>> steve: the cupcake place bought us for national cupcake day. >> brian: archie, who do you want? >> the third place. they would kill me if i tried to name one. >> dana: congratulations. news alert, good morning, everybody, remarkable scene inside a florida school board meeting that you're about to see where a gunman with a vendetta, clearly opening up fire. the incident, the entire incident was on camera, streaming live at the time. now a warning, what we're about to show su graphic. we want to show you clay duke, a man standing in

front of the room and he calmly walks in front of a podium wave ago handgun and waveing it in front of the room. he first told several members to clear out but orders the men on the board to stay, and what happens next is something we rarely see. good morning, everybody. i'm bill hemmer, welcome to "america's newsroom". martha: incredible story. i'm martha maccallum. good morning bill. florida school members, as bill was just telling you, are lucky to be alive this morning. they absolutely were staring death in the face yesterday afternoon. again, we're going to warn you, you're going to see graphic video here. we will take you to it. whre freeze this video when the gunman actually goes down. watch this: >> i've got a feeling that what you want is the cops to come in and kill you because you're bad. >> i'm going down. >> why? >> this is a problem. >> please don't. please. please don't. please. >> i'm going to -- >> [shooting]

>> i'm going to kill you. >> on the ground. on the ground, police. >> freeze. freeze. bill: at the end there, you'll hear a voice of a man who says "i shot him". that is the voice of mike jones. a security guard for the school system in panama city, florida. amazingly enough, only duke is dead. all board members, shot at from point blank range, are fine. they were not hit, believe it or not. in fact, one of the board members said god stopped the bullets. nadine yames is a reporter inside the meeting. which is what she saw. >> what i saw, i was taking

notes, doing regular, then i saw him come out, paint a big circle with a v through it, and he said i have a motion for you and he pulled out his gun and when he pulled out his gun, that's when i hit the floor, i ducked, it was one of the scariest moments of my life. school board members seemed calm, like they were willing to listen to him but i was shaken up, ran right out of there. that's basically what i saw at this point. he was really upset, obviously, but shaken up. bill: shaken up -- shaken up, indeed. steve harrigan is live. >> reporter: people in panama city, still stunned by what happened yesterday just after 2:00 p.m., it was an ordinary school board, discussing head lights when the gunman, clay duke, 56 years old, began waving that gun around, a remarkable performance by some ordinary people faced with a life or death situation. on the one hand, duke said all women can leave the room, the one female school board member left the room, she came back and tried to

knock the gun out of duke's hand, he held a gun to her head but did not kill her, another remarkable performance by the superintendent of schools, too, bill hutsfeld, he said i'm the one to signed the order, who signed the order for your wife being fired, let the other members go, hutsfeld said he was ready to -- thought he was going to die that day. here's the superintendent. >> the video, he's got the gun pointed right at me. i'm telling you, god blocked that bullet. you know, i'm not being flippant and i'm not a martyr, i'm telling you that you give me another reason, because he took two shots, right quick, right there. >> and the third remarkable player in this drama, a drama which was recorded on live television, and also, streamed out on the web, was a security guard, mike jones, a rea tired policeman, he dmaim and exchanged gunfire with duke, shot and wounded him. duke then ended his own life with one shot to the head, so three players, really, on

a small town, tuesday afternoon, school board meeting, really facing life and death and standing up to it remarkably well. bill: we have videotape, you have seen it, of them drawing it looks like red spray paint, drawing a v with a circle around it, which represents the movie and the book titled vendetta. do we know about the motivation? >> his motivation is murky right now. he claims to have been upset his wife was fired from that school district. we haven't determined whether or not that's true. he also as you said before he pulled out the handgun, took a can of spray paint and sprayed on the wall a v in the circle, from the natalie portman movie, v for even deata, about a movie that's very suppressive. he's been in trouble before, he's been in jail for five years for firing a gun into a car, been accused of being mentally unstable and some board members said perhaps he wanted to die. he did .2 shots point blank

at that superintendent who feels remarkably lucky to be alive today, you saw the bullets lodged behind him and he was shot at and the gun battle took place in the room, but that killer, the only one killed in that incident. bill: thank you, steve harrigan. we're awaiting an update from police, that will happen # on minutes from now. ginger littleton, the woman steve mentioned, she tried to knock the gun out of duke's hand with her purse, ginger littleton is live with us in about 25 minutes. she will tell us her story then. martha: aimed the gun at her as well, and she said she is lucky to be alive today. it's an unbelievable story, she's with us in "america's newsroom" coming up, and this, in the meantime, a huge story as well, the showdown over this tax cut deal is hitting the senate. later today, an up or down vote on this bill that would keep the bush tax cuts alive for two more years for

everybody across the board, it would also extend jobless benefits for union year -- one year and cut payroll taxes as the stimulus as well. now, this $850 billion package is expected to pass in the senate. it did, it went to a test vote and passed on a strong margin, then it will move on to the house. not such an easy ride is expected to the house. we're going to expect more on this. liberal democrats are still fuming over president obama's deal that he cut with republicans. they don't like the tax rate on the wealthy staying the same, they don't like the deal that was cut on the estate tax, either, and they are saying that they may buck this vote when it comes gopher to -- goes over to the house. nancy pelosi says this is just the beginning. now, that's the opposite from what we heard from mitch mcconnell, who said nothing is changing in this deal, but nancy pelosi says we're just getting started on this and it is shaping up to be a very tough sell for her in the house, on the house side. he's pelosi talking to reporters. take a look at this. >> madam speaker, is the senate deal red banned?

martha: that's when she said it is just beginning. a lot up scuffle in the hallway but they're trying to get a sense from her about how she thinks the vote is going to go. several house democrats don't like this deal. as we mentioned it was spoken between the president and republicans, they're calling for changes before any vote is taken and as i said over on the senate side, mitch mcconnell says this is the way it is, we would like very much for the house to vote on this bill just the way we put it through in the senate. we'll see if we get them switched. bill: a lot from washington, especially on the economy. also the president urging lawmakers to get that tax deal done. we await a live statement from president obama moments away. then he heads to a meeting with some of the nation's top ceos to talk about the economy. these are the biggest names in american business. especially talking about job creation, private sector, what will they get done today. we'll have the president's remarks momentarily when they happen in washington. martha: and there is outrage over spending to keep the

government going, a $1.1 trillion spending deal. bill, have you seen this, it's this big and it came out yesterday and then the news trickled out it is stuffed with thousands of earmarks, and a lot of shock really across the nation that this is still going ofnlt it's 2000 pages long, and everybody is sort of throwing up their hands saying isn't what they talked about before the election in november? of course not many lawmakers have had time to get through this thing. it just started, in fact. angry republicans, one of whom spoke out yesterday about this, calls it a big mess. take a look: >> we've got another, in this case, almost 2000 page bill that no one has seen, at least on my side of the aisle, and maybe some of my members that are seeing parts of t. no one has seen it. not a single appropriation bill has passed the floor. not one. so the full senate has had no impact, no input, the

full senate has had no input on this bill whatsoever. martha: fox business network's stuart varney joins me, anchor of varney & company. you got to wonder if this is a last ditch effort to sneak some of this stuff in that may help these folks get reelected. >> what you're talking about is the omnibus spending bill which will lock in government spendingum next year, in other words, the priorities of the outgoing congress are being locked in and imposed upon the incoming congress, and there's real outrage here on a number of fronts. first of all, the earmarks that you mentioned, we've been counting through these 1924 pages, so far, we have found over 6700 earmarks, and the list is full of literally mind numbing programs which are all getting money. that's issue number one. number two is the process. as you heard from mitch mcconnell there, the senate has not debated this thing, they've really just seen it, it's 1900 pages and there's only three days to look at

it and vote on it. and if they vote it down the government shuts down. so the process is at fault here. there's lots of issues here which are causing outrage, not least of which is the cost of this thing, $1.2 trillion, and counting, as the costs are added up as you go through the 1900 pages. martha: it's unbelievable. >> it is. martha: and it's going to be the subject of what we're talking about today. stuart, thank you for setting this up for us and giving us the background on t raidses the question, everybody at home, what happens if they just say no, okay? tell us what you think. is washington spending critical to keeping our economy going or are you tired of this and you say it's completely out of control, they don't get it, end of story? go to foxnews.com, "america's newsroom", also send your comments to bill, to bill hemmer, at bill hemmer, martha maccallum if you have more information that you want to pass along to us. this is unbelievable.

bill: usually this time of year the news dies down but not in 2010. talking about a trillion dollars in spending, republicans say slow down, senator jawrn cornyn is live on the hill after the break on that, moments away. martha: back to this story, these incredible images. do you see that woman, that incredibly brave woman who came back in? she was free, she was out of there, she could have just said i'm -- she went back in with her purse and tried to slam the gun out of his hand so that he could not hurt her fellow members on that board and she joins us with her story. she said you know what, he called me stupid. maybe i was. wow. bill: also you win at blackjack? how the impossible heist was pulled off in las vegas. >> the suspect was also wearing a full face motorcycle helmet, he then entered the casino and went directly to a craps table where he confronted several people with a firearm. >> people were suspicious on who he was because he was

walking through a casino hotel with a helmet on and who does that?

martha: all right. we are going to get an update on this florida shooting issue from the school board. the police are going to come out 15 minutes from now and will talktous. we're going to get tape out of that. we're also going to get a school board live news conference from the people on that school board and that is going to be something to see. that happens at 10:30 eastern. so it's all happening in "america's newsroom". also going to talk to the woman who tried to knock the gun out of the man's hand. she's going to be here for this unbelievable story that is developing this morning. bill: -- >> are we tone-deaf? are we stricken with amnesia? what is going on here? bill: senator john mccain sounding off on a trillion dollars spending bill with some $9 million in earmarks, debt clock, ticking away,

14 trillion almost. my next guest says washington still does not get it, senator john cornyn is on the senate budget committee, he's live on the hill. good morning to you. we were told yesterday this is a total mess and that, quote, all hell is breaking loose. is that true? >> well, yes. i think people are just so profoundly shocked that here we are, a year after we jammed through harry reid and the democratic majority, jammed through a $2.7 trillion health care bill and we know what's come of that, that they're dropping this 2000 page, $1.2 trillion omnibus spending bill that no one has had a chance to see until yesterday, and the more we see it the less there is to like about it, and it's just -- to me it is completely tone-deaf as john mccain said, after coming off this election when the american people said very clearly that this runaway washington spending and this unsustainable debt were

unacceptable and they're sending new people in come january 5th to represent them better than the people who are leaving. so it's really shocking, and it's disrespectful. bill: what can you do? can you shut the government down? would that be the right choice? >> well, what we can do is if we can get 41 senators to vote against closing off debate on this omnibus bill, we can do what we should have done in the first place and go to a short term continuing resolution to keep the lights on until february and come back and do this the right way. we don't have to do it this way. this is the wrong way to try to keep the government operating. bill: senator dan inouye out of hawaii, a democrat, on the appropriations committee, i believe, he has a lot of say in the handling of the money here, he says tens of thousands of questions have been asked, they've put a year's worth of work into this. he's also requested $159 million in defense spending earmarks, according

to a release from the pentagon. now, you yourself have asked for earmarks, too, according to this list, some 16 million for your home state. can you defend that, senator? >> well, i believe i can. but i'm not going to, because i'm going to vote against this bill. this is just -- the republican conference, all republican senators, voted for a two-year earmark moratorium so we can fix this broken system, as we try to come to an agreement on how to control the debt, and to embrace some of the recommendations of the fiscal commission. so i am for voting this bill down, even though it could arguably help some of my constituents. bill: but you say -- but you favor earmarks is what you're saying. >> i do not. i think we need an earmark moratorium which i voted for for two years, until we fix this broken system, because it's become a symbol. bill: but i'm confused, then, why there 16 million in requests listed from you here? is that not true? >> early on in the year i did request earmarks that i

think are individually defensible and if we had a debate on the floor i think i could show how they help our men and women in uniform fight. bill: we'll watch that. understood. senator, thank you for your time, you've got a whale of a day in front of you, john cornyn, appreciate it. >> thanks bill. martha: those are the discussions happening on capitol hill and at dining room tables across the country and there are plenty of democrats not happy with this tax cut deal that president obama cut with republicans. what are they going to do? one of those democrats joins us live to tell us why she's not giving up the fight.

bill: all right, fox news alert now, if you're just joins and waking up, we have a remarkable piece of videotape that we aired about 233 -- 23 minutes ago, this was a shooting that took place last night in panama city, florida, at a school board meeting.

here in a moment we're going to hear from police. in an hour, we'll hear from the school board. so stay tuned for more on that. martha: take you straight to the president who is meeting with ceos and the tax bill. let's listen in: >> this tax cut plan while not perfect will help grow our economy and create jobs in the private sector. it will help up middle class families who will no longer need to worry about a new year's day tax hike. it will offer emergency relief to help tide folks over until they find another job. and it includes tax cuts to make college more affordable, to help parents provide for their children, and help businesses, large and small, expand and hire. i know there are different aspects of this plan to which members of congress on both sides of the aisle object. that's the nature of compromise. but we worked hard to negotiate an agreement that's a win for middle class families and a win for our economy, and we can't afford to let it fall victim

to either delay or defeat. so i urge members of congress to pass these tax cuts as swiftly as possible. getting that done is an essential ingredient in spurring economic growth over the short run, and spurring economic growth is what i'll talk about later this morning when i meet with some of the america's top business leaders. that includes jim mcnerney of boeing who also heads up my export council and several members of my economic recovery advisory board. it's one of many discussions we'll be having in the months ahead to find new ways to spur hiring, put americans back to work and move our economy forward. as i said when i was running for president, and as i've said since, i believe that the primary engine of america's economic success is not government. the ingenuity of entrepreneurs. it's the dine mim of our

markets, and for me the most important question about an economic idea is not whether it's good short term politics or meets somebody's litmus test, it's whether it will help spur businesses, jobs, and growth, that's why i set a goal of doubling u.s. exports in the next five years, to create more jobs selling more products abroad. that's why i'm so pleased that early they are month after intensive negotiations we finalized a trade agreement with our ally south korea. it will boost the annual exports of american goods by $11 billion. a deal that all told will support at least 70,000 american jobs. it's an agreement that won support from business and labor because it's good for the economy. this morning, i hope to elicit ideas from business leaders that will not only help us climb out of recession but seize the promise of this moment, ideas about tax reform, ideas about a balanced approach to regulation that will promote rather than

undermine growth, idea that is will help encourage businesses to invest in america and american jobs at a time when they're holding nearly $2 trillion on their books. i want to discuss our shared mission of building a strong economy for the long run. we know some of what we need to do to outcompete other countries in the 21st century. we need to offer our children the best education in the world. we need to spur innovation and new industries like clean energy that will create the jobs of tomorrow. we need to upgrade america's crumbling infrastructure, its roads and bridges, update high-speed rail and high-speed internet, to connect every community, and we need to redouble our commitment to fiscal discipline and address our long term decifit challenges we know the path that will lead to economic success. the only question is whether we will take it, whether we have the political will to do the work. i'm committed to taking that path. i know america's business

leaders are as well. and i look forward to talking to them this morning and working with them in the months and years to come, to make sure that we're adopting the best ideas for growing our economy and making the 21st century another great american century. thank you very much, everybody. martha: all right. well, the president is arguing very much in favor of passing that tax bill, he wants to see the bush tax cuts extended for everybody, a very different tune than we heard from him early on in this process but that's what he wants congress to give him today. also he's going to meet with several ceos, he's had a rocky relationship with business over the course of his presidency and one of the things he appears to want to do is mend some of that as he heads into the new year. so we'll see how that goes as well, as he sits down to meet with them, wants to boost exports, double them in order to improve the u.s. economy, so a lot to discuss. bill: in a moment you're about to meet a brave woman, putting herself in the line of fire, trying to use her purse against a shooter who then points the gun at her

head. you will meet the survivor, live. and hear her story, in three minutes. also, this is coming up. >> hello? >> may i have a word with mr. benedict? >> who the hell is this? >> the man who is robbing you. martha: a a reef life robbing. a gunman in las vegas. wait until you hear this, you won't believe it.

martha: fox news alert, this is in progress this, is the police in florida speaking out about the school board shooting at the meeting last night. let's listen: >> -- immediately brought this incident to a conclusion, we had officers on scene within probably about four minutes, but obviously, mr. duke had come here with a purpose, with extra magazine -- magazines and extra rounds to carry out what he hat set in place, so by mike jones being able to engaged him that quickly, he was able to save lives. >> [inaudible question] >> he is doing well. he was taken to a local hospital for evaluation and

observation. as far as his condition this morning, i'm not aware of it, but i do understand that he was stable. >> [inaudible question] >> he can actually an employee of the county school board and i'm not aware of what his job description, functions are, and so i wouldn't feel comfortable commenting on that. >> [inaudible] >> you talked about extra magazines. how many did he have and where did he have them? >> what he was carry was a smith & wesson, 9-millimeter, high capacity, an extra magazine fully loaded in his back pocket at the time of the shooting and then he had another box of ammo and that was full with 50 grams. that was on his person, also. >> where? >> on his person, in his pocket. >> how likely is it someone

would fire 114 -- is four rounds and miss? >> i think it's safe to say that somebody was watching over the school board members. >> [inaudible question] >> i know of three rounds, and i think one of those was a self-inflicted round, so two rounds is my understand ing. >> [inaudible question] >> how does this change things for meetings in the city. are you going to be at ef meeting snow. >> again, the school board has their own polices and procedures and i'm sure they'll do an after-action review of their polices. i know most government entities locally, panama city, dade county, panama city beach, all have armed officers at those meetings to handle any situations that might arise. >> are you guys investigating -- [inaudible

question] >> yeah, i know that he had posted things on his facebook about a even deata, and -- vendetta and obviously, what was spray-painted at the scene. i think it's safe to say at this point that obviously mr. duke had mental health issues he was addressing and suffering from, and that may have been in some way, shape or form played into how that came about. >> [inaudible question question] >> that's correct. >> [inaudible question] >> we spoke with her yesterday, we've not spoken with her today. >> [inaudioo [inaudible question] >> i think it's safe to say the family was in shock that this occurred, it was unforeseen on their part, from the investigator's point. >> this was really unforeseen, though? we know he had a criminal prior past. have you talked to family members that may have concluded that -- >> [inaudible] >> the detective will

continue their investigation. just because we're wrapping up here doesn't mean the investigation is complete. that will continue on. and hopefully we'll be able to bring some clarity to exactly what was going on in mr. duke's life. >> [inaudible question] >> when he did come in the building he did speak to some individuals. in fact, there was a local rotc unit that was at the building for part of a ceremonial posting of the colors, as part of their ceremonial process, they had rifles, and we do know that mr. duke actually spoke to the students to make inquiries as to whether their guns were real, whether they were loaded. so there are some indications that he himself had conducted a little bit of intelligence gathering prior to going into the building. martha: wow. that is deputy chief robert

colbert, live on the scene in panama city, florida today, where they had an incredibly shocking afternoon yesterday at that school board meeting, but right before the bullets started flying in this video we've shown you, this is the moment, okay, watch this, this brave woman, see her in the white, she sneeks up and she whacks him on his gun arm, trying to get the gun out of his hand. now, she was excused from the room. look at that struggle with ginger littleton. she says that she believes she's the -- she's the one female member on this board and she was allowed to leave, he allowed the women to leave the room, but she comes back through that door, there she is again, and she says that was the last chance, she believes, that they had to distract the shooter because he had his back to the door where she was. she joins me that. ginger, welcome. good to have you with us today. >> same to you, thank you. martha: boy, good to have you with us today takes on a special meaning in this story, ginger. you tried -- >> it's good to be with you

today. being here today takes on a special meaning, yes, for all of us. martha: ginger, tell me your story, tell me what happened in there. >> this large man approached the podium at a time that was slightly inappropriate, which was sort of interesting, made a comment like i'm going to make a moarks and turned around and spray-painted the wall. when he turned back around, he had a gun in his hand. at that moment, i think we all knew we might not have a really great afternoon. he let the women leave, and everybody was expeditious in getting out of the room. i also started to leave, but there was a corner there for the boardroom members and i exited to the left. i did not leave that corridor of that hallway. something said think about this for a minute. i was reacting to his orders and sometimes i don't take orders very well, so i turned back around, and at that point, he was actually standing where. i had been sitting so he was

on a level with the other board members, and i looked at my colleagues who were at that point lined up like birds on a wire, one chair after the other, and he was sitting there with his gun. at that moment his gun was hanging to his right side. i don't think there was any real thought to it, it was either do something now or i walk away and something very, very bad will happen. so i could either try to delay or deter or difuse or walk away, knowing that i might have been able to do something and i didn't, so i whacked him with my purse and that's what you saw. martha: ginger, you know, it's no exaggeration to say that you are an incredible hero. you attempted, when you had a moment in your life to get away safely, you went back into that room and it almost ended very badly for you. he knocked you down. we see you fall to the ground. so describe what he did with his gun and what he said to you at that moment. >> he swung around, and whether he knocked me or he

just swung so quickly that i was pushed down, i was basically sitting at his feet, he pointed the gun, just looked down at me, pointed the gun at my head and said you stupid -- and called me a name. at that moment, believe it or not, i thought that's a pretty accurate accounting of me right this minute, because i had plan a, which failed, but i didn't have a plan b. at that moment, he said get out of here. and you might have to tell me twice but in this case you didn't have to tell me three times. at that point i got up and left. martha: ginger, what went through your mind when he was pointing that gun at you? what were you thinking? >> i don't think i was thinking anything. i think at some point, when you have options you start thinking things. there was no option for me at that point. he was going to do whatever he was going to do. i had already made my move, i didn't have another move, the ball was totally in his court, and you know, it was just a miracle that he decided to let me get up again and go. martha: why do you think he

did? i mean, he had you there, right under his gun and came in there with the intent to kill. why do you think he didn't? >> i think if i had been a male, he would have for some reason. he let all the women go. and even though i had made him angry, i was still a female, and he wasn't going to stoop to that level to kill a girl, i think. i don't know that. martha: what did your family say when they heard that you had gone back in there and tried to stop him, you tried to slam into him with your bag and knock the gun out of his hand, what was their reaction? >> i have three wonderful, beautiful, smart daughters and each one said mom, what were you thinking, and i have no answer for them. i don't know what i was thinking. martha: oh, ginger, you know, i'm just amazed by you and i give you credit for being such a strong woman, and you guys are going to have a nice christmas, right? >> we certainly are. but i do want to give credit to mike jones.

mike jones took action, he's the one who did the initial shooting of the shooter. without him there would have been a lot of people dead. he's the hero. martha: he absolutely is and you changed the dynamic in that room as well and for you, you deserve credit as well, ginger, thank you very much, we wish you a meshy christmas. >> thank you so much. martha: to you and your family and we say it again, we thank you for being with us today and i mean that in every way. ginger, thank you. >> thank you so much. martha: well, you can watch this whole thing, it is terrifying, and it's streaming on our website, fox news.com, but you know what, it ended better than anybody could have ever imagined, and that's why it is very worth telling that story. as the superintendent said, god's standing in front of me. he said there's no other reason. this morning when he was interviewed, they said why do you think you were saved, he said because god helped me there. bill: stopped the bullet. martha: absolutely. bill: we're going to hear from the rest of the school board at 10:30 eastern time and more from the police down there in panama city. in the meantime, checking the markets real quick now,

investors on the street, awaiting fresh reports on the economy and some of america's leading ceos, meeting right now with the president. we'll see what comes out of that. also in a moment here -- >> martha: this is no hollywood caper, the hunt for a brazen thief who walked in wave be a gun, robbing one of vegas' most popular cas seenoes for millions.

bill: it is a busy morning here, breaking news out of arizona now getting reports that a border patrol agent has been shot and killed. a search is now underway to find the suspect or suspects. the incident happening just north of nogales in arizona, which is right near the southern border with mexico. it's happening right now, just breaking. when we get more, you'll hear about it. martha: well, las vegas police on the hunt for brazen thief who parked his motor bike in front of the popular bellagio casino before going in, flashing

his gun and mag making off with a huge stash of casino chips. the caper was caught on the security cameras. >> he told everyone not to move and he took approximately $5.5 million worth of casino chips. martha: adam housley, live with more from the west coast newsroom. what's the latest on this case? >> right now, they believe they can tie this guy to a second robbery one week ago today, 12:30 in the morning, middle of the night, the guy goes into the suncoast cas een, across from the bellagio, wearing a motorcycle helmet, goes into the poco -- poker room, takes $20,000 both of chips and runs out. what you're watching is at the bellagio, cops are pretty sure they can make a strong bet these two guys are the same person, martha. martha: what's he going to do with these chips, he got a million and a half, $2 million worth of chip? >> that's the thing. they keep saying it's a heist for a million and a half dollars, but keep in mind the chips are only

worth what you can cash them in there for at the same casino. the lowest denomination chip he stole was $100, the highest was $25,000, and you know that the casino follows those high chips, martha, so we're watching for the red flags in the coming weeks. martha: i think they'll be watching for them, too. adam, thank you very much. adam housley. bill: good luck cash thank in, right? we are waiting for the full senate to vote on the tax bill that could happen this morning, then on to a very rough ride in the house. can house democrats kill this bill? we'll talk to one of them in three minutes.

bill: we have at the moment at least 50 house democrats unhappy with the tax cut compromise. my next guest, leading the opposition to that deal, conditionman peter welch,

member of the house commerce committee. good morning to you. you had a letter at least two days ago, you had 47 colleagues sign t you're not happy with this. but it's your democratic president who helped lead the negotiations. what have you said tom or to the white house about this tax deal? >> well, there's two things. it's too few jobs and too much debt. that's the real issue here. stimulating the economy, the president's goal of extending middle class tax cuts, we support but there's a $200 billion ransom that's being paid to senate republicans and it's gone from bad to worse and now adding ethanol. the estimates are that the cost of each job is going to be $400,000 that we borrow in order to finance that recovery. that is not in our view a fiscally responsible plan. bill: on the tax deal you would argue the middle class should keep their taxes, right? >> that's correct. bill: if that's the case, the bill is $3 trillion. >> well, there's two issues

here. more jobs, less debt. should we extend those tax cuts when we are in an economic recession. we believe the answer to that is yes. because -- >> bill: so you believe those tax cuts do help america. on that point, you agree with the president. >> that's correct. i do. and the question of tax cuts at the high end, and the estate tax, you know, rich people have done a lot of good things in this country, but can we afford to borrow a couple hundred billion dollars to provide tax cuts that economists acknowledge won't boost the economy. our answer to that is no. bill: so why do the 3 trillion? the math just doesn't add up here, doesn't make sense to a lot of people on the outside. you know, i think here's the question: it looks like the senate is going to pass this thing. do you have the votes in the house to kill it? >> i do not think we have the votes in the house to kill it now. what we have is the opportunity to alert america to the cost of this. you know, you've got to do a cost benefit analysis and the estimates are that each

job is going to cost when we're borrowing this money about $400,000, is that a good deal, will that get us out of the economic mess we're in. second, there's a political strait jacket here that the democrats have been pushed into, the republicans who are demanding this de, the moment the ink is dry we're going to be vilifying president obama for adding $1 trillion to the debt, then next year when his effort is to try to do something to extend broadband or rebuild our infrastructure the argument is going to be we don't have the money. bill: in the new term, then, if you believe it's going to pass in the house and the president will sign it, will you then blame the president? >> well, i disagree with the president on the price that he paid in order to get the extension to the middle class tax cuts, and i also have major reservations about for the first time in the history of our country not fully funding the social security trust fund through the payroll tax deduction. that's a bedrock principle in this country and i think we're making a serious decision without much

debate. i disagree with that. bill: we've read your letter, i'm out of time, i appreciate you coming on today. it does not appear that you have the votes, but we'll see how deep the debate gets on the house side once it gets underway. peter, thank you very much for your time, appreciate it. >> thank you. martha, what's next? martha: tragedy on the open water, a boat that is rocked through the seas, and dozens of men and women and children are now feared dead in this horrible, horrible situation. we're going to show thaw video coming up. bill: also john mccain asking if everyone is tone deaf. the calls to cut off the money train. you'll hear from mccain. in the meantime, here's the minnesota governor tim palenty: >> it is all pored up, it's all earmarked up, again, and this is why the tea party and the country, you know, just has had enough, and they're back at it again, there they go again, and i can't wait to get them out of town and get the republicans in control so we can actually now do what everybody has been talking about.

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martha: we are awaiting a live statement right now from the school board in panama city, florida, they are still reeling from a brush with death. school officials are set to speak live on this, less than 30 minutes from now, we'll show you the incredible video. we are now learning more about the 56-year-old gunman, clay duke, police moments ago said he had a massive stash of ammunition and the ex-con ranted about his wife being fired by the district and aimed and shot at all 6 men in the room and missed them all, a security guard shot and wounded him, he's a hero in the story, the shooter eventually took his own life and we'll keep an eye on the news conference and we'll take you there and you wanted to hear from the school board members as soon as it gets under way. then we are awaiting reaction from two leading republican

senators as a massive spending bill moves through the congress, john thune and, jon cornyn are set to speak, no doubt poised to stop the porky pet projects, and that is how we start a brand new hour of "america's newsroom," a busy morning, i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. how do we know what the senators will say, jon cornyn drew us a picture here on "america's newsroom." here's what he said: >> what we can do, if we can get 41 senators to vote against closing off debate on the omnibus bill, we can do what we should have done in the first place, and go to a short-term continuing resolution to keep the lights on. until february and we can come back and do it the right way. we don't have to do it this way. this is a wrong way to try to keep the government operating. bill: in the meantime, senator john mccain was all fired up over the billions of dollars in

earmarks, buried in the massive spending bill, between $8 billion and $9 billion, and hundreds of thousands of dollars for pet projects that some consider a waste of tax dollars, here's the senator on the floor. >> prop 15, my office received this appropriations bill. this appropriations bill. 1,924 pages long. and contains funding for all 12 of the annual appropriations bills, for a grand total of $1.1 trillion. are we tone deaf? are we stricken with amnesia? what is going on here? the short time i have had to review this massive piece of legislation, we have already identified approximately 6488 earmarks totaling nearly $8.3 billion. here's a small sample:

$277,000 for potato pest management in wisconsin. $246,000 for bovine tuberculosis in michigan and minnesota. $522,000 for cranberry and blueberry disease and breeding in new jersey. $500,000 for oyster safety in florida. some people are watching and thinking i'm making this up. i'm not making it up. bill: that is how as animated as he gets. how about $235,000 for noxious weed management in nevada and 300,000 for the polynesian v voyaging society of hawaii. martha: like you said, you think i'm making it up. you can't make this up. bill: right there, black and white. republicans -- >> to cram it in before the final hour. bill: bob corker on the senate banking committee, another lawmaker fired up over the massive check. sitting on the desk of

washington, d.c., also our guest live in a moment. we'll talk with him. martha: always lively as well and this is a "fox news alert," a few minutes ago, president obama speaking out on the economy and his tax cut compromise. if congress doesn't act fast taxes will go up over two weeks from today and the president argues lawmakers should not let that happen. >> president barack obama: there are different aspects of the plan to which members of congress on both sides of the aisle object, that is the nature of compromise. but, we worked hard to negotiate an agreement that is a win for middle class families and win for our economy. and we can't afford to let it fall victim to either delay, or defeat. so i urge members of congress, to pass these tax cuts, as swiftly as possible. martha: and down the road the senate is preparing to do what he asked, we expect a vote today on the tax compromise and now it appears senators will approve the plan, they approved a test

vote heartily, and, the house vote, is fiercing opposition on the house side, here's brad sherman of california. >> well, clearly, it is -- you know, taking the middle class hostage and saying that not a word can be changed by the house of congress that the constitution says is supposed to write the whole bill, shows such a disregard for middle class families. and for the u.s. constitution. martha: the kind of sentiment on the house side now, chief political correspondent carl cameron joins me now live from capitol hill, carl, how is it looking? >> reporter: ugly. there is so much going on that has members on both sides furious. and, worried they really are not entirely sure what they'll vote on. a lot of discontent on the hill. today the smat will pass the extension of the bush tax cuts and unemployment insurance for

the next 13 months. it is a big deal but there will be at least three votes along the way that embody what the criticism of the legislation is. a $1.1 trillion -- $900 million extension of tax cuts on employment with a 2% payroll reduction and estate tax and first we'll see a motion from tom coburn, this morning, that could essentially pay for the extension of unemployment insurance, by cutting spending. and that will be defeated. because any changes will scuttle the deal and another one from jim demint to make all the existing bush tax cuts as well as the nonexist tenxiexistent e permanent and that will not go and there will be a motion from bernie sanders that would take the tax cuts for the two highest brackets frt country and leave them at the clinton level, let taxes go up in january in order to pay for a host of spending and that will be defeated and, conservatives and democrats, see

the changes, they like, but they can't do that or the whole deal will collapse. >> we'll finish the tax bill within the next couple of hours. whether you agree with all of the contents of the bill or not, everyone should understand, this is one of the major accomplishments of any congress. martha: that is harry reid, carl, what about on the house side? >> reporter: it is difficult, over there. still democrats want to make changes, nancy pelosi, the house speaker and her top deputy, steny hoyer, about to become minority leaders have been trying to essentially shepard the democratic conference into some sort of a position on all of this and intend to bring it up as soon as the senate is done with their work and want to change the estate tax and haven't said how and some of the more liberal and are dent critics of the proposal, the last few days and weeks who led the argument, not to bring up the senate version have suggested we realize it is and exercise in futility and it will pass, but, there will be a the

lot of hard-wrenching as they go through the process and ultimately pass it in the next couple of days in the house. martha: incredible. carl cameron from a contentious capitol hill. we want to hear what you think. folks. do you think congress will pass an extension of the bush era tax cuts before they expire, right now, more than 11,000 people have weighed in on this, on our westbou web site, and 43% say they'll pass a modified bill but it will fail after the g.o.p. backs out, go to foxnews.com and weigh in and tweet us at marthamccallum and bill hemmer, too. bill: do you think they'll get it done before christmas? we'll we see one of most rare sessions ever when congress comes backs after the christmas break and works up to the first of the year? it is possible. martha: it is and harry reid said they will work christmas through new year's and you don't know if that is an idle threat, for people who don't want to come back to get it through, or not. bill: it would give us something to cover, wouldn't it?

for the new year? outrage over the massive spending bill, making its way through congress, better than a trillion dollars worth. senator bob corker fired up over the pet projects involved. he will join us live to explain, that. in minutes. martha: he's always fired up and, a human catastrophe in the middle of the ocean, dozens of refugees seeking asylum and why nearly 30 sadly perished in the terrible accident. bill: some call him a traitor, some call him a hero. >> one man dare to show the truth behind what is really going on, he did this for us, he did it for the nation. we have a responsibility to return the favor to him. he's a hero, and needs our support. bill: they are talking about a 22-year-old private, bradley manning, accused of being the u.s. soldier behind the stolen government documents now on wikileaks. why his hero status could be on hold, in one of america's most liberal cities. ?y/;??ñ÷hls@çx@÷=

bill: break, news out of air, crossed 30 minutes ago, a border agent, border patrol agent has been shot and killed in arizona. there is a search underway to find one more suspect. we are told at least four now are already in custody, a -- in nogales, a few miles north of the mexican border, happened 11:00 last night, local time and we are watching the story for developments and a grim milestone in another town along the u.s.-mexican border, the number of people killed in juarez hit 3,000, the mexican side, across the rio grande from el paso, has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, as a result a vicious turf battle between rival drug gangs and the most recent deaths, the fatal shootings of two men, who were killed on the streets, just this week. martha: senate republicans

blasting a trillion dollar spending bill that is packing billions in pork praojects as te u.s. is sinking in more than $13 trillion in debt, and just keeps going up, folks, but not all democrats are on board with this, either. here's republican jim demint, and democrat clair mccaskill reacting to the proposal. take a look: >> 2,000 page massive spending bill, right before christmas, is more than my stocking will hold. >> who decides who gets all the money? the committees aren't voting who gets how much money, there is a magic formula, some committees, the chairmen get a honey pot, and they get extra money. martha: a honey pot, great, right? republican senator bob corker is introducing bipartisan legislation, to cap federal spending. how about that idea? he's also on the senate banking committee, which puts him in a good position for this and joins me now, senator, welcome back to "america's newsroom," always

great to have you, sir, welcome. >> always good to be with you. martha: talk to me about the deal, we saw john mccain on the floor with a huge stack of a bill, nobody will get a chance to read through before they are supposed to vote on it. what is your take? >> it is pretty incredible. i want to hold this up. these are just the earmarks that are in the bill, 1924 pages, 6,000 earmarks, an incredible thing that with what happened with the election, $13 trillion in debt that you mentioned, that we'd even be considering something like this. there is a big push by myself and other with a short-term, a call to continuing resolution and we move and allow government to be funded, until the next february or march, where we can really look at reducing spending. i think people understand that spending is out of control in washington and way understand that and we need to cap spending. martha: right. >> as a percentage of our country's growth domestic product. i'm thankful that clare mir

mccaskill joined me in that effort, i have a number of republicans and i'm hoping that we can pass legislation to cap spending at the federal level. martha: i want to talk about more about that. but, first, what about these hundreds of pages of earmarks? is the omnibus bill going to pass? will the budget pass? and if so, when. >> we are doing everything we can to keep that from happening, and, obviously, the vote will take place, variable, may be the last piece of action that we take here this year in the senate, i hope that does not pass. if it passes, what it does, it really takes away the opportunity for us, this entire next year, to decline in spending, we have a debt ceiling vote that will be coming up in april, may or early june, depending on when we hit the debt ceiling, and it is my hope we'll be able to really but in place these constructs to drive down spending before that, and if we pass this bill, that you are referring to, what it does, is really kick the can down the road and -- an entire year and

flies in the face of everything people spoke about during the last election. martha: and even the context of this passing with the amount of earmarks you showed us and people say that is a small percentage of everything but it doesn't matter. the principle, people are completely fed up with this and, i don't frankly think they'll stand for it anymore, senator and i wonder how strong the force will be against this, and if everybody is willing to stay there and hammer it out and show the american people that they do indeed, for real this time, get it and will not allow the earmarks to go through. >> look, i can assure you that i plan on laying on the railroad tracks, i'm glad people like you and others are bringing it to americans' attention and the fact is, that this is exactly the wrong thing to do, thank you. i can't believe -- look, we're supposed to pass these ash prop operations bills one at a time, so we can go through each one, take out wasteful programs and do those kinds of things and when you get a 1924 page bill

like this, as you said, you cannot even read in time to pass it, okay? that is wrong. that is flying in the face of the responsibility we have here in the u.s. senate. i hope it different pass. i hope saner thoughts will prevail. i'll do everything i can to make that happen. martha: i think a lot of people hope that you will. and that you are right about that, one more question about the debt ceiling issue. the debt ceiling keeps going higher and higher and higher and if you ask regular folks out there, would you keep pushing your credit card limit higher and higher and higher and higher? even though you are going deeper and deeper into debt, most would say of course not, that would be ridiculous. why would we even consider moving the debt ceiling higher at all? in the new year? >> well, you know, the way the debt ceiling works, it is like running up your credit card bill, as you said but then not agreeing to pay the bill. martha: right! >> the fact is we have spent the money. and a lot of people would say it is irresponsible not to pass the

debt ceiling, because that is like saying you will not pay the bill. i have come to the conclusion that it is irresponsible not to act responsible prior to voting for the debt ceiling, and that -- in other words my point is, we need to take action to really reduce spending and the world markets will run from our indebtedness if we don't act responsibly soon and when that begins to happen, as you know, it happens really quickly, all of a sudden a crisis ensues, so hopefully, the american people, i think know this, and hopefully congress will act responsibly this spring and -- >> senator, i think there are a lot of folks who home you are right and thanks for being with us today. thank you, senator bob corker from tennessee, go to our home page, foxnews.com/"america's newsroom" and you are weighing in, in huge numbers, critical to keep our government going in our economy or is it completely out of control? if you want to see them just say

no, we should have like those symbols, you know... just say no to more spending, right. bill: 2400 votes so far and counting. breaking news, he opened fire at point-blank range and somehow no one on the panama city school board was injured. you'll hear their story, live, in a news conference that will take place in only 10 minutes. here in "america's newsroom." momentarily. @ñññ÷ç]/wçó/>v@ññ]o

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♪ ♪ bill: theme from "star trek," where no man has gone before, the pro voyager one, lifting off september of 1977. now, it's on the edge of our solar system, 10 billion miles

away. still communicating about to make the jump into interstellar space, former nasa astronaut, tom jones with me now, good morning to you, tom. >> hi. bill: this is beyond -- merry christmas, beyond the ability to comprehend. how do we still have communications? >> well, both lasers one and two had radio isotope generators and use decayed heat from radioactive elements to generate electricity and the power sources are still strong enough to beam a very, very weak signal back to earth, takes 16 hours for the radio signal to come from voyager one -- >> 16 hours, how much longer can it last? 1977? >> back then, jimmy carter was president, and gas was 80 cents a gallon and voyager one got great mileage and it will last until 2025 before the radioactivity is such a low level the power source dies out. bill: what are we learning about deep, deep space.

>> we are at the boundaries of the solar system where the bubble of hot gas that comes off the sun is about to die out in terms of its speed, it used to be a million miles an hour and now is zero, voyager one is about to close to boundary into the thin vacuum, gas of interstellar space between the stars, where the sun's influence no longer extends and this is a first for any machine made by people. bill: what does it mean, tom. >> well, it means that we're going to learn what the physical conditions are beyond the sun's influence, in this empty realm between the stars and the chest star, four light years away, will take 40,000 years for voyager one to get close to another star. bill: wow, i don't know what you were doing in 1977, but i was two years old! this is like in the days of atari. gas was 65 cents a gallon, "star wars" was in theatres across america. the apple ii computer was released. top selling car, the chevy impala and the thorn birds was

"the new york times" best-seller. martha: everybody read that on the beach! bill: and years after that. tom, thank you and when we learn more, come on back, okay? have a merry christmas. 1977. it is tell moving out there, martha. martha: incredible! bill: 10 billion miles away. martha: i'm sure it is looking at interesting things but you think once in a while it gets bored? hey, i have been out here a really long time! bill: seen amazing things and it still works. martha: i love that. fascinating. tom jones, thank for being with us today. there's a hearing set for this week on a lawsuit challenging the president's health care law. a big, big deal. where it is concern and we'll look at arguments on both sides and see where we are going on the next. >> and waiting on the press conference, the school board as we wait on that at florida, tragedy at sea, a boat believed to be filled with refugees breaks apart. the dramatic videotape and what happened to some of the survivors. moments away. ation !

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everyone's eating tacos outside bill's office.

[ chuckles ] you think that is some information i would have liked to know? i like tacos. you invited eric? i thought eric gave you the creeps. [ phone buzzes ] oh. [ chuckles ] yeah. hey. [ male announcer ] don't be left behind. get it first with at&t. the nation's fastest mobile broadband network. period. rethink possible. martha: live to panama city, the school board news conference, speaking about what happened to them, happy to be alive today. let's listen in. >>... when it happened but i'll tell you what, i have seen the room and there is nothing short of a miracle that our superintendent is alive and well with us today. nothing short of a miracle that god protected him and stood in front of that bullet an pushed it another way, i'm here to tell you, if you are not a believer in miracles, watch the tape

again. >> it will make you believe it, real quick. >>... another board meeting. >> it will be hard to sleep. a lot of us are struggling, just on getting through last night. i know i didn't sleep at all, i have an e-mail from the superintendent, 3:00 a.m. and he didn't sleep much and i think we were in the same boat, we're still trying to get back to life as normal but i don't think, everybody that saw the live stream or anybody in the building, that was in that room, this is something that changes you for life and is not easily forgotten and the news headlines today and the trash bin tomorrow, for us it is real and will be something we carry with us. >> how... do you think you will be... [inaudible] security measures. >> i'm going to let the superintendent answer that question. >> we had a meeting today, with -- started last night and had a meeting with the employees of the nelson building and that was

a concern of theirs, too, and i had e-mails with concerns about that, and, it is just, you know, here's the thing. if you could have seen the gentleman's. >> reporter: this was going to happen, you saw him, danny. it was going to happen, we could have had the place like fort knox and he would have shot us when we came out, he was going to do this, there was nothing we could have done to stop him. it was a tragedy, we're very thankful and blessed to be alive, but, we don't want to... i don't want to make light of it, we don't want to overreact and have tsa, as i said, earlier to someone, checking people, that is not what the country is about. you are still safer, and our -- in our building than driving our vehicle in town and, you know, while it is scary and a tragedy, this gentleman had issues, a feel for his family but we are going to discuss and look at what we might need to change and will not start arming every

school and putting up barbed wire everywhere and all of that. i just, you know, this guy was going to do this, no matter what security we had. >> [inaudible]. >> i don't know if you have been in there, there are bullet holes all over the place and i knew there was a pattern and that is why mike jones is a hero. the door he came in, there are five shots, right in the holes with numbers on them and the scary thing, i saw that before i left yesterday when it happened. what i didn't see were the shots behind the board, board counter. and, if you will watch the video, when mike jones comes in, he is still shooting and getting ready to reach over and start shooting again and there are bullet holes along the edge where the board members are at,

and, mike shoots him twice, before he finally turns around and mike, i'm telling you, mike saved our lives. now, it doesn't get any more real than that and you don't have to believe that or whatever, we were in there, i'm telling you that that gentleman was not going to stop heating, he turned around when he was hit by mike and mike and him got into the shooting barrage and that saved our lives, he had more ammunition and he was going to keep going. >> when the shots were... >> i think he was in his office or in the building somewhere. when he started spray painting, dr. hapley went to get mike because the guy started spray painting. i'm not making light of this but i thought he hates technology, we had just voted on a thing about technology and we were getting ready to do a technology presentation and i thought, man he doesn't want us to spend any money on technology.

i didn't know what it was before and i didn't know what was going on and he turned around with the gun, it was totally different then. >> [inaudible]. >> he's good. i visited with him in the hospital and his family was there and he's in very good spirits and they'll keep him overnight for observation but he was going to be released today and i'll be surprised if we don't see him sometime today. >> [inaudible]. what was going through your head? >> well, i just -- you feel helpless, helpless out there. he pulled the gun out and told everybody to get out, excepted for the school board members, he had the gun, and we felt helpless, and i... he did a tremendous job talking to the gentleman. it seemed like he was upset and he talked to him and tried to talk to him and tried to reason with him and tried to get him to

put the gun down, and, we was back there helpless and back there, thinking how can we get the gun out of his hands before he shoots and kills somebody and kills us all. that's what we was thinking and, went through our minds, you know? a lot of things go through your minds when a person holds a gun, first time everybody held a gun on me. a lot of things went through my mind and, he was out there and tried to reason with him and, he was trying to protect everybody, in the building. his -- the faculty, trying to get them out of the room and when they tried to come back in, tell them to go back out and tried to negotiate with the guy to let the board members go and, then he said, let me stay here. you know? i just... very touching time. >> [inaudible]. >> second official board meeting.

when i was first elected i got a letter from one of the officials in tallahassee, saying, i hope you enjoy your new opportunity on the school board and i'm sure it will be exciting. and i don't think he had this in mind. i didn't appreciate how close some of the bullets came to me, until probably just then, the first time i had been in the room since then, if you look at the video his last two shots he fired he was almost leaning over where i was sitting and one hit the board book and papers on the desk and i was laying down and it was inches from where i was laying, one hit, the hole next to me, inches from where i wases. i didn't appreciate it. and i went -- until i went in there and saw it and that said, last night, i have a five and four-year-old and we're not telling them much about what happened and when i got home, i kept it together pretty well until i got home and they met me at the door and gave me big hugs and that put things in perspective. just how fragile life is and hug

your wife and husband and hug on those kids, you don't know literally when that might be the time you get to do that and i held it together until i met them at the door last night and that put it into perspective, needless to say. >> [inaudible]. >> i think you are requesting information and they are looking that up and will get it to you and i know the police, i think the police have information, too, they have been working on that. but i didn't know her, i didn't know him and i didn't know what he was talking about. >> anyone in the office... yesterday... [inaudible]. >> one recognized him but they didn't have any -- it was not a working thing, i think they knew a relative of his or something, but, nobody had seen him

anywhere in the building before or has any collection of anything that he was talking about. >> yesterday was a difficult time for all of us. i'm not a pansy but i will tell you, i was very afraid. i was scared to death. i did my talking, in behalf of my life, and my friends. when we tried, bill and i tried our best to talk with them, the first thing i said to him was, hey, what is your problem? can i help you? is -- what is your difficulty? and, he looked at us, and he kind of mumbled several times, and i said, if there is a problem with your wife and your job i will do anything i can do to help you with your wife and the job. all this tightme, we were looki for time, we knew we had mr. jones but mr. jones is not always in the building, he's out

in schools and you'll notice, let me continue to give accolades to him. mr. jones is anywhere we have problems, just last week we had the bus accident up on 388. in 2301. there was -- he was there. he is always there, when we have a problem. we didn't know if he was here or not and then i got into this thing and i said i'm a pretty good guy, you know? i get emotional about it, but, hey, i have a great wife, i have been married 40 years. and i have two great kids. and i'm not ready to die. and i said,eth l etlet us pleas to you, let us talk to you and, y'all will tell you, when he turned around -- the board member friends will tell you, when he turned around from his drawing, turned around, when he brandished the gun we knew that we were all in difficulty.

not only did the gun.9 mm, it became a bazooka, that is how we looked at it and like mr. walker said we knew we were in difficulty. so, hey, it was a heck of a day, we don't ever have to have it in our district again, it was negative and i hope we learn something from it and i think it is our society, you know? we have people who do this from time-to-time and it is a very difficult time for us and we appreciate the media, you support us, throughout and we thank you. >> [inaudible] i think it is still sinking in, walking into the boardroom for all of us and seeing the actual bullet holes, in chairs, where the board

members were sitting there was still blood on the floor when i went in and it makes it real and they were cleaning up the blood on the walkway, so, by the end of the day, it will be real but i'll say the sun is beautiful and it looks great today. >> [inaudible]. >> yes, this is the purse. i wish i had more. >> $50 here. >> $50, $50, $55... >> [inaudible]. >> i have three wonderful daughters an they said, mom, are you just stupid? what were you thinking and i actually didn't have an answer for that. i don't know if i was just stupid and i don't know what i was thinking. we're just thankful that it turned out like it did.

>> i have a friend who sent me an e-mail this morning, a lawyer in new york and she said i don't know about that ginger woman but i want her in my foxhole. and that is exactly how i feel about it. i was so glad, i have been representative of the school board 31 years and i thought last night i guess i have been to a thousand school board meetings, over 31 years and there are so many times when you have real contentious issues, and just, terrible things that you have to deal with, and, people get upset, and talking about the jobs and the children and we went through a morning's worth of expulsions, that are private but you get parents that get extremely upset with board members and it is a really, kind of scary, and, what is so frightening about this event, frightening because i've seen where the bullet holes were, and had no idea until this morning, but it was an ordinary school board meeting. there was nothing controversial and no reason for someone to be all upset.

we went through the wonderful meeting of all of these kids being honored for academic achievements, thank goodness they were all gone and then, just almost a fun kind of meeting towards the end, talking about head lice of all things and scratching your head and suddenly out of nowhere, comes this individual. that is really the frightening thing, because you are not -- when you know you have a problem, you can have security there. and, prevent that but it was out of the clear blue and is -- i think will change all of us, no question about that. thank you all. >> if there are no more questions would like to in closing, say that i would put the character and the demeanor of this board and what happened in this situation up against any training that that could have been done, i know there will be a lot of armchair quarterbacks that will question things that were done and, use of force and managed force and everything,

but let me tell you, nus are in the situation, in the middle of something like this, you don't know how you will react, and, this superintendent and mr. -- talking the man down and trying to alleviate the situation, mike jones and doing what they could to protect the board, i can't tell you how proud i am to be chairman of this group of people, this team that is working for bay county and there is going to be a lot of questions, a lot of things coming up and there are a lot of issues that we'll have to deal with and there will be a time for that. but for now we are happy and blessed to all be alive today. and, we just thank god for that and we appreciate you coming out. thank you. martha: what a story. i mean, you know, what an impressive group of people. and, i can't help but feel we are fortunate to have had this opportunity to kind of meet these people and we met ginger, our friend with the purse on "america's newsroom" a couple

minutes ago and when you listen to these people and they talk about what they went through and they are humble and eloquent and obviously personally moved by what happened to them, they dodged a bullet in the biggest way possible and they are happy to be alive, and the genuineness that cups from them is heart-warming and in a bizarre way coming out of the awful story. bill: an amazing christmas. for those people. here's what happened. panama city, last night, school board meeting getting together, as you heard from the description, the bored members sitting to the left. this man, whose name is clay duke, age 56, his wife apparently had been fired from the school district. and, when he approached these people. and when they asked him, please don't, please don't, he fired his handgun, and he missed all the school board members, who were sitting 8 people from him. you heard a lot about the name

mike jones during the press conference, he's a security guard for the school district. not seen in this picture, who comes in and takes out duke. duke was the only one killed as a result. everybody else was okay. martha: you can see the shot that takes him down. came from mike jones, the wounds him, and he ends up on the floor but an incredible story, too often we cover these kinds of stories and people lose their lives and you say, gee, you know, you almost wish it was only the shooter who lost their lives and in this case it was, but it is an extraordinary story. >> great to hear that your spirit, too. martha: great, great folks. >> he's a man who knows think or two about money and in charge of a multibillion-dollar empire, steve forbes in a moment on the economy, spending, tax cuts, you name it. he'll talk about it. martha: you want to know what stories are clicking out there today? foxnews.com? hit the "most read" tab and we what is super hot and i bet you

will come across the story from panama city, florida. unbelievable. we'll be right back.

>>. martha: high school hoops looks like pro wrestling, and, he flips out, watch this. attacks the referee. and, body slams the poor guy to the ground, and, he -- and the referee refused to finish the game and the home team got a forfeit win and the student was suspended and, the state attorney general is looking into

that. bill: an horrific tragedy at sea, this is amateur videotape from ironically, christmas island, west of australia. a wooden boat packed with people, smashing against the rocks, during a storm and breaking apart. 70 screaming men, women and children, tossed into the monstrous waves, and david piper is streaming live out of bangkok. what happened here? >> reporter: a terrible tragedy, it seems the boat full of 70 asylum-seekers, were trying to get to christmas island where the main refugee center is based. and, it seems they were pushed onto the rocks in heavy seas, and it was really a fight for their lives with people struggling as they were smashed between the boat and the rocks and latest figure are 27 dead but there is fear that that could rise to 50 and the rest of the island watched from the cliff above as the boat carrying these people broke up and they threw lifejackets down to try

and help them but many were crushed against the rocks. many of the dead are feared to be women and children. it seems the australian navy and customs vessels were on the other side of the island at the time, trying to help another boat of asylum-seekers and they finally got there but, some of the eye witnesses said it was too late for many people on the other boat. and, it is also believed these people are mainly from iraq or iran. they tried to get to christmas island, a remote australian out post, in the indian ocean, because that is where anybody who reaches australian territory by boat is detained and processed. what that means is if they can show they could be persecuted in their own country they will be taken in by australia or other countries, that are friendly to refugees. now, most of these people are smuggled by boat, first flying to indonesia and then by boat to

australia. australia has been pushing to try to stop this, because it is so dangerous, and they are looking for perhaps a refugee center on neighboring east timor, but that has not happened yet. and at this time, people prepared to still put their lives at risk, to get to australia. back to you. bill: remarkable story and the pictures are breath taking. david piper on the story out of bangkok. martha: vegas authorities on the hunt for a thief who got away with $1.50 million in casino chips and ahead where the investigation is going. that is where he's going, out the door. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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founder julian assange is coming under fire from funny man conan o'brien. >> people think they found an old internet dating profile. it was filled out by wikileaks founder julian assange, now it's been posted online. yeah. after hearing about it julian assange was furious, and he said, you know, some things are supposed to be private. [laughter] bill: he was considered time magazine's man of the year. martha: yeah he was. bill: come on, really. martha: what do you think of zuckerberg. bill: fair, i think so. second-place was the tea party, though. what the tea party has done for american politics is something that has been a big issue too. facebook was around a year ago, tea party not so much. speaking about what the tea party is all about, though we want to tell our viewers about government spending. what do you think about spending? we got a huge response online.

so far 4600 have weighed in. you can go to our website foxnews.com/america's newsroom. is it critical to keep our economy going or b is it completely out of control, they just don't get it, period. you can still vote. martha: i think a lot of people are going with the latter. bill: zuckerberg man of the year? martha: i think facebook has revolution niced the way people community. more than half a billion of us communicate on facebook which is extraordinary, it's really changed. i think they should run the terror watch list. they have a much better way of keeping track of people than the federal government does. bill: one final note on florida, what a remarkable story that was. martha: i'm h-pbee we got to know those people today, extraordinary. bill: exactly, their stories and they all have families and kids. they are all thinking about their children thinking it can't end this way