>> oh, yeah, yeah! >> it turns out he's not the only one. look to what's happening to your gifts, perhaps and what's happening to him. "fox & friends" starts right now. >> hi, this is tony danza and you're watching "fox & friends." merry christmas and a happy new year. >> happy new year indeed. welcome to studio e. brian, look who is here today. >> huddy. >> great to see you. >> hi, everybody. >> you know, today is the day before the day before christmas. and she's wearing boots. >> and did you notice, brian, right down here, the spare pair. >> when you were drinking jack daniels out of at the christmas party. looks familiar there you go. >> these are like six inchers. >> i've heard about that. the ones with the red bottom. those are like $25 a pair. >> look what happens to the red bottoms, they're not red anymore. i think it got -- what's the point really? >> yeah, if everyone stares at

your bottoms. >> there you go. it happens. we have three full hours planned and we're going to start things out right now with some headlines. >> thank you very much for that introduction. >> if you were hoping for a white christmas, you could actually get your wish. nearly half of the country is getting slammed with snow or ice at this hour. this is video from boulder, colorado, people there seeing up to 30 inches of the white stuff and that's not really that great there. let's head south to new mexico where folks there are seeing snow and tense winds and you can bet the winter is wreaking havoc on holiday travel. let's talk about flights. 100 flights disrupted at denver international airport yesterday. today, you can expect delays at airports in new york, boston and albuquerque. some royal weather in the south as well this morning. you're looking at brand new video out of alabama. small twister toppling a giant tree on top of the house as you can see there. that's never fun. and in georgia strong thunderstorms leaving a mess in

and around rome. at least two people injured by flying glass and the storms damaged several buildings and knocked out power to nearly 20,000 customers. 10 million bucks. that's how much money the state department is offering up for the arrest of this guy. he's an iranian fundraiser for al-qaida. investigators say he moves money, he recruits through iran, pakistan and afghanistan. america's most wanted terrorist -- al-qaida leader, there's a $25 million bounty on his head. he looked happy and healthy a few weeks ago, john boehner saying he's too sick to stand trial. he's asking a judge to delay his corruption trial because of a mystery medical condition. the democrat is accused of using nearly $1 million in campaign funds to cover up his affair with his mistress, rielle hunter. john edwards that is. >> john edwards. >> what did i say? >> i don't know. >> i said john boehner? did i really? >> i think you did.

>> well, look, i was trying to segue into this next -- yes. sorry! >> it feels like we never left work because last night we've been covering the drama with this tax cut, this tax cut holiday. >> you think it's dramatic? >> i think so. yesterday in the afternoon, we started getting text messages a deal has been struck and certainly it is and we couldn't wait to find out the back story how it all came about. essentially, speaker boehner came forward and said i'm going to tell my republican colleagues what i'm going to do. i'm not going to ask and then i'm going to go over and i'm going to announce a deal that we essentially, he doesn't use these words but he essentially caved. what he did also emphasize is we got a lot out of this. which is a pipeline coming our way. and we also got a small business break on this. and the millionaires tax is not going to exist. >> exactly right. politically, not very helpful to the republicans. nonetheless, up against the clock, it was the only thing that they could do seemingly, here is the speaker on how they

made a deal. >> i was here fighting for the right things. may not have been politically the smartest thing in the world but let me tell you what, i think our members waged a good fight. >> really? it was an ill timed fight. i think that this in the big picture, juliet, could cost the speaker some street cred. >> that's what a lot of folks are saying. this is something that had to happen. you've been talking about this, "the wall street journal" came out, editorial board talking about how republicans have essentially achieved a small miracle by basically letting mr. obama position himself as an election year tax supporter. >> right. but brian -- >> excuse me. >> you're absolutely right. at the beginning, you said republicans did get a victory and it's the keystone pipeline, they'll force the decision to make the decision bit end of february. that's big! i mean, the republicans probably in the house should have walked away right then. they could have done that. remember, we've heard from a number of the freshmen class and

they said look, we came to washington to change things. we're not going to kick the can down the road. well, you know what, they wound up kicking it down the road for two more months. they lived to fight another day. nonetheless, the president of the united states was really putting the full-court press on the republicans in the house yesterday. here he is scolding them hours before a deal was announced. >> this isn't the typical democrat vs. republican issue. this is an issue where an overwhelming number of people in both parties agree. how can we not get that done? i mean, has this place become so dysfunctional that even when people agree to things, we can't do it? >> he was, i think you guys agree, senator mitch mcconnell came out yesterday, the republican minority leader and said come on, house, go pass this thick -- thing and you

have the president of the united states saying i agree with mitch mcconnell. i don't think he said before those terms. in the end, he didn't hail the deal because he did that last week and the deal didn't go anywhere in the house. we'll see what happens today. they'll go into the house and say tell me if you agree, they could have a protest today. >> it could be unanimous consent. it takes one person to say hey, i don't like this and in fact accident we already know of a couple of house members, for instances, lieutenant colonel allan west said on his facebook. he said look -- he said they're always on facebook. >> why can't he twitter? >> he does that, too? look, we had a conference for 15 minutes, no questions. i cannot support this. it seems the politics of demagoguery have won over policies and principle. during this unanimous consent thing, remember the house has got to reconvene, you know, it's not a done deal. >> may i speak about john boehner now? >> yes, please do. >> earlier i spoke about him and

i wasn't supposed to be talking about john boehner, john edwards. i'm sorry about that. this brings to the big question -- what is going on with speaker boehner? will he be in trouble, you know, will his position be cost -- will this cost his position because he actually, you know, essentially is waiving -- waving the white flag. >> let's look at his style. his style is he doesn't go in there and tell everybody what to do. his freshmen are happy with him, he waits for their point of view and consolidates, waits for a decision and moves forward. last saturday night when he got the call that there was a deal in the senate, he said we'll get this done. he got huge resistance on a conference call and was unable to wrangle up support. when he wasn't able to wrangle up support, he would realize he had no cards to play. he asked the president in the morning to call harry reid for him. so therefore, he made his -- his caucus, elements of his caucus unhappy by coming in and caving

with the president. he didn't go with what he wanted seemingly wanted to do and that's go with mitch mcconnell's deal that he cut and would this consolidated approach be enough to keep the president happy? >> there's disagreements on how to pay for this thing. >> that's one of the things that the republicans could really capitalize on and that's the fact that the democrats have now exposed the fact that social security, the money is not sequest sequestered. there's not a special account. because with this tax holiday, payroll tax is really the social security tax. that's what funds it. and so everybody thought, ok, we pay into it and it goes into a special fund, right? no, because they're taking this holiday, they have to come up with the money some place else so that blows that whole argument up. we'll talk more about this, winners, losers and all that stuff. in the meantime, let's talk about newt gingrich, he was in virginia yesterday, and he has announced -- he pretty much is

clamping down expectations that he's going to do very well. >> he set the bar low. >> yeah. he's saying, you know what? i know people have seen me at the top of the polls but right now, i'm thinking i'll be lucky if i finish in the top three or four. >> good move. you set the bar low. don't set high expectations there. >> too late, he already locked down the nomination two weeks ago but he says i never said i'd come in first in iowa. there was a period when i was the frontrunner but frankly if we get $7 to $9 million of ads, most of them false and the sheer weight of negativity has a real impact so he currently in almost every poll is third. real clear average has ron paul first and get this, juliet, now for the first time, a candidate is attacking ron paul and his carnival-like foreign policy and his lack of building walls in this country. >> who is attacking ron paul? >> it's finally newt gingrich who says has anyone looked at what ron paul is saying? this is first time they've taken aim at a frontrunner. newt gingrich said you beat me

up for a while, i'm the only one to beat up ron paul. >> you're seeing the media focusing on ron paul right now. he was considered the wacky fringe guy. he does become a contender, i mean, when he's at the top of the polls in iowa. >> meanwhile, the guy who currently is at the top of the polls in new hampshire is mitt romney. yesterday, according to one of the papers down in houston. >> can i show up for a second? 18 days until new hampshire. >> that's very impressive. >> how many until iowa? >> out of time. sorry. >> figure that -- >> right around the corner. george herbert walker bush, president 41, unofficially and informal endorsement of mitt romney. here's what he said to the houston chronicle. i think romney is the best choice for us. he also said, i just think he's mature and reasonable. he's not a bomb thrower. wonder who he's talking about there. >> he said he likes rick perry but he doesn't seem to be going

anywhere. >> there's different sources that say that rick perry and the bushes don't get along so this isn't that big of a surprise. i think this is really big. in terms of overall votes, what about the most coveted endorsement? what about the most coveted? this is the so-called most coveted list, julianne. >> let's take a look at this, brian and steve and people watching us. we start with speaker john boehner. want to get his vote. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. >> the monte hall of the senate who brokered the deal. >> these guys are power players. sorry for my glasses. i need them now. senator jim demint, representative steve king of south carolina and iowa respectively. >> also, in the big screen, you have mike huckabee and senator john mccain, you have sarah palin, herman cain, joe lieberman and who the heck will donald trump endorse? >> we'll put it this way, i think in terms of overall vote geters, you look at huckabee right away, sarah palin, you look at donald trump and jim demint. jim demint the tea party.

i can't imagine him supporting mitt romney, tea party seems to be running from him. in the end, anybody but president obama. >> up on that list, the most coveted would probably be governor sarah palin. you know, who is she going to go with? i think she speaks directly to a lot of people and they'd like to know who she likes. anyway -- >> with that, we'll take a break. but first, the sec slapping fannie and freddie executives are lawsuits over the mortgage meltdown. what does that mean? we'll take a closer look next. >> the cat travels 200 miles from its home. big deal. >> big deal! >> i'm already casting it aside. what if we told you the cat hitched a ride under the hood of a car? >> that happened to me once. i was not under the hood, no my cat was. >> i probably could have been. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics...

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triggered the meltdown itself. joining us at the institute, peter wallenson. good morning, peter. >> good morning. nice to be here, steve. >> what they're doing is the sec is saying something went haywire here where the people at the top of these qasi private government entities effectively lied to us. >> yes. well, it's important really to understand the effect it had on this financial crisis. people have been wondering how was it that so many missed what was developing in the economy? and the reason they did was that fannie and freddie who are the major buyers of mortgages throughout the country were not telling people that they had bought these terrible mortgages and those things were outstanding. >> so with some regularity, you know, somebody would say, hey, how are you guys doing? and they'd go, we're doing fine. everything is good. they were lying. >> well, they, unfortunately, they were lying. and this had very serious consequences.

the sec, of course, is interested in what it does to investors and the investors were very badly hurt. but i'm more interested in -- >> what about the economy? >> exactly. i'm more interested in the economy and in what caused the financial crisis and if we can understand better what caused the financial crisis, we can prevent the next one and this is one of the things that caused wall street and others throughout the country to believe that it was not so risky to hold these mortgages because they didn't know how many were outstanding. >> exactly right. senator scott brown from the commonwealth of massachusetts is urging a criminal investigation and he says the recently announced civil lawsuit does not go nearly far enough to achieve justice and accountability for the american people. i urge the doj to work with the sec immediately to reopen a criminal investigation into fannie and freddie. if the investigation uncovers illegal actions, criminal prosecutions should be pursued and people should go to jail. at this point, nobody could wind up going to jail, could they? this kind of sec thing.

>> i kind of doubt it. it's not impossible that will happen but in a metaphorical sense because of the trouble that this financial crisis caused, people should go to jail. >> here's the thing -- fannie and freddie got to do what they did to all of us because there are people or were people in congress who said, you know what? everybody should have a house. so what if they don't have a job, let them have a house. >> that's right. and fannie and freddie and the government in general poured money into the mortgage market in order to increase home ownership in the country. irresponsibly without thinking about what this really meant and what it meant was that people who could not afford to keep these homes were now owners of these homes. >> it's interesting stuff. we're going to find out what happens. all right, peter, thank you very much for joining us. >> good to be here. >> thank you. >> all right, straight ahead, while the mainstream media celebrates how america lost the war in iraq, our next guest is celebrating our heroes instead.

you don't want to miss that. and remember this guy right here, see the guy. see the computer monitor. the fed ex guy. yeah. that computer monitor busted after he threw it over the fence, turns out he's not the only one. wait until you see what could be happening to some of your stuff when it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. hi h! kermit the frog here

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>> got some quick headlines for you now. 22 minutes after the top of the hour. casey anthony in more legal trouble. he's being sued by roy crunk,

the meter reader who discovered little caylee anthony's remains back in 2008. he says anthony's defense team defamed him calling him a child snatcher and saying he moved the remains to collect reward money. and newt gingrich has a new plan to win america's vote. puppies. his campaign will soon launch a pets with newt web site aimed at showing a lighter side of the candidate. right now, the gingriches don't have any pets but if elected to the presidency, mr. gingrich would like a big dog. his wife would like a small dog. stand by. >> why wait until the last second? any fish? after world war ii and after the gulf war, the troops who served overseas came home to ticker tape parades, juliet. >> now, two new york city councilmen want to see troops returning from iraq get the same treatment. i think a lot of folks would like that. joining us now is one of those councilmen, good to have you here. >> good morning. merry christmas. >> merry christmas. are you getting any resistance

on this? >> no resistance. i'm getting really a lot of calls and e-mails, people who are saying this is deserved. we are bringing our veterans home. welcome home. quite frankly, celebrating in iraq that our men and women are leaving which is astonishing to me but here they are coming home to new york and we ought to give them a ticker tape parade and the fact that we're getting some resistance from the department of defense or the pentagon is baffling me but these veterans deserve the rightful place, march down the canyon of heroes and let us celebrate our heroes. >> the mayor seems key and positive for this. it will end in the canyon of heroes, correct, like the yankees and world war ii and everything like that. but here's the thing, you're trying to let it be clear to everybody. this is a major victory for our men and women who served and that's not the message that's getting out. >> i mean, look, we're the united states of america. we're the greatest country in the world. these men and women went overseas. some people paid the ultimate sacrifice. their families deserve to be honored with a welcome home celebration. just like we did for many wars in the past and we should learn

our lesson from what happened in vietnam when we did not welcome sufficiently our men and women back home. >> at all. >> or at all. it took 10 years or more to do that. we need to honor our veterans and we need to really pay tribute to those who pay the ultimate sacrifice and march them down the canyon of heroes and into city hall park and have the ceremony they deserve. >> ironically there's been some resistance from the d.o.d. but this is the statement from the pentagon. i'll read it to you. many communities across the country are finding ways to recognize the service and sacrifice of our troops and families. we are encouraged by that and grateful for it. we're not aware of any formal proposals for new york city though we know many new yorkers already work on behalf of returning -- what's going on there? what are they saying? >> i'll take it as this, we're ready to go. they need their cooperation and their help much the mayor tells us publicly he is reaching out to and working with washington. i have to tell you, there's a little bit more going on here, that some people were resistant to do this massive parade. something about security issues

or whatever. i think it's a red herring. let's have a parade and honor our heroes and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. let's do it. >> if we can keep derek jeter safe, i think we can keep these guys safe. it costs $5.4 million to have the persian gulf parade. how do you plan on getting that? >> i believe the corporate community, the new york city residents and the united states are ready to chip in to pay for this. it happened before. we paid for it that way and quite frankly even if it costs the city some money, the economic impact is great. >> let's look at the facts. this might be the best fighting force we've had in the history of the country with an unbelievable invargs and that surge will go down in military history as one of the great -- one of the great counterterrorism operations ever and no one ever took a bow. and it's time for them to take a bow. >> who doesn't want to say welcome home? any of your viewers out there, who doesn't want to say welcome home? let's march you down the canyon of heroes like you rightfully deserve. >> councilman, good luck on this. let us know what's going on. we'll keep you tuned. keep in touch. >> by the way, do you have a web

site for people to get in touch to see if they want to donate yet? >> we're not there yet. they can reach out to me, we're happy to then forward that over to the mayor's office. >> or e-mail us, friends at foxnews.com and we'll make sure to get it right to you. >> thank you. appreciate the support and merry christmas. >> a sickening development in the war on terror. a group of terrorists, new group says they plan to finish what usama bin laden started. the new details coming up. >> then, did you buy your christmas gifts at best buy? got some news. it might not have been the best bet. what you need to know if you want to make sure that gift is under the tree. >> but first, happy birthday to one of the most incredibly talented rockers on the planet. eddie vetter. pearl jam front man turns 47. what? >> we broke into rock 'n' roll together. [ male announcer ] sometimes a hint is all the wrapping a gift needs.

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>> i love how people always say and someone said it to me this week, christmas really just snuck up on me this year. yeah. is that possible in this day and age? christmas sneaks up on you, huh? when do they start playing jingle bells in the stores? labor day? i saw santa on halloween, ok. there's no excuse. >> so true. >> i saw decorations before halloween. >> it's unbelievable. you know how we know, too, they put them up all around the building and across the street. >> right. beautiful. >> look at that. it's so funny. >> yesterday, you were walking out without a shirt on, it was so hot. it doesn't feel like winter. >> thank god i wasn't here. just kidding. >> you can see pictures. couple of days ago, speaking of hot, this is hot on you tube, 2.2 million people looked at a

fed ex guy. look at this, deliver somebody's computer monitor. ok. >> after that happened, fed ex issued this statement. "we continue to be surprised by this video. we're handling according to our internal disciplinary policies and the situation has been resolved to the customer's satisfaction" which apparently we don't know what that means. whether or not the guy got a new computer. >> was he fired? >> i don't know. >> come on! >> he has been disciplined. he might have just simply gotten a stern talking to. >> we're not saying fed ex is the only one to have a rogue delivery boy. >> we have evidence. you want to see some? >> for example, this u.p.s. guy, you'll see him wearing protective gloves and shorts. there you go. >> just throwing it in there. >> that's my china! >> very good. >> maybe the boxes were not marked fragile. >> wait. here's a big load of them. >> there's no way -- >> i'm sure he's going to take care of it. >> no way he's going to chuck that. no way. >> whoa!

>> look out. incoming. >> can i say something, though? maybe i will play the devil's advocate here. all of you are yelling at me about this. i had some clothes delivered. you can feel it's a light box and you know there's nothing in there so i don't mind if they throw my clothes around -- >> just imagine if your clothes were in this box. what's this? so somebody -- there is a -- yep. there's the box. kind of behind there. >> now here's the thing -- >> again. >> look, i -- i think -- i think these videos are very good and they remind us as a public service if you're going to ship stuff, you should pack it planning on this actually happening to you that your package might wind up on the front of an 18 wheeler and might wind up getting thrown over because i was reminded of a 1971 commercial, very famous, american tourister put luggage,

remember this? in with the gorilla. after this happened, every time i would pack a bag to go somewhere, i would imagine this is how the bag handlers would handle my bag. >> wait a second, this is 1971. why do i remember this? >> because you're -- >> i was born a couple of years before that. but i was only -- >> this is a classic commercial. >> around for years and years. >> but see, i think a lot of people after seeing that, they not only understood that the luggage was really tough but then they would imagine, you know what, maybe the guy is going to handle it like that. i should pack accordingly. >> by the way, real gorilla. >> that's right. >> real gorilla. ok? not an actor. >> i read on line it was a guy in a monkey suit. >> don't say that! >> that's what i read. >> i was told, my sources say real gorilla. >> speaking of real gorilla. >> let's go to wilkapedia where everything is true. >> let's have him on a commercial. is that too early? >> maybe eric shawn. >> let's start the headlines. they need me now.

i read first. i'll wait. a brand new terror group says it wants to finish what usama bin laden started. the group is based in egypt and calls itself now and announced their formation on a web site and we happened to jot it down. they're dedicated to fighting egypt's new regime as well as old jews and americans worldwide. that's pretty much the hit list. >> meanwhile, thousands of grave markers at arlington national cemetery may have to be added or replaced to account for the dead. an army review found possible discrepancies between headstones and cemetery paperwork on almost 64,000 graves. that's 1 in 4 graves. some of the mistakes include misspelled names or wrong military ranks and dates of birth and death incorrect. congress started a review after reports of misidentified and replaced graves led to the cemetery's top executives being fired. >> ok. moving on.

it looks like best buy isn't such a good buy after all. the electronics giant now telling some customers it will not be able to fill their on-line orders by christmas. a lot of those orders reportedly placed as far back as thanks giving. best buy says it ran out of some stock on items including televisions and ipads. retailer not saying how many customers are being left high and dry. >> meanwhile, talk about an engine that really purrs. you're looking at a cat that survived a 200 mile road trip stuck under the hood of an automobile. the cat now recovering from some minor burns, apparently a little too close to the radiator, or radiator as one of my uncles would say at a shelter in ohio. the staff there not sure who the cat belongs to. they named him eclipse for the type of car he was found in. >> my cat lassie did the same thing. >> you had a cat named lassie? >> yeah, we're a weird family. >> thank you very much. >> had one named floozy.

>> you would be stuck in the well if a cat came to save him, he needed a collie! hey, i got to tell you what's happening in football last night because they played on the football network and i love the nfl network but cablevision won't carry it! but i digress. andrew luck, this could be your team. peyton manning on the sidelines when his colts took on the texans. could they make it two in a row? connects with reggie wayne for a touchdown. colts come from behind and win their second game of the season. this could blow the number one pick. 19-16. if manning plays next year, he will be in indianapolis and won't be traded. nba fans take sides in the kim kardashian-kris humphries split. humphries was just voted the most disliked player in the nba. 50% of the fans who were polled gave humphries a thumbs down. rounding out the top four, hated lebron, used to be love, kobe, used to be loved. eva longoria used to love tony

parker. that's a quick look at what's happening in the world of sports. >> tony parker. >> i got one more story. i didn't know i would one more story. i felt like i was done. do you believe in miracles? this shot in the 1980 olympic team was pretty impressive. it's incredible. never held a hockey stick in her life but she gives it a shot and hits a puck from 114 feet into the hole. what does she get for this? a new ford f-150. >> oh, my goodness! she did it! >> very nice. congratulations. >> yea! >> let's talk money. >> all right. the battle over extending the payroll tax cut looks to be resolved and caving to political and public pressure. john boehner agreed to a two month extension. watch this. >> may not have been the smartest thing in the world. let me tell you what, i think our members waged a good fight. we were able to come to an agreement. we were able to fix what -- what

came out of the senate. >> when you look at this, it's just another -- it's another short-term extension. this creates uncertainty for job creators. i used to run a small business. i know how this works. and kicking the can down the road for a couple of months does cause problems. >> there certainly is some can kicking and stuart varney joins us live surveying the political damage. >> look, we've all been laughing it up for the last 20 minutes and i have to come on like the grinch that stole christmas. >> we started the show like the grinch that stole christmas and had some fun and bring us back down to earth, stuart. >> ok. president obama has clearly won a major political victory. it is a political triumph. no question about it. it is a political victory. what do we got? what do the american people got? we have a deal that takes money out of social security which adds on to the debt and doesn't create any new jobs and which

gives us a whole new tax on all new mortgages and all new refis. economic problem for everybody. >> it's a problem for the democrats because historically have said when you pay into social security, we heard it's in a lock box and the money is sequestered and we know it's simply not true. with the tax hobble -- holiday, billions of dollars didn't go into social security and they took it out of the treasury and those funds were never sequester sequestered. >> $110 billion was supposed to go into social security. revenue did not go in. calendar year 2012, if the deal is extended for one year, probably will be, another $110 billion does not go into social security. that's a problem but a political victory for the president. >> and it's great. but then he goes on vacation, we have new year's and we get back to work and this could blow over. when the democrats come off as

tax cutters and say the american people need more of their money and they need that $1,000, they could play that back in june when they try to raise the bush tax cuts or try to raise the taxes on other people. >> maybe so. look, i'm not unhappy that unemployed people get an extension of their benefits that we all get an extension of a very, very modest tax cut. >> and the doctors get their money. ok, that's all good stuff. it's a modest lift for the economy but the piper has to be paid and we'll be paying next year. >> right. stuart, we're going to -- >> i'm very, very sorry about this, everybody. >> can you please leave? i'm going to cry. >> bring him to the other studio where he'll be preparing for his . >> merry christmas to one and all and our viewers, too. >> one big hug here. >> all right. ron paul we're talking about -- ron paul already ordered the confetti for his victory party in iowa but he is counting -- is he counting his chickens before they are hatched? as the old saying goes. that's coming up next. then -- who could forget jimmy

stewart's character in "it's a wonderful life"? i've never seen it. i'm sorry. i admit it. >> all right, how much do you want? autoite your own money, george. >> how much do you want? >> you're about to meet a bank ceo who is being called the real life george bailey. we'll explain coming up. >> it's a wonderful show! >> my name is tom and i'm an ironworker from new york. i believe if you work hard in this country, anything is possible. that's why i'm proud to be an american. [ male announcer ] what can you do with plain white rice? when you pour chunky beef with country vegetables soup over it... you can do dinner. four minutes, around four bucks. campbels chunky. it's amazing what soup can do.

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>> quick headlines now. that's not -- that's no christmas present. this guy is actually robbing the bank. he said there was a bomb in the box and demanded a drawer full of $100 bills. he got away but a christmas present bomb was bogus. and forget london. there's a werewolf in brooklyn, evidently the directors have forgotten, i'm down here reading and they're yelling louder than me. an illegal wolf dog hybrid was

roaming the streets. she was wearing her collar and she was likely kept as an exotic pet and she goes to a sanctuary for wolf dogs. i'm going to go visit. there's like three of them in the world. >> thank you very much, brian. all right. it's down to the final stretch. we're coming up on the iowa caucuses in less than two weeks so let's play some reindeer games and see who is leading in this week's political derby. here with a special christmas edition of power rankings is the editor of politicalderby.com, good to have you, jason. >> good morning. >> let's start with the top tier of candidates. we start with newt gingrich. you say he spent too much time complaining. >> yeah, i think that newt has done way too much complaining the last couple of weeks and not answering more directly to mitt romney and drawing the differences between their candidacies. the more you listen to pundits and people on the ground in iowa, you'll hear the same thing at every stop and every stump speech, he's talking about super pacs and attack ads and the

immorality of these ads and i think what newt gingrich should have been doing for the last two or three weeks is saying look, i'm not mitt romney. here's why. here's the policy and position differences. i think he'd run an incredibly poor campaign the last couple of weeks. >> let's go to the second first -- second guy on the first tier, mitt romney. >> yeah. >> good news and bad news sort of situation here. >> yeah, good news and bad news. finally up at about 30%. bad news is it's taken five years for him to get there. let me tell you, we have these two tied, composite is really, really tied and i was thinking about this on the walk over to the studio here in d.c. this morning. here's what this race needs. it needs winners. nobody needs winners more than like i do. i ran a bruising campaign, crushed this little girl. i don't remember the final vote but some people called it a landslide. i wouldn't go that far. but it was pretty bruising. you know what happened, suddenly confetti is falling and balloons, kids are giving me their fruit rollups and you are

the man! and you look like a winner. and suddenly, you're the cool guy. and i know that sounds a little glib but that's what this race needs. perception and the psychological impact of a victory is going to be huge for the media, for the candidates, for their supporters, i really think it's time for voters to start looking at how polls translate into actual votes in iowa and new hampshire, it's crucial. >> congratulations on that win, by the way, in third grade. i hope you get a lot of fruit rollups. very healthy. >> ron paul who is number three ask and also is in the top tier. >> ron paul, here he is still trailing by 20 points, ron paul and the national composites but in iowa, he's your leader so i think the question is, what happens if he wins the iowa caucus? what if ron paul pulls that off? what happens in new hampshire if he ends up finishing third, say, in new hampshire behind romney and newt, does the iowa win mean as much? a lot of fun to watch him right now. >> second tier we have to run through, perry, bachmann,

santorum, huntsman and on our producer card, it says huntsman who? your book, by the way, is called christmas jars and once again, congratulations on your win in third grade. maybe we'll hear from your competitor who you crushed. >> thank you. merry christmas and hit political derby.com today and we'll give goodies away on the web site. >> very nice. we like free stuff. merry christmas. we appreciate it. still ahead, a truly unbelievable story. a girl swept away by the tsunami in indonesia back in the mid 2000's and she emerges alive and well seven years later. you heard it right, seven years later. who could forget jimmy stewart's character meantime in "it's a wonderful life"? >> hi, miss thompson, how much do you want? >> it's your own money. >> never mind about that. >> you'll meet the ceo of a bank being called, this guy, the ceo is being called a real life george bailey. tell you all about him coming up. stay with us.

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>> well, it's that time of the year again, you remember george -- jimmy stewart's character george bailey in "it's a wonderful life." the selfless banker who helped the people of bedford falls. >> all right. how much do you want? >> it's your own money, george. >> never mind about that. how much do you want? >> i can get along with 20 all right and i'll sign the papers. >> you don't have to sign anything. i know, you pay it when you can. that's ok. >> somebody was writing down what he was lended. at a time when banks are being vilified, one bank ceo is being praised as a real life george

bailey. >> jim smith is the ceo of webster bank. a company started by his dad during the great depression and their key to success -- profitting by helping others and he joins us today in the studio. great to have you here. >> thank you. i'm delighted to be here. >> so your bank is in the northeast. >> yes, we're located in connecticut and our main branch is three blocks from where the bank was towned by my dad. >> in the movie from the 30's, george bailey did everything he could to keep people in their houses and that's what you guys have done, too, with your bank at webster because you've got a remarkable loan modification program. rather than throwing people out, you try to keep them in their house. >> yes, we do. you know, my dad founded the bank in 1935 and helped people buy and build their homes and there we were in 2008 and clearly, something was happening and it turned out to be not only a financial crisis but an economic downturn and we decided that we should put a moratorium on any kind of foreclosures until we worked out a loan modification program so 90 to 120 days later, we did.

the bankers of webster figured out how they wanted to aapproach the problem and we're happy we've had no adversarial foreclosures with our clients since and we've kept over 1,200 families in their homes where they otherwise might have been threatened. >> you did take tarp money, right? >> yes actually we did. that was such a hard decision for us because we were a strong institution, had plenty of capital but regulators encouraged us as they did other healthy banks to take the capital so at the very end of 2008 after hemming and hawing for a while, we decided we would. we paid it back in 2010 with a very handsome return. >> you did what we thought other banks would do. you did it to lend money and keep our system going. that didn't happen elsewhere. >> we did designate exactly how we would invest those funds, you're right. and it made a difference. >> and i like the fact that you base your company bonuses on the number of loan modifications rather than foreclosures. it's all about at webster keeping the people in their house. >> yes, it is. thank you very much, steve. thank you. >> thank you. >> do you have a drive-through?

>> because that's the key! if i can get a drive-through atm, i'm yours. >> we have them and they're all deposit automated. we have a couple of hundred of them. we'll be looking for you. >> right around the corner. >> west chester county also in new york, right? >> that's right. >> thank you very much. >> thank you very much, steve. great to be here. >> thank you, sir. straight ahead, congressman allan west comparing the deal made on capitol hill to charlie brown. >> oh, come on, charlie brown. >> you know -- >> i'll hold it steady. >> why colonel allan west said the world is laughing at us. >> and take up your santa suit or you're out of a job. postman is fighting to deliver mail dressed as santa and give you an update on that one. >> merry christmas, greta?

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>> hello, everybody. it's friday, december 23rdrd. i'm juliet huddy. republicans giving president obama and democrats an early christmas gift. a two month payroll tax extension. good deal for you. is it a bad deal for john boehner, the speaker? we report, you decide. >> no more mr. nice guy. newt gingrich calling on mitt romney for a showdown. >> i challenge governor romney to meet me for 90 minutes in iowa next week, anywhere, any time, no moderator. >> he said it will be the best of three bouts. it will be in an octagon and also be a debate. will his cowboy politics work? we're going to talk about romney's response. >> and the story is truly unbelievable. a young girl swept away by the tsunami in indonesia apparently has emerged alive seven years later.

that's right. seven years later. where was she? >> what's the story on this one? >> it's incredible. it's almost a miracle and we're going to talk to you about that and so much more as hour two of "fox & friends" for this friday kicks off right now. >> enjoy your holidays from "fox & friends." >> thank you, vanessa and joel in tandem. it is the day before the day before christmas. you know what this means. >> time to start shopping? >> exactly. right. >> either late day or pretty much first thing tomorrow. >> 7-eleven has great opportunities there and buys. >> are you getting me something? >> yes, at pet boys. >> we're going to change your oil. >> excuse me. >> so to speak. moving right along, brian. >> good to have you here. >> good to be here. >> i'm doing the show also tomorrow. i'll do some headlines right now.

so if you're hoping for a white christmas, you could get your wish depending on where you live. nearly half of the country is getting slammed with snow or ice at this hour. this is video from boulder, colorado. seeing up to 30 inches of snow. let's head south to new mexico. folks there are seeing snow and intense winds. not fun driving there. you can bet the winter weather is wreaking havoc on holiday travel. 100 flights were disrupted at denver's international airport yesterday. today, you can expect delays at airports in new york, boston and albuquerque. some wild weather in the south as well this morning. you're looking at brand new video out of alabama. small twister toppled a giant tree and in georgia, strong thunderstorms leaving a mess in and around the city of rome. at least two people injured by the flying glass there. the storms also damaged several buildings, knocked out power to nearly 20,000 customers. $10 million. that's how much money the state

department is offering up for the arrest of this guy. he is an iranian fundraiser for al-qaida. he moves money and recruits through pakistan, afghanistan and iran. america's most wanted terrorist is the al-qaida leader that is still out there. $25 million bounty on his head. he was wearing his santa suit to work for the past 10 years, but that all changed when a co-worker complained. the post office told him to nix the getup. now after a firestorm of backlash they are changing their tune. he could wear it until the end of the christmas season. did he wear it longer than the christmas season? >> you wouldn't think so. for the kids, santa and his helpers would be back up at the north pole. >> exactly. >> 3 minutes after the top of the hour. in the words of the immortal kenny rogers -- ♪ you've got to know when to hold em

know when to fold em ♪ yesterday, john boehner knew it was time to fold em and the house republican management, essentially, with a very public retreat has now agreed to a two month extension, the senate deal essentially of the payroll tax holiday. they had wanted a year and they figured you know what? we're not going to get it. christmas is coming. let's fold them. >> in the words of cheap trick, surrender but don't give yourself away. i won't be singing. it's really tough for the speaker because i think the speaker of the house on saturday when he got a call from mitch mcconnell to say we've reached an agreement in the senate and it's going to include the keysto keysto keystone pipeline and a provision to save small business and we're not going to have a tax increase, you would think that's painted as a victory. when john boehner went back in his caucus, they said no.

we don't want this, a two month extension does not work for america, a 12 month extension, we have to get done. but they didn't take into account the senate had left. there's nobody around to negotiate with. all the pressure is on their shoulders. they didn't anticipate this. >> allan west was essentially saying, we'll let you hear what he says but essentially he says the world is laughing at us at this point. listen. >> i feel like charlie brown when he goes up to kick the ball with lucy. we came up with a plan, that was paid for that would not bring any detriment to social security. then we go to kick the ball and the ball moves and it becomes a simple two month plan. this was played out on twitter and facebook and the media. this is bad policy. you cannot do tax policy every two months. and i think all across the world, people are laughing at us right now.

>> he said i feel like charlie brown. and boehner is not going to be lucy. talking about this infamous clip, you're familiar with this, aren't you? >> oh, come on, charlie brown. >> no. >> i'll hold it steady. no. >> please. >> you just want me to come running up to kick that ball so you can pull it away and see me lie flat on my back and kill myself. >> this time, you can trust me! see? here's a signed document. >> ahhh! > >> the thing about this document, it wasn't notarized. >> some say our clips are too short. how long is it going to take to kick that ball? i nodded off twice!

>> even though the bosses in the republican party on the house side have agreed to this, they're going to have to do this thing called consent later on today. >> there's no layoff. >> all it takes is one member during the conference to say, you know, i can't go along with this. you just heard lieutenant colonel allan west, he could be the guy. the man from the great state of kansas had similar comments where he said he simply cannot support this as well. and what he said was even though there's plenty of evidence that this is a bad deal for america especially our small business owners, the house has caved yet again to the president and senate democrats. >> we have the panel walking inwe'll talk to them in a second but we'll definitely ask them about john boehner and whether this means trouble for him. a lot of folks were upset with everything going on especially within the g.o.p. caucus itself but senator john mccain said this is going to be ugly for the republican come election time. >> so did senator scott brown. let's talk about iowa and some other republicans that wanted no part of this debate we should

say and we know that january 3rd will be the first caucus we'll to find out, we finally have winners and losers and no more projections. the man who seemed so confident two weeks ago has changed tacks. he's now tamping down expectations he'll win iowa claiming he's probably going to come in third. win south carolina. come in second in new hampshire. don't worry about iowa. i'm not really focused on that. >> right. newt gingrich said yesterday, i'll probably finish, i'll be happy if i finish in the top three or four. he also predicted that he would finish in the top two in new hampshire but then went on to say, i'm going to then wind up winning south carolina and then florida and then he says it will become easy to become the nominee. >> and then he went on to say mr. romney, would you like to debate me? >> i challenge you to a duel! >> first of all, mitt romney says he's not going to do it out of respect for the other candidates. let's listen to what newt has to say. >> ok. >> i challenge governor romney

to meet me for 90 minutes in iowa next week, anywhere. any time. timekeeper, no moderator. we'll bring all those negative ads for free. >> that was a challenge he put out there. mitt romney would not accept like he didn't accept donald trump's debate. he said i'd like to, we have a schedule. i'll stick to it. he sat down with herman cain and jon huntsman in a lincoln douglas format. he's getting feisty, newt gingrich. and he's the first candidate i know outside the debate that's taking on ron paul who, by the way, is winning iowa. newt is saying have you looked at his foreign policy? that he's going to allow iran to get a weapon of mass destruction and won't even bother him. did you see what he says, recommends in terms of us defending israel? nobody talks about that because

they think he's a niche candidate. >> the media isn't treating him like a niche candidate at this point. they're starting to challenge him. >> sure, the scrutiny continues any time you're in the top one or two. more politics with t panel in a minute. in the meantime, remember back in 2004, there was a christmas time tsunami, 168,000 people lost their lives. we have a story today to tell you about how at that time the day of the tsunami, a mother was with her three children, her daughter was trying to hold on to her arm but was swept out to sea and that was the last they saw of a little girl. >> she was able to save two of her kids and went to a high point to try to survive and they did. they said, well, my daughter obviously got swept out. she did -- >> the 18-year-old. >> she did swept out to another village. she ended up surviving and i guess doing fine for six years. >> but the question is why didn't she get back to her family? she apparently doesn't have any recollection. again, she was 8 at the time. she doesn't have any

recollection of who her parents were, who she was. >> right. >> and the last anybody saw her was the day all of that happened back in 2004. and so she showed up wednesday at a cafe and they thought she was a homeless person and they said, where are you going? she said i'm trying to go home. i don't know where i live. she was able to recount one person's name, somebody who worked at the cafe said i know an ibrahim and went and got the guy. he looked at her and she apparently had a scar that matched what the little girl did. and she had a mole. and it is -- so apparently, that's the girl and they think that, perhaps, for the last, what, seven, eight years, something like that. she's been wandering around amid that district that had all the devastation trying to find her family but she lost all memory. >> you can kind of understand how that would happen. what a traumatic event that obviously must have been. >> absolutely. >> what a miracle! >> i think there's so much more to the story. i'm not saying that i don't believe it necessarily but i don't know if we have the whole

story. >> i was a little skeptical at first, too, to be honest. you hear these things and a little bit -- we'll do some investigating. >> coming up straight ahead, john boehner bowing to the pressure on capitol hill. will the payroll tax cut fight cause problems for the house speaker? in fact, some say that his position could be challenged. our political panel who we are slowly zooming into will weigh in. >> plus, your christmas light display could cost you -- probably will cost you a lot more money next year. and you can thank the e.p.a. for that. >> they don't like coal. and we're going to pay the price. >> clean coal. >> they don't like candy canes. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics...

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can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammatio plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. a celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naen, and melocam have the same cardiovascar warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart dease or risk factors such as high blo pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach anintestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you'v had an asthma attack, hives, oother allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing.

tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. >> all right. capitol hill waking up to a deal this morning. republican leaders in the house agreed to a two month extension of the payroll tax debate last night although it won't be official until this afternoon when they actually do a vote. the president claims a short-term renewal is a win for all americans. listen. >> so many of these debates in washington end up being portrayed as which party is winning. which party is losing. but what we have to remind

ourselves of is this is about people. this is about the american people. and whether they win. it's not about a contest between politicians. >> really? but will this really be a loss for the speaker because it clearly is a win for the president. here to weigh in for our -- with our political panel, we have a great one. democratic strategist and president of gotham writers. bridgette harrison is here, professor of political science at montclair state university and john bramick is here, attorney assemblyman. do you like the way this panned out, john? >> in the end, yes, the tax break was continued. the speaker got his caucus together and he put the deal together. >> he wanted the deal saturday and spoke like he had a deal on saturday and then in the end, he ended up changing gears publicly. >> but in the end, he got it together. that means his leadership worked and that's the bottom line. >> bridgette, do you think the president -- the speaker looks

powerful -- less powerful or more powerful today? >> i think that today, he looks less powerful. but i think in the long term, it really doesn't matter. what's going to come out of this is that he managed to get his caucus together, deliver this extension. right now, everyone is kind of in the mindset of oh, well, he had the same deal on tuesday. a year from new, it's not going to matter. nine months from now, it's not going to matter that it took this long. >> you know about his style and we have reports from some of our reporters that were told by other congressmen he might be challenged for his speakership when he gets back from break. where do you think this is going? >> i don't think he'll get challenged. he maintains a lot of good will in the caucus. to ask who won in this contest is like asking who won the browns-cardinals game last sunday in the nfl. it was a meaningless game played by two bad teams that only partisans care about. >> really? >> yes. this is a classic example of washington dysfunction and the lowering of standards. what are congress' two big accomplishments this year? they didn't let the country default on the national debt.

>> barely. >> and they saved a small community tax cut that's going to do nothing to grow the economy. that's why the american people are disgusted. we're going back and forth with these petty bickering things where we have the lowest common denominator solution. >> i know you like process because you're a leader in new jersey. this according to allan west. conference lasted less than 15 minutes when he informed his house members and allowed no questions and this is what i'm doing, this is where i'm going. calls a press conference and does it. >> that's leadership. i watched chris christie in new jersey. if you're going to run this country or caucus, you make a decision and you ask people to follow you. that's real leadership in my judgment. >> this is what allan west went on to say. this is a sad day for america and further evidence of our continuing decline. men and women of principle are becoming a dying breed in the republic. that's not a pat on the back. >> no, it is not and i think that there will be particularly within the party there will be

some dissension and there will be some wounds to heal for the speaker but the reality is that he could not have faced his caucus allowing them to go back in the districts over christmas break not delivering this package. >> dan, you're going to weigh in first when we get back and keep in mind, when colt mccoy is healthy, i think they are on the right track. i know you're down about the browns game. i don't want anyone with a sad face with christmas around the corner. 19 minutes after the top of the hour. the panel is sticking around unless you know something i don't. newt gingrich under attack from his opponents. who will these negative ads hurt? the former speaker or his opponents? he looked happy and healthy a few weeks ago. now john edwards says he's too sick to stand trial. [ male announcer ] if you think tylenol

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what's in your wallet?

>> 23 after the top of the hour. time for your news by the numbers on this friday. first 1,205,195 dollars, that's how much money has been donated so far to the four surviving daughters of fallen new york city police officer peter fagowski. he was gunned down responding to a home invasion in brooklyn. next $650,000, that's how much this rare 1953 chevy corvette roadster is expected to sell for. it's being auctioned off in arizona next month. wow. and finally, $5,850,000, that's the asking price of audrey hepburn's new york city

townhouse from the show, rather the movie "breakfast at tiffanys" it has two fire places and access to a private garden. if you have $5 million plus, you can live there. >> too bad you got me those cuff links. i would have loved that. newt gingrich is trying to lower expectations as his numbers in iowa slip and he blames the slew of negative attacks for his low poll ratings and the former speaker calling for a showdown over what he calls lies. >> i've challenged governor romney to meet me for 90 minutes in iowa next week anywhere, any time, timekeeper, no moderator and we'll bring all of his negative ads and show them for free and he can explain them. >> and the winner has to fight and i don't think that was right. will this challenge work? we're back with our political panel. let's find out with you. >> yeah, i mean, one of the things that people hate more than negative ads is whining about negative ads.

and i don't think it's going to be effective. it's an effective defense. i think the interesting thing in iowa is negative and nasty usually doesn't play very well. it hurt howard dean and dick gephardt in 2004 when john kerry was able to run up the middle. to the certain extent, there's that potential in iowa with someone like rick perry, right, who's had a lot of trouble. >> in double figures now. >> staying mostly positive, touring the state. appealing to social conservatives. he, i think, is going to outperform expectations. and in a very crowded field get a ticket to new hampshire. >> back to newt, if we can, bridgette. newt in particular is known as a combative guy anyway. why is he going against his own character trait in not attacking back? >> i think he thought he could use the rose garden strategy to remain above the fray. the reality is, though, he has so much negative about him, he's probably the smartest person running for president because he has so much baggage and in order to not attempt to bring that into the political forum, he's

saying i'm backing off. >> john as an attorney in new jersey who is an assemblyman and leader, do you think that newt gingrich has so much wrong or so much experience and so much life experience that makes him very effective at 68 years old? >> well, first, negative works. only thing bad about going negative is going negative second. when you've been in congress for that long, there's a lot of baggage. you've taken a lot of votes. this negative stuff works and it's going to continue. he's on a downward slide and i don't think he recovers from it. >> unlike herman cain, bridgette, i think he can bounce back because he's got the experience and as soon as he dips, there will be a debate and he'll shine. >> that's true. the thing is the negative i'm talking about mattered to iowa voters. we're not talking about policy. >> talking about fannie and freddie. >> we're talking about ethics, we're talking about morality and i think that's the kind of thing. they may accept disagreement on policy, but when it comes to those kind of moral behaviors, that's very, very important to voters in iowa particularly conservative caucus goers. >> newt's numbers are higher

than they should be and have been because it's all relative. he looks so much more presidential of how he presents himself in debates. when people are reminded about all the baggage that bridgette is talking about, it drags him down and reminds people he's unelectable and can't win a general election against president obama and that ultimately, i think being will be his undoing. >> so far, last comment, john, is florida and south carolina he's up by a wide margin. does that change if he doesn't win in new hampshire and iowa? >> absolutely, we tend to like the favorites. if that changes and as romney does better, newt does worse, period. >> you could voice over nfl highlights. you have a strong, authoritative voice. >> my sports knowledge is limited. >> we'll give you copy, it doesn't matter. >> there they go! >> the frozen tundra. thanks so much, guys. have a great christmas. >> happy holidays. >> same to you. 27 minutes now after the hour. leave your christmas lights on a little longer this year because next year, it's going to cost you more to deck the halls. and you can thank the government

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>> president obama did some christmas shopping at a best buy in virginia yesterday. and they always say what the president bought. oh, he got the girls two video games. why do they say that? they ruin that. but anyway, they showed him at the best buy and there was one uncomfortable moment for the president and i don't know if you saw it. take a look. >> let's see if my credit card still works.

>> hi, mr. president. >> misty gold! >> hilarious. now, what's interesting is when you hear the president talking, obviously the woman, the cashier there said mr. president, do you have a best buy card? because he said no, i don't have a best buy card but i got a credit card. >> he does. how great is that? >> it's fantastic. there's a story that people like steve and juliet just don't -- they want to ignore and i feel it's far too important and that is where exactly is bo, president obama's dog? >> well, bo the dog apparently is at the white house right now. >> we know -- >> they took him actually to the store. >> there he is at best buy and he went to pet smart where the president bought him a $50 rubber bone. here's the thing. there have been a number of news stories out that say that bo the dog flew out to hawaii with michelle and the kids last week.

for instance, let's see, the chicago sun times reported that, hawaii tv station khon and the honolulu star advertiser. >> what's wrong with that? >> here's the thing. that would mean, then, if bo did fly out with the first lady and the girls, then they would have had to fly him back to washington for that photo op and reportedly, one of the neighbors in the neighborhood where the president's family is staying saw the dog. so some people are horrified that they would spend all that money. you know, they could have flown him back on that empty plane after they flew out the first lady. but the white house was asked about it, they finally responded yesterday and said that bo did not fly out with the first lady. >> they said that's not true. why would they do that? that doesn't make any sense. have him fly back for a photo op. come on, people. really? >> there were those stories out there that the neighbor who said yeah, i just saw the dog. >> listen, we know you probably --

>> didn't happen. >> you celebrate christmas and probably have christmas lights on your house or a glowing wreath, perhaps, or with steve, just a snowman because you love the frosty story. here's the deal, if you are lighting up your house right now. >> like these people. >> but if you are lighting up your house one year from today, expect a bill, perhaps, that could double or triple. why? because the e.p.a. is weighing in and they're so anti-coal. they're pro solar and wind. you know, we've graduated from windmills. they're not working and now maybe perhaps natural gas, they are now forcing states in order to comply to shut down as many as 72 coal powered plants in order to abide by the e.p.a.'s new ruling on clean air. >> somewhere. >> that's a lot of jobs by the way. >> absolutely. >> somewhere clark griswold is crying. the one bit of good news, if that does happen is that natural gas is plentiful and cheap. there's a lot of fluctuation in

the price of, you know, the price of delivery and stuff like that. but nonetheless, that could pick up the slack but still, we've been doing it this way for so long and now with the e.p.a. which is very concerned about going green, despite the fact that we do have clean coal, whatever that is, sounds like you're absolutely right. a year from now, we could see a big hike in our power bill. >> there's clean coal technology, we are the saudi arabia of coal. to give up an entire industry where people in society and towns have built their lives around, i think the -- if you're looking for a reason to vote or not vote for president obama, this in terms you don't want to get into the fighting of all this, this is substance. if this continues, president obama and the e.p.a. have a chance, this is going to continue, continue, continue. energy is going to go through the roof and we'll have a solyndra story after solyndra story because solar and wind is not ready for a country like ours. >> and it's hard to use solar in the middle of the night to run your christmas lights anyway. >> right. i woke up in the sky unless

you're in alaska where it's on for 24 hours. >> right. >> e-mail us, friends at foxnews.com. and if you just saw bo the dog somewhere, let us know, too. >> right, we'd like to find that out, too. >> please! >> just in time for christmas, a group of christian pilgrims completing a 2500 mile walk from switzerland all the way to jerusalem. leland vittert joined them for part of their incredible journey and joins us now from mount of olives in east jerusalem. hello there. >> good morning, guys. certainly a dedicated group of four pilgrims who have walked an awfully long way. they're going to be back here in the old city of jerusalem here just in the next hour or so. they will complete this incredible journey and we have some video we took earlier of them walking. they didn't walk on roads. a lot of times they were walking over and through the desert here in jerusalem. and through israel out from the dead sea and they originally came from amman about three or four days ago where they picked

up some 25 other swiss pilgrims to all complete this final part of the journey and they say it's a very spiritual journey and very old school journey in the way that they reached jerusalem. one hour a day walking silently in prayer as they tried to get in touch -- >> well, we're having a little problem with our satellite connection. >> you're right. >> maybe it just broke. >> we apologize for that. anyway, nonetheless -->> it's a great story and leland is an unbelievable reporter. >> very nice of you to say that. >> no problem. it wasn't his fault. >> i don't blame him. well, i'm going to look into it, though. >> you would blame the e.p.a. from what i heard a minute ago. >> ed henry off the other story, can you find out what happened to that? go ahead. >> let's do some headlines. he looked happy and healthy a few weeks ago, now john edwards, edwards is saying he is too sick to stand trial. he is asking a judge to delay his corruption trial because of

a mystery medical condition. the trial is supposed to start next month, by the way, the democrat is accused of using nearly a million dollars in campaign funds to cover up his affair with his mistress, rielle hunter. >> and there's the baby. >> i got the weiner story. disgraced congressman anthony weiner is at it again. we're talking about texting but not inappropriate. right after his son jordan was born, weiner sent out a message calling him 7 pounds, 8 ounces of sparkling wonder and ended it with this -- did i mention his mom is amazing? we love you for welcoming him. >> congratulations. >> it looks like best buy isn't such a good buy after all. the electronics giant now telling some customers it will not be able to fill their on-line orders by christmas. many of those orders reportedly placed as far back as thanksgiving. people were just waiting for the delivery. best buy says it simply ran out of stock on some of the most

popular items including big tv's and ipads. the retailer not saying how many customers are being left high and dry without their gifts this christmas. >> yikes! all right, he's a big movie star now but will smith using the holiday season to get back to his roots. as the fresh prince of bel air. >> ♪ now this is a story all about how my life got flipped turned upside down ♪ ♪ and i'd like to take a minute sit right there i'll tell you how i became a prince of a town called bel air. ♪ >> thousand things have changed. this is the fresh prince then and this is him now with the rest of his old tv family. they are posing for a reunion photo and this is on his facebook page. the gang reportedly came together for a charity luncheon. >> very nice. all grown up. >> they all look the same. >> we never watched that live but in syndication, it's probably one of the top hits for my family. >> mine, too. >> very likable. >> will smith, keep your eye on him. he's going to be big. >> hey, the indianapolis colts

playing themselves out of the andrew luck sweepstakes by winning two in a row. last night with peyton manning on the sidelines, the colts took on the houston texans who are suddenly struggling. tight game throughout but in the final minutes, connects with reggie wayne for a t.d. colts come from behind to win their second game in a row. the colts owner says if manning plays next year because of his neck injury, it will be in indianapolis. so if they draft andrew luck, he'll have to watch for a while. nba fans picking sides in the kim kardashian-kris humphries split, and who isn't? humphries just voted the most disliked player in the nba. not for his play but how his marriage broke up. they did a poll, gave humphries a big thumbs down. he did rejoin the nets, by the way. rounding out the top four most hated, lebron, kobe and tony parker who is french. and by the way, coming up on "kilmeade & friends" on the final edition before christmas, we'll have doug shoen, michael goodwin and bill schultz from

"red eye." >> i hate that guy! >> same with me. i do not like him at all. >> ok. and also i'd just like to say this, we added a station in arizona, knki over in sholo, arizona. >> fantastical. talking about bo the dog going out to hawaii. i just noticed on the e-mail machine, we have a lot of people who say that hawaii has a 30 day quarantine for any animals brought into the state. do you think they would actually quarantine the first dog? >> i don't think so. >> i don't think so either. >> i'm guessing. >> even though everybody else does. >> the winner of the first season of "the x factor" is -- >> melanie amaro! >> we're going to talk to melanie after the break. plus hillary clinton vs. joe biden. is v.p. switchup what president obama needs to stay in the white house? >> man, are they staying close to each other? >> we have doug wilder to weigh in on that. >> you'll be surprised what he

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[ daniel ] my name is daniel northcutt. [ jennifer ] and'm jennifer nohcutt. opening a restaurant is utterly terrifying. we lost well over half of our funding when everything took a big dip. i don't think anyone would open up a restaurant if they knew what that moment is like. ♪ day 1, everything happened at once. ♪ i don't know how long that day was. we went home and let it sink in what we had just done. [ laughs ] ♪ word of mouth is everything, and word of mouth today is online. it all goes back to the mom and pop business founded within a family. ♪ when i found out i was pregnant, daniel was working on our second location. everyone will find out soon enough i think that something's happening. ♪ ♪

>> quick headlines now. the terrorist group wants to finish what usama bin laden started. they say they're dedicated to fighting egypt's new regime as well as jews and americans worldwide and casey anthony in more legal trouble. she's being sued by roy kronk, the meter reader that discovered caylee anthony's remains. he says anthony's lawyers defamed him saying he moved the

remains to collect reward money. >> all right. we're going to switch things up to a very happy subject. season one of "the x factor" finale ended with a big bang last night. crowning its first winner. >> melanie amaro! melanie, you've just won a $5 million contract and you will star in a pepsi commercial. >> fantastic. there he is hugging her mentor, simon cowell who seemed to be elated. melanie has it sunk in yet? congratulations. >> congratulations. >> thank you. thank you so much. i appreciate that. >> well, how does it feel? i know they were trying to get something out of you. you were so overwhelmed. you're just 19 years old from down there in sunshine florida. how does it feel today to win -- >> sunrise, florida. >> thank you very much. with a $5 million recording contract and now a bright future.

>> it feels amazing. i feel as though i'm in a dream right now. and i'm drifting on a cloud. it's so surreal right now. at this moment, i'm just so grateful and so thankful to be here. i am so, so very humble and i'm so happy that i have come from such a low place to now at an all time high and i'm happy. >> we've seen what happened to winners of other shows and just the fame and fortune and success that they've all -- a lot of them have achieved. you were -- on wednesday night, you sang "i believe i can fly" from r. kelly and "listen" by beyonce and the crowd was chanting with you. did you get a sense at that point there's something really, really different here going on? did you feel like you were -- you had it? >> i felt as though i really had just given my heart on to the people. i felt as though i had given everything i had to america and to the crowd. at that point, i just felt as

they i had made peace with everything. you know what i mean? >> two things stood out for me last night during this and the difference between "american idol" and "the voice" and you guys is they played -- they showed you, you know, we didn't know who was going to win yet and they interviewed all these people in your lives from your grandmother, mom and everybody was there and that was almost more emotional it seems to me than even winning. did you know anything about that? >> no. that was so surprising to be able to see all my friends and family on the screen and see my grandmother and everybody that supported me and to know that i had support behind me was amazing. i was so emotional. i haven't seen my grandmother in a very long time. >> what a story. 100,000 people auditioned for this show. you, the big winner and your story shows that persistence pays. is it true that you waited 27

hours to audition in coral gables and you were the second to the last person? >> correct. that is correct! >> and finally, simon cowell is your mentor. what did he mean? how did he coach you and bring you this title? >> simon cowell was amazing! he's an amazing mentor and he was just like amazing person in general. he was the person that was helping me shoot songs, that was telling me different things like if he didn't approve of different things that happened with my music or -- he'd have it and say i don't think this works. but he was really, he was really supportive. >> he's the best in the business and you are the best on "the x factor." congratulations. we look forward to watching your career. >> thank you very much. >> we hope to see you in the studio. >> thank you very much. i appreciate that. >> come visit us. >> yes. >> great. congratulations. >> i will definitely do that. >> thank you so much. >> all right, straight ahead, lose joe biden and add hillary

clinton to the ticket. our next guest, a democrat, a prominent one in that says that's exactly what president obama needs to do now! >> first on this day in history 2001, nickelback had the number one song "how you remind me." [ male announcer ] what can you do with plain white rice? when you pour chunky beef with country vegetables soup over it... you can do dinner. four minutes, around four bucks. campbels chunky. it's amazing what soup can do. laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done.

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>> answer to the trivia question of the day -- roll the videotape. >> oh, boy. >> susan lucci and the winner, that's patty walker. this is when we were dating in the 1980's. >> you and susan lucci. not patty. >> yeah. good job, pattiment -- patty. you win. you're over in florida. ok, enough. >> can never get enough of that. >> joe biden has been known to make a gaffe or two and this week, the vice president said the taliban is not our enemy per

se and that, of course not the first time he's had a slip of the tongue. >> some are calling on president obama to drop joe biden from his ticket including our next guest. doug wilder is the former governor of virginia and joins us right now. governor, why now do you believe president obama is better off with a different number two? >> well, you know, i wrote about this in august of 2010, over a year ago, that it would be good for the president to consider the reasons for his number two on the ticket should be someone else. i have reiterated that and the reason i did aren't political and i can tell you the responses have been amazing. the numbers of people who think that same thing but who don't say it is very impressive and many of them don't say it because they don't want to be considered not supportive of the president. and yet, they know that this campaign that they're conducting doesn't have the enthusiasm, doesn't have the sizzle and this yes, we can and hope and change,

just doesn't seem to be the case particularly if you're talking about a president he wants to prepare for leadership for the future. hillary clinton has done an excellent job as secretary of state. >> sure. >> and made no gaffes, has done well and i would be very surprised if she continues as secretary of state. i don't see how it would be in her better interest. >> governor, do you see the president of the united states getting re-elected with joe biden at his side? >> it's going to be tough. it's going to be a tough election period. and i think it will be a mistake for people to believe that because the republicans are having their candidate of the month contest in terms of being frontrunner, that's a mistake. they will eventually coalesce and the president then is going to have to run on a record. and that record is going to have to be one that brings those people who are there with enthusiasm and with great anxiety to believe that there's change. so that record is going to have to be spelled out.

can joe biden do it for them? i haven't seen that. >> governor, you're right that, you know, you were in korea and you know who was shooting at you. that was the enemy. >> yes, i do! >> and joe biden should not be telling our men and women who the enemy is, not the taliban because they're shooting at us. >> that got me. that really got me. >> obviously. >> people are saying that the chinese really are not your enemy. wait a minute. they're just helping the north koreaens! wait a minute, i know who is shooting at me and to tell our returning veterans that, you know, the taliban is not your enemy, he didn't mean that. well, you need to say what you mean rather than to have the media constantly interpret what you were trying to say. >> all right. the governor of the -- former governor of the great state of virginia, doug wilder, thank you very much, sir, for joining us from richmond and merry christmas to you. >> always good to be with you. very good. thank you. >> thank you, sir. >> thanks, governor. 4 minutes before the top of the hour. nancy pelosi used him to help guide economic policy on capitol hill. did you know he was also a

business partner who made her $100,000? isn't that a conflict of interest? we'll investigate. >> yeah. and while the mainstream media celebrates how america lost the war in iraq, you're about to hear from a guy who is honoring our veterans the right way. geraldo up next. you know, typical alarm clock. i am so glad to get rid of it. just to be able to wake up in the morning on your own. that's a big accomplishment to me. i don't know how much money i need. but i know that whatever i have that's what i'm going to live within. ♪ ♪

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>> juliet: good morning, everyone. it's friday, december 23. i'm juliet huddy. republicans giving president obama and democrats an early christmas gift a. two-month payroll tax extension. big vote expected today, but will it hurt the speaker? we'll talk about that. >> steve: while the main stream media celebrates how the americans lost the war in iraq, we'll hear from geraldo rivera with that story on this day before the day before christmas. >> brian: and get ready for an out of the world performance. there are no instruments. every sound comes from them. from their mouths. take it away.

♪ jingle bells, jingle bells ♪ ♪ jingle all the way ♪ oh, what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh ♪ ♪ jingle bells, jingle bells ♪ in a one horse open sleigh ♪ rocking around the christmas tree ♪ ♪ at the christmas party hop ♪ later we'll -- >> brian: whoever they are. >> juliet: they don't speak, by the way. we're going to talk to them. >> steve: very nice. [ applause ] you ever wonder what you would look like if you fell into a vat of liquid paper? >> brian: yeah. that's about it. liquid paper. they're making so many of those vats around here, it's so easy

to trip into them. >> steve: we're delighted you would join us on the day before the day before christmas and gretchen is off and juliet huddy joins us for the full three hours. >> brian: and in a moment, geraldo rivera. >> steve: he's in the on deck circle. >> juliet: we're going to do some headlines real quick and talk to geraldo. new video just in to fox news, from syria, where at least 30 people are dead, more than 100 injured after two bombs exploded at syrian security services bases in damascus. several soldiers are among the dead. no one has taken responsibility for these attack, but they are believed to be in retaliation for the government's crackdown on antigovernment protesters. you're look for a white christmas? you may get your wish, people. nearly half of the country is getting slammed right now with snow or ice at this hour. so let's check out some video from boulder, colorado. this is brand-new video. people seeing up to 30 inches of

snow. >> steve: let's ski. >> juliet: led head out to new mexico where folks there are seeing lots of -- look at that lousy weather. intense winds on top of that. you can bet the winter weather is wreaking havoc on holiday travel. i can't wait to find out how many flights are delayed in the new york area. but 100 flights were disrupted at the international airport there in denver yesterday. today you can expect delays at airports in new york, boston and albuquerque. probably more than that. wild weather also in south this morning. video out of alabama. small twister toppled a tree right on top of a house. in georgia, thunderstorms leaving a mess in and around the town of rome. at least two people injured by flying glass. the storm also damaged several buildings, knocked out power to nearly 20,000 homes. ten million dollars, that is how much money the state department is offering a up for the arrest of this guy.

he is an iranian fund-raiser for al-qaeda. investigators say he moves money, moves it through iran, pakistan and afghanistan. america's most wanted terrorist al-qaeda leader. there's a $25 million bounty on his head. those are your headlines. >> steve: all right. finally, a real deal on the payroll tax cut extension. maybe. the house voting on it later today, on the two-month extension which has already been approved by the senate. >> brian: peter doocy live from washington with the layest. hey, peter. >> hey, brian. the house and the senate are both expected to approve this extension of the payroll tax cut by unanimous consent, which means the entire body approves the o bill with no objections. there aren't expected to be objections in the senate. but the house could be a different story. one law maker told our capitol hill producer that he wanted to come back to dc just to object, but he couldn't find a flight and house gop aide tells us if

someone there objects, the bill dies for today and it would then cause four or $5 million taxpayer dollars, to bring everyone back and put the house in session for a day. the main beef a lot of house members have is that it's just two months. they think that's too short. but speaker boehner says after this, no more short-term deals. >> it's not always easy to too the right thing. but we believe that we came here to change the way this town does business and no more gimmicks, no more short-term this, short-term that. it's time to do solid policy and time to do it the right way. >> president obama thinks pressure from his twitter campaign helped -- helped democrats put the squeeze on the republicans. he tweeted, thanks to all those who shared $40 stories. today's victory is yours. keep making your voices heard. it makes all the difference. the white house has insisted

that the threat of losing $40 per biweekly paycheck would be enough to rally their base in favor of this short-term deal. that tweet represents a little bit of a digital victory lap by the president. back to you guys. >> steve: all right. thank you very much. the president's got time on his hands with his wife and kids in hawaii. geraldo rivera joins us right now. as you look at what happened with the house -- >> hi, juliet. nice to see you. >> brian: don't you see me in the shot? i'm right here. >> steve: this not particularly helpful for the republicans. >> well, i think that in a broader, if i can take a broader approach, takes zero political courage to be for a tax cut. i think that the brilliance of president obama was to time the tax cut just before christmas where the republicans look like the grinches if they stand in the way. i think ironically the only faction showing any courage were the tea party people because we're complaining con taintly

about how secretary of state trust fund is going broke, the payroll tax funds the trust fund, so we have this cut during the emergency to continue the cuts now really is very, very difficult to justify, i believe. and i have -- may i? >> juliet: very karl rovish. >> so you pay payroll tax on the first $800,000. 6.2%, you would be paying $6,696. with the 4.2%, reduced cut, you pay $4,536. it's a savings of 2160 bucks. that's the most, that's the highest paying and the most you could possibly save. but to me, whether or not this is okay for christmas time, that's one thing. but what really irks me about the payroll tax is why is it only that you pay on the first 108,000? why don't you pay on the first $108 million? in other words, the $108 million pays the same $4,536 in tax.

this is a rich people ripoff, payroll tax should fund social security. i think that this -- what you're seeing in washington now is absolute side show. they should have the courage to deal with payroll tax and make it solvent. >> brian: we'll have a copy of tho show. >> i will autograph this and give it to toys for tots. >> steve: can you imagine if somebody paid 6.2% on $108 million in their retirement, they would get a gigantic ed mcmahon like size check. >> i think that you should get what you pay into it. but more importantly, steve, i think you would have a fully funded, full throated social security trust fund, pension plan for all americans that we could rely on. why does warren buffet pay the same dollar amount as a principal of a school? >> brian: that's worthy debate. >> thank you very much. >> juliet: can we auction this

off? >> brian: toys for tots? i don't think some eight-year-old really wants geraldo's chart. i got to ask but iraq. you did great shows from kuwait, enjoyed it. gave us the up close feeling of what it was like to actually, to me, win the war and come back and hopefully they'll get the glory they deserve. >> i was honored to be in the last convoy out of iraq. >> brian: now tell me about the explosions you heard, over 60 died, hundreds wounded in a series of explosions that they said took two weeks to map out. >> i want to again make a division here between the performance of our armed forces over the last eight years and nine months and the way the war ended. because they did everything we asked of them. they were magnificent and i hope we have a big parade for them and we can talk about that and all the rest of it. but pretty clearly what this war was about, whether it was finding weapons of mass destruction, whether it was nation building, whether it was establishing a base, liberating, killing saddam hussein, getting

access to disloyal, it has been a failure. i'm sorry to say that, but iraq today is the same mess, maybe the top dog and the bottom dog have changed, but it's still the same sectarian violence. >> brian: we just left overnight. >> but it wasn't even a function because those coordinated raids, brian, happened all over baghdad. you could not have mounted that big an operation in the -- i think what you saw here was al-qaeda going to show us that the sectarian violence will come back anew and that everything we did, a trillion dollars -- >> brian: the counter to that is if you do not communicate with the prime minister, the deputy prime minister for over a year like this president, like the vice president, two phone calls. then decide you're not going to negotiate and pull out overnight and blame it on the lack of immunity for our troops, of course it's going to start!

we left in the middle. we left way too abruptly. all we need is 5 to 7,000 and good diplomatic skills. >> another ten years. another 20 years, another 100 years. at what point will iraq be able to stand on its own two feet? remember what's happening here, you have prime minister maliki a shiite, who issued an arrest warrant for the highest ranking sunni. give may break. if you're going to arrest your vice president because he's the other religion, what hope -- >> brian: they wouldn't have done that if bush was president. >> steve: i got a feeling you won't agree on that. but you may agree on this. >> steve: two new york city council members say we should have a parade for the heros who fought -- >> magnificent idea. i would love to be part of that. i would be honored. i think these guys should be applauded. >> juliet: what is the distance --

>> or occupy wall street on the other side. i think people will object. the vast majority of americans would be jumping over each other to show our gratitude to this magnificent force because the one thing we did accomplish in iraq was to hone the most formidable fighting machine in the history of the modern world. my point now is, and i hope -- i think ron paul is right about this and you can call him kookie all you want, but just because you have the best fighting force doesn't mean you have to constantly try them out. give them a break. they've been at war for ten years. let's take a deep breath about the next foreign involvement we'll get engaged in. let's settle things here first. i think this talk of building up the military right now, i think -- >> brian: we want to take back puerto rico. >> steve: if they had 35 a parade, it would be great to see george w. bush and the current president leading the pack. >> from steve's lips to their

ears, i would love to see republican, democrat, left, right, together. we're not red, we're not blue. we're red, white and blue. let's stand with the troops and show our gratitude and make sure we work hard to get jobs for the people, the veterans coming back, getting vocational training. the nation should be grateful for all they have endured, whether or not you can argue politically whether it was worth it or n. that's different argument. >> juliet: we should be playing "god bless america" under that. >> steve: merry christmas, geraldo rivera. >> thank you very much. >> juliet: 'tis the season to get sued. that's right. but have no fear, legal analyst peter johnson, jr. is here with a giant snow bird.

>> steve: nancy pelosi told folks on capitol hill that he was her economic expert but failed to say he was also a business partner who made her 100,000 bucks. isn't that a conflict of interest? the investigation comes up next [ male announcer ] who fills their holidays with sawdust? ♪ with quarter inch holes and blueprints for the coming year? those of us with doers on our lists. and because it's always better to give than to guess, we can take these last few days of shopping and our holiday budgets a lot further. ♪ more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. there's still time to give a new project or two. pick up your home depot gift cards onliner instore.

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quote, expert to congress to testify on how to get the economy moving again. what she didn't tell anyone was the so-called expert was also her husband's business partner and her son's boss. what's more, it's 100% legal. joining us right now is peter shah rightser. he wrote a book. this is not a surprise to you. but was it when you started looking at some of these parallels and researching the book? >> yes, it was. because this idea of, in this case, a clear conflict of interest and not full disclosure, if you were to do this in a corporate environment or executive branch, you'd have huge ethical problems. here is the deal, william hambrick helped really make the pelosis rich over the years. he's given them access to a number of very highly sought after ipos that doubled or tripled in value in the course of the day. he gave them access to real estate deals that made them rich. and not only has she had him come and talk as an economic

expert, she actually arranged when she was speaker of the house to have him testify in front of the house financial services committee and barney frank, when he started those hearings said, he's here and we're here because nancy pelosi think this is is a good idea. so he's gotten access because he's helped the pelosis become very wealthy and it's never been disclosed publicly by her. >> brian: right. so peter, do you say that she's gotten $2 million from hambrick for democratic campaigns, so it's really helping her and trying to keep the house. didn't work. but this is the fourth time, they've had four meetings since 2007 in which he's played a role. >> yeah, that's exactly right. and by the way, he's not coming this and just talking about the general economy. when he went to the house financial services committee, he was lobbying very hard to get something called schedule a as part of a securities and exchange commission's laws on ipos. right now if do you an ipo or initial public offering of stock, it's $5 million and after

that amount, you have to fill out all this paperwork. he want that had raised to $30 million and of course, that range is exactly the area that he specializes in. so this was not him just being a grand old man. this was him pushing an agenda that would favor his business and the pelosis. >> brian: thanks to your book, there is a movement in congress to change all that. put things in a blind trust called the stock act. if it was in play, would this have been allowed? >> yes, it would have, unfortunately. i mean, the reform movements right now on capitol hill are a great idea, but they don't go far enough in dealing with the conflict of interest. you have the stock act, which would make insider trading illegal. you have the restrict act, which requires either a blind trust or a disclosure of financial transactions. but you have got all these sorts of interlinking relationships between members of congress and business partners and those need to be disclosed. you would have to do that at your job. i would have to do that at my job. why don't members of congress have to do that? >> brian: exactly. by the way, your book is a quick

read and people truly love it. congratulations on selling so many. have a great christmas. >> thanks. merry christmas to you. thank you. >> brian: straight ahead, celebratory shirts no longer allowed at one school because they hurt other students' feelings. a good idea or another example of whoseification of america. this is the season to get sued? that's right. have no fear. peter johnson, jr. is here with what you need to know. get your head out of the snow blower! okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle --

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>> brian: quick headlines. thousands of grave markers at arlington national cemetery may have to be added or replaced. army review found discrepancies between head stones and cemetery paperwork on almost 64,000 graves. that's one in four. the mistakes include misspelled names and wrong military ranks. forget london, there is a werewolf in london. a hybrid was found roaming the streets there. she was wearing a collar and officials say she was likely kept as a pet. wolf dog. >> steve: perfect gift. 'tis the season to be jolly, but be careful because you could get sued, so says this guy right here next to me. america's lawyer, peter johnson, jr. >> thank you. we don't want grandma getting run over by a reindeer or this snowplow which is safe, unless you put your hands in it. 1,000 people lose their fingers every year based on this --

>> steve: 1,000? >> shut it off, move the spark plug. don't put your hand in there. use a stick. >> steve: if it gets stuck? >> shut it off. pull the spark plug and shut it down. then clear it. great thing. 40,000 fall has year. slip and falls, ice and snow. so you have folks coming to the house for parties. clear the sidewalks, clear the walkways. clear the driveway. don't have your friends and family falling down and becoming your enemy with a lawsuit later. let's move to the tree. >> steve: as we move to the tree, let me just ask you this question: what if the snow or ice just formed you and didn't have time to go out and treat it? >> then you'll be immune from liability as a result of a blizzard or something like that. but eight hours later, you better try and get it cleared. at the same time, don't get a heart attack in doing it. christmas tree. my favorite thing. a dozen death has year.

more deaths. >> steve: from a christmas tree? >> yes. thousands of injuries as a result of maybe the 12,000 injuries a year as a result of holiday decorations. so christmas vacation is sometimes true. be careful with the lights. be careful with the decorations. be careful with the ladders. make sure it's safe. make sure somebody is holding it and at the same time, make sure you get the proper insurance in place. absolutely critical. let's move to the eggnog. low fat eggnog. merry christmas to you, steve. >> steve: thank you very much. i hate eggnog. >> what's the problem with eggnog, especially with the liquor? the problem is that christmas and new year is the most dangerous time of the year for drunk driving. 40% of the fatalities on the road are from drunk driving. so cut the liquor off early. be careful of social host liability, meaning you're throwing a party, you could be on the hook if the person that you let leave the home that you

got drunk at your house goes out and hurts somebody on the road. >> steve: what if they didn't look drunk when they left the house? >> cut them off early. send them home in a cab. let them sack out on the couch, get up early and they can get to mass early and it will be fantastic. you'll havav better friendship. >> steve: what about a holiday party for a company or something like that? >> holiday party, got to be careful. make sure you have the right insurance. guy, you got to behave at the holiday party. >> steve: stay away from the xerox machine. >> watch out for tweets and texts. just try not to drink too much. do it the way 2003 it in our -- do it in our law firm. have the family present, have the wife, the children, have the husbands, have the friends. make it a wonderful, wonderful event. so there is no more important time of the year, i believe, than christmas and now hanukkah this week. but let's be safe rather than sorry. let's have the right insurance and let's act like the great americans that we are. is that right?

let's be safe! [ cheers and applause ] >> steve: let's hear it for safety, folks! peter johnson, jr., america's lawyer, we thank you very much. >> merry christmas. >> steve: merry christmas, ho, ho, ho. hold the eggnog. juliet and brian, in to you. >> brian: thanks. in the middle of a segment, peter took a sip. which is kind of odd when you ask a question. still ahead? >> juliet: thank you. mitt romney just snagged the support of this former president on the left there. but there are some big name endorsements still up for grabs. we'll tell which you one we think is the real hot endorsement ticket. >> brian: leave your christmas lights on longer this year. 'cause next year it will cost you more to deck the halls and you can thank the government for that. i'm angry just reading that. i can imagine what you're thinking i take an omega for my heart.

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>> christmas is almost here, you gu. [ cheers and applause ] >> this is nice. yesterday president obama bought about $200 worth of christmas presents at best buy. then it got awkward when he asked the geek squad if they would fix the economy. >> brian: best buy telling some customers it will not be able to fill their on-line orders by the holiday weekend. can you imagine that? >> juliet: it's like the big items, like the hot sellers. >> brian: for example, someplaced them as far back as thanksgiving. they ran out of televisions and ipads. >> juliet: so they're not really saying who is going to be affected, but if you don't get your ipad, don't be upset.

>> brian: this is embarrassing for me because again, i ordered a flat screen for you. it was 60 inches from best buy. i did it right after halloween and again, i'm out of luck. >> steve: so i'm not going to get it? >> brian: it's going to be late. >> steve: i don't want snow tires like last year. >> brian: i'm thinking about canceling it and getting you a gift certificate to deny's. >> steve: we've got folks here from all over and you did almost all your shopping on-line. right? >> virtually. >> steve: can you imagine if you ordered something and it wouldn't be there in time? >> i would not have been happy. our kids wouldn't have been happy either. >> steve: really. you guys are from atlanta. you're staying here in new york. how does it work? does santa come to your hotel tomorrow night? >> got my fingers crossed. but there is no fireplace in the room. i'm a little worried. >> steve: he has ways. you don't always need a fireplace. >> okay. >> steve: anybody else do -- anybody else want to talk about how -- come here, young man. what's your name? >> tucker. >> steve: can you imagine if a loved one were to get you something great, like from best

buy, and because they didn't have enough there at the north pole, or somewhere else, you weren't going to get it before christmas? >> i'd probably be a little sad. >> steve: a little sad. >> yeah. >> steve: just a little sad? pouty. wouldn't you go on your facebook and complain? >> no. >> steve: santa could be watching right now. what do you want for christmas? this is not that hard. what does he want for christmas? >> probably an ipad or new phone or something. >> steve: oh, very good. is that news to you? >> probably because his christmas present was a trip to new york city. >> steve: oh, that's why you're taking a moment because this is your gift and how is it paying out so far? >> awesome. >> steve: that's good. you knee will make it even better? that guy from atlanta will go over and buy you a bagel at that

stand right there. >> they're only 4.99. >> steve: they're only five bucks. merry christmas to awful you. >> merry christmas to you. >> steve: welcome to new york. those are not real rolexs on that corner. all right. let's take a look at the weather. on this day before the day before christmas, as you can see, we have a little bit of precipitation lingering through portions of the northeast. we had a big storm go through the last 18 hours. a little snow in the northern plains and action in portions of new mexico. next map shows you the current readings as you head out the door on this next to last day that you can go shopping. it's bitterly cold out in montana. they got 10, about the same for provo, utah and boulder, colorado. 25 now in minneapolis. less than two dozen in kansas city. it gets warmer in the mid atlantic, through portions of florida. next map shows you the high temperatures for this 23rd day of december. eventually 48 in new york. they'll have 20 shy of that up

in caribou, maine. it will feel a lot like winter and it is, by the way, as you can see in the northern plains, through the central plains, if you are in tampa today, your high will be 80 degrees. that's a look at your fox travel cast from the streets of new york city. juliet, brian, back to you. >> juliet: thank you very much, steven. >> brian: let's get in here. now to your headlines. another developing story that we continue to develop with you. let's look at cairo, egypt, where you are seeing thousands of thousands of people rallying in tahrir square. they're protesting against the violence against protesters by the military. they're especially outraged by female -- over female protesters were being dragged by their hair, stripped and beaten and kicked by troops. it was an all female rally, which was staggering to see in egypt earlier this week. so far, from a restful christmas season in egypt. >> juliet: that's for sure. the party is over. more than 2 1/2 million voters left the democratic and

republican party since 2008. most of them going independent. brand-new analysis in today's usa today found registered democrats declined in 25 of the 28 states that register voters by party. republicans dropped in 21 states. as for the indies, they gained in 18 states. the trend impacting the swing states where democrats lost 800,000 registered voters. republicans, about 350,000. >> brian: remember george bailey from "it's a wonderful life." >> how much do you want? >> it's your own money. >> i don't mind about that. how much do you want? >> i can get along with $20. >> fine. >> i'll sign the paper. >> you don't have to sign anything. you pay it when you can. that's okay. >> brian: the time when banks are being vilified, one ceo is being praised as a real life george bailey helping his customers out in hard times. ceo of webster bank, jim smith, told us about it earlier on "fox & friends." >> my dad founded the bank in 1935 to help people buy and build their homes and there we

were in 2008 and clearly something was happening and it turned out to be not only a financial crisis, but an economic down turn and we decided that we should put a moratorium on any kind of foreclosures until we worked out a loan modification program. >> brian: wow. how great was that? the program kept more than 1200 families in their homes. their goal was to keep them in. steve, take a seat. >> juliet: you can take your trench coat off there. >> steve: i might have to go outside again. >> brian: your pro-trench. you don't want to take that on and off. >> steve: you know what i look like? a spy. you know who used to run the c.i.a.? george herbert walker bush. >> juliet: what a wonderful segueway. >> brian: you can never beat that, ever. >> steve: george herbert walker president, president 41, informally endorsed mitt romney. here is what he told the "houston chronicle." i think romney is the best choice for us. he also said he's not a bomb thrower. >> juliet: that's not a formal endorsement, according to his

people. it's an unofficial endorsement. >> brian: it means a lot because he's doing it from texas and the governor of texas just has no momentum. that's according to the former president. and doesn't really seem to be getting any traction. so he's going to go somewhere else. i strongly believe that my sources are correct in saying that there was no love lost between 41 or 43 for the governor of texas right now. >> steve: meanwhile, 41 will indeed officially endorse, and that probably will be forth coming eventually, who else? there is a picture from earlier this month, december 1 -- >> brian: could i add one thing? mitt romney said if jeb bush, he has so much respect for the bushes, if jeb bush said he will run, he would not run. he said he would have supported jeb bush. >> steve: who are some of the other big prominent republicans who people are waiting to find out who they endorse? well, there would be, as you look from left to right, you got the speaker of the house. you got the house senate

minority leader, huckabee, jon stewart mccain, former governor, sarah palin, herman cain, joe lieberman, and who will donald trump endorse? >> juliet: who do you think the hottest endorsement of that panel would be? >> steve: sarah palin. >> juliet: why is that? >> steve: she has a lot of people who look to her. >> juliet: she's got people. >> brian: you know with is not on there? jim demint. i think he can mobilize people like nobody else, especially the tea party. if it's mitt romney, he needs someone in the tea party. >> steve: let me amend this. if i wind up seeing mike huckabee in the hall, 'cause he works here, he's really -- >> juliet: very nice. >> brian: one more thing. when donald trump calls on monday. >> steve: he's right there, too. coming up, day after tomorrow is christmas. do you have your house decorated with christmas lights? millions of americans do.

next year come christmas time, it could cost you a lot more to plug in those lights ala clark griswold because it sounds like the epa is cracking down on coal and coal is how a lot of americans get their juice. >> juliet: they have a new rule now in these coal factories so in like 72 of these factories will be closing down. obviously there will be a lot of people unemployed as well. >> brian: because you got to bring the energy for a longer distance and these plants will be farther away. it will cost more to bring electricity into people's homes and they got to look to do it with natural gas and wind and solar. >> steve: good luck with that stuff. >> brian: it's not ready. for the epa to do this, fine in theory. but in real life, america can't be lit by wind mills and solar panels right now. so you're going to really hurt some communities and some people that you're so concerned about because remember how hard you worked to get them another $1,000? you're taking it right away come christmas time if you want your blowup santa.

>> steve: who doesn't? >> brian: i'm a little outraged. >> steve: you're talking -- >> brian: america likes coal! we have a lot of it. we found a way to make it clean. let's use it. >> steve: the same thing for natural gas. it's plentiful. >> brian: i also think the giants will beat the jets. thank you very much. >> juliet: stand back. (buzzer sound). >> steve: i thought he was going to take a run at you. >> juliet: there is a story coming up. this is so bizarre. i'm going to keep my mouth shut on this one. i want to you make your decision and your opinions. leave your celebratory shirts at home, kids. there is a school and it says you can not wear them because it makes the other children feel left out. we're going to explain this. some kids get the shirts and go to a party and come to the school the next day. other students were not invited, so they feel left out. >> steve: is that part of the whole woosification of america? >> juliet: we'll debate it.

>> steve: who needs instruments? they make music with their mouths. they're live in our studio on this day before the day before christmas. >> brian: dave briggs makes noise with his mouth. >> i make a lot of noise. steve, is that the executive from jerry seinfeld's dad? >> brian: that's true, yes. >> got that from kramer. time to get an endorsement. coming up this weekend, we know your christmas traditions starts with us, as the candidates gear up for iowa, karl rove pinpointed a major weakness in president obama's strategy. he'll explain how the gop can win. plus, linking up troops with their families this christmas. we'll tell but a free service that's making it very, very happy holiday season for our brave soldiers. and it's been a christmas tradition for more than 50 years. norad helping kids track santa's flight from the north pole. we'll be live at the command center to find out how they do it. that's all coming up this weekend starting at 6:00 a.m.

eastern time. you can also track norad on your iphones, kids. we'll see you at 6:00 o'clock i habe a cohd. yeah, i toog nyguil bud i'm stild stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! that's the cold truth!

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>> juliet: welcome back. schools in newton, massachusetts telling students to leave celebratory clothing at home because it makes others feel left out. is this a good idea? joining me right now for a fair and balanced debate, family therapist dr. katherine, and psychologist dr. robert epstein. thank you for joining us today. so basically let's just give you the definition. celebratory clothing is essentially accessories or clothes given out at birthday parties or other celebrations. kids wear them to class on monday. it makes kids in some people's

opinion, the ones who don't have them, makes them feel left out. shear a quote from oak hill school council to the parents. as educators, we are concerned about the unintentional messages that are conveyed when groups of students wear the same celebratory clothing from weekend visits. in order to reinforce practices that are inclusion. we respectfully ask that your children refrain from wearing clothe to go children that identify has weekend celebration marked with a student's name. let's get your reaction on this. >> we have reached a moment in time where schools are forced to take a position on bullying. this is just a continuum of bullying. this is a precursor toward bullying and i believe that bravo to this school for taking a stand. it's about time that we leveled the playing field as we can. there is so little that we can control about our kids and so little that we can control about things that happen on the internet and facebook and

bullying is becoming a serious problem and just another form of it. >> juliet: i remember on valentine's day when i was a kid, some of the kids would give the cards out. some didn't get them. that was life back then. we didn't call that bullying. we called it life. mr. epstein, your opinion on this? >> i think it's outrageous. there is a teaching opportunity here and the real teaching opportunity is to teach tolerance of what other people wear and even tolerance for other people's success because again that, is life, as you said. that's the real teaching opportunity. it's really being lost here. instead of just exercising more control over what children wear and really interfering even with parents and the rights of parents to determine what children wear. >> juliet: dr. smerly? >> i don't think this is true. i believe there is so little we can control and there is so

little we know about what happens on the internet and what happens on facebook, i think as much as we can control, we need, as adults, as grownups, we need to take control. we need to make sure that kids at least -- that we're teaching them this is a level playing field. that school is a place for us to learn, that school is a place for to us socialize. not to exclude and not to include. >> juliet: dealing with life, though, life isn't fair sometimes, is it? >> life isn't fair, but we grow up and we learn how to take care of it. >> juliet: got to wrap it up. i'm sorry to cut you off. sorry, mr. epstein, for not giving you the last word on this. got to wrap. coming up next, an out of this world performance from the voca people. but first, let's check in with gregg jarrett for what's coming up at the top of the hour. hi, gregg. >> hey. it looks like the political stand-off over the payroll tax cut about to come to an end and

politically, there are winners and losers. we'll talk with two congressmen from opposing parties about that. plus, there may be some good news right before christmas. there is word the fed may keep your interest rates low. so you may save some money there and what to do about medicare. we have solutions. >> there was a little bit of trepidation. not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be because this is know. working, working, working, and now you're how can you get back pain relief that lasts up to 16 hours? with thermacare heatwraps. thermacare works differently. it's the only wrap with patented heat cells that penetrate deep to relax, soothe, and unlock tight muscles for up to 16 hours of relief. that's 8 hours while you wear it,

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>> steve: welcome back. there are no instruments. every sound you're about to hear comes directly from these performers' mouths. >> juliet: they combine their unique singing with the art of beat box. >> brian: which i have yet to master. check out this christmas melody by the voca people. >> steve: hit it, folks. ♪ jingle bells, jingle bells ♪ ♪ jingle all the way ♪ oh, what fun it is to ride in a up with horse open sleigh ♪ ♪ jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way ♪

♪ oh, what fun it is to ride in a up with horse open sleigh ♪ ♪ hey ♪ rocking around the christmas tree ♪ ♪ at the christmas party hop ♪ later we'll have some pumpkin pie ♪ ♪ and we'll do some caroling ♪ sleigh bells ring ♪ are you listening ♪ in the lane ♪ snow is glistening ♪ a beautiful sight ♪ we're happy tonight ♪ walking in a winter wonderland ♪ ♪ walking in a winter wonderland ♪ ♪ oh, the weather outside is frightful ♪ ♪ by the fire is so delightful ♪ as long as you love me so

♪ let it snow ♪ let it snow ♪ let it snow ♪ when we finally kiss good night ♪ ♪ how i hate going out in the snow ♪ ♪ but if you really hold me tight ♪ ♪ all the way home i'll be warm warm ♪ ♪ very merry christmas ♪ jingle bells, jingle all the way ♪ ♪ oh, what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh ♪ ♪ jingle, jingle bells ♪ jingle all the way ♪ oh, what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh ♪ ♪ ho, ho, ho [ applause ] on every screen.

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and video chat with up to 9 of your friends with the galaxy nexus by samsung, or get the samsung stratosphere, and for a limited time, get twice the data for the same low price. verizon. >> steve: we just heard the voca people and you can see them off broadway here in new york city