heather: it is wednesday, december 18th. at 4:00 am a fox news alert, all eyes on washington dc, just hours before the historic house vote to impeach donald trump. the partisan divide couldn't be more apparent. >> they did not run a fair process. it means the opposite. they called exactly 0 of our witnesses. how do you have a fair trial, run a real investigation?

heather: the senate is gearing up for trial. we are live in washington. a heartbroken son gives a final salute to his hero father gunned down while trying to protect his city, the special gesture honoring the detective as the community says goodbye. homeless solutions at a standstill after promising shelter for entire tent city. california leaders thinking twice about turning horse stables into homes. "fox and friends first" starts now. ♪ it's the final countdown ♪ ♪ the final countdown ♪ bill: it is the final countdown

or at least one of several. you are watching "fox and friends first" on wednesday morning, going to be a big day on capitol hill. thank you for starting a busy day with us. we begin with a fox news alert, donald trump whipping democrats for declaring war on democracy had a historic impeachment vote. this comes after a marathon session on capitol hill setting the groundwork for what is to come. griff jenkins is live on capitol hill to break it down. >> reporter: history starts at 9 am, the third time in history congress has taken this action to impeach a sitting president and now we have that rule, a pretty simple here, a closed rule meaning no amendments, it allows for 6 hours of debate divided equally among both sides. will drift far into the evening. steny hoyer puts out a note expecting a last-minute between 6:30 and 7:30 and we understand

there will be two votes for each article of impeachment but things got really heated in the meeting. >> was it appropriate for him to ask another country to investigate an american citizen? >> nothing wrong with the call. >> reporter: ahead of the vote donald trump put out a scathing letter to nancy pelosi calling the impeachment and illegal, partisan and attempted coup, describing the articles as disingenuous, meritless, telling her directly, quote, it is a terrible thing you are doing but you will have to live with it, not i. pelosi wrote her fellow lawmakers employ them if we do not act we will be derelict in our duty concluding in america no one is above the law. speaker pelosi looks like

certainly has the 260 magic number of votes. we talked about vulnerable democrats with a tough decision, 28 of them are on board meaning things after the vote today will go to the senate for a trial early next year and already the leaders there are at each other. >> i'm not an impartial jury, this is a political process, nothing judicial about it. >> it is clear that senator mcconnell wants to use the senate to participate in a cover-up. >> reporter: donald trump won't be sitting at the white house watching this, he will head to battle creek michigan for a rally and it will be fascinating to see the timing when the president take the stage in michigan and when the vote comes down and what he has to say about it. heather: i think he will have a thing or two to say about it. a rare public order coming from the fisa court slamming the fbi

over its application process to survey a former trump campaign advisor. jackie ibanez joins us on the court's new demand and how the president is responding to that. >> reporter: the secretive federal court is giving the bureau until january 10th to come up with solutions, donald trump reacting tweeting if comey and the top people in the fbi were tweet dirty cops who cheated on fisa court with the phony cases have to be overturned or dismissed? it stems from michael horwitz's report which found no evidence of bias with russian meddling. it did find 17 inaccuracies and applications for a fisa warrant used to wiretap carter page. in a scathing letter the chief judge said the frequency with which representations made by fbi personnel turned out

unsupported or contradicted by information in their position in which they withheld information detrimental to their case calls into question whether information contained in other fbi applications is reliable, this amid a push to reform fisa. >> the way the court conducted themselves is totally inappropriate. they left congress no choice but to step in and fix this process. >> the fbi says the director has ordered steps to address the recommendations including some improvements beyond those recommended by the ig. horowitz back on capitol hill today for grilling before a senate panel. the testimony begins six hours from now. neil: thank you. some other headlines. a manhunt intensifying for a 14-year-old suspected of

murdering this college student, tesla majors. the boy fled after jumping out of a moving car while a relative was taking him to be questioned by police. new surveillance video of the attack was shown in court yesterday. it was not released to the public. a judge has ruled there is enough to evidence to keep a 13-year-old boy in custody on felony murder charges. a third team was released last week for lack of evidence. hundreds of officers paying tribute as the police detective killed in the jersey city attack is laid to rest. detective joseph fields ordered by a sea of blue. the father of 5 was one of four people killed in a shooting and an emotional scene as his young son saluted his father while wearing his dad's police hat. the detective's wife in tears

holding the folder american flag that draped the fallen hero's casket. it was labeled domestic terrorism fueled by hatred. both of those shooters were killed. here's an update. paul manafort will not be making his court date because he is in the hospital. the former trump campaign chairman is being treated for a heart problem. manafort is serving 7 years after being convicted of a fraud and tax evasion. he is facing state charges in new york. rick gates, the government's star witness against manafort, has been sentenced to 45 days in jail, he pled guilty to lying to federal prosecutors in helping manafort hide millions of dollars. the campaign trail, 2020 candidate amy klobuchar making light of the labor dispute that but tomorrow's democratic debate in jeopardy. >> we are going to have a great debate here.

that is very good news. my husband kept texting the are you really going to do the debate? should i come out? heather: they threatened to boycott the debate at loyola jillian: university in los angeles before the 89 cafeteria workers came to a contract agreement. several candidates like bernie sanders, pete buttigieg and he was a before and have arrived in california ahead of the contest. in the buckeye state, someone is waking up to a lot of money. one lucky mega millions ticket worth $272 million was just sold in ohio. if the winner takes the cash option they will walk away with $252 million before taxes, the looking at the 22, 30, 53, 55, and 56 with a mega ball of 16. if you win, let us know.

the time is 9 minutes after the top of the hour, donald trump insists republicans are standing together ahead of the impeachment vote in the house. >> this has been a total sham from the beginning, everybody knows it. i have never seen the republican party so united. >> mike kelly will vote against impeachment because the american people have been through enough and he joins us up next. and buddy the elf loves christmas in new york but it is not number one. the top city for christmas in america has just been revealed. ♪ snowing and blowing ♪ a bushel of fun ♪ now the jingle hop has begun ♪

>> looking forward to getting to the senate. nothing was wrong in the call, to impeach the president of the united states for that is a disgrace any mark on our country. no one has done as much as i have done in the first three years. heather: in a few hours lawmakers will meet on the house floor to debate, a final vote on impeachment as donald trump blasts democrats for declaring a war on our democracy. joining me with more on how he will vote today and why, congressman mike kelly. thanks for joining us, another very long day for all of you. how are you planning to vote today and why q >> i'm voting the same since day one when this started, voting against this impeachment.

i don't think i have ever seen the country, a situation where we have watched the people who are filled with so much hate they can't see straight. the idea of impeachment just because donald from won the election in 2016 they made a determination that he is not supposed to be our president and we will get him out. they can't beat him in the polls and they will do this impeachment exercise. it is a sham, it is a real shame for this country. >> what did you think of the letter donald trump sent to nancy pelosi, a small snippet of it, 6 pages long, i write to express my strongest and most powerful protest against the partisan impeachment crusade, you are violating euros of office, breaking our allegiance to the constitution and declaring open war on american democracy. what about that? >> that is truly donald trump. he says what he means and means

what he says. i have a copy of that letter. the president is a president who's always going to fight for what he believes in, fight for the american people and when somebody goes after him he will fight for himself. is not going to sit back and wait. i have never seen our party is united as we are in support of a president. he has done in a couple job i believe. i may not see it in my lifetime but there will be a time we look back on the trump presidency, all eight years and say this was one of the greatest times in american history, a president who said what he was going to do unlike so many, i will do this for that and then forget about it, this is a man who kept his word to the american people. fantastic leader, fantastic person. in the previous administration if we said things about president obama, mrs. obama or the president's daughter think of the outcry there would have been. this president is the first lady, the first family, anybody who had an association with the

trump family has been under fire because this group of people hate him and have son -- gone so far down the road, they know they are wrong but can't turnaround. >> that begs the question will it be over with, will they pursue yet other avenues to try to impeach donald trump after this is all said and done once it goes to the senate once the senate republicans vote everything down will they try again? >> they should try to find a candidate who is better and run this person in november 2020 and see what the american people say, if they want to get the president out of office get somebody qualified, somebody who can do something different than what this president has done. we've been on an upward drive, i wouldn't want go against him one on one. he means what he says and does it all the time, never broken his word to the american people. >> speaking of being a hard guy

to be democrats and some of the pushback they are getting from constituents because they are continuing to pursue this impeachment. >> how can you overturn the will of 53 million people, or decision for themselves and less then a year. >> >> a lot of trouble if you submit. >> at last count two democrats all voting now. we will go along party lines, jeff andrews, one of those. what will happen with democrats moving forward especially those in swing states? >> there is a time in your political career you say that i come to represent my party and only my party or did i come to represent the people who put me in office. i represent the people we represent. i'm a republican. i like republican policy. i like what we are trying to do but at the end of the day i'm

looking at what sent me to the caucus represent them. 705,687 people in western pennsylvania, the 60th congressional district sent me to do a job. they didn't all vote for me but i always have to act in their best interests. this is not the best interests of the people we represent when we do this impeachment thing. it is important to take a step back and understand this is about america, the people back home, this is about what is good for our country, our constitution, the rule of law and fair play, no president has ever been treated the way this president is and i love the way he stands up to it, never back down, faces of straight on and says i will fight to the last breath for the american people. heather: a lot of politicians attempting to follow his lead these days and be very similar. thank you for joining us. we appreciate it on a busy and historic day.

let's not forget that. 19 after the top of the hour, the pc police going wild after neil gorsuch's interview on "fox and friends". joining us, neil gorsuch, good morning to you. i love that you say that. carly shimkus with the grinchs crying foul on social media. ♪

heather: new court documents

claim lori laughlin was the one in charge of his family's came to bribe her daughter's wayne to usc and they claim the actress told her daughters to improve their grades while simultaneously working with masterminds behind the college admission scandal. laughlin and her husband are accused of paying $500,000 together kids admitted as fake crew recruits. they pleaded not guilty, their file start in january. proceeds from edward snowden's new book will go to the government. a judge ruling the nsa leaker violated federal secrecy agreements and did not get clearance. and living in exile in russia to avoid prosecution in the us and classified documents in 2013. house speaker nancy pelosi responding to donald trump's gazing letter about the

impeachment hearings before she has even read it. >> your reaction to the president's letter? >> the reaction? why not? >> i have seen the essence of it and it is really sick. heather: carly shimkus of serious xm 115 here with the pushback she's receiving on social media. all eyes are on this gazing letter the president wrote. nancy pelosi slamming the impeachment effort, the president saying the importance of this. you are the ones interfering in america's election, you're the ones perverting america's democracy. you heard nancy pelosi's reaction. let's get to some conservative saying this on social media, brad writes what a second

ridiculous is she said that's right after she admitted -- another twitter user says it was heartfelt and spot on. responses to the, these people have no sense of awareness and this twitter user says i'm so glad the president put this in writing to future generations can see what a farce these proceedings are, you're going to be famous. you see how polarizing the topic is, the president did say he wrote that letter for the purposes of history, to get his say in somehow. it could be historic. including trump derangement syndrome. speaking of derangement syndrome, some court justice neil gorsuch said merry christmas, how dare he come on "fox and friends". listen to this. >> joining us for a rare live interview neil gorsuch. good morning to you. merry christmas. i love that you say that. >> how dare he, people very

upset about it. social media users, take a look at this tweet saying neil gorsuch just appeared on "fox and friends" making a point to parent the merry christmas talking point of the gop and he's willing to go on fox and throw a shout out to republican narrative, what else is he willing to do. this twitter user says he was appointed to protect our first amendment rights of free-speech, some criticism for saying merry christmas on "fox and friends". >> when you are accused of merry christmas being a gop talking point we have a problem. >> it is the season. thank you so much. the time is half past the top of the hour and lisa page defending the russia investigation into donald trump. >> this is a question about

whether russia is working to interfere in our elections. we were obligated to figure out whether that was true or not. >> what the former fbi lawyer is now saying about her text messages to peter stzrok. donald trump leading all 2020 democrats in michigan as he gears up for a rally in the battleground state. our next guest, campaign strategist who has democrats are in big trouble and purple states than they were in 2016.

heather: you are watching "fox and friends first" and we are back with a fox news alert, live look at capitol hill, the lights are on, the house will hold in a historic impeachment vote, this comes after a marathon session where the rules committee set the groundwork for what is to come.

>> was it appropriate to ask another country to investigate an american citizen? >> there is nothing wrong with the call. >> republican leaders are slamming democrat for shutting the door on many of their requests. >> after just 12 weeks of a slapdash work product where -- in the senate. >> what leader mcconnell afraid of? what is donald trump afraid of? the truth? heather: donald trump calling the probe in a letter to nancy pelosi, quote, open war on democracy. democrats have revoked our founding fathers as a way to justify their impeachment case but former whitewater independent counsel kenneth

starr said this kind of partisanship is exactly what they wanted to prevent. >> mister madison warned against having grounds of impeachment that would include maladministration. that is what this is about but the hyperbole, nancy pelosi, a clear and present danger, another thing moving forward. if the president is a clear and present danger, the trial in the senate which is destined to come has to move forward quickly but the framers were very concerned about the idea of a truly partisan impeachment as opposed to that which nancy pelosi and other democrats have said in the past may need to have something bordering on consensus. of course we do.

>> and now president has ever been removed through -- lisa page explain the meaning behind the text message about a, quote, insurance policy. insurance policy on donald trump. the text was sent by her lover, former fbi agent peter stzrok during the presidential election. >> it is not my text. i'm interpreting what i believe he meant three years ago but we are talking about whether or not we take investigative steps or not. this is a question about whether russia is working with a united states person to interfere in our election. heather: publishing her text

messages, calling it an invasion of privacy. california county declares an emergency but stalls on plans to take media action. sonoma county declare crisis on a biking and walking trail but rejected several solutions including using horse stables, temporary housing. after the supreme court refused to hear a case that banned cities from punishing homeless people for sleeping in public. to new jersey, jersey city joining newark in a federal lawsuit over buildable laws he a's relocation program. new york spends millions of dollars to send homeless families to other parts of the country. since it launched nearly 2000 families were relocated to new jersey. jersey city's mayor announced the lawsuit on twitter claiming bill diblasio is not working on a solution but instead abdicating the responsibility. this comes as diblasio announced

a new $100 million per year plan which he claims will end street homelessness in new york city and just five years. now to georgia. everyone has their favorite place to spend christmas. ♪ >> a new study says the best place to spend the holidays atlanta according to wallet home. holiday fun and much cheaper than other big destinations. orlando florida was number 2, new york number 3. with impeachment on washington's mind donald trump is headed to michigan for christmas campaign rally as new polls show donald trump beating every top ranking democratic candidate in the state.

will purple states like michigan be the key to his reelection? with expert insight is john thomas. thank you for joining us, we appreciate it. let's bring up the pole we were just mentioning, donald trump leading all the top democratic candidates in the state of michigan. what is your take on this? >> this is pretty significant for a couple reasons. the president has endured a consistent unprecedented level of attack, negative campaigning through impeachment or just the mainstream media beating up on this president. for him to be beating each of these candidates and head to 5-step scenarios at this point i should be -- encouraging to republicans and donald trump but more than just encouraging because the way we look at it, democrats so far, each potential candidate hasn't made it to

general election to endorse negative campaigning from donald trump, democrats running should be at their strongest, most likable today. as soon as whoever is the democratic nominee donald trump will tear the bark off of them by highlighting policies and consequences. heather: these polls have changed significantly in favor of donald trump. one of the issues that has been front and center is impeachment. voters imposing impeachment specifically in these three swing states, 50.8%, pennsylvania 52.2%, wisconsin 57.9%. all of those voters opposing what is going on with that vote in the house but at the same time a lot of democratic

representatives who are still going down that road voting in favor of impeachment. heather: it is a lose lose for a lot of democrats, in a lot of -- the 22nd district trump carried it by 10 points in 16, flipped in the midterms but voters will toss anthony out for when he votes for impeachment because they don't want the president impeached but on this impeachment issue. trying to win the election whether you are going to run for president. talk to voters about issues they care about, nowhere in my research, and would impeachment be a top 3 issue. it is the economy, healthcare, democrats have wasted all their time offering an alternative to the economic message and instead talking about the witchhunt of impeachment. heather: this is very interesting, a sign of things to

come, the 2016 election results. and the same three swing states. we are seeing florida, democrats won't even campaign there for president because trump is so solidly locked down and looking at places like michigan you want to talk about the top issues. the economy is the top issue. they voted for trump because they were desperate for more economic hope and democrats can't use the same attacks they used on trump in 2016 which is you can't possibly deliver the jobs you say you delivered, he has so there's not really a strong alternative economically the democrats can make. heather: all of this while being blocked by democrats in 2012 pulled a lever for donald trump in 2016.

wise an important for democrats to understand all of this? >> they took a chance on donald trump. he said he delivered jobs, delivered the economy, and bring our boys back home and promises made promises kept, there can to be much more of a clear contrast than that. heather: we will see what happens, 207 counties voted for president obama in 2008-2012. and voted for it donald trump in 2016. thank you for joining us. it is 20 minutes until the top of the hour and some narrowly escaped, some of them, many lost everything and they are getting help. the multibillion-dollar settlement approved overnight for wildfire victims and looks like the tennessee titans make you pay to play, the price on their working linebackers.

..

>> people in mississippi are in recovery mode because of it leaving a trail of destruction, the national weather service says 18 tornadoes hit the southeast killing four people, hundreds of homes and buildings land in their wake and in louisiana it was to ripped a roof off of this school. everyone had been evacuated. the dangerous weather not over yet is temperatures drop in the region. emergency managers racing against time to make sure all customers without power have a way to stay warm. the nation's largest power comedy will pay $25 billion to california wildfire victims and

insurers was a federal judge approving gas and electric settlements to cover homes and businesses lost in those wildfires, the judge must decide whether pg&e should pay the state $2 million for punishment in sparking wildfires in 2017, and 2018. business news, major investment in michigan. ford motor company announced it will add 3000 new jobs, foxbusiness is here with details. >> ford making the announcement, $4.5 billion with to michigan facilities. and 3000 jobs, they will ramp up, the electric economist, and 2700 jobs over the next 3 jobs, they will do ford bronco's.

the other facility in dearborn, 300 jobs next year to produce electric f150 truck. they are apologizing for this technical glitch that caused them delays. >> hundreds of yankee customers upset with the company, waiting to receive their orders but placed them on black friday which was 3 weeks ago. they want to give these candles as gifts and might not be able to, they are trying to reach out to customer service. they haven't been able to get any answers. they are apologizing for the incident saying they are sorry for any frustration. they did say all orders placed before 1:00 pm on december 14th should be delivered by christmas. now word if you placed an order if you would get it in time for christmas.

>> hopefully they will. it is day 8 of 12 days of giving. we have the believe with me foundation, children and wives of goldstar families. their founder joins us next with how you can help with comments that started it all. (danny) let me get this straight. after a long day of hard work... ...you have to do more work? (vo) automatically sort your expenses and save over 40 hours a month. (danny) every day you're nearly fried to a crisp, professionally! (vo) you earned it, we're here to make sure you get it. quickbooks. backing you.

and a drumroll, please. yeah! tonight is a magical night. where anything is possible. it's party time. woo! here we go. ha, ha. now for the icing on the cake!

come, we're about to begin.

>> reporter: one group is making it their mission to lift up goldstar children for the sacrifices made by their

families all in the name of our freedom. are 12 days of giving series, founder and ceo of the believe with me foundation, we appreciate it. begin by telling everyone about your organization, what you do. >> all men of military death, we help families killed in action, killed in training and service-connected illnesses. heather: christmas is outreach to the families. >> we come under our umbrella and our website, register, give pictures of their families and soldiers and tell about their story and a wish list. the organization through sponsorship of grateful americans wraps them and packages them up and send them off. of the 20 how did you decide to start this organization?

how did you get involved and what was the process behind it? >> my family was facing serious challenges and i met a goldstar mother who lost her son who was a navy seal. she had so much joy and purpose after a single horrific loss and i thought if i could bottle up a little of what she has got. it was a powerful interaction, i didn't know what we were going to do as a nonprofit. heather: you did this on the birthday of your 16th child. >> we got the paperwork the day after the baby was born and that was our first christmas since 2015 and served 158 children of fallen soldiers and if you we have 900 children registered with us. heather: in terms of volunteer hours, 20,000 volunteer hours. >> what is amazing about our organization is not just we help goldstar families but utilize a

lot of middle school, high school university students to accomplish our work so if we are renovating or purchasing a home for goldstar family a lot of unskilled labor, that interaction with our goldstar families opens their eyes to the costs. heather: great lesson and reminder for them as well but how can people donate? can they sponsor a goldstar family for christmas, donate $100 for hand selected gifts? >> absolutely. you can see this beautiful bag, a sample i brought with me for $100, we utilize their wish list, we add a parenting book, a devotional, hat or teachers or teddy bear, a lot of loving gifts and care goes into each of these packages and each box, your gift was lovingly packed and has a picture of the

volunteer so families can see, this is a person that really cares about your loss and remember your sacrifice for the holidays. heather: thank you for joining us. any goldstar families who would like to be with this. >> go to our site, believewithme.com. heather: 5 minutes until the top of the hour. is a 2019 or is it 1950? photographer going viral for stealing the show with his camera at an impeachment press conference. tears of joy, this little boy has every right to celebrate and we are right there cheering with him.

heather: time for the good, the bad and the ugly, first the good, a little boy breaks down in tears celebrating his last chemo treatment. that 9-year-old stephen connor was diagnosed with leukemia in 2016. after three years he is cancer free. a football rookie get stuck with his teammates $10,000 dinner bill.

the linebacker posting the massive tabernacle by the tennessee titans. the ugly, photographer going viral for using an old-fashioned camera at an impeachment news conference. what they don't know is he has spent 5 decades covering the news. that wraps up this hour of "fox and friends first". "fox and friends first" continues right now, goodbye. >> the impeachment thing is a hoax. >> we have to be very prayerful and put country before party. >> i will not be moved. the president must be impeached. >> to impeach the president of the united states for that is a disgrace and a mark on our country. jillian: wednesday, december 18th, fox news alert. after years of promises and failed attempts democrats are just hours away from voting to impeach donald from. heather: republicans say the real show will start with the senate trial.