and each football fan gets 8 bucks an hour for the effort. i m jon scott in for shepard smith. this is the fox report. it s the bottom of the hour, time for the top of the news. the economy is getting stronger. experts say there is still work to do before we can put a dent in the nearly 10% national unemployment rate. the labor department reports the number of people filing new jobless claims dropped by 3,000 to a seasonably adjusted 420,000. it s the second drop in three weeks. and while more americans bought new homes last month, economists say the housing industry is still in sham bells. we have team fox coverage. anita vogel is in california covering a report on consumer spending. first, go to the fox business peter barnes with the news live from washington. how bad is the housing situation, peter. jon, the housing marketed remains the lump of coal in the economic stocking. commerce department report sales
one campaign promise the presidency has yet to keep is to close that prison at guantanamo bay. the white house says that is still the goal. the president obama admitted today it s been a challenge balancing america s security and america s values. one of the toughest problems is what to do with people that we know are dangerous, that we know are have engaged in terrorist activity are proclaimed enemies of the united states. but, because of the manner in which they were originally captured, the circumstances right after 9/11 in which they were interrogated, it becomes difficult to try them. shepard: now the white house is working on a man to try to address that problem. our team fox coverage continues. james rosen live in d.c. at this news conference the president says he hasn t actually seen the draft of this plan yet, right? true, shep. fox news has confirmed that administration lawyers are drafting a new executive order for the president to sign. it covers those men who are
into law the repeal of don t ask, don t tell. [cheers] and with that, the 17 year policy on gays and lesbians in the military is history, at least on paper. it won t actually end right away. nothing does. today the president thanked lawmakers who helped him keep another campaign promise. he spoke directly to all gays and lesbians serving secretly right now. for a long time, your service has has demanded a particular kind of sacrifice. you have been asked to carry the added burden of secrecy and isolation and all the while you have put your lives on the line for the freedoms and privileges of citizenship that are not fully granted to you. shepard: but they have to carry that burden a little bit longer because for now don t ask, don t tell is the official policy of our military. team fox coverage continues. wendell goler at the white house. at the today s news conference
shepard: he apparently will be able to continue his work of releasing secret government documents. a wikileaks spokesman says assange will basically be will be under what amounts to house arrest but with a good internet connection. we have team fox coverage. shannon bream in d.c. but first it s jonathan hunt live in new york yet again tonight. what s next for this man? well, an extradition hearing has been set to take place in london on january 11th, shep, although julian assange s london-based lawyer mark stevens tells me he doesn t expect a final decision on that extradition to sweden until sometime in february. julian assange, meantime, outside the high court today said he will fight extradition all the way and he thanks those who have supported him so far. listen. to all the people around the world, who have had faith in me, who have supported my team while i ve been away, to my lawyers
the act that september these documents spilling out according to a wikileaks spokesperson? no, not yet. shep. shepard: greg palkot live in our london newsroom this morning. julian assange is defending himself tonight. he is not apologizing for a single thing. live team fox coverage coming up minutes from now. but, first, the accused child assassin. american officials have now met with the then 14-year-old boy whom investigators say beheaded his victims. just ahead, what we know about the meeting and the reports that the suspected killer was headed towards a major city. plus, remembering elizabeth edwards. we ll take to you north carolina for a look at the life of a woman who rose above personal pain on a very public stage. [ female announcer ] clear so snow. or spread a little warmth. [ cellphone rings ]