naivete we have seen in a long time. if everybody were good, it would be good. no kidding. why do you think american recognition would change the regime. since it came to power in 1979 it has been the principle financial sponsor of international terrorism all over the world. there is no indication the president understands how committed the regime is to this kind of policy and why american recognition simply legitimizes it to the detriment of the united states around the world to the debt -- to the detriment of

the iranian people. trace: what's the message there? >> the first point is for a nuclear proliferator time is an important variable. iran is not in a rush to build one or two nuclear weapons. they are building a broad and deep infrastructure. they would be content to have these concessions go on forever. it tells iran they haven't yet squeeze out enough concessions from the use the on the nuclear deal. the can't can't recognize as he himself said until the deal is signed. the next six months i think it will get worse.

trace there are while the negotiations go on iran continues to not abide by the the agreements and not cooperate with the iaea. >> they have not cooperated on the critical weaponization aspects of their program. agents of iran have been caught buying dual use equipment all over the world. they are in trouble because of the collapse of oil prices. trace: is it your sense with the president having two years left in office that iran would like to strike a deal with somebody else? >> i think iran wants to see how much the president is willing to give away. i think president wants visit to iran and maybe cuba and north

the -- korea on the same trip. people say nixon went to china. that was very different. it was a master stroke by a life-long anti-communist. we gain nothing by dip make it relations or an obama visit to iran. it's a giveaway getting nothing in return. trace: where do you think iran is in the building of a nuclear weapon. >> i think if they made the decision today they could have a weapon in a coup months. i think they want like to war head that could reach the united states. that would be jolly wouldn't

it. heather: if you don't have health insurance get ready to face the tax man. beginning this january peel will have to prove they are covered or fork over the cash. trace: we'll speak with a texas congressman about the threat by the president to use his veto pen. >> he wants to talk about what he's going to veto. he's going to use his pen. there are all these security people that may not keep people from jumping over the fence but they keep people like lee from getting to the president's oval office.

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trace: snow causing a major headache or drivers in utah. listen to this driver describe watching all the cars around him

collide. >> there is a black car coming and he almost sped off the road almost hitting me. it started piling up pretty quick. trace: it shut down a major stretch of i-80 for a while. heather: people who don't have health insurance about to get slammed with shire fines starting next year. for the first time the irs will be collecting them. the fine is $95 or 1% of income. next year that fine is skyrocketing to $325. so i want to know if this is really going to come to as a

surprise to people because we knew that this would be coming down the pike. how do you think this will translate in terms of legislation? we'll start with you tom. >> it will come as a surprise because most of the people surveyed only 5% of the people even know about the deadline for ironing up for obamacare this year. tbiewr than that know anything about this penalty. it will be a surprise. but it's also going to probably not shock anybody because of the fact the irs has already said that unless you have a refund coming, they are not coming after you. so it may turn out to be much about nothing. >> i don't think people like owing the irs money. i think it's a big deal. it's answer enormous test for obamacare. it's one thing to vaguely

support the idea of obamacare as some sort of healthcare mandate and another thing to have to buy into the system. i think it changes the politics when people have to actually open up their wallets and shell out for not having obamacare or some sort of healthcare. and i think people will respond negatively. >> the only way they will know that is if the irs does something about it. they bare live have enough people to keep you have with regular tax collection. congress snnlts a mood to give them more funding with new additional agents. unless you have a refund coming you are not even going to know. i think the big keefe here isn't that, it's many the people that got subsidies this past year. the irs is going to go after them. you got a pay raise, they are

going to look for more money from you and they will ask for that. but not the fine,. heather: how are people going to resmonlds to that general in terms of the irs coming after them. 68% of people we surveyed said they don't trust the irs. they think that was politically motivated. did that translate to it being politically motivated. >> critics of obamacare will perceive this as being politically motivated. there is a lot of deep seized distrust with the irs on the heels of the targeting scandal which had not been resolved. this remains an issue of. there are two other elements of obamacare that will be hugely important. there is the supreme court case which we'll likely hear about in june store july and the businessman date. so this cities one of three big

things in obamacare that are coming into effect next year. i think the verdict isn't out totally on the bill because it snt hasn't been fully implemented. nobody has to feel the effects of it right away. this is partly give design, there are lots of tests. heather: it's inplementd incrementally so people don't know what's in it. >> you think the computer problem was a mess. this as messy and more so. we are not going to be able to folk sauce camera on fact that some of these fees and penalties we can't go into people's homes and finds out their reaction to all of it. but with the numbers increasing and consistently people have been against obamacare. a majority people since the whole thing was even discussed.

so this bill has a long way to go, especially the court cases. and working out the system, work out the problems. it's going to be a few years. heather: as this comes down the pike and people start feeling this their wallets around their kitchen tables affecting their dollars and cents. will that translate to legislation with the republican-controlled congress when it comes to trying to overturn this or make changes to it and address that with president obama? >> yes absolutely. the republicans stated since the beginning of obamacare they are against this plan. they don't see any value in the plan at large and they want to repeel it and replace it with another alternative. therefore, they will do what they can. they will tang advantage of the deep-seated distrust and about the people who are jump set once they come for their money for

obamacare. and they will try to change obamacare incrementally. this is where president obama's veto pen comes in handy. >> it's not going to be some big revolt. what they are going to do is get rid of maybe the medical device tax. maybe the employer mandate which has been delayed a couple of times. when you start doing that you wind up with stripping the gusts this obamacare bill. i think it's going to collapse under its own weight because it's not a product people will like. heather: thank you for your time. appreciate it. trace: pope francis is shake up the vatican again. heather: the latest developments in the airasia crash.

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heather: an increase beginning next year with a higher minimum wage in 21 states. the federal bill to raise the minimum to $10.10 is stalled. trace: the pope will publish a rare encyclical on climate change next year.

the pope is breaking a long tradition of steering clear of open debate here. >> he's from argentina. >> the popes before francis were afraid of open debate because they were afraid it would endanger the reputation of the infallibility, the pope is never wrong. the pope need things already so he doesn't need to hear from other people. it's clearly not about that. reporter: pope francis pushed for a profound change in doctrine. he calls the cult of money

unchecked capitalism. next year pope francis will publish a rare encyclical on climate change. he ruffled feathers in up s. catholic churches. trace: can the pope be effective at this or will it his papacy. >> reporter: he is being criticized saying his leader ships like a ship without a rudder. saying he has created the impression the doctrine is up for grabs. >> in some cases he has taken remarkable risks. and that tells us something about what kind of man he is.

>> reporter: francis' first trip to the u.s. will come in september. a bigger challenge from the pope may not come from u.s. criticism but from the vatican with the entrenched cartentrench --ed cardinals. heather: search crews finding the wreckage of that missing airasia flight after two days. trace: the outgoing congress narrowly avoiding the dubious title of the least productive in history. come by almost every day to deliver your mail so if you have any packages you want to return you should just give them to us i mean, we're going to be there anyway why don't you just leave it for us to pick up? or you could always get in your car

and take it back yourself yeah, us picking it up is probably your easiest option it's kind of a no brainer ok, well, good talk

♪ ♪ tracy: hope giving way to tragedy as the search for missing airasia flight 8501 ends

in southeast asia. crews discovering debris and at least 40 bodies floating in the java sea. i'm trace gallagher in for bill himmer. heather: and i'm heather childers in for martha. the flight disappeared in stormy weather on sunday with 162 people onboard. pieces of the plane's interior were found just six miles from the plane's last known location. trace: mike boyd is an aviation security analyst and fox news aviation analyst. mike, good to see you. the wreckage found six miles from the last known location of the plane a pretty good indication that whenever this plane, whatever happened it came down pretty much straight. >> yeah. it was, it looks sudden because there were no life jackets on the bodies they found according to reports, would indicate there was no preparation for a crash landing. it looks like something happened very quickly and very decisively that brought that airplane down.

trace: kind of scary not know what happened in the meantime because we've got thousands of planes flying through bad weather every single day. >> yeah, there's over 3500 flying actively and another 3000 on order, so you're looking at a very safe airplane but in this case something happened to this specific one. it may be airplane related it may be related towet. -- to weather. >> there are reports that an air traffic controller who was trail tracking 8501 took a screen shot of the plane, and it appeared to be -- the radar. it appeared to be going up. remember, it was told it couldn't go up, but the plane apparently was going up, increasing altitude and losing speed. if that's true, this report bears out mike what does that tell you? >> he might have got caught in an updraft and a downdraft that could have damaged the airplane or torn it apart.

that could have happened inadvertently. having a pilot asking for a different altitude and being denied is common. there's a lot of airplanes in that part of the world flying at any one point in time, so that's common. but if you do see the airplane climbing and losing speed, that would indicate he was in an updraft. trace: and possibility this thing might have stalled. we keep going back to the air france crash in 2009 where they were in bad weather didn't know what air speed was and, in essence, the plane just stalled because the pilots couldn't figure out what was going on. any chance you think that might have happened here? >> there's always a chance of that happening. we really won't know until we find the black boxes which probably will be fairly soon. then we'll know. these kinds of things have happened before. we had an a-320 that was owned by air new zealand that crashed several years ago because of some of the instrumentation that froze due to water in it. that could have happened in this case too. trace: by the way, the black

boxes could be picked up by tomorrow. this thing is only in about 60, 65 feet of water. it looks like there's a shadow down there that might be the fuselage largely intact from the reports we're getting. what does that tell you? >> well the fact that they found 40 bodies or more means the fuselage, the integrity is probably breached somehow but what it does say is we may have an intact airplane without parts all over the ocean and the more we can find the more they can find, the better we're going to know what happened and maybe be able to prevent this in the future. trace: mike boyd good to of you sir. >> thank you. trace: we keep talking about these black boxes. that is the key because you get the flight data reporter, the cockpit voice recorder those will have all the answers you need. we did not get them in 370 because they haven't found the plane yet -- heather: and so important for all those families. 162 people onboard that flight

and they've been waiting for answers, and they're coming quickly. trace: awful. it's an awful story. heather: other news we're following more you, as the 113th congress draws to a close lawmakers narrowly avoiding the dubious title of least productive in history. according to a new pew research study, a flurry of last minute bills passed in the lame duck session which brought the final tally to 296, that is 13 more than the previous congress. what can we expect in 2015? correspondent for the washington examiner joins us now. thank you for joining us, first of all. >> great to be here, heather. heather: and then secondly, is this really something they should be proud of? >> well, i don't really think it matters that much how many bills are passed. i think it's the quality of the bills and how congress works and does it do its job. i think in 2015 the key for republicans, they're in control of congress for the first time in eight years. they've had the house for four but they haven't had the full congress in eight years. can the house and senate work

together, and can they do what they're supposed to do, get the government funded on time? raise the debt ceiling? attack some of the issues that are important to them like health care and energy and the economy and jobs and things like that? that's what you want to look for, do they actually function? heather: but they also need the assistance of the president in order to do that, and earlier we were talking about, you know the power of the pen and his threat to veto concern. >> right. heather: it seems like this time he won't have harry reid blocking for him and there will be more things that come to his desk, so it will be up to him to say yes or no. >> it could be. and i think what republicans have to ask themselves is, are they going to keep fighting the president every time he does something that they don't like? you know, until now they've been in this defensive posture because there was really nothing they could do in the house even though they had the majority other than play defense. now 24e6 the chance to play offense and move some bills to the president's desk. so are they going to stay folked on that? if they can, they can probably

force some debates negotiations and maybe even get a few things passed even though a lot might get vetoed. but can they stay focused and do that or are they going to get caught up in a shiny object, you know whether it's an executive order or something else they don't like. what do they want to do, and can they stay focused on their own agenda rather than getting caught up every time the president does something they don't like. heather: there were what, 111 bills passed in the lame duck session. you know, what should that say to the american people when it appears that things are just getting pushed through at the last minute? and is that something that we can expect to see more or of or will they take their time process, listen to voters and, you know, have legitimate thought behind the bills that they pass? >> that's a great question. and i think part of the reason these lame ducks have become so productive in an odd sort of way is because the country so divided politically, congress can't seem to get anything done

until they're up against a hard deadline and they have no other choice but to compromise and deal with it. what the republicans say they want to do over the next two years is actually make congress work in a little bit more of an academic way, the way it was intended to work; pass all of the individual appropriations bills, funding bills for each agency as opposed to some big omnibus that nobody's read. so can they do that? and if they do that will the voters reward them? i think that's a big test for the republicans is whether they can make good on their promises to make congress work in a more open regular, normal process. but they're going to have a lot of political challenges whether it's the president's veto pen, whether it's getting 60 votes in the senate. but this is what we're going to find out over the next two years, and then we'll see if people actually are happy about it. heather: and see if you can bring some democrats over to come prohides because that will be needed as well. we appreciate it as always. >> thank you. happy new year. trace: congressman michael grimm

will step down in days. the new york congressman making the announcement after admitting he is guilty of tax evasion. rick leventhal is live in the new york newsroom and kind of a change of heart here because grimm initially said he was staying. >> reporter: yeah. last week after pleading guilty he said he was sorry but he wouldn't quit. and last night he finally admitted he'd have a tough time serving his constituents since he may soon be serving jail time after admitting to felony tax fraud in federal court. he may be best remembered for an incident with a reporter from new york one in the u.s. capitol building.

>> reporter: the congressman's resignation statement reads in part: the events which led to this day did not break my spirit, nor the will of the vote however i do not believe i can be 100% effective in the next congress and, therefore, it is time for me to start the next chapter of my life. grimm officially resigns next monday and faces up to three years in prison when he's sentenced in june, trace. trace: so what happens to his seat then? >> reporter: that'll be up to new york governor andrew cuomo who could call for a special election. it will decrease the republican majority in the house of representatives to 246 seats. democrats hoping to gain ground, but it'll be tough to win in grimm's gop-leaning district. the governor also has the option of not calling for a potential election in which case the seat would remain vacant until next november.

trace: rick, thank you. heather: former president george h.w. bush's hospital stay could soon be over. his breathing is back to normal a week after he was rushed to the hospital for shortness of breath. the bush family waiting on final approval for the 90-year-old to return to his houston home and we wish him well. trace: president obama threatening to wield his veto power a lot more in the new year as the gop prepares to use its new majorities in congress. so how do they plan to deal with the veto threat? we will ask a top house republican all about that, coming up next. heather: also the fbi's latest response about that sony hacking job. this time amid reports that it may have been an inside job. trace: plus new questions over the situation in afghanistan after the taliban declares victory just one day after coalition forces marked the end of combat operations there. >> we're hearing from the president that al-qaeda was finished. look, he may have declared the

war in afghanistan over. it ain't over.

heather: welcome back. the fbi dismissing the possibility that the hacking of sony's computers was an inside job. that's despite growing claims by several cybersecurity experts that north korea might not be responsible, specifically one security firm that says its research points to six people including at least one former sony employee who allegedly has

ties to the hacker group called guardians of peace and was apparently angry about being fired earlier this year. ♪ ♪ trace: well, president obama is dusting off his see e toe pen. the president -- veto pen the president making the comments to npr just as republicans prepare for a complete takeover of congress after democrats' crushing defeat in last month's midterm. >> i haven't used the veto pen very often since i've been in office partly because legislation i objected to was typically blocked in the senate even after republicans took over the house. now i suspect there are going to be some times where i've got to pull that pen out. trace: louie go merit is a texas -- gohmert is a texas republican congressman. >> great to be with you. trace: got to be great news, the president wants to work with republicans now. >> what he says is he wants to get out his pen and veto. what i'm excited about is now

the president has finally admitting they've been lying harry reid, all those folks who have been saying republicans were the party of no, he's basically admitted in this statement, yeah, we've been the party of no, but i've been able to rely on harry reid to say no so i didn't have to. but we've been the ones that really stopped it. that's what i'm hearing in that statement, and i'm glad the president's finally admitted like an alcoholic. the best news is when you finally admit where your problem is. trace: you mentioned that in the health care debate he was also saying we're going to work with republicans. that didn't work out the way you'd hoped. >> well, no. he said i have an open door, if you've got any ideas. a bunch of us try id. we kept asking, hey we've got some good ideas never would hear for us. so that was all for the camera all for television but not so much for reality. trace: so you look at the chessboard now and you've got these bills going to the senate and they've always kind of died a slow death coming out of the house.

now it's a different scenario, so these bills have a chance. >> they absolutely have a chance and, in fact the best thing to do for an open government is get votes on bills. and whereas harry reid wouldn't even let 'em come to the floor for a vote now it may take some pushing to get mitch mcconnell to bring everything we send down there to the floor but let's get them to floor of the senate because either the democrats, some of them will have to vote for those bills, or they won't be there next time after the next election. but this lets voters see who it is that's representing them. trace: so it shines light on these bills, and even if they don't pass, it's good for you guys two years from now four years from now during these elections. >> yeah. because already the president admitting they've been the party of no, that's a good thing. yeah, we have had good ideas. we had health care ideas, still do. i mean, we should pass some of those. we'll pass a keystone pipeline bill we'll pass -- we need to defund the amnesty i know our leaders had said we would do

that, it helped us win the majority in the senate. but now we've got to have our leaders follow through and do what we said we would do. trace: you get these bills, john boehner passes them to the senate presumably you need to rally some democrats to get the bills passed. >> to get cloture on the bill but if you remember the '90s -- i'm sure you do -- bill clinton said over and over -- trace: right. >> -- you know, i'm not going to sign any welfare reform bill i'm not going to require back to work, and then the house kept pass, the senate can kept passing, finally he has to sign it because they had built enough votes that it would have overridden his veto, and now that's one of the things he's most proud of. he drug his feet, they kept pushing, and finally he signed it. i think we can do the same thing with this president. trace: you're very skeptical the president really wants to work with republicans, clearly, but

what's the definition of that, in your estimation? [laughter] >> well, i just know from six years -- i mean, i was a history major before i did my time in the army, and i know the best indication of future performance is past history. this president's history is saying i want to work with you and then going to the golf course and not talking to anybody. even among democrats i mean, he had a meeting with democrats some years back where he read to them from a teleprompter. that's not a good way to work -- trace: by way, he did not mean to interrupt that wedding at the golf course. >> yeah, right. [laughter] trace: thank you sir. >> thank you so much trace. heather: a very chilly welcome for the mayor of new york city at the police academy graduation. >> the honorable bill de blasio. >> thank you. heather: now after more than a week of tension between city hall and police, mayor bill de blasio will meet with union leaders. trace: and as we prepare to ring in 2015, time to reflect. did you have a good year?

well, we'll tell you most americans think -- well, we're not going to tell you now. you might be surprised. wait for it. ♪ ♪

trace: and there is breaking news coming out of los angeles getting word now there are four hikers that are missing in the angeles national forest better to a lot of -- better known to a lot of you near pasadena, and we're talking about three males and a female, a 20-year-old female. they were reported missing at 1:00 this morning. apparently they went hiking out there sometime yesterday. the weather here is not really a problem because, as you know, southern california's fairly mild though the nights have been getting very cold.

the concern here is what kind of supplies did these guys have and females, what did they have out there? these, by the way, are live pictures from kttv out there they've got the helicopters trying to find any sign of them. they were supposed to, apparently come back yesterday evening, they missed their deadline to come back, and now the families -- as you might imagine -- are frantically looking for them. the helicopters out in force. as we get more information about this search, we will bring it to you here in "america's newsroom." [laughter] heather: new fallout, mayor bill de blasio set to met with police unions just a day after being booed at the police academy graduation ceremony. >> the honorable bill de blasio. [applause] >> thank you. congratulations, officers. heather: hear that in the background? angry families also heckled and shouted at the mayor, many

joining union leaders in blaming de blasio for creating the hostile environment or that is facing officers. arthur aidala is a fox news legal analyst and former prosecutor, and he joins us now with some more. so what do you think that the mayor hopes to accomplish with this meeting with union leaders today? >> a truce. i mean unfortunately look, the mayor was elected on a whole, you know, anti-stop and frisk and the police have gone too far. he ran basically against police commissioner kelly. it's over. you know, mayor de blasio won and i think he needs now to get out of campaign mode and get back into leadership mode and he's doing that. i had the opportunity to speak with the mayor one-on-one a week ago today, and, you know, i said mr. mayor you've got to -- even's got to put their weapons down, sit around a table and figure this out. we need your leadership right now, and it can't be that it's -- pat lynch, the head of the pba, the very powerful

police benevolence -- heather: whose son graduated. >> yes. heather, what people should know and the mayor knew this as well because theyish issued a press release are mayor bloomberg was booed in 2003 at the installation because he was going to, he had announced he was going to cut police officers mayor giuliani was booed because he was at war over police negotiations, and de blasio knew that so they sent out a press release saying this is not the first time a mayor has been booed. heather: it's drastically different than being booed when you have two dead officers and is it too little, too late? >> obviously it is because there are two heroes that are gone. so the answer to that question has to be yes. but i think what the mayor is doing now is he's getting on the right road, meeting with the union leaders from the captains all the way down to the police officers. he needs to straighten that out. and, heather i think he should have a 30-day plan with

commissioner bratton, he should go to every precinct, to every roll call at least once in every precinct and look at the troops in their eyes and say i have your back. this city only can run and only be the greatest city in the world with your help. i need to work with you, and we're going to do this together. heather: well, you know the mayor needs to call someone for help, that's who he's going to call, as all of us will. >> correct. heather: but you mentioned the news release, the press release that was issued. many have questioned whether that means he is sincere in this meeting, or is it just, you know, smoke and mirrors and, oh, hey, look what i'm doing? >> heather, last monday the police commissioner and mayor de blasio were at the police athletic league luncheon, and they had just left the homes of police officer liu and police officer ramos and i would have to say in my honest opinion they were both greatly deeply affected. the mayor was trembling at the pain and suffering and he said

police commissioner bratton has done this before, i never have. to the people in that room, it was obvious that the mayor was deeply affected and was making a commitment to do what needed to be done to make sure no more lives are lost. heather: we asked people this question this morning, and overwhelmingly they said he should resign. we know that's not going to happen. >> no one's saying he stole anything. he had a policy of letting people protest and speak out and they're saying he created an atmosphere, but this is nowhere near any type of resignation situation. heather: arthur, we appreciate it. >> happy new year to you. trace: mission accomplished just as the u.s. and its allies are ending come bass operations in -- combat operations in afghanistan, what it means for our troops and the 13 years of blood and treasure spent in america's longest war of. heather: trying to fix a massive sing hoel in the heart of one of

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♪ ♪ trace: just one day after coalition forces marked the end of the combat mission in afghanistan, the taliban is moving to retake territory it lost in the 13-year-old war and releasing a statement declaring the defeat of the u.s. and its allies quoting the international security assistance force rolled up its flag in an atmosphere of failure and disappointment. without having achieved anything substantial or tangible. captain chuck nash is a retired navy captain and naval aviator also a fox news military analyst. captain nash great to see you. was there ever any doubt in anybody's mind the taliban was going to come back in and reassert itself? >> no, not really. just when and to what extent, trace. because the taliban have a

constituency within the populace in afghanistan. so they were going to be part of this. you're not going to totally eliminate 'em, it's just how much and when. trace: so that's the thing, how much and when. how much and when is the big question here. how long before afghanistan becomes a major problem again? because, captain, nobody wants to go back in there. >> well, nobody wants to go back in there. we're leaving a residual force to assist the government in maintaining control, but the taliban will jump into any area that we cede to them or that the government of afghanistan cedes to them. right now government forces are actually doing fatherly well. taliban a-- fairly well. taliban attacks are down year-over-year about 35%. so as long as the government, you know, stays bucked up, then everything's fine. if they start to weaken then it's going to become a problem. and you have to consider general campbell, john campbell who's the senior american over there, said, and this is a quote, we

are past the point at which the taliban can overthrow the government. well, let's hope that he's right. but the army that we've built the police and afghan army force that we've built is a $5 billion-a-year operation. and as general campbell said we've built an army to win now we have to build an army that can be afforded. trace: well, to steal your phrase, if the government doesn't "buck up," then, you know, afghanistan becomes unstable. who does that affect? is it the region? what's the unstability factor in afghanistan? >> well, now if that were to happen if there were to be an implosion where kabul falls that would, that would really be something. as per the end of the soviet union. that's what happened. the government was overthrown and the whole country turned into you are the mole. well, there are -- into turmoil. there are regional plays that could take place not the least of which between the indians and the pakistanis. trace: right.

>> they're in constant conflict up in the kashmir area, but the indians also were playing in afghanistan to poke the ribs of the pakistanis and, of course to the west on the border you've got iran. so it is, it's a very difficult area it has been -- foreign forces have been marching back and forth for centuries through that place. and every time there's always that ebb and flow of foreign forces and most recently in modern times those forces, be it the brits, the soviets or now the west, there is this thing where you go in, you try to fix things for good or for ill and seldom does it work out right. trace: what is the attraction to terrorists in afghanistan? is the porous borders i mean, russia at one point was along there, you mentioned pakistan, india and iran. what makes this place so attractive? >> well, in ancient days it was along the silk road. it was a major road of travel.

in modern times i think what people are looking at is just the strategic position of the place and what drew the united states in was fact that the taliban, under mullah omar, refused to give up osama bin laden and al-qaeda when the u.s. demanded after the attack that they do so. and that is what caused the u.s. intervention into afghanistan. had the taliban turned them over, we wouldn't be having this conversation. trace: yeah. captain chuck nash, good to see you. thank you, sir. >> are you bet, trace. ♪ ♪ heather: a new report showing police in chicago are making progress in reducing crime with the murder rate dropping to its lowest level since 1965. but shootings are up, and police say that there's a lot more work to do. garrett tenny joins us live from chicago. garrett, this report sounds like a bit of good news for chicago, but is it? >> reporter: well any drop in

crime is certainly good news, but really chicago is still a long ways from mayberry. just take a look at the numbers from this last year. nearly 400 people were killed. while this is a slight improvement from the year before chicago police superintendent gary mccarthy he said all along that any murder is one too many. he is crediting the drop in crime across the board, though, to better policing and greater cooperation from the community. changes like issuing tickets for small amounts of marijuana rather than arrests have led to 15,000 fewer arrests over the last two years. heather? heather: so police say that more work needs to be done. what is their strategy? do they have one? >> reporter: well, they're constantly reevaluating and looking for places to improve and gun violence is certainly one of those areas. just this last year alone more than 2,000 people have been shot in chicago that's an average of more than five people a day.

increased gang violence is a large part of that, but superintendent mccarthy says that his department only do so much without state lawmakers passing stricter laws against illegal guns. >> even with the best policing in the world without better laws that keep illegal guns off the streets and out of the hands of the dangerous criminals who carry them, we will continue to have an uphill battle. >> reporter: so overall crime is down, but police are not calling this a success. they are saying it is progress and it is something they are hoping to continue moving into next year. heather: garrett tenny, thank you. trace: his career was nearly destroyed after he was discovered knocking out his fiancee. coming up, we'll look at scandals that defined 2014. heather: and a brand new fox news poll asks people how they would rate 2014, and wait until you hear what they said and why.

♪ ♪

>> 10, 9, 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 -- trace: well, that was fox's 2014 new year's eve countdown and netflix is offering parents help with the little ones who would like to stay up past their bedtime. it's a fake countdown featuring king julian from the madagascar movies. it'll feature music and plenty of dance, but, parents, you also can ring in the new year with us. join kimberly guilfoyle, bob beckel, jesse waters and kennedy. coverage kicks off at nine eastern tomorrow night, new year's eve, and it's going to be a chilly one. it was warm when i first got

here, and now the temperature's been doing this for the past two, three days. heather: but you lived here now you're used to the california weather. trace: it's old out there, in the 60s. heather: and i don't know if i agree with faking the kids out. trace: anything to get rid of the kids -- [laughter] heather: but watch ours. did you have a good year? speaking of that. well, according to a new fox news poll most americans say that 2014 has been good for them and their family. 57% saying that it was positive. leslie marshall is a fox news contributor and syndicated radio talk show host, mercedes schlepp is a former media spokeswoman for president george w. bush. thank you both for joining us. >> thank you heather. >> good morning. heather: i'm going to start with this only. i want to know -- obvious. do you think 2014 was a good year or bad year? mercedes? >> sure. i think it's been a bit of a mixed bag. when you look at the low points

of 2014, we were dealing with an imperial president, i would call him the golf-playing emperor obama who basically decided to take unilateral action on immigration, talked to the communist dictator, raul castro, to normalize relations with cuba without dealing with congress and really taking these sort of dangerous and unprecedented steps that i think could cause major damage with the congressional republicans. so, you know, then you had the issue of, for example, on isis where we are seeing these horrible stories that continue to come out of teaching 7-year-olds how to behead infidels, and really that expansion of what's happening in the middle east. you know but there were the upsides -- heather: well, before you get to the upsides, i want to let leslie respond to that. we went from leslie to the golf-playing emperor those were your words. [laughter] leslie, what do you think? positive or negative in respect to those? >> um, i'd have to say, well, i

can't say anything's positive with regard to isis and i'm a pessimist, so this is hard for me. when you guys said good and bad stuff, i started listing all of the bad, all right? but definitely. we did have a good year, and we will talk about the good, but in talking about the bad we can't ignore -- and not in political terms, but in realistic and human terms, what we have seen not just internationally, but here at home which is a lot of unrest. we've seen beheadings by isis we've seen an illness out of control, ebola even doctors there to care for the ill that have been attacked and lost their lives to this terrible virus. and we've also seen here at home the loss of two nypd police officers, and we've seen mr. garner lose his life, michael brown in ferguson and the civil unrest that has come as a result of it and the conflict and division between people and police in many parts of this country. and i would say those are all bad things. heather: yeah. >> but i do think overall 2014

was a good year and a better year. heather: some common ground for both of you in discussing that and i find it interesting that both of you began with the negative there so let's talk about what was positive. [laughter] mercedes, we'll let you go. >> well, on the positive side, which i agree with leslie it took me a lot longer to come up with the positives of 2014. maybe we're watching too much news, i mean, come on. but for the positive i think we're starting to see the fact for us, for republicans, was the gains in the midterm elections. that was a huge victory. we gaped nine seats in the -- gains nine seats in the senate, 13 in the house. the fact that the american people want a change in washington, they want congress to work together with the president and really hold the president and congress accountable for helping to hope -- hoping to help improve the economy. being a minivan-driving mom, the low gas prices are really nice when you're talking about $2 gas prices. this is a psychological indicator for people to go out and, you know spend a little more money in the economy and help boost the economy as well.

heather: and, leslie what do you see as the process positives? >> well, over 20 states voted to increase the minimum wage that'll increase things for the majority of americans in the working class. bans on gay marriage has gone away in many states which i think is a right step for leading the rest of the world with freedom and also we have to look at job growth and last but not least as the mom of a 6 and 7-year-old, although my husband does not want to hear the song one more time the movie "frozen" made my kids and many kids happy this past year. [laughter] heather: i think that's something a lot of moms can agree on. and we'll end it on that. that's a good, positive note to end it on. thank you, guys we appreciate it. and, trace i know you've got two daughters as well. did they enjoy "frozen,"? trace: 10 kwr50er8d sings it all the time. "happening now" coming up at the top of the hour arthel? >> hi, trace. sad discoveries in the search for airasia flight 8501.

now comes the task of piecing together the final moments of that airbus before it plunged into the sea. we'll have the latest on the investigation. plus a manhunt in los angeles after two suspecteds fire a -- suspects fire a rifle at a patrol car. one man arrested, and police are warning residents to stay inside their homes because the suspect may be armed and dangerous. and a new year, a new you. we're going to have the dos and don'ts of successful dieting. we're going to tell you how to take it all off in 2015. it's all "happening now." and by the way, trace i do like "frozen." trace: it's a great movie. arthel see you at the top of the hour. 2014 was an eventful year, just ask the irs, the secret service or jonathan giber. we'll -- gruber. we'll look back at some of biggest scandals of the year, next. >> call it the stupidity of the american voter or whatever, but basically, that was really, really critical to getting this thing to pass.

heather: take a look at. transportation officials in san francisco say it could take up to two weeks to repair a massive sinkhole that opened up in south, or south of the market district over the weekend. giving people there in that crowded neighborhood quite a scare. >> everyone was kind of running around trying to figure out how to stop it because they kept throwing sand and dirt on it and it kept eating the sand. heather: no structural damage to nearby buildings reported so far though. officials are inspecting a nearby subway line as a precaution. trace: some big names involved in high profile scandals this year, and the fallout for many of them is far from over. martha maccallum has more. >> from washington to hollywood to the world of sports, 2014 was

no stranger to these stories. it seemed open season for intruders at the white house, at least three people jumped the fence, several who caught the secret service off guard. omar gonzalez made it all the way to the east room before finally being tackled by agents. secret service director julia pearson took a hit as well and stepped down. and over at the v.a., secretary shinseki took the fall as well after his agency was shamed by reports that 40 veterans at the phoenix v.a. died while waiting for care. almost 100 v.a. facilities are now under investigation. and the strange story of army sergeant bowe bergdahl gripped the nation as he was turned over in exchange for five gitmo detaineesment some in congress were outraged they were not consulted, and while an earlier report called him a deserter he's now being reinvestigated and is on desk duty. and then there was jonathan gruber, unknown to most until

the mit economics professor and architect of obamacare serially accused americans of being too dumb to understand that obamacare would actually cost them more. we caught up with the professor but this time he was done talking for the moment. >> i have no comment. don't -- >> and it was a foul for donald sterling the former l.a. clippers' owner. he was heard making racist remarks to his girlfriend. the nba banned him for life and fined him $2.5 million. microsoft's ceo steve ballmer caught the rebound and bought the team. and 2014 is one ray rice and his wife would like to forget. the former nfl star got his own one-two punch from videos of him knocking out his fiancee in an elevator. rice was then suspended but that was overturned as the focus turned to the nfl and what they knew and when about the whole thing. suspension lifted, rice is now

hoping to get back in the game. adrian peterson took a plea deal after pictures of his 4-year-old son's beaten legs appeared online. the minnesota vikings us suspended peterson for the rest of the season. and on broadway, shia labeouf was busted for drunken behavior that was no act. he was kicked out of the audience and into the slammer for the night. tlc canceled here comes honey boo boo after matriarch mama june shannon started dating a convicted child molester and it was no laughing matter for bill cosby, he's keeping quiet after more than a dozen women claim he assaulted them at different times throughout his career. networks canceled his projects. cosby has not been criminally charged. the year had its share of scandals, so what will 2015 bring, and who will end up in the headlines? we'll see what the future holds. trace: that, of course, was martha maccallum and it was a very busy scandal year, and they're right, a lot of those

are going to tip over -- heather: and this year isn't over yet so a new one could erupt, because it doesn't take that long in the age of social media. [laughter] well, a grim new chapter though beginning for airasia flight 8501. what investigators are saying about the recovery mission and the final moments before the jetliner vanished from radar.

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>> preparations now underway for this year's annual tournament of roses parade in southern california. volunteers put be finishing touches on dozens of colorful floats. they will be covered in flowers. the parade takes place on new year's day coinciding with the annual rose bowl in pass dina. >> i will be back in time. it is one of the events to go see. >> still amazes me how they put together the floats and artistry behind it. >> months and months goes into

that. great working with you. >> i will see you tomorrow? >> we'll be back here. >> see you too hopefully. >> "happening now" starts right now. jon: we are now getting word more american resources are on their way to help in the recovery of airasia flight501. as heart break replaces hope for passengers and family members on board the doomed flight. welcome to the first hour of "happening now." i'm jon scott. arthel: i'm arthel neville in for jenna lee. crews are slowly recovering bodies and debris from the java sea. they are confirming that these from the jet line they're disappeared from the radar three days ago. it crashed into the sea midway through a two-hour flight from indonesia to singapore and the pentagon told fox news moments ago