if you go to foxnewsshop.com, some of this could wind up underneath your tree. >> brian: this is brand-new. this is what all the kids are wearing. >> gretchen: scarf, hats, ties, baseball caps, t-shirts. >> steve: we look tough now. >> gretchen: spiffy on you guys. >> steve: or would you prefer one of these, brian? >> brian: this looks great. i might wear this all show. >> steve: i think i'm going to go backwards. >> brian: there you go. >> gretchen: bye. charming! good morning, everybody. breaking news on the economy, our weekly jobless numbers, dropping ever so slightly. labor department reports 420,000 americans applied for jobless benefits, that's a third drop -- a third drop, but analysts say it's a trend but way too high to get the jobless picture any better. you got to drop 100,000 off

that number. in the meantime, lawmakers attacking a spending bill brought forth by senate democrats. it is today's big battle on capitol hill and that's where we start. oink, oink! martha: good morning i'm martha mccall: we're talking about a spending plan, growing to a $1.2 trillion, fiscal conservatives sounding off about the overmarks in this bill. bill: about 9 billion special projects, that includes half a million dollars for blue fin tuna tagging research in california! a million for shark research in san jose, 2 1/2 million for an astronomy center in hawaii. arizona senator john mccain says democrats and republicans are not getting the voters' message. >> i don't know, but they are tone deaf, and it's a direct repudiation of the voters last november 2nd.

it is a direct insult, sticking your thumb right in their eye, and frankly, i got to tell you, there are some republican senators who intend to vote for this. there are many democrats, many of whom are up for next time. i don't often give advice across the aisle. i say to them, my friends, both republican and democrat, you vote for this, you do a great -- you put your political future in great peril. it's disgraceful. bill: that last night from "hannity", stuart varney with me now from the fox business network. good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: what you're starting to see are people like orrin hatch, republican from utah, saying take my earmarks out of my bill, i'll lose them now. you see the pressure starting to build and perhaps the message for some is settling in. >> yes. there is earmark rage. some republican senators are responding to that rage by withdrawing their vote for this bill, even though their own earmarks are contained in it. roger wicker from

mississippi, he's got 223 earmark necessary this bill, worth $400 million. he's not going to vote for it. mitch mcconnell, we have john cornyn, republican of texas, he's got $50 million both of earmarks in it, he's going to vote against it, john thune of south dakota, $38 million worth in there, he will vote against it. so you've got a rising tide of republican senators saying we don't want this, we're not going to vote for it. bill: if they truly wanted to put their money where their mouth is they would pull the earmarks out of it, would they not? >> well, that's a technical thing, whether they pull it in or pull it out, that's irrelevant, largely. the point is they will vote against it. they will vote against the bill, which contains earmarks they put in. now, is this -- if this bill goes down to defeat, if it were pushed out, you have the very remote possibility on sunday of a government shutdown because the government would not be funded. it runs out of money as of

saturday. so if this bill is voted out, goes down to defeat, it is a remote possibility the government shuts down just like back in the mid 199 os. bill:el tell you -- i tell you, martha and i were on the radio yesterday and its remarkable to us to hear how many callers were clued into this trillion dollars omnibus bill and they are not happy about it. there are so many in america that believes if washington spends a dime, they spent a dime too much. on the jobs picture, what does it tell you? the jobless recovery continues? >> yes, basically, that's it. you've got a very slight downtrend in a number of new claims per week were down 3000, to 420,000 last week, but that's still way too high to make any serious dent in the unemployment problem in our country. bill: if that was 320,000, we'd say that's great news. >> put the flags out, baby, we've got a recovery. but we're not there. bill: see you at 9:20, fbn, thank you. see how much earmarks will cost you. log on to fox news doot comb, we made an earmarks

calculator where you can put in the null and figure out how it applies to every america. you can also answer the you decide question, do you think congress should pass this bill, would the president veto t a fair and balanced de bought coming up later in the show. it's all about money. martha: money for wood utilization. still trying to figure out how to use wood, apparently. we're going to talk a about this. the tax cut bill heads for a high stakes vote in the house and that is where it may run into tough road blocks. some democrats say this bill is way too generous to the wealthy for them to vote forks some republicans are also not on board for the opposite reasons, really, including congressman mike pence of indiana who says he will not vote for this tax compromise in the house. >> it's a bad deal for taxpayers, will do little to create jobs, and i cannot support it. despite the fact that last november, the american

people did not vote for more deficits, stimulus or uncertainty in the tax code. that's just what this lame duck congress is about to give them. martha: well, if it passes in the house today, that bill will extend tax cuts to everybody across the board for the bush tax cuts. coming up, congressman mike pence joins us. he's going to tell us why he cannot support this bill that a lot of republicans and conservatives say is the first place to start. bill: in the meantime now, to our border, homeland security secretary janet napolitano will go to arizona after a gun battle claimed the life of another u.s. border patrol agent. the shootout happened on the u.s. side of the border, nogales, arizona, a spot very popular with drug smugglers, four suspect necessary custody for the murder of agent brian perry. arizona congresswoman gabriel giffords spoke last night to greta about this very topic: >> people are living in fear, rangers are living in fear, our communities do not feel safe and until they feel safe, i'm going to

continue to put more pressure on the united states government, on the house, senate and on the administration. bill: this story has not gone away, secretary napolitano saying the u.s. will leave no stone unturned in bringing the killers of agent kerry to justice. next hour, shurve paul badeau from arizona. martha: fox news alert, wickileaks founder julian assange could soon be walking out of the british jail he's been in. the judge is upholding his decision to free assange on bail, that money came in from a number of sources, including michael moore, now they have rejected an appeal by prosecutors to try to keep him in prison. assange's attorneys are fighting his extradition to sweden where he's facing sexual assault charges now. that was the crux of what this particular legal action was all about. now a live report from london is coming up on all of this in a couple of minutes from now. then there is this: threats of an attack on our homeland during the holidays, reports out of

iraq that al-qaeda is planning attacks during the christmas season in the united states and in europe. those claims are based on confession that is they got from terror detainees during an investigation, so this obviously is a very big concern. we all remember this scene last christmas say, the so-called underwear bomber tried to take down a passenger jet bound for detroit. molly henneberg is live from washington with more on this. what information are we getting, what is this concern based on from these iraqi authorities? >> reporter: hi martha. iraqi authorities say they've rounded more than 70 insurgents recently and some claim to be part of an al-qaeda cell, with direct tie toss al-qaeda leaders in pakistan. jalwad al balani says al-qaeda plans to launch a series of suicide attacks in the u.s. and europe this christmas season, al bahlani did not say which may be in the crosshairs, but he said

captured al-qaeda militants insisted after the fact that the bombing in stock hole o'clock was the first, that attack killed a bomber who was an iraqi-born swedish citizen and injured two others. zabari says these claims are, quote, a critical threat. martha: what about here in the u.s.? how concerned are u.s. officials about this intelligence, how credible do they believe it is? >> they're always heightened alert. you mentioned the underwear bomb their tried to blow up a plane in detroit on christmas day. don't forget a couple of years ago, the shoe bomber, arrived reid, trying to take down a plane from paris to miami. so they're always on heightened alert this time of year. one u.s. official tells the "wall street journal" this is credible, that the intelligence department is taking is serious but in terms of a specific plot,

quote, i'll unaware of one. bill: to our viewers, if you're traveling over the holidays, are you worried about an attack during the holidays, are you very worried about t. a little bit or not worried at all? let us know, try and get a gage of this, fox news.com/"america's newsroom". that's online now. a bit later in our program, a terror analyst on what these holiday threats mean and how serious we should take this. coming up. martha: a massive lawsuit challenging the health care law goes before a judge this morning. this is a very pivotal moment in this decision about whether or not the health care reform is constitutional. we're going to talk to one of the attorneys general who is fighting to stop it. he's going to make his case for us in "america's newsroom". bill: in the meantime the tax cut now heading to the house for a battle, and this man right here says he will vote no. he's republican mike pence. he'll join us and explain why, and if a deal does get passed, or if it does not, what does that mean for the white house? coming up. martha: and the deep south n. a deep freeze, and it is

slippery out there, folks. live to atlanta, coming up. >> ♪ >> ♪ baby, it's cold outside. >> ♪ >> ♪ martha: fox news can

now confirm these errors of an attack on the u.s. embassy personnel in yemen. diplomatic sources say that four embassy staff members were targeted while getting dinner at a restaurant that is popular with foreign nationals, police say a suspected al-qaeda terrorist rigged their armoured truck with explosives, apparently it did detonate but thankfully nobody was hurt in this attack, suspect is 28-year-old jordanian man, he was found with several i.d. cards and a gun. bill: all right martha. now the health care battle going back to court today, this time in florida, and

this is a big case. we're awaiting a hearing in a massive case, challenging the overhaul, a u.s. district judge will hear arguments in the case brought forward by 20 different states. they have all filed lawsuits again the health care law, all are awaiting a ruling, except for the case in virginia that was ruled on, as we mentioned earlier in the week. greg abbott, the attorney general out of texas, he's with me live now in pensacola, florida and sir, thank you for your time today. >> good morning to you! bill: part of your debate centers around that mandate that a judge ruled against earlier in the week, the other part of the argument goes against medicaid where you say the federal government cannot tell the states what to spend or not to spend when it comes to medicaid coverage. is that the crux of your argument today, sir? do i have that right? >> you do have that right. the heart of our argument is similar to the heart of the argument that was made in the virginia case, and that

is that there are limits to the powers that congress has, and congress extended -- stated those limits as set forth in the constitution by imposing the individual mandate on all americans, and this is the mandate where congress for the first time in american history has ordered our fellow americans to go out and purchase a product. we contend in court here today that congress does not have that authority, and therefore, we ask this judge to strike down obamacare as violating the constitution. bill: you know what the government says. it says states can opt out of medicaid and, therefore, you're not obliged or beholden to it. is that not the case? >> well that, goes to our second argument, which is the commandeering argument about the medicaid program. because the way the programs have been set up in the past and now of the onerous burden the federal government is putting on the expansion of the medicaid program it is going to cost

all of the states so much money. in texas alone, it will cost about 25 blgd over the -- $25 billion over the first ten years of implementation, those are taxpayer dollars that the state of texas simply doesn't have. and so the federal government is trying to expand a tax increase across the country because of this commandeering, and we hope the judge will strike down that portion of the obamacare. bill: the judge is robert vincent. i don't know much about him. do you know much about his history, do you expect a favorable ruling? because regardless of what happens, you're looking at an appeal to the supreme court. answer that question first and then go to the supreme court. >> we had a ruling by a judge in this case a couple of months ago where he gave a nod analytly and legally towards the sail conclusion that we received out of the virginia case early they are week, so we believe this judge understands the problems with the individual mandate, the problems with

commandeering of the medicaid system, so we're hopeful for a ruling that will strike down the constitutionality of obamacare but listen, we all understand this is judge the first step along the pathway towards the united states supreme court, this issue will not be resolved until the united states supreme court decides. bill: and to that point, the makeup of the court in washington now, do you believe that favors your argument or goes against you? >> you know, we've been looking carefully at decisions and writings by justice kennedy, who will be the pivotal vote in this case, and we believe justice kennedy has been analyzing the commerce clause and the constitution in ways that will place limits on congressional authority, and so we're hopeful with a positive decision out of the supreme court but as a former justice in the high court in texas, it is impossible to predict what a court will do beforehand. bill: is there case law that would tell you or argue one way or the other? is there anything on the books now? >> yes, there are a couple

of case that is have been issued over the past 15 years for the united states -- where the united states supreme court has stricken down congressional acts as exceeding the bounds of the commerce clause, so we know that the supreme court has turned the corner with regard to placing limits on congressional power. we hope that they will continue with that trend in this case. bill: there's the foundation for the debate, then, and the argument. the one thing this virginia judge did not do the other day, he did not stop the implementation of the health care law, he just ruled on that one section, that one provision, section 11501 that deals with the mandate. sir, i appreciate your time today. it will be fascinating inside that courtroom. thank you. out of pensacola. >> thank you. bill: 19 past. martha. martha: americans have been cutting pork out of their personal budgets for two years now. so why can't cut -- so why can't congress get lean? critics say the nearly 2000 page bill to keep the government runing is laden with fat. we're going to debate that next. bill: more than a thousand accidents in one city alone.

when folks can expect a thaw from the deep winter freeze. wow!

bill: there are new development necessary a murder case out of virginia. former uva lacrosse player george huguely is accused of murder ling yeardley love, she had played for the women's lacrosse team, the defense attorney challenging the medical examiner's report concluding that love was beaten to death, claiming she may have had prescription medication in her system that somehow contributed to her dying. they're asking the court for access to all of her medical records. love's body was found in her off campus apartment back in may. police say huguely admitted to them that he slammed love's head against the wall and shook her several times after he kicked in the

apartment door. prosecutors have said they will not seek the death penalty against huguely. martha: and now, it is a deep freeze from louisville to atlanta, making driving, as you can see -- we have so much video of these cars slip sliding all over. look at this one. that's not a good feeling. it's treacherous out there and police and tow truck drivers have their hands full with more than 1000 wreck necessary motor row atlanta in the past 24 hours, the same wicked weather zeroing in on the mid atlantic states, washington could see a couple of inches of snow as well. we're joined by our fox affiliate. wada, near one of those overpasses and stranded cars in murietta, georgia, just tside atlanta. good morning to you, how is it looking out there? >> reporter: good morning. we've got a cold rain going on right now. the thaw is taking place on most roads. you know t. happens every year in atlanta, at least

once a year, but the black ice nightmare hit early this year before christmas. at rush hour yesterday, hundreds of crashes and those vehicles, if they didn't smash into something, they clogged roads, motorists waited for hours to make the crawl home, some left cars, creating a headache for law enforcement and the georgia department of transportation. now, what happened yesterday at rush hour is that there wasn't much rain, just a little bit, but the south has had several days of very, very cold weather, so with the pavement being cold, it didn't take much rain for that ice to freeze. martha. martha: and you get that little layer of thin ice on top of the pavement and it's a bad combination. morris, thank you very much. we wish the folks luck as they try to stabilize things on the road there in atlanta. bill: it's slipping there -- it's slippery there and you can't tell the difference between it's moisture or

frozen. martha: the worst feeling when your car loses control. that's not good. bill: nothing to do with it at that point. the house gets its hands on the tax cut bill today. republican mike pence is on deck to tell us why he will vote no. stay tuned for that. martha: and president obama says he knows the american public disapproves of earmarks, so why is he pushing congress to pass this massive spending bill that is packed with special projects? we talk to karl rove about the president and what he's up to. bill: want to know what stories are clicking hot on foxnews.com? hit the most read tab an see what's hot. >> ♪ >> ♪ have a holly jolly christmas, and when you walk down the street. >> ♪ say hello, to friends you know. >> ♪ and everyone you meet. >> ♪ >> ho. >> ho. >> ♪ the mistletoe. >> hung where you can see.wy= >> somebody waits for me.4# >>ñs kiss er, once for me.@[ér

>> ♪

bill # 30:00 now. some of our top stories, good morning, everybody, home construction apparently is up, the commerce department saying that that number rose about 4 percent in november, that's up from the previous two months. the u.s. is suing bp and eight other companies over the gulf oil spill. it's a multi billion dollar suit, alleging the safety and operational violations led to the explosion back in april, reports that 5 million barrels of oil leaked into the gulf, 11 workers killed on the rig on that day of the disaster.

>> i will be voting against it because, again, the legislation is not paid for. the real problem here is spending that's not paid forks that's adding to the decifit. it's in excess of $800 billion. and it also blows a hole in the social security trust fund of about $110 billion, in addition to the $57 billion that we'll be paying out in unemployment benefits. martha: all right, how about that? michelle bachmann is not the only republican who is against this tax deal which as you know, republicans really pushed for to extend the bush tax cuts. now, the bill going to the floor for a vote today, but congressman mike pence also saying he will vote no on this bill. he says extending the the tax cuts permanently would be the only way to go, the only way that he would vote for it. good morning and welcomeo welcome to congressman mike pence. >> how are you? martha: i'm fine. a lot of people look at this situation and say

republicans have said over and over the democrats are not willing to work with them, democrats say there's no way we will extend bush tax cuts for the wealthy, they went, many will say, half way, they say we're going to extend them for two years, so how come republicans can't get on board with that? >> look, that's a fair question and i want to acknowledge, this is a tough call. you know, i spent the last week really, you know, reflecting on this decision, because martha, as you know, i've been championing the effort for the last six month toss make sure that no american sees a tax increase in january, but in the final analysis, i really believe that this tax deal coming over from the senate is a bad deal for taxpayers and will do very little to create jobs, and i can't support it. martha: so it looks like it's going to pass. do you think it's going to pass, whether you vote for it or not? >> well, i don't know. you know, i went to the rules committee last night, i was flanked by democrats and republicans who have concerns about this bill, and the one thing we all agreed on was you look at

the constitution under article one, section seven, it says that all bills regarding revenue or taxes are to originate in the house of representatives, but actually, liberals and conservatives all agreed on that point, and we were all saying why are we getting this take it or leave it deal that was largely crafted between the senate and the white house, let the congress work its will. i offered an amendment, jim demint in the senate that, would allow people to vote on making all the tax rates permanent. i just think -- look, we don't have a temporary economy, and a two-year extension of tax rates is simply not going to encourage the kind of investment and capital formation that's going to create jobs. martha: it seems like the market that is responded positively to that news for the two-year tax extension. i heard you say earlier today that you spoke to some business folks out there who say that it undermines their confidence, but you know, i think what the bigger picture here is to me is what kind of congress are we heading into in january? you know, are republicans

and fiscal conservatives, more importantly, are you going to be able to rally people to your line of thinking? and i know you've tried really hard to do that. to really have a whole way of doing business that we're simply not going to stand for more spending and we're not going to stand for the kind of earmarks we're seeing in this omnibus bill and is there a support for real radical change, or is it compromise and war of the -- and more the same way we're headed? glie think that is really the right question and along, i don't think there's anything radical about having a federal government that starts to live within our means, i don't think there's anything radical about saying we ought to have a permanent tax code in place that people can plan on. in terms of the congress that's coming, i don't think it's going to be a matter of whether the congress can rally the american people, i think it's the other way around. the question is is the congress going to respond to what the american people said in deafening terms on november 2nd, which was for heaven's sakes, put your fiscal house in order, stop

all the runaway spending, the deficits, the debt, the bailouts and the takeovers, give us some certainty in the tax code and we'll get this economy and get businesses working again. i just think what's disappointing to millions of people about this so-called tax deal, martha, what's disappointing about that pork-laden omnibus bill that's moving through the senate is after the american people said change business as usual, change management, here's more of the same. and you know, my view is if not now, when? let's take a stand right here, right now, let's demand a better deal for the american people that will really create jobs and do it in a fiscally responsible way. martha: that is the question. we'll see where it goes. congressman pence, thank you very much. good to have you here today. >> thank you martha. martha: we'll talk to you soon. bill: some breaking news out of london, wickileaks founder julian assange, a judge rejecting an appeal by prosecutors, now granting assange bail, and the

release, the conditional release. greg palkot is live on that out of london. why was he given bail, greg? >> reporter: the judge decided that he was okay to be allowed to go free. right now, he's still not free, he's inside the british high court building in central london. they're working out the details. the latest word in the last couple of minutes is he might not be out until earliest, tomorrow, london time. but again, the judge ruling against the appeal, against that bail, again, deciding that julian assange was not a substantial flight risk. those are the words of the judge. also the judge says he is satisfied by the restrictions and the conditions put on assange regarding this bail. that includes putting up the equivalent of $300,000, plus, in bond money, also, limits of movement on him. he's going to be sitting in a manor in the northeast of london b.150 miles northeast, got to wear a

tracking device, he has curfews, he's got to be met by police officers every day and also noted, bill, by the judge, that another reason behind the granting of bail is the possible weakness in the sex crime charges being put against him. remember, that's what he's being -- sweden is trying to extradite him to their country about, and the possibility is that once he faces those charges, he might go free. so a lot of factors in this, bill. bill: greg, thank you for that, greg palkot is on that breaking news out of london. details and updates on that when they happen. greg, thanks. twenty minutes before the hour. martha: what a show there was at the vatican this week , four accontracts entertained pope benedict xvi. interesting picture, isn't it? apparently there were a group of nuns who enjoyed it, they were raving and snapping pictures the whole time. very interesting.

some say it kind of looks like a chippendale's act. >> from one catholic to another, holy rollers there! >> holy moly! bill: holy cannoli. virus research, blue fit research, just some of the things on the tax bill. america, have you had enough? we'll debate that. martha: minnesota vikings fans being told to show up at the stadium with shovels, folks. we'll tell you why.

martha: if you want to see a football team play next tuesday night, get out there are your shovel, the

university of minnesota is putting out a call to fans to shovel the stadium so vikings can get in there and play the chicago bears monday night. bill: uh-huh! >> it's going to hurt us a little bit. >> do you think you'll get it done? >> indeed. >> for the vikings, yeah! >> we might be shoveling if they're playing. >> there's confusion on how to handle the shovelers, and we will pay the shovelers if they show up. martha: probably a good idea, the vikings facility is still damaged after heavy snow collapsed. remember this scene? it was unbelievable. it collapsed -- >> bill: i have no doubt the folks in minnesota will get the snow out of there. martha: indeed. bill: democrats under fire for a massive spending bill about $9 billion -- with $9 billion in earmarks but some of the republicans who say they're angry about it are also asking for money, millions of dollars for pressure projects in their home states, including senator john cornyn out of texas, when i asked him if

he supports earmarks yesterday on our program, he says he does not, but -- listen: >> 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 -- >> but i am confused, why is there 16 million in requests from you listed here? is that not true? >> early on in the year i did request earmarks that i think are individually defenseil and if we had a debate on the floor i think i could show how they help our men and women in uniform. bill: now, that is where the debate continues. stephen hayes, senior writer for the weekly standard, doug schoen, democratic pollster, are both fox news contributors and gentlemen, good morning to you. stephen, is this the next great debate in america, about earmark, whether they're good or bad or set up a symbol that washington heard the message of five weeks snag. >> you know what, i hope it's not, because there shouldn't be a debate about earmarks, we shouldn't have them, they should be over. if you want to have the next

great debate about debt and decifit, we should be talking about entitlement reform and talk about it in a serious way. earmarks are the easy thing, a lot of them are ridiculous, they add up to relatively little money but they should be eliminated and eliminated now. bill: doug, would you join steve's view of that? even if it's a small push in the overall budget maybe you send a signal that you know what, i hear what you're talking about. >> absolutely i join, and so does president obama, by the way. he just is in aption now where he wants to keep the government funded and secretary gates is saying we won't be able to meet important defense priorities unless we sign this omnibus spending bill and lo and behold both parties have put in earmarks that are probably indefensible in a bill that's probably essential. bill: here's what struck out. so martha and i were on the radio yesterday and stephen, you would not believe the way the callers were into this issue, not just earmarks but the $1 trillion

bill that's being debated, that omnibus bill, and what it tells you that even though the vote was five or six weeks ago, that people are truly fiscal fiscally conservative in america, that they believe the following, that if washington spends a dime, it's a dime too much. >> the history of the omnibus is very interesting because people need to understand, this was done deliberately. the situation we're in now where people are acting like this is an emergency, we're in the lame duck, we have only a few days, it's right before the hole day, all of this was part of a plan. remember the democrats opted not to pass a budget. they chose not to pass a budget because they didn't haven't to -- want to have moderate democrats, particularly in the house, have to cast a vote in favor of the budget that would increase the decifit 7-10 percent so thaipped we're not going doing a budget this year so because of that we're facing now this emergency they created, they have to come up with a emergency solution to solve

the emergency problem they've created. bill: now there's a ping pong in washington, should the president veto this bill? >> i don't think he should veto the bill. we need the bill, we need the money. we don't need a shutdown now. what we need is what steve was talking about, a serious debate about tax policy, budgetary policy, entitlement reform going forward, so we end the stop gap spending measures, the day to day crises that take us away from a broad national purpose. i think that's what we really need. bill: steve, what if president obama vetoed it? first, is it a reality or possibility, i should say and if he did, imagine the ripple effect if that happens. >> look, i actually think it would be very smart for him to veto this bill. i think he could say we want a continuing resolution, we can fund the government for a couple of months into february, but president obama could give a speech, think of the speech he could give, i want to take a stand, i'm against pork, he could highlight these individual projects that people are so upset about,

and then he would have the spectacle of this -- you would have the inspection tacoo spectacle of the president who for two years that passed a health care program that costs trillions of dollars, at least backing up his rhetoric about fiscal responsibility with at least something. i think he could make a case as he tries to pivot to the center in advance of the 2012 election. bill: doug, when you hear an argument like that, does it change your mind? >> it doesn't change my mind because of practical politics, the republicans are effectively taking control january 1st, they want to do as much to extend their democratic priorities as they possibly can, and if the president did what steve said, he would effectively be ceding authority to the republicans which is something that is politically unpalatable, however attractive in the short term steve's option is. bill: the jumping point was on earmarks, isn't it stunning about how every lawmaker is asked about earmarks that he or she requests in their home district? but they have a right to

defend these earmarks, as cornyn said yesterday, helping the military men and women, however, it's still in the bill and it's still on the minds of americans as they think about what's happening in washington. doug, last word. >> steve and i both agree that the earmark process is outrageous, everybody says they want to do away with it, yet it continues. it's an outrage. bill: gentlemen, good to see you. go for fox news.com, bya box, leave your question, also shoot me an e-mail, hemmer at foxnews.com, that's what it is, also foe me on twitter at bill hemmer, check in bya, because you asked. lines are open. martha: an iraq var war veteran, part of an elite squad protecting our border was shot dead. the sheriff who knows how dangerous life is there joins us live. bill: how cold is this. this is happening in a major american estimate that's a light house that's become now an icehouse.

martha: that's unbelievable. it looks like a winter wonderland that's real!

bill: we are learning of a tragic boat accident today t. happened on christmas island. that's an australian territory, about 1600 miles off the mainland. want to show you amateur video of the scene, massive waves smashing the flimsy wooden boat against the jagged rocks. we told you about this yesterday, sending asylum workers plunging into the surf, while witnesses meanwhile nearby looked on with horror. >> crushing down on us, debris raining down from the air, throwing life jackets at them, ropes in the water, trying to pull people out. the response to seeing people drowning and dying,

we should have -- we would have liked to havedized in there to save them but it would have been suicide. i've got some disturbing imagery in my head. >> bill: officials say up to 100 may have been board and may never be found. christmas island. >> ♪ >> ♪ you're a mean one. >> ♪ >> ♪ mr. grinch. >> ♪ >> ♪ you really are a heel. >> ♪ martha: this is a real life grinch that has stolen christmas from a nice texas family, their holiday season is off to a very sad start as thieves broke into their apartment, snatched all of their christmas presents, everything they bought, things were wrapped, under the tree, all taken, but the worst part of all is that the one thing the family really wants back, can you believe this, their dog.

when this is their little dog candy. i am so sorry about what you guys are going through. stacy, welcome. give us an update. is there anything, any good news about the dog or stuffior any of this? >> so far all the leads they have have been deadends. the investigators are on top of it. they really are trying to do everything they can to get candy back to us. but it's not really up to the place. it's up to whoever has her to find it in their heart to bring her back home where she belongs. martha: if you could talk to the people who did this and it looks like they were in your apartment for a long time, they went through your rock collection under your bed, and that's a terrible feeling, to have somebody doing that to your stuff and talking all these things, what would you say to these people, cameron? >> i would just say i want my dog back, and that's really all i want back. i don't care about the other stuff. just give me my dog back.

martha: stacy, do you guys have any hunch about this, any feeling about who might have done this? did you get a sense that it was somebody who knew your way around your place or were other places near you affected? >> yes, i think that it's someone that obviously was -- either they knew cameron or they had been watching our family. we were never out of our apartment for any length of time, all of us at one time. this night happened to be one that we were, and it's like they knew -- well, they had to have known we were going to be gone a while because they were in there quite some time, they went through a lot of stuff. martha: stacy, what about the christmas presents? are you getting support from your community, are people helping you to get christmas back underway at your house? >> you know, they are trying. like i said, that's -- the material stuff is not importanttous right now. our christmas is --

unfortunately, our christmas pretty much is ruined. i don't even think about christmas right now. i don't --o i don't even realize it is the holidays. it does not feel like christmas. it just doesn't. martha: we're showing a picture of your cute little dog candy and i know you guys miss her and want her to come back hole and we hope whoever did this grinch-like deed will bring candy home. they can just stop dandy off on your doorstep and nobody has to be the wiser. >> no. there is no -- there is no police a. i don't want to press charges, i don't -- i feel sorry for whoever did this, they've got issues. martha: bring candy back home. >> bring candy home. martha: we wish you merry christmas and we're going to cross our dogs that -- cross our fingers that your dog is at your front door roon. >> thank you very much. bill: you like watching the grinch, about you don't like hearing about it.

martha: don't do that. bill: he is itching for a fierkts president obama going on defense, but could the white house benefit from some positive spin? karl rove weighs in on that in a matter of moments. we'll talk to karl. martha: and this other man -- this man is also a hero, security guard mike jones, taking out a gunman who opened fire during that school board meeting, that unbelievable video we showed you yesterday, he is going to speak out in about an hour from now. we will bring you the dramatic 911 cawlts, you're going to hear those in "america's newsroom", coming up. [ male announcer ] you know her. oh, my gosh. [ male announcer ] we know diamonds. oh, my gosh. [ male announcer ] together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you'll pay no interest if paid in full by january 2012.

martha: a brazen attack on u.s. diplomats in yemen. fox news now confirming an explosion outside of a pizza place in the muslim nation was, indeed, targeting workers at the u.s. embassy in yemen, a 28-year-old jordanian man is accused of tossing a bomb either into the diplomat's truck bed or perhaps beneath their vehicle. witnesses say it blew up and parts of the truck flew off,

fortunately, nobody was hurt in the attack and we'll get updates on this throughout the next hour, here in "america's newsroom." and we're also awaiting what is likely to be very fiery debates, folks, on intending bill that is being pushed through the lame duck congress, right now. it is 1900-plus pages long, contains more than 6600 earmarks, house lawmakers are set to get the bill rolling, this morning. the trillion dollar package sporting pricey pet projects, holding the potential to force a full government shut down, would it happen, could it happen, should it happen? good morning, everybody, again, i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. good morning, good morning, martha. senator tom coburn out of oklahoma is making his list and checking it twice and working a database to go with it. billion in what some call earmark and others call it pork. a database that senator john

mccain is paying close attention to. here's john mccain. >> people are hurting badly and we could be helping people through difficult times instead of pending $1.1 trillion, $8.3 billion in earmarks, $8.3 billion, one of my favorites, $1 million, for a sewer pipeline in north pole, alaska, population, 1700. 425,000 to restore the boon bill hardware building in boonville, mississippi. population, 8,000. martha: santa and the elves need a new sewer line, eric. this is, you know, unbelievable. the outrage in people's voices when you hear them talk about this as bill and i did on the radio is really palpable. >> it is. here's the omnibus spending bill, 1924 pages, of course, i wouldn't waste 1900 pages. these are all blank but, the top 15 or so are printed on it and i didn't want to do that but i went to colburn's te. and bill referenced it.

names the earmarks and what they are for, outrageous stuff going on, martha. in boonville, arkansas, stress tolerance, for $994,000. how about, $1.454 million, for mosquito trapping in gainesville, florida, and this one, this one, please e-mail the show, let me know what it means, 500 grand for ethno-botanicals. in maryland. i'm not sure. that on top of things like senator harry reid asking for a million dollars, for, get this: centipede research. now, $8.3 billion in earmarks, the list goes on and on and 1500 pages of earmarks, i printed 32 and pound 3 ridiculous ones and i'm sure there are 3200 ridiculous ones. martha: and most boil down to favors, from -- >> bingo. martha: special interest and people who, guess what, make campaign donation down the line so everybody is trying to keep somebody happy out there.

so what if the government stops operating or a little while, is that the end of e world. >> bingo, i have michelle bachmann on this and she said i will not sign this stuff and i spoke to her earlier in the week and she said it is terrible, god awful, so what if it shuts down, let it wait until january 4th and find out if we need ethno botanicals and the other part, we need to talk about this quickly, i know we don't have a lot of time, $8.3 billion, all the most a trillion budget and, they are pushing $1.2 trillion in this one and $3 trillion elsewhere, it is craziness. martha: you have to make it piece by piece and you have to start somewhere. eric, thank you very much, always good to see you, follow the money, with eric bolling at 9:00 p.m. eastern time except for days like today, thursday, on thursdays, you wait until 10:00 p.m., for our good buddy,

eric. bill: a short six weeks ago, the day after the election, president obama indicated that pricey pet projects would be history. saying there was a lesson to be learned when democrats lost control of the house, this is what he said then. >> president barack obama: i'm a strong believer that the earmarking process in congress is not what the american people really want to see when it comes to making tough decisions about how taxpayer dollars are spent. and i in the rush to get things done had to sign a bunch of bills that had earmarks in them which was contrary to what i talked about and i think folks look at that and they said, gosh, it feels like the same partisan squabbling, seems like the same ways of doing business. and as happened before. bill: okay, now, we report, you decide. and now, we want to know this: should the senate approve the earmark-laden spending bill? fox news.com, take our poll, you decide poll on-line.

martha: and right now we are awaiting a high stakes house vote on extending the bush era tax cuts, there are three pieces, the omnibus bill, you have extending the bush tax cuts and you have start which we'll talk about in a while. in terms of the tax cuts the senate approved the deal yesterday. many house democrats want changes to the bill, looking to impose an even higher tax, on the wealthy. in terms of the estate tax, now, if that happens, the bill then goes back to the senate and possibly puts the whole deal in jeopardy. yesterday, speaker nancy pelosi argued money from a higher estate tax would be put to good use, here's what she said. >> there is a crying need for more funding for research, and, we could raise -- a small piece of it, raise the salaries of our teachers across the country. could create jobs. instead we are getting tax cuts, to 6600 families that do not create jobs, that increase the deficit, and are unfair to the middle class. martha: all right, karl rove weighs in on all of this and you

only have to wait a couple minutes for that. bill: in the meantime, getting word now on a "fox news alert," awaiting remarks from the president on a newly released review of the war in afghanistan. that review sites signs of progress as the u.s. work toward a july troop pullout, dre down, rather, not a whole pullout but big challenges in the war. wendell goler is at the white house now, let's start with the progress and what is happening, right in afghanistan, wendal? >> reporter: bill, the troop surge the president ordered at the end of last year which was fully implemented a few months ago, the report says the taliban's gains the past couple of years had been stopped and rolled back in some parts of the country though the progress said to be fragile and reversible and the report says that al qaeda's leaders hiding on the border with pakistan are weaker and under more pressure than at any time since the 9/11 attacks. the report says things are on track to begin, quote, responsible reduction by the

middle of next and the number of u.s. troops likely to be modest and the pace of the withdrawal relatively slow and still, there is no change in the overall goal of turning security over to afghans in 2014 though the u.s. and nato must maintain their commitment to afghanistan and pakistan for many years after that, bill. bill: what does he point out specifically that is not going well, wendell? what has to be changed? >> reporter: pakistan is still not helping as much as it could. or should. to deny al qaeda safe haven in the border areas with afghanistan, terrorists continue to slip into afghanistan, conduct terrorist attacks and slip back into pakistan, to their safe havens and u.s. drone attacks in those areas are actually more effective than officials had expected. but, the report says -- military officials say pakistan is going to have to give more help to the u.s. in dealing with al qaeda in those areas and at least one

retired general thinks they will, next year. >> i think then, we cannot only put a finger in the pakistani's chest, we can put a fist in it and tell them the tables are turning to our favor and make up your mind what side you want to be on and stop heavenlying your bet and stop supporting those sanctuaries. >> reporter: we'll hear president obama's take on this in a statement to the press an hour and 40 minutes from now. bill: thank you, it is a significant report. wendell goler at the white house. martha: reports terrorists may be plotting attacks on maybe, around the christmas holidays, that we knew. but, what we didn't know and we're now learning, after the break. bill: also, he has given his life protecting you and me from the brutal violence that rages south of the mexican border on the manhunt now for the man who killed a model u.s. border patrol agent. an arizona sheriff will talk about this in moment, and... martha: one of the first bipartisan deals the president agreed to.

but now he's facing sharp opposition from his own party. what happens if the extension of the bush tax cuts does not pass muster with democrats? karl rove joins us next in what could be a very ugly two years, he'd argue, perhaps for the commander-in-chief. >> president barack obama: we worked hard to negotiate an agreement, that is a win for middle class families and win for our economy. and we cannot afford to let it fall victim to either delay or defeat. @ñçm@;

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bill: breaking news, police in new haven bound bomb making materials inside of a house there and firefighters were called to the home after smoke in the neighborhood. we don't know who lived there or what came of this, no injuries reported, but police are on the scene now and you can best believe there is an investigation being carried out there.

bomb taking material. >> in america, today more men and women will go to work than ever before in our country's history... it is morning again, in america. and, under the leadership of president reagan, our country is prouder, and stronger, and better. the feel-good ads from 19 4, president reagan's iconic morning in america re-election campaign ad, president reagan wanted to send americans an optimistic message at a difficult economic time. in the country, my next guest says president obama has been unable to fashion a positive call to action. here is the president last week. >> president barack obama: i will be happy to see the republicans test whether or not i am itching for a fight on a whole range of issues. i suspect they will find i am. and i think the american people will be on my side on a bunch of these fights. martha: karl rove is a former senior advisor and deputy chief of staff to president george w.

bush and his burke, courage and consequence available in papers back, he's a fox news contributor as well, good morning, karl, good to see you this morning. >> good morning, martha. martha: i'm sure most people wouldn't be surprised that you feel that president obama is not putting forth as p.e.i. message for americans. you know, it's not surprising that you would have the viewpoint. >> well, it might be because we were led to believe during the campaign he wanted to be the president as he famously said, not red states or blue states but united states and i'm mystified why he does the things he does and he had a news conference and a bipartisan arrangement on the extension of the tax cuts, a deal and what he did during the news conference is attacked the republicans with whom he had arrived at the compromise, saying they were hostage takers and attacked the critics on the left side of the deal, calling them sanctimonious and he was trying to provoke anger and a fight and how comfortable do you think the people who negotiated the deal with him on the republican side

felt about having to negotiate with him and then being called hostage takers like they are part of a gang in germany and how did the democrats who disagree with the president, they felt after he attacked them by calling them sanctimonious. this is not a guy who demonstrated an ability to pull people together. every, single major issue that he has dealt with, from the stimulus to health care, to cap-and-trade, to energy, financial regulation, he's always had to find an enemy, and demonize that person, and attack them rather than trying to find a positive language and optimistic vision. martha: you pointed out the insurance companies in the health care battles and we remember the fat cat bankers and had ceos in the white house to talk to them the other day and one would expect he's trying to mend fence with corporate america which supported him in many ways, wall street did the last time around and he'll need the support of those people and has to work hard to get it back? >> well, and, look, it is one thing to meet with 20 ceos and

another thing to try and have hundreds of thousands of small business owners around america who think he attacked people who work hard for a living like them and repair relationships with them, and he talks about higher mileage standards for american cars and you can say it will make us less dependent on foreign sources of oil and find an optimistic thing and you know what he said, we need to do it because if we don't every american will run out and buy a hummer. really? everyone will buy a gigantic car? there is something about his pre-disposition to do this and my column in the "wall street journal" we're talking about, yesterday i was in lima, ohio at a hamburger joint and, the elders were having a cup of coffee, and they want a president who will inspire them and somebody who will call, what lincoln said, appeal to the better part of our angels and are being turned off by the

rhetoric, we are seeing out of the obama white house. martha: there is postulating about why that is, why do you think the president is not taking on the kind of leadership role, rising above all of it and not doing the pointing-fingers thing, that you outline today in the journal. >> look, he had a different message during most of the campaign. but since he came into office, he has gone follow being post-partisan, i'll rise above it to buying the most partisan president we have had in recent years, and the comment he made the final weeks of the campaign, it is time to reward our -- punish our enemies and reward our friends said to me this is who he is, it is in his political dna and is how he operates and the problem is, independents voted 59-38, for republicans this year, a 24 point swing from where they were 2 years ago and if he wants to get reelected he needs to realize those independents dislike his tone immensely and

dislike his policies and also dislike his tone. martha: how would they feel if he vetoed the spending bill? we talked about that moments ago. he came out and said, earmarks, i don't like 'em, i had to sign the bill to get stuff through, would you recommend as a political advisor he veto the bill? >> i recommend the president of the united states and he means what he said after the election, come out and say so publicly and tell the democratic leadership of the senate, don't bring the bill up, there is a simple alternative, speaker -- leader mcconnell has offered a one-page continuing resolution, no earmarks, that funds the government until february 18th that gives a lot of time, 6 or 7 weeks after the first of the year to finish writing the budget and the congress has miserably failed and had a year to write a budget and two years to fix the tax problem and now are trying to rush it through and presidential leadership is not to wait until the bad thing gets done it is to step forward and say, leader, leader reid and

speaker pelosi, do not send -- pass this horrible spending bill filled with all of these e earmarks and trying to fund the government through the end of the year, do it in a fiscal way. martha: americans are pointing the finger at congress, 13% approval rating, 23%, new poll, think the country is headed in the right direction and maybe the finger pointing needs to be headed closer inside the beltway on the part of the president... >> that is the lowest gallup rating in the history of measuring congressional popularity. lowest. martha: thanks very much. bill: as bill murray said, so we have that to look forward to, huh? i'll pass. in time for the holidays, a new report says al qaeda is planning a deadly attack on u.s. soil, last criminals on a delta flight into detroit, we'll talk to an expert who has seen the report, next. ♪

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martha: we're getting the 911 calls in the terrifying school board shootout that we showed you yesterday in florida. 56-year-old clay duke held 6 men hostage at that school board meeting, eventually he fired off several shots at them, amazingly, missing each time, before being wounded himself by return fire, from school security. listen to this: martha: when she thought the superintendent was shot, the shots were fired and he went down behind the desk as we showed you in the video and

we're awaiting a statement from this man, the hero in the story, he's mike jones. the security guard, who wounded clay duke, and, he then fell to the ground, he stopped the shooting and he will be speaking live a while from now, as soon as we get it here in "america's newsroom." bill: breaking news, brand new intelligence, believe it or not out of iraq, showing al qaeda in that country is planning attacks, they believe on the u.s., and on europe, for the holidays. the videotape you see, this is a bombing in stockholm, sweden earlier in the week and four u.s. diplomats have been targeted in yemen. u.s. officials say they are paying close attention to the information and so far, nothing they can nail down and, a terrorism analyst and chairman of the executive action, neil, good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. bill: u there are a number of reasons why we are on high alert during the holidays. why? >> first of all, they've tried to hit us in the past and you mentioned the underwear bomber last christmas ahead and this is part of their modus operandi and

they have lots of targets right now. they tried to bomb a christmas tree lighting ceremony in portland a few weeks ago. but we have crowded department stores and bowl games and we have crowded planes and high volume of mail and, finally they are trying to get to us show the superiority of their -- the islam they subscribe to over judaism and christianity and obviously we have both jewish and christian holidays at this time of year. bill: you mentioned the bowl games. there will be a series of them that begin this weekend and go on for 3-4 weeks and you mentioned nfl games. is that a new threat? i haven't heard that before, specifically. >> we have some reason to believe they are looking at various types of sports venues and sports activities. either in this country or overseas, because, what they know is that everyone is very festive at these games, at this time of year. a lot of interest in them. and as a consequence there are a

lot of people and even if they cannot get into the stadium there are crowded parking lots and people amassed on the streets and so on and we are worried they may try to do something where they can find a large gathering and that would also include times square of course on new year's eve. bill: time to be vigilant, thank you for your time. we will keep an eye on that, again, the report came out of iraq, a bit earlier and we are watching what is happening in yemen, question now, are you worried about attacks over the holidays? right now, our poll on-line, more than 1800 people have taken our survey, 46% say you are very worried about it. or just a little bit. you can still let us know what you think on-line, what, we have 18 -- 1900 people so far taking the poll, foxnews.com/"america's newsroom." martha. martha: growing calls now for the feds to step in at the border, gabrielle gifford, one of the many, that is what she said. >> this is our oil spill,

equivalent to the gulf coast oil spill, these tragedy along the southern arizona border and is critical the administration steps up and acknowledges that. martha: the latest on the manhunt for who gunned down the border agent. coming up. join the jaguar platinum celebration ! 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

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for unemployment benefits last week alone. wikileaks founder julian assange, will be freed from a bishop jail today, a judge granting conditional bail in connection to two separate sex crimes investigations originating out of sweden. he has to wear the electronic tag and report to police in england every day. and winter weather a mess out, advisories up for a dozen states up the midwest, will get a load of new snow, icy conditions in atlanta and louisville and cincinnati. likely to slow down the travel by road and air, along the midwest and the southeast. old man winter. still a problem, 32 past. martha? martha: lawmakers are now considering a trillion-dollar spending bill and we have talked about it a lot here this morning that includes $8 billion in earmarks, there is over 6600 earmarks in that big, fat bill that you have been looking at and of course your money funds those projects, william lajeunesse is live en los angeles with our taxpayer calculator which is bound to be

somewhat depressing. william how does it happen after all the talk of eliminating earmarks. >> reporter: while most of us are still trying digest the earmarks the real story now, is, counting noses, not dollars, who is going to defect, who will sell out, how many republicans are going to jump ship, and, what democrats will cross over to vote against the bill. we need names to connect the dots and those who may be outraged over the tea pot museum and roads to nowhere, washington is not and this is what they do and sources say the deal was hammered out, principally, by senator daniel inhofe, the chiefs of the appropriations committee and the reigning rings of pork, and they are both popular at home. how much will the bill cost you?

well, if you go to foxnews.com/yourmoney, go to the taxpayer calculator, it will show you, if you make 15 grand or under it will cost you 34 cents, 30 to 50,000, it will cost you $13, if you make 100 to $200,000 it will cost $99 and over $250,000 it will cost you $979. we also want you to vote, you know, the senate is probably going to debate this tomorrow and you have the opportunity to tell congress, if you think this is a wise use of your money. but, in washington, they are already counting noses. so, martha, it is a very important issue. martha: certainly is. and which senators are expected to defect? >> reporter: on the republican side, they've apparently already lost three lame ducks, bennett, of utah, he is going into consult, and voinovich of ohio and kit bond of missouri support this billion-dollar bill, and, it aids constituents and

contributors and we believe at least 4 uncommitted republicans, mur and others could defect. >> senator reid wouldn't let them bring it to the floor unless they thought they could get the votes and clearly have republicans lined up that will get them over the top. >> reporter: on the democratic side, one defector and 23 democrats are up in two years and they may also think this is a vote to remember. back to you. martha: something. william, thank you very much. william lajeunesse, reporting on your money, and where it is going. what do you think, folks at home? do you approve of this plan that includes 6600 earmarks and special projects? log onto foxnews.com and, every one of these special projects is important to somebody and they think it should be in there and that is the problem. you can also use your taxpayer calculator and see how much the earmarks will cost you and your family, here at home. let us know what you think. weigh in. bill: getting word the homeland

security secretary janet napolitano heading to arizona after a border agent was murdered. authorities launching an all-out manhunt for those who shot and killed the man, the 40-year-old, brian terry, the former marine corporal gunned down, on patrol in the back country of arizona, late on tuesday night. reportedly many heavily armed bandits who prey on illegal immigrants in that area. >> stark reminder of the realities that we face each and every day, in protecting this border and protecting our communities. there are people out there that wake up every day, with nothing else on their minds, but to do harm to the citizens of this country, and our way of life. we will continue to stand firm in our commitment to our mission. bill: another person with us, trying to stop all of this,

sheriff, good morning to you. our thoughts and condolences with brian terry's family. do you have a firm idea as to what happened with him? >> well, everything that we are hearing now, is that bandits, actual illegal immigrants higher in america, that are actually stealing from the drug cartels, we see it in my county all the time, 70 miles north of this area, where there are armed gunmen, ak-47s and at gunpoint they say, give us the drugs that you have kindly walked for five days to bring up towards metro phoenix and oftentimes we see gunbattles and this is where the tactical team... and agent terry is a member of that, and our hearts are broken that 10,000-plus police officers and deputies of arizona, for our brother officer, who gave his life to protect america. bill: the description we are getting about him is nothing but extraordinary, clean-cut, well built, a cop's cop, right out of

central casting, agent brian terry on the screen now. these gang members you talk about prey on illegals and the smugglers. and, they rob... >> they do. bill: in this case, these agents went deep into a no-man's land or a bad land, in southern arizona and engaged each other and brian terry lost his life because of that. now the news today, janet napolitano is coming to arizona. did that send a signal to you that this is being taken seriously? >> no. it is more -- >> no? >> absolutely no. we've heard nothing but the border is more secure than ever, enough of the nonsense and political speak. we have to secure the border, once and for all, this past weekend other bandits, using what appear to be a police car with lights and sirens, red and blue rights, push bumper, stop lights, stopping vehicles,

trying to steal drugs from cartel members in my county. this goes on, on a daily basis and for janet napolitano now out here doesn't even talk to me, doesn't talk to other sheriffs, because we have a different opinion than her, and about the reality of what our country is facing. this is no longer... bill: wait, you say you will not meet with her or talk with her during the trip? >> i would love to meet with her and i have invited not just her, president obama, here, countless times, to come see what we are facing. and, we are on the "do not call" list, i am the president of the sheriffs association for the state of arizona, ground zero. sheriff larry diever of cochise county is the president of the southwest border sheriffs and neither one of these knows about not any of these meetings but she had a conference call with border sheriffs and because we believe and know that the border is not secure, we have 650,000

illegals last year the border patrol admits to, came into our state, alone and when you have close to 20% of these people, who have a criminal record, and you have otms and people from countries of interest, like yemen, somalia, jordan, syria and she says the border is secure? you have to get real here. bill: i don't get it. you are both working for the same ends, right? >> well, we -- we are doing the job, the federal government won't. bill: why not make another effort today. will you, try and contact her, try and get in touch with her? >> absolutely, i would love -- >> politics and procedure and you have a different opinion how to go after this than she does. is that why you are not meeting? >> correct. i told the president, give me a half-hour, i'll tell him how to secure the border, we need 6,000 armed soldiers and build and complete the double barrier fence that he suspended, stopped the construction and then, a novel concept, we need to enforce the law. come into america, you are breaking america's laws, you are

apprehended and formally deported and you come back into our country illegally you are going to prison and those are part of the mccain-kyl plan will secure the borders. bill: we'll see what comes of janet napolitano's trip, our best to the border patrol agent, age 40, now dead. 20 minutes before the hour. martha: another troubling story, he opened fire at point-blank range, shooting to kill at a school board meeting. the man who stopped him. speaks live, within the hour, 20 minutes from now, we'll bring you there. bill: his name is mike jones, what a guy he is and freeze frame, martha... the light house is under the ice. ♪ ♪ in the winter ♪ the snow falls on top of the ground...♪ if you think all batteries are the same...

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martha: we have talked about the controversial tax cut bill, and then there is the spending bill, 1900 page one but, today, senators will start debating whether to ratify a u.s. arms treaty with russia. start would limit the number of nukes in both countries, and several republicans are saying ratifying this would put our national security at risk. white house press secretary robert gibbs fought back against the critics saying, quote, senator diment, who actually wanted to read the whole bill alo aloud, back to the gibbs quote, he wants to waste 12 hours to read the text of a treaty that has been available to every member of the senate and the public more than 8 months, every minute that that start treaty is read on the senate floor increases the time that we lack verification of russia's nuclear arsenal. all right, so that is the background on that, ambassador john bolton joins my now, u.s. ambassador to the u.n. and is

also a fox news contributor. ambassador, good morning to you. >> good morning, glad to be here. martha: it almost feels like a last minute shopping list, stuff going on in congress now and suddenly it is all extremely important and all needs to happen, yesterday. basically. do you think the start treaty should be ratified? >> i don't think it should be ratified but, if any event if the senate really wants to take its constitutional responsibility on treaties seriously you need a couple weeks of debate and proposed amendments on this treaty an rushing it through, after a day-and-a-half, or two, or even three days of debate, doesn't nearly do justice to a treaty president obama says himself is a very, very important document. bill: critics say that the big problem here is that there is no way to verify, as robert gibbs has been talking about, there is no way for us to really verify that russia is doing what they say they'll do in terms of cutting back. >> the argument that we need the treaty to verify what russia is up to is about the silliest

argument yet put forward for ratification. the overwhelming bulk of the information we have about russia's nuclear capability comes from intelligence, comes from salts, comes from all kinds of sources. inspection and verifications of the treaty is adjunct to our intelligence and is certainly not the most important and, in any event is the tail wagging the dog argument. you use verification as insurance to a treaty that is otherwise desirable and the treaty is a long way from that. martha: a read a piece this morning, and, believes the start treaty would weaken u.s. security by undermining america's ability to deploy this missile defense system and accuses the administration of caving to russia, on pretty much every occasion they have, you know, had negotiations over. >> well, part of what the obama administration's trayiying to ds

the famous reset policy with russia and you can always have better relation with another country when you give that country everything they want. this treaty is very much in russia's interest. very much in russia's interest, and i think that is one reason why the obama administration is pushing so hard now, to ratify it on the cheap, in the lame duck session, because they are afraid that if the treaty gets real scrutiny and debate, both senators and the general public will see how disadvantageous and poorly negotiated the treaty is, why would they want that, to sign a treaty that is so advantageous in your opinion to russia. >> because the president has said, very explicitly, he wants to move towards nuclear zero, in the hope other countries around the world say, gee that is a great idea why don't we eliminate our nuclear programs too and ties in as well with the president and vice president joe biden and senator kerry's complete lack of faith in the concept of national missile

defense. which is why they are perfectly relaxed at giving russia a political veto, which is the way the treaty works out, a political veto over our developing an effective national missile defense capability. martha: how does it look in washington, does it get ratified in the lame duck congress. >> it's on a knife-edge now. i am hoping enough senators will say we believe strongly that the senate's institutional role is constitutional responsibility to look carefully at this treaty, cannot be done in the hectic lame duck session with this massive omnibus appropriations bill breathing down people's necks and everything else that is on the agency. but -- of the treaty are so great, vote on it next year. martha: always good to see you, sir, thank you very much. >> thank you. bill: we're about to hear from the security guard who took down a gunman on florida, live on camera threatening to take out school board members and we have yet to hear mike jones' story.

we're about to. we encourage you, stay with us for that. it should be one heck of a story. martha. martha: asking santa for what matters most. some kids are not asking for the hottest toys this year, you'll be surprised when you hear what they really, really want. from santa. ♪ [ male announcer ] you know her. we know diamonds. together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you can get up to $1,000 off now through sunday.

martha: you know every year the u.s. postal service elves read all of the children's letters to santa to help them out but, this year, they say what they see in those letters is very different. a new report says the letters clearly reflect what is going on in the u.s. economy. children are asking for very basic things. for clothing, for coats, and one of these really, particularly heartbreaking letters a little girl didn't want santa to bring her anything but she wanted a coat for her mother. the postal service is trying to

fulfill all of their requests, they can get the messages directly to the north pole where they belong and one worker says many christmas wishes are going to go unanswered this year, go on to the web site and find out... bill: is the tide turning on green energy? can the power of the owicean be used to create electricity? adam housely is in california, they have been trying to do this for years now, i think, what is better now? >> reporter: you know, bill, we are in santa monica and wave energy could be produce and go across the ocean to hawaii where we were and show you video, we got up close to a buoy that is putting power into the power grid, the first one of its type anywhere in the country to do this and is quite impressive, a half mile, 3/4 of a mile offshore and we got up close to it and within a foot or two and operates like a piston as the sea goes up and down it moves up and down and the energy is

stored at the bottom of the ocean off the shore and once enough is stored up in a battery it is transferred under sea cable where it connects into the power grid in hawaii, quite impressive and has been successful so far. bill: how much power does it genera generate. >> reporter: that is our first question, you see it operate, go up and down and they say that buoy can power five homes for a year. just offshore of the marine base there on owahu and they'll put a larger one off the shore of england and hope it to power more homes and the idea is, it continues to operate well, is to have a form off the coast, and potentially create about 10% of our power, from offshore buoys, the same amount we use with hydroelectric power now from the dams. bill: cut down the electricity at my house. thanks, adam housely, martha.

martha: the lawmakers, the tea party wants to see them spending bill and earmarks, come down. we'll see what they have to say, next. paef host: could switching to geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance?

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together we'll make her holiday. that's why only zales is the diamond store. where you can get up to $1,000 off now through sunday. martha: it's a home fit for frosty! a house encased in ice. bill: we are tough people at home, by the way! martha: this light house has been lighting the way for decades but it's not lighting anything today. there's a before and after picture coming up. fortunately the light is automated so no light housekeeper has to live there. i wonder if anybody was working that light house, but apparently not! bill: apparently not. they're not going anywhere now! did you hear who president obama has appointed to the white house counsel? have you heard about this? >> this is weird, president obama has appointed jon bon voafie to