house, right? >> reporter: that's right, rick. i'm going to speak low because the president's about to walk out. senator mcconnell, the republican leader in the senate, is saying john boehner should move forward on a two month deal like the president wants, and they should enter into immediate negotiations -- here's the president. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you, everybody. please, please have a seat. good afternoon to all of you, merry christmas, happy holidays. you know, we've been doing everything we can over the last few weeks to make sure that 160 million working americans respect hit with a holiday -- aren't hit with a holiday tax increase on january 1st. we've also been doing everything we can to make sure that millions of people who are out there looking for work in a very tough environment don't start losing their unemployment insurance on january 1st. now, on saturday we reached a bipartisan compromise that would do just that, make sure that people respect seeing a tax cut -- aren't seeing a tax cut the first of the year, make sure they still have unemployment insurance the first of the year. nearly every democrat in the senate voted for that compromise. nearly every republican in the senate voted for that compromise. democrats and even some republicans in the house voted for that compromise. i am ready to sign that compromise into law the second it lands on my desk. so far the only reason it hasn't landed on my desk, the only reason, is because a faction of house republicans have refused to support this compromise. now, if you're a family making about $50,000 a year, this is a tax cut that amounts to about a thousand dollars a year. that's about $40 out of every paycheck. it may be that there's some folks in the house who refuse to vote for this compromise because they don't think that $40 is a lot of money. but anyone who knows what it's like to stretch a budget knows that at the end of the week or at the end of the month $40 can make all the difference in the world. and that's why we thought we'd bring your voices into this debate. so many of these debates in washington end up being portrayed as which party is winning, which party is losing. but what we have to remind ourselves of is this is about people. this is about the american people. and whether they win. it's not about a contest between politicians. so on tuesday we asked folks to tell us what would it be like to lose $40 out of your paycheck every week. and i have to tell you that the response has been overwhelming. we haven't seen anything like this before. over 30,000 people have written in so far. as many as 2,000 every hour. we're still hearing from folks. and i want to encourage everybody who's been paying attention to this to keep sending your stories to white house.gov and share them on twitter and share them on facebook. the responses we've gotten so far have come from americans of all ages and americans of all backgrounds, from every corner of the country. some of the folks who responded are on stage with me here today. and they should remind every single member of congress what's at stake in this debate. let me just give you a few samples. joseph from new jersey talked about how he would have to sacrifice the occasional pizza night with his daughters. he said, and i'm quoting, my 16-year-old twins will be out of the house soon. i'll miss this. richard from rhode island wrote to tell us that having an extra $40 in his check buys enough heating oil to keep his family warm for three nights. in his words -- i'm quoting -- if someone doesn't think that 12 gallons of heating oil is important, i invite them to spend three nights in an unheated home. or you can believe me when i say that it makes a difference. pete from wisconsin told us about driving more than 200 miles each week to keep his father-in-law company in a nursing home. $40 out of his paycheck would mean he'd only be able to make three trips instead of four. we heard from a teacher named claire from here in d.c. who goes to the thrift store every week and uses her own money to buy pencils and books for her fourth grade class. once in a while she sprungs on science intersplurges on science or art supplies. losing $40 would mean she couldn't do that anymore. for others $40 moans dinner out -- means dinner out with a child who's home for christmas, a new pair of shoes, a tank of gas, a charitable donation. these are the things that are at stake for millions of americans. they matter to people a lot. and keep in mind that those are just the individual stories. that doesn't account for the overall impact that a failure to extend the payroll tax cut and a failure to extend unemployment insurance would have on the economy as a whole. we've seen the economy do better over the last couple of months, but there's still a lot of sources of uncertainty out there. what's going on in europe, what's going on around the world. and so this is insurance to make sure that our recovery continues. so it's time for the house to listen to the voices who are up here, the voices all across the country. and reconsider. what's happening right now is exactly why people just get so frustrated with washington. this is it. this is exactly why people get so frustrated with washington. this isn't a typical democrat versus republican issue. this is anish shy where -- an issue where an overwhelming number of people in both parties agree. how can we not get that done? i mean, has this place become so dysfunctional that even when people agree to things we can't do it? [applause] it doesn't make any sense. so enough is enough. the people standing with me today can't afford anymore games. they can't afford to lose a thousand dollars because of some ridiculous washington standoff. the house needs to pass a short-term version of this compromise, and then we should negotiate an agreement as quickly as possible to extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance for the rest of 2012. it's the right thing to do for the economy, and it's, most importantly, the right thing to do for american families all across the country. this is not just my view. just a few hours ago this is exactly what the republican leader of the senate said we should do. democrats agree with the republican leader of the senate. we should go ahead and get this done. this should not be hard. we all agree it should happen, i believe it's going to happen sooner or later. why not make it sooner? rather than later? let's give the american people, the people who sent us here, the kind of leadership they deserve. thank you, everybody. [applause] heather: for more on this, let's bring in bob cusack, he's the managing editor of "the hill." you were listening to the president's remarks with us live. let's get your take on what he had to say. off the very top, he said the reason that it isn't on his desk, this compromise as he calls it, is a faction of house republicans who have refused to support it. so should they support it, should it be on the president's desk right now? >> well, politically a lot of republicans think it should be, that house republicans need to back down. i mean, you don't see this every day where the president is invoking the words of senate republican leader mitch mcconnell to make his case that john boehner and house republicans should stand down, they should agree to the senate bill which attracted 89 votes. i mean, the president is certainly playing a divide and conquer game. the republicans have been split. you rarely see daylight between mcconnell and boehner, but also carl roe, john mccain -- karl rove, john mccain, the wall street editorial board criticizing house republicans. this is a major political problem for john boehner and his lieutenants. heather: so, bob, what is he doing? what is his strategy behind this? why is it not moving forward? >> well, his conference does not agree. i mean, a week ago there was a lot of speculation that john boehner agreed to the senate deal. now, he has adamantly said that is not the case, but in a conference call with his house republicans, one member of congress told me that boehner said you have to pick your fights suggesting he did support the senate deal. and then the republicans said, no, doing tax policy two months at a time, that doesn't make any sense, we want to do it for a year. but politically they are losing the optics game, and that's why i think at some point house republicans are probably going to fold on this because more and more republicans are coming out each day and saying we need to get this issue off the table, especially when we're going into an election year. heather: apparently, there was this phone call that happened this morning between speaker baner and the president. in it speaker boehner's people tell us that the speaker asked the president to send his economic team to the hill to negotiate this full-year request. he says, boehner's office, that the president declined the offer. but then we hear from the president, and he seems to be saying the exact opposite. >> yes. i mean, you're getting different takes on that phone call. they also talked yesterday. but they're talking past one another. they don't agree. they have their own positions. speaker boehner's saying, listen, the president agrees to want the one-year deal, let's do the one-year deal now. well, president obama's saying let's do a two month right now, and then we'll get to the yearlong in due time, maybe early next year. so one thing, also, to think about is that the congress could come back in early january, and they could make this retroactive. so that's something to watch. but, you know, clearly when we go into the new year, that could have a real political flavor as the ball comes down. your taxes may be going up. that's a real possibility right now. heather: and, bob, as we wrap up, just to talk about that, the possibility of taxes going up. what did you think about the overall scene that the white house created there today with people, um, speaking to this $40 and what it means to him, specifically the president it struck me when he said, you know, perhaps some of these republicans that aren't moving g this forward in the house don't realize the importance of $40. >> well, i mean, it's the president using the bully pulpit and using it pretty effectively. i mean, he's trying to strike a populace tone and portray house republicans as out of touch. and this also fits into his narrative that congress is decision functional -- dysfunctional, and he's running against congress which has very, very low approval ratings. so politically speaking, this really helps the president because he's able to portray the republican party as divided and as out of touch with the people behind him. and that's why i don't think the president -- there's no way he's going to be going to his vacation in hawaii until this is settled. heather: very interesting. thank you so much for your insight, bob cusack. >> thanks. rick: karl rove is a fox news contributor, and bob was kind enough to mention you, karl, during the interview with heather as one of the prominent republicans who have come out in recent days and urged speaker boehner to give up this fight and sign that extension. first of all, before we talk about the event at the white house, why are you urging the speaker to do that? >> well, bob mischaracterized my comments as criticism of chairman boehner. while i appreciate him mentioning my name, let me be clear. i'm not critical of speaker boehner. i'm critical of the president of the united states. we just saw him go out and say the reason this has not passed is because of some people in the house of representatives. no, the reason this has not been passed is that the president of the united states has decided he is going to use the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance extension as political talking points. if he wanted to get a yearlong extension, he could have gotten a yearlong extension. the house republicans passed one. the senate pass add two month extension. the president flip-flopped because he liked the political dynamics of this, the ability to hold a news conference like he just held instead of getting in and seriously negotiating over the last couple of months on an extension. he said i wanted one, and then he absented himself from the battlefield and allowed it to play out as it's played out with the senate democrats saying we're going to try and jam the house republicans by passing a two month extension and not a yearlong extension. rick: isn't it working for the president, though, karl? >> politically it is, but isn't that something? the president is making a cynical, political gesture here. he's not interested in the substance, he's interested in scoring the political points. when was the last time he had all these people down to the white house and said, look, let's find an agreement? the president can make things happen if president is seriously and genuinely interest inside forging a compromise on an issue like this, and the fact that he has been absent from this, even refuses to send his team up to the hill to negotiate, is a sign of something. but having said that, republicans would be best to, you know, to draw attention to the president, draw attention the lack of leadership, draw attention to the fact that this is not a good thing for our economy to have a two month extension rather than a yearlong extension and come back to fight another day. rick: how do we get from here to there? because speaker boehner is so dug in, and there are so many freshmen republicans on the hill who say they don't care about the politics of this, that they weren't sent to washington, d.c. to care about stuff like that. they are standing by their principles. so how do we get from where we are right now to the passage of this two month extension? have they'd better care because if they don't care about the politics of it, they're going to end up losing their power. they're going to lose the ability to pass the bold, important reforms we need to put the country right. everybody agrees, we ought to have an extension of this. the question is should we have a yearlong extension or should we have a two month extension. and i would rather fight the big fight for something that's worth winning, namely a year extension in which there are significant offsets to cover the cost of a year than to fight over whether it's two months or a year. the president has already won the political game on this, the holidays are mitigating against us, the senate has already fled for warmer climes and more exotic locations. the president is eager to get on an airplane to go to hawaii. let him do that and have the house republicans demonstrate that they're willing to wreck their own holidays in order to do the right thing. but all the rest of the actors have left the town, so they'll vote for the extension. rick: karl, what's going on between john boehner and mitch mcconnell? why such a disconnect between the two? >> you know, they generally -- there is a competition between the senate and the house whether you're republican or democrat. they have a different climate, they have a different tone, and, you know, you've got to try and have the senate, senate leaders in each party working closely with their house counterparts, but sometimes it just doesn't work. and the senate made the -- the senate republicans made the decision that the best that they could hope for now was a two month deal absent presidential leadership -- rick: but they really hung speaker boehner out to dry, didn't they? >> well, i don't want to say that because, again, the senate and the house try and work together, but they're not ole gated or required to do exactly the thing that the other body, you know, they are, after all, senators, and they are, after all, congressmen. and they shouldn't be dictated to by the other body. this, again, goes back to the president. the president has the principle responsibility for keeping things like this from happening, and it is entirely within his power to do so. i remind you that in 2001 after the very contentious 2000 election that george w. bush came into office with a lot of democrats upset with him, and yet by june of 2001 with a democrat senate passed the bush tax cuts and got a quarter of democrats to vote for it by being personally engaged in negotiating compromises. this president won't do it. rick: karl rove, very good to talk to you. merry christmas. >> merry christmas, sir. thank you. heather: concerns over iran's nuclear program. the u.s. says all options are on the table for stopping a nuclear iran, but is the iranian regime already on the fast track to obtaining an actual weapon? turns out we're not so sure. details on that straight ahead. rick: plus, new fallout over president obama's statement that his accomplishments top or match all but three of our former presidents. the white house challenged over those remarks. you'll hear the response coming up. >> the fact of the matter is he has, he was making a point about the volume and substance of the legislative accomplishments and the foreign policy accomplishments in the his nearly three years in the power♪ ♪ if you'd like to try and guess ♪ ♪ it is something very special ♪ i would readily confess [ dogs barking ] ♪ 'cause all i want this season ♪ ♪ is something from your heart ♪ la da da, la da da [ male announcer ] thinking of others this holiday season, travelers. >> so are you saying that iran could have a nuclear weapon in 2012? >> it would be, you know, sometime around the year that they would be able to do it. perhaps a little less. the one proviso, scott, is if they have a hidden facility somewhere in iran that may be enriching fuel. >> so that they could develop a weapon even more quickly than we believe. >> that's correct. >> if israelis decide to launch a military strike to prevent that weapon from being built, what sort of complications does that raise for you? >> we share the same common concern. the united states does not want iran to develop a nuclear weapon. that's a red line for us, and it's a red line, obviously, for the israelis. if we have to do it, we will do it. >> you just said, "if we have to do it, we will do it." >> that's right. >> what is "it"? >> if they proceed and we get intelligence that they're proceeding with developing a nuclear weapon, then we will take whatever steps are necessary to stop them. >> including military steps? >> there are no options that are off the table. >> a nuclear weapon for iran is -- >> unacceptable. heather: defense secretary leon panetta telling "60 minutes" in an interview all options are on the table when it comes to stopping iran from having a nuclear weapon, something that panetta says we could be facing in the next year. but when pressed on the issue yesterday, the pentagon admitted that it has no way of knowing what's going on inside iran's secret nuclear facilities. >> well, what he said though is right, exactly, you're saying 2012, within the next year. he says it could be within the next year if these conditions were met. >> if they made a decision to move forward with enrichment and with weaponization, then that is possible. he was very clear, though, that we don't know if that decision has been made inside the iranian regime. we certainly hope that they don't make that decision. heather: so what does that mean for the threat from iran? dr. walid phares is fox news middle east and terrorism analyst and author of "the coming revolution: the struggle for freedom in the middle east," and he joins us now. thanks for joining u. >> sure. heather: when we hear pentagon press secretary george little saying but based on the best information available to officials, we don't know whether iran's regime has made one of the decisions that would be necessary to put its arms program on a fast track, that's concerning to say the very least. so i ask you, how great is this threat? >> well, the threat is real, it's strategic, it has been expressed by the iranian regime. unfortunately, in washington what we're dealing with are two messages coming from the administration, from this government. one is that the policy level that says basically the iranians are going to be producing the weapon at some point in time, and we will act against that. well, of course, the environment, the political environment, you know, we are in an electoral year, the arab allies are telling us the iranians are moving forward, so you're going to hear those statements. but when you come to a national bureaucratic defense apparatus, what is it telling us? we don't have that information. the missing link is we are weak on understanding the iranian plan. we are weak on understanding how are they going to proceed? they're not going to throw that bomb in front of us if they don't have the protection system to protect themselves from our actions. heather: and i want to take you back to your words. back in 2007, all the way back then you said that the mullahs intended to develop its missile systems at the same time they were developing nuclear weapons. and you predicted that the u.s. and its western allies would be preoccupied with material while the iranian regime would be focused on delivery systems. so i ask you, is that really where we need to be focused? >> absolutely. that was the slogan i advanced of we're focusing on the fissile, and they're focusing on the missile. that was a briefing to congress, 2007. that's exactly what the strategy of the iranian regime has been. they're going to go back burner, slowly, gradually to produce the bomb on the one hand, but on the other hand, what they are doing very fast -- and we're not even paying attention or even countering that -- is a delivery system. it's the missiles. and not just the missiles, they are expanding the potential launching pads. where is iranian interest today? iraq, next. syria, next. hezbollah and lebanon, next. they have an alliance with venezuela. we're not realizing that the alliance will only display that weapon when they can, basically, deliver it, and that would be a much bigger threat for us at that time. heather: and very quickly as we wrap up here, two questions remain. back in 2009 u.s. dealings with tehran peaked. did we miss an opportunity? can sanctions work alone, and what does it mean to you when you hear, um, defense secretary leon panetta say all options on the table? >> well, all options on the table if we can use those options. well, there are some options that we had not just on the table, in the battlefields, and we wasted the opportunity. you just mentioned it. june of 2009, 1.5 million iranians -- these are not american or europeans or arabs, these are iranians -- were marching in downtown tehran about to shake off the foundation of that regime, and we didn't support them. it's going to be much more difficult in the future to bring down that system. heather: all right, washington leader if race, thank you for your insight, we appreciate it. scary situation. thank you. rick: new remarks from the white house today on president obama's place in history after he argued that his first three years was equal to or even surpassed all but three other administrations. that's coming up just two minutes away. heather: plus, one story that's really for the birds. [laughter] an 80-year-old woman possibly facing jail time, is this possible, for bringing her bag of crackers to the local park. rick: no. heather: yes. while a town is crying foul. rick: also steal ago kiss under the mistletoe is harder to do this year. we'll tell you why, don't go away. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating. with the strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. you won't just find us online, you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal service starts with a real person. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our support teams are nearby, ready to help. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. r science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three y we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love ience. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ heather: fox news extreme weather alert, dangerous conditions on the roads in the west and across the south, the storm dropping near ple nearly of foot of snow overnight in denver. that caught a lot of drivers by surprise. >> i just came off of the road too fast, and the tires couldn't grip anything and slid right off. and now i'm trying to undue it. heather: there was earlier talk, by the way, that new england could see snow this weekend as another system moves into that region. but our chief meteorologist rick weymouth, he knows the answers to that and all, and he's in our extreme weather center with more. >> reporter: lots going on, heather. across the west it's much colder and across the east, 58 degrees in new york. it will be hard to get any snow in the cities, we might have a little bit across the exterior sections. severe weather from south carolina through georgia, back over towards mississippi under a threat today for strong winds and isolated tornadoes. in fact we have a tornado watch that is in effect right now across this area down to the south. it's in effect until 5:00pm. a lot of the state of alabama, still parts of mississippi and within the last 20 minutes we had a tornado warning in alabama. that is gone, if you're in birmingham you could see rotation with these cells. severe weather threat a few days before christmas. the back side of this snow in the denver area. that was in across areas of new mexico, these are all the warnings in effect. more winter weather. we had a big blizzard out there a couple of days ago, the next one bringing more snow, a little bit farther to the west this time. areas of western parts of new mexico well over afloat of snow. if you're heading across i40 traveling home, i25 it will be a rough go. as far as the snow across the northeast maybe a little bit in interior sections tonight and tomorrow morning. a rough commute tomorrow morning, past that we will be clear all weekend long. heather: look ahead, be careful if you have to be out on the roadway. thank you very much, rick. >> i would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president with the possible exceptions of johnson, fdr and lincoln, but, you know, just in terms of what we've gotten done in modern history. when it comes to the economy we've got a lot more work to do. rick: well, lots of debate this week after cbs posted those remarks that the president made on its website. critics and supporters alike debating whether president obama's accomplishments do meet or surpass the other three presidents. it came up again at the white house briefing, listen. >> there's been a lot talked about this week with the president telling cbs if you stack up his accomplishments in the first couple of years it's the fourth best in history. said only lincoln and a couple of others were ahead of him. >> the fact of the matter is he was making a point about the volume and substance of the legislative accomplishments, and the foreign policy accomplishments in his nearly three years in power e. was not making an assertion that only historians will make about the success -- this was not a comparison of success to other presidents, except -- presidencies, except in the significance and substance and size of the legislative accomplishments, which it was healthcare reform that took an effort of 100 years to accomplish, or the recovery act was an enormous response to a historic economic crisis. the bail out of the automobile industry, the saving of the automobile industry against great political opposition. rick: leslie marshal is a syndicated radio show host and a fox news contributor. lars larson is a syndicated radio help host. rick: even if you are a fan ever the president you have to have a lot of hutzpah. >> he didn't say i'm the fourth best. he puts his legislative and foreign affairs policies in the first two years to put that up against the records, and he does exclude fdr, johnson and lincoln. and lars is going to fall off his chair as i say this. you know. you know guys he's the only man of color every elected to the presidency, done. he's first when it come toss that. >> i can't buy think of this. i don't care what color he is. we are supposed to be a color-blind society. i care what he does for the country. so far he hasn't done must. he passed a piece of legislation, the healthcare bill that 60% of america's hate and disdestroying the economy. the economy is still in sham else and yet here is leslie trying to say he's really not comparing himself to these other presidents saying he's number four. he really is. carney said he's not comparing himself except in the size and scope of his accomplishments. what does that mean, mr. carney? rick: this reminds us of the early rounds of "american idol," where they get up and think they are the next big thing and they can't even carry a term. why is there such a disconnect between the president's poll numbers i have, very, very low and his opinion of his administration so far? >> narcoticnarcissit. rick: why is it somebody who us running for president like newt gingrich who has compared himself to jefferson, lincoln and fdr, that is okay but if you're a sitting president and a democrat you can't talk about your foreign policy accomplishments. he did not say economic accomplishments. he said we have a long way to go. >> no kidding. >> there are people not out there any longer, like moammar qaddafi. osama bin laden i believe that president obama was sitting in the white house -- >> oh, baloney. >> without any one in the world knowing for ten days, an made that call for that hit. rick: i think a lot of my conservative friends should probably be thanking president obama. he has gift wrapped a ready made television commercial for whoever wins the republican nomination. you have the announcer rattling off the stats on unemployment and the deficit and then you skew cue the 60 minute piece. >> the fourth best president in american sis treement this guy is a joke. nobody loves president obama better than barack obama. he is not just the marksist in chief, he loves himself so much he's going to save americans 40 bucks a week on this payroll tax cut, he goes out yesterday and spends $40 on dog traoefplts h treats. this guy is so tone death to the public, it's a joke. rick: they decided to exclude it on the television program but they did put it on the web in their defense. are you surprised the president would even go down this road? >> i don't take it the way you're saying it. this is potatoes, poe at that timpotatoes, tomatoes, tow matos. h tomatoes. he said the economy has a long way too go. he says look there is merit in what we've done, here is where the merit is and here is where it isn't. he didn't say i'm the fourth best. >> leslie, go on a second, when you say i'd stack my accomplishments up against anybody with the exception of x, y and z it is puffing out your chest, it's saying we've done more than any other president in the american history with the exception of three. that is a direct comparison and it's suggesting he's the fourth best president in history. he's worse than jimmy carter. rick: leslie marshal, lars larson, thanks for coming on, merry christmas, happy machine. heather: "american idol." i love that show. rick: it's coming back soon. heather: soon. folks should expect packed airplanes, busy roads and weather problems in a few spots as millions get started on the holiday travel rush. we are live fro with the folks from orbitz in a minute. rick: a girl dropped off in the wrong city. >> i'm not supposed to get off here, i'm supposed to get off laguardia. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. rick: a flight mix-up leaving a connecticut family desperate to find their nine-year-old girl. she boarded a southwest airline flight in tennessee to go visit her grandparents for the holidays, but when the flight arrived in new york she wasn't on it. her grandmother won't forget the feeling she had on tuesday when she thought chloe was missing. >> i never want to have that feeling, i don't care whether it's for five minutes or 15 minutes. >> holy cow, i'm not supposed to get off here, i'm supposed to get off at laguardia. >> it was like the scariest moment of my life to think they didn't know where she was. >> we are just happy she is home. rick: as you just heard she is home thankfully and she is okay. turns out because of bad weather she got off the flight in baltimore. southwest airlines never told the family she was rebooked on another flight. heather: they say that is not their policy. i think they should rethink that policy. new reports of airlines cutting back on flights during one of the busiest travel days of the year. bad weather isn't making it any easier at denver international airport today. take a look at this. travel experts, they say that holiday travelers should expect packed planes. great. we have the senior editor for orbitz.com and she joins us now on the phone with more. thanks for joining us. are you there? >> i'm here. heather: bring us up to speed. what are you seeing out there right now in terms of the airports and any delays? >> in the west things are getting a little bit better. there are blizzard-lick conditions in somconditions in denver. the other region of the country is going to get hit with delays, it's going to be the south. there is major thunderstorms rolling through the region. if you're traveling through atlanta later today you should expect delays. birmingham, nashville and memphis are at risk for delays later today due to the thunderstorms. heather: primarily a lot of weather concerns but a whole lot of people flying over the holidays. something called airlines for americas they estimated about 43.3 million people will fly on u.s. carriers over the three-week holiday period, but yet airlines are scaling back, less flights, less planes? why is that? >> it's a matter of managing their revenues. they can charge more if they have less seats. people are paying more to get on the flights. there is good news in some of the major airports around the country where much of the volume is going through places like o'hare and los angeles, is that these areas aren't experiencing major delays. it has a lot of volume, and a lot of travelers. >> the airlines trying to make up that difference. are you seeing any give in take in terms of the fees for the holiday period? >> i think it is, you know, business as usual in terms of fees over the holidays. but, you know, that's one thing that travelers, especially the folks that only head out once or twice a year, be aware when you head to the airport you will have to pay for checked bags, you will have to pay hefty fees for overweight bags. make sure they are under the 50-pound weight limit. heather: no unexpected gifts from the airlines not happening. what about in terms of delays and cancellations? what can travelers do to prepare for that. >> know when it comes to weather delayed flights the airline is off the hook. these are circumstances out of your control. they don't owe you a hotel or anything. make sure when you're traveling you pack anything you would need for 24 hours in your carey on bag. whether it's a 3 hour delay or 10 hour delay, you want to make sure you have your power cord, medications anything you need for your kids. have the airlines 1-800 number, you want that handy. these flights are going to be full. it's going to be tough to get rebooked on another flight right eye way. heather: thank you very much. i actually booked my flight through orbitz and managed to get a pretty good deal for christmas eva fe eve. rick: a high-tech way of striking back for all the world to see. heather: the bitter standoff over the payroll tax break. is this what democracy is really supposed to be like, or has washington birmingham a circus? a fair & balanced debate on that just ahead. [ male announcer ] tom's discovering that living healthy can be fun. see? he's taking his vitamins. new one a day vitacraves plus omega-3 dha is a complete multivitamin for adults. plus an excellent source of omega-3 dha in a great tasting gummy. one a day, gummies for grown-ups. rick: the wreaths are hanging, the holly is plenty. stealing a kiss under the missile tow mayb mistletow is a little tough. seems there is a shortage. heather: to one woman who i'm sure has had a kiss or two and is deserving of soerbg so, an 80-year-old woman getting in trouble for what she has been doing for 45 years, feeding the ducks. she is facing a hefty fine for helping her fine feather friends. more on the bird dade leave. how is this possible. >> reporter: i know you're from north carolina. massachusetts calls it the city of sin. whatever you do, heather do not feed the ducks, as this grandmother is finding out. >> i know they know me, and they know that i love them, and i'm trying to take care of them. >> reporter: to this woman ducks are one of glad opens most endearing creatures. you've been feeding these ducks for over 45 years. describe what they mean to you. >> they are my life, this is what i live for. >> reporter: but they might get claire inch cars natured incarc. they threatened the 80-year-old woman with arrest, they have charged you and say you'll have to do 30 days in jail. >> well if they do that, i'll be the first woman not in massachusetts, not in the united states, but the whole world to be thrown in jail for feeding the ducks. >> reporter: in 2006 the the town passed a law prohibiting any wildlife within city limits. they say duck and geese have been making a mess. and they blame the woman for bringing the birds here. no one could comment to us on camera. we found this municipal attorney to give the city's side. how can they possibly justify sending an elderly woman to jail for feeding the birds. >> all they are trying to do is make sure that the residents of the town of lynn have a right to use the park. >> reporter: the argument is that you are bringing too many ducks to the park and they don't like that. >> i feel sorry for anyone who doesn't love animals. >> reporter: she says the ducks bring her lots of love, and all she does is feed them bread. rick: president obama putting new pressure on republicans in the house to pass the senate's payroll tax cut extension. coming upped henry live at the details on where this battle heads next. heather: is the overall of the national healthcare system moving forward or taking a step back. we'll take a look at three key developments that may answer that question. rick: fallout from a nato air strike. what the pentagon is now saying about the united states role in that strike. >> this is complicated but we're determined to have a relationship with the pakistanis. tearistterrorists threatened america, and pack kis pakistani. we are hoping to get to an agreement. rick: fox news alert, and new reaction from the president and the speaker of the house in the battle overextending payroll tax cuts. a brand-new hour of "america live," i'm rick folbaum glad our with us. heather: i'm heather childress. if you were with us last hour you might have seen president obama in a room full of taxpayers arguing that average americans cannot afford the consequence of a tax change that could cost them an extra $40 a week. >> the only reason it hasn't landed on my desk, the only reason, is because a faction of house republicans have refused to support this compromise. now, if you're a family making about $50,000 a year, this is a tax cut that amounts to about a thousand dollars a year. that's about 40 bucks out of every paycheck. heather: and in just the last ten minutes speaker boehner reacting to the president. he says, quote, the $40 the president spoke about are important, and that's why the house is seeking to provide that tax relief for a full year, rather than only two months. it's disappointing that the president says he agrees with the house's desire for a full year extension, but has still declined to negotiate with republican toss make it a reality. ed henry live at the house, so,ed, the back and forth, back and forth continues. >> reporter: it does. i think the newell amoun the new element today is we have a third person entering the conversation, that is mitch mcconnell. he put out a statement saying look, you're both right. the t-t president should get this two-month senate extension that he voted for. he's out on a limb with the others that voted for it. and speaker boehner wants to point conferees on this. senator mcconnell is saying you can both have your way. why that is important. bewe saw the president obama speaking, it was filled with people who are going to see their taxes gough u go up january 1. the president is trying to rally his supporters and he has a problem in 2012, which is that if washington is having dysfunction the president could be seen as part of the problem. he's no longer the change agent he was in 2008. he jumped on the fact that the senate republican leader is on board with his view to say, look, boehner is out of step, take a listen. >> this is exactly what the republican leader of the senate said we should do. democrats agree with the republican leader of the senate, we should go ahead and get this done. >> reporter: that's the bottom line is that the president is trying to isolate speaker boehner here. they had a phone conversation earlier today, this was the second in two days. yesterday the president called boehner. today boehner called the president. the president says he wants a one year extension down the road. but for now he wants two months. senator mcconnell's compromise down the middle seems to be the way forward. but speaker boehner has not said he will do that. heather. rick: the president today surrounding himself with people he called average americans, who are worried about the impact of losing an extra $40 in their paychecks. here is some of that, take a listen. >> what we have to remind ourselves of, this is about people. it's about the american people, and whether they win. it's not about a contest between politicians. so on tuesday we asked folks to tell us what would it be like to lose $40 out of your paycheck every week? and i have to tell you that the response has been overwhelming. we haven't seen anything like this before, over 30,000 people have written insofar. as many as 2,000 every hour. we are still hearing from folks. rick: some of them standing on the stage with the president about an hour or so ago. joining us is chris stirewalt, he is fox news political editor. good to see you, chris. how effective was the president's stage craft today. >> reporter: it was a lot more effective than what he's been doing before, standing in front of a countdown clock and talking about the house-senate differences is not a very effective way to connect with people especially at the time of the year when they are very busy and thinking about other things other than that washington is bad in doing stuff. having human beings there and focusing on the $40 figure which is derived from the fact the average worker would lose $19 a week. two income family $200,000 a year. $40 a week. then you here people say i'm going to lose my pizza party. i won't be able to so my father who is across the state. it's more compelling. rick: we heard of the statement from mitch mcconnell the republican leader in the senate who passed this two-month extension, and i guess he did that without getting any kind of assurances from john boehner that it would be able to get throughout house. now mcconnell coming out is mcconnell the way forward? do his statements today allow boehner to sort of save face and figure out a way to get this two-month extension passed? >> reporter: look in terms of congressional times this is like a geologic era to have eight days when you have two pieces of legislation r-r passed. house has a one year version, senate has a two month version. there is a whole week for them to hammer this out. the president is trying to restore his political good health and he has a great opportunity to do that by saying that republicans don't want people to have pizza parties with their people and are trying to prevent them from visiting shut-in in-laws at christmas. that is a great political opportunity for the president. he doesn't want to let it pass by. he's going to hammer republicans as hard as he can before the sort of grinding gears of a divided congress cough up whatever compromise they cough up next week. nobody in town seriously thinks that this won't be extended. rick: we have watched this movie before, chris, haven't we? >> you betcha. rick: i thought hollywood turns out sequels. d.c. turns them out just as much. >> reporter: this gets extended. the president has been taking a lot of political lumps. before he goes to hawaii he's going to stick it in john boehner's eye for a little bit. rick: thank you, chris. heather: the seek wealth is never as good as the original. to the campaign trail where gop candidates are making their last campaign pitches before the holiday weekend and with less than two weeks to go before the iowa caucuses. james rosen is live with the very latest on this. >> reporter: just a few minutes ago mitt romney faced worthers in new hampshire and there responded to newt gingrich's challenge that the two debate themselves with regard to the attack ads that mitt romney is running. >> it may narrow down to two, three, people. it may well be speaker gingrich and myself and we'll get that chance. until it's narrowed down and other people are no longer part of the process, and hopefully if i'm still part of the process, i'm going to keep respecting the others and keep debating on the schedule that we have. >> reporter: speaker gingrich is spending a second day in virginia, nailing down the signatures and other paperwork necessary for him to appear on the ballot there. he's also touting a new pets with newt website aimed at showing off his lighter side. newt gingrich concedes he does not presently own a pet but he is a lifetime lover of furry creatures. congressman ron paul is hitting four cities, rejecting the yeah that he's an isolationist. journalists traveling with the paul campaign report a new edg edginess, like demanding questions beforehand. rick perry shows half of iowa caucus voters haven't made up their minds. those voters are evenly split between romney, gingrich and rick perry. he was asked to recall his favorite christmas moments. and he recalled visits to his grandparents. >> they were about 20 miles away from down, and he always left like a dollar bill on the tree for each of the grandchildren, and a dollar in 1955 was like pretty serious amount of money for me. >> reporter: in case you're wondering, one dollar in 19 1955 builds with inflation is 8.54 cents8.54 cents. heather: thank you. rick: with the iowa caucus less than two weeks ahead. there is a candidate that could make history, ron paul placing second in the rasmussen poll of iowa caucus goers. 20% saying they would prefer him to him. the editor of the national review writing a column saying if paul does win in iowa the hawk-eye state should never be taken seriously again when it comes to their caucuses. rich lowry is editor of the column. never be taken seriously? >> yes. he's a very sincere guy, he's knowledgeable. he has a cranky charm in these debates. he's battled over truthism over 9/11. he says there is a cue in this country. he had someone writing for him in his name, first person, under his name, the ron paul newsletter, things that were rancid and bigoted. he wants us to think he had nothing to do with these letters, although he did profit from them. if any other presidential candidate were saying that he would be disqualified in a middle. there are different rules for ron paul, apparently. rick: there are folks out there in america's heart line who are saying, you're an east coast conservative with your fancy vocabulary. you don't know what they really want, they want somebod somebody who is going to rock the boat. that's what they see ron paul standing for. >> reporter: that's part of the appeal. i admire the way he's gone out there, put his flag on the ground, hasn't moved his flag at all and tried to gather people around it. the party who has moved his way, rick, there is no doubt, on the federal reserve, on the side of government generally, on crony capitalism, is he's taken what is an admirable and important view in our politics and because he hasn't had high enough standards for the kind of people he's associated with, he's sullied it with these bigots that wrote his newsletter and these conspiracy cooks he too often gives credence to. rick: your magazine has been criticized for not endorsing anyone from the gop field. you want to take care of that right now for us? come on. >> no. in an answer, no. i think it's a weak field. it's much easier to say negative things about the field than pots tif positive things. and i think there is still a possibility f this stays chaotic, let's say ron paul wins iowa, mitt romney loses new hampshire. you could see a real serious draft effort for someone else. even if it's not chaotic and mitt romney is the frontrunner throughout there will be a serious effort to keep him below 50% in the delegate count so you can go into the convention of at least the possibility of getting a new candidate. rick: rich lowry, thank you very much. heather: they were arrested with failing to comply with police at occupy wall street rallies. they say they were just doing their job. does a cellphone camera with internet access does that make ahh journalist. rick: the judge has decided what happens next with america's toughest sheriff. we'll show you what is at stake in the showdown. heather: the three biggest developments of 2011 on the healthcare overhaul and what they mean for your future. >> the republicans have put forth a budget that ends medicare, while making seniors pay more to get less while giving tax subsidies to big oil. i couldn't concei this as a heart attack. the doctor leaned over and said to me, "you just beat the widow-maker." i was put on an aspirin, and it's part of my regimen now. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. go see your doctor now. sure. cake or pie? pie. apple or cherry? cherry. oil or cream? oil or cream? cream. reddi-wip us real dairy crm. nothing's more real than reddi-wip. heather: welcome back. it has been a year of dramatic developments on the president's healthcare overhaul. as the calendar turns over, three stories really stand out. the first, it came on june 8th when an extensive survey of big companies, they found that 30% of employers would definitely, or probably stop offering insurance to their employees after the law is implemented in 2014. second, on october 14th, the department of health and human services completes a review of the class act that is the first national plan for long-term care insurance, and essentially ditches the idea, and then third, finally, on december 19th, the supreme court announces that it will hear an unprecedented week's worth of arguments to determine whether the healthcare overhaul is constitutional. dr. marc siegl is a member of the fox news medical a team and a professor of medicine. and dr. kathleen london is a family practice physician and assistant prov professor. thank you for joining us. i want to go through this piece by piece, the points we made. the first point being that 30% of employees would definitely or probably stop offering insurance to their employees. dr. siegel i'll begin with you. not a good thing. >> i think m mckinsey is a very valuable firm that people pay attention to. they looked at 1300 companies. i don't know if that is the exact percentage. i think the point here is that it's probably likely that some percentage, a significant percentage of employers are going to dump their employees on to the state exchanges where some of them are going to require federal subsidies. that is more money coming out of the taxpayer dollars. the large companies are going to say, hey i'd rather pay the penalty and with the economy still going south i cannot afford to continue to keep these employees under payroll 4 healthcare benefits. heather: the penalty being up to $2,000 per full time worker. dr. london beyond the survey you move it to the congressional budget office, their estimate showed employers would have to pay on average 5,000 for an individual plan or 12,000 for a family plan. the bottom line is going to go up. >> then have you to look at all the other studies that came out. we've got -- the mckinsey goes against rand, as well as mercer. it also goes against the data that we have, hawaii has had a mandate since 1974. massachusetts has had a mandate. san francisco high school a mandate. and what we're seeing there isn't that employers are dropping. you know, whether it goes up that is a whole other issue and that gets more into private insurers and there is no public option and the rest of it. so the states that have the public option seem to do better, more people are covered. hawaii has one of the lowest, massachusetts is 95% coverage. heather: i don't think that we can argue though that it will go up. dr. london i'll stay with you. talk to me a little bit more about the second point that we made. on october 14th the department of health and human services completed this lee view of th review of the class act, and it was thrown ou out. >> it was doomed from the start. senator kennedy had passed away and it was really his baby. we had senator dodd in his place putting it in thinking he didn't have the support and then turns around and senator greg, a republican said, well we'll just put this amendment in here that it has to be fiscally sound, and lo and behold it passed and was put in, and it became more of a political football to try to bring it out. when it came down to it there is no fiscally way to do this the administration did the right thing and took it out. >> i look at this a little differently, heather. i think the plan inspired by senator kennedy as she says, he's kind of the inspiration behind all of obamacare. the problem with obamacare is this huge behemoth that wasn't thought out in each of the particulars. class is supposed to help people when they get very sick, long-term care. it wasn't thought out in advance. that is the problem with the bill in general. of course it doesn't work. many, many parts of obamacare are going to fall away in just the same fashion. heather: thank you for joining us, we appreciate it. have to wrap it up there. rick: you hear about a protest, you take your cellphone camera down to check it out, does that make you a journalist? we'll tell you why the answer makes a big difference for police officers, judges and the man on the streets. heather: is all this wrangling over the payroll tax cut -- >> if you want partisan gimmicks to end, why do you still have the pars san do partisan, dog and pony show. >> with all due respect. this is democracy. rick: fox news alert now on the new fallout from that deadly nato air strike in pakistan last month. the pentagon now conceding that u.s. forces had, quote, a misunderstanding in connection with the attack that killed two dozen pakistani troops. the incident fueling antiamerican sentiment on the ground in pakistan, and the tension between islamabad and washington, which already exists. national security correspondent jennifer griffin is live with more on this. >> reporter: the report has not yet been released to the media or been briefed to the pakistanis. we did have a briefing with a bringin general in charge of the investigation at the pentagon to discuss that november 26th incident that left 24 pakistanis dead. according to steven clark who was put in charge of the investigation, 120 u.s. and afghan special operators on a ridge in afghanistan about a mile from the pakistan border began receiving fire from heavy machine guns on the pakistan side of the border. they called in a show of force from the f-15 fighter jet and apatche helicopters. fothey sent off flares. the firing didn't stop. >> at that time he does receive word back from his higher headquarters that there is no pakistani military in the area. this is actually the first point where we have found a series of miscommunications to have occurred. >> reporter: the problem is the nato operator working at the coordination center doesn't give the pakistani colonel the longitude and latitude of the firing. he's been told not to do so by his commanders because he says the pakistanis have misused the information in the past. he gives the pakistani a place nine miles snort of th north of the incident which leads to all confusion. >> he receives the coordinates, inputs it into his machine which brings up the map. he has his machine figured incorrectly. he thought it was the regional boulder. he had been told not to pass the coordinate coordinates but to only give a general location. >> reporter: they are offering to pay reparations to the families of the pakistani troops. rick: thanks. heather: another developing story we are following for you, the fox news political team just returned that george whw bush is now saying that he thinks mitt romney is, quote, the best choice for us. in an interview with the houston chronicle the former president also said that he liked texas governor rick pai perry, but quote, he doesn't seem to be going anywhere. he's not surging forward. rick: we are seeing an entire christmas pageant of political posturing on the payroll tax extension today. is progress really being made on capitol hill or is it just for show? heather: when you thought your holiday shopping was all done, rick, think again. a pag major retailer announcing today that they won't be able to fill your orders. rick: the toughest sheriff taking on the justice department defending a theme of discrimination in county jails. >> we don't discriminate. anybody booked into that jail we run through their status. i don't care what they look like, every one. out of 400,000 we identified 44,000 in this country illegally heather: welcome back. court action in the racial profiling case against the man they call the toughest sheriff in america, joe arpaio, a law man who has become a flash point of sorts in the controversy over arizona's crackdown on illegal immigration. today a judge considering possible sanctions against the sheriff's office. plus a request by arpaio's lawyers to dismiss the case entirely. william la jeunesse is following this story for us from our los angeles bureau. >> reporter: sheriff arpaio has never shyed away from criticizing the obama administration's immigration policy and his supporters claim this is political pay back. critics say it's about time that someone stop the sheriff for over stepping his authority. the civil rights division of the justice department issued a report claiming arpaio engaged in a pattern of chris criminal nation against hispanics. after that it stripped his office of the authority to verify the immigration status of inmates in jail. yesterday, 92 detention officers handed in their federal credentials. now those officers, all cross trained at taxpayer expense musting replaced by federal agents at the jail. >> we are probably the most trained law enforcement agency in the united states. who else goes through five we can of training by homeland security? yet they are saying we don't know what we are doing. >> reporter: also today the aclu and the mechanics-american legal defense fund will ask the federal judge to sanction the sheriff for destroying records in the case that claims the department unfair low and illegally discriminated against hispanics as the sheriff tried to enforce immigration statutes. lawyers say that last week's justice department report means that the ac hr-rbs u will not have to prove guilt, only probability that discrimination exists and that should allow for the filing of a class action lawsuit against the sheriff. >> we find reasonable cause to believe that mcso even gauges in a pattern or practice of violating the constitution and laws of the united states. >> reporter: now polls show that the sheriff remains one of the state's most popular politicians. the supporters say that this is a sign that the obama white house has it out for arizona. others say it's about time. heather: it isn't the first time we've heard either one of those arguments. thanks. rick: we've lost count but it seems like the republicans, democrats, the white house, they've all held a news conference about once every three hours this week as they brawl over who should take the credit or the blame in a tax fight that is not yet settled. one reporter hit steny hoyer with a pretty tough question. >> this is the second partisan dog and pony show that we have attended. if you want this par ended, why do you continue with the dog and pony though. >> with all respect, this is not a dog and pony show, this is democracy. >> we have the founde rick: any time you hear a reporter start a question with all due respect you know what is coming. did she have a point, though? all of this stage craft that we've been seeing on all sides, come on, right? >> she does have a point. if this was the first time maybe that would be one thing. it's not the first, it's not the second, it's not the third, it's the fourth time that the republicans in the house have taken us to the brink of default, or shutting down the government and now basically raising the taxes on 160 million americans, especially at a time, christmastime, where it is really hard for families to make ends meet. they've basically showed us, this is the one tax that they are willing to raise on the middle class. rick: what is going on behind the scenes? the consensus is that something will get down. that's what we have seen on any number of occasions over the last couple of years. they wait until the very end and then they get it done somehow. how do we get from here to there, and how does john boehner sort of save face at the end of the day? >> sure, first of all this is barack obama's washington in action. the partisan attacks, the political posturing and the blame game, these have all become president obama's stock and trade. instead of fixing washington the way he promised he's actively making it worse and this is the result we have. rick: the president got a bipartisan deal out of the senate that so many republicans went along and voted for. >> 90 republicans. rick: how does john boehner get himself out of this mess? >> first of all i think that the house on substance is right. rick: with all due respect. >> with all due respect the senate fix is kind of a political package, it may fly in washington. it's probably very hard to actually make work in real life outside the beltway. this is a tough issue to fight over. the president has the power of the bully pulpit, and it's absolutely true that nobody likes political brings man ship especially just before a holiday. it is going to be a tough issue. everybody is getting hurt by this. not just house republicans, but everybody as they look at washington, and they see more evidence of washington being sophomore and incompetence. rick: you had me for a little while. i do think that steven's point that everybody loses as a result of this is dead on, jmu, come on. does anybody come out of this looking good? >> everybody does lose. and it's at the fault of the republicans who are holding john boehner hostage. it's like that song when we used to thing when we were kids. one of these things is doing it's own thing, one of these things is not the same. karl rove, mitch mcconnell are telling john boehner, come on, do what you're supposed to do, what you're elected to do, not what these two freshman who were brought in in 2010, and are willing to break government, that's what they have done. they said it is up to us to break government and they are willing to do that on the backs of 160 millio 160 million%. rick: they said they don't care about the hol particulars of a politics of all of this, the freshmen republicans. we talked to karl rove on this show, he said they better care about the politics of all of this or they will be out of power. >> the politics could well matter and decide this. in a fight like this it becomes about process and politics and you lose the principle. in the end they'll have to find a solution on this court of thing. when waoepl loc people look at washington they will look at everyone and they'll say this is not the type of government i want to see. particularly near the holidays i want to tune it out and get on with my life and they'll have to figure it out. rick: i think everybody is ready to move on. thank you. nice to see you both, thanks for coming in. >> thanks so much. heather: with camera phones instant internet access and blogs it is easy for almost anyone to document the events of the day for all to see. but does that make them journalists? that is the question at the center of a debate that is brewing after some occupy wall street processers, they apparently headed to court. they say that they h- are journalists and they are just doing their jobs when they were arrested. why does this matter? dan springer explains from our seattle bureau, dan. >> reporter: blogers be ware that was the headline on a blog after a self-titled investigative blogger was found guilty of defamation. during the course of the trial the judge ruled she was not a reporter and not entitled to any shield law proceed section. crystal cox who lives in montana and has hundreds of web sites she blogs on accused an oregon attorney committing tax fraud. she claimed she was a journalist and did not have to produce all her notes and confidential sources. the judge said there was no evidence that she had training or did things like editing and fact checking. the jury hit her with a $2.5 million judgment. a big victory for the attorney. he says he may never collect a dime. when you google his name most of cox's blogs come up on the front page continuing to hurt his reputation. >> through search engines we are allowing bloggers to have a power that is disproportionate, and yet with that -- with that pawe power has to come the responsibility. >> reporter: blogers in los angeles lost a different battle. they don't qualify for police press krao retkepbgss. the author of washington state's shield law says courts and police department are slowly starting to recognize more blogging as journalism, uncourt natalee the bad apples keep ruining it for everyone else. >> there are a lot of malicious people out there and you won't be able necessarily to get rid of them all. they will continue to write graffiti on bathroom walls. and the internet provides the bathroom wall. >> reporter: over call liable judgments against bloggers total $47 million, 30 million over the last two years. heather: dan springer thank you very much. reporting live for us from seattle. rick: coming up some u.s. troops are now heading home for christmas, but for those still stationed in foreign lands they are separated from their loved ones, there is a new approach to reunions and we'll tell you about it next. heather: kris kringle, st.~nick, the volley old elf, where did he come from and what does he have to do with christmas? professor rudolph just ahead. >> having him come home early was the best christmas present i could ever have. >> good to see my third daughter shaoerbgs was bor she was born december 6th, the first time i've seen her. heather: you can watch the scene over and over, some troops returning from the battlefield for the holidays. some soldiers are not so luck aoefplt many of them are turning to social media to be as close a home as possible. we have the online operations manager for facebook. he's a u.s. marine, iraq and afghanistan veteran. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. heather: tell us about this social media guide for military families that facebook is launching. how does it work? >> yeah, we're rile excited to have had the opportunity to partner with blue star families to launch this social media for military families. blue star did an incredible job of putting together this summary of how to use facebook and social media to stay connected to your loved ones overseas. a lot of it came from what they were hearing from the families that they work with about how powerful facebook and social media has been in helping them stay connected when their loved ones are overseas. heather: this speaks to you personally as a veteran. and i was thinking back to before social media existed, even before the internet and these military members that are overseas have no way to stay in such close contact with their families. specifically your experience, what does something like this mean to you? >> this is incredible. i served from 1998 through 2003, and being away from home for the holidays was rile, really challenging. we didn't have social media at the time. we really relied being able to get on email periodically or once on every few mosque able to get on the phone to call family back at home. that was rile, really difficult particularly during the holidays. now my due younger brothers both serve in the marines and social media has been an incredible way for us to stay connected when they are deployed overseas. heather: that is a great thing that you're doing. i want to talk about the app that is available, the nation gives thanks app. thetell us about that. >> we launched the application on our u.s. military on facebook page right around veterans day to give people the opportunity to thank their friends and family who serve, and it's a really easy social way to express your thanks and gratitude for the sacrifices that our men and women in uniform are making every day. heather: all right. thank you so much for joining us, we appreciate your time. and merry christmas to you and to your family and your two brothers who are overseas. thank you. >> thank you so much. happy holidays. rick: a christmas day delivery not only not guaranteed but canceled all together. the announcement from bus buy that will leave some people very disappointed. heather: some say the least. here is a guy who would never let anyone down, no way. what you may not know about old st.~nick. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. ♪ this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. rick: in just a couple of days children everywhere are hoping to get everything on their christmas list from none other than santa claus who is also called st.~nicholas. how did he become such a big part of christmas? lauren green has santa's story and she joins us now. >> kris kringle. i'm santa claus. oh, you don't believe then, do you? >> huh-uh. >> reporter: yes, susan there is a sapbt tarbgs although skeptics abound the spirit of every santa claus us rooted in a real saint. st.~nicholas a third century bishop in what would be modern day turkey. his bones rest in a greek orthodox cathedral. >> he gave people gifts, he redeemed people from slavery secretly. he helped the poor secretly. never to embarrass himself but to glorify god. >> reporter: the celebration of feast days spread throughout europe. the tra >> let's fast forward to bull skwrupl, th belgium, the netherlands. his name is known as sinterclaus. he is associated with generosity and gift giving by the people of the low countries. >> reporter: then comes the pr th >> what if we move it to christmas eve and say we are waiting for father chris as instead of santa laws is that okay? >> germany said, we are waiting for christmas eve but we'll call him the cries child. >> reporter: chris king he wil all were unified about the late 1820s when there was a poem released by a visito visitor. it helped define the santa image along with coke cola. >> it's like a big souffle. i think for christians in general the idea of gifts associated with christmas comes preempt lee from the greatest gift, the gift of god's son to the human family. >> mr. crinkl kringle is santa claus. rick: where did the big red suit come from? st.~nicholas wore bishop robes when he helped the poor and the robes were red. now you know. heather: there is a santa for sure. coming up on studio b how second tier candidates are affecting the race to the white house. studio b up next with shep. stick around. pwrap [ male announcer ] the more you lose, the more you lose, because for every two pounds you lose through diet and exercise, alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. let's fight fat with alli. ♪ : >> it looks like santa's evlves were overwhelmed at best buy because they could not fill online orders days before christmas. the retailer says there is teach demand for certain products and the company would not elaborate on how many orders are affected, or which products are out of stock. but does that matt

Related Keywords

Montana , United States , Alabama , Turkey , Syria , New Mexico , Washington , District Of Columbia , Connecticut , San Francisco , California , Arizona , Netherlands , South Carolina , Massachusetts , Iowa , Tehran , Iran , Hollywood , Belgium , New York , New Hampshire , North Carolina , Germany , Texas , Afghanistan , Atlanta , Georgia , Islamabad , Pakistan , Rhode Island , Virginia , Wisconsin , Oregon , Lebanon , London , City Of , United Kingdom , Mississippi , Denver , Colorado , Iraq , Tennessee , New Jersey , Israel , Houston , Capitol Hill , Nashville , Venezuela , Hawaii , Americans , Pakistani , Iranians , Iranian , Israelis , Afghan , Pakistanis , American , Jefferson Lincoln , James Rosen , Lars Larson , Rick Weymouth , Santa Claus , Ron Paul , Steven Clark , Chris King , Los Angeles , Rick Perry , Jimmy Carter , Carl Roe , Heather Childress , Barack Obama , George W Bush , Bob Cusack , Christmas Eva , John Boehner , John Mccain Karl , Jennifer Griffin , Mitch Mcconnell , Ma Mckinsey , Newt Gingrich , Dan Springer , America Joe Arpaio , John Mccain , Steny Hoyer ,