>> welcome and we begin with the fox news alert. there's been a plane crash in southwest louisiana and multiple people reportedly killed. this is america's news headquarters, i'm ed henry. police in lafayette say it plane took off at an airport and crashed about a mile away between a post office and a walmart super center. lafayette is 135 miles from new orleans. we're told five killed according to the report and a local news radio station is saying five killed. let's bring in a former n.t.s.b.

investigator. do you know anything about it or the scattered details that i just reported. what would you be looking for? >> obviously, national trance sayings saved board is going to go from their center or the office: f.a.a. is probably on scene, local f.a.a. we don't know much. it was a twin engine aircraft, it took off. twin engine aircraft, six people, light plane. one. critical things, and of course, i'm only speculating, ed, a loss of engine on takeoff. we don't know the facts and fortunately it appears that the pilot was able to avoid the post office and the walmart. but a twin engine with six people on board, it may have been heaviry loaded and marginal. we've seen this pattern, ed, over and over again. at this time all we can do is express condolences to the

victims and their families, but clearly the board will be sending a team and to assure to be able to-- it sounds like the wreckage is pretty localized so while it probably won't have a recorder of any kind they'll be able to analyze the wreckage and come to some conclusion about whether or not it was mechanical, human or weather related. ed: can you explain about the pattern of losing an engine? it's not something that myself and others in the audience who don't follow in every day, might not understand. what pattern are you referring to? >> well, i have to be a pilot, engine on the wing and when you lose one engine, it becomes a challenge to keep the airplane flying level and straight. of course, the plane wants to turn toward the deaden begin and there are techniques, get the gear up, get the flaps up, get that deaden begin, you've got to feather the propeller to reduce

the drag because it's really a challenge. this is something that you learn as you're going through multi-engine transition training, but -- and your instructor repeats over and over again how quickly you have to respond and of course the other danger is, and sometimes happens, i would have no idea if in happened, that the pilot gets excited, shuts down the good engine and of course, in the delay, bad things can happen quick, ed. so it's a high stress situation that requires very, very appropriate control input to keep the airplane flying. >> real quick, last question mere dr. diehl. the cbs affiliate is reporting five dead. i didn't want to interrupt. we got fresh video in that shows some fire in the area, smoke and a little bit of fire in the distance you may not be able to see it in the distance and i'm

describing it. smoke. and another thing it shows us, it's clear, sort of a slightly cloudy, but not some major storm condition. i checked the weather. it says about 10 a.m. it was about 70 degrees, winds of about 8 miles per hour so it doesn't appear that there was some major storm or anything like that. does that tell you anything? >> it suggests-- remember, ed, we're very early into this. things like wind shear and a loss of visual reference, it appears, will not be a player. so, it may come down to the other two factors, mechanical and human and of course, regrettably we know that-- an aviation siteologist, so a lot of times it does come down to the pilot behavior, but i'm only speculating though and that's why the board will take upwards of a year, probably, to

come to conclusions on this, but they'll leave no stone unturned. ed: absolutely. >> we learn from the accidents, tragic though they are, we learn from them and get the word out to try to prevent future tragedy. >> absolutely. we appreciate you sticking to the facts. we bring this story to our viewers and we appreciate you hopping on the phone at short notice and if there are other details, in the meantime, five killed according to local authorities in this louisiana plane crash. dr. alan diehl, thank you for joining us. >> thank you, ed. ed: in the meantime, a broader look at 2019, a lot happening here and an n i-- abroad. and the fire at notre dame, eight months later we don't know what the future holds for the landmark. will they fix it? a big story. and a way to russia and other foreign power, making sure they

do not compromise our vote in 2020. we're going to look at america's efforts to fight cyber war. in the meantime, joe biden, former vice-president refusing to get in the hot seat. biden saying he would not comply with any subpoena calling on him to appear as a witness in president trump's impeachment trial. top congressional leaders remain at an impasse over the terms of a potential senate trial. several republican senators prefer a speedy acquittal and others want white house aides to come in and testify. and while democrats want all of these witnesses, joe biden who is facing scrutiny from the president over his son's hunter's dealings in ukraine is preemptively taking his name off the list of potential witnesses. our correspondent rich edson is where they're spending the holidays. >> the former vice-president joe biden is clarifying remarks from yesterday, says in his 40 years

of public service, he has always complied with lawful court orders and he's tweeted, quote, but i am just not going to pretend there's any legal basis for republican subpoenas for my testimony in the impeachment trial. that's the point i was making yesterday and i reiterate, this impeachment is about trump's conduct, not mine. biden says that the subpoenas should go to witnesses about what he says, the president's shakedown of the ukraine. and some said they want to br d broaden on the trial and allow for administration of joe biden, his son hunter, his son hunter's time on the board of burisma and in the ukraine. and there's concern especially republicans and democrats are arguing what type of trial could be for impeachment. if you allow the republicans to widen out and allow the bidens and ukraine then you can get exposure for the white house for

the democrats to get their witnesses called. and acting chief of staff and mick mulvaney to testify, former national security advisor john bolton to testify. and this continues as they argue to withhold articles of impeachments from the senate. ed: and navy seals serving alongside ed whwhyy-- eddie gallagher as evil and toxic. he was convicted of posing for a picture with isis fighter's corpse. christina coleman is following this from the west coast news room. >> good afternoon, ed. a video of fellow navy seals talking about it as toxic. this appears 0 to be from the 2017 deployment to iraq in

question. it appears to show chief gallagher and the platoon over a dead fighter who gallagher was accused of killing by some of his fellow seals. >> and one time, multiple times, it's probably two or three times. just like a stab, about right here, just in a few times. >> fox news has not authenticated the video, but appears in this rare break in the military code of silence, navy seals appear nervous as they describe their platoon leader as someone who was willing to kill anybody who was moving and they say he got crazier and crazier. >> the guy got crazier and crazier. thought he'd take a shot at a 12-year-old. >> gallagher was charged with the murder and the death-- was charged with the murder and death of the wounded captive. and then not guilty after a change of story saying he was the one who suffocated the

wounded isis fighter. a jury of combat veterans found him guilty of posing with a human casualty and he was demoted from chief petty officer to first class petty officer. but president trump restored his rank and gallagher notified t t that-- he would be allowed to refire as a seal with full rank in place, and firing of spencer over the ordeal and hosted gallagher at his mar-a-lago estate on christmas eve and gallagher responded to the video through his attorney, calling this blatant lies. ed: thank you. the u.s. economy seems to be clicking on cylinders. it may be good for president trump's reelection, but good tomfor you to look at your 401(k).

with the dow and s&p 500 closing at record highs. good afternoon. >> the american economy appears to be red-hot. and praising the market for reaching high levels and unemployment rate remains low. in november, unemployment for the nation around 3.5%. they're watching shopping data to give them a better idea how consumers feel about the economy. we got a report from master card spending plus, it appears to show that consumers have cash to burn especially online. holiday retail sales increased 3.4% and online shopping was up double digits, some 18% compared to a year ago. the question many are asking, what will 2020 look like? president trump says he's working to sign a phase one

trade agreement with china soon. a federal reserve report said that the trade war and constant caused some job loss in manufacturing. the advisors say relief is coming in the in you year. >> china's pledged to buy 200 million more above the 2017 baseline so looking roughly doubling the amount of ag purchases from 2017. >> now, neither the u.s. or china have released the text of the china trade deal and it's unclear if and when we may see u.s. and chinese leaders meet face-to-face for the signing ceremony. >> thank you. in the meantime, let's bring in democrat democrat democratic strategist jason nichols. >> good to see you, ed. >> i wonder how democrats plan in 2020 to run against an economy that appearance strong for the president? ments as we've seen it hasn't translated in his approval rating. i don't think that americans are necessarily giving him the credit for it.

>> we've seen it pick up. i get that it's still under 50%, but we've seen the approval in the-- >> last time i checked, it was at about 43.5% which is not high and it's probably the lowest approval rating at this point in the presidency, going back to the carter administration. so, i don't think that americans are seeing it that way and i also think that americans are looking at their own situations, whether they are underemployed, whether they're dealing with student loan debt and they're saying we need an alternative even though jobs are out there, it seems like people are working. they're not necessarily feeling this strong economy the way the top 1% is. >> well, let's explore that because pew has a new poll out in the last few days about middle inconnell. 60% of middle income americans say the economy is good or excellent and that would seem to challenge what you just said and to be fair to you, 69% say the economy is helping the wealthy

gets people feeling the rich are getting richer. 32% say the economy is helping the middle class. it may not be some overwhelming majority that believes it's helping the middle class, but 60% say the economy is good or excellent. how is that not good for an incumbent president? >> they're not necessarily connecting it to him. we've seen actually where in happens on both sides of the aisle. when we look at going back to 2010 when we made an incredible recovery and the obama administration added 1.5 million more jobs actually than the trump administration has. people didn't necessarily give obama the credit for that and i think the same-- >> hang on one second you're saying that obama added more jobs over eight years than the trump administration-- >> i said 2010, and i also said, i didn't actually add this, but he added 1.5 million more jobs in the last 32 months of his

administration than trump did. ed: okay. we could talk numbers all day. here is my real question, that's in the past, right. here we are today. >> absolutely. ed: we've got historically low unemployment, right. >> true. >> you've got a jobs market that's strong and a stock market, you could argue just mepg the rich or 401(k)'s and trickling down and wages are coming up that president obama talked about all the time, income inequality that the poor and middle class will not lift up. will you admit that wages under president trump are going up for lower and middle classes. >> i wish i could admit that, but when you look at the real statistics here, nominal wages have gone up. i think it's over 3% according to the bureau of labor statistics, but if you look at real wages, which are adjusted for inflation and cost of living, wages have actually dropped 1.3%. so, i can't necessarily give the president that, or the economy

that right now and this is why the people are not riding high on president trump the way they did for president bush. >> quick on the democratic side looking at 2020. you've made your case there. bernie sanders, there's been stories in recent days maybe the democratic establishment is sleeping on him again, that he's pretty strong, just like in 2016 that he snuck up on people and elizabeth warren said she's a few million dollars short of my fund raising goals. she's' going down in the polls. is sanders, and the policies bigger than the democratic party wants to admit? >> i think he is. he's been consistent, at 20% or thereabouts in all of the either states. elizabeth warren, i wouldn't press the panic button if it were just a fund raising issue or slipping a little in the polls, but the combination of the two is troubling and one

thing that i will say, ed, i think you'll agree with is the medicare for all plan that she rolled out with the fuzzy numbers really did impact her and really did hurt her. the fact that bernie sanders is willing to come forward and say your taxes are going to go up, but your health care costs are going to go down, i think that people appreciate the honest city whereas elizabeth warren won't come out and say that. ed: right, she had a $52 trillion price tag on that and wouldn't admit she'd have to raise taxes. at least bernie sanders has been direct and honest about that. jason, we appreciate you coming in. >> thank you very much, ed. ed: we're weeks away from the first primaries and caucuses and the pentagon is preparing to give miscoscow a dose, and whate military has in the works next. fine, no one leaves the table until your finished.

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>> spotify is now suspending political ads on its platform and the streaming giant releasing a statement saying at this point in time it doesn't have the tools needed to responsibly vet the content. 2020 presidential candidate and rnc are among some of the

advertisers on spotify. spotify joined twitter in banning a political ad ban, and in stark contrast to facebook, it would not check political ads running on its platforms. this week we learn more about ongoing efforts to meddle. and the pentagon is developing cyber warfare tactics to use against top russian officials should moscow try again to interfere with our voting. and from the cyber command, former chief technology officer in the state of new jersey and joins us now. >> thanks for having me, ed. ed: what did russia do, what did president do, the president, not the president. what is russia actually doing now that we should be concerned about? >> so like in 2016 russia absolutely has an interest in sewing discord within the united states during election season, right? that's in their interest, so

they're going to be back, that's known. the difference i think this year we know what's coming, more localized in the federal, state level. >> you say the pentagon is giving russia a dose of its own medicine on cyber command pushing back. >> based on reports it looks like the pentagon, specifically u.s. cyber command with information operations which is essentially what russia did in 2016 and 2018. the difference is the target audience, right? the pentagon is not going after the russian citizenry at large, they're going at discrete decision makers, members of the russian oligarchy, forecast who can actually have an influence on decision making. ed: how would we be going after the russians aggressively. >> it looks like based on reporting they want to essentially prove to them, they can do things that will embarrass them or invade their

privacy. ed: fighting fire with fire. >> yeah, you want to go after what they care about most. so if you can demonstrate to folks at the top, reportedly not putin, that's a little too far, but at the top of the russian cyber apparatus, then you can have an influence on their decision making and ultimately deter their operations. ed: is this more about russian bots going onto facebook and trying to influence the campaign or actually about trying to get in and change votes. going into the state of georgia, the state of new york? >> yeah, it's more about dividing the electorate and kind of sewing discard that way. not so much changing votes. now, there's kind of three legs to the election cyber security stool, if you will. one is protecting voter registration data bases and another is system them systems s the citizenry, the public discourse. they're most interested in the registration data bases and the public discourse and that's where we've seen them integrate

cyber operations with influence operations. ed: here is what our ambassador to russia, john huntsman said recently. >> i think we need to be ever village length every election cycle to that kind of thing playing out and we need to be prepared for it. i don't know that we are. particularly at the local and state level where some of the meddling in the future could take place. that's what i'm concerned about as much as anything. >>. ed: should we be concerned that our ambassador is saying openly i'm not sure we're prepared, broadened beyond russia? should we have concerns about russia, china, korea, other bad actors? >> i think we have to be concerned about everyone. mr. huntsman makes a good point, the federal government is limited what they can do. there's a deterrence fight that they're taking on to russian decision makers, but the folks at the tip of the spear are the state and local officials, with local election in this country.

so it's encouraging to see that steps are taken to train these individuals and harden our voter registration data bases because on election day there will be an incident. it's how to take the electoral infrastructure and fact as a single unit and share information across states and counties. ed: and snuff out whatever might be. appreciate your information today and-- med media covered the now debunked dossier. how many of those claims have been thrown out? and will there be accountability? the inspector general. with tums chewy bites cooling sensation. ♪ tum tu-tu-tum tums

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>> inspector general michael horowitz's report on origin of the russian probe, exhausted

media coverage led by rachel maddow. >> even if this is in itself uncooperat uncooperated-- uncorroborated and it checks oument. the dossier has been increasingly discredited that's not true in terms of the public record of the dossier. >> and one wrote, when small bits of news rose in favor of the dossier, they pumped air into it and when small bits against the dossier, maddow found other topics, she was there for the bunking and not for the debunking. let's bring in an attorney for the trump campaign, good to have you, jenna. >> good to see you, ed. ed: as we head into the campaign deeper and deeper how do you

react, hang on a second, msnbc didn't tell the truth on this story? >> that is exactly why president trump is right to call the mainstream media fake news. this is part of a coordinated disinformation campaign going on since even before he took office, to delegitimize and undermine the trump administration. when the american public looks at the mainstream media, we have to be very, very careful by not just buying what they're saying because they are simply promoting their own rhetoric and propaganda and putting forth their own speculation as fact. this isn't just in the mainstream media, ed. this is the exact thing we saw from testimony from people like sondland and others who were putting in their own as facts in the impeachment hearing. this disinformation goes well beyond the media, it's proliferating now in hearings in congress and this is why so many people on the right and

conservatives who are actually interested in fact and truth, are so frustrated with the media for promoting their own speculation as facts. you're not entitled to your own facts, you're only entitled to your own analysis. analysis and hatred for president trump does not equal impeachment. ed: i know and i know you want to insult them and say fake news. rather than a broad insult, is there more-- >> it's truth, it's fake. you know, fake is a term that actually has mean behind it. ed: no, but i think the question is about accountability in saying you've got this story wrong. has the trump campaign, rather than just insulting engaged with msnbc and says, hang on this story is wrong and we want a correction or something different moving forward? >> right, we'd love to. i've been pitched honestly to msnbc and they won't have many of our people on because they want to withhold the truth. so if anybody from msnbc is

watching we'd love to, and that's why president trump is great on getting his message out on twitter and the campaign will go on any outlets that will have us to push back on this idea. accountability of course has to come from the american people where we can actually look at information and realize this is pure speculation and not believe that, and not continue to promote those ideas and proliferate those on our own news feeds and we could actually look at that with skepticism and say wait a second, what is rachel maddow, what are they promoting and is this truth and fact. for the campaign of course we're pushing back and write op-eds and push them in the media outlets that will let us promote truth and fact. unfortunately for msnbc they don't try to promote the truth.

a-- that's why it's fake news. ed: i got you. >> i've got another question for you, hang on. >> and they'll suppress truth otherwise. ed: pardon me, but bottom line, it's beyond the media, but when you have adam schiff wrote that memo that suggested that everything was fine with the fisa process and when recently asked in an interview whether he's going to apologize or do something to carter page to make up for the fact that he was surveilled, he basically blew it off. what does that tell you? >> absolutely. that just says that there's no accountable for the left. there's so many people that are saying, why aren't we seeing a criminal charges? why aren't we see any sort of action to remove some of these congressmen like adam schiff who have promoted obvious lies who have done things against their oath of office? why aren't we seeing any accountability and hopefully in 2020 the voters will hold congress accountable for their lies and they'll hold the media accountable and i hope, also,

that attorney general barr and, you know, others like the durham report coming out, i think we'll see some accountability, but that's where we have to get back to the legitimacy of law enforcement, where we can, enforce those things in congress and otherwise for the mainstream media of course their accountability comes from the viewers because they have freedom of speech. let's not forget, they're not entitled to their own facts, we need to hold them accountable and we're not tuning in and giving them the ratings they want when they're promoting legitimately fake news. ed: thank you for coming in. >> thanks so much, ed. ed: thank you. >> i just owe so much to him. you know, he was my first boss. he gave me my career. he took a chance on me. ed: that is fox news 24/7 headlines host carly, emotional about the death of don imus. she worked for him years ago at

a production assistant. and shimkus told me he did have controversies along the way. >> he did a good job of owning up to his mistake and it's not something that he hid from. i worked with him much after the fact that that happened and he constantly brought it up because he genuinely felt bad. ed: all right. let's go to our correspondent who has more details on the life and death of don imus. good to see you. >> he was known for controversy as much as the big cowboy hats he used to wear and he never shied away from controversy. his tell it how he sees it style made him a household name across the country. imus revolutionalized talk radio. and his destination for this led him into the hall of fame. and he was one of the most 25

most influential people in america. the same style of controversy led to him losing his job. after he described the rutgers women's basketball team as nappiheaded hoes, one that he regretted up to his death. and connell mcshane shared this last hour. >> did he say a lot of things he shouldn't say, absolutely. did he hurt some people along the way, yeah, he did, but could he also, but was he one of the smartest people i know? absolutely was. and one of the most talented and most importantly, he was one of the most generous, both publicly in the work that he and his wife deirdre did, the imus ranch for kid with cancer in new mexico. >> imus raised millions throughout the year and at

hackensack, it bears his name. he passed away in college station, texas and leaves behind his wife of 25 years and two sons and four daughters. ed. ed: garrett tenney, thank you. families of americans killed in afghanistan now suing contractors, saying that the company paid the taliban for security services which the terror group used to carry out attacks. what this says about our security challenges in the region coming up.

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thank you for coming in. >> what do you think of the merits of this case. >> this case raises questions on both the legal and geopolitically. first legal, those are soon have to establish two things, one of two things at least. one is that the money paid by the companies or contractors, if that money served to buy weapons for these attacks to take place. so that's a very tight argument. the other argument would be that the security arrangements made with the taliban or other jihadists in general terms, have the taliban to attack u.s. targets around afghanistan. so, that will be their argument. the argument of the other side, the defendants, basically we were defending ourselves and no link between our arrangement and the action that took place. we'll see how it plays out in court, actually. ed: it has to be painful for the families who lost loved ones

serving this country and the taliban ends up using this money to fund attacks that result in these deaths when they thought their families were going to be secure. >> you know, ed, the major point is going to be with time now, we'll see it through the court system, was the u.s. command aware of the security arrangements? if they were security companies, one would assume so, but if they were just some companies that have security elements and cut deals with the taliban, any kind of a deal, have the taliban work in the company and paying the tribe, the tribe paying the submarine contractor, that will be the major question at the end of the day. ed: i want to ask you about another story we've been hearing the last couple of days. an attack in nigeria, 11 christians targeted and killed. talk about that case first and then we'll talk about the broader crisis. >> well, let me begin by saying that there is no way to protect every single family, church, christian community across africa or around the world, but

the u.s. should start thinking strategically about these matters because we have a policy. the trump administration backed by the majority of congress and congress they do want to protect the endangered minorities around the world, but it's protection is not going to come from conferences and speeches or humanitarian aid dispensed through churches, that's good, but we need to look practically on the ground and it cannot be universal. it has to be country by country and organization by organization. ed: how do you tackle that? as you study the issue, there are missions persecuted, and particularly the middle east. asia is an area where we're seeing it much more prevalent? >> absolutely, from malaysia to indonesia and pakistan and cases to mali and burkina faso, if

you're allies and they're going to work with the government, if there is chaos in countries in iraq, your it's case by case, not just delivering speeches about it or the principles or ideology. ed: so last question. what do you think is the best strategy for the u.s. going forward? you walked about not just throwing money at the problem. >> first of all, you're going to identify the communities. are they assembled in one geographical place? then you've got to think about protection. if they're dispersed across the country. we send a lot of military aid to the governments they should sligh slice part of it to protect these families. ed: thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. ed: the fate of one of the world's most iconic sites now in question. we look at the delicate work being done to save the notre dame cathedral. what'd we decide on the flyers again?

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>> rescue officials say they found the remains of six people on board a hawaiian tour helicopter. they found the wreckage friday morning on the mountainous area of kawai. they're looking for the body of one more person who was on that

helicopter. there's no indication that anyone survived the crash. meantime the fate of one of the world's most renowned cathedrals built in the 14th century is still unknown. eight months after a major fire devastated notre dame. there were supports around the fragile scaffolding. and the next step is to remove that before 2021. >> it will be out of danger when we take out the remaining scaffolding, there's always a risk. today we figure a 50% chance that it will be saved and also a 50% chance of scaffolding falling on the three vaults. the building is fragile. ed: joining me now a structural engineering, the vice-president the ctl group. rich, appreciate you coming in. >> thanks, ed, a pleasure to be with you. when you hear a 50/50 chance basically that they can save it, what does through your mind? >> well, first of all, i think

you have to understand the special nature of the building and the fire that occurred. following the disaster such as this, after the firefighting and rescue activities are completed the first phase is generally for engineers and contractors to go through and inspect and stabilize the remaining portions of the structure. so they will look at the damaged elements and make a determination whether they're stable, and if there is a risk of further collapse, they will devise a plan for demolition and bracing because obviously during the reconstruction work, you want to avoid further property damages and injury. and given the amount of scaffolding that was president which is reported to be 250 tons of material that's now damaged, it's not surprising there's some uncertainty as to the condition

of the remaining cathedral and schedule of reconstruction. ed: we're showing that scaffolding and a moment ago you may have seen the fire, the dramatic video, such a big story of a few months ago. what is your sense about the next steps? you laid out sort of, go through the scaffolding, you make your assessments, what are the next steps? >> well, the visual portions of the cathedral that most people associate with it, the vaulted ceilings, the walles, the bell towers, those are constructed of stone and that's noncombustable materials and by all reports those elements went through the fire in relatively good condition. the problem was the huge timber-framed roof and the spire, 300 feet above the street which is what most people remember from the fire, the huge timber spire falling down and collapsing, so all of that

material fell down on top of the vaulted ceiling. the scaffolding by and large was located on the roof in the immediate vicinity of that spire. ed: right. >> all of that now is a twisted mass of debris on top. so the next steps are going to be remove the scaffolding, to remove it in such a way that is safe and then to complete this inspection and stablization process which is going to involve having to examine, i would assume both the underside of the vaulted ceiling as well as the top side so it's a lot of work. ed: absolutely. and when we see that dramatic video of the spire coming down, is there just no hope of saving any of that spire? is it just a complete reconstruction or are there pieces of it that you think can be saved? >> well, from all reports, the spire itself was almost completely destroyed. so they may be able to save some remnants, but i imagine the spire is going to be

reconstructed in pretty much its entirety. ed: a lot of history there going back hundreds after years. we appreciate your insight. rich, things for coming in today. that does it for me i'll see you tomorrow on fox and friends. bright at 6 a.m. and right back here at noon. in the meantime, the news continues right here on fox news channel. [music playing] ♪ ♪

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not a cent more. so happy new year, and welcome to the family. the chevy family! the chevy employee discount for everyone ends soon. leland: donald trump sounding off on the homelessness crisis in new york and california. that about of housing and urban development n increased nationwide. welcome to america's news headquarters, the president saying locals can do something about this with the government will. >> new york and california are among the 5 states with the highest homeless population according to the terry the president tweeting california and new york must do something

about their homeless problems, they are setting records. of their governments can't handle a situation which they should be able to do, they must call and politely ask for help, it would be easy with competence. >> reporter: the president has been railing on impeachment and telling the speaker there are bigger problems to take care of in california. the president attacks hinging on new data released by had. planning agencies in the streets for a homeless sensitive the numbers are stark. the homelessness rate up 2.7%, significant increases in california and oregon. in 18 volunteers counted 560,000 people experiencing homelessness nationally. there were a few positive trends, homelessness is down 2% and homelessness among families is down 5%, 29 states and

washington dc reported overall decline rates that negative trends offset those numbers, 21 state-supported increased rates. california shot up by 16%, 21,000 people, that totals more than the increase in every state combined. housing secretary ben carson said drug addiction and high cost of living are major causes but that california has not applied for a waiver to medicare and medicaid dollars for mental illness which could address the problem. >> if you subtract california the rate of homelessness is actually going down and california, 16.4% increase and you have to ask why is that happening? >> reporter: it wasn't just out for you, trump tweeted about new york city's homeless problem. according to the coalition for the homeless, the homeless

levels are the highest since the great depression the 1930s, 62,000 people sleeping in shelters each night, families make up 2 thirds of the homeless population. the president suggested andrew cuomo call him for help. alicia: thanks. leland: we are learning at least 5 people have died when a small plane crashed in lafayette, louisiana. you can see the fire from the wreckage, the local fire chief says one person on board somehow survived and they are at the hospital along with three people on the ground who were hurt in the crash. obviously we are working to get some crews to lafayette, louisiana. for more details from our affiliates, keep you updated as those come in.

alicia: foxbusiness host don imus died friday, he was 79 years old. for nearly half a century the shock jock pushed boundaries while entertaining millions of viewers and listeners. garrett tenney has more on his legacy. >> reporter: controversy was a central part of don imus's journey from a ranch in arizona to become a radio legend. imus in the morning was on for 50 years, one of the first big moment on radio was in california, 1200 hamburgers to go from mcdonald's. he revolutionized shock jock radio and by the 90s was in 100 radio stations, a-list celebrities and politicians flocked to his studio. in 1997, time magazine named imus one of the 25 most influential people in america, invested with the national broadcaster a but he will be remembered for racist comments he made on the air describing the rutgers women's basketball

team as nappy head hos, that resulted in him being fired and carly shimkus said years later those comments still haunted him. >> he did a good job owning up to his mistake. and he constantly brought it up because he genuinely felt bad. >> millions of dollars raised for charity including the imus cattle ranch in new mexico, old western retreat, he and his wife built for kids with cancer. imus announced his retirement in 2018 tweeting turn out the lights, the party is over. he leaves behind his wife, 25 years, two sons and two daughters. leland: so much of his life was a party. we bring in talk radio host josh kimbrell. in a way, imus was interesting

in that he transcended politics and culture in a way that no shock jock ever has. >> he and trump have a similar communication strategy, you don't only report on the issue, you are the issue, you are the story and he did that well and was able to draw people from every walk of life, like listening to locker room conversation of the rich and powerful. leland: that is not how the new york times described it, they said don imus, radio host who pushed boundaries, died in 79, opening line, don imus who tested the limits of shock radio with irreverent attacks on celebrity, politicians, racial and ethnic groups, women, gay people, and practically anyone, died friday. as we look at that, is one of the reasons he was able to get away with so much, he got away

with so much because he was willing to take on anyone? >> if he had picked on one side he would be accused of being a partisan and the other side would pounce on it but when he took off democrats or republicans the next day he ticked off the other side. equal opportunity offender. everybody likes some of what he said, everybody hated some of what he said but millions wasn't to him because he was able to transcend political boundaries, love him or hate him he was the story in and of himself. leland: the famous dinnerware he went after bill and hillary clinton, and in front of his wife, etc.. and that was one of the reasons bill clinton got elected, he endorsed him. >> he later supported john mccain. back to supporting both parties. in 1996 of the correspondents dinner everybody thought that would be the end of his radio career, he had a 20 affiliates

when he attacked him. people see politics as stuffy or uptight. he was the kind of guy that through the grenades in the room and saw where they landed and people loved him for that because people who don't normally pay attention to politics paid attention to him. politicians of both parties knew he would go after them. leland: in crude and personal ways. could don imus in all his crudeness and lack of political correctness be on the air today? >> he cannot start today. he was on the until a few years ago. he would never be able to start today. he came from a different era when people turned a blind eye to some of that by the power of his personality. if you try to start now he would never make it. i don't think the culture would support it now. leland: put him in the same category as howard stern? >> if you look at it, don imus,

people like howard stern, bold and brash because of don imus. leland: interesting insights, appreciate it and join the rest of the time in dc. alicia: donald trump launching a series of attacks as congressional leaders bar over the rules, richardson is with the president as he continues to vacation at mara log oh. >> reporter: the president spent much of his time focusing on the speaker who led the process to impeach him in the house, nancy pelosi suggesting she should face a primary challenge are and deal with homelessness, focusing on impeachment.

before leaving for trump international golf club retweeted some of the sentences and so interesting to see nancy pelosi demanding fairness from mitch mcconnell when she presided over the most unfair hearing in the history of the united states congress. speaker establish that donald trump withheld aid from ukraine to benefit his political position against joe biden. pelosi is withholding articles of impeachment, to allow witness testimony on any impeachment trial, republicans say it amounts to a political charade. >> they ran over it for 21/2 years trying to find something to impeach the president on. she had a duty to transmit the articles of impeachment we voted on and get back to the senate. >> reporter: the president said the impeachment trial should involve an investigation of joe biden and his son. yesterday biden said he would define a subpoena to appear at the president's impeachment

trial now he is tweeting i want to clarify something i said yesterday. in my 40 years of public life i have always complied with a lawful order and in my eight years as ocp unlike donald trump and mike pence, cooperated with legitimate congressional oversight requests. he says it would be more appropriate for those who are familiar with the president's shakedown of ukraine to testify in the president's impeachment trial. alicia: thanks. and for more on the impeachment catch fox news sunday, mike emanuel is in for chris wallace with exclusive interviews with house minority whip steve scalise and ben cardin. check your local listings and tomorrow on media buzz howard kurtz will break down how the press is covering the impeachment effort sunday at 11 am eastern. leland: a good time to take a fact check. we look overseas, growing death toll happening in somalia. a truck bombing in the capital

city has killed more than 120 injured. the latest from the london bureau. >> the bomb went off just as the morning rush hour was in effect. somalis on their way to work. saturday is the first day of work in the week in somalia. effectively our monday and the police say the majority killed in the attack killed on the way to school. there is a nearby university and they were on a bus on their way. one of the deadliest attacks in somalia, hundred people were killed in a similar truck bombing and a lot of people are comparing the two blue somalia's president is one of them. he blamed an extremist group with links to al qaeda for the attack. they were blamed for the 2017 attack.

many experts say this looks like their dirty work. the pentagon has a multimillion dollar bounty out for the leader of shabab, they really struck the group and those airstrikes have been picking up in intensity and troops on the ground, assisting the government. they targeted american soldiers unsuccessfully. what makes it particularly disappointing is somalia has just begun turning a corner, it is improving in some places. the money started to flow into the country. some have begun to return but today's attack reminds us that this is a huge setback and is only the beginning of somalia returning to normal. leland: a lot of problems going

back to the 80s and 90s. alicia: the four american troops injured in a rocket attack friday back on duty, the attack targeted and iraqi base in kirkuk, also killing a civilian us defense contractor. a separate defense official tells fox it is unlikely isis carried out the attack. they have not seen a sophisticated rocket attack. >> eddie gallagher. eddie gallagher was perfectly okay with anyone moving in the new york times, reportedly showed testimony by fellow navy seals earlier this year. gauthier was found not guilty, attempted murder back in july and donald trump got involved in the case. christina coleman has more on this.

>> reporter: videos obtained by the new york times, by saying the accusations are not true. in a statement, he says in part, quote, my first reaction to seeing the video was surprised and discussed, i quickly realized they were scared that the truth would come out how cowardly they acted on deployment. this photo comes from the deployment to iraq in question. appears to show chief gallagher over the body of a dead teenage isis fighter who gallagher was accused of killing by some of his fellow seals. >> one time, multiple times, two different times. >> about right here. nothing other than to attack and kill this person. >> reporter: fox news is not authenticated this video. it shows a rare break in the military code of silence, navy

seals describe gallagher, a veteran of eight combat deployments as toxic, members told investigators they tried to report what they saw but nothing was done about it. gallagher was charged with murder in the death of a wounded captive isis fighter but was found not guilty last summer after corey scott changed his story on the witness stand and said he suffocated the isis fighter. a jury of combat veterans found gallagher guilty of posing with the human casualty. at his court-martial he was demoted from chief petty officer to first-class petty officer, donald trump restored his rank. gallagher was notified last month, it would determine if he would remain a sealed that the president ordered the navy to allow gallagher to retire as a seal with full rank in place which led richard spencer over the ordeal and last tuesday, trump hosted gallagher at his

mara lago estate. leland: a lot of tentacles to the story up to the navy secretary. thank you. alicia: a colorado children's daycare owner and three employees face child abuse and other charges after police discover a fake wall and 2 dozen children crammed in the basement. more coming up.

>> three people that multiple letters wounded, music video being killed in houston neighborhood friday night. the local sheriff says the victims were, quote, ambushed. >> we don't know who was involved in this. alicia: the victim was hispanic males in their early 20s, no suspects have been identified. leland: the baltimore murder rate has reached a record high, 342 people murdered so far this way, 57 murders per 100,000 people. the see's highest murder rate since 1993, one of the highest in the country marks the 50 to

300 murders were reported in baltimore. two weeks ago the part of justice announced operation relentless pursuit, and 6 other cities. >> more than month after authorities found 26,000 people behind a fake wall at the facility. >> i'm completely betrayed, we feel completely betrayed. to trust their children with people and we trust them and hiding all of that. >> carla was arrested monday on suspicion of reckless child abuse without injury and attempt to influence a public servant. three of her employees were arrested on similar charges. for more on this let's bring in police sergeant alan garcia, also the ceo of school violence

solutions. thank you for joining us. how does this hit you? >> shocking. a search engine check with four words, and arrest, hit enter and you will be shocked at what you see for 9 pages of egregious stuff. alicia: in the 90s she ran into a similar problem and was arrested on similar charges at a daycare facility in california. there could have been a surge. she has moved from california to colorado and look like according to authorities do the exact same thing. watch out for their kids when they do this, you have different things that aren't communicating

with each other. >> you hit the nail on the head, the interesting communication needs to be improved when it comes to these agencies. what can people do. if you are a parent of a child, especially a toddler, you are 1000% trusted with their health, welfare, safety and security, you can start right off the bat with the porthole everybody has in their pocket, a smart phone, get on the information superhighway, social media is nothing more than a surveillance camera in places like this, use review apps and when you go on these review apps and start your research don't read so much into the 5-star reviews. look at the one star reviews. there might be one or two that are sour grapes but there is something that gives you a strong suspicion it might be legitimate, dig into that and find out what is going on. alicia: there who were shocked e

they said when you first walked in, this play seems perfect and said they loved it and it looked like, quote, a child's nirvana, almost to children's museum. i would assume if something is this bad there are signs on the outside, do you find that odd that they would cover this up so much? >> she has done this before. she worked on the mistake she made in california 20 years prior. in the human services code if you are an in-home daycare provider and the children you are in charge of are not being assisted or partially assisted under the child care assistance program, state funding, you are exempt from make a little background check, that needs to change.

>> some cracks in the system are surfacing here and in september next year, and and what states have to do. >> you are correct in september 2020 that becomes mandatory but as you know, to get all 50 states on the same playing field and communicating with each other, it will take longer than that. >> the most innocent americans here, you would think there would be more to it. happy new year. leland: david cabrera died in afghanistan in 2011. his family is joining with other families in filing suit against

private contractors. what their case is about when we come back. don't forget to use your vision benefits before they're gone. now in-network with vsp. visionworks. see the difference. (sensethe lack of control when iover my businessai, made me a little intense. but now quickbooks helps me get paid, manage cash flow, and run payroll. and now i'm back on top... with koala kai. (vo) save over 40 hours a month with intuit quickbooks.

>> wall street is feeling optimistic, the stock market is set to hit an all-time high when unemployment is at a 50 year low and wages are rising. is this the greatest economy in us history? mark meredith has more. >> reporter: donald trump says the american economy has never been stronger but the question many people are asking is how long will that strength last? consumers appear to your this holiday shopping season. mastercard spending should retailers saw increased sales especially online with internet sales up double digits. donald trump writing on christmas day, quote, 3.4% from last year, the mix number in us

history, congratulations america. the president's trade advisor says there's plenty to celebrate. >> investment will boom. i am looking at a great year. >> reporter: right before the holidays the white house reached an agreement with china on trade. the language of the deal has not been released to the public and a recent report from the federal reserve shows 2019's constant back and forth overturf has heard american manufacturing. report says manufactures, quote, results indicate tariffs have been a drag on implement and failed to increase output. the president has repeatedly claimed tariffs on effective tool to pressure countries to reach new trade deals and some democratic presidential hopefuls report a lot more work to be done. >> we need to deal with the biggest problem of all in our economy which is people don't

get paid enough. we need a higher minimum wage, paid family leave and support the right to organize, to bargain for better working conditions. >> reporter: congress will have more to say about trade in the near. the fed will have a new trade deal between the us, mexico, and canada, the house approved the deal in time for the christmas holiday. leland: a group of families representing 140 american servicemembers, and they are serving eight international contractors. they say the contractors hired taliban members for security. with that money, later being used by the taliban to fund deadly attacks, this is the complaint filed friday in federal court, the families call the reason the company supported the taliban, quote, simple, saying defendants were large western companies, lucrative businesses in post 9/11 afghanistan and they paid the taliban to refrain from

attacking business interests. joining us is an attorney from wealthy farm gallager which is representing these families. thank you for being with us. are you alleging they hired members of the taliban unknowingly or paid protection money to the taliban? >> these eight corporations systematically paid protection payments to the taliban and so each month they would funnel money to the taliban and totalitarian would use that money to carry out attacks. leland: how clear a line do you have from corporations to the bag men who paid the taliban and from that to the attacks that hurt your clients. >> there are lots of details, and a clear line that corporations knew or should have

known, their money was ending up in the pockets of the very people attacking americans. leland: the people being attacked is not americans working for them on the compounds that were us soldiers. >> we represent 385 americans, 127 goldstar families and what was taking place according to the allegations was money for these corporations would go to the hand of the taliban. leland: david cabrera, a lieutenant colonel had a number of pictures from his family. how did the money work in this case? >> the law treats terrorists in any sense, supporting all their efforts. there doesn't necessarily need to be a clear line from one dollar ending up in the pocket of one terrorist who uses it to kill lieutenant colonel cabrera. what it alleges is upwards of

millions of dollars ended up in the hands of the taliban who then carried out an attack like the suicide bombing against lieutenant colonel cabrera. leland: one of the knocks against you, what happened to these families, the lawyers end up with all the money and families get pennies on the dollar if you prove this case. is there criticism? >> i don't think so. we are offering a contingency fee so we don't get paid unless we are paid in court. what this lawsuit is about is getting some measure of justice for these families and try to hold corporations accountable for the protection payments they were providing. leland: we look at a list of these countries, six us companies overseas including one in south africa, one based in the uk, g4s, one of the largest security firms in the world. what could be the possible payment for this or judgment in this case?

>> we will hopefully let a jury or a judge decide but these families -- leland: these guys are still in business? >> yes they are. leland: have you gotten any response from them? >> know. we filed our complaint on friday but haven't received any formal response from them. leland: you sent a 230 page complaint, you filed it yesterday. how are you proving you ladies protection payments? >> this complaint was filed after a lengthy investigation and we used public documentation, we have confidential sources, us government reports on some of the conduct of these corporations to form the basis of this complaint. if anybody wants to learn more you can go to terrorismcase.com and get more information.

leland: do you guys have any videos or evidence from your confidential informants that gives us more than just testimony that this was happening? >> we have documents that show these payments were being made and even quotes from employees of these organizations. all that will come out in court. >> what are you asking for? >> we want to see what these corporations knew. and that they knew they were created the risk the taliban would use that money to attack american lives. leland: noteworthy that these corporations not only produce the documents that the people too. appreciate it and talk to us as the case goes on. interested in following it. alicia: residents gathering to mourn the victims of a plane crash that killed 50 after taking off on friday. residents gathered to pray and put up their own memorial to the victims, flowers near the

entrance of the airport and several other city landmarks. officials are investigating the cause of the crash. officials are considering technical failure, pilot error and weather conditions as possible causes. 19 people were on board at the time but dozens survived. leland: and oregon woman went missing, what the charges are he is facing as crews work to find it. can my side be firm?

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>> more than 100 people pressing on in the search for allison waterson. she and her boyfriend got separate on a hike last sunday. she was reported missing monday. carlin was arrested on unrelated charges, still in police custody. watterson's parent hope authorities will find her soon. >> we really appreciate all the support we are getting from the community and other resources and want to thank everyone and want us to keep going so we find allison. >> we will do anything to get her home. >> officials are asking anyone with information to call the washington county sheriff's office nonemergency number, 5036290111. that will continue until

december, so cold. leland: some video of the search and we will put up allison's picture for you to look at and one thing we have seen from covering too many of these is often times when the police and fbi have serious questions about somebody the person knew coming in this case the boyfriend they will often arrest them on unrelated charges, hold the menus that to continue to look at the case and also to pressure them to see if they have any information. alicia: talking about misuse of the credit card, a second-degree theft, third-degree theft, unauthorized use of the vehicle and possession of a stolen vehicle. a lot of mysterious thing surrounding this boyfriend but they are not say they have a suspect, they are searching for her and in addition, we talked about 100 volunteers who showed up. authorities didn't want them to help, they needed to keep them

back away from whatever the area becomes, if it is a rescue area they are still not sure. they had trained search and rescue crews out there. when talking about rugged terrain it is more difficult. leland: heavy fog led to a chain reaction crash in texas. video that crash and the aftermath when we come back.

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and keep the public safe. leland: this is the aftermath, two in the hospital after multi-car pile up in texas. state troopers responding to a semi slid across the vehicles, and an suv cut off a third semi. >> several major southern california interstates opening again, and travelers were stranded for hours. the system that brought the heavy rain and snow is moving

east. leland: it is a problem for people going out to work during the new year's. all right. now we move to democracy, 36 days left until the first votes passed in the iowa caucuses and democratic candidates are out in force this weekend. joe biden meeting with voters in tipton, iowa. bernie sanders will speak in new hampshire. where the first primary takes place pl. february 11th and pete buttigieg and elizabeth warren are trying to win support in iowa. buttigieg something in marshalltown in des moines on top of the real clear politics average, warren was also in des moines. leland: in georgia a federal

judge ruled against effort to keep 100,000 names on the voting rolls. a voting at the security group founded by stacy abrams has filed the lawsuit. the group claims a new amendment to georgia state voting law could give inactive voters two more years before their names are heard. abrams refuses to concede her election loss for governor calling the state voting system, quote, rigged. and other federal court announced friday it will formally block a north carolina photo id law set to go into next month until a lawsuit is resolved. the naacp file the suit calling the id requirement biased against poor, black, and latino voters. >> introducing drone technology, molly line shows us how the debate of idea could help take these kids to new heights.

>> reporter: doesn't look like your typical classroom. >> it is really cool because you can do flips and stuff. >> for megan's fifth grade class in west virginia, drones are a regular part of the curriculum. >> little billy is in desperate need of a kidney transplant. they found a living donor now ambulances can transport the organ. >> reporter: there is no textbook. all the lessons, science, technology and math, and written grants by equipment. all to inspire these students and open their minds to different possibilities. >> when i was growing up the expectations, you want to be a teacher, nurse, or secretary. >> i talk about robotics and they say that is not something i would like to do. honestly that is what i thought.

>> reporter: she hopes this encourages her to dream. >> i want her to know it is okay to leave and pursue something that is a little boring to kids in west virginia. >> reporter: they are learning about aviation and unmanned flight and teamwork, problem solving, and things don't always go as planned. >> we will try again. >> reporter: they are not the only ones benefiting. >> the program has a strong effect on the whole school. there is something going on, the kids looking in the windows. >> it helped me with math and stuff. sometimes we do measurements and i already know part of them because we have to do some of it. >> reporter: salter says she tells the kids she is tricking them into learning. one of the main things she wants to carry be on these classroom

walls is they are capable of doing anything. >> i want to let them know there are things out there that they can do. >> china, russia and iran hold naval exercises in the same waters were two oil tankers were attacked this june. we breakdown what this means for us policy in the region with a member of the house armed services committee. can you tell me the story again? every family has their own unique story. give your family the chance to discover theirs this holiday season, with ancestry. this holiday season, it's versus the other guys.eese (cheering) clearly, velveeta melts creamier . . .

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russia, china and iran are now conducting joint naval drills in the indian ocean and gulf of owe man in a show of force that will last four days. exercises including shooting practices and ship rescues. welcome to america's news headquarters from washington. leland: great to have you in dc. it's warmer here than in denver. i'm leland vittert. those countries maintain the drills are he peaceful. the gulf of oman has been a point of tension between the united states and iran after washington blamed tehran for attacking two oil tankers that were there earlier o earl this r this year. with that, we bring in congressman jim banks. we appreciate you being here. thank you. should we take the iranians at their word that this is a peaceful drill to ensure security and safe passage and

goodwill for all? >> we can't afford to. this is a provocative exercise by the axis of evil. iran, allied with the chinese and the russians. now, cep t brettly, none of -- separately, none of those navies could stand to match the american naval forces at all. collectively, they would exceed the u.s. fleet as the three of them come together in a provocative exercise in the region of the world. that should be concerning to us. leland: this is a long way from home for the chinese navy. is this the wake-up call that we've been hearing about coming from the chinese, wanting to be able to project force far, far from their borders? >> really absolutely it is, leland. this is an example of the chinese aligning themselves with a very dangerous actor in iran. now, just yesterday iran was probably responsible for the bombing attack in iraq that claimed the life of an american