message or is something else going on? we're going to talk about that straight ahead. >> all right. and no iou's here. he collected unemployment 50 years ago and now he's paying back those benefits plus interest. wait until you hear why. some good news from california via south carolina. "fox & friends" arts right now. >> well, it's exactly one week before christmas eve. thanks for joining us today, everybody. >> if you wait until the last minute, good job. the lines are going to be long. the deals are done but, you know what? suck it up and get the shopping done. you have yourself to blame. meanwhile, let me tell you in washington, they might not even have a christmas day off. we begin with the fox news alert. it looks like americans won't be seeing their taxes go up. the house is passing that tax cut deal after some late night drama just before midnight, they got a deal done. it now goes to the president's

desk. peter doocy is live in washington with the details. peter? >> good morning, brian. you heard it just before the final vote was 277-148 and even though it got a majority of both democrats and republicans, the breakdown was really close. 139 democrats, 138 republicans but with that, the house passed this tax rate compromise bill and now just needs to make its way down to the other end of pennsylvania avenue to get president obama's signature before it becomes law and when it does, it's cost of $858 billion will be added to the deficit but families at every income level will see their tax rates remain the same for two years. the long term unemployed can look for their benefits to be renewed and there will be a one year cut in social security taxs that affects almost every american worker. you'll remember this is the bill that the president noshegotiate with the republicans in senate.

a lot of democrats were sore about that. after making a lot of noise, it made its way through both houses. >> we saw the president of the united states strike a deal with senate republicans. in the end, it was a package that held in the senate overwhelmingly. as for the house tonight, it will mean tax relief for most of the people in this country. >> republicans reacted as well. representative dave camp from michigan said "this is just no time to be playing games with our economy. the failure to block these tax increases would be a direct hit to families and small businesses." so the parties came together to get this measure through and congress still has a lot on their plate the last few days of their session. we'll see if there's anymore of that to come. brian? >> all right, peter. good wrapup but, you know, the drama didn't stop there. that might be an end but it's just the beginning now for the omnibus porker. worth about $1.2 trillion.

finally, people in washington put the brakes on. >> i think the drama was pretty much over now. i was stunned to wake up and find out that harry reid who was so pushing this $1.2 trillion spending bill on the heels of what the election results said in november, that people didn't want so much spending and decided to pull it. you know why, though? nine republicans who are originally on board suddenly got a wake-up call. maybe a call from mitch mcconnell saying hey, we shouldn't be supporting this thing. this is how harry reid set it up originally. he said it actually was the constitutional right of members of congress to spend your money. >> we have a constitutional duty to do congressionally directed spending and i don't want to give up that responsibility. i can't understand why some of the more conservative members here want to give up their power. i don't understand that.

>> well, maybe you don't. we think judge andrew napolitano will be with us this hour to tell us whether or not harry reid is accurate in what he just said. you know what you really have to call this, what happened with this gigantic pork laden spending bill, this is the tea party takedown. this shows that the tea party, the impact of the tea party will be felt long past november. you have three senators to thank for this. tom coburn, also john mccain who was on this program yesterday and jim demint. yesterday, john mccain was on this program. and he talked about how they were willing to read the bill page by page. also, they were ready for a government shutdown. in the end, mitch mcconnell was able to rally the troops and all the republicans stood firmly against this and this morning, they are winners. >> interesting thing about the constitutionality, it will be interesting to see what the judge says about that. a lot of people were arguing, even republicans that you

shouldn't give the power of spending back to the executive branch because then the president would be in charge of spending as opposed to the members of congress being in charge of spending for their constituents. in the meantime, watch this exchange between newly elected senator kirk from illinois to john mccain. >> just as the most junior member for those who are not understanding what happened, did we just win? >> i think there's very little doubt that the majority leader of the united states senate would not have taken the action he just took if we didn't have 41 votes to stop this monstrosity. i don't think there's any doubt about it. >> so for economic conservatives, 1924 page bill just died. >> 1924 page bill just died. >> 6,000 earmarks will not move forward. >> i had so much fun with them. >> two military guys going back and forth about discipline.

that's good. >> the wide shot at the end where you hear the voices. actually in the beginning. but, you know, was this whole thing a trap? was this $1.2 trillion where they catapulted themselves into november, was this a setup to get the republicans to sign on and look like hypocrites as they begin to gain power. this is very gretchen like because if you look at it, when the appropriations committee chairman in hawaii put together this bill, full of earmarks he included the earmarks from george voinavich and lisa murkowski and cochran and bennett. when republicans said this is a waste, your stuff is in here, too. they worked the phones to say we can't support it. this was put forward 10 months ago. >> what kind of trap is it when it's that obvious? >> because we're up against christmas. >> i understand that. for these republicans to be in favor of it and then suddenly be

like oh, yeah, you're not supposed to be in favor of earmarks. i don't give a lot of credit to the nine republicans who did that. >> you have to hand it to the republicans that did. mitch mcconnell had millions and billions of dollars of earmarks in this originally. they stood squarely against it. in the other end of pennsylvania avenue is the president of the united states. where is he on all this? well, he's blaming congress. huh? >> when does the approach to this start? >> two things. obviously, this is going to be somewhat dependent upon congress. >> and the next for congress -- they got rid of the 1924 page bill and now, what they're going to wind up with is a very slim, maybe one page resolution that should be voted on by tomorrow. >> it's exactly right. pretty much exactly the same

thing that the house's continuing resolution is which keeps the government running for another 50, 60 days. >> the key is when the republicans come in to control the house, that they'll be in charge of the next spending bill so stay tuned to see what they craft for the spending of 2011. these are our latest fox news dynamic poll results. is president obama keeping his promises? this is a really interesting poll because you can see a huge shift in just a matter of a year or so where 57% of the time they thought he was keeping the promises to current time now where 59% believe he's drifting off course so it's almost a complete 180. >> the thing they've done is cut this tax cut deal. >> move it to the middle. >> yeah, it could be happening before us. >> that's because the people in

the middle that make up a lot of the people that are talked to in that thing approved it. hey, coming over our side. >> well, let's do a couple of other headlines for your friday. we begin with new information on a shooting at the pope air force base in north carolina. a single gunshot was fired last night inside one of the base residences. military police say no one was hurt. they've arrested a soldier from nearby fort bragg being described as a domestic incident. wikileaks founder julian assange is wasting no time. soon after being sprung from prison, he's promising even more leaks. his time in jail renewed his commitment to revealing u.s. government secrets. >> continue on with our work because concerns to me we are on the right path and has given me enough anger about the situation to last me 100 years. >> assange who was arrested for sex crimes now under house arrest in england but free to use the internet.

u.s. department of justice hasn't decided if it will file espionage charges or anything against him. >> working hard on it. >> for the first time, we're hearing from mike jones. he is the hero who ended what could have been a massacre at a school board hearing in florida. >> so many things go through your mind. it was the instinct and the training and i'm just glad that they're all here and alive. i'm want a hero, folks. i've just done my job. >> yes, you are! >> and -- >> jones needed a day of prayer and reflection before talking about how he took down gunman clay duke. we warn you, this video is disturbing. >> this isn't worth it. this is a problem. >> please don't. please don't. please don't. please. >> also a new 911 tape of the

assistant superintendent talking to the dispatcher. >> is there any shots that were just fired? >> shots, yes. oh, my god. he's firing. he's firing. >> ok. >> ok. he's firing. i don't know. >> are you secure? >> ok. >> and coming up on "fox & friends", we will discuss whether or not clay duke should have even had a gun in his possession. on president obama's agenda today, a meeting with union leaders at the white house. they're expected to focus on the new compromise. the economy and job creation. 12 unions including united steelworkers, american federation of teachers and united auto workers will send representatives to talk with the president and labor secretary. and those are your headlines. >> all right. 46 years ago out in california, a guy by the name of dennis ferguson was laid off from his job as an engineer for an

airplane manufacturing company. there he is today. well, back then, he apparently drew the $1100 worth of unemployment benefits from the state of california. and he figured out that if he had to calculate what that money would be worth today, interest and everything, it would be about $10,000 so he wrote california a check for $10,000. because he took his benefits and he went back to school. he sees california is in this dire straits financially so he thought he'd write that check back and you know what? the state controller is making a big deal of it and they're thanking him publicly and the state treasurer around here, i should say, saying this is a great trend. we really appreciate the loyalty. >> great example for kids. however, here's a little problem i have with this. california has wasted a whole heck of a lot of taxpayers money and i wonder if he could have given the money to like a private education fund if he really wanted to help the kids with the school system there. i just worry a little bit about how they're going to spend the $10,000 that he has graciously given back to the state.

let us know what you think about that. e-mail us, friends at foxnews.com. >> they're taking unemployment out of your check anyway. in case you lose -- so you're paying back money that he had coming to him. >> great thing he did. the president says u.s. troops are on track to come home next year from afghanistan, to start to. our next guest, a four star general does not agree. you'll hear from him. >> and then does this look like a normal pickup bed to you? not so fast. take a look at the illegal immigrants. look what they're willing to do to get by u.s. border patrol. >> oh, my. >> that's a guy's head. like what you get from centrum silver ultra women's, the most complete multivitamin for women over 50. it has vitamin d, which emerging science suggests supports breast health, centrum silver ultra women's. ♪ [ female announcer ] the newest seasonal flavors are here. ♪ express yourself ♪

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>> i can report thanks to the extraordinary service of our troops and civilians on ground we are on track to serve our

goals. >> according to the president that's sticking to the next july for the beginning of a withdrawal date. beginning to take out troops in july. >> not everyone agrees with that. with us is the four star u.s. general and fox news strategist general jack king. what did you make of the report that came out yesterday? many critics, i guess, said that it was sort of just the same old, same old. >> well, look, first of all, the report reaffirmed that the strategy we put forward is sound. it also tells us we're in a long, tough fight but the good news in the report is we're finally making some progress. we're finally beginning to turn this thing around. and it also lays out the challenges in front of us, the karzai government that some of the problems we have with that. and most significantly, the sanctuaries in pakistan. you cannot be successful by 2014 and leave those sanctuaries in place. >> so you have made progress over the last year and a half in drone strikes in that region. but you believe that we cannot be successful unless these people -- the taliban don't feel as though they have a place to rest, regroup and rearm across

the border. what can we do to gain leverage there? >> by spring and summer, our progress in afghanistan will be pretty definitive. and i think then for the first time, the pakistanis are going to have to re-evaluate their strategy. their strategy right now is they don't believe the united states is going to stay. they think the taliban might take over. therefore, they have to have a relationship with them. this is a hedge of india having undue influence in afghanistan. by summer, we'll be able to take a hard look at these guys and tell them, look, the tables have turned in afghanistan. there's a new outcome. our diplomats will have some leverage they don't have now. >> would you say that the situation in afghanistan is akin to the situation in iraq when the surge started there. >> pretty much. we have preliminary evidence early on that the strategy is right and we're beginning to see some success. what will play out in front of us is our troops are going to go into areas we've never been before as we already have now and we're going to stay.

and we're going to push the taliban away and get the people connected to its government for the first time. there's challenges to be sure with all of that. >> do you believe that the training is at a point now and do you like the training plans in detail because you train people for a living and you help general petraeus in both wars is at a point where we can start accelerating the number of army and cops in there, afghani army and cops. >> the afghan national army, when i was there in september, i spent a lot of time looking at it and i was pleasantly surprised at its capacity. it's not perfect by a long stretch but it's an acceptable force and most importantly, our commanders believe it's an acceptable force. the police have a long way to go and that's still a challenge and usually the police are the last to come along in a counterinsurgency campaign. we have a couple three years before we get any kind of out of the police in the way that we want. >> more 2014 than 2011 and look

for the hope. thank you so much. >> good speaking with you. >> new lesson plan being added to our kids' schools. gay rights? should it be starting in kindergarten? tucker carlson weighs in next. >> these politicians cannot pick a prize. instead, they pick up chairs. what got everybody so fired up. join the jaguar platinum celebration !

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>> hey, some quick headlines coming your way now. a drone crash lands in the backyard of a home in el paso, text. investigators say it belonged to

mexico. didn't know they had them. nobody was hurt. the government wants to know why is this unmanned spy plane crossing into the u.s. airspace in the first place? today, there's now hope for september 11th first responders. lawmakers have vowed to re-introduce the $7.4 billion 9/11 health care bill next week. they are confident it can pass before the end of the year. steve? >> thanks very much, mr. kilmeade. a battle over adding gay rights to history books is brewing in california. a state senator there proposing a law that would mandate the teaching of it. take a look at this. most textbooks don't include any historical information about the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender movement that has great significance to both california and u.s. history, a collective silence on this issue, perpetuates negative stereotypes of those people and leads to increased bullying of young people. but should it start in grade school? fox news contributor tucker

carlson joins us live from washington, d.c. good morning to you, tucker. >> good morning, steve. >> are they trying this out in california before and it has failed. why now? >> look, you don't need to be anti-gay to be against this and you can acknowledge that there is bullying in school including of gay kids. there are two problems with this. one, it's propaganda and two, it's blackmail. the point of history is to teach what happened. not what you wanted to happen. not what you hoped would happen but what actually happened. in this case, a lawmaker is saying portray a special -- an interest group in a positive light or kids will be hurt. hence the blackmail. they're basically saying if you don't do this, kids could die. and that's an outrageous thing to say. >> yeah. the people behind this say that in the history books, there's nothing about the historical significance of gay people. so if somebody was gay, they want that out there. >> right. what i -- what they're saying is the point of history is to raise the self-esteem of students. it's to find yourself in the history book and see the group

to which you belong portrayed in a positive light. again, of course, that's not the point of history. the point of history is to teach you what happened. it's the -- that's exactly right. it's not to make people feel good about themselves. it's not to achieve social aims. it's to tell the truth about what went before. and this -- that's being subverted by a lawmaker and it's dangerous. >> now, i could see, tucker, if a person's gayness had historical significance. >> sure. >> that should be in there. >> but -- >> of course. >> to do it this way, it seems unusual. and to -- and then to add the whole thing that if we don't start doing this, kids are going to get beat up don't the, you know, eventually. does that seem like a stretch to you? >> first of all, it's unproven. there isn't social science that demonstrates teaching children about the glories of the gay rights movement will reduce bullying. that doesn't -- we don't know that. but more to the point, again, that's not the purpose of school. the purpose of school -- maybe

something at church and maybe something parents should do and maybe something civic leaders want to take on but the purpose of school is to educate children and this not only differs from that aim, it gets in the way of it. >> ultimately it just looks like somebody is trying to put a pro gay agenda in schools. >> group politics, right. >> there you go. all right. tucker carlson joining us from washington. thank you very much. have a great weekend and a merry christmas. >> thanks, steve, you, too. >> straight ahead on this friday telecast, her credit card company made a gigantic mistake sending her a bill for nearly $300 million. if that's not enough, the company harassed her and threatened to take her house. that woman is here with her story. you have to hear that. a bunch of buckets in the back of a truck, take a closer look. that's an illegal immigrant hiding underneath this elaborate disguise. see that face in the pail? that story is straight ahead. but first of all, happy birthday to bill bohlman.

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get your first full prescription free and save on refills. you must really care about him. what? you gave him fiber. this tastes way too good to be fiber. they're delicious crunchy clusters with sweet honey and half a day's worth of fiber. you care about my fiber? not really. [ male announcer ] fiber one. >> something kind of frightening. i don't want to ruin anybody's holiday but captured insurgents have told authorities that al-qaida is planning christmas attacks in the u.s. and europe. well, of course the u.s.

government sprung into action and told al-qaida, you cannot call them christmas attacks. you have to call them holiday attacks. they're holiday attacks. >> jay on my side of the fence. all right! hats off to jay. >> ends there's a war on christmas. >> you're exactly right. it's not very often that a comedian is able to marry war on terror with war on christmas. >> i'm going to demand they footnote gretchen carlson on the monologues. i think they should. >> you're being so nice to me. i appreciate it. here's your shot of the morning. an ohio man says he sees an image of mary and baby jesus in this piece of hard candy. 63-year-old james murray of west toledo. >> who doesn't? >> of course. >> what else is there? >> the local store where he works, he'd like the proceeds going to veterans charity. let me see that again. where is it? >> that's a fresh marker of where it is. >> i'll have to imagine it in my mind. >> i saw some similarities.

>> you did? >> let me see. >> maybe. >> right. i exhaled in my shower today. it looked like the same thing. >> i see. it's a little bit more of mary there. >> yeah. >> i think mary would do something bigger than this. >> like what? >> than hard candy. i think mary is coming back, is it going to be in a hard candy? that's my opinion. >> up the road here, she was in a tree a couple of years ago. >> yes. >> remember that? >> absolutely. >> yep. all right, let's go back to what else is in the news. you make the call on the hard candy. now your headlines. top al-qaida leader believed to be dead. he's just resurfacing in yemen. he is wanted for the murder of 17 american sailors aboard the uss cole. to prove he was alive, he let himself be photographed with a journalist in yemen. >> police are asking for the public's help in identifying the women in these 180 photographs. collected from a suspected

serial killer's property. donny franklin jr. accused of murdering 10 women and attempting to kill another in the los angeles area over two decades. he was arrested this summer and police found thousands of images of women in graphic and suggestive photos. >> meanwhile, this guy may win the costume of the year even if it didn't help him sneak into the united states. these buckets of painting supplies are part of his disguise as agents peeled away the layers they found a guy underneath. see there? his blurred face is at the bottom in the bucket on the left. and his black shirt in the middle. he was found by a customs dog in the bed of a pickup in san diego. >> wow. >> nice try. >> take a look at who just popped up this morning in afghanistan to entertain the troops. >> in california, tried to pass a marijuana, make it legal bill. it didn't pass. why? because the people were too stoned to get out and vote.

>> robin williams. so he cracked a few more jokes that weren't appropriate for television. while headlining the uso holiday show at the airfield. that looks like lance there. >> good morning! remember when he did that. lance armstrong showed up, obviously. >> he did indeed. take a look at this. white snow on white marble gives an elegant cast of the nation's capitol covering the d.c. area and south through virginia and including richmond. today, though, it starts to melt away. highs will reach into the upper 30's through the weekend, yesterday, people on capitol hill got to go home early. meanwhile, let's take a look at where it is raining and snowing. we got some rain in the middle part of the country. hints of snow on the backside of the cold front. portions of kansas and oklahoma. another pacific storm moving in through the california coast. otherwise, much of the country is nice and dry. few flurries here and there. it is another cold one, though.

cold start to the day in caribou, maine, they have 5. 34 in raleigh, practically a heat wave compared to what they've had in the last couple of days. the ohio valley still stuck in the 20's. today's daytime highs, well, cleveland, eventually 27. hang on. down in memphis, you'll be at 41. 50 in atlanta. 34 in new york city and if you're lucky enough to live down in florida today, you'll have temperatures in the 70's. out west, it will be 57 today in the city of angels, los angeles. >> brian, what's going on in sports? >> they played football. tackle football. chargers played and they played against the 49ers. both teams had to win to stay in the playoff hunt and chargers were trying to have a repeat performance of the 2008 season with an incredible second half of the year. they pull off a victory over the san francisco 49ers. with two games to go, they are tied for first with the kansas city chiefs in the afc west.

other problematic situation in football, the vikings will probably be playing their monday night game against the chicago bears at the university of minnesota tcf field but something about the backup venue is a little hard to swallow. school policy, i know there's no alcohol, but it looks like there's no food and there's no drinks there. i guess fill up before you go. you'll remember the vikings were forced to find an alternate stadium after the roof caved in under 17 inches of snow. hockey now. they're cute, cuddly and all over the canadian hockey rink. 23,000 teddy bears raining down on the ice below at this calgary game. it's all part of a junior hockey tradition calling the teddy bear toss where the fans donate the stuffed animals to charity. and a salute to teddy roosevelt who loved canada as well according to a report. >> now all those teddy bears are damp. >> that's a very good point, steve. better dry them off or they'll be moldy. some people are allergic. coming up on "kilmeade & friends" geraldo rivera, mike huckabee and the kids from the

weekend, alisyn, dave and clayton. gary from the howard stern show. lance and tony schaefer. >> really big show! >> wow! >> all right. 23 minutes before the top of the hour. >> a $1.1 trillion omnibus bill, the spending bill after realizing he doesn't have enough votes. we'll work with republicans on a smaller, short-term budget extension. >> stuart varney joins us live. this is a big victory not only for the republicans but you say for democracy. >> it's a huge double win for taxpayers. not only did the house pass the extension of the tax extension which means nobody gets a tax increase come january 1st but that spending bill has been withdrawn. all those pork laden and earmarks, the $8 billion worth of crazy spending is gone, not going to happen. double win for taxpayers this morning. >> what do you think happened? do you think capitol hill

actually heard us, us the people of america? >> i think so. i think so. there was real outrage about those earmarks and i think there was also outrage that the outgoing discredited 111th congress was going to set the spending pattern for the incoming year. now, everybody thought -- a lot of people thought that was really a wrong and bad thing that you could try. the votes weren't there. the votes -- >> keep in mind that the budget was going to be even bigger than the massive budget of 2010. >> yes. look, i do want to point out one loser here and that is probably obama care. within that spending plan was a billion dollars to implement health care reform. it's gone. which means the republicans now have a chance to strangle financially health care reform. big deal ooch. >> sthathere's a lot in there. tack i c they can rescind it. that's a setup.

you look at the republican senators after the earmarks, they were shocked to find out they were all in the bill. they thought it would hamstring them but it didn't. >> they were called out on it. how come you put them in and say you were going to vote against it. i think it was senator durban said it's hypocrisy. that's off the table. the whole bill is dropped. they'll continue spending as they have been in the past. no change. >> i love this optimism. >> from me? >> yes, this has been an unbelievable 10 days for you since you came back from vacation. you're seeing the good! >> stand for democracy. >> i'm about to dampen it real quickly. you say it's not a win for obama. >> no, i don't think it is a win. >> why? some people are saying it is. >> this tax extension, he was dragged kicking and screaming into it. he hates it. he wants to tax the rich. it's not going to happen. and this failure of the $1 billion for obama care, that's a negative for the president. >> there goes the slush fund. who is on your show today? >> is it a big loss for the

democrats? juan williams will suggest otherwise i'm sure. >> we'll be tuning in today at 9:20 eastern, the only show that starts at 9:20 eastern. thanks very much. >> good marketing on that. thank you. >> coming up on that straight ahead, at least it didn't come to this in our senate. these politicians won't be casting a vote. they're going to the hospital. instead of picking sides, they picked up chairs. only geraldo knows how that feels. >> and then her credit card company made a huge mistake sending a bill for nearly $300 million. then even tried to take her house. the woman is here next. >> fighting back.

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conducting a series of checks on the space shuttle discovery's fuel tank. the tank had to be fixed after several cracks scrubbed the liftoff. new launch scheduled for saturday. and a brawl on the floor of the ukraine parliament. that's what it is, brian. everyone was asking, it's the ukraine, everyone. and they even got into it with furniture. six were bloodied and bruised in a fight that erupted over a corruption probe. four had to be taken to the hospital. that's a reality show like i've never seen before. >> that's like a wwe event but you see, those are fake chairs. all right, let me tell you what's happening now that's going to get you angry. imagine opening up your monthly credit card statement and seeing your balance is due of $286 million. that's exactly what happened to our next guest and she does not owe that. she's suing capital one claiming they harassed her on the phone for those payments and threatened to take her home away. joining us right now, patrice and her attorney. did you owe money -- did you owe

money on your credit card to capital one? was that accurate? >> i had payments, yes. >> ok. and then you get this call. when did you realize that they were accusing of you of an obscene number and they weren't accurate? >> around august. around august. >> yeah. august 2009. >> when did you come in the picture? >> patrice had a family lawyer who had contacted capital one and tried to stop the harassment. capital one refused to go for that representation. they said we're not going to talk to your lawyer. we're going to talk to you because your lawyer didn't offer to settle the debt with us. they ramped up the threat. it was at that point her lawyer asked me to get involved. i took over. >> craig, i want to put this to you, patrice. you know you owe $3,000, right? but when you get this call and they kept coming and they said you owe $286 million. what were you thinking?

what was going through your mind? >> a lot of -- if they can do this to me, i'm sure they can do it to other people, also. >> it wasn't just the number, brian. they had threatened to sue her, to ruin her credit, contact her other creditors and threatened to embarrass her in the same letter. when you put all these things together, this isn't just some typographical error, this is a threat saying you're going to play ball with us or we're going to ruin your life. >> you're also fighting, patrice, for other people that are getting these calls and for other people that will have this fight. craig, you get involved in this but capital one has come back with their statement and their explanation. see if you buy it. miss perry had a delinquent account, they go on to say. our various attempts to contact miss perry by phone and by mail were fair and reasonable. that according to them. the initial balances were the result of the continued accrued interest from a few thousand to $286 million. while there are rare occasions while human error has blamed to

inaccuracies, the letter requested $286 million is one of those instances. however, all other correspondence and our legal action accurately reflected the debt owed by miss perry. what was the tempo of calls that you were getting? how often and when? >> i would get them every month. and then i would -- they would call my work. and talk to my co-workers. and leave a phone number for me to call back. and i wasn't allowed to receive calls at work. and they called my house and wanted to know how much of a payment i was going to make. and when i was going to make it. >> all right. >> there's certain things that are reasonable inquiring about payment of a bill. there are certain things that are over the top. the capital one statements you just read to me. if this case plays out, i was absolutely promise you what you're going to find is very different from those statements. that's public relations response. that's not fact. >> patrice, just know this, the good news would be if you were hooked to a miles account, you'd

be able to fly around the globe about 900 times for free. >> space shuttle. >> that would be fantastic. >> that's right. >> i'm glad you're taking action. what's the next step? when are you going to court? what are you going to do? >> well, we have the complaint that we filed last week and capital one has to answer the complaint or file papers if they want to in some way dispute what we've alleged and we'll get into it, we'll find out why they made these threats, why they wrote these letters. why they called co-workers and why they sued her and then never showed up for the lawsuit they filed. >> just to think, if it's their policy to call your work and call you at home and harass their co-workers, you have to wonder what the rest of america is experiencing or not experiencing. patrice and craig, keep us to date on how this is going. >> absolutely. we'll do that. >> meanwhile, we move straight ahead, who gives the worst christmas gifts? a new study says co-workers. what do you think? e-mail us, friends at foxnews.com. is this study accurate in your life? then, did you hear this?

>> we have a constitutional duty to do congressionally directed spending. >> really? is pork part of the constitution? is that really the case? judge napolitano on deck straight ahead with the answer to harry. harry, wake up and we'll listen. hits the road, the nose the angels start second guessing where they tread. ♪ cl 1-800-steemer

>> welcome back. senator harry reid says congress has a constitutional duty to spend money in the form of earmarks. >> we have a constitutional duty to do congressionally directed spending. and i don't want to give up that responsibility. i can't understand why someone more conservative members here want to give up their power. i don't understand that. >> well, ok, maybe he doesn't

understand it but is it true? joining us right now to discuss it is judge andrew napolitano, host of "freedom watch" on the fox business network. >> good morning, guys. >> there's two ways to look at it. if he means that the -- only the congress can spend money and only the congress can decide how money is spent, then he's correct. that's from the constitution. but if he means we have a constitutional duty to spend, they don't. >> earmark. >> correct. earmarks are unconstitutional because the same constitution -- >> back that up. >> earmarks are unconstitutional because the same constitution that says only congress can spend money says congress can only spend money in a manner that benefits everyone. not unique gifts to their buddies. the founders wrote that in there so that this type of phenomenon we see today earmarks would not happen. so he's only looking at the part of the constitution he likes and not the part that he doesn't like. >> one of the things that i mentioned earlier was that some members of congress felt like they didn't want to give up the power of being able to hand out earmarks because they felt like

it would be too much power back in the executive branch. >> that presumes they would give the executive branch a blank check and say you spend this money how you want. blank checks are unconstitutional because the constitution says only congress can spend the money. just like tarp was unconstitutional. giving anybody outside of the congress a blank check with the people's money and say spend it how you want, also violates the constitution. >> all right. let's talk a little about a perplexing case in the u.k. julian assange was sprung yesterday. he was held not for the wikileaks. he was held on sex crime charges in sweden. now, what happens? >> well, now, there will be an extradition hearing and at this hearing which is a trial, a judge will decide whether or not he should go to sweden against his will and there's a couple of questions that the judge wants to ask. first, is there enough evidence to convict him of this crime? it's a phrase we don't have here. it's not a crime here called over sexing, it means having sex without adequate protection or having sex in an inconvenient

way. that's not a crime in the united states and not a crime in great britain so the question is if they send him to sweden and convicted of this, will that violate some human right or some right he has in great britain or the european union? the second thing they have to decide is is that the real reason that they want him or do they want him because the u.s. state department wants him there so they can interrogate him. why? if they ask them to prosecute him, that violates british law. this gets very complicated. i had a conversation with julian assange's lawyer and i said who is your witness going to be? his first witness will be the sweet swedish prosecutor who rejected these charges when they were first filed in august. >> who is on your show real quick? >> today is the show on what is a libertarian? do they like war or don't they? do they believe we should have government or shouldn't they? >> check it out. have a fantastic weekend. >> thank you, guys. merry christmas to you. >> measurry christmas to you as

well. some schools letting students use spell check on their tests. should they do it the old fashioned way? grab a dictionary. >> isn't it ironic a lot of people in the united states would rather you say holiday than christmas. they don't have that problem in one muslim country we know of spending $11 million for a christmas tree. we'll talk to the hotel doing it straight ahead on this "fox & friends." ♪ [ 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.

>> can you say tgif? i can because today is friday and it's december 17th. thank you so much for sharing your time with us today. it's official, taxes for anyone will not increase on january 1st. congress did pass the tax extension bill late last night and sent it to president obama's desk. all he has to do is sign it. congress has a lot more to do. >> all right. what's not on their list?

gretch? the pork filled spending bill. >> conversation. > >> stop laughing. senate majority leader harry reid pulls the omnibus spending bill off the table. what tricks does he have up his sleeve, steve? >> don't tell joe biden about christmas. he knows all about it. how the vice president has become the grinch. "fox & friends" starts right now. >> welcome aboard, folks. it is the friday before christmas eve. >> all right! >> one week to christmas eve. bring it on. here's a big -- >> aren't you excited? >> i didn't think we had a tax deal but they kept working through the night and sure enough, i looked out and it was like 90 messages and it's about to happen. i think they have the votes.

>> you felt like howie mandel, deal or no deal. with hair. >> without the hot models pointing to empty boxes. >> that's what i was thinking. >> wouldn't that be interesting on capitol hill? >> howie mandel lines up models in "deal or no deal." attache cases. >> hot models on "fox & friends." why not? there you go. >> ok, bri, i'll start the headlines now. we start with a fox news alert. americans will not be seeing their taxes go up on january 1st. just before midnight, the house passed the tax cut deal. it now goes to the president's desk and peter doocy has all the details in washington. you must have been up all night to figure things out. it happened so late. >> yeah, it's either this or the hot models usually that keep me up all night. >> that's a fox news alert. >> i don't know how that vote came out. what about this vote? >> glad you asked. yea votes coming from 139 democrats and 138 republicans. the final vote count was 277-148

and with that, the tax rate compromise bill has passed the house. it happened late last night, as you said, and now it needs to make its way from the capital to the white house for the president's signature before it can become a law. when it does, its $858 billion price tag gets tacked on to the deficit. then tax rates will remain the same for families at all income levels for two years. unemployment insurance benefits will be extended for 13 months and there will be a one year cut in the social security tax that's going to be seen by just about every working american. now, some democrats in the house made noise about this bill until the very last minute because they think the president gave away too much to republicans in the senate during negotiations but in the end, some democrats did express hope that this bill's passage is going to lead to good things. >> we saw the president of the united states strike a deal with senate republicans in the end, it was a package that held in

the senate overwhelmingly. passed the house tonight, it's going to mean tax relief for most of the people in this country. >> some republicans stress the importance of this bill as well with representative dave camp from michigan chiming in "this is just no time to be playing games with our economy. the failure to block these tax increases would be a direct hit to families and small businesses". so republicans and democrats worked together on this tax rate compromise and they still got a lot of stuff on their plate the last few days of the session so stay tuned to see if there's any more of that bipartisanship going around. brian? >> thank you very much, peter. you know, some people saying the president just beginning with his appearance with president clinton last week, he is sprinting to the middle. >> sure. >> and, you know, we were discussing yesterday that if this omnibus bill was not busted which we're about to discuss, would the president have vetoed it? >> exactly right. so the news is this. harry reid realized wait a

minute, i thought i had some republican senators who were going to vote with me, i don't and he could not muster the votes he needed to prevent a filibuster so he pulled it. there are three republican senators who really helped kill this bill. coburn of oklahoma, mccain of arizona, and jim demint of south carolina. demint famously wanted the whole thing read aloud. mccain said he was ok with a government shutdown. in the end, harry didn't have the votes and it was a tea party takeover. claire mccaskel immediately hit the republicans for being hypocrites and having some pork in there that they voted against. >> this sprung from a bipartisan effort of the appropriations committee and every member on that side of the aisle knows it. they know it. and they know the earmarks in there, there are almost $700 million of earmarks in there from people who voted on a moratorium on earmarks. that's like being half pregnant.

>> actually, she's right. i mean, she's right. this cuts both ways. republicans like earmarks, too, some of them and remember, some republicans voted against that earmark ban a couple of weeks ago but what she was saying is that those who actually did vote for the earmark ban then had earmarks in this spending bill and they were about to go for it until they were called out on it so in a way, she's right and i think we have to give some credit to mitch mcconnell who had some earmarks himself. >> well, $112 million. >> he was apparently on the phone to other republicans saying hey, we have to give this stuff up. >> i think this is the way i understand it went down. 10 months to do it, they chose not to. for the second year in a row, they're bringing it to the dhed line with christmas and holidays looming straight ahead. they say we have to get this passed and we'll do it. everybody writes in their wish list for would be earmarks and they don't even talk about it for 10 months and all of a sudden at 12:15 on wednesday, they get this bill and it's

thousands of pages and their requests are in there. that was before there was a tea party backlash. that was before they signed the pledge to ban all earmarks for a short term moratorium at which time they thought they hamstrung those people that look like hypocrites. they got together and mitch mcconnell said yeah, i was for earmarks before i signed up against them and therefore, said i'm going to vote with senator harry reid, they rescinded their pledge. >> karl rove was on greta's program last night talking about just that. >> this is the first time since 1974 that the house of representatives has failed to meet its statutory responsibility of passing a budget framework which is typically done in february or march at the latest so a huge failure of the congress this year. >> so now what happens? well, because that great big pork-a-palooza, the omnibus bill that was 11 different budgets all together, that was now gone and instead, what they're probably going to do maybe later today or tomorrow at the latest is they will have a very slim

resolution that will just continue the government running. they're essentially doing what the house did. >> they'll be in charge of the spending bill for 2011 at least in the house. there's also that big start treaty, the whole deal with russia that they need to try to get done before they leave for christmas break. joe biden says don't worry about what's in that thing, even if it's half russian. just pass it. >> get out of the way. there's too much at stake for america's national security and don't tell me about christmas. >> let me tell you something and use some logic. >> if you ask too many questions, it's out of control. let me ask you something, if you had to line up venezuela who is getting missiles from iran, iran's nuclear program, a renegade program we can't reel in. you can name three off the top of every americans' home that are more concerning than

russia's rusting nuclear arsenal. >> when it comes to russia, do you really trust those guys even these days? when you hear what joe biden said, forget about christmas, does that sound familiar? i remember a woman with the hammer who said something kind of like that. >> that sounds dangerous. >> we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it away from the fog of the controversy. >> yeah. i don't think that was the prompter. >> i thought she was going to say the famous line from 2010 which was you'll like it after you read it. >> we got to pass it. >> like it more after you pass it and figure out what's in it. >> madam speaker with the gavel. >> we have to do some headlines because it's friday and it's the top of the hour. and we begin with new information on a shooting at a pope air force base in north carolina. single gunshots were fired last night inside one of the base residences. military police say luckily, no one was hurt. they have arrested a soldier, though, from nearby fort bragg in what's being described as a

domestic incident. >> wikileaks founder julian assange wasting no time. soon after being sprung from prison, he's promising even more leaks now. he says his time in jail renewed his commitment to revealing u.s. government secrets. >> continue on with our work as confirmed to me personally that we are on the right path and has given me enough anger the situation to last me 100 years. >> assange who was arrested for sex crimes now under house arrest in england but he is free to use the internet. that's the headline. he's free to use the internet. u.s. department of justice still hasn't decided if it will file espionage charges against him. i guess he can use internet because the crime he's charged with really has nothing to do with these leaks. >> good point. >> for the first time, we're hearing from mike jones, the hero who ended what could have been a massacre at a school board meeting in florida. >> so many things that go through your mind that it would

be instinct and the training and i'm glad they're here and alive. i'm not a hero, folks. i just done my job. >> yes, you are. [applause] >> jones said he needed a day of prayer and reflection before talking about how he took down gunman clay duke. we warn you again this video is disturbing. >> please don't. please don't. please. >> i'm going to kill you. >> this morning, there's a new 911 tape from the assistant superintendent talking to the dispatcher. >> the superintendent has been shot. >> next hour on "fox & friends",

we're going to be talking about the gun that clay duke used. why the government was supposed to take it away but didn't. after 25 years, larry king said good-bye to his it was show last night. during the finale, he listened to a taped message from president obama. he also interviewed president clinton. governor schwarzenegger and donald trump. wearing his signature red suspenders, king got a little choked up. >> i don't know what to say except to you, my audience, thank you. and instead of good-bye, how about so long? >> the show ended with a spotlight on his chrome microphone before fading to black. and those are your headlines. >> i watched it last night. good show. >> yes. >> his sons on there. 12 minutes after the hour and we move ahead. fox news poll shows the president's approval rating at an all time low. let's put it in perspective. how does he stack up against past administrations? our political panel will stack it up for us.

>> as more americans replace merry christmas with happy holidays, some muslims are taking the opposite stance. they're rocking around an $11 million christmas tree. what gives? we'll talk to the mideast hotel celebrating this year. x?pvú? funny how nature just knows how to make things x?pvú? that are good for you. new v8 v-fusion + tea. one combined serving of vegetables and fruit with the goodness of green tea and powerful antioxidants. refreshingly good.

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or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. and help bridge the gap between the life you live... and the life you want to live. >> two years into his term, president obama's job performance rating has slipped to an all time low. a new fox poll shows obama's approval rating at 40%. it stood at 50% a year ago. and another fox news poll shows only 29% of americans think obama will be re-elected in 2012. that's down 15% from last december. how does this compare to past presidents half way through their first term? let's ask our political panel this morning, republican pollster john mclaughlin, radio

personality and creator of your office companion and former federal prosecutor ann marie. let me start with you. those poll numbers are not good if you're sitting inside the white house today. we've seen other presidents two years into their presidency where they have low poll numbers and they're re-elected. what do you think? >> that's right. he has a bully pulpit to being maybe he makes some changes in policy although i'm not sure he will. he seems pretty ideological as far as his approach to things. >> he reached across the aisle, though, with the tax cut. >> he did. he did. he does more of those types of things, there's a possibility but it's a very difficult thing but he -- he has not -- he's not done things that the public has liked overall. but this is a step in the right direction for him. perhaps help him down the line. >> is it genuine? >> well, i don't think the question is whether it's genuine. question is whether he's a pragmatist.

bill clinton was a pragmatist. george bush, the first was not a pragmatist. obama has more in common with the first george bush than he has with bill clinton. >> in what way? >> he's an idealogue and out of touch with the people that elected him. he angered a lot of his followers and lot of his core constituency. obama is doing the same thing. he got into office and has not kept a lot of his promises to his core. >> who else will the core vote for? isn't it the independents who in the end will decide any election. >> right now, your 40% job approval rating is like our polls on election day. 37% of the voters, only 37% said they would vote to re-elect him. so he's lost the independents support right now and all he has is core democrats and left of center democrat base so he probably went down a little bit when he angered them while supporting the republicans, you know, they were stopping the tax

increase. >> who else is he going to vote for? >> has to get a challenge from the left. you might see a russ feingold, howard dean, somebody from the left. everybody is talking about hillary clinton. she's the conservative in that primary. that's very strange. >> one thing you say, also at the economy anyway. >> i believe president obama has a chance to be re-elected if the economy somehow turns around. whether or not it has anything to do with what he has to do with it. >> ann marie? >> if people start getting jobs again and people start seeing the unemployment numbers coming down and people see him being strong, being more positive about america. i think one of the things that people are upset about also is he seems to have a very negative view towards our country and doesn't seem to be as strong as people would like. fiasco about where to try the terrorists and so on. all of this cuts against him. if he could be more cohesive and look like he knows what he's doing, he has a plan and it's what people want, i think it would really help. >> what does the public think about the president's plan to hand out more unemployment

benefits? our panel is back after the break with that story. and then should schools let kids use spell check in the classroom? how about on their test? or should they do it the old-fashioned way and know the words or even grab the dictionary? right back. ]gñ?x÷=ñv÷nv8=t=ññ÷

>> it's time for your news by the numbers. first, that's how much money adam wheeler has to pay back to harvard university for conning his way into the school. he was placed on 10 years probation for bilking the university out of grants and scholarships as well. next, 760,000, that's how many identities hackers have stolen from the ohio university school

system. and 407. that's how many bald eagles were counted in a pennsylvania preserve, nearly double the number from two years ago. back in 1963, there were only about 800 bald eagles in the entire u.s. of a. getten, back to you and the panel. >> extending unemployment benefits for 13 more months was a big part of president obama's tax compromise but two new fox polls show most americans think this hurts the economy and discourages people from finding a jobs. only 35% of the polls say it helps the economy. 52% say unemployment benefits do discourage people from finding the job. is this another example of democrats being out of touch with the american people? you remember they are the ones who really pushed for that in the tax compromise bill. back for reaction to these polls, our political panel, john mclaughlin, ann marie. you think these unemployment benefits are a good thing for stimulating the economy?

>> they are a stimulus. you can't deny they are a stimulus for the economy. would it be good for the economy if a bunch of people right near where we sit lost their apartments, lost their jobs, went on public assistance? i don't think that would be good for the economy. having said that, i think any extension of unemployment benefit should have been coupled with tax benefits to companies that aggressively start hiring employees. i didn't hear anything about rewarding companies that start hiring again. >> interesting. what do you think? >> only in washington would they think that unemployment is better than having a job. 84% of the people have just voted in this election and know someone that lost a job. 81% have either taken a pay cut or had to take another job or have lost some income somehow. so it's -- what's mind boggling to the taxpayers is here they are taxing people and wanting to raise their rates because what we just did was stop a major tax increase that would have affected everybody and the thing about that said tax cuts for the rich was really a tax owe small business that would have cost us

jobs. you would have seen unemployment rise. >> i know that you say that unemployment was once upon a time ago, supposed to be a stop gap measure and now, because of the recession that we found ourselves in, how long will it go on? >> that's the amazing thing. i mean, it almost becomes a situation where is it really unemployment benefits that we're getting or is it really a welfare type system? because when you're talking about having people on the public dole for three years now, you've already had two years now and extending it another year. that's an awfully long time for people to be getting these types of benefits. even, i was talking to a friend last night that was a liberal democrat and even he said, you know, this is not making sense anymore. this is much more than anybody ever envisioned as far as unemployment benefits. it's supposed to help you get through and the reality is in years gone by, we turn to family, we turn to friends. sometimes people move in with their parents again or vice versa or, you know, you do things, you maybe move into a smaller apartment and sell your house. and there are actions we have to

take when we don't have a job. and try to take something that's lower pay scale. but we can't just keep this up where we just pay for years and years and years and don't have people getting jobs. >> i happened to believe that people already are moving into their parents' homes, selling their homes, getting foreclosed on their homes. i don't think -- i know people are unemployed and get unemployment benefits. i'll give you a number. 100% of everyone i know who is unemployed wants to be working and is looking for work and can't find it. so i don't know what you're supposed to do with people. >> it doesn't mean stall it out. >> got to end it at that. that's a good thing. everyone wants that to happen, right? panel, thank you so much for being here. have a great weekend. >> thank you. >> wikileaks founder julian assange is a free man. he just spoke out in the past few minutes. his new threat -- guess what? he's targeting the u.s. again. while some americans are waging war on christmas in the u.s., a muslim country is celebrating christmas with this tree. you know how much this thing cost? $11 million.

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>> the holtz in the united arab emirates has unveiled the most expensive christmas tree ever valued at $11 million. yeah. i never thought i'd say this but folks, i believe the united arab emirates has lost sight of the true meaning of christmas. >> perfect segue. christmas trees are getting ridiculed left and right here in the united states but there is one unlikely place that we just heard conan talk about where the most expensive christmas tree in the world has popped up. abu dhabi in the united arab emirates so how does an $11 million christmas tree go up in a muslim country? >> joining us on the phone is the director of sales and marketing for the emirates palace hotel, janet abrahams. good morning to you or good afternoon. >> yes. hi. happy to speak with you.

>> so i know this has been in the planning for several years to try to come one the most expensive christmas tree in the world. many americans are scratching their heads because we live in a society now where christmas trees are sometimes forbidden even though it's christmas time. and yet in a muslim nation, you have the most expensive and outrageous christmas tree ever. >> yeah, i mean, i think it's a fantastic idea. it's something that our guests and visitors really enjoy. i'm here in the hotel today and we have people from all over the world and lots of children and everybody enjoying looking at this marvelous tree and enjoying the moment. >> i guess you have a full-time guard there. you have 108 individual pieces of jewelry as well as watches so you know exactly how much time the christmas tree has left, i guess. so i mean, you would need a calendar. are you concerned at all about security? the rope line doesn't look impervious. >> no, we're not really

concerned. of course, there are certain security measures in place but this is not the first time emirates hotel has had something on display that's beyond belief, perhaps, in other parts of the world but it really isn't something to struggle with here. and we've -- as i say, we've had massive people inside and we've the world's most expensive pearls, you know, we have a gold vending machine in the lobby. you know, it really isn't something that we face here, thank goodness. >> in other words, it's not exactly a motel 6 that you're working at. you're there in a muslim country, have you had any complaints about having a christmas tree right there in the atrium? >> no. in fact, really, with this story that we're fortunate not to be able to speak to you about, too and all of your viewers because, you know, we have a slogan in this country and being the

capital which is the world round, if you have the pleasure to come and visit, i'm sure you'll experience the same as me. that this really is the meaning of hospitality that we respect and we embrace and everybody can enjoy seasonal atmosphere and that's something this day that a lot of our guests have enjoyed right now. >> i think you said it well, the true spirit of hospitality. thank you very much for joining us live from abu dhabi. merry christmas to you. >> thank you very much. and happy holidays. >> why don't you do the show live from there? >> we should. >> over by the gold vending machine. >> no kidding. not now. i have a story to read and then i will. then we have dogs to meet. julian assange wasting no time soon after being sprung from prison, he's threatening more leaks. assange spoke moments ago on another show. assange says his time in jail has renewed his commitment to revealing u.s. government secrets. >> we should remember that this

is not the beginning of the end, rather it is the end of the beginning. >> got that. that's nice. assange still faces sex crime allegations out of sweden and he believes those charges were trumped up by government officials in an attempt to nab him for his latest document dump on wikileaks. his greatest fear is being extradited to the u.s. on different charges. >> exactly right. >> police are asking for the public's help in identifying the women in these 180 photographs collected from a suspected serial killer's property. lonnie franklin jr. known as grim sleeper is accused of murdering 10 women and attempting to kill another in a los angeles area. over two decades. when he was arrested this summer, police found thousands of images of women in graphic and suggestive photos and now they're trying to figure out who they all are. >> an ohio woman faces kidnapping charges after allegedly trying to steal babies from local hospitals. the 20-year-old was arrested after she tried to get into the

maternity ward on a hospital outside of akron. nurses recognized williams from a picture sent out the day before when she was caught snooping around another maternity ward nearby. >> start again, brian. >> sorry, steve. i'll try to get this right. middle school and high school students in oregon will now have a new tool at their disposal while taking state writing tests. spell check. oregon is the first state to allow electronic spell checking but others are expected to follow suit. school officials say the change will allow educators to better assess a student's writing without worrying about typos but some say it down plays spelling as an important subject. i would think it's hard to pitch the other side of that. >> all right. let's take a look at what's going on in the weather and we've got a big pacific storm continuing to rage out in california but here in the east, we've got some lingering shower activity from the mid atlantic down through much of dixieland and also some snow flurries this morning in the central plain

states. the big story, though, is the current temperatures, continues to be cold in the northern plains and look at that, the northeast. caribou right now had 7 degrees. about the same for cleveland, ohio. 20's out in the central plains. 30's across much of dixie land. 40's and 50's along the gulf coast. later on today, things will warm up on this last friday before -- one week before the christmas eve. and eventually, 40's across portions of the mid atlantic. it's going to be 51 in atlanta. they're going to love that after the cold snap they've had down there. 60's and 70's along the gulf coast. it should be 73 later today in tampa, florida. >> all right, brian, we're going to the dogs. >> as we have all week long, steve. it's the last day of our paws for a cause series and today, we have some small paws that you saw a little bit last half-hour. robin presnall is the executive director of small paws rescue inc., the largest breed rescue in the country. over the past 12 years, they've

saved over 8,000 bichons. robin has brought with us today, you might recognize her from past shows, aaron, casy, and kaylor who has been successfully adopted and chandler who still needs a help. welcome to all the dogs. >> thank you. thank you so much for having us. >> first off, unlike the last time, these dogs have homes except for? >> chandler. chandler is up for adoption. chandler came from a commercial kennel. some people would call it a puppy mill. came from a house where he was put in a cage and didn't have much love or anekz. he has been successfully fostered now and ready for a home. and he will be grated with kids over 10 and he must have another dog in the house. >> here's what's great about this and it's no small -- i had a collie, a german shepherd. they only live like nine, 10 years tops. some of these dogs live 22 years. >> this is one of the longest lived breeds. that's a great thing. but when you're in rescue, that can also be a difficult thing because sometimes their owners pass away before the dogs.

and so we are constantly taking in senior dogs and right now, we are overloaded. we need volunteers all across the country. we have our web site where you can find an application to be a volunteer. we also desperately need help with our vet bills. >> listen to this. you'll save bichons all across the country. they need help. your vet bill last month was what? >> last week. one week was $17,160. in a week. >> so a lot of people watching right now say i can't take another dog. we don't have a dog, i'm allergic. the way they can help is? >> send a donation. a tax deductible donation. >> you've developed many skills, one is how to call a bichon. i saw it in the break. does it come with a voice recording of you? let's say hypothetically you want to get, let me say, make boris. let's get boris' attention. >> boris. boris. >> there you go. it's the beep. it's the boris beep that gets

the attention. last time you were here, i commented we had all christmas. >> you did. >> you also noticed something else i said. >> boris is jewish. so we said last time he was jewish but he was wearing a red santa sweater to go along with the group. we needed to get him a hanukkah sweater. >> look what you did. >> boris was here -- >> all right. >> so we really -- we desperately need help for volunteers and thank you all so much for having us. >> can i point out something socially that's happening here? i see the christmas dogs, not hanging out with the hanukkah dogs. >> oh, no! no! >> can we see some interaction there? >> yes. we can. boris, can you get up from your nap. bore snis>> boris is exhausted. why a morning show? why couldn't hemmer book me? i would love to be in at 9:00. >> fantastic. >> so listen, take some action, don't sit on the sideline. make a difference. so if you don't go home with a bichon, even temporarily to foster home. you can help out. >> that's right. that's right. >> and i'm sure vets are helping

you out, too. >> we are. they give us discounts but they still charge us so we have, you know, surgeries. we have things that are happening every day. >> right. boris is very entertained by the smell of the other dogs. >> because it's a christmas dog. >> it's a christmas dog. yes. these are the bichons. take some action everyone. fox and friends.com. you'll find out more as well as the web site. >> nice seeing you. >> ok. let's go over to the big couch. >> i'm so glad brian was assigned those segments this week. >> he's done a fantastic job with it. >> he has. he's added his own little spice to it. >> christmas spice today. >> right. >> dogs will start jumping like they were in rehearsal. >> yes. >> coming up on our show, an incredible story about a girl who said she talked to angels. if you're not a believer now, you might be soon. >> and a judge in virginia crippled obama care and now the fight is headed to florida and this fight, the biggest challenge yet to the president. the man leading that fight coming up next.

>> first the trivia question of the day. born on this date in 1975, this ukrainian born model and actress was dazed and confused. who is she? be sure to e-mail us at friends at foxnews.com. ♪ [ male announcer ] every day thousands of people are switching from tylenol advil. to len more and get youspecial offer, go to takeadvil.com. take action. take advil.

>> quick check of the headlines right now. today is the fed ex deadline for ground shipments before christmas. u.p.s. says they will not guarantee christmas delivery anymore this season. if you mail it by first class mail, you need it by monday, tuesday for priority. it's got to be under the tree. did you get one in the mail? it's the kardashian family christmas card. they're decked out in everything but a smile. the kardashians will be smiling when they join us on our

christmas special next friday. >> hold everything. meanwhile, florida and 19 other states are challenging president obama's health care law in court saying it's unconstitutional. joining us right now is florida attorney general bob mccollum and he had his day in court yesterday. good morning, bill, rather. >> thank you, bill. good to be with you. >> what was the case that you made to judge vincent yesterday? >> well, the argument we made, i think, was a very effective one was that the individual mandate requiring a person to buy health insurance or pay a penalty is unconstitutional. that the commerce clause just doesn't go that far and we argued that in this case, the federal government has gone too far in requiring the states to participate in a new medicaid program, a great expansion of that program far beyond for the people that were originally there, now it's one for everybody. it's up to 138% of poverty level. 30% increase and requires states

not just to contribute to benefits but to also make sure doctors and nurses are there and so on. those are the basic arguments we made. i thought the judge was fairly receptive. you never can be sure when you go to these hearings what they're going to rule. >> although you were making your argument three days after the attorney general in the commonwealth of virginia got a win from judge henry hudson up in virginia where he agreed that parts of this health care law are unconstitutional. meanwhile on the other side, sir. you've got the people making the argument on behalf of the obama administration. they say look, we can do this because it is outlined in the commerce clause, because it involves money and transactions and stuff like that. >> well, it wasn't -- that's right, that's the really crux of the matter here. how far does the commerce clause go? this is inactivity. you're sitting at home in front of your television set and not out there buying a car or doing anything and the federal government says by your inactivity, you are somehow affecting the economy.

you're affecting health care. you're affecting the cost of health care for others. i thought judge vincent yesterday made a point because he said well, if that's the case, this is for the common good, why couldn't the government order you to buy broccoli and eat broccoli so you'll be healthier and not affect everybody else's health care costs so he's very clearly looking at where do you draw the line? he called this a great expansion of the commerce clause so we think he's sympathetic to us. we just don't know. and we'll have to wait and see. we think he's more sympathetic than judge vincent. i mean, than judge hudson to the idea of maybe having this not severed. in other words, saying the whole law is unconstitutional. because he said something yesterday this is like a swiss watch and if you take one of his parts out or break it, the rest of it doesn't work. it's very complex and if one parted is gone, can the rest of it really work? so we felt good about that. >> ok, bill mccollum, attorney

general from florida. we'll be watching to see what the judge does. thank you. >> you're welcome. my pleasure. >> it is 11 minutes before the top of the hour on this friday, you may not believe in angels but one mother says her daughter was visited by several angels and she's not alone. our next guests are sharing our stories that may turn you into a believer. first on this date in 1968, marvin gaye had the number one song in america. "when you heard it through the grapevine." ever wish vegetables didn't taste so vegetably? well, v8 v-fusion juice gives you a full serving of vegetables, plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. v8. what's your number? [ 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.

>> all right. you see the winner there. you knew you were the winner -- that's the answer. and paul knew that. he's from akron, ohio. by the way, akron won the ncaa

division 1 soccer title. meanwhile -- >> ♪ calling all angels yeah ♪ >> do you believe in angels? have you ever met an angel? carly did at 18 years old, she was diagnosed with cancer and a month before her passing, she met some angels which in turn comforted her during her health battle. her story and others like it are chronicled in this book "encountering heaven and the after life". joining us is the book's author, dr. jim garlow and kim whose daughter had a true life encounter with angels. welcome to both of you. >> thank you very much. >> doctor, what made you put this book together? >> we were approached by our publisher immediately to write about the after life, about heaven and we were very excited to do that. i began to try to gather stories pertaining to that. within a short amount of time, 400 such stories came in. many of them involving angels,

people who had seen angels and been with angels and proved to be an exciting project for us as we wrote the book. >> one of the favorite stories is sitting next to you and kim, your daughter carly experienced an angel. could you describe what that was like or how she described it to you? >> sure. most definitely. approximately a month before her death, she was visited by angels. and her first encounter was a very beautiful glowing light with an incredible warmth and the angel actually touched the top of her foot and she knew instantly it was an angel touching her. she was so excited. it was just a wonderful experience for her. after that, she was visited quite often and she would refer to them as her friends. and i asked her once to describe them to me and she said that they were all different. mostly children and that they

reminded her of foreign exchange students. >> and tell me about the angel, too, that carly described for you, you'd be in the room but not see it, correct? >> that's correct. >> right. i was not in the room. >> right. and what about the angel that was packing? >> she -- one morning, it was a sunday morning, early. i came into the room and she was quite upset. and i didn't understand why. and i said to her, sweetheart, what's wrong? she said mom, it's the little boy. the little boy, he's packing my things. where are we going? you know, why -- are we going somewhere? and i said oh, no, sweetheart. you know, we're not going anywhere. it's fine and i calmed her down. and afterwards, my girlfriend called me and i relayed this message to her and she said kim, that -- don't you realize that was an angel, angel was preparing her, kim, to leave. and i just -- i was just so blessed by that because i truly believe that what the angel was

doing. >> and doctor, real quick, the main theme that comes through all these incredible stories is people who go through it, experience it, they don't fear death. >> that's exactly right. and the angels come in all forms. we think of angels being small and sometimes they are. almost cherubic but sometimes they are strong and mighty figures and in the christmas story, the angel involved with mary, joseph and the shepherds and inviting mary and joseph to go to egypt and go back home. >> thank you so much. coming up next, geraldo. [ male announcer ] need ink? staples has a low price guarantee on all the ink you need. find a lower price at another store, and we'll match it. that was easy.

john: yea, well, there you go. beth: yea, so what else is new? john: well, i just changed my medicare plan. beth: open enrollment? john: yup. i compared plans and found better coverage for me. beth: of course you noticed the new benefits we get under the new healthcare law. john: what? beth: well, like 50 percent off brand name prescription drugs for people who are in the donut hole. john: really? i didn't know that. beth: you have to keep up. john: come on. i'll keep up. anncr: it's open enrollment. time to compare and review plans at medicare.gov or call

1-800-medicare. >> gretchen: tgif. friday, december 17, i'm gretchen carlson. thanks for sharing your time. it's a done teal. members of the house working late into the night have decided that your taxes will not go up. >> op is this vote, the yeas are 277. the nays are 148. the motion is adopted. >> gretchen: but the decision not without a whole heck of a lot of drama. what happens next? we're live for you at the white

house. >> steve: a senate shocker. harry reid pulls the plug on that pork filled spending bill just as republicans were about to start reading it allowed page by page. is he finally getting the message? we're going to talk to geraldo rivera in about a minute. >> brian: okay. maybe harry reid would have had better luck taking a page from these lawmakers that use -- after all, he was a boxer. "fox & friends" starts right now. >> gretchen: good morning, everyone. hope you're having a great friday going into your last weekend before christmas. get out there and get all your shopping done. >> brian: geraldo rivera is coming up. i have a very good source on the ground. that is geraldo. >> gretchen: that's him. >> brian: we'll find out what his moment of zen was. >> i should have been in that

boxing part. >> brian: you have been in that boxing part. >> steve: maybe you were. >> gretchen: there he is! look. >> perfect. >> steve: i don't see anybody getting hit. >> that's a good one. >> brian: that hurt, right? >> gretchen: that was on your show. >> right. i get them confused, the roux crane, my show. >> steve: didn't you save the chair they hit you with? >> i still have it. it's for the geraldo rivera museum when the time comes. >> steve: where will that be? >> i don't know. hopefully as long future as possible although i'll exchange that for a yankee stadium bleacher seat that i bought. >> brian: geraldo rivera coming up shortly. first, fox news alert. >> gretchen: wikileaks founder julian assange is wasting no time. soon after being sprung from prison, he's threatening more

leaks now. he spoke just about an hour ago outside the english mansion where he's under house arrest for sex crime allegations. he says those charges were trumped up in an attempt to nab him for his latest document dump. >> this has been a very success ful smear campaign so far that i think its days are numbered and people are starting to wonder. >> gretchen: while under house arrest, he's free to use the internet as he pleases. oh, oh he says he has close to 250,000 government documents that he has yet to leak. for the first time we're hearing from mike jones, he is the hero who ended what could have been a massacre at a school board meeting in florida. >> so many things that go through your mind, that it was the instinct and the training, i'm just glad they're all here and alive. i'm not a hero, folks. i just done my job.

[ applause ] >> gretchen: jones says he needed a day of prayer and reflection before talking about how he took down gunman clay duke. we warn you, this video is disturbing. >> please don't. please don't. please. (shots fired). >> gretchen: this morning there is a new 911 tape of the assistant superintendent calling for help. >> gretchen: coming up in a few minutes, the gun that clay duke used. why the government was supposed to take it away but didn't. meantime, a prisoner in

oklahoma bailment first person in the country to be executed with a stayedtive normally used to put down animals. john duty, who had strangled his cell mate in 2001, was given a lethal injection containing the drug vets use to put animals to sleep. there is a shortage of the drug that's commonly used in executions. we just showed you this, another brawl on the floor of another parliament. this time it's furniture. six members of the ukrainian legislature were bruised in on a a fight that erupted over a corruption probe. four of them needed hospitalization. a fight broke out on the floor of the south korean parliament last week over a budget measure. was that when the woman socked the guy? remember that? >> brian: yeah, i remember that. >> steve: we can't keep anything nice. we got a fox news alert. while you were asleep, the house of representatives passed the major tax cut deal. now american also not be seeing their taxes go up on january 1. sweeping bill is headed to president obama's desk where he

absolutely is going to sign it. isn't he, mike emmanuel? >> that's right. good morning. nice red tie there. absolutely. the president is expected to sign it this afternoon. we expect that he will make a statement and obviously this was a huge priority for him. interesting approach on this issue. we saw the president day after day hitting the tax cut compromise hard, saying why he was for it, what he didn't like about it, but in the end, why he felt like it was important to get done before the end of the year. he didn't want people's taxes going up during the christmas season and he was concerned about extending unemployment and really made the case that the nature of compromise is everybody is unhappy with something about it, but for the good of the country, he felt like it need to do get passed. so this afternoon we will hear him make a statement and see him sign that legislation, guys. >> steve: all right. mike, the loudest complaints he heard were from democrats in the house. what about that? >> yes. it was really fascinating politics. we know the president was working the phone, calling house

democrats in recent days trying to get them on board. but the loudest complaint, the final complaint came from the house speaker herself. take a listen. >> but in order for the middle class to get that tax cut, the republicans insist that those who make the top 2% in our country, that they get an extra tax cut, adding billions of dollars to the deficit and not creating any jobs. >> speaker nancy pelosi ended up not voting in the measure, for or against it. steny hour ended up supporting the compromise. in the end the votes were there and the empty do his signing this afternoon, guys. >> steve: mr. also red tie, we thank you for joining us live. >> brian: let's bring in geraldo rivera. >> i didn't get the red tie memo. who would win between mcconnell and reid?

>> brian: reid has the resume. >> gretchen: mcconnell won the punchout last night because he got him to get rid of the spending bill. >> well, you know. that spending bill to me was a pox on both houses. if you look at the earmarks. i remember i had a party once to get money for an aquarium in new bedford, depressed post industrial town, aquarium was going to bring tourists in. barney frank ironically, is the congressman from new bedford. he came and said, why not get federal money for the aquarium and he said, that's one of these earmarks that everybody is always complaining about. if you're complain being it, let's raise this private money for the aquarium? what is an earmark? generally it's pork and we hate them. but they, generally speaking, go to build a bridge or school or charlie rangel museum in harlem somewhere. >> steve: don't you think that the fact that harry reid

couldn't get 60 votes, so there could have been a filibuster, ultimately this proves the tea party, the impact of it, will be felt beyond the midterm. >> and if it does, then that will be a seismic change in the way we do business. in this huge spending bill, mitch mcconnell got the republicans out of it and that's what you suggest quashed it. but in the end, he had his own earmarks. his earmarks, come on, steve. everybody is into this game and if you're going to make an absolute rule, which i totally support, if you want whatever it is in your jurisdiction, your kentucky jurisdiction, make a bill, kentucky mitch mcconnell junior high school bill, you know. so everybody knows. don't sneak them in. >> gretchen: i agree with you. isn't that a first? might be. harry reid -- >> you don't know how it pains me to disagree with you.

him, i don't care. >> gretchen: harry reid said this about the earmarks. he says that it would be constitutional to spend our money. >> we have a constitutional duty to do congressionally directed spending and i don't want to give up that responsibility. i can't understand why someone more conservative members here want to give up their power. i don't understand that. >> it sounds lame. but what he's really saying is there is a separation of powers and if the legislature doesn't designate where the money is spent and the executive -- in the executive branch will. that's really what he was saying. it comes down to almost everything that comes out of his mouth, with all due respect to the outgoing majority leader, sounds lame. that sounds lame. >> brian: he's still majority leader. >> that's right. i'm already in february.

>> brian: do you think president obama would have signed it? >> yes. yes. >> brian: in 2009 he said, i don't want to sign a bill like this next year. give me a budget. >> why is it that they wait until the three days before christmas to bring up this bill, the start treaty, the tax compromise it. what are the accountants going to do? they don't know how much money to take out. why did they always wait? why is it that the government is so dysfunctional that they really don't have our best interests in mind. they have the game, the legislative game. >> steve: it's like the night before a test. >> it's not the way to do business. >> you are right about that. last night. >> steve: two republican senator high school this exchange on the floor of the senate. the newest republican and somebody who has been there for a while. >> just the most junior member for those who are not understanding what just happened, did we just win? >> i think there is very little doubt that the majority leader of the united states senate would not have taken the action

he just took if we didn't have 41 votes to stop this monstrosity. i don't think there is any doubt about it. >> for economic conservatives, a 1924-page bill just died? >> 1924-page bill just died. >> and 6,000 earmarks will not now move forward? >> yes, and i feel badly about some of those earmarks because i had so much fun with them. >> that's kirk of illinois. he sounds like an interesting guy. that's president obama's senate seat. that's the republican who -- he was put in immediately and he made some good points there and let's see if they can truly -- mccain has been consistent. i'm critical of him of changing his position on various issues. he's been very consistent and kirk looks like he's gotcha hoe niece. >> brian: what about your show this weekend? >> i'm gog have the guy who rescued -- >> gretchen: mark jones. >> who shot the guy at the

school board. you said something very interesting, i looked at the video a million times, was the shooter clay, what's his name, was he trying to kill the people or intentionally trying to shake them up? >> steve: was it a suicide by police? >> right. mike did exactly the right thing. i would have done it absolutely, too, in the gun fight that ensued. but i wonder if the fellow wanted suicide by police. >> steve: we had the superintendent on a few days ago and he felt god was between them. god is good, but bullet proof vest is better. but it seemed like he was aiming at the desk or the wall. but he richly deserved to get shot. >> gretchen: it must be because christmas is right around the corner that we all seem to be agreeing with you today. >> i feel wonderful about it. >> gretchen: merry christmas and we'll see you again. >> thank you very much. >> gretchen: speaking of clay duke, apparently he should have never even had that gun. the government was supposed to take it away. peter johnson, jr. next with what went wrong.

>> brian: cops investigate the dramatic take down you have to see to believe. >> steve: that's a take down.

>> gretchen: fortunately, the superintendent was not shot, but gunman clay duke was never supposed to have a gun. peter johnson, jr. is here to explain. good morning to you. >> good morning. hi, how are you? >> gretchen: he had committed another crime. >> he was convicted for stalking

his ex-wife in 1999 carrying two guns, wearing a bullet proof vest and discharging the gun, which was lawfully purchased in 1985. so under florida law in many states, if you're convicted of a crime, you shouldn't be in possession of that hand gun after such a conviction. apparently there was not a court order or an effort made to retrieve the lawfully possessed back in 1985 gun as a result of the '99 conviction and there were two guns in that '99 stalking and obviously one was involved here in this attack. >> gretchen: what you're saying is, because he had been convicted in 1999 of a felony, had he tried to go out and purchase a gun, he would not have been able to, at least legally. >> but under the law as well in florida, he should not have been in possession of such a gun based on the felony conviction in the past. >> gretchen: what should the d.a.'s do. because i was thinking about

this last night, how do you police and say give me your gun. >> it's very hard. if someone is convicted of a crime involving a hand gun where they're legal or illegal, then obviously there should be efforts made to take that gun away and confiscate that gun as a condition of any plea sentence oregon any imposition of a fine or penalty. obviously that appears, although we're looking for all the data, it appears that it wasn't done at this point. so we have an issue in terms of none compliance with the law. but we have another issue that's really important, i think, in terms of mike jones who was the hero here, along with ginger littleton, the woman who actually tried to stop him with her purse. just a dramatic event of courage on her part. this mike jones is kind of a poster boy for lawful use of hand guns in america. were it not for mike jones, i

believe there would have been absolute carnage in that room. i heard what you and geraldo were talking about, he makes a lot of sense in what he says, but i think in looking at that tape, that it was obviously he was looking to kill people because after mike jones shot him, he returned fire at mike jones. so not only was he trying to kill the superintendent and the other board members, he was then trying to kill mike jones. this was a diabolical event. so it shows two things: we kind of screwed up, our government screwed up in allowing this guy with a mental illness history and a conviction to keep the hand gun, but number two, shows the importance of lawful hand guns in deterring and preventing death and violence in this country. mike jones heroism points up a lot of good lessons for us. >> gretchen: have is a great weekend. >> you, too.

>> gretchen: good morning, afghanistan. early this morning, robin williams surprised the troops. wait until you hear the jokes, the ones we can air for you. looks like buckets in the back of a truck. but take another closer look. that is an illegal immigrant hiding underneath those buckets. that is a human being right there. that story next.

>> gretchen: he starred in good morning vietnam and this morning, robin williams popped up in afghanistan to entertain the troops. >> also in california, they passed a marijuana to make it legal bill, it didn't pass because the people were too stone to do get out and vote. >> gretchen: there were a few more jokes that we can't air for you on television.

williams, while headlining the uso holiday show where he did his standup. >> brian: traveling groups, lance armstrong there, that's a big lift and where most of our troops are headed. >> steve: but you don't need to be over there to support the troops. the uso is helping spread christmas cheer here. holly morris from our affiliate is live in fort mire, virginia at one of the busiest uso centers. hello, holly. >> hello, guys. let me tell you, santa could learn a thing or two from the uso. they know how to do christmas. i have two special guests. i'll start with crystal, the communications manager. tell me a little about all the programs that the uso does for our troops during this time of year. >> we start our holiday programming with thanksgiving, turkeys for the troops, we do military baskets for the families. and then we do a christmas party for military kids. adopt a military child, where we get their christmas wish list

and we do a big christmas tree give away where we donate 100 christmas trees to military families. this year they donated 50 prelit trees to wounded warriors in the hospital. >> it's one thing to hear about it from crystal. it's another thing to hear about it from somebody who has benefited from the programs. i want to introduce to you nicky, a staff sergeant with the air force. thank you. merry christmas to you. >> merry christmas. >> tell me about what you've benefited from, some of the christmas memories you've been able to make. >> beautiful, great big tree for my kids with lots of lights, lots of christmas ornaments makes it easier so i can put more presents under the tree for them. able to get turkeys. we made a great thanksgiving. and we did a military child. we'll go shopping with gift certificates. my son was at the holiday party. he had a blast. came home with all kinds of stuff. he got more presents there and got a visit with santa. it's made the holidays fun, made it a little stress free for me and we just had a great big

beautiful tree with lots of memories for this year. >> how old are your children? >> a ten-year-old, and i have a two-year-old as well. >> you are able to give them christmas because of what the uso helps you. what does that mean to you? >> it's memories. so my kids can look back and say, my mom may not have been there a lot because she had to go away a lot for her work, but when she was there, she was able to do what she could for us and with the help of the uso, makes it so much better. >> thank you for your service. >> thank you. >> we appreciate it greatly. and of course, as all these men and women are giving of their time to serve our country, can't we give a little back to them? uso can only do all of these programs because of the support that we give them. there is still time, 'til the end of the year if you want to support the uso. you can help make christmas memories for those who are serving our country. now back to you. >> steve: thank you very much. with a name like holly, every day is christmas. >> gretchen: no kidding. >> you know it. i am living super large this

month. >> steve: you are. this is it, baby. thanks very much for the live report. >> you got it. >> gretchen: coming up next on the run down, president obama shifts to the center. will it hurt his reputation and chances of reelection? we'll ask chris wallace. >> brian: then what, are do the american people think of how the white house is running our country? a startling new poll of the promises left behind. >> steve: why is hollywood giving christmas the heave ho, ho, ho? courtney friel live with the story.

>> steve: welcome back to "fox & friends" on this friday. we know a lot of you watch the fox news channel all the time. >> brian: where are you going with this? >> steve: there is a real good chance you missed this behind the scenes look at "fox & friends" by the tv show, the insider. >> tonight daily brief, under deadline with "fox & friends." >> i have 20 seconds to get back. >> the race against the clock you never get to see for brian kilmeade, gretchen carlson and steve doocy. watch how quickly steve jumps from our interview to his next live report. >> how about some news by the numbers? >> breaking news really screws it up. >> gretchen: just got a new top

ticks. speed reading. >> the line - up this day runs from doggy adoption to molly shannon to rudy guiliani. >> you don't know it. i watch it when i get up. >> he's not alone. "fox & friends" is the number one morning program in cable news. >> just hope somehow, some way, it becomes a genius segment that lives on in infamy. >> and that's tonight's daily brief. >> steve: very nice. thank you very much "insider." >> brian: what i do is i usually tivo it and watch it. >> gretchen: i don't bother. let's talk about politics again because that big spending bill, while you were sleeping overnight, got canceled. what happened with that whole thing? harry reid, who was very much behind it, suddenly said, you know what? this thing is not going to pass. he lost the support of nine republicans who were once on board. a democratic senator, claire mccaskill, who has been against earmarks since she came into office in 2006, she said this after the spending bill got

stopped. >> this sprung from a bipartisan effort of the appropriations committee and every member on that side of the aisle knows it. they know it. and they know the earmarks in there. there are almost $700 million of earmarks in there from people who voted on a moratorium on earmarks. that's like being half pregnant. >> brian: that voice goes right through me. chris wallace's voice is soothing. >> hey, guys. >> steve: good morning to you. are you surprised that harry reid pulled that thing? >> no, because he can count and exactly as gretchen said, what happened was there were a bunch of republicans who had supported earmarks even though they now had voted against them, and he thought when push came to shove, they'd be more loyal to their earmarks then to their voter outrage about the earmarks, but he was wrong. i think it was largely because of mitch mcconnell, the republican leader who apparently really -- to use the legislative

expression -- whipped this hard and got the republicans in line which he's been brilliant at doing for two years. harry reid didn't have the votes, he pulled it. >> steve: historically, though, you're coming to the end of the calendar year, everybody wants to get out of town. normally they would have probably passed this great big pork-laden thing. >> absolutely. christmas time, absolutely. but the problem is that the deficit and spending, which had always been kind of a theoretical issue but not really a voting issue, has become a voting issue. and i think a lot of republicans and some democrats were just scared, i'm not going to cross the voters and be seen as a big earmarker. >> brian: i thought was fascinating is that there is a lot of conservatives who aren't happy about the tax cut bill and the omnibus made them ill, rush limbaugh and others. from the minute everyone thought that president obama was taking a loss by compromising the tax cut bill, charles krauthammer,

one of the stars of "special report," wrote a column and says the president is sprinting to the middle and this was a big win for president obama. >> well, there is no question he is moving to the center. i think -- again, politicians can count and that's where the votes are. and the big story of the midterms was the fact that independents who went for him by about ten points in 2008, went for republicans over democrats by more than ten points in 2010. that was a 23, 25-point swing. that is the center. those are the swing voters who elect or unelect presidents and i think he realizes he's got to move to the center or else he won't have a second term. >> gretchen: the interesting thing is in a recent poll, it showed that independents, even after he made that tax compromise and even after he froze federal pay, that it hadn't affected independents yet and one could argue that the only thing that will affect independents coming back to obama is the economy improving.

>> well, i think there are two things. first of all, he spent two years governing some would say too far from the left and so one bill, one compromise isn't going to change people's opinion about him. and i think you'll see -- i may be wrong -- but i think you'll see in the state of the union the president continuing this idea of being a definite sit hawk and adopting some of the ideas from his debt commission. that's point one. point two, you're exactly right, in the end, we judge any politician, anybody in their job by the results. if we got 9.8% unemployment, which is what it is now in october of 2012, it doesn't matter what the president does, he's going to lose. i think they'd admit that at the white house. they've got to get unemployment on track. that's the other point of this tax deal. it's not just a political gesture. it's also a big stimulus, that's what charles caught ham service talking about. if that gets the economy going and adds jobs and gets the unemployment rate down, then it's a win-win.

>> steve: right now, we got a new poll to show folks. the folks at the white house can't be happy about this. is president obama keeping his promises? this is a new fox news opinion dynamics poll. right now about 60% of the country says he's drifting off course. only 30% say he's keeping his promises. this is a big slide from april of 09. look at that number. that's crazy. >> yeah. the question i would love to know inside that is when they say drifting off course, is that -- that also includes liberals who may be upset he's moving too far from the center. maybe it includes some independents who are happy he's moving toward the center. so drifting off course might not necessarily be the worst thing, although drifting never sounds like a good thing. does it, brian. >> brian: especially if you ship wrecked in the ocean. coming up on sunday, who are the people you're thinking about booking? >> i'm thinking about booking, we are booked and there you see their smiling faces. with so many issues up in the

senate still, they've got to figure a way to fund the government, don't ask, don't tell, start treaty, dream act. we'll have the number two -- there is that word whip, which is a legislative word. dick durbin and jon kyle and exclusive interview, bob mcdonald, the governor of virginia and the virginia federal court just ruled this week of the individual mandate is unconstitutional. so we'll talk to him about the fight against health care there. >> brian: and probably have other questions because there will be a lot of dead air if you just asked that one. thanks so much. we'll be watching on fox news sunday. >> that was pretty good, brian. i like that. that was a good line. >> gretchen: that's also a first. >> brian: everyone is getting along today. >> gretchen: we got to get to the headlines. joe miller's last stance, his legal battle goes to the state supreme court. he claims he lost to lisa

murkowski because the election was tainted. >> brian: he argues the votes for the write in candidate should never have been counted. this guy may win for costume of the year, even if he did sneak in. he's in there, watch this. these buckets of painting supplies are a disguise. they found a man underneath. his blurred face is at the bottom of the bucket on the left in this black shirt in the center. he was found by a customs dog in the bed of a pick up in san diego. we hope to talk to that dog at some point. >> steve: meanwhile, an unbelievable case of being in the right place at the right time and it was all caught on camera. an ohio police officer stumbles on a robbery just as he showed up at a walgreen's to pick up surveillance video from another robbery that happened earlier that day. whoa! officer joshua campbell was waiting on-line when a man tried to rob the cashier. that's when campbell pulled out

his service revolver on the suspect setting off a struggle. the man fought back, punching campbell several times, but the suspect was eventually taken into custody and nobody was hurt. >> brian: a quick look at the weather. >> steve: let's take a quick look at the weather. people want to know is it warm or cold? it's cold. 12 in minneapolis. we got 8 in caribou. 34 in raleigh. it is cold across much of the country. warmer down south. right now 56 in tampa. >> brian: if you're in maine in a tank top, you might as well put on a coat. you may have noticed there aren't any good christmas movies out there. courtney friel did. she's live to tell us how hollywood forgot all about santa. >> it's ba humbug this holiday season. don't expect to see any films about elves, santa or neighbors arguing over christmas decorations. the one exception is the nut cracker in 3 d. but that opened thanksgiving weekend and it kind of bombed. why no love for the holiday spirit this year?

there are plenty of magic at the movies these days, from harry potter's latest to the chronicles of narnia, returning with part 3 in 3d. but one staple of the season who didn't manage to get a starring role, santa. in recent years, there has been at least one holiday themed movie from a major studio. in 2009, there was "a christmas carol." in 2008, "four christmases." in 2007, vince vaughn was "fred clause." what happened in 2010? >> i don't know that studio executives are sitting in some darkened room saying, we don't want to release any holiday themed films. i think just they have their slate. they put these films together and i don't know -- there is a void in the marketplace. >> this time of year, is key for the industry. >> the holiday season is about two months and it contributes 20% of the full year box office. so the holiday season is very

important. it's great for movie goers because it combines summer style block busters and oscar contenders at the same time. >> even if the word holiday is missing from the title, it seems there will still be moments to remind us 'tis the season. >> what is that? that is your -- personal yamaka! >> when you see that, it feels good 'cause you generally think of this time of year as relating to the holidays. it's nice to see that in a movie. i'm hoping in the next couple of years, we'll see more of that back in the theater. >> i'm watching you. >> whether the christmas bust was fluke or trend remains to be seen. with the family home for the holidays and awards season here, it's clear hollywood is still giving folks plenty of reasons to go to the movies with or without rudolph leading the way. jewel to watch things like "tron." this is my last day before i go on maternity leave. i want to wish everyone a merry christmas and happy new year. i'm gog pop this baby out and see new a few months. >> gretchen: courtney, take it from somebody who popped a couple out.

it's not quite that easy. >> i don't care. i'll take whatever happens. get him out of me now. >> gretchen: good luck. >> steve: merry christmas. god bless you. >> brian: i can't wait to meet the kid. >> steve: straight ahead, it's not just hollywood. the main stream media seems to have it out for christmas, too. we'll look at the facts coming up next.

are. >> steve: he is the reason for the season. but as far as the main stream media is concerned, it looks like christmas without christ. why is it mum the word when it comes to mentioning jesus in christmas coverage on network newscast as soon as joining us right now is media research center president brent bozelle. good morning to you. >> merry christmas. >> steve: how are you? >> fine, thank you very much. you can say christmas on this show. >> steve: why is it that christmas or talking about christ and the reason for the season is so heard so infrequently on the network

telecasts? >> boy, what we found was extraordinary, steve. there is a lot of studies that have been done about christmas versus holiday seasons, john gibson and bill o'reilly and glenn beck and you folks, have done a great job on that. we decided to look a step further. we decided to look at what the media cover when they say christmas. we looked at all the stories that talked about christmas itself. not the holiday, christmas. 527. then we looked at how many of those 527 stories about christmas mentioned jesus christ or god. and it was shocking. only seven out of 527, only 1.3% mention jesus or god. this is the complete secularization of the national news media. >> steve: why are they doing it? christmas is a federal holiday. it's not like you can pretend it doesn't even happen! >> this is like talking about veterans day, but not mentioning veterans. or talking about the 4th of july

but not mentioning the declaration or the revolutionary war. this is a deliberate attempt not to mention -- when nbc doesn't mention jesus or god once in its coverage, that's deliberate. that's a decision that's made, we don't want to talk about, that's controversial thing called god. which by the way, about 90% or 95% of americans celebrate on christmas day. >> steve: exactly right. merry christmas. >> merry christmas, steve and to all of you. >> steve: thank you very much. brent bozelle joining us live from the headquarters in virginia. thank you. >> thank you. >> steve: straight ahead, the hottest toys and how you can get them shipped for free. if you want some of this stuff, stand by. first, we're going to check in with martha mccallum with a preview of what's happening in 11 minutes. >> 11 minutes away. thank you, steve. a big win clearly for the gop, but the question is, now what? john boehner says they are just

getting started and dueling sheriffs on the border as janet napolitano gets an up close look. what will she report back to the white house and what happens then coming up when bill and i join you right here in "america's newsroom." looking forward to seeing you at the top of the hour.

>> gretchen: big news. did you know today is free shipping day. 1500 retailers are offering free shipping today and promise your gift will get there in time for christmas. what should you buy? how about this season's hottest toys that we have right here. >> brian: joining us is the woman with these hot toys. from toys r us. adrien. welcome. >> thank you. this mony is excited. the funky monkey was a huge hot toy in the u.k. just brought to

the u.s. he's so much fun. he's a pock -- you can use a pocket size remote and control him with that. so you can pretend you're controlling it by himself. >> gretchen: another remote is the big foot monster, which is a huge hit. >> legendary character, you can bring him into your sound. he has sounds. you use this remote. >> brian: show us something he does. >> he does a lot of fun things, like the monkey. you have to turn the character on. and you press the remote. he'll throw tantrums. >> brian: that's not nothing at my house. >> he's a lot of fun. he works out, does somersaults. >> gretchen: these are the cutest thing. thing a majigs. they're quirky. they can harmonize together. you push their bellies.

and if you press their hands, they can harmonize. so it's really neat the way they work. >> gretchen: what's up with the nerf gun? >> they've been around forever. and now we have translucent green blasters which are so much fun because it's a whole new color. this is a maverick. you can actually blast these and you just have to pull back. >> gretchen: i want to get to this because so many youngers are into american girl dolls. journey girls, are only $20? >> twenty dollars. >> brian: i didn't know it was that hot an item. >> they come in four different girls. this is taran. we have meredith and they all have different backgrounds. it's a lot of fun. twenty dollars, incredible value. >> gretchen: i want to get to stinky. >> stinky the garbage truck. he doesn't smell. he's just a garbage truck. it's a lot of fun. again, he's animatronic as well.

you press this lever and he'll make different noises. 80 different phrases and noises. >> brian: what are the odds that i can take out the monkey? >> i mean, you go for it. you have to pull back. >> brian: got him.

>> steve: before we go, the guys from the weekend will give you a employee view of what's coming up tomorrow. >> a new push to ban fast food restaurants. we'll tell you how it could end up hurting the city's bottom line. looks good. >> it does. then we'll tell you an incredible story about how one man's job search in this tough economy leads him to helping dozens of other people find work. all that and much more this weekend on "fox & friends," remember, it sta