melissa west is with pet connect and joins us this morning. you have a lovely cat here named vira. great lap cat. she's just hanging out on your lap. >> she's a great lap cat. she's just like a teddy bear. >> she looks so sweet. tell me a little about her. how you found her , who her story is and who might be best to adopt her. >> she came to us from someone who found her in an abandoned house. some kind person rescued her but was not able to give her a home. so she came to us. and despite having to fend for herself, she is just a very loving friendly girl. if your lap is cold this winter, she is a good lap warmer. and her little tongue is sticking out. >> i have two lap warmers of my own at home. they love to do the same thing. how old is she? >> she's about 2 years old. >> do you think a family with children is okay? >> she's very easy going. she likes dogs and cats and everybody. >> she says i can get along with anybody. you guys are involved in some pet adoptions cat and dog adoptions that are going to be coming up. tell us a little about that. >> well, we have two adoption eve

with a very, very special new year's eve edition of the west coast wrap, jane. >> melissa, the west isated by tech. i've got several predictions but i'm going to start in tech, where i have two. first, we will get apple tv by the end of the year. and everyone is going to complain about it. my second prediction, microsoft will not reach $40 a share. not only in 2013, but it will never, ever reach $40 a share. continue to insist the company is poised to explode, 27 analysts have buys or strong buys. they will be sentenced to spend time with kanye west and kim kardashian. both. not just kim. both, melissa. >> microsoft, never to hit 40 bucks a share. bk, what do you think? >> you know, listen. microsoft has had this opportunity to really explode -- >> you mean like what happened to win 8? >> what happened to the windows phone? >> i think you were in nursery school the last time it was $40, mel. >> i'd love to love moi kroo soft, bull you can't. i'm with jane on this one. >> all right. second, california's the largest farm state and i cover ag a lot. corn is going to $5 a bushel. and farme

west coast. jane wells is here with it. jane? >> hey, melissa. u're going to be surprised what major west coast industry is doing well going into the fiscal cliff. and randi zuckerberg gets lionized. that is not a good thing. we'll have that after the break. , you won't just find us online, you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal service starts with a real person. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our support teams are nearby, ready to help. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... customer erin swenson bought so, i'm happy. today. sales go up... i'm happy. it went out today... i'm happy. what if she's not home? (together) she won't be happy. use ups! she can get a text alert, reroute... even reschedule her package. it's ups my choice. are you happy? i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. happy

west wing. he hasn't snuck out. melissa: i like that. that is value having someone there all the time. you know all the gory details. you're sure he is there. e he worked on something. maybe he whipped something out an come here at last mome when everyone else left town and have a big solution and we'll have it live and people can't change their channels because the whole thing is about to be solved. what do you think? >> i would advise our viewers not to miss a moment of "money" with you but the president will not announce a deal. melissa: oh. what do you think he will have here? >> again i think he is going to say he wants to get a deal and that he wants to, he still thinks there's time to do it. it'sot december 31st. but, that again, they're going to get to it after they a come back from their holiday. melissa: he is on his way to hawaii. keep an eye on that marine. thanks so much, peter. we appreciate it. let's brg in our morn any power upon male. kimberly foss. scott martin with united advisors and steve hayes from theweekly standard." see, we're still all at work. roger ailes exp

melissa: time to check the fuel gauge. natural gas line exploded in west virgina. the massive inferno engulfed five homes. shut down interstate 77. no injureries luckily have not been reported yet. a cause for the blast has not been determined. >>> opec's oil out put fell in november. platts said the production% slipped by 91,000 a barrels a day. 31.17 million. the reduction largely do to 232,000 barrels a day cut back by saudi arabia. opec's output decline helped oil futures snap a five-day losing streak. crude rose 20 three cents. natural gas futures fell for the fourth straight session. rising stockpiles and warmer weather across the u.s. helped the decline. >> student dent is the next crisis. why a trillion dollars in outstanding loans could be a ticking time bomb. pepsi is "dangerously in love" with beyonce. they signed a $50 million deal with the icon. i think it is worth a bottle of soda. one marketing guru says i'm dead wrong. he is here to disagree with me. more "money" coming up. ♪ . and we can save you 10% on ground shipping over the ups store. look this

melissa: i'm melissa francis and here's what's "money" tonight. natural gas explosion sets off an inferno in west virginia. would natural gas use booming across the u.s., is the risk for more accident spiking right along with it? we'll get answers. >>> plus north korea gives the world the finger, successfully launching a long-range missile for the very first time. iranian officials were reportedly there to witness it. so is north korea ready to sell technology to our most dangerous enemy? >> newark mayor cory booker completes a week on food stamps wanting to know what it is like to live on $1.40 a meal. food stamp use is rising faster than job growth, did you know that? isn't that the problem that needs solving? charles payne is explains how booker misses the point entirely. even when its not it is always about money melissa: first, let's take a look at the day's market headlines the fed announced new measures to help stimulate the economy but apparently investors were not impressed by fed chairman bernanke's afternoon press conference. stocks gave up all of their early gains and the dow closed d

melissa: right. >> the our bread and butter is insuring integrity, where well casings fail, the industry say 5% on average fail that is the case in dimik and west virgina they can't tell us on a well by well basis. there are 55,000 wells in california. it is absurd we should try to pick out wells where casings may have failed. melissa: you make a great point because a lot of people in the industry on the other side say the same thing. that fracking in of itself not dangerous and doesn't cause contamination. it is when the well casing breaks is something the industry doesn't want to happen, that is waste of money. the well is failing. nobody wants that to happen. so if -- >> of course not. >> yeah. so we need to regulate further though? they're doing everything they can to not have the well casing cracks either? no one wants that. >> let me tell you and your viewers this, the industry themselves, oil and gas industry in fcc filings say fracking is inherently risky. threats of spills, explosions, blowouts. they themselves acknowledge the risk. melissa: that is true of all drilling though, isn't it? raul drilling contains some sort of risk. leavin

melissa: as we watch all these pictures go by and we know how some people feel about the west and americapecially morsi, we considered the idea we're sending $1.6 billion in aid to egypt every year. now europe is calling on the u.s. to stop that. what do you think about that? what is our best move at this point? >> well, let's remember that those 1.6 more or less billion dollars that we've been sending to the egyptian government, to mubarak for last 30 years or so, were sent for egypt to protect the peace with israel. to make sure the suez canal is always open for international trade and maintain security and friendship with the united states. now that morsi and the muslim brotherhood and salafists allies have form ad government, if they win this round against civil society they're going to move egypt toward more extreme allies. eventually the allies of morsi, salafists who attacked us ends at benghazi will turn against us. to make sure the $1.6 billion any dollars sent to egypt will go to a government that remains our ally and protector of freedom and democracy in the country. melissa: h

melissa. >> i'm loving life. she's probably going to sleep on the couch. >> i don't think so. >> reporter: so you're no the that mad at him. >> we'll let him have that one. >> there was a case of west nile in d.c. and all the crows went down. >> reporter: the skins pulled off their fourth win in a row with rg3 off the field with an injury. fans are already thinking about the next game. >> it's okay. >> reporter: playoffs hopes and dreams live on at fedexfield. >>> new details about a rescue operation in afghanistan. we're learning now that an american soldier was killed while rescuing a doctor who had been abducted in kabul. president obama has released a statement expressing sympathy for the soldier's family. >>> police in lexington, kentucky, investigating an accident that killed a washington, d.c., woman. county officials identified the victim as 27-year-old lauren roady. they say she was hit by a fire truck last night at an intersection in downtown lexington. according to the nbc affiliate in lexington, mr. is have not clarified exactly how the accident happened. the county coroner described her death as accidentally. the mayor expressed a statement of sympathy. >>> a gray, wet

melissa: that es not sound good for, you know, western interests in the middle east. it seems like these countries are falling like dominoes, turning away from democracy and turning away from the westould be just another instance. how devastating is this to us and is there any way to stop ? >> it is very bad. the arab spring translates into america and the west's winter and we're already seeing the results. we've been warning about this, terrorism analysts for the last two years. now we're seeing everything we warned about coming to fruition. the reason it is very bad in syria we'll not have another more moderate movement replacing the assad regime. we'll have a more radical movement replacing the assad regime, which is creating a islamic radical bloc that believes in sharia law, oppresng women and oppressinguman rights and rising who believe it is their right and duty to fight israel and eliminate the state of israel. israel will have enemies on the syrian border, lebanese border, gaza the south and egypt and sinai are fighting israel and shelling israel. if we come back to israel's aid it is very bad for israel and america at the same time. melissa: a lot of people said when the

>> reporter: good morning, melissa, here in the midwest, we have had eight inches of snow. westdes moines and omaha, a fwhoochlt we don't have here that they have had are wind gusts over 50 miles an hour. we have blizzard warnings up, now for later today and tonight in parts of seven states. we are going to have whiteout conditions. now, the roads out here aren't in bad shape, they have been plowed and plowed and plowed again. look across to the open air yaws here between these hotels and you get a sense of the wind right now, about 15 miles an hour. but imagine -- imagine a gust of 45 or 50 miles an hour. so, he is there a going to be treacherous travel across a wide area, including interstates 90, 94, coming out of chicago, toward minneapolis and across the plains later today and tonight. speaking of chicago, already at o'hare, melissa, 140 flights have been cancelled in and out of that airport it is raining there or has been raining, the low 40s. once the cold air goes in, it is going to be a nightmare at the tail end of the rush hour through this evening. wind does clock in

minutes there the big board, west virginia university and syracuse university, the football teams playing in the new era pinstripe bowl at yankee stadium this saturday. i know melissagoing p. >> for sure. we are carpooling, right, carl? >> at the nasdaq, iraq and afghanistan, veterans of america, a non-profit organization with more than 200,000 members. great to see them today as well. a lot of charity this morning, even on the general news morning shows about facebook. if you haven't heard already, randi zuckerberg posted a pitch of her family, thought it was private, somebody saw it on their feed, put it on twitter, she responded angrily saying it was way uncool and beyond human decency and it has raised, once again this argument, debate about privacy settings and whether or not you should trust social media in general, dennis. >> a big lead-in there such a powerful medium. seeing it, of course, by this very example. right now, people, they don't feel comforcomfortable. but compelled to do it any watch behavior, as much as people talk about they don't like it, people use it putting more and more information online via social networks. i think there's a strange di