tv Happening Now FOX News December 6, 2010 11:00am-1:00pm EST
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ran into santa, didn't we! martha: and it will be on the fox p friends christmas special. bill: and they look great. martha: especially santa, he looks awesome. bill: ho ho ho! martha: have a good day! bill: chao. jon: good morning to you! i'm jon scott. jenna: hi everybody, so glad you're with us, i'm jenna lee and we're here in the fox news room and "happening now", a tremendous story, terrorists have a new list of targets today thanks to wickileaks, included in that latest release, the state department secrets, a list of sites around the world deemed vital to american interests, some of them have little or no security, jon. jon: get this, wickileaks founder julian assange is threatening to release a poison pill file of
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documents if anything happens to him or his website. our national correspondent catherine herridge is live for us in washington. this so-called poison pill, wh is it catherine? >> reporter: it was first described as sort of like an insurance policy for julian assange, founder of wickileaks, which he would use ultimately if his website permanently disabled , he is arrested or killed. the london newspapers are reporting this morning the documents inside the so-called poison pill have been distributed to hackers who support assange. what we don'to while we don't know what the document contains or whether this poison pill really exists it's said to include documents about guantanamo bay and also bp. so this is clearly meant to make authorities think twice before arresting assange and as you know, there's an outstanding warrant for his arrest from swed on on those rape charges jon. jon: tell us more about this essentially a hit list for terrorists that they've published. >> well, back in february february 2009 state department -- department diplomats were asked to put together a list of sites and this is routine, it happens
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with regularity with intelligence circles, putting together a list of vital national securities, courts, drug companies, pipelines who would threaten security interests and state department spokesmen responded by saying there are strong and valid reasons information is classified, including critical infrastructure and key resources that are vital to the national and economic security of any country, and crowley pointed out that assange says he may be targeting the united states, but in the process, he is putting other assets of other countries at risk, and just a short time ago, we had a readout from the attorney general eric holder on wickileaks and he said that it is unhelpful and destructive and also indicated that it has jeopardized or at least put national security at risk jon. jon: catherine herridge, live for us in washington, thank you. >> you're welcome. jenna: it certainly is another big story we're watching today, the tax cut compromise. now a real power play unfolding on capitol hill as
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lawmakers work on a deal on the bush-era tax cuts. what's going to happen next? the president is expected to push for this sort of compromise we're hearing about during his speech in north carolina. cries stierwalt is digital politics editor and also writes our power play at fox news. chris, what's the dynamics of this deal? >> well, right now, jenna, what's going on is the president is trying to sell the members of his own party on a two or maybe even three-year extension of the opportunity -- current tax break. he's getting a lot of pushback. we stall -- the house democrats put forward legislation that would have the tax rates expire for upper income earners, families and small businesses over 200, or $250,000. what the president is trying to do now is owing to the fact that he can't get that through, democrats can't get that through or pass a republican filibuster, he's got to get his party on board with a compromise. jenna: what do the democrats want in exchange for, let's
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say, a temporary extension, two or three years, from the bush-era tax cuts? >> the first and biggest thing are the unemployment benefits. we're talking probably $50 billion or so to extend what are called 99 week extended unemployment benefits to americans out of work. so that's the biggest piece. that's the most symbolic piece. it's probably unlikely that they can get anything back through the house that doesn't couple the tax rates with that sort of unemployment insurance, but the president has a whole pile of other things that he needs to get through on this that he wants to get through and use this compromise as way to do it. that includes a tax credit system that he put through as part of his stimulus program. that puts other issues to the fore. so this is a very complicated, very fraught negotiation. jenna: so chris, what's holding this up? the seems -- it seems the dynamics, that we have, republicans have what they want, have been given some
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room as far as a temporary extension and democrats want the extension of jobless benefits, as well as some of the stimulus efforts and it seems like people are on board. then what's holding everything up? are we going to get an announcement today as far as a compromise? >> i think an announcement today is probably unlikely but the president is feeling the tile crunch, probably wants this done by wednesday. what we're hearing is this may be unlikely because it's so complicated. basically you're getting a snapshot of what the next couple of years are going to look like, which is that liberal democrats are going to be hard to console, hard for the president to come along on things like this and it's going to be even harder once the republicans take over the majority in the house. so right now it's a depleting case on the president's -- a pleading case on the president's part to say see reason on this, we're not going to get what we want, let's make a compromise to get something done, otherwise taxes go up for everybody in the country, as well as the unforesee compromises like the debt tax, alternative
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minimum tax, capital gains tax, all these are looming so president obama knows he need to work quickly. jenna: you're saying happy days ahead! >> good for business, right? jen i guess so, for our business, but about the of america, not sure. chris, thank you for your insights and if viewers want your insights, they can go to politics.com/eheq. you can find the power play application. happening now wants to hear from you as well. what's your take on the what can do and should do when it comes to the economy. we've been getting great questions, questions about the tax cut battle and debate over extending unemployment benefits. keep those coming. they're important during the show, we use them throughout the show and put your comment toss our guests. so hop online, foxnews.com/happening now. jon: here's something else
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our viewers are talking about. it is cold out there in parts of the country. and in indiana, one highway looks more like a demolition derby scene, snow, causing a string of accidents north of indianpolis, a few inches of snow is all it takes to create a travel nightmare in north carolina. chicago's first big storm of the season dropped a record amount of snow despite the first blast of winter. the calendar says it's still autumn. any relief in site? let's check in with janice dean, live in the extreme weather center. looks like you got your warm sweater on. >> reporter: may is when we start to see a little relief? jon i think that's a little sarcastic, yes! >> reporter: jon, i know you can take it. we saw snow flurries in manhattan. it was over in about five minutes. look at these temperatures. minus one is what it feels like. that's the wind chill against your skin in chicago. let's take a live look at chicago, where you wouldn't be able to tell it's that
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chilly out. you can see a little light flurry activity in and around the area, just sort of on the sidewalk, taking things -- making thanks a little slick. they got record snow. i think jon scott mentioned that for the day, over the weekend, so temperatures out there, very chilly, air temperature, 13 degrees. but doesn't that tell you the story? the pictures are so pretty to look at, but it is very cold. how far south does this cold go? as far as central and south florida. look at what it feels like in atlanta, 23 now, 22 in memphis, chicago, minus one, new york, it's 27. it's cold out there and people are feeling it. freeze advisories are in effect across much of florida, even across new orleans, as far south of, look, miami. so we're going to be dealing with temperatures dipping into the 20s and the 30s, in some cases, melbourne, that's 26 degrees below what you should be in terms of an
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overnight low. so we're going to be dealing with unfortunately the threat for crop damage. satellite radar imagery, you can see where the snow is flying across the great lakes, again, looking at maine, they are seeing over a foot of snow. jon, i think you should be singing "it's beginning to look a lot like christmas"! >> it's begin to go look a lot like ski season! >> you're a snow bunny. i know that about you. jon: thank you! jenna: we have breaking news here on the wickileaks story and an interesting development, harris, on the founder, right? >> reporter: it's beginning to look a lot like a pinch for wikileaks, because in switzerland where they bring in money for the website wickileaks, the swiss postal system is doing a cross-check of whether julian assange was a resident when he opened up his bank account there. they have just pulled the plug on wikileaks' bank account in a serious setback
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for the secret spilling website. what this mean is wickileaks will have to go elsewhere. they have cs in -- accounts in ice lawn and germany but this is an important one for them. i'll all over this as this continues to break, but this is interesting. this is a fluid situation with wickileaks.com. back to you guys. jenna: follow the money, we'll see what happens next. harris, thank you very much for that. we also have another story coming up that harris is going to talk to us about, a small plane crashes into a suburban neighborhood, it sparks a firestorm, engulfing two homes. one man, celebrating a birthday, when he heard this explosion, ran to the scene and found the pilot lying in the street. >> we came out and just stayed with the pilot until the emts arrived. >> what was he saying to you? >> you know, he was just in a lot of pain. he had a lot of burns, his right side hurt really bad. jenna: well, harris is going to be back with us on the latest on this pilot's condition. a possible cause on this crash and how the neighborhood is coping now. also demonstrators
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jen we have new information on really a nightmare scenario for one quiet neighborhood like so many we know. a small plane falls from the sky, crashing, setting homes on fire. harris has the latest. >> reporter: a cessna 215, roy, owdz, 30 miles north of salt lake city. imagine, on a sunday evening, something falling out of the sky, the neighbors say first they saw a orange flash, then a blue flash. what does it mean? it hit the ground and a huge fire started. the pilot is clayton root. he was taken to the utah burn center in critical condition. we're told nobody else on
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the ground was hurt. that is a miracle. pieces of the cessna 210 were scattered up and down the block. the pilot we're told was trying to land in fog. investigators have started their work to determine what actually caused all of this but they say there was pretty heavy fog when he was trying to land, he missed the runway by three blocks. again, i mentioned it hit two houses, the neighborhood had to be evacuated, 1700 customers lost electrical power because he hit power lines on the way down, those neighbors in the 20 or 30 or so moams have been allowed back into their homes, but you talk about how this neighborhood is dealing with this this morning, imagine, this scene is huge, as pieces of that plane are now being picked up for evidence to see exactly why it went down. back to you. jenna: harris, thanks. jon: you know, listen to this story an see if you
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think this is fair use. in one massachusetts city, esterline technologies, an aircrafts parts company has shut down a long running plant, relocating to california. the union and workers left behind say they want to buy the factory's equipment and start up their own rival company. esterline says no way so now the city might step in and use eminent domain to take over the company's assets. molly line, live in boston for us. molly. >> reporter: jon, this is a fascinating scenario. the half gun aerospace plant shut down in october and a hundred workers lost their jobs, many had worked at this plant literally for decades making seems and gasket phos aircraft, now the city is using a measure using the possibility of eminent domain to take control of equipment in the building, paying a fair price, and making sure it is not sold at auction on december 14th. ryan colby is a city council member: >> what we'd be doing here is making the argument that keeping these jobs here, in
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taunton, serves a public service here in our city. >> when the government exercises the power of eminent domain it's most often used to clear the way for a highway, railway, public utility, but it's also been used in a case where it's deemed good for the public or has an economic reason behind it. esterline officials say while they regret the closure of this plant they make the argument that eminent domain should not apply in this case. jim sweeney, an official subsidiary of esterline saying in the half gun situation, the uewu is asking the city to take over personal property, manufacturing equipment, for the private purpose of running a business. now, city leaders have asked the company to postpone this auction, something they are considering, and union officials say they're planning a protest, but they will block the entrance of this shuttered building to prevent the sale of equipment if necessary and to buy themselves more time to find potential investors and possibly get this back up and running and hold
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their job, jon. jon: keep an eye on that one for us molly. that's going to be interesting to see how it turns out. molly line, thanks. jenna: new video just coming into our newsroom but the inter -- through international desk, seeing more protestest in a country plagued by debt problems but this time the outrage doesn't have anything to do with money in greece. the 2500 students demonstrating in athens today, there hurling rocks at police, also at the finance ministry building. several storefronts were damaged in the capitol but so far no injuries reported at this time, this demonstration marking two years since police shot and killed a 15-year-old boy, his death sparking greece's worst riot necessary decades, the two officers involved in that shooting are now serving prison sentences for that. jon: iran sticks its finger in the world's eye with a bombshell claim about its nuclear ambitions. how will this impact world power talks on the threat taking place right now? we just got an early
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jon expectations are very low right now for international talks about iran's nuclear ambitions. representatives of six world powers, including the united states, are getting together with their iranian counterparts in geneva, switzerland at this moment. one of the chief negotiators saying, quote, don't expect much of anything. these meetings come a day
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after iran raised the stakes. the country now claims it is self-sufficient when it comes to fueling its nuclear plants, saying it has produced its first home grown batch of yellow cake uranium. jim walsh is an international expert with the mif securities program. if true this is crucial because up until now the russians have been agreeing to do the fuel processing for the iranians and a lot of people, a lot of countries, thought that gave their nuclear program some measure of safety. i think the russians still have leverage because they're on the ground in big numbers at that nuclear power plant. remember, these are announcements, often there's a gap between an iranian announcement and an iranian reality but they have announced they can produce yellow cake. i'm not too exercised about that. at the end of the day it's about the correct ri fugs and enrichment of that nuclear material, so i think
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that's where people are focused but they are making progress a little at a time but in terms of weapons it's about enriched uranium, not so much the yellow cake. jon: so you have delegates from the european union, the united states, all kinds of nations meeting in geneva right now with the iranians. withy just playing into their hands, are we gig mahmoud ahmadinejad what he wants, some stature? >> i don't think so. i think what ahmadinejad wants is actually a deal. he tried to get that a year ago but when he took that deal back to tehran he was attacked on the left and right for selling out iranian interests, and in fact though i have low expectations like everyone else about this meeting, sometimes the iranians make tough statements in advance of a meeting because they are trying to give themselves political cover, so that if they are flexible in negotiations, then they can still look like they came out ahead and still have something to tell back to their home constituencies. we shouldn't get too excited
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but it's not without the realm of the possibilities that we get something done. in my own meetings on the nuclear issue, the things go on for hours and you think you're not getting anywhere and all of the sudden the iranians may say we agree to do x, y and z and the americans and others get together and say what just happened, so there's an predictability with all of this. jon: speaking of unpredictable, secretary of state clinton tried to speak with the foreign minister, mutaki, at the meetings underway in bahrain and he totally dodged her, even she said it was might clear that he was giving her the cold shoulder and would not speak to her. >> yeah, i thought that was interesting. i think i remember that happening once before in years past. hillary clinton is a smart secretary of state. and people forget that there are two types of pressure you can use. everyone focuses on negative pressure, you know, threats and sanctions, but you can also use what's called positive pressure. she's out there showing the world that she's trying to meet, that she's trying get
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these issues resolved, that she is willing to go the extra mile so when the other side doesn't take advantage of that, that makes them look bad t. makes us look good and assures our allies we're trying to do everything we can to resolve the problem. jon let's turn your attention to another flashpoint now, the korean peninsula. you've got the south koreans engaged in a live fire exercise off the coast. you've also got this meeting underway in washington right now involving south korea and the united states, but you don't have china in attendance. is that in your view a mistake? >> no. it makes sense to me. first of all the u.s., japan and south korea are all treaty allies so it makes sense they're going to meet first on their own, sort of come up with a common position and if china had come to that meeting north korea might have gotten nervous it was losing its last friend and while you might think it's great if china joins with everyone else on our side, in north korea, that thinks it's all alone, is much more likely
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to act out and cause problems. so i think that was appropriate. but jon, there was breaking news this morning even while you were on air that admiral mullen, the head of the joint chief, is going to travel to south korea to meet with military officials this was an unannounced trip and the fact that you had the president of china and president obama on the phone yesterday and then a decision today to send admiral mullen to south korea to talk to his counterpart, that raises questions in my mind about what was said in that telephone conversation between president hu and president obama. so it makes me a little nervous to hear these -- these things are happening. jon: you think it raises the stakes of military conflict? >> you know, i don't know. we don't know what was said in that conversation. it's been told that president hu told president obama that there's a danger of a crisis, a theme i've been consistently talking about these last couple of weeks. if that's true, you can imagine the scenario where the president had a discussion, maybe -- the president of china tells president obama something new that the chinese know
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that no one else knows, and then president obama responds by saying well, we'd better send mullen over there to calm things down and to assure our south korean allies we've got their back but maybe also to get them to act a little minister prudently, maybe less live fire exercises in the middle of a crisis. this is all speculation on my part. but there are these dots to be connected. jon: let's hope something calls this down. jim walsh from mit, thank you. >> thank you jon. jenna: covered a lot of ground there. a lot going on in the world now! jon: a lot of flashpoints that everybody is nervous about. jenna: absolutely, and this story keeps on coming, this wickileaks. the latest warning from wickileaks includes a new list of targets for terrorists and there are -- their secrets that the founder is now threatening to spill if arrested. more secrets than that. how can we stop him? we're going to ask that question next. a new danger in the president's push for bipartisanship, why it could have huge political
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implications, and our live chat is jumping, we've been talking to a few of you during the show already. it's focused on the economy, tax cuts, the push to extend tax cuts. i see sammy, chris, jimmy on the board already. do you see those guys? >> absolutely. we've been talking about the lame duck session and tucker says lame duck is well-named. let's see, dead on arrival, harris, is my opinion of the lame duck congress, that's jim 2339. get here by going to foxnews.com, click on jon and jenna's picture t. will take you to happening now's page and you see their picture and then sign on through one of the networks and you see my avatar here, you can sign on through twitter, facebook, google, whatever, does it for you, then once you get in the chat begins. include your voice in america's asking. it's all about you, after all, and now we can see totally everybody, what they're doing. i'm checking in on it. it's a whole lot of fun. stay with us.
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jenna: wickileaks founder julian assange with a new warning for anyone trying to arrest him or shut down his site, you run the risk if do you this of triggering a massive new document release assange posting a massive file on line, he those release the password to make the contents public in a matter of seconds.
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now wickileaks also just releasing a list of sites terrorist could target for maximum impact, that from a report within our own country. charles kelly simpson is a senior fellow with the heritage foundation. how important is it that we get this guy? >> i think vitessally important that civilized society join up together and work together to find this guy and stop him from what he's doing. he is moving from a nuisance, jen yarks to a clear and present danger, not only to the united states but to civilized society, so he needs to be stopped, and i predict, i predicted a long time ago on this network that the end will not be pretty for him. jenna: are you saying we get him by all means necessary? >> i think that these little electronic i.e.d.s, which is lengthily what these are that he's essentially setting on the world stage for us to step on or other people to step on either have or will result in blood on his hands, and whether we're rising to the legal
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level of being in a posture of inherent self-defense where he can launch a cyber attack or other attack against him, this is not false rhetoric from me or others who are talking about him being a real threat. he is a real threat, he's caused damage in the short term. but the one good nugget out there is this. i imagine he's going to run out of documents. jenna: i really think so, caluey? it seems like day after day there's something new hitting the wire and that's pretty discouraging. >> it's discouraging, i think we should expect more until he stops. we know at least from published reports that what he's released so far is a mere 1 percent of what he has in his possession. but he has to encourage people to give him stuff. and if the people like the bradley mannings and others are convicted, a fair trial and given a harsh punishment, that will create an incentive for people not to do this. so five years from now, nobody is going to be
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talking about this. jenna: we talked about that one private that's been a suspect, or allegedly works with julian assange, but you're saying we currently have leak necessary our government now? >> i wouldn't be surprised, and i don't think anyone in the news media would be surprised. it's one thing to have leaks or people talking to the press or to press-like organizations like wickileaks of the it's another thing to be disgorging one's self of classified information. this guy, if manning is guilty and is presumed innocent you believe proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, but if manning used the sippernet, the classified intranet within the government, the only silver lining here is that there are much more classified information caches within our government that he didn't have access to. that's not very comforting to me because the stuff that's come out so far is highly injurious and will
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only get more so. the site, vulnerable sites within the united states and elsewhere, at what -- >> inaudible] >> we hope that's not any hacking going on right there, jon. whenever you lose a satellite, the ground lines -- the gremlins are there. kauley, i think you're back with us, we don't think anything sinister went on. >> bad weather! jenna: one final question that a lot of viewers have. if you're in europe, why haven't we gotten him yet? >> i he's a slithery little waif and he's hard to get hold of. jenna: but we're the strongest military force in the entire year -- i mean, sorry, entire world. how is that even an excuse? >> it's not an excuse. easy think quite crafty, but the news is getting tighter and tighter and he'll eventually be caught, jenna. he really will. and quite honesty, as he's
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starting to release some of these things, actually the impact has been the exact jot sit of what he wanted in some instance and we'll if he releases the guan nanmo and other information, whether it doesn't work totally against what his effort is, which is to pull america's eyes down -- america down in the eyes of the world. gen jen thank you, sorry for the disturbance, i'll look forward to talking to you again. jon: i was afraid wickileaks killed that satellite! gop lawmakers and the white house are working now to hammer out some kind of compromise on extending the bush-era tax cuts, and while the deal highlights the spirit of bipartisanship, there are some fears that it also signals weakness somehow on the part of the president. that could have huge political implications. let's talk about it with corey elans, former member of president bush's communications teal and northrop is a congresswoman from kentucky. if the president signs a deal that would extend the
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bush-era tax cuts do you think it makes him look politically weak? >> jon, i have to tell you, i think that all of this about the president and posturing his position i think is completely overblown at this point. look, the president was very clear in what he said was his line in the sand for him as he came into this conversation. first, we want to make sure that he kept the tax cuts in place for those folks making less than $250,000 a year, second, he wanted to make sure that the obama tax cuts -- people forget, $300 billion of the recovery act were obama tax cuts, he wants to make sure those are still in place for working families and finally, he wants to make sure we have unemployment insurance for folks who are still hard looking for work right now. he's going to get all of those things, and there are going to be two things: one, it's going to allow us to keep the economy in a recovery mode, and second, it's going to allow us to get to agenda items in this session of congress that are important to the american people like the start treaty and other things. jon: i'm sure you answered
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my question, which is how does it make him look politically but we'll get to that in a second. what about it, ann? do you think there's any choice in this current environment but for some kind of a deal to be cut? >> i think it will be a deal, but there was a tsunami of a message that was sent on election day, the message was that it was time to change course, and the people wanted the economy to be front and center, and certainly, keeping the tax rates as they are is the first step in doing no harm, so there's overwhelming support for that, the members of congress that are going home on the weekend, they're hearing it in the malls when they're there, and when they come back, they are ready to make that happen. i think the president is -- it's clear he's moved on to work with senator mcconnell, with representative boehner, who is the speaker, coming in speaker. that's where the focus is. that's where the focus ought to be. because that is the change
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american people delivered on election day. and there will probably be some give, maybe in unemployment benefits and extension, but i don't think that the republicans leaders are eager to go on a spending spree, because they have the messages they want smaller government, they want taxes to stay low and they want the economy to recover. jon: corey, the president is clearly taking heat not only from republicans but from his base. in the "new york times", frank rich writes ""the -- "the real problem is he's so indistinct, no one across the entire political spectrum knows who he is" and paul krugman, lefty economist and sometimes writer for newsweek writes "letting taxes go up would be politically risky but giving in would be risky, too, especially for a president whom voters are starting to write off as a man too timid to make a stand", and then there are politicians, people who support him, like illinois senator dick durbin. take a listen to what he has
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to say: >> if you get the unemployment benefits will you be willing to go along with extending these tax breaks for the upper income people? because it sounds like that that's what it's going to take. >> we're moving in that direction, and while we're moving there against -- and we're moving there against my judgment. jon: against his judgment. it sounds like he's telling the president don't cave in. what do you say to that corey? >> i'm going to extend a hand of bipartisanship to ann and echo what she said, which is the american people sent a strong message on november 2nd that they want this president and this congress to come to washington to work together, to deal with the issues that are most important to them right now. the number one thing is jobs. and making sure that we're creating jobs. very much alongside with that is making sure we keep this economy moving. people are really tired of us playing politics. right now, we're in the process of playing politics with peoples' lives and we need to make a transition. my hope is that as you all
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here at the network make the transition and are seeing this conversation throughout the day you talk about the impact that these tax cuts are going to have on getting this economy moving again and keeping it on a good path. that's what we should be talking about, not about the political implications for the president. he's going to be just fine. jon: all right. >> let me just say, though, that the people that are pushing this other agenda, some of the writers you talked about, they're the same people that encouraged the democrats to go way out on a limb an an agenda that the american people have totally rejected and i can't imagine that democrats in congress, whether they lost and are hope to go come back or that lost that -- i mean that are still there want to follow them, even further down that path. jon: all right. ann northapaun, coery eamons, thank you both. jenna: certainly a lot of talk about the economy. some of the same people who warned us about the subprime lending crisis, are saying
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jenna: well, we're just sort of working our way out of the banking crisis, right? but now this. apparently time is running out for some states to resolve massive budget shortfalls and ballooning deficits, and now some of the same analysts who predicted the subprime mortgage crisis are warning a debt crisis could soon spread from weak states to stronger ones. what's going to stop this? peter marici is economist with a unit of vairs and form economist with the united states international trade commission. peter, as you see t. is a federal bailout of states on the way? >> well, it may well be. pennsylvania, california, new york, all have difficult finance, and they're just the tip of the iceberg. the bond market, so to speak, investors, are
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becoming more and more concerned about the potential for default. if we have one default, then the cost of insures loans or insuring the bonds of many states will rise, interest rates will rise if states have to pay that, will squeeze budgets further, and it becomes a self-fulfilling process. jenna: let's talk about that. some states have been targeted, new york, new jersey, california, illinois, and the whole logic behind stoning in -- stepping in during the banking crisis was, for example, if we lose bank of america and goldman sachs, then the whole system is going down. is that the same accident area or for california, knock, that you're putting people at live? >> notice you -- who you are named, very liberal places, with barack obama in the white house, there's a real danger. he wanted to go so far as to guarantee california bonds during the most recent crisis. essentially bonds are as good as cash in america. if he guaranteed their bonds
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that would make them like u.s. securities and essentially give sacramento the right to print money. it would be wholly irresponsible. but with this administration, i wouldn't put it past them to bail these states out, not impose many conditions, just as they did on wall street, and then we would have the great inflation that so many fear ed ben bernanke is going to cause, but he's not. jenna: real quick peter, the problems with debt in a state like california, for example, go far beyond this administration, so beyond just some of the politics here, how would the dynamics shift in the economy if the federal government is led to bailout some of the states from bankruptcy? is there any coming back from that or is the relationship between the state and federal government forever changed? >> no, i think it will be -- it would be forever changed. we bailed out new york in the '80s, and the question would be how would these states be worked out, what conditions would be imposed. but remember, states are sovereign goments and what this would likely do is finally make us take a close
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look at all the responsibilities and conditions that the federal government is imposing on the states. you know, part of the problem is there are big medicaid expenditures, that is a cofinanced program, that the federal government sets the rate. we have to start taking a hard look at the kinds of conditions both democrat and republican administrations have been imposing on states and making their finances so difficult to bear. jenna: peter, it's a story we're certainly going to be watching. as many experts say this is a story next year of this recession. peter is going to be back with us after he hears the president talk about a potential compromise in the works for the bush-era tax cuts. we'll be back with peter in a bit. jon: a woman, missing for days, a neighbor asked her friend who claims to be psychic what she thinks happened. >> my neighbor is a friend who's a psychic, so she calls her friend, and her psychic friend says i don't see any violence involved, and i see her leaning
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jon: a hiker, missing for nearly a week, is now recovering from her ordeal, after a dramatic rescue that might have even involved the help of a psychic. deborah collins also has her neighbor toss thank, they were trying to figure out a way to find her. one neighbor contacted a psychic who said cole it's was in fall creek park, another neighbor whose husband and son planned to go hiking told them to check out that area and that hiker did so and found collins on an unmarked trail. joe kindiguara is that hiker what is it that motivated you to go to that trail where you ultimately found her? >> we love liking -- hiking in fall creek and had been hiking there a week prior,
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discovering new parts of the park. just decided to discover, you know, a more remote area of the park, and see if we could get lucky finding her there. >> because there were reports that this psychic had been contacted by a nation, the psychic said go to fall creek park and that's where i think she is, leaning against a tree. is that true? >> yes, that's true but we weren't driven there by the psychic. it was more that she would most likely be at fall creek or hendrick, both of which are giant park and we wanted to go to fall creek, the psychic said she would be at fall creek, so we said okay, we're go to fall creek. >> you an your son are on this trail, you were about to quit and something motivated you to keep going, right? >> right. we wanted to hike for about an hour and a half and get back for lunch and we were at the point where we could turn around and head back to the car and i decided let's see if i can reach my wife
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and amazingly there was a little cell phone coverage and told her to meet me at another park entrance so we could cover more ground more than just doubling back. jon: so you find deborah collins who's been out there six nights in very cold was real, obviously, that we had come to look for her, and that she had been found. it was -- we were all so happy, and we just feel so lucky. jon: yeah, well, and she wasn't just lost, she had what, broken her ankle so she couldn't move. just absolutely fantastic that you and your son came along. thank you for your story. >> thank you. jenna: well, the crime was so horrific that connecticut is now providing counseling for jurors who convicted stevens hayes of murdering a doctor's wife and his two young daughters. we're going to talk live to one of those jurors about what happened inside that
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call this toll-free number now. jenna: we start ou this hour with fox news alert asee await to hear from the president eupl self. hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee? i'm jon scott. the question is what will the president say. jenna: that's a good question. jon: he's expected to talk in north carolina, probably talking about a deal that will extend tax cuts as well as jobless benefits. right now he is touring a community college in within tomorrow, salem. mike emanuel live at the white house for us right now. what is the white house saying on the tax cuts and the unemployment benefits extension issue, mike. >> reporter: jon, on the way to north carolina a white house spokesman bill burton says the president is confident in the next couple of days negotiators will iron out a deal to get the bush tax cuts extended. obviously the white house has been very strongly in favor of extending the unemployment benefits as well for those who are at risk of losing those
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benefits. there's been other tax issues the president has been pushing to get also in there, such as like education tax credits, that sort of thing. so they are working on a final deal. they think they will get a deal done within the next couple of days, jon. jon: i guess the devil is in the details. is he going to be providing any of the details in the speech coming up? >> reporter: all indications are he's going to reiterate what he's been calling for. if we are going to extend the bush tax cuts for people who make more than $250,000 a year that unemployment benefits need to be extended and some of these other tax credits that they argue here at the white house would benefit people who make, you know, less money. and so he's going to call for reiterating his call for what he wants to see in a final deal, jon. jon: mike emanuel at the white house. it's going to be a busy day there, i'm sure. thanks, mike. jenna: we are tphoeplts away from the president's remarks. while we're talk so much about tax cuts what else is on the
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agenda at capitol hill that we may be not take a pension to. let's bring in bret baier. i feel like we are playing a little price is right, "deal or no deal," do you kind of feel like that? >> reporter: yes, it is a lot of negotiations on a lot of different fronts. i can tell you aside from the different versions as you heard mike talk about of tax cut extensions, again to remind everybody it's about keeping the tax rates exactly where they are now, and also the extension of unemployment benefits beyond that you have other elements, like the d.r.e.a.m. act. we've talked about that a lot. it comes you will for a cloture vote in the senate on wednesday. this is the act to provided indication benefits to the children of immigrants into this country, illegal immigrants, and conservatives lamconservatives s particular thing by the senate majority henry reid.
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it does not look like he has the votes to phor forward on it. republicans are speak being out against it, ben nelson from nebraska saying it's just a nonstarter for them. so you're going to see that probably fail on that vote on wednesday. you still have the start treaty with the u.s. and russia that is out there and republicans are saying they may be able to move something forward on that. we are watching that closely as well. jenna: it seems like wednesday is a pretty important day. even last week we were hearing if we don't have a tax compromise by wednesday you can throw out the other agenda items for the lame-duck session. simply times will not allow for us to get to that. is that the scenario as you understand it? >> reporter: i think so. you're going to run into an issue of the clock, run into an issue that they have to get the tax cut extension done. they have to fund the government through this continuing resolution. they have to fix the amt, the fix for taxes, the alternative
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minimum tax in order to deal with that, so people's tax rates next year are kind of set in stone. we've talked about it a lot, jenna about how businesses need to figure out the scenario going into the new year pretty much by this week. so i think wednesday is the day where it all comes to a head. and we'll see how much after that the senate and congress can get through. it's also a time when people, skeptics who look at capitol hill say you really have to keep your eyes peeled at this time because things could go past very quickly if you're not watching. jenna: sure, as we wait and watch for the president we are not just going to be looking for the substance of what he has to say about a potential compromise, but also his tone. there has been so much coming out about the president, his role in the compromise, what kind of a president he'll come as he evolves through the next year. what is your take away as far as the president's role and how he might into shift into attention
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with these other issues that you mentioned like start and d.r.e.a.m.? >> reporter: he needs to have a victory. his administration touts the big accomplishments in their agenda, healthcare, the stimulus, but all of these things as we know came under a lot of attack, and after the results of the midterm election there is a recalibration of what to do moving forward. the problem for him is getting the left energized, on board with what he's doing, and if any negotiation happens, already you're hearing the left speak out a lot, saying you need to stand firm, you need to stand strong against some of this compromise with republicans. i think that is the battle that you'll see between the administration, dealing with the left of their party, and how it shapes up with the republican congress into the new year. jenna: lots of critics, even from the left, when you're not the person in the oval office it's a lot easier to criticize from this point of view. it's only high noon, by 6:00pm
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the story will be completely different. we look forward to seeing you on "special report." thank you for joining us. jon: tensions running high on the korean peninsula two weeks after the north korean artillery attack on the south. any minute now secretary of state hillary clinton is to sit down to discuss the situation. we'll meet with both allies together will afternoon. keeping and eye on all this james rosen live in washington. this tri-lateral meeting is thick with all kinds of symbolism. should we expect anything beyond symbolism to emerge? >> reporter: possibly, jon, yes. we should remember not tho discount the power of symbolism especially when dealing with asian allies to work its own effects in the realm of today please massey. secretary of state hillary
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clinton met with south corey a now she is huddling with japan. all three will sit down for joint talks in about an hour. one u.s. goal is to persuade seoul to accelerate in investment and training to take over operation and control of the joint forces there. secretary clinton offered little in the way of details. >> we have a great deal to discuss, but we are very committed to our relationship and our alliance with the rep, blic of korea, and we are determined on every issue to work through and come to conclusions about the appropriate way forward. >> reporter: north korea the obvious subject here. china has suggested reviving long stalled six-party talks to diffuse the tensions. the obama administration has balance -bgd at that, jon. jon: china is not involved in these meetings today even though they are the chief peyton and
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benefactor of the north. why aren't they there? >> reporter: its not clear that they would have come even if invited. part of the symbolism here that you alluded to earlier was to demonstrate to the chinese our interest in tackling the problem with north korea with or without beijing's help if necessary. president obama telephoned the chinese president sunday night, and according to the white house urged china to work with us and others to send a clear message to north korea that it's prove provocations are unacceptable. at the same time senior obama aids have been quoted as saying they believe the chinese, are quote, enabling yeonpyeong international violations of law. >> if the chinese were to cut off their economic aid and energy assistance to north korea it would collapse within months. they clearly have the capability to get the north koreans to do what they want them to do. the question is whether they have the political will to do so. and there are all kinds of reasons why the chinese might
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have difficulty among themselves in arriving at a firm line towards the north korean as. >> reporter: secretary clinton and her asian counterparts scheduled to take questions at 3:30 eastern time. we'll be there at the state department. jon: james rosen live for us. thank you. jenna: eric holder defending last year's decision to try khalid sheikh mohammed in a court in new york. the announcement prompted strong resistance from lawmakers in congress in new york when it broke a year ago. now one year later the location is once again up in the air. still, holder says he stands by his decision. here he is moments ago. >> the process is on going, it is one that involves a variety of factors. it is something that involves an interagency process, involves a number of people in the executive branch, and it takes time. >> i think the question we're
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getting eight is do you think you made the right decision initially in november? >> yeah, i think i did. jenna: when asked who is in charge of the decision now holder says the president's national security team will likely make the decision. he's also going to make his recommendations as well. a growing number of after fans say insurgent attacks against u.s. forces are justified. a new poll putting the number at 27%, that is up from 8% last year and close to a level seen earlier in the nine-year war. the poll finds afghans are losing confidence in the u.s. and nato to secure their country. in the meantime u.s. commander general petraeus knocking down taliban process. >> if you control so much of afghanistan why are all of your senior leaders outside the count throw and never step foot inside the country. i would challenge that. we believe we have arrested the momentum that the taliban achieved in recent years, in many areas of the country, not
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all but we have reversed it in some important po areas. jenna: as for the recent poll petraeus notes it was taken in early november before recent progress by international forces. jon: it was the deadly crash back in 2000 that spelled the end of the concorde supersonic jetliner. a french court has ruled as to who should be held responsible for causing that crash. it's a ruling that could affect all airlines. and this could affect you and the size of the paycheck you receive in the next year. we are watching winston salem, south carolina. president obama set to speak there any minute now. what will he say about extending the bush tax cuts? the president's remarks live when he takes to the microphone, you'll want to hear what he has to say. plus, some new developments in the murder of hollywood publicist ronni chasen. harris faulkner has that. >> reporter: yeah ballistics testing results have just come back, jon. now the question, the man who took his life, that person of interest who police moved in on
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those beverly hills cops, did the bullets he use on himself, was that gun a match on the gun that was used on ronni chasen the day she died. was it a match? ballistic tests reveal it. i'll have the answer after the break. we are asking our town hall panel all about the economy. we don't know exactly what the president will say. you'll be watching, we'll be watching and watching for your comments too and questions. mary ho che krerbgs has a question for the president, my bank account needs a bail out. can anybody help? go to "happening now"'s page with jon and general's beautiful picture. it will take you to america is asking to get in on the live chat. we can't wait to include you. stay close. but aleve can last 12 hours. and aleve was proven to work better on pain than tylenol 8 hour. so why am i still thinking about this? how are you? good, how are you? [ male announcer ] aleve. proven better on pain.
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know had to stand and hear colleagues censure him. the federal election commission is investigating whether he used funds from his political action committee to pay for his legal defense. you might recall that his law firm bailed out of representing him, saying that he had paid them $2 million and was out of money. they were not going to represent him for free at that point, so they bailed out. now charlie rangel is accused of dipping into funds from a political action committee, his national leadership pac to pay for his legal defense. that flies in the face of election commission rules. the federal election commission is investigating. we'll keep you up to date. jenna: new developments, jon in this mysterious murder of hollywood publicist ronni chasen. there are new reports out today
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that a gunman threatened two other drivers in that very same area. there is also new details emerge baggy this woman's personal life. harris, how is all of this involved? >> reporter: here is what police are saying right now about this case that kind of ties it all together. they have no idea. they say, quote, this case is now wide open. remember, they had that person of interest, harold smith, who they moved in at a hotel last week. that ended in gunfire by his own hand, he took his life. now police are saying it appears that he may not have had anything to do with the murder of ronni chasen. he had bragging to neighbors how he had done that crime. he was on a third strike you're out and he thought they may have been moving in on unrelated burglary charges. he took his life. they look ballistic testing from the gun he used to kill himself, compared it with the bullets that killed ronni chasen, not a ballistics match. police now saying that they are back to square one in all of this but not exactly, because jenna, you mentioned the gun
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threats to other drivers in that beverly hills section where ronni chasen had driven through nights prior. also there is a blank lincoln town car they want to take a good look at. surveillance video seeing that. they may maybe the person in that car actually saw something and could be a potential witness. those are a couple of things they are looking at. for right now her family is saying, on the heels of what cops are saying, her family is saying, this could have been anything. take a listen to what beverly hills caps are saying. >> because all the questions in this case have not been answered, we don't know if this was a hired man, a hitman, we don't know if this is the real person behind, you know, the whole allegations. so the real person could still be amongst us in this facility. >> reporter: real quickly i want to speak specifically to
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something you years old, one of n publicists in hollywood, but struggling with her company. a lot of people didn't know this. she with us not a spendthrift was said to be worth 6 million. she didn't spend that way. police say it may be a clue. they say whenever you have a high level hit, the proximity of the bullets in her body, how they were fired. they say it's a high profes f it. to know how she was not really spending much cash near the end is something for them to back at, back toou. jenna: not a lot of answers right now. hopefully some resolutions for her family. we'll see, thank you for the update on that. jon: that is such a strain case. we are moments away now from remarks by the president, remas that could affect how much of a paycheck you're going
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to be taking home, and if you're not employed, you might hear something about that too. the president is in north carolina ttalk about the economy. he's going -- he will call for a deal onyx tending ta on, extendd jobless benefits. keep sending us your questions for the economy panel. that is coming up. we want to hear from you. [ s. greenlee ] i would love to have been a musician
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but i knew that i was going to need a day job. we actually have a lot of scientists that play music. the creativity, the innovation, there's definitely a tie there. one thing our scientists are working on isal gas. it looks like snow. it's one way that we're helping provide energy with fewer emissions.
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pretty much spelled the end of the luxury jet. the court said continental and a welder who worked for the company are to blame for debris that fell off a continental plane, it landed on the runway, the air france concorde jet then ran over the debris, it punctured ir te and that led to a chain reaction tt triggered the fatal crash. a spokesman for continental calls the ruling absurd. the company is promising to appeal. jenna: right now there are some questions brew erring over whether americans will see a return on the hundreds of billions of their tax dollars invested in iraq. that country sitting on oil reserves that could easily allow it to pay for its own reconstruction and security. what is the hold up today? david piper is screaming live from baghdad with the detai .
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, oil giants like bp are already digging wells in the area. there is interest in the tow aepbgs a albow to the bonanza. now the race is bon onto get the liquid gold to market and get the money which could help rebuild the country and allow iraq to pay for its own security rather than the u.s. taxpayer. iraq's oil company controls everything to do with crude in this part of the country. and company officials believe as the oil starts flowing it will eventually help the u.s. >> iraqis are grateful to the u.s. administration and american companies. our ties will see a new phase which will be lucrative to the united states of america. >> reporter: at pe iraq produces around 2.5 million barrels a day. it hopes to increase that to 12 million within a decade. some say that is wildly optimistic, but studies suggest
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it will still likely produce 5 to 6 million barrels a day within a few years. iraq doesn't have a problem producing oil, it has a problem getting it to market. the people here say that in the next decade it has the potential to be the biggest oil project in the middle east. to get the oil onto tankers everything will have to be built from scratch here, including pipelines, terminals and roads are refurbished in the case of the port. the one thing that has kurbd that kind of investment until now is the fear of insurgent attacks. the u.s. military believes iraqi forces will have it under control. >> i think over time as they increase their capabilities we'll see this threat stabilize even further. >> reporter: if that is the case then basra is likely to become the mother of all boon towns. jenna. jenna: interesting, progress and more progress to come. david piper in iraq today, thank you, david. jon: a story we'll told you about before, a mother and two
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young daughters brutally killed in a home invasion that shocked the entire nation. the man convicted of their murders is sitting on death row now. coming up we will speak to one of the jurors about the wrenching experience for hem and what we can expect as his co-defendant goes on trial. also, iran sits down for nuclear talks with six world powers. is there any chance of real progress here? a live report straight ahead. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.
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when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. call now to get a free information kit.
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plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans... that are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... jenna: we're going to take you down to north carolina, now, winston-salem where the isn't set to speak about the economy at this time, we're looking to hear anything about a compromise in the bush-era tax cuts. let's listen: >> have a seat. it is good to be back in north carolina. [applause] >> love north carolina. although i have to say, i came down here for slightly warmer weather!
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[laughter] >> what's the snow doing on the ground in north carolina come on now! anyway, it is a great honor to be with you here at fort sight technical community college. there are people who are doing outstanding work, first of all, your incredibly impressive college president gary green is here. [applause] >> your wonderful governor, beth purdue is in the house. [applause] >> your senator, richard burr. [applause] >> and the better looking one, kay hagen! >> [applause] >> two hard working congressmen, mel watt and brad miller are here.
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[applause] >> we've got secretary of state el lane marshall in the house. plen applause] >> and mayor allan joins is here. [applause] >> well, it's been about a month now since the midterm elections, and in washington, at least, much of the chatter is still about the political implications of those elections, what the results mean for democrats, what they mean for republicans, and already, we're hearing what this means for the next election. and i have to tell you, i came to winston-salem because i believe that right now, there are bigger issues at stake for our country than politics. [ applause]
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>> these issues call on us to respond not as part sance but as americans. at this moment, we are still emerging from a once in a lifetime recession that has taken a terrible poll on millions of families. many here in north carolina who have lost their jobs or their businesses and their sense of security. fortunately we've seen some encouraging signs that a recovery is beginning to take hold, an economy that had been shrinking for nearly a year is now growing. after nearly two years of jobless -- job loss, our economy has added over 1 million private sector jobs in 2010. [applause] >> i was talking to beth, and she was mentioning that here in north carolina, we've seen 50,000 new jobs here in north carolina.
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and after teterring on the brink of liquidation not two years ago, aur -- our auto industry is posting healthy gains. so we're seeing a bunch of progress across the country. but as we also saw in november's jobs report, the recovery is simply not happening fast enough. plenty of americans are still without work. plenty of americans are still hurting. and our challenge now is to do whatever it takes to accelerate job creation and economic growth. now, in the short term, that means preventing the middle class tax increase that's currently scheduled for january 1st. right now, democrats and republicans in congress are working through some differences to try to get this done. and there is some serious debate that is still taking
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place. republicans want to make permanent tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. i have argued that we can't afford it right now, but -- >> [applause] >> but what i've always said is we've got to find some substitutes because a middle class tax hike would be very tough not only on working families, it would also be a drag on our economy at this moment. so i believe we should keep in place tax cuts for workers and small businesses that are set to expire. we've got to make sure that we're coming up with a solution, even if it's not 100 percent of what i want or what the republicans want there's no reason that ordinary americans should see their taxes go up next year. we should also extend unemployment insurance for workers who lost their jobs but no fault of their own. that is a priority.
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[applause] >> and i should mention that's not only the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do, because if millions of americans who aren't getting unemployment benefits stop spending money, that slows down businesses. that slows down hiring. it slows down our recovery. now, even if we take these and other steps to boost our recovery in the short term, we're also going to have to make some serious decisions about our economy in the long run. we've got to look ahead. not just to the next year, but to the next ten years, the next 20 years. we've got to ask ourselves, where will the new jobs come from. what will it take to get them. and what will it take to keep the american dream alive for our children and our grandchildren. think about north carolina.
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obviously, this recession had a devastating effect here like it did everywhere else but the trend, the trends had been going on for quite some time. i was just visiting with president green, with some of the students here in the biotech field, wonderful people, from every walk of life. they had folks who had just gotten out of high school and you had folks who were mid-life and had been laid off from a manufacturing job and had come here to retrain but a bunch of them mentioned -- well, i was laid off because the textile industries away in north carolina, i was laid off because the furniture industry had moved away here in north carolina. those were long-term trends. and that means we've got to have a long-term vision about where we want to be ten years from now, 20 years from now, 30 years from now.
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just like past generations did, we must be prepared to answer these questions in our time. and over the next several weeks, i'm going to be meeting with my economic team, with business leaders, and others to develop specific polices and budget recommendations for the coming year. today, i want to outline the broader vision that i believe should guide these polices. and it's a vision that will keep our economy strong and growing and competitive in the 21st century. and that vision begins with a recognition of how our economy has changed over time. when fortright technical opened 50 years ago it was own as forthright county industrial education center, right? that's a mouthful. machine shops and automotive mechanics were some of the
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first classes you could take of course back then you didn't even need a degree to earn a decent living. you could get a job at the local tobacco or textile plant and still be able to provide for yourself and your family. that world has changed. in the last few decades, revolutions in communications, revolutions in technology have made businesses mobile and has made commerce global. so today, a company can set up shop, hire workers and sell their products wherever there's an internet connection. that's a transformation that's touched off a fierce competition among nations for the jobs and industries of the future. some of you know i traveled through asia several weeks ago. you got a billion people in india who are suddenly plugged in to the world economy. you've got over a billion people in china who are
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suddenly plugged in to the global economy. and that means competition is going to be much more fierce. and the winners of this competition will be the countries that have the most educated workers, a serious commitment to research and technology, and access to quality infrastructure like roads and airports and high speed trail and high speed internet. those are the seeds of economic growth in the 21st century. where they are planted, the most jobs and businesses will appear. jenna: that's the president talking about the economy. we're monitoring his comments. we're going to have it streaming live on foxnews.com right now and will be paying close attention to anything that comes up further about any sort of bush-era tax cut compromise. you can see he's talking about the future economy. let's talk about some of these issues that the president presented to us and also what we really need to do right now to create jobs. with us, back with us, i should say, peter marici,
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economist with theup of vairs and mike santoli is joining from us barron's, associate editor from barron's. mike, starting off will you, will extending the bush-era tax cuts create jobs? >> i don't know about creating. i think when you're talking about continuing something that already exists i'm not sure it unleashes job creation. the game here is deciding whether the economy in its current state can withstand just sort of an extra head wind which would be an automatic tax increase. i don't think businesses look at personal income taxes as one of the top three or five things the nation looks at to decide whether to hire or not. jenna: what do they look at? >> they look at demand for the product, confidence in -- competence to meet that demand and whether they think it's sustainable and financing, ability of -- veilibility of capital, things like that to me are more important than a five-point percentage change in a tax rate. jenna: peter, your comment on this because the president says if we do not extend these jobless
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benefits diblly for many weeks to come we will lose that demand out of the economy and that's his reasoning he just gave forward for making sure we have that extension potentially in a compromise. so get back to the original question: will extending jobless benefits create jobs? >> not really. in fact it will discourage some people from looking. the real problem in the economy is the absence of demand. consumers are spending again, businesses aren't investing of the that's what the data says. but too much of the money is leaving the country for import, the global competition the president talks about. but we're not paying for it exports, we're borrowing. so we're losing jobs on the import side but we're not creating jobs on the export side. the president has spoken about this in the past. he's spoken about it at the g20. the problem of censy with china, the barriers to u.s. exports, he simply doesn't have a plan to address this. that's the problem. jenna: mike, dealing with what's happening today, though, we're looking at a trade, right? republicans say okay, we'll extend the bush-era tax cuts maybe 2-3 years temporarily,
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then the democrats say okay, fine, we'll do that if you include jobless benefits and a few other kind of stimulus efforts inside this compromise. is it a fair trade, as an american looking at the compromise, they're doing in d.c., does that seem like a fair trade if that's the compromise we get? >> if we're talking about an extension of unemployment benefits for several months, i don't think that's actually a big number financially, and perhaps, that's why it might be palatable for republicans to accept that. i don't honestly think we're talking about major swing factors here to the character or the strength of the economic recovery. i kind of think it's going to be kind of slow and bumpy no matter what comes out of these negotiations. jenna: peter, despite what happens in d.c. to mike's point, what do you see for the next year? >> i think the economy growing at two, 2 1/2% a year, unemployment creeping up to 10 percent. until the president has addressed the trade decifit with china, with substantive , firm, con hencive polices which he is reluctant to do and has been
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suggested by economists on the right, left and middle, we're not going to recover, it's that simple. jenna: that's just one issue and we have so many more to tackle. gentlemen, thank you very much. you can see the president's comments, and we appreciate your insights. >> for more on this story, log on to fox news.cole for complete coverage as congress plays let's make a deal on tax cuts. not so much a game, jon, right? it's something we have to pay attention to and this week, actually. jon: everybody's paychecks are going to be affected one way or the other, whether they come to a deal or not. a cell phone is a great way to keep tabs on your children, right? what about when they're in school? one california high school has a new policy about cell phones in class and it's not going over very well with everyone. claudia cowen, live in san francisco, she has more on that. claudia. >> jon, with cell phones becoming a real problem for many teachers, a growing number of schools are implementing zero tolerance cell phone polices, but
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while most people agree with the rule, some say the punishment goes too far. >> like many schools, venicia high outside san francisco is cracking down on students who talk or test during class, confiscating their phone for the week, repeat offenders could lose it for the whole week. -- year. critics say taking away that critical line of communication for so long puts kids at risk. >> if you take that away the young person does not have the opportunity to call 911 so they can help crimes and report something if they need to. there is no constitutional right to a cell phone. schools can set their policy to keep order, discipline and kids safe and they should enforce those with consequences as long as the kids know the rules. >> at venicia high, dozens of phones are locked up in the principal's office, violators who refuse to give up phones are suspended. in the wake of students at columbine, virginia tech and most recently in wisconsin, some parents say suspension is preferable to having
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their son or daughter out of pocket for long periods of time. >> school officials say as time goes by they are getting more support from parents who agree if their child follows the rules they won't lose their phone. to critics who say penalty is too harsh the principal says it's no good to have a policy place and not enforce it. he says that's not teaches kids anything. jon: why is following the rules so difficult to enforce? claudia cowen, thanks. jenna: what does it take to sentence someone to death? we've talked a lot about this home invasion case in connecticut, stevens hayes, sentenced to death officially last week. we're going to talk to one of the jurors that made that decision, and what went into it, next, on "happening now".
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megyn: hey everyone i'm megyn kelly, a major study says 74 percent of doctors plan to retire, go part-time or seek other employment all together in the wake of the new health care law. whoa! dr. siegl is here with what that would mean to you. plus think you have privacy when you're searching online? think again. who's watching you and keeping track of everything you do? plus, a child gets hit by one pitch at a baseball game and dies. how did this happen? we'll have the full report. and a black taxi driver gets shot by a hispanic passenger and now the hispanic head of the union says the passenger was racially profiled. we'll show you the disturbing tape and debate that in kelly's court. see you top of the hour. jon: it was an awful, heartbreaking crime, now jurors on the connecticut home invasion murder trial are speaking out about what they went through during the
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two-month ordeal. they found steven hayes guilty and sentenced him to death. now the man on the right of your screen, joshua kom komiserjesky is set to stand trial in this case. that could be tougher for the next jury. in addition to the murdering of the two girls, kom komisorjesky is accused of sexually assaulting the young s daughter, makayla. this juror sat in on the jury that convicted stevens hayes and convicted him to death. i can't imagine what it was like, you get a summons in the mail and it winds up you're sitting in on one of the most horrific case that is anyone could imagine. what was that like for new. >> well, when i was called in, i really did not know what case i was being called in for. but when i walked into the courtroom, i went in there with about 50 people, and then when i heard what the
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case was with dr. petti, i was so upset and saying oh my goodness, this is the big one. i immediately went into a self-reflection to say can i do this, and i had to self-reflect to see if i could be someone who could make a decision in a case that was so horrific. jon: i know in voir dire, they ask you, they say this is a case that could potentially invoke the death penalty, could you vote yes for a death penalty. what was your answer to that? i mean, what was your reflection about that? >> my reflection was that if they asked me 20 years ago, i would say no, i would not be able to do that. however, because i'm older now, i've had different type of life experiences, i have heard about horrific crimes against people, i said at this point, i could make the
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decision as long as i knew how i was supposed to make that decision. they also asked me if i was to raise one -- rate from 1-10, where do i stand in the death penalty, i said five or six. jon: and yet, your jury after, what was it, four days of deliberations, a lot of people wondered why it took that long, but after four days of deliberations, your jury did unanimously sentence steven hayes to death. i know that the state is making available counseling to some of the jurors because of the horrific things that you had to see, the crime scene photos and so forth, and also the testimony that you heard in court, and i know some of the jurors are taking advantage of that counseling, right? >> that is correct. when you have a -- there was offered a group counseling session and i chose for -- chose not to on go to that
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because my body was reacting to the stress of going through such an ordeal and i ended up with pink eye and not feeling well and i could not go to that group counseling session, but i do know of about four or five people that did go to the counseling session and they had talked about how beneficial it was to them. and they also revealed some of the things that were going on in their homes that we were not aware of. so i was very happy they did offer that. for me, i would prefer to go through my own personal doctor and have a referral and go through my own counseling if i need that. at the present time, i don't find that doy need that. jon: as was noted, joshua komisarjesky's trial is coming up, he's not only accused of the same crimes but also sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl. another jury is going to have to sit through that case. >> yes. jon: how would you advise them? >> well, i think about three different things that they have to look at during the jury, okay? you have to -- when murder
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is involved in this jury, and the length of time that they're -- that is going to be involved in this case, first of all, i think what they have to do is nurture themselves. you have to be really able to talk to yourself, self-talk, because you can't talk to anyone else. jon: you couldn't talk to family. >> you cannot talk to anyone. and so reflection of yourself is important. in addition, you have to nurture the jury, and what i mean by that, you're going to be with these people, it's going to be somewhere between 12-20 people, depending upon how many they do choose. >> and i know that you all supported each other. we've heard those remarks. again, our thanks to you for joining us today. and for your jury service. i know it was tough on everybody and we just thank you for being with us and being willing to share your story. diane kind, thank you. >> goodbye. jon: we'll be right back.
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jenna: we talked a lot about this story. unfortunately the ending is not a happy one. a sky high mystery coming to an end in italy. new american balloonists now confirmed dead, one was from denver, another one from albuquerque. carol rymer davis and richard abruzzo. they drifted into thunderstorms and search efforts were called off. an italian fishing boat found the balloon and both bodies adrift in the aeu deat particular sea. jonthe adriatic sea. jon: and then there is this story. going, going, and finally it's gone. wow. the west grandstand at texas christian uni
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