could have been crushed. the end of don't ask, don't tell and the start of the s.t.a.r.t. nuclear arms committee. the republicans randy to lower them, a continue situation of dadt and a very good chance of renewed hostility with russia. if president obama can do this well with a pair of 2s in his hand, just think what he'll be able to do the moment, and it will come when he gets dealt a decent hand. that's "hardball" for now, thanks for being with us, "countdown" with keith olbermann starts right now. which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? the president signs the tax cut deal. but the spirit of bipartisanship is yet to come. the omnibus bill yanked from the floor after republicans'

demands were met. >> they want to ram this bill through congress and they're using once again the christmas break as an inducement to the vote for it. >>. >> dropped on them democrats call shenanigans. >> what hasn't been commented on by senator kyle, that's exactly the amount they asked for. so to stand back in horror and look at $1.1 trillion and say where did this figure come from? it came from mitch mcconnell in a motion he made before the committee. >> our guests, congresswoman debb debb debbie masserman schultz. >> something you could hit your crazy relatives with over dinner this weekend. a study that shows everything we believed about the effects of

watching fox news. of course fox news viewers won't know about the study. >> that is astoundingly good news for firefighters who make over $200,000 a year. and in this season, a way for you to help. children and parents asking santa not for toys, but for food. for coats and shoes. for jobs. all the news and commentary, now on "countdown." >> good evening, from washington. i'm chris hayes in for keith olbermann, this is friday december 17, 690 days until the 2012 presidential election. breaking one of his signature campaign promises, president barack obama did not kill the bush tax cuts for household income over a quarter million dollars today, but extended them

for another two years. in return, he got a two-year extension of the bush middle class tax cuts which mr. obama had promised to make permanent and he got a one-year extension of unemployment insurance which will provide no benefits for any of the unemployed, those who have beeout longer than their state limits. so who won? today's -- the president hailed mcconnell's support and assured america that republicans care about creating jobs. >> there's some elements that members of my party don't like. there's some elements that republicans here today don't like. that's the nature of compromise. yielding on something each of us cares about to move forward on what all of us care about. and right now, what all of us care about is growing the american economy and creating jobs for the american people. >> here's what the new

bipartisanship looked like last night. senator mcconnell, after supporting and contributing to the annual spending bill, which was worked on for months by members of both parties by members of the appropriations committee, after coming to a bipartisan agreement worth $1.1 trillion in spending opened the door for republicans to laugh about what used to be a bipartisan bill. >> so for conservatives a 1924 page bill just died. >> a 1924-page bill just died. >> and 6,000 earmarks will not now move forward. >> yes, and i feel so badly about some of these earmarks because i had so much fun with them. >> let's bring in democratic congressman debbie wasserman-schultz. so the government will shut down by midnight tomorrow if there is

no new spending bill passed. the house sent the senate an extension up through tuesday. what is it you want to see the senate do by tuesday? >> well, i would like to at least -- >> it's a burning question, isn't it? >> we're going to be here a long time if i go through the list of what i want the senate to do by tuesday. for starters, we should at least make sure that the government doesn't shut down. what is an absolute travesty is that hypocrisy and the tea party has such a strangle hold over the republicans in the united states senate and the united states house of representatives. for them to have killed the omnibus that they helped craft to try to suggest that somehow they had an opportunity to do a victory lap over a bill that they actually put together and supported and hit the panic button when they realized that their right wing overseers are essentially driving the train that they count on to succeed

political politically, means that you're going to have cancer patients who are going to get the short end of the stick. you're going to have seniors and children and the most vulnerable in america really in trouble as a result of not having an omnibus pass and having a stopgap measure like the cr will be to hold this over until when we actually can get it passed. it's a huge disappointment. >> since the president signed the tax cut bill today and you voted for it, i wanted to ask you what your feelings on that bill in it's final forms were. al franken said the hardest vote as a member of congress. was this a hard vote? was it an easy vote? >> it was a hard vote. any time you have a choice between competing principles, which isn't all that often, actually, it makes it very tough. i mean i absolutely in principle opposed both the estate tax

limits that were in this bill and the extension of tax cuts to the wealthy. but on the other hand, making sure that right before the holidays we weren't yanking unemployment benefits from 7 million americans, that we were going to make sure -- and that we had an opportunity, chris, to extend the earned income tax credit, the child care tax credit, the employment opportunity tax credit which gives education tax credits students who want to go to college. any time you have an opportunity to extend those and get twice as much in this bill for americans in need and give more americans an opportunity than we're trading off in tax cuts for the health wealthy, then to me that was a deal that i thought was worth casting my vote for. >> you mentioned the unemployed. i think a lot of concern is two fold. there's a concern about the actual contours of this deal and the money to the top 2%, but there's also a concern about the precedent, the hostage taking

metaphor that's being thrown around so much. isn't it going to be even worse? lord knows what they're going to demand from democrats and the white house to reup on unemployment 13 months from now, right? >> one of the things that was critical about this bill passing was that we need to make sure that we can continue to inject resources into the economy, put money into people's hands through these tax cuts, through the payroll tax cut that went into this bill that was new for employees, that puts another $1,000 next year into the hands of families that they didn't have before. that will hopefully serve as an additional bridge to get people who are getting their unemployment benefits extended, get them a bridge to when they actually can get their next job. and since we're continuing to focus on job creation and turning the economy around, chris, getting that $231 billion in tax cuts that are stimulative in nature and that will help us jump-start the economy, that was critical. you know, it really -- it pains

me to have to hold my nose and i watched the president at the bill signing, noticing it pained him to have that stuff for the wealthy on the other side of the ledger. but politics is the art of the possible. and one thing we proved today is we're not the party of no, we won't hold the american people hostage. the republicans continue to have a strangle hold on the needs of americans, they talk tough about the deficit, yet they support tax cuts for the wealthiest americans, which explodes the deficit even further. they are willing to hold the safety of the world through the nuclear -- installing of a nuclear arms treaty hostage to hold out for tax cuts for the wealthy, their irresponsibility is shocking. and we need to continue to talk to the american people about where our priorities are and how democrats are focussed on creating jobs and turning this

economy around. we did that by fighting for and getting twice as much in this tax cut compromise as they got for holding out for tax cuts for the wealthy, which we know does little to nothing to stimulate the economy. >> their irresponsibility is shocking, i agree be that very much, democratic congresswoman debbie wasserman-schultz. the -- at least move ahead until republicans block them from moving ahead. the dream act, creating a path to citizenship for otherwise law abiding undocumented immigrants expected to come to the floor this weekend and die without the support of the republicans who voted for it when bush was president. but enough republicans do appear willing to break ranks, let democrats appear poised to make history this weekend. that's right, congressional observers predicting that democrats will muster enough republican support to beat a

filibuster by conservative republicans and finally repeal don't ask, don't tell. which when signed by president obama will make it the law of the land for anybody in this country to serve their country without having to hide their sexual orientation, or without fear of being found out. he is confident he has at least 60 votes for this, including republican votes. despite the republican threat to block any votes until they approve the spending we mentioned earlier. the move is a big victory for house speaker nancy pelosi who salvaged the repeal by getting it through the house as a stand alone bill. republicans said today that voting on don't ask, don't tell this weekend will mean defeat for something that has nothing to do with it. talk about hostage taking, the s.t.a.r.t. treaty for nuclear arms reduction, protection of russia's loose nukes. bob corker told talking points memo that reid's scheduling of the don't ask, don't tell debate

is forcing many republicans to push back and is causing them to oppose it. mccain and others who once supported s.t.a.r.t. pulled their support today. joining us on the don't ask, don't tell vote is marcus griffin, alex, good evening. >> good evening, chris. >> all right, so i guess the first question is, is this going to really happen? i think the disappointment would be so massive and holiday destroying that i want to like not get people's hopes up. so how is this looking? >> well, we have certainly had our fair share of disappointment with two failed senate votes so far. but things are actually looking really good right now, we know we have more than 60 votes, we know we have our republican votes. the conditions for those votes have now been met.

so things are looking very, very good for the closure vote in the morning on don't ask, don't tell. there's always a couple of tricks in the bag that someone has, we're a little bit guarded because of that, but things are looking very good at this point. >> let's say it does end up happening this weekend, and we won't be doing shows on saturday and sunday night, so use that as a premise, when you look back at the two years of fighting for this repeal, who gets the mvp award of don't ask, don't tell repeal? >> that's a good question, i think a couple of people share it. senator lieberman has certainly been an outstanding champion on this issue in the senate. patrick murphy in the house, congressman murphy has been a phenomenal advocate and he actually got this through in the house. of course it's a little bit easier to get things through in the house sometimes than in the senate. but those two champions have been phenomenal.

senator carl levin, chairman of the armed services committee has said we're going to drive through on this despite tepid support from other elements at times. senator mark udall of colorado has been fantastic on this. but you know who really deserves to be recognized and thanked? are the staff of these senators and members of congress. senator lieberman's staff has been absolutely phenomenal. senator udall's staff has been absolutely phenomenal and no one would know that because they're not out there talking on camera. but they're the unsung heroes. >> i hope we set some precedent there. explain why if this doesn't come together for some reason and i would -- if i was going to bet on why it wouldn't, some arcain senate procedural quirk that

none of us even know about right now, why is it so important it happen now? >> well, i think we're sort of at a critical point right now where we have the pentagon report out saying that here's the road map, it can be done, we have a unique legislative situation set up for next year where, you know, of course the house is under the control of one party, the senate is under control of another and the white house is still in the hands of president obama, but the party that's going to control the house -- and we're of course nonpartisan, but we look at the facts on the ground with respect to this issue, and the party that's going to control the house starting in january does not favor repeal of don't ask, don't tell. and the leadership in these chambers determines what will happen. the pentagon wants it, secretary gates says please pass this bill in the lame duck, we need it and if we don't get it, the courts are going to impose their solution on this issue. and of course, i'm the lead

plaintiff in the court case that got it ruled unconstitutional. we are going to get the courts to move forward and do it. we're at a very sanskrcritical right now, if it doesn't happen by christmas, you're going to see some more drastic solutions. congress can choose, do they want the moderate legislative solution, or do they want a radical court imposed solution? we're prepared provide both, it's up to them to choose. >> i want to ask you what lessons you have learned about washington and the legislative process from this battle. because it seems, from one perspective you can say you're popping champagne and you're celebrating this accomplishment which really is historic. this system did work. this is such an obvious policy, there's such overwhelming public support, the amount of effort that it took to get this changed can also be interpreted as

disspiriting and i would like to know what your take is on this battle. >> it's a very unique issue, because although most people view this in terms of civil rights and gay rights, we always hear about the gay community wanting this issue, the don't ask, don't tell revealed. anything that straddles defense policy issues always has a little bit of a twist on it. this is why we have had so much trouble over the years, with the courts, with congress, with a lot of other sectors. everyone tends to defer to the military and to professional military judgment when it comes to defense issues. so that's one of the reasons we have had such an uphill battle on these issues, despite the overwhelming support from the american people, despite support from church goers even tea partiers, we still have the deal with the defense policy in the pentagon and the defense leadership is a lot more

conservative sometimes than the average american so we see a lag sometimes on issues like this. but in addition to lesson, there's been the organizational politics that have been involved, those have been ruthless unfortunately. you know, dealing with the white house is a unique set of -- yuan, a unique circumstance. the white house, i think they want a lot of things and they're not always able to line up their priorities, trying to please various interest group communities, there's a lot i've learned, believe me, but hopefully we'll be at the end of this ride in the coming days. >> the executive director of service members united. thank you for your time this evening. since alex mentioned the white house, my wife works in the council's office there. full disclosure. he's so extreme, the mosque turns him in to law enforcement. happy ending, right? not for the mosque and not for the incoming republican chair of

the house homeland security committee. he wants the investigation of so called radical muslim americans. >> ( speaking chinese ) >> ( laughing ) >> introducing cisco umi. be together in high def on your tv. exclusively at best buy's magnolia stores. cisco. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. executor of efficiency. you can spot an amateur from a mile away... while going shoeless and metal-free in seconds. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. now this...will work. [ male announcer ] just like you, business pro. just like you. go national. go like a pro.

the incoming chairman of homeland security in the house thinks priority one needs to be investigation into muslim americans. his eloquent display of disappointment up ahead.

evidently there just wasn't enough anti-muslim hysteria created by the anti-muslim community center.

one of its vocal critics has a really great idea. the republican congressman from new york wants to open a house inquiry into the so called radicalization of muslim america. congressman king claims that, quote, when i meet with law enforcement officials, they are constantly telling me how little cooperation they get from muslim leaders. right. that's why we heard the story just a few weeks ago how the work of an undercover fbi informant in irvine, california came to a swift end. why? because the muslim community he was trying to infiltrate was -- they actually got a restraining order against them. he's now suing the fbi training that he was trained to entrap muslims. the informant was also a convicted forger. it goes without saying that the muslim community in coloraalifo

was offended because a certain amount of trust between the american and muslim community -- according to a report from the muslim public affairs council. congressman king doesn't seem to be aware of that. this is what he said in a late october -- this is what he said in late october after making the pro forma statement that the overwhelming majority of muslims are good people. >> it's not just people who are involved with the terrorists or the extremists, it's people who are in main stream islam, leaders of mosques, leaders of muslim organizations, who do not come forward and denounce, officially denounce, officially cooperate with the police against those who are extremists and terrorists. so it goes beyond the terrorists and the extremists and it also includes those in what others call main stream muslim leader ship. >> as for congressman king's proposed hearings, the director of the american muslim affairs council expressed concern. he basically wants to treat the

muslim-american community as a suspect community. joining me now zala belu, director of the council on american-islamic relations. congressman king has also said that he will seek the opinions of muslim leaders. i wonder how persuaded are you by that? >> unfortunately not persuaded at all. congress man king has a history of selecting and screening individuals who are going to re-enforce his predetermined conclusions. i hope these hearings don't happen, but if they do, i hope he's use legitimate main stream muslim voices that can actually speak on their behalf, as opposed to a small group of anti-islam individuals. >> aside from the fact that it's obviously demagoguic, is the fact that everything you read about, the sort of problems of in europe, right in movks and radical mosques in the uk have to do with the sort of

alienation that's grown up between certain subsections of the muslim community in europe and the state authorities. it seems to generally not be the case in the u.s. is that your sense of the kind of status quo? >> absolutely. time and again, as you mentioned just a second ago was that the american-muslim community has shown a willingness to cooperate. robert mueller has testified about this before congress, so has sheriff lee baca, they have said over and over again that muslims are cooperating across the country. i would argue that he has a misunderstanding of what it means to be a patriotic individual. >> what's your sense? i mean given the fact that we have this whole craziness around the park 51 community center in new york this summer, we see this with king and we have seen, i feel like an increase in this sort of rhetoric, particularly from the right and republicans. what is your sense of what is driving that and where do you think this is headed and how can we cut it off?

that's three questions. >> i would argue that representative king is a perfect example of what is driving that. we see this with his sort of fueling the rhetoric around the new york mosque controversy. and i say this is headed toward the red scare era and mccarthyism. what's to stop this from becoming the next hearing. this sounds like a witch hunt to me. >> i'm wondering if there's anything to -- i don't think there's anything to this radicalization, but this kind of rhetoric is escalating do you think there's -- do you think there's a possibility of a kind of blow back in which the alienation itself sort of precipitates a reaction in which there is this sort of breakdown in trust? >> if congressman king goes forward with these hearings and he uses anti-islam and anti-muslim experts to legitimize his own personal

views for his own personal gain, the alienation will be exacerbated by this. american muslims are saying time and again we want to work with you, we want to cooperate. we see instances of reporting in irvine, but "the new york times" square incident that the first one to report that bomber was a muslim individual. but congressman king saying we don't want to work with you, we want to treat you as a suspect class, the concern is that it will be undermined and who's safer? >> from the council on american-islamic relations, i appreciate your time tonight. >> thanks for having me. if ever a story was wrapped in a bow and handed to msnbc, it was this one. a new study shows the effect of watching fox news, it's what you thought and much worse. next. oil or cream? cream. some use hydrogenated oil. reddi-wip uses real dairy cream. nothing's more real than reddi-wip.

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watching a station that doesn't use facts leaves you misinform e misinformed? the shocking revelation next. on this day in 19 89d premiered what i think is safe to call the most popular spinoff in the history of television. this show has run for over 20 years and has more -- happy birthday to the simpsons. let's play odd ball. >> we begin in turkey. the security footage of an attempted robbery. two thieves walk into a jewelry

store, one brandishing a gun and demanding money and all the store's cubic zirconias. the fight moves towards the door and then crash, after being tackled through the glass door, the thief attempts to escape, but a slew of passers by restrain him until the police come. he will have plenty of time to nurse his shatters dreams in the big house. we travel back to america and just a bit of advice to any robbers out there. before you attempt to rob a store, take a look around and make sure a police officer is not standing right behind you. this man crucially fails to do that and surprise dpingly is unsuccessful in his burglary attempt. finally to the internet and some people take the idea of drive through restaurant too literally. and boom goes to dynamite.

the passenger thinking they have just scored a killer parking spot intends to get out, she is shocked, shocked to see they're in the wrong restaurant. fortunately no one was hurt by this wayward driver, but from now on they may want to stick with ordering in. the signs that someone you love might be watching too much fox. up next. moments can change anytime -- just like that. and when they do men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven, low-dose tablet you take every day, so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications, and ask if you're healthy enough for sexual activity. don't take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. [ man ] don't drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache, or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours.

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you suspected it all along, but now proof. consider our third story a public service announcement as a new study shows that greater exposure to fox news will leave you increasingly misinformed. a poll out of the university of maryland finds that 90% of voters say they encountered information in the past election cycle that was misleading or false. 56% say that happened frequently and those encountering the highest level of spin just happened to be frequent viewers of fox news. a study has identified potential side effects. those who watched fox news

almost daily were significantly more likely to believe that the stimulus caused job loss and didn't include any tax cuts. income has gone up, health care law will worsen the deficit. scientists can't agree on climate change. gee, i wonder where those ideas came from? >> it looks like from what i have been seeing the republicans aren't going along with this. >> we seem to have revised this math to include jobs created or saved. that's kind of hard to prove. >> a lot of people argue that's what health care reform is going to do exactly. it's going to add a lot of money to the debt. >> climb toll gists, scientists, anding there are hundreds and hundreds of them that disagree. why don't they get the same, you know, amount of attention as, say, al gore? >> a lead researcher for the

project says fox viewer syndrome don't just affect those who identify as conservative. even democratic voter who is watched fox news were more misinformed than others. fox displays a particular pattern of misinformation, the more you watch, the more inaccurate your views. if you're a fox viewer, you're probably well informed on the subject of body language and chalk boards. the study also finds that msnbc viewers were more likely to believe that the chamber of commerce had been proven to donate cash to foreign sources and republican candidates. it is not proven that the money that the chamber takes in went directly to the candidates. here are the facts, the chamber took money from foreign sources and they did not open their book to prove that foreign money did not go to those candidates. time to call in the slpt at media matters. i was thinking when i was reading today on this phrase, this democratic operative used

once that talked about post truth politics and he was talking about how you try to conduct politics in an environment in which you want to have a climate change debate and a massive percent of the population is living in an alternate reality about what that is. >> this isn't just about lying, this is about an organized political strategy. media matters released a memo from the washington bureau chief of fox bill salmon ordering their news reports, not glenn beck, not bill o'reilly, not -- ordered their news -- scientists are split. scientists aren't split. 2000 to 2009 nasa says are the warmest on record. but as a political strategy, fox says let's ignore the facts and do your spin. >> the disspiriting thing is

that this poll shows that as a political strategy, it is working, right? it is effective. so what is the remedy? >> that's the danger of the fox effect, that people believe this, that i was down on capitol hill the day before the health care vote and the day they had that health care rally and every single speaker who go up in front lied to the panel. i remember thinking that the leaders of the republican party are either chronically stupid, willfully ignorant or pathological liars but that's the message that they're getting from their base. >> you mentioned health care, politi fact said the government takeover of health care, what's interesting about that is that it originates in a frank lutz memo. he's a notorious republican pollster.

the talking points that we come to see on the floor of the house of representatives and what fox news said. >> a second e-mail leaked from bill salmon ordered their news people not to use the term government option. this is an organized political strategy to harm progressives by fox news. to misinform the public to help the republican party win elections. it's that simple. they donate to candidates, they support the tea parties and they're the messaging vehicle for elections. >> i want to read this here, because fox news also has this great tactic whenever they get attacked, they go crazy on the person, they take out the metaphorical baseball bat. the latest princeton review -- student who is study the least and being the best party school. given these fine academic distinctions, we'll regard the study the same amount of ve voracity it was researched with.

>> here's what's really interesting about that to me. michael clemente the executive who made that statement to the "new york times" today, he had the opportunity to say, look, fox, we're going to try to do better, we're going to try to inform our viewers to the facts. he had an opportunity to say here's how the study is wrong, here's the questions they asked, as you explained, here's the facts about the question, instead he decides to attack the study. that's not what a journalist does, that's what a political institution does. that's further proof that they're a political institution. >> fundamentally a political institution. the u.s. postal service brings out letters forrous. the health bill didn't make it through the senate, thanks to a block by republicans. jon stewart is not amused. and neither is congressman anti-wiener, he's rachel's guest tonight. ♪

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the bill that didn't survive the lame duck, jon stewart's take down of senators and fox news. help with the gas bill, gifts for younger brothers and sisters, letters to santa. coming up. - regular. - cake or pie? - pie. - apple or cherry? cherry. oil or cream? oil or cream? cream... please. when other toppings are made with hydrogenated oil, the real dairy cream in reddi-wip's sure an easy choice. nothing's more real than reddi-wip. fork or... spoon? nothing's more real than reddi-wip. beer and wine and cupcakes. i was doing the corporate grind like everyone else. but to be successful, i knew i had to be different. ink, ink, ink, ink, ink. i mean, i love that card. it does things differently too. great customer service, going above and beyond

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cuts for the wealthy, republican -- senate republicans blocked the act named 56 a first responder who died of lung disease. jon stewart points out the hypocrisy of the situation. >> i want to talk one last time about something called the zedroga bill, a detective who died in 2006 from respiratory illness thought to be from the dust inhaled from working at ground zero in 2001. this bill would provide medical and financial benefits for ground zero worker who is get sick and they're going to pay for it by closing a corporate tax loophole. it's a win, win, win, win, just [ bleep ] doing it. the house passed it. sorry. the house of representatives passed it and it would pass in the senate itch it came to an up-or-down vote. they have more than the 60 votes

they need. they won't allow the bill to come up for a vote. luckily yesterday there's good news from the senate. the logjam broke. >> today the senate voted to extend tax cuts on all americans including the wealthiest by an overwhelming vote. >> that is astoundingly good news for firefighters who make over $200,000 a year. this is an outrageous abdication of our responsibility to those who were most heroic on 911. you know what i hate to said this, here's a job for fox news. the nation's leading source of 9/11-based outrage. >> those dots, that's where remains were found. and where does the arrow go? right to where the mosque would be. >> when i watched the second plane fly into the building i was there, i had a safety deposit box, you want to know

why i have passion for this thing? this is why. >> yeah, we lost a lot of good cash that day. so you can imagine -- you can imagine how outraged fox must be to find out that the health care for those who risked their lives to recover that charred money is being held up by a republican filibuster. and i know they have access to 9/11 first responders. >> 9/11 responders taking matters into his own hands by suing the developers for $350 million. >> yet somehow they haven't been able to find even one first responder to speak about the zedroga bill. although rerailed against the filibuste filibuster, he never mentioned that was the republicans holding up the bill. maybe it was the greens or the wigs or -- yet, there was one network that gave the 9/11

responder story the full 22 minutes of intense coverage that it deserved. but that network unfortunately was al jazeera. our networks were scooped with a sympathetic zedroga bill story by the same network that osama bin laden sends his mix tapes to. this is insane. i would like to see one of these senators have the balls to explain why somehow getting a tax extension for wealthy americans is more important than serving ground zero workers. >> we need to get the issue addressed for the firefighters and the 9/11 victims. there is a deadline, january 1, we have to get this done, taxes go up on january 1. >> yes, there are only two sure things in life, death and taxes. apparently the only one this cat cares about is taxes. >> letters to santa, asking not

for toys but for basics. how you can help, next. of an effervescent packed in a liquid-gel for all over relief! hiyah! dude!

hi, may i help you?

christmas is just over a week away and for many of us, that means getting together with family and friends and of course the exchanging of gifts. as it was immortalized in the great christmas classic "miracle on 34th street" it also means the post office is getting an enormous amount of mail to santa claus. due in large part to the economy, many of those letters have a different tone this year. you will note that tone as an elf from the chicago post office reads some of them. we'll tell you how we sbeshd to

help, and how you can help too. >> dear santa, my name is jeanette and i'm going to make this very short. i need help to make this christmas a wonderful christmas for my children. i can't do anything on my own due to the fact that i am disabled. i realize someone is worse off than i am, so i just say that i am okay. i hate that i can't do nothing for my kids. this christmas isn't going to be no christmas seeing that i don't have no money. once i pay all of my bills, i have nothing left. my son is on the honor roll, with perfect attendance. i am so proud of him because last year he hated school. and i prayed every day that he would like it and now he does like it. what i need for my son is a school uniform, he wears black jeans, a black top with logo on it and black gym shoes. he is a big young man and he

wears size 14 shoes, 40 waist in pants and an extra large in tacks. my son is 15, and he will be 16 on the 18th of december. my daughter, she is 27, and she likes hello kitty. she is a size 13 pants, 11 shoes and large tops. if you can help me santa, i would be grateful. so thank you again and merry christmas. ms. dorsey. dear santa, my name is dynesta, i'm 13 and i have two sisters, diamond, she is 10 and divana, she is 8. we stay with our 67-year-old grandma and she can't get around too much. but she cooks, watches and keeps us happy. our mother is 33 years old and paralyzed. she is in a wheelchair. she got hit by a train. she will be home from the hospital on december 18th.

could you send our grandma a comforter for her king sized bed? that is all she is talking about. would you send us some clothes, sizes 12, 10 and 9, shoe sizes 3 and 9. our grandmom's shoes is a 9.5. send us some school supplies. we love you santa and mrs. santa, have a merry christmas. to whom it may concern, i am a single father of three small kids. two girls, ages 7 and 5 and a boy, aged 2. i am a very proud man. a marine corps vet who fell on hard times and is barely scraping by, by doing any and all jobs i can while finding something full-time. i do have a permanent job, but due to inflation, i am only receiving one guaranteed day a week.

by the grace of god, i have been able to provide my kids with the necessities, but they're great kids and i believe they deserve so much more than i can provide for them. i am swallowing my pride and writing this letter with hope that someone can find it in their heart to lend a small hand and put a smile on his wonderful kids' faces. may god bless and keep you and i send you my sincere thanks. sincerely, eddie jr. >> on behalf of msnbc and it's employees, we're donating $10,000 to not only adopt the families whose letters we just read, but additional families we learned about but were unable to tell their stories. a list of post offices participating in the letters to santa program can be found on our website on count down.msnbc.com. that's december 17