>> meanwhile, going, going! gone! the minneapolis metrodome collapses under heavy snow and cancels the big game and the severe weather still hitting the country hard. where is it headed next? details in moments. >> taking christ out of christmas. baby jesus removed from a ferry terminal while other holiday symbols are allowed to stay put. the p.c. police seem to be working overtime. by the way, "fox & friends" starts right now. >> good morning, everyone. hope you had a good weekend. so many people across the country were freezing over the past weekend and many people stuck in a whole bunch of snow. we have a fox news alert. elementary school children have been taken hostage in france. we're just getting word that french police are moving in to free the remaining hostages who are only in kindergarten.

at least four students and a teaching assistant are still being held. 17-year-old man armed with two swords stormed into the preschool in the town in eastern france. 20 children were initially seized but they've been gradually released of the suspect is said to have psychological problems. afghan forces arrest several people that left six american troops dead. they were murdered when a mini bus blew up at a joint nato bus. the taliban have claimed responsibility for this attack. there's that weather stuff, heavy snow and blizzard conditions taking a deadly toll across the country. in the midwest the weather leaving at least four people dead. in detroit, weather making the roads a dangerous mess for travelers. cars can be seen sliding right off the highway and those snow blowing machines coming out in full force. and it's not much better at the airports. more than 1400 flights in chicago alone were canceled.

and this piece of video is incredible. there it goes. a massive cleanup under way at the metrodome in minneapolis right now after the roof was torn open by heavy snow. it was resting on the teflon surface and couldn't hold it anymore. crews tried to battle the accumulating snow on friday night standing on parts of the roof with shovels but it was coming down way too fast. experts have been called in from around the country to help with repairs on the roof. because of the collapse, yesterday's giants-vikings game had to be postponed. it will be played tonight in detroit. here's the good news for fans there. it's free, i think, for those people who want to come. >> who is going to detroit to watch the vikings play the giants? bring it back to new york, are you kidding me? >> there might be some people there from new york or minnesota. free tickets to the great football game? >> let's put the chains on tires and go to detroit. >> while brian diverges on his sports, we have to tell you

another story. sources tell fox news michael steele will announce in a conference call tonight he is not running for re-election. those quotes say he has not put together a re-election team and has not been raising any money for a campaign. they are expected to vote on a new chair next month. five candidates are up for the post. he'll make an announcement at a press conference. >> indeed. meanwhile, the u.s. senate is expected to pass the tax cut deal in a test vote that could come as early as today. this as the white house insists the bill will pass congress despite continued opposition from house democrats. kelly wright is live in washington, d.c. with more. good morning to you, kelly. >> good morning to you as well. tax deal struck between president obama and republicans will likely, as you stated, face its first big hurdle today. that's because the senate is scheduled to have a test vote later today. but house democrats who hold the majority in the lame duck congress say they will not allow the measure to reach the house floor without reducing the tax

relief for the richest americans. under the current deal, the bush tax cuts would be extended for all americans including the wealthiest for two years. also, it extends unemployment benefits for another year. and it lowers what was to be a huge increase in the estate tax next year. now, many house democrats are furious with the president. yet, the white house believes there will be another support to push the deal through congress. >> i think we're going to get strong support on both sides of the aisle. i respect people who are unhappy. we share their view on the upper income tax cuts on the estate tax. that was a part of the deal that we had to accept in order to get all the good things that come along with that. that's the nature of compromise. >> and more compromise could come on that estate tax which i was mentioning. it's a big sticking point among democrats. right now, estates as large as five million can pass to heirs without being taxed plus another

$5 million. what appears to be right now, steve, a lot of tough talk about how much they hate the president's deal with republicans, it appears the democrats might be ready to get the plan through even while kicking and screaming all the way in the senate, for example, the number two senate democrat of illinois says a good cross section of senators in his party are ready to accept a tax deal, the tax cut deal struck by president obama and the republicans because they realize that time is running out. the bill would avoid a january 1st increase in income taxes for nearly every american. back to you. >> all right, kelly. you want to go to a free game tonight in detroit? >> hey, man, i'm ready. i'm like brian, let's put the chains on the car and drive to detroit. >> if anyone knows about chains in cars, it's me. i group where this happened. let's go to the tax debate because it was big news over the

weekend. on the sunday shows, you had the democrat and the republican representative. they went head to head. it was chris van holland and paul ryan. >> the house democrats are being portrayed as people who haven't adjusted to the post election reality that we don't want to cut any deal at all and there are some. there are some house democrats who will refuse to go along with any deal. most of us -- most of us understand we got to make some tough compromises. most of us agree with almost all of what the president negotiated. there is one thing that just was the choking point and that deals with the estate tax break. >> so if the democrats in the house scuttle this deal, that will be the first thing we do is prevent these job killing tax increases and we'll do it retroactively after the first of the year. >> van holland doesn't believe democrats will stand in the way of the house. if he gets to the senate, which is supposed to be. what's going to happen in the house? they're going to reform it a little bit and maybe offer a separate deal. they'll take 35% of what you earned because you're dead and because you've earned more than $5 million instead of 0% and

democrats don't seem happy with that. they might offer a different one that says 45% which is a midway point between that and 55%. but here's the thing that's really unbelievable. i thought the office of the management and budget was on there saying it's going to show in two years that tax cuts for upper class people will not work. so is he rooting against his own compromised deal and he's the guy with the money? >> he should just walk into the white house press briefing room. i think bill clinton has -- is still there. he was convincing last night the night watchman this is a good deal. another announced whole deal as blackmail by a bunch of gangsters. you got that wrong. the republicans aren't gangsters but hostage takersment you have to pay attention to that stuff. >> i think paul ryan was surprised by the comment. because it seemed that the democrat, van holland was basically saying he was going to get the house to vote for this

thing and the only sticking point in his mind was the estate tax. here's what people forget. it's not a tax cut, ok? this is keeping in effect the tax rates we currently pay, number one. number two, the estate tax currently is zero. so to go up to 35% is still a huge amount and i don't think republicans will budge on that at all to 45%. >> some bad -- some disturbing news maybe for president obama and i don't think he's looking at the polls right now. he has two years left. he has a new congress to look at. >> come on. looking for polls all the time. >> let's look at other people, they upped their phone bill. do you approve or disapprove of the president? this is pretty consistent. approval at 42 and disapproval at 50. the people jumping off the ship might be a reason for concern. >> that particular number, 42% approval is, according to the poll, lowest number of the president's tenure so far and one of the problems for him is they did these head-to-head

matchups with a bunch of prominent republicans and the bad news for the president is the fact that if the election were held today and it won't be, don't worry, he would lose to mitt romney. look at that. >> he would. by two percentage points which is in the margin of error. he would beat sarah palin pretty handily. this could change so much in the 2012 election. here's who is he's not doing well with is liberals, the most par left people in his party have gone down from 78% of support for him and thinking he's doing a good job to 69% and here's the other very fascinating thing about this poll is that the moves that he made in the last week, many people say that was a strategy to try to win back the independents before we get to 2012 because they decided re-election. well, amongst independents even after doing the federal pay freeze and this tax deal with the republicans, they haven't budged in their approval rating

for president obama. that must be disheartening news as the white house looks at this poll today. >> liberals have to sober up. this is the best that liberals ever have in the white house might be in modern -- in our lifetimes and where are they going to go? either they're not going to vote in two years. even howard dean said yesterday, there's going to be nobody running against president obama for the nomination. >> no challenge. >> so that's a big deal and i also think that the 39%, 38% is something that could change radically because they say president obama could raise up to a billion dollars for his re-election. >> no kidding. 10 minutes after the top of the hour. let's tell you about what's happening. one of the icons of new york city is the staten island ferry that goes from lower manhattan over to staten island. >> the reason i came here. >> thank you very much. you and melanie griffin at the beginning of "working girl." the terminal in staten island is the st. george terminal and they

have had a number of things for the season. they had a christmas tree. they had menorah. they had a nativity. well, apparently, somebody, according to one of the papers in staten island. someone called the 311 hotline, city hotline and said wait a minute, i saw the christmas tree. but they've got a nativity scene there and that's religious and you got to take it out of there and you know what? they took it out of there. >> yeah, here's the thing, when you call 311 in new york for those of you who are not familiar with that you're supposed to be calling to say hey, the garbage trucks didn't come or there's a lot of noise outside of my apartment building. not oh, my god! there's a jesus in a manger. here's passengers. >> christmas is being segregated to saying happy holidays to merry christmas, why is that fair to some religion? >> i love nativity scenes. i would say they need to place it back. >> i think it was a good idea that they removed that in that respect. as long as we keep things kind of on a cultural level, it's ok with me.

but if they start to be much more religious and much more directly related to bible stories, i think that's not really the place for it in a public area. >> here's the decision for christians in my mind. do you want to just decide that the christmas tree is good enough? i mean, do you want to -- because many people say christmas tree is not even a christian symbol. so do you want to just decide, yeah, let's just stop fighting this whole thing about jesus in a manger or do you want to continue to fight? that should be allowed if a menorah or christmas tree is allowed. >> jesus doesn't belong there until 25th of december. the manger is empty in my house. that's what i'm going to go down to the ferry on christmas day. >> you think they'll let -- still there? >> i expect to see jesus in a manger. >> manger. >> here's what the department of transportation said. d.o.t. put up an inclusive display for the holiday season that was consistent both with traditions at the ferry terminal and also with legal precedent. as it was put there without

prior authorization, it was removed. upon discovery of ferry personnel according to the spok spokesperson from the d.o.t. >> i wonder if they got authorization, it would be allowed to come back. probably not. federal appeals court in new york have previously ruled while symbols of the holiday are permissible in public spaces, they might prohibit it. it's just christmas. why do we need all the authorization? it drives me crazy. >> i know they do have a creche at the white house. >> i can't believe there's a phone number at the white house to complain how loud the garbage trucks are. take it away. >> former rising star in the democratic party making a dramatic move. he ditched his fellow demz to become a republican. why more african-americans are leaving their party behind. >> some of the pictures of the "fox & friends" family at our christmas celebration.

ooh! ho, ho, ho! [ male announcer ] got a cold? [oughs ] [ male announcer ] confused what to get? click on the robitussin relief finder. click on your symptoms. get the right relief. makes the cold aisle easy. th robussin relief finder. it's that simple. just shake it. [ rattling ] [ male announcer ] need ink? staples has a low price guarantee on all the ink you need. find a lower price at another store, and we'll match it. that was easy.

>> it's considered a rising star among georgia democrats. hall county commissioner ashley bell has switched to the g.o.p. and even though several city lawmakers have switched parties since november, he is the first of two of african-americans to turn this year. what made the switch to the party? ashley bell joins us along with his lovely wife lauren bell who is joining us. she was the delegate for the obama campaign in 2008 and also switched to the republican party. welcome, bells. >> thank you. thanks for having us. >> ashley, for you, when did you start thinking to yourself this

might not be the party for me? >> it's been a long time coming. i was a conservative even when i was a democrat. the party is a party of liberals and conservatives. in my opinion if you're a conservative, there was just somewhere for you to go and rally the base in the democratic party and i felt more comfortable as a republican. we felt more comfortable as a republican. we felt it was the best decision for our family. >> how could something change so quick, so rapidly like this? 2008, you were on the floor and 2010, you were off the bandwagon. >> well, a local decision. a family decision for my husband and i. we've always been conservative. this is just the best spot for us now. >> have you felt -- >> go ahead, ashley. >> well, you got to understand. i'm an elected official. the district i represent to be honest with you is republican. it's about 20% to 25%

african-american, king won my district overwhelmingly. we were conservative democrats representing a republican district. this is more in line with my constituents. >> listen to what the other side is saying. the spokesman for college dems for america says we need politicians who stand on principle and not tunism. we're disappointed with ashley but not surprised. >> he's right. they shouldn't be surprised. i've always been a conservative. they've been afraid of this for a long time and i've always said, as long as we continue to treat conservatives with respect in the party and as long as they're not just used to make the party appear to be moderate, i was fine with being a democrat. >> real quick, have you felt some blow back? >> yes, we both have. >> we have. the african-american community has been solid democrat for a long time. we've had to make our case. we're not afraid to make our case. a lot of african-americans are conservative like we are.

we have to get past the race issue and i think once we get past that and people understand the republican party is not the boogie man, it's a party of ideals and values they share, they can be competitive. >> merry christmas. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. merry christmas. >> same to you. straight ahead, do you know what your kids are reading in school? a battle brewing today over a book that claims jesus is just a wine guzzling vagrant. then with their continued complaints on tax cuts, many suggest democrats may be the new party of no. our panel of washington insiders say yes, we'll get up and talk about it. i have asthma. and en my symptoms came back i'd get this tightness in my chest. so i went back to my doctor again. we chose symbicort to help control my asthma symptoms all day and night. [ man ] symbicort improves my lung function, starting within 15 minutes. symbicort will not replace a rescue inhaler startifor sudden symptoms.. it is a combination of two medicines and should not be taken more often than prescribed. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol

increase the risk of death from asthma problems, and children and adolescents may have an increased risk of being hospitalized for asthma problems. symbicort not for people whosasthma is well controlled wi a long-term asthma control medicine like haled corticosteroids. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop symbicort without loss of control, andrescribe a long-term asthma control medicine. be sure to see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. symbicort is a good choice to help control my asthma all day and night. [ inhales ] [ exhales ] ask your doctor if symbicort is a good choice for you. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford yr medication, astzeneca may be able to help.

[ male announcer ] you know her. we know diamonds. together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you can get up to $1,000 off now through sunday.

>> got some quick monday morning headlines for you. death of bernie madoff's son will not stop victims from trying to recover some of their

lost money. at least 1,000 civil lawsuits will go forward. meantime, a new york city coroner has ruled mark madoff's death a suicide. no decision on whether bernie madoff will be allowed to attend his son's funeral. meanwhile, a federal judge in virginia is expected today to rule on president obama's health care reforms. one of 25 lawsuits across the country challenging the constitutionality of the health care overhaul. and over to gretch we go. >> thank you, steve. as we just told you, the senate is expected to pass the tax cut deal when they vote early this week. the president hoping the senate's likely passage opens the door to compromise among house democrats who rejected the plan last week. there is no guarantee. so have house dems become the new party of no some are asking? our washington insiders join us for this debate. ned ryan and nira, c.o.o. of the center for progress. good morning to both of you.

>> good morning. >> will the democrats become the party of no? >> you know what? i don't think so. i think at the end of the day after all their belly aching and complaining about this bill, i don't think they're going to be left with any options. i think there will be a vote. as chris van holland said yesterday on fox news sunday, there will be a vote and it will probably pass. >> were you surprised at the comments by chris van holland yesterday because paul ryan, the republican seemed to be surprised on the television screen that it looked like van holland was going to try to encourage other dems to pass this thing. >> i think what i heard chris van holland say is he wants to have a vote on every aspect of this bill. have a vote really on the estate tax portion that costs $20 billion for a handful of families. i think that's legitimate but at the end of the day, i think there will be a vote on the overhall bill and they'll move forward but for we're concerned about transparency having a vote on the estate tax seems reasonable. >> let's look at the scenarios that are being imposed for today.

scenario number one, the democrats pass a bill that everyone expects. they amend and send back for approval. that's different and gridlock ensues. do you think this will be any amending going on? >> absolutely. i think there will be. i think that's one of the interesting scenarios that could take place. if this bill will come to a vote, i think it will. just knowing how politics works and the demz, when you say they're going to be a party of no, they should start complaining and run with the bill, the best they can get before the republicans take back the house. i think they'll want to push it as quickly as possible. >> is it possible that they have said they're not going to budge on anything else. what will they ask for that they expect would pass? >> i think really there's a lot of anger about some provisions and instead there's going to be -- i think the house will start to have a vote on the estate tax provision and if they want to vote against the bill simply because it doesn't have huge tax

breaks for billionaires, then they can choose to do that. at the end of the day, i think that will be sent to the senate, they'll confer on it and we'll go from there. so i mean, it's not like -- i don't think democrats are going to hold up this bill. >> ok, interesting. we have an agreement on that. scenario number three, the senate passes a bill, house dems agree to vote and the president signs it into law. how much of a factor is the timing of everything right now? the fact that we're up against the christmas season and also up against this deadline where the taxing expires. >> actually, gretchen, what i would really love to see is republicans, if they could, knowing that we need to extend these tax cuts to increase the -- encourage capital investment in the small business and job creation, i would actually like to see something take place in which republicans say let's have a straight up and down on the tax cuts and we'll deal with unemployment as well. the thing that's concerning me about this bill is some of the

subsidies have nothing to do with tax cuts. >> right. >> we discussed that last week, all the earmarks. i want to give you one more -- one more comment on that. everything else has been added to this bill. >> i think some of the provisions are good ones for energy tax credit. those are tax credits that actually help create jobs and i think those are important provisions. i think -- >> i don't think we'll get agreement on that. i have to wrap it up there. thanks for getting up so early on a monday morning. >> thank you. >> thank you. coming up on the show, what do you consider one of the most memorable one liners of 2010? politics playing high on the list. >> i'm not a witch. >> the phrases that no one will forget coming up after the break. and bringing down the house. snow collapses the minneapolis metrodome and cancels the big game with the giants. now, that storm is moving south. a live report on its new targets next. and talk about unsportsmanlike conduct. check out this video. did this guy try to trip the

player and sabotage the game? it was all caught on tape. [ female announcer ] with rheumatoid arthritis, there's the life you live... and the life you want to live. fortunately there's enbrel, the #1 most doctor-prescribed biologic medicine for ra. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, fatigue, and stop joint damage. because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis,@ lymphoma, and other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis. ask your doctor if you live or have lived in an area where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness.

ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. and help bridge the gap between the life you live... and the life you want to live. [ heather ] businesses need a reliable financial partner. one who can stay in sync with their moves. my job at ge capital is to get bobcat all the financial and business support they need. we provide financing for every bobcat dealer in north america. together, wee rolled out over 100,000 machines to small businesses all over the country so they too can grow. ♪ ge capital. we're there for bobcat every step of the way. ♪

stella: hmmm. we're getting new medicare benefits from the new healthcare law. jane: yea. most people will get free cancer screenings. and 50 percent off of brand name prescription drugs if you're in the donut hole. stella: you read my paper. jane: i went to medicare.gov. it's open enrollment, you know. so i checked out all the options and found a better plan to fit my budget. stella: well, you know what they say...knowledge... jane: knowledge is power.

come celebrate exciting cars that are stunning to look at, exhilarating to drive and worry free to own. celebrate this holiday season with the gift of platinum. jaguar platinum coverage: five years or 50,000 miles of complimentary scheduled maintenance, and no cost replacement of wear and tear items visit your jaguar dealer during the platinum celebration foa $599 lease offer on the 2011 x >> it's not even winter yet and look at all the snow. that nasty almost winter snow

system has left residents in minnesota with close to two feet of the white stuff. homeowners left with no other choice than to shovel or snow blow it all out so they can get to work and get to school. in minneapolis, heavy snow deflates the fabric teflon roof of the metrodome. crews were trying to clear the snow with hot water ahead of the scheduled giants-vikings game. but that has now been moved to detroit for later tonight because all the snow, as you can see right there, punctured the roof and it came tumbling in. oh, man! >> how are the roads? have you talked to your parents. i'm wondering why they didn't play at the university of minnesota. >> yeah, my mom actually said that the wind gusts were so horrendous besides 21 inches of the snow, there was five feet of snow in front of her door. they are trapped in the garage door as well. for people on the roads, it could be a life threatening situation. people were stuck on the ramps as well. she said the snow is over now. now it's the cleanup.

frigid temperatures moving elsewhere. roaring wind and snow have moved out east making it a dangerous mess in georgia. mike is live for us in clayton, georgia. usually when we go to georgia, mark, we don't see you with gloves and hats like that. >> yeah, it's pretty cold here. 18 degrees here in clayton, geor georgia. we are in the northeast tip of the state and actually it's the appalachian mountain so some of the folks are used to snow here but this is the earliest that we're being told by some of the residents that they've seen a significant snowfall. only got a couple of inches but it doesn't take a whole lot to wreak havoc in these parts because of quickly things ice and the roads are so hilly here. what they've done is they've canceled school in this particular county as well as a number of the counties out here and unfortunately, like you said, 18 degrees today. not expected to get above

freezing so these roads will likely remain frozen for another day or so until the temperature finally does defrost a little bit for us and we get back to that southern weather that we're so used to. they have been putting a salt/sand mix out on the roads as much as they can and they've been doing what they can to try to keep these roads passable. this main highway is in pretty good shape. you go to the side streets, it's a mess. and this particular town was pretty much a ghost town last night. everything closed up shop as folks went home and hunkered down and basically waiting for things to get a little warmer. we're reporting live from clayton, georgia. mark titner for knocfox news. back to you. >> take a look at the weather picture. >> let's take a look at where it is snowing and where it is raining and that system has moved, as you can see, into the northeast. and new england as well. it's actually a little warmer as the storm moved through. behind it, very cold arctic air. let's go ahead and find out how

cold. look at this. right now, the air temperature in minneapolis at the airport is 5 degrees below zero. wind chill feels like 25 below. it's only 10 in chicago. 7 in kansas city. 18 in cleveland and look at this. it's 22 right now in atlanta, georgia. some portion of the panhandle of florida, it's colder than it is right now in new york city. later on today, we're going to crank it up to 44 here in new york but bitterly cold, below freezing temperatures from the ohio and tennessee valley back across the great lakes and into the northern plains. all right? that's a look at the fox travelcast for almost feels like winter monday. >> not so much else going on. this story. swedish officials are confirming the homicide bber who blew himself up outside a busy shopping area over in stockholm is the same person who sent a threatening e-mail moments before the attack. the e-mail sent to a swedish news agency spoke of jihad and sweden's military presence in

afghanistan. several unconfirmed reports identify the attacker as an iraqi born swede who reportedly sympathized with al-qaida. >> richard holbrooke, president obama's top envoy to afghanistan and pakistan in critical condition after emergency surgery to repair a torn aorta. they issued a statement thanking everyone for the outpouring of support and prayers coming in from his many friends, colleagues and leaders around the world. >> meanwhile, a court hearing gets under way to figure out if rahm emanuel meets residency requirements to run for mayor of chicago. he reportedly changed his status. income tax status, rather, from part-time resident to full time after he decided to run. rahm testifies tomorrow. his wife may be subpoenaed to testify. always bad when they call his wife. where has he been living the last couple of years? >> right. you would know. good point. so the tensions will be high there. they were high last night.

eagles and cowboys renewed their rivalry on sunday night football. eagles looking to snap a three game losing streak to dallas and dallas playing much better since their coaching change. before the game, a moment of silence for the man over my shoulder. the late don meredith, quarterback for the cowboys. the cowboys of today took the lead in the third quarter. felix jones had a big score. would there be a mammoth upset? the eagles would grab the lead. 91-yard pass by vick to jackson. jackson would be flagged for excessive celebration for his backwards fall into the end zone. this is -- watch this. totally unnecessary. kids, don't ever do that. all right? don't laugh. ok? thank you. all right. talk about bad sportsmanship, no laughing matter and joe is a big sports fan. the dolphins are forced to punt and noah carroll running down field. new york jets strength coach purposely sticks out his knee and trips carroll trying to get down the field and make a tackle. i've never seen this before. the coach later apologized, said

he made a mistake. it was inexcusable and unsportsmanlike and doesn't reflect what the jets stand for. >> he hit them in the thigh. he got a contusion and the jets -- >> looks like -- >> they played bad. that was horrible and the dolphins were reinvigorated after that and the jets almost benchmarked sanchez. >> no kidding. >> meanwhile, we're coming town the closing of the year and there's a fella at the yale law school, an associate librarian by the name of fred shapiro and for the last five years, he's done some calculating and figured out what the quotes of the year are. and here, ladies and gentlemen, are the top three. the first one, happened in november at the san diego airport. it was a passenger by the name of john who said "if you touch my junk, i'm going to have you arrested" as he told the tsa worker at the airports. >> there was a tie for number one. it's actually makes up both the slots of one and two. first of all from tony hayward,

the b.p. c.e. o., i'd like my life back. he said that after he was amidst that whole disaster down there. another one? >> the other co-number one, i'm not a witch. congratulations, christine. she was here as a guest. i think my number one, pelosi when she says we have to pass this bill so we can find out what's in the bill. >> i like that. >> that was the health care bill. >> the 2300 health care bill. analysts are predicting the clouds may soon be start to go lift on the gloomy economy. stu varney says all bets are off if the president's tax deal doesn't go deal. you're the host of "varney & company" on the fox business network. >> forget the gloom and doom. for three years, the outlook has been gloom and doom, negative economic news. all the analysts, big money men of wall street have changed their opinion. >> why? >> well, they're looking for 3 1/2%, maybe 4% growth next year. why? because of the election in november which may restore confidence to the private sector

and b, this tax deal which everybody thinks will go through which will give some stimulus, private sector stimulus to the economy. >> but. >> but if it doesn't go through, all bets are off. >> all bets are off because if it doesn't go through, everybody's taxes go up january 1st. the economy takes a hit. >> that's one of the main reasons that the president's advisors have been out there saying what they've been saying in the last week which is exactly what you're saying, if you do not pass this tax compromise, it will have a huge effect on the economy. >> no one wants to take the blame. look, there's -- in my humble opinion, there is no way that this tax deal does not go through. the end of the day, it goes through. if it didn't, somebody takes the political blame. and the democrats do not want to be blamed for the economy taking a hit. >> they have an out because they don't want the 250,000 plus tax cuts in there. they are in there. and you already saw the president said i don't like the bill. you already saw austin goldsby

say i wouldn't do it. in two years, you'll find out tax cuts don't work. >> look forward to 2011. forget the blame game we're playing now. who takes the credit when -- if the economy starts to expand, 3 1/2%. more hiring. who is going to try to take the credit? president obama. >> all right. let's find out what you're going to talk about at 9:20 on "varney & company". >> impending bankruptcy of a major blue state that could be the next big financial crisis which would upset this rosie forecast. former mayor of los angeles is joining us. he predicts bankruptcy for l.a. >> see you back here on the couch tomorrow. >> next on the rundown, the trouble with schools. students assigned to read a book that says jesus is a wine guzzling vagrant and socialist. the parents you're about to meet are so angry, they pulled that kid out of the school. >> our next guest could make you disappear for the right price. wait until you hear how he does it and why. >> we don't know his name. he erased it. [ male announcer ] it's simplehysics...

a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescriptiocelebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. and celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, including celebrex, may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. is chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of seris skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems,

such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. tients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk fo stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor about your medical history and find an arthritis treatment that works for you. ask your doctor about celebrex. and, go to celebrex.com to learn more about how you can move ward relief. celebrex. for a body in motion.

>> have you ever really wished you could just disappear? poof? our next guest says he knows how to eliminate every piece of information that exists about you and all it takes is three simple steps. joining us right now is the author of "how to disappear." why would people want to disappear? >> it's usually a stalker, people in a bad business situation and looking to move on. >> no fingerprints. you say there are three ways to do it. the three keys are misinformation, disinformation and reformation. let's start with the first one, misinformation. >> locating all the information known about you. when somebody is looking for you or hunting you down, they're looking are for the information you left behind. >> paper records. >> paper. contact numbers. public records.

whatever it may be that can lead them to you. >> would you ever contact a loved one, family member or something like that. maybe tell them a story to try to -- >> tell them i'm not sure it's going to them or the person that sent it. can they help me out? typically they do. >> no kidding. everybody wants a package and they don't know what's in the package even if it is damaged. this is fascinating. >> disinformation is creating false trails, bogus trails to keep the hunter or predator busy. if you don't, they most likely catch up with you and information is almost infinite so you're always battling it. >> what you're doing is if you want to make sure that somebody is unfindable, you create a persona and you can do it on line and you told me earlier during the time-out, how you created fake socialist network stuff about somebody that completely throws people off the trail. >> that's big thing. when your information is on line, it bounces up all over the place chls. it will create a bogus facebook or my space and make them the

social media mad person. when the hunter is look for them, they'll find that information most likely. >> reformation, the final key. >> getting you from point a to point b and making sure nobody finds you but teaching you how to be a virtual individual where you don't have any connections. >> who have you helped to disappear? >> victims of stalkers. individuals in bad business situations. persons come into money and they feel like individuals are coming on of the woodwork. >> didn't i read somewhere you helped the whistle blower? >> that was one of the first clients that helped create this business. he helped accompany and whistle blew on a couple of people and afraid of what was going to happen and wanted to move to south america and he asked me if i could help him disappear and i really thought about it and my partner and i did it and in business ever since. >> he's untrackable right now. >> i would think so, yeah. >> is this completely legal? >> absolutely. i mean, you don't change your name. you don't use a fake identity. i mean, the tools of technology

just like it helps find information, it can make somebody virtual where you get a prepaid phones, prepaid credit cards. >> like in the movie. >> exactly. and it's -- that's the beauty of technology. just as one side can help locate you, the other side can help you make you disappear. >> can a person do it themselves without going through you? you charge thousands of dollars to help people disappear. can they read your book and figure out how to do it. >> yes, i think awareness in the book plus on line, you could figure it out and do it on your own. >> the book is called "how to disappear." you're about to disappear, at the conclusion of this segment. thank you very much. interesting stuff. straight ahead on this monday morning, do you know what your kids are reading at school? how about a book that slams jesus and calls him a drunk and a socialist. next, the parents who pulled their kid out of school when they found out about just that. and that book. then, if you always felt there was more to mona lisa's eyes, you could be right. a secret message uncovered in the paint.

straight ahead on this monday morning. know the stain. after an alpaca? i have. it was awesome. ♪ call 1-800-steemer ♪ express yourself ♪ [ female announcer ] the newest seasonal flavors are here. ♪ express yourself ♪ [ female announcer ] because coffee is like the holidays. it's better when you add your flavor. coffee-mate. from nestle.

>> a high school student in bedford, new hampshire, so bothered by the book assigned in his personal finance course, he asked his parents to home school him instead. the family says the book "nickel and dimed" promotes an anti-christian message. at one point is describes jesus as a wind guzzling vagrant and socialist. tonight, that boy's parents will get their chance to explain to the school board why they want the book pulled from the curriculum. dennis and andy taylor plan to address that meeting tonight and they join me from manchester, new hampshire this morning. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> this incident happened in early october, you found out your son had been assigned this book. part of the curriculum. i read a quote from the book. was that the only quote that you were upset with? >> oh, no.

no. there are a number of quotes. the book is littered with obscenities. i don't know if you have one there at your studio. there are a number of heavy obscenities and also the jesus bashing is unacceptable. there are a lot of problems we have with the book. >> there's drug abuse mentioned as well as the details of how to get out of drug use in detail in the book as well. >> basically, this author, she tried to find jobs across the country on minimum wage and then she wrote this book. so i guess you could classify that as a finance kind of a book. what happened, then? your son and you saw these types of lines in the book and your son decided what? >> he came home one day and asked us about the book, whether he had to keep reading it. so you look at sections of it and ultimately read the entire thing. and i immediately -- my wife and i sent e-mails to the sau 25 complaining about it because it was incredible they were offering this to the students and we talked to our son and he talked to us and he asked us if

he could be home schooled because he didn't want to be in that environment. >> wow. so here's the statement now from the superintendent of this school. the committee unanimously determined that the book's merits outweighed its liabilities. and then the superintendent of the schools says this or the statement from the school board, i should say, the text is not being used currently. the superintendent asked the review and course revisions to be complete prior to the start of the second semester so basically what they're saying, dennis and amy is they're not using that particular line about jesus anymore in the text but you have heard otherwise? >> well, i haven't heard anything that you've been telling me. i wrote an e-mail to somebody about this, he's superintendent, and over the weekend. i asked him about the rumor. and i got an e-mail back yesterday, basically saying the meeting for the school board is now with the tv. no mention of any change. i take it there's not been any change. >> so the meeting is tonight. amy, what point do you want to make to the school board? >> i want to make the point that this book is unacceptable for high school students.

for the language, for the way that it assaults people's beliefs and religion in this book as well as the use of the drugs and how to get out of the testing amongst other things. we would like to pull the book permanently from the curriculum and have a replacement for it. >> dennis, if they pull the book, will your son go back to this school? >> if they pull the book and do the other things in which, you know, they recognize that they made a mistake and made some serious errors in judgment. they put some safeguards in place with the parental review committee. for example, we don't want the same people who gave us the book to review the book just to reconsider their own decision. we think there's a conflict of interest here. if they were to do that and so forth, yes, i think we would try to reenroll him. we'd like to send him back. >> keep us up to date with what ultimately happens. keep us posted of what happens. very interesting story. thanks for being here this

morning. >> thank you. >> she was ditched four days before her wedding and now the jilted bride-to-be is suing for $100,000? does she have a case? and calling on bill clinton but will that hurt or help president obama today as the senate votes on the bush tax cuts. former white house spokesperson dana perino weighs in at the top of the hour. she's here in person. good morning.

naturally colorful vegetables are often a good source of vitamins, fiber, or minerals. and who brings you more natural colors than campbell's condensed soups? campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ because they have 20% more calcium per chew than viactiv or for the delicious flavors like chocolate truffle and vanilla creme? mmm. -mmm. -mmm. [ female announcer ] hard to say really. new caltrate soft chews, we put the yum in calcium.

>> good morning, everyone. hope you had a good weekend. it's back to monday and it's december 13th. tax or not to tax? that's the question a few hours on capitol hill. the president thinks he'll have a deal. will his own party sign off before the american people get pinched. >> haven't heard that since the bowry boys. calling all presidents. obama brings in the big guns to

build his party's support. did he do more harm than good? we're going to talk to dana perino about that. let's hope she answers. >> we'll pinch her for input. >> we'll try. >> bernie madoff's son killed himself two years to the day when bernie was arrested. but why now? did he know where to find the money and why are more people connected to the case dying? "fox & friends" hour two for a monday starting right now. >> it's as if we got mickey spilane doing that. >> with the hat on. >> there's so much going on, not only here but overseas, gretchen. >> right, we have to start with the fox news alert. new video into the newsroom if that hostage situation at a preschool in france. we're just learning now that police have arrested the 17-year-old suspect holding students hostage with two swords. all children have been released.

luckily, they are all safe. the students were only in kindergarten. the teams stormed in. the team is being treated for depression. another fox news alert. afghan forces detain several suspects in connection with a attack in kandahar that left six u.s. troops dead. they were killed when a mini bus filled with explosives blew up at a joint nato-afghan base there much taliban has claimed responsibility for this attack. rough road ahead for drivers in minnesota after a blizzard ripped through minneapolis and its surrounding area. as much as two feet of snow fell in the city. this car stuck in it all. one of thousands, probably. then in the motor city, not much better. cars can be seen flying right off the highway and check out these long lines. more than 1400 flights in chicago canceled. and back to minneapolis for a minute because this piece of video was incredible. massive cleanup under way at the metrodome now after the roof was

torn open by the heavy snow. crews tried to clear the snow standing on parts of the roof but it was coming down way too fast. experts have been called in from around the country to help with repairs on the roof. because of the collapse, yesterday's giants-vikings game had to be postponed. instead, it's going to be played tonight in detroit. fans who had tickets to the game will be given 50-yard line seats tonight if they can make the trip. remaining seats will be given away for free. >> wow. >> this is the real life davinci code. tiny letters in the eyes of the mona lisa. they say they were deliberately put there 500 years ago. the symbols are so small, they can be seen with a magnifying glass. the right eye has the letters l and b which could be the artist's initials and the letters in the left eye appear to be c and e or possibly d. >> wouldn't it be l, d are his

initial? >> vinci. >> more on brian's alphabet later. the art of the bridge in the background has the number 72 or possibly an l and the number 2. the question now is what could the symbols all mean? >> what does it say on her eyelids if she blinks? >> never does. >> it's strange. mona lisa way overrated. talk about it later. i'd walk right about it. big tax cut compromise head for the first real test today with a vote in the senate. let's go to kelly wright now in washington with more. hey, kelly. >> good morning to you. hope you're doing well. this tax cut deal struck between president obama and republicans will likely face its first big hurdle today when the senate is scheduled to have a test vote sometime today but house democrats who hold the majority in the lame duck congress say they will not allow the measure to reach the house floor without reducing the tax relief for the richest americans. under the current deal, the bush era tax cuts would be extended

for all americans including the wealthiest for two years. also, it extends unemployment benefits for another year and it lowers what was to be a huge increase in the estate tax next year. many house democrats are furious with the president. yet, the white house believes there will be enough support out there to push the deal through. >> i think we're going to get strong support on both sides of the aisle. i respect people who are unhappy. we share their view on the upper income tax cuts on the estate tax. that was a part of the deal, that we had to accept in order to get all the good things that come along with it, that's the nature of compromise. >> and before it all goes through, we may see some more compromise on that estate tax deal. so what appears to be, however, a lot of talk about how much -- a lot of tough talk, that is, about how much they hate the president's deal with republicans, the democrats appear to be ready to get the

plan through even while kicking and screaming all the way and the senate, for example, the number two democrat from illinois says a good cross section of senators in his party are ready to strike the tax cut deal. they realize the time is running out and it would avoid a january 1st increase in income taxes for nearly every american. brian? >> thank you very much. good comprehensive look at what we're up against this week along with on another note, the afghanistan review is this week. let's talk to dana perino is here. fox news contributor and former white house press secretary. this is relatively unfamiliar ground for this president. where are we going now? what are congress' options for what they've gotten? >> well, nancy pelosi really holds all of the cards because she gets to choose as the speaker of the house for the next 14 days or whatever if she's going to call the bill up for a vote. it will pass in the senate and then it will go over to the house. look, i think at the end of the day, they're going to swallow hard in the house.

they've made a lot of noise. they're not going to amend it and it's going to go back and it will pass and president obama probably will not have a signing ceremony. i think he'll probably let this quietly be signed into law and then we can all breathe a little easier about our tax rates. >> ok, so scenario one, the senate passes and the house amendments. >> pretty straight forward. >> scenario two, the senate passes, the house passes and it's approved. >> uh-huh. >> that's pretty much what you think is going to happen. >> scenario 3, the senate passes and the house amends and the senate says no and suddenly we have gridlock. >> right. that is -- it's a slim chance but because there's a chance, that's what everybody is focused on. >> what you think they might have gridlock on is the estate tax portion of this bill. at least that's what chris van holland says. >> it's interesting that paul ryan was the one that was most surprised. >> let's listen, they were both on "fox news sunday" with chris wallace together and paul ryan became surprised when it appears that chris van holland was ready to say dems were on board.

listen to this. >> house democrats are being portrayed as people who haven't adjusted to the post-election reality that we don't want to cut any deal at all. there are some. there are some house democrats that will refuse to go along with any deal. most of us understand we got to make some tough compromises and most of us agree with almost all of what the president negotiated. there is one thing that just was the choking point and that deals with the estate tax break, so if the democrats in the house scuttle this deal, that will be the first thing we do is prevent the job killing tax increases and do it retroactively after the first of the year. >> the estate tax seems to be -- >> it seems to be. did it come out of the blue for you in terms of like that's their biggest concern? i mean, last week i heard a couple of people were upset because they wanted the tax credit to extend to wind and solar power and all this other stuff and this grab bag but chris van holland, a very press -- not a press spokesman but a spokesman for their party lays it out yesterday but basically says it's a -- it's a tough

thing for us to swallow but pretty much he said they're going to do it. >> right. dana, i also thought it was kind of interesting. turns out president obama picked up the phone and said president clinton, you know, didn't turn out great for the election. you did a great job for us. thanks for your help. at some point you have to combine to the white house. they finally find the sometime to meet at which time the way the story goes, president obama discovers that president clinton is totally on board with the tax cut compromise and they decide to ad lib. go to the pressroom and speak to the press. two former president and current president both in the democratic side about this issue. how did it go over? >> i guess it was fine. it seems like president clinton is just oozing more confidence about this deal that president obama made with the republicans and president obama and the rest of his team are. i don't think it hurts them. i think for people who were not supportive of president obama anyway to look at this and say look at them outsourcing the presidency. but i also think it shows president obama quite confident

that he needed some help and he needed a different voice to help deliver the message. i don't think it necessarily turned anybody around but a day and a half later, sunday morning, chris van holland saying they're not going to scuttle the deal. >> i'm going to disagree with van holland a little bit. i whole heartedly believe that president obama knows where president clinton stands on this thing or he wouldn't invite him to the white house to decide whether he's in favor of the tax plan or not. they orchestrated this whole thing specifically to happen -- >> you can have a former president come and visit you at the white house without announcing it to the president. that happened a lot in the president bush administration, he had lunch with president clinton and nobody knew about it. >> we knew he was coming. >> they let it be known that he was coming. wasn't it weird -- wasn't it the white house press christmas party? where's the press? they're at the party. >> well, the president did leave -- had to go. he had been keeping his wife waiting. here's a funny moment between the president and the president. >> he can say whatever he

wants, but we -- >> here's what i'll say is i've been keeping the first lady waiting for about half-hour. so i'm going to take off. but -- >> i don't want to make her mad. please go. >> you're in good hands and gibbs will call last question today. >> help me. thank you. yeah, go ahead. >> he looks like the press secretary. it was just so funny. >> how much did that make his day? >> he loved it. and the thing is, look, the white house press corps loved them some bill clinton. i mean, it was always going to turn out positive for them. >> what i think they love like i love, something unscripted for a change. everything is so formal and you have two presidents walk in -- >> even at a president's press conference during the week where he called out the democrats and republicans. that was pretty much not like how it's supposed to read. >> yeah. >> so president clinton has a way about him that he is a good communicator so props to president obama for figuring out if i send them in there, it's not going to hurt me and it

might help me get this deal done and probably will get done. >> let's talk about this. politico had this story yesterday that apparently michael steele is planning to announce his re-election plans and politico says insiders say he's not going to run which is pretty amazing for a left leaning web site to know what the head of the right wing is doing. seems a little weird. he might do it. he might drop out. >> i think politico has some pretty good sources. i tried to check around a little bit yesterday. maybe i don't have as good of sources. pretty much people don't know what he's going to say. it's unusual for an r.n.c. chairman who wants to be re-elected to have so many challengers at this point. probably because he's had a very troubled two years and there's very good people that are wanting to run for the r.n.c. chairman. kind of like the dog that caught the car. when you get it, what are you going to do? there's a lot of ground to make up and people are very dedicated. i'm kind of waiting to see what he says. >> he's going to have a press conference and then he's going

to be on greta's show tonight. we'll hear from him then. always great to see you, especially in person. thanks for stopping by. >> great to see you. >> thank you. >> see you on radio in a little while. >> hear me on radio and see me on radio. >> see you and then hear you. >> she was ditched four days before walking down the aisle. now the jilted bride-to-be is suing for $100,000. can she make a case, though, against her runaway groom? >> bernie madoff's son is dead. killing himself exactly two years after his father's arrest and he knows something that investigators missed and why are more people tied to this case dying? that comes up next. ♪ express yourself ♪ [ female announcer ] the newest seasonal flavors are here. ♪ express yourself ♪ [ female announcer ] because coffee is like the holidays.

it's better when you add your flavor. coffee-mate. from nestle.

♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] print from any mobile vice so your ideas can be there even when you're not. introducing the new web-connected printers with eprint from hp.

>> glad you're up. welcome to monday. ponzi schemer bernie madoff sits in jail while his many victims try to repair their lives financially and emotionally but even those close to him seem to still be suffering. his oldest son mark over the weekend hung himself two years to the day of his dad's arrest. this isn't the first death related to the madoff fallout.

joining us is a man who knows the story inside and out. the author of "betrayal, the life and lies of bernie madoff." are you shocked by this? >> i think everyone is shocked by it. it's a horrible tragedy, right? i don't think anyone is glad or gleeful. even those who lost all this money. bernie madoff is the person who led this horrible, horrible scam and, you know, just to be morbid, for a moment, people thought that, perhaps, bernie madoff may have taken his own life at first when this happened but he doesn't seem to have shown a huge amount of remorse. the people around him and now his own son who are really feeling the results of this. >> "new york post" reports today that evidently, his wife blames bernie for her son's death. >> i mean, it's his fault! i mean, bernie madoff has caused like so much human wreckage around him and from what i understand, he's had kind of a

cushy life in prison ever since he confessed and now i think it's going to turn into a human hell for him. now he's responsible for the death of his own son. >> there's speculation he'll be in connecticut at the small ceremony and go to his son's funeral which would be outrageous but now you have the two sons, the 2-year-old and 4-year-old are named in a lawsuit. these people have been destroyed and they're not giving up. that could be the pressure that mark felt. >> think about where mark madoff came from, right? i mean, he and andy were the fair haired kids at madoff. they were making something like $70 million a year. they weren't working particularly hard. they were taking the great, lavish trips on a regular basis. they were, you know, the princes of the castle. and look at him now. i mean, his name was mud. he was a pariah. >> but andrew, he has not been forthcoming about where this money is and not bent over backwards, neither has the family to give whatever is left of the money they claimed back

to them. is that correct? >> the money was all distributed, right? and everyone took their piece of it and walked off. >> look at this, you got this guy, this french guy who invested $1.4 billion, lost it. he killed himself. william foxton shot himself in the head. life savings lost to madoff. 2009, accused of profitting more than $7 billion, he is now dead and now mark. >> right. >> i mean, it's the people around bernie madoff almost like he had this quality that he didn't care about the repercussions of his actions. the people around him who did are the ones that are paying for it right now. one interesting thing is what hurts at least as much about losing all your money is losing other people's money, right? terry vilishay killed himself after losing billions of dollars of other people's money and mark madoff had the same issue with his best friends. >> thanks so much. >> thank you. >> all right, coming up straight ahead, we change gears. he's just getting paid to do

nothing. one state told taxpayers "we fixed the problem but that might not be the case we'll explain. just now getting our hands on some of his secrets. what we are learning from wikileaks founder julian assange's on-line dating profile. ♪ ♪ ♪

[ male announcer ] here's hoping you find something special in your driveway this holiday. ♪ [ santa ] ho ho ho! [ male announcer ] get an exceptional offer on the mercedes-benz you've always wanted at the winter event going on now. and stay connected with three years of mbrace service complimentary.

>> time for news by the numbers now on this monday morning. first, a billion. that's the value of overdue home loans bank of america is trying to sell off. bank officials say the troubled loans are too expensive to service. next, 16 million. that's how many packages fed ex is expected to ship today on what is expected to be the busiest shipping day of the year. and finally, 24 1/2 million bucks. that's how much chronicles of

narnia, the voyage of the dawn trader brought in at the box office over the weekend. that's a lot of dough. gretch, over to you. >> thank you, steve. new york city schools have an excess of over 1,000 teachers. these teachers don't have regular paying jobs in the district but still cost the city over $100 million a year. that's one of the first things the new schools chancellor kathy black wants to tackle. will the union stand in her way? joining me now is the co-author of journalism on line. kathy black, never had any experience in education. some people had a problem with that. other people said she has a lot of experience in turning around bad situations. this is one of them, right? >> yes, it is. but it's really a job for shelly silver and the legislature in albany. >> in what way? >> new york city is hand strung by a law that was passed in 1917 guaranteeing the teachers wouldn't be fired because the principal didn't like their politics and stuff like that. that has now become a protection

for incompetent teachers and teachers who are needed at schools and that law has to change and the city has not done enough to try to get that law changed because the union has been fighting it for 10 or 20 years. >> so while these new york city public school kids continue to not get the best education that they should be, we are paying in new york state $100 million a year or more. >> probably a lot more. >> for these teachers to sit at home. >> we are basically paying the teaching staff the size of the teaching staff in newark, new jersey or new haven, connecticut, how much excess teachers we're paying every day. >> the reason they're sitting at home is because what? what did they do at school that got them to be not good enough to be teaching? >> in some cases, they're accused of misconduct and in other cases, they're accused of just, you know, not being competent in a system that now judges 99% of all teachers as being competent and in some cases, the schools don't need

them, you know, they have six math classes in the sixth grade and there happened to be eight math teachers. those two math teachers are extra and those teachers aren't accepting reassignments to another school. they don't have to. if they get reassigned, they have to agree to go to the other school or just sit home. >> talk about leverage. one of the bad things that ends up happening, when they have to cut teachers, it's the younger teachers who automatically get cut because of seniority and the force of the unions. >> right. this is going to become the big issue, the city school system is likely to have to have 3,000 or 4,000 layoffs. blind layoffs, if you will, it will be the younger teachers who get fired and the more senior teachers who get kept. now, again, these are laws that were passed before there were age discrimination laws or any kind of discrimination laws so the intent of those laws which were passed, i think, in 1917

was to protect the older teachers. there are now lots of protection. >> a lot of things have changed in 100 years. let's see what the union has to say about this. the pool of teachers doing nothing but getting paid was created by the d.o.e., teachers in this school while applying for other jobs in their licenses and geographic areas work every day in schools and long term and short term substitutes covering classes and doing other academic work. meantime, the d.o.e. refuses to place members of the pool while paying generous fees to alternative certification recruiters. huh? i don't get that statement. it sounds like a lot of legalese. >> they are not acting on the substitute teachers in most cases and in many cases, a significant group of them have refused even to be interviewed for jobs at these schools because they don't have to be. they don't have to take a new job. they can stay home. >> what a sad story for the kids here in new york who just want to be able to get a good education. steve brill, co-founder of

journalism on line. thanks for your thoughts. >> happy to be here. >> jilted bride promising revenge now. get this. she's sue her ex-fiance for his change of heart. can she legally do that? brand new information in a terrorist investigation. a man who tried to kill innocent people has questionable ties. then, it is paws for a cause. these pets desperately need a place to call home. now you can help in time for christmas. is that brian? you don't need another one, pal. [ female announcer ] with rheumatoid arthritis, there's the life you live... and the life you want to live. fortunately there's enbrel, the #1 most doctor-prescribed biologic medicine for ra. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, fatigue, and stop joint damage. because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis,@ lymphoma, and other cancers,

and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis. ask your doctor if you live or have lived in an area where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. and help bridge the gap between the life you live... and the life you want to live.

i'm off to the post offic.. ok. uh, a little help... oh! you know shipping is a lot easier with priority mail flat rate boxes. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus, you can print and pay for postage online. and i can pick them up for free with package pickup. perfect! cause i'm gonna need a lot of those. wow! i knew i should have brought my sleigh. priority mal flat rate shipping starts at $4.90 only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. ♪ [ male announcer ] opeup a cadilc during our season's best sales event. and receive the gift of asphalt. experience the cadillac of crossovers, the striking srx. it's the one gift you can open up allear long. see your cadillac dealer for this attractive offer. backed by the peace of mind that only comes from cadillac premium care maintenance. the season's best sales event. from cadillac.

>> check out this shot of the morning. finding a parking spot in california not easy. finding this spot, unbelievable. a driver hits a curb and goes airborne landing eight feet up between two homes. the driver not only underage, allegedly drunk. he's ok but facing some pretty serious charges. now, good thing he didn't hurt anybody else. >> i thought that was a movie set. i thought that picture. what movie are they shooting? how do you do that? >> you were expecting bruce willis to climb out of it. >> as usual, without -- >> we have some other headlines on this monday morning. swedish officials confirming the homicide bomber that blew himself up outside of a busy shopping area in stockholm is the same person who sent a threatening e-mail moments before the attack. the e-mail sent to a swedish

news agency spoke of jihad and denounced sweden's military presence in afghanistan. several unconfirmed reports identify the attacker as an iraqi born swede who reportedly has sympathized with al-qaida. >> richard holbrooke, president obama's top envoy to afghanistan and pakistan remains in critical condition after emergency surgery to repair a torn aorta, that is. the holbrooke family issued a statement thanking everyone for "the outpouring of support and prayers" coming in from his many friends, colleagues and leaders around the world. >> in just a few hours from now, a federal judge in virginia is expected to rule on president obama's health care reform. it is one of 25 lawsuits across the country challenging the constitutionality of the overhaul. the case is expected to eventually go to the supreme court. >> all right, remember when julia roberts played the runaway bride? >> yeah. >> did she? didn't she play pretty woman? >> she did that, too.

>> oh, well i didn't see that movie. i saw that pizza movie. mistic pizza. story was played out in real life with the runaway bride. difference is the cold feet could cost him. a chicago man is being sued by his ex-fiance after calling off their wedding. she is suing on the amount of money she spent on unrelated items. i think she should get it. was it a good movie? >> runaway bride? yes, i forget, she did hook up at the end. >> they always do. >> with the guy or one she should have been with all along? >> i don't know. >> somebody trying to find love in the internet, there are a lot of people trying to do that. apparently back in 2006, get this, you know that assange guy, the wikileaks guy, somebody has dug around on the web site okcupid and they found what looks to be -- >> that's him. >> a profile of him but he doesn't use the name julian assange. that guy, according to the profile, is harry harrison.

>> you mean wabc disc jockey from the 1960's. >> this is harry harrison. >> i have no idea what you're talking about. julian assange, if this is true because we all know, look, anyone can make up anything about anyone in this day and age quite easily but anyway, julian assange, here's who he would like. women from countries that have sustained political turmoil, rather than value lesson inane western women. that would fit, i think, if you think what he's doing recently with regard to wikileaks. again, we don't know if this is really his profile. >> he likes tough, dangerous girls and according to the new yorker magazine, he seems to be a pretentious outcast looking for love on the internet. >> there you go. but again, women, as much as you like the guy in the stocking cap. >> sure. >> haven't been active since 2006 plus he's in prison so he's

unable to do it. >> he was given access to the internet on friday. >> he was given access to the internet. that was one of the news headlines. he could be working on his case. he could be updating his profile. >> he might be on match.com right now. let's take a look. we have a big storm, as you know, the remnants across the northern plains where it currently is bitterly cold. i'm looking at one of the temperature maps from plymouth college and portions of northern minnesota right now, 45 degrees below zero. that's not the wind chill. that's the air temperature. meanwhile, the big wet part of the storm is moving through portions of new england at the time. this is the same storm that dumped two feet of snow on minneapolis. currently in minneapolis it's 5 degrees below zero. it's only 10 in chicago. it's 7 in kansas city. speaking of chicago, yesterday, o'hare really got socked. something like 1400 flights had to be canceled. they are calling this the storm of the decade out there. meanwhile, 29 right now in

raleigh. it's 22 in atlanta, georgia, and only 17 in memphis. if you're in texas look at this. if you're in the metroplex and walking out, it's below freezing. things will warm up considerably. 30 degrees in portions of texas. 63 in san antonio. only 6 in minneapolis. 14 will be the daytime high in chicago. for our friends in the ohio valley, temperatures, as you can see, below freezing. but here in the northeast, before that system moves through, look at that. 42 will be the daytime high in the big town of new york city. >> all right. let's go over to brian because he has assembled his brian's best. >> goodie! >> paying interest. it's time for the best. the best of sunday's game. first up, the best game. jaguars-raiders. that gets the nod and the game loaded with big plays, it happened late. rasshard jennings, big bunch of touchdown runs. it was sunny.

mcfadden had a couple for oakland. the jags, another dramatic victory. best game in the snow, patriots-bears. tom brady knows how to play in the snow and thrashed the bears. this was the jets' best hope they thought of getting even again. the bears were no match for new england. final score was 36-7. might be the best team in football right now. packers were one of the favorites to play in the nfc championship game until they met the detroit lions who k.o.'d their quarterback, aaron rodgers out with a concussion. lions play with their third string q.b. 13 yard score to take detroit to a 7-3 victory. that was televised in new york instead of the giants game. i was thrilled. finally, best player, this goes to former "fox & friends" guest jay feely of the arizona cardinals. he ran 40 yards for a score and

kicked five field goals and they beat the broncos. arizona's seven game losing streak is over. and that's a quick look at the world of sports. >> what a play! that's one of your best, brian. this christmas instead of buying someone another sweater, consider giving the gift of pet rescue. deborah allrich is founder of forgotten friends, mixed breed rescue based in austin, texas. joy woods is a volunteer and board member and with them are mommy and daughter dogs, is that true? sarah and molly. >> good morning. >> yes. >> good morning to you. merry christmas. >> merry christmas. you know, it's such a lovely idea to give a dog at - for -- you know to somebody who has been thinking about it, you don't want to spring a dog on somebody that doesn't want it but what is the importance of mixed breed rather than purebred? >> there isn't necessarily -- i think that we -- when i started out, the group was concentrated on that. it was just really important to me because everybody was fixed on mixed breeds.

they didn't realize that a purebred doesn't mean it's well bred. there's a lot of very poorly, poorly nonbreed standards out there and i wanted people to realize that not only were there cute little dogs like this in rescue but they were actually pure bred. they had been passed along. one isn't better than the other but people think that purebred is better. these are actually what you call designer dogs. chihuahuas and yorkies and this is a mother and this is a daughter. >> what was the story with sarah and molly? >> they were abandoned at a kill shelter. i think they were bought from the original breeder and then they didn't want them and so they took them -- look at this face. and so they had rotten teeth. we had to pull like 18 teeth from one. you know, they've got like $500 dental work in them. they have a little mammary tumor and they -- >> they're fine now. >> they're fine now. >> they need homes. >> they're very bonded. >> is it true, joy, that they -- they're grateful.

dogs sense that they -- you know, that they got saved. >> absolutely. it was just a multitude of our fosters. i have four right now and every day you walk in the door and their tails are wagging and their ears are back and you can just tell they're so happy to be there. it's like they know. they have this inate, so happy. >> i sense my dog is a little cocky knowing any family would have taken him. i got lucky. but these two have it right! >> all right. let me ask you this. people will see these cute faces and say let's adopt a puppy today or let's go to the shelter and pick up a dog like sarah and molly but you caution as well that you have to pick it for the right kind of a person, right? >> well, our commitment is to match and make people think through the process, it's not an impulse and at christmas, the impulses are children want a pet and we're going to open it at christmas and it's in the box like on tv. >> it's out with the packaging

and honestly there's a lot of puppies on the streets. believe it or not, after christmas, you find them in -- it's not a temporary thing. a pet -- i tell people it's like adopting a child. some people relate to that and some people don't. you're getting yourself a 2-year-old. and with a puppy, you're getting yourself a newborn. and many people aren't prepared for that. the thing with rescue that took me back is it's expirational, they can't understand until they've experienced it. and the financial last time, people were losing their pets with financing. that's the first things to go. it's not always fixed. >> it's a great story. thank you very much for joining us. this is all part of a week long series we're doing here on "fox & friends." tomorrow, beth stern will be here from north shore animal league with more adorable dogs that you can adopt before christmas. thank you, lady. >> thanks. >> if you want more about their web site, go to fox and friends.com and we'll link you

up. >> back to politics as we get ready for the lame duck christmas season. will it be enough to convince small business owners to start hiring again? we've assembled a panel of small business people. that will be next. >> fran drescher making a return to tv. she'll join us live on the curvy couch. >> hi, franny. first up, the trivia question of the day, though.

♪ every time it's so right ♪ well, it feels so good [ female announcer ] when you have a softer bath tissue, you can joy going more... while still using less. introducing w charmin ultra soft. new charmin ultra soft has an ultra-cushiony design that's soft and more absorbent. so you can use four times less versus the leading value brand. [ both ] ♪ soft to the touch... [ female announcer ] using less never felt so good. new charmin ultra soft. enjoy the go.

>> welcome back. one group at the center of the tax cut debate, small business owners. how much will it impact their small businesses across the country? right now, let's talk to a panel of small business owners. a chairman of school supply company making educational toys and products. adam avery is owner of a.a. mortgage group, a small mortgage

brokerage firm and last, a former lehman brothers employee and co-founder of a web site offering small business owners e commerce and social media for free. lady and gentlemen, thank you very much for joining us today. >> thank you, steve. >> thank you. >> let's start with you. if the tax cuts go through, what's that going to do? >> it's going to help our planning. we'll get cash to get her to qualify the balance sheets. something said, it's kind of being held hostage right now by congress, rick, what if it doesn't go through? how does that impact your business? >> it's like the procrastination congress. they're trying to figure out tax rates, i'm just crossing my fingers. >> what do you think? how would it impact your business? >> there's still a lot of uncertainty in the market.

at the end of the day, i think it's a band-aid. i mean, it's a good incentive. however, it's not enough for me to hire and expand my business. >> but you -- but what about the uncertainty? you don't really know what your ta tax rate is going to be next year. >> we hope that something will come through and understand what the change will be. the fact of the matter is 98% of our businesses don't make more than $250,000 of income a year. so i don't think there's going to be much of a change. we'll go as is how we operate our businesses. >> what about you? if it -- right now, it's kind of stalled. it looks like it will go through the senate later on today. but then in the house, the estate thing and there's all sorts of balls still left up in the air. >> steve, you have me very excited. i didn't realize we were talking about a tax cut. i thought we were talking about either maintaining our current tax rates or increasing taxes and i think that that

distinction is grossly misleading by our congress. >> you're absolutely right because what -- the way the republicans are describing it is it's a maintenance of the current tax rate if congress doesn't act, adam, your rates will go up. what would that do to your business? >> you're looking at increases in everybody. every single working person will see an increase in their marginal income tax rates and they'll see increases in dividend tax rates and capital gains tax rates. they will see a form of marriage penalty come back and they will also see phaseouts come at lower adjusted gross incomes for personal and itemized deductions. it will be a absolute economic train wreck to not continue and maintain the tax rates we have. on the flip side of that, if they wanted to jump-start the economy, they would eliminate capital gains taxes and cut tax

rates any further and forget any talk about this energy tax and cap and trade. >> so much to talk about. it's going to see what congress will do. thanks for joining us on the "fox & friends" show today. fran drescher back on tv, there she is right there. she's live in the hall, around the studio door and she's coming in. we'll talk to her next on the curvy couch. all right. coming up next. but first on this date back in 1991, number one song in america was michael jackson singing "black or white." can getting enough vegetables make you feel good? oh, yeah. v8 juice gives you 3 of your 5 daily servings of vegetables. v8. what's your number?

and then there's most complete. like what you get from centrum silver ultra women's, the most complete multivitamin for women over 50. it has vitamin d, which emerging science suggests supports breast health, centrum silver ultra women's.

>> let's check out the answer to the question of the day. it is taylor swift. the winner is margaret from the

bronx right here in new york. congrats. >> i hear she writes a new song every time she breaks up with somebody. she's known for her unmistakable voice and her stint on the popular tv show "the nanny." fran drescher is back with her own talk show. it's about time. as soon as i heard she had a talk show, i thought why wasn't it sooner? you're a natural. >> thank you. thank you. i think there's just enough space between "the nanny" and my real self. people say, you know, accept me as fran drescher, the person that, you know, has other things going on. >> you're not the wisecracking daycare provider from new york city on the show. >> well, i always say that all of her is me but not all of me is in her. you know, there's a lot more to me than that and over the years through my cancer survival and health advocacy and appointment by the state department as a women's health advocate, i think

that i've become known more as somebody that has other things going on. >> can i say something? i'm a little resentful of you, how much more comfortable your couch is. there's pillows on that couch. you could rest there at night. >> look at how pretty that set is. >> we wanted to look it more like a home and it's actually a little similar to my home in california so -- >> for aall the guests that you had on, we've had on "fox & friends" as well. let me ask you about the other project you're working on. it is, it's very interesting. it's kind of about -- it's about your real life and what happens. >> it's a comedy version of parts of my real life. you're talking about the tv land show? yes, we're about to shoot a new sitcom called "happily divorced." and it's based on a woman whose ex-husband turns out to be gay and is now involved with another man. but somehow the three of them are some kind of newly invented

extended family. >> at the same time -- >> here's the headline. that was your life. so you would know a lot about that. >> yes, yes! my husband and i are still soulmates and very good friends. and he executive produced the fran drescher talk show as well as we co-wrote "happily divorced" and he'll be executive producing that and he was one of the executive producers on "the nanny." so we're very symbiotic in our work relationship and very dear friends and i love him very much. >> what an interesting life you've had. good job playing it out for the whole country to see. >> yeah, you know, neil simon always said write about what you know. and so that's what i've always done. i mean, even on "the nanny" sylvia and the grandma were based on the real life relationship between me and my mom. >> the show airs on local fox

stations across the country. check your local listings to find out when you can see "fran". >> comfortable couch. >> thanks, folks. >> happy holidays. >> thank you. straight ahead, he's a g.o.p. prospect for the 2012 presidential election, right now, he's tackling unions and reveal his three point plan in 15 minutes. >> excellent. record breaking snow that brought the roof down at the metrodome charging towards the east coast. a live report at the top of the hour. >> simple, aren't you going to give us that report? never know. probably have a thought about it. [ male announcer ] it's a rule of nature. you don't decide when vegetables reach the peak of perfection. the vegetables do. at green giant, we pk vegetables only when they're perfect. then freeze them fast so they're are as nutritious as fresh. [ green giant ] ho ho ho. ♪ green git

come celebrate exciting cars that are stunning to look at, exhilarating to drive and worry free to own. celebrate this holiday season with the gift of platinum. jaguar platinum coverage: five years or 50,000 miles of complimentary scheduled maintenance, and no cost replacement of wear and tear items visit your jaguar dealer during the platinum celebration foa $599 lease offer on the 2011 x

there's one gift you can always count on to save the day. it the gift yove today to the american red cros visit redcross.org and give the gift that saves the day. >> gretchen: good monday morning. december 13, 2010. i'm gretchen carlson and i'd lining to thank you for sharing your time with us. how much you want to hand over in taxes? taxes taking center stage in washington again this morning. >> i believe that this will pass. >> i think we're going to get strong support on both sides of the aisle. >> gretchen: the white house confident and the senate seems to be on board, but what will the house do? could they derail the deal?

>> steve: you are looking live at the monster storm that brought record breaking snow to the midwest. now heading to the east. behind the snow, another danger. we have a live report straight ahead in moments. >> brian: some people may want to forget the lines like this are unforgettable. >> i'm not a witch. i'm nothing you heard. i'm you. >> brian: and i love that music, too. wait until you hear what else made that big list. "fox & friends" starts right now. one minute after the top of the hour. if you watched the sunday shows, you know it was surreal at times to see democrats trying to defend what republicans have been saying all along, that if you cut rates for everybody,

that indeed the economy will rebound. mark sandy, a nonpartisan economic expert says look for the economy to grow if this is fast and look for unemployment to drop if this is passed. but then democrats had a problem with other democrats. >> steve: sure, they did. so what happens today is this. the senate is going to have to key test vote and this is one of those, they need 60 votes to present a filibuster. i know friday, bernie sanders tried to have a one man filibuster. he's again this. >> brian: as socialist, i'm shocked. >> steve: i know. what's going to happen is it's probably going to sail through the senate by tomorrow, then winds up on nancy pelosi's desk and there are still a lot of people in the house on the democrat side who have got a big fat problem with that estate tax. they would like to see it -- some would like to see it at 100%. right now it's going -- the way the president and the republicans have drafted it,

it's 35% they would like more. >> gretchen: so yesterday you had both sides on the sunday talk shows. you had chris van holland facing off against paul ryan, the republican. but listen closely to chris van holland. does it sound to you like he's going to rye and convince the democrats in the house to just go ahead pretty much with the tax compromise? >> house democrats are being portrayed as people who haven't adjust the to the post election reality, that we don't want to cut any deal at all and there are some. there are some house democrats who will refuse to go along with any deal. most of us understand we got to make some tough compromises. most of us agree with almost all of what the president negotiated. there is one thing that just was the choking point and that deals with the estate tax break. >> so if the democrats in the house scuttle this deal, the first thing we do is prevent the job killing tax breaks. >> brian: when you look what congressman ryan said s what the president came to realize last

like, but announced last week, that it's going to get worse in the new year. so this the best deal they can get. you listen to senator schumer, he's evidently not talking to the president because he wants the president to hold out 'til february and then cut a deal in february. what good would that do? >> steve: no kidding. a congressman from the new york city area refers to this bill as blackmail by a bunch of gangsters. he's talking about the republicans here. one of the interesting things about this particular bill is that the co-sponsors of this particular bill are harry reid and mitch mcconnell. first time adversaries at the leader level have actually produced a bill like this. >> gretchen: there are some republicans who are not feel so long great about this bill, too. >> brian: senator demint is one. >> gretchen: and michelle bachman was on your radio show and said she would like a straight tax vote up and down. we heard that earlier from a

guest at 6:00 o'clock. anyway. here are the three scenarios. the senate could pass it, which everyone believes they believe. then the house will amend it and the senate would approve it. that's pretty much the easy road, i think. number two, the house passes -- the house passes and then approved. then the next one would be that the house amends parts of the senate bill and then they would have gridlock. >> steve: like if they tampered with the 35% number in the estate tax. or if they did anything like that because the republicans have made it clear, it's that deal and that deal only and the vice president said last week, you know, this is the deal, take it or leave it. >> brian: they want to get that done quick 'cause they want to get that stark treaty done with the russians and have an afghanistan report due and i think they still have other things they want to see if they can get done before they're done with the lame duck session. but president obama, i don't think, and we differ on this, is that concerned about the polls. he can not be happy with the poll that revealed where his approval ratings are. >> gretchen: you don't think he looks at the polls?

>> brian: i don't think so? >> gretchen: i do. let's look at what happens right now. how many people approve of the job? these are likely voters. how many people approve of the job that the president is doing? 42% disapprove. 50% approve. >> steve: that is the lowest number on the poll for the president so far of his presidency. and they did something else. they paired up the president with a number of top republicans. mitt romney, mike huckabee, sarah palin. and here is the bad news for the president, if mitt romney, or the nominee were to hold the election today, mitt romney would beat him by two points. however, we should point out margin of error is 3 1/2 points. so it is within the margin of error. but you're a sitting president and you got a number like that, that's not good. >> gretchen: so which one should the president be most concerned about? i think about his rating drop,

78 to 69% among liberals and if his strategy was to garner the independent vote, that has not budged. even though he compromised with republicans on the tax thing and froze the federal pay, it apparently didn't work just yet. >> brian: he keeps moving to the middle, history tells you that usually independents will turned on by that. >> steve: and if you're a liberal and you supported him and you're going, what, we didn't get the public option, gitmo is still open, we're in afghanistan, it's not going to get better for them any time soon. >> brian: you're left with bill maher and michael moore. good luck. >> gretchen: we do have new video coming out of france this morning where one hour ago, 20 children and a teacher were released safely from a preschool. they were being held hostage by a teen-ager who came into the school with two swords. police stormed the school and arrested the 17-year-old suspect. the motive? not clear, although officers say the teen is being treated for depression. another developing story for you, afghan forces arrest

several suspects possibly tied to a homicide attack in kandahar that left six american troops dead. they were murdered when a mini bus filled with explosives blew up at a joint nato-afghan base. thal claiming responsibility for this attack. sources tell fox news, michael steele, the chairman of the republican national committee, will not seek reelection. he's expected to make the announcement tonight. those quotes, say he hasn't put together a reelection team and hasn't raised any money for a campaign. the rnc is expected to vote on a new chair next month. five candidates are up for the post massive blizzards slamming the midwest. minneapolis, heavy snow deflated the fabric roof of the metrodome. watch this. the snow tearing a huge hole in the roof and pouring onto the field. >> brian: can you imagine if

there was a game going on? >> gretchen: tonight's game can't be played here. so they'll play the giants in detroit and the conditions in motor city aren't any better. drivers are being urged to take it easy before they go out. those are your headlines. if you're in detroit and you want to go to a game, you can get free tickets. >> brian: yeah, i guess. maybe they just love football in detroit. >> gretchen: we have a lot of viewers in detroit. so if you want to go to detroit, you can. >> steve: you get a free show. meanwhile, this is the time of year where when a lot of people put together best of lists and stuff like that. there is a fellow at the yale law school, fred shapiro, for five years, he's put together the quotes of the year. >> brian: that fred shapiro? >> steve: yes. you can tell a lot from the quotes about what kind of a year it was. >> gretchen: number three, if you touch my junk, i'm going to have you arrested.

that was john tyner and that was when he gave that choice line to the transportation security administration worker who was about to touch his. >> brian: and now number one, co-winner, bpco executive, tony hayward who said, i'd like my life back, while the gulf was choking. >> steve: and once upon a time, christine odom was on bill maher's show and she dabbled in witchcraft and then in october came out with an ad where she said, i am not a witch. i'm just like you. >> gretchen: that was number one. >> brian: there was a lot of whacky quotes, all worthy and it was fun looking back. >> gretchen: the one that -- a couple of us thought should be the number one was nancy pelosi where she said something to the effect about the health care bill that was 2300 pages that we need to pass it so we can find out what's in it.

>> brian: sadly, that's exactly what happened. >> steve: so that was fred's list. for your money, what is the number one saying of 2010? e-mail us right now. we'll try to include them a little later on or in the after the show show. >> brian: ten minutes after the hour. he's a gop prospect for the 2012 presidential election. but right now tim pawlenty is tackling unions even though he used to be in one. the governor with his three point plan. >> gretchen: a war on christianity that we haven't seen before. baby jesus banned from this public terminal. the christmas tree is just fine. really? we report, you decide coming up. >> brian: he's out of the manger.

>> gretchen: the monster storm crossing the country wreaking havoc on air travel. thousands of passengers trying to get off the ground in chicago after being stranded all night. our reporter live at o'hare.

good morning. >> hey, good morning. this morning it's very, very busy inside the terminal here at american airlines. terminal 3. i want to show you something. you see all these people here that are facing in one direction, they are part of the security line, which never goes this far usually and it goes all the way down and then you have to get, once you get into the security line, you have to wrap around, snake around. but we're looking at about 1700 flights that were canceled yesterday. i was just in there a short while ago and looked at the departure board. ten flight cancellations on the departure side and four arrival cancellations. we were looking at areas like chattanooga, tennessee, nashville, denver, and philadelphia as well. but the airlines are trying to play catch up this morning after those 1700 flights were canceled and a lot of people ended up spending the night at a hotel, about 200 spent the night here on cots. so it's been a challenging night, to say the least.

and probably very challenging this morning waiting in that long security line with hopes of getting out. if you have a flight out of o'hare today or midway, you might want to call the airlines ahead of time to make sure that flight is still a go. reporting from o'hare airport, anita padilla, back to you. >> gretchen: thanks very much. minnesota also socked with this huge blizzard, even for minnesota standards. joining us from minneapolis is governor tim because paw lente. good morning. >> good morning. you probably remember some of those snowfalls from your childhood very well. >> gretchen: i do. but even this storm was hung for them, but the ramification was that the dome collapsed. luckily they had canceled the game before, but what is going to happen to the dome? >> well, i think they're assessing that now. but it has collapsed in the past. they think they'll have it repaired and back up. but the dome was built in 1986. they were pushing for a new stadium, so that will push the

request. >> brian: that's something you don't have to deal with now. perhaps you want to be president if you don't want to be governor. you understand what states will be going through and it is getting their state budgets in line. they got to balance them. but they can't unless they can go and look at the pensions and deal with the public service unions. >> that's exactly right. the labor movement in america was designed to stop workers from being exploited in very tough and difficult and sometimes dangerous industries like the meat packing plants like my hometown. but now you have certain unions, specifically the public employee unions in many cases exploiting and abusing the taxpayers. so you have public employees making more than their private sector counterparts. they used to be overbenefitted and underpaid, now they're both overbenefited and overpaid and their post-retirement benefits and salaries and pensions are really one of the driving forces of the financial troubles of cities and counties and school districts and states all across this country and it needs to

stop and that's what we wrote about this morning. >> gretchen: so you have this op ed this morning in the "wall street journal" and it's very interesting because it's so timely. california, illinois, new york, those are just some of the states that could be facing bankruptcy, going totally broke because of these huge union contracts that they have to pay out. one of the suggestions that you have is to end the defined benefit retirement plans for government employees and enstate a 401(k) like a private business does. right? >> that's exactly right. most of your viewer, their pension if they have one, or deferred compensation, most of the pensions are defined benefit. in other words, regardless of what the stock market does, their benefits in the future are not only guaranteed, but they're guaranteed to increase. of course, the economy and government revenues are not keeping up with that and that's why they're in such financial trouble. so we have to switch those programs to define contribution, which means you put the money in and if you make money off it, you'll benefit from it.

you have to take the risk like everybody else. >> brian: the thing you would know better than anybody is getting the unions to the table. a lot of them say, it's not my problem. somehow they got to get in for the fight and understand that they have skin in the game. you also say get the numbers right. what do you mean? >> well, that first point, brian, the standards for accounting in the public sector are often different than private sector. there is something called gap accounting principles that often don't apply apply in the private -- public sector. they should. but on the other point, we have to join this head on. so in minnesota, we took one of the longest bus strikes in the modern history of the country to get post-retirement benefits shut off for new hires. we recently reduced our future pension obligations by $2 billion. i got sued over that. i'm a named defendant in it. probably going to end up in the u.s. supreme court. if that case doesn't go well, it's going to make it very difficult for places like california. we've held the freezes and caps on salaries and benefits on our state employees and much more. but you have to take it head on. >> gretchen: i think you were the first governor to be able to do that in the state of

minnesota. and you were in a union yourself, so you're speaking from the heart when you write this op ed. our viewers should check it out in the "wall street journal." governor, great to see you and i hope you have a good shovel. >> thanks a lot. >> brian: or a very muscle bound kid in the area who is ambitious. straight ahead, the tea party's planning ahead, way ahead. next, their 40 year plan that involves educating our nation's children on the tea party values. >> gretchen: then the man who abducted elizabeth smart has been convicted and may spend life in prison. but her dad says that won't stop other sex offenders. he has a plan and he's going to join us live to explain just ten minutes away.

>> gretchen: 23 minutes after the top of the hour.

couple headlines. president obama's top economic advisor will give his final public address today before stepping down. larry summers leaving his post after spearheading several controversial programs, including the stimulus package. his replacement has not been named. and hours from now, a federal judge in virginia is expected to rule on a lawsuit challenging president obama's health care overhaul. it's one of 25 lawsuits across the country. plaintiffs claim the bill is unconstitutional. >> steve: if you were one of the millions of tea party supporters across the nation, then we've got the perfect stocking stuffer for you, it's called the tea party patriot's coloring and activity book and it is filled with all sorts of games and puzzles and songs to give a head start to the next generation of young americans. that's how it's billed. joining us is the national coordinator of the tea party patriots, mark meckler. good morning. >> good morning. >> steve: i understand you feel this book is part of your 40

year plan for america. 40 year plan? what is that? >> well, the reality is the politicians have been short sighted in this country for so long and it's taken us decades to drift away from the founding principles, we understand it's going to take us decades to get back and we start by educating the kids in the correct way about the history of the country. >> steve: in fact, you feel that america's public schools have educated kids away from patriotism and away from american exceptionalism. so as we look at some of the images from your book, how do you hope to achieve that? >> what we want to do is we want kids to understand that american exceptionalism is their birth right, freedom and liberty are their birth rights, it's some of the earliest things kids should be taught and when they are, those things will stick with them their entire lives. ultimately those kids will lead the nation and they're going to do it from a point of american exceptionalism. >> steve: alan comes, who works here, he hasn't given you exactly a glowing endorsement.

in fact, he wrote, it's never too early to begin teaching your children anti-obama, antiliberal policy which is is why this christmas you can start them on the road to liberal bashing with the tea party patriots coloring and activity book. is that what you're trying to do? are you trying to indoctrinate kids against the president? >> i think it's funny, alan hasn't read the book. pretty consistent. there is obama snot mentioned in the book. the word liberal is not mentioned in the book. what we're trying to do is show americans and our american system are american history are exceptional and trying to educate kids about those things. i think if alan would bother to open the cover, he would probably enjoy the book himself. >> steve: it is a coloring book and as i remember from back in the day, mark, a coloring book you try to stay inside the lines. >> but the tea party is all about going outside the lines, aren't you? >> absolutely. we want kids to get creative with it. at the end of the book, there places they can create their own signs and flyers and really get outside the line there is.

>> steve: mark, thank you for joining us live. >> thank you. >> steve: next on the rundown, bernie madoff's son is dead, killing himself exactly two years after his father's arrest. did he know something that investigators may have missed and why are more people tied to this case dying? then, takes christ out of christmas, the baby jesus removed from a ferry terminal while other holiday symbols are allowed to stay put. the pc police working overtime. what do you think about that? e-mail us right now. brian kilmeade working overtime in the green room. does he have what it takes to become drill sergeant of the year? >> brian: how long is this break?

>> steve: it's time for your shot of the morning. why did the sea lion cross the road? who knows? but we know what this one is getting for christmas. a garment. he was seen weaving in and out of this stretch of highway in oregon. state troopers had to use plastic boards and batons to guide the sea lion back to the pacific ocean about a quarter mile down the road. and there he goes. >> gretchen: you wouldn't see

that in every state. right? >> steve: wrong way. >> gretchen: a couple other headlines. a test vote will happen in the senate today on the tax cut compromise. the white house seems to be growing more confident that the deal will actually pass despite objections from some house democrats. wendell goler live at the white house with more. all right, what's the scoop? >> after a week of blowing off steam over the white house compromise with republicans, democrats on capitol hill seem prepared to accept the deal that extends the bush administration's tax cuts for two years, renews a year of unemployment benefits and cuts social security tax force a year. van holland says democrats in the house won't block the deal. a test vote expected in the senate today. majority leader harry reid predicts the deal will get broad support from both sides of the aisle. president obama brought out a big gun to end the rebellion on friday, former president clinton said the deal was the best the white house could get with republicans and was worthy of

democrat support even with breaks from the rich on income and estate taxes. democrats on the hill felt the white house by passed them. david axelrod yesterday all but conceded it could have been handled better. he said he wasn't looking for style points. >> put together very quickly. they were prompted by the looming deadline. we felt the sense of urgency. we brought them in when there was -- to begin that process, it just accelerated very quickly and we felt that we had to seize the moment because if we didn't, the american people would pay the price, the economy would pay the price. >> the white house said not extending those unemployment benefits would have made christmas miserable for about 2 million people. as it is, financial houses are saying that the tax cut deal itself could double their estimate of economic growth for next year. >> gretchen: thanks very much.

>> brian: 27 minutes before the top of the hour. luxury cruise ship gets battered in the mediterranean sea. the ship rocked so violently by monster waves that 30 people were left with cuts and bruises. the ship turned on its side. some 15-degrees. some passengers thrown out of their beds. the ship and its shaken passengers arrived in spain on friday. >> gretchen: swedish officials say a man who blew himself up outside a crowded shopping area was probably on his way to a more crowded area and say the bomb likely went off prematurely, potentially saving hundreds of lives. police are almost 100% certain the attacker was this man, an iraqi-born swede who sympathized with al-qaeda. >> steve: the suicide of mark madoff is not stopping victims of the ponzi scheme from trying to recover some of their money. 1,000 civil lawsuits are moving forward. earlier we spoke with andrew kirtzman, who wrote a book about madoff and has investigated the

family for years. >> bernie madoff has caused like so much human wreckage around him and from what i understand, he's had kind of a cushy life in prison ever since he confessed and now i think it's going to turn into a human hell for him because now he's responsible for the death of his own son. >> steve: still no decision on whether bernie madoff will be allowed to attend his son's funeral. >> gretchen: baby jesus has been evicted from a staten island ferry terminal. a nativity seen was removed from a display, according to the department of transportation. it was put on display by staff. apparently without getting the okay from the agency and when one person complained, the whole thing went bye-bye. >> christmas is being segregated to saying holiday. so why is that fair to some religions? >> i love nativity scenes. i would say say that they need to place it back. >> i think it was a good idea they removed that in that

respect and as long as we keep things kind of like on a cultural level, it's okay with me. but if they start to be much more religious and much more directly related to bible stories, i think that's not the place for it in a public area. >> gretchen: according to a spokesperson from new york's department of law, the christmas tree and menorah were allowed to stay because they were not considered religious symbols. >> steve: all right. meanwhile, check out all the white stuff. time to look at the weather. these pictures out of minneapolis. that nasty almost winter storm system leaves residents in minnesota with close to two feet of snow and winds 50, 630 miles per hour. homeowners left with no other choice than to shovel or snow blow it all out so they can get to work and get to school today. as you can see right there, it has moved out of the plains states and now is in the northeast where it's going to bring all sorts of misery this

morning. it's 7 degrees below zero in minneapolis. some parts of northern minnesota, 45 degrees below zero. the actual air temperature, not wind chill. mr. kilmeade, let's talk some football. >> brian: sunday night football, you might have missed it because you were getting ready for our show. i missed it. eagles and cowboys, renewed their rivalry last night. eagles looking to snap a three game losing streak at dallas. before the game, a moment of silence for their former quarterback, don meredith, who passed away. cowboys take the lead. this is a tight game. after a couple of field goals, the eagles would grab back the lead on this pass play. the jackson with a festive celebration. i hate what he does. this is ridiculous. should not be in sports. look at that. eagles go on to win 30-27. talk about bad sportsmanship, it

gets worse. dolphins games against the jets. jets were home. carol running down the field. he gets tripped by the jets. purposely stick out his knee and trips carol trying to get down field to make a tackle. the coach later apologized, said he made a mistake. then it was inexcusable and unsportsman like. it doesn't reflect what the jets stand for. they lost 10-6. they're in trouble. now golf. bubba watson and fowler were dressed up in santa suits having a good time. but a lot of money was at stake. in the final round in florida, the tournament hosted by the sharks, greg norman. on thursday, i was there and able to host their event, fund-raiser for an organization that works on finding a cure for kids cancer. if you've got a rare disease, they're pretty much a clearing house to get you in the right place. unbelievable event and greg

norman does it great. he wears 11 million dollars -- raised $11 million for them. >> gretchen: justice has been served in the elizabeth smart kidnapping case, eight years later, a jury found mitchell guilty. here is what elizabeth had to say. >> i would like to say thank you to everyone who put so much work into my case and in helping me. today is a wonderful day and i'm so thrilled to be here. i'm so thrilled with the verdict, but not only that, i am so thrilled to stand before the people of america today and give hope to other victims who have not spoken out about their crime -- about what's happened to them. >> steve: what's next for the smart family? joining us is elizabeth smart's father, ed. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> steve: those pictures, she's all grown up. >> she is. >> steve: she's beautiful. i know that for a while there was some question about whether or not she would testify. she did take the stand. >> she did. the bottom line came down to if we really wanted to see brian mitchell put away and stop his

singing, it was a matter of saying what she had to say on the stand. and she called me up one night and she said, dad, i just -- i'm having to say so much more than i ever thought i would ever have to share with anyone. but i've got to do it because it's the only way we know that brian mitchell will be put away. >> brian: did you try to convince her that way? >> you know, i felt like this is her decision. initially when she was recovered, the last thing on earth i wanted to do is to hear her have to go through all of the sexual assault stuff. but when brian mitchell said, well, she's my wife and she loves me, i'm sitting there, you've got to be kidding me? you are nothing but a sex offender. >> gretchen: he wanted, insanity. so he did not want to be labeled a sex offender. but you are on the board of an organization and you are determined that he would be labeled a sex offender and other people will as well.

what is ready kids. >> it's resist aggression aggressively. i think when you look at what we can do for our children when these issues coming up, sexual assault, molestation, there is something that we've got to do more than what we're doing. and when elizabeth came back, we had an interesting experience at church where some woman cornered her in the bathroom and would not let her out and she stood there. and i thought to myself, what about all of the kids out there who will stand there, those that are going to run, those that are going to scream or doing something. what can you do to change the dynamics? the national center and many other organizations out there tried to tell kids, but telling them is not enough. you have to teach them and rad kids teaches three points. nobody has the right to hurt you because you're important. two, you don't have the right to hurt anyone else, but you do have the right to stop them and three, which really hit home to

me and elizabeth, was nobody -- this is not your fault and it's okay to tell. i think so many victims out there feel -- they don't have the empowerment to move forward. >> steve: with mitchell, he does face life in prison, although i read somewhere that there is actually a possibility where he could get 50 days out a year? how is that possible? >> i've never heard that. i don't think that's possible. i mean, the whole reason elizabeth said what she had to say was because she didn't want to see another child go through what she's gone through. >> brian: she stood up and she wants to be a prosecutor, i understand. she's thinking about doing that? >> the prosecution team that we had in the federal court was so amazing. i mean, they took her and really helped her get ready for this and they did such a phenomenal job. the night before the jury went out, we sat there and listened to the closing arguments and

they just put everything in context, absolutely nailed it. >> gretchen: i want to point out that the sentencing will be may 25 because you're waiting for elizabeth to come home from her mission overseas and it's also missing children's day, which i know is significant. >> it is. and one of the closing things i'd like to mention is children, doesn't matter what side of the fence you're on, they are our future. currently there is a bill -- well, the funding bill for this year's coming budget is all -- i mean, a lot of children out there will be saved if we get the funding for the internet crimes against children. >> steve: ed smart, thank you very much. >> gretchen: good to see you. >> thank you. >> gretchen: we promised to never forget. but has america abandoned the victims of september 11? peter johnson, jr. has a special message next. >> brian: two of our nation's best drill sergeants, they're tough and they're in great shape -- and they say you can be, too. their workout that promises to make you army strong.

>> gretchen: on thursday, the senate voted 57-42 blocking a bill that would provide medical aid to september 11 first responders and workers who may become sick. fox news legal analyst peter johnson, jr. is here with his commentary. >> thanks. good morning. in the hopeful advent of christmas and the optimistic wake of hanukkah, there is a sad september song playing in the halls of the u.s. capitol and it echos from new york's harbor to san francisco bay. as sick as the toxic fumes, dust and smoke experienced by more than 60,000 first responders and clean-up workers at the site of the 9-11 world trade center attack. some say up to 1,000 people died of a disease caused by that i exposure and their courage and trust of this government. the survivors hope the next x-ray or cat scan doesn't bring word of an incurable cancer or

lung disease. last week, congress told them that they could drop dead. the united states senate refused to bring the health and compensation act to the floor for a vote. some opponents of the bill say congress needed to know how its $7.4 billion price tag would be paid over the next ten years. i guess they fail to understand that these folks already gave at the office. a hellish pit of death and desperation where strangers and siblings dug side by side for the remains of firefighters and cops and the emt's and office workers. that they paid the bill if full with their courage and are still paying today with their lives. shame, embarrassment, outrage, anger, all proper reactions to the senators who will find one excuse after another to explain away the fact that they have turned their back on american

heros. heros whose only sin was to expect nothing for their service and were then promised the world by politicians who couldn't take enough pictures with them. now they're able to get nothing more as we fund one give away program after another to rich and poor alike in this country bay congress who decides to begin deficit reduction on the wide shoulders and strong backs of people who is a great american. some senators said the programs are full of waste and fraud and abuse. i would suggest most respectfully that the u.s. senate proves it has the corner on that market today. we are fight ago lot of wars in this country, the fight against terror, the fight for a strong economy, new job, the fight against complacency. in this fight, america fought america and we all lost. so the halls of congress reverb rate forever with a haunting september 11 song, as our heros pray their next cough is not the

beginning of their days dwindling down to a precious few. people like me on tv are sometimes practiced at outrage. but the injustice of this makes words hard to come by. all i can ask is what if your father or son or wife or sister was a hero and no one cared? what if it was you and you were counting on america the same way america once counted on you? in this terror stained world, what will happen if it is you? gretchen. >> gretchen: thanks very much, peter. coming up on our show, they are the nation's top drill sergeants and they can get you in the best shape of your life just in time for christmas. get ready to drop and give them 20, right after the break. first, let's check in with bill hemmer for what's on at the top of the hour. how many can you do? >> right now? three or four. >> gretchen: i love your honesty. what's coming up? >> good morning. taxes and health care, big day

for boast. one republican says the tax deal is not a good one. he'll explain that. health care a judge rules whether or not the health care law was constitutional. that's a big deal. rick scott is here on that topic. william cohen tackles north korea. ari fleisher on the summit. what a doozy that was on friday. we'll see you in ten minutes on "america's newsroom."

>> brian: you're going to keep the holiday pounds off once you put them on? how about a workout that will keep you army strong with two of our nation's best? here with us right now the u.s. army drill sergeants of the year, ohio native staff sergeant timothy, and from wisconsin, staff sergeant melissa solomon. welcome and congratulations to both of you. >> thank you. >> brian: can you talk, soldier, first about what you went through to get this?

>> we go through a series of competitions, first starting at the lowest level with your own company and then working up the battalion, brigade, up to the entire large army competition. >> brian: you had to complete over 100 warrior physical and mental tasks. is that right? >> absolutely. >> brian: and give me an idea of a physical task that would be. >> fitness test, road marching, also a lot of line navigation, things like that. running. anything that we teach soldiers during basic combat training, we had to execute on the competition. >> brian: the stats show, and i know you're here part of the army all american soldier of the year. but i know one thing you say, only 25% of the population is ready to go through and be army strong. >> yes. that's why the army has come out with a soldier athlete initiative where we're combining performance nutrition, we want to insure we're fueling these soldiers correctly. we have a new physical readiness training and then we also want to do injury prevention. >> brian: i don't know if you

know this, but the drill sergeant is giving me a hard time about the way i'm doing pushups. can you give me three exercises if i'm a new recruit. >> the first exercise that we'll go over is called the single leg pushup. the starting position is the front leaning rest position. >> elbows underneath the shouldersment. elbows close to the side. >> on the first count, lower your body until the upper arms are parallel to the ground while raising your left leg eight to ten inches off the ground. then return to the starting position. then you want to lower your body again raising your right leg and return to the starting position. this completes your first repetition. >> brian: he seems like he's running out of gas. >> no, sir, as a matter of fact he's about to do it with you at normal cadence. >> brian: ready? go.

>> why are you not raising your leg? that's part of the exercise. >> brian: you're in really good shape. >> one, two, three. switch legs. >> brian: how can you tell i'm not moving my leg?