tv America Live FOX News December 13, 2010 1:00pm-3:00pm EST
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baghdad to some of the troops. those are his comments, saying that we're potentially really seeing some developments in the wrong direction shall let's say. jon: awfully tense right now there isn't it. jenna: sounds like it. jon: a lot of news breaking today. we will continue to cover it on "happening now" tomorrow. we thank you for joini us today. jenna: "america live" starts right now with megyn kelly. megyn: thanks, guys. fox news alert, new developments coming in right now on this big federal court ruling against president obama's healthcare overall. this is big news. welcome to "america live" on a busy monday, everyone, i'm megyn kelly. happy to have you with us. a federal judge declaring a major part of that healthcare law unconstitutional moments ago. this is a decision on the merits, this is not the decision that the case can go forward, this is a decision on the merits, saying the individual mandate is unconstitutional. the decision comes from a federal court judge in richmond, virginia. the judge rejecting the requirement that everyone purchase health insurance or face a penalty on every front.
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the government argued it was constitutional on a few different bases, that judge said, wrong on all counts. we are live at the courthouse in moments with a further explanation and with what happens next. we know that the feds plan on appealing this to the fourth circuit court of appeals, and you can bet it will go up to the supreme court after that. we are expecting to hear directly from the white house on the set back within the hour. they are going to be holding a press briefing that we'll dip into to see reaction on camera first time from robert gibbs. we'll be back to that story with a live update from the courthouse and shannon bream in three minute. first, however we have a fox news extreme weather alert. less than 24 hours after this punishing winter storm wreaked havoc across the midwest. we are awaiting a new weather warning from forecasters that may cause some major concerns for folks in the eastern part of the country. the massive storm currently spanning eight states leaving much of indiana, chicago, minnesota and michigan in a deep freeze and under a state of
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emergency. we are already hearing reports that fe people who have died from shoveling this heavy snow -- five people have died. and there are stranded airline passengers and serious highway headaches across the region. we are just now hearing that this could be just the beginning. we have got full team coverage. steve brown live in illinois, and janice dean live in the fox news weather center with the big weather news in just a moment. first we want to get out to steve. steve, i mentioned tkheu, illinois, obviously affected, the worst of it appears to be in indiana. what is the latest? >> reporter: the latest there is they are frantically trying to get people out of their vehicles who have been stuck in cars overnight. we're to understand it could be in the neighborhood of 70, 80 just on a ten mile stretch of u.s. 30 which runs through the northwest corner of indiana, which is the chicagoland area's snow belt if you will, a lot of lake effect that comes off of there. folks even heading out today discovered they weren't going to get anywhere too fast.
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>> we've been on the road an hour and made about eight miles. >> really. you're giving up. >> yeah, we are giving up. going up, staying home. >> reporter: the folks in laport county, basically the third city east of the city of chicago, those folks are so busy with rescue efforts using snowmobiles to get people out of stuck vehicles they didn't have time to answer questions other than to say they are swamped and every person they have is out on the road on those rescues. megyn. megyn: where are they predicting the storm is heading next? it's not over. meteorologist janice dean, she knows she's been watching. live in the fox weather center, hey, j.d. >> reporter: the cold temperatures you really have to be prepared. if you're stranded you want to make sure you have a little kit in your car of blankets and even food. this could be a really dangerous situation, as we have windchills in some cases that are dipping into minus 12, minus 15-degree
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range. this was the top five biggest snowfall for minneapolis of all time, megyn, and they actually set a record for a daily record for the month of december for minneapolis. so those storm totals just in 24 to 36 hours -- megyn: that is incredible. >> reporter: absolutely. to have records broken the top five biggest snow storms across the upper midwest. that is certainly a big story. the storm itself is moving eastward. we're going to have lake-effect-snow on top of areas that have seen four to five feet of snow downwind of eerie, ontario and lake michigan. there is the storm now, we've had reports of snow as far south as atlanta, georgia earlier today. and the temperatures that is the story when the storm moves eastward we'll be dealing with frigid air that sinks as far south as new or loans and south florida. a hard freeze warning overnight
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tonight stretching from texas through the gulf coast states all the way down to south florida. we will be dealing with temperatures colder than we saw last week, 20 degrees in tallahassee overnight tonight, 29 in orlando. 29 in melbourne, long after the storm passes we'll be dealing with cold, frigid arctic air, and we're monitoring another storm system that could affect the northeast next week. megyn: oh, boy. we'll look forward to that. could be a white christmas yet. thank you. how bad as it? for the first time in history blizzard conditions have silenced the salvation army donation bells across minnesota, and north dakota. a salvation army public rye hraeugss director says volunteers being urged to stay hope. that means no donation kettles in front of stores until the snow gets cleaned up. you know it's bad when the malls decide to close two weeks before christmas which they did in part over the weekend. if you are in the snow in the airport or in a position to get good video or pictures of the
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winter mess, please send us what you v. ug log onto foxnews.com/you report, the letter you, and upload what you have and we may just put them on tv. just remember to stay safe. back now to the breaking news on our top story, a major federal court ruling dealing a huge set back to the president's healthcare overhaul. we are waiting for the white house to address this ruling in its daily briefing. this judge in virginia rejecting squarely and on all fronts the requirement that everyone in this country must purchase health insurance or face a penalty. this ruling came out of virginia and was dealing with virginia citizens. the effect could be felt much further outside of those borders. this is just the beginning. 20 other states are taking part in a similar lawsuit down in florida, and now shannon bream is at the federal courthouse in richmond, virginia where there is breaking news. shannon, the thing about this ruling that you can argue makes it bigger than some of the other
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rulings is on the merits. the judge didn't give it a green light to go forward, the lawsuit. this judge says, virginia, you win the lawsuit the feds lose the lawsuit. this law, at least a significant portion of it is unconstitutional. >> reporter: exactly, megyn. this is on the merits and it's all about that individual mandate. the judge here, henry hudson went through here. he reasoned that congress when it drafted and passed that mid mandate was trying to exercise its powers under the commerce laws, he says they went way too far. to allow it would be to allow unbridled check of congressional power. he equated it to mean an exercise of federal police powers beyond ever what was intended. he says at this core this dispute is not simply about regulating the business of insurance or crafting a scheme of universal health insurance coverage it is about an individual's right to choose to participate. on careful review this court
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must conclude that the mandate exceeds the constitutional boundaries of congressional power. you mentioned virginia is one-of-two 1 states now across the country that have some kind of legal challenge pending against the healthcare law. one of them of course we know and probably multiple will eventually wind up at the supreme court within a year or two on appeal there. it's up to the nine justices to decide whether or not they are going to weigh into this very controversial issue. most legal scholars say they will do that because this has an issue that could impact every single american and goes far beyond just virginia. a senior administration official tells us that they see this as not a complete loss because of course we're just talking about the individual mandate. they know other portions of the law are going to roll out and be implemented on schedule as planned, that's unless of course a ruling from another court goes to a different part of the law. now they say it's just about the individual mandate. we understand the administration through the department of justice is going to apply for a stay so that judge hudson's ruling will not go into effect
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and won't block that mandate until it is settled on appeal. as we all know it's going to the supreme court, megyn. megyn: the administration has won similar lawsuits in other jurisdictions brought by other plaintiffs with different -- in some cases different arguments. now we've got a split and that generally means the u.s. supreme court gets very interested especially when it's a will you like this that affects everybody. shannon thank you very much. shannon was delivering that report, we got this shocking update from the justice department, it believes the healthcare law is constitutional. so there you go. the administration continues to believe that its law is constitutional and they believe that they will ultimately prevail on this healthcare law. the reason that's significance is because it comes directly from the department of justice which doesn't normally comment on this thing. they gave us a one liner saying they disagree with the ruling. as i said we are waiting for reaction directly from the white house when robert gibbs takes to the microphones in about 20 minutes. we'll hear what they have to say
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about a ruling that is obviously not good for them. later we'll get to what this ruling means for everyone out there who is in the healthcare world buying insurance. in five minutes we want to see what this means for the republican effort to change big parts of this law. remember? the top three agenda items for the republicans once they take over the house, this is one of them. they say one of the top three is to repeal healthcare. did this judge just effectively do it for them? or at least start them down a path where they won't have to take a vote on it or shouldn't take a vote on it? we'll look into that. coming up right after the next break lou dobbs is with us with his take on all of this. a serial arsonist may be on the lose in cape cod, massachusetts. police say the suspect leaves a calling card at the scene that relates very much to what we are seeing unfold on capitol hill right now. trace gallagher has more from our west coast newsroom on this. trace. >> reporter: hey, megyn that calling card is very blunt. it says, blank the rich.
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that blank begins with an f. they believe this might be class warfare taking a violent turn. everybody knows cape cod is kind of the playground for the rich and famous along with its neighboring islands of n ark ntucket and martha's vineyard. this happened in the town of sandwich. it was the night before thanksgiving. the flames engulfed a house under construction. the fire burned so hot authorities say a lot of the evidence was burned away, but the spray painted message that said, blank the rich, was on the fence in front. and then eight days later in the town of ba r-rbg nstable about 12 miles away, another home was targeted. this time the suspects took a propane tank put it in the basement of the home, opened up the propane tank, lit a candle upstairs. the idea was when the propane finally got to the gas, boom. but it never happened because propane doesn't rise, it's heavier than air so it falls that home was saved.
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a lot of fingerprints inside that home, again on the fence outside, blank the rich was the message. they are now processing the evidence and the fingerprints, megyn, before somebody strikes again on cape cod. megyn: we are going to have a more in-depth look at this as well. trace gallagher thank you. at the question of are the rich actually under attack. we saw angry demonstrations in london last week attacking prince charles and his wife camilla's car over tuition hikes screaming off with their heads. and in the senate last week they said this is war by the rich or against the rich depending on your perspective. we heard a senator from missouri saying it's time to bust out the pitch forks, in the wake of this tax situation on capitol hill. so the question is, is this class war wear an warfare and ht to this point. john depetrio has interesting thoughts on this.
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he's from the cape cod region. he'll join me later on. we saw a federal judge deal a serious set back to the healthcare overhaul. the law requiring, mandating that people go out and purchase healthcare insurance, that that violates the constitution. so what should we expect next from nancy pelosi, from the white house and other leading democrats who pushed this thing to passage? lou dobbs weighs in on that after this three minute break. it's being called the dirty play. we'll show you what happened on the field that has landed an nfl coach in serious trouble. and that monster storm, winter storm throwing a wrench in christmas delivery plans today. coming up we'll find out what to expect from this mess before the holiday. >> the corner edge inks are hard to get through and the drifts are terrible. >> to see it this high up on the car is ridiculous.
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>> how long have you been working on this car. >> 20 minutes, probably more towards 40. we're working hard. ever wish vegetables didn't taste so vegetably? well, v8 v-fusion juice gives you a full serving of vegetables, plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. v8. what's your number?
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megyn: it is the most significant ruling against the healthcare law to date. just a few hours ago a federal judge in virginia ruling that part of president obama's signature legislation is unconstitutional. in particular the individual mandate that piece of the law that requires all americans to buy health insurance or face a fine has been ruled unconstitutional. as a political matter that could gut this law all together. we are now awaiting reaction from the white house. and the man who brought forward that lawsuit to begin with, virginia attorney general ken cuccinelli. we are joined by lou dobbs who has been a critic of a law. it has been dealt a major set back. >> reporter: absolutely. i love the fact that the judge
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focused on congress trying to change the language. writing the law as a penalty and then the language became tax. megyn: that became a big deal. i want our viewers to know. there was another one but the basic two grounds that the virginia attorney general challenged this law on were number one they said the commerce clause because that's what congress said they had the power to enact. they said anything that a touches commerce congress can regulate. this judge said no way you've gone too far. you talk about people sitting in their house not doing anything. >> reporter: and the general welfare clause trying to extend this is a broad interpretation. megyn: the feds second argument was it's a tax in the same way we can tax your income, we can tax something having to do with healthcare. originally president obama and others had come out and said, don't worry it's not a tax, but when they got into court, lou they change their argument and this judge said nothing doing. you can't represent to the world that it's a tax and then when you get before me, or that it's not a tax and then flip before
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me. >> reporter: you're the attorney. but this is one of the most common-sense analyses by this judge in his order, which was declare declaretory judgment. this is such a win for the attorney general ken cuccinelli who is direct and fundamental in his view of the constitution and application of law as any attorney general in this country. a brilliant attorney and a brilliant servant of the people in virginia. megyn: the thing that struck me about this ruling is that when a facial challenge like this is brought to a law, meaning it's unconstitutional, they had no power to enact it, number one there is a presumption of constitutionality, so the judge has to start on the side of the feds, saying i presume that it is constitutional. >> reporter: secretary seibillus
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had to like that part. megyn: it is a very low burden for the government to maintain that presumption, to get to a trial, to convince the judge that there was some power by congress to even abt this. this judge said even with that burden and even with that presumption the feds lose. >> reporter: they lose and i believe that the constitution and the person people prevail because of the efforts of this attorney general. ken cuccinelli again, this judge who put forward an interpretation and analysis of the constitution as it applies to the legislation, it's as clear as it could be. megyn: what do the republicans do now, lou? as i pointed out during shannon bream's hit other judges have made other decisions upholding the constitutionality. this is going for a long legal battle. the fourth circuit court of appeals and then the u.s. supreme court. that is going to take a couple of years. >> reporter: my guess is, i'll bet on this one. i think you're going to see an
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expedited hearing on this case. megyn: maybe you get a year, best case scenario. >> reporter: this administration now has a major problem, that is another 28 attorneys general in court, in florida. this is -- you know, perhaps judges, federal court judges are not motivated by politics and society forces, but they can be occasionally animated. it's clear, this decision the decision friday by susan bolton in phoenix making the very clear that the anti-illegal immigration law in arizona, part of it is going to stand, and denying the justice department's suit there. megyn: do you think that the republicans should continue making this an agenda item to repeal this law now that the courts, you know, that it's playing out in the courts? >> reporter: i think absolutely, because this is about the constitution itself. and if the constitution is not informing every, every public
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policy decision on both the part of the republican and democratic parties i think we are in serious trouble. they are doing exactly the right thing, to challenge that law because it is on its face unconstitutional. and that has been now a district court finding. megyn: we'll see. as you know this judge has declared it so. he says he realizes he will not have the last word on it. it will go up to the fourth circuit court of appeals, it will go up to the u.s. supreme court, and basically my prediction is it will come down to justice kennedy as so many decisions at the supreme court do, 5-4 probably. >> reporter: it's good news to the constitution and it's relevance to our modern society. megyn: lou dobbs always a pleasure. a u.s. senator called for people to take up pitch forks and essentially go after the rich. someone in massachusetts may have been listening. details ahead on what could be a serial arsonist who may have issues with people owning big homes. what was supposed to be a dream cruise turned into a living nightmare.
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megyn: fox news alert, we are awaiting the first vote on the big tax cut deal set to go before the senate in just two hours. the package extending tax cuts for all income easterner earnerd renewing jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. while it's expected to pass in the senate without a lot of trouble. steny hoyer said this morning that the house wants to change this thing. >> there are a lot of things in this bill that we want to see passed. we are obviously having an argument about some other aspects of the bill, that should
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surprise no one who has grown up in any kind of a family. the only time you don't have a disagreement, and i find very frankly i have disagreements with myself a lot of times, on the one hand but on the other hand and i try to figure it out. th-that's what we're doing and we'll continue to do it. i think we'll have a vote on the senate bill. megyn: republicans say changes to the bill could mean the death of it. that could mean big tack hikes for everyone. the democrats in the house continue to say we want to change it, we want to change it, we want to change it and you have the white house and really more the gop saying no, no changes. we'll see how this plays out. more on the expected vote just ahead. meantime extreme weather is causing big headaches for shipping companies this week. whether you hit the malls to get your christmas shopping down or your computer the shopping rush is officially underway and so is the effort to get those packages to those destinations by
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december 25th. fedex says today it's its busiest shipping day of the year. people are so responsible i haven't even begun mine yet. that powerful midwest blizzard that is pummeling eight states in the midwest is not making delivery any easier. jonathan serrie live in atlanta which is also facing crazy temperatures and forecasts as well. jonathan. >> reporter: it is indeed. fortunately the snow is not staying on the ground. ups and fedex say that although weather is always a concern, so far it's not causing any significant delays. in fact today fedex is expecting to set not just a record for the year, but for company history, cop officials attributing the high volume to growth in e commerce. more and more americans are bypassing the department store and shopping online. many online retailers are offering free sheupbg as an added incentive. because deadlines vary there are different peak days for different shippers. today expect it to be the busiest for fedex with
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16 million packages. december 20th for the u.s. postal service with 800 million cards, letters and packages. atlanta-based ups expects its peak value on december 22nd with 24 million items. although we all like to talk about the busiest day of the year. u.s. postal officials say you need to think of peaks as a period of several days. here is why. >> if monday, december 20th is the busiest day where customers are coming into the post office and dropping off all the items all the items have to be delivered as well. then you are looking at two to three days later for the busiest delivery days. >> reporter: the upcoming days expected to be extremely busy, despite all the weather. megyn. megyn: indeed, jonathan serrie, thank you. and house speaker designate john boehner says he will not compromise with this president. democrats not happy, others ready to give him a medal. should john boehner be revisiting that position?
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that debate three minutes away. a terror attack earlier in stockholm. what the police are saying about the suspect and why he targeted sweden. we've saved people a lot of money on car insurance. feels nice going into the holidays. ohhhh.... will you marry me? oooh, helzberg diamonds. yeah, well he must have saved some money with geico. reminds me of the gecko mating call. really? how does that go? shoo be doo be doo. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. [ laughs ] that's so dumb.
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john: yea, well, there you go. beth: yea, so what else is new? john: well, i just changed my medicare plan. beth: open enrollment? john: yup. i compared plans and found better coverage for me. beth: of course you noticed the new benefits we get under the new healthcare law. john: what? beth: well, like 50 percent off brand name prescription drugs for people who are in the donut hole. john: really? i didn't know that. beth: you have to keep up. john: come on. i'll keep up. anncr: it's open enrollment. time to compare and review plans at medicare.gov or call 1-800-medicare. megyn: fox news alert, there has been a lot of reaction to this judge's ruling to virginia declaring a major part of the healthcare law unconstitutional. the department of justice moments ago defending the law saying in no way did congress
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over step its bounds when passing this law. we are now awaiting reaction from the white house. the daily white house press briefing is set to get underway in just moments. we will listen in to robert gibbs once this gets underway. the tax cut showdown is heading to the senate today as we await a vote on the measure, which was the result of a compromise between republicans and the white house. there is new reaction to this statement from house speaker designate john boehner who gave an interview with 60 minutes which aired last night. >> governing means compromising. >> it means working together. >> it also means compromising. >> it means finding common ground. >> is that compromising. >> i am not going to compromise on my principles nor am i going to compromise the will of the american people. >> you're saying i want common ground but i'm not going to compromise, i done understand that, i really don't.
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>> when you say the word compromise a lot of americans look up and go, oh, owe, they are going to sell me out. finding common ground i think makes more sense. megyn: does he have a poupbt? brad blakeman is the former deputy assistant to president george w bush and dick harpootlian is a former chair. do they get a little nervous when they hear someone like john boehner talking about compromising. >> john boehner practiced when he preached in this tax bill. they found common ground which was a signature issue in the white house. the president rain against the bush tax cuts and what john boehner was talking about was compromise principle. it's a battle of semantics, what you call it. the most important thing is what you do. i think john boehner is willing to find common ground, not willing to compromise his principles in the old tradition
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of ronald reagan who worked with democrats. megyn: dick, it's interesting to hear him say this he's not going to compromise, that he wants common ground, when we have steny hoyer who is the majority in the house saying the senate is going to vote on this tax deal and it's going to come to the house and you can expect some changes by the house in particular with respect to the estate tax. the republican leader in the senate mitch mcconnell already said this is the deal. and they said joe biden went to the house and senate saying this is the deal take-it-or-leave-it. he's talking about changing it just like the republicans are talking about thinks the deal take-it-or-leave-it and you have the house speaker designate saying no compromise. >> i think whether you're saying compromise, or meeting in the middle of the road, or common ground, what the american people said in november was it wasn't about no compromise or sticking to your principles, it was about making government work. and here we have april 900 billion-dollar deal,
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and by the way, i think it's a great deal, because only 120 of that 900 billion goes to the tax cuts for the rich, the rest of it goes to middle class tax cuts, it goats to extending unemployment benefits, and almost 350 million of it go to small business tax cuts that the obama administration, president obama has been championing. this is a big win for president obama. he had to compromise to get the votes. i think the senate will pass it and ultimately the house will pass it. the good news is that president obama reached out and didn't pull back a nub. and whether the new speaker of the house wants to call it compromise, or common ground. megyn: he did it. >> or abra cadabra i don't care, make it work. megyn: however john boehner wants to refer to it he is behind this deal, he's in favor
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of it. it did involve some concessions to president obama, to the white house. if it's common ground or compromise it doesn't really matter. what does matter to the american people is the principles. if he had gone in there and said all right i'll compromise by not agreeing to tax breaks for everyone, you know, is that a compromise or is it a cave? and what we've heard a lot from democrats, including president obama since the midterm is the american people's message was they want us to work together. they want us to cooperate, they want us to find common ground, and they had a lot of republicans in response to that saying that wasn't the message at all, what they wanted us to do is put the brake pedal on their agenda. >> they did put the brake pedestrian tkal. isn't it ironic the democratic president ran against the bush tax cuts and the democrats in congress who control the house and senate are going to be the ones that reup the tax cuts. if they did it two years ago our
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economy would be in much better shape. they didn't do it because the name bush was attached to it. when they reached out their hands to republican, republicans met them and compromised. now we have a bill, now the ball is in a democratic court. dick, are our democrats going to follow your advice in the house and get us a bill before they expire? that is the big question. megyn: they are talking about changing it, in particular changing this deal on the estate tax which would -- the deal that is proposed would give 35% estate tax only to those estates that are $5 million or more. >> well, you know, my personal opinion is that the estate tax is a gift to the very wealthy, but we've got a deal, we've got to honor it. brad, how about this, this is 900 billion added to the national debt. and if one thing we heard in november was, they didn't want the debt to go up, and the republicans are voting in lock step with increasing the national debt by $900 billion. and the democrats, some of them
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are saying i'm not going to vote for this because its going to increase the national debt. >> that is nonsense, you guys blew up the national debt by growing government. what we're saying is you don't reduce the deficit by growing government, you reduce the deficit by creating jobs. this bill will create jobs, it will give more power and cold confidence to the business sector and the individual. once a dollar changes hands amongst the private sector is what gins up the economy and gets more revenue in which reduces the debt. you guys have to learn that. maybe you will by the bush tax cuts and we'll be generating revenue and you guys will get the benefit the bargain that you made with republicans. megyn: dick, let me ask you this. let's say the house democrats try to change the deal on the estate tax, they try to jack it up. i don't know what they are going to try to jack it up to. let's say they try and fay, do the house democrats get behind this bill? >> i think that the house democrats will get behind this bill ultimately. again, except for the
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120 billion of the 900 bill wrong that go to the rich, including the estate tax, the rest of it is unemployment, tax cuts for small businesses. it helps the people that the democratic party wants to help, and, by the way that 120 billion that goes to the rich folks, 20 hedge funds managers that made a billion dollars this year aren't going to create -- they are book keys, they won't create a single job yet they are paying less of their income than the average garbage collector does. i know what trickles down and it ain't economics. >> your robin hood theory of economics won't work. megyn: you mentioned garbage collector. one of the other interesting pieces in that 60 minutes piece is john boehner said he met his wife originally years and years ago when he was pick up his garbage. that's what he was doing for a living, a sweet guy i guess, met her over the garbage can and a love connection was bornment in any event it's a good piece, you can check it out over on 60 minutes.
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thanks, brad, thanks, dick. >> thanks. >> thank you. megyn: a missing 12-year-old girl has been found safe across the country in san francisco. the latest on brittany mae smith's suspected abductor and his possible connection to the murder of brittany's mother. an already rough football game got a whole lot rougher yesterday when one coach allegedly stepped over the line. we'll show you the video and let you denied what the penalty should be. and police are worried that a serial arsonist is on the loose in one of america's favorite vacation spots and possibly targeting the wealthy. in three minutes we'll see whether this is part of the so-called class warfare debate that's been unleashed and where this story likely goes next. >> all you could see was just flames, you know, by the time we got out there the thing was almost half burned up. it's scary to think about it, because you don't know, you know, your house might be next. [ male announcer ] let's take the holidays by the antlers...
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megyn: a missing virginia girl found alive in san francisco, and she could be heading home soon. police have virginia interviews brittany mae smith. they are trying to get information on the cross country trip and the death of her mother. they suspect easley may have killed her mother before taking brittany and fleeing to san francisco. a possible serial arsonist is targeting upscale homes in cape cod, massachusetts. one targeted home spray painted with the phrase, f the rich. another had a similar message. is this the result of the class warfare narrative we have been hearing from capitol hill in recent weeks. john depetro is my guest now, he is a radio talk show host in the cape cod area.
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thank you for being here. it's at least two homes and both of them had a similar message that made clear the arsonist is no fan of people that he perceives or she perceives to have money. >> that's true, megyn. one house successfully burned down. the other house they tried to ignite but they failed to do so. these are foams, they are nice homes, it's a good area but they are not water-front mansions that also exist and the cape. i spoke with a state fire marshal and he said at no time does he remember any time in the past where some kind of message was left like this by an arsonist. megyn: listen, sometimes some lunatics do crazy things and people try to blame it on one party or another. you know, when some tea party activists do bad things they try to blame it on somebody like glenn beck. when you see crazy things like arsonists saying f the rich and burning down houses then you see people try to blame it on, you
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know, maybe like liberals, bernie sanders who has been talking about class war over and over. usually sane people reskwrebt such arguments. my question for you is do they believe there is any coincidence between what is happening in the country over the debate on taxes and the economy, who should pay more or less and these crimes? >> it's interesting, because you're really seeing it around the world much we saw the royals last week and what happened when charles and camilla showed up amongst an angry crowd. they were yelling off with their heads, in the wrong place at the wrong time. anarchy at the u.k. is alive once again. we hear about tax cuts for the rich, and how much is too much, and in this high unemployment in the area right now, so i think there is a tone that people are frustrated, and we'll have to wait and see how this plays out. there is definitely a connection and a message is trying to be sent. megyn: i've been amazed, john,
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at the emails we've been getting from our viewers who are so ticked off about in particular the estate tax. most of us are never going to be affected by this tax, you know what i mean? even if the deal goes through. you have to have an estate worth 5 million dollars if you're an individual or $10 million if you're a couple. you have to have a lot of money for this to kick in. nonetheless our viewers are up in arms over this because they feel it's fundamentally unfair and they don't like the class war narrative and it's contrary to the american dream, if you work hard and get ahead you don't get penalized you get some fruits that you can pass onto your offspring. >> you know it's interesting, megyn because the tone from the democrats is just that. you keep hearing about tax cuts for the rich. let's face it in this country 200,000, 250, those are not the rich. megyn: they are not rich people, especially here in manhatten, i can tell you that for sure. >> and certainly not on cape
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cod. these are two income families. the rhetoric -- then you even have the president jumping in describing them as hostage takers. i was on reading some of the comments about bernard madoff's son and they are so vicious, and people are so angry it's almost like they had it coming to them. it's almost a tone now. john lennon was in the news last week. and the sex pistols are alive in london and bill clinton was holding for the at the white house on friday. what is old is new again. you expect jimmy carter to stop touring around again. megyn: did he ever stop? >> that's right well not successfully. i don't think it's constructive, this whole element. you know, people that work hard are not described as small business owners, or as people that are just working, working families, they are described by the democrats as the rich. and i think that tone is setting off these types of people rallying back, whether it be the royal family over in london or
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right here in cape cod where an arsonist is saying, go after the rich. megyn: john interesting thoughts. thanks so much. we appreciate it. >> good to be with you megyn. megyn: if you want to check out bernard goldberg.com you should. he had an interesting piece we talked with him about on friday, how we should be running around thanking the rich but notville flying them. new reaction coming in on this federal judge declaring a major part of the healthcare law unconstitutional. awaiting reaction from the white house, the press briefing set to get underway in just moments. what will we hear from robert gibbs? [ sneezes ] client's here. whoa! that achy cold needs alka-seltzer plus! it rushes multiple cold fighters, plus a powerful pain reliever, wherever you need it! [ both ] ♪ oh what a relief it is! wherever you need it! 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
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find yourself dealing with preexisting conditions because the only people that would likely get involved in purchasing healthcare would be the very sick, and obviously that would be enormously expensive. >> given that it is so fundamental to the whole law, and you have these different court rulings, is it clear to you that this is going to go to the supreme court, and if so -- >> i am not a legal scholar. i think it is safe to say because there are several other cases in the pipeline, again you have disparate court rulings 115 miles away, that the bill will continue to have its day in court. i do think it is important that even this judge ruled that the bill continues to move forward, in terms of its implementation. and obviously the individual responsibility aspects of this legislation weren't to go into
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effect until 2014. so there is some time to work this through. >> what gives the white house confidence that ultimately it will prevail if this case continues to go through the courts? >> again, i think -- i'm certainly not been a lawyer in terms of the legal arguments and underpinnings of the briefs. challenges like this are nothing new in terms of laws that have come before the court in the past in which our position has prevailed. we are confident that it is constitutional, and quite frankly of the three courts that have rendered decisions on this question, two have ruled in our favor. >> real quick question on the tax deal. >> uh-huh. >> democrats in the house are talking of targeting the estate tax provision that they are unhappy with, they may be dealing with that in an amendment or trying to change that language. is the white house urging those democrats not to do that out of
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fear it could cause the deal to unravel. >> i will say this, ben. obviously the senate is going to vote on -- have a procedural vote a little bit later on this afternoon. i think the president is encouraged by what we hear in the senate, and believe that the legislation will pass that hurdle, and be one important step closer to passage. in terms of -- i'm not going to get involved in sort of what the amendment process might be in the house at this point. i think you have seen whether it was in here on friday with former president clinton, or whether you have seen just this morning, that this is something that is -- has broad bi-partisan support in the public. it's an excellent -- it's a good agreement, it's an excellent agreement on behalf of millions of americans who won't see their
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taxes go up. those that are impacted in having lost a job in this recession will have the security of knowing that they are unemployment benefits won't fall victim to politics, and the middle class will enjoy a significant tax cut in the payroll tax portions of this bill. so, we are encouraged that we get closer and closer each day to having this agreement birmingham law. >> can you talk about the initial reaction to the healthcare ruling? were you surprised by it? and how concerned are you about the fact that there is a lot of other lawsuits out there? >> again, you know, this is the third federal -- this is the third federal court that's rendered a decision on this portion of the affordable care act, and two of those courts have upheld it. so i think we are confident that
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the affordable care act is -- will be upheld. >> what's the next step for you? >> well, you know, the department of justice obviously is going to have to make some decisions about appealing this particular case. my sense is that that appeal decision is something that they'll likely make, but i would point you over to them. >> a question, larry summers gave a fairwell speech today at a think tank. i wonder how the decision making is going on his replacement. megyn: there you here it. you heard it here as well prior to robert gibbs speaking. there have been three substantive court rulings on the healthcare bill. some rulings have allowed the challenge to go forward, that's not on merits, it's interesting but it's not substantive. it doesn't decide the matter one way or the other. there have been three rulings that have come out that have said it's unconstitutional or constitutional. two judges said at the federal district court level, that is
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the trial court level, the lowest level, it's constitutional, and said congress does have this power under the commerce clause. now today we get a ruling out of the virginia court, again federal district court in virginia saying it's unconstitutional. we have a split now. we have a split on the merits, on the substance about whether this bill, this law is constitutional, the individual mandate in particular. and if that goes really as a practical matter the law goes because there is no funding for it. if you can't mandate people to buy health insurance, how do they pay for it, right? that's why this is getting more and more interesting. and when there is a split among the judges like that the courts of appeal will take it up, they have to, but then the u.s. supreme court is much more likely to take it up. now we have breaking news that congressman eric cant he shall r, a republican is calling for the u.s. supreme court to take this up directly, to essentially bypass the courts of appeal because it's such a matter of importance and issue a decision
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faster than it normally would. that is totally within the supreme court's discretion, but that is sort of how big this ruling is. you heard robert gibbs pointing to the other rulings that the administration won, now others are touting this ruling. we will have a fair & balanced debate in today's "kelly's court" about how this is likely to play out when it goes up on appeal. in the meantime we are also seconds away wit from a live nes conference with the person who effectively challenged the law, and that is ken cuccinelli. this is another hour of "america live." this is live in richmond, virginia. the state attorney general, ken cuccinelli is set to speak any moment now. this is a big victory for him. he won not just on one argument, he won on every single argument. he had a very uphill battle, because the standard going into a case like this where you have the state attorney general challenging the
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constitutionality of a federal law. the presumption, the court is required to presume the law is constitutional. this judge did that, and still said upon further analysis i just can't uphold that, it's just not, you can't force individuals who don't want to leave their house and buy healthcare to go out there and do it or pay a fine for not doing it, it's just not constitutional. some more on that in just a bit. another alert for you, we are counting down now to a crucial vote on the president's deal to keep the current tax rates for all americans. leading democrats say they expect support on this from both sides of the aisle. neither party particularly extactic with the compromise, but most lawmakers don't want to be responsible for essentially voting for tax hikes right before christmas. >> the rather delicate balance, if this is the last swan song of the democrats in song, if they want to bring down this negotiated agreement, if they want to explain to the american people why on january 1 almost every single american who pays
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income taxes gets a tax increase, fine they can explain it to them. megyn: wendell goler is live after the the white house with more. >> reporter: we'll have a procedural vote in the senate about an hour from now. we heard white house press secretary robert gibbs say based on what he's hearing from the senate he's encouraged it's likely to pass that hurdle and become one step closer to becoming law. the bill in the senate sponsored by harry reid and mitch mcconnell, two men who rarely see eye to eye. thinks the first legislation they ever sponsored together just the two of them. it's likely to receive broad bi-partisan support in the senate. in the house it's a different story. democrats don't like this bill, it's likely to pass, but by a smaller margin, it's likely to pass in the house as well nobody wants to be responsible for letting middle class taxes go up. the white house said all along they didn't think congress would let the middle class tax cuts expire even though democrats were angry about being shutout
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of the process. david axelrod came close to apologizing for that. he said things came together very quickly an wasn't looking for skaoeul points. they say democrats will try to a just the state tax provisions of the deal will you will not try and block it. the outgoing head of the president's economic council larry summers says the key to saving the economy is acting quickly he says, because without a quick recovery there will be no prospect of reducing medium and long term deficits. >> no prospect of competing successfully and remaining an example to the rest of the world. no prospect of restoring, growing, living standards for the american and middle class, and above all no prospect of putting 8 million people who should have jobs back to work. >> reporter: the white house said failure to pass this tax
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cut deal would risk dipping back into a second recession. megyn: we have a fox news weather alert on the monster storm in the midwest. it dumped 2 feet of snow in parts of minnesota. that area and beyond is locked in a deep freeze. the fridge it's reaching as far south as florida where the mercury dropped below freezing. that makes a huge mess out on the roads. check out the whiteout conditions in chicago on the highways there. >> it's not fun at all. it's the weather is too bad, i don't care how much -- i don't care what the freight is, i'll park it. my life or anybody else's life isn't worth the freight in that box. >> we have been on the road an hour and we made 8 miles.
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we are giving up. going home, staying warm. megyn: where is this storm heading now? our meteorologist janice dean tells us it ain't over. >> reporter: los angeles set a record yesterday of 83 degrees. megyn: oh -- casey seeingl. >> reporter: the west is enjoying some nice temperatures. the deep freeze where they will be int into the 20s. the snow stretches as far south at tennessee, west virginia, atlanta, georgia saw snowflakes. the mid-atlantic region up toward the northeast, lake-effect snow you have and running over areas that have seen over four feet of snow. and then we have rain, mainly rain along the coastal areas. but that is this cold air moves
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eastward we'll be cold enough for snow. maybe a setup for snow later on late in the weekend into next week. the strong winds continue so almost blizzard-like conditions and the great lakes, and megyn, the temperatures -- i feel like i should be wearing a hat just looking at them. minus 2 degree in international falls. 15 degree in chicago. 12 degree in detroit. but the winds making it feel even colder if you are not bundled up you don't want to be caught on a highway in these temperatures. it feels like minus 2 degree in green bay. minus 2 degree in international falls. dipping as far south as the gulf coast into florida where northern and central florida we'll be dealing with the 20s. maybe even the teens overnight tonight. megyn: thank you for that. appreciate that, janice. see you soon. take a look at some of these incredible pictures from the blizzard zone. check this one out from northern iowa which shows even an suv was
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no match for all that wind and snow. it flipped after a weather-related accident on highway 63. over in minnesota, nearly 2 feet of snow fell over the weekend. here you see the folks struggling to dig out their cars. if you have got a picture would you like to share with us you can go to foxnews.com/you report. some of you are sending them to me that kelly@foxnews.com. that works, too. not as handy but we'll take them. maybe we'll get them on the air before the show closes. bad news from the front lines in america's third war. there is new evidence that violent mexican drug cartels are setting up bases in guatemala. the u.s. military is joining forces with guatemala to help secure their border with mexico. jennifer griffin is live with
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this news. >> reporter: thanks, megyn. we are here with the u.s. green berets. they are training the guatemalan forces. yesterday we were with the u.s. navy seals. these elite navy special forces were trained by u.s. navy seals to intercept drug traffickers before they offload tons of cocaine onto the shores of guatemala. the cocaine cartels have employed a new form of transportation. mini submarines fabricated in the jungles of columbia and almost impossible to detect from the air. dwo two years ago the u.s. coast guard captured this vessel west of the galapagos island coming from colombia filled with
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cocaine. it can travel 4,000 miles without refueling. it was found in october 2009. the trip from the jungles of colombia to guatemala takes up to 3 weeks. the crew members described their harrowing journey when they emerged, they were scared. the u.s. helped the guatemal tha malmilitary. megyn: jennifer griffin, thank you. there is plenty more on america's so-called third war on foxnews.com. there you will find the latest updates along with a slide show. photos of american forces on the front lines of the drug forces.
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a judge ruled it's unconstitutional to force americans to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. did a new york jets coach step over a serious line in yesterday's game? we'll show you the video that sparked two investigations next. and some said it was like president obama hand over his power to bill clinton. a surreal scene at the white house and why it may come back to haunt the current commander-in-chief. >> i have been keeping the first lady waiting for a half-hour so i'm going to take off. >> i don't want to make her mad, please go. >> you are in good hands and gibbs will call last question. >> thank you, go ahead. @ñññ÷ç]/wçó/>v@ññ]o
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as this man had three sets of bombs on him. investigators believe one of them detonated before he reached his intended target. he worshipped at a mosque in london. elders there were concerned because of this man's extreme views on islam. now they are checking to see if he had any accomplices. the bombing in stockholm wownd two people and -- wounded two people and left the bomber dead. the nfl is looking into a surprising display of unsportsman-like conduct. watch as the new york jets assistant coach leans in and uses his knee to trip miami quarterback nolan carroll as he barrels down the sideline. there he goes. he later apologized but this thing is far from over. trace gallagher, say it isn't
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so. >> reporter: he's 33 years old. he has been there for nine years. nolan carroll is making his way down the sideline. he's away from the play. this is it in fast motion. you can see him trip down there. this was away from the play. many of the fans in the stadium never noticed it. here it is. there is the coach puff see him stick his knee out right there on purpose. now it's in the like anybody was saying he stuck his knee out. he didn't admit it. he later came out and said, yes, i did it. he apologized for doing it. he apologized for doing it. he said i'll take any punishment that comes to me. we talk nod our nfl experts. here is what he said he will get. >> he could have really injured that player. had that happened, the league,
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the jets, everybody would have been vulnerable to the lawsuit. i expect swift and severe action towards the coach and i don't think he will be coaching for the rest of this year and maybe he will be terminated. >> reporter: he may be over with the new york jets. back in the 1956 cotton bowl. off the sidelines another player comes out and tackles him. that player's name was tommy lewis. one of the most famous plays in college football. they both admitted they were doing this. but they were invited on the ed sullivan show. so there were no penalties there. megyn: it's the testosterone. >> reporter: is that wait is? it's one of the great games of the world. but you cannot lose as bad as
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the jets did yesterday without having frustration. megyn: do you think this happens more than we know and it isn't caught on camera? >> the sportsmanship is always preeminent in these games. i have never seen this except for a couple times. i have never seen this happen which is why this is so shocking to a lot of fans. the coach actually did this. megyn: that many good what you say about the sportsmanship. i hope that's true. this could be an opportunity for little kids to be shown how unsportsman like conduct is dealt with and how bad it is. trace, thank you. >> reporter: and teachable moment. megyn: should the jets assistant coach be fired for tripping this miami dolphins player? so far we have 27,000 votes. 85% of folks say he should get the boot. 14 per save he should keep his
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job. president obama loses support with this liberal base. he could run into real trouble in 2012. wait until you hear the new pole and who it shows beating president obama in 2012. new developments in the suicide of bernie madoff's son. why no one yet has claimed his body. will the biggest wall street swindler of all time be allowed to attend his son's funeral? >> i think that mark was making a loud statement to his father that you destroyed the family and he chose december 11 on the second-year anniversary to commit suicide.
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megyn: the metrodome in minnesota suffered serious damage over the weekend. crews are set into expect it this afternoon to see how long the repairs will take after a weekend blizzard caved in that inflatable roofer. can you imagine if people had been in here watching a game? the whole thing was caught on tape. you can see the huge pile of snow. look at this. come crashing down on the field. >> we had some guys on the roof cleaning it off when the snow was falling. they should have built it right in the first place so it doesn't collapse. megyn: you have got to love the sound bite. i thought new yorkers gave the best sound bites. it might be minnesotans.
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the deal to extend the bush tax cuts costing president obama big-time support from his own base. brand-new polls show democrats are losing faith in their leader. the president's approval rating is down 10 points from just last month. among the democrats. his approval rating with liberals down 10 points from last month as well. did pleasing the american people do major damage to his political future? did it, pat? >> i think it's hurting him. this is the reaction to what's going on. you understand his negatives -- his negatives have doubled for the month. megyn: how can they not be? when he is ripping on the republicans and attacking his own base. >> it looked like he was attacking everyone including himself.
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here is the interesting thing. it's independence. if you look at those ratings. megyn: that's hoaf was supposedly trying to reach out to. >> they don't seem to be responding very well. if you look at the race with romney and the others, i's trailing romney in this poll and where he's ahead of sarah palin is in independents. megyn: romney now beats him. >> that's what i'm saying. the independents web has not won them back. megyn: how is he not winning back the independents? peggy noo noon environment sayse spent last year losing his liberal base and the first year losing the independents. >> the problem is he's not saying -- i'm embracing this.
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also understanding one other thing. this is going to hurt with republicans. we are not done with this tax cut deal. the poll today shows big support, the soft individual elements people aren't happy with. one of the problems will be on the right because this raising the deficit with no cuts -- all the christmas trees -- one week after the deficit commission we have $900 billion. and not a penny in cuts. and we have all the earmarks after we promised earmarks. republicans got a conditional mandate. they can lose it by january. i have seen things the tea party patriots excoriating this deal. if the healthcare bill last christmas was the public uproar, if you consider that the ghost of the christmas past. by next week this could be the ghost of christmas present. megyn: everybody's taxes are up.
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i'm for cutting down the deficit and tightening our belts unless i have my taxes going up. >> people want the tax cuts as they exist continued. but they didn't call for the rest of the spend and the give giver aways. the christmas tree aspect of this gets people -- it bothers them. there is a conflict here. megyn: there is a debate emerging about how president obama is governing and whether he's doing it well. lindsey graham was on saying he has never run anything before in his life and it goes back to something we saw on the primary challenge between hillary clinton and barack obama. he had a vision that spoke to the president's core role being inspirational. she said that's dead wrong. you are more of a chief executive. here is a flavor of what we saw back then.
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>> sound judgment, a vision for the future, the capacity to tap into the hopes and dreams of the american people, and mobilize them to push aside those special interests and lobbyists and fors standing in the way of real change. and making sure that you have a government that reflects the decency and generosity of the american people. >> i thinking about president is the chief executive officer. i respect what barack said about setting the vision and the tone, bringing people together. but i think you have to be able to manage and run the bureaucracy. megyn: jonah goldberg is talking about this economy and that's what we are seeing play out. you can't do it all with flowery speeches and rhetoric. >> the presidency of the united states is one of the most unique
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in the world. you are leader of the american society and the government. you have to give equal attention to both roles. the problem for the president is he believes' all in the first role, the inspirational role. when you are in a crisis there is a lot of attention to governance, getting things done. megyn: he cut a deal, he doesn't love the deal, but he kit one. isn't that him governing and being the ceo? >> see how it works. but the problem is he made himself look like he got bamboozled. i'm a hostage. it wasn't like he was leading it. the problem for the president is he is probably the least experienced person to become president in modern times because he never served as governor and only in the senate 2 years when he started running for president and understanding what that requires. when we were talking about the bill clinton moment.
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obama should have been embracing the bipartisanship that he got it done. he seemed to be dish can it at the same time. megyn: usually when you strike a big deal on a major piece of legislation you come out and do a mini victory lap. >> you don't get and say i had to do this and i hate everybody including the people who are for me. being angry and blaming your -- blank the american people does not work very well. megyn: ken cuccinelli is holding that press conference taking a victory lap. this is the attorney general of virginia who won this ruling out of the district court in virginia. let's take a listen to him. >> by violent sudden usurpations. this was an attempt to abridge the rights of the people. now we have beaten it back here
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in virginia, of course we will see where the final decision brings us. but if we cross this line with healthcare now, this unconstitutional line, where the government can force us to buy a private product and say it's for our own good, then we'll have given the government the to force us to buy other products, cars, gym memberships, the list goes on. the list goes on. the government's to intrude on our lives for our own good, always for the stated noble purpose will be virtually unlimited. while any one of us here may be willing to put up with that now when the government is doing something that we might like, what happens when government starts to impose burdens you don't like or the people who voted for this particular bill don't like. then suddenly those protections are needed again. then it will be too late.
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part of our healthcare system needs to be fixed. expenses are out of control, and everyone's needs are not being met right now. but there are better solutions than giving up our freedom. you can't get that back. the problem with healthcare costs is not thank there isn't enough government involvement. it's that there is too much government involvement. it's time we took the power out of the handle of politicians and government and put it back in the hands of citizens across america. i would be remiss if i didn't take an opportunity to thank our general assembly. i mention to you all that we passed in virginia last session, the virginia healthcare freedom act. this was a major priority for the tea party in virginia. for those of you not from virginia. it was their leading priority last year. and what that bill said was no virginian can be forced to buy health insurance against their will. we have a democrat senate and a republican house and both of them passed that bill.
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this was a bipartisan effort. megyn: we are hearing ken cuccinelli. there were a few grounds for this ruling. one the court said there is no power under the commerce clause to force people to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. i reject the argument that this is a tax after the obama administration spent months saying it's not a tax. then three virginia passed a law anticipating that this healthcare law would go forward saying you can't force virginians to buy health insurance against their will. that is a unique ground. you can listen to him in his entirety if you want at foxnews.com. we are going to be streaming his remarks live. but i want to till we are getting reaction in now. this from dick durbin in the senate. he says it's 2-1 for those keeping score.
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two courts ruled the law is constitutional. one has not. two other courts are found in favor of the law's constitutionality. then john boehner came out with a statement -- this is how it's entitled. boehner's statement on today's ruling on job-killing obama-care law. the obama administration should work with congress to repeal it. if you had any doubt about whether the republicans were going to back off of their efforts to repeal it sounds like the answer is no. a few years ago president obama was reportedly worried that he would get upstaged by bill clinton if hillary clinton joined his administration. mr. obama. but last week the commander-in-chief invited the former president to take to the podium at the white house briefing room. >> here is what i'll say.
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i have been keeping the first lady waiting for about a half-hour. so i'm going to take off. >> i don't want to make her mad. please go. >> you are in good hands. gibbs will call last question. >> thank you. >> reporter: mr. president, is there anything else that can be done in your opinion -- megyn: look at him. look how comfortable he is. he went on to stay there for another 20 minutes. was this a mistake by president obama? jason lewis is a indicated radio host and the author of "power divide is power checked." and maria cardona. i remember you coming in during the election and you wanted hillary for president. i'll bet you never envisioned if she lost and barack obama won we would get bill clinton back in the white house briefing room taking over. was it a mistake?
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>> i thought it was a good move on behalf of this white who is. what bill clinton has is this magic of being able to explain complicated public policy initiatives in simple language. that's what he did at the white house podium. he made people understand why this was the deal that the united states needed at the time. megyn: why can't president obama do that? >> he's doing it day in and day out. but you know that when you have a difficult initiative to sell, you want everybody on your team to be able to help you. it's nothing new. presidents have done this in the past. when you are in a difficult position you bring in the big guns. president obama is confident enough in his own position that he can bring in somebody like bill clinton. megyn: a former president coming into the white house briefing
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room and taking over while the president leaves? >> he wasn't taking over. megyn: when has that happened? >> you are asking me when that has happened? what i'm say can is it's nothing new for presidents to help former presidents when they are trying to do something difficult. megyn: that's true. i'm not going to challenge you on that. what's unusual, jason, is to see the former president come into the white house briefing room and the current commander-in-chief gets out of dodge because of had a christmas party to go to. >> you might have a former president endorse a candidate or a position or to give a speech at the next convention. but when they were running out of time, president obama said i have got to go the first lady will get mad. anybody but clinton would say i guess we have got to cut this short.
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obama is between a rock and a hard spot. he can save his base or he can move to the middle and triangulate. i think bringing clinton was an effort to shore up support for the tax deal, and it was symbolic. he was telling everybody i'm going to do with clinton did in 1994. i'm going to move to the middle. i have got to represent the entire country. i'm not henry waxman who just asked to represent hollywood. i think this was not just shoring up his support on the tax deal. it was symbolic saying get used to me triangulating. megyn: did president obama harm his own standing? there is an interesting piece in the "new york post" saying when the commander in chief is done speaking the event is over. he's the last speaker to go. argument is he's even timed to change that if he wants to but he does so at his own peril.
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he basically diminished his own standing at a time when he can't afford to be doing that. >> the president said when obama gets in trouble on another issue, everybody is going say you better bring back clinton. you better bring back somebody else who has more gravitas than you do. last weekend they proved that the democrats could not pass just tax increase on the so-called wealthy. so the republicans can say if you don't do this or this, we'll let the thing expire. the democrats and president obama will get blamed or raising taxes on the middle class. he's in a tough position. megyn: the reports say the white house staffers were allege edly not aware this was going -- were allegedly not aware this was going to happen. the door was locked. can anybody unlock this. do you think was was an improper you move by our current and former president?
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>> that's the same reporting that i have heard. but i have to say i would think it would be a brilliant move on their part if they had planned this. because again i think this is actually very good for president obama. you have bill clinton explaining in detailed but understandable language why this was needed. another thing, you talk about symbolism. you have the last democratic president who presided over the greatest economic expansion that we have had in years. and absolutely. much beloved by the base. by moderate. by conservative democrats. by everybody. megyn: what is going to happen now? if he decides wants to let her go from the secretary of state position. we can forget that now. >> now you are making things up. there is nothing to indicate that that's the case. in fact going back to one of
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the -- in your intro -- i understand -- what's interesting to note is -- megyn: i have got to say good-bye. thanks, maria, thanks, jason. >> i love to watch the democrats implode. this is fun. megyn: thanks, guys. coming up at top of the hour. shepard smith. shep: we'll talk about the taxes and the vote in the senate. the washington bureau chief of the "wall street journal" will be here. judge napolitano is here to talk about the healthcare overhaul and whether part of it is unconstitutional. he will get to the details of that. who should decide what your kid can wear to school? if they don't have some sort of uniform rule shouldn't you be able to decide? you will like this one at the top of the hour. megyn: a federal judge declared it is unconstitutional to force americans to buy health insurance or pay a penalty.
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the obama administration will appeal this decision. but will they win? there is a split in the circuit.. healthcare is on the docket in today's "kelly's court." during the break check out foxnews.com/america live. read up on the case before the gavel drops next. mom, new shoes? old legs. p.a.d., the doctor said. p-a-d... p.a.d. isn't just poor circulation in your legs causing you pain. it more than doubles your risk of a heart attack or stroke. i was going to tell you. if you ha p.a.d., plavix can help protect you from a heart attack or stroke. plavix helps keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming clots, the cause of most heart attacks and strokes. call the doctor about plavix -- please? i will. [ male announcer ] certain genetic factors and some medicines such as prilosec reduce the effect of plavix leaving you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. your doctor may use genetic tests to determine treatment. don't stop taking plavix without talking to your doctor as your risk of heart attack or stroke may increase.
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you want including this... medicare guide and customized rate quote. megyn: "kelly's court" is back in session. mandated medical insurance unconstitutional. that's the ruling after federal judge ruling favor of virginia's challenge to the law. judge henry hudson says the federal government cannot require americans to buy insurance or pay a penalty. it is the third legal challenge that's been decide on the merits with respect to president obama's healthcare overhaul. it's the first one to succeed.
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virginia attorney general ken cuccinelli happy with the ruling. >> the goals were noble this bill. but even noble goals may only be pursued within the powers of the constitution and that did not happen with this piece of legislation. so the courts must strike it down. megyn: the department of justice plans on appealing, but will it win? let's ask our panel. joey jackson and mark eiglarsh. this is interesting. now we have a split. two federal district courts that say it's constitutional. we have this federal district court saying no it's not constitutional in a 42-page opinion. joey, his right and how does this court -- let's forget the lower courts. it will go up to the supreme court. how will it play out? >> i think ultimately we'll see the law will be declared constitutional. here is why. you can't look at health
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insurance and say -- you can't say it's commodity. a commodity in terms of purchasing boots, shoes, something. it has a broad effect. a person's health has wide ranging effects on other people. for the court to give the indication it would be the first time there would be a mandate that a person with have to enter it for the private market, that's not true. if you look at car insurance, there is a mandate that we purchase that. because a mandate because what we do and how we drive affects other people. a person's health by necessity affects other people. if you are sick you are on medicaid. so as a result of that, i think this is coming back. megyn: these are arguments that kathleen sebelius made to this virginia judge. judge hudson, and he cited them the way joey did but he rejected them because he wasn't persuaded. the car insurance analogy as been raised often by defenders
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of the law. other side says that's different if i decide to drive a car, then i decide some comply with regulations like that requiring insurance. it's not the same i sit inside my house and the government comes and says must purchase health insurance. >> then the government says when someone says i don't want insurance that is affecting the stream of commerce because we'll wind up paying for it and everyone is affected. who will win this? ultimately what's bizarre is if you take 10 random judges you will get lots of different opinions. it's whatever th the supremes wt to do. it's a matter of great importance. there is no precedent at all -- i have found both by the supremes or the feds that has
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forced anyone as was originally ruled in two lower court decisions to force people to engage in purchasing things in the private sector. i have never seen sit done. megyn: this judge said there is no precedent for this judge to make the decision by. there is no case directly on point. >> here is the point. this commodity is different it is qualitatively different when we talking about health insurance because of the externalalities i discussed before. if you don't have health insurance it affects other people. you can't equate health insurance as a simple commodity as this judge did. the circuit judge lkd at it. megyn: you are talking about the commerce clause. the administration is vigorously defending this on the tax issue.
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if you find we don't have the power under the commerce clause, we definitely have the pour to tax. and we -- we have the power to tax. we can impose this individual mandate based on our taxing power. this judge said no way because you spent a year telling the american public it wasn't a tax. >> the problem i have with that is, there is a distinction between politics and governing. you can't use the dirty 3-letter word in washington. it will turn people off. you heard many times a rose by any other name smells just as sweet. a tax called by any other name smells just as bad. megyn: when they classified this bill they talked about it as a penalty and they had a list of taxes. this wasn't among them.
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at first it's like saying it's a beggar. no, it's a roadside entrepreneur. trying to change the words to make it more appealing doesn't necessarily work and it dmnt this case. megyn: thanks for your analysis. the high court has been increasingly likely to rai to rn congress. it will be a 5-4 decision. new v8 v-fusion + tea. one combined serving of vegetables and fruit with the goodness of green tea and powerful antioxidants. refreshingly good. whoa! that achy cold needs alka-seltzer plus! it rushes multiple cold fighters, plus a powerful pain reliever, wherever you need it! [ both ] ♪ oh what a relief it is!
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a long way too go. he has 148 years to go before he gets out of prison. but a prison spokesperson said these are handled on a case-by-case basis. there is always the possibility. mark madoff's son was sound hang by a dog leash inside his new york city apartment. his 2-year-old son was in a different room. there are law enforcement authorities say no charges penldsing. there was no imminent arrest of mark madoff. clear live he was being investigated with other family members. you will recall mark madoff
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along with his brother andrew turned their father in. as far as the funeral arrangements, you say they have not claimed the body. the town rall arrangements have not been made and there is a chance there may not be a funeral at all. megyn: we promised you the story friday and we are somewhere which we ra -- we aresorry we ra dog eat dog world except at one shelter in the pacific northwest. how this canine saved. >> the dog's life. captioning made possible by fox news network
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