man, that video is going to be played in that household for years! >> "fox & friends" starts right now. >> hey, this is the stage manager. ho, ho, ho. happy holidays. you're watching "fox & friends." >> good monday morning, everybody. man, the president -- people are going to make the foot in mouth jokes but every parent has been there. they've had the hand lodged in the mouth. i'm sure the president has had his own. >> and the hand on the nose honking the nose. good morning, everyone. we hope you had a wonderful christmas. steve, brian and gretchen are off today. ainsley, dave, clayton in for those guys this morning. >> how were your christmases? >> wonderful. wonderful. >> joyous occasions? >> i ate so many cookies. what about you guys? i didn't eat lunch. i ate a whole plate of cookies. i was running around like a little kid because i had so much

sugar. >> did you have christmas with your son? >> when he was able to wake up. >> i saw a movie. i wasn't alone, though. >> star wars a big hit this christmas day. star wars and american girl ruled the day at my house. we'll show you that later. >> how adorable. let's get to your headlines and a devastating christmas tragedy to tell you about this morning. a fire killing a fashion executive's three young children and her parents. this happened in stanford, connecticut, 47-year-old madonna badger and her male friend were able to escape. her father who died reportedly spent his last day on earth working as a mall santa claus. her mother, 10-year-old daughter and her 7-year-old twins were also killed. the cause of the fire unknown at this point. badger became a marketing rock star with her marky mark underwear haads. do you remember those? and a developing story out of iraq.

while you were sleeping, a homicide bomber was killing at least five people at the interior ministry in baghdad. he reportedly drove a vehicle packed with explosives right through the ministry's gates and another two dozen people were injured. the blast comes as the last u.s. combat troops leave that country. he provided security for one of the world's most wanted men. mexico's top drug lord, but now that head of security is behind bars at this hour. guzman is one of the world's richest men and he has eluded authorities since escaping from prison in a laundry truck back in 2001. authorities hoping to capture the security head will help them find guzman now. talk about an amazing story of survival. take a look at these pictures. a family from texas spent two days buried underneath 4 feet of snow and ice. couple and their 5-year-old daughter became stuck on a highway in new mexico when a

blizzard swept through that area. equipped with some snacks and water inside their car, the higgins family clung together for warmth, they say. emergency crews eventually discovered them after hitting their s.u.v. with a pole. both adults are recovering from pneumonia. there's the headlines. >> thank you very much. politics now, one week from tomorrow, if you can believe it, the first votes of the 2012 election will be cast in the caucus. the presidential candidates are back in the hawkeye state after taking the weekend off. >> joining us with details is kelly wright who was in that seat yesterday. hope you had a great christmas. >> i did indeed. i spent most of it with you, ainsley and clayton. good to see you. i know you were with your lovely family as well yesterday. we're not sure what gift the republican candidates received from santa but we do know what's at the top of their wish list. ha is to get the republican presidential nomination but that's up to g.o.p. voters and

not santa. and so far, mitt romney is looking like the frontrunner as newt gingrich continues to see his lead evaporate and ron paul gaining momentum. the latest poll on basically, what's happening right now with rasmussen is out with a week to go, mitt romney has retain the lead among republican white house contenders in iowa. the former massachusetts governor and on again, off again favorite head is basically appearing to slip behind the former house speaker newt gingrich but now the poll by rasmussen shows that romney is regaining momentum. polls showing that romney with 25% support followed by ron paul at 20% and gingrich at 17% with the remainder of the candidates at 10% or less and with iowa caucus taking place next week on january 3rd, tomorrow, mitt romney will be conducting a campaign blitz around iowa starting at the hotel blackhawk in davenport and on wednesday, he continues or plans to continue barn storming the state. ron paul will be holding a town

hall in council bluffs, iowa on thursday. there's some who believe paul could actually sneak a win here in iowa and his organization has been working very hard to help paul win. we will see. as for newt gingrich, he will begin a 22 city bus tour throughout iowa on tuesday. gingrich is calling the tour, the jobs and prosperity bus tour and certainly a lot of people want to see jobs come back to this country and gain some prosperity. this is just the beginning of what will be a blistering week in iowa as each of the candidates continue to fight for the coveted prize of winning the first caucus in the nation. as you know, whoever wins this will not be able to savor the victory for long because they head right into the new hampshire primary taking place two weeks away from now and romney is leading there as well. >> absolutely. >> here we go. gearing up. >> thanks very much, kelly. >> we talked about the candidates taking a bit a weekend off while the ads that were running in iowa this weekend were showing their wives softer than some of the negative

ads we've heard, that's what we saw in iowa this weekend. >> they take the foot off the gas a little bit on christmas. expect the negative ads rolling this morning in iowa. meanwhile, how will iowa shake out in just a week away? governor huckabee weighed in on that. you all know he won iowa in 2008 and talked to chris wallace about how he expects things to shake down and how he thinks weather could indeed be a factor in the caucus. >> i would probably say mitt romney will end up winning it today. now, i think, again, ron paul because of his organization could and that's where mitt is really at a disadvantage. he doesn't have the devotion. if the weather is good, mitt romney is in better shape. if the weather is bad and it's real tough to get out, ron paul will win. >> so why? the context there is that ron paul's devotees are extremely devoted. you have college kids working for basically nothing there and the organization that ron paul

has had in place for five years or more in that state is unrivalled. no other campaign can get up to snuff with the amount of organization that his campaign has so on a bad day when it's raining and snowing and sleeting, the people that will come out to those caucuses are likely going to be ron paul supporters. >> his base doesn't move. it's grown a little bit but certainly never gone down. those are very loyal supporters, boy did i hear from a few of them yesterday because we had a guest on saying that if ron paul wins the caucus there, it will hurt their reputation. it will hurt their place in the order of things but look, you've said this to me before, you think weather is a big factor because it is hard to get out there and caucus on a cold night and get out there. >> yeah, think that you're home after work, 5:00, you're home after work and you're going to drive across town to somebody's basement or some kiwanas club somewhere and drive through snow and put your family at risk to go through that. >> we're not talking about a huge number.

we're talking about 100,000, 120,000 people in the entire state will come out. >> we'll have to see. that caucus was next tuesday as they were mentioning. in terms of dates, it's next tuesday and then the new hampshire primary is going to be the following tuesday. >> right. >> keep that in mind. >> as kelly was saying, not a lot of time to savor that victory there and he mentioned the recent polls. it looks at this hour, mitt romney if you look at this new boston globe poll, running away with the field. i mean, 39%. >> this is largely what people expected. of course, he has real estate in new hampshire. he has a nice home there. he was the governor of neighboring massachusetts. there was a lot of talk for a while that newt gingrich would challenge mitt romney in new hampshire but this has to be the state where he makes his stand and says look, i'm going to win this nomination if in fact he is which is far from conclusive right now but he has to win that. >> right. there was a second part of that poll as well, "the boston globe" asked who has the best shot of

beating obama? and you can see the results there. 55% say mitt romney. 55%. >> wow. >> also interestingly, though, among these polls -- >> that's a huge number. >> the newspaper also notes that only 26% of g.o.p. voters said they've decided. so only 26% given those numbers a few weeks away right now. they still don't know. >> and we see that in iowa, too. 67% of the voters there say they're hoping to changing their minds. >> why isn't newt doing well? that's the question. >> it's slipping a little bit and some have said all these negative attack ads that have gotten a respite this weekend and that's what governor huckabee was saying on "fox news sunday." he was saying anybody who was able to spend at least $0.15 on an ad is running an ad that's anti-newt gingrich. take a listen. >> newt is a good candidate and he's had a great message but he's been pounded by ron paul, mitt romney, rick perry and pretty much anybody who has $0.15 to go buy part an ad.

the truth is negative ads continually are used because they work. >> look, newt clearly has a chance and he's right, they do certainly work. newt has a chance and that's in south carolina where he has to make his major statement but what he said on his facebook page yesterday, not going to help him anywhere in this country. i'm having a hard time figuring out the motivation behind this one. he was -- >> i beg to differ -- >> when he was left off the ballot in virginia, let's give you the background on this because he wasn't able to get the requisite 10,000 signatures, 400 from different counties in virginia. he was left off, michelle bachmann, rick santorum and jon huntsman off the ballot there. >> here's his facebook quote you're referring to from the newt campaign. newt and i agree that the analogy is december 1941. we have experienced an unexpected setback but we will regroup and refocus with increased determination and positive action referring, of course, to december 7, 1941, the attack on pearl harbor.

now, mitt's caught quite a few people on christmas weekend when not a lot of headlines were flying around. this was flying around the political world fast and furiously. you're comparing your campaign to 2400 people being killed? it doesn't make sense. >> let's not make a mountain out of a molehill. you can tell the other side, too, barack obama said he was lazy. >> explain his comment. >> he can't become president and become lazy. i'll explain that. he's saying this is the setback. it was a setback and unexpected. he's going to regroup and refocus like america did in pearl harbor. >> how they bounced back but this was an attack on american -- >> i understand. >> i get it. >> i mean -- i just think don't make such a big deal about it. >> furthermore, it was a surprise attack. and this is not a surprise. karl rove's point was that this is fundamental politics. you've got to get on the ballot. you've got to get all these ballot signatures figured out and signed and this is fundamental campaign politics and not a surprise to anyone.

>> was it the best choice? no, maybe he should rephrase it. was barack obama saying it was the best choice? get over it. >> we'll continue to debate this at the break. >> i think people are making such a big deal about some of the smaller things. >> at fox and friends is the twitter address. friends at foxnews.com. we will debate this more later in the program. >> that's not the only thing you've heard about this morning. let us know what you think. coming up on the show, it's like match.com for people who like to borrow some money. is peer to peer lending too good to be true. >> can i borrow a few bucks? i don't have any cash. >> i might not pay it back. that could be a big problem. >> and big development between maria shriver and arnold schwarzenegger. could they be getting back together? details straight ahead. [ male announcer ] you have dreams...

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>> with credit harder to come by from traditional sources, peer to peer lending is becoming far more common. is it a good idea and can i borrow some money? >> i'll work on that after the show. wealth manager ed botowski is here to tell us about the advantages and disadvantages. merry christmas. >> how does this work? this is new to me. peer to peer lending. you hear this among friends handing out $5. what are the advantages to get money to buy a house in that sort of a situation? >> it's not quite that. that could be the case. this is a new industry and you can call it industry because it's growing. there were over $6 billion last

year or actually this year, loaned through peer-to-peer lending. >> parents, friends, someone you know? >> no, what there are -- there are really two things that are at hand here. one is an organization like match.com where you're matching up people who need money to people who want to loan money and those people that want to loan money, they're looking out there saying where can i get money out and get a good rate of return? i think those people are the bigger fools here. >> let's look at some of the advantages here and interest rates are -- that's an interesting number there for interest rates at the top here. often below 10%. high return for the lenders themselves? actually think it would be lower undercutting the bank, right? >> it could be undercutting the bank but a lot of these people that are going to peer to peer lending do not have good credit. people who want to loan that money, they say -- i'm a wealth advisor. they're saying is that a good way for me to loan money and get interest rate and get interest on my money and to me, i don't think that makes a lot of sense. you're loaning money two ways either to an individual or a

pool of money. you don't know who those people are. they could be secured or unsecured. it's not worth the risk in my mind. >> to loan out that money. >> to loan out that money. if you're in need of that money -- >> it makes sense for you, right? >> it would make sense for me if ifsz borrowing that money, i might like that. there's a lot of rules around this. there's a group out there or an industry and that industry is set up to help take the banks out of the equation and allow people to borrow money freely between without having what's called an intermediary. >> some of that some people would actually like this. to taking three months to get a mortgage. this takes less time. there are big disadvantages. >> there's risk. you don't know who you're loaning the money to. you don't know what the -- if you're going to actually be able to get that money paid back. that's a big risk. and you know, when you have that type of risk, it's not a matter of getting paid back slowly. in some cases, you don't get paid back especially if it's unsecured. if it's secured, that rate is going to be a lot higher. lending money is going to happen all the time. i get money once a month from

"friends" wanting to borrow money. they're my new friends, right? it's not a good practice. it destroys relationships. don't do it and i'll tell you, one of the things that, you know, i think anybody could use, if you have a friend come to you and you don't want to look them in the eye and say i can't do it. it's an uncomfortable situation to be in. i tell people, just tell them you're having a tax issue. that's sort of like stay away from me. no one can argue it. >> that means i want to help you, i just can't. >> i really wish i could be there for you. i have a tax issue. >> don't try to use that. >> and great to see you, hope you have a wonderful new year as well. thanks for stopping by. >> thanks for having me. shaking hands and kissing babies not all it's cracked up to be. the story behind this video. i love it! >> and rick perry also not getting on the virginia ballot. and some saying it's time for him to call it quits. one of perry's supporters here next. to defend the governor.

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>> welcome back. quick headlines for you. today marks the beginning of kwanzaa. the week long celebration honors african-american heritage and culture. each day of the celebration is dedicated to one of the principles of the holiday. on-line gambling, the justice department recently reversed the policy that said all forms of internet gambling were illegal. ainsley? >> thank you, clayton.

after failing to get the 10,000 signatures required to make it on that virginia primary ballot, is it time now for rick perry to call it quits? our washington insiders are here now for a fair and balanced debate. former campaign manager for governor michael dukakis is susan and supporter of governor rick perry's presidential campaign is matt keland. thanks so much for being with us, guys. i'll start with you, does rick perry need to get out of the race? >> absolutely not. it's preposterous to think that. if you look back to where bill clinton was at this point, a lot of people probably thought that but he worked hard and never gave up and ended up being elected twice as the president of the united states. look, the virginia ballot thing, if it disqualified everybody, only paul and romney would be left in the race. the state will be looked at very closely. you may see them put somebody

back on the ballot. >> let me show you the latest polls. american research group in iowa says they polled folks in iowa and the republican presidential prefaced ron paul with 21%. gingrich with 19% and perry at the bottom with 9% and then "the boston globe" new hampshire primary that we were talking about at the top of the show has perry at the bottom. ron paul 17% and then perry with 1% so susan, if you look at these numbers, is it time for him to get out? >> look, it's up to a candidate how long they stay and when they get out. the problem is and i think matt would agree, that the fact that he has to come on your show this morning and defend rick perry's right to stay in the race is really problematic. you've got poll numbers and people talking about him getting out, it doesn't inspire confidence. >> look at gingrich, a lot of the consultants left gingrich's campaign to go work for perry and he came back with a vengeance. is that going to happen -- is

there a chance that could happen with perry? >> actually, ainsley, i would say if you look at the polling, he's fourth in iowa and in some polls he's in third. he's shown a tremendous amount of momentum over the last three weeks and in iowa there's a lot of time left for a surge in iowa and newt is kind of falling in the polls. if rick comes in top three in iowa, i think you're going to see his numbers go up across the country. >> what do you think? >> seven days is a little bit different than months and that's the problem perry has. he came in with a lot of fanfare and then, of course, had some troubles and debates and in politics, a lot of it are you going up and are you going down? and perry has had a rough campaign. gingrich is falling now. it's the only attention perry gets from the press is about not making the ballot and whether he should stay in, it's just a tough uphill climb. >> matt, do you know any of these consultants? i know you're a volunteer for his campaign, for perry's campaign, do you know those consultants that left gingrich's campaign? >> i know some people, sure.

>> are they regretting that decision now? >> i think they're happy with where they're at with the perry campaign. both campaigns have to keep fighting and it's not always easy to get up every day when it feels like everyone is pounding on you. but i think both campaigns have an opportunity in iowa to do quite well. >> what about the other candidates, susan, are their leads insurmountable at this point? >> i think it's looking very good for mitt romney because i don't think ron paul is going to go the distance and the fact that neither gingrich nor perry could manage to get 10,000 signatures doesn't speak well for their organizational strengths so i think the only people having an easy time getting up in the morning right now are the romney people and the paul people are having some fun. >> thanks so much for weighing in. great to see you this morning. >> thanks, take care. >> no license? no problem. at least in california. we'll explain that coming up and didn't like what you got for christmas? well, is it ok to regift? only if you know the rules! and we have got those rules for

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>> all right. welcome back to "fox & friends" on this -- >> we're back.

we're on camera now. >> we were just having a little post christmas discussion here. hope you had a wonderful christmas. here's your shot of the morning. this is how the president spent his christmas. he posed for a photo op with the military family in hawaii. check out what the baby does to his face. >> so cute! >> so he's a good sport. laugh it all off. >> oh! >> so an 8-month-old cooper wagner. cooper's dad there was a captain in the marine corps standing beside the little baby there. he was having christmas dinner with other military families when the president and first lady dropped by but it was little cooper who stole the show, of course. can you imagine that video in the family for years? >> right. secret service almost hopped in there. >> where have those hands been? >> i would tell you, my daughter would put her hand -- when she was going to sleep, she'd to have a hand in your mouth. >> what? >> even if it was -- that's how she fell asleep, she'd put a

hand in your mouth. that's how she hung on to you. >> she couldn't fall asleep until she had a hand in your mouth. >> i love the baby's hands because if you put your finger, they always clasp them. they're so cute! >> but none -- no. hygiene. >> doesn't matter. when it's your baby, you don't care. >> he's a good sport, the president. now to the headlines, christmas celebrations taking a horrific turn in the quiet texas suburb of grapevine. seven adults had finished unwrapping their gifts when they were shot to death. officers found two handguns near those bodies. it's believed that all the victims were related. and that the killer might be among the dead. iranian officials saying that they will be going ahead with the execution of a woman convicted of adultery nearly five years ago. she was convicted of having "illicit relationships with two men after her husband was killed." at the time, she was sentenced to death by stoning. that sentence then suspended

after an international outcry. and now the death sentence reportedly is back on. a judge says she will be exec e executed either by hanging or stoning any day now. maria shriver having second thoughts about divorcing arnold schwarzenegger? well, tmz is now reporting she is torn partly because of her strong religious beliefs. and to make things even more complicated, schwarzenegger allegedly wants her back. shriver filed for divorce back in july, a month after it was revealed that her husband fathered a love child with the housekeeper. and starting january 1st, police in california it no longer tow cars of unlicensed driver at sobriety checkpoints. like most states, california denies licenses to illegal immigrants but under the new law, they will get to keep their cars if stopped as long as they are sober and can find a licensed driver to pick up that car. dave, over to you for sports. >> and a great day in sports it was. full of nba and the nfl.

we start there. the packers celebrating a christmas win with a big one over the bears. aaron rodgers looked like he's solidifying the mvp award and he finds jermichael finley for a short touchdown. green bay up 7-0 in the first. third quarter we go. yet another t.d. pass for mr. rodgers. this time he hits james jones. pack up 14-3 at the half. aaron rodgers was very, very busy on christmas. three more touchdown passes including that one to jodi nelson. packers win it 35-21 eliminating chicago. if you want to get to the super bowl, you have to go through lambeau field. good luck with that. nba now, 12 hours of basketball and it started right where it left off. last season with the heat and the mavericks. this time, though, miami got the best of it. lebron james, 37 points, dwayne wade also bringing the heat.

they are scary this year. dirk nowiski and the mavericks have lamar odom but they struggled mightily. down 35 at one point. 105-94 the final. it was not that close. another big christmas day game in new york. the knicks hosting the celtics in this one. a real nail biter. third quarter, boston getting the board. rojon rondo had a terrific game. layup on the other end. game tied at 69. rondo arguably the best player on the court except that guy caramelo anthony, three-pointer. that was clutch. knicks up two. kevin garnett has a chance to win it for boston. shot no good. knicks would win this one 106-104. i should mention paul pierce did not play, the captain for the celtics hopes to be back for a big game with the heat later this week and you know, it was two days ago but i should mention, your alma mater pitt lost to wagner.

i know it was two days ago. >> why should you mention that? auto -- >> just a public service. i wanted you to know. >> i am aware. tears were shed like that baby. we hope you had a wonderful christmas yesterday. and if you're just waking up this morning, and you're -- you know, everyone is sharing the pictures with their family with all the other family that couldn't be there yesterday. a lot of facebook pictures and things we were sharing back and forth yesterday, dave and i and the kids. here are some of the pictures for christmas yesterday. there's my little boy miles before the christmas eve dinner and those stride rite shoes. >> this kid is getting so big and old. >> look at him in his -- now in his elf pants. he has elf pants and my wife is probably furious i'm showing a picture of her right now. don't show that picture. >> she looks phenomenal. >> merry christmas belated to natalie and to miles. who's that? >> this is my baby.

she wakes up every morning to watch "fox & friends." this is a live shot of her right now. she's watching us. >> in your bed. >> hey, sassy. >> she have a wonderful christmas? >> she did. she did. i bought her all kinds of gifts and i have one more baby. here's my other little one. he's 2 pounds. this is sack. >> the judge likes that. >> look how cute. he's so cute. >> be honest, did you get them christmas presents? >> i did. >> here's my family. there's my wife, my son will on the left and my daughter emerson and my wife also is pregnant like clayton's wife natalie so it will be a busy 2012 for us. that was christmas eve and there's will. >> this is a boy after my own heart. what is this? >> a couple of clone troopers and general grievous on the far right. he is addicted to "star wars." >> i love that dave has to learn those characters. >> did you get the babies mixed up at the hospital? that's your baby. >> my daughter emerson has a

bunch of american girl stuff. my son bought many a "star wars" shirt so now i have to be like clayton. >> that's right. or you can regift it. that's what we're going to talk about now. a lot of people got gifts that they didn't want or don't know what to do with now and there's all these rules about regifting. they'll break them down for you. this is how it works. first of all, number one, it must be new. >> of course. >> you can't regift a partially used gift or those giftcards or worn clothes and honest to god, one time during an open house my parents had, someone brought, you know, gifts, they bring to the open house, we're going through the gifts at the end of the night after everyone left. we opened it and it was a used candle. so -- >> oh, yeah. >> i've given a gift to someone and then the next year they give it back to me. not kidding. not kidding. and i have a friend who got married, i know we need to get to the list. i have a friend that got married and she got as a gift from this other couple, a vase. beautiful like crystal vase. she turns it over and it's engraved to the other couple. so they were regifting. it was engraved. and it's their wedding name on.

it >> we just added a rule. it cannot be engraved. >> right. >> that should be rule number one. >> with someone else's initials, right? >> rule number 2 is this. if you think it's a bad gift, so will someone else. no one wants your regifted fruitcake or ugly sweater. i don't know, there's some scenarios, if you gave me a really, you know, thick book on american history, as much as i'd appreciate it, i'd probably give it to clayton. >> and i wouldn't mind getting it. >> i'm never going to get through a 1,200 page book. i'm never going to get through it. >> know your audience. >> we're coming up with our own rules. what about this on the list? put some thought into it. does grandma want an ipad? she might. does your brother want new oven mits. of course not. grandma may want that ipad. >> she may. that's the bottom line, there may be a scenario that i laid out, there may be something that made more sense for a friend, for a loved one than it does for you. >> putting thought into it is so

important. sometimes you'd prefer a card vs. a thoughtless gift. homemade equals hands off. it's too personal to be regifted if it's handmade. if your little daughter makes a card, give it to me. >> never regift something from your children. >> something that says hey, daddy. yeah. >> we'll break down the rest later on from you. we want to hear from you, are you needing to regift something? send us some doozies. what are the rules and the worst thing you've ever tried to or had to regift. it's a little easier for clayton now to communicate. >> all right, so tons of bargain hungry shoppers are heading out this early morning and bringing back some gifts they don't want and exchanging them for the right sizes and some different things. so sherry lee from affiliate wttg is live at a shopping center in gaithersburg, maryland this morning. are they out this early? >> they are! and surprisingly, i've seen people who have come to this kohls store and left already.

they've come to return their items. they've done their shopping. and now they've gone home hopefully to get some breakfast. this is considered the third busiest shopping day of the year. they're calling this one mega monday. a lot of stores have opened in the predawn hours trying to get those shoppers in one last time for this holiday season. it's a record day for returns. $46.3 billion in returns expected this year. and, of course, today is all about the bargain hunting as well. stores are really slashing the prices. 75% to 80% trying to get rid of all that merchandise. that didn't sell before the holidays so if you're out to get a bargain, now is the day to do it and come on out early because this is the best time, you don't have to deal with the crowds. back to you. >> what time did they open there? >> they opened at 5:00 a.m. 5:00 a.m. they opened here. and people were here. >> i was looking through the newspaper this morning and it said where you can go, what time the sales are. and many of the sales end at noon so they're encouraging

people to get out there early. >> holy man. thanks so much. >> if i wasn't here with you, i'd be in there shopping, too. >> get in there. >> get some deals! >> thank you very much. coming up on the show, no photo i.d.? no worries. you can vote in south carolina. but is it really a good idea? we'll debate it in a few minutes. >> then the true story of how alice in wonderland came to be. long before johnny depp re-created the role as the mad hatter. the story is fascinating coming up. ♪

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>> quick headlines for you. imagine using your iphone and ipad for weeks and only charging it once. that could become a reality. apple is reportedly -- i saw you look up on this one, clayton. apple has reportedly submitted applications for patents on new lighter batteries made from hydrogen cells and these former royal dogs are adorable, aren't they? but they're now close to

extinction apparently. the hand terrier is believed to be a hybrid of the english white terrier. the fox terrier, a west highland terrier and a corgi and they're cute. over to you. >> how do you combine all those dogs? thanks, ains. from charlotte's web to alice in wonderland, they're classic tales growing up. how do the authors come up with the stories that have such sticking power? the story behind the stories may surprise you. it's quite fascinating. she says the author of "dancing with miss halloway" and she joins us now. selia, nice to see you. why did you decide to write this book? i'm a big fan and one day i was reading it and decided to find out if there was a real person who she had in mind when writing this book. >> let's start with a few of the famous ones here. let's start with "alice in wonderland. "we were talking about that and showed johnny depp as the mad

hatter. where did this story come from? >> she was rowing up a river with three young girls who were daughters of the dean where he worked and they beggeded him to tell a story and right there on the spot, he came up with alice in wonderland and it starred one of the girls on the boat. >> it was that simple. and usually these stories are that simple. the next one, of course, the famous sherlock holmes that's in theaters again for the follow-up and featuring robert downey jr. where did this come from? >> that's one of my favorites. there was actually a real sherlock holmes, studied medicine at the university of edinburgh and one of his favorite professors was the model for sherlock holmes. he had an incredible knack of diagnosing patients before they opened their mouth. >> it's like "house". >> absolutely. >> i didn't realize he was actually a real person. next on the list, one of my favorites, the hobbitt and this being made into a film as we speak. peter jackson directing this film. what about this story in>> so

j.r.tolkin was a professor at the oxford university. one hot summer's day, he was grading a stack of papers and came across a blank page and all of a sudden, a sentence popped into his head. in a hole in a ground there lives a hobbitt. and that sentence started it all going and he jotted it down on the page and that was the beginning of the book. >> that started everything. the lord of the rings trilogy and everything else from that one sentence. that's amazing. frankenstein, of course, an iconic horror figure that basically started the horror genre as well. >> right. mary shelly was vacationing in the swiss alps and she her friends decided to write down ghost stories to entertain one another. the weather was awful. they were stuck indoors and she couldn't come up with a story on the spot. a couple of days later, she had a nightmare and that was the beginning of frankenstein. >> i feel like i could write a book about my wife's nightmares on a regular basis and make millions. the book is out now called "dancing with mrs. dalloway."

really fascinating. coming up on the show, no photo i.d., no worries. you can now vote in south carolina without one. is this really a good idea? we will debate that next. and george h.w. bush throwing his support behind mitt romney but there's a bigger get from someone in the bush family. who is it? former bush press secretary dana perino is here with that answer coming up. dad, why are you getting that? is there a prize in there?

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>> welcome back. the department of justice blocking a south carolina law that would require people to show photo i.d. in order to vote.

they claim the law discriminates against minorities but the critics say the doj's decision is motivated solely by politics. for a fair and balanced debate this morning, we're joined by boris epstein, a republican strategist and a former federal prosecutor that sides with the department of justice. kendall, how is this discrimination requiring a simple photo i.d. to vote? >> well, it's actually sort of a statistical analysis. it's not alleging that there is an intention to discriminate. what they're saying is you add an extra burden to voting and we could all question in the first place at a time when people are so disillusioned about government and why are we making it harder to vote, why are we making it harder for people to complain about what's going on in government by exercising their franchise? but the narrow issue is does this disproportionately impact on minorities? is and the statistics that have been presented that are available at the department of justice say there's a 20% greater impact on minority

voters in south carolina than non-minorities. if that's the way the numbers develop, that means that the doj has the right and has the duty to reject this proposed change to voting. >> kendall, we spoke with a justice department official from the bush administration who says it's actually closer to 2%. boris, is this discrimination? should americans be required to have a photo i.d. to vote? >> it is absolutely not discrimination in any way whatsoever. by kendall's logic and those on the left, we should make the voting age 5 and make it easier for everyone to vote or get rid of the voting age. that also limits who can vote. having voter i.d. or having i.d. to vote is absolutely necessary. when i was on mccain-palin in 2008, he we experienced severe issues with voter fraud and i.d. is one way to combat voter fraud. who said that? it was jimmy carter. that liberal line in 2005, he headed a commission to preserve voting integrity and he said that voting i.d. is absolutely necessary. furthermore, the supreme court came out and said they're ruling

on a law in indiana, marion county case, that by 6-3 that it is absolutely proper to have voter i.d. laws in place. so it's not discrimination. it's necessary. >> not to mention it was the liberal justice stevens who wrote for the majority in that case. kendall, you have to have a photo i.d. to do essentially anything in this country. you got to have one to buy some -- make some medicine purchases, firearms, credit cards, cash a check. we could go on and on and on. how about this? would it be discrimination to require a photo i.d. to get unemployment benefits because in most cases, you do. >> well, we're talking about the right to vote. and we're not talking about 5-year-olds. we're talking about people who have been registered to vote and have voted for many years without evidence of a single case. >> wait a minute. >> and somebody impersonated a voter and i know a bit about voter fraud. >> i have to stop you there. i have to stop you there. last time in 2008 in nevada, we had the whole dallas cowboys offensive line registered to

vote. we had mickey mouse registered to vote. >> dead people. >> dead people, just a couple of weeks ago, you saw in troy, new york, a felony conviction for voter fraud. so let's not talk about not one person registered to vote who was not that -- >> let's talk about voter i.d. and a photo. what the photo does is it says whether an impersonator is coming into vote at the polls. that's never been proven. that doesn't exist in south carolina anymore. if you got people who shouldn't be voting, you know what? they vote absentee and so let's look at absentee laws that have nothing to do with disenfranchising tens of thousands of people who are mosting the elderly, poor and disabled and they'll have a tough time. it's not as easy for all of us as you might think. >> what about giving up free i.d.? what about doing what indiana did and giving a free i.d. to all those wanting to vote. that's what the supreme court upheld. there's no problem with that. mississippi is doing that right now to mimic the law that was passed -- that was approved by the supreme court. >> what about --

>> are you fine with that, too? >> in indiana, they gave a free i.d. to every u.s. citizen so there's no excuse. it takes it off the table. would that work? >> well, what they would need to do in states is find a way to makes it easier and accessible for people to get photo i.d. and the justice department said very clearly in south carolina, find a way to fix this, if you can. but don't throw 82,000 minorities off the voter rolls simply because they don't have the government issued i.d. >> nobody is being thrown off -- nobody is being thrown off the voter rolls. all they're -- >> if you want to vote -- auto 508 it 2,0 -- 82,000? >> have an idea. why do you think the department of justice is doing this if you don't think it's discrimination. >> in 2007 and 2008, barack obama went to ohio and said we're glad we have somebody on our team as the secretary of state. same thing. he's got somebody on his team. he's got attorney general holder there. he wants to make sure he has his job in 2012 and 2013.

barack obama wants that job. it's very clear. this is absolutely political. they want to make sure democrats win again and they're using anything they can and it's absolutely disgusting. >> far from over. it will likely be decided by the supreme court as was the indiana case. thank you both for being here. we appreciate the debate and folks, we want to continue it. let us know what you think about this. should you have to have a photo i.d. to vote? find me on twitter at fox dave briggs. coming up, we can all agree every citizen should be protected from terrorism but should a small town in texas get a ton of federal money for a pilotless drone? that's just the beginning. then many are wondering what president obama was thinking admitting to being lazy. who better to ask? the queen of presidential messaging, former press secretary dana perino, the queen is here live. ♪

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>> good monday morning to you. it's december 26th. i'm ainsley earhardt. here's what's happening right now. newt gingrich making an eyebrow raising comparison. he says being disqualified from the ballot in virginia is like the attack on pearl harbor. he will explain. >> and george -- hey, clayton. >> hey! >> gotcha. meanwhile, george h.w. bush throwing his support not to clayton but behind mitt romney but there's a bigger get from someone in the bush family. who is it? former bush press secretary dana perino is waiting just off stage. she has the answer. >> and take a look at this video instead of knocking off a business, this robber gets knocked out.

bam! the hooded bandit. "fox & friends" hour two starts right now. >> all right! >> hi, this is victoria jackson. you're watching "fox & friends." merry christmas and happy holidays to all of our troops serving overseas! we love you! you're our heroes! >> she's got a lot of energy. >> wow. >> we agree with that. >> we do agree with that. >> all right. steve, brian and gretchen are off for the christmas holiday. today is the federal holiday we were learning. no mail today. federal buildings closed. >> you can park at the meters. that's big in new york. >> the markets are closed today, also. >> and look who is just off camera. do we have a shot? dana perino is here. she'll be here in a couple of minutes. >> working a long day today. >> later she'll be on "the five" as well. she'll be here in two minutes. >> tell you about the headlines this morning. a devastating christmas tragedy to tell you about. a fire killing a fashion executive's three young children and her parents. this happened in stanford,

connecticut, 47-year-old madonna badger and a male friend were able to escape. her father who died reportedly spent his last day on earth working as a small santa claus. her mother, 10-year-old daughter, 7-year-old twins were also killed. the cause of that fire is unknown at this point. badger became a marketing rock star with her marky mark underwear ads. remember those? >> yeah, they were great. >> yep. >> and a developing story out of iraq. while you were sleeping, a homicide bomber killed five people at the interior ministry in baghdad. he reportedly drove a vehicle packed with explosives right through the ministry's gates. another two dozen people were injured. the blast comes as the last u.s. combat troops are leaving that kunlt. -- country. and he provided security for one of the world's most wanted men. mexico's top drug lord but now, that head of security is behind bars at this hour. he is one of the world's richest men and has eluded authorities since escaping from prison in a

laundry truck back in 2001. authorities were hoping to capture the security head will help him find guzman. i wonder what this caller i.d. would look like. president obama taking time out of his vacation in hawaii to call 10 u.s. service members on christmas eve. he called two members of every branch of the military wishing them a happy holiday and thanking them for their service. those are your headlines. >> i would think that's a crank call. president is on the line for you. yeah. just briggs playing a trick on me. let's bring in dana perino this morning and hope you had a merry christmas. >> i did. first christmas in new york. >> good place to spend christmas? >> it was great. i got -- on the recommendation of a senior producer of "the five" recommended we go to the 21 club for the salvation army singalong brunch so we did that. it was great. >> you did some singing? >> i actually did in a safe place because everybody is singing at the same time. >> good. >> sheet music and everyone in the restaurant sings together. >> yeah. >> it's really neat. >> let's talk about what's going

on in virginia. politics are back. took a bit of a weekend off, all the g.o.p. candidates took the weekend off to relax with their families and such. it's back now and now there's a lot of focus of what happened in virginia. we know that governor rick perry and newt gingrich will not be on the virginia ballot when it looked like it was locked down. needed those signatures and didn't get them in in time. is this a big setback fort gingrich and perry campaigns? >> i think that the gingrich and perry campaigns, hit them kind of blindsided but their bigger concern right now has to be iowa, new mexico and south carolina. if they get to the virginia primary, that would be -- >> i'm not sure when it is. >> super tuesday. >> yeah, the rules in virginia are stringent but the rules are the rules and you have to comply with them or else you're not going to be able to make it. if you look at somebody like newt gingrich and perry, newt's campaign didn't really take off until maybe like the last eight weeks and so he didn't have a robust group working on the getting those signatures in

virginia. perry campaign, remember, he didn't come into the race until sort of mid to late august. so both of them sort of are starting from behind and didn't quite make the cut. i think now that virginia might take another look for the next round and there could be a court challenge in which newt gingrich could win. >> i'm not sure if it's more indicative of a problem with virginia or a problem with gingrich's organization but how about the comparison newt made on his facebook page. it was not in his words, his campaign manager but he said essentially newt and i agree this is like december 7, 1941, pearl harbor and they're talking, i think, about how the u.s. bounced back from that but 2400 people were killed that day. newt is a historian. is this a historically bad reference? >> well, one of the things about political communication is you can veer off into hyperbole. that if the comparison doesn't automatically make sense to you and you have to explain your comparison, then you probably shouldn't have made that comparison in the first place. i guess they did mean bounce back but the first thing you

think of pearl harbor is one of the worst wars attacks -- >> where people -- >> let's play the quote. this is actually from their facebook page where they try to explain this and this is from the newt facebook page. newt and i agree the analogy of december 1941, we have experienced an unexpected setback but we will regroup and refocus on increased determination, commitment and positive action. unexpected setback, i think is what set off karl rove this week because he was saying look, this isn't unexpected. as a campaign, these are the things you need to get in place. this is fundamental politics, the analogy to pearl harbor is that it was a -- it was sudden. it was a surprise. this wasn't a surprise. >> also, the bounceback part came much, you know, later and it's a bad comparison. they probably if they could they'd erase it and start over and think of another analogy to use. >> it may have been a surprise because newt e-mailed karl rove personally and said we have the signatures in virginia and going

towards 15,000, just to get that in. >> what about bush sr. endorsing mitt romney? unofficially endorsing. >> bush 41 as i call, i have the biggest crush on him. he's an amazing american patriot and one of the most consummate gentlemen and he has loved this country. for him, he thinks mitt romney would be the best presidential candidate for the republicans to run and he said it wasn't official but if you're mitt romney, that gives you a lot of -- >> what about the question about protecting the political establishment? that's one of the criticisms, that the reason that 41 is doing this is because he wants to protect the political base. >> yeah, i just reject that. if you look at george h.w. bush's career, youngest fighter pilot america has ever had. all the things that he's done in the private and dedicating his entire life to the public sector and raising an entire family that also dedicates themselves to public service or helping

people in africa like little barbara bush does. he doesn't care about the establishment. that's something that people put forward. who isn't establishment in this race? people who think newt gingrich isn't establishment? we all worked in the same thing. you could call me part of the establishment. i think what they want is somebody totally from the outside. you can't actually make it to this level of politics -- >> he's been a congressman for as long as i remember. >> why not perry being from texas? i think that was the question we all had. >> look, not a surprise to me in that he -- george h.w. bush had decided who does he think would be the best candidate that could beat president obama? newt gingrich and mitt romney are the two frontrunners and if you think back to the governor's campaign back in 2009 or 2010 when governor perry had said he wasn't going to run again for re-election, then the 41's put their weight behind kay bailey

hutchinson and perry decided to run again. it was a primary race and they were already out. people have tried to make more of this than there is. if you're having to choose right now, one of the frontrunners, i don't know if it would necessarily be rick perry. >> there's another member of the bush family that's coveted right now. it's jeb bush. how much would that mean to a candidate, perhaps, in nearby south carolina? would it mean a lot? >> it will mean a lot. also, remember, florida is the key state to win. i don't know whether jeb bush would endorse anyone before the florida primaries. >> would winning florida? >> that could certainly help. there was some people that thought jeb bush would run and this that he could win and some people think he could get in today and win and his dad and his brother, the president i worked for both believed that. he could have run and won this time around. that's not going to happen. >> if jeb bush comes out and throws his endorsement and charlie kris give the same endorsement, do they counter up?

>> i think jeb bush's endorsement would come out on top. >> me, too. >> i think you're right. >> let's talk about what president obama is telling barbara walters. he has described himself talking about hawaii that he has a little bit of hawaii lazy in him. let's listen to this. >> what's the trait you most deplore in yourself and the trait you most deplore in others? >> laziness. >> you're lazy? >> you know, it's interesting. there is a deep down underneath all the work i do, i think there's a laziness in me. i mean, it's probably from, you know, growing up in hawaii and it's sunny outside and sitting on the beach. >> so what do you make of that? i mean -- >> those questions are hard. when they ask, it's like when you go to an interview and they say which quality about you -- you know, i work too hard. people say i overwork. i'm just kind of lazy. >> isn't that refreshing to hear

him say i'm a little lazy? >> imagine if he applied himself, the things he could do. he's already said he's the fourth best president ever. if he worked a little harder. >> why would he say that, dana? >> i think sometimes you're searching for something to say and i think it's true. did you see mrs. obama's face, she's like -- >> exactly what you're talking about. >> he works probably 18 hours a day, seven days a week. >> and plays golf the rest of the time. i think that he -- he's probably looking for something to say and i think that it's probably true and he does know how to relax and if you know how to relax as well as delegate well and you can still manage and do the things that he's done. >> in that, is there an opening for his critics to say you hashed out and you let congress, you know, put together the health care legislation, put together stimulus without crafting it yourself, is there an opening there for criticism? >> absolutely! >> if you weren't so lazy, you would have been the one that owned all -- >> sure. cue the attack ad. it's probably being made right now. >> will it be effective? >> for the -- i think for those

who have already decided that president obama doesn't deserve a second term, this is not going to change their minds. and for those who are maybe on the fence, something like this on an attack ad, do you -- if whoever the republican nominee is can make hay out of it, so be it. i don't think it will be a deciding factor. if i were him, i probably would not have said that. >> i'd love to hear from the hawaiians this morning. they have the slogan hang loose, i wonder if it's offensive or not. >> we'll see you tonight on "the five." >> 5:00, convenient time. >> we know protecting the u.s. from terrorists is important, should small town police all around the country be getting billions in federal money for military style gear? we report, you decide. >> think that's bad? jim carrey's "cable guy" karaoke not as bad as to what happened to one guy that ended up behind bars after taking the mike. we'll explain.

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>> welcome back to "fox & friends." since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, cities across the country have been ramping up their police departments and creating anti-terror task forces with the help of aid from the federal government. but a new report shows $34 billion from the department of homeland security has gone to small towns with no history of terror threats. joining us now is the founder of monument policy group and a former assistant secretary of policy at the department of homeland security. nice to see you this morning, stuart. hope you had a wonderful christmas. >> you, too. >> give me some examples of how this is exactly happening here. we talk about montgomery county, texas. there was a pilotless surveillance drone that each cost upwards of $300,000 that went to this county in texas and another into garland county, texas, a handheld bulletproof protective shields for $600 each

but these guys don't need them. >> well, congress decided that every community needed some base line level of protection. so you end up with these high-tech devices. you might say what's the point of that? i was in congress working for a senator from oklahoma. no one would have put oklahoma city on a top list for terrorism. we know what happened with the oklahoma city bombing so i think congress decided that at a time when we had more fiscal luxuries than, perhaps, we do now that every community needed a base line level of protection. we have seen in the spending bill that just passed congress a couple of weeks ago, this type of funding has cut back 50%. they decided to prioritize with front line officers on the border and those kinds of things. >> some of this waste, do you have a problem? some are saying we have significant waste. do you have a problem with this at all? >> i think, you know, one man's waste is another man's necessity. and so these things only seem important when they're used. now, to be fair, some of these pieces of equipment and the training that these grants go to

fund are used not only for counterterrorism but everyday drug enforcement. if you're break up the kind of criminal activities that happen all over the country, these types of activities in training become valuable and some of the money that's gone to things that's not nearly as sexy as a high-tech device, driver's license security. overtime for police. these kinds of things that probably the average person in the community would think it's a pretty good idea. >> here's a few more examples. i think this is actually what ron paul has been talking about in a few debates recently about the way to blankedly label things terror. ballistics helmets went to louisiana. helmets in louisiana? augusta, maine, tactical vest. $1500 each in maine, one of the highest senior citizen populations in the country, des moines, iowa, bomb robots, $180,000 each. are these terror threats in these towns? are we to be believed? or is this money being handed out? >> well, the politics of where

the terror threat lies and where it doesn't has been a tricky one. i was in security in the early years and we've tried very hard to prioritize in the urban areas. there was push back from congress saying we should be spreading it out across the country to less -- not just the urban areas. the current administration has pushed to prioritizing those top tier targets in new york city, washington where i am. but again, over the years we're talking 10 years now, there has been a desire to build a base line capability for the police, first responders and fire. >> let me ask you this -- is this a congress pork issue? it sounds to me, department of homeland security should be writing the policy based on what merits they see. is congress saying i want these in my backyard, is that where this is coming from? >> it's been an interesting deliberation between the congress and the executive branch and at various times, it's been a who is running congress, the upper hand has traded and you've end up with two pots of money. one for the urban areas and one they call the peanut butter

spread. spreading it across the country. everybody gets their fair share. >> interesting. i like how you used the word interesting. >> yes. >> when it relates to congress. stuart, so nice to see you. hope you have a wonderful new year as well. thanks for coming in with us. >> thank you. >> let me know how you feel about this. is this government waste? you can find me on twitter at clayton morris. it was touted as a major success but the merger between a.o.l. and huffington post a major mess. is this proof that people aren't buying their agenda? check out this video. instead of knocking off a business, this robber gets knocked out. we'll have more on that coming up. ♪ i believe in dreams again

♪ oh, yeah ♪ 'cause i believe in you and me ♪ ♪ oh, boy ♪ i believe in miracles ♪ and i believe in you and me ♪ ♪ see, i was lost ♪ now i'm free ♪ 'cause i believe in you and me ♪

>> time now for your news by the numbers. first, $200 million. that's how much money president obama's re-election campaign is on track to raise by the end of 2011. next, 56%. that's how much more corporations borrowed from banks compared with last year. and finally, $26.5 million. that's how much money "mission impossible 4 ghost protocol" took in at the box office making it the number one movie christmas weekend. it beat out sherlock holmes and alvin and the chipmunks. >> investors are furious at the a.o.l. and huffington post. they are losing an estimated $500 million a year. they are demanding change. is this proof that the liberal media model does not work? joining us is editor for britebart tv, larry connor. good morning to you. >> good morning, dave. >> thanks for being up bright and early out there. >> dark and early.

>> a.o.l. is clearly struggling. does this have to do with a bad model or does this have to do with taking on "huffington post" and taking a different direction? >> the jury is still out. it's a little young. if you measure these things based on revenue and stock prices like we do in the real world, so far this marriage is as successful as the latest kim kardashian marriage. >> ouch! here's a statement. "immediate action must be taken to address this issue as the company continues to invest good money after bad without an acceptable return on the investment." has there been a change of direction for a.o.l. and what about this model of liberal leaning media does not succeed in the business world. >> well, a.o.l. has shifted its income model right now. it used to be a subscription based model and now it's going completely towards display advertising. so far, it's kind of a you got fail situation and i think part of it is because "huffington

post" going into this merger was seen what it was, a very left leaning media outlet on the internet. you're always one click away from an article by van jones talking about the issues in our country from his very fair and balanced perspective. you can look at some other media situations that have come from the left over the past couple of years and they haven't been very successful. >> so let's take that web site, say that is not working. how about radio? how about television? newspaper? are there other examples? >> sure, i mean, we can start with current tv which started out and announced to the world that they were going to come from the left. and give you the news from the left. they spent a lot of money on keith oberman last year. he used to be a sportscaster and people cared what he said about politics. not anymore. earlier this year, he had as few as 85,000 viewers. and now their new plan is to bring in a you tube star whose claim to fame is he wasn't good

enough for that other cable news outlet that's not doing so well and comes from the left. he's so bad, they had to replace him with al sharpton, what does that tell you about him? >> is there a model of success for liberal media? >> listen, first of all, if i was arianna huffington, i would consider the merger good success. she banked in on it and has quite a bit of cash because of it. frankly, i don't think so. you look at "daily beast" that inquired "newsweek" for a dollar this last year and tina brown would like to have her 10 dimes back. "newsweek" is looking up at "cooking light" magazine in the subscription ratings right now and "daily beast" comes from that perspective where they look at the news from the left leaning lens of the world and i think one of the problems is that when you address the news from a liberal perspective and unabashedly left liberal perspective, you come across with a very condescending, patronizing and almost hostile approach to the people who disagree with you and nobody wants to be lectured to and

nobody wants to be called names by a news outlet. who wants that? >> larry o'connor, thanks for being with us this morning. he is the editor of brietbart tv. thank you, sir. >> thank you. >> president obama returning campaign cash he got from jon corzine's bankrupt m.f. global but there's new reports he hasn't returned all of it. then think you've seen bad karaoke like cameron diaz in "my best friend's wedding"? >> ♪ don't know just what to do with myself ♪ >> think again. one guy walked off the stage in handcuffs. it's the perfect time to find great deals

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>> welcome back, everybody. >> welcome back, the day after christmas. christmas has come and gone so quickly. >> it does happen. it's the cookie high. >> you had quite a few, i heard. >> absolutely. for lunch, actually. there's an interesting story we want to tell you about this morning about karaoke. over the holidays parties, there's always cakaraoke. >> we took a break from the karaoke. >> it always ends up like "my best friend's wedding".

are you familiar with this? take a look. >> ♪ don't know what to do with myself don't know what to do with myself ♪ >> it's really bad. it's really bad. i liked cameron diaz after this movie. >> was she acting there? >> we could all relate to her after this movie. that's nothing. >> because now this guy, isaiah johnson from ohio, he was arrested after a bad karaoke performance. how you say? >> it wasn't for singing. he wasn't that bad, right? it was what happened afterwards. >> yeah, the crowd got so angry and they booed him off the stage. he got really furious about it because he's like wait a minute, i'm up here karaoking. bouncers kicked him out of the bar. >> he threw the microphone down and they kicked him out and he came back in. >> charged with assault ultimately. he punched, what, punched three people. charged with assault. i think there's a lesson to be learned here. skip the karaoke unless you have one of those great voices and

sleeper great voices. >> like jim carrey and "the cable guy"? >> that's great. >> oh! >> that was great. >> and then bridgette jones, remember this one? here's another one. this was one of dave's favorite from "bridgette jones diary." >> that was a movie that was so hard to watch. you felt sorry for her the entire thing. >> even worst here. >> you cringe, right? >> i know! >> that's me. that's about how good i am. >> yeah. >> for karaoke. >> you don't want to hear that. what else is happening? >> that's like curb your enthusiastic. you feel so badly for the entire show. >> you're just cringing. that's exactly right. now for your headlines. amazing story of survival. look at these pictures. a family from texas spent two days buried. look at their car. this is under four feet of snow and ice. it looks like it's deeper than four feet to me. the couple and their 5-year-old daughter got stuck on this highway in new mexico when a

blizzard swept through that area equipped with some snacks and some water, the higgins family clung together for warmth and emergency crews and eventually discovered them after hitting their s.u.v. with a pole. both adults are recovering from pneumonia. and christmas celebrations taking a horrific turn in the quiet texas suburb of grapevine. seven adults were just finishing up unwrapping their gifts when they were shot to death. officers found two handguns near their bodies. it's believed all victims were related and the killer might be among the dead. talk about getting beaten to the punch, talk about this would be robber. gets the lights knocked out by a feisty store clerk. it happened at the we buy gold store in hendersonville, north carolina. the clerk lures the thug in before knocking him out. he was able to keep him there until police arrived. the suspect looking a little worse for wear in his mug shot. look at that. >> and a left hand no less. southpaw, dave? >> i want to see this again.

>> merry christmas, man. >> ouch! >> yeah. >> all right, dave. >> all right, let's talk a little sports now. we start with football. green bay packers celebrating christmas with a very big win over the bears. that clinched home field advantage throughout. aaron rodgers may have clinched the m.v.p. he had five touchdowns, a career high for the green bay quarterback who also broke a franchise record in passing yards. if you break a franchise record, you're doing something well when you're playing for the packers. that's a single season passing yards. i'm talking about. green bay again solidifies the number one seed in the nfc. the playoffs run through lambeau field. good for the folks in green bay. now to the nba, basketball is back and it started off right where we left off last year. heat and mavericks only this time the results were far different. lebron james, 37 points and look at the sharing there.

this team may be figuring it out at the beginning of the season. look out, dwayne wade also lit it up. lamar odom joining this dallas mavericks team but tyson chandler is gone. that will hurt. 105-94, it was not that close. miami led by 35 at one point. another big christmas day game in new york as the knicks hosting the boston celtics. this one a fantastic finish. third quarter, boston gets the board. rojon rondo, 31 points. he was terrific. also, five steals. but the best player on this afternoon, caramelo anthony, the former denver nuggets for three there. that was clutch. the celtics did have a shot late, kevin garnett to win it. but k.g. cannot hit. 106-104, the celtics playing without paul pierce, their captain. those two, what a terrific rivalry it's become. oklahoma city, a big win and the los angeles clippers, winners as

well. >> dave, i have a little news story for you. it's tech news related and our fans who love the nfl will love me this morning because if you are away from your tv on any of the nfl playoff games and the super bowl, you can now watch it streaming on your ipad or your android phone and your iphone. you have to download the nfl mobile app. nfl for the first time getting on pace with what the mlb has been doing for years. >> but you can't watch the super bowl streaming on an iphone. >> what if you're away from home or get multiple angle? >> it's super bowl sunday. >> what if you got the main game on the screen, multiple angles. >> you're right. it is very exciting for folks. >> i don't want to see the game necessarily, just the commercials. >> let's talk about this. there was something on friday night, often there's a -- you get some document dumps or unwelcome news from the white house in any administration, this is typically when you release your bad news on a friday night. >> that's when we released the south carolina voter rule by the d.o.j. friday afternoon. >> this friday before christmas when no one is paying attention, all the concern was over what was going to happen with that

payroll tax extension. the obama white house gave some money back to jon corzine of m.f. global. $70,000 in campaign donations went to both the dnc and also president obama's re-election campaign. some of that money was split and quietly gave back about 70 grand. >> 70 grand went back to him. m.f. global still gave him $150,000 according to "the post" and "the post" is saying that obama and the administration is hanging on to that 150k in connection with m.f. global. >> that's what "the post" says. this is all small change in the obama camp, look, they're going to raise hundreds of millions, maybe as much as a billion dollars. larger problem here is the connection between jon corzine and the president, very close. the president campaigned for corzine and they've been seen together, hugging together and shaking hands together. i'm willing to make a bet that is a campaign ad because if you want to attack those bankers and

those that caused the financial crisis, how do you do it when you're linked with corzine who lost a billion dollars of his customers' money? >> and even beyond that, just a perception of hanging out and shaking hands and so forth, what came out is maybe corzine wanted to be treasury secretary. there was a rumor and there were a number of sources saying that's the case. all this came out. >> corzine was a bundler for the president, that means he raised in excess of $500,000 for the president so we may not have haerpd the last of that story. >> according to the article, folks close to barack obama and his administration say they're going to go through that 150k and see on a case-by-case basis and whether they need to return that money. >> we'll stay on top of that story. we've been staying on top of many stories this year. if you think back about the news stories of the year, you forget some of these things happened in the same year.

the killing of usama bin laden to the tsunami, of course, that hitter -- hit japan to the royal wedding this year as well. >> arab spring. wow. >> here's a look back at some of the big stories that made headlines around the world this year, take a look. >> japan hit by an enormous earthquake triggering a monster tsunami. death tolls reach over 16,000, 4,000 missing and the worst nuclear crisis. in tunisia, the ouster of the country's prime minister and long time president. massive demonstrations bring an end to the 30-year rule of the egyptian president hosni mubarak and protests in libya escalate into a full scale rebellion supported by nato. qaddafi captured and later killed. in syria, an uprising erupts against the president despite increasing international pressure, the government's bloody crackdowns continue.

>> the eyes of the world on westminster abbey as an estimated 3 billion people watch the royal wedding of prince william and kate middleton. in what may be the biggest news story of the year. >> the united states has conducted an operation that killed usama bin laden. the leader of al-qaida. >> u.s. navy seals shoot and kill the terror leader in his compound in pakistan. >> the managing director of the international monetary fund arrested in new york city for allegedly sexually assaulting a hotel maid. charges against dominick strauss-khan are later dropped citing a credibility issue with the accuser. at large for 15 years, the former bosnian serb general responsible for the massacre of thousands of muslims is arrested. a deadly e-coli outbreak in europe linked to german sprouts killing about 45. after more than 50 years of struggle, the republic of south sudan declares its independence

becoming africa's 54th country. british newspaper news of the world closes after allegations that journalists hacked into voice mail accounts. in norway, a man describing himself as a resistance leader, bombing the government building and carrying out a shooting rampage at a youth camp killing 77. japan beats the u.s.a. becoming the first asian country to win the fifa women's word cup. >> two, one, zero and liftoff -- >> atlantis ends nasa's 30 year shuttle program with the final 135th launch of a space shuttle. london suffering widespread rioting after a police shooting after a young man. the deadliest single loss for u.s. forces in the decade old afghanistan war. a chinook helicopter crashes killing 30 american service members, most of them elite navy seals. more than 10 million people in east africa hit by the worst drought in six decades.

somalia becoming the epicenter of the famine. two american hikers arrested in 2009 in iran after being accused of spying. finally return home a year after their female friend was released. in a direct challenge to the u.s., the palestinians request statehood recognition at the united nations. anwar al-awlaki, the american born senior al-qaida leader killed in yemen by a u.s. drone strike and italian jury clears the american student of murder nearly four years after she was arrested for allegedly killing her roommate in italy. israel releases over 1,000 palestinian prisoners in exchange for one kidnapped israeli soldier. and a powerful earthquake rocks eastern turkey killing about 600 people. you ask people here in italy about their concerns, europe's debt crisis is certainly one of the big ones.

despite all the bailout money given to some countries, the economy in 2012 promises to be a major headline. in rome, greg burke, fox news. >> thank you, greg. bad year for bad guys, huh? bin laden, mubarak, qaddafi. right? >> the list goes on. e-mail us your thoughts for the biggest story of 2011 and maybe we'll talk about them next weekend as we approach the new year. >> still ahead, got a pocket full of giftcards for christmas and you want to cash them in? now you can literally do that. what you need to know coming up next. and>> and america, the most generous country in the world. you would never know it. comedian brad stein here to explain why the u.s. is being portrayed as ebenezer scrooge. [ male announcer ] if you're giving an amazing gift,

shouldn't it be given in an amazing way? ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is here, but only for a limited time. see your lexus dealer. [ woman ] ♪ what i want this season ♪ if you'd like to try and guess ♪ ♪ it is something very special ♪ i would readily confess [ dogs barking ] ♪ 'cause all i want this season ♪ ♪ is something from your heart ♪ la da da, la da da [ male announcer ] thinking of others this holiday season, travelers.

>> welcome back to "fox & friends." some quick headlines for you. cash strapped states may have a new source of income. on-line gambling, the justice department recently reversed a policy that said all forms of internet gambling were illegal. now, we need to work out from state to state. and new tests showing enfamil baby formula is safe. you'll remember several retailers pulled the formula as a precaution after a 10-month-old baby became sick and died. the company that makes enfamil has tested it twice. both times it came back negative for bacteria and they shared that information with the federal government. ainsley? >> thank you, clayton. well, now, you have a pocket full of giftcards probably after christmas yesterday. and it's time to start spending. but what if you don't want those giftcards? if you don't want to spend the money at the store today, is this the only time that you can trade in cards for cash? we have an expert here who is going to answer these questions

for us. this is the consumer savings expert andrea warockh and she has more on this as well as other tips for us on how to get the most out of your giftcards. hey, andrea. >> hi, how are you? >> thanks for coming in. lots of us watching have a stack of giftcards and the average person is getting like, what, several hundreds dollars worth of fwiftcards. >> the average consumer spent $150 in giftcards this season. unfortunately, though, billions of dollars in unwanted giftcards go unused every year. if you get a giftcard that doesn't really suit your needs, or you'd rather have money, you can actually go and exchange those giftcards for cash or for other stores. how do you do, though? >> today is giftcard exchange day. it was created by a reseller, giftcard granny.com to raise awareness about trading those unwanted giftcards. and if you go to giftcard granny.com, you simply input the value of that giftcard and they let you know how much you can sell -- >> $50 giftcard to bed, bath &

beyond, how do i get that? >> you're looking at getting $45 in the form of a check. >> how do i give them the card? just put it in the mail? >> you just send it right into the mail and you register it right on line on the different web sites. >> all right. now, what if you want to keep -- my producer is asking me what if you want to keep the giftcard she's asking? >> so if you do get a giftcard that you want to keep, there are different ways to use those giftcards outside of just spending it on unnecessary purchases. >> meaning if you get a giftcard from bed, bath & beyond, you don't want to spend it there but you want to spend it elsewhere. >> perhaps make a donation. different organizations will accept giftcards to use towards the organization. like make a wish may use a giftcard to grant a wish. otherwise, if a smaller, local organization doesn't accept g t giftcards, you may consider to use that to purchase items that you can actually donate.

another idea is to invest your gift cards. >> how do you do that? >> there's an investment site called goldmine.com and through january of next year, they'll accept your giftcards, sell your giftcards and deposit the funds into an fdic insured savings account or one of their mutual funds. so now you can use that giftcard to really start planning ahead for your future, perhaps a college fund for your child. >> are you in control of where those investments go? >> yeah. you work with them to decide where that investment will go. >> we've come so far. >> exactly. you don't have to spend and fill up your cart with clothes and candy bars. you can actually use those giftcards for something down the road for your future. >> you think today is the best day to do that? >> today is the best day in general to exchange your unwanted giftcards for cash. if you miss today, giftcard granny will much your unwanted giftcards throughout the year and you can go to the site and buy discount giftcards for less than the face value. >> thank you so much.

so it's giftcardgranny.com. don't call us skraj, america is the most generous country in the world. you'd ever know it. comedian brad stein is here to explain. first on this day in 1977, how deep is your love? remember that song? i will spare you from singing it. by the beegees was the number one song. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition? ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8.

>> welcome back. according to the mainstream media, the united states acts like ebenezer scrooge when it comes to giving. they wrote this in "the new york times", budgetary policy of the

united states has been the least generous in the industrialized world for a very long time. >> according to this year's world giving index, the united states actually tops the list of the most generous countries so if that's the case, why does the mainstream media seem to ignore all this? joining us from nashville is comedian brad stein. good morning to you, sir. >> good morning. >> first, i hope everybody had a merry, merry christmas except if you're an atheist and i hope you had an absolutely meaningless yesterday because i'm trying to be inclusive. >> so that makes -- >> that is -- maybe the atheists feel included in that now. let's talk about giving this morning, brad. what do you make of this? the mainstream media or at least "the new york times" saying that earlier this year in that piece that the united states is not a giving country. yet it seems that the facts sort of fly in the face of that. >> right. yeah and what are the odds "the times" would disparage america? that doesn't happen a lot? we are obviously the most giving nation on earth. we always have been.

it's part of our heritage. we are so used to giving, we're stupid about it because we don't just give to people that need it, we give to people that don't like us. syria and egypt. i mean, it's one thing to give a sandwich to a guy that's hungry. it's another thing to give a sandwich to a guy that's trying to stab you. ok? so that's the kind of people we are. we give because we've always believed as a nation that we lift up other people, they can lift themselves up. the stats prove it. >> we are indeed among the most -- of the last several years, we're up from number five. the least generous countries include china, russia, india, so what's the problem -- what's the misconception here? do they not know the numbers or is there something behind the effort? >> very interesting question. yes, there is something behind the effort. you have to understand something -- liberal media and i know that's redundant but i have to say, liberal media actually has a difficulty with giving if it doesn't come through a social program that the government

implemented by taking taxes from you and demanding it goes some place else. now, we from a conservative and christian standpoint, the conservative people, we give because it's intrinsic in our nature. we're told we have to give to other people because we give and we're commanded to not that the government demanded we do. there's a difference and to the liberal press, oftentimes if they don't see going into a social program and they don't see -- by the way, which always are failures that never work. if they don't see going to that, then they don't think it works at all. they never give credibility to the religious charities who by far help more people and do more good than any secular charity there ever was. this is just fact and i think that's the sad thing that the liberal wouldn't care more about helping people than an agenda. but unfortunately, that's the way it works. >> trying to remember, you know, back to the tsunami, of course, that was one of the big natural disasters this past year in 2011 and i'm trying to recall on media coverage, i'm trying to

recall a lot of media coverage about church groups and organizations like that. i remember a lot about the red cross, though, brad. >> right. and by the way, the church groups, first ones in. first ones there. always have. always have tents. as a matter of fact, i think we're set up places just wondering if like an earthquake is going to occur so we can go fix it. i mean, it's always been that way and again, it's a sad thing when religious charities aren't given their due. and essentially the law is implemented that makes them impossible to do some charity because they're trying to make them go against their conscience. that's not going to work. like making catholics do abortions. we can't have that type of thing. >> let me ask you this -- why do they care? why do they need liberal media coverage? they're doing good. right? and they know they're doing good and we know they're doing good. why do they care? they get newsprint? >> well, i don't know that they care, if you're talking about the conservatives? the charities? what are you talking? what do you mean? >> anyone. just anyone who is paying

attention to it. i mean, the criticism is that no one is really paying attention to it but they're doing their good and they don't need maybe a pat on the back from everybody else, right? >> oh, that's absolutely true. people that actually give, they do it because it's the right thing to do. and usually driven by god so they figure they're going to get their pat on the back in eternity. they're going to be having god giving them all kinds of good stuff down the road. they do it now. you're right. they're not looking for accolades. that's why it's giving. that's the difference between coercion, between an intellectual liberal elite deciding for you where the proper place to put your charity is. >> don't do it for credit, right. that's the good place to do it. >> have a conservative point of view because you already see where the needs are. where the hungry are. where the people are that don't have a place to live. these are all started by the way by -- >> we got to leave it there. that's a nice place to leave it. thank you for being with us this morning, sir, we appreciate it. >> still coming off his christmas cookies. >> he wants to give us more time. >> that's right. coming up on the show, you need

an i.d. to pick up a package from the post office, so why do the feds say you don't need one to vote in south carolina? we're digging into that with fox news legal analyst peter johnson jr. my name is ron orsini, i'm forty eight years-old, i love to swim, and i love to walk outside. osteo bi-fl has really helped my kne. osteo bi-flex has been incredible for me, and i swear by it. [ male announcer ] osteo bi-flex, the glucosamine chondroitin suppment with 5-loxin advanced. shows improvement in joint comfort within 7 days. osteo bi-flex,

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to health care options. learn more with our free usaa retirement guide. call 877-242-usaa. of. good morning, it's monday, december 26. i'm ainsley earhart. newt gingrich making a controversial comparison, being disqualified from the ballot of virginia is like the attack on pearl harbor. we will tell you exactly what he said. and former president george h.w. bush throws his support behind mitt romney. former white house press secretary dana perino told us last hour why he's the best choice. the president finding out the hard way shaking hands and kissing babies not all it's cracked up to be. there is a hand in the mouth. he doesn't seem to mind. the story behind this video straight ahead. "fox & friends" hour three starts right now.

>> this is jerry daniels and you're watching "fox & friends" and we want to send a very, very special holiday greet to go all our troops overseas. >> one day he'll look back and say, i cannot believe i did that. the president of the united states, hand in mouth. >> this is boxing day for a lot of people. this is. >> a and a federal holiday. the post office closed. a lot of people, the stores are open at 5:00 a.m for people to go give their gift backs and regift. we've been get so long many e-mails on have you ever received a regifted gift. >> or something you had no choice but to rye and regift? so send us the worst gift you got that you're going to attempt to regift. ainsley a few good rules. >> we'll tell you about those coming up. let me tell you about the headlines right now. a devastating christmas tragedy to tell you about. a fire killing a fashion executive's three young children

and her parents. it happened in stanford, connecticut, 47-year-old madonna badger and a male friend were able to escape, but her father, who did die, reportedly spent his last day on earth working at the mall as santa claus. her mother, ten-year-old daughter and seven-year-old twins were also killed. the cause of that fire is unknown. badger became a marketing rock star with her marky mark underwear ads. remember those? a developing story out of iraq. overnight, a homicide bomber killing at least five people at the interior ministry in baghdad. he reportedly drove that vehicle packed with explosives through the ministry's gate. another two dozen people were hurt. the blast comes days after the last u.s. combat troops leave the country. and he provided security for one of the world's most wanted men. with a keen guzman, mexico's top drug lord. now that head of security is behind bars at this hour. guzman is one of the world's richest men and has eluded

authorities since escaping prison in 2001. authorities hope the capture of his security head will help them find guzman. and a funny moment as president obama posed for a photo op with a military family in hawaii. check out what the baby does. this is what we were telling you about a few minutes ago. you can see president obama literally getting a mouth full from that eight-year-old. cooper wagner, his dad, a captain in the marine corps was having christmas dinner with other military families when the president and first lady dropped by. but it was little cooper who really stole the show, as you can see. those are your headlines. >> where had that hand been is the question? was it in pureed peas? >> the president was a good sport about. >> he knows like a parent. now it politic, one week electric tomorrow, the first votes of the 2012 election season will be cast in the iowa caucus. the gop presidential candidatess

are hitting the ground. >> joining us live is kelly wright. adjust week away. can you believe it? >> yeah. can you believe it? it's finally coming up a week away and you're so right about that day. of course, we're not sure what gifts the republican candidates received electric santa. but we know what's at the top of their wish list. that's to get the republican presidential nomination. it's not up to santa. it's up to the gop voters and so far, mitt romney is looking like the front runner as newt gingrich continues to see his lead evaporate and ron paul actually gaining momentum. the latest poll, according to rasmussen, with just a week to go, mitt romney has retain the lead among republican white house contenders in iowa. the former massachusetts governor and on again, off again favorite had appeared to slip behind former house speaker newt gingrich, but the poll by rasmussen reports showed romney regaining that momentum. the polls showing him with 25% support, followed by ron paul,

20%. and gingrich at 17%, with the remainder of the candidates at 10% or less. with iowa taking place just about a week from now on tuesday, the caucus taking place then on january 3, mitt romney tomorrow will be conducting a campaign blitz around iowa, starting at the hotel blackhawk. on wednesday he continues to tour the state. some believe paul could steal this election or this caucus in iowa by coming in front. his organization has been work very hard to help paul win. we will wait and see what happens with that. as for newt gingrich, he will begin a 22-city bus tour throughout iowa on tuesday. gingrich is calling the tour the jobs and prosperity bus tour and this is just the beginning of what will be a blistering week in iowa as each of the candidates continue to fight for the coveted prize of winning the

first caucus in the nation. back to you. >> allall right. thanks so much. a lot of these candidates are hoping for big endorsement, something to give them an edge in iowa. but more broadly in the election or to get the nomination. and right now former president george h.w. bush hasn't used the e word, endorsement word, so to speak. but a news article has basically come out and thrown his support, not endorsement behind mitt romney, which is a big bold move for them. >> he says, i think romney is the best choice for us. this is an unofficial endorsement, like you were saying. >> you need more than that? >> that's right. >> it's read as an endorsement in the press. >> i'm not sure these endorsements really help a whole heck of a lot. i think a lot of people are tired of the establishment, tired of being told who they need to be for. the more i hear backlash -- >> you're right. when john thune came out and

threw his endorsement, he almost said in a way that if you don't want me to come on stage with you because i appear to be a washington guy, i'm happy to do that. dana perino on our coach earlier talking about the george h.w. bush support endorsement. here is what she had to say. >> you look at george h.w. wish's career, youngest fighter pilot america ever had, all the things he's done in the private and dedicating his entire life to the public sector, and raising an entire family that also dedicates themselves to public service, he wants america to be great. he doesn't care about the establishment. i think that's something that people have put forward. and then who isn't an establishment in this race? people who think that newt gingrich isn't establishment, we all worked in the same thing. i guess you could call me part of the establishment 'cause i think what they want is someone totally from outside. you can't actually make it to this level of politics by being outside. >> not long ago, chris christie

was thought to be the biggest endorsement out there. he endorsed mitt romney, the needle didn't move a lot. what if sarah palin or someone endorse add candidate? i think that might have significance. >> one huge endorsement could be governor mike huckabee. if he makes a big endorsement -- >> before iowa. >> before iowa. i don't know that that will happen, but on fox news sunday, he had some predictions about who he thinks will win the iowa caucuses in the name may or may not surprise you. >> i would probably say that mitt romney will end up winning it today. now, i think, again, ron paul, because of his organization could and that's where mitt is really at a disadvantage. he doesn't have the devotion. if the weather is good, mitt romney is in better shape. if the weather is bad, and it's real tough to get out, ron paul will win. >> ron paul goes on to say, had that -- has it core group, those die hard supporters and he goes on to say again that there is core fanatic believer, but he

doesn't think that represents main stream america. so although he might win in iowa, he doesn't believe he'll win. >> although his number is looking decent right now in new hampshire as well. it will be interesting to see just a week away from now. >> one of the big stories over the weekend is what happened in virginia. rather what didn't happen for newt gingrich. he did not get on the ballot. of course, neither did rick perry. michelle bachmann, jon huntsman, rick santorum. the only two on the ballot in virginia, mitt romney and ron paul. what newt gingrich did on sunday, on christmas day, oddly enough, is making a few scratch their heads. on his official facebook page, his campaign compared being left off the ballot to what happened on december 7, 1941, that, of course, the attack on pearl harbor. >> yeah, 2400 people, of course, killed. here is the statement from michael crawl, the campaign director. newt and i agree that the

analogy is december 1941. we have experience an unexpected setback, but we will rebrew and refocus with increased determination and positive action. dana perino on our couch earlier this morning thinks it was a bit of a stretch for this analogy. take a listen. >> one of the things about political communication is you can veer off into hyperbole that if the comparison doesn't immediately make sense, then you probably shouldn't have made that comparison. the bounce back part came much later. it's a bad comparison. if they could, they would erase if if they could. >> i'm surprised newt gingrich hasn't come out with a statement clarifying what he meant by this 'cause he does say on facebook that they made that analogy because it was a setback. it was unexpected. >> pearl harbor wasn't a setback. >> it was unexpected. >> right. but here is my problem with that, was the unexpected part.

this is as karl rove put it, politics 101. getting the signatures on these ballots in place for super tuesday. >> very difficult. >> yesterday on "fox & friends," people saying it's a difficult process. >> it's like the first thing do you. >> did they say something about the system in virginia when our or five are not even on the balance, when you only two to people? >> absolutely difficult process. but to his point, it's not unexpected. >> you know what? >> a minor setback, but we're -- >> we may have this conversation because it won't matter because it's not until march when virginia goes to the primary. >> absolutely. super tuesday may already be decided. >> it might be moot for newt. you like that? let us know what you think about that. coming up on the show, you need a photo i.d. to buy cold medication, pick up a package at

the post office, but you can leave it at home when it comes to a vote in south carolina. does this make sense? fox news legal analyst peter johnson, jr. is next with his analysis. >> and have you ever regifted that ugly sweater that you got from grandma for christmas? you're not alone. we're sharing your regifting stories coming up next [ male announcer ] you have dreams... goals for the future... what if they were stolen from you? by alzheimer's. this cruel disease is the sixth leading cause of death, and affects more than 5 million americans. the alzheimer's association is taking action, and has been a part of every major advancement. but we won't rest until we have a cure. you have dreams... help the alzheimer's association protect them.

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issue. >> the department of justice blocking a south carolina law which would require people to show photo i.d. in order to vote. they claim the law discriminates against minorities, something critics say evidence disputes. why does the government require photo i.d. for participation in dozens of other activities, but

not for the participation in the process that is essentially the core of our democracy? joining us now, fox news legal analyst peter johnson, jr. good morning to you. few years ago, you were the chairman of the bipartisan task force on election modernization. >> right here in new york city state. we looked at a lot of issues and now we have the charge from the attorney general that south carolina -- we may see other states down the line saying no, they're being discriminatory to african-americans and other minority groups in the country. >> they say there is a 20% discrepancy between minorities and nonwho have a photo i.d. >> yeah. i find it central frightening and disturbing to say that -- and really patronizing and paternalistic to the african-american community and other communities of color in this country to say you don't have the capacity to get an i.d you don't have the capacity in south carolina and georgia and indiana and other states where there are free i.d.s given.

i mean, it seems like a poor excuse and it seems like an opportunity to gin people up and make an attack on the republican party. i don't think it's a problem in this country and we could just scroll some of the things that it takes to get an i.d. in this country. get an r rated movie ticket. go buy a cold medicine. use your credit card, cash a check, rent a car, pick up a package from the post office today. you need a photo i.d. >> in most case, you need a photo i.d. to get unemployment benefit. >> that's a great point. fantastic point. >> shouldn't it be held to the same standard? >> there are so many things in our society that require a photo i.d it seems like a really kind of strange election year excuse to say, let me tell you something, south carolina is being racist. south carolina is and georgia and indiana and all these other states across the country, they want to discriminate against certain people in the united states.

how is that? they want photo i.d. at the poll. come on. >> won't it end up being decided by the supreme court? >> you pointed out this morning again, the great thing, it has been decided by the supreme court. this is an appropriate use of a photo i.d. at the polls. this is not a literacy tax. this is not a poll tax. we've had horrible, per knishes images have against african-american and others in our past. it's a terrible history, but to say a photo i.d., a free photo i.d. issued by a state to go to the polls, to exercise the ballot, to provide integrity, reliability, security, confidence in the voting system, to say that's an act of discrimination, that's an act of outrage. that's wrong. >> keep fraud out of our election. >> let's have people vote, show the i.d., but let's not talk about black and white and what

people are trying to do to each other. show the i.d. >> the supreme court decision we're alluding to is in indiana, a state law the supreme court had no problem with. takes 6-3 supporting indiana. and liberal justice stevens wrote for the majority there. it looks like the supreme court has already weighed in. >> is the white house when they demand the government i.d. to get into the white house or the halls of congress or federal buildings in l.a. or new york or chicago? is that racist? i don't think so. let's have chan sense. >> nikki haley is fighting it. >> time for common sense! >> you had a great christmas story. >> nice to see you. >> coming up, no license, no problem. cops no longer allowed to impound cars of people who are here illegally. that story ahead. then remember what it was like before baggage fee as soon as gosh, i do. and long security lines. even taking off your shoes. the producer of the show pan am, who is also a former stewardess

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quick headlines for you. today marks the beginning of kwanzaa, the week long celebration honors african-american heritage. each day is dedicated to one of the seven principles of african heritage, unity, self determination, and faith. in cash strapped states may have a new source of income. on-line gambling. the justice department recently reversed a policy that said all forms of internet gambling were illegal. ainsley? >> the show "pan am" exhibits how far some women went to break barriers during the '60s.

>> it went perfectly. educated. pan am stewardess can travel all around the world without suspicion. >> we call it a cold war for a reason. >> i understand. >> i certainly hope you do. >> it turns out that's not just holiday magic. the c.i.a. really did recruit stewardesses or flight attendants from pan am for missions and some of the greatest scenes from the show came straight from the memories of the producer, nancy, who is a former pan am stewardess herself and she joins us now. hi, nancy. welcome. >> hi. thank you. welcome. good morning. >> thank you. you say that this show or being a pan am stewardess or flight attendant, we say now, really paveed the way for women. how is that? >> it was an unusual time in history where women hadn't -- where there were few options for women. and here they had the

opportunity to break out of the mold and what was expected of them and go off to see the world. and fairly independent. you could choose your own flight s. you could pick your own destinations. obviously it was on a seniority system. but because there were so many choices, we pretty much went everywhere and it was a very diverse group of women, from -- and men from all over the world. the majority of the flight attendants in those days were from other countries. not the u.s. primarily that was because of the language requirements, because we were more isolated, not all of the americans could meet the qualifications for those languages. of course, english wasn't as prevalent as today. and because they didn't have internet or cable news and the exposure, it was really an emergency and a safety issue to

be able to communicate with all the different people from all over the world. >> so what inspired you to produce the show "pan am"? >> i wanted to -- it was such an unusual time and it opened the world to so many of us in ways that are unimaginable. i don't think young people today can appreciate how different it was to be out there in very remote parts where runways were practically being built in advance of pan am coming in. and pan am was the only global airline. so it was opening up the world to us at a time that was -- it was a window in time that doesn't exist today. i wanted to help younger generations understand what that was like, to see the more common humanity and not the differences that we sometimes emphasize

today. it was people all over the world. it was very different, but at the same time, there was kindness in strangers wherever we went and certainly there was violence, too, that existed then, but we weren't aware of it because we didn't have -- things could happen halfway around the world and nobody knew. certainly our parents didn't know. >> right. >> and you could -- it's very difficult to find documentation of some of the things that happened at that time. >> so much has changed over the last few decades as far as traveling on a plane now. it used to be so glamorous, everyone dressed up to fly. it was just a luxury to fly. in your opinion, what has changed? >> i think it was more exciting. because flying was not as accessible as it is today, it wasn't taken for granted. there was more excitement in the

journey itself, more gracious ness. the civil discourse was much more prevalent. the trip itself was exciting as the places that we were traveling to. >> i think that's why it's so fun to watch the show, nancy, 'cause we got a taste of that, of what it used to be like. we'll have to leave it there, but thank you so much. >> thank you very much. >> we certainly want to see more of nancy and her fellow pan am stewardess memories, which means there needs to be a second season of this show. if you think so, sign the petition. if you go to our web site you can find it. and i think we have a link. it's on our web site if you want to -- is that right? i'm asking the producers. yes, go to our web site and you can find a link there. you might recognize them from espn, but craig james leaving that all behind to run for senate. will being a washington outsider be a plus or minus? we will ask him this hour. then the art of regifting.

yes, there are rules, like don't leave the gift tag with your name on it. the rest of the rules and your e-mails coming up next. plus the patriot brass ensemble is here to perform and here is a little preview. take it away. ♪ ♪

all right. welcome back. we'll talk about regifting in just a moment. have you ever received a gift you know was regifted from somebody else? send us your tweets and we'll get to those in a second. >> funny stories to share. >> first, our shot of the morning, it's "fox & friends" christmas. there is little miles morris, such a cute kid. what's he got there? >> a little santa claus. he kind of understands christmas. this is his like second christmas, but he says ho, ho, ho. he says ho, ho, ho. >> there he is in his elfwear. >> and my pregnant wife holding him. >> you can't even tell she's pregnant. she's tiny. >> she doesn't believe that from the photos. she's like, don't show that

photo. >> looks good. >> who is this? >> my baby watching fox. hey, sassy girl. sassy is her name. >> does your dog sleep with you? >> oh, yeah, they have to. >> this is my little one. this is jacks. he's two pounds. >> adorable. >> that is a crowded bed. >> the briggs family. >> this is the briggs family. little william, my wife, brandy. that is on christmas eve getting ready to head out. yes, the big gift arrived. all star wars for my son william. clayton, you must be thrilled. >> i know. >> look at emmerson, i love her. >> this is a princess and the frog. princess tiana dress. she got that and a lot of american girl stuff. she's 120% girl. >> i hope you're ready. she's six going on 17. >> it warms my heart that you're a great dad, but more that you're forced to learn spiderman characters and princess character. >> equally. i have equal knowledge on princesses. it's good to see.

we have number three on the way and you have number two. >> yeah. crazy. >> hope you all ha a great christmas. >> shoppers, at 5:00 a.m this morning, in full force already returning some christmas gifts they don't want and exchanging them for other great deals. >> sherry lee from wttg is live in maryland in front of a kohl's department store. good morning to you. they were out early, huh? >> they sure were and we're what, 3 1/2 hours into this now. so if you're getting here now, you're a little bit late. i see a lot of people coming out in the parking lot with their hands full, bags. i'm empty handed. i don't know what's wrong with that. a lot of people trying to find those bargains after the christmas holiday. lot of things have been slashed. 50, 75, 80% off. stores really trying to get rid of all that merchandise that didn't sell before the holiday. of course, a lot of people out there returning items that they didn't like or perhaps that didn't fit and then they're also taking the opportunity to find a

few good deals for themselves. so this story that i'm at opened at 5:00 o'clock this morning. there is a target around the customer that opened up at 7:00 o'clock this morning and people were out here bright and early and now they're headed home. >> all right. we thought she was going o pitch to some sound there. thank you so much. >> get in there and get some bargains. good luck. >> if you read the newspaper this morning, i know here in new york you read it and it tells you what stores are opening what times, what the bargains will be, how much you can expect on a cash mere sweater at bloomingdale's to be. >> i thought macy's was early at 7, but 5:00 a.m. >> the sales last until noon. >> no thanks. >> of all gifts you get, there are many that people perhaps have given to you as gifts themselves that were regifted from somebody else. perhaps they got them as a gift and they're handing them off to somebody else. there are some rules that go along with this and not giving

out regifted gifts. first of all, it has to be new. it can't be partially used, like a used candle. >> someone gave you a used candle. that's right. >> or worn clothes. >> with moth -- i mean the moth eaten sweater. don't give that away. >> yeah. we have one of our crew guys here that gave the great regifter. he got a watch and it had someone else's initials. >> what? >> that happened. a friend of mine got a wedding present and it had somebody else's wedding engravement. i won't say the names, but it had the year of their wedding. >> anything has initials, monograms, don't regift it, people i. boot goth adoze yeah this year. i can't show it and say ma what t but there is something my wife and i would love to regift. >> i did see it, it is bad. >> you might get it next year. >> here is another rule for regifting. if it's a bad gift, if it's bad for you, it's going to be bad for someone else. so you can't give this gift away

to somebody else, like a fruit cake or sweater. >> there are exceptions. if i got a 1200 page book, i probably wouldn't get through all of it, but you would appreciate it. so if you put some thought to it, i think you can regift. >> the worst is when i know a lady who shops, she's an elderly lady. but she shops for christmas presents in her own house. so if you gave her a coffee table book, you might get it as a gift next year. >> here is the key, maybe buy something you know you'll get back the next year. >> buy something you really like. that's why the next one is good. put some thought into it 'cause you might get it again. >> i don't know about the oven mitts. >> grandma uses the oven mitts. >> hand made. don't give the hand made stuff. that's too personal to be regifted. someone stitched you something, maybe put your initials, don't try to give that down. >> lastly, write it down. don't regift someone something that someone gave you the year before. you guys weighed in on this.

nancy in new york, turn item over on all sides to make sure removed the original gift message. good advice, nanny. >> this next one is from kelly. for my wedding i received a cookbook from my new sister-in-law, which was find until i opened it to cook from and found beautifully written message to the happy couple, her and her husband. they had regift add present from their we hadding and apparently had never bothered to open the book. yes, that's good advice. >> wedding presents are always regifted. >> this is another person. melissa got a regift of wine glasses, one problem? the person left the original card in the package. not a smart regifter. >> goodness. >> i'll bet a lot of wedding gifts are never even opened before they're regifted. >> the packaging is beautiful. >> right. >> you got to think about it because maybe there's a card in there. >> i have a friend who got married and got a lot of wine glasses. >> it might be a fondue sets.

>> another says regifting is more respectful than throwing out grandma's glass bowl hand me down. you don't want to throw it out, regift it. you can find us on twitter and e-mail us. keep them coming. we've got tons of them and they're very funny. >> now for your headlines and amazing story of survival. look at these pictures. this is a family from texas. they spent two days buried underneath all of that snow. four feet of snow and ice. it actually looks more like six feet, seven feet. the couple and their five-year-old daughter were stuck on a highway in new mexico when a blizzard swept through the area and equipped with snacks and water, they were able to cling together for warmth and emergency crews eventually discovered them after hitting their suv with a plow. both adults are recover from knew pneumonia. maria shiver is having second thoughts about divorcing arnold schwarzenegger. she's torn partly because of her

strong religious beliefs. and to make things even more complicated, arnold schwarzenegger allegedly wants maria back. shriver did file for divorce in july, months after it was revealed her husband fathered a love child with the housekeeper. starting january 1, police in california can no longer tow cars of unlicensed drivers at sobriety checkpoints under this new law, illegal immigrant also get to keep their cars if they're stopped, as long as they're sobber and can find a licensed driver to pick up their car. deeds, don't be surprised if you catch your husbands or boyfriends throwing their new ipads at the wall. a new study shows men are twice as likely as women to refuse help with their new gifts. clayton, look at this. and forget about calmly reading those directions. we all know men don't do that. studies show men would rather souling and swear and -- sulk and throw a fit.

>> i witnessed dave in the green room putting something in the microwave. he said, i hit express cook for one minute. he was about to punch it. am i right about that? >> yes. i almost broke the controller on the wii nintendo trying to teach my son how to play a game. >> my wife got one of those i.p. cameras for the baby. she spent four hours diligently going through, typing out stuff. i would have thrown it across the room after ten minutes of that. >> we've got a short fuse. let's talk about sports now. big game in the nfl tonight as drew brees and the saints take on the falcons. they can spank the packers for not having to worry about it 'cause they are in the playoffs. aaron rogers got after it on christmas night. five touchdown passes. a career high. he also broke the packers' single season passing yards record. that's pretty impresssive any time you break a record in

packers franchise history. they eliminated the bears from the playoffs. looks like it could be an mvp for mr. rogers. to the nba now, basketball is back. it started where it left off. heat and mavericks. they raised the banner in dallas. congratulations on that. but then it turned ugly for dallas. how about lebron james? wade, they blew up for over 60 points. lebron had 37. they led the miami heat led the mavericks by 35 points at one time. it was ugly. 105-94, your final and it was nowhere near that close. another big wont here in new york as the knicks hosted the celtics. this one a much better finish. third quarter, boston the rebound. celtics tied this one at 69. fourth quarter we go. it's anthony. huge shot for the former nugget. the knicks looking a lot better

with tyson chandler, who they acquired from the mavericks. that is kevin garnet to try to win it. not going to happen. the knicks, a big win against paul pierce. he hopes to be back next week. did i mention pit lost earlier this week? >> yeah, twice. >> i don't know if you caught it. >> i caught it. there were tears. i had enough producers texting me about it. thank you, dave. coming up on the show, you may recognize him from espn, but craig james trading that in to run for the senate. >> the pony express from the mid '80s. will being a washington outsider give him a leg up? >> plus, the patriot brass ensemble is here to perform. ♪

♪ [ woman ] ♪ what i want this season ♪ if you'd like to try and guess ♪ ♪ it is something very special ♪ i would readily confess [ dogs barking ] ♪ 'cause all i want this season ♪ ♪ is something from your heart ♪ la da da, la da da [ male announcer ] thinking of others this holiday season, travelers. d but only for a limited time.

see your lexus dealer. all right. welcome back. our next guest is hoping to go from a star on the football field to a star in the political arena. former espn analyst craig james is running for the senate in texas. but it will not be easy. several other establishment candidates are vying for that same seat. republican senate candidate craig james joins us this morning from dallas. hope you had a wonderful christmas. nice to see think morning, craig. >> thank you very much. i now have to watch your show. i know not what to regift. i got to be careful of things i got that i didn't necessarily want. >> if you have any bad gifts, send them to dave. i have to ask you about jumping into the senate race because a lot of people wondering how are you going to pull this off? let's talk about an uphill battle. amount of money already being hefted on some of these other candidates right now. in a recent poll out, is not looking favorable upon you. however, i guess you weren't even in the race yet when this poll was taken. when you is a mount to climb. why are you doing this?

>> well, i think to understand me a little bit, you would understand why i'm doing this. i grew up in an apartment boy. i came home in the third grade and saw the yellow piece of paper that said eviction notice. i didn't know what that meant, but when my mother got home from work as a single parent, she told me she couldn't pay the rent and we had to move. i didn't like that lesson, clayton. nor did i like the number of times i had to move during my schooling years. but i ate a lot of mayonnaise only and ketchup only sandwiches and for a variety, i put them together. what america gave me opportunity to do was work my way out of that. our country is changing. washington is off its rails. i'm living on real street. i understand this. for 30 years i've been in business. i've started jobs and created jobs. i understand the economy and our world. i want to take that fresh perspective of reality to washington. >> let's talk about fresh. you certainly understand the realities of certain situations down there in texas and those wounds are still fresh from

texas tech and what happened there, your son, famously playing for texas tech, suffering a concussion and then that's when, after he was alleged lie put in a darkened closet, as my coach said, to protect him, you went and complained to the school. mike leach loses his job and folks not terribly happy with you. how do you overcome that? >> it's simple. we supported our son. there are no allegations. it is indisputable amongst players, coaches, trainers, doctor, everyone there knew adam had a concussion and on back to back practices, mike leach ordered him put in dark solitary confinement. you can't do that to a human being. and so as people have found out what happened, they understand. there are some who just don't want to open their eyes eyes and understand reality. we supported our son. people want to know what can i do for them, for the economy? what qualifies me to represent them in this great state of texas? i will do this, i know for a

fact and people know me, that i'll stand against evil. right is right, wrong is wrong. it's never right to do wrong. >> we have a little time left. i want to you take a look at the front runner right now because this is a war chest. this is the current front runner. 50% of that most recent poll, david dewhurst down there, current lieutenant governor on his resume. u.s. air force, c.i.a., net worth, at least $200 million. he raised 2.64 million in the third quarter. how do you overcome that? >> you know, i'm going to share with people where i come from, what i've done. real street perspective that i have, a fresh perspective. i don't need somebody to complain to me what this economy means. i'm living in real tile. i think it's unfortunate that in the past, many times people have been able to use their wealth to buy a seat at the table in washington. we have to change that. having governmental experience, being a politician, a career politician just doesn't work. it's why we're in the pickle we're in right now.

that's why i've gotten out of my comfort zone, out of the things that i've enjoyed and i'm going to take that to washington to make a change, to make a difference. >> one of the things you enjoy is football. with a few seconds we have left, lsu or alabama, on the record, craig. about. >> i'm going to go roll, but it's going to be roll tigers. i think lsu gets it done. it will be a great game. les miles and his team, i think win it. >> on the record, thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. have a great new year. >> all right. you, too. >> we should note, we invited lieutenant governor david dewhurst on the show, but we did not get a response. coming up on the show, the brass ensemble. but let's check in with heather. >> i'm going with alabama, by the way. coming up inside america's news room, mitt romney with a commanding lead in new hampshire, we have the new polls for you. and why mike huckabee says the winner of the iowa caucuses may depend on the weather and a nuclear saudi arabia, why it's a possibility, what it means for the volatile middle east.

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they are the first and only professional brass group dead indicated to enriching the lives of veterans through military programs and service. >> joining us are the patriot brass ensemble and their founder, steven banky. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> why did veterans become so important to you? >> we all know when they serve, they all have military bands and they all have these different musical units. once they leave their service, there is no groups that are dedicated to them. so we're creating the very first professional level group just for our veterans and military families. >> you talk about professional, you mean professional.

>> yes. >> julliard trained? >> yes. >> what does this mean to the veterans whom you perform for? >> they love it. we go all over the country. long-term care facilities and v.a. hospitals and state nursing homes and we go and do private concert force veterans who may never leave there again. they hear the national anthem, the songs of service mean so much. >> steven, it means so much to have you here. we'd love to hear some of the music. so we'll step aside. >> thank you. >> thank you. ♪ (playing "amazing grace" ♪

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>> welcome back. we've been talk being regifting all morning long. and some great examples of things people have been trying to get rid of. >> linda writes this, i received a regifted necklace from my mother-in-law. how did i know this? it was the exact same one we gave her two years before. >> oh, no! >> and dee writes, never regift perfume, just return it to a store. my sister was given an expensive bottle that was half empty. >> no! >> clayton was telling us during the show, and i don't know if you heard this, that you had a candle that was given to you that was used, right? >> right. a half used candle from my parents. >> from your parents? >> i wouldn't mind getting a used ipad or ipod as a regift. we'll keep that in mind. what's wrong with that? i've got one general rule, just know your audience. that way you don't give that bad thing -- i know clayton. so my gift will not be regifted, but hopefully it will be shared. it's his