he may not be on some that some people have looked at. in the interest of transparency, would the white house -- >> i would point you to the department of treasury which i think -- >> but what does the white house believe? >> i just gave you what the white house believes. >> no, you gave me the treasury department -- no, what do you believe? do you believe more e-mails should come out? >> i said -- i, i don't know what the story is about the e-mails. i would tell you that there are not e-mails that involve secretary the -- secretary geithner in this instance. these are e-mails and decisions made by two people. that decision did not rise to his level. >> okay. last thing on this. various liberals have jumped on this and other stories about secretary geithner saying he really is not fit to serve as treasury secretary the. he still has the president's full confidence? >> of course. >> robert, at today's 2:40 event

will he be dealing only with the jobs issue, or might he also talk about the christmas day incident? >> as far as i know the last time i saw the remarks, it was just on jobs and the energy announcement. >> he has spoken quite a bit on the christmas day incident, but he hasn't opened himself up to questions from the media. do you think he might entertain some questions on this, and isn't it unusual that an event this big that he would not open himself up to questions? >> i don't want to speculate. he's not taking questions today. >> i think i'll be backed up, he hasn't had a press conference since july at the white house. why and why can't we get him to respond to questions rather than just give statements on issues like this? >> we did this before. i think the last time we did, we talked about the president's media schedule in here you all, to a person, reminded me of our dramatic overexposure. >> [inaudible] >> i'm sure -- you didn't now. >> well, that was then.

>> i appreciate, at least, that we've isolated the flip-flop. >> are there any plans for a press conference? >> not that i'm aware -- >> let me ask you one -- you're not going to answer this one. [laughter] >> just point out that mr. reid added that he was now going to change to the a substantive question. >> that was a procedural question which is also important, but it's different from substantive. it's a legal thing. admiral mullen in his speech yesterday said we've looked with regard to iran, we've looked to do all we can to insure that conflict doesn't break out there while at the same time preparing forces as we do for many contingencies that we understand might occur. is that preparation of forces with regard to iran per presidential order or just something the pentagon does, and part two, are there also preparations of forces in regard to the yemen? >> i would point you to his spokesperson at the pentagon, chip.

i believe the pentagon, as it should, plans for many different types of contingencies based on many, many types of scenarios. the track that the president has aggressively pursued in relating to iran deals with engagement in hopes that they will live up to the obligations internationally that they've signed on to be responsible for. we've gone through in here our asking them through the, aea -- iaea about the research reactor and making a proposal that would prove to the world that their intentions were peaceful. they declined that offer, and we are as we've discussed in the

past many days working with our partners on next steps and not living up to those responsibilities. >> should we assume there are these kinds of contingency plans regarding forces with yemen? >> i'm not going to get into discussing details of the pentagon plan. >> over the past several weeks, even months, a number of administration officials have said they expected positive net job growth within the first quart canner of this year. does the white house still believe that? >> i believe if you look at numbers in terms of weekly unemployment claims, if you look at the trajectory, you will be led to believe that we will see that positive economic job growth, yes. >> jake's question, on sunday mr. brennan was on meet the press, and he said of the seven

yemenis -- trace: that's robert gibbs at the white house, the overriding questions are about jobs. the jobs numbers were not what the administration was hoping for, gibbs saying earlier that the administration, the president be had great conditions, very disappointed with the jobs numbers coming out today. we'll have a lot more on that coming up, what it means for the 16 million americans who are unemployed. martha: indeed, we will. and we are now into the first day of the president's crackdown on how our intelligence agencies are handling the threat of terrorism in this country. another way of saying that we want to bring out to you is we're hearing that the president is going to have a very big meeting on monday at the white house with the top union leaders all gathering at the white house this morning. mike emanuel is there now with the latest on these developments. hi, mike. >> hi, martha. well, yes. about the union meeting on monday, obviously, a strong base of support for president obama in the 2008 the campaign, but this the may be a very tense meeting because the unions are very stressed out about the

so-called tax on the cadillac health care plan, so they want to come to the white house, give the president an earful about how they think that's a bad idea, how they think this tax may get passed on to workers, so it'll be interesting to see how that meeting goes down and what is said after the fact to see if minds are changed during the course of that meeting. martha: mike, you'd imagine this is going to be focused on health care with the unions, and as you say, they have had a very good relationship prior to this issue with the white house and really the white house has been criticized in some aspects for spending too much time talking to the unions about, you know, health care reform and these sorts of things at the expense of some small business folks out there, but it looks like they're going to have the president's ear on monday. >> well, that's absolutely right. it should be a fascinating meeting, and we will see just exactly how much coverage there is of the meeting, whether all the parties involved talk about it after the fact. look, this is still crunch time for president obama on health care reform. he's been pushing the house and

senate to get it done as quickly as possible, to get it to his desk so he can sign it as quickly as possible. so winning over the unions and trying to get them on board with whatever plan comes through the conference report is, obviously, part of the strategy. and so the president will try to persuade them on monday. martha: thank you so much, mike. we'll check in with you a little bit later. trace: to detroit, now w the man who prompted the all-new security measures, he's about to make his first court appearance. umar farouk abdulmutallab is already in downtown detroit. his arrangement expected to get underway less than one hour from now. steve brown is outside the courthouse. the deputy national security adviser john brennan said sunday there would be a plea deal ordered. has a plea bargain been offered in this case? >> well, if it has, we're not aware of it. the chief prosecutor, the new chief prosecutor here for the federal government, barbara wade, said not yet to the associated press and a number of

other local media outlets. we asked again today about any kind of plea deal that maybe in the offing, and her office said, we cannot comment at this particular time. it is important to note that abdulmutallab is inside the federal courthouse and has been since before 11:00 this morning, presumably having meetings with his defense team. trace: yeah. and there are muslim-americans, steve, demonstrating against alabama lab. >> yeah. a sizable group, and they're really a passionate group of muslim-americans that wanted to come out here on this particular day to let the world know and the nation know that they denounce terrorism. islam, denounced islam as an instrument of terror and they say they are and will make their voices heard. trace: yeah, steve brown live for us at the courthouse in detroit. steve, thank you.

well, a riot is breaking out in southern italy after a shooting that some say was race-related. hundreds of african immigrant workers are clashing with police and residents in the town of rosarno after several teens in a car used air rifles to shoot and injury several immigrants returning from working on farms. fourteen people have been hurt in the riots so far, and schools and stores in the area have been shut down. martha: and a war of words in malaysia turning violent. two churches fire bombed. one of them was nearly destroyed and more protest is scheduled for today. some malays who make up 60% of that country are upset with the use of the word allah by non-muslims. the government's coming down on the side of the demonstrators, but the dispute is ongoing. a high court ruled a catholic newspaper was allowed to use the word. christian churches as a result are now on high alert. trace: well, the wife of the

alleged jordanian homicide bomber who killed seven cia employees is speaking out about her husband's death. what she said about the bombing to a journalist that caused police to question her afterwards. three gunmen rob 30 people in three minutes in a brazen and terrifying robbery all caught on tape. the suspects are on the run, we'll have the video for you next. for strong bones, i take calcium. but my doctor told me that most calcium supplements... aren't absorbed properly unless taken with food. he recommended citracal. it's different -- it's calcium citrate, so it can be absorbed with or without food. citracal.

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trace: the wife of the homicide bomber in that attack on cia officers at the u.s. base in afghanistan telling the associated press the war must go on against the united states. she also says her husband was outraged over treatment of iraqis at the abu grab prison, and it was his hatred for america that led him to his actions on that day. their action bodies were flown home mistake. and told the officers leave behind eight children. in the middle box st. louis police identified the man suspected of going on a shooting rampage yesterday. the man killing three co-workers before turning the gun on himself. police still working to figure out the motive. in the bottom box, how low can you go? it is cold all over the country,

but bismarck, north dakota last night, 32 below. not the wind chill, that was the straight-up temperature. the wind chill, 50 below. the good news, forecasters say, parts of the dakotas will start to warm up a bit maybe into the 30's. martha: well, police in hawthorne, california are on the hunt now for three brazen robbers who iht up an insurance business just steps away for from police headquarters. the folks in the building. the robbers bursting in, guns drawn. they tell the victims to hit the deck, and they steal from at least 30 people. police said they managed to get away with all of the stolen loot in about three minutes. nobody, thankfully, was seriously hurt. the suspect did spray a few people with mace and pepper spray. trace: breaking today, the arrest of two men who police say are linked to najibullah, the man seen here accused of trying

to bomb new york city. the men arrested today are both united states citizens who are believed to have traveled with najibullah to pakistan to get training from al qaeda. judith miller, a "fox news" contributor and adjunct fellow at the manhattan institute. now it looks like this is a case of more homegrown terrorism. >> exactly. the new york police department was on to this trend and was concerned about this. we see a lot. trace: after the president s poke, you wait. in the next couple of days there will be some high-profile arrests. i know the threat level has not been heightened, but it feels like it. >> it does. that is because there are more and more of these plots. that has terrorism analysts really wondering, why is that? what is going on here? is it a delayed reaction to the war in iraq? is

is it a delayed reaction to the invasion of afghanistan? europeans had this phenomenon immediately after the war in iraq, but the united states, we did not begin to see these until much later. terrorism analysts are wondering why. trace: do you get the feeling we will start erring on more arrests? >> i certainly think that we are certainly seeing the kind of investigations that we have not seen. after what president obama said, clearly the riot act has been read to these people. the investigators just have to explain why they are not connecting the dots. once they start connecting them we see arrests. trace: speaking of connecting the dots, abdulmutallab was in court today. is there a plea deal in the works? the reason that is so key is because a lot of people were saying, we missed a lot of intelligence by sending him through him civilian court system. >> president obama has shown a distinct preference for using the civilian court even when

they could use military court. the only one that is really going through military channels his major hasan, you remember, the army officer who shot the people in fort hood. that is because he was an officer and the targets for officers. other than that if there was a charge the obama administration, eric holder, wants to -- trace: he could have set up through military, get the intelligence, and then at some point send him through civilian court. there was a gold mine of intelligence. we could be months down the road the. >> the important thing is to stop an attack. afterward how they're handled is secondary. the most important thing is beginning out how it was that somebody like a young 23-year-old nigerian gets on a plane and comes here. you can see that heads will roll for that, even though a man who

was responsible for stitching all of this information together was a bush appointee and so far the white house stands behind him. trace: welcome back from dubai. >> everyone was searched. martha: breaking news on two stories. first, reports of a shooting at a suburban indianapolis walmart are some false. >> really good news. what we first heard, shots fired. a bank located inside this walmart. the pictures, we saw all the customers coming out and police starting to secure the area. what we just learned in a short while is that there was a person who said he or she was being held against their will. police are talking to that person. in fact, no other people were hurt. that elementary school that was on lockdown nearby about a block away has been lifted. the walmart is now no longer under alert or lockdown, although the investigation

inside the store continues as they try to figure out what really happened. now to the other story that we are watching. guy trapped inside a big rig. the fuel tank on top of him. the fuel tank leaking after the big rig goes down a canyon. and rowland hills estates at the corner of hawthorne -- or where hawthorne and north palas verdes boulevard meet. they tried to extricate this guy. we knew he was injured. they were working automatically while also trying to get him o ut. they have rescued him, put him on a gurney. we don't know the extent of his injuries, but i can tell you that they spent a little bit of time getting him out onto that gurney and securing him. then behind the view of cameras to work on him again and put him in to the ambulance. we are waiting to hear his condition. the good news, though, he was alive. martha: let's hope he is okay.

trace. trace: brand new unemployment numbers out. they are not good. what they mean for our economic recovery. the administration was expecting better. so what the president has to say now. we'll bring you that. plus a journalistic shot. allegedly by police in the midst of a violent protest. what it was about and where it all happens next. eeeeeeee

trace: 23 minutes passed the hour. the top box, pakistan intelligence officials saying u.s. missiles have killed four people near the afghan border. the area hotbed for a taliban.

marking six attacks. we will bring you the latest. in the middle box possible new clues in the murder of a miami playboy model. analyzing text. the messages expressed fear that her current boyfriend was "trying to kill her." the model was last seen getting into a heated argument with her boyfriend. her body was later found severely burned. police have named her boyfriend as a person of interest. in the bottom box white house press secretary robert gibbs saying that defense secretary robert gates will stay on his post. he is happy he is staying on. president obama and gates making an open-ended agreement, at least for the rest of 2010. martha: all right. well, brand new jobless numbers out there to chew over today. showing that the december numbers look like this. 10% as the economy sheds another

85,000 jobs. let's break it down. as you have poured through these numbers in this report what do you think the takeaway is? >> some mixed numbers to this. some of the conclusions. the positive is for the first time in two years the u.s. added jobs. the labor department revised its last report. the job market went positive. in december, ten times worse than expected. 85,000 jobs lost. that eclipses 4,000 added in november. those were mostly government jobs. the white house calls this a slight step back. economists are mixed. outside factors, even the bad weather in december skew that report negative. martha: interesting. what about 2010, jobs outlook,

when economists believe will start to see some meaningful hiring. >> optimists point to 50,000 temporary jobs. companies will usually hire temporary workers. that is one of the first sign the job market is turning around. although, there are troubling signs. the recession has eliminated more than 7 million jobs. 4 million last year alone. nearly a million aren't looking for work because they don't think there are any jobs available. that is a record. the u.s. needs to add more than 100,000 jobs a month just to keep up with population growth. the job market is in a big hole. martha: all right. thank you very much. trace: world news. a confrontation between anti-indian protesters and indian police getting more violent. this is video from the latest face-off. protesters hurling rocks and debris. also today two suspected rebels

were killed during a long shoot out with forces in the middle of the kashmir village. all this comes after a deadly 20-hour clash yesterday that left four people their dead. martha: we are at war with al qaeda. that is where president obama had to say yesterday. a little bit later than this time yesterday he was speaking those words pledging to ramp up security measures while filling the gaps information is geared between the intelligence agencies. is the administration up the task is one of the questions that is out there today? and what about the it director of national intelligence, a post that this created to coordinate these agencies. we would get into why you're not hearing more about that agency coming up in three minutes.

trace: back live in the newsroom. it's the bottom of the hour. brand new information on three big stories. here is a big legal question. how can the u.s. try to kill an american citizen abroad for promoting jihad yet give the 9/11 mastermind constitutional rights? katherine harris with more on that. >> the target of the least one airstrike in yemen. not only considered to a recruiter, he is an american citizen. what is the justification for targeting an american citizen overseas such as a clerical offering the 9/11 conspirators

full constitutional rights? it's a complicated issue to say the least. trace: live for us. thank you. israel today launching airstrikes on the smuggling tunnels in gaza. let's get live to the middle east. >> israeli military lost a series of air strikes after militants fired rockets and several rounds of mortars in israel. the israeli military said they had several smuggling tunnels as well as a big weapons making factory. benjamin netanyahu has said every single rocket fired by militants will be met by force. trace: live in jerusalem. thank you. that homicide bomber that killed seven cia agents in afghanistan was from jordan. now hillary clinton is meeting with jordan's foreign minister. let's get molly henneberg live

at the state department. >> both countries say they are committed to fighting terror wherever it is and helping the afghan people combat terror in the country. new information just out about the christmas dave thwarted bomb attempt. it turns out his name was misspelled in the initial state department report to try to find that if he had a visa. it's still not clear that anybody went back and checked to see this guy that was just coming on their radar screen, whether or not he had a visa. the department said it did not assess the risk assessments. they're looking into how this could have happened in the weeks leading up to that christmas day plot. trace: live at the state department. that is brand-new information at the bottom of the hour. >> while passion and politics can obscure the hard work before

us, let's be clear about what this moment demands. we are at war. we are at war against al qaeda. martha: all right. those are the stern words from our commander-in-chief. prominent voices from the political and security worlds are starting to weigh in. here is a former new york city mayor rudy guiliani. >> if we are at war and now we finally said the war there are some things that follow from that. terrorists to get arrested a part of that war. they get treated the way in any comments should be treated. martha: meanwhile former director of national intelligence speaking out on "the early show." we dodged a bullet. we dodged a bullet obviously. it was a near miss, but i think the president is seeking appropriate, prompt, and corrective action. let's bring in a guest. good evening to him. scott webber is here.

the senior counsel to the homeland security secretary. we are going to be joined momentarily by amy stoddard. you know, when you really look at what the president says, when you break it down, he talks about the fact that the information was out there, it was gathered. the problem was that it was not given high priority. when you look back at the creation of the office of the director of national intelligence, i think there are a thousand people that work in the newly created staff that came out after 9/11. why aren't we seeing more attention being put on that office? wasn't that their job? >> well, that is a good question. and the ntcc is a multiagency center. there are over 16 agencies that have representatives there that are supposed to take the raw intelligence, filter it, analyze

it, and come out on the back end of the product that the folks on the ground can use to prevent a terrorist attack. martha: what do you think about that? his name has not come up much. we talked a lot about john brennan. janet napolitano, but that office was created to do exactly what the president says did not happen. >> it is clear in both administrations ever since 9/11 we have layered up the bureaucracy. it actually impedes the process at times. i think as for dennis blair the president making mention of him makes it clear his job is probably safe and the president also made it clear yesterday in his, kind of, trying to be the unbush remarks, that no one's head is going to roll right now. he is taking full responsibility. i don't know if dennis blair's job is safe six weeks from now,

but for now appears the president was said this was a collective failure. he is not taking anyone to town specifically. martha: you have to ask yourself, all anybody really cares about it. peter newman, let me get to you on this. do you think that we are going to have any streamlining or maybe get rid of some of these jobs? >> all the western intelligence agents since 9/11 are shortly afterwards have added people, added institutions, added layers of bureaucracy. the attitude was we need more intelligence. now we have so much intelligence we are suffering from information overload. we can't make sense anymore from all the information that is coming in. so in the future, i believe, we need to have smarter intelligence, perhaps, do less, but do it better and understand patterns better.

that is not just adding people, but actually understanding patterns. martha: that brings up another point. when you look at tsa and some of these agencies in some respects would not be better to have half the people working in those jobs and have them the former cops, former security guards, instead of the very low-paid people that are doing those jobs right now? >> i don't know that there is a magic number. i will tell you from my time at the department of homeland security we have representatives from state and local law enforcement that were participating along with the feds. you need to find the right combination of budget and tools. the comment about informational overload is important. information flowing. so the ntcc needs to be nimble and take that information. there does need to be some sort

of reform. this is a systemic failure. it is not the failure of one person. you need to look at reforms. martha: i wasn't suggesting that dennis blair should go anywhere. that office, that whole group was created. it did not exist before 9/11. the idea that you're going to have a director of national intelligence that would oversee and tie this together, it seems to me that is where they think the flaw was in putting this together. that is a good place to start. >> that is interesting. the thing is, martha, they made it clear that they are not looking to reorganize the entire system. they are just asking for tighter controls and the watch list, selectee list, and obviously a better sharing of information.

they're asking every agency to look at what their actual jobs are all the way down the personnel change and to define what their jobs are and make sure that they are sharing information and doing their jobs right. the president said they have not been doing their jobs correctly. martha: peter newman, when you look at this from across the pond, the discussion has gone to this point of you are never going to stop every single person. every person in our country can accept that notion. but all the ducks were in a row. it is not like this guy walked through and everyone said, no one had ever heard of. that would be the sort of slip that people could accept. this is extraordinary. that is what people have a really hard time with. >> well, i think some of the things have been mentioned already. a think there needs to be a degree of reform. there needs to be a recognition

that the problem now is informational overload. making sense of the information. i think you can do clever things with social science, software that actually identifies patterns. obviously there has to be a human element that comes in and actually looks at some of the information that goes through the system, but i think we need to become smarter and dealing with the intelligence rather than just adding more bureaucracy, adding more people, and adding more institutions. i think that is the key to improving the probability of detecting -- of finding more terrorist. martha: just one last political question for you, a.b. did the president go a long way in terms of reassuring the american people that he takes this issue seriously? >> i think he did. i think he was angry and more resolute. i think he took full accountability, which at think was very effective, and i think he really applied his emotions for the first time. but really categorically in

detail he talked about why the system failed and what needs to be fixed. and he won't be criticized from his opponents for other items. the closing of guantanamo bay remains a huge controversy. what to do with detainees, this christmas day bomber is being treated like a criminal? the trial of muhamed? president obama has problems. he has finally struck the right tone. martha: scott will stick around peter neumann. it is great to have you with us. it always good to see you. trace: 41 minutes past the hour. you think health-care reform is a done deal?

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trace: to health care reform. senate and house democrats are faced with the very difficult task of combining their two bills, making things even more complicated. the very decisive issue. the two bills offer very different plans. jim angle is live. a pretty tough balancing act. people on both sides of the issue with very strong beliefs here. >> yes, absolutely. remember, the house health care bill barely passed, and then only after congressman bart got of vote on tough language

restricting taxpayer dollars. now allowing a vote on that amendment brought nancy pelosi 40 votes. so the question is whether there is some middle ground that won't lose votes on one side of the issue or the other. pennsylvania democrat jason altmeyer one of those who voted for the stupeck amendment. >> the solution has to remain in place that no federal taxpayer dollars can be used directly or indirectly. >> the senate also has some language, but this is a very delicate balancing act. trace: is it possible the senate would simply accept the language and the two houses could get together on that? >> that would be the easiest thing. it didn't work before. worried the senate will not go for it. it came up for a vote.

it came up for a vote and failed. >> 45 to 54. we know what can be done and what cannot be done in the senate. so the question is can we come up with other language will be acceptable to uphold the status quo. >> and whether there is some other language is acceptable only after the restrictions were asserted. analysts think some are willing to compromise, but not all. >> not all of them are going to be stupack or bust. a lot of the folks wanted to this to make sure that there was an expansion of abortion coverage and then it certainly be willing to take a compromise. >> some house members might take something less stringent than stupak, but kessler thinks that of the 40 stupak democrats who

voted for the build ten or more might hold out for the original language. if that is the case this will be a very difficult compromise to strike. trace: it appears that way. thank you. martha: citywide school closures. the 29-car pileup that sent eight motorists to the hospital. what one inch of snow did to the city of hot-lanta. more wild weather around the country. plus, of course, it's elvis, the king. he would be 75 years old today. lisa marie and his wife, is in the building. hosting a public party across the street. look at that great video. nobody is like elvis. if he were still alive he would be preaching and singing gospel. he died in 1977 at the age of just 42 years old. happy birthday, elvis. trace: happy birthday to the

king. uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

trace: eight minutes till the top of the hour. it's not elvis, but cool nonetheless. we told you about the world's tallest building in dubai. now some breaking news on that. >> burj khalifa is great for bungee jumping. have you tried it? a few guys did. they managed to survive. one of them survived his experience. the same guy who is jumping off of mount everest. this is the best-ever. he looks like batman or superman fly into the air.

2,200 feet. he jumped. the building is actually a little bit taller. he didn't jump from the spire. he jumped from the first level. now, remember, that is more than a mile that this guy survived. very, very happy. two daredevils jumping off the burj. what a thrill. i can barely walk down the stairs. trace: thank you. >> sure. martha: well, this is wind chills as low as 50 degrees below zero in some parts of the country. that is cold, folks. putting us well on our way to the coldest winter on record in more than 20 years. everybody is putting their share pretty much from heavy snow in the midwest to states totally unaccustomed to winter weather like alabama and texas. they're trying to find the winter coats in the back of their closet. even florida has been really too

cold for anybody. >> hey. temperatures in the 20's or 30's in new york is not a big deal. atlanta this time of year is normally in the 50's. when you see subfreezing temperatures it can cause big problems. drivers are being warned to stay off the roads in the state of georgia because of icy snowy, and wintery conditions. the very small amount of snowfall over night. melted and refroze early this morning which created a massive traffic pileup near atlanta's airport. thirty cars, nearly 30 cars piling up their. also freezing temperatures across mississippi, tennessee, arkansas, even north carolina seeing freezing temperatures. numerous wrecks. so again, drivers being urged to be cautious and stay off the roads. martha: what about northern and

midwestern states? >> yeah, big snowstorms including massive snowstorms. those winds creating snowdrifts. some areas had to be plowed three times just to keep the roads clear. elsewhere where you expect to see snow, you are. the great lakes states, michigan. getting a lot of snow. a lot another flood expected by tomorrow. winter storm warning. a tractor trailer jackknifed. three of them killed along with the truck driver. conditions expected to last for some time now. martha: a terrible story. thank you very match. trace: well, the big freeze taking a toll on all creatures big and small. one unbelievable tail. this little gray and white cat

is looking a lot better now. when an animal control officer -- do we have the cat? martha: imagine the cat in your mind. trace: imagine a very cold cash frozen except for one twitching wisker. animal control officer put it on a blanket, blasted the collar heater. the vets applied heat therapy. now the cat that you never saw. martha: the big story going on. the first hearing for the would-be christmas bomber. he is in court at this moment, folks. that hearing is about to get under way.my nam we will take you e live to the we will take you e live to the courthouse next. i love showing bailey how special she is. yes, you are. i know exactly what you love, don't i? - [ barks ] - mmm. aromas like rotisserie chicken. and filet mignon. yeah, that's what inspired a very special dry dog food.

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>> there is a lot of circumstantial evidence against this 23-year-old my year janua january. brennan suggested there would be a plea agreement for some sort of reduction in his sentencing for a change in his conditions. he would offer useful information and intelligence about al qaeda in the arabian

peninsula. abdulmutallab has realtime the type of materials that are available to them to launch attacks outside the region, trace: you mention realtime information. that's today. this is a game of seconds. the plea deal could come down the road at some point in time. is it as much help getting information two, three months down the road 80s would have ase been two weeks ago. >> you can verify it and act upon it if it's appropriate. two or three months down the road would still be considered fresh information. one of the questions i have is the quality of the information that he has offered so far.

last week, the information he offered was being heavily vetted and taken with a degree of salt because he suffered severe burns in the incidents and was on heavy pain medication. one can only conclude the information has to be heavily vetted. i found it interesting that the white house commented that he provided useful intelligence over a long period of time. robert gibbs said he spoke for a long time to fbi agents. trace: good information. her rb live fo.catherine herrids at the courthouse. cameras are not allowed inside a federal courtroom. martha: here is another big story on the terrorism front. the feds arresting two more men in connection with a terror plot

to bomb new york city. both these men are linked to this man, najibullah zazi. he was the denver shuttle driver who was suspected of attempting to use weapons of mass destruction in new york city. he has pleaded not guilty to these charges. but today these arrests are part of an ongoing investigation by the joint terrorism task force. the suspects traveled the pakistan with najibullah zazi. one of them apparently took off from his apartment early today while investigators executed a search warrant. he trough off in his car. he got into an accident. he was then taken into custody after he was treated for minor injuries. trace: senators john mccain and joe lieberman are trying to iron out issues between the united

states and pakistan. one topic on the table, u.s. embassy employees complaining they are being harassed when they travel around pakistan. another point of contention, u.s. missile strikes. senator mccain says the terrorists could eventually target americans in afghanistan. >> there are elements operating in pakistan that if allowed to do so, go to afghanistan and kill americans and destroy that government. and reestablish afghanistan as a base for attacks on the united states and our allies. so we have to take measures to prevent those attacks from happening. martha: as our airports here try to tighten up security, european airports are doing the same thing. france we are told will start using those full-body scanners

at some of their airports for passengers headed to the u.s. the machines are being set up in other european countries, but not everybody is backing these scanners. some are pushing through for these security measures despite the protests. >> there has been a fast response from several countries we surveyed. let's start with holland, amsterdam. that's the place where abdulmutallab transited to the u.s. he was not scanned at that airport because we were told by officals today, they are there on a trial basis. voluntary for any passenger. we were told within two weeks

all of those machines will be used for passengers on u.s.-bound flights. in britain they tell us within 3 weeks at london's heathrow airport will be machines placed for passengers on u.s.-bound flights there. in france there will be at least one body scanner in paris. this in addition to the explosive detection device and other methods. a response is in the works here in europe. martha: the makers of these machines -- talk to me about which countries are again installing these and why. >> officials in some countries are raising concerns. germany, spain, belgium, they are questioning the effectiveness of these scanners. they are demanding a european

wide security. they are claiming these are an invasion of privacy. there have been american officials here and we have been told janet napolitano has announced yesterday that she will be going to a european-wide summit of her security counterparts in europe later this month. martha: thank you very much, greg palkot reporting from london. trace: it's more important than ever we take you on the job hunt. today's jobless numbers are worse than anything expected. the labor department reporting 85,000 americans lost their jobs last month. the total number of unemployed americans is 15.3 million. double what it was at the beginning of the recession back

in 2007. it wasn't all bad news. but it wasn't all the good. >> for one thing, the revised figures show the economy created 4,000 jobs in november. that's the first gain in almost two years. let's break down the numbers. we'll start with the underemployment rate. this includes the unemployed and part-time workers seeking full-time work. and discouraged workers not looking for work. it stands at 17.2%, the's up over the montthat's upover the . we know the economy as a whole slashed 4.2 million jobs. the average was 9.3% for the

year. ththe u.s. economy has lost more than 8 million jobs since this great recession began two decembers ago. trace: how do we expect the white house to spin these? >> less than an hour from now we'll be carrying it live, we expect to see the president outlining a plan to use stimulus funded tax credits, tens of thousands of green jobs, helping them becom become proficient. the white house press secretary robert gibbs said it's a reason

for cautious optimism. >> we have a long way to go. if you look back as we talked about it. we knew this would be a long road. and along that road we knew there would be ups and downs and bumps along the way. i think if you look through and analyze some of the numbers, there are some bright spots which i think are at least encouraging. >> a different view from republican house minority leader john boehner. he called officer the obama administration job filling policies and wasteful spending. trace: james, good news as

always. we want to hear from you. log on to foxnews.com. we want to hear about the economy. log onto the home page and answer the question, with unemployment holding steady, do you think the job stimulus program is working? you can choose from yes. the numbers would be much worse without it. no, the president should help businesses grow the economy, or too soon to tell. you can see how others are voting. click on the view results tab. martha: how do most -- i want to bring you this breaking news. this has just come through in our urgent file. abdulmutallab entered not guilty pleas on all six counts in the u.s. district court in the eastern michigan district of detroit. we'll continue to follow this story. when we come back we'll have a

report straight from that courthouse in detroit. not guilty on all counts. trace: how do most americans identify themselves politically? take a look at a surprising new poll. plus we'll take a closer look at the charges against that man martha was just talking about, umar farouk abdulmutallab. what that not guilty plea means. we have a legal panel including the judge andrew napolitano to break it down for us. ( sneeze ) transform drinks you want, into cold medicine you need. introducing fast crystal packs. a new way from alka-seltzer plus to... get cold and flu relief in a taste-free, fizz-free powder. alka-seltzer plus.

trace: breaking news. the detention hearing for umar farouk abdulmutallab has just wrapped up in federal court in detroit. he's charged with trying to bring down a northwest airlines flight with 288 people onboard on christmas day. steve brown just came out of that hearing. steve, give us an idea what happened. >> it was a rather quick proceeding. abdulmutallab did come in wearing a t-shirt that looked like government issue. he spent much of his time in the arraignment talking over with his defense team about what was going to go on going forward. he did stand up before the magistrate. he spoke his name. he spelled his name. he indicated that he did understand what was going on. he acknowledged he had been taking pain meds in the last 24

hours by and his attorneys told the court they felt he under what was going on during the arraignment. he spoke softly but was lucid and did respond to questions. trace: next date for hearing? anything else we might have expected with this? >> no. the interesting thing was the questioquestion of bond did com. the judge repeatedly reminded both abdulmutallab and his defense team that they are not even conceding the detention web's basically being held without bond. interestingly they did have him in the courtroom in the front row people described as his victims from the flight. and nigerian nationals working

for the embassy and the family. and legal representatives observing what's going on and at least two students from a local university. asked about the connections, they were not forthcoming to say the least. even though they were followed by reporters all the way out. because he waived his detention hearing it would seem it's in the federal government's court to go forward at the pace at which they wish. based on the basic nature of the indictment hand down, we are assured that local federal prosecutor new to this particular post, that work is going around the clock. they are making sure they cross the ts and dot the is. trace: thank you.

martha? martha: let's bring in our panel on this. judge andrew napolitano is a senior analyst. michael chertoff and senator, welcome. no surprise there is a not guilty plea entered on all six charges. >> it's standard operating procedure. the government and defense counsel have probably not even begun to talk about the ultimate disposition of this. not guilty is the default position. idea of a detention hearing is going through the motions. it's inconceivable the court would award any amount of bail. what happened today was routine, quick and to be expected. martha: when you look at it, are you surprised there are not terrorism charges on this list and there is no mention of al qaeda? when you compare this to the richard reed case those charges

were mentioned. >> i don't know why those charges are not there except the six charges that are there. each of them carries a life sentence. the evidence for each of them, the evidence of guilt, the federal definition using the word terror requires two or more criminal acts of violence threatened or planned or actual intended to affect the policies of the government. one could argue what he did was more than one act. he went through a ritual in order to ignite himself. some juries have reacted negatively when the government overcharges people. they have an easy quick, six charges against him that should take two days to prove their case if there ever is a trial. and you have 200-plus witnesses on the plane with him and saw him do what he did.

i agree with the judge. i think the way to indict the case is simple and straightforward. if he doesn't plead guilty ultimately he will get convicted in relatively short order. martha: what about the option to have a plea deal where he gives information that's valuable. many people are upset that was given an attorney so quickly. >> he's 23ish years old. martha: you look at this smiling young man and you have to wonder -- how does this happen? >> he does not impress those of us who watch these things for a living that someone who would be possessed of a great deal of intelligence information. but when don't know. he spent time with people -- that's probably the only thing he could do. he might be able to argue he was

deluded. he couldn't form the mental intent to commit the crime. >> back to your point and charging him so quickly and letting him lawyer up. they could have spent a lot more time treating him as an enemy come battant. combatant. there are certain individuals he dealt with in order to get the materials he needed to construct the bomb and figure out how to get on the plane. i think they should have held him for longer and tried to get as much intelligence as they could out of him. then if you want to charge him in civil court do that. martha: he stands in a court facing these charges in the united states. gentlemen, thank you very much for your instiet your insights .

trace: how do voters identify themselves? a brand-new poll out with some fascinating insight into how america is shifting politically.

trace: we want to clarify something we said that mutt rb r farouk abdulmutallab entered a guilty plea. the judge entered a not guilty plea for him. the not guilty plea was entered on behalf of abdulmutallab. are the republicans gaining momentum. a gu gallup poll shows the gop

finishing 2009 in good shape. the poll finds conservatives ending the year as the most popular political group. last year the number of americans describing themselves as as conservatives went up 3 points since 2008. with us now, a fox news political analyst and alan colmes. it seems like you should handle the first question. gallup says the conservatives are gaining steam. >> statistically that's pretty even. the moderates are going to the left and the right based on the polarization of this country going on right now. you add moderates and lip rals, thaand lip rals,and liberals.>>h

2010. >> the change is simply even. we haven't changed that much in the past few years. trace: you are seeing a shift that more people are calling themselves conservative because of the backlash and how big the government is getting? >> more people from embraced the word conservative than liberal. i love the word liberal. it's based on liberty and i'm proud of it. >> you had tea party movement that's moving rino republicans out republican in name only. >> they just pushed out the gop

chair in florida. you can't be a moderate republican anymore and be acceptable to these people. >> if you are a person that pushes what you promised, then you are good. trace: this is the kind of what shocked me. it seems as if moderates are a dying breed. everybody is going one way other other. you are either going towards the conservatives or you are going towards th the liberals. >> most people are either moderate or they are liberal and conservative on the other. >> brian dorgan was a moderate democrat and he's being pushed

out by the republican governor of the state. >> he didn't have the option to run again? >> this governor has not even put his name in. people will have to move more to the left or the right. trace: it seems like people are picking sides. i think it's good people are pick besides. the parties need to be more liberal or conservative. >> i think we should have moderates. but if you make promises and you don't live up to those promises you are out. trace: thank you. across the news room to martha. martha: i can't figure out which side either one of them on on. i'm going to send it to studio n are harris faulkner is standing by you know the video we looked

at, the burj in dubai? it took one and a half minutes for these jumpers to reach the ground which is less than half mile. look at these guys. they interviewed these jumpers. they are going 136-mile-an-hour. there he is. they did have a parachute. he said i was a little nervous. but i wanted to jump from the highest building in the world. the building is the burj khalifa. it is 2,204 feet. 136 miles an hour. faster than most of us would think about driving our car. except for you, martha. i have seen you drive. martha: i'm a little bit of a lead foot. what keeps them from slamming into the building?

>> what keeps them focused? i can't even go down the stairs in a hurry. martha: harris, thank you very much. trace: following an alligator on the loose in miami. we'll bring you those pictures coming up. there is an alligator on the loose. it's crazy down there. we'll bring you those pictures next. millions of americans are still out of work. we are awaiting president obama statement on unemployment. we'll take you live to the white house when the president begins that. across the country on the left coast, california governor arnold schwarzenegger is speaking at this hour. how he plans to get the golden state out of the red with your money next. blessed ♪ ♪ so when we needed space for a family ♪ ♪ set our sights on the wide open west ♪ ♪ well i thought we'd see sierra vistas ♪

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trace: back live in the newsroom. we have brand-new information on three top stories. is there an increase in terrorism from home-grown muslims. lauren green all across the newsroom in sniew in studio n. >> the number of american muslims motivated by extremism. since 9/11 139 cases, 41 in the last year. researchers say it's too early to tell if it's a trend. antiterror experts say it's a trends that jihadists ar thinkig

the u.s. is weaker on terrorism. trace: web najibullah zazi? remember najibullah zazi snow's accused of planning to book new york city. >> these men were taken into custody a few hours ago. we are awaiting their arraignment. authorities say they are linked to the investigation of najibullah zazi. he has been charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. one of the men should be arrai arraigned within minutes. he's identified as adis medunjanin. one poe fission with the court tolone official told me the maty

federal prosecutors. trace: california going broke and governor schwarzenegger wants the feds to fix it. >> any minute now we are expecting governor schwarzenegger to unveil his latest budget proposal. he's trying to shore up a $21 dil budgebillion budget hole. he's asking the federal government for an $8 billion credit to cover up funded mandates, things like border protection and medicare and medicaid program. california provides 13% of the nation's gross domestic product and the recovery of the nation depend on california. trace: that is brand-new information at the bottom of the hour. martha: the world economy proving we are all connected. unemployment in the eur o-zone 10%. the highest rate since they

began using the euro in 1999. amy has a report for us live from london. >>it is the same as the united states, but it's a euro record. this is as high as it's gotten. that impacts consume were spending. people are spending much less because of this situation. that threatens the economic recovery here as countries teeter on the edge of recession. there is growth in europe and recovery, but a lot of that has been because companies cut jobs, they cut costs and laid people off. the recently released november figures show the average unemployment at 10%. but they have a wide range of statistics.

so you can see it's quite varied. but these figures don't tell the whole story. in spain, the under 25 is at a whopping 43.8%. france similarly as higher youth unemployment because of shy job security in that country. but as we see in recent times, over the last couple years the youth unemployment situation in france has led to riots. so it is a dangerous situation if you look at it from that perspective. but growth is back. there is concern over the coming months in 2010 there will be even higher unemployment in the eur o-zone. >> we are getting the urgent wires coming across. wthis is early information crossing the urgent wires. we have no idea why this is

happening, but as soon as we find out why they are evacuating union station in d.c., the national desk is work on that. we'll bring it to you coming up on the live desk. how going green is causing a traffic nightmare in some parts of the country. peter doocy is live in evanston, illinois. >> what does it mean when the traffic signal is white? i'll tell you about a dangerous problem that could be facing drivers across the country this winter coming up next.

trace: you may have seen the new traffic lights where you live that use l.e.d. bulbs that consume less energy. but they don't give off enough heat to melt the snow when they get covered. that's causing a traffic nightmare especially during a

deep breeze like the one gripping much of the country right now. peter doocy in the cold in evanston, illinois. what's the problem with these new l.e.d. lights. >> imagine pulling up to an intersection in a blizzard. you look up to see if your signal will be green, yellow or red. and it's white. thousands of intersections across america are installing energy efficient light emitting diode traffic signals because they use 90% less energy. they save towns so much money that one suburb, their energy bills stopped at that one intersection from $63 a month to less than $10. they don't get very hot and if they get snow on them in a storm, it's there, it's not going to melt off. we know this has wreaked havoc on commuters and drivers.

it has caused accidents and at least one fatality. trace: what does the city do to keep these lights clear? >> some cities are look at heating elements which is a device that gets attached to the light and if there is snow on it it melts it off. but that adds 50% to the energy bill. when you factor in the cost of the hardware. in evanston they have had a few problems with traffic lights being covered by the snow. even though the lights are high-tech, the solution to getting rid of the snow is low tech. they send out a crew to remove it by hand. sometimes the money saved on energy is actually being spent on keeping these lights from getting all whited out. trace: that's a bad thing. peter doocy live for us in evanston, illinois. we promised you that alligator

video earlier. the alligator is loose in miami. he was in water. where alligators belong. i thought he was running up and down the city streets. he was in a canal on the loose. the alligator people came out and captured the alligator right there. i think this is pretty much the -- he is caught. and he's on his way to the alligator home. there in miami. which brings us down to acquisitions. i'm sure martha and help are watching the alligator on the run. >> there is an alligator in florida? you are kidding. trace: they said alligator on the loose, i thought it was running up and down -- martha: this is my home in the water. >> we need to hire producers who have been to florida so they would know that's not news. trace: i thought it was south beach.

>> big 12, sec. martha: i didn't watch any football last night. certain football teams i watch. i don't watch it like, every single football game that happ happens. >> colt mccoy got hurt in the first quarter early in the game. pinched nerve on his throwing arm so couldn't feel his arm at all. he couldn't play the rest of the game. i said alabama by 17 but it was only 16. it would have been a different game with colt mccoy. it was a lot of fun to watch. congratulations. you missed it. martha: i went out for dinner. >> did you take all the kids?

martha: no. >> what did you give them? cheerios? pop tarts? martha: i was out with trace and his wife actually. >> we ate a bunch of wings and drank cola. let me tell you about alabama. arthur and drew are going to be on talking about terror and chris wallace, that's it. chris wallace comes on fridays. we'll beat the heck out of each other. he's always getting mad at me about something. trace: thank you both. new jobless numbers went up. a big surprise to the administration. what the president will have to say in response to that coming up.

trace: breaking in the boxes right now, st. louis police wrapping up a news conference on that deadly shooting rampage. they say the suspect killed three of his coworkers before taking his own life. five other victims were injured. investigators are trying to figure out the exact motive for the shooting. in the middle box. the associated press is reporting jay leno may get another chance to rhine as the e late night on nbc. we haven't heard what will happen to conan o'brien. a rocket attack in afghanistan.

three mortars have hit a five-star hotel that houses the u.s. consulate. no u.s. staff were inside the building at the time. martha: we expect to hear from president obama and what he has to say about the unemployment levels here in the united states. chris wallace is the anchor of fox news sunday. hey, chris. good aftechris.>> good afternoo. martha: really the white house is pulling the focus back to the economy and back to jobs, right? >> absolutely. you have the new jobs figures for december that came out today indicating that unemployment stayed at 10%. in fact there had been an expectation only 8,000 jobs

would be lost and 85,000 were loss. it continues to indicate we have severe economic problems. though the loss of jobs is moderating a little bit. in addition the president has his own political issue. democrats facial elections in 2010 are very concerned because they think according to all the polls that the public is concerned, primarily concerned about the economy and jobs. i think you will see a pivot from the president starting really with his speech coming up in a few minutes to jobs and the economy to try to indicate that that is job one for this president and for the democratic party. it's obviously a central strike against them as they face the electorate in 2010. trace: i wanted to bring up if i could. 85,000 jobs.

there is a wide swath of america saying there is nothing out there for me. i'm not looking, i'm not part of these numbers. >> you are right, trace. the bureau of labor stat statiss has another set of numbers. if you take the number of people who have given under the search for jobs, also those who are part-time employed but would like full-time employed, that's 17.4%. the 10% is a gad number about it vastly understates the real u unemployment number in this country. martha: what do we have to look forward to this weekend? >> we'll be talking about this and other political issues. we have the chairs of the two

national parties. obviously a lot of things involved in this. you have the announcement by chris dodd and byron dorgan that they will not seek reelection in 2010. you have falling poll numbers for the president and for the democrats. but on the other hand, michael steele has his own problem. you have a rebellion going on among republicans who feel he isn't leading the party. he has a book out, he's promoting that and giving paid speeches. in addition to the split with the establishment and the so-called tea party movement. both sides have plenty to answer for. i expect it will be a heated discussion on "fox news sunday." martha: check your local

listings for this weekend's show. the man accused of trying to blow up a detroit-bound flight on christmas day is arraigned in court. the judge entering a not guilty plea on his behalf to all six of those charges. that was procedural. that was how it was done. we have more on this story. the president is about to speak just moments from now about those weaker than expected employment numbers that came out today. it's fronts and center at the white house that's straight ahead. then.

thanks for watching. >> studio b can shepherd smith starts right now. >> a busy friday on studio b. president obama expected to speak directly, presently on the economy and on unemployment. we're told he'll announce brand new plans to create tens of thousands of jobs, green jobs, and he'll do it with taxpayer stimulus money. all this in the hopes that owners will use the money to hire more workers. it comes after a sobering report on jobs. the economy lost 85,000 jobs last month keeping the unemployment rate flat at 10%. this enforces what some experts have been saying for months, an improvement in the j