did a bit of a tab ulation. it's not exact science but our brain room has found the national debt is increasing at rate of $190 millioniler hour. that's the same -- for the past two years, you're at almost $400 million in a debt increase. jamie: that's it, folks. bill we didn't say we'd put new a good mood! just giving you what we have. jamie: we report, you decide. have great day. bill see you monday, "happening now" starts right now. jenna: hi everybody, we start off with that fox news alert and what's happening in d.c. right now. this is the first step, the first step towards the repeal of health care reform the house is now vote to go bring legislation to the floor. that would repeal the health care reform law that was enacted by the previous congress, and of course, by the current administration. the official vote to repeal the law would happen next wednesday, but this is important, this is what we have to get to or get

through until they get to that vul vote. new republican rules will say that no bills can pass to add to the nation's blooming decifit but they're making an exception to their own reform with this repeal bill because of the ways the numbers are figuring out. it's a developing story, one full of process, procedure, and pomp and circumstance, right gregg? we'll keep you up to date on what's happening on capitol hill. we did get mixed news on the economy today. the unemployment rate dropping, but there are many challenges remaining for those looking for work and that's part of our big story today. hi everybody, we're so glad you're with us on this friday, i'm jenna lee. gregg: thank you for being here, i'm gregg jarrett in for jon scott, we are in the fox news room and we are awaiting a statement from the president on that monthly jobs report, the labor department reporting the nation's unemployment rate dropped to 9.4% in the

month of des, the lowest level in 19 long months. but the number reflects the double edged sword of the job market, even as more folks are finding work, others giving up in their job searches. jenna: the president is shaking up his economic team, expected to name gene sperling as director of the national economic council, replacing outgoing director larry summers, but there's a lot of things going on today. moments ago i spoke with austan goolsbee, one of the president's top economic advisers and i asked him about those numbers. >> it's certainly a positive result t. showed 12 straight months of private sector job growth, the year 2010, added 1.3 million private sector jobs, the most since 2006, and the unemployment rate fell a fairly substantial amount. so i'd say the main takeaway is we're heading the right direction, but we've got a long way to go from the deepest hole since 1929. jenna: let's talk a little more about the direction and the unemployment rate

falling. we're still seeing a lot of discouraged workers. that number keeps going up. and that's part of the reason why we're seeing the unemployment rate go down. if you're unemployed or unemployed for an average of a bit over eight months, our viewers really want to know why are we still here, why is it still like this in this economy? >> look, we were in the deepest hole since 1929, so some people are exiting the labor force discouraged, but in any given month, we've had several months where the labor force increased and people came back in. that wasn't the only factor. there was substantial job growth was one of the main reasons pulling the unemployment rate down, so we are still here in the sense of holding steady. we're clearly making progress. as i say, it was the biggest job creating year from the last four years in 2010, and these numbers are from december, so they predate the tax deal incentives. the president is out in

maryland today at a company, saying that this tax deal investment incentives are leading them to start hiring workers for 2011, and start expanding their investments. so i think we are making progress. it's undeniable if you look at the numbers. jenna: so what's your message to the discouraged workers out there? >> well, you know, obviously , my first message is one of sympathy. we're in the deepest recession and coming out of it that we've had in all of our lifetimes, but you know, we've got to keep plugging and keep looking for jobs, either within the sector they were in, or in some of the new emerging sectors. you're starting to see more broad-based job growth across different industries, and so we've just got to keep plug and looking for work. jenna: there's been a lot of conversations about the debt ceiling, i know you've taken part in quite a few of them. i'm going to try and move that conversation a bit

forward. the debt ceiling is certainly a big issue for those of you at the white house and also for the american public, but there's a lot of other issues, like the labor market, like the housing market, like how to deal with fannie mae and freddie mac. so once we get this debt ceiling issue resolved, what's your plan for the year? >> well, you know, i think you raised several of the key points. the issue is not and should not be the debt ceiling. that's a very dangerous thing to play with. the issue should be the budget. and i think the president and congress and the american people recognize that our long run fiscal challenges have got to be addressed and i think when the president's budget coming out in a couple of weeks, you'll see he's not afraid to make tough choices ansome -- on some of these budget issues. i hope we will not conflate arguments about the budget with playing games with the full faith and credit of the u.s. government, but beyond the budget discussion, i think the number one priority is getting the

country growing tpa*ers and people back to work, period. and then -- >> jenna: can you be more specific, by the way, about this tough decision, sir, when you talk about the president is not afraid of making tough decisions when it comes to the budget, can you be more specific? >> he hasn't released the budget so i'm not going to preface or give out what's going to be in his budget, but that will be coming out in the coming couple of weeks. and as i say, i don't think that there's going to be a question that the president is confident that we need to confront the longer run fiscal challenges. i think at the time when people are doing things that seem to be mixing a budget discussion with a far more serious issue of are we going to challenge the full faith and credit of the u.s. government, i hope that congress will not be making the fiscal situation worse by doing things that are going to make the decifit

deteriorate, which you have heard some rumblings on that front. jenna: a quick final question. we're hearing about new additions to the economic team, overall. how does that change the dynamics? >> you know, it may change it some, just because the personalityies -- i think bill daley coming in as chief of staff, he's an old friend from chicago and he's a very sensible guy, he has private sector experience and government experience, and i think he'll set the tone of the staff. but with gene sperling, katharine abraham, heather ingerbottom, their focus remains given to them by the president, get people back to work and get the economy growing. so that's not going to change, but the dynamics may be different. jenna: so you like these guys? >> i like them a lot. jenna: that's good to hear. mr. goolsbee, thank you a lot, great of you to join us. >> great to see you. jenna: we sure you have a lot of questions overall

about what's happening in the jobs market and maybe questions about what mr. goolsbee had to say. you can go to our live chat, up and running, america is asking so many questions about the economy right now, we want to put those great questions to our of experts today. get on the live chat by clicking on the foxnews.com home page. in the meantime, something that is happening on capitol hill, this having to do with the health care vote, we just told you that an important procedural vote had to take place before we could actually get to the vote next week to repeal the health care law. that procedural vote, known as the rule, and that frames the terms of debate on the bill, when it actually reaches the floor, it passed by a vote of 236-181. so it passed easily. and we do expect a vote on the repeal of the health care law next wednesday. gregg: mail rooms in the state of maryland now on high alert. authorities there, looking for whoever mailed two small packages to maryland state buildings that then burst

into flames, triggering evacuations at government offices all across the state yesterday. doug mckelway is joining us live from paoeubgsville, maryland. doug, what do you know? >> reporter: well, we just moved up the road here because they're going to have a press briefing at 1:30 this after that. truth be told we're not expecting to learn a lot from the briefing. it's more a media availability in the midst of an important investigation and they're holding their cards close to the vest now. the key part of this thing may hinge on the pouren -- forensic investigation of these two letters which com busted, for example, what was the combustible material inside, also, what was the triggering mechanism, was it a thread or something that created a sparks, or was it the exposure to the atmosphere, to oxygen which ignited the two letters themselves? another key part of this is the note that was inside the letter that was sent to governor o'malley's mail room, reading it verbatim now, reports of suspicious activity, totally exple tiff, you counter create -- have created yourself

fulfilling prophecy. was it a typewritten letter, handwritten, who wrote it. the fact that one letter was sent to the department of transportation outside of the dwi airport, very significant, was it isn't by a disgruntled employee at the department of transportation? we don't know that. greg shipley from the maryland state police told me some media outlets are reporting that. he says he has no idea where that came from. hopefully it will be revealed as this briefing gets underway. one thing we can -- we can tell you, state mail rooms across the state of maryland are beginning to reopen, they're opening fully but they are moving towards that. that's one sign of progress. we'll be at that briefing at 1:30 with the latest information for you. gregg: we'll check back with you thereafter. doug mckelway, thanks. jenna: to a blunder on capitol hill, two republican lawmakers, skipping a key moment on the house floor. taking the oath. jeff sessions and patrick

were not -- fitzpatrick were not officially congressmen officially. so house speaker interrupted business to swear in session and fitz fitzpatrick who weren't there for that. he had a mock swearing in, but the two men live cast half a dozen votes before bona fide congressmen, this sets up the debate over the repeal of the health care law, we were just talking about that. the top man on the democratic rules committee says this is a big deal. >> we really felt that since it takes full house action to take a measure in this house we should not predenied that's -- pretend that's been done and go ahead with that. i'm very concerned that that violates the constitution. jenna: near the end of that haeg, the rules committee hearing jarrett pulitz introduced his brother and had a little fun with the glitch. >> he took a little vacation, he came down to

see me sworn in which i did accomplish on the floor of the house, i'm very proud of that. jenna: a little nudge there, you know. there is a solution, however, and a vote is planned later today that could fix the problem. but maybe a reminder for awfully us to show up to work on time! gregg: that's a good idea. jenna: right gregg? gregg: we'd be in trouble if we weren't in front of a camera at the right time. jenna: we'd get a stage hand to anchor the snow. gregg: all right. thousands of dead birds falling from the sky. kind of sounds like a horror movie, but it's real life and it's happening in arkansas, louisiana, kentucky, even sweden and now italy. what in the world is going on here? harris is tracking down some answers. and speaking of birds, this is one under arrest. get this. for espionage! you know what they do to spies. now one country is demanding the vultures release the -- the vultures' release. the crazy story, coming up

on "happening now". blank blank jon: a -- gregg: a fox

news alert as we reported a few moments ago the house has cleared the way for a vote next week on the repeal of the health care overhaul bill. jim angle joins us live. what's the latest? >> reporter: i tell you what, gregg, it's been a wild morning up here. we will proceed on the health care thing, on the health care repeal for next week, but in the meantime there was a parliamentary snag because as you know, as you reported, there were two members who were not officially sworn in. they are going to invalidate their previous vote. they voted present on theo toe approve the rule that allows the 4*e89 care -- health care repeal to go forward. that will not be a problem, that will all be set aside, it will not cause any further problems with moving toward repeal. the biggest problem on repeal now is the question of cost. the democrats argue that repealing the health care bill would add $230 billion

to the decifit. the republicans say it would cost $701 billion to the decifit if we keep the health care billion, so they're only about a trillion apart. the difference here is scoring from a congressional budget office, and here's the problem, gregg, when you put as a former cbo director doug holts-akin says, garbage in, garbage out, i'm going to cut $500 million from medicare as democrats did, they say okay t. will come out this way, but there's no plan to do that, there's no plan to reduce the cost of medicare and that original bill would have been way into the red had they not taken out something called the doc fix, that is scheduled reductions in payments to patients. they had to fix it, take that out or the bill would have been in the red, $300 billion, then they had to pass it outside the health care bill without paying for it. had it stayed in the health

care bill it would have been in the hr*d -- red, because they took it out it looks like they actually saved money. that's not the case that. is the argument going forward. but i tell you one thing, david dreier, head of the rules committee, said this bill is an economic and fiscal disaster of unprecedented proportions. gregg: the cbo is composed of people but in truth it's really just a computer. their output is only as good as the data input that goes into it. so -- >> >> reporter: the assumptions they get, you take the sumses you give them and they say if you do that, here's what the result wooing. -- would be. gregg: jim angle, indeed a wild day so far today. thank you. >> you bet. jenna: it's the latest in what has become the water cooler story of the week, new reports of mass bird deaths across the world, from texas all the way to sweden, now, hundreds of turtle doves, dropping from the sky in italy of all places. this all began with thousands of birds dieing in arkansas without

explanation. remember this? havenis has been compiling new information, reporting from all sorts of people, hair i. on this bizarre story. >> reporter: i have been, i talked with people in the know about fish and game, because this is actually bigger than what i read on a blog this morning as being called across the blogosphere a flockilipspe because it involves so many birds, around the world, italy, tennessee, kentucky, texas, sweden, arkansas, sweden, but as you said, this all started in arkansas. you see the video from texas? when birds were found in texas after new year's eve following the ones, the 5000 black birds found in arkansas, that's when the story took off and people began to say is this a thing that's happening across the country, then you see the video from sweden, there's also some we have from arkansas and louisiana, now we're talking about tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dead birds, state side, add that to the ones that are dead now around the world. so why? why new year's eve or

several days after? pathologists and people in wildlife, game and fishing expertise, say that it's spontaneous and it does seem like a lot of birds but in the last three decades, we've had a lot of bird kills. it is part of nature. some of it is a spontaneous event that can be caused by fireworks, or loud noises, a lot of the deaths occurred at night. birds don't fly well, particularly the turtle doves that died in italy, and the red winged black birds that have died here in the united states, so they end up crashing into things like rooftopping and windows and dying of trauma, in that sense, but when you widen it out, and you consider that they've had now 2 million fish die in chesapeake bay, 150 tons of red wing or red tilapia die in vietnam, 40,000 crabs in britain and other places across the world since new year's eve, this is a bigger wildlife event. but still, not out of the ordinary when you look at

the history of the last 30 or 40 years, according to experts. all of this chain reaction, people want to see this connected, scientists say it's not connected. bird kills, fish kills, happen all the time. it's just that we're sensitive to it right now because we've just had an event with new year's eve. all of this to tell you that people are looking at this and wondering does this mean the end of the world? no. it's something that happens in nature, a flockilipske, though, being the word of the day. gregg: i like that word. jen i think we should hold harris to her word as well. >> reporter: you want me to fly away? >> jenna: no, that nothing is going to happen! gregg: i hope you're right. >> reporter: i hope the experts are right. gregg: speaking of a bird, a an agent being held, but the secret agent might fly the coop. the saudis are getting their feathers fired up, claying the bird is committing

espionage. he was carrying a tag from tel aviv when it landed in saudi arabia. an israeli expert is calling foul play. one request, a blindfold and cigarette. good luck with that. jenna: we just hit a pun limit for the show! gregg: no more puns. jenna:[ ma we'll be right back with "happening now".

jenna: 34 house democrats vied against the original health care bill last year. of those, 13 remain in congress. congressman borren from orbgz is one of them. he's joining from us capitol hill to talk more about this. congressman, you voted against health care reform, when it initially came out. will you vote to repeal the law? >> li vote to repeal the law. you know, one of the reasons why those 13 democrats are

coming back is because they listened to their constituents, in oklahoma, a vast majority of the folks back home are against this bill, there are provisions in the bill that i like, there are two or three, i think three or four, even, that you can point out that we'd like to keep. but overall, this is a job killer, it increases the decifit. i don't agree with the cbo estimate. so we need to rekneel and replace it with something that is more common sense, that's bipartisan, where you take different elements that we can all agree on and move forward. jenna: what's been the reaction from your colleagues? >> you know, they realize. i think after the shellac, as they say, within our caulks, i think people say maybe you should listen to your constituents and vote your conscious. i haven't gotten a lot of pressure, pushback. i can tell you the folks back at home are very happy

with me and that's what we're going to do. i think there will be some people on the democrat o'clock side that will join me. i think mike ross of arkansas has already been on the record saying he will also vote for repeal, our districts touch, and so we're representing our constituents. jenna: there's been some criticism from the democratic side, though, about not being able to be more involved in this process as the repeal of the health care law comes to the floor of the house of representatives. what's your thought on the way that the republicans have handled the procedure so far? >> well, i don't like the fact that the republicans only have a 2-page replace document. i think they should have been more thoughtful in coming up with more solutions. you know, i wish we were able to offer more amendments on the floor. but here's the deal. democrats are not in control of the house of representatives anymore, and sometimes it takes a while for some of us to wake up to that fact. but there's a reason why we lost the election. and it's not because we

weren't liberal enough. it's because we needed to move to the center. and i think the president is already starting to do that. his moves on the chief of staff, his economic advisory team, moving to the middle where most people are in this country, they're not far left, they're not far right, but they're in that sweet spot in the center, and that's where we need to go as a caucus. if we're going to get back in the majority, that's what we've got to do. jenna: a quick final question here. two interesting things that have really defined the democrats over the last two years, that's the leadership of nancy pelosi, and it's also been health care reform you just recently voted against nancy pelosi as minority leader of the house, and now you're saying you're vote to go repeal the health care laws. in your mind, what defines a democrat? what is defining the democratic party for the next two years? >> i think there are a lot of things. we're a big tent party. i supported public education, i think government does have a role in society. we don't believe in privatizing social security.

there's a lot of things that we as democrats can agree on. we believe in working families. we believe in a minimum wage. we believe in helping college students go to college, making those costs lower. we believe in low cost prescription drugs. those are things that unite democrats. these other things really divide us, not only as democrats but as americans. we've got to come together. jenna: congressman boren, so good of you to join us during a very busy friday down in congress. we appreciate it, sir, very much. >> thank you. gregg: a fox news weather alert now. potentially dangerous storms are burying down on huge parts of the country. let's take a look outside our fox news new york city headquarters, the snow is coming down. they're not really sticking to the streets, as you can see, but the northeast is certainly bubbling down for what could be a very heavy snowfall in parts, and the southeast, a possible ice

storm. janice dean is covering it all live from the fox news extreme weather center. >> reporter: are you working this weekend? gregg: i'll be here. >> reporter: ice storm, that will be the big story across the north, but some areas could get 6-9 inches, north and west of the city, but it's causing two hour delays at la guardia, newark, in philadelphia, a 60 minute delay there. call ahead if you're going to be the airport or picking someone up. here is the storm itself. we're actually getting snow as far south as kentucky and tennessee, and the western carolinas. the worst of the snow is really upstate new york. new york city itself, maybe 1-2 inches of snow. not a huge accumulation. we can certainly deal with it after the phreuz arrested we saw last week, with 20 inches for central park. so a the lo of areas, 1-3 inches, some areas will get higher totals than that, 6-9 across the mountainous

regions of upstate new york, but otherwise it should be out of here by this evening, then we're going to watch this next system. i want you to quickly watch as we get into saturday and sunday. this area right here, coming out of the gulf of mexico, could mean a significant ice storm for the deep south sunday into monday, gregg. back to you. gregg: wow. that could be treacherous. we'll keep our viewers advised. thank you very much j.d. jenna. jenna: new reports surfacing that the president may try to side step congress to follow through on a campaign promise to shut down gitmo. but republican leaders have a warning for the president. senator grassley joins us next on that. also, a suspected drunk driver behind the wheel of a pickup truck you're seeing on your screen, swerving, speeding, heading straight for a group of construction workers. and this man is the reason they're all still alive. we'll meet this supertrooper, just ahead.

gregg: the president's plan to shut down the detention facility at guantanamo bay is making new waves this morning. congress had previously blocked any money going to the transfer of detainees to the united states. my next guest is warning, the administration -- warning the obama administration against using its power to go around that measure and ignore the will of congress by using what's called a signing statement. joining me is republican senator charles grassley, incoming ranking member of the senate judiciary committee and senator, always good to see you. these signing statements are used by presidents all the time to circumvent the will of congress. this morning i researched it and i found 159 signing statements by the last president bush. so in fairness, don't all presidents do this, and aren't they entitled to? >> disagreeing with the word

fairness, i would only not disagree with you totally, but i would say this, that it's very intellectually dishonest for a president who when he was in the congress along with the other people in his political party made light and found fault with the signing statements that bush put in place, to now use that same instrument that they thought was being abuse d by a previous president. however, the president can do that. gregg: well senator, it's the duty as you know of the executive branch to enforce the laws, and one of the ways they do that is through prosecutions in the department of justice, and the attorney general wrote a letter to the leaders of the u.s. senate, i've got a copy of it right here, let me just read one line, he says the exercise of prosecutorial discretion has always been and must remain an executive branch function. so aren't you trying to force the president and his

attorney general to surrender one of his core constitutional authorities, namely, prosecutions? >> what we're trying to do is to make sure that the will of the people in this country is carried out by us, and we do that by appropriating money coming to this country to be prosecuted when congress has previously made decision that is they should be tried outside the country, in this case, at guantanamo. we even spent tens of millions of dollars building a courthouse for that purpose. we've also had tremendous negative reaction from even the people in new york city where the trial was going to be held, and by the senators who are democrat senators from that state, that the terrorists should not be brought to the united states so i see us carrying out the will of the people. plus, carrying out the existing law, and the president trying to flaunt that under the guise of what

he has constitutionally correctly said, they have the right of prosecution. but we should not be bringing terrorists to this country. gregg: well, then why does your bill, and i read it, permit the transfer of detainees under specified circumstances, and i'm reading here, including a requirement that the department of defense provide a comprehensive disposition plan to congress, at least 45 days prior to the transfer of any prisoner? if you don't want them here, why did you insert that provision? >> well, there are still a few hundred prisoners down there. a lot less than originally. but still a lot down there. and i don't know that congress would know the seurgs of every one of them. and if there was a justification for some of them to be brought to the united states, and obviously, they'd be the lesser known ones, and maybe not -- and maybe not truly terrorists in the sense of

the damage they've done, we want justification before it's done, rather than after the fact. and also, based on the proposition that one terrorist has been tried in our courts and he was let off on 284 out of 285 counts gregg: ghailani was his name. i think we have a picture, we can throw up. last question to you: as i read, and it's pretty clear to me, your legislation, it prohibits the use of funds from the department of defense. now, would you agree that the executive branch does have the ability to tap funds elsewhere for the use of transportation to the u.s. and prosecutions? >> well, maybe constitutionally the president might be able to do that, but he would obviously be doing it contrary to congressional intent and congressional intent carries out the will of the people as expressed very clearly, that no terrorist should be brought to this country to be tried. and when democratic senators

that are very liberal in the state of new york say they don't want them tried in new york, it seems to me that's pretty clear proof that the president is acting contrary to the will of the people. gregg: senator charles grassley, as always, sir, thank you for taking a few moments to speak with us. >> thank you. jenna: well, brand new evidence in a mysterious death. what happened to john wheeler? authorities releasing this video, showing the former pentagon official right before his death. the crucial clues the tape is giving to police. and new violence erupting in the middle east, groups clashing over security fronts there. the latest protest, turning deadly. we have all the developments straight ahead. let's go ahead, we're going to bring you back here to maryland. gregg land over maryland. jenna: and constant creek manufacturing, the president is going to speak momentarily about the economy and appointments to the economic team.

let's listen to that. >> the fine senators from the great state of maryland, benefit cardin in the house, where is ben? ben is right here. [applause] >> prince george's county executive russ baker is here. i want to thank rick weist, ceo and other than of thompson creek manufacturing and all the employees here at thompson. thank you so much for your hospitality and the great work that you're doing. [applause] >> and i want to acknowledge the family and guests of those who are standing behind me today. it is wonderful to be here at thompson creek and i want to thank rick for showing me how you manufacture more efficient windows at this factory. this is, as he explained to me, a family business.

rick was just 13 when his father, fred, opened the company, and back then, his family lived above the floor and rick started out sweeping the floors. three decades later, thompson creek has expanded, it's already outgrown this new 80,000 square foot facility that they moved into just three years ago, and i'll bet sometimes rick still feels like he's living at the plant! that's what happens when you're in charge. but building this business has been an extraordinary accomplishment for the wiest family, and it speaks not only to him, it also speaks to all the employees here today, the hard working men and women who make this company work. and it speaks to the promise of america. the idea that if you've got a dream and you're willing

to work hard, then you can succeed. that promise is at the heart of who we are as a people. and it's at the heart of our economic might. it's what helps give an entrepreneur the courage to start a business or a company the confidence to expand. it's what leads to new products and new ideas and technologies that have not only made us the world's largest economy, but also the most innovative economy in the world. making it possible for siss -- businesses to succeed is how we ensure our economy succeeds and all our people succeed. it's how we create jobs. and that's what's guided my administration for the past two years. government can't guarantee thompson creek or any business will be successful. but government can knock down barriers like a lack of

affordable credit or high costs for investment or high costs for hiring. we can do something about that. government can remove obstacles in your path. and that's why we cut taxes for small businesses over the last two years. for example, when a tax break for hiring unemployed workers, thompson creek was able to grow its work force from 200 employees to nearly 300 employees in just one year and it took advantage of the tax credits that we put into place. we also passed a tax credit for products like energy saving windows, and that led to a 55 percent boost in the sales at this firm. rick was telling me when that tax credit got into mace, the -- place, the marketing arm of thompson creek got busy and that's

what we intended, that's what we wanted to see, is explaining to the american people, you can save money on your energy bill, this is a smart thing to do, take advantage of it. so incentives like these are helping companies across america. and the jobs numbers released this morning reflect that growth. the economy added more than 100,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate fell sharply. we know these numbers can bounce around from month to month, but the trend is clear. we saw 12 straight months of private sector job growth. cents that's the first time that's been true since 2006. the economy added 1.3 million jobs last year. and each quarter was stronger than the previous quarter, which means the pace of hiring is beginning to pick up.

we're also seeing more economic forecasts for the year ahead n. part due to the package of tax cuts i signed last month, including a payroll tax cut for workers and a series of tax cuts to encourage investment and innovation and hiring. and i fought for that package because even though our economy is recovering, we've still got a lot to do. this was a brutal recession that we went through, the worst in our lifetimes. it left a lot of disruption in its wake. more than 8 million jobs were lost. so even though we've created 1.3 million jobs, we saved a whole lot of jobs, you still got a whole bunch of folks who are out there looking, still struggling. we've got a big hole that we're digging ourselves out of. and so our mission has to be to accelerate hiring and to accelerate growth. and that depends on making our economy more competitive so that we're fostering new

jobs in new industries and training workers to fill them. it depends on keeping up the fight for every job, and every business, and every opportunity to spur growth. and so standing with me here today are men and women who will help america fulfill this mission. let me just introduce each of them. we're joined first of all by gene sperling who have i appointed director of the national economic council. give gene a big round of applause. >> [applause] >> now, gene has been an extraordinary asset to me and this administration over the past two years. he's been working with me. he led our efforts to pass the small business jobs bill, to help companies all across america. he also helped negotiate the tax compromise that we

passed at the end of this year. he's a public servant who has devoted his life to making this economy work and making it work specifically for middle class families. now, one of the reasons i've selected gene is he's done this before. this is his second tour of duty heading up the nec, and in his tenure in the clinton administration, during the late '90s, he helped formulate the polices that contributed to turning deficits to surpluses, and a time of prosperity and progress for american families in a sustained way. few people bring the level of intelligence and sheer work ethic that gene prescription to every assignment he's ever taken, and few do so with such decency and integrity. so gene, we are lucky to have you look at the nec and i know you're going to be a terrific job. part of the reason i know gene will do a terrific job is because he's going to have jason fuhrman working

with him. i'm pleased to elevate jason fuhrman to be principal deputy at the national economic council. over the past two year, i've relied on jason's advice and expertise on a range of economic issues, from helping design the emergency steps we took to spraoepbt our economy from sinking into a second depression to most recently working with gene and the economic team to pass the tax cuts compromise, and i'm confident that he will continue to do terrific work in this greater capacity. we're also joined by somebody i've come to rely on as an adviser and a friend since my first days as a presidential candidate. heather higgenbottom is currently the deputy director of the domestic policy council where she's been the point person on education as we pursued some of the most innovative reforms in decades.

i am proud to nominate heather to now serve as deputy director of the office of management and budget. and she understands the relationship between numbers on a ledger and the lives of real people. as we make cuts that are necessary to reign in the decifit i want to make sure i've got heather there so that we're meeting our fundamental obligations to our people and to our economy as well. so give heather a big round of applause. thank you. [applause] >> >> and finally i'm nominating katharine abraham to the council of economic advisers. [applause] >> katharine brings a wealth of experience as an economist, as a commissioner of the bureau of labor statistics during the clinton administration. i am confident she is going to provide the kind of

unbiased, unvarnished advice that will kept craft the best polices to strengthen this economy in the years to come. now, part of our mission, part of this team's mission in the months ahead will be to maximize the steps we've taken to spur the economy. and one of the most important is allowing businesses to immediately deduct the entire cost of certain investments like the new equipment that i was taking a look at. this is a policy i fought for over the past two years. we were able to pass it finally as part of the tax cut compromise. it is going to make a real difference for our economy. so talking to rick, i know thompson creek is planning to take full advantage of this tax break and that's going to help thompson creek renovate, expand, and add another 100 new employees, right here.

and that's worth a promise. that's good. so you've got companies like this all over the country, and the treasury department estimate that is overall, this will accelerate $150 billion in tax cuts for 2 million businesses over the next two years. so i want to urge all businesses with capital needs to take advantage of this temporary expensing provision, because we expect it to lower the average cost of investment by more than 75 percent for companies like thompson creek. it is a powerful new incentive for business, it is a great opportunity for companies to grow and add jobs. now is the time to act. companies who are listening out there, if you are planning or thinking about making investments, sometimes in the future, make those investments now and you're going to save money.

and that will help us grow the economy. it will help you grow your business. overall, the decline in the unemployment rate is positive news, but it only underscores the importance of us not letting up on our efforts. so i'm looking forward to working with heather and gene and katharine and jas kwr-pb and everybody at the white house, we have one focus, and that is making sure that we are duplicating the success of places like thompson creek all across the country. we want businesses to grow, we want this economy to grow, and we want to put people back to work. and i want to promise everybody at thompson creek and across the country, we will not rest until we have fully recovered from this recession, and we have reached that brighter day. thank you very much, everybody! [applause] >> jenna: president obama, with a few comments about the economy, also the introduction of key members

of his economic team, a few new members. the most important names to know coming out of all of that is gene sperling, the man that was sitting to the president's left with the glasses on, you see him right there on your screen, he's going to be head of the council of economic advisers, replacing larry summers. he's sometimes known as gene the machine, just as a side note. he did work under the clinton white house. and some say this is really signaling the president's move more towards the center by bringing in a few other people from the clinton administration and trying to diversify a little bit of some of his advisers and his cabinet as well. gregg: all right, so from the economy and jobs to an incredible story. this could have been a horrific tragedy, 2 tons of speedy metal aim fog a crew of construction workers, but one state trooper stepped in, all of it caught on camera. here it is. check out this dash cam footage, oklahoma state trooper, trailing a suspected drunk driver in a pickup truck as he heads

right for a group of workers. the trooper strikes the truck over and over again, finally bringing the pickup to a halt and just in the nick of time as well. joining us now is oklahoma state trooper patrick venuble. trooper, it's an honor for us to have you on our program. so you see this vehicle in your rear view mirror on the wrong side of the road and heading right for you. what was going through your head? and why did you do what you did? >> well, at first, i thought it was just another one of the construction trucks. i had him pass me throughout the entire night. i just believed that was another one of their trucks. however, he get getting closer and closer, was headed right for the rear of my patrol car. once i realized it was not a construction truck, i put it in gear at the last second, hit the gas, pulled to the right to get out of its way, drove right by my left side, right where he was sitting, the first thing that came to mind was i've got a

construction crew 2/10 of a mile ahead of me and if he didn't see me sitting there with my lights on he definitely wasn't going to see the construction crew because they didn't have near the lights that my patrol car has, so i knew the only way to get this vehicle stopped was to use our stopping maneuver, which is a tactical vehicle intervention, tdi, commonly known as a pit man u, but we call it a tdi. that's when i attempted it, i thought i was going to be able to bring him to a stop the first time, however, he kind of wiggled off my front fender and continued to travel state towards the crew. that's when i moved to the right side. i was able to barely get into his fender the second time. as you saw the video, he was swerving all over the road. so i had to try a third time. i went to his left side, again. gregg and you saved -- >> i was able to bring him to a stop. gregg: you saved all of

those lives there in the construction crew. you're a very humble fellow. when people started calling you a hero, you said no, just doing my job, that was what i was trained for. well, we think you're a hero. and thank you for being with us to share the story. trooper patrick veneble, congratulations and thank you. >> thank you, gregg, thank you for having me, it's good to be here. jenna: it worked for president bill clinton -- clinton, he moved to the center when he lost control of congress. is it going to work for president obama? is he making the right moves? karl rove joins us next. when did you get smart about your digestive health? when my stomach couldn't wait 14 days for slow acting yogurt. plumsmart is clinically proven to help regulate your digestion

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buy two 42-count boxes of prilosec otc. get $25 back jenna: a fox news alert, congress taking the first step to repeal the new health care law. the house voting mostly along party lines passing rules for debate of the bill. the vote was passed 236-181. next week's debate will result in an up or down vote on the repeal, and there was already some spirited debate leading up to today's vote. both sides are preparing for a standoff. >> this isn't a game to them, it's a matter of life and death, and the stakes over repeal could not be higher. >> it is so onerous nearly 3,000 pages that we believe that the best way to do this is to wipe the slate clean. >> and the first order of legislative business, the republicans want to take health insurance reform and toss it in the trash.

>> we have listened to the american people. they are smart. and they know that this law is unworkable. it won't deliver on the promises that they made, and the american people voted in overwhelming numbers to repeal it and replace it. that is the action that we are going to take. jenna: well, certainly a lot of, well, different angles there. you can see how complicated it will become. hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. gregg: and i'm greg jarrett. two key appointees from the clinton years. william daley tapped to be the next chief of staff, gene sperling president of the economic council. it's a symbol president obama may be charting a more centrist course. even senior leaders welcomed his addition. take a listen. >> i, frankly, think it's kind of a hopeful sign.

he has a business background. you know, we used to, i used to say the last two years i don't know whether it was technically true or not, but there was nobody at the white house who had ever even run a lemonade stand. they were all college professors and former elected officials. this is a guy who's been out in the private sector, been a part of business with. frankly, my first reaction is it sounds like a good idea. gregg: for more let's bring in fox news contributor karl rove, former deputy chief of staff to president george w. bush. always good to see you. >> thanks for having me. gregg: bringing in bill daley, does that help fill a void among a lot of thin resumés when it comes to practical business experience? >> that's an important point. it is not the replacement of obamaites with clintonites because, remember, daley takes the place of rahm emanuel.

it's clinton guys replacing clinton guys. bill daley has a distinctly different attitude about things, and some of the grave difficulties the administration's created for itself, not talking to republicans, not negotiating in good faith, all those things will run counter to daley's instinct. tbreg greg how did this happen in your judgmentsome. >> yeah. well, look, it's interesting. the president tasks pete us a, a long-time aide of his, made him the interim chief of staff when rahm emanuel left and said come up with a plan. it's interesting because he's us a who says to the president, don't keep me as chief of staff, get somebody stronger. and also, i think, says to the president, mr. president, you need to shake up your staff by getting rid of, in essence, people who are very close to you and have been with you for a long time. i don't think it was an accident that robert gibbs announced his departure because i think that

was a sign he had asked for additional policy responsibilities as early as last summer and wasn't going to get it. and the guy to be held responsible for that is raise, which is unusual. gregg: gene sperling, this is a guy who's a real budget hawk. he helped negotiate the '97 budget-balancing act. what do you think of him? >> look, again, he's been in the administration. he's been over at the treasury department in a senior policy role. he was allowed to negotiate with the republicans on the tax deal, and that's been taken by some as a sign that this is going to be a change in atmosphere. we'll wait and see. the democrats had an artificial, the obama white house had an artificial deadline. if they didn't come to a deal by december 31st, they were going to have grave difficulty. let's see if this new mindset is, at the end of the day, it's going to be the president who determines whether or not guys like daley and sperling are going to govern -- gregg: and sperling was a consultant at goldman sachs.

>> and daley's from jpmorgan chase, corporate lobbyist -- gregg: i'm not sure if that helps him. >> no, i'm not sure goldman sachs helps sperling either. gregg: good point. want to ask you about michael steele. it looks as though he's not going to have the votes to retain his job. he was often regarded as sort of the republican version of the joe biden gaffe machine. is this maybe better for the republican party? >> well, i think the fact that there's such strong opposition to him, he's running second behind, prebus of wisconsin, but he's outnumbered by better than 2 to 1, approaching 3 to 1, that's a sign there's a large amount of dissatisfaction with the party's financial condition, the large amount of debt and its failure to be executing a lot of the grassroots programs that candidates depend on. it's unusual he would even run for re-election, but it does the look -- gregg: well, and he says, look,

i want to net 63 new seats in the house of representatives, but the naysayers say, yeah, you should have won 26 others. >> look, it was a good election year for republicans, but for chairman steele to claim responsibility for it is stretching his credibility, and we can see it in the endorsements for candidates. that's a sign of something. gregg: yeah. his critics say they won, the republicans won notwithstanding michael steele. >> absolutely. gregg: we'll wait and see how it turns out. karl rove, always good to see you. >> thanks for having me. gregg: jenna? >> it is widely understood that the federal government is on an unsustainable fiscal path, yet as a nation we have done little to address this critical threat to our economy. doing nothing will not be an option indefinitely. the longer we wait to act, the greater the risks and the more wrenching the inevitable changes to the budget will be. jenna: that was just in. federal reserve chairman ben

bernanke giving testimony before the senate budget committee calling for quick action to reduce the national debt. in the meantime, house republicans are charging ahead with plans to cut spending and get the deficit under control. but the obama administration wants them to raise the legal debt ceiling, about $14.3 trillion, to keep the government running. it's like extending a credit line. the new gop majority is telling the white house if you want to raise the debt limit, it will take federal spending cuts to win that approval. let's talk about this with wendall goler live at the white house today. >> reporter: the president's aides see the rush -- push for spending cuts as a dangerous game of chicken. it comes as the president introduces new members of his economic team, and on a day of a disappointing report that the country only produced 103,000 new jobs last month. the nation will reach its 1.3 -- $14.3 trillion debt ceiling sometime in march, and not extending it before then, additionals say, could be the

first default in u.s. history. officials say it could produce an even worse recession than the one we're climbing out of. >> the issue is not and should not be the debt ceiling. that's a very dangerous thing to play with. the issue should be the budget. and i think the president and congress and the american people recognize that our long-run fiscal challenges have got on the addressed. got to be addressed. >> reporter: new house speaker john boehner said lawmakers are going to have to deal with the debt ceiling, quote, like adults, but he made clear yesterday republicans want a commitment to cut spending in exchange for raising it. >> if house is going to move an increase in the debt limit, i think we have a responsibility to cut spending and to make changes in the process by which we spend the american people's money. i think it would be irresponsible to try to deal with a debt limit without taking corrective action so that we're

not facing this each and every year. >> reporter: four years ago then-senator barack obama voted against raising the debt ceiling which he says, said was shifting the burden of bad choices on the backs of our children and grandchildren. his aides say the president cast the no vote to the make a point and because that no vote ultimately didn't have any impact on actually raising the debt ceiling. jenna? jenna: wendall goler on a developing story. thank you. gregg: right now a sign that what's called the secret war on terror is entering a brand new phase. the obama administration is building a new counterterror center, one that will oversee and streamline special op os strikes like the increasing use of remote piloted drones that can take out the bad guys from half a world away. james rosen live from the white house briefing room. >> reporter: good afternoon. it's well known that president obama has doubled the number of drone strikes in this pakistan and substantially increased the number of special operations forces in afghanistan.

the creation of this new center, however, suggests that the commander in the chief sees some room for improvement in how those missions get carried out or how quickly they get carried out. fox news has confirmed the new center will be overseen by the pentagon's joint special operations command and will be modeled in the part on the existing national counterterrorism center established in 2004. but this will be more focused on offense, on reducing what national security veterans call flash-bang, the time between receipt of actionable intelligence about a high-value target and the commencement of a strike on that target. >> the way it comes across it sounds like an expansion, and that's what's troubling because an expansion at this particular time indicates that the architecture either isn't working or was designed for a different purpose. so if we're now creating a target bl intelligence center, what have we been doing for the last 15 to 20 years? i don't know. it's a little bit confusing. >> reporter: word of this new center first reported by the

associated press came on a day when defense secretary robert gates announced $78 billion worth of budget cuts at the pentagon and spoke specifically about the immediate to reduce what he called dod's sprawling intelligence apparatus. >> since september 11th the u.s. government as a whole has seen a proliferation of new intelligence organizations, many that are excess and duplicative, many that are spread out among the different services, agencies, task forces and combatant commands. in place of having a large permanent, organic apparatus staffed on a wartime level that a pilot will transition to an arrangement that can surge intelligence support as needed from the defense intelligence agency. >> a pentagon official tells fox news this new targeting center will be smaller than the nctc and likely will not command a large budget. gregg: james rosen in the press briefing room at the white house, thanks. jenna: the house just moving a step closer to a vote to repeal the president's health care law.

next we're going to talk to a rising star in the democratic party who's leading the charge to defend the health care reform. also, a fired-up horse owner goes after a tv camera. look at him. it's all caught on video. what started this, the whole story in a moment. it makes this newsroom look pretty good. and during the break log on to find the hottest stories on foxnews.com. just click on the most-read tab to see what's burning up the web. all these stories straight ea held. [ male announcer ] this is charlie whose morning flight to london starts with arthritis pain... and a choice. take tylenol now, and maybe up to 8 in a day. or...choose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. enjoy the flight. ever wish vegetablesand 2 pills didn't taste so vegetably?n.

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thanks, i already have some yummy black forest cake. black forest cake? ♪ [ female announcer ] need a guilt free treat? try yoplait light. and i've lost weight. [ female announcer ] with 30 delious flavors all around 100 calories eac jenna: well, earlier on the house floor we saw some fireworks over the health care repeal, mostly along partisan lines, of course. but some democrats say they will vote to repeal the law. last hour we spoke to one of them, oklahoma congressman dan bourne. >> this is a job killer, it increases the deficit. i don't agree with the cbo estimate. so we need to repeal this, and replace it.

jenna: joining us now, a democrat vowing he's going to defend the health care law, congress congressman peter welsh of vermont. what goes through your mind when you hear your colleague? >> well, obviously, i disagree with dan and the republicans. the republicans campaigned effectively, and they beat us good. they ran against obamacare, as they called it, they want to repeal it, and now they're doing it. they should own it because the specifics really make a difference to american families. they're throwing out health insurance reforms that are broadly popular in their district and in mine. things like allowing you to get coverage if you have a pre-existing condition like cancer, letting our kids when they get an entry-level job getting out of high school stay on our policy so they have health care, letting our folks, our parents who are on medicare be able to get free preventive care that is so critical. the e republicans are doing that, they're proud of it, they should say it, they should admit it. they also, in this bill, are

going to raise the debt by $230 billion, and they're waving away the reality that this cbo says that's what it will do by saying they just disagree. well, you've got to have an independent referee, so this is a very, very significant decision that's going to have real impact on real families in every district. jenna: do can you feel you adequately know all the different provisions in the health care law? we've heard a lot of references, again, about how big the bill is. do you feel you're versed enough to support the entire bill? >> no. i've been very clear with my republican colleagues that this bill could be improved, and if they were saying, look, there are a lot of things we've got to get better, we've got to bring down the costs of health care where, in fact, i think we do have much more work to be done, i'm all in. because improving it is one thing. but literally this wholesale repeal when you're taking away from people things that they really need, keeping their kids on their own policy, access to preventive care, basically turning the keys back to the

worst practice of the insurance companies, we don't need to do that in order for the republican to make the points they want to make -- jenna: so you're proposing to provide an up and down vote on some of the key provisions in the law, a few of them that you've already mentioned. and you feel that way it would be a good way, it seems, almost to edit, go piece by piece through the law. talk to us a little bit about that, your idea, and the reaction so far from both sides of the aisle to that. >> well, the republicans said they're going to have open rules which would give us the up and down votes, but they're not going to do it on health care and that's unfortunate because i actually do think editing is what the american people want. if you ask people should you be able to get insurance if you have a pre-existing condition, they say, yes. so why not let us vote yes or to on all of these independent provisions? some of which are popular and supported, others of which may need some more work. my position is that my con constituents are entitled to know where i stand on each of

these positions, and the point of an up or down vote is i'm on record and then people can decide whether they want me to return or they want to send me packing. it's about accountability. jenna: the latest information i have is from about a day ago as far as how many members signed on. it looks like it's only democratic members. any republicans sign on with your proposal? >> no. the republicans are really united in this repeal, so it's repeal and erase everything. and, you know, that's a major decision that they made. this was a great campaign issue for them, and as i said, they beat us up. but but we're not campaigning now. there's the responsibility of governing, and the question any of us who have been elected has to ask is what are the impacts of the legislation on our people we represent. taking away these insurance reforms is unnecessary and ask very unwise. jenna: just a quick final question, but does it feel like there's a change beyond just the repeal of health care law? does it feel like there's a change in the dynamic between the two parties and that the two parties can work together on

this issue and others? >> well, it remains to be seen. i actually think a lot of folks -- everybody who got elected comes here with the same goals and aspirations, and this partisan line is getting in the way. we saw in the lame duck session a lot of problem being made on a bipartisan basis, and if america is going to start addressing its problems, we have to work together. jenna: congress manuel. , a -- congress manuel. , a pleasure to have you. gregg: a bizarre twist in the search for a missing teenager. why hailey dunn's mother now says she's lost faith in the polygraph test. plus, can there be too much of a good thing? adam houseley live in vegas. adam? >> reporter: yeah, gregg, you know, from tablets to labtops to smartphones to gps, is it digital overload, and is the younger generation maybe missing something? that's coming up next on fox. she felt lost... until the combination of three good probiotics

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think there is a lot more room, there's a lot more we can squeeze in before the saturation point is there? >> reporter: we're with copia. they provide software that goes on most of the tablets that lets you read books. you can pull up your tablet and flip from page to page

and change from book to book. joining us live is trey. i asked a lot of people off camera and is there overload and what can be done about it? >> i think we're seeing a subset of america has turned into a digital zombie. there is younger generation that hasn't taken a step forward into the digital experience yet. they're a little concerned with digital overload. what you will see in the ereading space it is encouraging people to read more. we've seen the more tablets out there and more things like copia which encourages people to read together, the more people are reading and enjoying the reading experience. >> reporter: as trey is talking about. that is the way they sell their product. the product has a lot of very positive aspects into it. gets people more into reading. if you pair that with smart offenses and everything else you can have too much. find things that make sense and don't overload yourself with too much. jenna: we're really into the internet, adam. do you have a laptop you can

jump on? you have a real active twitter account and you can sign on through your twitter account to our live chat on "happening now" and talk to some of our folks chatting with us, can you do that? >> reporter: sure. jenna: maybe for next half hour. >> reporter: i have a tablet, iphone, computer. i have a few things. i can figure out how to do that. jenna: foxnews.com --/happening now. and see if you see add dom on the live chat. adam, we're holding you to this. you have no excuses. you have the laptops around there. gregg: adam is a huge draw to fans everywhere. now we'll be inundated. he will crash the system. our live chat is up and running. harris is watching. what is the buzz? >> thank you for that, adam. the buzz right now is about jobs. and michelle really sums up a lot of people on the live chat are saying right now. harris, the sad bottom line one in 10 people are out of work in this country.

that is scary any way you cut it. even with the new jobs numbers show unemployment has fallen to 9.4%. analysts can decide any way they can about that, michelle says the bottom line, one in 10 people out of work. becky says i don't see any job growth in my area. my daughter sent out 100 applications. i want to know how to get you into the conversation with gregg and jenna and our guests on "happening now". two to foxnews.com. look for happening now and under the top story in red print click on it. it will take you to the live chat. you are the rock stars, people. we need you as part of the live conversation. we'll be right back. [ sneezes ] client's here. whoa! that achy cold needs alka-seltzer plus! it rushes multiple cold fighters, plus a powerful pain reliever, wherever you need it! [ both ] ♪ oh what a relief it is!

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or history of heart disease or stroke. the most common side effects are liver problems, nausea, gout flares, joint pain, and rash. [ male announcer ] if you have gout, ask youroctor about uloric. jenna: the president saying a short while ago his mission is to grow the economy and accelerate hiring this year. we learned this morning that the nation's economy added 103,000 jobs last month. that is not the whole story. it is a very big report. a lot of numbers. the unemployment rate for december dropped to 9.4%. that is the lowest level in 19 months but you can take that number few different ways. let's talk more about these numbers and the job market overall with the town hall panel. mike santoli from "barron's.". elaine chao chair is former secretary of labor and fox news contributor. elaine, when you see the unemployment rate go down to 9.4% but you also see the amount of discouraged workers grow, what does that tell but the state of the

economy right now? >> we all want to see the unemployment rate decrease. unfortunately the drop we saw today is primarily due to the number of people who have withdrawn from the workforce. the labor rate participation rate in the workforce dropped from about 64.7% to about 64.3%. that is a significant drop. jenna: what does that mean? >> it means people are discouraged. you couple that with december and they weren't looking for work. what we're also seeing you need to take a look at the other indices that are out there. and the heritage foundation will come out with their index of economic freedom next week. and this index will show --. jenna: let me jump in. we have a couple questions from our viewers. rob, i want to bring you in on this as well. when we look at discouraged workers also if you're out of work on average a little bit over eight months, what can the president do, when he says this will be his focus, what can he do to pick up the pace? >> i think the president has put in place policies that are working. i think that is very clear. i think the deal that was

the tax stimulus that was recently approved will help. there are a lot of indicators showing that the economy is beginning to pick up in a self-sustaining way but i think we need to step back and look at the record to see how these policies have worked. if you, both president bush and president obama came into office facing recessions that have been triggered by their predecessors. in the first 22 months of each president's term, in fact we lost more than one million more private sector jobs under the bush policies than we did under the obama policies. and if we look at just the last, if we set aside the first six months and say, take six months for a new president's policies to be enacted and put in place, in the last 16 months, we have 22 months of data. you take away six months and --. jenna: get your our viewers

there is numbers. >> under president bush we lost over a million jobs. jenna: there are so many numbers we want to make sure we're keeping track of them all. one of our viewers jumped on the chat and said, what does he mean? does rob want us to spend more money? is that what you're saying rob, spend more, at this point pause the policies are working? >> well i think the stimulus has clearly worked, both monetary stimulus and fiscal stimulus. the fact is that the record of private sector job creation under these policies has been much stronger despite the fact it was a much deeper recession than it was in the first two years of --. jenna: mike santoli from "barron's", some of our viewers, john and jim both have questions about what we saw today and whether or not it is temporary. how many jobs were temporary due to christmas employment and seasonal employment? what are we going to see next couple months when those workers will not have jobs anymore? what do you think?. >> not a significant factor.

temporary service jobs last month were up 16,000. but people should keep in mind every christmas shopping season we add temporary retailer workers. they try to adjust for that seasonally in the data. the plus 100,000 monthly pace of job gains is approximately what we've seen on average for the last year or so. i think that is basically what the private sector is equipped to deliver right now. we should have some acceleration with that if leading indicators of job growth are going to play out as they normally do. we're really kind of where we were in terms of monthly job gains in 2004 and 1992, a similar distance from the bottom of a recession. the problem was of course we are in a deeper hole. it feels that much more worse and unfortunately a lot more people are unemployed. jenna: as a former labor secretary, your quick thoughts, susan from discovery bay, california, do not raise the debt ceiling it is another trap by the democrats and. stimulus. do you think the debt ceiling is enough of an

issue here -- >> the greatest stimulus, the greatest stimulus to our economy so far has been the results of the november elections. businesses, employers, consumers are gyping to have greater confidence in our economy. jenna: what are you saying? should raise the debt ceiling or shouldn't? >> there will be a check to the bad policies of the previous congress and this administration. i mean let me go back to the heritage foundation. they're issuing annual index of economic freedom next week and this index will show economy will continue to see hard times because of the policies that have been implemented by the previous congress. now, the people have spoken. they have made very clear what they want this congress to do. and i think that renewed confidence is very important. going to the other speaker --. jenna: we're going to have to wrap up. i'm, i wanted mike santoli one more question. elaine are you saying raise the debt ceiling or vote not to raise the ceiling? what are you saying? >> that is something is the

congress will have --. jenna: let me bring mike back in. a final thought from mike santoli of "barron's.". >> the job creation rate has been very, very slow and not sufficient. >> much faster than under bush in the same period. jenna: mike santoli of "barron's.". >> i disagree with the previous speaker's assessment. >> that is what the blf data say, elaine. >> that is not true at all. >> i checked the site this morning. >> not at all. in fact -- >> you're wrong about the data. these are the date that that are -- private employment. >> you saying this as fact the basically coming out of the recession -- >> private employment is --. jenna: elaine and, rob, we appreciate you guys very much, but we're going to say good-bye. mike santoli, can i bring you in for quick final thought. one of the things we heard, mike, over the last year the recovery will be very choppy. what are you hearing for what we're going to see this year as far as job growth? are we going to see that same choppiness or starting to see more of a straight

line? what can we expect? >> i don't know that we have to worry about choppiness. the pace is not fast enough to have up take of idle labor force. it could be smooth but slow and that is also a problem. i just don't think something that private sector employers are even going to rush out and do a lot of hiring. i don't think a matter of choppy and worrying about big downturns. it is a matter of trying to pick up the pace to see companies equipped financially doing more hiring finally do so. jenna: that is a good point. slow is not exactly with we're looking for. thank you very much. we appreciate it. >> thank you, jenna. >> thank you. gregg: fox news is on the job hunt. a bright spot in the u.s. economy may be solar power, especially with rising fuel prices making a bit of a comeback. alicia acuna is live in denver with more. alicia, what do you have there? >> reporter: gregg, we have a thin film photovoltaic

solar module. this is on loan to us from abound solar. this is a company, a renewable energy company north of denver. within a couple years, abound is planning to make about 1200 new highs. and that will happen in colorado as well as tipton, indiana. the company is undergoing a major expansion and will be looking for positions from technicians to engineers. >> there are a number of community colleges, private schools, universities, that are educating people into the solarworld. it's really helpful tohat have education because you understand the language. you know what your product does. you know how thermal, you know how metrology, you know how the product comes together in a waifer thin film way. >> they're looking for people to work the production line. if you have a background in manufacturing but not renewable energy it is still

worth applying. check out foxnews.com for more information. gregg? gregg: alicia acuna on a beautiful day there in denver. thanks very much. jenna? jenna: the national debt already above $14 trillion will the debt keep spiraling higher and higher or can lawmakers rein in spending? plus a homeowner unleashes on a tv news camera. you can hear it. you're going to see him in a moment. the entire story. our must-see moment of the day. >> you don't know who you are [bleep]ing with. you better get down the road, channel thevening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. just 2 pills can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lara who chose 2 aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels.

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>> hey, everyone i'm megyn kelly in a snowy, snowy studio. president obama expresses empathy for his departing white house press secretary and his modest salary of nearly $200,000 a year. is the president out of touch? we report, you decide. plus this president has more czars in his administration than any other president has. but now republicans now trying to stop it.

less than a month after elizabeth edwards dies we learn john edwards has reportedly proposed to his mistress, rielle hunter. seriously? our power panel weighs in. they have finally figured out what causes male pattern baldness and here comes the cure for real. see see you at the top of the hour. gregg: in today's power play, the obama administration wants congress to raise the debt ceiling without delay. otherwise the u.s. could default on its obligations. some republicans are saying that might not be such a bad idea. chris stirewalt is fox news digital politics editor. chris, good to see you. just so people know, any time congress pass as law that increases the deficit we have to borrow money and for some reason which nobody really understands, u.s. law requires congress to set this debt limit or ceiling. if we hit the ceiling and it

is not raised and creates a mess, who gets blamed, chris? >> probably the government at large and certainly what is going on right now, gregg, the president is working hard, the president and democrats in congress are working hard to make sure the republicans get the preponderance of that blame and saying it is not even negotiatable. this is irresponsible position to hold that you wouldn't increase the debt ceiling and this is just totally beyond the pale and republicans though are pushing back. as i pointed out and saying wait a minute, this is what you told us about the tarp bailouts. this is what you told us about the stimulus. we heard this a bunch of times. you're sort of like the boy who cried wolf. you tell us it will be a disaster every time. maybe we don't believe you this time. gregg: politics is the art of leverage or better put, the art of extortion. that is my word. so what could the republicans get out of this thing? >> well, what they want and, this depends on how they go about this. the ideal situation for

republicans is, big cuts, over a long period of time to spending to offset the increase in the debt ceiling so there is some guaranty the government is just not going to run through this money right away. again we're talking about potentially the last increase was $1.9 trillion in february. that is a lot of dough. so that's one possibility. now if that is not possible, something more modest would be, enough money for the government to borrow for three or four months in exchange for the kind of cuts that republicans are talking about in that $100 million, $100 billion a year range. so the dance has begun. it started with democrats demonizing republicans as irresponsible. and republicans say maybe we don't care if we knock the whole thing over. gregg: lots of fingers in that pie called the debt ceiling. we'll see who has sticky fingers after that is all over. chris, good to see you. >> you bet. gregg: get powered up each and every day and you must with chris stirewalt's power play. go to foxnews.com, click on politics.

jenna? jenna: are you ready for the wildcard weekend? gregg: oh, yeah. jenna: football playoffs kick off tomorrow and we have john madden to talk about everything leading up to the super bowl. it is time for football fever to get ready. i got into one of the best schools in t country! [ both screaming ] i got into one of the most expensive schools in the country! [ male announcer ] when stress gives you heartburn with headache. alka-seltz gives you relief fast. [ low male ] plop, plop. [ high male ] fizz, fizz. the smell of home made chili gives you relief fast. whatever scents fill your household, purina tidy cats scoop helps neutralize odors in multiple cat homes... keeping your house smelling like it should. purina tidy cats scoop. keep your home smelling like home.

jenna: the nfl season starts anew tomorrow where playoffs kick off. everyone, even 7 9 seattle start off 0-0. only one team brings home the lombardi trophy. we have nfl broadcaster, john madden. set to name the madden most powerful protectors award during the super woke week in dallas.

any hints who your favorite players are this year? >> well, you know this prilosec otc award goes to the best line, which is kind of what i like. you know, you have a team sport and it is not an individual award. it's the group that played best all season. so it is something we started last year and it was very successful. the new orleans saints won it last year and the voting was before the super bowl. and then of course they went on and won the super bowl, so it was a great choice. gregg: coach, it is gregg jarrett. tom brady has had a great year and he has a heck of a line. do you like them? >> yes, i do. we have, we have five finalists right now and, they're one of the five. gregg: who are the others? >> kansas city is one of them. atlanta is one of them. new orleans is one of them. new york giants is one of them. and then the patriots.

and you know, a lot of that is just, you know, great team coaching by bill belichick and a lot is tom brady being so smart with the ball and getting there and being able to spread things out and get back, read it quickly and get rid of it quickly. and then, part of it is the offensive line the but i've been very impressed with their offensive line. gregg: coach, we mentioned the 7-9 seattle seahawks. a seam below .500 making the playoffs? are they probably the worst team ever to make the nfl playoffs? >> well, you know, a couple of years ago, in fact my last year in broadcasting that same thing was said about the arizona cardinals and then they went on to go to the super bowl and darn near beat the pittsburgh steelers in it. so, you know, they are, you know, 7-9, that is the worst

record that has ever been in the playoffs. i watched seattle play a number of times and they're really not a playoff type team. gregg: yeah. >> but, doggone it, there is just 12 teams in the tournament. once you get in, that part of it, anyone has a chance. now, do i think that they really have a chance? no, i don't but it can't be impossible. gregg: all right. wish we had more time. i love your views on michael vick and the eagles but we'll wait and see. coach madden, thanks very much. and good luck to you on the best protectors award. appreciate it. >> thank you. thank you very much. jenna: speaking of football, this guy, the one that has been attacked, might be a good player. a man attack as fox news crew when they show up to investigate allegations of animal abuse. you will not see anything like this except on a football field. stay with us. we have a must-see moment

just ahead. >> i will bust that whole camera all to hell. you don't know who you bleepe with. an ingredient that works more naturally wityour colon than stimulant xatives, for fective reli of constipation without cramps. thanks. [ professor ] good morning students. today, we're gonna...

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