mediabuzz@foxnews.com. we'll be back here next week. new years leave live. 11:00 a.m. eastern. see you then for the latest buzz buzz. [♪] reporter: a fox news alert on the fbi shakeup that may in the works for the new year. the agency's deputy director andrew mccabe may be getting ready to step down as growing bias allegations turned him into a lightning rod for criticism. reporter: the fallout after word mccabe is set to leave the fbi next year after he's eligible for retirement. andrew mccabe is racing the

clock to retire with full benefits. ought days to go in a tweet from the president. >> the president believes that the american people have a right to know what happened in that investigation. we put all our faith and confidence in the fbi and the department of justice. he's making a point we need to make sure there is no bias. there are serious concerns whether there was or was not. >> fox news learned acting fbi director andrew mccabe is even jim for retirement in march. there have been rumors of a possible retirement. president trump commented on twitter, white house director legislative affairs defended the tweets and he also said this. >> the white house is cooperating with that investigation. after millions of dollars no collusion has been proven. the president is saying we need

to know our civil servants are doing the honorable thing. reporter: mccabe spent 14 hours 2e69r testifying behind capitol hill. democrats say the it was meant to discredit the special counsel's investigation. >> this is divergent from the real issue which is the russian attempt to subvert the last election. the possible collusion. and the certain collusion by many members of the trump campaign and possible collusion by the president himself. reporter: all of this as the former fbi director james comey defends an old coworker who was recently removed from a powerful position. comey writes on twitter. sadly we are at a point in our political life where anyone can

be attacked for partisan gain. james barrack served our country incredibly well for over 25 years and deserves bert. baker was appointed to the fbi's general counsel in 2014. the general counsel is let in on all of the investigations handled by the bureau. sources tell fox news barrack is not fired, but reassigned. his reaseen itment is somehow tied to investigation related to leaks. sources tell us this is:baker is tied to a moth officer jones article. the journalist says baker was not his source. no word on who will replace him as general counsel.

mike: a federal judge blocking parts of the president's latest ban on refugees. it prevents people from mostly muslim nations from reuniting with family members living in the u.s. reporter: this is a partial listing of a ban on immigration from mainly muslim countries for people who have relatives in if the united states. the judge made the nationwide order. those who have put in immigration visa requests, they will have to be processed under this order it's a partial lifting and it's going to go ahead. federal officials who have argued against that judge say they are considering their next step. and it follows up on more immigration controversy. sarah sanders pushed back hard against a "new york times"

article that says the president made disparaging comments about immigrant groups. she said the comments were taken outrageous lie. the story alleges while speak of haitians president trump reportedly said according to the article they all have aids. while speaking of nigerian immigrants according to the article says once they see america they will never want to go back to their huts. that "new york times" story based on anonymous reporting by people at the meeting. or briefed on the meeting. lea: what do you have make of this? >> i'm on record of not being a fan of parts of the president's

immigration strategy. but this is outrageous. the supreme court as time and time again struck down the district court judges who tried to stop the president's order. for the judge to be allowed to do a nationwide ban upsets our entire system of judicial decorum. what the supreme court said is a judge can issue a nationwide banff it involves the parties right in front of him. if i were harassed by the fbi, i could say stop this. and the judge could say no fbi agent in the country can harass his person. what the judge is doing is an outrageous expansion of his powers. if we allow every district judge in this country and there are hundreds of them. people will go judge shopping

and they will be able to stop anything the president does. lea: the judge writes that the court must resolve. you don't think it's up to the judge to make this decision? >> the supreme court already ruled in the case of the other judges who stopped this order that the president did act within his legal authority. they will strike it down as they have don't others. this is not a surprise that they will do this. lea: i understand the justice department has 90 days from the decision to petition the supreme court. what do you expect the timeline to be? >> the administration will ask for an emergency hearing that will take a couple weeks. i'm sure the supreme court will come back and say we meant what we said the previous times, this weren't president's powers.

if congress doesn't like it they can change the law. but the president has the authority as chief law enforcement officer. lea: judge row barred said the policy should have been published for notice and public comment before being implemented. do you think he makes a point there? >> that's a technical point i don't have the answer to. when this issue came before the supreme court in the other cases they djts mention anything about that and they said the president's order is basically restored. lea:

fact that they are having a hard time getting to the country? >> again, the judge does have the power to address those specific individuals if they are before him. and they can make an exception. until and remember this original travel ban was for 90 days. it was not permanent it was an order to sort out our

immigration law to make sure we had proper screening. this is a temporary measure that has been delayed for almost a year. it's clearly an attempt to thwart the president's ability to do anything about immigration. lea: where do you think it will go down the road? >> the supreme court has looked at this case before with other judges in hawaii and maryland. they said you are wrong, we reversed you. the president has this authority. go back to the back of the classroom. mike: the department much depard security says the gunman who targeted police until pennsylvania gained entry through chain migration. he he came to america from egypt on a family-based visa. he wound a pence strain yeah

state trooper before officers shot and killed the suspect. dhs is calling the incident a terror attack. lea: triple aaa estimating 100 million people are traveling for the holidays. more than 7 million americans plan to drive. but a winter weather alert could make travel tricky. david lee miller is live in new york city with more. reporter: triple-a expects this to be a record-breaking year and travel season. most of will be on the road despite the fact gasoline prices are on average 28 cents higher than a year ago. out west there are some tough road conditions, heavy snow in colorado. it has forced the shutdown of

parts of i-70. shelters have been opened for stranded motorists. the department of transportation has been steadily clearing and opening up stretches of that highway. more people will be flying compared to one year ago. an airline trade group credits the improving economy. more good news, sometimes no craft nation pays off. today and december 30 are expected to be the least congested days for air travel. the busiest airports will be atlanta, dallas, los angeles and jfk. here in new york there are expected to be 6 million visitors during this holiday season. there is extra security at churches and more security forces deployed throughout the entire city including the nypd

and the national guard. there is increased surveillance at train stations, bridges and airports. the governor says there is no known credible threat but adds it's best to play it safe. >> i want to make sure when the public sees these -- this activity, that they are not tea harmed. we don't have any information that has caused us to increase security. this is just out of an abundance of caution. there is nothing wrong. there is nothing to get alarmed about. it's just a proactive effort to increase security. mike: there is also heightened security in parts of europe. italy, london, and prayer -- an.

100,000 security personnel will be on duty the next couple days. lea: thank you, david lee. mike: a new clue in the search for the missing submarine that vanished last month. what sonar just detected. new threats from north korea after the latest rounds of u.s. sanctions with the rogue nation calling them an act of war. how the u.s. should respond. with 5 times more ethnic regions... ancestrydna can pinpoint where your ancestors are from... and the paths they took to a new home. could their journey inspire yours? order your kit at ancestrydna.com and her new mobile wedding business.tte at first, getting paid was tough... until she got quickbooks. now she sends invoices, sees when they've been viewed and-ta-dah-paid twice as fast for free.

visit quickbooks-dot-com. the mountain like i used to. i even accept i have a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. but whatever trail i take, i go for my best. so if there's something better than warfarin, i'll go for that too. eliquis. eliquis reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin, plus had less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis had both. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily... ...and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. i'm still going for my best. and for eliquis ask your doctor about eliquis.

♪

[♪] lea: a possible break in the search for an argentine submarine missing for a month. a new contact in the south

atlantic ocean is where the san juan disappeared. 13 countries are aiding in the search for the missing sub. this comes one week after argentina fired the head of its navy. mike: tough talk from north korea. the rogue nation blasting the latest round of sanctions, calling them an act of war. james mattis taking the threat seriously, warning our troops, they must be at the top of their game and ready to go. mr. ambassador, nice to see you. what do you make of defense secretary mattis to be at quote the top of your game in case there is a military conflict with north korea. >> i think this is something

secretary mattis emphasized. but i think this is pretty good advice for all components of the military. mike: with the olympics taking place in nearby south

but they were amazed how they were able to get their missiles and nuclear warheads this year. cia director mike pence said a few months ago it might be a few months and they will be ready. if we are going to consider the use of preemptive military force, you don't want to come close to estimating when they cross the finish line. the last thing we want if they trike is to still have a nuclear capability. >> there are times when you have the hear of top officials at the white house and our government. your advice to them? >> to the extent there is any

possibility of putting pressure on china to do something about the regime in north korea. they don't see it as being in their interest to bring down that regime and help reunify the peninsula. i think we confront a quite unattractive choice. either leave north korea with nuclear weapons or look at military force. mike: you made reference to china. what gets them off the sidelines. it's growit's -- it's geographia bigger problem for them. >> while the north korean nuclear capability doesn't directly threaten china, it agitates us and agitates japan and has south korea split on how to respond to it. the answer is to stop the north korean regime.

by which they have unique economic and political capacity to do. mike: is there a major disconnect between president trump and secretary of state rex tillerson on the north korea issue? or are they doing a good cop-bad cop. >> i'm not in favor of the good cop-bad cop. any administration should speak with one voice. one positive report we have seen is apparently china and the u.s. military officials are talking about potential scenarios on the peninsula. but the fact that at least some in china's military

ambitions in 2018. >> i know of no serious dispute on this point in terms of its nuclear capabilities. it indicates this is the year they would reach ability to hit the united states. so if we are going to do something about it.

it will have to be soon. if we don't do something about it, be prepared for blackmail from north korea as far as the eye can see. and north korea selling these capabilities to anybody with hard currency. to iran, to terrorist groups. this is not good news. mike: ambassador, thank you very much. lea: a california man is facing a lengthy prison sentence in bali after getting caught there with a small amount of marijuana. he says he uses the drug for medicinal purposes. bali is not buying that. now his family is hoping the trump administration will intervene. reporter: 32-year-old christian beasley is not in the i.s. but

bali. >> i need help, i need rehab. reporter: lawyers say no country is obligate to honor a legal prescription from another. though most of do. >> we have five months, the defense presented nothing. even the documents haven't been translated or anything. >> he worried indonesia is flawrnting his son as a poster child. >> i was encouraged the president was pointing out his new administration has been very good helping americans finding difficulties in foreign land. reporter: the state department says it does not get involved in the courts of foreign countries. but the trump white house clearly has. >> this is one of the areas where his deal-making ability, the ability to use his personal

persuasive powers is at a zenith. reporter: he won the release of three university basketball players in china. and this aide worker after trump appealed to president el-sisi. and otto warmbier from north korea. >> president trump has taken a more visibly active interest in the fate of americans in his first year. but the number of americans who travel abroad is enormous and he can't be responsible for all of them. >> they have a volunteer phone service there which is awesome. i don't know if anything happened on that yet. reporter: drug crimes can be a tough sale. but americans should not be subject to abuse and extortion

in prison. for 6 grams of pot he faces life in prison or death as a trafficker. mike: the california showdown over illegal immigration continues. how the governor stopped the deportation of two illegal immigrants. calling out potential bias within the bureau, is the president justified in his frustration? first here is former arkansas governor mike huckabee. >> this is not about the politics of who they were for or against. is there a double standard at the justice department where if you have a certain political leaning you get away with things. if you don't, you end up like mike flynn and get charged.

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>> california governor jerry brown once again butting heads with president trump over illegal immigration or the governor announcing he granted 132 pardons this holiday season. two of them to immigrants awaiting deportation for committing crimes in the united states. will carr is live in los angeles with more. people who committed crimes in the united states are getting to stay? reporter: it's no secret governor brad is pushing back against the policy. this decision appears to only be escalating. brown decided to use a christmas tradition of granting pardon to enhance word, on the two men. two cambodian man living in northern california. one was it in 2003 for felony joy riding. the other in 1995 on a felony weapons charge linked to gangs and a misdemeanor receiving stolen property. both are picked up by federal authorities past october and immigration raids and were

expected to be deported tomorrow but a federal judge just issued a temporary restraining order. one man has already been released through custody in a spat with his family on the other is still in custody, but several individuals describing him as kind and generous nsa role model to those who face insurmountable challenges. governor brown also butted heads when he found a sanctuary state legislation with limitations on state and local authorities abilities to help federal immigration agencies and laws and really important to know that just because the men were pardon doesn't mean they won't be deported at gunpoint and had to ask immigration to reopen forces, lea appeared lea: all right, will carr, thank you.

>> embattled fbi director andrew mccabe may be getting ready to leave the bureau. the present as flaming mccabe on twitter suggesting he had a conflict of interest over his wife 2015 run for virginia senate. mr. trump tweeting, how can fbi deputy dirt andrew mccabe, the man in charge along with james comey of the phony hillary clinton investigation, including her 33,000 illegally deleted e-mails be given $700,000 for the campaign by clinton puppets during investigation? >> 99% of the people in the fbi, the rank and, the rank-and-file, men and women of integrity and honor do their jobs than their jobs in their jobs than they do it without trying to put their thumb on the scales. but when they are led by people who are playing political games with the entire agency and with the constitution, you cannot let that go by. >> joining us now, john callaway

, missouri state representative and founder of pine street strategies, chairman of the committee to defend the president and former colorado state senator. gentleman come in merry christmas eve. >> merry christmas as well. >> 10, first he appeared with the president justified with andrew mccabe and leadership at the fbi? >> what we have seen over the last several months as there has been an appearance of corruption at the highest levels of the fbi did when mueller was doing an investigation of uranium one, when hillary clinton was using the office of secretary of state to funnel money to the clinton foundation on the way up to the investigation of the clinton e-mail scandal, when comey and mccabe and strzok were covering up hillary clinton's distraction all the way up to the president. i think we need to have a clean sweep of the top levels of the

fbi or we need to have a legitimate investigation of those investigating all of these very important cases. dream to what you make of the cases and mccabe is to retire soon. if you tired of the heat from the president and republicans on capitol hill? >> he is living the american dream can retire with full benefits are in a schedule. that's what i want to do and i'm sure that's what any of us want to do, not work beyond the point we have to appear to just so happens he is 90 days left until he is eligible retire with full benefits. the president to pay there to tweeting about him is just a distraction of the god all along from this administration, where it is like now let's talk about attacking mueller and the people investigating the russia probe as opposed to the substance of the allegations. michael flynn pled guilty because he did something he shouldn't have done. same for paul manaford and

papadopoulos. let's not play politics of the people at the fbi. we did not a problem with jim crow meme when he wrote a letter the cost to whitney collection. now we attack his integrity. it doesn't make sense to me. republicans justified to dig into the uranium one deal in the clinton e-mail issues. >> you back. of course they are. to argue that comey comments right before the election were accurate as follows. we know for a fact they change the wording to make sure that hillary clinton was not convicted of any crimes prior to what she did, releasing classified information to our enemies, most people at the highest level with security clearances would've been fired or certainly would have gone to jail and hillary clinton was given a pass, simply because these fbi agents, who we know now through their text messages for supporting hillary in doing everything they could to make sure she won the election.

they need to be fired, not just work out another 90 days and get their benefits. they should be fired today and there is a reason why someone was fired from the investigation six months ago because mueller understood there was a huge conflict of interest going on in the public knew about it they would be problems. >> don, part of the frustration is jeff sessions. asking why he didn't replace mccabe. mccabe. what about the attorney general's future? >> you know come in the attorney general has been pretty much between a rock and a hard place the entire time and the president frankly has not been very supportive of his either publicly or privately. i think it's important to go back to two weeks ago, the hearing on capitol hill in which rod rosenstein made it very clear that former director miller as well as deputy director mccabe have done nothing that shows any type of bias for any misconduct throughout the course of this

probe. again, i think it is remarkable to pay that to secretary clinton and e-mails in all the other stuff we want to talk about. let's talk about the substantive underlying charges. even if, which i contend that they are not, even if the fbi or doj is playing politics, their lawyers said professional integrity on the line and don't bring charges unless bring charges and bring charges unless there is regional substantive lawyers said professional allegations to support charges. michael flynn pled guilty. the question is what did he do and why. we can expect there are perhaps other indictments coming. let's look at the substances out of the swirling politics because we could do that from either side. but their real substantive allegations brought by real fbi and doj lawyers that need to be addressed here. mike ted, what is next if he should retire in 2018. obviously playing a critical role in our country. >> without a doubt. that is why we need to make sure the fbi is above approach. what your guest is talking about

manafort admitting to the all-time something that happened 10 years ago before he was even a part of the trump campaign is ridiculous. the fact that when pled guilty to lying to the fbi come he should've been fired. trump fired him immediately upon learning about this in the fact that he lied to the vice president. trump is handling the situation accordingly. it is the fbi that has a conflict of interest and we shouldn't have our top investigator at the highest level of our government having any question of impropriety and that is why we need to clean this up and get rid of these guys at the highest level. that is creating a bad name for the entire agency. mike don from any concern about morality at the fbi with intense scrutiny at the top? >> the fbi protect this country day in and day out from threat seen and unseen come at things the three of us here pontificating on tv will never know about. our families are protected because of the good work of the rank-and-file people at the fbi.

i have to imagine affects morale when the president continues to denigrate them everyday on twitter. you haven't seen the president saying anything positive about the fbi over the course of his 11 months in office. when he gets a chance to attack them politically he does so. let's talk about getting the allegations of white deputy director mccabe is acting improperly. we have seen nothing in his personal history, 30 plus years that suggest he's anything but beyond reproach. as his wife not allowed to run for office? is his wife not allowed to run for office as a democrat? how are we holding him accountable and that he is guilty for some sort of malfeasance. mike: if there was an investigation going on at hillary clinton and he allows his wife to take $700,000. [inaudible conversations] >> hillary clinton was exonerated. >> hillary clinton -- >> first of all --

>> she was not exonerated, she was in charge. the >> are just making it appear to >> i'm not going to let you get away with that. she was not exonerated. mike: gentlemen, thanks a lot. god bless you both. lea: so, are you one of the last-minute holiday shoppers find it harder and harder to score great deals on christmas eve. well, our next guest has some great christmas shopping ideas for you. plus, santa getting ready to take flight, tracking his journey tonight is standing by. how you can track via official santa tracker. mike: awesome. ♪ making a list and checking it twice twice ♪ cannot find out out who's not emi is the ♪ santa claus is coming to town ♪ santa claus is coming to town ♪ santa claus is coming to town ♪

mike: santa claus is making its way around the world today in children of all ages, including a comic can track its progress. the north american aerospace defense program is using its high-tech resources to follow saint nick's leg as it heads for u.s. airspace. launching its santa tracker in 1955, we will want to journey in real time on norad's website. he is heading northeast i can guarantee you two kids at my house are watching closely. lea: you probably watched close

when you're a kid. it all started because it got a call in a newspaper printed the wrong number for kids to call santa anna called the commander-in-chief's number norad's predecessor and they started this tradition for so many years been lots of fun for kids. mike: military history here from lea. lea: some christmas shopping ideas. so, for those last-minute shoppers, and may not be entirely correct. there's still some things you can do. it is christmas eve, rounded up the best last-minute gift ideas for those who almost forgot. the digital lifestyle expert, ceo of marketing group and cofounder of me.design. great to see you. >> great to be here.

lea: should we all go out to the mall and buy those last-minute gifts? lea: you don't have to do that. it's not too late. i'd be happy to share my best gift ideas for those isles a little bit late to the party. my first idea is sugar wish, which allows you to send candy to someone who you love, which is great because you can send a gift and they get to pick out the candy they really enjoy and wait for it to arrive. you can send a gift and let them pick out their favorite candy and chips right to their house. lea: sending something sweet. a lot of people want to give to charities this weekend. a lot of people who know me know i really like ducks. >> i like that. how to give a doubt. there's a great charity called world vision that allows you to

buy docs or goats or chickens, cows come, cows coming to people in third world countries come especially farmers, people who really rely on these animals for their agriculture and livelihood. and you can. you can give that on behalf of someone you love and make that their president, which is a little bit more meaningful than perhaps just donating to a charity. that's a little more personality. lea: that is donating through world vision.org, where you can donate money for medicine and other things for children in need across the world. >> correct. lea: okay, what else can we do? what if you want to get something that will last a little while. any subscriptions? >> yes, there were so many subscription gets out there that we can get. it is something to remind them out the year of your christmas gift. this is also really nice. this lets you pick a book club

essentially that is great for kids. you can say they like suspense or they like comedy and they work with educators and teachers >> there's still a lot of places where you can get last-minute stocking suffers. this one is called pinky swear, so if you are going to do stocking suffers, find something a little offbeat, something fun, a little differently this pinky swear brand that is made up from l.a. makeup artist coming up with this line in launching it available at the fore and so forth. not too late if you want to hit the stores. try to be a little more creative with it. lea: thank you, shama. thank you, merry christmas.

mike: mother nature getting into the holiday spirit, but only in certain spots. we'll tell you where it is going to be a white christmas. we'll take you to a little town of bethlehem. the biblical birthplace of jesus and check out the crowds on christmas eve. are they being impacted by president trump recognizing jerusalem as the capital of israel?

lea: winter weather will mean a white christmas for some parts of the united states. snow covered the streets in cleveland in the forecast called for more to hit the city over the next few days. here to look at buffalo yesterday, where about

four inches of snow fell. this term is spreading snow across the midwest general had or the northeast by christmas day. the national weather service has issued a winter weather advisory and winters are warning from the middle mississippi valley through the newly been area. -- new england area. mike: subdued christmas eve in bethlehem. the birthplace of jesus that i than usual because of protests over president trump's declaration of jerusalem as the capital of israel. , powell is -- conor powell following the story. reporter: this time of year always a celebration of christmas, but also christianity. christmas, but also also the press -- last three weeks the most violent clashes between palestinian protesters and israeli security forces with the unilateral decisions to recognize jerusalem. today, christmas celebrations are well underway in bethlehem and they've been peaceful, but the mood is very different with president trump decision he very

much in the forefront of all the celebration. there are signs all over the place singing jerusalem is the capital of palestine and palestinian president mahmoud abbas insane to listen to the indigenous palestinians and to reject president trump's recognition as jerusalem as israel's capital. wall pier battista who was very vocal in his criticism of president trump made a public display through an israeli checkpoint, entry into bethlehem from jerusalem. the situation in bethlehem is very peaceful today, but a lot of anger and frustration there. not only among the christian community about the palestinian community about the palestinian muslims that are there. this was supposed to be a big-time to make a lot of money with all the stores there. a lot has faded away.

mike: conor powell live in the holy land. merry christmas, thank you. lea: is andrew mccabe ready to call it quits? president trump tweezer and this weekend. not just ahead. not t. rowe price. invest with confidence. booking a flight doesn't have to be expensive. just go to priceline. it's the best place to book a flight a few days before my trip and still save up to 40%. just tap and go... for the best savings on flights, go to priceline.

lea: group of high school students in michigan going viral about giving a surprise christmas script to their hard-working school janitor. [inaudible] >> i love you guys. mike: how awesome is that? to get the superb work for -- work boots. the video has been viewed more than 100,000 times now. lea: so nice for people to be

her manager don't expect to be remembered. nice to make kids do something for them. lea: we should make those viewers as well. mike: will be back at 4:00 eastern. lea: more from washington with leland vittert and gillian turner. >> president trump sending the christmas eve hankie message to christmas eve hankie message to troops around the world while he celebrates the booming stock market and dropping unemployment numbers. gillian: also sending fbi director and her mccabe a lump of coal via twitter over his handling of the e-mail investigation. all the details straight from the winter white house. leland: one is christmas eve am a goal runner-up to see how millions of christians are celebrating from the vatican to the middle east coming to your own hometown. ♪