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yesterday mitt romney said newt gingrich basically, his

disorganization to get on the ballot, 10,000 signatures, how many were valid, didn't get on there, likened it to something interesting. take a look. >> and he compared that to pearl harbor? it's more like lucille ball at the chocolate factory. >> classic. obviously mr. romney, a fan of the sitcoms from the '60s. if you are unfamiliar with lucille ball and the chocolate factory, it shows lucille ball and ethel at the factory and the conveyer belt gets going so fast they can't get them in the wrappers. >> and at first it's easy and then it gets her i believe. >> that's right. newt gingrich wasn't prepared for all the stuff coming his way and just like that. >> i've seen it a thousand times and it's still great. >> it never gets old. >> what is funny in addition to this clip of them having to now

eat the chocolates. it seems like mitt romney was thinking it up at the moment. he compared it to what, pearl harbor? that reminds me more of "i love lucy." but that was a line he crafted but he delivered it as though it's impromptu. >> of course, everything in politics is practiced. >> he said he read his notes on the ipad. >> nothing is spontaneous. here's the thing, if that was the gloves coming off, he's teasing. >> well, it didn't go over too well with newt gingrich because he had this in response to being compared. >> i would love to have him say that to my face. you want to run a negative campaign and you want to attack people, at least be man enough to own it. >> ouch. >> we will ask him about that. mitt romney is going to be here. and him if he was teasing him or if that was an attack and if he's man enough to own it. >> that's right.

also one other thing newt did yesterday he challenged mitt romney to a dual, a one-on-one debate before people start caucusing. >> not a dual like aaron or alexander? >> i'm not talking about a glove across your face, no, absolutely not. >> not like the olden times. all right. ten minutes after the top of the hour. the president of the united states officially ended the war in iraq in that somber ceremony over at fort bragg a couple days ago. now that the guys are all coming back, you would imagine there would be some sort of commemoration, right? a big parade here in new york city. we've talked about how some have talked about a ticker tape parade down in the canyon of heroes but it sounds like the pentagon no parade is imminent. >> no one has asked them. no one has asked them to stage the event and officials in new york city and some of the other big cities said we want mind doing it, but no one asked. >> a number of assembly men have

asked. >> nobody from the white house wants a parade. >> is it appropriate to have a particularrer tape parade, 65 people i think were just killed yesterday or this weekend? >> that's the point. >> it's not over. there is still violence. al-qaeda -- it's over for us so the ticker tape parade suggests well, we're home and we are happy but you guys solve all that violence on your own now. >> the criticism is we are still fighting a war in afghanistan as well. but there is historical for us having a celebration and fighting another front, va day, victory in the united states and -- >> do you think it's appropriate we ask you to e-mail us, if you think it is appropriate to have a celebratory moment, a ticker tape moment saying victory when iraq is in the shape they are

in. >> it's not about victory, it's been coming home safely and service to the planet. >> and we see the beautiful soldier home comings. we see them personally with their families. >> how many times have we heard vietnam vets talk about how hurt they were, there was no parade, they were set on and looked down upon, oh, you were in vietnam? >> but this is a very different culture today. nobody is spitting on them, everybody is applauding them but not publicly. >> and i hate to use the word closer, but so many people would like to see an end. you know, let's have -- it's not a secret. this president made a political decision to end the war in iraq for his own re-election. nonetheless, tens of thousands of people have served over there. let's saw lewd them. >> maybe another mission accomplished moment, though. >> nobody said we finished the job there. >> but the ticker tape parade -- >> so many people said, look, we pulled out too soon and that's

why there's all the violence. >> exactly. >> but for the people who fought in iraq, shouldn't we salute them somehow? why not a parade? >> obviously a hot debate. >> just right here, the three of us. >> send us your thoughts on twitter and e-mail please. >> 13 minutes after the top of the hour. coming up, you are not going to believe this, girl scouts could soon get a badge in media bias. but how fair is it? if a liberal group is giving the lesson. wait until you hear this one. >> and the ceo's, they are going after hollywood stars. would a kim kardashian attack create a lot of jobs in i bet it would. she makes a lot of money. >> what is a kardashian, he's thinking. so humpty dumpty had a...

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>> welcome back. the courage campaign thinks there should be a balanced initiative that that would raise taxes on themselves. and here's kim kardashian. ♪. >> ten percent in state taxes in california sounds high to me. is this more politics as usual out in the golden state stuart varney is here to talk about

millionaires and apparently they aren't paying their fair share. >> stop it. >> that's what it said. >> it's tax the rich. what this group wants to do is to raise a new tax on millionaires so above the first $1 million they want the state tax to be 13.3%. >> we have a graphic on the big wall. >> put it up. and over $2 million, they want 15.3% in tax from the rich. >> stuart, if you are making that kind of money out in california and something like that comes down the pike, i would move. >> yes. you would lose and you would move: people are leaving california in droves precisely because of this kind of raising of the taxes. the bottom line is this does not work. you impose this new tax on millionaires, a lot of them leave, and where does the extra money go if indeed you raise some extra money? does it go to kids as the ad suggests?

no. it goes toward paying off the pensionings of people hike the manager of berkeley city, who just retired. $250,000 a year for life, plus $147,000 cash check for unused vacation and sick pay. that's where the money would go. >> it's interesting. the dynamic, they use kim kardashian because she's a punchline for a lot of people. why don't they you'd barbra streisand? no, they use somebody that people hate to say they are getting away with murder. >> exactly. people largely dislike and dismiss ms. kardashian owe they put her up as the poster child of who should be paying more on taxes trying to get the crowd on their size. >> is this orchestrated by the white house? >> don't know that. >> simply because the whole class warfare thing is picking up steam. >> they have done the name in new york city. president obama wants to do it

nationally, and california fits right in. politics as usual. >> what would the total tax burden be on someone who makes over a million dollars? >> if this tax went in, my calculation is kim kardashian would owe an extra $530,000 a year. so you is the question why doesn't she move? maybe she would. >> she moved to new york for a little while. that didn't work out. and we will be watching stuart varney on our network exactly three hours from now. >> thank you, steve. >> and this woman was sentenced to death but stoning but knew a new development in her case. and then what kind of vacation does your boss give you? a week or two? how about unlimited? one company literally telling their employees write your own hours. will that work? the story straight ahead.

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>> welcome back. here's the headlines. ousted egyptian president in a hospital in cairo today. he's charged with killing protesters in abuse of power. and a new video of a mall brawl, showing the malee at the mall of america in minnesota. teens went nuts when they heard of a visit of a rap star drake and wayne. nine people were arrested, mostly from shop lifting. >> this is is case that has

worldwide attention. a woman was sentenced to death by stoning but international outcry spared her life temporarily. now there's a disturbing new development. joining me is lisa. she's been following this case. good morning, lisa. great to have you here. what is the late nest the case? >> the head of judiciary in the province where she's being held came out and said she has to be killed and if we don't have the means to stone her, then we will go ahead with hanging. but what they are waiting on is to refer this case to the religious higher-ups, and once they get the nod, the hanging can be used in lieu of stoning in the case of adultery which is punishable by their law. >> she's 44-year-old mother of two. she was convicted of adultery in iran in 2006 and then later an accessory to murder.

her family has always maintained she's completely innocent of both of those, as she has always maintained that. was there a trial in is that how it worked? >> she maintained her innocence because she has been charged in a loophole under their law. and in her case, and also the iranian government, the paradox in this case is they try to make an example out of her, say to the iranian people, don't go out to the international community, don't get hope help, this is what will happen to her. but at the same time, as they try to publicize her case it garnered more international attention and obviously that pressure is what is scaled back. but right now the iranian government is thinking most of the western world is busy with the holidays, christmas, new year's, shopping, whatever it is, eyes are not on the news, this is a great way to resurface the case and do what they want with her. >> now that it has gotten so much international outcry, is

there any way for them to back down from the death penalty? >> i don't know about backing down from the death penalty, but it is customary for cases that receive this type of pressure to be scaled back in terms of the punishment and scaling back would be hanging instead of stoning. >> how is that scaling back? i mean, they are killing her by hanging instead of stoning. that's not -- that's still murderous, horrible outcome. >> stoning is reserved for mostly women and case of adultery or robbery or drug trafficking or anything like that is punishable by hang soggy they are saying they are doing her to favor because they don't have the means. they aren't even admitting to the fact that international pressure is keeping her alive. >> and this face saving, couldn't they just say, okay, because you are all of the international community doesn't want it, we won't kill her or would they do the opposite? >> there has been a statement by the same judiciary who said we are a little pit relieved in the fact she's serving out her prison sentence. she's not actually free, she's still in prison but this is a

game they will keep resurfacing. if they don't end up killing her, it will go back and forth the way it has been unfortunately. >> just so horrible. we appreciate you being here, lisa, and bringing us the latest. thank you. >> thank you. >> all right. three shots to the chest were not enough to face this tough marine you are about to meet robbed at gunpoint. he saved his own live by plugging the bullet wounds with his fingers. that story next. and could a girl scout get a badge in media bias in and is it fair that a liberal group is giving them the lesson? first, this singer is 33 years old today, john legend. ♪

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taking part, including the united kingdom, germany and brazil. >> they must go through a lot of soccer balls if they step on them. >> and eat them. >> that's great, though. let's get to the headlines and tell you what is happening in news. texas governor rick perry fighting back after virginia left him off their ballot for the primary. he has filed a lawsuit in federal court in an attempt to get his name on their march 6th primary ballot. former entering newt gingrich also missed the ballot. both men they say failed to collect enough ballot signatures. and caucus people have arrived in iowa to occupy the campaign headquarters from now until next tuesday's caucus. the and 20 for mitt romney's red quarters and one nor rick

santorum. even in that race he want get more. and a mexican-american teenager, friends and family holding a vigil for 18-year-old alexis moron in chicago. he was found dead inside of a trunk of a burned out car. he was in mexico to visit his girlfriend. friends and family say they are still in shock. >> it is depressing. we just can't get over it. it's a terrible, terrible death. >> he had everybody happy and made everybody smile and he's just going to leave a big hole in everyone's part. >> they usually travel with him to their native country of mexico but this year they couldn't afford it so they said back home. an unbelievable story out of california. a officer kept himself alive after being shot.

two men stole a gold chain and then shot him. he plugged his begun shot wounds with his own fingers to stop the bleeding. he served overseas in both iraq and afghanistan and was never hurt on the battlefield. that's horrible. >> that is a story. meanwhile, let's take a look at the weather. strong winds and some rain causing problems along the east coast. if you live in the northeast this could have been what was happening outside of your house last night. wind gusts up to 50 miles an hour kept planes grounded in the new york city area. some saw 2 hour delays. more winds are expected to deliver through the day. parts of northern new york and new england could see snow as the storm moves through. flooding is also an area in areas of pennsylvania, delaware and new jersey and the tri-state area around new york. meanwhile let's take a look. there's the storm system i was talking about there. it lingers. it is taking the form of some snow in northern portions of pennsylvania, and portions, as well, of the empire state of

new york. rain up north in portions of new england. otherwise much of the balance of the country is dry with the exception of the pacific northwest. and the current readings as you head out today, if you went out now and you are in chicago, 22. it's 42 right now in caribou and in raleigh, as well. 39 in atlanta and same temperature at san antonio, texas. today's daytime highs, it won't make it above freezing in cleveland today. we will be almost at 40 there in the hall of america land in minneapolis, st. paul. 53 today in kansas city. and along the gulf coast 60s and down through portions of florida. that's your fox travel cast for this busy wednesday that feels like a tuesday. >> thank you, sir. if you guys think of a group that probably lacks a lot of controversy, one group that doesn't pop to mind is typically the girl scouts of america. >> although when they dropped

some of the cookies. >> the girl scouts turning a few eyebrows in something in a publication that's handed out to young girls for grades six through eight for the girls. in the publication called media. media, with a large i-e, there is something eye browse. >> this is to help them sort through the conflicting barrage of messages you get in the media. here are some place us go to do fact checking. the controversial part is they direct girls to "media matters." well "media matters" is the group you probably heard about on this program that is not nonpartisan. in fact they have an agenda and one of their agendas is to destroy faction news. the fact the girl scouts are being directed to "media matters" because there are none partisan objective groups that also do fact check that they could have been directed to

instead of "media matters." >> and it is curious they would direct kids there. and the history, the publication "the blaze" which is also a blog contacted the girl scouts and said did you know you are sending kids over to "media matters" which is a lefty blog out there? and they said, yeah, we know. and by the way, we are going to reprint the book. well, will that be in the new book? that blog, the blaze, has not heard an answer whether that bad information about a site that is clearly with an agenda is going to be in the new book because it's steering kids the wrong way. >> and it seems like it won't be in the book but, however, they haven't answered the question. but they are aware of it. they realize it's controversial so they are still handing it out to the girls at this time, at this hour, grades six through eight of the girl scouts get this publication. >> and this came to the

attention of some people because a 15-year-old girl scout was doing research and she realized there were a number of different agenda items that she felt that showed a liberal bias to the girl scouts. and so she started her own blog, and one of the things on her thing, ad according to her, did you know the girl scouts printed materials, refer girls to planned important hood and other pro abortion groups? so in the course of doing her research, she found the "media matters" things and the rest is history. >> in the meantime let's tell you about a company that's doing something very unusual and that is getting applause from their employees. this is a bethesda company called "wedding wire." they have decided to give their employees unlimited vacation time. unlimited. if you want to take off six months, you can do that, as long as you have done your job. >> and so easy. here's the director of human resources for "wedding wire" and what she has to say about it. we just want you to do your job.

if you can do that why limit the amount of vacation you can take? everything will work exactly the same way. we are just taking the attendance out of the performance and a lot of companies are getting behind this. saying people work in their own way. it's the micromanagement that doesn't work with employees. hey, ali, if you want to take a month off and go to italy -- >> i do, i do. >> go ahead as long as you get your work done. it's hard for me to do that from italy: i love this idea. >> you just don't want to work. >> and i find it inconvenient to work on the weekends and also monday through friday. any of those days are inconvenient. >> only leap year. >> every four years you could come to work. >> that's right. and it cuts down on busy working. and there are people who can just fake working at their desk. >> there are many. those people. >> right. solitaire, online shopping. >> it cuts down on that. you can just go home. >> and if you are a new hire for this company, you automatically

get sixteen vacation days. >> wow. >> they say if you meet your target, quota, it's all about getting married and getting people to buy stuff through their venders and whatnot. if you hit your sales quota, go ahead and take off. however, doesn't it seem almost european in its way? >> in a way because you get a month off typically over there. in america we work so hard, people work so, so stinking hard here -- >> who? >> almost everyone, right? people don't take vacation. there's a vacation guilt. we did that story on the show. so even though the request for the vacation days works the same, you still have to put in your vacation day requests, people aren't going take off months at a time. >> but if they do, and i'm sure people will given her appetite for signing up, they aren't going to pay you. you want to take off six months, they around going to pay you for six months. eats obviously done on a commission basis. >> that changes things, changes

the equation. >> so if you want money, you have to work. hello. >> but a novel idea. >> but if you got fired you could get two years of unemployment insurance these days? >> i want to copy something spain does, have siestas, around 2:00 p.m.. >> and there's also wine and cigarettes. >> there's a new problem in iraq. iranian exiles listed on the watch list are stranded with nowhere left to go. what should be done with that? we have that important story for you next. >> plus, is your house worthless today than the day you bought it? here's something you can do about it this week and this week only. we have details coming up. you aren't going to want to miss it. >> he's getting a jump on the siesta thing. ♪

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check it out. a man in michigan on a high-speed chase after stealing the patrol carr. we have dashcam video. the man was weaving in and out of traffic and slamming into another car t happened after list discovered the man's meth lab. he faces several charges. and chances are your eyes will be glued to the ball in times square on new year's eve. this year mayor michael bloomberg has chosen lady gaga to drop the ball. ga ga is also slated to appear on dick clark's rockin' new year's eve. it will be cold. i wonder if she'll wear a meet dress? >> or maybe she will drop a meatball. >> you never know. i'll stand by. >> right into a giant marinara. >> you are starving, aren't you? >> the iraqi government and people have announced they will

relocate refugees to camp liberty. that's a former u.s. base near baghdad. that's before helping them leave the country permanently >>. >> but the move it being held up. the group is considered a terrorist organization by the u.s. state department. we are joined with more. >> good morning, steve, alison and clayton. an iraqi spokesman said 300 residents of the camp have already been moved to camp liberty. a spokesman for the iranian exile said that is not true. state department they say needs to do one simple thing before they agree to the u.n.-brokered deal. >> these women are among 3400 exiles living at the camp. the state department says they are terrorists but just this week welcomed a deal to relocate them at a former u.s. ways in

baghdad. they were designated a terrorist organization in 1997. at a time when the u.s. was trying to engage iran. the allegations go back to the '70s when the u.s. government supported the shaw. according to the state department the group killed six americans in the 1970s." they used two gunmen outside his home in ivan assassinated two u.s. air force officers driving in iran and killed three american employees of rockwell international and tried to kidnap the u.s. ambassador to iran, and wounded brigadier general, harold price. after the iranian revolution in 1979 the group actively supported the u.s. embassy take over. that was more than 30 years ago. >> in order to keep them on that list, you have to demonstrate a desire and capability to harm

u.s., u.s. citizens, u.s. interests, and that doesn't exist. >> in fact, the mek may be the best weapon they have against the current iranian regime. they revealed a nuclear enrichment site in 2002 and some think they may have had a role in assassinating iran's nuclear scientist, something they deny. >> i watched the activity on the iran nuclear weapons program when i served in the bush administration and they had considerable information about that program that was important to get out publicly. and i didn't see anything when i was in the government that justified them being on that list. >> more than a dozen former national security advisers have called on the obama administration to delift the mek. everyone from former fbi chiefs to the attorney general. democrats and republicans. >> i havein two books on terrorism, and i think i know what terrorists are, and certainly since i have been familiar with their activities,

there has been no real evidence to support any allegation of terrorism. things change, times change, situations change, and the listing has to change to reflect current realities. >> the obama administration, like those before it, has hesitated to remove the m. e. k. from the terror list so as not to an taking nice iran. if they don't do so, the camp can't be resettled in the u.s. or europe. back to you. >> thank you very much, jennifer. cannot realize that. >> that's an important story. glad she's breath it to our attention. >> another story about the home market. is your house under water or getting close to that point? there is something you can do about it but you have to act this week and we will explain what that is. >> and plus looking for a big, fat pension? if you are a government employee, all off got to do is buy one. yep, an odd perk in this of some states that lets you seen up for one at taxpayers' expense.

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>> welcome back, housing prices keep going lower and some say there's never been a better time to buy. when it comes to taking the public being, if you can do it, you need to know more than the cost of the home when you are going in to make the purchase. joining us is ceo of sheratonins statutes. thanks for being here. >> nice to be here. >> now is the team to buy, one week before the new year, right?

>> there has been a lot of talk about when it the right time to buy a house and is it now or a time in the future? here's reality. interest rates are still near record lows or at record lows, depending what type of program you qualify for and home prices have declined 30 to 50%. buying at the bottom is something you are really only going to do if you are lucky and we are about as close to the bottom we have been in a long time. >> you have a lot of highly motivated sellers that want to get it wrapped up before the end of the year and a lot of short sales. you also say when you are looking at a new property going in, not just the home value itself but you may get lower value on your tacks or pay lesson your property tax bill if you review it. what do you mean by that? >> if there is somebody who owns a home, for example, if you have a home and i was just talking to your producer, half million dollars home in new york, your taxes is going to be about $167,000 in new york. here's a benefit that might have come out of all of that turmoil we face in the housing market.

if the values of your property comes down, you should be paying taxes on the the actual value of the property. if it was 500,000 and now it's $375,000, you can get it reassessed and get a lower tax bill. >> how long does that take? >> it can take a couple months. there is a process and usually some servicings will do it for you for about 25% of the savings. no cost out-of-pocket to you. >> there are a number of tax credits that are available for energy purposes for your home. what are those and can you take advantage of them i guess the next few days? >> you absolutely can. you would have to do it quickly. you can install energy efficiency, any type of energy efficiency you install into your home that's' proved for a credit, you can claim up to a 30% tax credit. while we are trying to do everything we can to lower expenses, to really get into the right expense range with a home, it's not just the mortgage and insurance, it's everything. so if we improve the efficiency of the house we can have the government help us pay for it. >> also you say right size your

space. what do you mean by that? >> so if somebody is out there look for a property today, the trend in the past, especially leading up to about 2007, is bigger is better and houses started getting huge. the average square foot of american homes went up several years in a row. today there is a reversing of the trend and many people are looking at smaller trend. it's not just the mortgage and insurance, it's mortgage, insurance, heating, water, everything else that goes into the cost of that home. if you right sides your space you lower your overall tip. >> you think it's just the mortgage and then you get the $300 heating bill in the heart of winter and then you scream. and you also say be water wise. what do you mean by that? >> it's another way to save money and really avoid some of the stiff penalties that some places are having. in some areas where there's drought conditions, especially in an area like here in texas or certain areas in california or other parts of the country, if you are using too much water you have an increasing water bill or

you can get penalized. so if you are doing anything in your home this year, use water-efficient appliances, water-efficient fix you -- fixts and consider change youth landscape for the lower use of water. it's the overall cost of the home we are worried about. >> and a lot of people are looking at foreclosure from getting out from under water in their homes right now. we are seeing banks sending outletters, trying to forgive in certain situations. is it a smart move to foreclose or is there a way to stoop it and get on a good track? >> foreclosure in our opinion or my opinion, at least, is absolutely the worst case scenario and it's a last resort. today banks are more neglect able than they have been for years in short sales. a record number of short sales were approved in 2011 and there's programs out there for homeowners, especially from some of the major lenders like chase, bank of america and wells fargo where some some cases, not all, but some cases they are actually

paying homeowners to go through with a short sale where they forgive the debt and let the homeowners move on to a new property. eats good for the banks and it's great for the homeowners. foreclosure really is the last resort. >> short sales scare a lost people. they just don't know what it means. it means selling the short of what you owe continue it and working it out with the bank. are the pros he is taking up to a year to do or are they being quicker about going through the process. >> anecdotesly you can find somebody who has had a rough short sale. they are out there. but on average all of the banks have improved their processes and with some banks, like wells fargo, if they own the lone, their approval process is almost as quick as a normal transaction. >> wow. >> they have improved dramatically, hundreds of thousands are being approved and people are taking advantage of this way to get out. >> that's dramatically different the way it was a year ago and find a real estate agent that

understand short sales and it will also shorten the process. thanks for seeing you and hope you have a good year and thanks for all the great tips. >> my pleasure. >> some are calling it obamacare's latest casualty. what just happened that could change the power in the senate. and the things government is taking away from you starting next week. [ 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. act now, go to alz.org.

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>> good morning, everyone. it's wednesday, december 28th. i'm alison in for gretchen. less than a week to go before iowans hit the policy or caucuses. >> you want to run a negative campaign and you want to attack people, at least be man enough to own it. >> what mitt romney said that got him so fired up. >> and it's being called obamacare's latest casualty.

a powerful senate democrat saying he will step down. would his seat be enough to tip the balance of power in that chamber? >> meanwhile, are you looking for a big, fat pension? and who is it? well, if you are a government worker, you are in luck. there's an odd perk that lets you buy one at tax take payers' expense. it may fourate you. hour two of fox and friends starts right now. >> good morning, fox and friends. thanks for joining us. you keep saying it's wednesday. it feels like a tuesday. but it's a wednesday that feels like a saturday are or sunday. >> did you work monday? >> no. so your tuesday would actually feel like a sunday. >> right. >> so your wednesday would feel like a tuesday. >> and we were in for the weekend so it feels like our second day of work, sunday. >> did you work this weekend? >> no, i was too bassy

celebrating. >> i don't get that. how can i get the last 40 seconds of my life back? >> great to see you. i'm in for brian. bria is off enjoying extra christmastime and alison is in for gretchen this morning. >> indeed. we have a lot to to tell you about. frightening moments for passengers onboard a southwest airline plane after two tires blew out on the runway. it happened last night as the plane was departing from sacramento on a flight to seattle. emergency crews hosed down the plane so it didn't catch fire. the 130 passengers on board were evacuated without getting hurt. >> shaking really hard. everybody got real scared real fast. >> never heard anything like that on a plane before. just waiting for some fire to come out at that point. >> there was no word on what caused the tire blowout but the investigation continues. the taliban is claiming responsibility for an attack taking three nato troops on

tuesday. it was a roadside bomb. the tal pan claims it was targeting a u.s. military convoy. nato would not release any further details on the victims' nationallalities or attacks. it raises the amount killed to 23 this month. 539 deaths so far this year. the late north korean leader, kim jong-ill, was laid to rest today. people appeared to be screaming and crying as it rolled by. the country's new leader led this morning's procession. kim jong-ill died of a heart attack on december 17th. state media reported the cause of his death as overworked. president obama waking up in beautiful hawaii this morning. still on holiday vacation with his family. the first family spent the afternoon at a popular snorkeling spot. they released four green sea turtles into the water.

the 18 month turtles were born at a nearby sanctuary and aquarium. those are your headlines >> those things live for like 200 years, don't they? >> i do remember you pitching that story. >> but he will have to get here like from kansas or something and it will take ten years. >> well, that story was shot down by the producer. >> eyes on politics this morning and iowa. the caucuses less than a week away and the candidates busy with last minute campaigning in the state. we are live with a look at what is happening today. hey, doug. >> hey, clayton. the campaigns are up and running like never before in iowa. less than a week to go before the caucuses. voters being deluged with ads and candidates jam-packed with appearances. this race is tightening up. the real clear politics of other policy shows ron paul heading the pack at 22.7, followed closely by romney with 21 and gingrich at 14.3 and perry

closing the gap a little bit in recent days at 12%, bachman at 9 and santorum at 7.7. the iowa race now wide open but mitt romney is perhaps best positioned to benefit from iowa, even if he doesn't win. many experts expect that the results will be splintered and romney has the money and organization to move on to new hampshire where he holds a commanding lead. but virtually all of the candidates are campaigning today in iowa like it is indeed the homestretch. newt gingrich will beholding meet-and-greets in at least four towns today. and ron paul has a rally. and mitt romney meets with voters and discusses jobs and the economy in three cities and rick perry visits three cities. michele bachmann making 11 meet-and-greet appearances today. and rick santorum as well. he announced if he finishes dead

last he's going to be dropping ought out of the race. we will leave you with the look at the graphic of the combined stops that all of the candidates are making today. everybody is sprinting for the iowa finish line today. with the last of those tv debates now over, they are resorting to some old-fashioned campaigning across the state of iowa, guys. >> and lot of tv ads as well. the des moines register said yesterday $10 million are being spent on ads in the final days and a lot of it from rick perry and ron paul, who have made iowa a make-or-break state for both of them. >> a lot of negative ads you will see over the next couple days. the gloves are off. a lot of them running pretty negative ads out there on behalf of the candidates and super packs, so they can step back and distance themselves from. and some of the mudslinging is from the campaign trail. they say what did you think of

newt gingrich and not getting on the ballot? he like end it to pearl harbor. listen. >> compare it to pearl harbor? i think it's more like lucille ball at the chocolate factory. >> so if you are unfamiliar with the video illusion from the '60s," here it is, ladies and gentlemen. here is lucille ball and her best friend, ethel, at the chocolate factory. >> the reason he compared it to this he is saying newt should have been more organized. he should have known what he was doing and planning, not just gobbling chocolates rapidly on an assembly line. i see the analogy. >> i do, too. and one other thing about newt gingrich, he announced he was going to make 44 stops in his tour of iowa. yesterday they cut it to 22. some of suggesting that perhaps it's organizational. it could be money. none of less, newt is steamed at mr. romney for talking about the chocolate factory. >> i would love to have him say

that to my face. if you want to run a negative campaign and you want to attack people, at least be man enough to own it. >> yeah. he's also -- if you think that mitt romney was teasing newt gingrich by saying he's like lucille ball, newt gingrich has come up with his own sort of catch phrase, he's calling him moderate mitt and a massachusetts moderate. >> that's 3 ms. once been, chocolate. >> and newt gingrich is not the only one not on the ballot. mitt romney and ron paul are the only two on the candidate so almost every other candidate didn't make it. and rick santorum said it favors those paying to get in. it favors those who want to sling a lot of money to get on the ballot. mitt romney will join us live at 8:00 a.m. to talk about it. he's kicking off his bus door today, as doug was telling us. we will get him before that all starts. >> i bet he has a lot to say about that. let's talk about the big announcement that came from

nebraska senator ben nelson yesterday. he plans to retire. he's 70 years old. basically it sounds like he's fed up and he's had enough. >> they had crosshairs on him because the gop was targeting them as one of the weakest senators to go back up. >> and the democrats actually spent $1 million in nebraska buying tv ads to support this guy. keep in mind at the time that obamacare passed, it passed 1:00 in the morning i think on christmas eve or something like that, two countries masses ago, he was the 60th boat and he effectively was bought off by the president and his team. if you have forgotten, he got taxpayers to pick up all of nebraska's new medicaid costs forever and some other gra two tis for mutual of omaha which is in his state. this is at a time when two-thirds of the people in nebraska were against it and yet there is their senator saying

i'm for it. so given the prospects for re-election, he said done enough. going to retire. >> and yet he was also one of the democrats who would cross the isle and vote with republicans. he did so with. >> he's from a red state. >> he is. and he also, you know, if you believe him, believes in doing things that are best and voting your belief system. there was an energy issue that he crossed the isle and voted with republicans. there were other things, as well. so in his letter announce his retirement, it sounds like he just is sick and tired of how it's working there and he's saying. >> maybe he made a mistake. >> and didn't want to go through it. >> or he didn't want to face the up-hill battle. it will be a very difficult battle for him known as the cornhusker kickback there in nebraska. interestingly, it will be interesting to see how the

senate shakes out as a result of this and the balance of power. the democrats still control. with know what happened in 2010, scott brown tipping some of the power back to the republicans. this could be a major seat to watch. >> 14 democrats are taking this route. you know, and there are more democrat seats up for grabs in the next election cycle. remember, it's all six years, six years and off and stuff like that. the republicans in the senate just need four seats to gain a majority. >> yes. >> so statistically it looks like the ball is in their court. >> they are saying the dream candidate to replace him would be former senator bob kerrey, who has not commented on whether he's interested in that job. >> one of the things we've heard about very rich retirements, a number of government employees wound up with, you know, famously what is going on, has gone on out in bell, california. now in 21 states, this is going to get you, 21 states it is possible for you to do something, it's a perk that employees, various

municipalities and governmentings get. you can buy airtime. what that essentially means is if you are a little short in the pension department, you can put up a bunch of cash so that you would qualify or get vested for more money when you eventually do retire. >> here's a former advisor to arnold schwarzenegger. he paid an extra $75,000 for five years of work credit. he basically didn't work those five years, he's paying so it looks like he did. when he turns 55 he will get a california pension of $61,000 a year. that's nearly $13,000 more than if he hadn't bought that additional five years of time. >> but here's the kicker, it adds up to $320,000 extra by the time he's 80, his pension. if he lives to 80 he's getting that much more. so the math doesn't work. it shouldn't be called airtime, it should be called fake time or work time. >> and also bankruptcy time because the states, if you look

at california, it's one of the leading states that has bankruptcy problems and pensions are at the heart of the issue. >> and jerry brown is trying to get rid of it because in the past what has been done, look at this great perk, work for the state, work for the town you will get airtime. it's also been an enticement to get people to retirement early. you are five years short, kick in $75,000 and get off our payroll. but as he with saw from the graphic, we will end up paying a lot more. >> you are never really off the payroll if you are collecting a pension. >> out-of-sight, out of mind. >> it doesn't work t doesn't make sense in this day and age with this economy to do this, to pay for team you didn't actually work. you are already getting a pension for time you did work. >> but at the same time, if you had the option to do it, wouldn't everybody do it? >> it makes sense to you individually, just not to the state. >> let us know what you think. would you do this if you had the opportunity? you can send it to us

anonymously if you want to. and iowa doesn't have the best track record when it comes to picking presidential nominees, so when 2 boils down does iowa really matter? our political panel will discuss that coming up next. there they are. >> and the president said no parade for the troops returning home from iraq. what's wrong with welcoming our troops home? we will read your e-mails on this hot topic coming up. ♪ my name is ron orsini,

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when did you start that project? every new year comes with a few stories waiting to be built. it's when our brand-new to-do lists become "you did that yourself?" so when we can save more on the projects that let us build, make, and even store more, well, that just makes the stories even better. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. make room for savings with these sterilite totes for a new lower price of just $5.88. >> iowa has not always had the best track record of picking the gop nominee. take a look at past caucus winners and the eventual nominee. in fact, the winner rarely goes

on to win the nomination. so what role does iowa really play? here to weigh in is our panel, alan, and tracy davis, former speech writer for gorge h.w. bush and ms. green. i'll start but. iowa fun to watch, but irrelevant? >> i wouldn't necessarily say irrelevant. the reason for that, it is true that the winner doesn't always become the nominee. however, what happens after iowa is very, very important. mitt romney, doesn't have to win. but if he comes in a strong second he has a lot of momentum going to new hampshire. it also is determinative for some of the other candidates. if newt gingrich continues to trail, maybe comes in under ron paul, there are implications for that campaign as well. so the aftereffects really matter. >> is it more of a weeding-out process than a picking the

winner process? >> i just think it's very important, for one thing because of the lead time that you have for the first, you know, for the first event. there's so much media attention and the debates, you know, all the others are like two weeks apart so you don't get that kind of exposure. it's not just a weeding-out process, i mean, i do think that the fringe candidates, actually the way they saturate iowa is in a positive way, it means maybe they have more of a chance. but the reason it's really important i think, not only because it's the kick off, because of money. and i think whoever does well in iowa, obviously you can tell already with gingrich running out of money. that's how they can get their money chest up. >> so the winner of iowa or somebody who exceeds expectations gets more momentum and money? >> absolutely. it's not about who comes in first i think, the formula everyone is looking at is who is the third place finisher and

third place finisher and whether those margins and that really is going to determine if this campaign comes to a speedy end or if it lasts a lot longer, similar to the 2008 primary we saw between obama and secretary clinton. but i think clearly it's not irrelevant. it's $10 million have been spent in the last month. but looking at overall the impact of iowa, i do think whether it's like two presidential cycles, maybe even one that iowa, new hampshire are not going to be as important anymore because we see the candidates haven't been visiting as much, the campaign headquarters don't have as many staff. in 2008 there were 300 people employed between obama and hillary and now there are 20 people. >> why is that? because the national media has taken on so much residence. >> some of it is the new technology and it's more efficient to do things electronically. but there are so many candidates, a quirky cycle. there hasn't been a romney and not romney and eventually voters

would coalesce around someone, it hasn't happened. >> and the debates. there are the interviews on fox like when you get one of those very key interviews, whether hannity or o'reilly, greta, they have become more important than the retail politicking. >> i still think it's really essential because i think it will be the next time and new hampshire. it's sort of part of our tradition. when you think about, you know, it may be just the fringe candidates that spend so much time there. but look how much money is being spent by the top candidates. and the way gingrich has gone halfway down. >> a programming note, one of those key interviews you are talking about, i think you meant to include fox and friends. mitt romney, we will be interviewing him in 45 minutes. if you can stick around, that would be great because we want to talk to you about this. democrats are calling newt gingrich a thief. they say he's running on bill clinton's accomplishments.

we are separating fact from fix there. and a mystery no one can seem to solve, why are the sun roofs on those cars exploding mid-drive? ♪

>> in news by the numbers now. 8% is the average american's net worth has dropped the past six years. meanwhile members of congress got 15% richer. and $425 million is how much mel

gibson is paying on his divorce settlement. the largest divorce settlement in history. and 80 is how old cheetah the chimp was when he died this last week. he starred in the tarzan movies this the early 1980s. >> democrats are coming out against newt gingrich saying he's running his campaign on the success of bill clinton. what does our political panel think about this? drew, i want to start with you. you know the clintons and you know what happened in the '90s. does newt gingrich deserve some credit for the successes of the '90s? >> when i said this i thought, gosh, i needed a good laugh. he has done a good job of reinventing himself in the republican nomination himself but he's just reinventing history. he's a history professor that's gotten an f for not remembering the epic fight, the battle

between him and president clinton in the '90s was not him fighting for what actually turned the economy around, he was the fraser to clinton's ali. and for him to take credit for the success we saw where basically many of those policies now, if we could go back to those same tax rates, we would be able to lift our economy up, and he clearly is still fighting against those same principles. so it's odd for him to try to take credit. >> what about welfare reform? does he lay some claim to -- wouldn't have bill clinton done that without newt gingrich pushing it on the other side? >> i think with both, i think -- i just think it takes the president and it takes the congress to make anything happen and that's sort of what obama has kind of forgotten. he sort of dictates to the congress, and i think that, you know, newt should get some credit. but i do think it's indicative of one thing about newt that we've been figuring out a little

bit, you know, i think he's kind of a narcicyst. when you compare not getting on the virginia battle to pearl harbor, or, you know, i think that he's perfect for the opposition natural research -- or team for obama. >> hold on. let's listen to him in his own words how he describes why he is trumpeting his success in the '90s. let's listen to newt gingrich. >> by the way, i'll concede, bill clinton signed the bills. he gets to claim half the credit. it was a bipartisan effort. when you have a liberal democrat in the white house you are not going to get a tax cut through unless he signs it, unless your majorities are so big you can override his veto and that was i believe -- i am practical. i will be candidate, i actually got the deal done. >> does bill clinton deserve half the credit for signing the bill? >> in theory the president and

congress are co-equal. and drew and i have been on many panels together and it's rare we agree but i love a good boxes analogy. but beyond that, we remember the epic gingrich versus clinton battles. and even though i understand newt's point, it's a tough sell politically because we all remember the battles, and let me tell you something, in 1996, i'm old must have to remember the campaign, ace workin in politics, bill clinton ran three adds, ending welfare as we know, it end being the death penalty for violent criminals and the republican type messages. and that stuff was all bill clinton and it really wasn't gingrich running the ads, it was clinton. this is why, as you say, clinton is no obama. he was a triangle ulator where obama is much more of a liberal trying to ram his polls through. >> we have to end it there, guys. thanks so much for coming in and

analyzing all of this for us. great to see you guys. >> thank you. >> all right. the troops are coming home but there won't be any parades. the pentagon said no need for celebration. what is wrong with welcoming our heros home? we will read your e-mails on this hot topic coming up. and nothing like ringing in the new year with new regulations. the things the government is taking away from you starting next week. ♪

>> welcome back. time for your shot of the morning. just call a pint-sized patriot. he goes to airports and greets and saw lieutenants or heroes as they return home. his most reason was in atlanta. he wants to thank our soldiers for their service. >> they are risking their live, they are fighting for us and our freedom and country. i told them thank you for protecting us. >> cody said he plans to join the service one day himself. >> how great is that kid in. >> amazing. >> look at him. can you imagine coming back and seeing this kid greeting you and saluting you? wow. we salute him. >> we do, indeed. and how do we salute the men and women who served in iraq? we have done a story in the last week about how a number of new york city assemblymen have

suggested let's have a ticker tape parade to welcome our men and women home. however, the pentagon has not yet requested one so they aren't moving forward. >> and the question is should we be victorious? a ticker tape parade to some suggests victory but did we win in iraq? iraq is still, as you know, fraught with violence and death. just this past week 65 people killed. or should it be more subdued, more low-key when they come home? it's a debate. >> a serious debate. remember we are still at war. 91,000 men and women still serving in afghanistan. is it unseeming to have a parade or is it okay to thank the men and women who served? we have tons of tweets on it. >> and you framed it like a victory lap. but remember, the president of the united states said i'm going to bring them home, i have to bring them home so let's have a welcome home parade.

let's say job well done. we know the sacrifices that you paid and made -- >> by the way, individually in some communities they are doing that. >> they are. >> but why not a national one? >> fair enough. >> here is what you said. elaine in florida writes, a vietnam vet who was personally spat upon by jane fonda, i think parades are definitely in order. it has nothing to do with the policy of the war, it has to do with the guys and gals doing what they set out to do and welcoming them home again. >> the problem is if you put it off, until we done in afghanistan, would they of get a salute? a tweet from phillip. >> another tweet from kathy.

>> we had a lot of people weighing in on this. >> and it's interesting. our producer said it's basically divided, just like the debate it. some think it's not the time right now and some think it is always the right time when the heroes come home. keep it coming. we appreciate it. >> five people killed in a christmas day fire. few details of the cause coming out this morning and we hear now about the family's desperate attempt to get out. our local affiliate is live in stanford, connecticut with the latest. and this is a tragic story, isn't it, johnny? >> it really is. you know, really quick. it's a striking contrast here. you have a beautiful sunrise and overlooking the long island sound and the absolutely horrific scene that happened christmas morning. first of all, officials determined the cause was accidental. apparently a family friend who

was doing renovation work on the home, this 100-year-old mansion, apparently removed smoldering embers from a fireplace. they had been burning a yule log christmas eve reach moved the embers and put it in the trash bag and put that bag into what is cull a mudroom. many people have them. they put their mud boots and various equipment inside there. within an hour this home was engulfed in flames. the family friend, mike, tried to get the three little girls who eventually died, he tried to get them out, but in the confusion during the smoke and everything, they got separated. one's body was found on the third floor, another second floor with her grandmother, pauline johnson, and then a third little better's body was found within arm's reach of her grandfather, who his body was found on the second floor roof. basically he was trying to save his grand daughter and died within arm's reach of her. there are concerns and questions this morning about a couple of things. and very quickly, in particular construction work.

i mentioned the home was under renovation. number one, it appears that the family did not have what is called a certificate of occupancy. so there's questions about whether they should have even been staying in the home, particularly the second and third floors at the time of this. third, whether any of that construction material, the scaffolding, equipment inside, obstructed the exsits, and inhibited these people's opportunities for chances to get out of the home. it's an issue that's been brought up. officials haven't really gone into detail on that. and third, the fire alarm system. authorities say that it was not working at the time of this fire. it is said to be one of the worst, if not the worst fires and loss of life in stanford's history. guys, back to you. >> it is such a haunting and horrible story. i can't shake it. the only, only good thing is for all of you to check your smoke detectors today. go and check them today. let this horrible tragedy not be in vain. >> the other days ours like

beeping and we always curse those things, this is a reminder, don't. get up on the step stool and put one of those new nine volt batteries in it. >> because if it's chipping, particularly with a carbon monoxide detector, it could mean carbon monoxide. >> and this is so devastating for the community. 70 firefighters are receiving counseling because they are so racked with the horror of this, not being able to save the family. we have new news to tell you about. no knew leads and growing concern in detroit where police say they believe a serial killer is on the loose. in the past four weeks four women have been found dead in the trunks of cars. three out of four of them were believed to be escorts. police believe the killer is targeting escorts off of a website called backpage.com. all four were found burnt beyond recognition. and a colorado woman sharing a very scary experience.

the sunroof of her bmw exploded while she was driving and turns out she is not alone. one was going 75 miles an hour when she claims shards of glass rained down on her. she called her local deal are in denver and they told her this is a, quote, no one issue. >> i bought my car two months ago and i feel there should have been a warning or notification this could potentially happen. it's terrifying to know you carnage out and buy a brand new car and have the glass explode? your face. >> bmw said the causes could range from the impact of a rock to a defect during production. what better way to ring in the new year but with new regulars. when the ball drops a new slate of laws will hit the books. the biggest state is california. they are banning teenagers from getting bronzed in tanning beds and also banning over the counter sales of most cough

syrup because it's reportedly being abused so no more nyquil unless you ask a pharmacist first. in kansas, rhode island, tennessee and texas, beginning next year you have to show a photo i.d. to cast a vote. and other states, oregon banned the sale of shark fins. they need a law because apparently the animal is in danger and shark fin soup is considered a delicacy. steve, lunch is off for you. >> fine. >> how is the weather? >> strong winds and rain causing problems along the east coast overnights. wind gusts kept planes grounded in the new york city city area. and more winds expected today. parts of northern new york and new england could see some snow. flooding an issue in areas of pennsylvania, delaware, new york, new jersey and connecticut, as well. quickly, let's take a look at the map and find out where it is raining at this hour. you see we have a little action still in portions of new england. a little smattering of snow back

through the empire state of new york and a little rain out in the pacific northwest. otherwise current temperatures as you head out on this wednesday, as you can see, a lot of 20s and 30s across the map. all the way down into texas. all right. time for some breakfast. if you like meat loaf. >> that's right. what better way to kick off your morning breakfast than the meat loaf. we heard about the singer meatloaf but what about the woman who has him saying he would love her to the end of time. let's list en. ♪ wow, that singer, patty, is here today. >> how young then. >> she will show us. what else, meatloaf this morning. >> thank for having us >> why meatloaf for the new year, patty? >> why not? >> there you go.

>> everybody wants a great home cooked meal but nobody wants to spend the time because they have been cooking all the week. this is like two steps. one bowl with the ingredients and one bowl with the sauce. >> we start with combining the ingredients. >> variation going on here. >> what's the variation, you have onions? is it typical beef? >> ground beef. you can make it healthier with turkey or make it moral subsequent with veal, pork and beef. >> you have all of those here. >> i will be using my hands? i'm trying to be -- >> making a huge turkey dinner, and meat loaf was a meal my mom made once a week. you get the beef and onions combined. >> are you using whole-wheat? >> whole-wheat bread instead of white bread. ite for health conscious people who don't want to be full over the holidays but want to have a great meal.

>> don't want to be swearing the spancs. >> and we would steep this in milk and cream. and does meatloaf eat meatloaf? >> i am sure he does. when i spoke to scott, i thought i was appearing with meatloaf, not with a meatloaf. but there's never a dull moment. never a dull moment here. >> a great time on new year's, hang out with patty and i. >> and a couple bottles of wine. >> and these are a couple different sauces. >> classical marinara, it's classico brand. >> you put it in 350. >> cover it with aluminum until the center is 160 degrees. and you have brown sugar, the

sauce and mustard. as soon as the sugar is dissolved you poor it over and this is what you have. >> patty, who eats meatloaf once a week. it's delicious. thank you. >> we will have the complete recipe up on our website. >> happy new year. thank you, geese. >> happy new year. >> occupy protestors setting up camp at the iowa caucuses. will that affect the vote? and there's a new drug promising to type away your pain ten times better than vicodin. but there's a catch. we will explain that. and the trivia question of the day. born on this day in 1954, this academy award winning actor got a major career break when he started in the tv drama "saint

elsewhere." who is he? e-mail us with the correct answer. ♪

>> time for quick headlines. the ousted egyptian president back on trial in cairo today. it was on hold sense he was hospitalized in april. this morning he was wheeled in on a stretcher. he's charged with killing protesters and abuse of power. forest gump and other films receiving a big time honor, being named on the library of congress's national film registry. forest gump is the most recent other films picked, including "bambi" and "silence of the lambs." similar but different. >> and fox and friends is like a box of chocolates. you never know what you will end up with, like this.

occupiers still camping out in tents trying to be heard but now they have set up shop in iowa. this time they are targeting their movement on the iowa caucuses. but are they making their case in let's talk to fox news legal analyst pete are johnson junior. >> good morning. the circus was come to town. new scarecrows in iowa. occupy iowa. occupy forces said we are going to sit in iowa. we will go to the obama headquarters and republican headquarters. we are not going to stop what's going on there but we are going to make our voices known. now perhaps this is a cultural occasion in america. we've had hoe hobos and tramps and bums and hippies and yippies and perhaps we will look back and say isn't this wonderful, all these misguided people with nothing to do in january, they showed up in iowa, didn't make a difference, they got a lot of

attention. but they have sworn and took a pledge like the hobo pledge back at the end of the 19th century that they are not going to do drugs, they aren't going to do alcohol and they aren't going to carry weapons so that is a very important step forward for the occupy movement and we should be very great full. >> and we were talking yesterday a little bit about this, how people from all across the country are going to show up there. they might try to influence the outcome of the caucuses. unless you are a registered republican, you can't actually vote in the caucuses. >> it appears we've created new class in america and "time" magazine as lauded it, the breaster. but we have a heckling class, aeering class, and i would say most seriously, and respectfully, their efforts would be better served if they came to new york or los angeles or to washington to organize a welcome home parade for our troops returning or iraq and afghanistan. >> it would be great. >> if they want to saw lewd this

country's accomplishments, if they want to stand up and make a statement about a collective action, about people coming together in a positive way, then that would be an activity by which they could donate their labors and the fruits of their labors. >> a great idea. >> this is a waste of time. this is a great opportunity for news networks to take video of people who really are looking for attention. apart from look for attention, i don't know what they are going to affect and i don't know how the national debate is going to change. frankly, i would rather not talk about them anymore after this. i may be compelled to do so, hopefully they keep a safer lookout out there and act responsible. >> i love your parade idea. >> let's have a parade, not circus. >> peter, thank you very much. >> okay. >> straight ahead, a new pain pill promises to wipe away your pain ten times better than vicodin but there's a catch. the medical a-team next to

explain. but first, saturday night, by the bay city rollers, uno in the usa. r half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole gin oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios.

welcome back. the answer to the aflac question of the day is denzel washington. the winner is pam in nebraska. listen to this. pharmaceutical companies are working on a prescription painkiller that's said to be ten times more powerful than vicodin. dr. keith ablo joins us from boston with his warning on this form of drug.

>> good morning. >> why do we need it. >> it's an opium pain reliever so eats in the same class at okychontin. they are great pain relievers but they are highly addictive. they leave people with a feel of extraordinary well-being but the feeling goes away and then you need more. >> so ten times more powerful than some of the other drugs we've opinion talking about. and i guess it seems that money is probably to play here pause it's a $10 billion a year legal market. is the federal government not doing enough to regulate some of these stronger pain medications? >> well, here's the thing. it is a $10 billion market. and, yes, this is ten times stronger than vicodin. so, look, what we have to do is educate people that this is going to hit the streets and how they can become addicted to us

because i'll tell you, i'm just one psychiatrist north of boston in terms of my practice but i've treated home makers, high school kids and professionals, including attorneys, who get hooked on the things. many start it because they have terrible shoulder pains or they are athletes in school and have knee pain and then it's tough to get off. here are the things, some of these things sell for 80 bucks a pill on the streets. when you run out of money, what do you do? you start heroin. literally these people end up on heroin so we have to get ready. >> i did a couple special reports a new year's ago when i lived in west virginia and the effects of oxychontit was horrific. and at love people said doctor, i don't know if you would agree, more addictive than heroin. i can only imagine this drug ten times more powerful, what it can do to people. >> ten times more powerful than

vicodin, and, yes, it hook people. keep in mind also we are sitting ducks for this. we better get an educational program going and control it through law enforcement because guess what percentage of hydrocodone the u.s. consumes? 99% of it lands here and we suck it up or swallow it down. >> and what about the doctors on the other side, prescribing it? do we need something more powerful than the other current medications on the market? doesn't it come down to the doctors as well. >> doctors have to be very careful. i treat people in chronic pain. it's not the mainstay of my practice but i do it and these are very effective. people who suffer with terrible pain can get awfully depressed. we need it but this one is not toxic to the liver so i get why it's being used. but we better come up with a way to distribute it under strict guidelines, and we better get the word out to the public.

you may think you can take it and take it again next saturday because it will be kind after fun day for you, but guess what, you will be on the streets, potentially. i'm telling, the professionals were on the streets, $80 a pill and taking three a day. >> unbelievable. >> thanks for illuminating us to some of this information. didn't know any of it. thanks a lot, doc. >> take care. >> coming up, less than a week until the iowa caucuses and the gloves are coming up off. mid-romney is here at -- mitt romney is here at the top of the hour to talk about it. and the father who helped keep his kids and family alive will be here with us to tell us the story. dad, why are you getting that? is there a prize in there?

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>> alisyn: good morning, everyone. it's wednesday, january 28. as the deadline approach, the gloves come off. newt gingrich attacking mitt romney days before voters hit the polls. the former massachusetts governor is here live to respond. >> steve: meanwhile, president obama wants to increase the spending limit on america's credit card. why he says the debt ceiling must be raised and raised now to the tune of over a trillion bucks. >> clayton: bad economy got you down? mcdonald's wants to pick you up with free coffee. that's right. no purchase necessary, but it depends where you live. we'll get to the bottom of that cup. "fox & friends" hour three starts right now. >> you're watching "fox & friends." that's the great way to begin your day. >> steve: thank you very much. it is exactly 8:00 o'clock in new york city and now we've got

something -- >> alisyn: look who is back and returned to the scene of the crime. >> steve: sitting on this desk, it belongs to, ladies and gentlemen, stewart varney. >> clayton: we went through your secrets. >> alisyn: we sent some e-mails. >> steve: nice to see you again. >> clayton: there's a lesson. never leave an electronic device on my seat. >> alisyn: right. near clayton. >> clayton: i checked all your e-mail for you and returned them all. >> steve: not only do we have the great stewart varney in attendance, but in just about two minute, we will go live to iowa to chat with mitt romney who wants to be the president. >> alisyn: meanwhile, let's get to your headlines. tell what you you missed overnight. late north korean leader kim jung-il was laid to rest today. tens of thousands of people lined the snow covered streets to pay their respects. they appeared to be screaming and crying as state tv cameras

rolled by. the new leader, his son, kim jong-un led the procession. kim jung-il died of a heart attack on december 17. state media reported the cause of his death as overworked. the taliban claiming responsible responsibility for an attack that killed nato troops. it was a road side bomb that took place 60 miles south of kabul. they would not release further details on the nationalities or the attack. this raises the number of foreign troops killed in afghanistan this month to 23 for a total of 539 deaths so far this year. frightens moments for passengers on board a southwest airlines plane after two tires blew out on the runway. this happened last night just as the plane was departing from sacramento on a flight to seattle. emergency crews hosed down the plane so it did not catch fire. the 130 passengers on board were all evacuated without injury.

>> all over the place, shaking really hard. everybody got real scared real fast. >> never heard anything like that on the plane before. just waiting for some fire to come out at that point. >> alisyn: no word on what caused the tire blowout. but the investigation continues. bad economy getting you down? here is something to perk you up. free coffee. no purchase necessary. here is the catch, only in northern california. the free coffee program will last two weeks ending on sunday, january 15. the program is local mcdonald's' way of saying thank you to their customers and offering a helping hand at the start of the new year. those are your headlines. >> clayton: brilliant. you know you're going to get coffee and buy an egg mcmuffin. >> steve: speaking of egg mcmuffin, they don't have them at this particular place, but i think now we're going to ellie's tea and coffee in iowa and joining us now, a familiar guy, mitt romney.

good morning to you, sir. >> good morning, steve. how are you doing? >> steve: doing okay. so you are in the midst of a bus tour in iowa. you know, in the beginning a couple of months ago, it didn't sound like you were going to spend much time in iowa. but now you're surging in the polls. has there been a change in strategy? >> the response here has been very positive. i had a big event last night in davenport. we expected about 150. i think close to 800 people showed up. there is a loft enthusiasm. so we're gauging that enthusiasm as a sign we ought to put more time and energy into do real well here. >> clayton: it's hard to monday morning quarterback, but you look back and say we're kind of neck in neck. maybe if we had poured more resources into this thing from the beginning, it might be a walk. do you look back on this? >> no, clayton. i guess what's important to us is to make sure that we're the team that comes up with 1150 delegates. so we're going to campaign in all the states doors our very

best to pick up the delegates. i want to do well here. sure, i'd like to win all the states, but i know i can't. the good news for me is that over the last several weeks, the support from our campaign is growing and that kind of momentum towards the beginning of the process here is very, very encouraging. >> alisyn: governor, yesterday in iowa you made some news when you responded to newt gingrich comparing his inability to get on the virginia ballot to like pear harbor. you said actually, it's more like lucille ball and what happened in the chocolate factory. what did you mean by that? >> well, you know, we all make mistakes and sometimes our campaigns don't get things done quite right. i don't compare those to pearl harbor. when i find mistakes, i try to find humor. you may remember that sketch where chocolates were coming out of the machine faster than she could stuff them in the boxes. >> alisyn: we're playing it right now as you speak.

>> it's such a classic scene. those of thaws have gotten a little behind can identity with poor lucy. >> steve: let me ask you this, since yesterday you mentioned lucille ball, today you're on a bus tour. any chance ralph kramden and the honeymooners will come up because we got the video for that, too? >> one of these days, alice. one much these days, pow, right to the moon. >> steve: we don't have alice, here is newt gingrich responding to your sitcom slap at him. >> i'd love to have him say that to my face. you want to run a negative campaign and you want to attack people, at least be man enough to own it. >> steve: he wants you to respond face-to-face on that. any chance? i know he also challenged you to a debating dual yesterday. >> you know, i hope the speaker understands that was humor and i'm happy to tell my humorous anecdote to him face-to-face and look forward to seeing him. by the way, we've had ten or 12

debates where we've debated each other, along with others. we have two mo scheduled for january. if it comes down to this, the two of us, at some point we will debate person to person. but right now, there are a bunch of folks in this race that are still in the race. newt and i are not necessarily number one and number 2 across the nation. so we'll have to narrow it down and see where it leads us. i'm gog debate all the major candidates. >> clayton: you mentioned other candidates in this race and there have been some who have been critical of you, including newt gingrich, calling you a massachusetts moderate, is the new moniker. and rick santorum this week says there are three primaries happening right now in iowa. ron paul's primary, and then the one between you and newt gingrich as the moderates, and then he as the true conservative in the race. you're being painted as a moderate. are you not conservative enough for iowa? >> well, the good news is that people can look at my record in massachusetts and that describes more than any one word what i believe. i balanced the budget all four

years i was governor, restored a $2 billion rainy day fund, made sure we had english immersion in our schools, empowered our state police to enforce immigration laws, helped drive our schools to be number one in the nation. i've got a record of conservative principles that i think people recognize and that's why i've seen the kind of support i've had in places like new hampshire, that's next door where they know my record pretty well and right here in iowa, i've seen the surge of enthusiasm i need to have confidence i'll do well here. >> alisyn: governor, you left out the health care reform that you also passed in massachusetts as governor that some people refer to as romneycare and it's interesting because newt gingrich has criticized you for that, but the "wall street journal" unearthed something from his web site. back in 2006, where he seemed to applaud some portions of that. he said, we agree entirely with governor romney in massachusetts legislators that our goal should be 100% insurance coverage for

all americans. what do you make of what he said back then? >> well, i knew that he supported the plan in the past and i believe he supported it 'til he got into the race this year. but maybe before that he changed his view. look, our plan was right for our state and in my view, of it based upon conservative principles that frankly came from newt gingrich and the heritage foundation which was instead of people relying on government to provide their care, they should take personal responsibility. the plan is not perfect. there are things i'd change in it, but i'll stand by the things we've done and make sure people understand i will do what i think is right for the people that i represent. in that case, i was doing what i think was right for the people of massachusetts. >> steve: after newt gingrich's comments were reprinted from back then in 2006, he had a lot of explaining to do, keeping that lucy thing going. here he is yesterday explaining his comments on your health care plan in massachusetts.

>> we both used to have the wrong idea. i'm willing to say it was the wrong idea. he's not. i think it's funny that they want to attack me for admitting that i was wrong, but they won't admit he's wrong and think he's still right when he's wrong. >> steve: so newt says he made a mistake and he says he's wrong, but you won't. >> you know, he's made a number of mistakes very recently in this presidential campaign. i'm happy to stand by the things i believe. i'm not going to change my positions by virtue of being in a presidential campaign. what we did was right for the people of massachusetts. the plan is still favored this by three to one. and it is fundamentally a conservative principle to insist that people take personal responsibility as opposed to turning the government for giving out free care. >> clayton: governor, grab some coffee this 'cause you'll stick with us through the commercial break, if you will be so kind because we're going to talk to you, if you were president what, would you doing about the growing violence if iraq now that the troops have left?

>> steve: looks like a good place for breakfast. >> alisyn: we showed you the pictures. now meet the father who kept his family alive, they were stranded for nearly two days in their snow-covered suv. he will be here live with that incredible story

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>> alisyn: welcome back. al-qaeda in iraq is taking responsibility for a series of bombs that rocked baghdad days after u.s. troops left the country last week. this along with tension between political factions is raising fears the sectarian violence in the country could be reignited. how would mitt romney handle the situation if he were president? let's ask him. former governor of massachusetts and republican presidential candidate joins us again. so governor, if mitt romney were president today what, would you

do about iraq? >> well, first of all, if i were president i would have carried out the status of forces agreement that was long anticipated, that actually secretary panetta, president obama, secretary of defense indicated he wanted to have as well, which would have allowed to us have somewhere between 10 and 30,000 troops in iraq, which would -- >> alisyn: of course, and governor, sorry to interrupt. now, now that the troops are home today, what do we do? would you send them back? would you send troops back if you were president? >> well, no, i wouldn't. you realize decisions have consequences and when the president makes a bad decision, like not leaving troops in place and arranging the status of forces agreement, that has a consequence. we can't send troops all over the world where there are bad things that are happening that we don't like. in the case of iraq, we made an enormous sacrifice of blood and treasure and to simply pull out without transitioning properly to the iraqi military was an

enormous mistake by this president and it has consequences. >> clayton: there are a number of experts saying iraq shouldn't be a country in the way it appears now anyway and that saddam hussein held the thing together with duct tape to begin with, three regions. is the united states' responsibility to intervene in what is potentially a civil war, creating three separate entities, three separate countries? >> no, it is not the united states' responsibility to travel around the world and send our troops in to try guide the affairs of every nation. in the case of iraq, had this president done what was recommended by prior administrations and by his own secretary of defense, we would have had a better transition. this is the problem that people spoke about with the president so anxious to get our troops out, so unwilling to have a status of forces agreement put in place, allowed us to have stability there that we're now seeing the potential of a loss of much that was earned by our men and women. >> alisyn: but what would you do today, governor, about that?

>> we can't fix everything in the world. the idea that somehow america can solve all the problems of all the nations in the world is not true. what we can do is we can work with the government there and encourage them to take steps which will not divide the country, encourage maliky not to pursue this effort against the sunni vice president. we can try and bring some sanity andisdom and stability through our diplomacy, but we lost our capacity to use our military might because he pulled the troops out so quickly. so now we turn to our use of soft power, negotiations, our help with them. if they ask for help of a specific kind, we can provide, we'll do that. but we simply can't send our troops everywhere in the world where we don't like what's happening. >> steve: right. ask clearly the president of the united states pulled the troops out, many say because he wanted to insure that he gets reelected next year. fast forward to today and now there is a debate going on, we've been talk being this this morning about whether or not

there should be a big ticker tape parade in new york or washington to welcome home the men and women who served proudly over there. we're not talk being a victory dance. we're just talking about welcoming them home, coming home. the pentagon hasn't requested one yet and i doubt this president would. what do you say about a welcome home parade? >> well, i think a welcome home ceremony of some kind makes a lot of sense. the men and women who sacrificed so extraordinarily over the years in iraq, the families of those that have lost loved one, i think deserve a recognition and on the part of the entire nation of their sacrifice and of our appreciation for what they've done for america. and so whether that's a ticker tape parade or special ceremony somewhere else welcoming our troops home is something they deserve. >> steve: not only could they use a parade, they could use job as well because so many of them come back and there aren't any for them. you have a busy to do list. what are you up to?

>> i'm going to be going across iowa, as you know, meeting with a lot of folks in the media actually. a lot of local tv and press interviews, but events all day long, going from one retail stop to the other, speaking with groups like right here. my message is out there loud and clear. i want people to recognize this is an election not just about replace ago president. it's an election about the soul of america. will the president turn us into an entitlement society like europe or are we going to stay the kind of american nation with a merit society and opportunity society that's driven us to be the hope of the earth and the hope of the people of this country. i represent the latter. president obama represents the former. i think it's a classic opportunity for the american people to make a choice. >> alisyn: and governor, are you going to be buying breakfast for all those folks behind you right now? it is 7:15. >> look citigroup here. you guys want breakfast? [ cheers and applause ] looks like they're expecting some.

>> steve: looks like a great crowd. >> alisyn: i know. now he has to fulfill that promise. >> steve: but i bet breakfast is awfully good there at ellie's tea and coffee house. we know you've got an awfully busy day, thank you very much for dropping by "fox & friends" today. >> thanks, steve, alisyn, clayton, good to be with you. >> alisyn: thanks so much. >> clayton: all right. coming up here on the show, america is creating tons of jobs overseas. but with foreign labor so cheap and big restrictions at home, can we change that? our next guest says he found a way. >> alisyn: girl scouts to get a badge in media bias. what if the liberal group was giving them the lesson? you got to hear this story ♪

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>> steve: quick headlines on this wednesday. new video out of a deadly fast moving lava mud slide in indonesia. days of heavy rain triggered this flow of cold lava through several small villages near a recently erupted volcano. 1,000 people fled their homes. at least four people have been killed. check this out. a guy leads cops in michigan on a high-speed chase after stealing a police suv. what a genius. here is the view from the dash cam. the man swerving in and out of traffic and then slamming into another car. i would imagine he was promptly arrested. clay, what do you say? >> clayton: i say this, thank you. the commerce department released staggering numbers. over the last decade, u.s. companies added 1.5 million jobs. one problem.

overseas. 864,000 american jobs were cut here at home. how can we keep american job here's? here to help us answer that is the ceo of legacy company's radio talk show host and author of "conscience equity." good to see you. >> good to be back. >> clayton: i think a lot of companies wondering maybe how to get their way through this giant spider web of a mess and i think one thing we keep hearing at the top of your list is simplify the tax code. easy to say, how do we do it? >> there is some really good ideas out this. like the flat tax and the fair tax. right now our tax code, believe it or not, discriminates against people like me, american manufacturers for creating jobs here at home. one of the things that we have to do is get away from this rhetoric of tax the rich, tax the rich, tax our job creators. i mean, that's just scaring people away. i started my career as an asian

manufacturer and i've come back home for many, many good reasons. it's just good business to do business here in the united states. but one thing that we're going to scare people away, like me, is this whole tax thing that is really consuming our media today. >> clayton: yeah, all these loopholes. you're not sure what sort of breaks you get. and anecdotally, i was visiting my family on the west coast, two of which own businesses out there, some rather large, some rather small. they say whatever you do, don't start a business in california because regulations will kill you. you can't do it. you say on your list, lesson, get rid of those onerus burdens of regulations. how do you do it? >> you're going to find this counter intuitive. i just acquired another business in california about three months ago and it's one of my most profitable businesses. >> clayton: how did you do it? >> we have a wonderful work force. i think that's what a lot of people are missing here. i've managed asian work forces

and i got to tell you, the american worker, including the california worker, are some of the most efficient in the world. but you said something very important, onerus regulations. regulations cost our economy more than $1.7 trillion a year. imagine what a stimulus that would be if we were to lessen that by 50%. this $800 billion that we just spent on a failed stimulus did nothing except put news debt. let's get rid of regulation and that will really be the stimulus that we're looking for. >> clayton: number 3 on your list is provide access to foreign markets. a lot of businesses feel handicapped in that regard. explain this. >> here is my point, is that countries like china and india and brazil demand that american manufacturers set up facilities in their countries in order to do business in their countries. conversely, here in the united states, we accept their products essentially duty free. so what i'm saying is give the

american exporter access to foreign markets in the same way that they have access to our markets. don't make us build factories in china so we can sell to the chinese people. give us access to foreign markets. that's all we're looking for. we're not looking for bailouts or handouts. we're just looking for a fair deal here. >> clayton: when you talk to some business owner, they say, we need legal immigration in this country. otherwise our business will crumble if we stop it completely. how do we get proper immigration reform to help businesses? >> we got to get back to american exceptionalism and part of american exceptionalism was bringing the best minds of the world to our country. the whole foundation of the internet was based on immigrant minds. some of our greatest businesses. look at steve jobs, he was the son of an immigrant. andrew carnegie, alexander graham bell, thomas edison were all immigrants or sons of immigrants. so we got to get an immigrant policy that helps people like me build businesses in america by attracting the world's best

minds. immigrants don't take jobs. they make jobs. >> clayton: you mentioned steve jobs and in bringing in some of the best and brightest engineers in the country, but also spending money on research and development and improving that work force, how do you continue to improve a work force when you might not have a lot of money to do it? >> what i believe is this, is that over the next decade, i mean, governor romney said essentially we got to get back to american exceptionalism. i believe america will get back to american exceptionalism and that will create the jobs that 20 million americans right now are so desperately waiting for. one of the things we have to do is to educate them. education isn't just a college degree. more than half the jobs we will create in this next decade are technical jobs, jobs like i need, machine operators, cab operator, cnc operators. we can train these people relatively quickly and get them into the job force doing really wonderful things and helping to build america. >> clayton: the author of

"conscenes equity." thank you for joining us this morning. great ideas. >> thank you, clayton. >> clayton: coming up, president obama wants to increase the spending limit on america's credit card and he says there is no time to wait. should congress comply or do they even have a choice? they're out of town. three bullets to the chest. that wasn't enough to phase this tough marine shot in an armed robbery. he saved his own life by plugging the wounds with his fingers [ male announcer ] you have plans... moments you're looking forward to... what if they were stolen from you? by alzheimer's. this cruel disease costs americans more than $180 billion a year, and could cripple medicare in the near future. 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 plans...

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>> alisyn: welcome back, everybody. we have a fun shot of the morning to show you. it's president obama waking up in his beautiful home state of hawaii this morning. he's on his christmas vacation with his family. yesterday the first family spent the afternoon at one of the most popular snorkeling spots on the island of oahu. they reloosed four green sea turtles into the water. the 18 month old turtles were born in a nearby marine sanctuary and aquarium and clayton has more to say about this. >> clayton: the turtles live for a couple hundred years. >> alisyn: this is my favorite story. fascinated by them. >> steve: of all the things you can talk about in hawaii, you talk about turtles?

>> alisyn: he's the life of a cocktail party. >> clayton: this is why you should love to be engaged in conversation with me at a cocktail party. they live hundreds of years. there is one as old as the civil war. like 1865 this thing was born. >> steve: did i hear you want to do try to interview it? >> clayton: i want to interview it. my new show called "turtle talk." >> steve: the president and his family having a good time of the i predict within the next two or three days we will see shots of the children getting shaved ice. that's one of the traditions out there. delicious stuff. >> alisyn: perennial favorite. agreed. here are your headlines. in the rest of your news, texas governor rick perry is filing a lawsuit in virginia after his name was thrown off the state's primary ballot. his campaign is asking a federal court to overrule the state and put his name back on the ballot. this despite the fact that his campaign did not follow the rules. virginia law requires 10,000 signatures and 400 from each

congressional district. his campaign called those expectations, quote, unrealistic. in fact, the only candidate on the ballot right now -- the only candidates are mitt romney and ron paul. he's being called obamacare's latest casualty. a powerful senate democrat stepping down and his decision has democrats biting their nails fearing they could lose their last remaining majority in congress. democratic senator ben nelson made the announcement yesterday, he will not seek a third term in 2012 in order to, he says, spend more time with my family and look for new ways to serve our state and nation. there are no democrats in line to take nelson's place. remember, democrats only hold the senate majority by one seat. what better way to ring in the new year than with new rules? that's right. after the ball drops this weekend, dollar slew of new regulations that will take us back. the longest list of new rules comes out of california. it's banning teen-agers from getting bronzed in tanning beds,

as well as whether over-the-counter sales of nyquil. in kansas, rhode island, tennessee and texas, a new law requires all voters show photo i.d. before casting their balances. and in oregon, they ban the sale of shark fins, the animal is in danger and shark fin soup is considered a delicacy. so lots of people do sell shark fins. there is more on the list, i'm sure you can find it on our web site. and don't mess with this marine. 29-year-old carl of florida was shot three times during a robbery. but that didn't stop him. he plugged his gunshot wounds with his fingers to stop the bleeding. then he went after the three guys who stole his gold chain. the whole time his kids were waiting in the car. oh, my gosh. when does the movie come out? he even stopped by the car and told his kids, i'll be fine.

>> steve: fingers in his chest. >> alisyn: in his bullet wounds. then he raced and tracked the thugs down. he served overseas in iraq and afghanistan and was never injured on the battlefield. this is the guy you want basically any time you leave the house. >> clayton: like if you have that old quiz, if you had to go to an island, like three individuals would you bring with you? he'd be on the top of my list. >> steve: absolutely. good man. let's tell you about this. over the last couple of years, people have been very concerned with the amount of debt our nation is running up. well, according to the treasury, it looks like we're going -- the cupboard will be bare by the end of this month, a couple days away. so the white house is going to ask congress for $1.2 trillion more. this is pretty much going to be automatic. you know that deal that as they kick the can down the road. so they're going to wind up with that. it was part of a $2 trillion band-aid to stop the bleeding in washington. >> clayton: yeah. this goes through 2013 and as steve mentioned -- >> steve: through the election.

>> clayton: exactly. it's automatic because congress is out of town. so they can't really vote this down. they're out of town until january 17 as part of this automatic trigger. this is part of that $2.1 trillion in debt. of course, you remember people are flashing back to when president obama when he was a senator voted against this and so did all democrats. no democrats voted for raising the debt ceiling. here was then candidate obama in 2008 talking about how it's unpatriotic to do just that. >> the problem is, is that the way bush has done it over the last eight years is to take out a credit card from the bank of china in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion for the first 42 presidents, number 43, added $4 trillion by his lonesome so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back. $30,000 for every man, woman and child.

that's irresponsible. it's unpatriotic. >> steve: how many people voted for that guy who is running for president because it sounded like he was going to change all that? fast forward to today, nothing changed in washington, d.c still no balanced budget amendment, no spending caps, no entitlement reform as well. >> alisyn: i hope you saw that national debt clock. it has gone up expo centially since we've been on the air. with in new request that's coming while congress is on recess, it will be $16.3 trillion. i mean, it is remarkable to go back and listen to barak obama say that it was irresponsible and unpatriotic and then once -- >> steve: a broken campaign promise. >> alisyn: it is. but also you could say once you have become part of washington, this is how things are done. >> steve: but when he was in the senate, as clayton made the point, when he was in the senate, he voted against upping the debt ceiling. >> alisyn: that's right. >> steve: so you would think a now as president, he would do everything in his power to make

sure that that number doesn't go up and goes down, instead doing real reform. but no. >> clayton: no one cuts anything. both parties don't cut anything. >> steve: paul ryan. debt contribution. >> clayton: right. he hasn't had actually vote. if he were president -- >> steve: the republicans have actually put forward balanced budgets. if you remember, this president, i think in february, his budget proposal to congress was so laughable, it was voted down 97-0, i think, in the u.s. senate. >> alisyn: i mean, also i think is just notable is the battle royal that happened this summer where every day you would hear about the debt and raising the debt creeling and we shouldn't raise the debt creeling and now it's just going to happen automatically while congress is in recess because this is what they negotiated back as part of that massive debt ceiling. >> steve: what a deal. >> alisyn: we have to tell but this, girl scouts have guide books, as you probably know. one of the guide books, this is for adolescent girls from grade 6 to 8 is how to basically make your way through the thicket of

media. every day we're deluged with different information in the media. how do you know what's right and how do you know what's wrong? this girl scout guide book directs these adolescent girls to an interesting source to figure out what's right and what's wrong. >> clayton: the book is called "media" and it's handed out to those group of girls from i think the sixth grade up to eighth grade age range and it sends them to media matters, the web site, to get more information about lies, they say, or distortions that may be out there in the media. turns out, we know one of the most recent campaigns was going after fox news channel. it's also money coming from the george soros and others. so the notion that this is a nonpartisan or fair group is laughable. >> steve: absolutely. i mean, it's fair if you're on the left and perhaps that is perhaps the two authors who wrote this particular book have a lefty point of view and maybe

they do. but then for them to say, hey, girls out there, if you want to know what's real, go to this lefty web site, that's just crazy. there is a story out there that apparently 15-year-old girl last year dropped out of the girl scouts because she looked at some of the policies and realized that in her estimation, the girl scouts in some ways embrace a lefty point of view, a liberal bias. so she has started her own web site trying to educate girl scouts. >> alisyn: this story comes to us from the blaze and they actually tried to call the girl scouts and say, hey, are you aware that this group is in your guide book and it was suggested to them that the guide book la be changed for the next reprinting, but they haven't been able to confirm that. >> steve: regardless, they still make the finest cookie in america. the thin mint. when taken and placed in the refrigerator. >> clayton: and dipped in milk. >> steve: coffee now. >> clayton: coming up on the show, only two candidates made the cut for virginia's primary

ballot. some didn't even make an effort to try to get on it. so should we just count them out today? that's coming up next. >> alisyn: then we showed you the pictures. now meet the father who kept his family alive, stranded for nearly two days in their snow-covered suv. look at that

>> clayton: welcome back to "fox & friends." quick headlines for you. while the majority of americans struggling in this economy, members of congress, though, are sitting pretty. that doesn't surprise you. the average american's net worth, down 6%. members of congress got 15%

richer. with the iowa caucuses len a week away, occupiers have arrived in iowa to occupy the caucus. so far 100 people are signed up to protest, saying they plan to occupy the presidential candidates' campaign headquarters from now until next tuesday's caucus. steve? >> steve: that would probably be okay if they -- meanwhile, this qualify -- disqualify. that's what virginia is saying to five of the gop candidates who simply failed to get themselves on the virginia primary ballot. and now texas governor rick perry is even suing the state to get back on the ballot. he hopes. dr. larry sabato is the director of the center for politics at the university of virginia and he joins us live. good morning to you, sir. >> good morning, steve. >> steve: this is embarrassing not only for perry, but also for newt gingrich because newt gingrich lives in virginia. >> yes, it is. i have to say, it's also kind of embarrassing for virginia. it's hard to get in our club,

steve. but that's a pretty paltry primary to have just romney and paul and it reduces voter choice. but look, i've lived here my life and we've had these rules forever. they were passed and updated in 1982. so it's not like a surprise that you have to get this many signatures and that they have to be geographickiccally distributed and all the rest of it. gingrich lives here. both gingrich and perry are the southern candidates in the field and for them not to take the time and effort to qualify for the ballot is a major strike against them. >> steve: well, explain to us, if you would, professor, why it is so hard to get on the commonwealth of virginia ballot. >> well, this was designed by incumbents, steve. i know this will shock you. they like to reduce competition and keep the ballots clean and by the way, we also have a prohibition on all write-in votes for every primary election, whether it's state or

federal. we don't like to crowd up the ballot, you know, that interferes with the incumbents' goals. it is difficult in this state not just because you have to get 10,000 valid, qualified voters that, is no donald ducks and mickey mouses signing the petitions, but you also have to get at least 400 of them in each of 11 congressional districts and virginia is a big state. it stretches out to quite far. it takes a lot of time and organization to do it right. >> steve: i think that's the key, the organization, because newt is kind of playing catch-up because he didn't have a big organization and suddenly he has found himself at the top of the polls. let's fast forward to today and to what's going on in iowa with the caucuses. it all depends on what poll you look at. we've got various front runners, but i think ultimately right now in real clear politics, i think ron paul is just a little bit ahead of everybody else. >> yeah. real clear politics is a great

resource. they average out all the polling. they usual -- usually i don't depend on one poll. but in the case of iowa, i point people to the des moines register poll that's coming out this sunday. it has an amazing track record. take a look at it when it comes out. you may have christmas future there. you may have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen on tuesday night at the caucuses. but it's pretty clear, steve. you've got a battle for first place between just two candidates. romney and ron paul and then for the next slot coming out of iowa, maybe it's gingrich and fill in the blank. it could be perry. it could be santorum. you're going to have at least one surprise in iowa and you may have three or four tickets out of iowa. >> steve: i know that it pretty much is a make or break for perry and paul, it's all or nothing in iowa. so they are blasting the people of iowa with commercials left and right. >> oh, absolutely. it's really remarkable and it's

true, the vast majority are negative, at least from the super pac. the candidates are able to claim they're keeping their hands clean. their own campaigns air only positive ads or mainly positive ads. but then their super pacs air the negative stuff and it's artifice in politics. >> steve: that's why we have you on. larry sabato from the commonwealth of virginia, we thank you very much. >> thank you so much, steve. >> steve: happy new year, larry. all right. straight ahead, 11 minutes before the top of the hour, despite disaster, he never lost his cool. up next, meet the dad who kept his family alive after they were buried alive in snow for two days. right now let's find out what happens in 11 minutes with gregg jarrett who joins us at the top of the hour. >> the gloves are off in the race for the white house as gingrich and romney trade barbs, a scant six days before the first voting. we'll talk with the gingrich

campaign about that. what about a third party candidate? could a third name jump in? all of this as rick perry sues to get on the ballot in virginia. are state rules there unconstitutional? all of that coming up at the top of the hour. we'll see you then yout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. oh, there's a prize, all right. [ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios are those great-tting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholester. is it a superhero? kinda. ♪

>> alisyn: wait until you hear this story. dave higgins and his wife and five-year-old daughter were driving through new mexico christmas day to go skiing when a terrible snow storm hit. the snow was so deep on the road that their car got stuck in it and then it slid down an embankment. they were trapped for almost two days and just when they were running out of air, state troopers' shovels hit the roof of their car, saving the family. dave higgins is here to tell bus his family's christmas miracle.

dave, it is great to see you. >> thank you. >> alisyn: dave, when your car slid down the embankment and you realized that your car was buried in snow, did you at first try to escape from the car? >> well, actually we did not slide down an embankment. we were traveling up an incline on the road and it was beginning to be a whiteout. and we were driving so slow that the vehicle just stopped because the wheels were turning. we tried to get out of there and that's when the back of the vehicle slid off the road, but the front of the vehicle remained on the road. we just decided, well, we'll wait 'til the snow storm stops. >> alisyn: aha. i can see great picture now. you were half off the road and half on the road. obviously you didn't know you would be trapped for basically the next two days and i know you realized that you couldn't keep running your car if the exhaust pipe was going to be filled with

snow. what did you trio do? >> well, within the first few hours, we had contacted 911 and they explained to us, run your vehicle for about ten or 15 minutes, but make sure the snow was away from the muffle other. so i would get out of the vehicle, clear the muffler, run the car and warm it up and then shut the vehicle off. at 5:00 o'clock that afternoon when i tried to get out of the car to go check the muffler, that's when we realized that the doors would not open, that snow was already halfway up the doors. >> alisyn: oh, my gosh. for the next 36 hours, you were in the car with your wife and your five-year-old daughter. what did you all do to stay sane and occupied? >> well, we had a portable dvd player. we had a tablet. crayola, crayon books. we had food, water. we just made the most of it.

we camp. we primitive camp during the summer, so it's almost like being in a tent. it's adjust cold tent. -- just a cold tent. we do those items and whenever we would, we would sleep. we'd bundle up and try to sleep. >> alisyn: was there a time that you were thinking, and i'm sure you weren't saying this to your five-year-old -- maybe rescuers aren't going to find us? >> tuesday afternoon when we noticed that it was getting darker outside, we realized that we could be here for a long time. i mean, the thought crosses your mind. they might not find us 'til spring. >> alisyn: how is your wife doing today? >> i can say she's doing a lot better. prayers have been answered and god has just worked more miracles there. we were looking at a very long period of time being in the hospital and it's looking like

we could be out very soon. >> alisyn: that's such good news. we know she's suffering with pneumonia. your five-year-old daughter, though, has been given a clean bill of health, as have you. it's really a miracle and dave higgins, god bless. thank you so much for coming in and sharing your family's experience and we'll hope for a speedy recovery for your wife. >> thank you. >> alisyn: more "fox & friends" in two minutes

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what is thishorty? uh, tissues si i'm sick. you don't cough, you d't show defeat. give me your war face! raaah! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop. >> steve: the three of us will be back here around the curvy couch and the plastic desk tomorrow. >> clayton: steve will be providing the breakfast and coffee. >> alisyn: great. thank you. >> clayton: for all of our viewers. >> alisyn: thanks. >> steve: how about virtual food? is that possible? >> alisyn: not good enough. >> clayton: hand it to the camera. >> alisyn: if you want to log on for our after the show show, we'll be talking t s