1970s game show host. good sense of humor. good for him. bill: chris christie tomorrow. i want to be alex trebek. have a great day. martha: there is always the next chapter. see you back here tomorrow. jon: what is weather for 100? a prewinter blast rips across the country. hello, i'm jon scott. jenna: what type of timing for this news piece we have today. hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. we're in the fox newsroom and "happening now" as jon mentioned we have blizzard warnings and whiteout conditions making it a very tough time if you're hitting the road or the skies these holidays. a foot of snow reported from new mexico to southwest kansas that is a big part of the country, jon. jon: a big swath of the united states getting covered. parts of oklahoma got dumped on. the snow is lessening but wind is kicking up. forcing highways to shut down. visibility near zero in some

spots. jenna: some 100 rescue calls coming from motorists trying to deal with blizzard conditions there. the roads not the only danger zone a small plane crashed in central texas after the pilot radioed ahead about bad weather. listen to this it is a sad story. five people, including two children died in that crash. very dangerous weather across this country. mike tobin watching this for us. he is in chicago with more. mike, when it comes to traveling not a whole lot of happy campers out there today. >> reporter: no, only people happy about this right now are the jenna, are the ski resorts. blizzard conditions are reported in different parts of colorado. if you're going over the river and through the woods this week, rethink the travel plans particularly if the travel plans take you through the great plains or heartland of america. it is a massive storm that stretches from new mexico into kansas. six people have already died as a result of traffic wrecks. that is usually people get on the road, get into trouble.

southwest kansas is described as completely shut down with more than 10 inches of snow. wind blowing around that snow and more snow coming in. the oklahoma panhandle is also described as a blizzard. major interstates now are shut down in five different states. so again, rethink those travel plans if you're going you there the heartland of america, jenna. jenna: hard to rethink them, mike, when everyone wants to get home to families. you're in the land of delayed flights, chicago. no offense of the tell us a little bit what is going on with the flights today? >> reporter: we always watch o'hare airports, if the ripple effect will happen with the delayed flights it will show up in chicago before it shows up anywhere. everybody knows that because this is where you usually get stuck. i'm glad to report there is not a problem in chicago relatively speaking anyway, the flights are moving on time. jenna: relatively speaking. we'll take that for what its worth. couple days before christmas. it is dangerous part of the

country. everyone needs to be careful on the roads today. mike, nation so much. >> reporter: you got it. >> a high-stakes drama on capitol hill over a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut. we're waiting for a vote by house speaker john boehner is basically shelf the senate's plan over the weekend. if that happens, millions of people will see a tax hike come $1,000 a year come january 1st. millions more will lose unemployment benefits. are there any winners in this battle? joining us fox news digital politics editor, host of chris stirewalt. that question first. any winners, chris? >> depends what happens. remember the tax increase wouldn't start going into effect until january 1st. basically the situation is the house tried to jam the senate. they passed their own bill for a one-year extension. then the senate tried to jam the house. they passed a two month extension and left town, basically telling house republicans pass this or

we'll wake rake you over the coals for letting the tax increase go into effect. house is trying to stand its ground and get senate democrats to the negotiating table to extend the duration of this payroll tax holiday from two months to a year. jon: but if they don't come to an agreement, doesn't the, i'm sorry, doesn't the hoist and especially the republicans in the house get tarred as being the party that raised taxes and cut unemployment benefits? >> well that's certainly the political calculus president obama and senate democrats. what they want to do, the imperative for them to have as many fights like this between now and election day as possible because they brief they're advantaged when the president can go out saying he is fighting against a do-nothing republican house and these terrible people, so on, so forth. if you look what the democratic senate is proposing is two-month extension. what they would like to do come back in two months to have the fight all over again.

republicans on the other hand acquiesced on central point this is good worthwhile thing to extend current payroll tax rates but they want to do it longer because they're not interested in getting their brains beaten in 10 more times on this issue next year. jon: harry reid is no way going to go for what john boehner is pushing right now. i mean the senate essentially passed its bill, associated with out of town and said take it or leave it, right? >> well, that's what they said but here's the thing. if the house can try and hold it ground here, at least make this point, then there is some pressure back on the senate, especially comes as some experts say a two-month extension is actually worse than nothing because it throws all the uncertainty. house republicans are pushing back with their message, two months is not good enough we need to do a full year. they will go back and forth. remember, as you get closer to the end of the year possibility always exists if a new deal is struck you can

fly enough people back to washington, enough senators cut short the vacation, take a break from the vacations and voting is through. we have to see. jon: two-month extension seems silly to me. what do i know. i'm not a politician. >> that's right. you're not running for office. jon: chris stirewalt, keep us apprised, thank you. catch power play live with chris stirewalt at the bottom of the hour on foxnews.com. while you're watching us, log on, click on the live link on the homepage. jenna: turning to some international news now, a frightening new report about iran's nuclear program. defense secretary leon panetta telling cbs iran is probably enriching nuclear fuel at a hidden facility somewhere. in that is the case the rogue nation could have a nuclear bomb in a year or maybe less, a big concern shared by both israel and our country. >> we share the same common concern. the united states does not want iran to develop a nuclear weapon. that's a red line for us and

it's a red line obviously for the israelis. if we have to do it we will do it. >> you just said if we have to do it we'll do it. >> that's right. >> what is it? >> if they, if they proceed and we get intelligence that they're proceeding with developing a nuclear weapon, then we will take whatever steps are necessary to stop them. jenna: whatever steps necessary. national security correspondent jennifer griffin is at the pentagon with more. jennifer, did secretary panetta say anything else about iran's nuclear program that caught your attention? >> reporter: i think, i was on that trip with scott pelley of "60 minutes" and i spoke extensively with the secretary about iran and other issues. what is clear talking to both israeli and the u.s. officials intelligence there in agreement they think within a year iran could have a nuclear weapon if it shows to proceed along those lines. the intelligence is not fuzzy on that point and that makes 2012 a very, very

important year. that's essentially what panetta told scott pelley of "60 minutes". >> it would be, you know, sometime around the year they would be able to do it. perhaps a little less. the one proviso, scott, is if they have a hidden facility somewhere in iran that may be enriching fuel. >> reporter: ironically we were both traveling on board the e-4-b, the defense secretary's plane he could literally run the government in the event after nuclear war if government were wiped out in washington, that is the plane they would use to essentially run things. so very scary stuff on board that plane returning from the middle east. jenna: you mentioned your travels in the middle east. you were in afghanistan of the went to iraq. incredible reporting all along the way. what stood out to you from your trip? what else did the secretary say to you that you think is important that our viewers need to know? >> reporter: one of the headlines is a conversation i had had early on in the

trip with secretary panetta when i asked him about the drone program that had been revealed when that sentinel drone went down over iran. it was clear at that point that the u.s. was spying on iran's nuclear facilities revelations from the drone going down. i asked him whether that would compromise that program being run from a western base in afghanistan? he said absolutely not. so i asked him again, are you going to continue to spy on iran's nuclear program with drones being flown out of afghanistan? he said absolutely. said same thing standing next to president hamid karzai in a press conference he was asked again and what was clear from that press conference hamid karzai had not asked the u.s. to stop that drone campaign over iran. so that spying campaign is going on and they're keeping very close watch on any developments at iran's nuclear facilities. jenna: the secretary, interesting points as well. jennifer, thank you so much. jon: and there are new questions about the man set to take control of north korea in the wake of kim jong il's death.

we're talking about the dear leader's youngest son, the great successor he is called. there he is, kim john un. get used to that face. who he is he? what does his rise to power mean for the united states? jenna: really broad look later on in the show. we have that happening overseas. gop candidates in high gear two weeks ahead of the crucial iowa caucuses. this comes into play. we'll have a live report coming up. jon: new information on the that runaway car incident at cowboys stadium yesterday. what victims are saying about this bizarre accident just ahead. >> suddenly i hear, someone try to say watch out. the only thing that came out, watch. if you have high blood pressure, like me,

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jenna: "happening now", a body of long time dictator kim jong il on display in north korea as his son and heir apparent, kim jong un pays a visit. who is the man who could be a new leader, a new leader of this very secretive regime? he is suspected of being responsible for two devastating attacks on south korea. the torpedoing after south korea battleship that left dozens dead back in march 2010 and a missile attack on a south korean town that killed for and injured 19 people in november of last year. let's talk more about this with the resident scholar of

asian study as the american enterprise institute. michael, the former defense secretary, bob gates, who made this reference that maybe kim jong un is responsible or behind those attacks. do you believe that to be true? >> good morning, jenna. the truth is we don't know. the biggest problem we have we understand so little about how this government works, who's really in power and how decisions are made and it is entirely likely kim jong un was part of the decision process to make those attacks last year precisely to try to solidify his position as heir apparent. don't forget he wasn't the first choice or second choice. he is the third choice. he had to have allies to show that he would continue the same type of provocative action his father did. jenna: you mentioned we no so little. so very select few have been to north korea. we talked to a few security analysts, a few government officials. that makes it so mysterious, michael, about what exactly we should fear when it comes to north korea.

how would you answer that question? just for any of us out there, average american people, you know what should we really pay attention to when it comes to north korea today and going into 2012? >> first of all, the government need to pay a lot more attention. obviously we didn't know for two days kim jong il had died. as much as ordinary americans need to understand what is going on the government needs to have better ear and eyes into the country. we have to look for at least a couple of things going in the next months and weeks. number one, whether this will be a smooth transition or not. there are two older properties who might try to make a power play themselves. the military might decide kim jong un, young, untested four-star general is not the man they want to see heading up the country. there are other players within the government such as kim jong un's uncle who has been actually running things while kim jong il was in his slow fading away from the scene. the first thing to worry about is, will it be a

smooth transition? the second thing will the regime lash out to prove it is still in power and warn countries like south and united states not to take advantage of it during this confused period. jenna: sorry to interrupt, you mentioned we need better eyes and ears when it comes to the country and we're obviously getting reports this week the united states is planning a huge shipment of humanitarian aid to north korea. potentially there was a deal being done to provide food to the starving population for maybe promises they will not do anything with their nuclear weapons. who really knows what negotiations were like but when you talk about how to proceed with the country is that what you like to see more from our government? were we on the right path there? >> i think we need to make it very clear and more clearly than the administration has done so far that any type of provocative action from the north will be met with a response. we will not tolerate any type of bombing or shelling of south korean territory or attacks on south career. also we're just not going to give aid or any type of

support without seeing some type of change in this regime, some type of opening up. we don't know what the details were of last week's agreement because it got knocked off because of the death of kim jong il but we shouldn't be going back to the table just because there is a new leader. we have to see proof there will be a change in their attitude and then we will consider what we might do to he them move along that path. jenna: what the proof looks like is another question from this country where we had this leader in power 20 years before and we had his father. we talked a lot about the arab spring and arab spring insin eights the rebirth of something in the middle east, whatever that is we don't know. there seems to be a positive feeling potentially there is change coming to that part of the world. do you see any signs of a spring in north korea, that we could really see a positive change in that area of the world? >> i wish we could but i don't believe anybody believes there is korean

spring. these people have been so controlled and brainwash. and you don't have the type of civil society you had in some of the arab states. they are so isolated from the rest of the world. there is no twitter and no facebook. it is hard to see how there could be any type of movement other than just a natural uprising out in the countryside that gained power. but i'm afraid there is very little we can hope for. we'll have to continue to deal with these people we know we can't trust and we really don't know what they're thinking or planning. jenna: no facebook, no twitter, no food. there are a lot of things north koreans don't have and mysterious country at this time. maybe we'll see bray down of the walls and maybe some more information going back and forth. michael, appreciate your expertise today. >> thanks. jon: no food, no twitter, no hope at this point. there's new information on that runaway cart incident at cowboys stadium over the weekend. seven people were hurt when this unmanned cart suddenly took off rocketing across the field after a high school state title football

game at cowboys stadium in arlington. one of the victims says there was no time to react. >> i basically lifted up off the ground and i come back down and as i come back down, even the right wheel rolls over my ankle. they had x-rays done on the right elbow. my right hip is colorful as the milky way how i can explain it with black, green, yellow and purple. not every day you see a cart coming onto the field. jon: that cart finally stopped when that worker jumped in and removed two orange pylons stuck on the accelerator. no word,000 they got there. the bizarre case currently under investigation. jenna: so many things to worry about. you have to worry about a rainaway cart in the a football field. jon: thank goodness nobody was badly hurt. jenna: crazy video of speaking of crazy video. we'll have a couple of things coming up first this. a brutal blizzard is

slamming folks around the country. we had a quiet winter season but this, a holiday mess across parts of the country. janice dean is here to tell us what to expect the next hours and days important to all of us. check this out, what in the world, you look into the center of the screen you see these clouds like waves. what's happening there? jd will do a little double duty, tell us what is going on with these crazy clouds straight ahead. everyone believes in keeping their omises once a year. but we believe in helping people take steps to keep them every single day.

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jon: this is the acquisitions room at the most powerful name in news where we bring in satellite feeds all over the country, all over the world. nothing says merry christmas like a dow that is up 274 points. we're keeping an eye on that. we'll tell you what is going on that makes investors so happy on wall street today. over here you're probably not happy if you're under

that white or that blue. lots of snow and rain over wide swaths of the country creating miserable travel conditions. i saw our janice dean in the makeup room a little bit earlier. i thought maybe they were applying a corn could be pipe and button nose because she could be frosty the snowman today. jd. >> jon scott always lovely to see you when i'm in the makeup chair. he looks beautiful with or without hair and makeup by the way. look at snow totals we've seen across the southwest. midwest and northeast are really getting gyped this year. southwest really seeing the snow totals. parts of colorado and new mexico over a foot of snow. we have blizzard warnings that remain in effect over parts of the great plains. look at snow part winding down. winds are also winding down. so that's the good news although we he will still have some blizzard warnings i will show you in effect for next couple hours of the as we head toward the trailing cold front that is

where we see the possibility for severe weather across the gulf coast region. we had several tornado warnings across parts of texas and louisiana. we'll keep our eye on that throughout the afternoon. blizzard warnings still remain in effect. red on the screen from the texas and oklahoma panhandle up towards kansas. wind are gusting. we're still seeing snowdrifts. things are dangerous. people are urged to stay off the roads until storms are out of there. wind gusts 20 to 25 miles per hour up towards the central plains. jon scott, i know you love cool pictures. jon: yes. >> this will blow your mind, baby. look at this. this is real, okay? this is not photo shopped. it is like huge breaking waves lining the horizon in birmingham, alabama. they're called kelvin waves. you see them in a weather textbooks name after fellows that discovered clouds. when fast-moving layer of

air slides on top of a slower thicker and layer and drags its surface like breaking waves. isn't that cool? jon: i imagined that is a little bit like wind shear when you get right to that altitude where the tops are being cut off, huh? >> you're just the smart guy. you're just a smart man. jon: i learned it in pilot school. >> you're a pilot. and you're handsome and just the best. jon: oh, janice dean. jenna: the two of you, really? we have a commercial here? >> my husband knows that jon and i kind of like on air boyfriend and girlfriend. jon: oh, what fun. jd. i feel special, thanks. jenna: i'll ask our viewers to write in and tell us what you think about that. why not? listen, we'll have to move onto a few other big stories today. jon: i'm blushing. jenna: we've been watching just for a little while because it was such a shock to this community and really to the entire nation. you had the band member at florida a&m severely beaten

and dying. cops are calling robert champion the victim of a hazing ritual. for the first time his parents are speaking out. hear what they have to say and what they want to see happen in the wake of their son's death. what a tough holiday season for them and their entire family. jon: a push to allow illegals to the right to vote. we'll have move on this controversial move coming up. jenna: if you like politics and like to roll the dice. lady luck may be with you. could legal wagering on the 2012 race be in the cards? is that even legal? we have answers on this interesting story straight ahead.

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from today we're going to be through christmas, through the new year on to 2012 and voting will be underway in the nation's first primary contest, the iowa caucus on january 3rd. week later we turn to the new hampshire primary. today presidential candidates, mitt romney, john paul and jon huntsman at one point are campaigning across the granite state. rick perry, michele bachmann and ron paul focus on iowa today. we'll try to get a round up of all that is happening with politics, no easy task. start first, james with gingrich and romney. there is a dynamic at work. both are trying to court conservatives and both are trying to court independents. how is that working out for either of them? >> reporter: well, with middling results would say. they partner jenna in another kibuki dance for each man to polish, discard and reclaim the fiction almost hourly bases that

only he is running a positive campaign. newt gingrich is hitting four cities in iowa. davenport radio show is host dan kennedy asked the house speaker if he will win within iowa. gingrich predicted the six candidates within a few hundred votes of each other and took a main shot at romney. >> depends whether people reward those run of negative campaigns or whether people decide whether they're disgusted with it and turn away. a lot of ads are plain not true and they're saying things that are absurd. you know, to attack me as a conservative when i've had 90% lifetime american conservative union voting record is just absurd. >> reporter: romney has been on a free tv blitz appearing on david letterman last night. dropping by charlie rose and morning joe and set of our own bill o'reilly where the former massachusetts governor denied gingrich is positioning himself to the right of romney. >> the challenge i have with regards to newt gingrich is

conservativism own the two big conservative movements in the last decade, one, the effort to stop cap-and-trade, he sat on the sofa with nancy pelosi and the second to reform medicare, to make it financially solvent he called that a right-wing social engineering plan. >> reporter: and yet gingrich will tell you he collaborated with bill clinton and romney with the massachusetts state legislature so the beat goes on, jenna. jenna: it certainly does. we talked about gingrich and romney as the two front-runners. that is what it seems like today at this moment but is that really accurate to look at these two to say this is really a two-man race? >> reporter: they might prefer to appear that way but texas congressman ron paul is still very much a factor in iowa to the point where published reports this morning say some establishment republicans there are sweating the prospect that paul, considered by many the godfather of the tea party movement, will actually win the iowa caucuses because such a development in their eyes would theoretically

render iowa irrelevant in the eventual selection of nominee. "real clear politics" average of polls shows paul edging out romney in iowa with gingrich in third. much to watch and that's why you want to keep it here. jenna. jenna: absolutely, james. amen to that. james rosen in d.c. james, thank you. >> reporter: thank you. jon: mitt romney spending some time with david letterman as james was just saying. the presidential candidate reading dave's famous top 10 list on the late show, spoking fun on everything from his own appearance to newt gingrich. >> number four. >> i just used all my campaign money to buy a zoo with matt damon. [laughter] [applause] >> what is wrong with that? number 3? >> i can do a lot but even i can't fix the indianapolis colts. >> hey, hey. we won. we won yesterday. [applause]

what about your patriots? what about those guys? like to see them win something. [laughter] number two. >> newt gingrich, really? >> yeah, that's right. [laughter] jon: that was part of the top 10 list. jenna: david letterman kind of helping the candidates along a little bit. no offense. you want a comedian in the white house? jon: good punchlines in there, that's for sure. jenna: maybe, i don't know. there are a lot of points you see the economy mixed with politics and we found a story we had to bring to your attention. this is loaded question but do you like to play the stock market? probably not over the last couple years but in general do you like to gamble? how about betting who will be the next president of the united states? we're not talking about a little wager amongst friends. we're talking about something pretty serious. legal trading on elections could soon become a reality for the president, for the senate and everything in between.

phil flynn is market analyst with psg best research. fox news contributor as well. phil, this is not reality quite yet but how would this work? >> basically, jenna, what would happen you would basically bet on the odds of a particular candidate either becoming president or getting elected. you know, for example, if you thought the chances of president obama getting elected were 51% you would check and see if that is where the market was trading. if everybody thought that the odds were 51% that he was going to get reelected you would buy a futures contract or an option at $51. if he does get elected that will be worth 100 because there is 100% chance he is going to get elected so you will have a profit. of course if he loses you're out $51. the nice part about this if you're against president obama you can bet against him. if you don't think he is going to win you will take the other side of that bet. if you don't, if he doesn't get elected you get to keep

that $51 that the person puts up. i'll tell you what. i think this could lead to something beyond just gambling, jenna. this could be a way for presidential candidates to basically hedge their campaign expenses in the future. they can bet against themselves winning. if they don't win at least they will get a little cash for all the effort and money they spent in their campaign finance. >> some are suggesting that watching the way this market might work could be more accurate than the poll results we get. just so that folks know, this is potentially going to be announced on monday at the commodities future trading commission or from the commodity futures trading commission. you're at the chicago merc. phil, why do we need this? and would you invest in this? would you play this market? >> i think i would to be honest with you, jenna. i don't know if we need it but i think if we use it as a hedging vehicle for campaigns maybe we wouldn't have the special interests

there. if somebody could offset the huge burden of campaign costs by offsetting it at a regulated market, that may be a way of course to not be influenced by all the people trying to get in. you come out with a fresh idea. not worry about what the conservatives or the republicans have to make about it. if you don't lose the election you're not going to be out of the money. i can see where that's going. take another thing. when you look at this particular market. why it could have value it will do a lot better. when people put their money on the line they will tell you how they really feel as opposed to somebody calling you up on saturday night who are you voting for. you will get a real answer than when it costs you money and you're wrong. jenna: we'll see if it is announced. phil flynn, thank you very much. this is such an interesting story when you take a closer look at it, jon. we've been talking about regulation, the dodd-frank, the new financial reform? jon: oh, yeah. jenna: you ask why would this market be created now of all times?

apparently according to one report, dodd-frank financial reform passed set strict boundaries what you can't do. you can't trade contracts tied to terrorism or war. that is illegal. setting what they said was illegal they gave an opening to say what you could potentially do like speculate on elections. so in is earn way the certain way the new regulation provided space for this market some say could be very controversyal if you can vote on what candidate y think might win in office. >> the two guys leaving office, we have them to thank? jenna: you can't vote on them. that wouldn't be a way to bet your money. jon: the two of them created money for betting on political elections? jenna: sometimes you regulate the markets more you add space for people to become more creative to get around the markets. you can't speculate on terrorist attacks but speculate potentially who gets elected to senate or who gets elected to senate.

jon: crazy. major controversy in connecticut right now driven by the new haven mayor. he is pushing the state legislature to give voting rights to illegal immigrants in municipal elections. shannon bream is taking a look at that. it reached all the way to washington. >> reporter: hi, jon. a bold move by a mayor used to being at center of the controversy. john di stefano, says if you live in new haven pay your taxes and have kids in school you should be able to vote regardless whether you're in the country illegally. those who say the u.s. constitution doesn't allow it are simply wrong. >> we all the same document for a long period of time precluded women and african-americans from voting. americans had more, pans sieve view what it meant to belong to a community. it provides to federal elections and federal government is fine to make its own decisions. >> that is ridiculous comparison. you don't say that people who have broken the law to come to the united states

and who have not company applied with the extensive requirements to become citizens are somehow the same as african-americans or others who were discriminated against. >> reporter: estimates how many illegal immigrants living in new haven range from 10 to 20,000. in last merrill election there were over 15,000 votes. seeing how thousands more could impact the outcome. he will have to convince the state legislature and governor to go along with the lan. the governor, dan malloy says it is not something he is inclined to support. you remember for destefano refusal to promote white and hispanic firefighters over black americans who did better on the testing which came to the supreme court and overruled the mayor. jon: shannon bream in washington. thank you. jenna: did you catch this big monday night nfl game

tweefr the san francisco 49'ers and pittsburgh steelers. it happened at once was known as candlestick park. check out the game video. doesn't look like a lot of lights on in the place. jon: whoa. jenna: we'll talk a little bit about why the lights went out at candlestick, not once, but twice, coming up. ♪ . my name is jill strange, i'm forty-nine years-old, i love gardening, and i love volleyball. i've been taking osteo bi-flex for several years now. i really can't see myself not taking it. osteo bi-flex is a great product. i can go back and do gardening with comfort. [ male announcer ] osteo bi-flex, the glucosamine chondroitin supplement with 5-loxin advanced. shows improvement in joint comfort within 7 days. [ jill strange ] since taking osteo bi-flex,

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these are the reasons i quit smoking. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. jenna: we have an update for you now on this terrible story of the death of a student at florida a&m university. now for the first time the family of the victim, robert champion, is speaking out. he was of course the drum major at florida a&m and he died last month as a result of what police are now saying they suspect is a band hazing incident.

his parents have already filed a civil lawsuit against the school and now they're calling for people at the university to be held accountable. >> it was really like reliving the whole thing over again but only this time i had more detail of what actually happened. it really hurt to know that people would do that to somebody, especially because of the kind of person robert was. >> i feel we don't hold any hatred for anyone because hatred is not going to solve the problem of what happened to my son but we do want to make sure that everyone who was involved with my son there will be accountable for what, for whatever action they took. >> this isn't just something that just happened. from my understanding there's a history.

so, everybody that turned their back, which would be your ad men straight tore, every individual student, that play ad part in it, everybody should be held accountable. we need to change the laws on this. jenna: what a nightmare for those parents and so many questions left unanswered at this time. we do know police arrested three other band members for a separate hazing incident. a female band member says her leg was broken in a series of beatings again related potentially to hazing but still there are so many answers that need to be discovered here in this story how this even went on at this university. jon: to think they are part of a team, part of a band and friends. that's the worst part of it. i feel for those parents. jenna: feel for the family. jon: "monday night football" was looking more like a monday night blackout. san diego, san francisco, that is your home city. san francisco 49'ers,

claiming a 20-3 victory over the pittsburgh steelers but that is not the big story out of last night's game. check this out. two back-to-back power outages left football fans in the dark at the niners candlestick park. we're waiting. there it goes. jenna: scary, right? jon: that would be scary especially if you're trying to negotiate the stairs when that happened. claudia cowan live in san francisco with more on that. what was it, claudia? >> reporter: well, jon, according to a team spokesman half hour before the game began the lights in the parking lights went out. as you may have seen in that clip a transformer outside the stadium blew up. officials with pacific gas & electric, the region's utility they're trying to figure out why but the result was quite a speckel for prime time "monday night football" fans. the first power outage delayed the kickoff by 20 minutes and left nearly 70,000 people there in the dark. many used flashes and cell

phones to see. team officials asked the media to twitter their fans and encourage everyone to sit tight and not panic. the lights went out again early in the second quarter, stopping the game between the playoff bond teams for about 15 minutes. fans got a little antsy but overall everyone was pretty well based. >> the lights went out, we were like, what's that? so you know, just a little embarrassing on "monday night football". >> some people booing and mad but they're sitting there because they don't want to miss the game when it starts again. >> reporter: hometown fans not too disappointed. the 49'ers won the game. the outages darkened the team's much anticipated return to prime-time tv. meantime officials are working on the problem trying to figure out where exactly it is. as pg&e put it, only the one client lost power. firms said routine checks before the game said all systems were fine. the pow other outage highlights the age of

candlestick park. it opened in 1960. this could push for a 49'ers new stadium near silicon valley. they insisted the stadium is find fine for playoff games down the road. back to you. jon: they need ad few candlesticks in candlestick park. jenna: both wearing red. good for both of you. >> reporter: have to support the team. jenna: go niners. that's right. it is being billed as a super memory pill. researchers say it is not far off. see what it can do when dr. siegel joins us next. ♪ . i joined the navy when i was nineteen. i was a commissioned officer at twenty-three. i was an avionics... tactical telecommunications... squad leader. i think the hardest transition as you get further into the military is... you know it's going to end one day. chase hired me to be a personal banker. i'm a business analyst... manager. i'm very proud to work for chase.

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jenna: well, a new study says we may be on the verge of a so-called super memory

pill giving us maybe hope when it comes to finding a cure for alzheimer's and for those of us who don't have good memories at all. dr. marc siegel, joining us, member of the fox news medical a-team, doctor, how does this work. >> this is unbelievable. this is real life version of what we saw in the remake of the planet of the apes. jenna: how so? >> they fed the apes super memory pill. they overcame problems and were suddenly smarter than humans. this is only in mice in baylor university. it is published in a journal called cell. a protein made after viruses and also has been found in alzheimer's, elevated in alzheimer's, if you block it general net particularly and lower it genetically. you know what happens to the mice, they started making better decisions and started behaving better and were just as healthy. they start to think if this works in humans you might use it to overcome the could be webs. jenna: are we close know if

there are any risks or side-effects. >> it is short term. mice only live year-and-a-half. when they start in humans we'll know the long term risk. >> how long of a horizon for folks with someone with alzheimer's know how terrible this dizzy is? will we see something on the horizon in next enit to 15 years? >> i say five to 10 years. jenna i think this is promising for someone a high elevation of this enzyme we can now block it. we know this enzyme is related. what is really important about this study, literally lowering this enzyme improves thinking improves memory, improves behavior. that is dramatic. jenna: so will you see or could you see people without alzheimer's taking this pill recreationally to make them more efficient, to make their memories better? >> you gave me the viagra example. that is exactly what i'm afraid of. i don't want people in colleges saying there is test coming up, let's take this pill. that is exactly what i don't want to see. all medicines have

side-effects. no matter how good it ends up being there will be a downside. it is for people with a problem like developing dementia. jenna: so many americans affected by this. >> this could be really, really major. jenna: we want to flag it. jon? >> good to see you. jon: would be great if it works. i could use the help. two weeks from today iowa voters head for the caucuses and there are some brand new numbers that show a pretty big shift among republican candidates. will there be a game changer in the very tight race in the contest that ticks off the nominating process? the family tradition, treking to the tree farm with the kids to pick or even cut down your christmas tree and strap it on the car roof, well, that could be a thing of the past. buying your balsam fir online? ♪ . [ male announcer ] if you're giving an amazing gift,

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jenna: we are nearing noon here on the east coast, and we're glad you're with us. it is a very tight race in the latest snapshot of republican voters exactly two weeks before the iowa caucuses. we have so much to do, we're glad you with us -- you're with us, everybody, i'm jenna lee. jon: they are going to be busy. i'm jon scott. the shifting numbers now show a two-way tie at the top. newt gingrich and mitt romney each winning sport from 20% -- support from 20% of primary voters in a nationwide poll conducted by cbs news. ron paul third at 10%. joining us now is the co-author of "election 2012: the battle begins." the co-founder of real clear politics.com. it reflects the same kind of trend that you see in your real clear politics.com average poll, right? >> yeah, that's right. you know, gingrich has been

losing altitude both nationally and also in the critical state of iowa. his support there has been cut in half in the last week or so, and he's been subject to millions of dollars of negative advertising over the last 10 or 12 days from ron paul, rick perry, mitt romney's superpac, and it certainly has taken its toll. so i think with just a couple weeks until the first vote occurs, it is a wide open race in iowa. anything can happen. ron paul's leading there now, but it really is wide open. jon: when we look at that real clear politics average, newt gingrich comes in at 27.5%, i believe, 29%, i guess i'm looking at the paper version that -- anyway, 29%, 25% for romney, 12% for paul. that would still suggest a fairly healthy lead for newt gingrich. not a tie as we saw in that cbs poll. can you explain that? >> well, the last three national polls have showed the race a

two-way tie between romney and gingrich at the top with, you know, paul in sort of mid double digits and everybody else basically in single digits. the problem is gingrich peaked about a week ago and has been losing about a point a day. every time a new poll comes out, it seems like he's lost a little bit of ground, and romney has gained ground. again, national polls aren't as important at this point in the race. it really is all about these early states. iowa's critical for gingrich. if he does not win, he's going to be hard pressed to continue. and can conversely, if one of these sort of second-tier candidates right now can beat expectations in a big way, michele bachmann or rick santorum or rick perry, if they can come in third place with 18 or 19 or 20%, that's going to be a big story and give them momentum heading into the next early states.

jon: well, most of those players that you just mentioned, the bachmanns, the perrys, on the chart, the graph, you know, it goes like this. the real clear politics graph, it goes up, and then it goes down. but all of those people as newt gingrich is falling, all of those other candidates seem to be coming up again. >> yeah. i mean, that is one of the consequences. we've seen this time and time again, and it's totally unlike the race in 2008. we actually have on real clear politics, you can go back and look at the polling, exactly where this race stood four years ago, and you'll see a completely different picture. it was much more stable and steady until the very end when huckabee sort of caught fire. this time, to your point, it's all rise and fall as republican voters have given each one of these candidates a hard look. and that's why i think the race is so fluid. i mean, in the latest poll in iowa 60% of caucus goers say they are open to changing their mind. in that national poll you mentioned from cbs, 80% of

republican voters who were surveyed say they are open to changing their mind between now and the time voting happens. so, again, this has been billed as sort of a two-person race between romney and gingrich, and i think it's actually much wider open than that. especially in iowa, it's more of a five-person race right now. jon: and for gingrich to have slipped six points in seven days, that's a pretty troubling trend. can he reverse that? >> you know, it's going to be interesting to see. traditionally, though, you see a candidate peak x his support starts to slide. it's very hard for candidates to turn that around. once momentum stops and starts going against them and other candidates start picking up steam, it'll be interesting. i don't expect that he will, but again, in this environment, you know, rules are made to be broken. anything can happen. jon: and those iowa caucuses favor those candidates who have organization. you've got to get those voters out on the house on a cold night, get 'em to the caucus and get 'em to vote. newt gingrich doesn't have that kind of organization in place in that state. >> no, that's a great point, jon.

and gingrich has been, you know, scrambling to put together that organization. and he's sort of maintained that he can do it without organization. but operatives on the ground in iowa will tell you that it still does matter, and that's why you've got to look at a guy like rick perry who has the money and has put together the team, a guy like santorum who's put in more work out there than any candidate. he's done 300 events, he's visited all 99 counties. that's the way you traditionally win iowa. santorum -- it's not reflected in the polls as of yet, but some people are keeping an eye on him as maybe he might be the person who peaks right at the right time because, clearly, it looks like gingrich peaked a bit too early. jon: that's why you're saying it could be a five-candidate race. going to be a crazy couple of weeks. tom bevan, thank you. jenna: well, while that is all playing out, we have to turn to what's happening right now in washington d.c. house republicans are rejecting a senate deal to extend the payroll tax holiday for two months, planning to vote instead on sending it back to committee

so lawmakers can negotiate a full yearlong deal instead. with the senate in recess and the clock ticking down to the end of the year, the question today is can anything be done to stop payroll taxes from going up or at least get an agreement here in some way, shape or form? mike emanuel is live on capitol hill. he hasn't moved from his position in about ten days. [laughter] mike, what can be done? >> reporter: well, jenna, the arguments continue. it's interesting, there's a bit of an argument between the house and the senate and then, obviously, the argument between republicans and democrats. the republicans in the house are saying a one-year deal is what they want. they also point out that's what president obama wants. they say the president said you should stay and work until your work is done before you go home on vacation. the house says they are willing to do that. here's congressman jeb hensarling making his pitch. >> talk to the people who are absolutely responsible for this, and they will tell you the 60-day ad hoc approach doesn't

work. that's why we need a rule to go to conference and put forth something the american people want and need. >> reporter: so we expect in a short time the house will vote to disagree with the two month extension passed by the unite senate and recommend -- united states senate and recommend that it goes to a conference committee to work out differences between the house and the senate. but as you mentioned, the senate is home on recess, and so it's not entirely clear what the next move will be, jenna. jenna: and it seems to be that's a little bit of what we've seen over the last couple weeks when it comes to this issue, mike. we just saw or heard from a republican congressman. talk to us a little bit about the house democrats, how they're trying to push through a plan that the senate passed, and just walk us through the dynamics of what's going on with the two parties and the two, well, the two branches of government, not two branches, but the two chambers, you have the house and senate trying to figure this out. >> reporter: yeah, bumping into all kinds of aides saying what's going to happen, and they say it's a question of which

chamber blinks first, the house or the senate. democrats we've heard from are talking about how they really wish speaker boehner would bring up that senate plan for an up or down vote. they think that that would be difficult for a lot of members to vote against giving tax relief to folks for even a couple of months. here is part of the democratic argument. take a listen. >> i would say to the republican leaders, show us you can govern. this is time for an adult moment, the american people come fist. it's time to put country ahead of political party. >> reporter: so that is where things stand. the house is battling it out. senator reid says he's not willing to reopen negotiations until the house passes the senate plan, and so we are stuck in a dilemma. jenna: mike, any chance of it happening, any chance at all of that up and down vote happening at this point? what does the speaker say? >> reporter: it sounds like, no, because he doesn't want to force his members to vote

against lowering taxes. jenna: right. >> reporter: therefore, leaving them vulnerable politically. jenna: and here's the political game. all right, mike, back to you. same spot, hopefully not for the next ten days. >> reporter: thank you, jenna. jon: there's some new information out of north korea as the hermit kingdom continues its mourning. a glass-topped coffin containing the so-called great leader, kim jung-il's body is now on display. dear leader, i guess they called him. as hi son pays a visit to his father's tomb, people across the globe are wondering what to expect from the great successor. greg talcott live in seoul, south korea. i'm mixing up my titles. great successor, dear leader. the question is, will his leadership stick, right, greg? >> reporter: yeah, that's a big question right now. a lot of questions and a lot of fears right now, jon. just about 120 miles from where we are standing in pyongyang, that amazing scene that you were

describing, kim jung-il, the late and long dictator of north korea lying in state in the very same mausoleum where the body of his father is also on display. and today the son, kim jong un, also visited, paid respects to his father. flanked on his left and right by officials from both the military and the communist party, his succession seems all but inevitable. incredible, jon, when you think about it, just a little more than a year ago i and other members of the media were in pyongyang just about 100 yards from the two kims, the great unveiling of the young kim jong un to the world. since then it has been a meteoric and maybe a troubling rise through, apparently, the top when you think about the nuclear reactors, the nuclear weapons, the missiles, the starvation in that country. you can imagine, also, the fears, the concerns, the worries down here in south korea, the

neighbor to the south. here's a little bit of what we saw, what we heard on the streets of seoul today. take a look. the folks in south korea first got word of the death of kim jung-il around noon local time on monday, so today is the first day that the newspapers gave it, well, front page treatment. they were thinking and talking a lot about it, what it means for south korea, what it means for north korea, for the entire korean peninsula. >> it's a bad thing, in my opinion. >> reporter: why? >> well, basically, you know, we don't think that, um, i think the son is ready to take over north korea at this point. >> we don't know yet, but everybody worried that he too young. >> reporter: worried that he's too young. >> yeah. no experience. [speaking in native tongue] >> it's a crisis and also an opportunity. >> reporter: two quick points, fox news confirming that the south korean military's now on deaf con 2, that's the second highest state of readiness just in case, also, the south korean government saying today that it

will not send an official delegation next week to the funeral of kim jung-il, but it also is sending it condolences to the north korean people. jon? jon: so we've got a 27-year-old kid in charge of a nuclear-armed nation. what a situation. greg talcott, thank you. jenna: well, a major announcement in the search for a possible serial killer or killers on new york's long island. we're going to tell you what is going on there, take you there live when it happens. plus, the voice of evil. a would-be homicide bomber who spent years in an israeli prison on why she wants others to follow in her footsteps. her first western interview with fox coming up. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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jon: a fox news alert and a plane goes down in new jersey on a busy highway. julie banderas at the breaking news desk with more information. >> reporter: yeah. this just coming into the newsroom, in fact, on this deadly plane crash in harding, new jersey. we are told there are multiple fatalities. at first they said at least three, now possibly totaling four to five people killed. and we now know it was a private single-engine turbo prop which had departed from nearby teeter borrow airport when it disappeared from radar. it then crashed into the trees, separating the north and southbound lanes of interstate 287, and that's what you're

looking at now. traffic has since been diverted in both directions. this is at milepost 35. and according to local reports, there are also several injuries, but it's still unclear how severe those injuries are, possibly motorists who were traveling on the highway were injured when that plane came crashing down on top of them. we're still waiting to hear word on those. per the faa, though, that plane actually caught fire on impact. the faa not releasing the plane's tail number info as yet. we'll bring you more as it develops. jon: julie, thank you. >> reporter: sure. jon: a fox news alert, we want to take you to virginia now where president obama and vice president biden are attending a ceremony marking the return of u.s. troops. they're at joint base andrews. i guess you call it the former andrews air force base in virginia. there you see the vice president and president shaking hands with some of our forces who are just

coming back from iraq. quite a, quite a surprise and be quite an honor for those troops to shake the hand of the commander in chief as well as the vice president. bret baier is in our washington newsroom helping us mark this historic milestone. bret? >> reporter: jon, this is the commanding general, lloyd austin, and his staff returning from iraq. there are 29 u.s. service members on this plane. they are all part of the commanding staff returning from iraq. they're also bringing the colors from the iraq war. eventually those colors, the flags, will be retired and put in the center for military history at fort mcnair along with all the other colors from previous wars the u.s. has fought. each one of these soldiers is receiving a presidential coin, that's a big deal for all the military folks out there if you have a presidential coin, you pretty much trump everybody else. but they are, essentially,

saying thank you. the president and the vice president. there you see the colors, the flag from the iraq war. pretty significant. in the official ceremony, leon panetta in baghdad there moving the colors from baghdad, and can then they took this flight back to the u.s. this is, essentially, the end. and it's a remarkable moment for not only the military, but for the country. i've been to iraq 12 times, it's hard to believe that camp victory and the big u.s. presence is not going to be there. so as you see the president and the vice president, we're told the president will not be making remarks at this event, but wanted to say thank you to general lloyd austin who's been the commanding general there in iraq since september of 2010. his command sergeant major joseph allen also back. eventually, those colors will be retired and, again, put in the center for military history at fort mcnair.

jon? jon: general austin took over commanding general there in 2010 as i understand it, september. bret baier, it's been a long and interesting nine years and, again, to those troops and the families who made it possible, our thanks. thanks, bret. >> reporter: all right, jon, thank you. jenna: well, a new report shows small businesses are creating a ton of u.s. jobs but are having a very serious, well, trouble, having very serious trouble just expanding and trying to add to that. jonathan serrie's going to tell us why so many are looking to their peers instead of looking to a bank for help, and that's coming up next. i'd like one of those desserts and some coffee. sure. cake or pie? pie. apple or cherry? cherry. oil or cream? oil or cream? cream.

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jon: right now, new information on some crime stories we're keeping an eye on. police in maine are looking at everything in the search for a missing 20-month-old girl.

little ayla reynolds reported missing by her father saturday morning. the search of a nearby river turning up nothing. the government is nearing the end of its case in a preliminary hearing against army intelligence analyst bradley manning, blamed for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified reports online. manning faces life in prison if convicted at a military trial. on new york's long island, the families of women found killed in marshes along a popular beach are holding a news conference at this hour. they're expected to announce the next big steps they would like to see in that ongoing investigation. jenna: something we'll continue to watch very closely. in the meantime, this woman on your screen wanted to kill israelis by setting off a bomb strapped to her own body. the explosives failed, and she went to jail, and she went to jail for several years. but now she's urging other young women and even children to follow in her footsteps by committing acts of terror.

leland vittert is live in jerusalem, he has the first western interview with this woman. leland? >> reporter: hi, jenna. you know, it's very rare to get a true insight into the mind of a suicide bomber, and you might think that staring death in the eyes would change people's priorities a little bit. in fact, what we found is it only hardens those radical beliefs. in our interview, it certainly shatters the illusion that those who are driven by hate can have their minds changed. these were supposed to be the last seconds of her life. instead, it was the beginning of a prison sentence. this is the moment she pressed the button to explode her suicide belt, and the detonator failed. but staying alive has only made her more determined to blow herself up. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: i will carry my explosive belt once again. >> reporter: june 2005, she tried to cross into israel from gaza with a bomb, ready to sacrifice her own life to kill israelis at a local hospital. she knew the hospital well.

as doctors there once treated her. i brought with me the video of when you were going to blow yourself up when you were caught. how do you feel watching this now? [speaking in native tongue] >> reporter: hard to watch? [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: i am very proud of this. i hope i will come, and i will live again the moments in which i was tasting and smelling paradise. >> reporter: she was sentenced to 12 years in jail but now is home in gaza, part of a prisoner exchange. over the past two months, israel released a thousand palestinian militants in the return for one captured israeli soldier. she leaves her house every day to train, of all things, to become a journalist, but her hope is to leave a far different legacy. now, the israelis have, essentially, sealed off the gaza strip creating a virtual prison there. they say they really have no other choice. while the quarantine certainly punishes tens, if not hundreds of thousands of innocent

palestinians, they say people are ready and willing to blow themselves up, they have no other choice to do that in order to keep people in this country safe. jenna: that is a stunning interview. personally, how was it like to do that interview with her? how did it feel just to be in her presence and hearing that she is ready and willing to go and kill innocent men and women? >> reporter: surreal really, jenna, in many ways because for obvious reasons, you don't get to talk to suicide bombers. it's very common to hear about them or from them in their videos, but it's uncommon to be able to actually ask them a question. i think the one thing i took away from this was just how dedicated she and many like her are to try and blow themselves up if given that opportunity. jenna: and a quick final question, how did you get her to agree to the interview? >> reporter: it was quite easy, actually. our pal the indian producer, a fellow by the name of ibrahim, is absolutely fantastic and works with us here in the bureau. he called down to the gaza

strip, we were able to locate her, and she was more than willing to talk. obviously, she has a lot on her mind to say. jenna: wow. leland, we appreciate that report, and it gives us a lot to think about, and that's an understatement, for sure. leland vittert in jerusalem, thank you. jon: well, the figures show small businesses created more than half of all new u.s. jobs last month. when it's time to expand, many of those companies are finding it difficult, though, to secure bank loans because of the financial crisis. so many of them are turning to peer-to-peer lending instead. how does it work? jonathan serrie live in atlanta with more. jonathan? >> reporter: hi, jon. well, with bank lending way down in the wake of the financial crisis, many small business owners are seeking loans from other entrepreneurs. it's called peer-to-peer lending. we went up to dallas, georgia, a suburb of atlanta, where we met two military vets, a couple, kimberly and corey henry, who

have used peer-to-peer loans to open their third edible arrangements store. listen. >> it was great to be able to tell our own story to our peers and be able to watch as one by one they were lending their support towards us and toward our endeavors. >> reporter: prosper and lending club, the two leading peer-to-peer lending sites verify the credit of borrowers and then link them with investors. the two sites are expected to finish the year with a combined total of $330 million in new loans, more than doubling last year's business. the sites offer lenders an average annual yield approaching 10% according to consultant and blogger peter renton of social lending.net. >> it gives you exposure to a big asset class that traditionally was only available to hedge funds and institutional investors, and that is consumer credit. it's one of these asset classes the individual investor hasn't been able to invest in until now. >> reporter: and renton says

the relatively high yields of these two major social lending web sites is actually beginning to attract institutional investors, suggesting that peer-to-peer lending which started out as a niche market may become part of the permanent landscape of how small business people do business. back to you. jon: and the big bank so responsible for the financial crisis aren't lending. there's an irony. >> reporter: not yet. jon: jonathan serrie in grant, thank you. jenna: a new report says a breakthrough, potentially, is near in secret talks between the u.s. and the taliban. is that the case? are we on the verge of peace talks that could end the war in afghanistan? we're going to talk to an expert who knows the region and the players very, very well. he's coming up next. plus, nasty weather you don't want to see at one of the busiest travel times of the year. a monster blizzard's impact on christmas getaway plans for millions of americans.

jenna: fox news alert. wanted to keep you up to date with what is happening. the former andrews air force base, you can see the president and vice president there. this is a ceremony marking the return of u.s. forces from iraq. a plane that just arrived was holding lloyd austin, and 29 people. they are returning the colors from the iraq war. they will be held at the center for military mystery. we will bring you any news out of this event. you can watch it live on foxnews.com. jon: after ten years of fighting the taliban in afghanistan vice president joe biden says the taliban is not really the enemy. according to reuters the obama administration has been holding secret talks with the taliban for nearly a year.

michael is from the brookings institute. that is some what stunning. the taliban is not the enemy. >> i think when the vice president was trying to get at is we gave the taliban a chance to break with al-qaida, president bush did that. at that point we wanted to say to the taliban, listen, reconsider your choice in friends and maybe we can figure out how to live together, just turn over osama bin laden and his people. that is the genesis of this whole thing. a lot of the afghan insurgents that call themselves taliban but are not followers of mulah. i don't sense any flexibility on his part. i think they are the enemy. most afghans who call themselves taliban are a much more loosely

defined group, different moat vases, we maybe can kind of pick off subcomponents and do deals with them. that's when the vice president was talking about. perhaps the vice president could have been a bit more clear to make the distins. jon: i remember when the taliban government would knotted indicate women and would beat them in the street with sticks if they dared to drop the veil, that kind of thing. he's not saying that those are the people we are negotiating with? >> well, on this negotiation issues i'm a little dubious, frankly that there have been any high level talks. i'll have to see mourn one reuters story to believe it. i don't think the vice president is implying we would welcome another taliban government. but if president hamid karzai

can convince the taliban on rights for women, and fair electionses, i think that would be okay with the united states. but all of that would have to be met first. jon: one idea is transferring some of the gitmo detainees who come from afghanistan to that country. what do you make of that proposal? >> well, as you know we've been trying to prepay tree ot gitmo detainees where possible and have done so in very large numbers for quite a while. the afghan penal system and the prison system are both pretty 0 immediat0m erbs diocre, and that is saying it nicely. we have to watch anyone who is sent back to make sure they are not abused. you know, on a case-by-case basis perhaps we can consider it. jon: we went into afghanistan in

part because that taliban government had set up these camps, or allowed these camps that osama bin laden's al-qaida was using to train jihaddists to kill americans. how do we know? i mean if we are negotiating with the taliban how do we know that that country, that government isn't going to let that same kind of thing happen and pretty soon we are facing another 9/11 all over again? >> well, you're right to raise that worry. but the other worry is of course that we don't negotiate, we leave afghanistan with a government that is too weak to hold onto it's own territory. because there's been this hardening of positions the civil war goes on and traps the taliban comes back into power through the battlefield. you have balance these different risks. what i would lick to see happen is see some large chunk of the taliban, maybe 10,000, 15,000 of its fighters, they probably have about 30 to 40,000 fighters right now we think. if 10 or 15,000 of them could be

persuaded to break off ties to mulla omar an perhaps we could have them reintegrate and they could have some of the provincess to the eastern side of the country. that could be the most promising say to get this war where we can stabilize the situation and not risk a take over by the taliban. the taliban hard-core inner leadership has not modified in any way. i don't think they are going to do a deal, and in fact they appear to have been behind or complicit in the assassination of former president rhabani in november who sent a man with explosives in his turban to kill. everything has to be verified to use ronald reagan's old

reminder. jon: for all the success we've had in taking out the al-qaida and taliban leadership, mullah omar is still out there. thank u. jenna: uncertainty in afghanistan and uncertainty with north korea. the death of kim jong-il putting nuclear talks and hold or any kind of negotiations between our countries if they were to begin again. north corey ace losing its longtime leader this year. we will take a closer look at what this upheaval all around the world in 2011 means for u.s. security. a small plane crashes into a new jersey highway just this morning. several people are dead and we are getting word on injuries. an update straight ahead. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle --

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[ knock on door ] coo you found it. jon: new info on stories we are watching across the u.s. and around the world. american laurie berenson is back in the u.s. for the first time

since her 1995 arrest in peru. she spent 15 years in prison for helping plot a siege of the congress. they are allowing her to visit her family for the holidays as part of your parole. many wonder if she will return. police in new jersey confirm at least three people died when a small plane crashed onto a busy jersey highway. the plane was headed from a nearby airport to georgia. witnesses say it spiraled out of control before crash are cashing. rock star jon bonvo i. wants everyone to know he's still alive after false rumors were spread on twitter. jenna: diplomatic efforts, reports of those efforts to resume nuclear talks are being put on hold, and washington will

wait to see what happens under kim jong-il's son and what will happen when he takes control. we were thinking about 2011, it has been certainly a tough year if you're a dictator especially in north africa and the middle east. in libya a popular uprising let to the downfall of moammar qaddafi. they toppled the dictator after 42 years in power. yemen longtime president ali abdullah saleh signed a deal to hand over power. he's an ally of ours. hosni mubarak also one of our allies was taken from the presidential palace into prison. he is on trial at this time. peter crowley is a former spokesman for the u.s. state department. what a complicated and dynamic year it's been as far as these overseas affairs. i'm going to ask you a simple question for a complicated issue. how do you make sense of everything that happened this

year. what is the big take away for what is going on in the world. >> it was a tough time for dick taeurts, but good for the united states and the world in the long term. there will be a rocky road as the various countries, and you should had tunisia to that list as well move from dictatorship to democracy. it's going to be a bumpee road. jenna: i spoke with dennis ross, and he says it's really important for our country to understand what is at stake with these moving governments and to achieve whatever our interests are in the areas of the world. how would you put our stakes? what stakeses do we have in these different areas of turmoil and how do you take advantage of the changes happening. >> you have to draw from our own experience. our experience is unique and it may or may not apply directly to other countries. you're trying to get to where governments are responsible, they are accountable, and they

are serving the needs of their people. north korea is a perfect example. if you look at north and south from the standpoint of the people and their talents and industry and so forth, there should be no difference between the performance of one and the performance of the other, and yet the gross -- the per capita income of south korea is $30,000 give or take and the per capita income is lower. one is a vibrant democracy, and a vibrant economy. the other one is the last stalin government on earth. in the middle east and north africa she's societies will become democratic. they actually probably could become in the short term less liberal. we will have to be patient as they work through building the institutions of government,

learning how to govern, and for those who are opposed to government learning how to be effective opposition. you see that in iraq, for example, where nouri al-maliki is now going after of one of his vice presidents and the leader of the s u.n. ni block. they have to come together to function. jenna: we'll see if they can do it. that arrest broke dew durin during our show yesterday, showing the arrest of a high iraqi official. we are wondering what is going on in the country as they are trying to sort out what is happening. north korea, kim jong-il there were reports that north korea was working with syria to develop a nuclear weapon in syria. and there was a diplomatic relationship there with one leader and apparently president assad well. this leader kim jong-il is gone. i'm wondering with the death of moammar qaddafi as well how all

these different relationships are changing between these countries that are our enemies. >> sure, i think the good news here is that lots of the dictator -- we've just reflected that there are dictators who thankfully are gone. there are also dictatorships that are on the offensive or under siege. syria is in 0 that category. even a country like iran, the mullahs had a bad year, they thought they had momentum. they've been put on the defensive because of what has happened elsewhere in the region. they've found themselves in an awkward supporting democracy and protests in egypt but deny it in iran. that necessarily means they probably have less time and energy to be able to cause mischief elsewhere. jenna: one would hope, right, that's the ideal situation.

we are going into 2012 reflecting on the speech that president bush gave in 2002 when he mentioned the axis of evil. iraq, iran and north korea if you were looking at a axis of evil who would you put in focus in the plea positions? >> if you look at the middle east and north africa now you have thankfully competing visions for the future of the region. you do have -- i think we should watch tunisia as being the country that turned first, and is advancing the fastest. obviously we see unfortunately in egypt where on the one hand there were the inspiring protests just under a year ago, and now you see the egyptian military that now teams to have shifted from being part of the solution to perhaps part of the problem. as you look at the emerging democracies where, you know, political movements came up from the ground up, then you look at the two countries that are under

siege in the middle east, syria and iran, that are steadfastly resisting change. i think that's look to where we do we want to take the region, we have to continue to keep pressure on that alternate vision of iran and syria. if they advance in constructive directions going forward there is reasons to be very optimistic about the middle east. if they are able to resist and push back these elements, so the transitions stop at tunisia, egypt, libya, who knows what is happening in yemen, then all of a sudden you have the risk of dissolutionment in the region and with that comes the opportunity for problematic actors like al-qaida, or the extremists to get a second bite of the apple. jenna: it's interesting you mentioned syria and iran. some of our guests mentioned pakistan, those who have a nuclear weapon already.

we'll continue to have this conversation. we appreciate you joining us. always nice to have your perspective. thank you. >> thanks, jenna. jenna: we'll be right back with what's happenin more "happening now."

>> reporter: a deadly snowstorm is slamming most of the middle of the country. our reporters are there to show off what it looks like and where it's headed. what happened to the kansas college student after she left a chilling message for her sister. police need your help finding her. is america still the land of opportunity? that is the question mitt romney is asking and we are debating when i see you in ten minutes on "america live." jon: well this christmas a lot of folks are skipping the drive to the tree farm, they are saying goodbye to the b u.n. gi cords and the blankets of yore, because these days you can buy

your christmas trees with the click of a mouse. adam housley is live in santa monica. how does it work. >> reporter: a beautiful day in southern california and a great day to find a tree. you go on your computer, click it, pick it. 27million fresh cut trees will be sold this year. only about 1% buys them online but it is a growing number. people that might be sick, for example, that can't get out, somebody who might travel a lot or someone who lives in a warm climate who wants a tree from back home. the christmas tree association says any tree that is bought is a good tree. >> thif piling up the car doesn't mean your specific needs maybe you wouldn't be a customer or bought a tree if that was the only option. but now there is another option that might meet your specific needs. it could open up the market to some potential new customers. >> reporter: new customers that buy trees from places as small as brown's christmas trees in

michigan, to target or wal-mart, big-name retailers also getting involved. not all tree lots are on board. they say it is okay to buy a tree that way, but really the best way is to come out and see it for yourself. >> it kills the whole experience of the tree lot. that's like saying i'm going to buy an art figures tree. it doesn't have the same feeling, the same meaning, it's just not there. >> reporter: well, jon, any way to get a tree is the moral of the story. any way you get the tree longs yoas long as you get one. jon: from santa monica. >> reporter: beautiful santa monica. jon: beautiful manslaughter r-r, all right. we'll be right back.

jon: a fox news alert, and it gets a little difficult to describe. you might know that the senate voted to extend the payroll tax for two months and leave town, they thought the house would pass it. well, the house is voting to sendit