simple, go to foxandfriends.com and we had so many great segments on the show and we have links to all the different segments including how to get involved in the heifer organization. >> dave: and you can find the meat app as well. see you. >> eric: a "fox news alert," this morning, the iraq war declared officially over. the u.s. completing the final troop withdrawal this morning. this is video of the last troops leaving iraq, driving into neighboring kuwait and leaving the future of the country and the region in the iraqi's own hands. good morning, and welcome to america's news headquarters for this sunday morning. i'm eric sean. >> jamie: i'm jamie colby, without a doubt, eric, this is a very historic day and a happy day for many military families, who, this year, will be spending the holidays together and we cannot forget the sacrifice over

the last 8-and-a-half years, great to say the least, 4,487 american soldiers were killed and 32,000 wounded. 32,000. the total cost to the u.s., $832 billion and the u.s. spending an average of $239 million, per sway. >> eric: now that troops left what can we expect for the future, now that we're no longer on the ground and what is next for the region? joining us as he does every sunday, about this time, fox news contributor and former u.s. ambassador to the united nations, john bolton. good morning. >> good morning, glad to be with you. >> eric: how do the iraqis move forward and what do you predict for iraq now that the american forces left? >> i'm very troubled by this moment. obviously we're happy to see our service members safe and, hopefully, reunited with their families, but this withdrawal is a big mistake from the perspective of what the united states fought for in iraq and what our strategic interests are

in the region. as a whole. already today we see or thsecta divisiveness and, the maliki government is going to have a clamp down and iran, we can see, taking advantage of our withdrawal, both in iraq and around the region. i think, this is going to turn out to be a big mistake and i hope i'm wrong but all the signs, even right now, in a few hours after the completion of withdrawal are pointing in the wrong direction. >> eric: and al-maliki is shiite and, the sunnis walked out of parliament, hours ago. it seems troubling, if this is the way the country is going. >> we have failed in a number of respects. this administration failed to see the larger picture in the middle east. the withdrawal was ideological

in its motivation and, to prove a point about barack obama ending the war, rather than thinking of the long term interests of the united states. we see the arc of conflict with iran extending its influence inside iraq, in syria, supporting the dictatorship and hezbollah in london and now the possibility of a stabilizing american presence in iraq has been withdrawn, and that is something that, i can tell you, troubles or friends, in the region, israel and our arab friends as well. >> eric: does it open the door for more iranian influence. >> it certainly does. al-maliki says he is not under iran's influence but we see it over and over again with his turning over and preparing to turn over iranian dissidents, to the regime in tehran. with the policies that he pursued. with respect to the sunnis, and we'll see if their concerns

about a clamp down will come true but beyond iraq itself as i said, in other arab countries, iran and the ongoing struggle, shia and sunnis and the withdrawal of american forces is a potent signal that we are pulling back, and, the ways open for iran if they are able to exploit the opportunities. >> eric: do you think they'll be able to exploit the opportunity. >> saudi arabia, they haven't met with al-maliki for five years and think he's a, quote, iranian agent. >> i'm not sure distrust will be removed any time soon and they see that as well as everyone else and have seen the turmoil in bahrain, a small kingdom, island kingdom in the persian gulf, they were prepared to try and exploit. and, let's not forget, while all of this is going on, iran continues to pursue its long-sought objective of nuclear

weapons and if they achieve the objective it will have an even more compelling impact on the balance of power in the region, and all negative to american interests. >> eric: after these nine long years, your thoughts, your reflexes, your sense of what was achieved, was it worth it? and, what the deep meaning of this is. >> well, i think the united states scored an important and longlasting success in ousting saddam hussein and removing the threat that he posed to his neighbors in the region, and to our interests. there is much in the aftermath of that, that i wish we could have done differently. but, i think the opportunity that we have given the iraqis, is a significant one, but i am very worried that much of what we want, such a great human cost, may now be squandered by this irresponsible policy of withdrawing from the end of the year, as i say, purely

ideological objective, not based at all on any calculus of american national interests. >> eric: irresponsible withdrawal says former ambassador john bolton, thanks so much. >> jamie: let's talk more about this. there's a lot more reaction coming from soldiers that are on the ground in kuwait. very last vehicle to cross out of iraq, carrying mention of the army's first cavalry division. here's what the soldiers on board had to say about their new place in the history books. >> the last sun, and, so, wow, last one. can't explain it. >> we really, truly, were the last ones in iraq and it is awesome and we're trying to take pictures like of the desert. >> it is hard to explain, just... history. >> eric: one soldier actually joked, the fact that they are

the last troops out of iraq is so incredible they hope folks back home believe them when they tell their story and i'm sure they will. and meanwhile, this is a "fox news alert." it could be a major endorsement, and it happened in iowa, for mitt romney. "the des moines register," is backing the former massachusetts governor for president today, and, most polls are showing that mitt romney's trailing newt gingrich in the hawkeye state but the register is the state's largest newspaper and arguably the most influential. the question is, whether or not the endorsement really has the substantial impact that many believe. the editor of "campaign and elections" magazine, it is great to see you this morning. >> thanks for having me. >> jamie: all about iowa, how influential is the paper and important is the endorsement? is it more of a plus for mitt romney? or an obstacle for newt gingrich? >> you know, i think it might be a little more of the latter.

"the des moines register" endorsement is a big deal, there is no doubt, and the register endorsement at least the entrepreneur primaries has not had the track record of being the king-maker in iowa. the register endorsed john mccain in '08 and obviously he ended up winning the nomination but didn't win iowa. while i think it is important for mitt romney, this is not one of the things i think puts him over the top in iowa, by any means. i think, what it does more than anything, really is sort of add to the anti-newt momentum we have seen and it helps mitt romney nationally and hurts newt gingrich quite a bit. >> jamie: the track record of the paper is not 100% in terms of endorsing on the g.o.p. side but let's talk about the sentiment about newt gingrich. the "national review" came out and they fired at him. is he -- i don't want to say his own worst enemy but coming out with a position as he did, for example, on judges, judges that should be removed. so-called activist judges.

is he hurting himself, by coming out so strongly on a lot of these different issues, should he take a different approach? >> i think where he hurts himself is when he doubles down on an issue that is clearly causing him problems, and, clearly, he is getting a lot of criticism for conservatives on this point, about judges, i mean, he's talking about abolishing federal courts. this is something that earned him a great deal of criticism from former republican attorneys general. this is not a position that you can necessarily say is really in line with the mainstream. so, when newt goes out and doubles down on this position, this is why so many folks have questions about his electability in a general election. will you be the nominee of the republican party, fighting president obama, on abolishing federal courts or taking him on on the economy? and other issues that are really important to voters across this country? what you saw from the "national review" broadside and from a lot of other conservative criticism

is that there is this great surge now of conservatives, who, i think are convinced that newt gingrich is not electable and probably cannot beat barack obama and that is major source of concern. >> jamie: and "the national review" actually came out and said that he will not be able to build unity and will not be able to beat barack obama. but, we you a in the fox news debate, stunning, newt gingrich seems to have an answer for every issue that comes up where he's concerned. where do we go from here when we look at iowa and the caucuses? >> the key in iowa, newt gingrich is at a point where he has to hang on in iowa and if he doesn't win the caucuses, begin where he has been the past couple of weeks, the campaign could be over. you know, this is a great plus for mitt romney. because, if mitt romney can keep the margin close in iowa, you never know, ron paul could pull a surprise in iowa and really flip the narrative on its head. and you go on to new hampshire,

where mitt romney has been strong, for the past two years. so, if newt gingrich doesn't win iowa, and, mitt romney goes on to win new hampshire, the gingrich train could meet its end quickly in the primary process. >> jamie: before we leave i want to go back to the "national review" article and talk about the other candidates. because it is interesting that even though they pretty much spend the majority of time bashing newt gingrich, for his impulsiveness and record and personal life, they do give a shoutout to governor huntsman. and senator santorum, and they talk about michelle bachmann and representative paul and the question is what about the other candidates? do you expect any changes after iowa? >> certainly, a lot can change after iowa, depending on who ends up at the top and, also, if somebody can pull that he have surprise second or third place in iowa, sort of the deck could be rearranged.

i think what it says more than anything is, when you read "the national review" piece, they mention a number of folks who deserve a second look from conservative voters. and i think that that is the process that -- a lot of conservatives would like to see playing out. through several of the early primary states. that conservatives not get so zeroed in on this romney versus gingrich narrative we have seen and that say, listen, there are a number of other candidates who could be good standard-bearers for the party and deserve another look. >> jamie: great to have you weigh? and what i kind fascinating. number 3 in iowa could really tell a lot about where it goes. thanks so much. have a great day. eric? >> eric: a bill to extend the payroll tax has passed the senate. but, it is only temporary and the legislation faces an uncertain future when it reaches the house tomorrow. peter doocy live with the latest on the payroll tax cut. peter, perhaps, it could live two more months, is there an expectation the house will pass it tomorrow?

>> not necessarily, eric. just yesterday, the senate passed its version of the bill that extends the payroll tax cut, easily, no problem, 89-10 and it has to go to the house before it can be signed into a law and speaker boehner said this morning his republican majority is not happy with the legislation that is coming their way. >> it is pretty clear that i, and our members, oppose the senate bill. it is only for two months. you know, the president said we shouldn't go on vacation until we get our work done. >> reporter: adding to that, a senior house g.o.p. aide told fox late last night that republicans in the house find the bill offensive to the middle class and speaker boehner suggested this morning that since the house passed their own bill and the senate passed their own bill they should move to a formal conference between the two chambers and hash it out together, sooner rather than later. eric? >> eric: that is harsh, calling it offensive. what does the president say

about both bills? >> reporter: well he liked the one the senate passed yesterday despite the fact democrats made major concessions in it to get it passed, like tossing out the millionaire surtax and including provisions for the keystone xl pipeline construction. >> president barack obama: i'm very pleased to see the work the senate has done. while this agreement is for two months, it is my expectation and in fact it would be inexcusable for congress not to further extend the middle class tax cut for the rest of the year. >> reporter: there you have the president, making it sound like it will not be that hard to get the house to pass this bill and it would happen tomorrow, but, speaker boehner indicated otherwise, obviously, this morning, and something else that he said today, is there are two things people should never, ever watch. sausage being made or laws being made because it is not pretty and he's right there. >> eric: all right, we'll see how the sausage is made, if it

is, when it reaches the house tomorrow. >> jamie: and peter watched that all day for us yesterday and the senate payroll tax deal requires the president to make a decision on the keystone xl pipeline. and he only has 60 days to do it. the pipeline would transport crude oil from canada to texas and supporters say it will create thousands of new american jobs, while reducing our dependence on oil from the middle east. but, environmentalists claim the pipeline could contaminate clean drinking water, to 8 states, and white house officials claim republicans are endangering the project by forcing the president into the decision before a full review can be conducted. it was a controversial decision. >> eric: for sure, protests, erupting over a major chain store's decision to pull tv ads from a certain reality show. the latest on the simmering and growing dispute, straight ahead. >> jamie: and here's a question for all of us. if you worked at night shift

could it hurt your health? important new information for you, coming up in today's "sunday house call." [ male announcer ] who fills their holidays with sawdust?

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>> jamie: dozens of folks showed up all protesters rallying outside of a lowe's store in michigan. turns out they are upset at the home improvement chain, as they

pulled their ad from the show "all american muslim." this is the show that follows the life of a family living in dearborn, michigan. and lowe's shows to yank the ads, they say, after a christian group from florida filed complaint against the chain, for airing commercials on that show. some protesters yesterday said they thought it was wrong for lowe's to bow to pressure from the one group. >> eric: republican presidential candidate mitt romney sitting down for his first sunday show interview. in more than two years. he's facing a tough and feen potentially long battle, for though g.o.p. nomination and he sat down for an exclusive interview with chris wallace and, he asked him what he thinks about newt gingrich. >> at a critical time he cut the legs from beneath a very important message, same was true with regards to cap-and-trade

and it was battled on capitol hill and he sat down with knowns the proposal and spoke in favor of legislation in favor of climate change and, i wouldn't think you call mirrors in space to light highways at night to be practical or a lunar colony a practical idea, not at a stand like this. >> eric: and joining us as he does every sundays at this time, is the anchor of fox news sunday, chris wallace. it is getting pointed and nasty and sharp between mitt romney and newt gingrich. >> yes, newt gingrich is leading in a bunch of polls, around the country, every state except for new hampshire in mitt romney's backyard and mitt romney, who i think up to this point have been playing a kind of play it safe, strategy, is now fighting for the nomination. and, that involves roughing it

up, thrust and parry with speaker gingrich. >> eric: do you think it will work. >> in iowa, where newt gingrich soared to a big lead, it's not just mitt romney, newt gingrich having been out for the debate, you cannot see commercial after commercial and a lot of them, particularly, from ron paul, and also from rick perry and an independent mitt romney group, all bashing newt gingrich i'll be trod see if he's able to hold on to his lead in iowa because he's taking in coming from all sides. >> eric: how do they prevent it from potentially devolving into a cage fight, when whoever emerges from the victor is not weakened -- or is weak to face the eventual contest with president obama? >> we asked them all about that in the debate in sioux city on thursday, how do you balance on the one hand trying to win the nomination, without, on the other hand, destroying the party

and destroying the eventual nominee and they all basically harken back to what happened in 2008 when hillary clinton and barack obama went at it for months, i mean, from january of 2008 up until i guess june before she dropped out and it didn't hurt obama and probably made him a stronger candidate and mobilized his support and built a better field organization and kept the media's attention, and, so i think there's a feeling of, you know -- there's not a lot left they haven't thrown at each other. i guess the feeling is, one, i want to win, and, two, it doesn't seem to fate daily damage a candidate if there is a fight within the party. >> eric: and what is your sense as we get down the stretch, as both go after each other. >> my sense in iowa, it is absolutely wide open, mitt romney got an endorsement from the "des moines register," an influential paper but, they endorsed john mccain four years ago and mike huckabee won there.

i think it is really wide open and ron paul could, absolutely win the whole thing and, i think that sort of second tier, if you will, of perry and bachman and santorum, i wouldn't be surprised if there is a surprise, if one of them overperforms and finishes the top two or three. >> a ron paul prediction from chris. we'll see how it goes. thanks. >> you bet, eric. and listen, it is our christmas present. >> eric: looking forward to it. thank you. >> you bet, thanks. >> eric: and the one-on-one exclusive interview with presidential candidate mitt romney is on fox news sunday, only, right here, on the fox news channel, you can see it at 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern time and you will not miss it, if you love politics like we do at the fox news channel. >> eric: we do, like bread be a butter. will you bake cookies, speaking of that, this holiday season? i have bad news for you. the doctors will tell us whether or not raw cookie dough, how

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♪ >> eric: time for "sunday house call," as always, joining us this morning, is dr. marc siegel, associate professor of medicine at the langone medical center and the author of "the inner pulse, unlocking the secret code of sickness and health". >> jamie: and dr. david samadi, and, you had emergency surgery yesterday. >> i was covering for someone and the good news, the patient is doing quite well and i'm happy to be here today. >> jamie: glad to hear it. >> eric: doctors, william. let's start this morning, good morning. something you feel sometimes, you feel old, tired, run down.

i mean, who doesn't at times? there's a new study that shows that low b-12 can cause symptoms like weakness, depression and memory loss. sometimes gets misdiagnosed, as the ails of age. what about b-12? you hear of shots and all of this. >> this is a very big problem. b-12 is a water soluble vitamin, and we make an enzyme in our stomach that helps us absorb it and we absorb it in our intestines and as we get older we don't do it as well, a study shows 20 to 30% of those over 60 have a b-12 problem and don't know it and, it is very easy to correct. a low toxicity and you cannot take too much of it but i'm not telling you to take it. i'm telling you to make sure your doctor is checking it. i as an internist always check the b-12 levels, when it is low or borderline i use a product that is over-the-counter, that you can put under your tongue if

you are not absorbing it or the shot. but it can cause irritability and as david said last week, confusion or memory loss, cause loss of sensation, depression, and anemia, it is a big problem and easy to fix. >> eric: you should get it checked and do you need a shot or enough to take a pill? >> the shot is a good place to start and once the level is normalized you take it under the tongue. >> jamie: how often. >> a pill under the song every 2-3 days, sometimes every day, and it is something i have to follow up on and the pill came out recently. >> sub lingual. >> exactly, jamie. how often, she shot? >> if you are really deficient. everyone is different and if you are really deficient you want to start with a high dose of 2,000 units per week and start monitoring that. but, vitamin b-12 is part of a big family, b-1, b-6, b-7, and,

vitamin b-12 is important in memory loss and cognitive skills and, it gets absorbed, as marc mentioned and you need acid in the stomach for it to get absorbed and it is stored in the liver. why is that important? if you take a lot of antacids you have to watch out for it. pepcid, those kinds of things and if you have had stomach surgery or inflammatory bowel disease you are at risk. old age is part of it and when you don't absorb vitamin b-12 you get anemic, depressed, et cetera. and you want to be careful. and, if you drink a lot of alcohol, it is a time during the holidays, we drink a lot of alcohol, can affect the liver and you will have vitamin b-12 deficiency and, finally, i know you are not happy to hear this, a lot of vegetarians, may not get enough vitamin b-12, and so make sure you get supplies. and that is another thing you have to be careful with. >> jamie: good knoto know, and impacts a lot of function.

>> not always vegetarians. >> i'm not a vegetarian, i'm a steak and potatoes girl. a lot of people who work the overnight shift, and i've done this for years, also, it can take a toll, it turns out on your health. if you work that shift. new research shows work those hours can increase the risk of diabetes. dr. samadi, why that disorder. >> listen up, there are a lot of nurses at sinai and other hospitals i work at, this is a study where a lot of nurses that did a night shift for years, what they realize is they have a higher risk of diabetes and obesity. why? because we have a biological clock and there's a day time and nighttime and a complete difference in the hormones, cortisones and the insulin and sugar, that can change. when you eat food during the day, you may use it as fuel, and, same food, at nighttime becomes a fat and stays with you, as a result of obesity and so much diabetes you're at risk.

how do you fight it? you need to change your cycle. if you know you are going to do a night shift, sleep nine to ten hours a couple days before, to compensate and you go home and make sure your family cooperates with you and sdim tdim the ligh, have 7 hours uninterrupted. and exercise... >> jamie: when should you eat, a day shift, you eat dinner, at night and, the midnight shift, should you eat the dinner and then go to work. >> that is interesting and, will talk about that later. breakfast is an important meal and the study showed 170,000 nurses out of harvard, is landmark and showed it wasn't only weight gain that is the issue. as david said, obesity is one factor, that leads to diabetes, but, another factor is disturbing the circadian rhythm and those who had interrupted

sleep the most over a 20-year period had a 60% increased risk of diabetes, the hormonal changes that come along with being up all night or having interrupted sleep, the rhythm of the body itself. and, dietary factors and it's not getting enough sleep and i would say, my guess is, we don't know for sure, yet, what i think we have to do, is change around our clocks, if we're up all night make the day time your sleep cycle. >> jamie: i think i would eat breakfast for dinner. >> eric: speaking of eating, i'm sorry to break it to you. bad news for sunday baking. a lot of moms out there, baking cookies this afternoon. >> jamie: don't do it, eric. >> eric: don't eats the cookie dough, they say sneaking bites of the raw dough can be extremely dangerous. dr. siegel, it is fun to snitch some when baking a cookie. they say don't do it? >> it is hard for me... to report on the story because i am of two minds, we have followed it since '09 on the fox news

channel, we didn't know why in 2009, there was this deadly e. coli, suddenly making its way around. and, got 77 people sick. half of them got hospitalized. and 30 died, a big deal. but, when i was telling people then, you are most likely not one of the ones that got sick and where it is coming from, don't think it will be you. now we found out where it is coming from, from cookie dough, and not just from there. it's not coming from the eggs, not from the sugar. it is coming from the flour. and another study showed wheat flour has 14% e. coli in it and there you go. you've got to cook your cookies before you eat them. your chances are still low, but you have to cook them. stop the tasting everybody is doing. don't taste your raw anything. >> eric: you think it is fun, you think, even if it is the commercial brand, that you buy in the supermarket and pop it open and... >> jamie: and slice eat and then bake the rest.

it has chips in it, doc, taking away all our fun. >> grandma taught me that. >> jamie: and i can't believe it is the flour. this is really shocking. >> any time you eat anything raw, you are at risk of getting any of this, but the big news with this story, it is not salmonella or the eggs, it is the flour. and, make sure you bake it. if you make this at home and know it has not been sitting on the shelf too long, it is probably safe and you still have some room to have fun with it. >> eric: and next you will say you can't drink the hot jello. ever drink it before you put it in the fridge? please, you can have -- >> jamie: jello or chocolate pudding? really? >> eric: you put the hot water in the thing and before you put it in the refrigerator, you drink some -- >> jamie: the dinner plans we had at your place, cancelled! chocolate pudding and jello. we'll ask what flavor during the commercial break and meanwhile the parties, the planning, not

eric's -- a busy time can be so stressful! but the doctors have important tips to help us beat the holiday blues. >> eric: look at these pictures. runaway golf cart. goes hiaywire in texas and plowd down people on the sidelines and it was dangerous, how did it happen? how to prevent it from happening again? . so who ordered the cereal that can help lower olesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole gin oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. forty years ago, he wasn't worried about retirement. he'd yet to hear of mutual funds, iras, or annuities. back then, he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement solutions for our military,

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but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! >> jamie: welcome back, great to have y have you here this morning, weight loss surgery, it is getting easier and easier, who should have it, what about obese teenagers who claim diet and exercise does not work for them? doctor i have to ask you as a parent whether or not it is

safe. >> the bariatric surgeries are becoming more and more common and obesity is a real epidemic issue and also involves the teenagers over a third of the teenagers are becoming owe bessie in this country. and, surgery has a role, and, as a surgeon i can tell you, when it is necessary it is effective but you have to try to do everything you can to avoid surgery and change of culture at home and changing the lifestyle and the way we educate or kids is extremely important and i think as parents, you see the pattern how the parents are obese and the kids are at the same time is a culture at home and you have to practice what you preach and everything has to be done before jumping into the surgeries. the surgeries are ambulatory operations, being done in ambulatory surgeries and it costs $20,000. and we have come a long way, because they are less invasive and being more done in adults but i would warn a lot of families to really look at their options because there are some

side effects of these surgeries and get the fatty food out and the fast-food out and make sure -- you don't have to put too much food in front of the kids. shut down the tv when you are having dinner, and spend quality time and it goes far. >> jamie: the best case scenario and a lot of bariatric surgeons will not operate on you unless you lose a substantial amount of weight on your own, because it is a lifelong commitment and is a teenager strong enough to make the lifelong commitment. >> that is a great point and we don't know what the long term risks of the surgery are, there are a thousand teens a year getting it now and as david says, $20,000, insurance not covering it. i worry as an internist, about the long term risks of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, comes from uncontrolled weight. but, i take seriously when a surgeon says, i'm reluctant to recommend the operation, and i think everyone out there should, too, be very, very reticent to jump into something like this. >> jamie: tried everything else... >> and the role of pediatricians are important, because these kids are under a lot of pressure

already and the last one they need is someone to put pressure on them and, show them how to lose the weight. >> jamie: thank you, doctors. >> eric: the season for shopping, family, eating and the holidays bring stress and anxiety to people and research finds the holiday blues can harm your heart. dr. siegel, get into the season now, what is your warning. >> i'll tell you something scary. there is a 2004 study out of our major heart journal that showed 5% risk of heart attacks during this season. and the reason, is stress, people not eating right. and people becoming sedentary, eating more and more salt. higher and higher stress, and, then, there's a risk of arrhythmias, where people drink too much and drink a lot of alcohol and drink it fast and you are not used to drinking it. you can have an unusual rhythm of your heart and if there is an underlying tendency of heart disease you can have a heart attack and i don't want to scare people but now is not the time to deviate from what you are

doing. >> no cookie dough, no shopping, we'll sit home and eat healthy food. stress, smoking and scotch. we are getting close to the holidays. it is okay to drink a glass of red wine, i love it, moderation is the key. smoking, make sure you cut down on smoking and there is always the stress of families and always stress of holidays and shopping and et cetera. i think it is a great time, we need to have good times, all of the stuff going on in our lives, have a good time. >> eric: do it in m.oderation. >> jamie: you hear of people getting together with their families that time of year and it is a problem. not for us, though. managing your health can be confusing, there is so much conflicting information, particularly when it comes to cholesterol and our doctors will separate fact from fiction. on cholesterol levels and the best ways to manage yours. that is next.

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>> eric: back sith with "sunday house call" and the doctors, high cholesterol? for some it is a common misunderstood subject. for example, do you know what

your cholesterol levels are? or the difference between good and bad cholesterol? what your levels of those are? dr. siegel, you hear about the number one and you freak out. what are some of the myths? >> i see it every day in my practice and i think people fixate on the number. but, just to give you an idea, my patients with heart disease, i have to get their cholesterol very, very low. for other people, i might not have to do that. everybody thinks it is all about diet. the truth is, genetics play a large role and it depends on the person. sometimes it is diet, sometimes it is genetic, sometimes it is a combination. cholesterol helps us in some ways and we talked about how we have to watch it in our children but there are myths -- david will separate fact from fiction and has a quiz for you. >> here we go. we'll do a quiz over here. >> jamie: hit the buzzer? >> cholesterol is a bad thing. true or false. >> jamie: dr. siegel gave away, boom, i'll answer and say, not always. >> cholesterol is actually a good thing, we need cholesterol to survive, because it creates

all the hormones and et cetera and, exactly what marc said. bad cholesterol is what you want to worry about, the l. d. l. and the h. d. l. you get from exercise. >> everyone should aim for the same cholesterol level? >> eric: why do i feel like i'm on o'reilly? no. >> jamie: you be... >> everyone's risk factor is totally different. so, if you have high risk of diabetes, heart disease, et cetera, you should have a much lower ldl cholesterol. >> jamie: right or wrong? >> he's good, right, the tie-breaker. >> margarine is better than butter for cholesterol? >> no, that is wrong, because margarine can lead to higher cholesterol but i would add, butter is bad, period because it is high in saturated fats. but, margarine is worse for cholesterol. >> a good fan of olive oil, add that to your diet, the way to go. >> exactly. >> children cannot have cholesterol issues, jamie? >> jamie: boom, yes, they can!

>> okay, we see this, and is -- plays a big role in children and you want to catch it early on and finally, easy -- >> eric, be careful, you could lose. >> a good one. so, high cholesterol is caused by diet. >> eric: no. >> a lot of times diet plays a big role. you can't change your answer! >> eric: eggs, they said eggs are bad and now they say okay. >> a lot of times genetics plays a big role and diet and exercise, you can lower your cholesterol and whereas when it is high you need to add the statins and aspirin to lower your cholesterol. she wins. 2-1. >> jamie: okay. i really need a new sofa. i'll take the show case behind curtain number one. eric, i'm sorry, next time. >> eric: next time, consolation prize. >> jamie: great information. i like a quiz, bring us another one. >> next week, new quiz.

>> jamie: straight ahead the doctors have your healthy monday tip and want you to start this week off right and, this tip actually, this week, could help your waistline as we're all indulging in holiday eating. stick around for that, coming up next. pa ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. ♪ this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills.

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>> eric: back now with sunday

house call. and your healthy monday tip. the way to start your way right, this week, a way to boost your metabolism. dr. siegle, why is that important? >> it's very important, eric. i would say to people out there, get more sleep and don't restrict your diet so much. let's start by making better food choices, like vegetables and fibers, but keep moving around, exercise regularly. you're not going to believe i'm going o say this, drink a little coffee in the morning. i've been won over my friend. >> that's good you admit it. i have a great new one. a, being active. make sure you have exercise. b is to have early breakfast. breakfast actually boosts your metabolism. coffee, i'm glad my partner here agreed to it. i drink four cups of coffee a day. actually helps me lot. d is diet. you don't need to starve yourself. you want to make sure you get food, but make it good nutrition food. e is early sleep. i always recommend seven hours

of sleep. that's really important. f is for fibers. you need three servings of veggies and fruits. g is green tea. you can't go talk about metabolism without green tea, obviously. h is for water. h 20. seven glass has day is absolutely helpful. i, my favorite, talking about me, your doctor. always see your doctor. i actually stands for input, intake of proteins and organic foods. stay away from all the processed food and that would be a great secret to good holidays and past your metabolism. >> brian: i'm impressed. you had -- >> jamie: i'm impressed. you had those memorized. you really believe in them. >> you like that? i take my vitamin b 12 tore my memory. >> jamie: we're, so glad. >> drink your water cold. >> jamie: remember to come back next week. thanks so much. >> good to see you. >> jamie: let's get this new

hour underway with a fox news alert a. chapter close not guilty iraq and a new beginning. u.s. troop withdrawal is complete. the iraq war officially over for the united states and you're watching video of the final u.s. convoy crossing the border into kuwait. it happened this morning. 8 1/2 years of sacrifice by u.s. forces culminating in this one moment. good morning to awful you. i'm jamie colby. great to have you here. >> eric: good to see you. i'm eric shawn, this is a brand-new hour of "america's news headquarters." the u.s. troops were part of the final convoy, expressing their thoughts on what their historic and landmark journey meant to them. >> we'll really, truly were the last soldiers in iraq. so it's pretty awesome. >> it's hard to explain. it's history. >> eric: quite emotional and meaningful. greg streaming live from camp virginia, which is in kuwait.

greg? >> eric, jamie, this is how this war ended, not with a lot of fireworks, public display, but slowly, quietly. we were at the border between iraq and kuwait that was saturday night u.s. time, early sunday morning local time. here is a little bit of what we showed and explained to fox news viewers in our live transmission of this momentous occasion. myself talking, by my side, geraldo rivera. take a look. >> that is the last truck, the last troop, the last vehicle, the war is over essentially for the united states in iraq. there they are! hooah as the u.s. army says. a little quiet. i think they're stunned. all the attention. the world media around here. we've been waiting all night. there they are. >> amazing stuff.

500 troops involved in this last convoy. 110 vehicles. they made the five-hour drive south from camp adar in southern iraq under top security. the militants in the region had promised they would loved to kill americans on their way out. they did not. then the troops rode another hour here to camp virginia. the trucks, the vehicles were stripped down and the troops themselves are in the process of being brought back before they ship out back to the states. here is a little bit more of what we heard from these guys in the last convoy. >> it's great. glad to be done and complete the mission. >> how does it feel being the last troop out of iraq? >> it's definitely a sense of pride, sense of accomplishment. and a sense to be part of history. >> we'll probably be in the history books one day. maybe my grandkids will be reading about me one day and i can say i was one of the last guys in iraq.

>> how does it feel to be home for christmas? >> feels great. my wife said now she doesn't have to call the commander in chief. >> his wife was going to call up the commander in chief if this didn't work. it's looking like it's working and these guy also get a very important and well deserved break. back to you. >> eric: greg live in kuwait, thanks. still ahead, we will talk to fox news military analyst, bob scales, about what this all means. >> jamie: we're look forward to that. let's go to iowa now. it seems to be all about iowa and it is a countdown. republican mitt romney getting a pair of major endorsements. the influential des moines register announcing it's backing mitt romney for president and former nominee bob told tossing his support behind the former massachusetts governor now. what does all that mean? chief political correspondent carl cameron is in des moines this morning to tell us a little bit more about that. carl, great to see you, great work there. but tell me about the back and forth.

it seems like mitt romney now is taking aim at newt gingrich yet again. tell us about it. >> oh, yeah. basically relentless since gingrich really went to the top of the polls and stayed there. ever since mitt romney has been going after him on a daily basis l it's been in attack ads on television or web with past quotes of newt gingrich. there is direct mail, there is robo calls and mitt romney himself. he was on fox this morning in an interview with chris wallace and he sort of went over his explanation of why he has called newt gingrich unreliable, erratic and zany. mitt romney a little while ago. >> speaker said this is right wing social engineering. talk about unreliable. at a critical time, he cut the legs out from underneath a very important message. the same was true with regards to cap and trade. this was being battled on capitol hill and the speaker sat down with nancy pelosi and spoke in favor of legislation dealing with climate change.

he has been unreliable in those settings and zany, i wouldn't think you would call mirrors and space to light highways at night practical or lunar colony a practical idea. >> mirrors in space delay high, that's got to be an interesting idea for iowa caucus goers, no? probably not, actually. mr. gingrich this morning was on face the nation in a hastily arranged appearance. his campaign sort of acknowledged in the last 4, 48 hours that a lot of these attacks going on against him have cost him. so that may explain why he decided to appear and it's worth noting at the beginning when romney was quoting him saying right wing engineering. >> jamie: i want to ask you, do you think the endorsement of the register at least is more a plus for mitt romney or an obstacle for newt gingrich, because they also came out a bit swinging. >> listen, it's obviously a plus

for romney. the gingrich campaign and a lot of republicans will tell you the des moines register is a fairly liberal newspaper and it's more about its own ideology. the language was pretty tough. here is under the heading issues sobriety, wisdom and judgment. he, meaning mitt romney, stands out especially among the candidates in the top tier. newt gingrich is an undisciplined partisan who would alienate if he referred to mean spirited attacks on house speaker. that's tough stuff and so for the des moines register to put in a endorsement of romney, says something. bob dole, who won the caucuses twice, worked with newt gingrich when gingrich took over the house if 1994 p working with newt gingrich in 1996 has endorsed mitt romney. bob dole will say that one of the things that he thought cost him dearly when he ran against bill clinton at the last democrat as an incumbent challenged by republican, one of

the biggest problems he had is the republicans pounded him for his association. it's also a negative for newt gingrich. >> jamie: interesting. thanks so much. have a great day. you don't want to miss chris wallace's exclusive one on one interview, eric was mentioning earlier, this is the first one the presidential candidate mitt romney has done on a sunday snow a very long time and chris got it for us. tune in to fox news sunday at 2 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern only on the fox news channel. >> eric: back in washington, president obama is welcoming the senate's approval of a payroll tax cut extension. shear what he said about it. >> very pleased to see the work that the senate has done. while this agreement is for two months, it is my expectation, in fact, it would be inexcusable

for congress not to further extend this middle class tax cut for the rest of the year. >> as the president just said, it does come with an expiration date of two months from now, running afoot in february. that short life span setting up another battle in congress in the knew year. can't they agree on something that lasts? a former senior advisor for senator john kerry. a political analyst joins me. good morning. >> good morning. >> you still have the hot jello, whatever you were talking about? that will get congress moving. if we get the hot jello and the raw conclude cookie dough, they'll do something. >> eric: look, they're running this government like it's three yards at a time. how do we change this? how do we get something in there that's permanent, that actually envisions a fix and does something that actually lasts, dede? >> i really think incumbents are in big trouble and if they want to stay in office, they'll have to work their districts hard because people are angry and

they are not happy about washington, barak obama, congress, anybody. you talk about dc and it's toxic. the incumbents are in trouble and if they don't do their work, they're gone. >> eric: mary ann, do you agree with that? >> i do to a large degree. if you want to understand why congress has a 9% approval rating, look no further than the payroll debate that they had yesterday. to only pass it for two months in the senate, it's not even clear, the house will manage to do that. if they do, it gets revisited when? after the iowa caucus, new hampshire primary, south carolina primary, and the state of the union. we are in high political season for 2012 at that point. it is hard to imagine that they'll have a better debate and better outcome then than they could right now. >> eric: it's like band-aids and chewing gum and now we have john boehner coming out this morning saying that this just kicks the can down the road. he wants it for a full year. marine, what do you think the chances of that are of happening? >> poor john boehner has to look

in the mirror and see he can't get his troops behind him. the republicans and his own caucus are holding this up. this should be a yes or no, up or down vote on the payroll tax alone. no pipeline, no millionaire's tax cut, nothing else, just this. and then stand by that vote because this is a vote on working families. you are either going to support a tax cut for working families who bailed out big banks, big corporations and paid for two wars we shouldn't have been in, and those troops who you just showed coming out of iraq would benefit, or not. that's what you should stand on election for 322 days from today. >> eric: dee dee, is boehner being the one who is the obstacle? >> no. remember when barak obama had the house senate and he didn't get anything done either. he's the obstructionist, he's not leading, which is the problem. which is why in november he's going to go away with a lot of incumbents who are not getting the job done in wash warrant washington is just a mess. that's why all the focus is on the presidential election because everyone wants some action. they want something new. they want to get rid of dc and it's just unfortunate and as far

as the pipeline, that is a project that creates thousands of jobs and that is why the republicans are trying whatever they can do to get the economy moving and to create jobs and for obama to say north texas i don't think so, i'm going o veto anything that has anything to do with that pipeline just because of the speckled frog or some fig leaf or whatever it is to appease the environmentalists is absolutely terrible. just doesn't make sense. not only that, the environmentalists are going to vote for him anyway. so why wouldn't he go for a huge job program that makes sense for americans? >> eric: mary ann, they're probably going to put the keystone pipeline in there. why can't they get that done either? >> they can't get anything done. here is the reason, the democrats taking up the millionaire's tax cut, it reveals the republican's for who they are. they're happy to give millionaires tax cut, but not work families. so you're saying no to the very people who bailed out everyone i listed a few minutes ago, those banks who won't give them loan,

those corporations who won't hire them, and the people who not only funded the war, but sent their children and themselves to fight that war. that's who you're saying no. so now it's the republicans who have no fig leaf to hide behind. you either vote for this tax cut or not and if you say no to working families, there are a lot of working families in this country who will remember that on election day. >> the republicans are trying to create jobs. this pipeline is a huge project. and barak obama is saying no for political reasons. >> have a separate vote on it. >> eric: all right. dee dee, mary ann. >> let's hope dc gets something done. they're giving themselves a gift so they can go home. there is a good congressman coming up. >> eric: dee dee and marian, that will be the last word and the vote potentially tomorrow, even though the speaker said he's against it. we'll see what happens. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> jamie: eric, the senate's payroll tax plan could spell trouble for home buyers out there. i can't believe this is only a two-month extension, but it will cost an increase in fees

attached to some mortgages and it turns out the fees could last the life of your loan. that could be many years. joining us now to talk about it, brenda cutner. host of "bulls and bears." what about this, how can they do a two-month extension that costs mortgage holders for the life of their loan? >> yeah. it's amazing. hard to follow quite the logic about this. but basically this could add about $15 a month if you're buying a $200,000 loan and it also applies to anybody who refinances. now, it doesn't apply to anybody who has a mortgage right now unless you refinance in the new year. so if you buy a home or refinance in the new year and you do it through any of the government sponsored organizations such as fannie mae, freddie mac, or fha and that's nine out of ten mortgages goes through those three government-sponsored organizations. so it's just about everybody. you're going to face higher fees

and that's all because of the payroll tax cut. what's really interesting about this is the payroll tax cut costs about $35 billion. just for the two months. but this will take about ten years, the mortgage fees, take about ten years to pay for those two months. so it's a very interesting kind of math that lawmakers use. >> jamie: interesting or expensive? what happens if they have to continue it -- i guess they won't, two months is two months and that's it. how are we going to pay for other things? could we see our mortgages being tapped into for other government spending? >> yeah. and it comes at a time when housing is still in a shambles, when the housing market could be very well the upswing of the housing market could very well be key to a recovery here in the united states. in one sense, the white house and many legislators are saying,

we need a payroll tax cut to bring pack the economy -- back the economy, but then they're hitting the very market, the housing market that is also key. now, they're saying that what they want to do is take people away from freddie and fannie and we've seen the sec is suing execs, including the chiefs of the -- the past chiefs of two of those government entities. they want to take people away from those government entities and take them into private sponsored mortgages. that's what they say this is all about. but basically they're hitting home buyers and refinancers and that's not going to do any help to the housing market. >> jamie: yeah, which we know has been struggling for way too long. thanks so much. >> okay. thank you. >> jamie: and when we we ring in the new year, weigh say good-bye to popular tax breaks, but don't worry, we have got the lowdown on which ones are expiring because we want you to be able to take charge and take

advantage of them one last time. that's coming up for you next in our take charge segment. >> eric: get the pen out for that. look at this a run away cart, speeds across a field at cowboy stadium. sadly mowed down anybody in its path. we'll tell you how this started and who ended up injured what's this? it's progresso's new loaded potato with bacon. it's good. honey, i love you... oh my gosh, oh my gosh.. look at these big pieces of potato. ♪ what's that? big piece of potato. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

>> eric: it seems nobody saw it coming. a run away electric cart, plowing into several people at a high school football championship game. you can see it happen in texas, it was at the cowboy stadium. as you can see, that cart hit some of the coaches who tried to get it under control. finally another man climbed on board and was able to step on the brakes and stop that thing. still unclear why the cart took off in the first place. at least two people suffered from minor injuries. >> jamie: definitely almost here, the end of the year. as it approach, there are a series of tax breaks that are set to change. it could be your last chance to take advantage and we want to tell you which ones they are in our take charge consumer protection segment today. pat powell joining me. great to see you. >> great to be here. >> jamie: what is slate to do change? >> my favorite one is the requirement minimum distribution.

this is where senior citizens over 70 and a half, they're required to take distribution from their ira to be taxed taxed this year they're allowed to skip over it. it's gift that keeps giving. you have to take it anyway, but charity gets 100% benefit from your money, i love this one, slate it to be off the books at the end of the year. they may extend it, but in the meantime, if you haven't done your required minimum distribution, think about this one. >> jamie: give and give away. next? >> next you have a whole slew of energy credits that are going to be disappearing. what i want to be careful about here, most of them are between 2 and $500 and you basically they're 10% credits. so to get $200, you have to spend at least $2,000 or to get 500, you have to spend at least 5,000. be careful here. don't spend $5,000 unnecessarily just to get a $500 tax credit. but if you're going to do something, it's something to take a look at and work with

your accountant. >> jamie: if you were going to take it anyway, this would be the time. how about one more and then i want to move on and ask you different age groups that can take advantage of tax breaks that may be expiring. >> the teachers. teachers get to take a $250 credit, unlike the rest of us for things that they've done for our kids. they buy extra supplies, extra books fort classroom. and they're allowed to take it differently than the rest of us. this is set to expire at year end. what i would say is everybody loves teachers. these are teachers who are giving that little bit extra. if they're not making that much, they're throwing their own money into the classroom, it's set to expire at year end. but hopefully congress will extend this. >> jamie: i hope so, because a lot of teachers are spend ago lot of their own money. let me ask you about the kitty tax. >> this is congress. they give with one hand and they take it away with the other and i got caught on this one myself.

this is where kids who are under 24 years old and also students, if you put money in their name, what has happened is their unearned income will be taxed at the parents' rate if the income is over $1,900. that may sound like a rich person's issue, but it isn't. how does this money get into a kid's name? we used to save in these old-fashioned accounts and this was for college. we all know we don't have too much money saved for college. congress gave it and a few months later took it back. they're taxing people at the time when they most need it for college. as you also know, this past week or so, we found that college lending has exceeded all other forms of consumer debt. so we know for sure we don't have too much for college. >> jamie: all i can say is there are so many changes that you definitely want to ask your accountant this year what you should take advantage of and pat, we're really glad to have you here as part of our take charge consumer protection segment. thank you. >> thank you for having me. >> jamie: everyone g to foxnews.com, check on the

america's news headquarters page and you can look for a link for a lot of the take charge consumer protection segments we've done. i bet there is some advice that let's you take charge and save some money. eric? >> eric: good advice. thanks. the election fraud case you won't hear about in the main stream media, coming up, charges that election fraud in 2008 may have put then candidates barak obama and hillary clinton on the democratic primary ballot in indiana. there is a criminal investigation now ongoing. what's being done to stop potential fraud in the 2012 race in america, we believe in a future that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. helping generations achieve dreams. buy homes. put their kids through college. retire how they want to. ameriprise. the strength of america's largest financial planning company.

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>> jamie: today is a major day in history as the u.s. withdraws the last of our forces from iraq. the final convoy crossing into kuwait early this morning. what will it all mean for civility in iraq? joining us now, fox news

military analyst, retired u.s. army major general bob scales. hey, general, hooah to all our troops for the service and sacrifice that it took to bring them home today from iraq. but what will it mean for civil knit that region? >> as you know, you rely on me to give you the pulse of the american military on these issues issues and to be frank with you, virtually every senior official told me the same thing. today represents a job well done, but a job frankly not yet complete. the iraqi military lacks many things to remain effective as a counter insurgency force, things like intelligence, command and control, maintenance, transportation. all of those advance capabilities that the iraqis still haven't mastered. they have no ability to defend their borders, they don't have an air force. they don't have a mounted force to confront enemies like iran. but i tell you, one thing came to light yesterday i found interesting. one guy told me, he said, you know what? the presence of the american

military, a small contingent went a long way to preventing the iraqis from becoming too tied to the civilian masters. corruption, things of that sort. this warfare, sectarian warfare between tribes. a lot of that was mitigated by having an american soldier, with his arm around his iraqi counterpart, frankly all ha is gone. if that aspect of this that i pry probably bothers senior american military the most. >> jamie: let's say we did stay a smu force what, would you want them to do? continue the training or prevent the prime minister from basically overturning the progress that was made, particularly when it comes to freedom and democracy? >> that's a good question. the most respected institution in iraq today is the military. how the military reacts to the civilian authority goes a long way to determining how stable iraq will be in the future. the presence of a small training contingent, both to train up the

iraqi senior leadership would go a long way to prevent the society from breaking apart into its three tribal groups in the future. so part of its training, part of it's advising and part of it is the presence of a democracy in their midst. all that is suddenly gone and while many are hopeful about the future of iraq, with us pulling out our military to military context, there is a lot of skepticism that remains. >> jamie: clearly these troops get to come home, but could be redeployed. our focus is on afghanistan and other regions of the world. could you see a scenario where at some point, we have to go back? >> extremely unlikely. the only way perhaps that might bring american forces back to iraq would be an overt invasion from iran and even that would be likely. look, it takes a lot of effort and a lot of time to pick up and move brigade and division size units across the desert back into iraq.

i'm just not sure, quite frankly, that the political will is there to do such a thing, unless the iranian military, you know, invaded iraq in some overt manner, we might think about t. but i'll be honest with you, i'm not optimistic. >> jamie: lessons learned? >> well, i think the lessons -- the first lesson that i think that i learned, and it has to do with my friends in the military, if you would have asked me when i first started with fox what nine or ten years ago that we would have an army that's been this effective and stayed on its feet for 9 1/2 years, i would have called you crazy. it's the resilience of the american soldier and marine and service member that i think is a lesson learned. the american military is capable of performing a mission long-term over time. second thing is, we got rid of an evil dictator. we gave the iraqis an opportunity to establish a democratic regime and after we left, it's up to them to continue. >> jamie: general, the fiercest fighting force. that's what the u.s. military

is. if you'll allow me and i know you agree with me, as we celebrate those coming home, we must remember those who are not. thank you so much. appreciate your being here today. >> thank you, jamie. >> jamie: tonight on the fox news channel, you want to watch our special prime time coverage marking the end of the war in iraq. first at 9:00 p.m. eastern, join oliver north, he will host the 100th episode of war stories, a special tribute and it will revisit some of the heros we met on the ground in iraq and show us where they are now. and then at 10:00 p.m. eastern, geraldo rivera and his team, they are on the ground with the u.s. troops as they experience this historic day, tonight only on the fox news channel. it is quite a day, an event. >> eric: now to the fox news voter fraud unit and the election fraud investigation of a presidential race. in indiana, there are claims that fake signatures on presidential, democratic primary petitions may have illegally

helped get barak obama and hillary clinton on the ballot there in 2008. a criminal investigation is underway by the st. joseph county prosecutor in south bend. numerous voters told us that their signatures on obama petitions were frauds. what this now is the former secretary of state for indiana, which is the top election job in the state, he's now republican congressman todd akita. thanks for being with us this morning. >> you bet, eric. >> eric: this is just -- i have to tell you, it's alarming. it's unbelievable. how can allegedly fake signatures make it through a democrat and republican elections board in a race for the white house? >> well, it certainly is disappointing and what this means is that you really need honest people in both parties looking after this process. this process only works when people are civically engaged, including party members, party workers who are paid in this

case, by the county to make sure that these sicks are checked. some of the proposals that have come from this fraud have alleged -- alleged fraud, have been, well, we need an audit procedure. we need a bureaucracy in place to check all this. that's exactly what we don't need. what we need is a strong, two or more party system making sure that this job gets done. >> eric: how do you think this potentially happened? >> well, it happened because of overzealous cheaters. i mean, that's what happened. people are cheating the system. i've seen this before. we have a very strong record of cleaning this up, starting with photo i.d., which would be the stop-gap that catches some of these things, like acorn in 2008 when they were filing fraudulent voter registrations. it was photo i.d., that would have caught these things. not necessarily apply to this petition signature issue, but the fact of the matter is, indiana has been a leader in

cleaning up these reforms. i'm always hesitant to come on shows like this as a representative of indiana because i don't want all the viewers to think that indiana is full of election crooks. but what we are good, honest people and i'm telling you, this kind of stuff is happening in indiana, eric, it is happening everywhere. >> eric: that's -- >> think about the states that don't have polling places, where you vote completely by mail. so we need reforms in this system. >> eric: that's a frightening prospect and thought. and here is a fascinating issue about this one: in indiana, as you know, to get on the presidential ballot, you need 500 signatures from each of nine counties. and st. joseph county, the obama campaign qualified with 534 signatures. hillary clinton with 704. but they say they're allegedly perhaps 150 fake signatures. so what is the prospect then that the obama folks didn't make that 534, they actually didn't make that legal cutoff and they have submitted enough fraudulent fake forged signatures to not get on

the ballot? do you think he legally qualified to get on the ballot in the primary there? >> well, he may not have. but that doesn't mean he's not qualified to be president for that reason. he's unqualified to be president because he's dangerously incompetent and believes in what's proven to be through world history a failed economic and political ideology. in the next election hopefully will take care of that. >> eric: the democrat also disagree with you on that one, and he would have won the election because you're nominated at the convention. but the fact that this could potentially touch a presidential race for the highest office in the land -- voters told us, i was in the living room of voters on the streets saying showing them the stuff and they're telling me, i didn't sign that. that's not my signature. and it had some of the most vital, personal information that someone allegedly filled out on this stuff, like your birth date, your address, they feel they were robbed! >> and the good thing is, and what people can feel confident

about is that this was caught. but what we have to do next is involve the u.s. attorney general, eric holder. that's why i've written a letter to him. he's yet to respond to it about this case. i've recently sent another letter of no confidence along with other members of congress because he's putting people above the law. he's putting his party, his boss and his ideology above equal competition of the law. that's not right. there are federal crimes for interfering with a federal election. so he has jurisdiction. david cath, the u.s. attorney in indiana has jurisdiction. they are turning their heads on this and the kay corn cases -- acorn cases that i brought to him as indiana secretary of state. we have got to make sure we remain a country of laws. not a country of men. >> eric: we're out of time. i thank you. it was turned down by the u.s. attorney in indiana in the northern district. you're right. but it is being investigated by the st. joseph county district

attorney. >> good to be with you. >> eric: congressman, thank you. this is a huge issue that we're getting lots of reaction from our viewers at our address, voterproud at fox news.com. kathy in south bend wrote h is absurd. we all know this is not an isolated case. look at acorn, it's pathetic. pat in south carolina says it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the signatures are by the same person. i think all paths for each state and primary should be checked for voter fraud. it should never have taken three years to find out. mary ann writes, how do we have confidence in our laws and procedures? fox is the only one talking about this. thank you, any of you suspect election or voter problems with you live, we want to hear about it. jamie? >> jamie: thanks. egypt is holding its first free elections in six decades. so why are thousands of protesters pouring back into tahrir square? we'll be right back

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>> jamie: fox news alert. a third straight day of violence is robbing the egyptian capitol with troops and protesters battling near tahrir square. the nation's health ministry reporting at least ten people have been killed, hundreds more wounded. leeland vitter brings us that story. hi, leeland. >> hi. there is really not words that we have to describe just how savage some of the beatings are here that are being given out by the army upon unarmed and defenseless protesters there inside tahrir square. we've seen pictures where dozens of army officials are beating protesters with batons as they are on the ground trying to cover their heads. other people stomping on their heads with their military boots. women as well, beat up inside tahrir square, of all things, a number of these protesters were out to protest police brutality.

it began when the army tried to burn down a protest camp that was set up in tahrir square for about three weeks now. then also a number of protesters tried to rush one of the government buildings there inside of cairo's government district. they say the government isn't moving fast enough in order to turn the government back over to a civilian rule. right now as you might remember, the military is in charge and they've set up a place where they are beating up protesters after they've arrested them to dole out some punishment here. where this goes from here is hard to tell if egypt once again will ignite. >> jamie: thank you. >> eric: we know the holidays usually mean big business for the major ski resorts of our nation. how come some mountains are telling their employees not to show up? [ male announcer ] you never know

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>> jamie: ski resorts are ready for the winter season. the lack of snow across the northeast causing big problems for those in the mountains and many employees are being told, don't even bother showing up for work. julie banderas showed up and she's not skiing today. she's live in the new york bureau.

this is bad news. >> yeah. really is, especially for all those employees because no one is dreaming of a white christmas more than those whose jobs are counting on it. for many seasonal workers, if there is no snow, there is no jobs. in vermont, in fact, 30% of the state's work force are seasonal workers and ski slope employees are being told to not even bother coming in to work this week, making their trails like these even more painful to look at. as of wednesday, only 16 of northern new england's 52 ski areas were open. in pennsylvania, only one of the state's 24 ski areas had opened as of last week. in upstate new york, the ski areas that are open have very limited terrain and since mother nature isn't producing her own white stuff, man made snow is the only way to go. but unseasonably warm temperatures making it near to impossible for man made snow to stick. nighttime temperature of 10 degrees is considered optimal for snow making.

but temperatures have mostly stayed in the 20s overnight. a gamble ski resorts deal with every year. >> it's just a business that you're in. you know there will be good years and there will be bad years. so you take it for what it is each year that you come. it does balance itself out and with mother nature, we're due for maybe not having as much snow as we've had in the past few years. we'll see. >> northeast ski resorts generally try to open by thanksgiving. last year was a good year, if you remember for northeast ski resorts. the prior years were bad and coupled with the economy, many are struggling to survive, jamie. >> jamie: thanks so much. >> eric: the iraq war now officially over. the last american combat troops are out. how is the media covering this historic move? that's next in america, we believe in a future

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>> eric: it's been declared officially over. the war in iraq. the last convoy of american combat troops have left. so what is the media reaction? the author, journalist and fox news contributor joins us every sunday at this time with her commentary. good morning, liz. >> good morning. >> eric: so how are they playing it. >> there is an air of embarrassment about the end of this war. and it's palpable, maybe not in the cameras that are sent in to televised pictures where cameras are sending you live picks of this trek across the desert in the dead of night where our

troops are practically sneaking out of iraq. there is no victory here. there is no romance. there is no sailors in times square kissing young women. we're sneaking out of iraq and i think the press, the media is very embarrassed by it. unfortunately, instead of questioning how we did the war, people are still talk being why we did the war, which seems to me is to miss the point. one person who had it right, i believe, was christopher hitchens and as most of the literary world knows, he died this week and it was a great loss. but one of the last things he wrote was about making war and particularly in iraq. he said, human history seems to register many more years with conflict than of tranquility. in long sense, it's fastuous to

warn that war is endless. we have do have certain permanent enemies. acknowledging this and preparing for it might give us some advantages in a war that seems destined to last as long as civilization is willing to defend itself. marvelous words that he wrote in september for slate.com, where he was a columnist. it's a sad exodus, eric, i don't know any other way to say it. >> eric: also it comes and you mention obviously a reference to the end of the times square photograph in 1945. it's also the helicopter on the roof after vietnam and there is another war going on right now in afghanistan. >> yes. you know, it is a step up from years ago on my watch when you watched the ambassador run for

the last plane or helicopter out with the american flag crumpled under his arm. then vietnam, cambodia, laos. that's how that ended, in violence and in fear. so at least we can say we have some dignity, but we tried to fight a war and are still in afghanistan trying to nation mr., to build schools when killing, quite frankly, should be the number one priority. hate to put it so baldly, but smarter theme than i have written about this as being -- the younger generation of military men will study this as how not to wage war. those are things that we are not seeing covered in the media and i wish we could have an open discussion of this. >> eric: what do you think will take, as you say, an open discussion and also in terms of the columns that are written about the end today and what we face in the future?

>> exactly. particularly sad, too, to watch the president take credit for this thing when all he did was get rolled by the generals. it didn't work. it is still not working, to say as i heard somebody who works for senator kerry say on the air a little while ago, that both wars were wrong is insane. i mean, where were they on 9-11? so it isn't a question of we shouldn't be there, we should be there. we're there. let's do it right and i think we need a more open discussion, more reporters, by the way, who are more attuned to military strategy, to what's being taught young officers, more writing and more discussion about this rather than just doing a live feed from a dark desert in the middle of the night. >> eric: all right, liz and christopher hitchens was a poignant intellectual. >> we miss him. >> eric: unique voice will be missed in the public debate.