it's all under p.d. >> brian: no black book. >> gretchen: no blind dates! >> brian: you don't need a map. >> steve: look at that. >> gretchen: how depressing. join us for the after the show show. s. bill: all right, we here we go. here is a high-stakes showdown over the final fight of this year for congress and both side are digging their trench deeper by the day. we're waiting on a vote in the house that will affect just about every american after the senate approved at two-month extend shin of a tax break but house republicans vowing to reject that 60-day extension. which means we're set up for a partisan brawl. in this corner i'm bill hemmer. get ready. martha: a brawl it is. i'm in this corner. i'm martha maccallum. the house b.o.p. leaders are insisting on a full year for the tax cut. if you do it you might as well come pleat the job and get it done right in their

opinion. take a look. >> our members do not want to and do a two-month short-term fix where we have to come back and do this again. we're here. we're willing to work. we will appoint confer reese and we hope the senate willed appoint confer east. >> reason they won't take yes for an answer because no is their answer. that is driven by tea party republicans who will be responsible for this tax increase if it happens which i hope it won't. bill: so what can pass? you didn't think this congress would let the year down easy, did you stuart? stuart varney, fox business network. you see two issues here. explain. >> two issues which throw the whole idea of a deal, a last minute deal in doubt. issue number one, increasing number of republicans and some democrats see this as

bad policy. you extend the payroll tax holiday, what are you doing? taking $100 billion a year plus out of social security funding and are you creating any new jobs with this tax holiday extension? good questions. issue number two is the timing. by extending a deal for just two months that really is meaningless. gives appearance you're simply running out of town to go on congressional recess leaving business really unfinished to be returned to in two months time that is not very satisfying position for republicans to take and they're rejecting it. bill: it is the 20th of december. do you a scenario where they don't get this done and taxes go up? >> that is entirely possible. that is on the table, bill. it is supposed to go to a house-senate conference committee. that is what it is supposed to do. if that idea is rejected you don't have a deal. if it goes to the house-senate conference committee they can't get a deal, you still don't have a

deal and you got end of payroll tax holiday, no extension. could come down to the wire, no deal. bill: 9% approval rate for this congress, right? >> yes. bill: groups that said their businesses, their payroll departments can not handle a two-month extension. what does that mean? >> you have only eight weeks. that means, what equation do you stick into your computers to compute the precise tax that each and every working person should pay? and at the very least you have to recompute, reprogram your computers all over again in what, seven or eight weeks time, even that you don't know. you have no time frame to work on. that makes the whole idea of reconfiguring the tax rate, the social security tax rate very difficult indeed, almost unworkable. bill: almost fits in with the whole idea about the economy and uncertainty and not being able to plan. >> yes, that's right. bill: you can put that in this category. see you at 9:20.

>> yes. bill: happy holiday. martha: a holiday nightmare could be brewing out there for millions of americans hitting highways and the skies in coming days. look at this, monster blizzard hovering over the midsection of the country. it has already triggered six deadly accidents. snarling traffic and grounding flights from the southwest to the heartland. mike tobin in the middle of it in chicago. michael, a lot of folks getting ready to travel this week. how does it look for them? >> reporter: it is not too good as you mentioned. six people have already been killed as a result of traffic accidents all related to this bad weather. you have major storms moved in from new mexico all the way up through kansas. southwest kansas is described as completely shut down with more than 10 inches of snow, wind blowing the snow around. making it difficult for crews to get the snow off the show. in addition so that if you saw rick reichmuth's shot, wet weather left a thick

coating of ice on the ground. you're a good driver all day long but you're not a good driver if your wheels don't stick. that being noted. wet weather from eastern texas to the ohio valley, if that becomes cold you will have more slick roads. martha: look at those pictures. this is a tough one of the what about flights, mike? >> reporter: i guess that is the bright shining star in all of this. one of the good litmus tests we always look at is chicago's o'hare airport to see if there is ripple effect with flight delays. everything so far so good. everything is moving on time. martha: get the flight and get out of there and get out of the area if they want to get on time where they're headed. mike, thank you very much. >> reporter: you got it. martha: for the latest on the storm and forecast in your area go to foxnews.com. click on the weather tab. type in your zip code and get latest on region, bill hemmer. find out what is going on. bill: traveling right. brand new polling numbers

now showing newt gingrich losing his frontrunner status, now in a dead-heat with mitt romney for the top slot in the race for the republican nomination. "washington post/abc news poll"ing finds romney and gingrich in dead heat now, look at that. 30%, to 30%. mitt romney, new strategy appears to be working out of that 23% range. remember that? like 23 to 27 and back again? martha: folks have to be very happy when they wake up and see the number. every headline says they have been stuck in the 20% range. bill: ron paul, 15%. those are the top three according to that poll. more what is happening with gingrich. how he was rising and now come back down-to-earth and all that stuff mixed up in between. martha: he has been pounding the pavement, newt gingrich has, in iowa and he may need the help. an average of polls in the hawk eye state shows the

speaker has dropped. what a story this has been over the past week or some we'll show you the numbers for gingrich. he is ahead in the iowa caucuses. campaign should be in his opinion about who has the best ideas, not surprising but he doesn't like all the focus on the attack ads. also not a surprise. >> i'm only candidate in this race created a national majority twice with ronald reagan in 1980 and 1994 with the contract in america. i'm only candidate in this race had a major entitlement reform, welfare. two out of three people went to. most successful entitlement reform in your lifetime. martha: numbers are up having in iowa. he keeps telling everybody after christmas will launch a big tour. 44 cities in iowa. some say that may be too late too get the traction. iowa is notorious for people coming to the table thinking it all over in the final days. real clear politics average shows ron paul in the lead in iowa.

mitt romney comes into close second. here is where the candidates are making stops in iowa today. rick perry and newt gingrich and rick santorum and michele bachmann moving around the state. bachmann, she is going to nine towns today. she is like the energizer bunny. bill: all on the eastern side of the state. normally conservative votes come from the western side of the state. they think with the changing dem -- demographics in iowa they're getting more conservative especially when it comes to fiscal issues. watch that two weeks from today as they caucus. mitt romney entering "the no-spin zone" going toe-to-toe with bill o'reilly. pressing on his conservative cree kengsals and why he would do a better job on the economy. >> put together the most anti-investment, anti-growth, anti-type of series of policies since jimmy carter. i consider him a big government liberal democrat.

that is how i describe him. i look at his policies you conclude he thinks europe got it right and we got it wrong. i think europe got it wrong. i think europe is not working in europe. i'll battle --. bill: he kept talking. he also warned that we would go the way of greece with a second term from president obama. we'll ask bill o'reilly. he will join us a bit later. martha: he will be here in "america's newsroom"? bill: yes. he will be here to talk about what he heard from romney. a big, big guest on "the o'reilly factor." we'll preview that for you. martha: bill o'reilly in the house. catch all the latest 2012 developments on foxnews.com/politics. details a click away. foxnews.com is your front row is seat for politics. bill: it will be a big, big deal in next 12 months. check that out. there is brand new poll that reveals americans are just not happy what they're seeing in the presidential

race. is that bad news for 2012? we'll ask herman cain about that. he suspended his run for the presidency. he will be here to talk about that. martha: could we be seeing an endorsement soon? the cofounder of he at that party patriots, nobody has known which way they will go. we'll talk to them next. bill: speaking out for the first time since their son's alleged hazing death. new calls for the parents of a florida a&m band member. you will hear it. >> obvious things are so hushed and quiet, the secrecy, oh, yeah. it definitely hurts. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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martha: new pictures out this morning from north korea of kim jong-il's coffin on display. these are the first pictures released since his death over the weekend. reportedly died of a massive heart attack. his body will be on display for a national week of mourning until the funeral which will take place we are

told. bill: so 203000 americans voted in a tea party straw poll hosted by the tea party patriots. after a conference call with the candidates, making their pitch why they should be the nominee. now listen closely here. first newt gingrich on spending and the budget. then mitt romney's pitch on health care. >> i think it will take about five years but in a five-year period we can reduce government. we can reform the entitlements. we can cut taxes to get the economy growing to put people back to work. which is a big step towards balancing the budget. get people off medicaid. get them off food stamps. get them off unemployment. get them back to a job paying taxes. >> governor romney, how will you achieve the repeal of obamacare? >> of course it depends in part on what the makeup of the house and senate is but to stop obamacare in its tracks on day one i will issue a executive order to direct the secretary of health and human services to

grant a waver of obamacare for each of the 50 states. bill: the woman asking the question is jenny beth martin. with me now. national cofounder of the tea party patriots. >> thanks for having me. bill: newt gingrich won that straw poll. what was it about gingrich's pitch that put him, put him in first place? >> we didn't ask why people voted for it. i think that they voted for him, they're looking for the candidate who is going to return fiscal responsibility to our country. and right now all of the republican candidates are campaigning on it and i think they're making these decisions, doing it from a strategic standpoint as to who they think will best be suited to vote, to be beat president obama come next november. i think any of the candidates can beat president obama so we need to be looking at the candidate who is best suited to restore fiscal

responsibility to our country. bill: i got you. i can understand how that would be especially a priority of tea party members but they voted for gingrich but they were most enthusiastic about michele bachmann? explain that. >> that's correct. and again i think they're probably looking at, when i vote, who is going to be best suited come next november. but they know that congresswoman bachmann has been fighting for the same things we've been fighting for, for nearly three years and they know that she is dependable and she is a strong fighter. bill: do you get the sense that she is making a move right now, or is she making a move that might be too late? >> no, i think what we're seeing with the polls and what you were just talking about there has been such an up and down throughout all the polls. not a single vote has been cast yet and won't be for another 14 days. we have to wait and see. all the candidates have an opportunity including congresswoman bachmann. bill: gingrich came in at 31%, bachmann at 28 and not

romney at 20% in the polling. rick santorum was involved too. he finished well behind. was it 3%, was it? >> he did. he was a little bit higher than that. the four you mentioned were actually on the call. the other three, ron paul, rick perry and huntsman were unable to schedule it so they could be on the call. bill: ron paul got 3% of the vote down there, not rick santorum. steve king is a conservative republican from iowa. he carry as lot of weight in the caucuses two weeks from today and he was talking to your members the other night explaining there is no perfect selection for the republican nomination. saying that person does not exist. how did your members take that? >> i think that is how most of our people feel. i heard one person say she wishes that we could have a mr. potato head and put different components of each candidate together but we can't. we have a field of candidates and we have one vote and we'll have to vote for the person we think can

best do the job. bill: a green ear on the right side. you have a pink nose? what is mr. potato head look like? >> something along those lines. bill: are you going to be okay with that? >> well, it's the way that our system works. the one thing i think that we, that i can be very optimistic about is that the people who are involved in this movement and tea party movement around the country, after the elections next november, we're not going away. we're going to hold these people accountable and make sure they keep their promises. bill: what i find interesting you're not endorsing anyone. why would that be? >> we're not endorsing because we don't want the government telling us how to run our lives from washington, d.c. here in atlanta and people around the country don't want me from atlanta telling them how to vote in indiana or iowa or new hampshire. we have brains and can make our own minds up. bill: thank you for your time today and merry christmas to you. >> thank you. bill: i guess the lesson is vote for mr. potato head.

jenny beth martin, thank you, our guest out of atlanta, georgia. have a great holiday. here's martha. martha: one state is bucking the trend of raising taxes to try to slash their red ink. the republican governor from virginia is here live to tell us how he can do it with cash left to spare. is his way of doing it something other states could listen to? no tax hike in virginia. bill: lights went out on "monday night football." one minute it is fine and poof, darkness. it didn't just happen one time. ♪ okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle --

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bill: 22 minutes now past the hour. mixed reports on america's housing market. more new apartments were built last month than since the month of april 2010. experts say we're still far below what is expected to be a healthy real estate market. at&t pulled out of a plan that would have made it the biggest cell phone company in the u.s. news it is into the buying wireless company t-mobile. not much of a surprise after the justice department sued to block the merger back in august. one man under arrest after leading california police on a wild car chase with a kid inside the car, a four-year-old girl. eventually rescued without any injuries. good news for her around the cops got their man. martha. martha: it was a lights outperformance you might say last night at "monday night football." not talking about the 49'ers victory. the power went out at candlestick park not once, but twice, folks, leaving a sellout crowd in the dark.

that must have been fun, right. claudia cowan is on this for us in san francisco. what happened? >> reporter: no one knows who turn out the lights last night. pacific gas and electric, the company launched a full investigation. he saw a transformer blow up while working near a gate outside the stadium. the result was a quite a speck kel for prime time "monday night football" fans. it left people in the dark and delayed kickoff for 20 minutes. flash bulb bes went out and cell phones seen in the midst of the blackness. when lights went out again early in the second quarter after the stadium moved to a back power source. the that second outage halted the game between the playoff bound teams for 15 minutes. fans got a little antsy but overall everyone was well-based. >> the lights went out and we were like, what's that? a little embarrassing on

"monday night football.". >> some people booing and mad but they don't want to miss the game when it starts again. >> reporter: while the 49'ers eventually went on to beat the steelers, 20-3. it dashened the team's much anticipated return to prime-time tv. martha: they don't think that will happen again, right, claudia? >> reporter: they're working on it to see if it was a problem outside the stadium. no one else in the area lost problem. routine checks were made earlier in the day and everything working just fine. obviously everything changed highlights the age of the football stadium. candlestick park opened back in 1960. the outages could boost calls for a new stadium closer to silicon valley. even so, martha, officials assured the team the stadium is fine for football games coming down the road. martha: bill hemmer is eyes lighting up. gee, some people think there should be a new stadium. suddenly the lights went out.

bill: so the folks supporting the new stadium clipped wires. just kidding. not factual. martha: a big switches like a 6-year-old kid, right. bill: we'll build this stadium, mom and dad. martha: exactly. bill: 20 years or so ago i was watching that last night. reminded me what happened during the world series when the lights went out. at that point it was a devastating earthquake in the bay area. last night the 49'ers had a victory over the steelers a bit of a shake and quake going on. there is new poll you are more concerned than never who is elected as our president. what does herman cain think about that. we'll ask him when he joins us live in studio a few minutes from now. that will be interesting. martha: looking forward to that. president obama's campaign team accusing republicans quote, screwing up the economy and trying to hurt his re-election chances. a fair and balanced debate coming up on. tell us what you think about that. do you really think republicans want the economy to stay lousy to president obama will be denied another

term? send me a tweet at at martha maccallum. and send one to at bill hemmer.

martha: well president obama's re-election campaign going on the attack a bit yesterday accusing republicans of purposefully trying to hurt the economy for political reasons. here is senior campaign advisor david axelrod in a fox news interview with ed henry. >> if i had the choice between extending the tax cut for a year and energizing our economy and having a issue to run on i rather energize the economy. i think it is better for the country, better for the president. whether some folks over there think somehow screwing up economy, throwing a wrench in the works is good political strategy for them, if they slow the recovery down, and if they can cost a half million or delay half a million are million jobs that will hurt the president. martha: really interesting. meanwhile a new poll shows president obama's approval rating has improved over the

last month. according to a "washington post/abc news poll", take a look at these numbers. this is significant, jumping 5% since november. the president went from 44 to 49% in the approval rating. so that has got to make the folks in the white house feel like they're headed in the right direction as well. joined by two of the "the five" folks. former bob beckel and andrea tanteros. good morning. what did you think about david axelrod's comment there? >> i thought this was one of the lowest most intellectually dishonest things i've heard come from the left in a long time. to say the right is deliberately trying to wreck the economy, bob, that is low politics. it also struck me this early in the game, they would go on the attack in this type of fashion. so i think they're probably very worried. but think about what this administration is arguing for. did they really think that the payroll tax extension, even if a year will help the

economy. two month extension will turn economy around. >> if you believe, if you believe that the economies certain element. republicans are not making this economy dampen down to hurt obama you're dreaming. that is politics. i understand that. i wouldn't even hold it against them. i think they're not smart. bad politics on their part. mitch mcconnell and boehner both understood importance of getting this done, what happened, you had revolt again among the tea party crowd in the house and now they're stuck. obama didn't go up in these polls because he necessarily done good things but republicans done bad things. this is direct poll relationship to a failed republican congress. martha: andrea, what do you think about that? bob brings up a good point. if the payroll tax doesn't go through there is built-in perfect talking point for democrats. republicans had opportunity to keep your payroll tax cut. the reason your paycheck took the big dive in january

is all their fault. that is what they will say you know it. >> yeah i think they're going to get a deal. the reason the polling went up because obama hasn't been saying too much. he has surrogates on the attack like axelrod. you see congress fighting more. i think that explains the uptick, bob to say somehow republicans are trying to hurt the economy, they inherently don't believe what democrats are doing are the right thing. if this president really wanted to help the economy why wouldn't he take the recommendations of his own deficit commission? martha: great point. >> he has done very little -- >> we keep going back to that 3-year-old deal and you're right, a lot of it he should have. he didn't do it. but the question is, why did the republicans not go along with the boehner, much more recent boehner-obama compromise, $4 trillion cut? we can play that game over. question is right now where are we? where are we obama has republicans on the run on economy and got them, if you look at "the washington post" poll, big margins over taxes and who favored in the

middle class, two things he needs desperately for re-election and republicans are blowing it every day. >> every time we compromise -- >> when have you ever compromised. >> they compromised on raising the debt ceiling. they compromised on raising payroll tax extension. >> to keep the bush tax cuts for rich people. martha: that is very true. for the obama administration as well, how can you look at this situation of putting these bandaids on for another two months, another eight weeks? people shake their heads. they can't believe this stuff at home. can you imagine running your business, let's try to keep doors open eight weeks and we'll the meet again. >> there is nothing bandaid about 1,000 or 1500 bucks for middle class families. martha: for two months, bob. it doesn't give people clarity. >> of course it does. you can't put that much money economy and not expect good returns. martha: they have been doing it hasn't worked. >> initially you wanted to rob peter to pay paul.

voted down by your own party. at this stage the democrats are playing ruthless political games and it is not going to work. >> that is surprise. ruthless political games. this is election year. this ain't bean bag. >> that is good warm-up. you should have a show. how about the "the five" at 5:00. with three other people? see you guys. bill: work on that. martha: i think they're onto something. bill: tell that the to programing department. add this to the mix now. sarah palin saying it is not too late for a new candidate to get into this race even after iowa and new hampshire. here's the former alaska governor with eric bolling on the fox business network. >> not too late. it is not too late. any chance we can see you making a play even after iowa, new hampshire, still plenty of time, governor? >> you know it is not too late for folks to jump in. i don't know, who knows what will happen in the future. bill: i don't know, is the door cracked open? just a little bit for her, someone else? she announced in october she

would not be running for president. maybe she is onto something. jeb bush raising speculation among republican insiders that he could throw his hat into the ring? some are describing his op-ed in the "wall street journal" economy as campaign-like? former florida governor says he has no candidate for 2012. his other brother would like to disagree. martha: he would love to see his brother run. he referenced paul ryan in the op-ed as well. that got folks talking. steve moore here yesterday. how about bush and, you know, how about bush and paul ryan? who knows. too late, right? bill: good for us to talk about. martha: we like talking about it. bill: he suspended his campaign for the white house but who would herman cain support now? and who wins iowa two weeks from today? he's next in studio. [ male announcer ] in his eyes...a race needs no finish line.

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♪ . martha: david bowie. that happens to be my favorite christmas song in the world. thank you for that in the control room and now we've got a great story for you because scores of u.s. troops are coming home for the holidays. the finest gift he could bring is one his kids may never forget. sergeant louie costa wasn't supposed to be home from afghanistan in six months. look at this. he surprised his daughters in colorado with extra special birthday present. a big box. watch this. >> what is inside the box? >> can you open it? >> pick up the box. martha: oh.

>> what is it? martha: that is great for mackenzie and joe's lynn. merry christmas. bill: she got in the box after that. martha: that's what i love. they're like jumping up and down. bill: crazy stuff. well-done and welcome home. americans are not happy with their choices for the race in 2012. this is the first line in an article from a usa today on latest polling with gallup. quote, a usa today. poll finds the nation is more downbeat, more dissatisfied with its political leadership and more concerned about the country's direction than in almost any other point in modern times. herman cain suspended his campaign for that race. he is with me in studio in new york. >> good morning, bill, happy to be here. bill: come on, more downbeat and more dissatisfied?

what does that say about the direction of the country? maybe what it says about the choices on the table right now? >> bill, no leadership coming out of the white house. congress is in disarray. they can't get a payroll tax extension, and when they are close to one it is for two measly months and then third, and the republican primary, all of the negative attacks, it puts people in a bad mood. so i'm not surprised of that result because of all the negativity that is going on in the primary and all of the bad results. remember, this economy is not turning around. it's on life-support. there is a lot of pain out there, 14 million plus people are unemproud. -- unemployed. yet the white house and president continue to try to tell people, well, it is partly bush's fault. well, we need more time. people are not stupid. that's why you're getting that result. bill: you run businesses,

that was your life, right? >> yes. bill: the senate voted 89-10 to give a 60-day extension. can you run a business on that? >> no, you can't run a business on that. bill: why did they do it? lack of compromise? no other options? >> too much politics in politics. this is where the president is not showing leadership. now the president could have forced it to be the, look, 12 months, to me, 12 months is not enough. bill: you want two years. >> i would have gone two years because what is happening is, all of this short-term bickering is one of the other things that is turning the american people off. they don't see leadership in the white house. they see too much biggering in the united states congress. they see all the negative ads on tv. that's why we're getting that polling. bill: i run through a lot of things quickly. on that poll, 53% on the screen, 53% say the stakes in this election are higher than in previous years. >> yes. bill: that's a country that is crying out for leadership

and direction and that is big part of your message. >> yes. bill: iowa two weeks from today. >> yes. bill: who wins? >> well the one that gets the most votes, that's all i can say. bill: come on now. >> the one that gets the most votes, bill. bill: that is good line but many could on. >> bill, i have intentionally held off on endorsing because things are so topsy-turvy and things are so up and down but i will at some point because i do not want to lose sight of the real mission here and that is, defeating barack obama. that is the mission. and my message, is going to be, when i do make an endorsement to the american people, to the conservatives and republicans, don't get discouraged because your candidate is not the one who wins all of this or who ultimately wins the nomination, no. we've got to encourage people to stay in this to the very end because of ultimate goal. bill: has anyone asked for your endorsement. >> yeah, i've had from

several people, yes, i have. but i also declined at this point, because i want to take a little longer in order to be able to see how close we are on some of the ideals that i put on the table, 9-9-9. i'm sure you heard about that. had to get it in at least once. bill: that is not no in german by the way. you talk a lot about newt gingrich. you talk a lot about michele bachmann. >> yes. bill: what do you think about mitt romney. >> i like mitt romney. remember in 2000, in the last presidential election i was supporter of mitt romney because i like his business background. there are attributes of all three of them that i really do like but the thing is --. bill: who has got the best plan for turning around the economy. that is your number one issue. >> that is what i'm still evaluating. i'm going through mitt's plan and what he has and i'm looking whether or not they will make it stronger. i happen to think both of them are not specific and strong enough and bold

enough on turning around this economy because that is job one. bill: herman cain might not have an option. >> herman --. bill: herman cain will have to make a choice. >> the people will have an option because i happen to believe, this is another reason, here is one reason why you got the poll result you started with, there is still this big disconnect between the political class and the people, a big disconnect and i happen to believe that just like --. bill: 53%. >> and just like the people had a big impact on the outcome of 2008 presidential, in terms of congress shifting at least the house, it is going to be bigger in 2012. that why you see all of this dissatisfaction. bill: i remember you talked about that two months ago. we'll see whether or not you're right. do you miss being in the hunt? >> i miss being in the hunt because of the people and encouragement i was getting from the people, the support i was getting. you know what? i would still be in the hunt if it had not been for the negative attacks on my character and unfortunately the court of public opinion

did impact some people's opinions that created that cloud and because i put my family first, that was the main decision. bill: how is your wife gloria. >> she is doing fine, thank you. bill: how are you? >> i'm doing great. i'm not going to be silenced. stay tuned i have something else that i'm going to do to impact this race coming up in january. stay tuned. bill: we'll bring you back. you know what we call that in tv? >> what do you call that? bill: a tease. >> a tease. maybe i've been around you all too long. bill: maybe you have. herman cain. >> happy to be here. bill: merry christmas. >> yes, sir. martha: thanks to him for being here today. how about this, one state with a governor who is already getting some vp buzz is balancing their budget and cutting spending. no tax hikes. the virginia story. we're going to speak with governor bob macdonald next. before you head go to foxnews.com/mobile. download that app. take fox news wherever you

go when you go christmas shop today. bill: we would like the following.

bill: society parents of a florida a&m band member now speaking out for the first time since the death of their son was rule ad homicide. it was 26-year-old robert champion a drum major in the university's marching 100. he died last month in what orlando police call a hazing incident. >> it is obvious things are so hushed and quiet. the secrecy, oh, yeah, it definitely hurts. he is the president. your expectation they should know and, like i say, i

don't know the full story but i would think as the head of any organization you are responsible. >> that mentality has got to stop. >> everybody knew it existed there. this isn't just something that just happened. bill: the autopsy revealing that robert champion died of blunt force trauma to the head. he was found on the band's bus unresponsive. so far three fellow band members have been charged with hazing. florida a&m out of tallahassee. martha: lawmakers who think you have to raise taxes to balance budgets might want to take a look at the state of virginia. the commonwealth republican governor proposing a budget that beefs up virginia's pension system with no new taxes. there are fees that come into place but there will be a lot of money left over if all of this goes through the way governor bob macdonald like it to and he joins us now. good to see you today. >> hey, martha, merry

christmas. thanks for having me on. martha: great to have you on. this is two-year budget that would go through 2014 and if it goes through and passes in your house and senate you will have a surplus in your budget of $31.4 million, is that correct? >> right. but that is small part. we've done a lot of other things to beef up liquidity. we're doubling the size of our rainy day fund from 300 to $600 million. we're tucking away about $50 million for the anticipated and necessary cuts at the federal level. a number of other things that put us in a better cash position. we don't need to spend all the money. we need to reserve it in these uncertain times. we're making tough choices, martha. that is the key to governing right now, moving things from lower priority to higher priority. for us fixing our pension system. fixing transportation, maintenance and getting our college tuitions down. that's what we're doing in the budget but still leaving money left over and i think that is the right approach. martha: talk about that a little bit. you have cuts in medicaid

and k-12 for education. that money goes for pension reform, higher education and transportation. what about the folks that don't want see cuts for education and medical care for the poor? >> martha, that is the misnomer. they're not cuts. that is washington speak. these are reductions in increases. people on the left call those cuts. we're just managing the expectations a little bit better. we're reducing some of the old formulaic presuppositions how you fund these things and we're reducing the rates of increase and making people more accountable and transparent, managing money better and putting it into things where we drive down tuition and pension fund liabilities in the future. that is not really a cut per se. we're just managing the money better. martha: tell me about this. 22 million in dmv fees will be added, is that right? restaurant inspections and increased employer payments to the unemployment compensation. that might have some small business owners kind of raising their eyebrows, what,

i have to pay more for all those things? >> they're small in light of a $84 billion budget. these are fairly small. our dmv funded by nongeneral fund. it is solely funned by fees. we've been so successful last couple years incentivizing people to go online and discount and have a eight-year license instead after five-year licenses essentially the same price we decreased amount of money going into dmv. this gets us back to status quo. that's why we're doing it. martha: this has gotten you a lot of attention in the state of virginia and talking about a possible vice-presidential nomination for you. would you accept that? >> i got the job held by patrick henry and thomas jefferson, being governor of virginia. there is no better deal than that. we have a country that is broke, has no plans for jobs and energy. we're in a almost bit of trouble. as chairman of the rja right now i'm going to do everything i can to get the more governors elected and

so forth. right now we don't even have a nominee, martha. so it's a long way from deciding who is going to be vp. so i'm focused on making virginia better. we'll see what happens down the road. martha: leaving the door a little bit open there sounds like, governor macdonald. i know you have. we thank you for being here. we'll see where that goes. merry christmas to you and your family. >> okay. merry christmas. bill: it will be a big, big important state in 2012. martha: sure is. bill: new polling has a surprise for newt gingrich. as we are precisely two weeks away from the iowa caucus we'll show you what the numbers tell us today, martha. martha: plus look at this. severe storm shaping up. it could snarl traffic across the country as everybody moves around the country for holiday week. rick reichmuth is live in oklahoma for with a sneak peek for us. hey, rick. >> five states hit by a blizzard overnight and still part of it today. many more storms will have impact on a lot of people traveling but behind this is

a big mess. we'll have much more on this blockbuster blizzard coming up in just a minute. much more on "america's newsroom." stay with us

martha: awaiting a crucial vote setting up a standoff in washington. house makers ready to decide on a two month extension of the tax cut. republicans are saying no way, they want a full yore extension of that. a huge story of the day. brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." it is 10:00 on the west coast

and i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. the republicans say they are done with any sort of short-term fix. >> i want to make sure we're here to continue to work until congress passes a year-long extension of the payroll tax holiday. and we out right reject the attempt by the senate to kick the can down for 60 days. >> it is a come part son convulsion driven by the tea party. martha: mike emanuel is live. any idea how this gets revolved? >> reporter: bottom line we expect the house of representatives today to take a vote to disagree with the two-month extension that has passed the senate and suggest that it goes to conference.

the thinking there is that you don't want to ask your members to vote against lowering taxes, but of course the house is run by republicans, the senate by the democrats. there is old rivalry between the house and the senate. here is speaker boehner why the senate plan don't work. >> what the senate did pass it's going to call job creators all kinds of problems. we saw reports out today from those who run payroll systems, that there is great confusion about the senate bill is put together. let's do the right thing by the american people, solve this money now, we'll have plenty of time to deal with other issues next year. >> reporter: house republicans jumped on a report from the national payroll reporting companies saying a two-month extension will create confusion. a lot of costs, and a lot of

problems for employers and employees and it won't work. martha: what about the argument between the senate as well. >> reporter: they say speaker boehner should bring up his plan for a straight up or down vote. they say the fact that they won't bring it up for a straight up and down vote, they are worried about the vote. here is democratic house leered nancy pelosi. >> the reason the republicans is not taking question for an answer is because no is their answer, that is driven pwraoe driven by the tea party. that's why it will happen, if it

does happen, and i hope it doesn't. martha: thank you, mike emanuel, merry christmas. bill: the cbo which is the nonpart son congressional budget office says it would reduce the budget by $3 billion over the next year. it will make unemployment benefits 99 weeks. and it would extend what they call the doctor fix. fox alert weather alert for you now. a snowstorm making its way up the plains, fierce winds, heavy no stranding thousands of travelers the days before christmas. the crews are out there urging folks to use caution if they are

going outdoors. >> go, really, really slow. you can't hurry, with the visibility like this. find some place to get shelter is the best thing and stay off the road. my understanding is that we're expected to keep this snow up until about 10:00 in the morning. bill: the damage has been done to many parts, because folks are slammed in. rick weymouth, our meteorologist is live in the oklahoma panhandle. folks are used to this. how bad is this? >> reporter: it's really bad. when you're in the panhandle you're close to texas, kansas, coland new mexico. that is kind of the bull's-eye on this storm. you see almost everybody in a four-wheel drive at least. they got about 3o 4 of an inch of rain before it turned into snow. you can see it's thick ice that is right below the snow that fell and that's made the roads so slick.

interstate 40 toward amarillo closed. interstate 70 through parts of kansas closed because roads are impasse and they've had so many accidents. the hotels are packed, they've had to close down roads because they don't want anybody getting to their towns and stranded with no place to go. it's still very windy and it's causing the visibility to be dropped down to close to zero still, that's why we have the blizzard warnings in effect. not a lot of additional snow, an inch of two, but the snow on the ground beginning to drift all across the roads. bill: is that storm finished, or are more folks in line with that. >> reporter: it's going to become a rain maker across the part of the eastern country tomorrow. there is another storm dropping out of the rockies and it will bring more snow to this area and

denver tomorrow and thursday. that could be a big snow maker across the east for friday and sunday. this is actually good, everybody i've talked to here in oklahoma and texas is ecstatic to get this. they are in a trougt lik drought like they've never seen. they have planted the crop and when they get this water to seep into the ground, this is exactly what they need. bill: thanks. martha: the body of north korean leader, kim jong-il is lying in state. his son, kim jong un visited this morning. greg palkot is streaming live with the latest on this. good morning, greg. >> reporter: just about a few hundred miles from where we are right now, an amazing scene, as you noted, kim jong-il longtime

dictator of north korea lying in state under a glass-topped coffin. people coming in looking at him in the same mausoleum where his matter is on display as well. also visiting today the son of this man, kim jong un. he was flanked to the left and right biofigureses, by officials. a succession means certain. it was only a year ago what she werwhen we were here and right in the middle of the two of them. all of this trouble considering the nuclear plants, long range missiles, and the starvation in that country. in south korea it's another story, people looking,

wondering, watching. they were out on the streets of seoul today and this is what we heard and saw. the folks of south korea got word around noon on monday of kim jong-il's death. this is the first day the newspaper gave it front-page traoept. they wer treatment. they were talking about what it means for north korea and south korea. >> it's a bad thing. i don't think kim jong un is ready to take over north korea at this point. >> everybody is worried he's too young, and inc inexperienced. >> reporter: south koreans say they are on high alert, they say

they will not send an official delegation to the state funeral planned for next wednesday of kim jong-il but they do send condolances to the desperate people of that country. martha: fascinating to see the difference between south korea and those imaging out of north korea. greg palkot, thank you very much. bill: that person said it very well, it was a khraoeu si crisis and an opportunity. what is he missing in the leadership component in your opinion. >> one he's never been a leader before. a few of us looked at him and said what do you think of selecting a machin a man for president when he hasn't done anything. bill: stay tuned for that. martha: today new jersey governor chris christie with his thoughts on newt gingrich.

>> i think the problem for us if speaker gingrich was at the top is the election would be about speaker gingrich and not about the president. i think this election has to be first and foremost about the election.

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bill: mitt romney will be the republican nominee for president and not newt gingrich that is the prediction from new jersey republican governor alexis christoforous taoefplt he's out hitting the airwaves and hitting newt gingrich in a typical no holds barred fashion today. >> i think the speaker can't help himself but to make himself the center of attention all the time for the comments he makes. some of his ideas are fine. some aren't. in the end he's going to carry so much of that into election, that the election is going to be about newt gingrich and i don't think that is a good thing for our party. bill: we wonder if speaker gingrich has a response to that. christie is a romney supporter and has campaigned for the massachusetts governor. you will hear more from him tomorrow when martha talks to

him. you'll see the interview tomorrow on "america's newsroom," stay tuned for that. that shall be interesting. martha: in the meantime there is a bit of a shakeup in the republican presidential playing field two weeks before the crucial iowa caucuses. newt gingrich had been surging in that battleground state. take a look now, ron paul has jumped into the lead. according to the "real clear politics" poll ron paul is first, romney is third. gingrich is third. you can see the high for gingrich is right there, he's in the green up about 35, 36%. december 12th was his absolute high point at least up until this point. he's got even hammered from negative advertising from ron paul and it seems to be sticking. mitt romney holding steady at a 25.4%.

that is a good showing for him. ron paul take a look at the national picture for ron paul really handing in there in that 10 to 12% range for ron paul. scarlarry sabato joins us. what do you make of newt gingrich the last couple of weeks? >> martha, it's the very same thing we've seen six times in iowa. there have been first frontrunners in the year 2011 in iowa on the republican side. it's the same old arc. people are looking for a candidate, republicans want to find their strongest candidate. they keep seizing on a candidate, most likely gingrich, and the arc goes up and then everybody focuses on the negatives of that person and it's a roller coaster and newt

gingrich is experiencing the downside of that roller coaster. martha: there is a national point out today that shows mitt romney at 30%. that's got to make the folks at the romney headquarters happy this morning. they haven't enjoyed those kind of numbers ever in this process. newt gingrich is hanging in there at 30% as well. he's slipping, but does he go like we've seen the others do? >> i think he will have more durability simply because republicans have almost run out of other alternatives, at least in the current field. it's important to note the direction, you want to see if a candidate is moving up, holding steady or going down. and in the case of going down, you have gingrich going down, you ask a further question, does that candidate have the

organizati, n. i don't think he does. martha: gingrich gets more points in that for experience. folks think, you know, obviously he's had experience, he's been around a longtime. >> yes, if we've heard one thing a thousand times, all of us from republicans, it's gee i'd love to see newt gingrich in those debates with barack obama in the fall. he'll wipe the floor with barack obama. that's what keeps gingrich in the mix. however, you have to look at this playing field and you look at it over the course not just of those january contests, the first four contests but this jonthis long trek through june. and the person who is best able to survive it is mitt romney, and it's still true through 2012. martha: there is reporting out there that games that the folks

in iowa in the republican establishment in iowa are a little concerned that ron paul could win iowa. that gets the ron paul fans yes upset and angry, because they want him to be seen as every other candidate is seen. that's what they are saying that iowa would feel that it would hurt their credibility as that first important caucus if indeed ron paul wins. what do you think about that? >> well, people like governor branstad and other republican leaders privately i think are concerned that iowa is going to pick someone who isn't going to win the nomination or do well in the long run. to be blunt about it, and just look at history iowa has done it quite a few times. the more times iowa picks someone who doesn't do well in the process the next relevant the iowa caucuses are going to be. martha: and the governor said in that we are interested in who comes in second and third and a strong showing in iowa, they are

trying to put all of those three in the horse race in the winner's spot to some extent at least. larry thank you so much. always nice to talk to you. merry christmas if we don't auction are talk to you. >> merry christmas to you. bill: look at how dangerous this job can be, watch these two firefighters. one literally on fire. if a few minutes we'll show it to you. martha: a search for a toddler missing since saturday. new details in the search as the family holds onto hope. >> hold on, i'm angry, okay, i'm angry because she is out there somewhere, she's out there somewhere and i can't -- i can't do it.

martha: a small group of protestors still in the streets of cairo after deadly clashes that have been going on this week with the military. watch some of this. soldiers crackdown on a three-week long sit-inch. it has been very, very stuff. bill: back in this country now we know march it is for the healthcare showdown at the u.s. supreme court. there will be three days of arguments starting on the 26th of march and that brings us now to bya. when the supreme court takes up healthcare in march will it roux on the individual mandate to buy insurance. that question is at the heart of

the healthcare problem. we have jordan here. our viewers need to know when a case goes before the u.s. supreme court you get one hour for your arguments. >> yeah. bill: what does it tell you the way they've charted this out in the month of march. >> you basically five case et ceterowescases going on here. the antiinjunction act sounds like of boring. we may not get an answer on the individual mandate if the court in that one hour -- the anti anti-injunction is getting its own argument. they won't be saying the individual mandate is constitutional. they would say we have to wait until then so you can challenge it. bill: you mean depending on day

ones of arguments. this is the last week in march, by the way, it's unprecedented, without precedent i should say, more grammatically accurate. on the 26th of march if they don't answer that question they won't even go to day two? >> we'll get a sense of where they are on the issues but they could still come back in june and july and write the opinion that case, well we had the other four and a half hours of argument but really we can't decide this until 2015. i'm hoping they are just going to set this aside. the obama administration has brought this up. it's put it away. some conservative judges have used it as well. they likely will rule on the individual mandate, i believe they will, but it's not certain. they could get around saying anything. bill: if you take the mandate out does the law still stand

up? what you said at the beginning is very important, they are ruling on five different cases all wrapped into one? >> you've got two hours the next day on just the individual mandate. the third day an hour and a half on what happens if th the individual mandate falls. and then you have the medicare. if the mandate is unconstitutional, is the whole law unconstitutional or just parts. what effect does it have on private insurance companies? bill: there was a ruling out of atlanta i think it was that says you can take the mandate out but the law still stands, and i guess now we're about to figure out, well in a couple of months any way we'll figure out whether or not the justices agree with it. >> how does it stand? it would be punishing a lot of the insurance companies. there would be no funding mechanism, so it would be tough. the supreme court could do that, it could go that far.

that would be the end of obamacare as we know it as long as house republicans kept control. you'd have to raise taxes to pay for it. the medicare funding angle is also huge. the increase is about 15 for some state budgets. this goes below the poverty line, masses increases there. bill: it all comes smack-dab in the middle of an election year. shoot an email, bya, if it's 0 twitter it's about 140 characters or less. martha: with the war over in iraq dozens of u.s. soldiers are finally making their way home. a reyuen kwropa reunion at fort

bliss, texas. bill: a lot of conservatives don't trust you, you're in th not a conservative, you'll go back and be a massachusetts guy. bill: how did he answer that. you'll see when o'reilly joins us, live.

bill: there is a good back and forth on the factor last night for mitt romney. the former governor of massachusetts had a sober prediction for america. if president obama wins a second term. watch. >> what happens if he wins again? >> i think we hit a greece-like wall. >> are we going to be greece. >> i think before the end of his second term if he were reelected there is a real high-risk that we will hit levels like greece, and see high levels of

unemployment. bill: that was the redirection. he is the author of the best-selling book "killing lincoln" bill o'reilly host of the fact err. how ar factor. how are you doing. >> i'm okay. fetta cheese and olives in the collapse of the economy. i don't think it's that far-fetched. that is my biggest worry that the federal government will keep on spending and raise the debt to 20, $25 trillion. at that point anybody is going to bail. bill: i think he said that last night and i think we'll hear more on that from him. what did you think, since it was the first time he had done your show. >> he had done my show before. i'm pretty familiar with him. i knew him in boston. i thought he did all right last

night. the strength of rom no's arguments are that they are well thought out. he doesn't put himself in a position to be attacked on the flank. you know, you either think a phony or you don't, that is up to the folks, but he is economically grounded. i mean that's his strength, he's economically grounded. bill: but you opened up with a values question. you questioned him about abortion. how do you think he did on that? >> not well. that was the weakest part of the interview. you say to yourself, listen if you believe that human life begins at conception and you're terminating a human being, you can't for political reasons support that in any way. and he gets in trouble on that, because he says, well i've always been somebody who believed that the fetus is a baby, but for political reasons i didn't want to go up against

roev wade. that's his weakist point. his strongest point is the economy. bill: i saw a lot of this on fox news sunday, that romney is a moderate. >> i think he is a moderate, there is no question about it. i think if he were elected as president that he would tkpw-fpb to thwould govern to the right. i don't think he would surprise people. he is so hyperaware of his flip-flop reputation, so hyperaware of it now, whatever he says he'll have to do if easy elected. bill: what he has done, he's tacked to the middle on so much of this. because he knows if he gets the nomination that's where america votes, that's where the votes are from the independents. >> he's looking to win independents and conservative democrats and he will, it's just a matter if he gets the

nomination you might have a wrong paul going into the third slot to get off the hard right people to vote for him. that is feasible. but, you know, romney is looking for the prize. he thinks he can tough it out and win new hampshire, be very competitive in south carolina and win florida. if he does that he'll probably be the nominee. bill: did you break now ground with him or do you find him to be cautious. >> i think he was can did with me. i know him pretty well. i didn't see him pulling any punches last night, he answered the questions. i didn't have any beef with him last night. if i did i would have gone in and -- you know what i do. bill: oh, i do. >> i asked him the questions he answered. bill: you have a guest for the first time, bill clinton is come onto talk to you. what are you going to ask him? >> we are going to get into a couple of areas.

i don't want to tell you what i'm going to ask him, but the president has a new book out and 4 i it says this is what we have do to do to get the economy back online. i want to get into the fact that he's not really thinking the same as president obama. bill: do you get the sense that he's a big supporters of obama? >> he's a tkepl krarbgts it's not going to go against democrat orthodox. bill clinton probably the face of the democratic party at this point. i don't expect him to go against obama. certainly the president is a start man. i've never talked to him before. we are going to give him a lot of time on the show, so there will be a lot of different topics floating around. bill: you'll help him sell a lot of books too. thank you for your time.

we'll be watching later tonight. certainly there will be headlines. thank you, bill o'reilly with us. martha: once a rare solution for cash-strapped businesses, critics are warning about this. jonathan serrie is doing this for us live. >> reporter: good morning, martha. consider this. 53.4% of all new jobs created in november president bush x firm by firms with less than 50 employees, that according to studies by edp and economic advisers. they are having a tough time getting traditional bank loans and during tough times entrepreneurs get entrepreneur al. small business owners are getting money from other

entrepreneurs. it's called peer-to-peer lending. these people opened their teurd third ediblthird edible store. prosper and lending club the two leading peer to peer website verify the credit of borrowers and link them with investors. they are finishing the year with $330 million of new loan. they offer lenders a yield of 10% according to peter from the lending network. >> banks are not lending, and no one can get a yield, only investors. >> reporter: a small group ever entrepreneurs are driving the job creation.

>> americans kind of take the disaster and they fix it and make it better and this technology can play a role in it. >> reporter: now, as with funding any loan there is always risk of default, so the lending websites have developed better ways of screening the credit histories of potential borrowers. also, they allow you to fund a loan for as little as $25, and that is allowing investors to spread the risk, diversifying their portfolios among multiple loans. the relatively high yields are beginning to attract the attention of institutional investors suggesting that what started as a niche market may be part of the permanent landscape of how small business people do business. mart that. martha: jonathan, thank you very much. jonathan serrie in atlanta. bill: they put their lives and the line every time they go to work.

two of their brave is are fighting for their lives after this dramatic scene played out. martha: the search for baby ayala reynolds may be finally breaking her family. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time.

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martha: brand-new videos coming in of a crash of a small plane on 287 in new jersey. this is near harding new jersey, just south of morris town. there is no -- there is definitely one person injured in and, but we are not sure if any cars that were on the highway at that time are involved in this accident or not. so we're watching this very closely. clearly it was a very bad accident for the plane that you can see in that shot. but we'll continue to follow it and let you know if there are other injuries on the ground as they attempt to clear what happened there. bill: there are two new york city firefighters struggling with morning with injuries after a dramatic rescue. watch this scene here from

brooklyn, new york. firefighter robert wideman caught in shooting flames and he caught on fire. another firefighter springing to action, raising an aerial ladder and helping to pull wideman to safety. he and another firefighter now being treated for their injuries. the cause of that fire is unknown. but we wish them the best. that's out of new york. martha: well police in maine say that they don't want to miss anything, they are following every single lead in their search for this little girl, this missing toddler. 20-month-old ayala reynolds was reported missing from her father's home in waterville, maine. they have been scouring the names and game wardens are look at a stream that runs near the little girl's house. her grandfather is very upset

talking about her safety. >> i never imagined that anything like this could happen to us. i see it on tv and i never imagined it could happen. i am so -- hold on, hold on, i need to -- i'm angry, okay. i'm angry because she's out there somewhere. martha: rod wheeler is a former homicide tkegt and a fox news contributor. rod, a lot of questions in this story. we know the mother went on thursday and asked to regain custody of her daughter. the mother had been in rehab for some past period of time, and the child was with protective services from the mother's house to the father. they claim she has been brought

back on a couple of occasion with injuries. >> this child suffered a broken arm at the point when she was taken over to the father's in october. the baby was taken from the mother back in october because the mother had a drug program. the health and human services department decided to help the baby, let the baby stay with the rather. last thursday the father i believe got wind of the fact that the mother filed. you know, obviously this is a very dysfunctional family. the victim in this case, i think so obviously is the little baby while the mother and father go through their problems. martha: as you say, this is a messy situation. but at the heart of it is this little child, and you can see the grandfather's anguish as he looks at the situation. you know, i mean how does this play out in your mind?

is this a situation where he's taken this little girl somewhere, perhaps, this father, so that, you know, he can keep her? or, you know, we've seen situations where a child has been injured or hurt or even killed because somebody doesn't want the other parent too have them. >> yeah, i know. i've seen so many cases like this. i'm hoping that in this particular case martha, this baby is okay. i'm hoping that the father is just trying to punish this mother because he doesn't want the baby to go back to the mother. now, i don't know if you really watched the grandfather in that interview, but he's a little strange himself. martha: i thought that today as well. his reaction was odd to me too. you have to be careful sort of judging people's emotions in these things because you never know how you are going to respond, you hope you never do have to respond. >> you're right and you don't know the history of that person. maybe that's the way he comes across. the investigators right now are searching that entire area. one other thing real quickly that they need to do is get the cell phones or at least a

warrant for the cellphone information for all of the adults staying in the home with that father the night that the baby went missing and they need to start looking at where those people were using the gps technology. i think that will lead them down a path to try to figure out where the little baby may be now, martha. martha: family reactions and a lot of questions that need answering. rod, thank you very much. there is the number on your screen. in the midst of all of that there is a little girl that is missing. bill: heartbreaking to hear that family too, uh-huh, huh time to. jenna lee is coming up in about 11 minutes i believe. what are you working on. >> reporter: good morning, bill. we'll be talking a lot about the fallout from the death of kim jong-il raising new terrance about our relationship with china with so many leaders and strong men out of power in 2011 is the age of the autokra the

autocrat over? if you could, bill would you take a pill that would give you a super more. a new scientific discovery that could help alzheimers patients and maybe, maybe the rest of us. bill: my answer is yes. jenna: yes for the alzheimers patients. bill: it's a huge medical break try for folks that are suffering from alzheimers and the family members around them. interesting topic. taylor swift is a country superstar. she is at controversy with a photo. what is wrong with this ad because the ad has been pulled. martha: many are buying their tree, strapping it to the roof of the car. effect tphol getechnology may be taking that arguing over the tree and make it a thing of the

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martha: breaking news folks the cover girl make up add starring taylor swift has been yanked out of circulation. here is the ad. does anything look scandalous in that ad. take a look at the eyelashess, they look full and plush but they've been photo shopped. the regulators have swooped in and say this is false advertising. no comment from taylor swift. federal investigators dropped the case after the ads were pulled. bill: the next one may have you

fighting the urpbl to strap your laptop to the roof of your car, because a growing number of u.s. retailers offering freshly cut christmas trees online. don't want to pick your own, have someone do it for you, adam housley is leave in santa monica, california. how big of a fad is this and why, adam. bill: it's only about 1% of the population. it's growing, christmas tree lot owners are doing whatever they can to expand business. there are a number of reasons for it, people that may travel a lot, someone who may not want to go to the lot. people who may live in south florida and will have a tree from mitch can, you have it shipped overnight and it gets there fresh n. washington d.c. they had a tree that was shipped to them, they said it's not going to the lot and picking it out, it's after it arrives at home, take a listen. >> it gets to the point where the most fun is decorating it, and the most fun is christmas,

and taking time away to go chop down the tree just wasn't where we wanted to go with it. >> reporter: these are trees that we have as correspondents. you guys as anchors you get the big ones like the one behind me. bill: don't be so lazy, america, go out and hunt down your own. where in the world is tradition? how are the growers and the tree lot owners doing with this. >> reporter: some are embracing them. they are not only selling the trees here but online as well. it's not just the tree farms that are doing it, tree lots as well. others say you do miss the experience. >> without that experience of actually buying the tree and the smell and everything else that goes with it, and the dirt on your feet and the mud, whatever, it takes the whole fun out of it to me. >> reporter: a small percent of

the population, but christmas tree lot owners will say any time you can expand your business it's worth it. bill: i agree with that guy. adam housley, for us in california. would you do that? >> i was thinking of christmas vacation, when they chopped on that tree and when they opened it it broke all the windows. bill: would your kids accept that. martha: no way. you heard him defend his record against bill o'reilly. the top ten things he wants to get off his chest. >> number two, newt gingrich, really? >> yeah, yeah that's right. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest...

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bill: you heard o'reilly a few moments ago. his questions were vitally tougher than david letterman. mitt romney appearing on "the late show." things he wants to get off his chest. a sample. >> i used all my campaign money to buy a zoo with matt damon. >> number three. >> i can do a lot but i can't fix the indianapolis colts. >> newt gingrich, really. >> the number one thing mitt romney would like to say to the american people? >> it is a hairpiece. martha: that was funny. it is a hairpiece. his hair is little more messed up this time around. bill: you noticed that. martha: america needs