♪ >> merry christmas, everybody. >> all right. all right, and thank you. gavin degraw. that was amazing. it's been a terrific day. and i think the kids, did you have fun? >> yeah! we had a great time. >> hitting that button was the best. i think we had 20 hands on that thing. you guys want to hit it again? go for it. hit it again. >> dana: yes there we go. tyrus, do you want to hit it? >> tyrus: i want to turn on the button. bugar. >> jesse: merry christmas, everybody. we love you. >> dana: thank you, gavin. >> judge jeanine: bye. ♪ ♪ >> good evening, welcome to washington, i'm mike emanuel in for bret baier. does the speaker of the house have job security?

a look at republican dissatisfaction with mike johnson. a nationwide ground stop by one major airline in winter weather lead to travel tree vales on christmas eve and bret baier looks at how, image and likeness has changed college sports. >> mike: breaking tonight president-elect trump condemning yesterday's mass commutation for federal inmates he calls the recipients 37 of the worst killers in our country. senior national correspondents rich edson starts us off tonight from new york. good evening, rich. >> rich: good evening, mike. just another area where president-elect trump is promising a major shift from the biden administration this morning trump posted as soon as i'm inaugurated i will direct the department of justice to vigorously pursue the death penalty and protect families from violent rapists, murders and monsters. we will be a nation of law and order again. yesterday president biden announced he was commuting all but three federal inmates death

row sentences to life in prison. biden says is he more convinced than ever the u.s. must stop the death penalty at the federal level. with less than four weeks from inauguration day. the trump transition is promising significant changes on day one. what usually culminates in the newly sworn in president signing a series of executive orders. >> he will use the power of his pen to deliver on many of the promises he made to the american people on the campaign trail to secure the southern border. to fast track permits for fracking, for drilling and also take executive action to stop some of the transgender insanity that we have seen take over this country. >> left says trump bowers is examining executive actions how the new administration can shut down the border and launch a massive deportation. expected to sign orders to give immigration officers more authority to make arrests, send more troops to the southern border and resume border wall construction. trump is has also stressed he

wants u.s. control of the panama canal and greenland. those governments have largely rejected the premise. mike? >> mike: rich edson starting us off live in new york. thank you very much. president-elect trump has promised to drill baby, drill, once he returns to office. tonight correspondent dan springer looks at how the energy business is gearing up for a revival under the new administration. >> we're going to drill, baby, drill. >> it was a promise heard daily from former president donald trump on the campaign trail. come january, america's oil and gas will be back in favor. but there will be pushback. >> some may seek to deny or delay the clean energy revolution that's underway in america. but nobody -- nobody can reverse it. >> but reversing the biden energy policy is exactly what many are expecting from executive orders, walling off drilling on millions of acres of federally owned land and waters to a ban on issuing new permits to export national guard. natural gas -- actiontaken immeg

reduction in energy prices including electricity. the voters, the american people are going to say look, trump did exactly what he told us he was going to do. and frankly we like the results of that. >> the american petroleum institute's road map includes repealing tail pipe rules and electric vehicle mandates as well as restrictive leasing rules and fees on meth theme and reforming the permitting system. >> the vast majority of our country, republicans, independents know we have a broken federal permitting system. know it gets gamed by lower 48 groups that sue at the last minute, to delay things,. >> alaska senator dan sullivan says the biden administration took 67 actions targeting energy production in his state. he wants 2rur7 to unlock the national petroleum reserve and artic national wildlife refuge there will be legal fights. >> we need to stop locking future generations into decades more dependence on the fossil

fuels that are driving the climate crisis. >> the natural resources defense counsel is gearing up for a second round against a trump administration claiming it sued the first one on average once every 10 days over those four years, winning 90% of the time. so the amount and pace of change on energy policy will largely be sorted out in the courts. mike? >> mike: dan springer in seattle, thanks a lot. former president bill clinton is out of the hospital tonight, a spokesman says the 78-year-old was discharged from georgetown university hospital after staying overnight. he is being treated for the flu. the spokesman says mr. clinton was touched by the kind messages and well-wishes he received. there are growing questions tonight about warehouse speak mike johnson will keep his gavel in the new congress. many republicans were unhappy with how johnson handled last week's effort to keep the government funded ahead of a shutdown deadline. senior national correspondent aishah hasnie has details tonight, good evening, aishah. >> mike, good evening to you. we could see the speaker try to

cut some deals in order to secure the votes, because, when congress left town last week, he did not have them. we are looking at a very slim 219 to 215 g.o.p. majority next year, which means mike johnson can only afford it lose one republican. johnson currently has the support of the president elect. but, remember, 38 house republicans bucked trump over that government funding bill last week. so, there is really no guarantee that they would all just five fall in line on a speaker's vote. right now congressman thomas massie is a no. he says he will vote for someone else. congresswoman victoria sparks says she is undecided and house freedom caucus chairman andy harris is undecided as well. he could actually open the door to other freedom caucus members revolting as well. massi tells us there are others. >> i have talked to a few, you know, few who don't seem like they are going to vote for him. you have to ask them. i'm not going to betray

anybody's position. >> will you vote present or vote for somebody elms. >> i will vote somebody else. >> there are plenty of republicans who don't like this. they worry that the speaker drama could upend the president's agenda. >> the american people gave him a mandate. we need to back president trump and if president trump is going to back johnson, i'm sure that he will be the speaker. >> and, remember, democrats saved johnson in the spring when marjorie taylor greene filed a motion to vacate. but the politics have since changed, especially in the last week, mike. leader hakeem jeffries says there will be no democrats to save johnson this time around. we'll be watching it. mike? >> mike: we will follow it all. aishah hasnie in d.c. aishah, many thanks. learning more tonight about the illegal immigrant from guatemala charged with murder on the gruesome death of a woman on a subway train. correspondent alexis mcadams reports this evening from new york. >> this is especially coming in the news right now for so many

people came to new york city for the holiday season, they are hearing about this horrible story. we are talking about a migrant accused of lights a woman on fire and watching her burn alive. he was in court this afternoon. we have some new photos of that. e murder and arson. the judge sitting in brooklyn hearing those charges after investigators say he used a lighter to start this woman on fire and watched it while she slept on a new york city subway. authorities have not yet identified her. she appears to be homeless. but the reason it's taking a while, mike, because investigators say she was so badly burned so it's been difficult to id her. hours after police say this all happened. kathy hochul posting this on social media. saying that the subway is safe. saying crime is down. people don't feel that way in the subway system no matter what the stats say. trump's new border czar slamming sanctuary policies that he says are leading to migrant crime. >> you know, you think about this, this illegal alien that

burned this young lady alive, he probably had a free hotel room, three squares a day, gets a free hm card. gets free medical attention compliments of the biden administration. this young homeless person doesn't have anything and died a horrendous death. >> zapeta is from guatemala. the 33-year-old was in the country illegally. listen to this, crossing in at least two times. he was deported back to guatemala in 2018 but he came back again. so, we're keeping an eye on that. police say the address that zapeta gave was to an addiction center in new york city. that's coming as the "new york post" is reporting that he often smoked k 2. that synthetic marijuana that can pretty much be sprayed with anything. s man who says he stayed at the shelter drink, smoke and, quote. lose it. zapeta remains in custody and he will be back in court again soon. we will keep an eye on it, mike. >> mike: alexis mcadams live in new york, thank you very much. state and local officials are taking actions to address the

mysterious drone sightings in the northeast and elsewhere. one working group has been established as authorities express increasing frustration with the lack of information from the federal government. correspondent nate foy is in jersey city tonight. good evening, nate. >> nate: hey, mike. good evening. new jersey state police say reported drone sightings are down to just one per night over the past several nights, which is down significantly from about 150 per night just a short time ago. one of the reasons why is residents are now using an app. that helps them discern the difference between drones and planes. now you,s a the mystery continues, collaboration sin creasing with a meeting happening last friday at rutgers university. new jersey state police hosted 20 law enforcement agencies from various states and canada to discuss how best to deal with drone threats in the future. >> i think what we were pry trying to do is put, again, law enforcement executives heads together to see that we can't -- we have to operate on a standard

platform and protocols from the reporting from, what we're looking for for authorities to detect and mitigate drones. here is the thing colonel patrick callahan tells fox unless congress passes law to increase state authority, the power to take drones down lies with federal authorities. >> if you are trying to get that authority or approval in short order with, you know, events like the world cup coming in the summer, you know, we need to have that -- those guidelines and criteria mapped out long before a large scale event. >> this mystery has now touched 11 states from california to new jersey and new york where temporary flight restrictions remain in place over critical infrastructure. right now, take a look. more than 50 sights are protected. restrictions are set to expire in the middle of next month. but the nypd is pushing for them to become permanent. so, both the nypd and new jersey

state police tell fox that they are no closer to solving this mystery than they were in the middle of last month when this all started. and state and federal authorities continue to insist that there is no evidence that there is a public safety threat and essentially there is no reason to worry. mike? >> mike: it's been quite the mystery. nate foy reporting live in jersey city. nate, thanks a lot. short day on wall street this christmas day led to big gains, dow 390. s&p 66, nasdaq jumped 266. up next a lot of holiday travelers are spending christmas eve at the airport. we will have a live report from the world's busiest. first, here is what some of our fox affiliates arranged the country are covering tonight. wsvn in miami as a boat explosion at fort lauderdale arena leaves a 40-year-old canadian man dead. six other people were injured. it happened monday night when the engines of the 37-foot vessel were started. fox 13 in ceilings as workers are striking up to 60 starbucks

stores around the country. the walkouts began friday. the workers united union says the latest proposal from the country included no immediate wage increases and only a 1.5% raise in future years. and this is a live look from the international space station courtesy of nasa. one of the big stories tonight: nasa's parker solar probe makes history as it flies through the atmosphere of the sun. it is the closest a human made object has come to a star. the spacecraft was launched in august of 2018. how cool is that? that's tonight's "special report" beltway. we'll be right back. ♪

>> mike: the airport is the absolute last place americans want to be on christmas eve a morning ground stop american airlines caused disruptions that continued throughout much of the day. correspondent danamarie mcnicole is at the busiest airport heartfield, jackson. good evening, danamarie. >> good evening, mike. as you mentioned technical glitch on record breaking travel

caused ground stop for american airlines flights. only one hour that one hour on christmas eve is a travel nightmare. >> thank you so much for your patience. >> americans airlines computers are down. >> deplane back up tout boarding area. >> now, the airline says this all happened after a vendor technology issue, thousands of customers had to de-plane and wait in limbo until the issue was resolved. this impacted major hubs for american airlines like dallas. today both dallas lovefield and dallas fort worth airports double whammy, technical issue and second ground stop this afternoon because of thunderstorms. further delaying travelers. now, let's take a look at the misery map. right now it's showing about 4700 delays and about 104 cancellations across the u.s. throughout all airlines. now, just last night, one woman we spoke to was already on her way here to the atlanta airport when her flight was canceled. >> i actually visiting my mom

who is 97 years old. i haven't been with her on christmas for about 18 years. that's a heck of a long time. i still have no explanation why the flight was canceled yesterday. but i'm hoping to be arriving just before midnight in lima, peru. >> now, this year a.a.a. predicts holiday travelers. pre-covid numbers with more people on the road and in the air than 2019. and we're here at the country's busiest airport but today, tsa lines have been under five minutes all day long. >> looks pretty good. danamarie, thanks very much. >> let's take a look how the weather is impacting holiday travel ian oliver is in new york tonight. >> good evening. how about about it. festive in new york today. christmas eve snow.

not big numbers but just an inch at central park. that's the most snow to fall on a christmas eve since 1998. so it's been a little while. snow fell during the early part of the weekend. by the meteorological rules if we have one inch on the ground at central park tomorrow morning when it's measured that counts as a white christmas. we will see. sun came out quickly temperatures 40 it did zap a bit of that snow as it swung through. maine totals up around a foot. the northeast kingdom of vermont 8 inches. great news for folks looking to do some winter are being creation up in ski country this week did. have some icing down across the delmarva. earlier this morning, dead to a bit of disruption. you heard it from danamarie. boy has it been trouble down in texas. dallas and houston. we have had ground stops this afternoon. one tornado-warn storm right now popping up on the fox weather alert system. free stone and limestone

counties. that runs until 6:00 local. can you still see some of those storms up closer to the metroplex. look at these numbers, mike. more than a thousand delays just from the two dallas area airports today. 52 canceled flights. that's good for four out of four on the misery index. those storms just hung around 2 to 4 inches of rain. it led to some flash flood warnings and obviously this is a bad day for all of this. the average day delay at dfw was up to 3.5 hours. >> mike: let's hope it that people make it to see their family, ian oliver thank you so much. >> you bet. >> mike: fox news has learned a second jet merely suffered the same fate. a navy official confirms the second plane was forced to take evasive maneuvers after a second surface-to-air missile was fired from the cruiser usss gettysburg. the second missile missed the aircraft by 100 feet. the crew of the first jet ejected before the missile

struck. it was safely recovered. up next, bret baier begins our series on name, image and likeness rules in college athletics. first, beyond our borders tonight. a russian born u.s. citizen already imprisoned in russia on a bribery conviction has been handed a second 15-year jail term for spying. russian news agencies report a moscow court brought espionage charges against gene specter in august of last year. the state department says it is monitoring the situation. an amsterdam district court sentences five men up to six years in prison for violence that erupted around a soccer match last month, involving teams from the netherlands and israel. the riots caused international outcry and accusations of deliberate anti-semitic attacks. five people sent to the hospital. 20 others had minor injuries. more than 60 people were detained. and this is a live look at rome. one of the big stories there tonight, pope francis opens the 2025 holy year, a celebration of the catholic church, that's

expected to draw some 32 million pilgrims to rome. at the start of christmas eve mass, francis pushes open the great holy door at the entrance of st. peters basilica. the ceremony national guard ingnawing ratesmake pilgrimages. just some of the other stories beyond our borders tonight. we'll be right back. ♪ most wonderful time of the year ♪ it's the hap, happiest season of all last year alone, those viruses hospitalized nearly 1 million people 65 and older. that's nearly 1 million moms, dads, favorite uncles, and grammas. if someone you love is 65 or older, talk with them about vaccines, because to you, they're not just another number.

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>> mike: tonight we begin the two part series about what is called name, image and likeness rules for college athletes across the country. my colleague bret baier takes a look how the ncaa has looked to keep up with state laws, bret? >> bret: thanks, mike. in july of 2021 the u.s. supreme court ruled the ncaa could not

prevent student athletes from profiting off their name, image and likeness. now four years since that decision, the nil market is expected to be worth around $1.7 billion more than $1 billion of that is going to college football. men's basketball is worth around 389 million. women's basketball players receive about 75 million. olympic athletes are generating more than $134 million. the payments can come in a variety of ways. tonight, we take a look at the nil landscape and the push to create a nationwide policy ncaa first passed policy in 2021 allowed athletes to receive payments if it followed state laws. the rules also attempted to prevent schools from using nil money to recruit athletes. >> what have recruiting athletes

look like before nil. >> it was a lot easier. there is really no recruiting now. it's buying. if i bought one ice cream cold i would be brought down by the ncaa. >> are you ready? >> bret: as more and more states enacted laws, recruitment became a part of the rules. >> in football and basketball, it's whoever has got the most money. >> republican alabama senator tommy tuberville coached football at ole miss, auburn and texas tech before being elected to congress. he has co-sponsored nil legislation alongside independent west virginia senator joe manchin he plans to reintroduce or modify protecting athletes schools or parts or pass act alongside a democrat in congress. >> over the years the money has gotten higher and higher student athletes wait a minute why don't we get some of that money? why don't we share in the revenue. and that is what ask come. >> bret: which led to the legal actions. >> how woulds pass act address

some of this. >> well, there is all kinds of problems in it right now. number one you have the collectives. >> checkives made up of boosters individual donors and businesses. the groups are estimated to control around 80% of the nil market. >> i don't think the federal government is the way to do it. i think it creates a whole lot more complications. >> checkives arrange for athto bepaid for endorsements, l media posts. >> the ncaa is the reason checkives exist because of the interim policy put together that really didn't have a lot of guardrails. >> blueprint sports oversees a number of high profile checkives across the country including schools such as n.c. state, maryland and arkansas. >> the schools want to take more control over it so what it does is it turns us into internal nilh and schools are hiring to run all the operations and all of this. >> bret: a lot of people who look at nil and say there is two sides here. one, they are concerned about what it means for the sport.

college sports overall and whether it hurts it in the big picture. they understand that kids, maybe they need to make though money it just seems like it's messy right now you know, bret, this is a free market economy. we live in the greatest economy in the world. i think it's great that our student athletes are now finally being able to be compensated for what they are worth. >> auburn's men basketball coach bruce pearl believes national standards are needed for college sports. >> every coach needs to know that when that ball gets tipped off. we are all playing by the same rules and right now beer not. >> bret: guidance prevented third party boosters prosecute recruiting on behalf of a school. alabama and south carolina enacted laws around that time reflecting the ncaa guidance. >> >> bret: has nil money helped recruiting efforts. >> it changed recruiting efforts. way more transactional. what is my market value? how much will i get if i go to

that school? >> some schools are running it through the university and letting them through the coaches go out and say listen, i will give you a million dollars, you come here and play quarterback for us. >> bret: as some states began to circumvent the recruiting rules. the ncaa shifted its stance. in 2022 the division one board of directors clarified that schools could request donors provide funds to checkives as long as those were not directed to a specific sport or athlete. the move prompted alabama and south carolina to repeal nil laws after determining other states will better opportunities to recruit better players. >> freedom for conferences and the people guiding our program to be able to be empowered. right now everything goes to the course. they lose every lawsuit. >> texas passed its legislation in 2023. it stray from ncaa guidance in allowing donations for specific

sports. also permits perks and benefits for fans who donate to nil checkives. a clause also made it illegal for the ncaa to punish a school taking full advantage of nil nationwide athletes are pursuing other money making strategies. >> other thing is transfer portal system inter, at a with that a kid jump number of times that's tough for you as a coach. it's tough for a school but sometimes it's tough for the teams. >> graduation rates have been destroyed because the combination of nil and transfer portal working together. >> you can play at five different schools during your career. you can transfer every year to get a degree. >> to get a better deal torges get a better deal, that's right. marshall university's football team almost every one of them transferred. they had to drop out of a bowl game because they were playing in a bowl game here in a couple weeks because their coach left

and they followed him. so marshall lost their bowl game and had to put somebody else in the bowl. >> understand families being in a situation where they may never make more families than they are making right now so that's what they are being guided by. we are teaching kids to flee not fight. >> bret: the transfer portal is allowing seasoned student athletes to basically shop around. unlv quarterback matt threw through sliewk can a he would enter the transfer portal for a second time in college career. sliewk can a's agent says $100,000 nil payment was never fulfilled after his transfer to unlv. >> what if you put a cap on the number of jumps you could do like in the portal just one or something like that. >> i agree. 2,000 of these young people just signed up for the transfer portal in the last two weeks because it opened up 2,000 athletes. >> state laws differ in adopt

the uniform athlete agent act. hire agents with the intent of protecting them from unfair practices. at least 39 states have adopted the law but it has no mention of nil. >> players have agents. they have lawyers. they do unt tantaros. that's what we fought against for many, many years. don't sign with agents. keep them out of your life college football, college spores has grown. >> allow players to pay directly in addition to what they are receiving through scholarship and third party payments. schools with pay athletes up to $20.5 million across all sports. schools are already directing most of that money to football programs. georgia is expected to spend the most on its program. we'll send it back to you. bret, thanks. up next the panel on the trump reaction to the biden commutations and job security

for the speaker of the house. ♪

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♪ >> i am upset that this is even happening. that one man can make it decision without even talking to

the victims, without any regard for what we have been through. what we are going through. i'm completely hurt, frustrated and angry. >> you know who else is not happy with president biden's commutations? president-elect trump, writing on truth social, joe biden just commuted the death sentences of 37 of the worst killers in our country. when you hear the acts of each, you won't believe that he did this. makes no sense. relatives and friends are further devastated. they can't believe this is happening. he goes on to write: as soon as i'm inaugurated i will direct the justice department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect american families and children from violent rapists, murders and monsters. we will be a nation of law and order again. with that, let's bring in our panel. kimberley strassel, a member ever the editorial board at the "wall street journal." real clear politics white house correspondent philip wegmann and democratic strategist meghan hayes, merry christmas to all of you. >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas.

>> so, kimberly, lead us off, understandable that president-elect trump is frustrated but is there much that he can do about it? >> no, there isn't. i mean, this is offensive at so many levels. it's obviously offensive to the victims. these were people were horrific wrap sheets. it's horrific to the juries and the prosecutors and the judges that spent time coming up with the right sentence under the law also offensive to congress reserved the death penalty for certain acts. last i looked they had not changed that law. biden was supplanting his own decision on this. i mean, i think the best thing donald trump can do is come in and show that he still is interested in faithfully upholding the law. and that will be a nice change from some of the acts we have seen with this outgoing president. >> mike: i want to put on the screen reaction from congresswoman ayanna pressley from the left saying, quote: by commuting the sentences 37 on death row potus is the type of

moral and compassionate leadership this moment demands. so, meghan, is this trying to appease the base that is demoralized after the election? >> no, i think this is something that the president had said in 20 and he was on his campaign website that he was running on something like this. he also had put a moratorium on death penalty cases in office. not surprising to anyone who understands his policies. people were surprised by the timing of it. this is not a surprising act the president did this. >> some on the left were calling for basically putting up road blocks in front of president-elect trump before he takes office. what do you read of this one? >> this seems to be like a half minute last measure. the president obviously is a man of faith. the problem here is that he put himself in a position where he had to pick and choose between monsters commuting the sentences of some murders but not terrorists and then the president also says he believes in the rule of law but the problem also is that he short

circuited the justice system that handed down these sentences. i think the problem generally is that if president biden was serious about this being a prescription pelled issue he would have gone to congress last time last four years and done some of the work to try to change the law he did not try. >> we know president-elect trump hitting the ground january 20th. came up with a list of executive actions he could release that day to take action to get his administration up and running and to really kind of pivot from the biden administration. kimberly, what do you anticipate from president-elect trump on day one? he broadcast out on the campaign trail what his top priorities are so i expect most of these to focus on the border and on energy policy. along the line of federal

government and its organization, how it works to begin to lay the groundwork for when doge comes in to start doing some suggestions for efficiency and maybe government cuts. but those are going to be the highlights. >> meghan as you see a list of possibilities going before your eyes? how does that make you feel? do you feel demoralized looking at january 20th? >> absolutely not. president-elect trump won the election. that's his right and prerogative. is he going to have a little bit more challenging time going into these and doing these executive orders. a lot of them are not legal. they will be challenged in court. a lot of them take a lot of coordination with the different agencies. to even enact them. it is a good statement to make it. played well in the media and good for a campaign rally. governing is different than campaigning. i think he is going to have a little bit of a struggle putting some of these eos into effect once he gets into office. >> i seemed to remember when i covered president obama's white house that he got frustrated with congress talked about having the pen basically to go

around congress. so, philip, is this kind of an example of, you know, you live with the pen when you are in power and then you die by the pen when you lose power? >> >> well, president trump is going to have a same pen and phone that barack obama did i was waiting for list of executive actions to stop scrolling. donald trump is returning to the white house knowing what he wants to do and surrounded by people who know how to do it. i think meghan makes a good point that a lot of this is going to be challenged in court. but the intention here is to move fast from day one. and if you look at the people that he has named to his cabinet and some of these cabinet level positions like tom homan, he knows his mission on border security. greer knows his mission on tariffs and trade. the expectation that i have in covering this next administration is they are going to move quickly and deal with the legal challenges as they come. >> mike: okay. as we look ahead to a new congress and presidency, there are questions about mike johnson's hold to the speaker's

gavel, mick mulvaney who was a white house chief of staff under president trump in the first term and a former member of congress weighed in on that today. let's play him. >> noble else wants the job. as long as donald trump is okay with mike johnson. mike johnson is going to be the speaker. donald trump goes on tv he prefers somebody else, that somebody else will be the speaker. >> mike: kimberly, what's your read of the situation. >> mick mulvaney is right. a lot of graduating especially among house freedom caucus members. they didn't like that year-end bill. by the way, they played a role in that themselves. he needed 218 votes. some of them said they would not vote for it under any circumstances no matter what was in it so he had to go to democrats to get some assistance bottom line is you need 218 for someone. the problem with some of these people who say that they won't vote for mike johnson or debating not doing it, they don't have an alternate candidate that can get anywhere near that number and we saw how that played out with kevin

mccarthy. >> mike: bret talked to speaker johnson about his future back on december 10th. let's play that. >> are you worried at all about your january 3rd election as speaker. >> i'm not. we have a unified conference. i have talked with every single individual at length. all of us collectively are ready to using football met for take proverbial football and run it up the field. i think we will have a smooth transition and election to speaker. we don't have any time to waste. >> mike: meghan, does the speaker need to cut deals between now and january 3rd to make sure he has power in the new congress. >> he will have to do something. a lot of people are unhappy with the way the continuing resolution was handled. a lot of people understand he has to work with democrats. it will be interesting to see how they sort of play with the democrats here and if he doesn't have 218 within his own caucus because the margin is so slim, will the democrats help? i'm not sure that he this help get him elected. the longer they take to reelect the speaker or elect a speaker, sorry, the longer had will take

to certify the election. something that the republicans are going to have to work through very quickly when they get back in january. >> some of speaker johnson's allies are calling on president-elect trump to intervene on his behalf. congressman carlos gimenez saying if we have some kind of protracted fight where we can't elect a speaker, the speaker is not elected. we're not sworn in. and if we're not sworn, in we can't certify the election basically delaying everything. so he is saying i would hope that president trump would chime in and talk to those who are maybe a little hesitant and say we have got to get going. we don't have time. philip, your thoughts? >> well, i was talking to a senior congressional source who complained that any time speaker johnson gets crossways with his caucus, he sort of runs behind president-elect trump's legs. that's a pretty cynical take but it reflects the reality of johnson trying to hold together his caucus when he has one half

of 1/3 of government to deal with. and only a handful of votes to lose. i think what is going through the minds of lawmakers right now, many of them who just got home for the holidays maybe friday or saturday, is first is there an alternative? stunt seem like there is anyone more conservative than speaker johnson. second, would this we bell i don't know against johnson seen as a rebellion against donald trump. that's an open question. the thing with the incoming president looking at all of this and wondering if he can afford another distraction when they are getting the ready to hit the ground running. >> merry christmas to you all. >> merry christmas. >> mike: up next a holiday message to bret baier and his family. ♪ ♪

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hunter: thank you so much. you have saved so many kids. announcer: let's cure childhood cancer together. ♪ ♪ >> mike: all of us at "special report" hope you have a great christmas and a very happy hanukkah here is a message from bret baier. >> bret: hey, everybody. merry christmas and happy new year from my family to yours. we have been doing this christmas message for 15 years. it's hard to believe. but, take a look at this montage. merry christmas, happy hanukkah. >> and daniel and daddy and pauly. >> and what do you want to say? >> merry christmas, everybody. >> merry christmas, everyone. >> fair, balanced and unafraid. [laughter] >> oh, dear.

[laughter] >> merry christmas and happy new year. >> paul, if i asked you what the people do in the dome behind me, what would you say? >> nothing. >> nothing? >> we have a lot of things to be thankful for. merry christmas and a happy new years. >> bret: we do have a lot to be thankful for. this year, daniel? >> we wish you a merry christmas. >> and we do. very. paul, seven and a half, daniel is four and a half now. my lovely wife amy, i'm not going to tell you how old she is. [laughter] >> as you can see, the family has changed a little bit over the years. but we still have the merry christmas greeting. >> paul, amy, daniel,. >> hello, merry christmas. >> we didn't even plan it. >> bret: if you look back at the video over the years. there are some pretty funny ones. some bloopers along the way. that's santa. [laughter] >> santa claus and mrs. claus. >> your boys have been good this year. >> this is the newest member of

our family. >> the newest member of our family. it's a girl. >> it's a girl? oh. >> a little girl. >> cocoa? >> [laughter] >> how about saying merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >> and happy new year. >> happy new year. >> paul is now an inch taller than me. he is 6 feet tall. do you have a message, paul? >> happy holidays and thank you for watching all of these years. >> amy? >> wishing you a merry christmas from our family to yours. hope you have a beautiful and blessed holiday. >> merry christmas, happy new years and for the kids that go to school shout out to -- english. >> bret: made it through that that was pretty good, panel. thanks a lot. looking forward to 2024. we have a lot of news to cover. can you believe those kids were crawling on the set? that's pretty amazing because now they are a lot bigger. paul 17 here. my lovely wife amy of 20 years of marriage, and daniel 14 years old. okay, guys.

here we go. what's the message. >> merry christmas and happy new year. >> wishing you a very merry christmas and a blessed and healthy new year. >> have a great holidays and a great new year. >> bret: all right. one take wonder. that means it's going to be a good 2025. >> that's right. >> bret: we have a lot of plans for big things and we are going to do it fair, balanced and unafraid. >> mike: beautiful family. they grow up fast. tomorrow on "special report," part two of bret baier's series on name, image and likeness in college sports. remember, if you can't catch us live, set your dvr 6:00 eastern, 3:00 p.m. on the west coast. thanks for watching "special report." i'm mike emanuel in washington. i will be back here tomorrow night. merry christmas, happy hanukkah "the ingraham angle" is up next. have a great night. ♪