jenna: a good way to end, all clear, everybody okay for now. jon onand a heartwarming story before that one. jenna: thanks for joining us, everybody. jon: p-b america live" starts right now. megyn: we start with a fox news alert for you on new developments in a tax fight that will affect the paychecks of 160 million americans. welcome to "america live", i'm alisyn camarota in for megyn kelly. house speaker john boehner spoke on capitol hill telling reporting a weekend deal extending the payroll tax cuts creates uncertainty in the economy, he says house republicans are holding out for a bill that would extend the tax cuts for a whole year. >> we oppose the bill because dooming the two-month extension kwr-pd of -- instead of a full year extension causes uncertainty for job creators. >> a short time ago senate majority leader harry reid responded to the speaker release ago statement saying the senate would be happy to renegotiate after the house approves the senate plan.

this is setting the stage for yet another brawl on capitol hill, this time, with the fate of your paycheck hanging in the balance. joining me now is mike emanuel, he's live on capitol hill this afternoon. so mike, many senators have already left for the week. how are they all going to get this together? >> >> reporter: well alisyn, house members are now traveling from their individual districts back to washington. tonight they are expected to reject that two-month extension the senate approved on saturday. house speaker john boehner says a full year extension the payroll tax holiday is very important. >> understand, i made perfectly clear to senator reid and senator mcconnell sometime mid last week that i would not enter into negotiations with them until the senate produced a bill. the senate produced a bill, we expressed our reservations. >> reporter: senate majority leader harry reid says he will not reopen negotiations until the house

passes the senate plan. quote, i have always sought a year-long extension, i have trying to forge one for weeks and i am happy to continue negotiating once we have made sure middle class family will not wake up to a tax increase on january 1st. part of the republican argument against the two-month extension is president obama would prefer a full-year extension. here's the president from saturday: >> i'm 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 inexcuseable, for congress not to further extend this middle class tax cut for the rest of the year. >> president obama has also said that congress should not go on vacation until it finishes its work. now the house republicans have adopted that line and are saying the senate should come back and hammer out a deal with the house. alisyn. alisyn: hard to see how they are going to figure this out this week but we know that you will keep us posted.

mike emanuel, thank you very much. now for background on the senate plan so unpopular in the house, it passed pretty convincingly saturday, 89 to just ten, the bill grants a two-month extension of the social security payroll tax cut. it also holds off a cut in medicare payments for doctors and extends other health care fees. unemployment benefits also remain unchanged. now remember, all this is just for two-months. as is the senate extension plan would reduce the budget decifit by $2.9 billion over ten years. we need bring you this fox news extreme weather alert now. the southwest is getting slammed with a major snowstorm, the snow of course is causing a travel nightmare on the roads, including closed highways and low visibility. some parts of the region are bracing for biz ardoo blizzard conditions. janice dean is live in the fox news weather -- fox weather center. >> it's the news you don't want to hear as we head into

christmas but yes, unfortunately, it is winter and a lot of place, especially the southwest, they have been hit by storm after storm after storm, and this one as alisyn mentioned, bringing blizzard conditions. fortunately it's got going to affect any big cities but if you live anywhere across the texas-oklahoma panhandle or parts of new mexico, northeastern new mexico, into colorado, that's where we're going to start to see very heavy snow and conditions going downhill overnight tonight, temperatures will go below freezing and in some cases, the wind chills will be downright dangerous. so ahead of the sun, that's where we're seeing the rain. you can see the bull's eye as i was saying across southeast colorado, northeast new mexico, into the panhandle of texas and objection, that's the bull's eye where we could see in excess of 18 inches of snow and blizzard conditions. like at -- look at this gust of 50 miles an hour. people are told to stay indoors the next 24 hours. up to 18 inches of snow and across the areas shaded in

red, that's where we have blizzard warnings in effect. look at the wind gusts as we go through the evening, monday at 6:00 p.m., that's where we're going to see the wind gusts pick up in earnest, over 50 miles per hour as mentioned and then overnight tonight and into tuesday, it's going to start to settle down. so fairly short-lived, but as we head into tuesday, still winds in excess of 20, 30 miles an hour. it works its way into the central and southern plains. temperature, you can see as that front moves toward the east and south, 63 in dallas, 28 in boulder. because we have the clash of the air mass, the potential for severe weather, alisyn. so not only blizzard conditions but we could see the threat for hail, damaging winds, isolated tornadoes in dallas, houston. so this is a multi-facetted storm as we head in over the next 24-48 hours and you can he -- you can see the snow accumulation, that's where we'll see the bull's eye of 18-24 inches of snow for folks that have already been

hit hard this winter. alisyn: sounds intense. thank you very much for keeping an eye on it for us. we'll check back in as need be and we want to see pictures or video of severe weather hitting your area. we just might put them on television. just go to our website, foxnews.com, and click on the banner that says you report, at the bottom of the home page, but please, stay safe going out in this weather. you heard janice talk about how dangerous it is. he sent millions of his own people to labor camps but we are getting video today showing scores of koreans mourning the death of dim jong-il. we are also hearing -- kim jonil, we are also hearing reports that the country is rallying around its successor, but as diplomats across the globe wait for what's to come, money are expressing grave concerns. doug mckelway is live with more. >> reporter: it's becoming

very, very clear the united states is treading very carefully around this issue, during this time of uncertainty in north korea. the secretary of state made an appearance in the briefing room at 10:30 this morning on an unrelated matter but made no mention whatsoever of north korea. i chased her down the hall briefly after that, asked her about north korea. she said she'll be addressing that later, thank you. a more substantive statement from the white house after president obama spoke with south korean president last night saying we are monitoring reports that kim jong-il is dead, the president has been notified and we are in close touch with our allies and japan. we remain committed to the stability on the korean pen lanes and freedom and security of our allies. experts say this cautious approach that the united states is taking is very well warranted, very well justified. >> first thing we want to do is position do no harm. we don't want to make a mistake. we don't want to have an unexpected event that you just referred to drive this

process and lead to a war that actually no country in the region wants to fight. >> reporter: while echoing that basic sentiment, former u.n. ambassador john bolton tells fox news there may be opportunity in this time of transition. >> while this is a period of enormous risk for the peninsula and for the united states, china and others, it's also has the potential opportunity, looking at what our long sought goal has been of the reunification of the korean pen lanes, that's what we need to keep in mind here, that's the strategic opportunity that may be presenting itself. >> much of what we know about kim jong-un comes from a book written by kim jong-il's former suukwi chef a. japanese man who defected back to his native japan under the guise of going there to seek out edible sea urchin for the fareless leader. he went into hiding and wrote a book, he describes kim jong-un as an athlete,

intensely competitive and man who has a great fascination with american celebrity, especially with basketball players, especially michael jordan. he certainly knows the west well, having been schooled in a private institution in switzerland which he attended under a pseudonym. back to you. alisyn: doug, thank you very much for that update. i should let our viewers know we will be talking to jon huntsman about what he would do about north korea if he were president today. just hours after the announcement of kim jong-il's death came more unsettling news, the regime firing two short rangemisms like the one you're about to see here off the east coast. we're told that the launch involved some version of the ss21 missile which can travel up to 75 miles and can be fired from a truck. the apparent test has north korea's neighbors on high alert. jennifer griffin will have much more on that later in the show.

there are new developments this hour in the desperate search for a missing 20 month old girl in maine, ila region olds was last seen sleeping in her bed on friday night. now we're learning the police are taking a closer look at custody dispute involving this little girl. laura ingle is live in our new york newsroom with the details. what do we know? >> reporter: ila reynolds' parents were not living together and according to the mother were having a tough time parenting and getting along in the weeks before their daughter's disappearance. trista region olds says she filed paperwork for sole custody the day before her daughter vanished but hadn't told the girl's father and doesn't believe he knew about it before she went missing. reynolds shares custody with the father and has had no contact with him since her daughter vanished from her crib at her father's residence sometime between friday night and saturday morning. the girl's family members say, as you can understand, they are worried sick. >> oh, man, what i'm going through right now is i want to go there, i want to search.

i want to just walk in and search. and stay out an night, do whatever i need to do, but police are telling me to let them do their job, that somebody has them in -- i mean, is she dead? >> >> reporter: investigators tell us that despite the parents aren't talking to each other they are both cooperating with police. the state police canvassed the neighborhood over the weekend and today we'll be focusing on a nearby stream an eighth of a mile from the father's home where ila was last seen. there were two adults in the house the night she disappeared, neither were family members and both have been interviewed in this case. ala is 2 feet, 9 inches tall, weighs 30 pounds, blond hair, last seen wearing green one piece package a.m.a set with polka dots. she has a cast, she broke her arm in an accident three weeks ago. if you have information, call waterfield police:

we'll continue to bring you updates. alisyn: let's hope they get a break in the case. we'll have much more on this little girl's disappearance and much more later in the show. it did not receive much attention but the bin laden administration has made a major move on the health care overhaul. maybe the biggest change since the bill was passed. we'll explain. in three minutes lou dobbs joins us on who will now decide what your insurance policy covers, and why. then, this video is crazy. a car doing a skateboarding trick. just ahead, we'll show you how they pulled this off. and a heartwarming home for the holidays story from the battlefield of afghanistan, just ahead. >> there is a santa claus. >> blown away. i didn't expect this at all, actually. >> pretty crazy. [ male announc] at scottrade, we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations,

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al *l alisyn: fox news alert for now. we have new details on a supreme court hearing argument on whether or not the president's health care overhaul is constitutional. the court will hear arguments on the issue on march 26th, 27th, and 28th. just a couple of weeks after a big round of republican primary votes. watch for this to become a bigger issue on the campaign trail as we get closer. meanwhile, we're also getting word from washington today, that the obama administration just announced it will allow states to decide what

services insurance companies must cover instead of the federal government. that reversal could have a serious impact on your level of care. lou dobbs from the fox business network is here with me now. hi lou. >> good to be with you. alisyn: okay, so by handing this off, major decisions to the state, is that going to complicate the health care overhaul or simplify it? >> i don't think there's much -- this complicates what is already a program, the signature program of the obama administration. it's in full retreat. it is unraveling before our eyes. as you say, the supreme court takes it up on the 26th of this coming march. this is challenged at its very core, the individual mandate. now it's reversing, on the degree to which the federal government will influence the standard of care our level of coverage. this is basically saying that there is no program. you know, state programs right now vary widely in the elements and tkhaeur they

insist that insurers must provide, and without that standard, this is no longer a national health care program. this is a bizarre position. alisyn: isn't this the same wrath that critics leveled at the president back when he was first putting it together, that he didn't want to get his hands dirty with the details so he outsourced it to congress, now, is this an outsourcing of the decisions to the states? >> this is ultimately i think -- certainly it is that, you're exactly right, it's an attempt to do so. it is effectively an outsourcing to the courts to determine whether or not there will be a law at all. it really makes me wonder, alisyn, whether or not there is anything here for the supreme court to save. because they're not providing for a standard of care or level of coverage, they have come up with a magnificent way in which to raise revenue and add 16,000 irs agent necessary order to enforce this law, but the reality is there is no program here.

there is no -- as the old saying used to be, where is the beef! in the minds of nancy pelosi, and harry reid, who led this legislation through to becoming law. alisyn: on the flipside, isn't this sort of exactly what mitt romney was suggesting, which is don't make it a one size fits all for the whole country, let each state individually decide what their needs are, ala massachusetts? >> with one exception. the states have no input, have no volition when it comes to everything outside the level of care and coverage. this is a federal framework with a federal taxation program and penalties that are going to have a wide range of costs from $5800 for an individual to almost $16,000 for families. without that control, the states are effectively without control. alisyn: some of the people who have supported the overhaul now probably feel

betrayed. >> they should! >> alisyn: so given that, why in an election year would the president be doing this? >> he's trying get away from the cobb front -- confrontation with small business, with business in this country about the level of care. he's trying to get away from the battle that's sure to be joined about the republicans over this very issue, and that is states' rights versus a federal government that has reached far too far in providing health care coverage, which the american people oppose. alisyn: and neighbor poll also plays into it. you can see that the support for the health care overhaul, only 29 percent support it. this is just now. this is a december poll. and 49 percent oppose it. >> sure. and polls typically, alisyn, have run 50-50 -- you know, low 50s opposing, calling for the repeal, outright, of omabacare. what's interesting, you saw that word there in the poll, reform. that's a push word, which is

to create a positive impression about the subject that they are polling. and yet, only 29 percent support, quote unquote, reform. that's how much the american people detest what has been done in washington, d.c. alisyn: all right, we shall see what happens. >> we shall. alisyn: lou dobbs, always great to see you. >> great to be with you. alisyn: catch lou on the fox business network, lou dobbs tonight airs week nights, 7:00 p.m. eastern time. it's almost ten months since hosni mubarek left power in egypt and we are seeing a new round of protests and riots, and we have a live report just moments away for you. with election season starting to ramp up, some folks in texas are asking people to vote for jesus. we'll explain in just three minutes. >> this is his birth and that's what we need to be celebrating. we just pray for the people who don't believe.

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alisyn: as you may have heard the election is coming up, but there are some folks in texas who want you to vote for jesus. the campaign started when it a wisconsin-based atheist group asked henderson county officials to remove a nativity scene from a courthouse lawn. but after county officials said no and thousands turned out to a protest in the city of athens it's clear the out of towers have their work out out -- cut out for them. more from dallas. >> we have petitions here to keep the nativity out. >> help us to show the world that we worship and serve a god whose love is so great that he died for all people. >> prayer warriors unite in henderson county, texas. >> that it is time to stand

up for the christian values and principles that we so strongly believe in. >> reporter: numbering into the thousands with signs that read "vote for jesus", flagses that say "come and take it", supporters rallied strong for the embattled nativity scene or display outside the courthouse in athens. >> that's the reason we're here. this is his birthful that's what we need to be celebrating. we just pray for the people who don't believe. >> reporter: the people who don't believe, in this case, represent a national atheist foundation which thus far have unsuccessfully petitioned the court to remove the scene. the wisconsin-based freedom from religion foundation also asks to put up its own banner. >> a judge has ruled the theme will stay. the rally today, an effort to make sure the decision stands. >> i was very proud of the citizens of this county to come out in these large numbers.

i was proud. >> a christian message, reigning clear in the tiny east texas town. the messenger, however -- hope to go travel much further. >> it's not about the nativity scene. it's all about jesus. it's the reason that we celebrate christmas. jesus is christmas. >> -- that it is time to stand for faith, value, and morals and lead our nation back to the god who has so abundantly blessed up. >> reporter: that was dion anglen of dal a. texas. quite a holiday home coming in tampa, florida this weekend, twin brothers, marines and wounded afghan war veterans returned home to a hero's welcome, jake and matt docie, greeted family and friends, and jake's face, scared by sha rap nel, max lost his leg to an ied explosion but both

smiling ear to ear. >> we're proud to do what we have done. >> pretty blown arplt i didn't expect this at all, actually. pretty crazy. >> it was tough. but we're very lucky. we're blessed. i couldn't be any more proud. i've always been proud of them. they've always accomplished anything they've tried to do. alisyn: you should know that heroism runs in their family, their father is a navy veteran of the vietnam war. what was supposed to be peaceful transtoeugs a new government has gone wrong somewhere in egypt. we're now into the third day of scenes like this, and the violence appears to be getting worse each day. we have a live report next for you on where this goes from here. and a scary scene as a golf cart gets a mind of its own at a championship football game. ahead we'll hear from one of the guys mo \dollars/{^ed} -- mowed down and his efforts to get it under control. >> how long can the white house delay a decision on

the keystone oil pipeline? we have that debate just ahead. >> i said to the president you want to look like you were totally out of touch with the american people? be my guest but i'm not backing down when you are right and you are totally wrong. >> the radical environmentalist said to president obama, you pass keystone, we're not going to do your volunteer door to door work. he's put his reelection over adding jobs and making the united states energy-independent. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. ♪ this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills.

alisyn: we're track a couple of developing stories for you now, including a major snowstorm hammering the southwest. the fox weather map showing it moving across the region, blizzard warnings being posted, and some areas can expect up to a foot and a half of snow. the trial for the soldier accused of leaking thousands of document toss wickileaks is now in its fourth day. military prosecutors are focusing on a forensic analysis of the computer that is bradley manning used

at work. and in germany, an islamic extremist who admits to killing two u.s. air men early they are year shows no signs ofmental illness, a psychologist testified the suspect is fit for trial and can be held criminally responsible. >> there are scary scenes playing out in the capitol of egypt as a new round of protests rage into a fourth straight day. there are new reports of the death toll rising after security forces rushed demonstrators in kay re's tahrir square. this is the worst violence we've witnessed since the overthrow of hosni mubarek. leland vitter is monitoring it live from jerusalem. what's the latest leland? >> >> reporter: alisyn, right now we can tell you that the death toll is at least 14 and the pictures which are coming out of ciary are sickening to watch. the video shows savage beatings by the army in the number of cases, we have four soldiers holding down a victim and then a fifth

soldier stomping on his head. it's really tough to watch this video. the only think might make the crackdown worse is if they were opening fire on these protestors, and we have heard accounts of soldiers using live ammunition there inside kay re. with all -- cairo. this all started with the army saying they wanted to give up power and give it to the civilian government, when hosni mubarek stepped down. so far, there have been hundreds injured in these riots and that number could rise as the violence continues. overnight there were large fires set there inside of cairo, right downtown, the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton has now said that this is really troubling to the united states to see these kinds of pictures coming out of egypt, and in the past, those were from the united states a bit under control, an we've seen a cycle of violence there in egypt after the revolution. there's about four days of protests, then about four weeks of calm.

what we're waiting to see is whether we get those three weeks of calm. the army has directed large barb wire barricades to try to keep the protest tprers storming any of the buildings that the army is protecting and hoping that buffer zone might help quell the tempers there just a little bit. as you can see right now alisyn, there are a lot of people who are plenty upset there in cairo and certainly not afraid to voice it on the street no matter how big the cost might be. alisyn: absolutely troubling. thank you very much for the report there, leland. big news from capitol hill this weekend, where an overwhelming majority of the senate passed a year-end tax cut bill that also demanded the president revisit that keystone pipeline decision. or lack of decision. the pipeline was slated to tprupb canada to the u.s. gulf, bringing thousands of jobs and million of barrels of oil in the process, when environmentalists objected, the president pushed the decision to 2013. but lawmakers may now force his hand. so how long can the

administration hold out on a decision? well, brad blakeman is former deputy assistant to president george w. bush, also here with us for a debate, dick harpootlan, chair of the south carolina democratic party. thank you for being here. dick, i want to start with you. i think americans understand that it is complicated trying to balance the needs for jobs and the need for environmental concerns. but isn't it the president's job to make tough decisions? why doesn't he just make a decision and explain it to the american people? >> well, i think he's waiting on, as we've seen, reported in the number of different publications, studies to be done. this is -- let's not underestimate what this is about. this is a huge undertaking, pumping some of the most acidic crude oil across the heartland of the united states. if that should rupture, it would immediately pollute and endanger the drinking water supply for a huge number of americans.

look, bp hold us we couldn't have a blowout in the gulf of mexico. look what happened. i think he wants to be deliberate about this. the easiest thing for him to do is approve it and create these jobs, but he understands creating several thousand jobs over a five or six year period, and by the way, the residual jobs are only a few hundred, to do that simply -- and put this country at huge environmental risk without further study -- and he says look, next year, next year, we should know. but let's take our time and do this right. alisyn: first of all, as you know, brad, the numbers of how many skwrubs it will create are sort of all over the map. the pipeline developer says it will be 13,000 construction jobs, 7000 manufacturing jobs, to dick's point, over several years. but to dig's point, brad, i want you to weigh in on this, why can't republicans wait just a few more months if that's all it will take for more environmental studies to be done? >> alisyn, this is the most investigated, this is the

most thoughtful pipeline process that the world has ever seen. this is not about the environment, this is about election 2012 politics. we have a president who, again, punts his leadership until after a safe time when he can make a decision or not make a decision if he's not reelected. he was for the pipeline before he was against it. it will mean tens of thousands of jobs over a five-year period. it will mean billions of dollars for our economy. if there were ever a shovel ready job this is it. i say big baby dig. we need to do for our economy, energy security and our needs. today. and this president will not do it. it has everything to do with politics. dick knows it. and this phony excuse, oh, we have to study it, is it safetory bring it through our seas than it is across our lands? the answer is no. we should be doing this today. and the president on television mocked shovel ready jobs in the first stimulus and said to a

reporter i guess the word is as many shovel ready jobs as i thought and what does he do? he punts until after the reelection. he's not going to be reelected and this is one of the reasons why. >> is he punting the decision? >> no, the people playing poll teurbgs the republican house. they attach it to a bill that would extend the tax cuts for middle class americans. that's how cynical they are. by the way, brad, when you have to gargle with crude oil like they did in the gulf, your perspective might be a little different. >> come on, dick! >> thousands of people are killed in automobiles every year. are we going back to a horse? the risk is both the reward. we have an absolute safe and secure system. and it's -- >> you don't live -- you live in d.c. you won't be gathering ling that crude oil. these people in nebraska and kansas and -- >> i'm looking in the heartland. dick, aim an american. i think about my country. i think about our energy security. i think about our jobs. and this is something that's

going to help our economy and it's going to help our dependence on foreign oil and also bilaterally it helps our neighbor canada who incidentally we get most of our oil from. >> well, and that's your opinion that it will be done safely. that's your opinion. as has been pointed out, we don't know whether it's going to create 1000 jobs or 20,000 jobs. >> your union buddies are for it! the democratically controlled unions want this pipeline. >> brad, now why -- if the unions are for it, why grab for it? this is a strange marriage here. >> you know why i'm for it? it makes sense for america, that's why. alisyn: dick, also, we've done this before, we understand oil pipelines, we have been in this business for a while. why will it take so long to figure out what the environmental concerns are? and maybe this president could just say give me 90 days and i will make a decision in 90 days. why not that? >> well, for two reasons. first reason is yes we've done pipelines before but the kind of oil they're pumping out of canada is very, very, very acidic, it comes from oil sands up

there, it's not coming out of a well somewhere. and because of that, any major -- minor leak would be disastrous. if you were having nucleolar waste being pumped through a pipeline, you'd want it no less secure. >> we're getting this oil regardless of where it comes from. is it safer to do it by ship or safer to do it by pipeline? we're going to get the oil anyway. it's safer to do it by pipeline. that's a fact. >> well, the ships except for the exxon valdez have been much safer than the pipelines that you've seen leaking in texas and leaking in month. we've got great -- in montana. we've got great concerns about this. and we should. the president is doing what's best. >> alisyn: we should do what's best. and you have the your positions well positioned. thank you for coming in for the debate. >> thank you. ale ale a soccer match takes a dangerous turn, unleashing their fury on the police. what treurg dollars this mayhem. plus, a stunt driver

living up to his name, pulling out all the stops, attempting a feat of staggering difficulty. you have to see this to believe this. late break developments in a mystery in maine, a toddler vanishes sparking a massive man hunt. new details on what is getting the attention of investigators now. that's next. >> somebody had them in the car? i mean, is she -- is she dead? >> for something like this to happen, when it does, woo -- tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually se arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammatio plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function

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alisyn: this is new video of an incredible stunt driver. check it out a. chevy sonic hitting a 50-foot ramp, flipping 360 degrees in mid air and hitting a four-wheel landing. behind the wheel, daredevil and reality tv star rod dirdack, as part of a promotion at 56 flags theme park in california, and we just want to say kids, don't

try that at home! >> all right. there is a frantic search underway in maine for a missing 20 month old toddler that the fbi has now called -- and the fbi is called in to helped. ala reynolds was last seen asleep in her crib friday night. now we're learning the little girl's mother filed paperwork seeking sole custody of the toddler the day before she went missing. the anguish is taking a toll of course on her grandfather. >> oh man, what i'm going through right now, i want to go there, i want to search, i want to just tpwhaubg and search and stay out all night, do what i need to do, but the police are telling me to let them do their job. alisyn: joining us live, former d.c. homicide detective and fox news contributor rod wheeler. rod, great to see you. >> hi alisyn. >> what do we know about ala's father and her mother and the family dynamic? >> well, there's a lot of things that we know at this point. what i can tell you, when the police officially -- initially gets these telephone calls, when they

receive these telephone calls of a missing toddler, the first questions that they begin to ask are questions surrounding the family unit, is this a dysfunctional family, what's the relationship of the mother to the father. so real quickly here, the mother and father had been going through a series of problems over the past year. now, back in october of this year, the child was actually taken away from the mother and given to the father. now, the father supposedly at one point was home l. but now he lives in a roaming house and actually it's the roaming house in which this toddler is missing from where the father lives with other adults, so the police are trying to put all this information together to try to figure out who in fact could have taken this child. and obviously, they are focused on the family unit route notice, although it is always possible that somebody else could have come in and taken the child, alisyn. alisyn: is couple things that have come out, her mother filed for custody the day before this happened. >> that's right. ale that obviously raises police eyebrows, and the mother says she hasn't spoken to the baby's father since that happened.

how is that possible? >> exactly. that's very interesting. as a matter of fact, i was talking to the producer about that, because as an investigator, that tells me that apparently there was some discussion between the mother and the father prior to this baby missing. they were talking to each other. well, as of last friday, they haven't spoken to each other, and last friday, as we all know, friday night is the time that the father allegedly said this baby came up missing. one other thing that was very important about this case, alisyn, this child has a cast on her arm, i believe it is, from a fall that happened a few months ago. the police are going to be looking into that as well, because apparently that fall was an accident, but from what i understand, from my sources, they're going to take a second look at that to see if, in fact, that was a true accident that caused that baby's injury. alisyn: this case sort of reminds you of the lisa irwin case, she of course was the toddler that disappeared from her crib in kansas city, and rod, just to let our viewers know, how unusual is it for a baby, not a six-year-old, a baby,

to be abducted from her crib? >> it's very unusual. let me just tell you real quickly, 99 percent of the time, when a child, a toddler like this is miss, it's the result of something going on within that family unit. there are instances, though, alisyn, where someone from the outside will come in and take a child, but that's more rare than ever. so you know, in cases like this, that rarely happens. i don't know why these folks would have children if they don't want the children, but again, as an investigator, we still have to look at everything to try to figure out what happened to this baby. i think they're going to find that baby. the baby still may be alive, by the way, too. i think the father gave this child to someone else because he got wind of the fact that this mother just filed for this custody order. that happens. and so i think that's what the father did with this baby. hopefully the child is still alive, alisyn. alisyn: let's hope you're right, rod. that would be really the best case scenario that the baby -- that the baby is being hidden sort of to punish the mother. i want to ask you about the

grandfather. we just played a couple of sound bites of his. his reaction sounds a little bit different than you would expect, saying i sure would love to go up and search button the police told me not to. do you make anything of how the grandfather sounds? >> you know, i would make a note of that. i wouldn't read too much into that at this point. it's too early in the investigation. but it's interesting, alisyn, that you picked up on that because to be honest i picked up on that as well, when i looked at this guy's reaction, something isn't right with this guy and i think the whole family. so definitely make a note of that but continue to search for the child. alisyn: absolutely. rod wheeler, thank you for your expertise. if anyone knows anything about ayla, call the local authorities, 911 and give them the tip, they will pass it along. if you have a pen, write this number one, they are looking for your help today. rod, thank you. >> alisyn: coming up, there's angry new fallout from an nfl game and what well known football star is

calling an insult to america today. we'll show you what people are so angry with this incident. and newt gingrich is launching a new attack on america's judicial system. arguing he can solve the problem of activist judges with handcuffs. >> what got me into this was the ninth circuit saying one nation under god is unconstitutional. we live in a country where judge barry can ut you in jail. there is something profoundly wrong with the judicial system that has moved to that kind of extreme behavior.

alisyn: this is new video to show you of violent soccer riots rock ago major south american city, fans take a

stadium apart after their team lost, rioters attempting to break into the locker room and attack players. police respond full forbes at least 12 were injured, more than 60 arrested and hundreds of cars were damaged. back in the states, an nfl football player is calling out his opponents today for what he calls a lack of patriotism. carolina panthers tightened jeremy shockey slamming several members of the houston texans accusing about ten of them of not putting their hands over their hearts during the playing of the national anthem. some houston players fired back, asking why shockey was looking at their teal and not at the flag. -- at their team and not at the flag. back to the campaign trail now, people are now taking a closer look at one candidate's controversial plan to overhaul america's judicial system. newt gingrich is launching a new attack on the judiciary

saying that activist judges have left america's courts in stammablies, he says -- in shamble, he says if he were president he knows what he would do to put the system back together. shannon bream is live in washington with more. >> hi alisyn. gingrich says federal courts have become, quote, grotesquesy dictatorial, giving judges certain national responsibilities. >> you've got a fundamental assault on our liberties by the courts. you have an increasingly arrogant judiciary. the tkwe is -- question is, is there anything we the american people can do. eventually we'll appoint good judges? i that's inadequate. >> reporter: gingrich advocates subpoenaing judges anding them to explain controversial rulings, even though -- even arresting them if they refuse to show up. he says the founding fathers intended for the judicial branch to be the weakest of the three and it's time to reign in judges but critics say it's based on an

inaccurate reading of history in the federalist papers and courts are intended to be a check against the other two branches. >> many of us would argue that the judicial branch, if anything, is not powerful enough. because the court is there to say, often times, that congress doesn't have the power that it pur ports to have, and no area of that is more clear than -- >> well, even critics say his proposals go too farouk knowledge he has sparked an important conversation americans need to have about the role of federal judges in the 21st century. alisyn: we're going to continue that conversation. thank you very much for that primer. coming up, the pros and cons of the overhaul plan. a fair and balanced debate on that. then an exclusive interview with top campaign strategist david axelrod, our ed henry sat down with him about an hour ago to talk about the president's evolving campaign strategy heading into 2012. we'll bring you that

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[ 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! alisyn: we have new details on the missiles fired from north korea hours after the death of kim jong-il. the reclusive regime launching at least two short-range missiles in the past few hours, raising fears of instability in a nation armed with nuclear weapons. several years of a brutal dictatorship may be giving way to a even even more brutal regime in kim jong-il's son. >> reporter: defense officials confirm there were two short-range missiles fired. they are fired from the back of

a vehicle. their range is 120 kilometers or about 75 miles. both of these missiles were fired and landed in the sea. according to u.s. defense officials they also did not destabilize the peninsula. officials say the tests were pro planned and had little to do with succession. u.s. forces on the korean peninsula have not changed their posture, according to pentagon official. the u.s. has 28,500 troops in south korea, many of them along the dmz border. senator john mccain, a leading member of the senate armed services committee responded to kim jong-il's death, quote, the world is a better place now that

he's no longer tonight. i can only express relief that he's joining the likes of bin laden, hitler in hell. alisyn: we'll be talking with john huntsman later. there is a lot of concern over the safety of u.s. troops in south korea. so far uncle sam has no plans for any troop reduction. at one time there were 45,000 service members stationed in south korea. one dictator giving way to another. kim jong-un shot to be in full control of the isolated nation. he, believed to be 27 or 28 years old.

he's the the youngest of yong *'s sons. he was educated in switzerland. he's not to be fluent in english and german. let's go to the campaign trail where republican candidates are launching a new ad push and ramming up campaign stops with just about two weeks to go until the iowa caucuses. carl cameron is live in davenport, iowa. what's happening there, carl? >> reporter: we are here at global security services where newt gingrich will be holding a meeting. it could be difficult to muster a crowd for mr. gingrich who has not been advertising or as prevalent on the ground. while mr. gingrich and most of

the other candidates are running some commercial advertising on their own. we have seen the surge in the super packs that can raise unlimited amounts of money and attack their rivals. a new super pac independent of the romney campaign, but backing the massachusetts governor is on the air with an attack on newt gingrich. it's rough. mr. begin grip of does have a super pac supporting him. but he doesn't want anyone supporting him to go negative on his rivals. one for romney bashing gingrich, the other for gingrich not mentioning romney. >> why is this man smiling? because his plan is working. brutally attack mitt romney and why? newt has a ton 6 baggage. >> we need a leader whose

commitment to conservative values has been tested who stood up to bill clinton. >> reporter: so what you see is a fairly standard example of a positive ad talking about a candidates' strength and an attack ad beating up on an opponent weaknesses. mitt romney's already advertising spent more than a million dollars in iowa and the super pac will drop $750,000 in the next week and a half. that's romney's side of it. on the gingrich side of it he only has one at of his own and it isn't going to run very much and they are going to spend $25,000. mitt romney's tv war is 32 times the size of newt gingrich's. newt gingriched a knowledged his ground game is not as strong as

his rivals. there is a whole host of surveys that suggest it's a tie or perhaps ron paul has moved into the lead. mr. paul has been on the air a long time. most of his ads are among the most entertaining and they are a heck of a lot more than what newt gingrich has. alisyn: thanks so much for keeping your finger on the pulse. we'll continue to talk about this. the man as you just heard carl talk about is polling at the top of the gop field nationwide. he's facing questions about his judicial reform plan. newt gingrich took to the talk show circuit sunday to say radical judged should have to come before congress to explain if they don't make decisions congress agrees with. >> some people say that's

unconstitutional. i just want to ask you from a practical standpoint. how would you enforce that? would you send the capitol police down to arrest them? >> if you had to. or you would instruct the justice department to send and u.s. marshal. alisyn: bob wearing is a form congressman from pennsylvania. now a newt gingrich supporter. and jordan seculo is with the american center for law and justice. thanks for joining us. jordan. you heard newt gingrich say if it came to it, he would send u.s. marshals to arrest the judges, bring them before congress to justify their positions. is this something you think voters will get their arms around? >> i don't think so. i'm a conservative, we fight a lot of battles in federal courts. the truth is we are not talking about bringing a judge in or

impeaching them because of misconduct. we are talking about their interpretation of what the constitution is. how do you define radical. barack obama would be classifying people like us, judges that we like as the radicals like he did in his state of the union. i always ask myself this. when you start tampering with our system that are in place. do you want the other side to have this kind of power? do you want president obama hauling justices or congress doing so. this is all provincial power. the constitution limits the president's role to appointing nose judges and justices. alisyn: obviously speaker gingrich must have thought of that. if you set up this program where you don't like the activist judge, then when the next president comes in who may be of a different political persuasion they can get rid of that judge,

too. >> the fact is if you listen further to that interview what newt said was the president and the congress acting together could in fact enforce something. it made the point that the federalist papers and the constitution made it clear that you needed a balance in government. what he's attempting to do is rebalance the system. what you have got is for 50 years the courts have claimed supremacy and that caused major dislocations in our system. we have a system now where judges are taking legislative actions. people bring actions that rightfully belong to legislatures into the courts and the courts make determinations that belong to the people to do. all newt want to do is to make certain when you have radical judges that go beyond what the people would approve of, those judges could be held accountable. >> why are we not doing that with congress? if it's true what the congressman has said.

every time newt very uses one of these examples. it's congress took action. he cast it in a radical new way. it's not. why does the president need to send u.s. marshals down to compel a subpoena. if like we all said. michele bachmann has said, mitt romney said. you can impeach judges. why act like this is a new creation when it's been part of the constitution since 1788. >> that's what newt has talked about. he talked about abolishing courts. he talked about impeachment as one of the ways in which you would do this. but there are a number of steps. newt was talking about -- the fact is that you can do interest rolling torrys and a number of things. that is the end result. alisyn: i want to get back to

newt gingrich's strategy in talking about this. megyn kelly sat down with michael mukasey who called this plan irresponsible and outrageous. the idea that he's proposing this now, is this newt being an outside the box thinker or is it appealing to more conservative iowans. >> i think it's to appeal to people who are upset with the judicial process. i would rather a district court judge who makes a bad decision get overturned by the u.s. supreme court rather than get rid of them. it sets national precedence. we always forget, the voters are responsible for who's on the court. they don't -- no one gets to the court without a president appointing them and a senate affirming them.

>> that's absolutely right. but what we found is as a result of the courts taking this position that's almost dictatorial in its methodology we have had an aprove process in the senate that has become dislodged. what this is is the legal establishment pushing back -- it's a very, very important change in the direction of how we deal with the courts acting more like legislatures than courts. i think it's extremely important to rebalance the system. alisyn: got it. thank you so much for coming in. thank you. up next, a runaway electric cart on the football field. it sounds like a halftime stunt but this was no joke. prepare for a pounding from mother nature. the blizzard watch for a 1,000 mile strip of the american midwest. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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alisyn: a major winter storm pounding part of country this hour. police in fox news alert -- police closing roads in new mexico. janice dean is live in the fox extreme weather center. what have you been looking at?

>> reporter: they have been hit hard the past several weeks. this storm will do quite a number on portions of the southwest into the southern plains. take a look at the snow across albuquerque and pueblo. they will drop 25 degrees within a matter of hours and blizzard conditions will be in effect overnight tonight. mainly rain for oklahoma city and wichita. we have a powerful of that will drop temperatures 20-30 degrees overnight. so santa fe, 35. roswell, 52. you can see the leading edge of that of. 46 in amarillo. 20 as the overnight low heading into the next couple hours. but looking at our future radar. it will be a quick mover.

traveling will be impossible the next several hours. alisyn: for more on this winter storm, our affiliate reporter krqe's aaron schwartz is in las vegas, new mexico. tell us what you are seeing there. >> reporter: don't look for life here. 60-mile-per-hour winds and blizzard conditions expected to start. we are in a snow low. right now we are on i-25. it is closed. no access northbound and southbound. this is a major thoroughfare from people traveling from santa fe to albuquerque and denver. you can see cars lining up hoping for conditions to get better and they can get on the interstate' it has been closed for a few hours. we have sheriff's deputies and

state police telling people you better find another way around. this guy is probably going to head back. we did have longer lines of people. but i think some knowing weather conditions are only going to get worse will decide to wait the storm out. this is a quick mover. but we'll probably get a good amount of snow. it's not so much the snow that makes the blizzard a blizzard. iting the winds. we have -- it's the winds. we have had 50-60-mile-per-hour gusts. the department of transportation have been hitting the road hard trying to keep up with the snow. we are in a dry slot but all that moisture will wrap around and nail us and it will get crazy out here. alisyn: man, it looks cold. when you hear about the breakaway run at the nfl game it's usually a runningback. not one of these golf carts. this is no joke, and it did not end well.

john huntsman was a former ambassador to china. he joins us live on the death of the north korean leader. william lajeunesse gives us a unique look at how we are were pulling oil from the ground. >> reporter: what you see behind me could change the future of energy. they focus the power of the sun to help drill for crude in one of america's oldest oil field in coalinga, california. my parents ran across an ad for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace." so my parents went to bank of america. they met with the branch manager and they said, "look, we've got this little hot dog cart, and it's on a really good corner. let's see if we can buy the property." and the branch manager said, "all right, i will take a chance with the two of you." and we've been loyal to bank of america

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alisyn: we have new information coming in from the secretary of

state hillary clinton. the secretary of state was careful to hold off on judging the news that kim's son will now be leading the communist nation. >> we both share a common interest in a spaceful and stable transition in north korea as well as insuring regional peace and stability. we have been in close touch with our partners in the six party talks today. alisyn: john huntsman, the former ambassador to chai? joins us on this story in 10 minutes. oil companies going green? that many the word out of california's central valley. for the first time ever chevron is using solar energy to drill for oil. william lajeunesse is there with the latest. how does this work, william? >> reporter: what you see behind me are actually mirrors. you can see the rays of the sun

reflected upward. we are 30 stories high. when those beams are focused on this water boiler above me. it goes to 1,000 degrees to create steam. they are using the heat of the sun to help draw the oil out of the ground. in the sky above california's oil country, a shiny white spot looks us spbded in mid-air. >> people are looking over the fence trying to see what's going on. >> reporter: the mystery is solved. a cutting-edge science project. 8,000 mirrors create a giant beam of heat focused on a single receiver. >> we boil the water within it makes steam and we push it across the street to the reservoir to heat up the crude oil. >> reporter: across the street is one of california's oldest

oil field. after 100 years all that's left is a super thick stubborn crude. nearly impossible to pump out without steam. >> replacing steam with high pressure 1,000 feet down. it enters sand stone saturated with heavy hoyle. it moves through that oil, heating it up. >> reporter: it marries a new technology with an old fuel. for a state short on revenues but rich in sunshine ... this is a demonstration project. there is no tax money involved in this green energy. this is all chevron r & d money. the oil is a heavy crude. very hard to get out of the ground. there are other places in the world where that is true as well. so when you use this technology you can get 40% more oil out of ground. it's important in remote areas

where natural gas is unavailable or too expensive. this kind of thing if it works here, they will do it elsewhere around the world. alisyn: sounds like a win. thanks so much for showing it to us. coming up in our next hoff hour we'll look into new federal guide lines forcing 30u.s. power plants to shut down and why critics say it's a threat to america's energy supply. up next a new look inside the president's campaign strategy as ed henry sits down with david axlerod for a conversation on the reelection challenges facing the president. we are going to talk to john huntsman about his improving poll numbers in new hampshire and about the one thing he wants from you. >> my request is a simple one. i just want your vote. i want to win your vote. i want to earn your support.

alisyn: a fox news alert. president obama's senior campaign advisor david axlerod weighing in on campaign strategy with fox news. what did he say, ed? >> reporter: david axlerod -- we sat down for this exclusive chat. we thought it was a good time to get back to chicago. we wanted to get inside the obama reelection operation. how are they planning to get him reelected when unemployment is in such difficult shape. david axlerod was blunt about saying it's going to be an uphill climb. he says he can't believe four years have passed since that epic obama-clinton battle.

he told me point plank he thinks this republican race is more fascinating than the clinton-obama faceoff because he says he doesn't know how it will all play out. he poked at the republicans saying it's like a reality show where every week another candidate is voted off the island. i asked him about the congressional end game. and whether the obama campaign thinks it will be good if this deal goes down. that will play into the president's message about how he's fighting for the middle blast. he says it's the republicans in the house who want this to go down to hurt the president. >> we have seen this play out before. >> does that help your strategy? >> i don't think it's helpful to our strategy when people -- when taxes for mayor chance the middle of all this go up because

the republic chance in the house decided to play games. >> reporter: don't you want to run against a do-nothing congress? >> if i had the choice of extending the tax cut for a year and energizing our economy, i think it's better for the country, the president and the congress. you have to wonder whether some folks over there think somehow screwing up the economy, throwing a wrench in the works is a good political strategy for them. they can vote recovery down -- if they can cost a half million or delay a half million, million jobs that that will hurt the president. >> reporter: he said he has been watching the republican debates and he's surprised mitt

romney is claiming he's not a career politician. he says mitt romney spent over $50 million of his own money running for various offices. he questioned how you could say you are not a career politician under those circumstances. i asked him whether newt gingrich's three marriages and personal life will be on the table. axlerod gave as you revealing answer about what they are going to do in those campaign ads. we'll have that at 6:00 with bret baier. alisyn: that's a good tease. thanks for sharing some of the exclusive with us. appreciate it. joining me now is republican presidential candidate and former utah governor john huntsman. he was a former ambassador to china under president obama. good to see you. >> good to be with you. thanks for having me. alisyn: we want to start with the death of kim jong-il. you know that region well.

what do you think that means for the u.s.? >> i think it's important to have a president who understands this region of the world. there will and period of uncertainty. you have a 29-year-old who is going to try to prove himself and that will take a while. in true north korean fashion, there will be outlandish behavior and we'll be wondering what it's all about. but behind the scenes there will be a leadership struggle going on. the united states needs to be in close and careful consultations with our allies, south korea and japan and dialogue with russia and china. we also have to have a better understanding 60 of the inherent risks involved with a fragile nation state. where the nukes are. alisyn: you put out a statement saying we should apply all available pressure points to

prevent rogue across tifght and proliferation of the nuclear activity. if you were president today how would you do that? >> by working with our allies, by working with russia, by working with china. by havingize on the situation which is a murky and difficult situation to comprehend and understand. but the best you can do right now is working with our allies and working with other countries in the region to make sure that we understand what's passing through the borders, to make sure we are in careful and close consultation with south korea, and longer term we are able to understand and mitigate the risk involved. and that of course would deal with a nuclear arsenal and their missile system. beyond all of this, you have got the 100th anniversary of kim i lirks-sung. that will be in april.

consistent with north korean behavior they will do something crazy and outlandish in celebration of this day. and particularly with kim jong-un who will want to flex his muscle and prove' the person in charge. it's hard to say what will happen. but we need a closizes on the situation so we can better understand how this is likely to play out and deal with the inherent risks involved. alisyn: i want to get to you respond to the interview david henry just had with david axlerod. axlerod says he believes republicans want the payroll tax holiday to go away because they want to hurt the president. what do you say to that? >> this is all a congressional negotiation. it's a congressional negotiation playing out in an environment with no executive leadership. the president isn't exerting any

leadership' in a vacuum you have mischief making. that's what's playing out on capitol hill. nothing will get done and we'll wait it out until the 2012 election cycle. the president is in a bad spot because edfailed to deliver on the two most important issues of our time, addressing the economic deficit and the trust deficit. the american people no longer have trust in their institutions of power. the president had an opportunity to address those and get on top of them. he's fundamentally failed. i think the american people have completely unplugged from this president. they are looking to the 2012 election cycle and they are listening carefully to what the candidates are saying about the two most important issues of our time. that's why we are rising in new hampshire. we have gone from zero to overtaking ron paul for the third position. we have two endorse thes.

we are moving up and we are connecting with the people on the ground because we are talking about the two most important issues -- the two defend sifts our time. the economic deficit. how point's going to be to address that. and just as importantly, the trust deficit which we must address. we must come together solving our issues. alisyn: the university poll shows you in third place. 13%. you have surged in new hampshire. we'll keep an eye on what happens in iowa and new hampshire. we appreciate you coming on and sharing your thoughts on north korea. >> thank you for having me. alisyn: as you heard a few minutes ago. the senior campaign advisor to president obama says they will have to run against the republican party as part of

their election strategy. joining us for analysis and context is larry sabato. he's the director of the center for politics at the university of virginia. we got a little taste of the interview in way axlerod says the republicans want to be obstructionists. they want this payroll tax holiday to go away because they want to hurt the president. >> obviously that is their strategy to certain degree. axlerod and the obama camp want three things. they want the republican nomination for president to go on a long time. they want it to be very, very nasty, and they want the republican house of representatives to do things that are you can popular. and if they can get those thee things they may get voters to

forget how bad the economy is. alisyn: will that be effective to remind the voters look what the republicans are doing, look how they are being obstructionist. do voters want to hear what the president will accomplish or what the president will do or is it enough to say look at bad republicans? >> it's not enough, particularly if you are an incumbent president and you are responsible for the performance of the last four years. that's what a president has to do. there are great advantages to being president. but the big negative for an incumbent president is when you have an income that's this bad. republicans also play a role here. they can either help the president to avoid that responsibility or they can make it easier for him to avoid that responsibility. it's up to them in how they choose their nominee. whether they choose wisely, how quickly they choose and what the

republican house of representative does on this payroll tax cut and many other issues. alisyn: what do you think about the class warfare battles and rhetoric about millionaires need to pay more of their fair share, you can't put this on the back of the middle class. the president has been talking about that a lot but it's hard to tell if that's gaining traction with the american people and that's what they care the most about. >> it's not what they care most about. it is pop lash. there is no question. if you ask people who they want to tax if they believe a tax increase is necessary, they will all tell you the rich, the wealthy, that old slogan, don't tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree. there aren't that's rich fellows behind the tree and just about everyone else is happy to see them taxed. the overall context of an election is about the state of the question. not just the jobs picture.

but whether there has been economic growth and whether people feel optimistic about the future. and that's the fundamental problem for president obama. alisyn: dozens of u.s. power plant are shutting down nationwide. the epa says it's long overdue. but critics say this will lead to blackouts across the nation. we have both sides of this debate after the break. is the old-fashioned christmas tree getting hollywood makeover. find out what's being done to entice americans to buy live trees. 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.

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alisyn: there is a growing debate about whether new epa guidelines will cause rolling blackouts. the epa closing down 30 power plants nationwide and plan to shut down another 30 when the new regulations take effect. the epa says the closures are long overdue, but critics wiewrn the changes could threaten america's energy supply. steve, i want to start with you. according to the associated press, they did a survey on this new policy and find that 32 coal fire power plants will be forced to shut down and an additional 36 may have to close because of these new federal air pollution regulations. what will this do to electricity in all these states? >> i think it's going to cause a couple problems.

you will find in my opinion the potential for rolling blackouts which is a big problem as many americans found out this summer during the storm season. and you will have higher electricity prices. at a time when american middle class families are being so strained you will have higher utility bills. this is a problematic policy. i think it's again the middle class and part of an obama administration grand strategy what i call the war against possible i will fuels. they don't want coal, oil or natural gas. alisyn: the average age of these plants is 51 years old prime minister. they have not been subject to modern updating. is it time for some of these to close? >> no, not at this time, i don't think so. what steve said is correct.

these plants are providing the cheapest power produced in the country. the more we close down the higher electric rates are going to go up. that's going to take money out of consumers' pockets and it will cause manufacturing to decline in this country. the problem is this is part as steve said of a war on fossil fuels. it's a war to save the world from global warming and the result of that is this is just one piece of a very large strategy essentially to kill the american economy. put a lot of people out of jobs on the ground that it will improve a few people's health. i don't think we are going to see much improvement as long as the epa is allowed to keep doing these things. alisyn: i want you to address the environmental concerns that these things are belching out smoke. what are we to make of that?

>> if they are beaching out smoke and are in violation of the clean air act amendment, some of them should be closed down. but if we are going to close down 60 coal plants in the next year, that's a lot of plants. that's 10% of american electricity to consumers. we should be transitioning from coal to a much, much cleaner fuel which is natural gas. the problem is the administration is also trying to stop fracking so we don't get access to natural gas. we have had a debate about the pipeline. what do they want? they don't want nuclear, they don't want coal, they don't want natural gas and they don't want oil. they don't want power at all in my opinion. alisyn: what is the answer to that? >> the answer is we need to keep building new power plants. the problem is, utilities are being required to build a lot of wind mills and solar panels and

invest in that. there is very little power produced by wind mills and solar panels. and it's not produced when demand is highest. so what's happening is the utility industry is not investing in the things that produce power like new natural gas, coal and nuclear plants. as long as our economy struggles we don't have a big problem. but if we start growing again we'll have those blackouts. alisyn: thanks so much for coming in to talk about this controversial topic. iranian television bronze casting an alleged confession from an american operative captured in that country. the length some growers are going to keep the industry strong. you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert

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alisyn: iran claims to have captured a u.s. spy. but now we are learning he may not have been working with the cia. catherine herridge is live in washington with the latest. what do we know? >> reporter: a short time ago the state department briefing began. this is the first since the iranians claimed to have captured that intelligence asset. the briefing has been dominated by north korea. but what has the attention of u.s. officials is the sequencing of events. one appears to be a public relations campaign to generate sympathy and stir up anti-american sentiments.

this comes after iran accused mayor calf hostile acts through the drone program. the five-minute clip offer evidence to back up its claim. two purported military identification cards were shown along with photo of his alleged deployment to iraq and afghanistan as an intelligence analyst. the i.d.s and photos could not be independently confirmed. iran's ambassador to lebanon tied this capture with the downing of the drone. he says it has struck a heavy blow to u.s. intelligence. a spokesman for the cia would not comment but fox was told there is no evidence he works for the agency.

alisyn: catherine herridge, thanks so much for that. right now uncertainty about the future of north korea. the long-time dictator is dead and the power going to his youngest son, apparently. will it change, help or hurt north korea's relationship with the u.s.?

>> alisyn: christmas tree growers taking matters into their own hands to keep the industry thriving. more americans are choosing not to buy live trees to. fight that trend, many growers want to use their own money for marketing and development. they have petitioned to pay a 15-cent tax per tree for a coordinated research program. the tax is scheduled to be implemented last month but it's now on hold after the obama administration postponed it. politics and chr