>> dave: a long night. >> rick: and she wants to be sure he drives the sleigh safely home. >> dave: nice, merry christmas to all of you, thanks and thanks to kelly wright for filling in for clayton and ainsley for alisyn. a nice christmas, guys. >> merry christmas to you. [no audio]

[no audio] t treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! forty years ago, he wasn't worried about retirement.

he'd yet to hear of mutual funds, iras, or annuities. back then, he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement solutions for our military, veterans and their families. from investments... to life insurance... to health care options. learn more with our free usaa retirement guide. call 877-242-usaa.

>> eric: merry christmas, we'll try and start this again, santa and norad. >> jamie: he flies over and you get interference, messed up our audio, we are back. >> eric: merry christmas, on this wonderful day, straight to the vatican, as pope benedict xvi calls for a peace around the world. i am eric sean and this is america's news headquarter, for a special christmas sunday morning. >> jamie: i'm jamie colby, great to have you here, happy holidays, and merry christmas. the pope focused on the middle east in his traditional christmas day message today.

hoping for an end to the bloodshed, specifically, in syria, also, asking for the resumption of israeli and palestinian peace talks. and our greg burke is still standing by, streaming live from rome. hi, greg, merry christmas. >> reporter: jamie, that's right. you know, merry christmas, the pope, basically making a major plea for peace as you say, especially, in the middle east. the land where christ himself was born and it is an incredible crowd this morning, in and around st. peter's square lake and a crowd from all over the world as he gave his christmas greeting in more than 60 languages, he starts with italian and ends with latin and, chinese and arabic and everything in between, and, as he wishes everyone a happy and healthy christmas and two main messages, today it was about peace, praying for an end to so many places where there is violence, but, also, praying for people and asking krifrjs chris

pray for people, involved in natural disasters and during this period it is important to be close to them and last night, his focus was on the real sense of christmas and saying, don't get caught up in the glitter of all of the lights. essentially, a criticism of all of the commercialization of christmas and he says, you know, you have to remember what this is really about, why it brings us joy and, finally, guys, he basically has been called the green pope, there is talk of him getting an electric "popemobile." we'll see about that and they have a beautiful christmas tree in st. peter's square, 100 feet tall and i wonder if sometime they'll go plastic. >> jamie: don't break to it me. they'll never do that, i hope. thanks, greg, great to see you in rome. >> eric: a "fox news alert." a deadly day of terrorism, apparently unfolding in west africa. on this christmas day. there has been a series of explosions, across nigeria.

targeting at least two churches, one catholic church was packed on christmas eve when a bomb went off inside it. there are reports more than two dozen people have been killed and we are getting details on who is claiming responsibility for the latest wave of attacks. and, islamic group, that want to impose sharia law, david lee miller live with the latest. david, what do we have? >> reporter: eric, a radical muslim group, which means, western education is sinful", is claiming responsibility for the christmas day attacks and, it occur at st. theresa's catholic church and, 25 bodies are recovered and, they are trying to assess how many are wounded and being treated at the hospital and they said there were not enough ambulances available to transport the injured and an angry crowd refused to allow rescue workers inside the church and a second explosion took place at another church located in the area

dividing nigeria's predominantly christian south and the muslim north and according to a spokesperson, they opened fire on police guarding the site. now, the group claiming to have orchestrated the attack wants to implement sharia, islamic law across nigeria, during the last year has claimed responsibility for a number of other attacks including one last month that killed more than 100 people and the group claims to have been behind the suicide car bombing of the u.n. headquarters that killed two dozen. and the vatican spokesman condemned the attack, saying and i quote, we are close to the suffering of the nigerian church and the entire niger people, so tried by terrorist violence when, in these days that should be of joy and piece and the embassy in nigeria issued a warning, telling americans to be vigilant around churches and places where foreigners congregate and some called for the state department to designate them a terrorist group. eric. >> eric: we'll have a lot more on the group, later on in our

broadcast. thanks. jamie. >> jamie: also, eric we are keeping a close eye on iranian war games, having a major impact on the price of oil. iran holding ten days of naval exercises in the straits of horm hormuz. and so much oil goes through there and an area where ships from the u.s. navy 5th fleet are active and the show of force including submarines, warships and missiles and torpedoes. joining me on the phone is john bolton, former u.n. ambassador to the united nations, fox news contributor, ambassador, good morning to you. >> good morning, merry christmas. >> jamie: merry christmas to you. you know how concerned i am about iran and these provocative acts. is this provocative? and do you believe that the u.s. and israel may have military options, potentially on the table. >> what the iranians are clearly

trying to do is show they would respond in some fashion or another if there were attacks against the nuclear program and one of the responses that people are most concerned about, would be an iranian effort to closes the vital straits of hormuz, through which so much of the world's oil is shipped. and, i think the exercise is -- has tended to demonstrate the iranian navy is prepared for the eventuality, if they are different the order. on the other hand, so people understand, our navy would be prepared to break that blockade, almost immediately, but, nonetheless it shows, as you rightly say, that it indicates the heightened tension over iran's nuclear weapons program. >> jamie: i'm curious about your feeling about the timing of this. of these war games. and, also, does it not -- the sanctions, i mean, three sets of sanctions, at least. does it not violate those? >> well, the iranians have been under sanctions, now, for over five years, from the u.n., and, for -- since 1979, by the united

states, after they captured our embassy and took many of its people hostage. but, i think this is a reflection of the fact that there has been a lot more talk recently about the possibility of military action against the iranian nuclear weapons program. the sanctions, the sanctions themselves cover imports, into iran, but i think the iranians are also showing the sanctions have not had that much effect. >> jamie: let me switch gears for a second and ask you about russia, and the fact that the protesters there are showing up in huge numbers, and they want new elections, and they want putin to step aside. >> the last round of election, it was clear there was massive stealing of votes, by putin's party and on the other hand, the pro-democracy party didn't do all that well in the election, we'll see what happens. at this point, putin still looks

to minute the march presidential election, and there is no one figure who comes even close to opposing him. but, you know, if you see these demonstrations continue and grow and spread to other russian cities, that could change things. >> jamie: mikhail gorbachev letting his opinion unknown on the topic. >> he said to putin, you should step down like i did, but he stepped down because the soviet union broke up around him and he didn't necessarily step aside willingly but it is a very, very interesting comments from gorbachev, who people remember, tried to bring openness and restructuring to the soviet union. and, led to the collapse of the soviet union itself and i think a warning to putin that a return to the old ways is not something that a lot of russians are going to just take passively and i think that is what the

demonstrations show as well. >> jamie: coming out in the tens of thousands, ambassador john bolton, thanks so much. have a great day. >> great day to you, too. >> eric: and we're counting down to the iowa caucuses, nine days left before the first in the nation nominating contest january 3rd. the real clear politics average, look at this: congressman ron paul leading with rivals mitt romney and newt gingrich, following close behind. what does it mean and, who could win? susan estrich is a professor of law and political science at usc and a fox news contributor. susan, great to see you. you're in new york, usually... >> good to see you, merry christmas to both of you and all of our viewers. >> is ron paul going to get a late christmas present? what does it mean if he pulls it off. >> sometimes, air rake, iowas is more notable for who loses, than who wins, if ron paul wins iowa, which he might, my friends in washington at 1600 will be

rejoicing. but, i just don't see him going all the way. iowa, this year, may really be about newt gingrich. and, if he finishes third in iowa coupled with the business in virginia and not getting on the ballot, it is a big blow to the guy who, a month ago looked like the front-runner. >> eric: it has been unbelievable, up and down and gingrich was the flavor of the month a week ago and now, as you say, did not get enough petitions to get on the ballot in virginia. you say if he is number 3. >> if he is number 3 he's in trouble. very tough. because he goes to new hampshire then, not a great state for him and, you know, the worst thing in politics is to be going down, not up. and so i think -- virginia, also, you only needed 10,000 signatures, it was not a huge hurdle and it suggests his organization on the ground is lacking. and, iowa is all about organization, so, you know, my view is, it will be good for mitt romney, whether he comes in first or second. and, if he goes to third, then

he has trouble. >> eric: what about iowa, the organization, you also have a lot of people fired up, mike huckabee took it last time. >> right. >> eric: the ron paul supporters are so fervent and full of passion, could it make up for the lack of organization? >> it could. but, remember, mike huckabee is now with us. not in the white house. and, there are certain candidates who it is hard for anybody to see, going all the way. and, when you look at ron paul, if he wins iowa, the media will come down on him with a microscope, frankly how they did with gingrich and here's a guy who opposes the war on drugs and has problems with the civil rights act and, it is easy for democrats to paint as an extremist and i think, as enthusiastic as his supporters are, in the long run conservatives want to win serving but he seems to tap into a libertarian feeling that is very strong. >> yes. >> the nuclear program, at the

debate, called it hooey. >> i know and every time he does that, i smile and think to myself, boy, would democrats like to run against this guy. but, i just think, you know, gingrich is the howard dean of the race, ron paul might be the mike huckabee, history teaches us everything if we can figure out which prior election to look at. and, i just don't see -- paul could win iowa, no question. iowa sometimes goes for a favorite candidate, the caucuses are dominant, and a few weeks later, the person like huckabee starts to fall and it is gingrich that i keep on eye on. >> eric: talk about the petitions for a second. indiana, there is a fraud in the -- alleged fraud, in 2008. what is it about what goes on behind the scenes and the smoke-filled rooms where newt

gingrich, can't get enough petitions to get on the ballot and perry, too. what does it say about the mechanism, the political system, when you run? >> i used to be on the ballot law commission and no question there can be phony baloney but at the same time, 10,000 signatures, and virginia is his home state. i mean, the fact that neither he nor perry could put it together on the ground to put those people outside the supermarket where they hand you the thing and say, would you sign this, really it is about organization and not back room politics. i haven't heard any challenges at the virginia republican party, for any reason, set about to exclude these people from ballot and frankly it is a better contest for them with everyone on the ballot. my friend karl rove said, you know, the person who is in charge of virginia should now be in charge of the coffee. but i'm not sure they can even get the coffee right, given what happened in virginia.

>> eric: does it show behind-the-scenes, something we don't pay attention to, the organization, the structure, the nonglamorous work, that you have to get out there and go to the mall and get the signatures, it is not all the you know -- >> not all glitz an glamour. and debates are important and ads are important. but, i remember to go to another election, gary hart got a lot of momentum out of iowa and finished first in front of mondale but as the process went on, he didn't that he have organization and missed ballots in key states and it cost him the nomination. it is about both and frankly if you can't get 10,000 signatures, in virginia, how will you run the government bureaucracy? i think it is a fair test, not the only one, but a fair test. >> eric: nine days to go before they go into the caucus in iowa. we'll see what happens. exciting. susan estrich. good to see you in person. >> jamie: nice have you here. >> wonderful to be with you guys. my friends from the monitor.

>> jamie: true. you all should remember that fox news channel is america's election headquarters and you will want to join us for special coverage of the iowa caucuses, beginning tuesday, january 3rd at 6:00 p.m. eastern and this is only on fox news. serving and we talked about the investigation into those alleged fraudulent signatures in indiana. well, have you heard about what happened in south carolina? it has to do with the voter i.d. law there. the justice department says that it doesn't do enough to prevent discrimination, against minority voters, and they are challenging that. the law requires residents to show either a state-issued drivers license or i.d. card with the photograph. or potentially u.s. military identification. or, u.s. passport before they vote. so, what are north carolina's options when it comes to confirm people showing up at the polls are? really who they say they are? john fund is the senior editor of the american spectator and joins us now. john, merry christmas, good morning, thanks for coming in. so, the -- eric holder, justice

department challenging voter i.d. around the country and now targeted south carolina. do they have a case? >> it is bizarre. in '05, they cleared a similar law in georgia, and the law is tougher than south carolina and now are going back in the previous decision they made. i think this is because of a lot of pressure, from some civil rights groups and others, that simply have a burr under their salad about voter i.d. laws and frankly i think it is is misplaced, 85% of americans according to the polls favor photo i.d. laws for voting and you have to show one to board a plane or to cash a check and rent a video. i think this is not particularly controversial and as for minority voters being affected. the numbers the justice department depended upon from the state elections division said 240,000 voters on the rolls don't have an i.d. or lack sufficient identifications. but, guess what? it turns out, that we have new numbers from south carolina,

which show 207,000, the vast majority of the 240,000 people are -- don't have identifications because they are dead or move out of state or their registration lampsed. and is the solution of the justice department's refusal here in search of an answer. >> eric: critics, though, say voter i.d. and photo i.d. will lead to a suppression of the votes and claim it is a republican plot to try and lower the number of people who go to the polls to vote. >> we have examples of democrats around the country who disagree, and in rhode island they spas passed it with the sole sponsor, the biggest african-american senator, and, it is said to be a reasonable accommodation, regarding concerns about fraud which exists. i think if you look at georgia and indiana which have the

longest history of the photo i.d. laws, turnout keeps going up and nobody came forward and said i'm denied the right to vote because i don't have an i.d., the south carolina law, are ri eric, if you say say i don't have an i.d., you fill out an affidavit and you can vote and it is up to the election agency to find out why you couldn't. there is a way for people to vote even if there is not be a i.d. in south carolina but the justice department is not interested in that. >> eric: the south carolina governor called the decision by the justice department outrageous, and says it is a clearly political decision, in attacking it. what is your view on that? i mean, look, indiana has one of the first laws in the country and it was upheld by the supreme court that voter photo i.d. is legal and passed the supreme court test. >> look, if anyone doesn't have a photo i.d., get them one. all of these states, the i.d.s are free. get them into the hands of people, because you can't be part of the mainstream of life without one. look, the justice department requires an i.d. to enter the building in washington.

the justice department has a conference on racial discrimination, recently and they required an -- a photo i.d. in order to register for the conference an that are in contradiction of their own policies, i.d. is something you have to show in order that we know who you are. >> eric: it is quite an issue and will continue through 2012, as we know and, hopefully we'll see a lot more of you as we stay on the voter fraud beat. if you suspect voter or election fraud well, have our special voter fraud unit, voterfraud@fox news.com and, in next hour will discuss the scandal over the alleged signatures in indiana and the latest on the indiana secretary of state, a republican, who with the democrats was run out of office. >> jamie: your voter fraud... you have spent so much time -- >> eric: i read each and every e-mail. >> jamie: millions suffer from peanut allergies, if you do and

know someone who does, scientists say they are getting closureser to developing a cure and we have some of this year's other medical discoveries, you need to know. our fox news medical a-team in three minutes. we'll be right back. ♪ >> i'm with the 452nd expeditionary communications squadron, deployed to afghanistan, i'd like to say merry christmas to my wife, tonya and son joshua, in texas. happy holidays! ♪ [ 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.

>> jamie: you probably overstuffed yourself last night and maybe today, too. and this is a really important "sunday house call." we'll take a closer look at some of 2011's most significant medical breakthroughs, because we really want you to start the year off right and joining us to do that, dr. david samadi, chief of robotics at the mt. sinai medical center. >> eric: and dr. marc siegel at nyu's langone medical center and author of "the inner pulse, unlocking the secret code of sickness and health." good morning. >> jamie: the dynamic doctor duo. dr. samadi, there is a revolutionary break through in terms of the detection of breast cancer, the british, actually, say it uses special technology. tell us about that. >> a great break through for

patients with breast cancer. normally, we use mammogram, right now, to diagnose breast cancer. but, as you know, mammograms are challenging and difficult tests, because, you have to really press the breast tissue and it is painful and, emits radiation and there is some links to cancer as a result of prolonged use of mammograms, and it is also difficult to do this in younger women, because the tissue is very dense, now, there is a new technology, coming in the pipeline, which is going to be called maria, stands for a long term, but is basically based on the technology of anti-land mine explosives, these are nonmetallic explosives that they were using in the army and, now... >> jamie: you're kidding! >> with the radio wave, not radiation but radio wave technology that detects the hot spot on the best tissue and it's not painful, because the breast tissue will be in a ceramic cup

with radio wave scanners and within 8 seconds you get a three-dimensional view of where the tumor and the normal tissue is, it is safe, efficacious and is 80% accurate, as opposed to mammogram, 90% and the technology is five years away from coming into the market and by then, we'll have better computerized and -- >> jamie: let me ask you a question, doctor, because my friends and i joke the mammogram machine had to have been invented by a man. >> that's right. >> jamie: because it is a little painful. >> and this is another man who invented this, but it is very very, much more comfortable. it uses a ceramic cup and doesn't squeeze the breast and is much cheaper and it uses much less dangerous radiation. and actually looks -- literally scans the breast like scanning for a land mine but you look for blood and water and fluid in this case and as david said, the first study, looking at 200 women, showed that it was just as sensitive, 80 to 90% sensitive and i think it is promising and five years from

now we'll have this instead of mammograms. >> and i think what it is doing is opens up doors to many younger women, and even the age of 35 with a history or the gene of brca can use this technology and it is like opening a door. >> jamie: without worrying about radiation. can i ask you quickly, peanut allergy is next, a biggie, about ultrasound for breast detection, breast cancer. >> it is used for younger women and david said now, mri is also sensitive for the breast but we hope the technology may replace the need for ultrasound in younger women. >> mri, so you know, is used for high risk breast cancer, what we use for prostate cancer and for breast cancer, and for high risk, mri, works well and is an expensive... should not be used an ultrasound is good, to distinguish between cysts, benign tissue versus cancer. >> jamie: great. >> eric: our next topic has to do with peanut allergies, a big issue around the country, do you

know anyone with a peanut allergy? do you have one? well, scientists in chicago say they are closer to developing a potential cure, to peanut allergies, dr. siegel, it could be huge, especially when dealing with kids. >> how it works, eric, phenomenal technology, they take the protein itself and in jekt -- inject it on a white blood cell and teach it not to recognize it as an offense or an allergy and they are doing it also with eggs and are having phenomenal success with mice and we have to see how it works in humans and there is a lot of potential, peanut allergy is the number one good allergy causing death, this is an important study and is the way to go fe r

tricking the immune system into not recognizing it as an allergy, in common use within five years. >> two years ago, duke university did a fantastic study giving these kids, a small amount of peanuts, 1 over 1,000 dose and gradually trained them to be tolerant to the peanuts and it worked really well, this was from outside and this technology we are talking about, is all from inside. tricking your immune system to learn not to attack, similar to flu vaccine, with flu we give you a dormant, mild virus and your immune system will build up and so by putting the peanut on the antibody, and giving it back to the person, they build up good immune system, and, it is very exciting, as you said, a lot of times they can get the anaphylactic shock and you see parents walking around with the epi pen. >> and, you know someone who is

at risk. you can give it to them so they never develop the allergy in the first place. >> and, it was hidden and it became widespread, on a plane, some airlines banned the bags of peanuts. >> yes. it is high risk of allergies and peanut is number one, problem. and as we said before, and 200 kids die every year. >> it is in all of our foods, not just peanuts and we're looking for it more. >> jamie: we have to move on it, but, shg, anna fa lactic shock. >> it is dangerous. >> jamie: this is really important, compelling research involving a brain transplant, of stem cells and they say it could offer hope for the treatment of autism and parkinson's disease. doctor, i haven't seen theme connected in with any way to

research. >> i'm excited about the study. it is a minor study in mice now, and they look at the mice that have, was missing or was -- had a hormone that was not functioning well and got stem cells from normal mice and injected or transplanted it into new is my and what happened is, now all of a sudden the hormones start to work and the mice... something happens in the brain of the mice as a result of the stem cell transplant, in autism and parkinson's, something is going on in the brain we are not sure of. maybe there is a hyper profusion and not enough blood gets to the brain or not enough objectixyge immune system and it opens a whole new door, with stem cell transplants you will create new vessels, and, bringing new blood flow to that specific part of the brain, that helps men and women with parkinson's and

michael j. fox is a huge advocate of this, the stream morris... >> jamie: muhammad ali, too. let me ask you, doctor, where is the research being done. >> also in england and the research actually, here's what is key. you have to get the stem cell at the exact right stage. because, previous studies have not work with this. they literally have to make sure it is an aged stem cell and not an embryonic stem cell. we are talking about one from the brain itself. growing tissue in the brain, from memory center of the brain and they took the stem cells from one group of mice and injected it into -- as david said, l. pt ich -- they used a hormone that suppresses hunger and, they will be stem cell, not developed into brain tissue yet, we will be able to use them in spinal cord injury, brain trauma, all kinds

of injury where we once thought the nerves can't regrow. but, previous -- recent studies have shown that nerves can regrow. let's help them regrow. >> and, where you have a lot of inflammation with crohn's disease, this can help and after the transplant, the cells were able to communicate and send signals, and receive signals, so, this is a very, very exciting -- these cells are functional and it will be helpful in science and medicine. >> jamie: extraordinary. >> eric: isn't it fascinating? amazing, what science can potentially do. coming up we'll have more of the year's most significant medical breakthroughs for you, right after the break, including how doctors are now close to predicting heart attacks and strokes, they say, and a possible way to put the brakes on alzheimer's. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. ♪ this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. [ male announcer ] take the fixodent 12 hour hold challenge. fixodent denture adhesive challenges you to a 12 hour hold test. ♪ thanks to its time released formula, you apply fixodent once, and it holds all day. ♪ take the fixodent 12 hour hold challenge.

guaranteed, or your money back. ♪ and for guaranteed freshness try fixodent cleanser, plus scope ingredients.

>> i'm from louisiana, stationed in southwest asia and would like to send a merry christmas to my wife, my three boys and family and friends in louisiana. go, tigers! ♪ >> eric: don't you love those christmas messages from our troops? back now with "sunday house call," have you heard about this, scientist believe there

could be a opponent alzheimer's vaccine, that could be a secret to preventing the disease from developing, in its early stages. dr. seek dr. siegel, an actual vaccine. >> it is coming out of georgetown and, its in mice again and they looked in the brain and when they saw swelling starting, alzheimer's about to occur, a protein built into the brain and, before it built up, they injected amyloid into the brain, they built up antibodies and stopped it from progressing, so if you give it before alzheimer's disease develops, there is a good chance you can prevent its progression. preliminary, very exciting. >> eric: and, the tests on the mice, when do you think it gets to the humans? >> i would say a couple of years. we're not quite ready for primetime yet. >> it will be a few years until we get there but the biggest problem with alzheimer's is

diagnosing it. diagnosis of dementia and alzheimer's is the biggest challenge. we are starting to understand that amyloids is what causes the inflammation and he is right, the biomarkers are simple tests, by drawing your blood you can see you are heading there or may have more susceptibility to forming the amyloids and if given beforehand you can prevent it. how to diagnose it, is our biggest challenge and finding the vaccine is harder. but certainly is a step towards solving the problem. >> eric: hopefully we'll have it within a few years, a major break through, absolutely. >> jamie: that will be awesome. new recommendations, this year, against using psa tests to treat healthy men for prostate cancer, against it? >> a u.s. task force came out and said men healthy over 50 should not get any psa, it doesn't help with mortality. similar recommendations to mammograms and it caused

controversy, and they look at studies with nine-year follow-up and during the period, it didn't cause or help these men, so, we don't recommend it. which was a little bogus, because most studies, longer term from sweden, 14 years, showed psa actually saves lives and we know that psa stands for prostate-specific antigen, not prostate cancer specific antigen and things such as a large prostate, inflammation of prostate and prostate cancer can elevate the psa. and you have to make sure that you talk to a doctor, and, find out who's at risk. we call it risk stratification, one person may be at risk and another is not and, not every one means biopsy and not every positive biopsy means surgery and if the psa found the cancer, and, the outcome was perfect in a good world, everyone is cured and confident and is sexually active, they would get the prize

and they would say it helped me. what i would say is we need to concentrate on improving our outcome and, better trained surgeons, maybe the technology, experience of oncology and help or patients not to put our head in the sand and say, no psa. >> jamie: quickly on the test and the next topic is dr. siegel. what about physical examination for healthy men instead of the psa test? is that enough? >> it is not enough. and you need to have the exam and the psa. i'm glad you brought it up, and we are seeing prostate cancer with younger men in their 40s and 50s. >> it is part of the art of medicine and there are 30% less deaths from prostate cancer, and 30,000 men are still dying from it, i need the arrow in my quiver, i do it on every man over 40 and once i have the psa, question is what do i do, recheck or follow or look for a trend or send the patient to dr. smadi? it depends on the patient. >> i'm glad marc is on board. a lot of internists have doubts

about psa and it is a greatest. >> absolutely. >> eric: get the psa and another test, could be a breakthrough to potentially prevent heart attacks and strokes and researchers discovered five genes they believe could help pinpoint when an attack could strike. dr. siegel, five genes that could predict this. >> coming out of england, also, and actually, previous studies have found 47 genes, now they narrowed it down to 5 patterns, where, if you have these patterns, you are much, much more likely to have high blood pressure. and, high blood pressure kills 7 million people around the world, every year. so, again, what we are doing these days is analyzing genes using dna probes. literally, something out of "star trek." send a probe in and you look to see patterns. this study found five patterns, that are reproducible and if you have them, i may say, eric, you don't have high blood pressure yet but may get it in five years and cut out the salt. exercise more, medicine in five

years. >> eric: you talk about the five patterns, study, we hear about the studies. we want to know what to say to the doctor and how do we know whether your doctor knows about these things. >> and now is goes from the research bench to clinical world and that takes time and investment. but, i think what marc said is very, very important. because right now, if you hatch anticipate of those symptoms you will get angiograms and stress tests and go from doctor-to-doctor, if you have a test, that will say, you are at risk, he's not, i'm at risk and we have a problem and right there can tell us who will go -- >> eric: go to the doctor now and say -- there is a -- >> not yet. >> jamie: don't drink any more warm jello. hot jello, poor eric. >> we like to joke with him. >> jamie: a popular vitamin-m n

vitamin-mineral may do you harm, the danger that could be lurking in your medicine cabinet and the breakthroughs of 2011, starting at the brain and working down to the toes, we'll be right back.

♪ >> i'm from tennessee, currently deployed to afghanistan. and i'd like to send happy holidays to my daughter, harmony and my family, i love and miss you guys. ♪ ♪

>> eric: back with the doctors on this christmas sunday morning, research finds widely used dietary vitamin and mineral supplements could be associated with increased risk for death? dr. siegel? what about this? it sounds alarming. >> a stuttenner, everyone said e a vitamin and, the study looked at 38,000 women, published in the archives of internal medicine, 38,000 women and found, 2.5% increase in death rates, from those who took multi-vitamins and, zinc and folate and only improved mortality rate if they took calcium, vitamin e may increase your rate of prostate cancer and the take home messages don't be sure that taking extra vitamins is necessarily necessary. you may be getting it in the food you eat.

i'm not telling people you are more likely to die from this. this is an associated study, observational. i'm not saying that vitamins are bad for you. i'm saying you may be getting what you need already. >> bottom line, do you need to take a vitamin every day. >> i don't think so. i don't think you need a multi-vitamin if you are getting proper nutrition. >> jamie: wait, did we tell people to clean out their medicine cabinet, something that might kill them. >> i think we overteased it. but it's not necessary, before everybody was taking it as a trend. >> jamie: but ask your doctor. you can overdose on certain vitamin supplements. >> talk to your doctor and find out if you're deficient in a vitamin and replacing it is the way to go. stick to good food. if you get good nutrition, personally, i don't get enough sun and i take my multi-vitamin and talk to my doctor and make sure, the more is not the merrier. >> jamie: no tanning bed for

you, doc! that is good to know. meanwhile, we still got more. >> eric: a lot to go, the biggest medical breakthroughs of the year, straight ahead. and, you know, a lot of controversy about cell phones and cancer risk? we hear about conflicting reports and research on that. the doctors will break down what we learned, this year, about what they say are the effects that cell phones could have, on our brains. [ male announcer ] tom's discovering that living healthy can be fun. see? he's taking his vitamins. new one a day vitacraves plus omega-3 dha is a complete multivitamin for adults. plus an excellent source of omega-3 dha

in a great tasting gummy. one a day, gummies for grown-ups.

>> i'm sending a shoutout to my family. hi, honey. i love you very much. >> it's getting attention right now. look at this. he took my cell phone away because there's conflicting research about cell phones and cancer and he worries about me. doc, you think i'm talking too long. a lot of people are on their cell phones all the time. what's the truth? >> jamie, i'm protecting you because you use one and use two of them. this year, we had a lot of

controversy about this particular guy over here, the cell phone and we went back and forth. the truth is about 31 scientists got together from 14 different countries including the u.s. and the recommendation is this could be carcinogenic hazard. there's no direct proof right now that i can say this causes brain cancer but there are some possibility of cancer. same thing happened with cigarettes. remember 20 years ago when cigarettes came in and everybody was young and happy and jolly. 10 years after they said it may cause lung cancer. today, we're saying it's lung cancer. radiation that comes from this, it may take decades or years for it to develop. so when we talk about radiation,iradiation, it's the amount that you get, the duration and the distance. one of the ways you can protect yourself is number one, keep this away if your head. when you read the instruction on your t-mobile and your phones, blackberries and iphones, 10 millimeters one inch theory here. put your finger on your phone like this and as of tomorrow, i

want everyone in america to speak like this. that distance by itself, seriously, it can protect you. you should text more. talk less. >> that's a good idea. >> that helps. use the ear piece, the handset free and the other thing is i see a lot of children using this. in children, the skull is very thin. and the cells are dividing and there's a high risk of cancer. until we have a real result for you, be careful about this. and also, if you're in an area where you don't have good reception. if you're in the elevator and you're using this, that's when this cell phone is going to work even harder to get the reception. >> when the battery is low, too. >> dr. siegel, if you start walking around like this, i guess we should or use an headpiece. >> i think there's another side to this. 250,000 brain cancers is not increasing even though the amount of cell phone use is burgeoning and a big study did look at 350,000 people and did not show an increased risk so there's two sides and that's why there's controversy. we need further studies before

we can figure this out. >> doctors, thank you so much. >> can you do me a favor? answer that. i'll cal you back, mom. >> good idea. merry christmas to you both. >> great information. >> good morning. i'm eric shawn and merry christmas on this sunday morning. welcome to a brand new hour of "america's news headquarters." >> it is a special sunday morning, eric. merry christmas to you. topping the news today, christmas day in bethlehem. there are hundreds if not thousands of worshippers attending mass today at the church of the nativity. it's the place where christians believe is the birthplace of jesus christ. >> it's a white christmas for some folks in texas. look at that. a slow moving storm is covering part of the state with nearly 3 inches of snow in texas. >> and i got to say our troops in afghanistan and around the world celebrating christmas with a traditional meal, sitting down

at a feast with all the trimmings. they deserve it all including roast turkey we hear. >> and on this christmas sunday in vatican city, thousands of christians from all over the world celebrating in st. peter's square. delivering his annual christmas message this morning. urging an end to violence in syria and calling on the faithful to find their true meaning of christmas. greg burke streaming live from rome with the very latest. merry christmas, greg. good morning. >> merry christmas, eric. you know, that's right. basically, pope, very simple message of a plea for peace as he often makes on this day especially in the land there where christ is born. now, there was an incredible crowd this morning, helped, of course, by just absolutely wonderful weather here in rome. people from all over the world coming into st. peter's square as pope benedict the 16th gave those christmas greetings in more than 60 languages. he starts off in italian and ends up in latin and just about

everything in between including arabic and chinese as he does give his christmas wishes to the entire world. now, two main messages this christmas. today, it was all about those who are suffering violence. he did mention syria. he mentioned -- he hoped that the israelis and palestinians could go back to negotiations and other places where wars are going on but also famine and places, natural disasters where people have been hit by floods as well. it's important to pray for people at this time and get them some help. last night, his message was more on the real meaning of christmas. he said watch out, don't be blinded by all the glitter and bright lights and don't forget where that joy is coming from. big year for pope benedict 16th, he'll turn 85 in april and he has a trip to cuba and we're hearing he might be making some new cardinals. there's some hope the archbishop of new york could be a new cardinal. >> a few moments later on in our prom, father jonathan morris

will be here to reflect on the meaning of this day. jamie? >> well, this is troubling news. at least 25 people are dead in explosions at two catholic churches in nigeria. and there's a radical muslim sect now claiming responsibility for the christmas day attacks. the explosions rocking nigeria's capital city and a smaller city nearby. it was just a year ago that more than 30 people were killed in a strippi string of christmas eve bombings there. we'll have a live report from our fox news terrorism analyst. >> we have a tragic story to tell you about this morning. a california soldier who's home from afghanistan was shot at his own homecoming party. christopher sullivan thankfully did survive but he is now paralyzed. family members say sullivan's brother had an argument with another man at the party over a football. when christopher did try to break it up, someone they say shot him twice and ran away. the gunman is still at large. >> i want anybody who knows

anything to please call the police. are you guys are really his friends, don't turn your back on him now. he really, really needs you guys. >> sullivan was at home on leave from -- recovering from injuries that he sustained in the suicide bombing attack last year. >> election headquarters, keep it on fox for that. let's go to the campaign trail. two names won't be on the republican primary ballot in a key state. they fell short in gathering the necessary 10,000 signatures to get on that ballot. according to the state's republican party. how will this affect their bids for the g.o.p. nomination? former pollster for president clinton, a fox news contributor and founder of the kealing group and a consultant for the

national republicans committee, good morning, gentlemen. >> good morning. merry christmas. >> great to have you here. merry christmas to you, too. not such a merry christmas for rick perry and newt gingrich, is it? >> no, the grinch of the virginia process has caught up with both of those campaigns and several campaigns also will not qualify and i think it will come back to haunt the virginia party and possibly the romney campaign if it looks like this was set up for frontrunners like romney to get on the ballot and deny access to others. >> but let's take a look at the -- first, matt, let me have you comment and doug as well. the other candidates, let's put up the other candidates that aren't going to be on the ballot, the other ones and the reason is because they didn't try. they didn't really go out and get all those signatures and it turns out that the candidates that didn't, rick perry and newt gingrich, well they had the signatures but they didn't have enough qualifying signatures. matt, you first. is there a problem with the system in virginia? >> it appears to be when you

look at all those other campaigns and two campaigns that really did try to get on the ballot, particularly in the year like 2012 where everything is sped up. and virginia didn't really take into account the fact that, you know, the calendar has sped up and campaigns obviously are concentrated right now on iowa and new hampshire. it's sad for the state party here in virginia to not have these campaigns come in and try to win votes. >> that makes sense. do you think that the system there in virginia, needs to be changed? >> of course, jamie. i mean, with 5 of 7 candidates being denied ballot access, with petitions being challenged, it shows a republican party that is, frankly, disorganized and when the frontrunner in the state, newt gingrich gets disqualified from the ballot because of faulty petition signatures, it just suggests the absurdity of a primary system that does more to reward

insiders than include every possible candidate. >> so you think it's the party that's responsible, not necessarily the election officials. >> oh, absolutely. i mean, the fact that the national party didn't do anything to deal with the issues that matt rightly cited and to reduce the number of signatures or get rid of it entirely is, again, a sign of a party that has had real problems, jamie, given the issues with the payroll tax this week. and increasingly divisive primary process. republicans are seizing defeat from the jaws of victory. >> let's ask what you do about it. let's look at the poll of where they stand right now in virginia. will it make a difference in the end? newt gingrich, i imagine, will launch an aggressive write-in campaign. >> when it comes to the election. >> i think what's going to happen is there's going to be a tremendous amount of pressure put on the party to allow ballot access to these campaigns that

at least tried to do the right thing and get the signatures. as doug was saying, if we go into the primary here in virginia and only mitt romney is on the ballot there's going to be a backlash particularly from people in the tea party who say this was set up to take on the establishment or let the establishment have a huge advantage towards the entire nomination process because if romney can dominate virginia, it goes a long way towards getting the nomination. >> it's going to be a big deal. fox will be all over it. can't wait to see what happens there. you advised president clinton on a number of things over the years and the question is president obama did an interview in which he referenced being lazy. your thoughts? >> i think what he said was that we've been a bit lazy as a country attracting business. >> no, no. i think in this particular interview, he was asked what qualifications -- what are his best characteristics and what

could be his not best characteristics and what characteristics are like a pet peeve in other people and he referenced himself with laziness. >> i hadn't seen that but my sense was that he is not exactly maintained the most vigorous schedule in the white house from what i've understood it admittedly second hand. bill clinton would work from 7:00 to midnight every day. there wasn't a hand that was not shaken. but that being said, president obama's best asset now is a republican party that seems bent on self-destruction. >> ok. spoken like a democratic advisor. thank you so much. >> helped his handicap. >> are you familiar with the comment, matt? >> i am. and i think it plays right into, you know, sometimes you have the gift that keeps on giving and the fact that he mentioned the word lazy again after what he had a couple of weeks ago is a gift. >> all right. just wanted to get your thoughts on that. doug, i'm sorry if i threw you

that question -- >> not to worry about it. >> i know you're done in miami so if you miss one thing this week. thank you so much. have a great day both of you. >> take care. >> thanks, jamie. merry christmas. >> as i mentioned, fox is definitely the place to be. when we hear from voters the 1 time, the road to the white house. we'll bring you special coverage of the iowa caucuses and that begins at 6:00 p.m. eastern on tuesday, january 3rdrd. eric? >> and jamie, speaking of the president, he is on his vacation now in hawaii and he's been putting some of his political battles in washington behind him, he's been hitting the links in hawaii while he's there, the weather has been pretty good this christmas eve last night. playing golf with some old friends and members of the white house staff. along with him is doug lazader who is not working but joining the president in honolulu. he joins us now from honolulu where it's still dark as you can see. what's on the president's agenda later on today? good morning and merry

christmas. >> merry christmas to you. we don't know what the president is up to today but in years past are any indication, he and the first lady will go to the local marine base here to spend some time with service members. yesterday, as you mentioned, the president got his first round of golf in. he played with six friends here at a marine base. we never actually saw the president. we saw his motorcade going back and forth to the golf course. they played for 5 1/2 hours just before a big rainstorm hit the island here. beyond that, the obamas are going to spend a fair amount of time at that rental vacation house here on the island. that may affect some local beach goers here but the ones that we spoke to were happy to share the space. >> besides some of the -- >> they're off to relax like we are. >> i'd love to see him. if he invited me for dinner, i'd go! >> hey, why not? they're probably serving quite a dinner today at the obamas house and probably find out later today, eric, exactly what they

had. >> sorry to interrupt you there for a second. besides his visits, for example, to troops or to a base, is he going to work on the agenda over the next few days or like a lot of other americans, it's time to kick back and relax? >> probably a little bit of both. there's always a little bit of work involved in these kinds of presidential getaways. the president has his staff here, they're going to be strategizing and looking ahead to 2012. for one thing, the president will be returning to washington with a legislative battle on his hands and that's locking horns with the republicans over whether to renew the payroll tax holiday. that's something they'll have to battle over and, of course, there's always re-election to think about and that's probably going to dominate some conversations here over the next few days. >> absolutely. but today, at least a respite. good to see you. thanks so much. >> well, if you braved the stores yesterday, you know it was really busy and retailers across the u.s. are capping off

a strong holiday shopping season we're hearing thanks in part to that rush of shoppers. front i can -- frantically out about on christmas eve hoping to score those bargains. expectations were low this year given the current state of the economy but maybe they got a christmas present, too. casey stegal live in los angeles. have you been shopping all night long or is this another green sweater and red tie? love it. >> this is actually opposite. i was wearing a red sweater and a green tie yesterday so i tried to switch it up. if only i was there on the set with you and eric because we all chose green today. >> fabulous. tell us what's going on with retailers. >> you know we were out there yesterday at a very busy shopping complex in los angeles. and a couple of people came up to me and said, what economic downturn? there were so many people out there shopping trying to snatch up some last minute deals and this, of course, is extremely good news when it comes to the economy. and we'll take it. won't we?

most stores were, everybody, closed for christmas but the worldwide web certainly is not and some retailers like target offering special on-line deals just for today. a lot of folks turning to the internet to find that special something this year. e commerce is up 15% from 2010. a lot of shoppers not even stepping foot in a store these days taking advantage of promotions of free delivery and web only deals. overall, holiday spending looking good. sales projected to be up about 7% this year compared to last with americans shelling out nearly $470 billion before it's all said and done. analysts say more people also splurging on big ticket items this year as well. >> they postponed purchasing cars, electronics, ipads, you're starting to see them come off the shelves again. and so when consumers have had the urge to spend but didn't have the confidence or capacity

to spend, you get this pent-up demand and we're finally starting to see enough confidence. >> about 40% of a retailer's total profits for the entire year come from this holiday spending. and, of course, that is music to their ears. those cash registers ringing up until the wee hours before christmas. jamie? >> thanks so much, casey stegall, merry christmas. >> queen elizabeth ii delivering her annual christmas message today. this year, the 85-year-old monarch reflecting on the importance of family. >> we've seen that the hardship that we often find strength from our families. using adversity with new friendships that sometimes are formed. and it's in a crisis that communities break down barriers and bind together to help form another. families, friends and communities often find a source of courage rising up from within.

indeed, sadly, it seems that it is tragedy that often draws out the worst and the best from the human spirit. >> her message was on a somber note. the queen's husband prince phillip is recovering in a hospital. he was admitted this weekend and he was treated for a blocked artery. >> it's a white christmas for some folks in texas. they had a rare storm that covered parts of the state with 3 inches of snow. boy, and they were so warm this summer. the winter weather closing down parts of i-10 and stranding thousands of travelers this weekend and even though the snow has stopped falling, forecasters are still warning about slick road conditions. >> believe it or not, not everybody is in the christmas spirit today. holiday season seeing a surge in scam artists trying to rip people off. who are they? who are they targeting and what you need to know to protect your money. >> we're going it take charge of investment scams today. >> i like that. >> plus the kri ma -- christmas

tree, one of the holiday's most treasured possessions. how did it all began? we have a christmas tree true story. ♪ silver bells when i was younger, i didn't want to admit i had a serious disease.

i wanted to fit in, i wanted to be a normal kid. because of my diabetes, i lost the sight in my left eye. misconceptions continue to surround this monster public health issue. but the simple truth is, diabetes can often be prevented and complications avoided. i think if i had just been open and honest about what my challenges were, i think it would have been easier for me to take better care of myself. if you don't take care of yourself when you're younger, with this condition, it will catch up to you later on. you're going to find the courage to manage this disease for the rest of your life by reaching out for help. reach out to people who care about you. reach out to people who know how to help you with this disease. you're not alone. understand the realities of diabetes and know that you can manage it and lead a full, active life.

>> ♪ sleigh bells are you listening ♪ ♪ in the lane snow is glistening ♪ ♪ a beautiful sight so we're happy tonight ♪ ♪ walking in a winter wonderland ♪ >> looking at midtown manhattan and santa claus, you know, flew over there overnight. he broke records for this christmas. ever go on norad and track santa to see where he is? well, norad says it was flooded with calls from children all over the world last night. all wanting to know santa's exact location on christmas eve when they logged in. santa tracks -- santa trackers who man those phones at the north american aerospace defense command say it was overwhelming but the kids made it worthwhile.

>> i was not expecting nearly that many calls. i probably answered, i would say, 200 phone calls. nonstop for the last two hours ooch oochlt -- it's a lot of fun to talk to kids from all over the world. >> santa's norad facebook recorded a million likes. that's up about 250,000 from last year. >> if you leave the cookies out, you expect santa to show up, right? all right. what else could happen this time of year? you want to protect your money from ripoff artists on christmas morning and every morning but this time of year, there's a surge in investment scams targeting baby boomers. prosecutors say the fraudulent schemes exploit investors trying to make up for the financial losses that they might have suffered in this weak economy. what scams should you be aware of? got the perfect guy to help you out with that, jordan goodman is a financial advisor and author of "fast profits in hard times. "jordan, welcome.

these are very hard times. >> they are. >> and we don't want people to be ripped off. what are -- first of all, is this a vulnerable time? am i right? >> absolutely. for several reasons, first of all, people are earning nothing on their savings. zero on treasury bonds and saving bonds. they're open to alternatives, 10% sounds easy. that makes people very vulnerable and then if they haven't had a great time in the stock market and retirement fund, they're looking for something to get higher returns that sounds kind of safe. >> what are the most common scams we should watch out for and how do they contact you? >> by phone, by e-mail, by loads of spam on the internet. it's actually the internet is very good for fraud sters because you don't have to deal with anyone in person. ponzi schemes we hear about all the time. the person that comes in early puts the money in. they get decent returns and then the money from later people is going to pay off the early ones. it's a pyramid to collapses and that's happening all over the

place. that's the first one. second one is the so-called promissory note. they promise to pay you a high percentage and they don't pay. >> if they ask you to pay any money up front to get in, not just investment money but fees, for example, maybe you should beware of that. >> absolutely, beware of that. another one in general is affinity fraud. they take advantage of the affinity that you have. maybe it's your church, could be an alumni group, college. could be an ethnic community and the korean americans or mexican americans, whatever it may be, it's like, well, you're not going to cheat somebody in the group and that's exactly what they do. they take advantage of people because their guard is done. >> don't really research the person that is working with you. >> absolutely. there should be independent documents like a document filing or something. just trust me, run the other direction. >> these are two that i found in my research. tell me about it. it says if they offer to share inside information, that's a problem. >> that's right.

>> and if they send materials, i love this, that have typos. >> absolutely. >> or it's not printed on letterheads. >> it's certainly not going to be legitimate. if it's legitimate, it will have a document and typed well. you can look it on line and don't be rushed into it. another thing that scamsters do is get it now because it will be gone tomorrow. if it's that good today, it will be around tomorrow. don't be rushed into these types of things. >> can anyone guarantee a return? >> the fdic returns, you know, guarantee if your bank goes under, as far as scamsters, no. like the promissory notes, they're promising 10%, 12%, that's what brought bernie madoff, he had $50 billion because he was promising 9% to 10% a year. >> one person was telling the other person i got it. i got it. what about master limited partnership? >> that's not a scam. it's a legitimate company. it's a stock that you can buy on the stock exchange and basically what they do is they own infrastructure to oil and gas. pipelines, storage facilities.

very consistent business. they have yields of like 5% to 7% and they raise dividends and they're completely liquid. you can buy and sell them on the stock market. that's the legitimate way to earn something. >> read all the material. look for sec. >> they would have all the documents, correct. there's one called enterprise products partners epd, it's raised its dividends roughly 5% each of the last 30 quarters. they're actually raising -- spending out cash. that means it's for real. >> all right. very good. jordan goodman, the author of" fast profits in fast times." at this point, any profits. be careful, folks, out there. we're all vulnerable right now. for more on how you can get these take charge issues and answers on a number of consumer elements that you might be thinking about, go to foxnews.com and click on the america's news headquarters page. right there, you'll see a link to many of our take charge consumer protection segments and jordan, thanks.

> >> the centerpiece of the holiday season, the christmas tree. millions worldwide have gathered around the christmas trees with their families. but how did the tree become such a strong symbol of the season? lauren green fills us in. >> christmas trees are a tradition for the heelers in pennsylvania, one year providing the white house with their tree. >> this has been a family business since 1945 and we have grown over the years from what was a hobby. >> nationwide, it 25 to 30 million real trees are sold annually. despite conflicts over calling it a christmas tree or holiday tree, evergreens have no biblical ties to celebrating the second biggest season of the christian calendar. >> the christmas tree is not by any means an essential element of christianity or the story of the birth of jesus.

there's no association from a biblical and theological point of view. >> ♪ o christmas tree >> however, the trees do have religious origins fortunately ancient egyptians, romans celebrated festivals around them. dramatic tribes connected trees with deities, some sacrificed animals or slaves to them. st. bonafice stopped the practice. >> he chopped down the oak tree, the sacred tree and that ended the practice and then he said, ok, you guys, you just love trees, look at the evergreen. it's ever green. it never dies. it's the eternal life that jesus gives you. it's an arrow that points to heaven. >> a few hundred years later, the legend goes, germany's martin luther found safe passage from a dark forest with the help of moonlight and stars, twinkling through the spaces of an evergreen's branches. he cut down a fir tree and brought it home. attached candles to it as a

symbol of god's light shining in the darkness. >> this is particularly important. it will be the germans that will introduce the christmas tree into america and into the united states. >> today, choosing the perfect tree is a family affair. >> we come out every year and get a tree and we decorate it. mom works second shift so we surprise her when she gets home from work and the free is all decorated. >> he makes sure his trees are trimmed to holded best part -- the star. >> to me, that's the most important part of the tree, the top. i put more effort getting a nice top. >> it's the star symbolizing the one from bethlehem that lights the way to a christmas tradition. in new york, lauren green, fox news. >> we're celebrating christmas but it's not too early to think about new year's. we are less than a week away. and fox news is planning another star studded event live right there, times square. hosts the all year american new

year. trace adkins and big & rich. there's nobody like them along with the cast of the tony award nominated show "rock of ages. "it starts at 11:00 p.m. eastern right here and only here on the fox newschannel. you staying up for it? >> you can stay home and watch it and you don't have to be cold in times square even though that's a great experience. of course. >> watch. we'll be right back. >> hey, everyone. this is airman gerard mac and reporting from an undisclosed location in southwest asia and i'm from south carolina and i'd like to give a shoutout to all of my loved ones and family back home and a shoutout to my mom, dad and sister. i'd like to tell everyone to have a happy new year and merry christmas. thank you. f!

>> celebrating christmas in the holy land. nothing like it if you've never been privileged enough to actually be there. crowds in bethlehem, the largest in decades today. leland vitter live with more. hello. >> hi, eric. very merry christmas from above manger's square. it had been a very cold and wet christmas. that hasn't kept thousands of people from making the pilgrimage along what is a very little road to bethlehem to experience a christmas really unique to this part of the world. >> christmas morning in bethlehem, local palestinian christians gather with the faithful from around the world to celebrate the birth of christ in a church built on the grotto where it all began. >> we're americans from jordan. merry christmas! >> we are from sweden.

it means merry christmas. >> even the driving and cold rain cannot dampen the christmas spirit. manger's square is packed. we got christmas carols blasting in arabic. and this is what everybody comes for. this is the church of the nativity and right through this sea of people, you see a tiny little entrance and that's where you crouch down, head in and get to see where the bible says jesus was born more than two millenia ago. a lot of people walk out saying they're a changed person. >> to be this close to where something like this happened, to really walk where the lord walked is huge! so whether i'm here with a few hundred thousand people and it's a little crowded, the moment is still there and it's christmas day. >> this group missed the standing room only midnight mass where the patriarch asked god's blessing for peace and to help palestinian christians suffering in the west bank. >> you can't dampen the christmas spirit. this is where christmas started. >> and despite, of course, all the happiness and all the

festivities and all the celebrations here, there is a very large underlying tension and that is the palestinian christians, the locals here are becoming a smaller and smaller minority and say it's getting tougher and tougher for them to practice their faith here and the patriarch asked for god's help this next year in trying to help that situation. eric, back to you. >> leland, it is so awe inspiring and especially if you look at that neon christmas tree to your right, you wouldn't expect that in bethlehem. >> you sure wouldn't expect it. what's interesting here, though, and you know in the middle east, we have the neon christmas tree over here and then on this side, we have a christmas tree they made out of barbed wire hung with tear gas canisters for ornaments. the conflict is never far away. >> thank you and merry christmas. >> that reference was a little sobering, i should say, and we

should keep in mind today is not just about opening presents or gathering around a huge feast with your family although the family part of it, there's nothing like it. it's also a time to reflect on the true meaning of christmas. and father jonathan morris who is a roman catholic priest, fox news contributor and author of "god wants you happy." i bet in particular this time of year. father, good to see you. thank you for joining us on christmas day. first of all, lelland's reference to being in the mideast and the pope did definitely give a plea for peace in the middle east. he mentioned syria specifically and the israeli and palestinian conflict, what message can we take away from the day? >> you know, he made mention of these conflicts as things that need to be resolved but his solution to that is not primarily political. it's primarily spiritual. it's primarily about a man named jesus of nazareth who came not to serve, not to be served but

rather to serve and that is the message of christmas, that god would care enough about us and our conflicts including terrible political conflicts that he would have an ultimate solution. now, we would like to have immediate solutions but unfortunately, sometimes we have to wait. but the good news of christmas is that there is an ultimate solution for those who have faith and who accept that power. >> talked about and criticized in the commercialization of christmas, he said today christmas has become a commercial celebration who's bright lights hide the mystery of god's humility and discussed a superficial glitter. >> you know what? i don't think in -- you know, maybe i'm misinterpreting but i don't think the pope -- i wouldn't be upset at macy's for trying to sell us things, right? or walking down the street and seeing all of the lights. that's always going to happen and i think that's a very human thing but it's up to us to decide that i am not going to

commercialize my christmas. in other words, that my whole understanding of what this is about is not just gifts. it's not just buying. it's not just receiving but rather, those things can surround it. the good food and even whenever i see the santa and the reindeers, that's ok. but let's focus on what happened and it has to do with bethlehem. it has to do with the fact that there is such thing as a ground zero in christianity. >> sure, look how many pilgrims come out there and to the vatican to hear the message of the pontiff. this is also hanukkah this week. >> it is. that's right. >> i want to ask you, what can all people of the world learn from the beliefs that you have and then also from the celebrations that we see today. >> sure, that's a great question. john paul ii used to refer to the jewish people as our elder brethren in the faith. isn't that beautiful? recognizing there's a common heritage. recognizing that it's not just about us on who have the gift as

i would see it of being raised in the christian faith. but it's also about god revealing himself to people in different ways and at different times. and i think it's a wonderful thing that we can respect each other's different traditions to say merry christmas and also to say happy hanukkah and blessed hanukkah. what a great thing that we're celebrating the gift of god's love to us in different forms. >> we feel loved. >> i loved you the first time i met you in rome. >> that's right. >> here you are. >> that was a long time ago. >> it was a long time ago. thank you for being with us and for sharing the spirit today. >> father, thank you so much. and it's just fabulous. >> i got one more service today at 4:25. >> go get them, father. >> spread the love. >> absolutely. well, now to the future of iraq. the last unit of u.s. forces pull out of the country and headed home for the holidays, there's a red hot political crisis that's sparking fears that iraq could potentially come apart. sectarian tensions have been heating up and there's been a series of bomb blasts that have ripped through baghdad last week.

that threatens the country's fragile political system. captain chuck mash, retired u.s. navy captain and fox news military analyst joins us on this christmas morning. captain nash, always good to see you. good morning. >> merry christmas, eric. >> we leave and they seem to be at each other's throats. what do you predict? >> iraq has been a seething cauldron if i could be dramatic with it. you have religious differences, political differences and they were all held in check by a strong man, saddam hussein, very much like tito in yugoslavia. as soon as tito died and that overarching, crushing dictatorship was removed, then all of a sudden, you have these long standing grievances that have popped up. you have a shiite population that was the underdog, saddam hussein, of course, was sunni. and then you've got the kurds up to the north.

so those three groups were held in check when the u.s. came in and we've spent a lot of time to make sure that the iraqi government stays inclusive. now that we're pulling out, it looks like some of those ethnic and religious tensions are spinning up all over again. >> is there a fear that the prime minister could become a strong man? he's shiite and he's been announcing arrests of sunnis, clamping down on sunnis. they apparently have been going into houses and homes and getting protesters and the sunni vice president, he fled. it doesn't look good. >> no, it doesn't look good and as you point out, he's taken off and he's being the guest of the president of iraq up in the kurdish area. so he's sort of removed in that autonomous area up there and these political tensions are going to play out. you've got the sunnis that are boycotting the parliament. they don't want any parts of this so it really is bad and especially when you look at the

-- just the nasty way that the iranians continue to cause trouble in iraq and with us not there anymore, the iranians are going to increase their control, they've already thoroughly penetrated that government. so that's kind of a bad situation. what the iraqi people, if i could just make one point. what the iraqi people really need to understand is if they allow this to happen, after all that's been done to give them a shot at freedom, if they allow this to happen, this country is going to come apart and the neighbors are going to come in and carve it up. so it's not in the best interest of the iraqi people. that's for sure. >> and finally, very quickly, how can that be stopped if it can be? >> it's going to -- it's going to take the realization of the people that they don't want to see this happen. so that you got these players that are, unfortunately, the iranians. we have to put more pressure on the iranians quite frankly to give them worries at home so they stop playing around over in

iraq. >> somber words and a prediction this morning. thank you so much. good to see you. >> you bet. >> all right. well, prayers are with our troops today. we certainly remember all of them. it has been, though, a deadly christmas day in nigeria, the west african nation rocked by a series of attacks on catholic churches. the rising death toll and who is claiming responsibility. ÷

>> a muslim sect claiming responsibility for two catholic church bombings that killed at least 25 people in nigeria. the christmas day attacks happened in two separate cities and the group believed to be responsible for this carnage may be responsible for at least 500 deaths alone it is estimated this year. fox news terrorism analyst whalid ferris is live in washington with more. it is so shocking and tragic to talk about this on christmas

day. this group, they sneak into a catholic church, st. theresa's during christmas services. they detonate a bomb. dozens of people are killed. what do they want and who are they? >> look, it's a very, very troubling development. this group, according to research but also according to nigerian officials, lawmakers have been in touch with is a jihadist group like the taliban. like al-qaida. like somalia. they have been operating for many years now but most recent waves of the last three years are indicating they are spreading. they begin around the northern area and they're pushing towards the center of nigeria. these attacks are not really in the north so it means this group is on the offensive at this point in time. >> this group translates to western education is forbidden and is a sin and they want to impose sharia law. they are killing people to try to impose sharia law supposedly.

>> what they want to establish is a taliban-like regime. each one of these jihadist groups around the world have a different name. taliban means student and it just means we don't like western culture. what they really want to establish is, as you said, a narrow vision of sharia law in nigeria which means basically a christian free nigeria and we know it has the south christian and that's bad news because it means they want to push the christian population southbound and that could mean ethnic cleansing if they come to realize their objective. >> what are the chances of their success? >> they have been on the attack for the last few years. the federal army which is, you know, christian and muslim and the government have been doing a good job in doing after them. they crushed them a couple of times but they keep coming back. the problem here is that they are funded, is that they are supported by networks of jihadists from outside nigeria and that they are recruiting

from rules established years ago by other fundamentalists in nigeria. >> they killed about two dozen people last christmas eve. when we talk about funded by networks, specifically, do we know who those networks are? who was funding them and who was providing the means and the material to put in this type of terrorism. >> you have two levels. you have the level of where do they recruit from? it basically comes from the pools, petro dollars coming from the gulf that have been invested in nigeria for the last few decades. it's like everywhere else from the region. >> are they sanctioning this? >> i don't think the government themselves are the ones sending money but what they do is they send it to local organizations are indoctrinating. here we come back to an interesting point, the ideology is the most important thing. who is indoctrinating those young men and women is very important. one event we saw is the

christmas day bomber. he's coming from nigeria and he's been indoctrinated in the same fashion. >> thank you so much. we'll be right back.

>> she says all she wants to do was feed the ducks. she loves it. in her small town, turns out it's illegal. there are lawmakers threatening to throw this woman behind bars if she doesn't stop feeding the ducks and douglas kennedy went to check it out lynn, massachusetts. >> i know they know me and they know that i love them and i'm trying to take care of them. >> to claire butcher, ducks are one of god's most endearing kre tours. you've been feeding these ducks for over 45 years. describe what they mean to you?

>> they're my life. this is what i live for. >> but the waddlers might get claire incarcerated. recently, the city of lynn, massachusetts threatened her with arrest. >> they have charged you now and threatening you with 30 days in jail for this. what's your reaction? >> well, if they put me in jail, i would be the first 80-year-old woman not in massachuset massachusetts, not in the united states but the whole world to be thrown in jail for feeding the ducks. >> in 2006, lynn passed a law prohibiting feeding any wildlife within the city limits. ducks and geese in particular have been making a mess. still, no one from lynn would comment to fox on camera. we found this municipal attorney

to give the city's side. >> now, come on, how can they possibly justify sending an elderly woman to jail for feeding birds? >> all the town is really trying to do here is to make sure that the residents of the town of lynn have the right to use the park. it's leading to the overpopulation of the duck community to the point that average everyday residents that want to enjoy this space can't do so. >> the town's argument is you're bringing too many ducks to this park and some people don't like that. >> i feel sorry for anybody that doesn't like animals. >> to claire, they're her main source of comfort. in lynn, massachusetts, douglas kennedy, fox news. >> one connecticut family has had their wish come true. he suffers from autism and suffers from a rare condition that makes it hard for him to balance. when he asked for a bike for christmas, his mom got creative.

enlisting a bike shop to make a bike that he could easily ride. >> just for everybody else in the world, it seems like the smallest task. for him, it's huge. >> they were all excited that we are able to share hanukkah and christmas with another boy. >> isn't that wonderful? the specialty trike is for now only sold on the west coast. but they are able to get it in time for christmas. >> pope delivering his christmas message live to the world. i had a het problem.

i was told to begin my aspirin regimen. i just didn't listen until i almost lost my life. my doctor's again ordered me to take aspirin. and i do. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ mike ] listen to the doctor. take it seriously.