Transcripts For FOXNEWS Happening Now 20101213

box, where the cold on top of all that snow is now making road travel even more treacherous, also making it tough for folks to dig out in places like minneapolis, which you can see in the bottom box, now this fierce storm is heading east. jenna: that's not all, jon. as far as the west, it has its very own weather woes, not a whole lot of snow out there but heavy rain pounding oregon, washington, flood watches now in effect in parts of those two states, as incredible flooding sparks mudslides and fears that more could be on the way. we're all in it together. steve brown is live in illinois with a report on that. steve, what are we hearing about, stranded motorists, in indiana. any ideas on how many? >> reporter: that's the problem, they don't know how many. we're talking about la port county n. the northwest corner of the state, which is traditionally an area that gets pounded by lake effect snow off lake michigan and the sheriff says don't know how many they have stranded but many who were stranded along roadsides in northwest indiana may have been there all night, temperatures certainly weren't very comfortable. we're talking about temperatures in the teens and the windshield factors much lower that. we're told that there are -- they are frantically trying to get folks out of vehicles that might have been in them all night in this minty mix of extremely cold temperatures, high winds and blowing snow, jenna. jenna: that can be a dangerous, scary situation, steve. it looks like as far as air travel, though, what are we seeing in the air? >> it won't be much better traveling by air, and here's why. yesterday, because of wind gusts up to 50 miles an hour yesterday, o'hare international airport, which is kind of weather-prone to closing, canceled almost 1400 flights yesterday, so they're going to be scrambling to get those on board, it wasn't any better south of the city at mid weigh, where they had 300 flights canceled there. because they are major hubs for a number of different airlines, southwest, american airlines, united, that means they're going to have an awful time today trying to get those flights caught up. so if you're heading to the airport for a flight, you might want to check and see if your plane is on time. jenna: steve, how many layers are you wearing out there! >> upper body, four. and i've got more if i need them. gen jen still pretty cold, right? oh man, it looks like the wind is blowing out there. >> yeah, the wind is blowing. i mean, it's tolerable in short stretches but if you're outside for a long time it's not a good idea and that's what they're recommending here, if you're going outside, make it a brief visit outside, or as short as possible. it's not comfortable at all. jenna: thank you for your report and we look forward to seeing some of the stranded drivers get out of the cars and get into some warm spaces in the south. steve, thank you very much, we'll be back to steve as this story doals. wow. jon: tell him to get inside! for more on this powerful storm, let's check in with our meteorologist janice dean in the fox weather center. j. drk, it's not even winter yet and we have to deal with this. >> the next time i see steve, i need to see his hood on and his hat covering his ears because it's freezing out there, steve, i'm going to send you an e-mail and i want to see that hood! you got a good hood on that coat! let's take a look at some of the astonishing totals across the upper midwest, close to 2 feet in parts of minnesota, wisconsin, 22 inches, minneapolis, 17 inches. i want to point out minneapolis, that is a record for any day in december, okay? and i don't know, you guys have seen this video already, but i can't get tired of it. it was -- we're so thankful no one was hurt. have you seen this video of the roof collapse in minneapolis? this is the metrodome. two big holes in this roof on sunday. of course, the vikings were supposed to play. unbelievable. the vikings were supposed to play the giants, and obviously, they can't play, so they're going to be playing in detroit, which has its own weather woes, but i mean, that's just incredible. we're just so glad no one was hurt. and of course, our producer, rachel, says this is god's way of trying to preserve brett farve's regular season running. [laughter] jenna: everyone has a theory, j.d. it looks like pretty my snow there. >> reporter: we're thankful for one was hurt. -- no one of the hurs. they are feeling lake effect snow so it goes on and on and just a tease, guys, we're watching one of the computer models, that kind of forecasts what's to come. we could have a major winter storm hitting the northeast this time next monday. so we're going to keep an eye on that. there's the relate naves of the storm, certainly not the snow total that is we saw over the weekend, and i want to point out that storm across the northwest, bringing flooding concerns. so we've got snow as far south as kentucky and tennessee, atlanta hartsfield, we had snow reported overnight, as well as yesterday, and the cold air is going to be the story, once the storm exits. just want to point out, a bit too warm across the coastal areas of the northeast, with the snow, with you once -- but once the cold air moves eastward, things are going to get mightily chilly. so winter weather advisories across the ohio river valley, blowing snow, wind chill advisories as far south as the gulf coast. these are current temperature, minus 12 international malls, minus three in minneapolis, ten in chicago, nine in green bay. you factor in what it feels like with the wind f. you're not protected, steve! get that hood on" minus 16 is what it meals like, minus four in indianpolis, freeze advisories, i'm not sure why they're not coming up but they extend across portions of texas, all the way across the gulf coast, as you can see there and down into florida, much of florida under a freeze advisory. tonight's lows across florida, it's so cold the temperatures are not coming out, but let me tell you, 23 degrees overnight in orlando, 22 -- 21, rather n. jacksonville. i'm sorry, i got that mixed up. twenty-nine in orlando, 20 in tallahassee, some of the coldest air they've seen thus farks and we're worried about the crops, the oranges and strawberries and all the fun fruits, we're a little concerned about. this is going to continue for the next several nights. jon, back to you. jon: j.d., two things: first of awcialtion rachel our producer says she has to credit one of the vikings with that farve comment, somebody that -- something that somebody tweeted, it wasn't rachel's original thought. and gwen says you look nice. >> that's nice. eight months. jon: and we have you in the studio where it's nice and warm and you don't have to wear a hood. >> i'm on him! he needs that hood up next step. jon: steve, pay attention. j.d., thank you. we love it when our viewers help us tell the stories we are covering. take a look at this photo of the monster storm, this comes from ellen in lacrosse, wisconsin, a pretty cool shot there, cleaning up after the storm. the maybe is probably happy he has his snow blower. if you have video or pictures, send them our way, click on the you report link on the foxnews.com page, e-mail them, also, to you report, at foxnews.com. just remember, keep your hood up! stay safe. do not put yourself in any danger to get a photo or shoot any pictures. jenna: we certainly don't want to cross j.d. with that one, right? no, no. let's check the temperatures in d.c. in just a few hours senators get their very first chance to vote on the tax cut deal. some democrats remain staunchly opposed to the compromise which comes up for its first procedural vote in the senate today but majority whip dick durbin says he has enough votes to move the bill forward, this, as we know, the clock ticks on, a massive tax hike for all americans is set to kick in january 1st if there's no compromise from both the house and senate. today's power play, cries stierwalt is the digital politics editor. we've been talking about hypothetics, without a real bill coming to the fore anywhere. how does being able to see a bill surface in the senate change the dynamics of the conversation for this week? >> well, you're exactly right, jenna, because what we were talking about before was the acstract, made i'd oppose that, maybe i'd oppose that. about 3:00 today, the united states senate, a piece of legislation is going to come forward for a cloture vote which is where you need 60 votes to advance it and let the legislation get going and it looks like not only are there going to be enough democrats from dick durbin's side but enough republicans, too. this legislation is expected to get maybe -- get maybe 75 votes, that is a huge number, a huge consensus for such a -- i would say a controversial vote but in the senate it hasn't proven to be very controversial. what that means in the house, where it is still very controversial, they are going to have to start chewing on this thing and i don't think it's a meal many are looking forward to. jenna: let's say hypothetically they get the bill by later in the week, chris, is this the timeline we're looking for that? >> i think that's right. by thursday, i think the house will probably have to start dealing with this legislation, and they will already know what shape it is today. jenna: so we're getting two different messages, it seems, from house democrats, and the one side, you see some talk of insisting that they modifyo on the bill modifies the estate tax and a few other issues, on the other hand, you also hear from the white house, though, and other high ranking democrats that the bill will eventually pass. so which is it? >> well, you know, it can be both. it can be both. and sometimes, symbolism counts. sometimes, political theater, as pointless as it may seem, counts for how people feel about stuff. you know, what the senate is going to put forward today, jenna, is word for word, the deal that was struck with the white house. there have not been additions including all of the christmas tree ornament that is went on about subsidies and tax extenders and all that other stuff, that was all hashed out with the white house, that's part of the original deal, so the house has to either swallow the whole thing, or, and this is where it gets very interesting, or they can pass their own version. and then force another round of negotiations between the house and the senate. now, we know from talking to senate republicans, if anything is changed, if a hair on the head of this bill is changed, there are plenty of senate republicans who will walk away from the package. so this is high stakes negotiation and like you said, everybody knows there's a huge tax increase looming if they don't get it done. jenna: we'll see what happens as, again, we watch that clock tick down. thank you very much. >> thank you. jenna: you can see chris' power play by logging on to our great politics blog, foxnews.com/aehq. jon: crisis on the korean peninsula. new military drills from south korea beginning this week as the north threatens nuclear war. what it means for our troops who literally are caught in the middle. plus, tragedy for the family of bernie mado. the latest developments on his eldest son's suicide. just ahead. jon: more tension today on the korean peninsula. this is the scoon as the south begins five days of live fire drills and north korea warns the naval exercises could trigger nuclear war on the peninsula. so what does this mean for tens of thousands of u.s. troops who are right there, serving on the border between the two countries? let's talk about it with fox news security analyst former deputy secretary of defense under president reagan, k.t. mcfarland. this is about as belligerent as i've heard north korea, yet. why? >> this is as bad as it's been in the entire 50 years that we've had an armistice agreement. the north koreans are going through a number of things, they've got a general leadership succession it's it's going to be shaky. what this probably is in part the north korean man that's been designated, the young manage, the son of kim jung-il he's trying to show the military generals look, i've got the stuff it takes to be a leader, the other thing, they're probably trying to divert domestically from a disastrous economy and starve oition. what has changed is the relationship of china to north dea. in north korea, they are acting more provocative but china is letting them get away with it. china seems to have their back. this is something that hasn't happened before, and the only country that has any ability really to influence these events is china and china seems either unable or unwilling to step up and keep north korea in check. jon: dennis blair, the director of -- former director of national intelligence, said he predicts a war, a hot war, i mean, some -- the north will keep getting belligerent and south korea, next time they launch shells, south korea is going to have to strike back. >> south korea is in a different position than it was even three weeks ago. it's had a measured response. remember, they sunk the ship, they've had the live fire, the north koreans have. they are pinging and trying to test south korea in a number of different ways. the south korean president has lost 40 percentage points of popularity since this crisis began, the defense minister of south korea was fired in effect, so south korea can't turn the other cheek for this, they have to respond, and the problem is, it's like watching a train wreck in slow motion, jon. we, the united states, we have a mutual defense treaty with south korea. the chinese have more or less the equivalent with the north. so what you could potentially see is a crisis that starts out, knot r north korea, south korea. jon: with a couple of artillery shells. >> that brings in the united states and china. remember, i've been in that zone between north korea and south korea, it's 30 miles from the capitol of seoul. jon: and if the north wants to unload artillery shells on seoul, they've -- >> there's nothing to stop them. jon: they've got it targeted, bracketed, ready to go. >> targeted, bracketed, and it happens in minutes. this could quickly be a train wreck that's in slow motion that could quickly speed up and the terrible thing is that the united states doesn't really have a lot of influence to -- ability to influence events. we've gone to china, we sent someone last week, doesn't seem the chinese want to do anything to calm this down. historically china has been very happy to have this be at a low boil, but what it worries everyone in the region is that it boils over. jon: k.t. mcfarland, good to have you on, thank you. jenna: new details on a failed terror attack in stockholm, why swedish investigators say this could have been far worse and what it means for the future of terrorism as well. missing 12-year-old britney mae smith of virginia, found safe, clear across the country in san francisco. the latest had not her suspected aabductor and his possibly connection to the murder of britney's mom. as we wait for the senate test vote on the tax deal, america is asking what the outcome will mean for your wallets and families, what if it pass, what if it doesn't, what is -- which is not likely but you never know. we want to put your questions to the tax panel later this hour, get on the live chat by clicking the link on the foxnews.com home page or shooting us an e-mail, happening now at foxnews.com. jon and i will see you on the chat during the break. jon: a fox news alert and the top u.s. military officer, admiral mike mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is in baghdad but he is speaking about the possibility of war on the korean peninsula and he says the danger of war or some kind of hostilities there is on the increase. once again, back to k.t. mcfarland, our national security expert here at fox news channel. you said that the location of where north korea decided to provoke these hostilities last time around is very interesting. >> if you look at the map, if you get the map up again, north korea has provoked this crisis in the sea, in an island between korea and china, an area that china claims, like we do have the monroe doctrine, they claim that yellow sea is their territory. north sea could have provoked in the sea of japan, they didn't, they provoked it in the yellow sea. this is forcing china's hand, where is china going to be in all of this. the reason china is important, admiral mullen fingered china and said it's about china's ability to pressure north korea, then the chinese gave north korea more than 75 percent of their fuel, their heating oil and their food, so northie ca -- korea is shivering and starving as they head into the winter months without china's help so the fact that china isn't using that pressure and leverage it has over north korea i think is interesting. the other thing that i would point out is that the chinese have acted more adepressively throughout the world. jon: once again, the danger of war rising on the korean peninsula, so says our top military officer. k.t. mcfarland, again, thank you. jenna: -- >> breakingnous, virginia police are in california at the moment, this after police in san francisco discovered this girl missing roanoke county teen brtny mae smith in california on friday. witnesses there spotted smith outside a store with the man accused in her abduction, 32-year-old jeffrey scott easley. patti an brown is at the breaking news desk with more. >> reporter: that's right, this 12-year-old girl was missing from the east coast and later found on the west coast with her murdered mother's boyfriend. she was interviewed by police yesterday in san francisco. britney mae smith lived with her mother, tina smith, and tina's boyfriend, jeffrey easley, in virginia but on december 6th, the 41-year-old mother was found dead inside her home in ron oak county, her daughter britney and 32-year-old jeffrey were gone. after a nationwide search, jeffrey easley and britney smith were spotted three days ago panhandling outside a safeway in san francisco. easley was arrested and police say they consider him a very good suspect in the death of britney's mother, tina. britney's great aunt, lois chaukette, told local reporters she met jeffrey for the first time on thanksgiving and did not like his behavior around the 12-year-old girl, she said, quote, he was touching her hair and hands and just gazing at her. it was just gross. the aunt says she actually called child protective services and an abuse hotline multiple times but no one called back. she also says she expressed concerns to tina. easley is now charged with felony abduction, attempted credit card fraud and credit card larceny, but detectives say with britney is safe, they will now turning their attention to the murder investigation of her mother, tina smith, for whom services were held over the weekend. police are giving no details about their investigation or attempts to extradite easley to virginia or arrangements for where britney will live once she comes home to the east coast but her father and her relatives say they are le -- reef lead she's live and healthy after fearing the worst for a week, jon. jon: patti an brown at the breaking news desk, thank you. jenna: police now say hum cried bomber who blew himself up in stockholm was carrying explosives. the swedish citizen intended to hit a crowded area like a train station or maybe even a department store, about one of the bombs went off by mistake before he actually reached his target. that's what they say now. well, last night british police searched a louse in luden, outside of london where the bomber lives, but no hazardous materials were found at the property, so the story is continuing to develop. peter newman is a terrorism expert at king's college in london. so peter, what are your thoughts about what is in front of us now? is this a single man, acting out, or is this a broader plot, part of a broader organization? >> well, the prosecutors this morning said this morning that he thought other people were involved, and it certainly seems to have been quite a well-prepared operation. it was not very well executed, but was quite well-prepared. we also know some of the information that was given to us, that the attacker had actually gone to a training camp in pakistan. that means it would have been coordinated at least, or he would have been trained, he would have been in touch with or people. so i think there's more to come. my strong suspicion is that there are other people to be found that have something to do with this. jenna: talk to us about the profile of this man. he was a swedish citizen as of 1992, so he came to europe as a young man, he lived in england for ten years during this time, and as we just mentioned, his latest residence was in the u.k. do you think he was always part of a maybe more radical group or did he get radicalized along the way? what's happening, do you think? >> i think we'll have to find out a little bit more about him, but i find it quite striking, he was born in iraq, he emigrated to sweden in 1992, he then went to the u.k. in order to study, and if it turns out that once again there is someone who was radicalized in the u.k., in britain, then went to another country and started engaging in terrorism, that would be very embarrassing for british authorities, once again, because once again, it seems like britain was exporting this kind of terrorism to other countries, and we now know from his facebook page that he was very much involved in islamic radicalism, that he was supporting a number of very extreme web pages, that he was active in chat forums and so on, so the picture is getting denser and it seems almost like a typical trajectory for these islamic extremists we've seen in the past few years. jenna: pick up on that pattern because we've heard this before, where would-be terrorists go to england, they're schooled in universities there. what's happening there, what's happening in the u.k. that we're actually seeing this pattern? >> in the u.k., up until 2005, '06, there used to be a very active islamic extremist scene, and british authorities were not really clamping down on that, they thought that by allowing this to happen, they would actually protect their own country, because these people would not attack the hand that was feeding then. of course, this calculation turned out to be tragically wrong on july 7, 2005, when london was attacked. only then did the british authorities start to crack down on islamic radicalism. but of course, a lot of the people that had been radicalized beforehand are still now active, and they are still responsible for much of the terrorism that is happening in europe and in western countries. so this is really the legacy of a very bad policy. jenna: quickly, how many of them are there? >> well, you know, at some point, one of the most radical clerics in london was attracting a couple thousand people to his sermons in london, so there may be a lot more out there. jenna: very fascinating, peter, always great to have your insight, peter neumann, king's college in london. thank you sir. jon: it is one of the most controversial provisions of the health care overhaul plan, the mandate that americans must buy insurance or face fines if they don't. a judge in virginia, set to rule on a major constitutional challenge to the new law on that basis. the judge's decision, expected at any moment. our live chat is heating up. we want to hear your questions about the tax cut deal and what it could mean for your family. the senate, about to hold its first vote on the proposal today. any questions you have, send them to us, we'll get them to our guest. get on the live chat on foxnews.com, on the home page there, or shoot us an e-mail, happening now at foxnews.com. jon: right now we are waiting for a major ruling on the new health care law as a federal judge gets ready to rule on virginia's legal challenge to it. at issue, whether it is constitutional to mandate that americans must buy health insurance or else pay a penalty. shannon bream is live in richmond, virginia. so the implications, shannon, of today's ruling, what are they? >> reporter: well, you know, this case, jon, of course is here in virginia but it could impact every american across the entire country. any moment now we could get that ruling from judge henry hudson, a federal judge in the eastern district of virginia. we'll see whether he buys the argument by the attorney general ken cuccinelli that a mandate contained in the health care legislation, that that actually is unconstitutional. he says the government shouldn't be able to item you that you have to buy anything, if it's health care, then what's next, cars, other kinds of insurance? he has argued all along against it. we'll see what the judge has to say shortly. of course this is expected to go straight to the supreme court, here in the eastern district, it's referred to as the rocket docket because of the ability of process cases -- cases so quickly. regardless of who wins or loses we can expect it to go to the fourth circuit within a year or two where the judges will decide how to weigh in on this particular case. of course, there are lawsuits involving 21 other states, any one of those could also end up at the supreme court as well. we'll wait and see. tomorrow, there's a hearing in florida for the case pending there, and in all, really, at the bottom line, it's all about that individual mandate in most of these cases. judge henry hudson, man of the hour, we'll hear from him, and that could come at any moment in virginia. jon: you say the case could go quickly to the supreme court. how quickly? >> reporter: it could get there within a year or two. as i mentioned, it's no mistake it was originally filed in the rocket docket, one of the fastest if not the fastest federal courts at the district level in the entire country. the folks behind it knew that and knew it could proceed quickly. so really within a year or two it could get there. the justices get thousands of appeals each year so no word on whether or not they'd take it but it could be there in short order, jon. jon: shannon bream live in virginia, thank you very important story that we've been watching over the last several weeks, admiral mike mullen speaking to the troops in baghdad today, saying the danger of war or hostility in the korean peninsula is rising. he is, as you see on your screen, joint chief of staff chairman and is saying that north korea has raised the ante in its aggression against south korea, he went on to say, it's the tit for tat patter has changed and he says the north's provocations are tied to preparation of the leader, kim jung-il's son to take power. we were speaking with k.t. mcfarland, one of our national security advisers and she said this time of year is particularly important, jon, because it's around the holidays and north korea has a tendency to kind of poke and prod right around this time of year. a developing story, one we're going to be watching very closely as the hour goes by. jon. jon: well, democrats say they have enough votes to move the tax cut deal forward. the first vote in the senate, expected just a few hours from now. that could set up a bigger battle in the house over the estate tax provision. some economists warn cuts in your payroll tax now could end up jeopardizing your social security benefits in the future. let's talk about it with ryan mcconaughey at third way, curtis dubay is tax policy analyst with the heritage foundation. welcome to both of you. a lot of argument over this estate tax. for those people who die this year in 2010, there is no estate tax. it was 55 percent last year, right? go ahead, curtis. >> go ahead, ryan. >> for 2010, there is no death tax. the 2001, 2003 tax cuts saved us the death tax and eliminated it starting in 2010. the lat year we had a death tax was 2009, it was 45 percent with a $3.5 million exemption. jon: ryan, a lot of our viewers are weighing on this, here's a comment from bee, who says -- i'm sorry, brian pittman says why do we tax the dead? in essence, you paid taxes all your life, you amass some amount of money, a piece of land, a business, whatever, why is the government allowed to tax it after you die? >> well, i think, first of all, anybody who's wrestling with the fact that they have to account for the estate tax has what we generally call a good problem but nationally we have problems that are not good problems and those are the decifit and economic growth, and unfortunately, with our decifit, we can't necessarily afford to have a tax break to let capital sit idle and simply be passed down. let's be clear, this isn't just about soaking the rich. the estate tax doesn't keep paris hilton from having a roof over her head or a second or thir and that's fine, but what it does is it keeps money out of the economy that could be flowing into other areas. jon: it's not just about the paris hiltons of the world. i've got an uncle that farms in nebraska, there's plenty of ground in nebraska that, you know, family farms, that are worth more than a million dollars when a person dies, and if the government gets 55 percent of that, or 35 percent of that, the family has to break up the land. >> well, the current exemption they're talking about is more like a $5 million level and if you look, it's less than one quarter of 1 percent of taxpayers, you're talking between four and 6000 taxpayers. jon: so is that a good thing? >> what it is, you have a disproportionate benefit when in fact we have massive fiscal needs in this country and if we don't do something to address our decifit we're going to crimp down growth and foreclose opportunity for people of all income classes. so if you look at the bang for the buck, the estate tax does not give us good bang for the buck, a repeal of it. jon: all right. the repeal of it, all right. curtis, if the decifit is the problem, is more taxation the answer? >> let's put things in perspective here. the death tax raises less than 1 percent of all federal tax revenues and has a disproportionate impact on the economy. it's not the rich who end up paying the death tax. they can afford to plan their way out of itful think of someone like warren buffet, a proponent of the death tax, he's not going to pay a dime of it, he's going to hand his fortune over to the bill and melinda gates foundation, tax-free, then put the rest of the money in foundations the chirp run, so they're going to be taken care of, so he's planned his way out of it. estate tax is the scourge of small businesses, businesses that acquire capital, assets, things like a sthawl construction company and the equipment they use, when the patron of that dice, the irs comes in and values that equipment as part of the estate and often, they are hit with a pretty large estate tax bill and they don't have the cash on hand to pay it, and these businesses, when they get hit, they have to be broken up and it slows economic growth. jon: we are going to see what the senate does. we are told there is likely to be a vote today and the death tax will be part of it. gentlemen, thank you for being with us. >> take care. >> thank you. jenna: the death of bernie madoff's oldest son officially ruled a suicide this weekend, but we have a brand new twist breaking moments ago and a live report from new york, coming up next. also, teen star miley cyrus, now saying the drug she is smoking in this video is a hallucinogen. but get this, it's legal. we'll look at the dangers of using it. what is this drug? coming up. jenna: some brand new information in the suicide of bernie madoff's son mark. adam shap shapiro has the breaking details. >> it's been more than 24 hours since the new york city medical examiner actually ruled the death of mark madoff a suicide, yet nobody has claimed mark madoff's body as of yet and sources indicate there is a discussion ongoing with the madoff family as to whether there's actually going to be funeral service. a lot of people wondering if bernie madoff would be allowed to attend a funeral service if one is eventually scheduled. different sides of this, judge napolitano from fox saying there is no constitutional right that says an inmate who is incarcerated has the right to attend the funeral service of a family member. the bureau of prison services says bernie madoff has not requested to attend a funeral service, as none has been scheduled as of yet. that's the latest on what's happening on that side of it. the other issue has to do, again, with mark madoff, the family not claiming his body as of yet, his wife, releasing, of course, some of the e-mails that we now know he sent to her just before taking his own life and in one of those e-mails actually saying that nobody wants to hear the truth. as for the civil lawsuits against mr. madoff, mark madoff, those will proceed, they will now be against his estate, jenna. jenna: adam shapiro on that breaking story, adam, thank you. jon: some new concerns about over video first released by the website tmz, it shows teen queen miley cyrus smoking a bong filled with something, supposedly, called sal via, a la newsna again, member of the mint family and produces an intense high, similar to marijuana or lsd, but in california and some other states, it is legal. at least 15 states have actually banned the stuff, tmz reports sails of sal via tripled since the video was released, the california state lawmaker, who has been trying for years to get this herbal product outlawed, said it was irresponsible for miley to smoke it. first of all, let's talk about it with dr. marc siegl, member of the fox medical a team and fox news contributor. we don't know that it was salvia. it is legal in california, so she may have been smoking something else and called it salvia. >> look, miley cyrus is a role model to my daughter and everybody else and the last thing we need is her smoking anything and everyone thinking it's salvia. it's legal in california but 15 states have banned it and california is trying to ban it and the u.s. drug enforcement agency has concerns about this. it's not pot. it affects on opiate receptor in the brain, not what hair wane does, another one -- heroin does. it can make you feel uncomfortable, fee like laughing, most importantly, it can cause you to hallucinate and see colors differently. we don't want people behind the wheel of a car, we don't want people being impaired. >> it's not safe, even though it's a plant? >> i don't think so. it's been around for centuries, mexicoan shawmen have used it for religious ceremonies. i don't think it should be in general use. it gives you a rapid high so it can affect you within ten minutes, before you know what you're doing, you are seeing colors or something different. it's a real rush. doesn't work in 10 percent of people but # on percent, it does work. for some people, it can really impair them and they just can't function. this isn't what we need our role models doing. i don't know if it was salvia or whether or not it wasn't. it's not a good thing. >> even her father, billy ray sent out a tweet apologize, saying he doesn't have any control over the kid at moment. >> my daughter says get her back on disney and the heck with all this stuff. jon: drsm marc siegl, thank you. >> thank you jon. jenna: it's been 15 years since they hosted a major sporting event and it started coming down last month but philly's specter is proving too much for a wrecking ball. the effort to bring down the stadium, coming up. jenna: "happen position now", a whole lot of shopping going on and a whole lot of shipping as well. in fact, fedex says today is the busiest day of the whole year for the company, and just how busy may tell us something about the health of the u.s. economy right now. jonathan serrie is live in atlanta. so jonathan, what are the numbers telling us? >>well, fedex attributes the numbers to the continued growth of e commerce, increasingly, americans are bypassing the department store, instead, ordering online. and letting the online retailers take care of all the shipping. many of them are offering deep discounts or even free shipping these days, and because shipping deadlines and methods vary, activity peaked on different days for different shippers. take a look at this list, fedex expects, of course, today will not only be the busiest day of the year but also in the company history, shipping a total of 16 million packages. the u.s. postal service, although its reported volume, down in recent years, it's still by far the biggest player. the u.s. postal service anticipates that december 20th will be its busiest day, handling 800 million cards, letters and packages, and atlanta-based ups predicts that its busiest day of the year will be on december 22nd, handling 24 million items, and that is an increase over what ups experienced last year, jenna. jenna: that's a whole lot of different packages, hope some of them are coming for you and jon, because we need a few good ones! what's it mean for jobs? that's the thing a lot of our viewers are talking about. does it mean maybe if you look at the forecast we might see a pickup in jobs as people are shopping and shipping and doing all that? >> at least temporary jobs. many -- these companies and agencies hire additional workers to handle the increased volume. ups reports that it hired 50,000 seasonal workers to handle the season that runs from thanksgiving through christmas eve. fedex does not release figures on seasonal hires. then the u.s. postal service, which normally hires large numbers of people po handle the increased volume, it says that it's bound by a nation wide hiring freeze this year, and so for 2010, seasonal employment is not a significant factor for the u.s. postal service. so sort of a mixed bag there jenna. jenna: we hope some of those seasonal jobs or some of those companies become permanent. thank you very much for that report. check the mail, let me know! jon: -- jon: packages for me, is there something you know or are not telling me? >> this is one of my favorite stories of the day. remember three weeks ago? >> jenna: how could i forget. jon: the demolition spectrum we thought they are going to reduce this to dust. this is the arena in philadelphia where the flyers won a couple of stanley cups, dr. j. held court. this is what they did, they knocked a hole in the wall, broke a window and knocked a hole in that awning thing. jen a little anticlimactic. jon: so a couple of weeks ago, i'm going to lincoln financial field, next to the spectrum and i look up at the spectrum and what do i see? it hasn't really visibly changed. there's a hole in the wall and they broke a window. jenna: it just won't go down. jon: it won't. it's a legendary arena t. won't go down. the folks doing the demolition say they're actually doing stuff on the inside but as i was leaving the game in the dark of night, the lights were still on in the lobby. jenna: they're taking their time. maybe temporary jobs there, too. jon: the spectrum will fall one of these days. jenna: in the meantime we're keeping a close eye on the weather in this area of the country, wicked weather, coast to coast. the latest on that story, just ahead. (announcer) energy security. climate protection. challenges as vast as the space race a generation ago. and tal to global security. to reach this destination, our engineers are exploring everyossibility. from energy efficiency to climate monitoring. securing our nations clean energyuture is all a question of how. and it is the how that will make all the difference. jon: we hope you are having a great monday. jenna: it's a good way to start off a week, it's close to christmas. jon: if my voice will holdout i will conclude a great day. i'm jon scott. jenna: i'm jenna lee. all on "happening now" a few big stories. jon: capitol hill, it sets up a showdown between the house and senate. jenna: fox team coverage with carl cameron covering all the action on capitol hill, bret baier with us taking us behind the scenes, taking us to the big pweur if you will. jon: we are waiting for the senate that will limit debate on the tax bill clearing the way for final approval or a final vote by the senate. let's check in with carl cameron. are there enough -- enough votes to clear the first hurdle here, carl. >> reporter: it appears as if there are. lassen at vote is largely procedural. what you've been seeing the past few days is not part of the formal debate. today will formally begin the debate on the senate floor. it will not last very long. it's going to start at 3:00, and it could go several hours. we have lawmakers returning to washington, because of blizzards, their planes could be delayed. it could be a while. the 60-vote threshold is believed to be able to be met. this is something that has essentially been resolved. we could see final passage perhaps as soon as tomorrow or thursday. the democratic leader of the senate has acknowledged this even though the democrats have big objections and the republicans are grinning and waiting to cast their votes and they hope to send it over to the house as soon as wednesday. jon: we know this thing has a better chance of passing in the senate. what about the house? >> reporter: the house last week said that they weren't even going to discuss or even formally debate the plan that the president had negotiated with the republicans. that has changed dramatically. they are pretty much in full retreat. earlier this morning the number two in the house, the majority leader right now, steny hoyer essentially said they are going to pass it. yesterday on fox news sunday the speaker's deputy, mr. van holland of maryland that democratting would like to be addressed in the house, estate tax, it's pretty much done there too. >> there is much consternation in the house about the state tax. i expect there to be some consideration of that. i think we will pass a bill. i think that was part of your question. i think we will pass a bill as opposed to simply not passing anything. >> we are not going to hold this thing up at the end of the day. we do think that simple question should be put to the test. >> reporter: that simple question is how do they fix the estate tax. right now the proposal calls fear 35% tox on inheritance over $5 million. republicans would like to make it a bigger tax, 40, 45 on inheritance as small as 4 oeupb $2 million. democrats said absolutely not. on their said pushing back no less than president obama, and joe biden, they say it's a pretty much all or nothing proposal. and you have the democrats acknowledging it will come out as early as this week, jon. jenna: we'll bring ph bret baier, we have breaking news for you, i'm going to read the headline for you and get reaction. the u.s. judge rules obama healthcare law and challenge brought by the state of virginia. give us a little background and what exactly this means. >> reporter: this is the attorney general's challenge to the constitutional mandate and whether the mandate in the healthcare law is constitutional. the attorney general of virginia took this suit forward in federal court, and now with this ruling, it is a big deal. this is essentially how opponents of the healthcare law believe that the law itself will begin to unravel, is the court challenge. obviously you have the things on capitol hill and republicans when they take control will try to unravel the funding of the healthcare law, but this challenge deals with the constitutionality of the mandate, saying everyone must buy health insurance. now, what is interesting to see is what develops over the next few hours, and what comes out of the white house, and the department of justice, who have been fighting this in court. the fact that the virginia judge in the federal district court has ruled this way, it will be appealed by the department of justice. now the attorney general of virginia wants the white house to step in annex pa diet this is process and get it to the u.s. supreme court quickly so they can deal with this issue. it's the same issue that is being fought in a florida district court as well. jenna: as this is just break i'm looking at a 42-page ruling. we have a lot of information to get to. talk to us a little bit about the symbolism. the obama administration we will i put healthcare reform out there as a big part of their agenda. obviously there are proponents and opponents of it. symbolically go back again to what the challenge means and when you talk about this potentially unraveling. what would that mean for this administration. >> reporter: if it is unconstitutional to have a mandate, that you must buy health insurance, this law falls apart. this mandate doesn't start until 2014. as you know the law it goes in staggered implementation. so the whole thing starts up in earnest in 2014. if it's ruled and upheld that it's unconstitutional to have this mandated purchase of health insurance, then you have a situation where it can't -- it's essentially and you unfunded mandate. it doesn't sustain itself, and it comes apart at the seams. this is a big, big ruling and it would be challenged all the way up to the supreme court, and we expect eventually the supreme court will have to deal with this. this is a huge event in the evolution of this legal challenge, and digesting this not only for this virginia court, but the florida fight as well will maybe expedite it to the u.s. supreme court which will make the final ruling on this. by the way, very quickly, the department of justice who is fighting this, they are saying this is in essence a tax, which is something president obama has said the mandate was not. jenna: that's part of the ruling. we'll look through it a little bit more. stand by. we have greta sitting by, jon. jon: the attorney general of the state of virginia is a effect guest of greta on on the record, her program, greta of course an attorney herself and she joins us now. he has to be filing right now, greta. >> reporter: i haven't met with him, i just read the decision and it certainly is fascinating to this virginia law, what it is is actually 1501 of the act commonly known as the mini sepbgs alcoverage provision has been declared unconstitutional. what it means is -- for the larger picture is that it has to do with the commerce clause which of course is one of the allegations in the florida case. the 20 states there have alleged that the federal government exceeded it's commerce clause power. what the judge said here is this is not economic activity. forcing someone to buy something is not economic activity which is what the federal government could regulate if it were economic activity -p he's granted declare torrey relief not injunctive relief. the reason for that is this, he has declared 1501 unconstitutional and that the state law of virginia will apply to have, because this is the station that relates only to the state of virginia. but he has not issued and injunction, the judge because there is simply no huge rush. this is not -- they don't expect that 1501 would go into effect until about the year 2013 and there are several stages that a judge must consider, several tests before you issue and injunctive relief. this is declare torrey relief. it has the same effect. he has declared 1501 as it relates to the state of virginia is unconstitutional that the federal government, the united states congress does not have authority under the commerce clause. one of the interesting things is whether or not the federal government would ever have authority to do this under the tax clause of the constitution, because the government can tax you. they have consistently called this, the people who passed this as not a tax, and sort of the interesting legal significance about whether it's tax and spending despite the fact that whether the federal government has the authority to do it, but a tax is something that you must pay first before you can appeal. so that's why all the battling over the term, tax, and now of course the lawyers in the attorney general's office and the department of justice want this to be called a tax because they are going to have to buy the mandate and go after their money later. the fact that it's not a tax means it can be decided right now. that is sort of an interesting word fight that they've had. the legislators didn't want to call it a tax because they didn't want to tell the american people they were raising their taxes. the lawyers went into court, they sudden lie wanted to call it a tasuddenly called it a taxt the federal government demanded that americans buy something, right. >> reporter: that's true. the the question was if you're requiring someone to buy something, is that economic activity? and the federal judge, judge henry hudson here in richmond, virginia said no it is not, which is why the federal government has no authority under his ruling, has no authority to require the people in the state of virginia to buy this mandate. now, the other sort of interesting aspect of the case is the severability clause. he didn't declare the whole statute unconstitutional. he declared 1501 the individual mandate unconstitutional. that means the rest of the statute still stands under this particular ruling at this level of the court. but as a practical matter 1501 is what funded the entire healthcare bill or most of the healthcare bill, so if that is gutted. if that's held up at the fourth circuit and eventually con to the supreme court, if the supreme court says 1501 is unconstitutional that means there is no funding for the healthcare. that's why all the attention is on this particular provision by sides the individual rights and liberties aspects that many people object to. jon: i know you have a lot of phone calls to make to book guests for your show. it's good of you to spend time with us today. on the record runs 10:00pm eastern time this evening. you know she'll be all over this ruling from this federal judge. jenna: more than 50 members of the house urging speaker pelosi to fight the new tax compromise. i wonder if this development affects the news that we're seeing in d.c. as well. we'll talk to a democrat who is putting hits name on the line. washington congressman adam smith says he would vote against the bill as is. we'll find out why and what it would take to actually change his mind if anything. a new website who rates students on their looks sparking an uproar at a top university. we'll have a live report on that controversy, coming right up. [ sneezes ] client's here. whoa! that achy cold needs alka-seltzer plus! it rushes multiple cold fighters, plus a powerful pain reliever, wherever you need it! [ both ] ♪ oh what a relief it is! naturally colorful vegetables are often a good source of vitamins, fiber, or minerals. and who brings you more natural colors than campbell's condensed soups? campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ jenna: a major development in healthcare reform with a judge in virginia ruling parts of the healthcare reform legislation unconstitutional, specifically the part that requires all citizens to have health insurance by 2014 or face a federal crime. the judge in this case, judge henry hudson says that the government cannot actually force a citizen to go ahead and have to purchase health insurance. we are kind of glossing over it. there are a lot of different parts to this ruling that we are going to dig deeper with as the hour goes on. two things to consider, one is the fact that there are dozens of cases like the case in virginia happening across the country. the question we have does this set a precedent moving forward for some of the other challenges from other s states versus the federal government. the other question is, if this part of healthcare somehow is taken away, that the person does not have to purchase health insurance, that that is unconstitutional does that strip away the funding for healthcare reform overall? big questions, big news today on healthcare reform. we'll stay on it. bring you more news as it develops. jon: there is a new website out of boston university that is stirring up all kinds of controversy. it allows users to rate the attractiveness of their classmates. molly line is live in our boston bureau. how does the site work, first of all molly and what do the students say about it. >> reporter: it's called rate bu.com. you can log on and rate your own classmates. the participants can upload the photos, most of them are being uploaded from facebook. participants determine which of a pair of pictures that pops up is the quote unquote hottest. there are more than 900 girls pictured so far. they added guys last week after calls for action on that. and it essentially shows just the top 25 ranked. if you're number 600 or 700 you won't be ranked, your picture pops up, people will vote, but the reaction has been pretty mixed on campus. >> it's disgusting. >> yeah it's really degrading. >> i hate it. i'm embarrassed i go to the u that somebody would make that. i can't speak nor harshly about it. >> reporter: other students like this site, millions of votes have been cast so far. the creator, a sophomore student is honoring requesting of anyone who wants to take their photo down. thus far he hasn't been threatened with any serious legal allegations. he thinks it will be popping up at other schools. >> i've had a lot of requests from other schools that are interested. it will be expanding to other schools, and there is potential to make some money. >> reporter: attorney and victims' rights advocate wendy murphy says she believes there could be a harassment element and boston university has a responsible to spel step into t. it's a bu address. the school says they don't control the site, they didn't create the site. they are urging students to respect each other and act responsibly. jon: it oupbdz lik sounds like t of the opening scene of the facebook movie "social network." >> reporter: that's where he got the idea for this. jenna: why are people marching in support of this slain drug lord? also one of the worst blizzards in years bearing down on the midwest. the new problems popping up today because of this big storm. we'll bring you an update just ahead. i'm off to the post offic.. ok. uh, a little help... oh! you know shipping is a lot easier with priority mail flat rate boxes. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus, you can print and pay for postage online. and i can pick them up for free with package pickup. perfect! cause i'm gonna need a lot of those. wow! i knew i should have brought my sleigh. priority mal flat rate shipping starts at $4.90 only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. jon: breaking new a huge ruling out of a federal judge in virginia that could affect every single person in this country when it comes to the president's healthcare reform plans. a judge hudson there in virginia rules that the individual mandate, the requirement that you will have to buy health insurance, pay for health insurance, or face some kind of a federal fine, that is unconstitutional, according to judge henry e. hudson. his 42-page ruling is just out. we've already got even some information out of the white house that suggests they are not too concerned about this ruling. they are saying at the white house that the case does not block this ruling does not block other provisions of the law. now the plaintiffs dispute that. the attorney general for the state of virginia, who filed this lawsuit, he and others say that is not the case, but the way the white house sees this, this is not the defeat that some others would have it be. again, get ready to argue healthcare all over again. this thing is likely to end up in the u.s. supreme court, and it's just one of many suits filed against the president's healthcare reform plans. once again judge henry hudson ruling that the individual mandate, the requirement that you have to buy health insurance is not in line with the requirements of the u.s. constitution. jenna: other big news around the country. take a look at some of the live pictures from carnation, washington where massive flooding is causing headaches across the region there. a major snowstorm mounding the midwest as well stretching from north dakota to the great lakes. i wish i could tell you more about what we were just looking at. i'm not sure exactly ha that was. jon: we are looking at cold, that's for sure. jenna: the massive storm dumping up to 2 feet of no in some areas. frigid cold temperatures are sweeping through the region. janice dean is back with us. doesn't seem it will go away fast enough j.d. >> reporter: i'm glad you pointed out the flooding concerns in the midwest. i know we are focused on all of the cold and the snow in the midwest. the folks in the northwest are seeing storm, after storm, after storm and flooding concerns across coastal regions of oregon, as well as, you know, portland as well. portland oregon and seattle washington getting pounded with many storms and a new storm moving in this weekend. some of the video we are getting in out of carnation, all of the rivers are cresting from the incredible amounts of rain they've got even in the past few weeks, but we are expecting more rain in the forecast. this is kind of an untold story the northwest, because we are so focused especially on the upper midwest because of the incredible record-breaking snow. and also, guys, we are getting unconfirmed reports of deaths around the detroit area because of snow shoveling. so people are really urged to be very careful when it comes to shoveling. we should get our medical aid team to talk about some of the concerns that you have with outdoor activities like shoveling incredible amounts of snow. so, temperatures just frigid. another story, this is dangerous, dangerous temperatures, arctic air flowing as far south as florida. that's our air temperature, zero in minneapolis where they had the record breaking snow. 11 in green bay, 12 in chicago. what it feels like if you're not protected because of the winds, the cold air flowing there canada feels like minus 13 in minneapolis, minus 5 in chicago. a lot of stories we are following in the fox weather center. we could be dealing with a snowstorm in the northeast early next week. jenna: thank you so much. jon: what was supposed to be a peace march takes an and you expected turn in mexico when ralliers turn the event into a show of support for a dead, drug king pin. the federal police gunned down the leader of the cartel la familia last week. he was known in the community for handing out bibles in the poor and inch doctrine naturing gang members in a pseudochristian ideology. drug cartels opening fire on each other during a religious festival. 11 people died. festival-goers ran for their ves. one gunman lobed a grenade into the crowd. jenna: if you were watching football you might have seen the jets dolphins game. if you didn't you've got to look at this. see that guy goes downment a dolphin player running back in bounds is tripped by a jets' assistant coach along the side lines. sal alosi is that coach. he admitted he tripped him on purpose, no word on any discipline or charges he could face from the league. the league will review the tape. what do you think should happen to the coach. weigh in by going to foxnews.com. click on the you decide link. you can make your pick. you can see how other folks are voting as well. that is not good sportsmanship. jon: always a rivalry but they ought to settle it on the field. jenna: can you imagine in i tripped you going to set. jon: and you could do it too. brand-new revelations from wikileaks about what the russians send to venezuela's hugo chavez. it is just what washington was trying to keep this guy from getting his hands on. also, democrats speaking out against the president's deal on tax cuts. one of them is congressman adam smith of washington. could he get on board? we'll ask them. and the new battleground for america's war against mexican drug cartels. >> x just landed at a secret military base in northern guatemala where special tpo*ersess are being trained to fight the drug cartels. we'll take you there after the break. i have asthma. and en my symptoms came back i'd get this tightness in my chest. so i went back to my doctor again. we chose symbicort to help control my asthma symptoms all day and night. [ man ] symbicort improves my lung function, starting within 15 minutes. symbicort will not replace a rescue inhaler startifor sudden symptoms.. it is a combination of two medicines and should not be taken more often than prescribed. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems, and children and adolescents may have an increased risk of being hospitalized for asthma problems. symbicort not for people whosasthma is well controlled wi a long-term asthma control medicine like haled corticosteroids. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop symbicort without loss of control, andrescribe a long-term asthma control medicine. be sure to see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. symbicort is a good choice to help control my asthma all day and night. [ inhales ] [ exhales ] ask your doctor if symbicort is a good choice for you. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford yr medication, astzeneca may be able to help. jon: a huge disprition a federal judge who's been examining the health care law, brought by the attorney general of that state, the judge ruled that requiring people to buy insurance, which is one of the foundations of this new health care law as proposed a unconstitutional. let's talk about it with a fox news contributor, a former civil rights judge as well, myrrh said he's colwin. are you surprised? >> i was not surprised. i got a copy of the decision, i read through it pretty much and he basically said it is unconstitutional. you are stretching the commerce clause beyond what the constitution stands for. in fact the u.s. supreme court talks about what it means to be engaged in commerce. it is the production, distribution, and consumption of commodities. there's no economic activity being triggered by the individual mandate. in fact judge huspen -- hudson harkens back to where he writes the individual mandate applies across the board, people have no choice, particulars not based on an activity that they make the choice, rather, it is based solely on citizenship and being alive. well, that's why it's so critical that this judge hudson analyze judge vincent in that other case in florida, said this is unconstitutional, because as an individual, you're not partaking, you're being told, being required to take an activity that's unconstitutional. jon: our mike emanuel has been talking to some in the administration, they say this doesn't affect anything, even if this part goes down, the rest of it goes into effect but ken cuch kneelie of virginia who brought the lawsuit disagrees, he says if you don't have the individual mandate, if you don't have everybody in the country buying into the pool under government order, the whole thing falls apart. >> that's exactly right. that's an excellent point, jon. this is a huge crater into the federal mandate that takes place in 2014. it is, because there's no constitutionality for it. there are 25 lawsuits across the nation, we know judge hudson, judge vincent, there are other judges that are going to follow suit. it's common sense to say this individual mandate is within the commerce clause, it simply does not, it's unconstitutional, when we start to see the federal judges are taking that stance, and ultimately, like you said earlier in the program, the u.s. supreme court is going to be the deciding party at this point. jon: but that could be a year away, mercedes colwin, thank you. >> thanks jon. jenna: congressman adam smith, democrat in the armed services committee and intelligence committee, he signed a letter opposing the tax deal and we're going to talk about the tax deal in a moment, congressman, but just your reaction to this ruling out of virginia today. >> well, i think the first thing you said, this is ultimately going to be decided by the supreme court and until it gets there, this really doesn't impact the law. now, i will say that if the individual mandate is possed -- tossed out i think it would have a profound effect on the law. jenna: so you are heading into a new congress come january, there's been a lot of murmurs from some of the tea party-backed republicans that have been elected they're going to go after the health care bill. what do you expect to save come january when it comes to health care? >> the bill is going to be reformed, no matter what, i think just about everybody in congress recognizes there's a lot of changes that are going to be made. the question is what. thus far, the republican house has not said they're going to completely repeal it, nor have they said what they're going to do to it so i think that's going to be the first thing to look for, what does the republican house decide to do on health care reform. they've not yet made that clear. jenna: that's a good point. the republicans have made it clear what they'd like to see in this tax compromise bill that is in front of senate today and maybe the house by later on this week. why is it so important to you that this bill, as it stands, doesn't pass? >> well, two things: one, i care about the decifit. you know, we just went through an election where people were talking continually about the decifit and the debt, about the legacy we were leaving to our children and grandchildren. as i pointed out, forget the chiropractor and grandchildren for the moment, this is two, three, four, five years down the road, it's going to affect almost all of us right now. the size of the decifit, the size of the debt are of a profound concern, and the first thing we're going to on do after that election is add $900 billion to the enormous debt and decifit. that's number one, what is our plan for dealing with that. number two is the tax code itself. i've heard from businesses and individuals all across this country, we have the most convoluted, complicated, counterproductive tax code in the history of this country and we're going to vote to continue it for two years without any reform, any effort to simplify it, any effort to make it into a tax code that would helically help -- actually help us grow this economy? i can't rubber stamp a tax code everyone agrees is terrible for the next two years. those are the issues i'm concerned about. jenna: economists like mark swrappedie said yes, let's continue the bush era tax cuts for a few years even temporarily while we're doing this recovery. would you be for that, if it's simply about the bush tax cuts, is that where you don't like this extension or is it something more specific when it comes to the estate tax or the payroll tax, for example? what specifically is it you want to see baforterred out potentially? >> like i said, two issues: number one, i'd like to see much more dramatic tax reform within this bill. some of the burke tax cuts should probably be continued but not all of them and not with this incredibly complicated tax cut. i'd like to see a simplified tax cut and i'm also concerned about the impact on the decifit on both the spending and tax cuts contained in this bill. jenna: if you wanted to see such reform that could potentially take quite a bit of time, why didn't some of your fellow colleagues push to do some of this reform before the mid-term elections? >> well, some of us did. you know, we tried a variety of different efforts to move this forward. it just hasn't gotten there. i think that's one of my concerns, also, about making this a two-year extension. if this was a one-year extension it would be a much tougher call for me, i would still have the concerns i mentioned, but you do a two-year extension and put us back in exactly the same situation. two years from now we're going to be building up to another election, the argument in this election was gosh, we don't want to deal with something as politically volatile as the tax code in the buildup to an election, so we won't do it now, we will do it in the lame buck and everybody says wow, you can't deal with something this complicated. we are kicking the can down the road to create this same situation two years from now that we're in now and i think that will put us in a bad place. jen i apologize for cutting you off. real quickly here, this comment from senate majority leader steny hoyer earlier today, i'm going to roll it and get our reaction. >> house majority leader. >> thank you. >> america is not convinced that either party has all the answers. on november 2nd, i believe that the voters called us to find common ground. on real solutions. rather than simplistic sound bites for real problems, problems like unemployment, economic growth and decifit and debt reduction. jenna: so the house majority leader talking about some of the issues that you were talking about as well, but he brought up this idea of compromise and common ground, and a real disli iewtionment from the voters in both parties and your capability to come together. how do you think your stance, this no vote, it seems like a strong one -- strong one, sir, affects disillusionment overall? >> i think the disillusionment is not stepping up to the difficult issues and choices that are here. if we all come together and agree to blow the decifit even higher and debt even higher, i don't think that's something the american public is going to be too excited about, certainly not down the road and even now. we have to come together and talk about the real issues. people say they're concerned about the decifit and debt and we put something out that's going to add # hundred billion dollars to it. i will say this, the choices involved in honestly dealing with the decifit are difficult on both the spending and the tax side, but i would just like to see at least some progress towards addressing those issues and this offers none. this is a continuation of what we've done before, this is the agreement that frrchgly -- franklyo though is the one thing democrats and republicans seem to agree on, democrats say we'll take your tax cuts if you take your spending increase -- increases and republicans agree and you wake up $14 trillion in debt. that's the problem. continuing that type of bipartisan agreement i don't think is what the american people want. jenna: good to have you join us today, congressman adam smith. great to have your insights and we look forward to checking in with you as this progresses, sir. thank you. >> sounds great. jon: to our continuing series now, america's third war, america, joining forces in its fight against mexican during cartels. with mexico's neighbor to the south, guatemala. u.s. and guatemalan military forces are working to secure the borders of a country that has become a key shipment point for the drug cartel. jennifer griffin is live at a secret base at the patan region of northern guatemala. jennifer. >> reporter: over the weekend, wickileaks published a blunt cable from the u.s. embassy describing how there is no security on the border between guatemala and mexico, but it's no secret. we went up there and saw it with our own eyes. enroute to the mexican border on a uh2 helicopter donated by the state department the graduate man -- guatemalan sources showed us the supplier for mexico's zeta cartel. the border is more than 500 miles long, and nothing stops the smugglers. >> we are tired of being used. >> guatemala is rapidly becoming one of the main transit points for south american cocaine, nearly 350 metric tons pass through each year. not all who cross carry drugs but they easily pass on foot, using zip line and homemade rafts. >> the border between guatemala and mexico is so porous it only takes two minutes on one of these rafts to go from guatemala into mexico. the border problems don't end at el paso and brownsville, they start in colombia and here in guatemala. >> the cartels control nearly all of the border. >> the area is a little unsecure right now. but we have to be careful. >> and yet, there are no police inside of el carmen, one of guatemala's main border crossings. the head of customs admits they don't look for illicit drugs because they have no protection. >> you are saying it's not your responsibility to look for drugs, is that correct? >> certainly. >> the guatemalans want to build a new secure checkpoint. >> there are fronts for selling. >> fronts? >> they probably don't live off selling toreilas and rice and beans. >> while we were at the border the immigration minister received a death threat, a kidnapping threat from the zeta cartel. we had to leave rather quickly. but all of it demonstrated just how porous the border is between guatemala and mexico, and that's just one step away from the u.s. border. back to you. jon: tough to seal that off. jennifer griffin, thank you very much. you can check out a special new secretary of state of original fox news stories, taking a closer look at the growing national security threat along our southern border and what it means for all americans. it's available to you. check it out, on foxnews.com jenna: we have major breaking news now, where a federal judge ruling part of the health care overhaul, unconstitutional. we're just learning there will be a news conference by virginia republican attorney general ken cuccinelli an hour from now. this is the case he brought in virginia. we're awaiting white house reaction, we're going to talk to the director -- director of the white house office on health reform, . megyn: hey everyone i'm megyn kel imre, this ruling on the health care law is a very big deal. we will have full analysis with our legal panel and with lou dobbs. plus did president obama undermine his own authority when he handed the white house podium to bill clinton on friday? a full debate. on capitol hill say we are in a war against the rich. someone in massachusetts apparently agrees. the arsennist who -- arsonist who may be watch took much c-span. john boehner saysly not compromise with the president, others, not happy. others, want to give him a medal. should he revise his position? we report, you decide, see you in 13 minutes. jon: another surprising revelation from wickileaks, those leaked documents show that russia delivered 1800 very dangerous shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles to the nation of venezuela. this as the u.s. was strike to stop hugo chavez's antiamerican government from getting its hands on those very weapons. steph centanni is tracking this in our d.c. bureau. what's new about this sale of missiles to venezuela, steve? >> we already knew russia was selling arms to venezuela, including surface to air missiles, helicopters, even fighter plane, and that at a military parade in caracas last year, venezuelan president hugo chavez showed off some of that hardware but we're learning from the u.n. documents, the registry of conventional weapons sales, exactly how many shoulder-launched missiles russia sold venezuela, 1800 last year alone, and between 2006 and 2008, another 472 missiles transferred to caracas. these are very sophisticated missiles according some experts, able to shoot down an airplane flying as high as 19,000 feet. jon: exactly what do the wickileaks cables show? >> the cables show the u.s. tried to stop the sale of the weapons and though they could fall into the whroongdz, concerns that the u.s. had about the missiles used against colombia and that they could fall into the hands of the drug cartels and further the violence along the u.s.-mexico border. secretary of state hillary clinton raised the sale with the foreign minister and one cable shows that those sold to venezuela ended up in the hands of rebels. jon: we use helicoptering as drug interdiction and those would obviously be in danger as a result of these sales. thank you, steve. jenna: major breaking news this hour, a federal judge ruling part of the health care overhaul unconstitutional. we have official white house reaction just ahead. jon: a fox news alert and more white house reaction to that huge decision this morning from a federal judge in virginia, judge henry hudson ruling the individual mandate in the new health care law is unconstitutional so let's get reaction now from the white house, nancy ann deporal is director of the white house on health care reform. nancy, it's my understanding the white house views this particular clause as severable, meaning if it goes away the rest of the health care bill stands. is that your position? >> that's correct. and it's important to understand, too, this ruling today in virginia is one in three that have come down so far. there are about 20 cases, and two of the others, the federal judges have ruled this provision is constitutional. jon: but how can it be -- how is it possible for the health care law to remain in effect if in fact this judge's ruling stands and the judge is saying you cannot force individual americans to buy a product, in this case, health insurance? >> well, we believe it is constitutional. as i said, there are two other federal judges, federal district court judges, so it's the same level as this judge, who have looked at the very same kind of case and said no, it is constitutional, and understand it is an important provision because it is the key to making sure we can ban the previous conditions exclusions, the requirement that is health insurance polices have had that said they won't offer people with preexisting conditions or are sick. it's an important provision and we're confident it will prevail in the end. jenna: nancy, one of the things that the judge pointed out, the wording change from it being a tax to a penalty for citizens to not have health insurance or were not able to get health insurance by 2014. why does the white house believe this is a penalty and not a tax as judge hudson has ruled? >> i'm going to let our lawyers at the justice department do that kind of analysis, but i can tell you that what's important about this provision is it says that all americans who can afford it should have health insurance. otherwise, it would be like car insurance or other things where you try to go buy that after you have an diseantd that's not fair to other people. it raises the cost for everybody 6789 so -- 230 everybody -- for everybody. so in order to make sure we can ban preexist been conditions, that's what you have to do. jon: nancy ann deparle is white house office on health care reform director. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. jenna: for all the latest details on this developing story, tune in for "america live ppg with megyn kelly, also go to foxnews.com for the newest breaking details. we'll be right back. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. call now to get a free information kit. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans... that are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. jenna: another fox news alert for you. russia's foreign minister today meeting with north korea's foreign minister. russia's foreign minimum certificate saying that moscow is deeply concerned over the north uranium enrichment and condemned a november 23rd attack on south korea. he also urged north korea to abandon its nuclear program. this comes as we heard from the joints chiefs head, admiral mike mullen, who says the chances of war are growing on the korean

Related Keywords

El Paso ,Texas ,United States ,China ,California ,Russia ,Washington ,District Of Columbia ,Richmond ,Virginia ,Eastern District ,San Francisco ,Mexico ,Stockholm ,Sweden ,Netherlands ,Massachusetts ,South Korea ,Chicago ,Illinois ,King College ,Tennessee ,North Sea ,Oceans General ,Oceans ,New York ,Moscow ,Moskva ,Canada ,Japan ,Portland ,Oregon ,Philadelphia ,Pennsylvania ,Kentucky ,Boston ,Florida ,Indiana ,Wisconsin ,Colombia ,Guatemala ,Seattle ,London ,City Of ,United Kingdom ,Patti An ,North West Frontier ,Pakistan ,Ohio River ,Roanoke County ,Seoul ,Soul T Ukpyolsi ,Caracas ,Distrito Federal ,Venezuela ,Boston University ,Iraq ,Baghdad ,Nebraska ,Maryland ,North Korea ,Orlando ,Capitol Hill ,North Dakota ,Paris ,Rhôalpes ,France ,Jacksonville ,Americans ,America ,Swedish ,Mexican ,North Koreans ,Korea ,British ,Russians ,South Korean ,Guatemalans ,American ,Venezuelan ,Holland ,Chinese ,Britain ,North Korean ,Guatemalan ,Gen Jen ,Hugo Chavez ,Peter Newman ,Joe Biden ,Jenna Lee ,Henry Hudson ,Jon Scott ,Ken Cuccinelli ,Billy Ray ,Tina Smith ,Dennis Blair ,Megyn Kelly ,Adam Shap Shapiro ,Mike Mullen ,Jeffrey Easley ,Jeffrey Scott Easley ,Peter Neumann ,John Boehner ,Miley Cyrus ,Mike Emanuel ,Carl Cameron ,Nancy Ann ,Britney Mae Smith ,Adam Smith ,Steve Brown ,Wendy Murphy ,Dick Durbin ,Atlanta Hartsfield ,Britney Smith ,Bernie Madoff ,Megyn Kel Imre ,Lou Dobbs ,Mae Smith ,Bret Baier ,Adam Shapiro ,Queen Miley Cyrus ,Jennifer Griffin ,Del Carmen ,Hillary Clinton ,Steny Hoyer ,Brian Pittman ,