but geithner said no, as you know obama can't get anything passed. jenna: that has to be a painful process. jon: how was shopping. jenna: i got it all done. jon: you got it allone. jenna: you have to get out of the house by yourself, every mother knows that. jon: you had your list. jenna: i hit the mall, i didn't hit them all. we are getting there. jon: i see. people shopping, buying everything? martha: absolutely. bill: retail sales are up, america. martha: he's still working on my present. i'll see you back here tomorrow. jon: good morning, fox news alert, british judge -- a british judge i should say grants bail to julian assange the founder of wikileaks. greg jarrett is following that story from our breaking news desk and has more information for us. >> reporter: this is pretty amazing.

in america i think it's safe to say this would never happen. a british judge has granted bail to julian assange. he is being held pending a possible appeal. swedish authorities have been given two hours to lodge an appeal. their attorney is saying that they are going to do it. the 39-year-old australian has been held in a london prison for the better park of a week after surrendering to scotland yard due to a swedish arrest warrant for a sex crimes investigation. he is accused in sweden of sexual assault, essentially. but obviously in america a lot of poll situations are saying that he should be charged with something far more serious in a different venue, and that would be espionage for obviously the release of all the documents that they claimed have injured american intelligence and put lives at risk, if not have, you know, killed people.

so julian assange i think it's safe to say, jon, would never be granted bail here in america, because he is the definition of a flight risk. he lives a secret identity, he moves from place to place, and, yes, he is a harm to society, allegedly. jon: all right we're going to keep an eye on that story as the two hours pass. greg jarrett at the news desk. greg, thank you. jenna: breaking news overseas some developing stories stateside. hi, everybody, so glad you are with us. i'm jenna lee? i'm jon scott. we are here in the fox newsroom, "happening now" fallout to the first big legal set back to president obama's health law. a judge ruling that a key provision of that law is unconstitutional. at issue the mandate that americans either buy insurance

or pay some kind of a penalty. jenna: the white house says it will appeal the decision, but the virginia case is just one of 20 other lawsuits, and the battle over healthcare reform is expected to end up being decided by the highest court in the land, of course that's the supreme court. wendell goler is live at the white house today. what is the white house's reaction to the ruling that we received yesterday? >> reporter: well, jenna the key to the virginia ruling as far as the white house is concerned is while the judge did toss out the requirement that most people buy healthcare insurance, if they can afford it, he refused to block other portions of the law. the problem is that without requiring everyone to buy health insurance, insurance company can't end their ban on insuring people with preexisting conditions. and white house press secretary robert gibbs admits that is a big deal. >> without the individual responsibility portion in the law, you could not -- you could not find yourself dealing with preexisting conditions, because

the only people that would likely get involved in purchasing healthcare would be the very sick, and obviously that would be enormously expensive. >> reporter: insurance companies could of course afford to insure people with preexisting conditions if they raised premiums on everyone else. but that of course would undermine the whole reason for insurance reform. jenna: we've heard about other efforts as well to stop the healthcare reform from really taking hold in this country. how did yesterday's ruling fit in with some of those other efforts. >> reporter: there initially were more than 30 legal challenges to the healthcare reform bill, a dozen were tossed out. so far three have made it through this initial trial phase. two of the rulings have been in favor of the administration and white house press secretary robert gibbs points out that judge hudson yesterday explicitly refused the virginia attorney general's request that he block the entire healthcare reform bill. the folks here really see the store like 2 1/2 to one in their

favor instead of 2-1. it should get to an appeal court some time next year. we'd be looking at a rule probably in 2012 if the high court takes it up. jenna: wendell goler at the white house today. jon: time for today's political power play and big developments in the tax cut battle as the compromise hammered out by president obama and gop lawmakers now heads for a key vote in the senate. it is expected to pass. this as house democrats get ready for a closed-door meeting on the deal later today. they could make changes to the estate tax. what happens then? let's talk about it with chris stirewalt the fox news digital politics editor. the senate passed this thing late last night, that starts the clock ticking on another vote. what does that happen, chris. >> reporter: it could happen as soon as today, jon, it could happen this afternoon or this evening, if there is the kind of

broad consensus that we saw. 83 votes in favor of letting this legislation go forward. there is pretty broad consensus here. there is a pretty strong idea that they are going to let this thing move forward very fast. jon: pretty broad consensus in the senate, what about the house? >> reporter: that is indeed a horse of a different color. over in the house democrats are having a very hard time accepting the notion of swallowing this whole legislation. they want to make changes, they want to at least be able to say to the liberal members of their caucus, democratic leaders do that they have won some concessions here. but the problem is, and this is a very significant problem, the senate passed this legislation exactly as it was crafted with the white house. this is word-for-word essentially the deal that was struck between the administration and the senate. they didn't change anything in it. so that means that the house basically, if they change anything in it what they are doing is repudiating president obama's ability to negotiate on behalf of his party, and that

would be a very, very bold step to take. jon: i don't suppose we want to get too deep in the weeds of all the problems of passing this legislation. i think what everybody wants to know out there is, will our taxes go up on january 1st? >> reporter: i think it unlikely that democrats would let that happen. i think it's very unlikely that nancy pelosi regardless of the strength that she has inside the liberal part of her caucus would exceed to their wishes to the degree that she would let that happen. but it's going to be some surrendering of garments and nashing of teeth as the house democrats have to confront the fact that they have to accept the deal that their president cast or they are saying that he can't speak for him any more. jon: you can read more from chris on foxnews.com, chris' political power play each day, log onto the blog there at foxnews.com/aehg, some great analysis and breaking news for you 27-7. chris stirewalt, thanks.

jenna: it is cold outside. jon: yes, it is. jenna: that is the truth. fox news weather alert, a blast of arctic air threatening citrus crops in florida. we're going to take you there first. farmers trying to salvage what they can as the chill sets in. you can see it for yourself. florida is the world's largest fruit producer after brazil. it could drive up the cost of orange juice and georges at the supermarket. jon: folks are bundling up big time in new york city. temperatures here now are in the 20s. find of feels like that in the newsroom right now doesn't it. jenna: it does. jon: the wind makes it feel like single digit. upstate new york is worse off with colder temps and lake-effect-snow blowing through much of the area. jenna: the cold weather stretches all the way down south, not in southern california, which is down south, snow in the tennessee valley is creating treacherous driving conditions throughout that

region. roads through cha chat a chatana mess. police are having difficulty getting to all the people who actually need help. jon: you're a northern california gal but you'd probably make an exception and head south. jenna: probably a good idea. jon: this weather creates a massive sink whole in astoria. he believes the rainwater pooled in aggression in the concrete and the ground could not hold the weight. city workers have put up a fence around the hold until they get it fixed. jenna: good day to stay inside and watch fox news. jon: and maybe do a little online shopping. jenna: that sounds good to me. a british court granting bail to wikileaks leader julian assange. it's reportedly aeu tafpg strict conditions to prevent him from

skipping town. the measures that will be used to keep him in place, that story just ahead. also a special guest, senator orrin hatch. we will talk to him about the presidenjudge's ruling on that . jon: we want to hear from you. lick on the link on our foxnews.com home page or send us an email at "happening now" fox news.com. america is asking. we are going to put your questions to our panel of experts later in the hour.

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jenna: it's a big international news now. pakistan's coalition government suffering a major blow today after a key member defects to the opposition. this is important, because it weakens our allies in that government. in the meantime the chairman of the joints chief of staff admiral mike mullen is pressing

pakistan's chief to crackdown there. we have the latest. >> reporter: mike mullen indeed in pakistan a day after a rowe between the nato forces in afghanistan. they say there is pakistani indifference causing problems in afghanistan. adding to the pressure is the authorities struggling with a political crisis now that the main islamists, in what is an anti-american country is going to cause all kinds of problems. particularly alarming to the state department, which is currently reeling from the death of the special envoy to this region richard holebrook over the weekend, he was pivotal in keeping things together there. before he is even being buried

there is concerns about who the u.s. selects to actually replace him. >> to replace somebody who has been very critical about pakistan, and even if he's very knowledgeable, that may create, you know, misunderstandings. people in washington will not get the real input, people in pakistan will not be satisfied. >> reporter: right now pakistan heading towards the most precarious situation it's been in since the death of its president. they've had to cope without a strong supporter like richard holebrook until a replacement is found. it's nothing but a powder keg here, back to you. jenna: we expect to see maybe by thursday a major upheaval in pakistan. jon: the virginia healthcare ruling puts president obama's signature legislation on shakey ground. the next hurdle is in florida. the state attorney general there filing a new lawsuit, which has

been joined by 20 states in all challenging the government's requirement that everyone buy health insurance or pay a fine. joining us now utah republican senator orrin hatch. he serves on the judiciary committee and incoming ranking member of the finance committee. you put out a statement saying today is a great day for liberty. explain that. >> reporter: well the fact of the matter is that the federal government can tell you, you have to buy something that you don't want to buy, if that's the way this ultimately comes down in the supreme court that means that the federal government can do anything to you it wants, it can assess you any amount it wants to assess you, it can make you do things that you don't want to do, it could enforce you to buy a certain car or certain home or certain diet, and, frankly, our constitution is built on liberty, and liberty means restraint of the government. and that's what is involved here. and i wrote a law review article

on this not too long ago, i was one of the first to point out that this is unconstitutional to require people to buy a particular policy, healthcare policy designed by the government, or get penalized. jon: supporters of the legislation cited the commerce clause which allows the federal government to govern transactions that cross state lines, but in this case you have people who are not buying health insurance, and the government would force them to buy felt insurance. how does that become a transaction that crosses state lines? >> reporter: well, it's not only that, but keep in mind the commerce clause, according to the supreme court and prior decisions, they've interpreted to be that it has to be an activity that substantially affects commerce. this is not an activity to force somebody to buy something they don't want to buy, therefore the

commerce clause has never, ever in the history of this government been extend towed that extent where the government can force you to buy something you don't want to buy, and do it across the board and penalize you with a fine if you don't do it. it's a real important constitutional issue on liberty, and that's what's involved here. jon: chris stirewalt our digital politics editor wrote that the federal judge has taken an axe to the tent pole at the center of the obama agenda. does this mean healthcare is dead? the white house says no. >> reporter: i won't say that. i founded two bills, that is to do away with the job killing employer mandate and do with the unconstitutional employee mandate. frankly the judge himself said that even though there was not a several built clause in this

stat its was not going to outlaw the rest of the statute. it's still alive. if the ruling is upheld it would throw a big wrench into the funding of this healthcare bill, which is going to be off the charts if we proceed the way the democrats have designed this bill. jon: senator orrin hatch, republican of utah. thank you for being with us. >> reporter: thank you. jenna: staying with politics now rahm emanuel quit a dream job at the white house to follow another dream of his, the latest on a crucial hearing that is happening this morning that could determine whether rahm emanuel can even run for mayor of chicago. a big meeting happening right now at the white house on the future on the war in afghanistan. we just mentioned that in review. we have a full report on that coming right up. inner beauty is important.

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jenna: out to chicago now, former white house chief of staff rahm emanuel fighting to keep his bid for mayor in that city alive testifying at a key residency hearing. what has rahm emanuel been asked so far. >> reporter: this is all about his residency, jenna. there is a law on the books in the state of illinois which says if you're going to run for public office in a community you have to reside in that community for one year prior to the election. we know that as recently as september rahm emanuel was working for obama. there are folks that are trying to knock him off of the ballot by questioning whether or not he is legally defind as a resident here, the point that rahm emanuel makes is that he never gave up the family home, that he paid his local taxes, that his intention was to serve for a period of time for the obama administration and courtroom back. basically this hearing officer will make an initial ruling as to how all of this is going to be playing out in terms of the eyes of law. jenna: we were seeing,

apparently some live pictures there of rahm emanuel, a big stack of papers in front of him, and we hear that it might be maybe three days of being questioned over this, steve? how is that? >> reporter: the way the rules are written for these kinds of petition challenges, is that every person who submits a challenge, that can be a candidate, an attorney, a citizen of chicago, every person gets an opportunity to ask rahm emanuel questions. so there's 25 of these. it quite easily could go a length of time. the lead attorney, or lead complaintant is burt ogelson, he is expected to take up the lion's share of the day. he said he only had 45 minutes worth of questions. his time was up a little bit ago. jenna: what are your sources telling you, is this guy going to be able to run for mayor or

not. >> reporter: if there is an unfavorable ruling for rahm emanuel there is a level of appeal you go to in the state court. they said they could be dragged out until late january, early february. that is practically on the footstep of the mid-february election, february 22nd. it's possible that both sides could be dragging this thing out for a long period of time. this is not going to be something that will help rahm emanuel's bid to be the next mayor of the city of chicago. jenna: thank you very much for bringing these twists and turns to us. jon: right now at the white house, the president is meeting with his national security team on afghanistan and pakistan. one seat at the table is vacant and that leaves a huge hole in the room, veteran diplomat ambassador richard holebrook died last night after undergoing surgery for a republican taourd aorta. he was the president's point man in the afghanistan-pakistan war zone. james rosen is live in washington with with more on the ambassador's life. >> reporter: good day, the

sudden death of a key member of the president's national security team marks a loss of the national elite in this country of which richard holebrook had been a leading member. he joined the foreign service under president ken key, served in vietnam. wrote a volume of the pentagon papers, timely again today in the wake of the wikileaks disclosures. served as ambassador to germany and the united nations and brokered an end to the bosnian war. president obama addressed an awed generals yesterday at the state department that included members of the ambassador's family. he called richard holebrook a giant of american policy. >> if anyone who worked with him knows, or had clear disadvantage of being across the table from him negotiating, richard is relentless. he never stops or quits, he's always believed if we stay focus and act on our mutual interest

that progress is possible. wars can end, peace can be forged. >> reporter: meantime the president's team continues its review of his interrelated start gees for afghanistan and pakistan, known in some quarters as afpak a term that richard holebrook disliked. it's widely thought that his deputy will fill his role it least own and interim basis. this comes after one year after the commander and chief announced he was expanding our mission. robert gates has committed that some number of troops will be coming home starting in july, 2011. one irony of the shellacking that the president and his party endured at the polls on election day the surge means president obama will actually have more not fewer allies on capitol hill, if, jon he decides to continue american involvement in afghanistan in a major way. jon: james rosen live for us in

washington, thank you, james. jenna: the big healthcare ruling, the white house now saying it will appeal the decision in virginia. we'll take an in-depth look at why the virginia says is no significant and how it could have a big impact on the president's signature legislation. that healthcare ruling affecting every single american. we want to know what you think about it. you can weigh in by joining our live shat or e mailing us at foxnews.com/"happening now." we hope you're inside if you're in the northeast because that's what it looks like outside. it is locked in a deep freeze. how much longer will the cold last? live in the weather center in just a moment. medicare. it doesn't cover everything.

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>> reporter: live, ontario where military helicopters are around southwestern ontario trying to rescue people. this is live coming from ontario. my mother actually sent me this story, i'm originally from canada, so i know the area very well. a lot of drifting snow, zero visibility. these vehicles have been, basically, at a standstill since monday. this is highway 402. 360 vehicles are stuck on this highway. again, ontario, canada. this is sarnia just north of the great lakes. so, you know, this tells you the story. this is the same system that buried the midwest and is now,

obviously, causing some major problems north of the border in canada. so we'll keep our eyes on this picture, just incredible pictures of 360 vehicles stuck on highway 402 just outside of sarnia, ontario. this is janice dean. jon: and this fox news alert, we're just getting this from capitol hill. house majority leader steny hoyer is saying he expects the senate will pass the tax extenders bill sometime this afternoon. now, what about the house? he says house democrats are going to get together tonight in their caucus to discuss the bill. hoyer says the overwhelming support for the vote in the senate conveys something of an you are urgency to act in order to prevent a tax hike for the middle class. that would come january 1st if two houses can't get together, but he is not ruling out changes to the bill though. the house especially does not like the lower numbers on the

estate tax, apparently. he seems to suggest that there would be other than blue dog democrats, though, who might go along with what the senate has done. so very, very interesting politics playing out today on capitol hill. that's the word from house majority leader steny hoyer. jenna: and, of course, we know nothing until we have the votes. jon: and we don't know who's voting for what. jenna: until then, we'll keep you up-to-date on the speculation. also big story, it may just be one ruling on the president's health care law, and the white house says it will appeal. but a federal judge's decision declaring a key part of this law unconstitutional is very significant. here's what our experts said on "happening now" right after that ruling came down. maybe we don't have the sound for you. oh, there it is. hold on. do we have it? >> opponents of the health care law believe that the law itself

will begin to unravel. >> 1501 is what funded the entire health care bill or most of the health care bill, so if that is gutted, if that's held up at the fourth circuit and on to the supreme court or, eventually on to the supreme court, if supreme court says 1501 is uninstitutional, that -- unconstitutional, that means there's no funding for the health care. and that's why all the attention's on this particular revision that many people object to. >> this is a huge crater into the federal mandate that takes place in 2014. it is, because there's no constitutionality to it. jenna: america's asking what this means for you and your family. let's ask michael cannon at the cato institute. also micah weinberg is senior research fellow at new america foundation and, of course, dr. mark segal. we have a lot of questions for you, gentlemen, and we appreciate you joining us. micah, let's start off with this question from third edit asking how the victory has established

precedent. how much will this encourage other states, potentially, to come forward with their own lawsuits, micah? >> well, they're -- >> well, i mean, 20 states -- >> i'm sorry, i didn't know if that was micah or michael. jenna: oh, i'm sorry. it's micah. [laughter] well, i think that we make the same point which is that this is already working its way through the courts. a couple of federal judges have thrown it out, one federal judge has said it should go forward, but it's going to make its way to the supreme court over the course of the next couple of years. jenna: all right, michael, what about you? >> this is going to embolden opponents of the law. more than 20 other states are challenging this law, there are hearings on that case this week, and members of congress who wanted to repeal this law, who want to educate the public about the harmful effects of this law, they're going to be emboldened by this ruling. and it really is not just a victory for health care, it's a victory for freedom because this ruling finally recognizes that

there are limits to congress' power under the commerce clause of the constitution. congress cannot force you to purchase a private health -- a private product like health insurance just because that might have, your nonpurchase of that might have some effect on interstate commerce. jenna: in the meantime, dr. segall, we're looking to see how potentially health care reform can change the way that we receive treatment and care from our own doctors. do you think this ruling has any sort of effect on how doctors plan for the future? >> i think it's huge, jenna, and i agree with michael it's going to be contested around the country. it's interesting in florida, the medicaid question is coming up, and i don't think states can afford the 1600 more medicaid patients they're going to be asked to endure. i don't think the federal government has made a convincing argument that this law has anything to do with public health whatsoever. if they want to say we're going to mandate you get a polio

vaccine, fine, but insurance does not even get you health care. they'd have to mandate we doctors accept it for that to happen, and then there'd be a revolution. this law is not only unconstitutional, it's also extremely ineffective. jenna: micah, i want to get your comments about between lawsuits and also a change in the dynamic of congress, seeing more republicans come in over the next year for this new congress, how does obama think it will happen if congress changes, how does he think potentially this health care reform can can be affected by switching the character of of congress, michael? what do you think about that? >> that's an excellent question. as z long as obama is the president, he's going to be able to veto any legislation that came out of the house to repeal the bill. if you take away the individual mandate through the courts while still leaving the rest of the bill in place, then you set up a situation that, essentially, destroyed the private market for insurance. and it's funny that michael

would talk about a victory for freedom and be liberty while at the same time putting us in a situation where it's impossible to have a private insurance market and we have to see, instead, a massive expansion of government insurance in order to cover people. jenna: well, michael, you say that there's other parts of this law that are unconstitutional, not just this mandate if i'm correct, right? go ahead and respond to micah. >> micah's mistake, and you see what's going to destroy the private insurance market is not the lack of a mandate, it's the government price controls that obamacare imposes in other provisions that, unfortunately, the court left intact. but, you know, this law has been unpopular for its entire short and is sorry life. but even if it were unpopular, it's not going to work. it is increasing the cost of health insurance and reducing the quality of care throwing children out of their health insurance plans. but even if it worked, as this ruling tells us, it would be unconstitutional. and even if it were constitutional, it would still be wrong. it's wrong when the mafia forces you to purchase a product that

you don't want, it's even more wrong when the government does it because then as thomas paine told us, we're suffering at the hands of our government evils that we would expect to see in a country with no government. this law is an impediment to real health care reform, and the sooner we get rid of it, the sooner we can move on to health care reforms that lower the cost of care, that improve the quality of care and make access to care more secure for sick people. >> jenna -- >> that is fancy rhetoric. jenna: okay, quick final point. first of all from micah and then go back to you, dr. see get, for the final thoughts. micah? >> sure. that's fancy rhetoric, but it totally ignores how the insurance works. if you're going to tell insurers they have to take all comers, then you have to make sure everybody comings. these people who oppose the individual mandate -- >> that's not how the market works. those price controls that you want to impose -- >> there are no price controls, there are no price controls --

jenna: all right. we'll get a final thought. all right, timeout for a second. let the good doctor come in because, eventually, he's the one that's actually providing health care for everybody. >> i actually agree with both of these gentlemen. i think the linchpin of this bill is the mandate, but here's the part that micah is not talking about, it's going to force everybody to go to the exchanges, 16 million people. that's where the private insuressers made the deal with obama. we're talking about a situation where even if law works under this unconstitutional mandate, you're going to end up with federal subsidies up the wazoo which the taxpayer cannot afford at the state exchanges. jenna: we're going to have to leave it there, but we look forward to having you all about with us. obviously, we're not going to solve all these issues today. gentlemen, thanks for joining us. >> thanks, jenna. >> thank you. jenna: what impact will the ruling have? next hour we're going to talk live to a attorney general from one of those states, florida's bill mccollum is going to be

joining us to talk a little bit more about what's ahead, jon. jon: and a major battle on capitol hill, jenna. it effects the lives of every single american. north dakota senator kent conrad is on deck, he'll join us to talk about the big tax cut debate. the senator conrad next. 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

jenna: well, the tax cut bill easily clearing a key test vote in the senate, and it could pass officially there later today, but the measure will have a much tougher time in the house, at least it appears. many democrats oppose extending tax cuts to the wealthy. joining me now, north dakota democratic senator kent conrad, chairman of the powerful budget committee. senator conrad, we've talked about some of the challenges in the house and potential concessions to this bill as it now exists. what concessions are you willing to make if they do come up in the house and the bill comes back to the senate? >> well, i would certainly be willing to change the estate tax

provisions which i think are not fiscally responsible. the difference between what i proposed in the budget and what is in this plan is far more generous to the top one quarter of 1% of the people of this country and would cost the treasury over ten years $100 billion. so i would be, certainly, willing to change those provisions. and if house has a better idea on other things, i for one would certainly be open to them. look, at the end of the day what we have to ask ourselves is this: if a package like this does not pass, what is the effect on the economy? the best advice we have gotten from a broad array of economic analysts is that if we pail to the have a -- fail to have a package of this sweep and scope, that the economy could be very adversely affected next year. economic growth could be cut by as much as 50% if we fail to get

a package that has some of these key elements, especially the tax cuts for the middle class. jenna: senator conrad, you said you're open to some other provisions, but how concerned are you about timing then? [laughter] >> i'm always concerned about timing. as you know, it's very difficult especially in the senate where it takes a super majority to move legislation. and that means 60 votes, and we're getting close to christmas. but i think we'll be here into the christmas week in order to get an important result for the country. and at the end of the day, that's what's most important be, are we going to have continued economic growth, are we going to have a reduction in unemployment? that is absolutely essential to our economic future, and for those who are especially concerned about the deficit and the debt as i am, let me just say job one is to get the economy growing more strongly and get unemployment down. that's job one. then we can pivot and deal with the deficit and debt longer term. jenna: you mentioned christmas

coming up, and the analogy of a christmas tree has been used to describe this bill with some of the extra add-ons and what some are calling stimulative initiatives that are attached onto a bill that was really about tax cut extensions and the extension of jobless benefits for so many americans. how do you reconcile that yourself with looking at this bill and what maybe some thought it was going to be to what it has become now? >> look, there's some things i really don't like here. some things i intensely dislike. but we've got to keep in mind the overall effect of this package. and so if we look at the big elements; tax cuts for the middle class, extension of unemployment benefits, a partial payroll tax holiday. we know based on the best economic advice congress and the president are getting that those are very important to economic growth for the future. jenna: so, senator conrad, i only have about --

>> things we're just going to have to accept. jenna: i apologize for cutting you off. we only have about 30 seconds and this issue of debt and tax reform is something you've talked a lot about. i was just curious, do you see higher taxes on the rise for all americans as a way to deal with our deficit? >> i don't think higher tax rates would be good. i do believe that tax reform that would eliminate some of the deductions, credits, exclusions, loopholes would be healthy, would make the country more competitive combined with actual reductions in rates. we know from the commission, the debt commission, that that could generate more revenue that could be used to reduce the deficit and, again, bring down rates to make america more competitive. so i don't think raising rates is the answer. jenna: senator conrad, so good of you to join us on a busy day. a vote could happen anytime this afternoon, sir. thank you for joining us on "happening now". >> you pet. jon: i am not in a hedge fund, but i'm told if you invest in

hedge funds, you can place bets on things like life insurance policies or each sports. but guess what? now you can bet on something even stranger. rick leventhal has more. >> reporter: hi, jon. we're talking about lawsuits. you may not even know that you're investing in lawsuits like trip and fall cases, divorce proceedings, even bankruptcy claims. we'll tell you about that coming up right after this break.

jon: i couldn't believe this when we heard about it at our morning meeting, it is bizarre. a new phenomenon in investments with connection to the biggest swindler of o all time on wall street. and, no, you not informing with bernie madoff. he's out of that, isn't he? jenna: we hope so. jon: but you are investing in

the lawsuits against him. rick leventhal. >> reporter: bernie be madoff's victims don't want to wait for a verdict, they may be able to take less money up front right now, or if they want to pursue the case but can't afford it, they can borrow money from a legal lender, or if lawyers need money to handle the case, they can borrow too. it can be incredibly expensive. teams of attorneys, expert witnesses, months or years in court. so for years now a trend has been building, firms established to front money to pursue lawsuits with much of the cash coming from hedge funds with billions to invest. and lenders say the biggest winners are the little guys who might not otherwise be able to the afford to sue. >> they've come into economic hardships whether they've lost work as a result of their injury, they've got medical bills they can't pay or any expense that was incurred through no fault of their own they need to get some bills paid. >> reporter: charles earnst from wall street capital says

his clients don't face the pressure of accepting lower settlement offers because they can afford to wait for the verdict, but critics say it is fueling abuses of the legal system. >> it's an inherently dangerous practice because what we're doing is we're putting a third party into a lawsuit, and now you've got the lawyers trying to get their cut under a contingency fee scenario, you've got investment funds that are trying to get their cut, and there's very little left for the plaintiffs at the end of the day. >> reporter: well, in the madoff case, "the new york times" reports this morning that victims have been approached in some cases by multiple firms paying 20-30 cents on the dollar hoping to collect 40-60 cents when it's finally resolved. jon: unbelievable. i guess it's a free country, that's what you get, huh, rick? jenna: for now. >> reporter: very good. jenna: we'll see if that continues. we do love it when our viewers help us tell our stories, some

of us as big as this one is today. the winter wall across most of this country. we have a great photo we wanted to share with you from dan out of akron, ohio. his family's yellow lab, colt, barely able to see over the snow. dan says colt is loving it though. this is not animal abuse, apparently the dog just likes swimming in snow. doesn't it look like that? jon: that's hilarious. and a german shepherd featured in this picture from that'd -- nadia in michigan. a storm took down the tree that blocked the only road to their house. if you have any pictures or video of the storm, send 'em our way. go to foxnews.com/you report. just remember to stay safe, we do not want you putting yourself in danger to shoot video or get us a picture. jenna: we've got to send something to colt. a little fox news t-shirt for colt. jon: icy temps in the west and

northeast are one thing, but in florida it's a whole different story. why the frigid weather, now, is threatening that state's economy. also, red light cameras. if you've ever gotten a ticket as a result, you know you hate 'em, and in the one city they voted them down. now that spells budget trouble. we'll tell you why.

jenna: and we start off a new hour of "happening now" with a fox news alert. a bill to repeal the ban on gays serving openly in the military expected to be introduced any moment in the house of representatives. patrick murphy expected to introduce this as a stand-alone bill. we have no official word on when a vote might happen, but we do understand the house version is very similar to a measure from senators joe lieberman and susan collins. now remember, don't ask, don't tell, the repeal of that, was part of the defense authorization bill. that's the funding for the

military, the budget for next year. remember, that major bill hasn't even been approved yet, so that's in the backdrop. democrats are looking to repeal don't ask, don't tell before they go home for the holidays and, of course, before they lose the majority in the house. but opponents argue now may not be the right time to change the policy. this is a developing story, we'll keep you updated. jon: and this fox news alert, some sad news out of springfield, illinois, where the major of that -- mayor of that city has just been found dead in his home. reports coming in saying he died of a gunshot wound. springfield about three and a half hours south of chicago by car. now, earlier this year government reports show the mayor owed the federal government nearly $90,000 in unpaid income taxes. we're told he did not show up for a court-ordered appearance this morning in an estate case involving his late cousin. police are on the scene

investigating. jenna: lots of stories to keep your eye on today. all new on "happening now," we have more than just breaking news alerts. jon: i'm jon scott, it is high noon in the east. something we haven't seen in a long time on capitol hill, republicans joining democrats to give the tax bill overwhelming support in the senate. it cleared a test vote 83-15, a final vote could come this afternoon. that would send the bill to the house of representatives. but that is as far as it goes, at least for now. the bill still faces strong resistance in the house. our chief political correspondent, carl cameron, is live on capitol hill. so first the senate. what do we expect to happen there today, carl? >> reporter: there'll need to be an agreement between democrats and can republicans in order to move the vote up and actually take place today. technically speaking, the first available time for the final passage vote would be at 12:30 tomorrow morning, in order, just shortly after midnight. but if they can get republicans and democrats to agree, they could move it forward.

the likelihood of that remains to be seen. earlier today the majority leader, harry reid, said he would be discussing it with his counterpart, mitch mcconnell, he has not heard back. at least one democrat in bernie sanders, the vermont independent, spent eight hours on the floor railing against in this. it should be done and passed by tomorrow morning either way. >> overwhelming support in the senate, what about the house? >> reporter: the house remains a bit of a problem. house democrats have said they really want to see some changes to the bill, specifically on the estate tax front. the bill that the senate is going to vote on is for a 35% estate tax on inheritances over $5 million. now, if tax cut package doesn't pass, there would be under the current law a 55% tax on estates over a million dollars. that's a significantly larger tax increase than what's being contemplated in the package, and yet house democrats say it should be somewhere higher than what's going to likely pass the senate now. yesterday's vote of 83-15 was a

huge momentum builder for passing this in the senate, and now that pressure goes on house democracy t -- democrats. just a short time ago we had an opportunity to speak to kent conrad, the chairman of the senate budget committee, and he sort of acknowledged that, yes, there are some senate and house democrats looking to find a compromise somewhere in the middle of those numbers. he suggested we could face ping-pong meaning the senate passes its bill, it goes to the house and gets changed, has to come here. that would extend their time problems, and the sand is dripping through the hourglass. jon: going to be an interesting day. keep an eye on it for us. thanks. jenna: another fox news alert, swedish prosecutors will not appeal a british judge's decision to grant bail to wikileaks founder julian assange. what does that mean for julian assange? does he get to go free? greg jarrett is following the story. >> reporter: he's got to wear a monitoring brace. he has to remain in a home of

one of his supporters, and he has to check in every couple of hours. so those are the provisions for granting bail. now, in america that probably would not happen because he is the definition of a flight risk. because he lives most of the time moving place to place, secret identity, he doesn't want to be caught or found. but a british judge, nevertheless, has granted him bail. of course, he is wanted in sweden on charges of sex assault, and he claims he is innocent of those charges, and yet he is fighting extradition to sweden. so julian assange will be free, but with major provisions, and you can bet that in great britain they'll be watching him very, very closely. jenna: but, greg, he can keep working, right? doesn't keep him away from a computer. >> reporter: yeah. that is true. and, listen, wikileaks has dumped a load of documents that the, you know, the american government, the u.s. government

says is putting people at risk and lives have been lost. so we'll wait and see whether he's ever charged with something more including espionage charges which many u.s. senators have said he should be charged with. jenna: great point, gregg. back to you shortly as this story develops. we'll be sure to go live to london if we see julian assange step to the microphones. in the meantime, we have to go back to washington d.c. the senate expected to vote on the tax cut compromise, then it's on to the continuing resolution which would fund federal programs through next september. if that bill is not passed, the government will have no money. how about that? shannon bream is live in washington on this story. so, shannon, what happens if cr doesn't get passed soon? >> reporter: well, jenna, we start with things that are considered nonessential, things like, for instance, the smithsonian museum that are onbe the federal payroll, gets federal money but not considered

essential to keeping the government going. it'll start there and then wind down to all of those services that we depend on. you'll remember it happened back in 1995 when president clinton and the republicans on capitol hill couldn't come to terms, and there was a brief shutdown. jenna: shannon, the house has done its part apparently. will the senate now follow suit and get this done? >> reporter: it is definitely crunch time, and there are a lot of folks keeping an eye on the budget process. among them, joshua gordon. here's what we has to say. >> i think if you have a situation where the house and the president are on the same page, the senate will be under a fair amount of pressure to fall in line. i think, ultimately, there will be agreement. no one wants to have to stay in washington any longer than possible. they especially want to get home for christmas. >> reporter: and, of course, jenna, you remember they were busy right up until christmas with some pretty big legislation last year. jenna: i think both of us were

still busy with that, too, right? they're not the only ones who have to stay and work. what about earmarks as they try to get this bill through? >> reporter: they've passed that continuing resolution, it allegedly does not have earmarks in it, but there are watchdog groups digging through it saying they have found things that could equate to an earmark. over in the senate there's a higher probability they might try to get in earmarks. that's because the president wants something beyond the continuing resolution. he wants what's called an omnibus appropriations bill. there would be a much bigger propensity for trying to sneak things in. i talked to senator orrin hatch, and be he said republicans are prepared to fight that. they don't want any earmarks. it just needs to be about a stripped-down bill and enough to keep the government going. jenna: thank you very much, shannon. we'll keep an eye on this. jon: right now florida and 19 other states are fighting to get

the same ruling seen in virginia yesterday on the health care law. oral arguments in florida's challenge start just a day and a half from now, on thursday. florida's case challenges both individual mandates and medicaid. the suit claims that president obama's plan is simply too expensive for states like florida to afford. let's talk about it with bill mccollum, the state attorney general for florida. you're going to be arguing this case on thursday. how do you start? what's your main argument? >> >> well, the main argument is the same as in virginia, it's the argument that the power of congress does not exist there in the constitution to require somebody to buy an insurance policy or pay a penalty. there's nothing there that says if you're sitting at home watching your television set and doing no economic activity -- not going out and buying a car or anything -- that congress has the right to do this. of course, the federal government's arguing that they do under the commerce clause. as the judge yesterday in virginia said, that's a historic

leap to go to that point. we'll be making that argument to judge benson in the federal court in pensacola for all of the states, the 20 of us in that case. and we'll be making the argument that we also have been crippled as a state with the provision that says we're going to have to accept a lot more enrollees in medicaid. already florida pays about 37% of its -- 27% of its state budget as its percentage of the medicaid budge. with this increase, it's going to be more than a billion dollars cost to my state alone. we weren't asked, we didn't agree to this, we think this is a violation of the tenth amendment, and we're arguing that as well to the judge on thursday. jon: yeah. let's take a look at some of those other states that are joining you in this lawsuit. you've, obviously, got some major one, texas, south carolina, pennsylvania, louisiana, colorado, michigan, the list goes on. those are the states involved. for instance, in florida's case as you well point out nearly two

million people would be added to the medicaid rolls, and no arrangement made, apparently, on the part of the federal government to pay for them. >> well, the federal government will pay for them initially or a portion of them the first year or so, but after that their going to all be on the states. the states have to pick up that entire tab as far as our percentage which ranges in states around 40% or so of what's paid out to each medicaid recipient. many of them already have insurance in the employment sector because the ability to get enrolled is going up to 130% or so of the poverty level. so we're really seeing a great expansion of medicaid in this health care legislation. states can't afford this, and we weren't asked. and it's being coerced upon us by the federal government saying you've got to do this, or you have to drop out of the program, and, of course, that's not a practical answer and not one states can do. so that's a very major part of our lawsuit that's different from virginia's, but we also

have the individual mandate question about the individual freedom and the liberty that's involved in that particular one where the court, of course, in virginia ruled yesterday that that provision's unconstitutional. jon: general mccollum -- >> we think this is going to bring the whole bill down. jon: we had a representative of the white house come on yesterday and say, yeah, we lost in this virginia case, but it's really not a big deal. we could lose the individual mandate and still have health insurance as passed by congress earlier this year. do you agree? >> well, i don't agree. as attorney general cucinelli of virginia said yesterday in describing this, the individual mandate, the requirement that everybody has to buy health insurance is like the pole at the middle of the tent. if it comes down, the tent comes down. the entire health care legislation's built around it. there is no other funding mechanism for the insurance provisions in this bill. and the federal government by its own admission says that the rest of this really won't work. so i think they're being a little disingenuous because judge hudson yesterday chose to

opt to say this could be severed, and he did just rule the individual mandate provision unconstitutional and not the rest of the law. congress, by the way, had no severability clause in the bill which it normally would have, and i believe we have a very good argument that congress would not want this, nor would it pass this law without the individual mandate provision. they didn't provide taxes to pay for it, they didn't provide anything, other way to make this entire legislation work. so at the end of the day, though, whatever judge vincent does or what judge hudson's done, we want to see those decisions. we hope judge vincent's ruling will be favorable to us on all these matters, but at the end of the day it's going to go to the united states supreme court, and it's going to probably be a 5-4 decision. my guess is justice kennedy will be the deciding vote, and it's going to take a year or two to get there, probably no later than the 2011-2012 term of the court that they'll make this decision.

jon: bill mccollum is florida's attorney general joining with 19're states in arguing against some of the pillars of the new health care law. and that case starts on thursday. thanks for joining us. >> you're welcome. jenna: well, new developments in the case of three missing brothers. you're seeing them at the top of your screen there. their father is in court today. what he said and where the case goes from here. plus, homeowners across america have lost their houses. now some are fighting to actually get them back. we have their argument and if they have a case coming up. [ male announcer ] this is james.

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jon: we just spoke to florida's attorney general. that state has nearly half a million homes in foreclosure, a terrible realize event there. now some homeowners are fighting back. lawyers say they have proof some of the banks foreclosing on homes may have been committing a crime. orlando salinas live in miami with more on that. orly? >> reporter: hey, jon, i think that hard number was about

440,000 homes right now. incredible. now, foreclosure lawyers say here in florida alone there are already thousands of people who are lining up ready to sue in court to get their specific home back that was foreclosed upon, taken away from them. jon, those people admit, most of them, we fell behind on our mortgage payments, we did it, we shouldn't have. but they're also saying in many cases they were never properly served. before a bank or a lender can take possession of a home, it has to follow specific steps. there are specific guidelines, specific rules. no shortcuts, you just can't do it, that's the law. and what they're saying now is these legal steps in many cases may have been broken, and what happens when that bank possibly mistakenly sells this foreclosed home to an innocent third party? here you go. almost two years ago kevin and gayle winters brought their 3,700 square foot home in tampa

in a foreclosure sale from bank of america. >> and then to get 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 because 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 that they're going to lose their house? the i mean, nobody deserves that when they've done nothing wrong. >> reporter: lawyers say it's rare for courts to reverse a foreclosure after a home has been sold to an innocent third party. >> two and a half years later after making this house their home and spending thousands of dollars on it, they learn for the first time that he's going to make that claim. >> reporter: jon, there is a hearing scheduled next month,

early next month in tampa, and can the judge possibly at that moment could decide whether or not the winterers get to stay in their home or if they get the boot. jon? jon: what a mess. orlando salinas live from miami. thanks. jenna: let's take you out to rome where we're seeing riots in the streets, cars burning, students throwing stones, a whole lot of unrest for a variety of different issues. we're going to be right back with an update from rome, why they're rioting and what's ahead. @k@k@k@k@k@k@k [ male announcer ] this is steven, a busy man.

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jon: a fox news alert and take a look and a listen to what's going on right now in italy.

what's burning there in the famed piazza are police vans. this one is a barricade, but students have been setting police vans on fire. they are upset that italian prime minister civil owe berlusconi has survived a vote of no confidence in the italian parliament. that means he retains power. the students are upset about austerity measures being imposed by the government because of the worldwide financial crisis. there's one of the police vans burning. they're upset about unemployment rates, they are upset about everything. they've been picking up stones out of the famed cobblestone streets in that area, hurling them at police. a number of people have been hurt including police officers. you can see the clouds of tear gas as well as clouds of smoke from those fires that are erupting there.

what a mess in italy. authorities are trying to get a handle on it, we'll keep you updated. jenna: now to some new information on a story we're also watching overseas. urgent efforts to prevent more violence between north and south korea. china now saying north korea agrees on the need to ease tensions. in the meantime, south korea believes the north is secretly processing uranium at three or four new locations in addition to its main nuclear site. so still so much to this story. former u.s. ambassador to the u.n. john bolton is a fox news contributor, and he's joining us now. ambassador, let's talk about china first because so much has been made of the chinese getting involved and putting pressure on north korea. are we giving the chinese too much credit as peace keepers in this situation? >> absolutely. and that's been true for eight years in both the bush and the obama administration. the chinese like much of ha they've already got in north korea. they like a divided korean

peninsula, they're not worried about the nature of the regime there. and by allowing the chinese to take refuge in what have been called the six party talks, we really have given beijing a free pass on this. six-party talks have done nothing to stop north korea's nuclear program and, obviously, they haven't contributed to stability on the peninsula. jenna: so if it's not the chinese, who needs to take the lead here, and what does the lead look like? >> well, i think the united states needs to follow a little advice from karl marx which should get the chinese communist party's attention. we need to sharpen the contradictions, as marx said, for beijing. they've got a choice, they can either live with this instability that a nuclear north korea creates or in japan, south korea and taiwan, or they can get on the right side of history and work with us to reunify the korean peninsula. we're coming up on an inevitable regime change when kim jung-il dies, and it's going to be a

period of instability. so we can east move -- either move together in this a positive way, or we can risk the threat of north korea continuing indefinitely. jenna: the death of kim jung-il was something admiral mike mullen was talking about yesterday to some of our troops in baghdad. he said the danger of war or hostilities is rising on the korean peninsula. that was reported by the associated press. he also went on to say that it's becoming increasingly dangerous. how are we supposed to read those comments? >> well, i think it is becoming increasingly dangerous, but i must say as well this is a pattern north korea has followed before. it threatens belligerent activity, its rhetoric goes up. i'm waiting for when they say they're going to cause a sea of fire across the korean peninsula because they expect we will be intimidated. so recognizing this is a time for prudent behavior, i don't think we should enable these north korean temper tantrums. i think this appeasement policy

which is what it's been to try and mollify the north koreans has got to come to a stop, and i think that's another reason for us to be leaning on china to do what they uniquely can do to put pressure on north korea. jenna: so what does that mean exactly? i mean, moving forward into christmastime and the new year when we take away some of that appeasement policy, does that mean simply ignoring the tantrum? >> well, i think it means putting more pressure by the united states on north korea, cutting them out of international financial markets, returning them to the list of state sponsors of terrorism -- jenna: haven't we already -- i think if you said that to our viewers, they'd say, haven't we already done that? >> no, we have not done that. they were taken off the list by the bush administration, and they are continuing to export ballistic missile components, parts and other weapons into the middle east and other areas of tension. so this is something that it's not going to happen overnight, but we do need to lean more on

china, not let them take refuge behind the six-party talks, but to take a more active role to restrain the north koreans. jenna: interesting story. again, one that's developing as we speak, ambassador. always nice to see you, sir, thank you for stopping by. >> thank you. jon: well, the clock is ticking before taxes go up. what a democratic leader is saying about the chances that a bill will pass today. plus, stepped-up efforts to come pat dangerous drug cartels. an inside look at the role of our special forces. that's ahead. hey, did you ever finish last month's invoices? sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi plce around the corner. well, in that case, i better get bk to these invoices... whh i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what? i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. [ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers.

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jon: this is fox news alert. just getting word now that swedish prosecutors say they will appeal the decision by a british judge to grant bail for wikileaks founder julian assange. a couple of hours ago he was granted bail by a british judge. notwithstanding the fact that he is obvious flight risk. and we had initially reported that swedish prosecutors would appeal that decision. associated press then reported that they would not. we are now confirming that indeed -d swedish authorities want him behind bars, he'll remain behind bars pending an appeal of the british judge's decision. prosecutors had said, look, this guy is a flight risk, he changes his identity, his name, his locations. he does not want to be caught. he is wanted obviously in sweden on charges of sexual assault.

but american authorities have said, and many members of congress have said he should be prosecuted forest pe for, espior the dump of documents that have put lives in jeopardy. identities have been revealed. julian assange will remain behind bars for at least a little while pending a decision by a higher court in great britain as to whether or not he should be given bail, $380,000 and essentially wearing a bracelet and he has to remain in a location and identify himself to authorities every two to four hours. an appeal is pending, he is still behind bars. jon and jejon. jon: extreme weather grips the u.s. right now. bone-chilling cold and heavy snow is moving from the midwest to the northeast.

i was just chatting about it on our blog with some our viewers. even the south is getting a blast of wintry weather. florida has declared a state of emergency as temperatures in that state plunged below freezing overnight setting new records in a lot of places, sending the price of orange juice to its highest level in three years. don't blame the messenger, janice dean is in the fox weather center for us. j.d. >> reporter: frozen orange juice, jon scott say it isn't so. look at these records across florida, 20 degrees, 20 degrees in jacksonville. daytona 25, west palm beach 32 degrees. subfreezing temperatures, six to ten hours inland, two to six hours across coastal areas, that is going to mean we are going to worry about our crops for another evening. tonight's lows across florida we'll break some records, 36 in orlando, 37 in melbourne, 30 in

jacksonville. it's cold really across the eastern half of the country where it's 2 in cleveland, 16 in atlanta, 25 in memphis. across the west they are dealing with record warmth. in los angeles we had 83 degrees yesterday jon scott. i think maybe we all ned to head there for christmas, if you like the warmth. jon: so the 54 on there right now that is the low temperature in l.a. >> reporter: that is actually the current windchill which isn't a factor. the current temperature, and they are three hours behind us. it's only 9:35. jon: 83, man let's move this broadcast to l. amount for a few days. >> reporter: i'm in. jon: j.d. thanks. jenna: sounds pretty good to me. all this cold weather could end up burning a hole in your budg budget. we talked a little bit about the orange juice prices, it's a whole different effect when the weather gets cold what does it affect. >> reporter: weather affects so many things, it affects retail,

commodities, orange juice three-year highs. gasoline, heating oil, crude oil. natural gas all have been strong. with the exception of natural gas, we are trying to figure that one out. heating oil is at multiyear highs as well. people are make a lot more to heat their home. for the first time in a couple of years people had held off in buying the winter coats, winters weren't that bad and they waited until this month and we see that some of the retailers that supply outer wear do very well. jenna: a mixed message on the one hand you pay more for orange juice but some of your favorite retailers are doing well. >> reporter: we are spending more, paying a lot more, paying a lot more for gasoline. almost $3 a gallon in gasoline right now. prices of things are going up. we've been talking about that for a while now. jenna: is it just the weather or concerns about inflation as well playing in there, is that a tough combination to have? >> reporter: from the commodity side, from the sugar, orange

juice, it's the weather. a very, very strong factor pushing prices up. from the retail side, absolutely the string of cold weather that is along the eastern seaboard right now, it seems to be sitting there and stationed there for a while is pushing people to the targets, costcos, keeping people away from best buy. best buy is down almost 16% today, they said people are not coming out with the weather. the weather is too bad they are not going out and buying flat-screen tv's. jenna: we can follow the money with you 9:00pm on the business network. eric bolling, thank you for stopping by. jon: we've been reporting on the drug violence raging in mexico for years. now another nation is fighting to keep its own drug war from getting out of hand. they are doing it with the help of some u.s. special forces. jennifer griffin is streaming live from guatemala city

guatemala in our on going series, america's third war. >> reporter: jon, mexico took out one of the heads of those seven cartels just last week. the head of la familia. we are seeing some of the cartel activity move down here into guatemala. we were taken to a secret military base in the jungle in the north of the country yesterday. take a look at what we saw. in the jungles of northern guatemala the military has carved out a training base, the base is secret, but it is no secret that the mexican drug cartels want to expand their operations south into guatemala to control the land roots routes and eliminate guatemalan drug families. u.s. green berets have spent the last three years training these special forces, not just how to shoot straight but also how to

push back against the cartels. a few days before we arrived at the border the zetas staged a dramatic prison break allowing one of their most wanted cartel members to escape. these special forces want to make sure that doesn't happen again. when several decapitated heads appeared on the steps of parliament, a calling card from those working for the vicious cartels guatemalan authorities suspected the zetas were moving in. they advertise on billboards for recruits infiltrating gangs and buying up property, which means guatemala needs help fighting back before it becomes a failed narco state where the cartels bring anything they want over land through mexico and across a very poor u.s. border. there is evidence that the sinaloa cartel is moving into costa rica, and they don't have a military. jon.

jon: jennifer continues her reporting from guatemala. during the break go to foxnews.com, you can read what jennifer says this means for america's security along our southern border. [ sneezes ] you're up next.

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megyn: after john boehner's tear-filled interview with 60 minutes the ladies of the view say he has emotional problems. really? a full report. phil cavuto is not happy with people making fun of chris christie's weight. mike huckabee weighs in. childhood obesity is a national security problem, one that requires several billion taxpayer dollars. should that miami dolphin's player tripped by a jets sideline coach sue the team? it's an all testosterone "kelly's court." see you at the top of the hour. jenna: breaking news on capitol

hill. we are just hearing from the office of senate majority leader harry reid that they will vote on the bill in the early evening. whsteny hoyer says it will comeo a vote. charlie hurt is a washington bureau chief for the "new york post." we've heard mixed messages. we've heard from the democrats that they really don't like this bill at the same time steny hoyer's office says he is not too sure that they have the votes to change the bill. is this all talk and no action? >> reporter: the only thing we know for certain now is when the senate votes this evening on the tax extension they will vote to extend tax cuts for all income groups and they will, you know, vote in favor of the latest proposal on the estate tax.

the problem is that over in the house democrats remain very upset about the entire tax bill, and specifically they've sort of picked out the issue of the estate tax, that's their main point of attack. jenna: do they actually have the votes, charlie, to really take issue and create a different bill or amend this bill and make it somehow different when they send it back to the senate? >> the dissatisfaction among the democratic caucus in the house is so deep that it is very, very possible, and they are very upset, they are upset with the president because the president made this deal with republicans. they feel like they've been rolled. they are angry, they are mad about the elections. it is entirety possible that if the democrats -- that they do have the votes to make the change. and if that does it's going to blow everything up, but it would be a very foolish thing for them to do, because, you know, every

step that we get further along, closer to the end of the year, closer to the start of next year, democrats have less and less power to do any negotiating. jenna: when you take a step back, though the democrats still have the majority in the house and the senate. if they wanted to change the bill and approve it in the house and send it back to the senate and all the democrats there decide to vote, yea on it could we be in a scenario where the democrats take this away from the president and the republican leadership in the compromise that they created. >> absolutely. then you would have republicans not going along with the newest state tax provision. don't forget the estate tax provision that is included in the current bill was a provision that was hatched, it's a bi-partisan provision. it was hatched by jon kyl of arizona and marry land reau of louisiana. it's hard to suggest that somehow this is some right-wing

republican provision, it's not. so if the newest state tax, which would lower the threshold at which the government begins taking huge amounts of people's estates. if that new provision was slipped in and the bill was changed you would have a whole lot more republicans in the senate saying, huh-uh, we are not up for beginning to taxes states, you know, starting at $3.5 million. jenna: they are going to have you working through the holidays, charlie. >> of course. jenna: charlie hurt, washington bureau chief of the "new york post." always good to see you charlie, thank you. >> thank you. jon: new developments to bring you in the case of three missing brothers. their father in court today. gregg has new information from the breaking news desk. plus honoring the voice, frank sinatra, who else. a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and even a king. a look back at a scrawny kid from new jersey who became a

music lesson. >> i've got you under my skin. i've got you deep in the heart of me. ♪

jenna: brand-new information on the case of three missing boys. their faces have become so familiar to so many of us. their father is headed back to michigan to face parental kidnapping charges. gregg, what more can you tell us? >> reporter: john skelton is sitting behind bars. he's had a change of heart deciding to eufz waive extradition returning voluntarily to the state of michigan. his young boys missing, andrew age 9. alexander 7 and tanner age 5. they have been the subject of a

nation-wide search. authorities have said they do not believe the case would have a quote, positive outcome. their father accused in their disappearance. he faces parental kidnapping charges. his parents told reporters after a jailhouse visit recently with their son they believe their grandchildren are alive and safe. they say their son took them to be away from their mother to be safe. she is a registered sex offender having had a relationship with a 14-year-old boy in the neighborhood. hundreds of volunteers searched in vein the week after thanksgiving around the ohio-michigan border town where they lived. skelton lied to investigators about leaving his children in the care of a woman with whom he stayed in touch with on the internet. he was accused of twice taking his sons previously. we'll continue to follow this

story. jenna: a developing one, gregg. thank you very much. jon: a big birthday for the man they called the chairman of the board. frank sinatra would have turned 95 on sunday. the man with the voice was born in 1915 just across the river from new york city in who he ho, new jersey. there is a new book out entitled "frank the voice" the author james cap lan joins us this afternoon. good of you to come back and join us. we tried yo to get you in here a couple of times and we had breaking news. 800 pages. >> it doesn't even cover his entire life. he has been the subjecjon: he hf biographies before, why take him on again. >> he just had his 95th birthday. i grew fascinated with frank sinatra when i helped jerry lewis right his autobiography.

his voice is a voice that endures, i wanted to get the genius on the page. jon: i am not a sinatra fan, but reading the book i'm fascinated with, you know, a guy who just works his tail off to get what he wants. and you can do that in this country. >> yes, yes, a big surprise in the book for me was how incredibly hard he worked on his singing which he may sound so effortless, his breath control, his diction, he studied the lyric for every song as if it were a poem. jon: you said when he started out he had a terrible voice. >> i would say it's a weaker voice. but he could sing on key. that is something you're born with. jon: you said he had a genius for making himself dislikeable. >> absolutely. he was an uncomfortable man. he was badly scarred at birth,

yanked out by forceps. he was inch patient, had a terrible temper. all of these things he kept inside of him and they popped up at unfortunate moments. the night he won the oscar for from here toe to eternity, he ha 65-year career. it's a fantastic story and a gigantic life. jon: "frank" is the book and james cap lan is the author. jenna: the lady at the media desk just asked me, who is not a frank sinatra fan. jon: i am not i'm sorry. jenna: that's okay. everybody has a right to their own opinion. a civil rights lawsuit has been slapped against a chicago school district. why they say the school was

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