outside its comfort zone. >> so will michael steele, the man of steel try to keep his job? answer straight ahead. >> and it may be the ultimate made-up holiday. >> happy festivus. >> is that -- >> george, festivus is your heritage. it's part of who you are. >> oh, man! >> now, one prison inmate claiming to have that same heritage and your tax dollars used to help him celebrate and not eat salami. we're not kidding. "fox & friends" starts right now! >> from salami to a lot of baloney. the weather outside, it's awful all over the country. >> good thing i had a butler to go out and scrape my windows. >> yeah, right.

we begin with our headlines. people in florida waking up to temperatures in the 20's. vegetable farmers concerned that the blast of arctic air will bring the perfect storm of destruction to their crops. mother nature is being blamed for 16 people dying in the midwest. more than two feet of snow falling in some parts trapping more than 100 people on the roads and triggering deadly accidents. today, engineers will examine the metrodome roof to figure out if repairs can be finished before the next home game. they are from the company that made the teflon roof. metrodome officials should have a good idea if she can use the facility by this afternoon. house democrats getting ready for a closed door meeting tonight. they'll discuss the tax cut compromise put on the table by president obama. this after the plan cleared a big hurdle in the senate late yesterday and appears likely to pass. well, they're going to discuss the tax compromise and let's move on to the next story. where are the soundbites?

>> this deal is giving democrats some pause. having said that, i believe that action is necessary and compromise was inevitable. >> one reason house dems are angry, they want the estate tax bought back to the 2009 levels which i believe was 55%. long time diplomat and envoy to afghanistan and pakistan, richard holbrooke has died at the age of 69. he was rushed to the hospital last friday for emergency surgery on a torn aorta. holbrooke had been working on a white house report focused on the war in afghanistan which is still scheduled to be released later this week. speaking at a state department holiday party, president obama asked for a moment of silence and called holbrooke "a true giant of foreign policy that have made us more respected." >> until now, the health care debate has been about politics. now it's more about whether it's

legal or not as the -- the judge in -- a federal judge in virginia says not so fast. >> that's right. henry e. hudson in the commonwealth of virginia yesterday said what the republicans have been saying all along. he said key parts of the health care reform bill are absolutely unconstitutional. he says it's unconstitutional for the government to force people to buy insurance. in a 42-page opinion, he said that requiring people to get insurance or pay a fine is unprecedented in america's history and certainly a broad expansion of the federal power which cannot be justified under the commerce clause and every time commerce does something these days, he said we get the authority by the commerce clause. >> the attorney general in virginia the guy that brought this case to the particular judge was on greta's show last my. he had this to say. >> one of the sort of boil down

points of this case was looking at the commerce clause case law as it exists, focusing on economic activity and that word activity was very important in this case because what the federal government is trying to regulate is your decision not to do something. not to buy health insurance. >> how would the white house respond? well, today, there's an opinion piece written by the attorney general of the united states, eric holder. here's what he says in part of it. all of us need health care eventually. do we pay in advance by getting insurance or do we try to pay later when we need medical care? u.s. attorney general eric holder. it's interesting how the american public feels about the health care reform bill right now. peak of support was november of 2009 at 40%. so it seems to be going down. remember how the democrats said to the american people you like it the more you know about it and the longer the time passes, that appears to not be happening.

>> no kidding. next up will be florida where there's 20 states that have combined to say this is unconstitutional and we're going to fight this. virginia have surprised many by coming in first. it's important to point out that two of the judges ruled that it's unconstitutional, republican appointed. democrat appointed judge said it's fine with me. robert gibbs and i guess a -- just the panic that could be taking place saying he's not surprised by the ruling. this thing will end up in the supreme court. >> that's the way -- that's where it's headed. in fact, when the attorney general for the commonwealth of virginia did not sign on with that 20 multistate pact that originated down in florida, people were going what's he doing? now, the leapfrog things and now the governor of virginia, bob mcdonald is asking other governors of other states, you know what? let's try to bypass the federal level and go directly to the supreme court. here's the governor of the

commonwealth of virginia. >> what people want right now is the predictability and certainty. is this law going to go into effect or ultimately stricken by the united states supreme court so i have urged my fellow governors in a letter last thursday to join in a letter with me to the justice department, the attorney general in asking for this thing to bypass the court of appeals and go directly to the supreme court. >> that's not gonna happen, though. the make-up of the supreme court at least right now will probably rule as the virginia judge did. so i'm not sure that the u.s. attorney general right now will want to speed up that process. most of health care reform goes into effect in 2014. >> this is one facet of the health care plan. the republicans of the house and eric cantor leading the charge. we'll look for a repeal. i don't know about that possibility. that seems like a big shot. in the big picture, they say if you strike down the mandate that says all of us have to buy insurance, expect all the premiums to go up 20%.

the whole thing would essentially be not like it appears. >> in the meantime, yesterday, the story was out there. it was with politico and it didn't make much sense to politico which is a left leaning blog site would have news about the guy that leads the right in america, i'm talking about michael steele, the r.n.c. chairman and indeed, they got the story wrong and they said he was not going to run for re-election as the r.n.c. chair but last night on a conference call to 100 some odd members of the board, he said i'm in it to win it. here he is last night on greta. >> my style is a little bit different than most conventional republican party chairmen. my style is more grassroots oriented. i'm much more of a street guy. the party needs to get outside of its comfort zone. >> that's what the democrats did so well the last time around. that's how barack obama got elected. they had an amazing campaign strategy and many believe it was the grassroots level so if michael steele is correct in going back to the grassroots, that would probably be successful for the republican

party. >> look at his record. if you want to look at pure stats, they're in debt by $13 million. look at what he did. he's the head of the r.n.c. they had 63 house seats pick up in the house. >> that's gigantic. >> 690 new state legislatures and he says my next goal, 270 electoral votes to make president obama a one-term president. >> well, he did on his watch, he did raise $179 million but keep in mind when barack obama is running for re-election, it is rumored that he will have a $1 billion war chest so would the r.n.c. -- >> plus overdrafts. >> should he use more than that. >> exactly right. but keep in mind, you know, once upon a time, the r.n.c. was the only game in town. now there are other outside groups as well that fund television commercials and stuff like that. and we saw certainly a lot of those in the last election. >> all right, this story is going to, i don't know, are you going to think it's no big deal or is it going to get you steam ed? >> it's going to clear your

sinuses. >> hopefully it will clear mine. the inmate in california is a 38-year-old convicted drug dealer and is his name is malcolm cane. he wanted to eat kosher food. >> he didn't like salami. >> whatever. he didn't want to eat certain kinds of food so he basically said that he honors the festivus holiday. the made-up holiday at christmastime. >> he said i want to stay in good shape. you have to give us a religious reason why you don't like salami so the defense attorney, my client celebrates festivus and evidently, i've looked up. festivus does not ban salami. but yet, the judge ruled for 30 days, for two months, he was allowed to have something other than salami to keep his physique because he says he celebrates festivus. >> this is where our society has come to with certain news programs that people actually think are news. this is how he came up with the idea of festivus.

>> happy festivus! >> happy festivus! >> happy festivus! >> happy festivus, everyone! >> so by the end -- >> all right. >> there you go. >> ok, moses. >> i'm not a pack rat but i did save the festivus pole in my house. it kind of outraged me. >> through much therapy and special thanks to united healthcare for providing that -- >> why do we have a pole? >> that's the only way to celebrate festivus, grab the pole and air your grievances. that's where you do it. festivus for the rest of us which is the slogan. >> i feel like charlton heston. >> it's usually celebrated as you know, on december 23rd at which time you air your grievances and find ways for feats of strength. >> because jerry seinfeld grew up in your hometown, you might know some of this. is it a religious thing or -- >> funny you bring that up, you

have to show feats of strength and the head of the household must be pinned. >> it's not religious. it's just a holiday. >> it's more like ufc. it sounds like a very aggressive holiday. it's a way for people to strike back against materialism on the holidays. >> you have now become the spokesperson for festivus. >> thank you. >> congratulations. >> very busy this season. >> much more serious note, i mean, should taxpayer dollars not going to give special meals to this inmate because he says he celebrates festivus? come on. remember out in washington state when they put up a festivus pole a couple of years ago because the people who believe in festivus says if you're going to have a creche and menorah, you need to have a festivus pole. >> you know what i get from this? don't deal drugs or you'll go to prison. >> there's more. if you deal drugs and go to prison, you eat salami. >> that's exactly it. listen to the weather guy. >> coming up on the show, the president's tax cut compromise loaded with pork. are we looking at more trouble in the long run? >> happy festivus, too.

>> hugh jackman left bloody on the set of the oprah winfrey show? what happened to hugh?

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>> also includes huge subsidies and giveaways. >> that's not supposed to happen like that. >> tell us about that. >> well, you can call it pork. you can call it earmarks fortunately you can call it special interest provisions. basically, you load up legislation these days in order to get it passed. >> call it the christmas tree. >> it is and the ornaments are all over the place. this one this is the tax compromise deal. it's getting loaded up already. you've got a special tax deal for nascar. you've got a special deal for

the virgin islands rum industry. you've got film and tv producers getting an expensing of taxation special deal. wind and solar grants, all included. the big one is ethanol. that is the big one. that was dropped into this thing an extension of the ethanol subsidy, $5, $6 billion for next year to attract one single vote, tom harkin of iowa. >> it seems everybody in iowa has an opinion whether or not they should extend the bush era tax cuts. you're telling me behind closed doors, they snuck in things from the rum producers. >> that's so far. i don't know what the eventual result will be. what's in there in the final, final deal. that's what's in there now. >> it's business as usual. >> it drives people crazy. >> it's going to drive them crazy. we just had an election where this kind of thing was front and center on voters' minds but it's back all over again. >> you know what?

logically tell you as they go to the house and they did their test vote yesterday with 60 votes and have another test -- they're going to have another real vote today. as it goes to the house, they're going to look for more things to juice up that bill, change that bill without having to revote on it. >> in the senate, did you really need it? you got 83 votes for this thing. a massive overwhelming majority. did you need ethanol in there? nascar, filming tv production people? did you know all that lot in there? i don't think so. >> well, you've got to figure that the leaders on both sides of the aisle know that stuff is in there. >> however, ethanol is wildly -- i'm not going to say wildly unpopular but a bipartisan group of 17 senators said it is fiscally irresponsible and environmentally unsound but it's still in there. >> well, it was -- ethanol was wildly popular a few years ago and then they built all those plants and stuff like that and now they've got all the infrastructure and the business ain't so good. >> it's in there. it's going to go through. another $5 maybe $6 billion for

the year 2011. cash subsidy. >> only problem is we're not making cars for that. so what are we going to use them for? stu, coming up on your show at 20 minutes after 9:00 on the fox business network, i am so jealous of you. >> your hero, i understand. >> yeah. >> from way back. >> he was the only guy on the giants who knew how to play. >> he's made a name for himself as an entrepreneur and a business guy. he agrees with me. next year, 2011, this economy really starts to strengthen. he agrees with me. he's on the show. >> good. >> absolutely. are you with me or against me? >> are you in or out? >> thanks, stu. >> stuart varney coming up with "varney & company." coming up straight ahead, wikileaks founder julian assange breaks his silence he and used his first public statements to threaten the united states. >> thanks, julie. then caught on camera tripping a

player, the jets now coming down hard on that coach. >> and that coach is from massapequa. ♪

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>> couple of quick headlines for you. rahm emanuel testifies under oath today to determine if he's a resident of chicago. opponents say he does not meet the residency requirements because he lived in washington last year. nancy reagan unveiling the new ronald reagan stamp in simi valley, california, the third one honoring the 40th president. the stamp to honor what would

have been his 100th birthday. steve? >> thanks, gretch. breaking news. in just a few hours, wikileaks founder julian assange will be back in court but moments ago, he broke his silence and wasted no time in attacking the united states of america. joining us right now from london with the breaking details, amy kellogg. hello. >> hi, steve. yes, there's a bail hearing for julian assange in just a couple of hours time and, of course he is facing possible rape charges in sweden. there's a possibility he'll be extradited to sweden. his lawyers want to get him free in the meantime. they're saying he's not a flight risk and he'd be willing to have an electronic tag in all of that. that's what's going to be decided today. in terms of julian assange, the wikileaks founder, steve, breaking his silence, he reportedly spoke to his mother from prison today and he said, and i'm going to quote here. my convictions are unfaltering. i remain true to the ideals i've expressed, the circumstances shall not shake them.

if anything, this process has increased my determination that they are true and correct. and he went on to say, we know that visa, mastercard, pay pal and others are instruments of u.s. foreign policy. it's not something we knew before and, of course, in the last week, we've seen his hacktivist supporters, fellow computer whizes, hackers, breaking into these web sites, destructing them, fighting back for what they believe is the unfair treatment of julian assange. now, he has a team of celebrity lawyers at this point including jeffrey robertson who defended salomon rushdie, there have been celebrities also willing to put forth money for his bail, steve, including the former girlfriend of the british actor hugh grant. but so far, that has been denied in a first hearing. second hearing happened today and the last week that assange has been in prison, he has been denied access despite earlier rumors to electronics, to media.

the only correspondence that he's received according to the bbc was a note from the prison guard saying a "time" magazine that was sent to him was destroyed because he was on the cover. despite the blackout on julian assange and his blackout to media, wikileaks continues to drip out day by day. >> amy to clarify two things, one, he does not have access and will not have access to the internet. that's good. number 2, the reason they're not going to give this guy bail is because he's a flight risk. he says his only known home address is in australia. and he hasn't been there for a long time. he has to figure if he got out, he'd be gone. >> yeah, i mean, that's the central point here today that's going to be argued in court because yes, he doesn't have an address other than that one in australia. he, you know, he certainly got a number of supporters who will be willing to look after him, hide him away but the other side of the argument is, of course, that

he -- his face has been plastered across the front pages of every newspaper and magazine so he's hardly anonymous. he's already changed his hair color several times and i think people recognize him in any number of guises so i suppose that's what his lawyer will be arguing that he really can't disappear all together and we don't know what the outcome will be but we should know within a few hours time. >> i know you'll be standing by there in london. thank you very much. >> you bet. >> all right, straight ahead on this tuesday, new polls show a majority of voters are happy with the tax deal but should they be? or is this a bad deal for both the president and americans? radio rumble is coming up next. and continental doing what no other airline will let you do, put your flight on layaway to lock in a lower fair. i love that. hugh jackman left bloody after a stunt goes wrong on the set of the oprah winfrey show. what happened? details straight ahead. first, happy birthday to have

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>> you probably saw this on friday. president obama left bill clinton alone with the press to take questions about their meeting because he had to go to a white house christmas party. yeah. clinton was like just do me a favor, text me when anyone but hillary walks under the mistletoe. >> i'll tell you, it was a crazy day between that,s christmas party on friday. i guess he had two of them and then richard holbrooke ended up going to the hospital that day. you say you saw all the chaos. >> yeah, we were over in that neighborhood when it was happening. >> what a crazy weekend in washington. >> no kidding. right now, a crazy day and we start this half-hour with headlines. a team of f.b.i. agents on its way to sweden to investigate the attempted homicide bombing in stockholm. their mission -- figure out when and where the bomber was radicalized and if he had any accomplices and how he was able to operate under the police radar.

sweden is certain the bomber is an iraqi born swedish national who was living in britain for a decade. that explosion killed him and hurt two others. >> she was kidnapped, her mother was murdered after a horrifying ordeal. a 12-year-old girl from virginia will finally be reunited with her father. brittany may smith's dad so excited to see his little girl. >> i thought that the happiest day of my life was when my daughter was born. tonight has taken the number one spot. >> wow, the suspect 32-year-old jeffrey scott easley in this photo here under arrest. >> meanwhile, ponzi schemer bernie madoff will not be leaving his prison cell to attend the funeral of his son mark who committed suicide on

saturday. madoff's lawyer says he will not attend the service out of consideration for his daughter-in-law and grandchildren. no date has been set for the mark madoff memorial service. meanwhile "the new york post" reports that bernie madoff's wife ruth madoff blames him, bernie, for the death of their son. >> i'd second that. >> yeah. >> hugh jackman hurt during a stunt gone horribly wrong. watch as he tries to make a big entrance swooping down in a zip line to the set of oprah winfrey show in sydney, australia. jackman gets set and the stage smashes a studio line and that sends glass flying into his face. jackman held a towel to his face and a glass of wine right after. >> that's unbelievable! >> who needs bactene. >> who needs that at all. just put some whiskey on it. his kids were reportedly in the audience when it happened. jackman will be ok and no word on the year of the wine.

>> whether that will be included in the show. >> absolutely. >> take a look at what's going on outside. it looks like not too much. a little bit of activity in the northeast and a big storm out west. balance of the country nice and dry although we have a little snow showing up in portions of nebraska and kansas at this hour. here's the map you want to see. it's the temperature map. right now in minneapolis, we have 4 below. only 6 in chicago. no wonder oprah we want to australia. 16 in new york city. spot to be, caribou, maine, how often have i said that? right now they have 47 degrees. look at atlanta, georgia right now, 15 degrees and the chilly temperatures all the way to the gulf coast. thankfully things will warm up considerably later today but the 30's are going to continue through much of dixieland. 52 later on today in the big easy. temperatures in the 60's and the 70's across portions of texas. bitterly cold in the northern plains with the howling wind and

10 degrees in minneapolis and 18 in chicagoland. meanwhile, you're looking at footage out of new york city right here. snow hitting the tri-state area for the first time this year. it left a dusting to an inch in some spots. the real story is the cold and the wind. wind chills in the big apple making it feel like temperatures are in the single digits. this as temperatures in miami aren't much warmer. wind chills there, look at that, they probably didn't even know they had stocking caps in miami. near 20 degrees. >> lebron now wants a trade. he thought it would be nicer. i got to tell you, huge news in baseball. cliff lee, is he going to go to texas or is he going to go the yankees? >> yankees! >> phillies, he's going to philly. i cannot believe this. the most coveted free agent pitcher out there at 31 years old assigned with the philadelphia phillies for less money. the move is set as yet another blow to the yankees who targeted

lee from the moment his team lost to the playoffs in october. it's a huge rotation. the deal with the phillies would pay him $120 million. they traded him. he has a five year deal with an option to the six as opposed to the six year deal with an option for the seventh and more money for the yankees. why have a capitalist society if you're going to turn down big money? two games last night, giants and the vikings in detroit. this has caused a riff between gretchen carlson and myself. >> no, it hasn't! >> yes, it has. it's deep. finally comes to an end at 297 games, watch all 29d 7 back in the break. that amazing run goes all the way back to 1992 and this amazing run went 12 hours ago. he ran it in 48 yards. they easily beat the vikings who did not show up. final score 21-3. they looked at their watch and checked their blackberries. ravens shocked the texans in overtime after the texans came

all the way back with two long drives and two touchdowns. baltimore wins, fortunately for them, 34-28. they are 9-4. good-bye to texans' hopes for the post season. get this. the new york jets now is you spened their strength and conditioning coach without pay for tripping a miami player. unbelievable. the coach graduated from massapequa high school and fined $25,000. i say that because i graduated from there. he showed remorse in a public apology yesterday. >> if i could go back and do it again, i sure as heck would take a step back. it was just a situation where i just wasn't thinking. >> by the way, this isn't the first time something like this has happened. in 1954, cotton bowl, remember that, steve? >> i do. >> seems like yesterday. >> tommy lewis, you're going to see it in a second, came up in

the sideline to tackle rice's dickie magel. he comes off the sideline and makes the tackle. in 1978, gator bowl, ohio state coach woody hayes calls it a career when he did this. he attacked a clemson player who taunted his buck eyes as he came to the sideline. he punched him in the face. and by the way, unrelated, there will be no fouls, no injuries from 9:00 to noon on kilmeade & friends. amongst our guests, president george w. bush will be joining us, an even bigger guest, we booked gretchen carlson. filling in for me and larry gaitlin. he's the best voice of the three. >> will he be there in person? >> yeah. >> good. it will be good to see him. time for the radio rumble. we told you the tax compromise cleared the first hurdle in the senate and this paves the way for a final vote later this week where it returns to the house where it's expected to meet opposition from some democrats. what are americans saying right now? for that, we turn to our radio rumble. from miami where it's very cold,

neil asberry, author of "conscientious equity." good to see all three of you guys. >> good morning. >> thank you, gretchen. let's take a look at this poll right now, amongst americans, do you support the obama g.o.p. tax deal? 60% of americans say yes. 22% say no. david, are you surprised by that? >> no, i'm not because this is following from the elections, americans said we need to do something for this economy, gretchen and they're going to support this. what we have to look at is the details in this. >> meaning? >> we have pork thrown into this. we need to be careful. the republicans don't need to give into president obama. they need to look at what's good for the country and what americans need to create jobs. >> tom, i know that you say overall this is a bad deal. why? >> i think it's a bad deal for a couple of reasons. one, it extends the bush tax cuts that blew up our deficit by almost $5 trillion during the time that bush was in office and two, it takes 2% out of social

security and basically doesn't fund it so two years from now, social security will be in worse shape that it was. it will be a whole lot easier to build a case for privatizing it which is something i oppose frankly. >> i know that you say, look, the main thing here right now is to get the economy back up and running and then we'll worry about the spending after that happens. is that correct? >> gretchen, sometimes compromise is ugly. americans want their mojo back. we need to start working again and we're not going to be working again if we pass these massive tax increases on to our star performers, the american small businesses and entrepreneurs. we got to get them back into game. we got to get them on to the field and this uncertainty is killing them and we're just not going to get out of this mess until we energize our star performers. and we just got to move on. this is the best deal we're going to get.

>> right. we're less than two weeks away, guys, from congress going on christmas, holiday, hanukkah break, whatever you want to call it. are they going to do something here or are the house dems going to amend this and go back to the senate and the senate is going to say no can do? >> that will be the biggest fight of the left wing of the party that believes like tom does that we don't need to do the things that will actually help americans create capital, hire people. their fight in this because they're based in ideology. like neil says, we have to be based in common sense and by the numbers, we have to separate short term and long term. the short game is keeping these tax rates where they are will help spur growth, will help people get hired. will help people participate in the economy instead of being subsidized by taxpayer dollars which is what the liberal progressives want. >> i want to get tom back in here. would you be one of the democrats, then, that would

amend the bill and try to hold it up? >> yeah, absolutely. number one, i don't think giving tax cuts to billionaires so they can put more money in the swiss bank accounts will help the u.s. economy and number two, if you want to bring the jobs back home, we need to go back to the piece of legislation that the republicans blocked in the senate that actually gave an incentive to american companies to bring their jobs back home. we really need to be looking at our trade policies if we want to bring jobs back. this is a tax issue. >> that may be apples and oranges. neil, my question to you is won't it be worse for democrats once the republican control the house in january if they don't pass the deal now? >> well, president obama did the only thing he could do. he has punted and is hoping for a better field position in 2012. he needs -- for his political legacy, he has to get american business working again. it will be a crushing defeat if the american businesses stay on the sidelines, you know. the irony of this whole thing is that he's going to be pointing at any success of the american

businesses over these next 24 months and then vigorously campaigning against them in 2012 to have these tax cuts raised permanently. i mean, how ironic is that? >> we'll see what he decides to do and what happens to the economy in the meantime. have a fantastic day. thanks very much for joining us. >> happy festivus. >> thanks, gretchen. >> oh, my gosh. i never thought i'd hear that. merry christmas, back to you. one airline doing what no other airline is doing, letting you lock in a low fare without actually booking the flight. and a supreme court justice says the founding fathers didn't intend for you to have the right to bear arms. really? judge andrew napolitano weighs in next. [ female announcer ] will women switch to new caltrate soft chews

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>> some quick headlines on this tuesday morning, a new feed to squeeze a couple more bucks out of passengers. you can pay $9 to hold a seat

and then book it weeks later. until now, you could only hold a seat for 24 hours. but that was free. then a city block in astoria, oregon, collapsed after a weekend of heavy rain creating this gigantic sink hole right there. no one was hurt. a fence now up around the hole keeps people safe. mr. kilmeade, over to you and the judge. >> thanks, supreme court judge stephen breyer making controversial comments during his appearance on "fox news sunday." he wrote the dissent in the court's decision to lift a 2008 handgun ban in washington, d.c. and justice breyer continues to claim that the second amendment doesn't protect an individual's right to bear arms when it's examined in historical context. >> james madison thinking i've got to get this document ratified was worried about opponents who would think congress would call up state militias and nationalize them. that can't happen, said madison. and therefore, he wrote the

second amendment. >> our next guest doesn't agree. joining us now is the host of "freedom watch" fox news senior judicial analyst and pretending not to know him by his introduction. judge andrew napolitano. >> have my resume? >> i should have made that clear. you agree with the -- you disagree with the supreme court justice? >> well, it's very unusual for a member of the supreme court to come out and attack or undermine a decision from which he dissented two years after the dissent. that's -- that really can challenge the authority of the supreme court. he also has this history wrong. the second amendment was the least debated amendment at the constitutional convention. why? because everyone, even the big government types like alexander hamilton and the small government types like james madison from justice breyer just quoted understood that people had the right to keep and bear arms. it was so well understood, the only debate was do we really need this in the constitution? it's almost inconceivable that a

government would try to take that away from us. eventually they agreed to put it in there just in case somebody like justice breyer came along in the future and decided people didn't have the right to defend themselves. >> here's what the second amendment rights, should be necessary for the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. so you think that says that's clear but they went back and looked at what madison was deliberating. how he was deliberating through the passage of this. >> they frequently do that and those of us who study the constitution for a living have read what madison said and what the others said at the constitutional convention in philadelphia. justice breyer reads it differently than i do. justice breyer is of the view that madison wanted to make sure that the states could have militias. today, we would call them national guard, that the federal government couldn't interfere with but if you read what everybody else said, it is clear that carrying guns was so natural to these people, the right to self-defense was so intense and so readily needed

that it was second nature to them. they just wanted to make sure this new government wouldn't interfere. >> i'll tell you, you might not like what he said but it was great to see a supreme court justice talk, right? >> you know, it's something new. until a few years ago, they never did things like this. now you see more and more of it. >> coming up on your show, you will talk on "freedom watch" every night at 8:00 amongst your guests. >> congressman paul ryan and congressman ron paul on taxes. >> great to see you. >> thank you, brian. >> one day ahead of you. coming up straight ahead, has your child been skipping class? that will be about $500, parents. facing fines for kids who ditch school. is it a good idea? and he brought space travel to the digital generation snapping photos to share with millions on the internet. the astronaut here with some incredible stories about how he's hanging out with russians.

>> welcome back, everyone. well, if you live up in alaska and you're a parent of a child between the ages of 7 and 16 years old and your child decides to skip school, you could be fined now, get this, there's some sort of a law, a state law that's been on the books for years and years and it really wasn't used that much but now it is. if your child has five unexcused absences, you could get docked $500. do you think that's a good idea? >> yeah, apparently the way it works and this is a truancy thing where state legislators thought, you know what? we're spending all this money on schools. we've got to put some teeth in them if the parents won't have the parental responsibility to get their kids there. what we'll do is we'll set up a system where first they get a warning and then we have a meeting and if the parents fly in the face of this request to

have your kids go to school as mandated by law, then we'll start fining them and it's ironic one of the school districts up in the bearing straits school district, apparently the first parent that was fined was a former village police safety officer charged $100 last month. >> yeah, it turns out the attendance counsellor said the minute i got hired i wanted to do this. a lot of the law enforcement officials were worried that not enough attention would be given to people committing felonies as opposed to a 9-year-old skipping school. >> when we have this debate in the country, one of the main reasons why educators believe some students are failing is there is no parent involvement. maybe this is a way to make sure that the parents are involved. >> right. in alaska, can you imagine how many calls they get up there? sorry i'm late. dog sled broke down.

>> it was 30 below. >> apparently, according to the news story we read, it sounds like it's working. you know. >> go to school, don't go to school. >> probably does. the president's health care law suffering a massive blow. a judge says it's unconstitutional. what this means for you top of the hour. >> going to be confusing for everybody. and then eat the foods you love and still lose that spare tire. tv doctor travis stork says you can do it. get a flat tummy in less than one month. he is here live and we told him to stop or he'd be actually in the studio right now. >> we've got a flood. hits the road, the nose the angels start second guessing where they tread. ♪ cl 1-800-steemer

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if anything, i thought i'd get hit by a bus, but not a heart. all of a sudden, it's like an earthquake going off in your body. my doctor put me on an aspirin regimen to help protect my life. [ male announcer ] aspirin is not appropriate for everyone. so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. to my friends, i say, you know, check with your doctor, 'cause it can happen to anybody. [ male announcer ] be ready if a heart attack strikes. donate $5 to womenheart atamproheart.com, and we'll send you this bayer aspirin pill tote.

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. >> good morning, everyone. it's tuesday, december 14, 2010. thanks so much for sharing your time with us today. a major blow to the obama administration, a federal judge deems that part of the president's health care overhaul unconstitutional. could the president now be forced to make another compromise with the g.o.p.? >> all right.

speaking of compromise, president obama moving to the middle when it comes to extending the bush tax cuts. but should he act like he likes it? >> that would be a step in the right direction, perhaps. meanwhile, the united states is in the middle of a deep freeze from coast to coast and even as far south as florida, frigid temperatures are stranding travelers, taking lives and killing crops. the latest on this early winter storm. "fox & friends" hour two for tuesday starting right now. >> ♪ i don't care what my teachers say i'm going to be a supermodel ♪ >> look at this guest list. are any of these people on the show or are we trying to impress people? >> we saw dr. travis stork in the hall, he'll be here telling us how to have a flat gut in no time.

>> beth stern, she could stop a cannonball. >> that's a good transition. to be talking about it during the holiday season. rudy giuliani, the mayor of america is here. he'll talk about the tax compromise. >> yep. laura ingraham live from washington, d.c., i believe, she's going to be talking about how that judge down in virginia has ruled health care reform in this country, unconstitutional! >> and then we have a superstar. >> yeah, molly shannon will be here. very funny lady. and she's got a great message as does mark consuelos. he married kelly ripa. he's a great actor in his own right and he has an important message with geraldo rivera. >> the two of them, are they going to show up in pajamas? it really is about pajamas. geraldo could look like hugh heffner later on. >> i was going for more short sleeves and shorts. good looking guys. let's start with the headlines. bitter cold, gusty winds and overall misery hitting the east

coast this morning and winter hasn't officially started yet. that is miami. in midwest, they're still digging out and leaving 16 people dead. more than two feet of snow falling in some parts trapping more than 100 drivers on the road and triggering a fatal accident. today, engineers are going to examine the metrodome's roof to figure out if repairs can be finished before the vikings' next home game. that's next week. experts are from the company that actually made the teflon roof. metrodome officials should have a good idea if they can use the fields by this afternoon. and developing story right now, breaking news, wikileaks founder julian assange breaking his silence on the day of his court hearing in london. assange telling his mother in a jailhouse phone conversation he's more determined than ever to fight sex charges and keep publishing those documents. he's also going after visa, mastercard and pay pal calling them instruments of u.s. foreign policy for refusing to process donations to the wikileaks web

site. assange due in court in a few hours. he's hoping to secure bail and then fight extradition to sweden. republican national committee chair michael steele not giving up his post without a fight. steele announcing last night he will run for re-election. he's come under fire for his financial management of the party but steele insists he can get the job done. >> my style is a little bit different than most conventional republican party chairmen. my style is more grassroots oriented. i'm much more of a street guy. the party needs to get outside of the comfort zone. >> the r.n.c. will pick its chairman next month. steele is one of six candidates now in the running. those are your headlines. >> all right. yesterday, it was a big headline. u.s. district judge henry e. hudson down in the commonwealth of virginia ruled that it is unconstitutional for the government to force people to buy health care insurance. of course, that's the very premise upon which so-called obama care has been based upon. immediately, the republicans

said we told you it was unconstitutional. see, this guy agrees with us. >> and the attorney general in virginia is the one that brought that lawsuit. and he gave his explanation on greta's show last night. >> one of the sort of boil down points of this case was looking at the commerce clause case law that exists. focusing on economic activity and that word activity was very important in this case because what the federal government was trying to regulate is your decision not to do something. not to buy health insurance. >> but he didn't strike down the entire law. it's going to keep operating until they get a higher decision. it will be appealed and end up in the supreme court. next up, though, they got to go to florida where 20 states have combined and filed a lawsuit saying the same thing, it's unconstitutional to mandate people have to buy insurance. eric holder weighed in. the attorney general says this. all of us need health care eventually and i'll go on to say this. do we pay in advance by getting insurance or do we pay later

when we need medical care? and robert gibbs went on to expand and say look, if you don't mandate that people get insurance under the obama plan, then people who need insurance like with pre-existing conditions will have to pay a lot more. >> yeah, but the unconstitutional nature of what this judge found is you can't force people to buy something and if they don't, have them pay a fine. that is the little sticking point right there. >> right. because judge hudson said it goes -- you know, they justified it by saying, you know, it's part of the commerce clause where we can regulate that. and the judge said, that, folks is a stretch. where does it go from here? well, judge mcdonald down in virginia has suggested that they try to leapfrog across the federal court system and get all of the -- >> governor, you mean. >> governor, right. get all the governors in the 20 multistate lawsuit to go along with and to do that and go straight to the supreme court. meanwhile, it sounds like the obama administration would like to go right to the fourth circuit instead. so this could still be tied up

for another year or two before it goes to -- >> and it just adds to confusion, the everyday person says what is obama care? how does it affect me? why doesn't it start until 2014? what's this legal battle about? let me find out what you're thinking and abc and "the washington post" found the same thing. 43% of you support this. 52% oppose it. if you look behind the numbers, you find out that independents under 50% independents actually support this. 86% of republicans oppose it and 27% of dems oppose this. so this cuts down party lines. >> this can't be heartening news for the obama administration because their main line after they passed it, even though the general public wasn't behind it at that time either, the majority. their line was that after this comes into effect or after you learn more about it, you'll like it. well, apparently now, that's not the case. support for health care overhaul peaked in november of 2009 and that was only 48% so still not even the majority.

>> if you look at the republican opinion out there regarding this, perhaps this is a good time for the g.o.p. to try to repeal it or, you know, look what's happening right now with taxes. maybe this is a good time for some sort of compromise. go ahead and e-mail us on that. friends at foxnews.com. >> according to that same poll, 30% of the people said they should appeal only parts of the law. 29% said repeal the whole thing. that seems to be divided amongst third. in the meantime, the president's compromise with the republicans now on this tax deal and with freezing the federal pay so now that he looks like he's moving a little bit more to the middle, some people are asking, should he sound more like he actually likes the fact that he's made these compromises? see what you think when you listen to this. >> i recognize that folks on both sides of the political spectrum are unhappy with certain parts of the package and i understand those concerns. i share some of them. but that's the nature of compromise. sacrificing something that each

of us cares about to move forward on what matters to all of us. right now, that's growing the economy. and creating jobs. >> that sounded -- >> yeah, it does. >> the hostage takers at the end and some of the rhetoric that he said as he left saying, all right, battle on to the next fight and indicating that they just got to fight the next time. >> sure. >> and when he had that press conference a week ago today, peggy noonan wrote in "the wall street journal" at the conclusion of last week, she wrote instead of graciously scored the negotiators, he hates the deal. he hates the people he made the deal with and he hates it when people criticize him. that's kind of what brit hume said last night on bill o'reilly. listen. >> to learn a little bit more about how to go about this -- this dance we call triangulation which the president facing a -- a partly hostile congress and the skeptical electorate and a -- and a potentially restless

base places himself somewhere where he's not quite with one and not quite with the other but in part with both, that's triangulation and that's what bill clinton did. if the president is going to do it, he needs to do it in such a way if he reaches a deal, seems to like it, to believe in it and be gracious about it. >> i think what we just heard the president say before brit hume, that he had seen some of what people had said in these op eds and that he did attempt, then, to come back and make it sound like he liked it a little better than he did a few days ago. maybe he is looking at the polls and looking at the writeups. >> you know what it is. abc did another poll. these people are busy and have a huge phone bill. 69% of the american people support this compromise even though the compromise is not a word john boehner will use. he uses common ground. he will not use the word compromise. >> sure. >> really? >> you look at the number of people that like the idea of the compromise but then you look at the president's own poll numbers and we talked a little bit about

the poll from yesterday, it is at the lowest stage of the president's presidency at 42% who approve of the job he's doing, 50% don't like it. so if you're sitting over there at 1600 pennsylvania avenue, you're thinking, we need that number to go bigger, right? >> many people won't think that will happen until the economy turns around. let's see what's coming up on the show. judge delivers a major blow to the president's health care law. that has him facing another uphill battle. if it fails, can he ever recover politically? peter johnson jr. explains next. >> dogs desperate for a home especially with christmas around the corner. here with ways you can help. our four legged friends.

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>> it is a major blow to president obama's health care overhaul. a federal judge in virginia has deemed major parts of the bill unconstitutional. surprisingly, the white house is not so concerned. >> challenges like this are nothing new in terms of laws that have come before the courts in the past in which -- in which our position has prevailed. we're 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. >> so will the health care law be repealed? fox news legal analyst peter johnson jr. joins us. good morning. >> the judge henry e. hudson agreed with something you've been saying for a while. it's unconstitutional. >> yeah, about year and a half or two years and this is a ringing proclamation here in america. and it gives hope to so many people, december 13, 2010, in the case of virginia against

sebilius, this supreme court judge says you've gone crazy with our constitution and you are exaggerating what the welfare clause of the constitution is, what necessary and proper is. what the commerce clause is. you cannot regulate according to this district judge inactivity and you cannot demand with a fine, a fine, not a tax that you buy insurance or that you buy an avocado or you buy a car or that you do anything because the government says you have to. >> in fact, i think iead somewhere on line yesterday that somebody asked nancy pelosi, where in the constitution does it require -- can the government compel you to buy something in this case, a health care -- she said something like are you kidding? are you kidding? >> well, that's not a response and what's -- >> this is a response. >> what the judge did in a 40 something page decision and i suggest that people go to the fox news web site and they

download it and they print it and they give it to their children and they give it to their civics class and they give it to folks at church on sunday at the synagogue on saturday. and they say this is the constitution. this is the living, breathing constitution. this is what the general welfare clause is. this is what it means to be unnecessary and improper and an infraction on our rights as americans. >> right. and one of the arguments that the congress used in building this thing, they said it falls under the commerce clause. >> right. >> that's something that our congress for a number of years has used as a catch all. any time we want to do something, let's say yeah, it falls under the commerce clause. >> well, what this judge did in a dispassionate, nonpolitical straightforward law based way was to say no. it doesn't fall under the commerce clause. and let's look at what he said in terms of the constitutionality here. he said the minimum essential coverage provision is neither within the letter or the spirit of the constitution.

therefore, the necessary and proper clause may not be employed to implement this affirmative duty to engage in private commerce. so what judge henry hudson is saying is the federal government is demanding of you, steve and me and our families and our friends to purchase a product which is called insurance. and to purchase it from certain people. >> what if i don't want it? >> that's what judge hudson is saying. he's saying the fact that you are dragging people into the stream of commerce does not give congress the ability to regulate such commerce if you had not been inclined to be in that stream of commerce to begin with. >> what about robert gibbs at the end of the sound bite said, you know, two other courts have both said that it is constitutional. >> this is in some way a spelling the political death knell of the president's hopes for a second term.

yesterday, i do believe so, because i believe in the end, this will be invalidated by the u.s. supreme court. there will be decisions going both ways. the circuits will have different decisions but judge hudson in simple, easy to understand language based on the constitution, based on the famous case with chief justice john marshall. he said this cannot stand. this is not within the ambit and the power of the united states government and what he also said, basically, is he uncovered this deception that somehow it was a tax. he said it's a fine. and he said point me to one area in american life, one area in american life where we've used a fine in this way. >> no kidding. >> you cannot use a fine for the general welfare and the fine is not a necessary and proper execution of the foregoing powers of the constitution. great opinion. people have to read this.

this is the dream of the tea party and this is the dream of a lot of lawyers and a lot of americans who say the constitution means something. >> all right. peter johnson, thanks for explaining it to us. >> good to see you. be well. >> all right, sir. straight ahead on this tuesday morning, gitmo detainees taking their case to the supreme court in hopes of getting sprung. what does america's mayor think about it? rudy giuliani joins us on the couch in 20 minutes. and don't get stuck in the middle with that spare tire around your belly. dr. travis stork says it's actually the easiest kind of fat to lose. he explains how straight ahead. come on in, doctor. you're making a couch call. ♪

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>> how about some news by the

numbers? so here they are. first, 2.6 billion dollars. that's how much money american airlines made from checked bag fees this year. that's a lot. the airline charges $25 for the first checked bag. second, $60,000. that's the buyout amount general motors is offering to 3,000 workers. g.m. says it has more skilled trade workers than it needs to run the factory. that's too bad. lastly, $83,000. that's how much one family in delaware will spend on electricity in one month because of their christmas lights display. are you kidding me? they have over a million lights. they say it's worth 83 k. >> that brings you into the spirit of christmas. wonderful. he's one of the country's most popular and recognizable doctors offering up medical advice every day to viewers in the hit show "the doctors." >> in his new book, the lean belly condition, he travels a life threatening condition that

gets ignored. belly fat is one of the most important determining factors in whether a patient will recover from injury or face a future with disease. the book offers us tips on trimming your midsection to save your life. dr. stork, welcome back. and the most encouraging thing about your book, i said belly fat is there, it's dangerous but the easiest to lose. how so? >> well, it's the beauty of it. so it's a book i wrote as an e.r. doctor. people want to lose weight. they want to look good in their swimsuits and their bikinis. in the end, belly fat is a predictor of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and many cancers. that's why it's up a big problem but belly fat, i call this the book, the world's easiest weight loss book. belly fat is easiest weight to lose. you don't have to give up the things you love. you said you were worried you had a latte this morning. >> there's milk in it but the book, basically the idea of this book is it works, it's easy and for everyone. i ask what are the foods you like?

if you love milk, for instance, i'm going to show you how to lose weight drinking milk. using dairy products. yogurt, things like that. if you love steaks you don't have to give that up. that's the problem with diets. >> yeah. diets don't work! >> i love this book because of that exact reason. you say go for the steak. it's the baked potato with all the toppings that could be problematic. go for the bacon, not the bagel. right? >> yes, because people don't realize you can still enjoy foods that are wholesome, that fill you up and a lot of times we go through our lives and think this is bad for me. i can't eat this. but the foods that satisfy us, they've got lean proteins, good fats, good carbs and that's why in the prescription, literally i tell people you could lose 10, 15 pounds in four, five weeks not giving up things you love. if you absolutely love to eat a steak, you can't give it up forever. you're going to end up going back to it and then some and put on more weight than where you started. >> what you're saying it's moderation and some mental

because being satisfied means something. >> being satisfied means everything. have you guys ever tried to go on a diet and -- >> daily. >> well, here's what's interesting. you go on a diet, you do lose weight. a lot very quickly but you're losing muscle mass and we talk about muscle mass. that's what gets your metabolism revving. when you go off the diet, you gain more weight from where you started. now it's fat. with this book, with this "prescription" what i wanted to show people is you can keep your muscle mass, burn off the belly fat, the dangerous belly fat. look good but more importantly, stay out of the e.r. because this causes so many problems for us. >> right. you don't want to, you know, you want to look good. i think that's most important. second, you want to stay out of the e.r. because you want to be hot in the summer. >> we don't want to see dr. stork in the e.r. >> he knows what he's doing. congratulations on all your success and this book, i know will be a big hit. thanks so much for joining us. >> i appreciate it, as always. >> coming up straight ahead as we move ahead, do you live in a house or apartment?

new study suggests that the decision can make a dramatic difference in your children's health. >> banks admitting they didn't check the paperwork and foreclosed on people by mistake. next on the rundown how homeowners in florida are now fighting back. >> plus beth stern wants you to help these dogs. hi, beth. she's desperate for a play -- they are desperate for a place to call home for christmas and she wants to move them. there she is. beth will be joining us live. [ male announcer ] let's take the holidays by the antlers...

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>> it's the shot of the morning and here it is. even santa's helpers have to get screened by tsa agents. >> what? >> larry dorian forced to kick off his boots at the akron canton airport in ohio and this santa's helper wasn't even flying anywhere. >> no, no. no. >> he was there to greet passengers. >> how could he get through? i thought you had to have a ticket to get through security. the ticket so the north pole is what you're telling me. always has one in his back pocket. >> right. so santa in trouble. fully patted down. >> i don't want to see santa go through the naked thing. >> right. >> well, you know what? some people think santa pads his belly. it might not be quite as bad as you think. >> not a bad idea. >> belly fat from our last segment. let's do a couple of headlines for the tuesday morning. team of f.b.i. agents heading to sweden new to investigate the homicide bombing in stockholm.

they want to figure out when and where the bomber was radicalized and if he had any accomplices. swedish officials say the bomber is definitely an iraqi born swedish national who lived in britain for a decade. the explosion killed him and injured two people. >> the 12-year-old girl who was kidnapped will be reunited with his father tonight. brittany may smith's dad says he can't wait to see his little girl. >> i thought that the happiest day of my life was when my daughter was born. tonight has taken the number one spot. >> i can understand, ben. meanwhile, the suspect, 32-year-old jeffrey scott easley under arrest. gretchen? >> t >> italian prime minister has

just survived a confidence vote in the senate. it's not over, though. another riskier vote follows in the lower house where a few swing lawmakers will consider his political faith. he broke out in parliament after a lawmaker broke ranks with her party and voted in favor of him. that kind of stuff happens overseas. not here. >> eye opening discovery. children who live in apartments have a 45% more tobacco in their blood than those who live in houses. >> wow. >> even if smokers in the house don't light up. that's because children in apartments are exposed to higher levels of smoke thanks to shared walls and ventilation systems. >> oh! >> secondhand smoke can seep into apartments and absorbed by carpet, furniture and even toys. in the 1970's, everybody smoked with the windows up in your cars. >> those were the days. >> hurdles we had to -- >> check what happened to hugh jackman, the actor. he was hurt during a stunt gone horribly wrong. check this out. he's on the zip line. the action hero tries to make a big difference to the oprah show in sydney, australia but he gets

his leg stuck and smashes a studio light and that sends glass flying into his face. you can see jackman holding the towel to his face and sipping a red wineglass at the same time. he got a nasty cut below his right eye. there you can see it when he was on the show. >> in rehearsal, he said if i break anything, just come with the wine. >> i'm not sure if the wine was going to be there or not. good point. his kids were reportedly in the audience when it happened. jackman is ok and he says he hit the brake too late. >> i'm sure it was a lovely sha rawed. >> yesterday, they had the repeat of oprah when they told everyone they were going to australia. pilot was john travolta. >> she's the only one that really understands me and she can't really her my questions. >> the think about john travolta, he's actually a licensed pilot for qantas. meanwhile, take a look at some weather. it's a big, big day for weather. you're looking at minneapolis that has been in the news a lot

today. that big storm has left 16 people dead, at least so far. temperatures there minus 6 degrees at this hour and folks, we know there are many feet of snow throughout the northern plains right through the great lake states as well. meanwhile, let's take a look. got a big pacific storm out west. what people want to know is what's happening in the eastern half of the united states. can't see much from this map. let's move on to the temperatures. and there she goes down low. as you can see, portions of minnesota, 20, 25 degrees below zero. that's not the wind chill. that is the air temperature. 6 at o'hare in chicago. 16 in cleveland. the ohio valley less than 20. about the same for raleigh. it's actually warmer in new york right now than it is in atlanta, georgia, where they have 15 degrees and it's freezing in tampa, florida. 32 degrees. hang on, tampa. later on today, you'll be up to 51. gulf coast will be a little warmer but bitterly cold in the

northern plains through the big northeastern corridor cities and down through dixieland. temperatures today just in the 30's. >> that's your fox travelcast. >> brrr, it's cold outside. >> well, across the nation, homeowners are suing to get their homes back after banks made mistakes in foreclosure paperwork. but the news is leaving some residents in very tough situation. orlando salinas has more for us from miami. good morning. >> good morning, gretchen. foreclosure lawyers say here in florida there are tens of thousands of folks who are already lining up who are ready to sue to get their house back. these folks admit they did fall behind on their payments but they're also saying, look, the courts did not follow the proper procedure. in many cases, they say they were never served and the law says that the bank, as you know, can take possession of a home but has to follow these specific steps. no ifs, ands or buts. what happens when a bank sells that foreclosed home to an innocent third party? here you go. >> almost two years ago, kevin

and gayle winters bought their 3700 square foot home in tampa in a foreclosure sale from bank of america. >> then he gets a notice in the mail that you may not have this home anymore? and a phone call from an attorney that says we might have you out of here by christmas? >> turns out the bank may have never had the right to foreclose on the previous owner in the first place. and now he's suing to get back this four bedroom four bath home. >> he should be able to get his house back. when you lose any lawsuit including a foreclosure suit without having been served, without having a chance to defend, it's like that final judgment never existed. >> who needs to think they're going to lose their house? i mean, nobody deserves that when they've done nothing wrong. >> lawyers say it's rare for courts to reverse a foreclosure after a home has been sold to an innocent third party. >> 2 1/2 years later, after making this house their home and spending thousands of dollars on it, they learned for the first

time that he can make that claim. >> and here in florida, there are close to half a million homes that are in some stage of foreclosure. as far as the winters are concerned, there is a judge that will take their case and their initial hearing, that's scheduled for sometime early next month and at that point, that judge could decide if the winters get to stay in their home. gretchen? >> all right. very important story, orly salinas, thank you very much from florida. let's check out what brian is doing. remember, you don't need another dog. others might. >> exactly. i have a bernese mountain dog that's bigger than me. paws for cause, you can give the gift of a pet rescue for christmas. beth stern is the best spokesperson ever in the history of animals from the north shore animal league in america over in port washington and brought with us some special friends including -- well, let's start with the dog you brought. beth, great to see you. >> great to see you. happy holidays, everyone. what a great time of year to adopt an animal!

>> ok. >> this is -- >> we have moezy and rosie. they are a double adoption. they were abandoned together. i got to say, these two are so attached, so we will not let them go without one without the other. they are completely house broken. and i got to say, the loveliest dogs that i've ever brought on this show. she's an old gal. she's a little younger and they're nice and clean and ready -- >> you just alienated 71 other dogs you brought on the show. >> i'm in love with these guys. >> this is -- i'll just do a little swap here. we have more dogs. >> yeah, that's my -- that's a house cat. >> really? >> that's a house cat. i knew that. >> actually, it's a he. this is ike and he came to us from -- we had a recent puppy mill rescue of over 60 dogs. they were in really sad condition. this is millie. she's a 3-year-old pug. >> is she growling? >> she growling? >> no, she's giving you lovely little warm hums. >> no. she's thrilled to be held. >> and these are purebreds and a lot of times we get purebreds

in from puppy mill rescues. these guys need a little extra love and what a wonderful time of year to give them that. >> i said this yesterday, too. don't you feel as though these dogs know that they'll be getting a second shot, they feel somewhat grateful. >> howard and i, my husband and i just adopted two cats from north shore animal league and every time they look at me, i'm sure they're smiling me. >> you married howard stern, you know that, right? >> do i know that? >> yeah. i'm saying that. >> i hope so! >> yeah. so -- and you made him a dog lover, correct? >> no, he was a dog lover before. i think that's why i fell in love with him. he shares the passion. we have emelia here, she's' puppy. look at her tongue. it stays out all the time. she's a puppy and she came to us from the puppy mill rescue as well. she's just a doll. look at this. can you imagine? she's like a stuffed animal. >> the thing is a lot of people say i want a dog but don't want to have to train these dogs. these dogs are ready to go.

>> these dogs are ready to go. some of the puppy mill rescues need a little extra training. you get a trainer in there and become closer for it. >> you have good news for your family, too. howard decided to stay on board at sirius. he's employed for five more years. >> he's employed. we're safe for the next five years. >> good. >> good thing. >> i have my mornings free for the next five years. >> you can do whatever you want and probably work out and save some animals. so go to foxandfriends.com and find out more about how to get these dogs. you have an unbelievable record of getting dogs homes especially during the holidays. i think it will be 5-5. meanwhile, tomorrow, on paws for a cause, we continue our series another shelter organization will be here with more adorable dogs that need your help and you can make a difference. beth, always great to see you. have a great holiday. thank you, north shore animal league for coming down and steve and gretch, take it away. >> you know what? i think we may have gotten one of those dogs adopted. >> get out of here!

>> mr. mayor, rudy giuliani loves the guy right over there. >> that little beagle one. >> beagle one over there. >> there you go. >> we got to bring his partner, though. >> two for -- >> he comes with another one. >> there you go. >> oh, my goodness. look at this one. >> be careful, this town has some significant pooper scooper laws thanks to somebody. >> i know. i'll get arrested. look at -- >> oh. i've never seen such a bond. >> he liked him because he was chubby. i love that. >> yeah. yeah. >> you even have dogs on your tie. >> i do have dogs on my tie. see my dogs n? not as nice. the president cut a deal to get the bush era tax cuts extended. rudy will talk about that. >> get this. he's one of the best gift wrapers in the country. i need her help. she's going to put steve and brian luckily to the ultimate test. that's coming up next. >> paper. paper. papers please. >> we've got a flood. hits the road, the nose the angels start second guessing where they tread.

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>> welcome back. the tax cut compromise cleared its first hurdle in the senate getting more than enough votes needed to move forward and setting the stage now for a vote on final passage later this week. >> i'm pleased to announce at this hour the united states senate is moving forward on a package of tax cuts that has strong bipartisan support. this proves that both parties can, in fact, work together to grow our economy and look out for the american people. >> all right. is this proof of bipartisanship on capitol hill? we're back with former mayor of new york city, 2008 g.o.p. presidential candidate and knows a thing or two about washington, d.c., rudy giuliani. welcome back. >> thank you very much. >> were you surprised yesterday that they got the majority in the test vote or were you more surprised the week before when president obama came out and said i cut a deal reluctantly? >> i was surprised and i was

really glad for the country when he did. this is what's been missing. it's the first one meaning real bipartisan cooperation. this is a classic deal where he has to give up a lot. he has to extend tax cuts and he's been behind all his political career. republicans have to accept a couple of things in there that republicans might not like. that's the way you get business done in government. now, whether he continues it or not, i don't know. it was shocking to me that so many of the liberals in his party walked out on him. >> sure. >> just walked out. >> they're still that way. now the senate has passed and it goes to the house. they could amend it and it could get real dicey. >> they try to change the deal materially, the republicans will walk out. this is a very intricate deal. it's like shaking hands where you had to give up something, i had to give up something, we both put our reputations on the line and somebody else wants to take something away from you that you negotiated for. >> who wound up with the better deal? >> the american people got the better deal. i think the republicans ended up

with the better deal because the tax cuts are critical. you need those tax cuts. democrats have been opposed to them just about from the time that bush passed them. i think that the -- it would be -- it would be better if we were paying for it. it would be better if we were cutting spending. >> sure, why not? >> paying for the -- >> use the extra stimulus money. >> that would be a better solution. but that wouldn't be a compromise. that would be an all republican deal. >> do you think congress might cut spending after january when the house is controlled by the republicans? >> yeah. i think the deal is worth doing because the tax cuts, we think we're going to get them in the next congress but the president doesn't have to sign them. i mean, the minute the deal changes, he's free to -- if his deal doesn't happen, republicans are free to do what they want and he's free to do what to do what he wants. if you don't get the tax cuts, republican congress may pass them but he may decide he's going to veto them. let's get the tax cuts and do the repair next year and do the cutting and spending.

>> right now, they're looking to move legislation through that would prevent any gitmo detainees, there's 174 left from ever being tried on u.s. soil. >> that would be a great idea to prevent the president -- it would really solve his problems for him. this is like bipartisan cooperation in a different level. he made a promise he can't keep which is to close gitmo. he was supposed to close it last january. >> it was his first executive order. >> he was going to -- then he promised to close it on january 2010. well, coming up to january 2011, it's still open. they can't get rid of it. >> how bad does holder look? remember, he said, what, about a year ago, yeah, i'm really close to a decision on where to try those things. fast forward to today, what's going on? >> the one that really gets me is khali shaikh mohammed. it's over a year ago they decided to try khali shaikh mohammed in new york city. >> his trial was on track and he admitted to it. a year ago. >> they haven't come out and said it's not going to be in new york definitively. >> it's an absurd decision and

dangerous decision and the mayor and police department says it's going to cost $3 million a year. it makes no sense and can't get decided. that's a sign of real lack of leadership when you can't make a decision like this. >> if he keeps letting him go and both administrations at a clip of at least 30%, they go back to committing terrorist acts, even more trained and more angry than they were before. >> i think maybe congress should add something to the law and also say that khali shaikh mohammed, there is a great place to try him. there's a nice courthouse that has air conditioning called guantanamo. it's ridiculous not to try him -- >> do you think congress did that action because of the other trial that happened in the last month where out all of those dozens of possible convictions there was only one conviction. >> yes, i think that helped get the extra votes and the impetus to get it done. i think that was a decision that a majority of congress had come to a year ago. it makes no sense to try these people in civilian courts in the united states of america. >> people want to know whether or not you're going to take the

dog, you know, you look like you wanted the dog. you want to take the dog with you home? >> you better not. i better check with my wife first. >> you got to get -- >> it comes in twos. >> but i'm going to think about getting it. >> all right, mayor, we want you to watch the next segment. you mentioned your wife. you'll be buying her some christmas gifts. you want to find out how to wrap them fast? >> yeah. >> gift wrapers in america here next to put steve and brian to the test. i think i'm going to be judging it thankfully, mayor. >> first on this day in history, number one song in 1989 "we didn't start the fire" by billy joel who is also from new york. 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?

>> if you're like me, you love

gift giving. whether it takes too long, it's easy for your cool gift to unravel into a big mess. luckily we have you covered today. she is this year's scotch brand most gifted wrapper. >> wow! >> and mark was a judge at the contest. they both know what they're doing. good morning. >> good morning. thanks for having us. >> you're going to throw out some tips to help us. we can't win a championship like you but we want to try. >> a lot of times people cut too much paper. i give you a little wiggle room on this side here, use the box that you're wrapping and straight edge right there and then using the scotch paper cutter, gives you a straight line. >> love that thing. >> when you don't hit the -- >> napkin -- i mean, coupons out of the newspaper, it's great for you and kids, too. maria anglo who won the contest, this is round two. she had to wrap this grill. >> what did you do here for us? >> basically when you have an odd shaped item, best thing to

do is be creative with it so what i did here is gave the g l grill a little personality and put a nice apron on it. personalize it with some scotch paper and there you go. >> now, i'm going to give the guys 45 seconds and we're going to see between steve and brian if they wrap these skates. >> roller skates. >> who does a better job? >> can we have 45 seconds on the clock? ok, i'll say it right now. go! >> so clearly, we bought the display item which means we get no box. >> exactly. right? >> something right now. oh! >> you never have to look for that -- >> you're right. >> what are you doing down there? >> i'm kind of going with the -- >> you are making me crazy. >> there's not that much room here. >> how are they doing? >> they're doing ok. >> you know what? i got a bow and you got 11

seconds. >> all right. 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one! >> come on. >> ok. >> i have to -- you've got -- >> honey, i got a righty one. >> look at that beautiful hat. >> she wins. >> one last tip. >> go ahead. >> brian, your skate did come out. and -- >> right. >> what you can always do. >> good job. we got to go. >> that was fun. >> more after this. mmmm. you don't love me anymore do you billy? what? i didn't buy this cereal to sweet talk your taste buds it's for my heart health. so i can't have any? if you can deprive me of what can help lower my cholesterol... and live with yourself. right. mmm, i worry about your mother.

cry herself to sleep every night over my arteries, but have yourself a bowl. good speech dad. [ whimper ] [ male announcer ] honey nut cheerios tastes great and its whole grain oats can help lower cholesterol. bee happy. bee healthy. 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

>> gretchen: good morning, everyone. today is tuesday, december 14, 2010. thank you for sharing your time with us today. obamacare crippled. a judge says it's unconstitutional and most americans don't want it. laura ingraham with what the president should do now. >> steve: have you heard this? the first lady with the threat you may not have known about. >> childhood obesity isn't just

a public health issue. they tell us that it is not just an economic threat, it is a national security threat as well. >> steve: are large children really a national security threat? we're going to report and you decide. >> brian: okay, i'll do that at brake. it's a holiday speech in history. >> happy festivus. it's a festival. it's your heritage, george. it's part of who you are. >> brian: now your tax dollars used to help a convicted drug dealer celebrate festivus behind bars. that as "fox & friends" starts right now. >> steve: welcome to studio e in the heart of midtown manhattan where moments ago i realized i'm still wearing the scotch tape

dispenser. >> gretchen: keep it. now you can wrap some gifts. >> brian: i wouldn't be surprised if it's a daily thing where people think why search for the scotch tape. >> steve: it looks like a star trek telecommunicator or something the x man would have. i'm a crime fighter this hour. >> gretchen: we're going to do severe weather for you right now. freezing temperatures planning the country as far south as miami temperatures. the temperatures there, low 20s. can you believe it? fruit and vegetable farmers concerned that the blast of arctic air is going to destroy their citrus crop. then we head to the midwest a. blizzard killed some people, over 100 drivers trapped on the road and triggering dozens of accidents. fox news alert, new video coming in of wikileaks founder julian assange arriving at a london courthouse. he's going to go before a magistrate and ask for bail and

try to prevent his extradition to sweden to fight sex crimes charges. earlier he broke his silence with a phone call to his mother. his mother says he's more determined than ever to fight the charges and to keep wikileaks going. republican national committee chair michael steele not giving up his post without a fight. announcing he will run for reelection. he has come under fire for his financial management of the party, but steele insists he can get the job done. >> my style is a little bit different than most chairmen. my are more grassroots. the party needs to get outside its comfort zone. >> gretchen: steele now one of six candidates in the running. president obama consoled richard holbrook's family shortly after he passed away yesterday. he asked for a moment of silence while praising him for his service to the country. the white house announced his post will be filled now by

deputy frank rugiero and still report a release on the progress of the war in afghanistan, that was scheduled to be this week. that's what holbrook was working on before he suddenly passed away. >> steve: we're reportedly, we were talk being this, his final words? >> brian: end the war in afghanistan. that according to the huffington post. >> gretchen: let's bring in laura ingraham to see what her thoughts are regarding the federal judge now in virginia who has said that at least part of the new health care law is unconstitutional. what do you make of it? >> it's been early christmas present for the tea party folks because they've been waiting because other court decisions have come out and have not been so favorable to those who are opposing the law. obviously the michigan case is one of them. what's interesting about this is that the attorney general of virginia decided not to join the multi state opposition to obamacare and just went on his own and did it. people thought oh, the attorney general is a big maverick.

turns out that they filed really great briefs in this case and judge hudson agreed with their point that this is a really ridiculous expansion and unprecedented expansion of the application of the commerce clause in the u.s. constitution and that this type of mandate really is not permitted under the constitution and it's succeeding constitutional powers that are clearly enumerated. we'll see. this is obviously going to go to the. so i hope they bypass the 4th circuit court of appeals because that will take another couple years and i hope they make it a quick deal. >> brian: i guess it's a race to 2014. here is the virginia attorney general. >> one of the boiled down points of this case was looking at the commerce clause case law that exists, focusing on economic activity and that word, activity, was very important in this case because what the federal government is trying to regulate is your decision not to

do something, not to buy health insurance. >> steve: meanwhile, on the other side is eric holder in an op ed today, he writes, all of us need health care eventually. do we pay in advance by getting insurance or do we try to pay later when we need medical care? >> brian: that's the issue. >> steve: that's part of their argument about how -- and when you use the commerce clause, that's the argument. >> understand this, the commerce clause to the left, has been godsend because it's been stretched and pulled like a piece of silly putty, to mean whatever any liberal at any given time wants it to mean. so congress has been able to regulate more and more and more of our activity. this has been a big debate in legal circles for decades now and some justices like my old boss, clarence thomas, have been really aggressive in saying, whoa. this is too much.

and in this case, cup nellly pointed out that this is inactivity. this is an individual says, wait. i just want to pay out of pocket, or i'm going to take my chances. the government may think this is good policy, but it still has to be constitutional. >> gretchen: we have to move to the new topic. because you have that experience with the supreme court, if it went to the supreme court today, what would happen? >> well, if i had to bet, i think it would be a 5-4 decision. i think the opponents would win. >> steve: this guy who made the decision yesterday, this isn't a political impeachment i know people are saying, well, he was appointed by george w. bush and the other two judges won in virginia and one in michigan were appointed by democrats. s that a political decision? >> i mean, they're saying, well, he had stock, that he disclosed that was part of a campaign solutions group that was against the law -- i mean, this is always thrown out. any time a ruling comes down that people don't like, and i understand people making that argument, i don't think there is

any indication here that judge hudson was doing anything he shouldn't have been doing. by the way, elena kagan, the question is whether she will have to recuse herself. so it could be a 4-4 decision, meaning the law would stand. >> steve: will joe biden come in and vote on it? >> let's hope not. he's still trying to track the stimulus money. >> brian: it's going well. it's all gone. let's talk about what the first lady is doing. she has a worthy cause, focusing on obesity in kids. maybe she went too far when she said obesity with children is becoming a national security threat. let's listen. >> military leaders who tell us that when more than one in four young people are unqualified for military service because of their weight, they tell us that childhood obesity isn't just a public health issue. they tell us that it is not just

an economic threat. it is a national security threat as well. >> steve: oh, boy. governor sarah palin regards this as the nanny state run amuck. what that was, was we just saw the signing of that thing that has the federal government now control everything kids eat. >> $4.5 billion. $4.5 billion for the antiobesity childhood nutrition initiative, which essentially will give the federal government even more power over decisions we make. i guess that's called tftf, too fat too fight. that's what michelle obama was talking about. i blew the lid off this in the obama diaries and i don't want to pat myself on the back, but this has been a clear -- someone has to. this has been a clear pass that the first lady struck out on from the garden planting to yesterday's signing. she's clearly in the policy ary in a and i think her ideas should be more opposed by republicans who i think are frankly cowed by the first lady

because her celebrity and glamour. you don't hear enough republicans talk being this. >> steve: mike huckabee thinks this is a good idea. >> i know he's wrong. he's wrong about this, with all due respect. i had him on my show recently and i think i told him that. with all due respect to the governor, this is not the federal government's promise. the federal government needs to get out of the way so business can create jobs and stop mucking around in individual family decisions. sarah palin is exactly right on this. >> brian: hey, kids, put down the x box. it's cheaper. >> it's fine to do this as a charitable endeavor and as a public advocate, but $4.5 billion to regulate vending machines and to try to put a salad bar in schools, i mean, really. is that the national priority right now, arugula for everyone? i don't think so. >> gretchen: let's talk a little about president obama and whether or not he is making a mistake to continually make the point that he's unhappy with certain aspects of this

compromise tax deal that he made. now, i do have to say that when he came out originally and called republicans hostage takers, but he seemed to change his tune after he read a couple op ed pieces. this is what he said yesterday. >> i recognize that folks on both sides of the political spectrum are unhappy with certain parts of the package and i understand those concerns. i share some of them. but that's the nature of compromise. sacrificing something that each of us cares about to move forward on what matters to all of us. right now that's growing the economy and creating jobs. >> gretchen: that seems down the middle, isn't it, laura? >> yeah. look, bill clinton comes out -- actually is that press conference still going on? still happening. but bill clinton comes out and says this is a good deal, right, and then the polls are showing, including today's new poll, showing 65 to 70% of the country thinks it's a pretty good deal. so for the president to earlier come out and say, oh, this is hostage taking.

i didn't want to do this. this is not something i want to do, it kind of kills the tri angulation benefit. i think he sees that now. i think that's a little a razzle dasle and not all that much substance. >> brian: people misinterpreted the hostage taking reference as a negative thing. brit hume offered us this analysis. >> the president, though, does need to learn a little bit more about how to go about this dance we call triangulation when the president, facing a partly hostile congress, and a skeptical electorate and potentially restive base places himself where he's not quite with one and not another is called triangulation and that's what bill clinton did. if he's going to do it, he needs to do it in such a way that when he reaches a deal with the other party, that he seems to like it,

to believe in it and be gracious about it. >> gretchen: he seemed to do that a week later. laura, stick around. democrats are using the dream act to propose amnesty for certain illegal immigrants but the gop getting ready to release a dream act of its own. we'll let you know what's inside that. >> steve: stand by for that, laura. then guy inside that suv you're about to see right there literally hanging on for life. but a nine-year-old boy saves his life. you got to hear this one to believe it.

>> steve: quick headlines for you on this tuesday. today engineers will examine the metrodome's roof to determine if repairs can be finished before the vikings' next home game. the officials expect to know this afternoon. what were they thinking? rahm emanuel testifying to determine if he's eligible to run for mayor of chicago.

opponents say he does not meet residency requirements because he lived in washington, d.c. last year. you need to live in chicago. >> gretchen: laura ingraham is back. so there is a lot of talk in the last month about whether or not the democrats in the lame duck session would push through the dream act which would give young illegals the ability to become legal if they went into the military or went to college. now the republicans are going to resurrect this idea. they have their own version of the dream act. what is it? >> oh, this is so good. robert bennett, the outgoing senator from utah, obviously he's probably a little bitter about what happened to him and his whole hill primary fight. but he gave an interview and said, look, i've had these discussions privately with republicans and they want to do this and it could happen in the coming year. he didn't give a lot of details, but this shouldn't really come as much of a surprise to all of us who have been tracking this immigration amnesty push. remember it was orrin hatch in

2002 who originally conceived of the so-called dream act. and it's not just young people, gretchen. as you know, one version of the bill was 35 years of age and younger. then i think it went down to 28 and maybe 27 years of age. so people think oh, young people going to college, isn't it great? it obviously is an amnesty for 2.1 million people and the bars are pretty easy to meet. so republicans, if they push this through, look for a major revolt within the party. obviously the tea party movement against the old elite guard. a lot of the old bush folks were for amnesty, comprehensive reform and it will open that old wound up again. i think it's a huge mistake for republicans. we'll have this fight once again. >> brian: how much was brought up during the tax compromise of the stark treaty suddenly has republican support and now the dream act. i'm wondering if that came up during those closed door meetings. >> i'm sure it did. look, again, republicans have to

be very careful. they start getting cocky with their newfound power and hard won victories, start getting cocky, forgetting why they were sent to washington, they're going to be in the same minority status that they were trapped in since 2006. so they got to be very careful here. again, this fight was brutal back in 2005 and 2006 when the bush administration pushed comprehensive reform. this is the next step to full amnesty. this is the first step on the road to full amnesty and i say get latinos into the republican party by being really smart on economics and on the pro-life issue and all these great cultural issues that conservatives and latinos agree on and drop this amnesty thing. we don't have the money and the jobs for it. i'm looking forward to this fight if we have to have it again because i think we're on the winning side. >> steve: it's always a pleasure. >> merry christmas, you guys. >> steve: merry christmas to you.

he won the nobel peace prize for staying strong and fighting for freedom no matter the cost. holocaust survivor and human rights activist joins us live next. >> gretchen: then moments away from the big announcement. the nominees for this year's golden globe awards about to be announced.

>> gretchen: captured in prison and fighter for freedom, he survived the holocaust, but his mother, sister and father did not. that loss would break most people. but he we want -- went on to become a fighter for justice. joining me new, nobel peace prize winner, elie. good morning. >> good morning. >> gretchen: i know that you want us to be thinking during

this christmas and hanukkah and holiday season about those who are imprisoned right now who are fighting for justice starting with an israeli soldier. >> he was kidnapped and kept who knows where by the hamas and hezbollah terrorists for four years. you think of his family, literally there isn't a day or hour that people aren't thinking of him. but the red cross hasn't even been allowed to see him, which is so unheard of. >> gretchen: you think he's still alive because? >> i hope he's still alive. i think he's alive because they would -- they don't have any way in the world, but a bargaining chip. they want 1,000 of their own

prisoners. >> gretchen: you were a nobel peace prize winner, the 2010 winner, they had an empty chair for him. he's in prison. >> that is so stupid, really. the chinese are stupid. instead of actually organizing a huge celebration for him, they are stupid. just as they are stupid with the dalai lama. i say, it's silly. it's a small, small place tibet. why don't you let them live in peace? i don't know why they are doing that. >> gretchen: another unbelieve an case is the woman in prisoned in arab -- we've covered this story extensively -- apparently they're accusing her of adultery and she was supposed to be

stoned to death. recently they decided to lift that sentence and maybe charge her with the murder of her husband. what's going to happen here? >> she has already been whiplashed. look, the attitude of woman in some countries, of course is deplorable and there again, if we are not here to raise our voice for them, then who will? >> gretchen: besides fighting for peace for most of your life, you're also a prolific writer. we were discussing before the commercial, you've written almost 60 books. your latest one is "the thunder bird case." it's about a theater critic? >> it is. but the main problem is in germany. i teach, i've been teaching for 40 years, boston university. occasionally i have students from germany and when they come, they feel so guilty and they shouldn't. therefore, they are being

surrounded in my class with such sympathy, with such tenderness, it warms my heart. but the real conflict is them, between the young german today who is innocent and feels guilty and his grandparents who are actually guilty and that is the real country, the real story is that story in this novel. >> gretchen: how do you come up with all of the ideas for your book? >> nobody knows. i don't even know. i get up and i write. i write every day. and again, seeing one of my students in class, a german student, that's hard to feel his pain, his anguish, that's how the idea came. >> gretchen: it's a pleasure to speak with you and we thank you so much for stopping by our show today. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> gretchen: what an honor to meet you. let's go over to steve and brian. >> steve: thanks so much. >> brian: the man inside this suv you're about to see hanging

on for life until a nine-year-old boy took notice and saved his life. it's the story you've got to hear. >> steve: we're about to hear the nominees for this year's golden globe awards, right there as you can see, the podium at the beverly hills hotel. we've got details straight ahead. >> brian: she's made you laugh for years on "saturday night live." molly shannon standing by live to join us on the curvy couch. >> steve: she's a superstar!

>> white house press secretary robert gibbs was asked if president obama is still smoking and you know, they always try to get around. here is brian williams with the story. you be the judge. >> a reporter asked the press secretary at the white house if the president has, in fact, been able to fully quit. >> i have not seen or witnessed evidence of him smoking in probably nine months. >> steve: jay guy is good. >> brian: 28 minutes before the top of the hour. much more show to go. >> steve: speaking of the white house, the white house is keeping a close watch on capitol hill where the tax cut compromise has cleared a key hurdle in the senate yesterday.

the sailing might not be so smooth over in the house. wendell goler is live at the white house with a look at the bumpy ride ahead. good morning to you. >> steve, the ease with which the tax cut bill cleared that first hurdle in the senate, the 60 vote requirement to end debate has given the folks here at the white house a lot more confidence about its prospects in the house. even though republicans and democrats both have complaints about the bill, it passed that cloture vote. illinois democratic senator dick durbin says that vastly improves its prospects for passing the senate, perhaps as early as today and making it on through the house. mr. obama acknowledged after the vote yesterday that nobody is completely happy with it, but he said the lop sided vote proves that the two parties can work together. >> i recognize that folks on both sides of the political spectrum are unhappy with certain parts of the package and i understand those concerns. i share some of them.

but that's the nature of compromise. sacrificing something that each of us cares about to move forward on what matters to all of us. right now that's growing the economy and creating jobs. >> aides say he told a number of senators lining up support before yesterday's vote, he can now turn his attention to the house where the vote is likely to be much closer. democrats in the house are going to try and adjust the estate tax cut, but maryland congressman chris houston holland says they won't try and block the bill. nobody wants to be responsible for giving the middle class a tax increase for christmas. guy, back to you. >> steve: no kidding. wendell goler with a preview of coming attractions. >> brian: at least five republicans say noi'm not going to do it and some conservative folks like rush limbaugh totally against it. now the rest of the headlines. team of f.b.i. agents heading to sweden to investigate the bombing in stockholm. they want to figure out where the bomber was radicalized and

if he had any accomplices. officials sate bomber is definitely an iraqi born swedish national who lived in sweden for a decade. the explosion killed him and injured two other people. it could have been a lot worse. evidently he wanted to go where there was a group of people. >> gretchen: she was kidnapped and her mother was murdered. a 12-year-old girl will be reunited with her father. her dad was very excited to see his little girl. >> i thought that the happiest day of my life was when my daughter was born. tonight has taken the number one spot. >> gretchen: the suspect, 32-year-old jeffrey scott esaley now under arrest. >> steve: bernie madoff will not be going to the funeral of his son, mark, who took his own

life. his lawyer says bernie will not attend the service out of consideration for his daughter-in-law and grandchildren. he will instead, he says, by his attorney, hold his own private service behind bars. >> gretchen: a nine-year-old boy being hailed a hero for helping a driver hanging off a cliff, trapped in his suv. look at this photo. it happened in north carolina. adam peterson thought he saw the truck dangling and told his dad to pull over. his dad kept driving, but adam kept bugging him and finally got his dad to turn the car around. that's when they saw the driver pop his head out of the mangled wreck. they called 911 and utility workers pulled the driver out. the boy's family was heading out to get a christmas tree and say this is one they'll never forget. >> brian: i would say so. all right. she's best known for her hilarious skits on snl. >> can we have some attention, please, for mary katherine --

>> gallagher. >> come out here. >> okay. >> do you want to audition or what? >> yes. sometimes when i get nervous, i stick my hand under my arms and i smell my fingers like that. >> gretchen: molly shannon, also taking her tale to broadway. she's in the show "promises promises" and joins us now. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> gretchen: you're always trying something new. this is your first time on broadway. >> yes. i'm having so much fun. it's a blast. but it's definitely like we do eight shows a weeknight after night. it's very athletic. you really have to keep yourself healthy and watch your voice and not talk too much, which is hard for me. >> brian: does chenowith get on your nerves? >> she's seriously, my dear friend and one of the nicest women in show business. >> steve: in this particular -- >> she's the greatest. she's a broadway --

>> steve: she is broadway. >> she's given me so many tips. she's unbelievable. >> steve: in the show, you play a drunk. >> yes. i play a drunk. >> steve: are you a method actor? >> somebody else asked me that. no, but i don't know why, i have played a lot of drunks. >> steve: how do you go from this actor right here to somebody who may have had a couple? >> i actually, when i was growing up, my dad raised my sister and i alone. there was a woman that he picked up at a bar one night and my -- i was listening and it was like 4:00 o'clock in the morning. she had a big snow hat on and they were like drunk talking and she said, you going to take me out on new year's? she's what i base it on. >> gretchen: you did play a drunk on "saturday night live?" >> i did. >> gretchen: sally? >> oh, she wasn't a drunk. >> brian: maybe it was me watching her.

>> gretchen: that's breaking news, to find out she wasn't drunk. >> no. >> steve: you also played a superstar. >> gretchen: and during part of your life, you have to be serious because you've a mom with two kids. >> i have my son who is five and my daughter is seven. i love being a mom. >> gretchen: i loved the story of how that secret little compartment area to watch your show on broadway. >> yes, there's a seat off my dressing room because my kids can come in and watch the show and can kind of go back and forth, drinking tea and eating chicken while watching the show. it's adorable. >> brian: what is it like -- snl, this must be a walk in the park compared to snl because you know the script. >> steve: doesn't change. >> that is true. 'cause with snl, we had to, week after week, write ourselves into the show. at least this you know what your part is. but this is harder in a different way because you have every night, you have to do it. snl we would work very hard for two weeks and then have time off. but snl is harder.

>> steve: luckily these days, centrum have a woman's vitamin for women who do everything. you brought some holiday tips today on how to keep the energy up. first you say, keep portion size reasonable. are you kidding? >> you know, yeah. i always think -- you can overdo it a little bit, but don't be too hard on yourself. i'm happy to be doing this partnering with centrum because we're looking for america's most energized woman. people can go to this web site and nominate someone that they might think would be good. you write a little 300 words and it's basically just about staying healthy, keeping your energy up and as a busy mother working, two little kids, i think women can get run down. >> gretchen: they don't necessarily have time to work out. so your second tip is, turn an activity into a game like setting the table, baking cookies, even cleaning up. right? >> exactly.

that's what i do with my kids. you make it kind of fun. >> brian: give a reward, a prize and have pedestals where there is first place, second place and third place. i have three kids. 14, 9 and 7. >> you're busy. >> brian: they're pretty much on their own. >> you need some vitamins. >> steve: squeeze in exercise, you tried to -- >> i'm a runner. >> steve: really? >> i run 20 minutes a day. i did it more because die have a lot of energy. so it calms me down. if i don't have 20 hip, i'll run for 12 minutes or 13 minutes or 15 minutes just to get my heart rate up. >> gretchen: it's a good thing. it's kind of a single minded thing where you can get rid of a lot of stress. >> yeah. and it helps me sleep better. >> gretchen: those are your tips. we're looking for the most energized woman in the world. you can go to our web site to find the link to the web site. >> steve: molly shannon, i'd shake your hands but i saw your

clip a while ago. >> gretchen: good to see you. >> steve: merry christmas. >> gretchen: nativity scene under attack by those who say it violates separation between church and state. we'll talk to a resident next. >> brian: daytime star mark consuelos and geraldo rivera teaming up for a pajama party. hear here to explain. >> gretchen: get the jammies on!

>> gretchen: 45 minutes after the top of the hour. looking at video now out of cleveland, ohio. snow, wind and brutally cold temperatures making life miserable on lake erie. government officials staggered work release times so roads

wouldn't become congested. it feels like miami news 2 with the windchills in some parts at this hour. and trying to squeeze a few more dollars out of passengers. continental airline adding a fare lock fee. you can hold a seat and book it weeks later for 9 bucks. until now, you could hold it for 24 hours. >> steve: thanks. this indiana nativity scene is under attack by a wisconsin group that claims that the scene violates the separation of church and state. and makes nonchristians feel like outsiders. and they are demanding the scene in front of the county courthouse be taken down this year. but brookfield residents aren't about to let it go without a fight. hundreds attended a rally in support of the nativity scene which has been on display for 50 years. joining us is brookfield, indiana resident and business owner, kevin priestman. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. how are you? >> steve: i'm doing okay. i know you and a number of other

people there in your town are upset that this organization from wisconsin has come to indiana and told you to get rid of your nativity scene. >> yeah. the town has been in somewhat of an uproar because we're a small rural town outside of cincinnati, but we're in indiana and the nativity scene has been in existence for at least 50 years or as long as a lot of the older townspeople can remember. someone from wisconsin all of a sudden tells us how to run our lives. >> steve: and as we look at the picture, i understand that they've used these same ornaments for this nativity scene for many, many years and generation after generation come back to the courthouse to remember what it was like there in that town when they were growing up. you feel that this organization has an agenda and your little town is part of that agenda. right? >> yes. i'm not speaking for the whole community. i'm not a spokesperson for us, but i feel 99% of the people

agree with my values on this. franklin county and brookfield was founded on christian values and now we've got an atheist group coming from not only out of town or the state, but they're coming in and trying to inflict their beliefs upon us, or lack of beliefs upon us. >> steve: we've got a statement from the freedom from religion foundation. they say if this was on private property, fine. but when this is in a government setting with a flag pole, it seems to be tying being a good american citizen with being a christian and that is making outsiders of nonchristians in your community. what do you say about that, kevin? >> the people in franklin county are the ones that voted in our commissioners and they are the ones that are actually paying for the courthouse. so the courthouse, the courthouse lawn, all belongs to the people of franklin county. and i'm sure there are one two people that live in the county that don't like it there, but the majority, 99% or more, do like it there. so i don't know why we should cave in to what a very vast

minority wants. >> steve: i understand you're going to fight as well. kevin priestman, we thank you so much for joining us to tell your story from cincinnati today. >> thank you. >> steve: daytime star mark consuelos and geraldo rivera teaming up for a pajama party? oh, oh they'll be live in the studio in a moment to explain. right now let's check in with bill hemmer for a preview of what happens in 12 minutes. >> hello. this deadly storm has killed at least 16. it's not even winter yet. full coverage on that. the man who brought the health care challenge and won will tell us what he thinks will happen at the u.s. supreme court. virginia's attorney general is our guest on that today. we're also waiting a critical vote on the senate and taxes today and steve forbes has grand old ideas in government spending. that will be good. martha and i will join you in

ten minutes on america's news room. see you then.

>> gretchen: golden globe announcements wrapped up. here is a look at some of the highlights. "king speech" leads. other best tradition menominees are "black swan," "the fighter ." nominees for best picture are "alice and wonderland", burlesque ." there is a sneak peek behind the scenes. >> brian: roughly 15,000 kids are diagnosed with diabetes each year as we take a hard turn in

the u.s. and christmas you can give the gift. -- this christmas you can give the gift that keeps on giving and beat the long lines at the stores. pj for the cure donating all their profits to the juvenile diabetes and offering a free delivery on all purchases. with us right now, two very important people who are friends, mark consuelos and anchor, geraldo rivera, both here for a great cause. pj's for the cure. welcome, guy. >> thank you for having us. >> brian: when did you realize you had a connection here? >> unfortunately, we both have a connection to diabetes. my father has it, your father has it. >> my dad did. and it came on so late in life in both our situations. then we have our pal that owns this pajama company and his wife came down with juvenile diabetes also in her 40s. they got this great program where they give 100% of all the proceeds, not just the profit, but all the proceeds to the

cause. >> i wore these pajamas last night. >> i wasn't there. >> you're lucky that i'm actually here 'cause they're so comfortable. >> gretchen: we were hoping you were gog leave them on. >> this is a great way to beat the chaos of shopping. go to pjs for the cause.org. >> brian: you brought some great models with you. >> steve: we got some boys and girls and a lady over there. >> come on. let's see you model them. there you go. >> gretchen: sam and louis. >> brian: i like the dinosaurs. they go for every kid. >> steve: 100% cotten and very reasonably priced and not only do the kids get to benefit from the wonderful cuddliness of it, but it all goes for a great cause. >> steve: and the prices are for women, 40 bucks, for girls, 25, same as boys. and free shipping. geraldo, i don't know mark very well, but i'm glad to hear that he wears pajamas.

i don't think i knew him as someone who wears pajamas. >> i've always gone to bed naked, but now you know -- >> brian: it's a great cause. >> the problem is now i keep them by the side of the bed because the children at some point are always coming in. i got to put my hants on and there you go. >> gretchen: why don't you put them on before you go to bed? >> brian: it's geraldo rivera. >> i go to bed with great expectations. [ laughter ] >> brian: we got footage of that tell us what kelly ripa sleeps in. >> gretchen: i'm sticking around for that. right back.

>> brian: we asked this question, what does kelly ripa sleep in?