>> larry: maybe brian could fill in for me sometime. >> steve: if you want to send larry fan mail, send it at friends at foxnews.com. he'll read it in one minute. bill: good morning. we are going to start with a fox news alert a report that north korea test fired at least one short-range missile after its leader kim jong-il is dead at 69. i'm bill hemmer. martha: a lot of news to cover this morning. i'm martha maccallum. there are stunning images coming from one of the darkest corners of the world. north koreans in mourning. watch this. gathering all night at statue of

jong i will's father. this is how state-run media announced his death. bill: now the u.s. is concerned this power shift could send the isolated regime into chaos. >> reporter: the united states sent messages of support to south korea during this difficult and potentially tense times. kim jong-il died a couple days ago. they say he suffered from great physical and mental strain. he basically had a heart attack. he had been unwell apparently

suffering from a stroke a couple years ago. a lot of north korea experts have questioned how genuine that outpouring of emotion is and to what extent people believe they need to behave this way on the street. the burial for kim jong-il will be december 28. the understanding that we have is that his son, his youngest son who is 20-something with very little experience will be taking over. he was recently anointed as the aeir apparent. bill: there is so much we don't know about his son. what impact does the father's death have? >> reporter: well, bill, i think the biggest concern is that the apparent successor may

feel he needs to prove his mettle. but the firing of the missile has been dismissed as a routine exercise and not having anything to do with the passing of the north korean leader. but it is a period of uncertainty. some said the next 24-48 hours will be important in terms of seeing what develops. nuclear talks of course started to look like they might get back on track over the summer. it's not clear how this will set that process back. the 6-nation talks which have been key in trying to get north korea to stand down from its nuclear program. bill: some suggest this missile fire was planned before this death. some say that's too coincidental. what do we say? >> reporter: south korean officials -- there has no doubt

been a lot of muscle flexing on the part of north korea. they sank a south korean ship last year. so there has been an escalation of tension and that has subside somewhat. this test firing is being played down by the u.s. and south korea. but certainly people on the streets have expressed jitteriness worried about what might happen with the change. bill: amy kellogg. the headlines out london. martha: the kim family had a long history in north korea. kim jong-il was born in 1942. when he was 6 his father founded the people's republic of korea. in 1983 his third son and the

supposed successor is believed to have been in 1993. but the stage for un to rise to power was set in 2008 when kim jong-il apparently suffered a stroke. the u.s. imposed sanctions on north korea hoping to curb its nuclear efforts. bill: this is the area where the north and south agreg to that armistice. technically they are still at war. but in 1953 they halted military activity, by it has been tense ever since. you see how isolated south korea is on this map. in the country itself near the dmz you have the u.s. troops,

their presence has been there since the war. you remember when the south korean navy ship was sung, that happened right around here. they decide not to take action against the north. but again the isolation of south korea is matched by china to the north which shares a common border with north korea. the closest ally north korea has had more 50 years is china. martha: we are awaiting an official response to kim jong-il's death. doug mcelway is standing by. what do you hear from the state department and the white house? >> reporter: we are expecting secretary clinton to give a

statement on land mines and perhaps she'll have something to say. a statement last night at 10:58 p.m. said we have seen the press reporting of the death of kim jong-il. we'll be back in touch as soon as we have further information to share. we did get a more substantive statement from the white house this morning. one of the unnerving things about this which points out how little the united states and south korea knows from this closed society is kim jong-il died saturday apparently from a heart attack while on a train. and the united states and south korea weren't informed of it until this morning. martha: kim jong un his son is

expected to be the successor. when do we expect to hear from him? >> reporter: if history is any guide, we can expect a long period of mourning. several experts suggest we can suggest a period of calm and quiet. the missile test defies that expectation. but keep in mind kim jong un is a wildcard. there are some who say he may have been behind those artillery attacks earlier this year and the torpedoing of the south korean boat. he may be pushing the line and crossing tonight some respects. we shall see in the months to come. martha: doug, thank you very

much. bill: the american military concerned for the safety our troops stationed in south korea. 28,000 service members there. no further troop reductions planned at the moment. at one time there were 45,000 members of the military stationed in south korea and that number has dropped since then. martha: george w. bush vowed to take down what he called the axis of evil. here is part of that state of the union address from that year. take a look. >> states like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil arming to threaten the peace of the world. by seeking weapons of mass destruction. these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. they can provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. they can attack our allies or

attempt 0 blackmail the united states? in any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic. martha: the axis of evil phrase sticks with us to this day. included in that were iran, iraq and north korea. kim jong-il is now dead. that leaves ahmadinejad the only leader left. the religious leaders continue to have the supreme power in iran. go to our web site for complete coverage on the death of kim jong-il. you will learn about his life and the future of north korea. log on to foxnews.com, click on the slide show which is kim jong-il through the years from

his childhood to his death. bill: we'll get a lot of reaction. mitt romney put out a statement saying kim jong-il was a ruthless tyrant who lived a life of luxury while the north korean people starved. more coming up here on america's newsroom including this crazy scene. watch. >> like a runaway cart there racing through. bill: this dramatic video of a golf cart plowing people at cowboy stadium. plus there is here. >> sign the paperwork to get on the ballot in virginia. lots of volunteers put in lots of hours. 16,000 signatures.

that's fabulous. martha: the question is who is that aimed at that home video with his wife. bill: the tax cut facing an uphill battle in the house. why john boehner is none too happy with the deal. >> he already had ample time. he's just kicking this can down the road because it may anger some people in his base. if you have high blood pressure, like me,

and get a cold... ...you need a cold medicine with a heart. only coricidin hbp has a heart, right here. it's the only cold and flu brand that won't raise your blood pressure. coricidin hbp. powerful cold medicine with a heart. bill: is there a bump in the road for newt gingrich? he's scrambling to get signatures to get his name on the ballot in the primary. mitt romney releasing cell phone

video from his kitchen. >> lots of volunteers put in lots of hours. 16,000 signatures. that's fabulous. thanks so much, you guys. look forward to seeing you and winning in virginia. just signed the paperwork to get on the ballot in virginia. lots of volunteers put in lots of hours. 16,000 signatures, that's fabulous. bill: he's flipping through the petition that guarantees he will be on the virginia ballot. he was on "fox news sunday" with chris wallace. >> he was not the reason the economy hit bottom and begins to recover. we have gone through recessions before. he made this one worse and he made the recovery more he -- more tepid. bill: what do you make of this

virginia thing? >> i think it's a dig. this case against newt gingrich is gingrich is unreliable. this is not someone you can count on. he's haphazard. this video pokes fun of that in a lighthearted way. romney is saying i have been planning to run for president and win the nomination for months and months. we lined this, we have done it by the books, and that's why we are qualified in virginia. newt gingrich has not. he's trying to throw this together. he used the word zany last week which got a lot of attention. this is the next step in that same argument. it's a little different case. but he's not organized. bill: the romney team the first week in june -- with wallace sunday i thought it was a fascinating interview. there were a lot of topics covered. it seemed like romney came off

as a moderate. was that the same impression you got. or was there a moment in that interview that told you more than you knew before. >> the most urning moment was when chris asked him an open-earned question about the differences between newt gingrich and mitt romney. romney took the opportunity to hit newt gingrich on medicare. reminding voters that newt gingrich called paul ryan's entitlement reform plan right-wing social engineering and gingrich has said some things in recent days questioning that kind of medicare form. this is somebody in mitt romney who hadn't talked about entitlement reform until recently until when he gave a speech laying out his plan. now when asked about the differences between he and newt gingrich he points to paul ryan

and medicare reform, trying to paint newt gingrich as an unreliable conservative and an unreliable leader. bill: the end of that interview, chris gave romney the opportunity to talk about his personal life which is something we don't hear a lot about. here is romney on his relationship with his best friend. >> he was not the reason the economy had hit bottom then begins to recover. we have gone through recessions before. he made this one worse an made the recovery more tepid. bill: my mistake. i thought that was about ann romney. clearly it was about barack obama who is not his best friend. that's funny. there was a moment in the interview where he talked about meeting his wife and what she means to him. they are a package deal when it comes to the cam taken. >> they have been using her a

lot more on the campaign trail. people who analyze these things say it humanizes mitt romney, to a certain extent i think that's true. but when mitt romney does better is when he's just himself. when you go back to the times he has been the most effective on the campaign trail. in iowa he was heckled in iowa and romney went back and in a spontaneous way with a heckler and i thought it was probably his best moment on the campaign trail. he was himself. he showed a flash of anger but it wasn't out of control. he gave a response that was off the cuff, but showed he was passionate about something. it's good that the campaign is exposing him more to the media and by extension to voters. bill: we'll queue up the right one next time. i think it would be a newsflash with mitt romney and barack

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bill: there is new fallout in a college hazing scandal after the death of a drum major was ruled

a homicide. the school trustees meeting to decide whether to suspend the school's president. the head of an alumnae group is against that. >> more than ever the florida university wants to the complete story told and all the facts to be released. bill: the board publicly reprimanded him and the band director was placed on temporary leave. martha: the midwest is facing a major snowstorm today. very low visibility and accumulation of up to a foot and a half of snow. >> reporter: we have a major snowstorm that's about to be

underway. the storm system we are expecting later this afternoon and tomorrow morning. it's starting to bring in light snow in portions of western members -- in western new mexico. here is that cold air that switched the rain over to snow. we are expecting light accumulates. but nothing like you are going to see further off to the east. we could see up to a foot and a half of snow. that's a lot of snow out there through tuesday morning. and away from that corridor we expect accumulations as well. the storm system will intensify tonight into the overnight then it will slowly wind down later on in the day.

just light snow across parts of the midwest. martha: we'll take a light dusting saturday if you can order that up from the north pole. we'll see. thanks, maria. bill: is that a blue christmas or green christmas? what is that? martha: it looks like a blue christmas. bill: we expect to hear from the house speaker john boehner in a matter of moment to find out what the republic-led house will do on the keystone pipeline and the payroll tax cut. martha: what about these scenes out of north korea as they pay respects to the late kim jong-il. will the transition of power go smoothly or will the military try to take the reins.

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bill: there is new bloodshed in central cairo. it has gone on like this for weeks. leland vittert live in our middle east bureau. how bad is this getting? >> reporter: some of this video is sickening it's reminiscent of some of the things we saw during the u.s. civil rights movement. there are no words to describe it. we have situations where soldiers were holding people down by all four limbs and tomorrowing on their head. it doesn't get worse than this until the military starts

shooting people in the streets. the protesters are saying the military was holding on to power too long and so far we have 11 people dead, a couple hundred wounded. and that oned number will probably go up. bill: you know the united states is a big supporter in cairo, egypt. has there been a response to this action? >> reporter: the secretary of state says this kind of violence needs to stop. a public admonishment will go a long way. we did have a little bit better of a situation than we had before. what seems to be happening in egypt, 3 days of violence and three weeks of calm. lately the protesters have taken to facebook and twitter. now they are asking for a group of women to come out and

surround the protesters so the army would have to go through a group of women to have this violence again. martha: a show of force from north korea's rogue regime after the announcement of their leader kim jong-il. north korea has test fired a short-range missile off the coast. joined now by downbolton, the former ambassador to the u.n. and a fox news contributor. talk to me about the short-range missile that went off this morning. what do you think the meaning of that is. >> it's hard to say whether it's related to kim jong-il's death,

but the highest priority has to be watching the military forces as it might affect the chemical and biological weapons. and whatever we can find out about north korea's nuclear weapons program. this is a period inevitably of instability inside north korea and we need to watch if internal conflict has begun, if there are the beginnings of massive flows of refugees. very important we get a handle to the extent we can on what's going on inside. martha: perhaps the operative phrase there to the extent we can. how much can we receive what's going on there, do we have the capability to know? >>'s an opaque society. south korea will be instrumental in helping us learn what's going

on inside. but i think to the extent we can put our substantial assets in place to watch and listen to what's going on inside the north, that could be very important. while this is a period of enormous risk for the peninsula and for the united states, china and on thers, it's also has potential opportunity looking at what our long-sought goal has been of the reunification of the korean peninsula. that what's when need to keep in mind. that's the strategic opportunity that may be presenting itself. martha: we are look at images of people mourning in the streets. we know this is a ruthless dictator that has allowed thousands of people to starve in his country to build up his nuclear weapons arsenal. what is the biggest concern here and is there any hope his son

might want a more open society? >> i wouldn't bet the ranch on that. i think the greatest risk is of state collapse. this is not a long established european monarchy where theston takes office eightmatically. i think it's very possible that the military who hold the real power in north korea are not going to accept this 20-something newly minted four-star general as the inevitable successor. i think that's where you could see strive break out that could trigger the refugee flow or put the security of the chemical and biological weapons in jeopardy. those are the circumstances you be which u.s. forces and south korean forces have long prepared and trained and which could result in appropriate circumstances in our

intervention into the north. martha: it sounds like your biggest concern is instability in north korea that would cause refugees to push towards the border of south korea that might provoke a response? >> the refugee flows could cause chinese intervention. the gravest threat is the nuclear weapons being used in the civil strive that may follower to see competing north korean generals auctioning off those nuclear weapons to the highest bidders and that's far from implausible. martha: the administration said they were speaking with gentleman. and south korea. i heard you say what needed to be done is long-term discussions with china >> we have blown a big opportunity over the last several years by not talking to

china about the success selings crisis. the safest way to handle the korean peninsula is to merge the two koreas. that ends the north korea nuclear weapons project. there are things we should be doing even as late as it is to have that under discussion with china. martha: thank you very much. bill: dead on arrival. that's pretty much what john boehner says about the senate's 2-month payroll extension. what will the house do next? we expect to hear from speaker boehner this morning and what does this mean for your paycheck only a few weeks from now. there is a lot on the line. martha: look at this runaway cart on a football field at cowboy stadium. it plowed into a crowd of people and carried them off. we'll show what you happened

when we come back. stay with us. ( phone ringing )

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martha: a wild scene at cowboy stadium. 7 people were injured when a runaway cart plowed into them at a high school championship game. everybody was trying to stop it by standing in front of it. >> i landed in the passenger seat. martha: apparently stadium workers had been take up those orange yard markers and one of them fell onto the gas pedal. bill: it looked like the -- it

got jammed on the gas pedal and kept on going. the house is expected to vote today on a senate plan to extend the payroll tax cut. it's not expected to pass in the house. house speaker john boehner wants a long-term solution. on this point, speaker boehner says he and the president agree. >> it's clear i and our members oppose the senate bill. it's only for two months. the president says we shouldn't go on vacation until we get our work done and house republicans agree. 2 months is kicking the can down the road. the american people are tired of it. i'm tired of it. on the house side we have seen this action before coming out of the senate. it's time to stop your work, resolve the differences and

extend this for one year and remove the uncertainty. bill: georgia congressman, a member of the tea party caucus, good morning to you, back in atlanta, georgia. do you have plans to come back to washington for a vote today or even more so than today? >> absolutely. i have got a flight out of here in two hours. we are all coming back. that's what everybody told speaker boehner on the conference call saturday when we heard about this fiasco of a two-month extension vote on by the senate. we were literally shocked, bill. 75 responses, there may have been one person that thought it was okay that we put the fight off until two months from now. everybody else said look, this is a brave heart moment. you, mr. speaker are our william wallace. let's rush to the fight. let's get our work done and we are doing that. bill: is that what you told john

boehner, that he's your william wail as? >> i called him mel gibson because i couldn't remember william wallace. but now i know. i think the speaker listened to everybody. there were some points extremely well made. some members felt like regular order would be to go to conference. we go back and forth, agree, disagree. and we can't tomorrow to an agreement, let's go to conference and get this done before the end of the year. bill: now you will have to figure this out. the senate passed it overwhelmingly. they had 89 votes for this. how could the senate go forward if folks like yourself and the house majority were going to bounce it back potentially. what happens here? >> i'm scratching my head. i don't know. maybe they got if the false impression the speaker and the house would be okay with this.

we are absolutely not okay. we passed a bill for a full year on the unemployment issue and the payroll tax issue, and also a two-year mitigation of the cut in the reimbursement to our physicians who are caring for senior citizens. bill:ies all of that so important to our economy? >> these doctors need certainty. we keep talking about certainty in the economic world and the business worlder to hiring and uncertainly leads to more unemployment. and this all in the same bag, if you will, bill, and we just -- the american people -- i saw on television yesterday. 82% of them disapprove of congress. quite honestly the 11% that approve of congress mist have their heads under a rock. how can they approve of us when they keep seeing tax after

tax -- bill: the white house is banging on republicans already. they say the on thing that can get support in the senate is mom, apple pie and ice cream. is this something that goes up to december 24 >> it easily could. i remember being in washington on the 23rd. i agree philly with the speaker. we have got to get our work done. this business of gimmicks and thinking that, well, you know, this gets us through the end of the year and we can go on vacation now, or we can take our christmas holiday and we can come back in late february. we have other work to do in late february. we have a 2013 budget. bill: democrats would argue the keystone pipeline was a gimmick on behalf of republicans. all that to the side.

what can be decided so people do not see their taxes go up the first of the year? >> the keystone pipeline is no tbim i can. 20,000 direct jobs. 100,000 indirect jobs. the president is playing politics with that because he wants to give a sop to his environmental support. and he's dead wrong on that. the will we sent to paid for in a responsible way. we freeze the salaries of even the members of congress for three years. it's not just the tea party that outrages over this. when i had been home this weekend. it's my grown children and their spouses. my 93-year-old mom and her senior friends. everybody is outraged with this. and none of them have ever been to a tea party rally. bill: thanks for your time out of atlanta. we'll see you again in

washington. go to foxnews.com/americasnewsroom. there is a bya button there. you can leave a message on this issue. i just need one line, because you asked. martha: interesting. so. a stunning about-face on healthcare. we'll tell you what this may mean for your healthcare in 2012. bill: donald trump calling out president obama. trump says it's obvious china has no respect for the white house. martha: before you leave the house go to foxnews.com slash mobile, download our app so you can take bill and i with you. we'll keep you up to date on what's going on while you are out there. we'll be right back. my name is jill strange, i'm forty-nine years-old, i love gardening, and i love volleyball. i've been taking osteo bi-flex for several years now.

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bill: it what is a good run and it was must-watch football. but tebow mania was not enough. patriots clinch the afc's title. denver can still make the playoffs but they need to win and need help from some of the other teams in the league. in the meantime new york city needs a zanex. both of those teams play christmas eve. martha: one of my favorite headlines was apparently god liked tom brady, too. message to tim tebow. how about this.

the last battalions of i.s. troops are heading out of iraq. which means they are heading for happy homecomings. among them are members of the 25th infantry division out of hawaii. take a look. >> reporter: just as the sun sets on hawaii the final chapter comes to an end for a group of hawaii-based troops. the plane arrived at the base. they were give and heroes' welcome. they are senior leaders and key personnel of the 25th infantry division. this is the end of their year-long deployment to iraq. >> we are proud we could complete the mission and

represent hawaii and honor the service and sacrifice of all those who put so much effort into it the last 9 years. >> reporter: their families were eagerly waiting. >> we are excited it's an early christmas present. >> reporter: after a quick ceremony ... early this year these division leaders led the advise, train and assist mission. >> spend some time with the family, who knows from there. >> reporter: corey is happy to be back home. so is his son jesse. >> it's a wonderful feeling to be home and know we finished our mission in iraq. we made the iraqi people

stronger and more independent. and they can rely on. >> reporter: he calls their mission a success. martha: what a great story. you can talk about the future of iraq. but if your son wants your face he will grab it. i love seeing them come home. we wish them a merry christmas and thank them for all they did over there. bill: newt gingrich hitting a snag in iowa. it's one his rivals will take advantage of. carl cameron is on the ground live in he money where we are only 16 days away from the caucuses.

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martha: kicking off the hour with fox news alert. a missile taking flight from north korea just hours after the death of kim jong-il. the regime headed by kim's son, firing a missile off of the nation's east coast. the fears of instability in a nation with chemical weapons, by cag biological weapons, nuclear republicans. i'm martha maccallum, glad to have you with us. bill: i'm bill hemmer. we woke up to news. some north koreans have been shown on tv, a handful of women

morning the loss of the man known as dear leader, as president obama calls south korea to secure the security in that region. martha: jennifer griffin live at this is the biggest headline right now are the missile tests. what can you tell us about them? >> reporter: a senior u.s. defense official confirms to fox news that the pentagon has observed at least one short-range missile, it was a ballistic missile, a ground to ground missile fired from north korea it landed in the sea off the coast of the korean peninsula it is not viewed as anything that would destabilize the region. it is the region that the u.s. and others have observed tested by north korea in the past. again it's not being seen as a destabilizing the situation there. meanwhile the south korean military is on high alert and began preparations on the very

same island that the north korean shelled with artillery last year. the u.s. added about the missile test that it is unrelated to the regime change in the north, even though officials are saying that it was preplanned, mart that. martha: what about u.s. forces, in terms of our posture in the region? i spoke with john bolton earlier and his biggest fear was that the military would have more pour than kim jong-il's son. >> reporter: right now i've spoken to u.s. forces out in the korean peninsula and in the pentagon, there has been no change to the forced posture of u.s. forces in south korea there are 28,500 u.s. troops on the korean peninsula, but their force posture has not changed even though the south koreans have put their forces on high alert. again, the north koreans have one of the largest standing army

oops in the world. 1.2million troops. south korea in a high state of alert. they say u.s. posture has not changed. martha: thank you. bill: some backed on north korea's missile program, their first test in october of 2006 fairly weak. that was five years ago indicating problems with the design of the weapon. even though the north has exploded nuclear devices the come admonition nation has not shown it is capable yet of producing a working nuclear bomb. the missile test not believed to be side to the death of kim jong-il that happened earlier. experts believe it had been planned before. we are told the president was alerted to the death of kim jong-il as, the news of his death. wendell goler on the north lawn now. what is the white house saying? what is the message from there. >> reporter: experts say given the upheaval that followed the death of his father in the mid

1990s, the us had been planning for the death of kim jong-il. one of the first things the president did after being briefed by his chief of staff late last night was to phone the south korean president who was a guest at the white house a couple of months ago to get his take on the situation to plan the u.s. and south korean response in a written statement after the two leaders spoke jay carney said, quote, the president reaffirmed the unitette states' strong stability of the peninsula. kim jong-il's death will likely halt talks -- there was to be announcement of additional u.s. food aid to north korea in exchange for concessions on that country's nuclear program. those were expected to be this week. they will be put on hold until

they find out who is really in charge. bill: the new leader is a son of him in his 20s? >> reporter: the son of kim's late third wife, 27, 28 years old, very inch tested. a little experience in leadership. he was first introduced in september of 2012, about the same time the north korean sank a south korean submarine, moves that were associated with his son coming at aids. there was a sobbing news reader and scenes of people crying in the streets. if history repeats itself they will built a mythical history around ill, and say his father

was with a talking iceberg. martha: what do we know about his son. he's the youngest of kim jong-il's three sons. he was named to the surprise of many, given his lack of experience, a four-star general in the north korean military, despite that the fact that he doesn't have real military experience. he is by virtue of h who he is high up in the military. in september of last yore, his nexyear, his next in line was confirmed when he was appointed to that high level in the military. bill: i want to get to some other headlines, countdown to iowa two and a half weeks away, the iowa caucus right around the corner.

republicans reaching for the support of the tea party, a pi a pivotal move. >> i will link their pay to that which exists in the private sector. >> when i was speaker we balanced the budget for three years. we paid off debt and it worked very, very effectively. it was very, very hard work. bill: that was from a weekend teleconference that took place with several of the candidates and leading tea party members. this is carl cameron who is live in today olive in davonporh, iowa today. tell us about the tea party. >> reporter: for mitt romney to be involved in a tea party outreach is a bit of a chance. he's had a little bit of outreach but not a big deal. we've reached crunch time in

iowa. voters are making up their minds, caucus goers. there will be somewhere between 115, and 135,000 iowa citizens participating in all of this. as they make up their mind ground game and air war is really what matters, in many ways more than policy. when we take a look at assess the candidates here is what we see. newt gingrich the frontrunner in the polls who surged seemingly out of nowhere after a long string of other candidates who tried to be the alternate to mit rom refind mitt romney finds himself with a steep climb organizationally. gingrich took most of his weekend off. he had a hastily scheduled teleconference to recruit supporters. he did a sunday show yesterday not scheduled until the last minute. newt gingrich has an organizational problem in iowa and most folks know it. he's only running about $25 of

ad buy a super packet, an independent group in iowa. mitt romney has a massive and sprawling organization. he has been running second in the polls but he himself has been running about a quarter of a million dollars of ads in a week here and a supper packe a super pack is going to be beating up on mitt romney's arrive values. ron paul has been on the air longer than everybody. he spent several million dollars in iowa. everybody knows that his organization both with seniors and college students may rival everybody's. it's a very, very, very, big two weeks and newt gingrich has a lot of catching up to do with his organization to match his polls which some indication are are slipping too. bill: 100 to 120,000 will caucus in iowa. i

martha: the republican party is looking into some concerns of about hacking threat in the iowa caucuses. the state receiving a video caming to come if a group of computer hackers and it raises concerns that this group could try to interfere with the voting that comes just days from now, and perhaps crash the electronic system if they were able to succeed. there are gop officials in the state who are looking into this. trying to make sure that they can foolproof the system from any hackers. bill: there is one guy already looking past iowa, former utah governor jon huntsman the candidate moving aeu haeu ahead picking up voters in new hampshire. >> our request is a very simple one. i just want your vote i want to win our vote and earn your support and i know this this state that never comes easily. you've got to shake hands 15

times with any voters before you get any consideration at all. given the time of time we've spent in this state i think we're probably halfway there about most of you. bill: he is in third place in that state behind mitt romney and newt gingrich. the u.s. am about martha: michelle bachmann unleashing a fiery attack on president obama's economic policy. she compared the united states to coun countries like gross angreece and italy. she accused the president as running this nation like a third world nation. >> the actions he's taking is acting like a banana republican. it's absolutely irresponsible what president obama is doing to get behind measures to increase spending to such a level that we are going into debt 1.5 trillion every year. martha: michelle bachmann has stayed on her message steady throughout this whole process. she says we need to stop

spending money that we don't have. bill: imagine that. martha: that helps, right. bill: right. bachmann, santorum they could both surprise in iowa. martha: basically there are four people that could win iowa. bill: don't miss a minute of our coverage as we lead up to iowa, new hampshire and beyond. foxnews.com click on the politics link, complete coverage any time anywhere what is happening in th in the race for 2012. martha: it is a central team to the healthcare law that has completely changed. there is a major reversal from the white house that you need to know about. bill: it could affect everybody too. jeb bush a man many hoped would run for the white house is now talking that america needs to embrace the jagged line of freedom, a sometimes messy capitalism that is the spirit of american. steven moore ""wall street journal"" on what that exactly means. martha: and why is jeb bush

speaking out now? who will sarah palin support for the republican nomination. >> as soon as i feel that that person who understands the fiscal crisis, especially that america faces and knows what to do about it then i will feel that enthusiasm and i will endorse.

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bill: what will sarah palin do about 2012? she told us she is not ready to endorse a candidate. she sent lee sh recently she has been touting ron paul's economic ideas. whaoer is whahere is what she said yesterday. >> i need to be tpuld with enthusiasfilled with enthusiasm, and i'm just not there. bill: she is not convince they'd paul is the entire package just yet. martha: republican frontrunner

newt gingrich is now losing support in iowa. about 15 days or 13 days is it before the iowa caucuses. according to the "real clear politics" average, this is the look at the polls when you put them together in iowa the foamer house speaker is only leading ron paul by 1%. gingrich has had a much wider margin in recent weeks. his surge started to slip over the last week. take a look at newt gingrich line. when you go back to the beginning of december it peaked mid month right around there, around 32% for newt gingrich. take a look at ron paul. sarah palin was just talking up ron paul moments ago. from 10% he is very close to gingrich in iowa, 19.3%. and take a look at romney, this has been the story throughout the entire course of this whole event, 15% fairly steady. he's creeping to 18.3%. she's folks are neck-and-neck in

iowa. tucker is an edd aned is a editor. >> the graph says it all. the trend that you're looking at. we are about to enter a period of suspended animation politically. if you're going in own a down trend line very bad news. if you're going in on a upward line that would be good, which is ron paul. inch trade, an online marketplace who has a solid record in redirecting outcomes on this case. on that mitt romney the beneficiary of these trends has doubled in the past six days. so there are a lot of people watching carefully who think that. martha: i want to ask you about newt gingrich who claims that after christmas he's going to have money kicking in, and an organization kicking in this iowa. i don't know what he's doing

right now and why he's not in iowa over the past couple of days on all of this. but he claims he's got a big wave coming to iowa after christmas. >> yeah, i mean, look, far be it for me to say it's not true considering how remarkable volatile this race has been. however, a trend like this going into christmas week is bad. there are a couple of things that speaker gingrich has said in the last couple of things that i think will continue to ring and hang in the air. one of them is something he said on television over the weekend. he said federal judges he disagreed with should be arrested. martha: i have to break in. we have to go to john boehner. let's listen to john boehner good tonight the house will vote on the senate-passed bill. this is a vote on whether congress will stay and do its work or go on vacation. i expect that the house will disa glow with the senate

amendment and instead to formally go to conference. the normal process in which the house and senate can resolve differences between the two chambers, and between our two bills. and i expect the house to take up legislation that reinforces the need to extend the payroll tax relief for a full year, rather than just two months. again to provide certainty for job creators. i think the best way to resolve the difference between the two-month extension and a full-year bill is to follow the regular order here in congress. when there is a disagreement between the two chambers we sit down at a conference and we solve those differences. that's exactly what i believe the house will do. the president has said repeatedly that no one should be going on vacation until the work is done. democrat leaders in the house and senate have said exactly the same thing. so i think it's time for the senate democrat leaders to

follow the president's example, put their vacations on hold and work in a bi-partisan manner to finish the nation's business. >> mr. speaker if you can't workout a deal for a year-long extension in the short amount of time you have left are you prepared to let these tax cuts lapse all together. >> i think we've made it perfectly clear that we believe that a full year extension ever these tax cuts are very important. i don't believe the differences between the house and senate are that great. it's time for us to do our work. >> mr. speaker if you and your colleagues over here in the house were so against this two-month extension short term why did you not raise the red flag with your republican colleagues who for the most part voted for this in the senate. >> we expressed our reservations about what the senate was doing, but understand i've made perfectly clear to senator reid and senator mcconnell some time mid last week that i would not enter into negotiations with

them until the senate produced a bill. the senate produced a bill, we expressed our reservations, and i do believe this trying to row solve this between the two chambers in the regular order of our business is the appropriate way to proceed. >> mr. speaker, you wanted a guarantee that the pipeline will be in this deal, you got it. are you going to guarantee that the congress will have one full year? >> we agree with the president that all of these -- the payroll tax cut, the unemployment insurance with reforms, the dock fix for two years all of this needs to be done. i've been around here for a while. i've seen congress kick the can down the road. it's time to stop this nonsense. we can do it in a way that provides job security and others in our country.

>> do you think the entire gop leadership is dysfunctional and why. >> the president had for a full year extension. we agree with the president. the democrats have said it for two weeks. why do we always have to go to the lowest common denominator. it's time for us to do our work, we are prepared to do our work. >> what other specific changes do you want in the bill? >> we believe that we passed a reasonable bill that extended all of this for a year. if there are differences between the bodies we ought to be able to resolve them. >> mr. speaker how do you propose paying for a full year extension in way that might satisfy democrats over in the senate. how willing to look at iraq-afghanistan fund? >> when we sent our bill to the senate 90% of the offsets were offsets that the president agreed to. so i don't believe it's going to be that difficult to come to an

agreement that would make reforms in the unemployment insurance program and do so in i think a fiscally responsible way. one more. >> did you ever tell the white house that you had accepted the proposal. >> no, there was never a conversation with the white house. >> you initially supported moving forward with the two-month plan. what changed in your mind? >> no. >> we were told that you initially called and said that the house should move forward with the senate. >> that is not true. what i was outlining is that having the keystone pipeline in here was a success, but i raised concerns about the two-month process from the moment that i heard about it. thanks, everybody. martha: there you have it. boehner boehner sayinjohn boehner saying he was concerned about the two-month deal all along. he said house republicans wanted that one-month deal. mcconnell was on a different

page, harry reid and the white house, from all of this. tucker carlson is back with me now. tucker has been listening to this as well. what do you think really happened here, tucker? >> clearly there is a lot going on that wasn't right out there, that's exactly right and i'm hesitant -- i have all kinds of theories, hesitant to comment on that without knowing exactly. there is clearly not a united front here i would say. fascinating that the speaker said in response to questions that he hadn't had conversations with the white house. martha: i thought that was very interesting as well. >> yeah, hard to know why. i will say the macro sir is this. if you're wondering why newt gingrich is so popular with the republican base, with all his bass edge is an aspiring leader who can speak clearly and that is something that republican grass roots really, really hunger for and you can kind of see why. martha: you take a lock at this process and boehner clearly is frustrate wed not wanting to particular the can down the road and you think about the congressional approval ratings, sometimes as low as 8% in america and he says you can see

why it is. when he said, why do we have to appeal to the lowest common detphopl tere of what we can a tkpwhre on, why can't we go further a than that and try to get at lowe's least a yore's worth of years april worth of a plan out this. this is what american people want in leadership. >> how about 12 months? when a public relations point of view if you were to take the tape, of what we just saw, and show all 308 million americans a copy of it, what percentage would understand any of that? probably like people who live in d.c. and cover this for a living than that would be pretty much it. martha: that would be a very small group. where do you think this goes? are they going to go to the wire? what is going to happen? >> i honestly don't know. and i'm about, you know, 300 yards from the capitol. i'm going to go find out. its right behind me as you can see. i would be hesitant -- i would testate to speculate. martha: tucker thanks so much for sticking around.

tucker carlson from d.c. he's trying to figure out. bill: i don't know what you're going to unwrap to figure it out. in a moment jeb bush is talking about, the former governor of florida. and he wants to know whether america is losing touch with one of its founding ideas. why bush says you have lost one of your inch alienable rights whether you know it or not. the latest developments after a toddler vanishes from her father's home. we'll tell you what her mother is saying today about that. >> we have detectives out there and other folks out there who are canvassing the neighborhood and going over some of the search areas, in addition to we call them the warden service to help us as they have the resources and the expertise in search and rescue -on's the way . more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes.

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stolen that to have your home burglarized. at lifelock, we believe you have the right to live life without having to think twice every time you fill out a form, make a purchase or throw out your mail. call today and we will send you this free comprehensive identity theft protection kit with enrollment. don't wait until you become the next victim. lifelock your identity today for 60 days risk free. order now and also get this document shredder to keep your documents out of the wrong hands-- a $29 value, free! [♪...] call the number on your screen. [♪...] [click-click] bill: welcome back on a monday mourn, it's 10:30 here in new york. a surprising reversal on healthcare from the obama

administration. this came out late on friday. state governments will now decide what health insurance plans on the state level will cover. the original rules had the federal government spelling out exactly what services would be covered. that is going to change. john , welcome to you. why did the white house change course on this. >> they are avoiding a political fight. obama carthe obama administration has this essential benefits package is a big bone of contention. if you put in everything that the healthcare and special interest groups wants it will bankrupt the whole thing. if you take away or deny services and benefits people will get very upset. why not sidestep this and leave

it to the states especially in an election year. but to open all of this. this is not even a rule. this is a -- what is called a free rule. i have never heard of this in washing tonight. it doesn' washington. it doesn't have the force of law. they can change their mind, maybe after november. bill: you mean they can change their mind on any aspect of the law or change their mind on this specific aspect of the law? >> this specific aspect is called a pre rule. i've never heard of this before. that means -- normally a rule goes into the federal register, you see comment for it and then it becomes law, a regulation. this is called a free rule. that means they are opening it for comments and all sorts of other things but they are not specifying what actually is going to be involved. bill: this covers everything, pre scripps medication, maternity care, newborn care, laboratory services, autism services, acupuncture, infertility.

this could affect all 300 million americans at one point. if it is state controlle controlled, isn't that what republicans wanted? wouldn't they favor this? >> yes, in theory. remember the states also under a loophole in this law, they can specify -- the essential benefits program is going to be exactly what federal employees get. if they specify that the states have a very rich menu of benefits to give to people and guess who pays the bill, federal taxpayer. the obama administration is delaying a political decision but giving the states incentives that if they pick the federal government plan that is out there, the tab, the bill is paid for by washington not by them. this is bait and switch, we don't know what is going to happen. this is another example of why this bill is so unworkable. everyone of them is a political fight. bill: if you lived in washington and i lived in missouri if i

don't like the state plan and i like washington's plan i could move. >> given the cost that may be not something you want to do. right now if you live in new york and you don't have health insurance you get sick, you can automatically get a health insurance policy even though you've been diagnosis wed a life threatening disease. awful these things are complete confusion and the federal government is doing nothing to help us figure it out. bill: you conclude that this is one more more repeat away from this law. >> this is one more example of the obama administration not willing to make the tough decisions because this law is so politically unpopular. this law in the new cbs news poll is down to 29% approval. 50 among democrat, 24% with independents. this is a dog's law that is falling apart. nobody likes this thing and nobody knows how it's going to work. bill: i don't know what you served your dog for this breakfast this morning but it's not the kind of thing you want, i guess, it's not bacon and

eggs. john fund, thank you for coming in. martha: it's a dog's breakfast of a law. i have to remember that. all right, well jeb bush is speaking out. and editorial from the former florida governor has sparked quite a bit of 2012 political chatter this morning, folks. in this piece in the "wall street journal" he says this. have we lost faith in the free market system of entrepreneur alcapitalism? are we no longer willing to place our trust in the creative chaos unleashed by millions of people pursuing their own best economic interests? interesting question from jeb bush this morning, and i'm joined by steve moore who is a senior economic writer at the "wall street journal." good morning. >> hi, martha. martha: a very interesting piece. what did you think of it? >> those questions arnott directed so much at the american people but at barack obama. i think this was a very

important piece we had in the "wall street journal" today, first because it put jeb bush back into the spotlight and boy does the republican party need somebody like that now. it was a direct assault at that speech that you and i talked about a couple of weeks ago that birmingham bam gave, remember the one that he basically said the middle class is stuck and the reason they can't get ahead is because the rich stole all the money, and that the american dream has basically i will lewded the american class. what jeb bush is saying here and i think this is a very important piece is that look, the american dream still exists, this is a count throw that is aspirational. anyone can get rich in this country if they work hard, do the right things. i thought it was very up lifting and i think that is exactly the message, martha that newt gingrich and mitt romney and michelle bachmann and the presidential candidates should be talking about. >> it is curious who he's thinking out to. i know you say he's speaking out to the president. he says we see human tragedy and demand a regulation to plea convenient it. we see criminal fraud and he demand more laws.

we see industry dying and we demand it to be saved. each time we demand do something, anything. we should mention that the right to rise, he says americans are losing the right to rise in the economy and as people and as individuals, which is attributed in the very first line of this editorial by jeb bush to paul ryan, okay. when you look this up on any twitter feed right now you're going to get five or six tweets by very prominent conservatives saying, what about jeb bush? >> no question about it. >> is he flying a trial balloon right now? >> i hope so. look i'm one of these people who says, let's have some new entrance into this race. when you have these people running for president for so long and nobody can get over 25%, i do think there is an appetite for somebody. jeb bush is one of the kind of people that is so well-known around the country, martha, that if he were to get into this race he could win as a right in candidate, it's only four letters, right? i think it's an important

piece. i don't think he's likely to get in the race. there are a lot of people talking about it. what is interesting in the piece he wrote today is he's basically saying the american dream is alive and well in america, that anybody can pull themselves up by their boot straps and that washington, it's washington, rules, regulations, spending and debt that are impeding the path to prosperity and the path to rising income levels in this country. martha: i want to play a little bye of president obama and it goes back to your initial point and we do have it. >> i don't want to go become to the same policies that stacked the deck against middle class americans for way too many years. their philosophy is simple. we are better off when everybody is left to fend for themselves, and play by their own rules. martha: essentially jeb bush is saying, we are. >> yeah, and you know what is interesting about that slip that you just played, i just looked at the statistics mart that, the worse three years for american middle class have been the last three years. that's one of the points i think republican candidates are going

to have to make against barack obama. jeb made it very well today that the policies of obama are what are holding back the middle class. the last 30 years the big story of america over the last 30 years has been upward income mobility where people moved out of the middle class into higher classes. that is not happening right now. right now the middle class is feeling stuck. in fact they've lost income in the last couple of years. martha: you're getting a lot of attention, aned tore kwr-l by jeb bush witan editorial this morning with paul ryan in it. bill: donald trump is blasting president obama in an open letter. this is a hint it was not a christmas ward. what he's saying. martha: phrau plus the amazing story of a soldier coming home from overseas and the kiss that everybody is talking about.

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bill: we want to show ahh special home coming for a u.s. soldier make tpoerg a memorabl ing for a memorable moment. >> they fell in love basically overt internet. bill: there they are, corporal drake francis returning from 13 months in the deserts of afghanistan kissing his girlfriend for the first time. you wonder how could that be, huh. martha: how could that be? >> i and bran brandi were friends before he went to the war zone. they communicated over the internet. their first kid was in front of friends. martha: they kept writing each other love letters, and they were friend. they had that first kiss. i think that was a good one. bill: i think he was looking forward to that. martha: he deserved it that's

for sure. the donald blasting president obama yet again, this time over how he's handling the u.s.'s relationship with china which has been a repetitive note from donald trump and he would say for very good reason. here is part ever a very strong letter from mr. trump here is a quote. how much more money are you going to permit china to take from our economy? isn't $370 billion a year enough? it's time to wake up and realize that china is committing economic terrorism against the united states. you are singl single-handedly allowing numerous countries to detroy our nation and everything that we stand for. we have a fair & balanced debay. karen does he have a point? >> we do have a trade problem with china, obviously. i think that the particular

issue that donald trump is pointing out is -- i don't want to call it insignificant but it's financially and economically much smaller than a lot of the other issues we have with china right now. and one ones if this isn't donald trump once again inserting himself into the public debate as he continues to tees americans with whether or not he's going to run for president. martha: what do you make of it kristen? >> i agree with that. look, i think that it overlooks the fact that we have been in a long-running trade war with china. it ebbs and flows, and sometimes it's better and sometimes it's worse, but it's always been a problem, and china is always retaliating against the united states for something. in this case it looks like they are retaliating because of bush had raised tariff on steel pipes and obama raised them on tires. this is on on going problem. to try to pin it on obama in an extremely disrespectful way by the way, which i think people

would not appreciate a republican president being spoken to that way in a letter. i don't know why he feels even if he has an issue that he can't communicate it in a more civil way. martha: kirstin on your first point i think he would say yes we've had a long, on going trade war with china and it's a huge thing for the u.s. economy in his opinion. mitt romney has been talking about this issue as well, in terms of china and the president's lack of strength on this topic. is this something that you think is going to grab people's attention in a meaningful way in the election, as donald trump has been trying very hard. it's part o >> it's part of the macro-economic policy. what is the u.s. trade policy with china? i don't think anyone could really articulate that. i'm not even sure the obama administration could articulate what is our policy with china

with regard to trade. complicating that is that our u.s. corporations are so multinational and so global now and do so much business in china. we've long since passed the debate of containment versus engagement, we are full on engagement in china financial leave. you've got u.s. businesses lobbying with china against, you know, u.s. members of congress who want to reign in china. so it's very complicated. but what we need is for a candidate out there, a presidential candidate who is going to articulate, here is what our approach to china will be. i would argue that would china is doing to our economy is no worse than what i would argue president obama is doing to our economy by constantly putting up barriers to u.s. businesses, keeping them from growing, and employing more people, and the keystone pipeline is the perfect example of that. can you imagine a u.s. president who would stand in the way of 15-dollar a barrel oil from

canada, and risking that oil going to china? that is a much greater threat to our economy, i think. martha: kristen what do you think about that? >> well, look, i think that the keystone pipeline thing is obviously something republicans are very upset about. a lot of democrats don't have a problem witness. but obama is under a lot of pressure from environmental groups. he's not against the pipeline per se, he just wants to take more time for this review. so i think that, you know, it's a fair point that it would create jobs. but, you know, i think the situation with china is actually -- it is a very -- has a huge impact on the country. it's just that people don't understand i think how difficult it is to deal with china it's not that the obama administration is weak with whine a it's that you cannot order them around. i mean like i said this is own ongoing thing going on for as long as i can present. martha: mitt romney says he doesn't want it to be the decade of china he says if easy elected it will be an american decade and that is something we'll hear

a lot more of from donald trump and all the other gop contenders or voices, on donald trump's part, he doesn't appear to be a contender for the moment. thank you very much. bill: breaking news, hav if you were with us minutes ago you heard speaker boehner say the house will not agree to pass this two-month extension of the payroll tax cut. pwoepbdz is pushing foboehner is pushing for a year extension. senate democrats are hot on fire over this. >> i think we've made it perfectly clear that we believe that a full year extension of the tax cuts are very important. i don't believe the differences between the house and senate are that great. it's time for us to do our work. bill: so on december 19th, watch this come down to a deadline yet again. senate democrats talking about a shakey press conference that john boehner just held saying

that it changed nothing. watch the vote, we expect it later tk or early in the evening, watch it. martha: searching for a missing toddler last seen sleeping in her bed. could a custody dispute be the cause of her disappearance. bill: times are touch but there is a little magic in the air at some k-marts across the country. >> we just wanted to cry. we tried in the line. one of the secret santas handed a lady a hundred dollar bill, she wanted to payoff her layoff. bill: they are making wishes come true. martha: i like that story. isn't that nice? we'll be right back. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements.

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bill: we have new information now on a missing 20-year-old girl -- 20-month-old girl in the state of maine. alia reynolds last seen a sleep in her bed on friday night was reported missing the next day. her mother filed paperwork seeking sole custody of the toddler the day before she disappeared. what do we know about this custody battle? >> reporter: here is what we know. the mother, trista reynolds said she filed the papers for sole custody, hadn't sold the father. the two have been unable to get along and parent together the last few weeks. she says she has had no contact with him since her daughter

vanished. police investigators tell us that despite the fact the parents aren't talking with each other they are cooperating with police, bill. bill: you know, laura we've been trying to figure out the latest on the search. what have you found out in maine? >> reporter: we just got off the phone with state police. they tell us they have canvassed the neighborhood. they are focusing on the stream. they are zeroing on one stream that is an 8th of a mile from the home where she was last seen. f.b.i. and local officials are helping in the search to find this missing girl. state police tell us there were two other adults in the house the night that ailia disappeared. both have been interviewed. she was last seen sleeping inside her father's home in waterville maine saturday night. he called the police in the morning saying she was not in her bed and could not be found. she was last seen wearing a

green, one-piece pajama set with poke ka d pokadots, with daddy's princess on it. she has a soft cast on, she apparently broke her arm a few weeks ago. bill: a cute little girl. thank you for that. martha: the story of this little girl is one of many. last year there were almost 500 32,000 children in this country reported missing from their families. of all the people actively missing nearly half are under the age of 18. about 800,000 children are reported missing every year. frightening. bill: the cheeseheads were hope for perfection, weren't they? they sure were. doing pretty well, but then they went to kansas city, the packers taking on the cheese with a perfect record on the line. did aaron rogers pull it off?

>> shattered dreams of perfection for the green bay packers, a heart break ner kansas city yesterday. unde tpaoetd through 13 games the packers finally taken down by the kansas city chiefs. it is tough to go undefeat ask the miami dole anyone's 19 # three.

snapped a 19 game winning streak, that included a superbowlo super bowl win. kansas city lost five of six before they fired their head coach. if you think you're having a bad day, feel for the packer fans today. martha: doy, i feel for them! all right. well santas coming to the rescue this holiday season, anonymous donors surprising shoppers at local kmarts and buying gifts or paying off layaway debts. i love this story. look at this. >> customers comes in and doesn't know who they are, said that she'd like to help somebody that had layaway and she paid off $500 for somebody that she had no idea, so that the family could have a christmas. you could be having the worst day in the world and go over to the layaway counter and somebody says that -- >> martha: wow i love that story. kmart has had more than 400 cases of that is correct the first tpwhupb michigan. they say they've been spread far and wide, california, even new york. what a great idea. you go