last month after the kansas city chiefs mahomes and kelce had their homes broken into. the f.b.i. is investigating the crimes tied to a south american crime syndicate and increasingly targeting professional athletes across the country. they have cautioned players to install security systems and avoid live posting on social media when they are going out of town. the challenge is these players' schedules are very known. keeping those travels private will be a hard thing to do. >> bill: we'll see what comes from it. the first 911 call literally came in at the same time as the kickoff. like 8:15 p.m. that's scheduled on espn. >> dana: it should be a crime that's relatively easy to solve. let's go, guys, let's get it done. get you to this as well.

mysterious drones infiltrate american airspace. what's going on? frustration and anxiety growing over a lack of answers and raising the question are these unmanned aerial systems posing a threat to the u.s. homeland? welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom," i'm dana perino. >> bill: i'm bill hemmer. speaking of easy answers, right? you should know this one. >> dana: you are right. >> bill: these drones are spotted in the skies over new jersey and new york. information on where they are from and who owns them in short supply. the f.b.i. revealing to a house homeland security subcommittee the agency is simply believe it or not, simply in the dark. >> public safety at risk? are we concerned nefarious intentions that could cause national security or public safety incident that would put americans at risk? >> there is nothing that is known that would lead me to say that but we just don't know. that's the concerning part. >> you are telling me we don't

know what the hell these drones are in new jersey? is that correct? >> that's right. >> that's crazy. that's crazy. that's madness that we don't know what these drones are. >> bill: he is not wrong. nate foye living in new jersey for an answer. hello, nate, good morning. >> bill, that's the thing. still there is no answer. the f.b.i. said yesterday they've received more than 3,000 tips and analyzing images that are coming in but after three weeks of near nightly drone appearances in new york and new jersey they still cannot connect it to any individual or group. u.s. drone technology and the limitations of tracking drones and defending against them was a key topic during that hearing on capitol hill yesterday with new york congressman saying it is ridiculous we can't figure this out. >> the american people are looking at us and think we're lying to them because they think how can you possibly not have

answers to drones flying over some of the most critical airspace in the country? >> so today where we are, bill, governor murphy is hosting two briefings with new jersey legislators and mayors. earlier this week remember murphy claimed the drones go dark when you get close to them. this morning one of the state senators invited to today's briefing gave a little more color about how difficult these drones are to track. listen to this. >> when we try to make contact with them they become evasive and illusive. if they are american drones we owe the american people answers or explanations. if they're not american made and not american drones, then i think we owe the american people action. >> it's not just new jersey and new york. drones are flying over our southern border in texas and even the langley air force base in virginia. those were both brought up during that meeting on capitol hill yesterday. back here in new jersey, one congressman chris smith claims

that the coast guard told him a swarm of drones followed a coast guard vessel on patrol in ocean county. a lot of people demanding answers here in the state and across the country. we'll see what comes of these two briefings that are set to start right now behind me. >> bill: we'll listen in. good to have you there in new jersey. >> dana: let's bring in a former special operations intelligence analyst and drone expert. my dad reached out to me yesterday because we go to jersey on the weekends, ocean county and he said what's going on? i will ask brett in the morning . tell my dad what do you think is going on? >> it's difficult to say. it's all speculation. even the u.s. military research facility admitted the drones are not theirs. so that's added to the confusion even more. i've said it before, i've tested a ton of drones over u.s. government installations in partnership with the military before. that type of secrecy is not normal for how we would conduct

business. even if we don't explain what we're doing testing drones and why there would be a lot of coordination of those flights at all level of law enforcement. if anything got out of hand, public hysteria like in operation we would shut it down. and now more reports of drones flying over philly. if it is a u.s. government conspiracy or adversarial drones flying, i'm more concerned about the lack of transparency on behalf of our federal government and their inability to want to alleviate the public's concerns at all. all they're saying is it is being investigated. that's unacceptable. local government officials need to stop saying there is no known threat unless they know that. a disservice to the american people rightfully concerned. i know firsthand the damage that drones can do. even if the drones fly over a site for just a few minutes and do flips and disappear in the middle of the night the damage is already done. most people don't know how much intelligence data can be

collected with censors attached to the drones in a short flight. asme owe realizing more and more our law enforcement doesn't know the rules of engagement for monitoring and downing rogue drones over the u.s. the average official who couldn't tell you who is in charge of that. different agency equities and faa is in charge of the confusion. it is their issue. they've ham strung law enforcement agencies and drone community for years. look at what just happened recently with the secret service, they didn't even employ basic counter drone technology prior to the trump assassination attempt and one reason the president took the bullet. do you think new jersey police department, state patrol will have the proper systems in place to monitor this if the secret service doesn't? our infrastructure is not set up to counter these emerging threats we face now. >> bill: excellent answer. >> dana: i'm not sure it made my dad feel better.

>> bill: the story several months ago chinese operations flying over our military bases in certain parts of the country on the east coast and then that word got out. i'm not saying this is what that is. give a listen to chad pergram asking mike johnson about something else. watch. >> we're concerned about drones and all these new technologies and what it might mean for national security and safety of the american citizens. i'm looking forward to the outcome of the hearing and if we don't get the necessary answers there, we'll dig deeper and go to the classified level. >> you thought these might be dark programs? >> i don't -- i hope not. i don't believe so. but there is a lot of investigation going on. >> bill: define a dark program and think about what's happening in ukraine and some people, musk talking about the future of warfare should be unmanned and done by way of drone. it might be a pretty simple explanation that they are in the development phase and doing it in places like new jersey.

>> it could be. dark programs essentially are, you know, what we call red selling where we are just testing our own infrastructure and national security might be flying drones over a military base to see how they may be able to stop that internally. overseas, this is not a difficult thing to do. i can take a drone right now, fly it over to china, drop a bunch of drones from it. extend the range. there is a lot of different communications like starlink to do this. to the drone community it is easy, not difficult. they don't have to be sitting in new jersey flying the drones if we're speculating this is a foreign adversary. we are even seeing ukrainians right now put drones on boats, launch them from boats in the ocean and that's interesting to me because it extends the distance and people are talking about some of these sightings being on the coast. overall, frankly, this is not an unsolvable problem.

these drones are not undetectable. easy to figure oust if proper experts. we have monitor and track -- every drone has a unique fingerprint and transmits a signal. they tell a story. a ton of counter measures we can use. you can layer tactical strategic counter drone radar systems, jam the frequencies and take control of the drone. we have the ability for drones to strike other midair. directed energy systems that can fry a drone in the air. we have archaic law and faa constantly concerned about affecting airline communications. that is old school. what is happening overseas these foreign countries are light years ahead of u.s. drone technology and we're set back ten years behind china and russia. it is nothing for china or russia to send a drone over our

airspace quickly and poke holes in our national security infrastructure and we're seeing our military bases, sensitive sights being probed. a cap in the administration where there is transition. a perfect time to do something and it is -- we just have to get a handle on it. our infrastructure needs a complete overhaul to put money into this. the f.b.i. said they only have $5 hundred thousand budget for counter drone technology. that's ridiculous. it costs 200 to $300 for a manned portable system and you need multiple systems. >> bill: we'll see what comes from the hearings today. talk soon, brett as the mystery continues. you have family and friends shocked by the arrest of luigi mangione in connection with the murder of united healthcare ceo brian thompson. questions swirling over how the ivy league graduate from a wealthy background became a prime suspect in a brazen

assassination. alexis mcadams has more details. >> i think the reason so many people are captured by this crime story is because you have to look at this kid. he looks like he had it all on paper. ivy league grad, came from a big italian family in the baltimore area affluent. the valedictorian of his high school class. walking up to give his speech and went on to u penn. one of the best universities in the country and graduated with two degrees, a masters in engineering. something changed. he is now accused of shooting and killing bryan thompson. looking at jail team. he caused a scene into court yesterday. watch this. mangione's high school classmates tell us this is not the guy they grew up with. >> it's like a different person

that we're seeing in all the headlines and the yelling and the arraignment. he is -- something has happened in the last eight years. back when i knew him he was nice and polite and driven. >> after college he moved to california for a tech job, then out to honolulu, hawaii. he used to play soccer, very active according to friends and used to post about exercising. how important it was to mental health. at some point he had back surgery and a bad spinal injury. according to friends the pain was so bad he would be bedridden for days in hawaii. investigators posted the picture of an x-ray on his twitter account shows screws in his lower back. that could be a big part of the motive. he said he was in constant pain. investigators combing through a manifesto he had with him in the backpack and linked to the uni- bomber. he might have been inspired by ted kuznetsova. in this manifesto he talked

about the uni bomber. they recently read the manifesto at a book club. >> i proposed we read kind of half joke but read the uni bomber manifesto. we had a normal discussion and debate around it. nothing that stood out at the time. no anger or special affinity towards it. just thought provoking discussion. >> thought provoking discussion about the unabomber in a book club. that manifesto has details in it. the f.b.i. is working to get him back to new york city to face the charges. >> dana: i heard why it will take so long. seems ridiculous. >> his lawyer that is representing him, if he is hired by his family. they won't stay. they want him to stay in pennsylvania for forgery charges. >> dana: pennsylvania, let's be serious here. the lawyer also said people are

reaching out to his office wanting to pay. watch here. >> we've seen reports earlier that there was, you know, people were inundating you with offers to help pay for his legal bills. is that accurate? >> i -- i have received some emails. i have not seen them personally. my understanding from my staff people are doing that. >> people are reaching out to you and offering to help pay for his legal bills. >> that's correct. >> dana: i guess we see where it goes from here. that's mangione's attorney. >> also could be that he took this case on and doesn't want to say to get in the headlines. the biggest case in the country crime-wise. he wanted to put his name out there. who knows what it is. he said he had not been in contact with his family at all. he went off the grid and reported missing by his mom. we'll see. >> bill: see if we get more today. it captured the attention of a

lot of people in this country. thank you. to the hill he go now. antony blinken is on capitol hill giving long-awaited testimony on the botched withdrawal from afghanistan. goes back to august of 2021. back in september the house foreign affairs committee voted to recommend blinken be held in contempt after a stalemate over his appearance before that panel. his testimony today comes less than six weeks after leaving the post. we'll bring you the latest from the hearing as it comes in. mike mccaul, the republican from texas right there. >> dana: the man accused of trying to assassinate donald trump at a florida golf course scheduled to be in court in a few minutes. what we expect to learn. >> bill: some trump cabinet nominees are back making the rounds on the hill yet again. key lawmakers they are trying to sway and make their case. >> dana: the new cpi report shows inflation is not going away. why is president biden still taking a victory lap on the

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>> bill: they're making the rounds on the hill. pete hegseth, our former colleague and nominee to lead the department of defense. he is going in with a meeting with senator susan collins right now. i saw his schedule earlier. i think he has at least half a dozen meetings today. >> dana: he is tireless. >> bill: that continues. he will make his case as you heard on hannity the other night. he said these meetings are very interesting because the advise and consent process is revealing. the senators tell him what they are interested in and what priorities are and he has a chance to say how he would

manage it. those meetings continue on the hill and share that with you at 21 minutes past the hour. americans still feeling the pain of inflation according to the new numbers out today. data showing overall prices are up 2.7% since last year. that number is a bigger increase than what we saw in the month prior. ceo of strategic wealth partners is back with us today. hello to you, mark. varney must be missing you. we'll steal you for the moment. are we doing better? what's better and what's not price-wise? >> we made a heck of a lot of progress. inflation has come down but it is stubbornly now high. it is not getting any lower for four straight months we've seen from a month over month standpoint core cpi come in at 0.3%. twice the fed as mandate of 2% annually. sticking points are housing, used cars, healthcare. those are all the stickier components of inflation. >> dana: what about food?

>> an issue as well. it has moderated a bit. some of the stickier issues gives me concern we'll be stuck in this situation for a little longer than we would like and according to strategic research whenever inflation exceeds 6%, we were up to 9.1%, an 85% chance of a second wave of inflation. i'm more concerned about a year from today. it would have nothing to do with president trump's policies but rather the second wave of president biden's policies that could potentially hurt us even more. >> bill: one quick note on this. gasoline national is about $3 a gallon. i think it will go lower, that will be good for all of us. >> dana: biden, they've changed their tune a little bit in terms of spinning the legacy by saying that the u.s. economy compared to the rest of the world is so great and who wouldn't want that, right? here is him yesterday trying to burnish his legacy. >> harris: president-elect trump is receiving the strongest economy in modern history, the

envy of the world. i will say something outrageous, i don't know anybody that would change their economy with ours. can you think of one? i want to trade? >> dana: he is mixing a couple of different things there. when it comes to the biden legacy, not great. what can president trump do immediately to deal with the inflation issue? is there anything? >> first of all drill baby drill, right? as we get, you know, as we can bring down gasoline prices it will flow through to every potential inflation source. that's the number one thing. president biden's claims about being the strongest economy ever. the best barometer to measure the consumer, the quality of life would be real wages. that's how much you make minus inflation. when president trump was in office, real wages were up 9.65%. since president biden came into office, they are down 1.3%. so quality of life improved in

the four years president trump was in office and it has deteriorated since biden took office. so the claim is bogus. >> bill: politicians love to give away free stuff and apparently here in the state of new york they're doing just that. our governor hochul has proposed giving away $3 hundred. here is what the journal says. the congestion tax kathy wants your vote. after raising taxes she wants to send checks to voters. there is no end in new york to this, is there? >> there really is. >> bill: they never go the other way. >> they haven't learned their lessons. one of the reasons we have such sky high inflation was all the fiscal spending throughout covid. now this is basically the equivalent of saying we have a fire to put out. let's get everyone free gasoline. it doesn't work. it will add to inflation. and look, when you look at what's happened, you know, throughout biden's term, all the fiscal spending that we saw was

consistent. the deficit that we were running was consistent with a seven plus% unemployment rate while the unemployment rate was below 4%. it was reckless and it is what caused inflation to go as high as it did. this is just another form of inflation. >> dana: mark, great to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> bill: you choose to come to this city, by the way. >> dana: we love having you. thank you for coming in. >> bill: all right. senator kennedy. >> you think you are more virtuous than the american people, don't you, general? >> senator, i am insulted by your comment. involving the military in an issue like mass deportation would erode public trust in the military. >> dana: fireworks at a senate hearing on the border. democrats attempt to push back against trump's mass deportation plan. we heard john kennedy. you will get to see him with us next. plus a california county voting the strengthen its sanctuary

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>> here is the democrats' plan. take the 13 million plus illegals who are here taking jobs from americans, taking wages down, taking healthcare benefits, and bring them here legally so that they can continue to drive down wages, flood the labor force, and suppress all of the above. >> you can't flood the labor force if they're already part of it. >> they are flooding the labor force now. that's what is happening now. >> i want to read you what you said make sure i'm accurate. here is what you said. president trump is not like any sane leader. >> senator, i'm happy to discuss my personal perspective with you separately at any time. that's not the purpose of the hearing today. >> you think you are smarter than the american people, don't you? >> absolutely not. i'm here to discuss the use of the military as part of this

mass deportation. >> dana: senate hearing on president-elect trump's plan to deport millions of illegal immigrants turned heated yesterday. my next guest was there. "the new york times" this morning has the headline. recent immigration surge has been largest in u.s. history. under president biden more than 2 million immigrants per year have entered government data shows. if you read into the article it says the most since something in the 1800s, i can't remember the exact year. president-elect trump said he was going to do mass deportations. voters decided he should be the president and that is going forward. at the hearing yesterday what were you trying to get at? what was the answer you were looking for? >> i was hoping to see some sanity. i didn't. it was a democratic hearing, dana. senator durbin called the hearing so there were mostly democratic witnesses. as best i can tell, most of the

democratic witnesses majored in online activism with a minor in puberty blockers, all from the moonbeam wing of the democratic party. they all believe in open borders. they all believe that vetting people at the border is racist. most americans don't. and they all see allowing people to come into our country illegally and stay through a political lens. they think it will mean more votes for them. it is a very cynical way to run government. >> dana: what was the issue in regards to what the general manner was talking about utilizing the military? was senator durbin putting the witness there to say that should not happen? >> well, the scenario that senator durbin is trying to promote is that president trump

is going to call out all of our troops, including bringing troops from overseas and implement on day one a mass deportation. it is a huge overstatement. now president trump is going to enforce the law. the law says very clearly that illegal immigration is illegal, duh. and he is going to enforce the law and i think most americans want him to. but these activists, they just don't believe in having a border. they just don't. they think that you are a racist if you believe in enforcing the border laws. >> dana: victims also got a say yesterday. patty morin is the mother of the late rachel morin who was killed by an illegal im grant. watch her here. >> i think deportation is necessary. the american people should not

feel afraid to live in their own homes. you should put american citizens first. we are the ones that pay your paycheck. we are the ones that pay taxes. >> dana: we want to pay attention to her. ask you about one other issue. i read this article twice. it was hard to understand. president biden is vowing to veto a bill that would expand u.s. judiciary after trump's win and this is what the white house statement says that the bill would create new judgeships in state where senators have thought to hold open judicial vacancies. those efforts suggest a concerns about judicial economy and caseload are not the true motivating force behind passage of this bill now. what is happening? >> for four years i have watched president biden push on a door that is clearly marked pull. this is just another example of

his administration's soul crushing incompetence. we need more federal judges. it is very expensive to litigate when your case takes four years to go to court. it becomes two and three times as expensive. it is a bipartisan bill but president biden and his team don't want to allow it to become law simply because a republican administration would get to appoint some of the judges. it is the last spasm of a lame duck. a cynical spasm by the president and his people. i wish they wouldn't do it. i wish they would put the country first. i think it is going to happen and i wouldn't bet you a soda and a nice cap that they will back down unfortunately. >> dana: i think that's probably right but they will also complain about the backlog of cases as well and try to blame it on republicans.

senator kennedy, thank you. have a good day and keep us posted. >> dana, i hope you are getting some work out of hemmer. >> dana: he is working. >> bill: just watch him like a hawk. >> bill: you got it, santa, right here. >> dana: thanks, senator. >> bill: merry christmas, thank you, senator. okay. well, didn't expect that. >> dana: called you up. >> bill: what's up with that. caitlin clark named times athlete of the year. hello, iowa. 22, wrapped an historic year captivating fans. followed by a record shattering rookie season with the indiana fever. clark is the first wnba rookie to record two triple doubles. we could go on. >> dana: i'm happy for her but confused by the photograph. the cover, i don't understand is that a bag?

>> bill: it's a basketball. >> dana: how did they get a shot like that. >> bill: they take the shot repeatedly and a fan blows off her left ear and continue to bounce the ball until they get the exact right shot. >> dana: congratulations to her. >> bill: that would be my guest. senator kennedy, merry christmas. let's move on. >> wish we could get inside his head. we're getting that a little bit but a lot we would like to learn about. >> dana: we're learning a lot more about the man accused of gunning down the united healthcare ceo including new details from some of the people who grew up with him. lio and your retirement money? the smart investor has their money in a guaranteed product that goes up with the market. their gains lock in, and when the market goes down, they don't lose money. forward with their money, never backward. and we do it for our clients every day. if you have at least $100,000 to invest, get your investor's guide and see if it's right for you.

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>> bill: with the fall of assad over the weekend in syria the idf striking numerous targets inside syria far and wide after the downfall of the assad

regime. now with new leadership. our chief foreign correspondent trey yengst live in damascus. trey, good to see you there. nightfall or pretty close to it. you made it in today. what was the trip like and what did you see and what are your observations where that country is now? >> bill, good morning. today we were among the first western journalists to enter syria from the north and got a firsthand look at many of the cities where the heart of the battle took place between the assad regime and these rebel forces that just took over all of syria. they are now in control of the capital city of damascus but the journey here was quite specific when you look at how these rebels went city by city to take over the territory along the main highway to get here, you see these regime tanks on the side of the road. some of them abandoned. others hit by the rebel forces. as we continue to work our way toward the capital of damascus, we saw hundreds of these rebel

forces along the sides of the road, some resting, others in pickup trucks and stopped to talk to them about what the battle was like and got new insight into what took place during that rapid 11-daylight evening offensive. i asked them about influence from iran and hezbollah and asked them about the american administration and president-elect trump. answers were quite surprising. when they spoke about the region they wanted to stop with syria. they had no interest to fight israel. they wanted to stay here and protect the country and give freedom to the syrian people and spoke about the american administration. the rebels armed still in military fatigues talking about the president-elect saying they are looking forward to working with the americans and so the message they are trying to deliver is that this is a new syria. that was a message we didn't only receive from rebel forces we spoke with on our way to the capital city of damascus, a 6-hour drive from the border but the civilian population. we met one man, a grandfather

holding his grandson and told us he wanted to show the family home to his grandson for the first time because they had been displaced because the regime forces were controlling their city. so it is a country that is filled with emotion right now. with elation. we have seen people tearing down posters of bashar al-assad. people are waiting to see what will come next. an organization in control of syria right now that is designated by the u.s. government as a terror organization. but again those rebels say this is different this time around. >> bill: remarkable stuff. we'll see in the end if they are correct on that point. trey, good to see you there. very much looking forward to your observations and your reporting in the days and possibly weeks to come. thank you, trey yengst, damascus. dana. >> dana: the man accused of trying to assassinate president-elect trump at his florida golf course is back in a federal courtroom this hour. danamarie mcnicholl is outside

of court in florida. what can we expect today? >> dana, those attorneys are asking for a delay because of how much digital evidence they have to comb through. public defenders say the current trial date set for february 10th is rushed especially since the man faces life in prison if couldn't guilty on the attempted assassination charge. they say the digital evidence includes 3,000 photos, lots of data, five phones. multiple computers and tablets in addition to travel records and lab reports. prosecutors say they aren't opposed to a delay but pushing it to december is unreasonable. they claim a delay gives ruth more time to influence the jury pool since he has been communicating regularly with the media. ruth is currently in federal court. he has pleaded guilty to the five charges against him, dana. >> dana: danamarie, keep us posted.

>> bill: what do you expect from this, kerri? seems like it is moving super slow, which isn't normal for a place like florida. good morning. >> we got good updates from the government and their filing. the stuff we'll continue to hear today. 18 phones, 17 of which are ruth's. a passport with multiple entries. this was interesting, bill, they have dozens of pages, handwritten notes from ruth with names and numbers of people overseas, the government says they have been tracking his movements and tried to put together a picture to understand how much of a threat he is and was and if he was working with anyone. the government has opposed a significant delay until december. they said some delay is fine but they said this is not a multi-year fraud scheme or rico scheme. the defense lawyers should be able to have enough time to look through what ruth has and ruth in a recorded conversation just a couple of months ago was -- he

said that he wanted to influence people by delaying this trial because he wanted to be seen as an honorable figure. in his own words he is saying he wants the delay to basically court public sympathy. it is no wonder the government is saying no, no, a small delay is reasonable. he is acting in bad faith and all his stuff. we can come to an agreement on this. >> bill: how many phones did he have? >> 18, 17 of which were his. >> bill: ridiculous. that's one point. and communications with that overseas. >> dozens of pages of names and numbers of people. >> bill: leads me to my question. the assassin in butler, pennsylvania he was communicating with people overseas. i don't know if that story hit a dead end. are we to suggest in any way that these two are connected? >> certainly worth pursuing.

the government is doing that. we don't know anything more about the butler shooter which i find shocking at this point. how little we know. we do actually know more about ruth but it was clear to me reading the government's filing that they have been working pretty hard at trying to assess the big picture of what ruth was up to. i would imagine they're doing the same thing with the butler shooter as well. >> bill: kerri, thanks for hopping on. when we get more we'll give it to our viewers when that happens. happening now in florida. nice to see you. let's get to this now. roll it. >> we need somebody to be here to help us. we have people here in the motel that do not have homes. their complete home was washed down the river. and most of us here do not have a place to live right now. >> dana: the gift of shelter. a nonprofit group making a difference donating campers to homeless survivors of hurricane helene.

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>> bill: so a blaze known as the

franklin fire causing big problems in malibu, california. threatening 18,000 people forcing many to get out. it's also left tens of thousands without power and william la jeunesse told us an hour ago the place is shut down for good reason. crews up against strong winds, low humidity. we'll keep you updated on the story as it is developing quickly in california. >> dana: residents of north carolina who lost their homes during hurricane helene are getting the ultimate gift this holiday season. operation helo, a nonprofit organizations providing campers to dozens of displaced family to help them survive the winter. madison scarpino is live from north carolina as we pledged not to forget these folks. this nonprofit really stepped up. >> exactly, dana. the damage is still catastrophic in parts of the region. nearly three months after helene. over 100,000 homes are

destroyed. people are still living in tents. but operatio back to livinghilo yesterday delivering the camper for sharon and darrell. the couple has been living with their son out of state ever since helene destroyed their home of 20 years. they will soon return to their north carolina property and will live in that camper. they are waiting to hear if their house is a total loss or not and were overwhelmed with emotion about all of this. >> the trailer is going to be -- i can't tell you how much it is going to help us. seeing all the goodness come from all around the country is overwhelming and so heartening. it is so -- it fills you with such -- positivity and --

>> so far operation hilo has delivered 160 campers across western north carolina. this is last week. a convoy of campers on the way to give hundreds of people shelter who lost nearly everything. >> we're in the mountains so people have livestock. they have farms. this is how people -- this is their way of life. it is important those people get back to their communities to be able to sustain their livelihood and family farms. i wouldn't want to live in a hotel two hours away. i'm sure all these people don't like it much either. >> thousands of people in north carolina have been living in hotels for months. fema hotel room payments for survivors was supposed to end this week but it has been extended to january 11th because the need is just not going away. again, dana, nearly 160 campers delivered so far. operation hilo is delivering another one to a veteran and keep on making deliveries as long as the donations keep

coming in. >> dana: you are on the ground there. what else do you think people need right now? >> the number one priority, of course, is housing, shelter, generators for heat. but we were just here in the county at the huge sporting complex where all the kids go to play their sports and that is completely leveled. there will be no sports for kids the county doesn't think. it is also just community activity things like that. the number one thing they need right now is the funding. >> dana: right, madison, thank you for being there for us and representing fox so well down there. thanks for the story and thank you to operation hilo. >> bill: well done. the story is not going away. check this out. christmas coming to las vegas early. the sphere and super cool. that is like the biggest thing ever. >> dana: that's a cool thing. i have to see it one day. harris faulkner will take you through the next hour. here she is. >> h