i'm andy levy. i will see you tomorrow night.

♪ ♪ >> bret: home mortgage rates are back at their record low. the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.91 this week. matching the record from two weeks ago. however, analysts say many americans can't afford to take advantage of the raids, or have done so already. applications for unemployment benefit dropped by another

15,000 last week to 372,000. that is 11% lower this time last year. the national unemployment numbers for december come out tomorrow. u.s. service companies expanded at a faster pace last month thanks to holiday sales. the dow was off three today. s&p 500 gained four. nasdaq up 21.5. republicans are still smarting over wednesday's recess appointments by president obama. chief white house correspondent ed henry reports the recipient of the most noteworthy one hit the ground running. >> reporter: day one from richard codray, president obama's new consumer cop. straight out of central casting for the role of polite bookish guy who says all the right things about working with republicans. >> i tend to assume that people are always trying to do what they think is right. we may just disagree at times on what that is. >> the boy scout exterior masks the bare knuckles way

the president used so-called recess appointment to install codray to his post as well as two democrats and one republican to the national labor relations board. >> the answer to imperial president ask a congress that stands on its own rights. >> president advisors make no apologies for ruffling feathers if it portrays him standing up for consumers. >> i don't think that anybody expected or expects washington to be, you know, campfire where everybody holds hands and sings kumbaya. >> there were promises of hope and change two years ago and yesterday a new vow to change the tone. >> i will look for every opportunity to bridge the partisan divide and get things done. >> his ally, senate democratic leader harry reid blocked recess appointments from then president george w. bush by using pro forma sessions. maneuver democrats are now opposed to. >> this is a gimmick versus a

constitutionally signed authority. we feel very comfortable that the constitution -- [ inaudible ] >> reporter: republican front runner mitt romney sharply criticized nlrb appoint in the a new ad. the national labor relations board stands with the stooges selected by the president says to free enterprise like boeing you can't build a factory in south carolina. because south carolina is a right to work state. that is simply un-american. >> reporter: with romney opposing installation of codray, the white house was quick to fire back. >> i find it a little rich that the former governor of massachusetts decided to take a position in both cases against the security and protection of working in the middle class americans. >> you heard jay carna lash out as pro forma session as a gimmick because the white house believes nothing happen and the senate is recess. the president can make appointments. but he did not mention that

the senate was in pro forma session to pass the tax cut. >> bret: thank you. now a story that could effect the pocketbook of people all over the country. chief washington correspondent jim angle examines a huge dilemma involving your money. >> governors and their taxpayers have a big problem on their hands. two to $3 trillion in promised pension and benefit to state and local workers they cannot pay for. >> this is a huge mess. odds are strong that taxpayers will see taxes go up very, very high. to the pay pension promises made long ago. >> it's either that or cut benefits. take rhode island mention system for instance. >> they are actually discussing cutting the pension benefit as much as 50%. >> democratic governor jerry brown faces huge shortfalls in california and has always made big changes. republicans scott walker of wisconsin one of 27 governors to ask unionized state workers to contribute more to their benefits faces a recall over that and move to let workers

choose whether to belong to a union rather than have dues automatically deducted. that brought criticism from president obama. >> i don't think it does anybody any good when the public employees are denigrated. or vilified. or their rights are infringed upon. >> i'm sure the president of the united states knows that the federal employees on average pay 28% of the health insurance premiums which is about double what i'm asking in the state and local employees of wisconsin. >> walker also noted that federal workers have no bargaining rights at all. >> state public employee unions fiercely resisted changes in either benefit or bargaining rights. when john kasich the republican governor of ohio tried to make changes a state referendum prevented them from taking effect. but as kasich pointed out, it didn't solve the problem the state was facing. >> let me be clear. there is no bail-out coming. there is no bail-out because there is no money. >> who historically in this country and state by state pays for the excessive expanse of government? it is fundamentally the middle

class taxpayers in the states. and in our country. >> the options are limited reduce the public employee pension and benefit or increase taxes or cut other services. that is now playing out in detroit, which just announced it will be forced to close police stations to the public from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., 16 hours a day to reduce personnel. effort to save $250 million over the next 18 months. in washington, jim angle, fox news. >> bret: european bank stocks fell sharply today on worries about losses on government debt. banks continue to have trouble raising new capital that they will need to write off billions in debt in the coming months. still ahead, the challenges of new hampshire. up next, shocking news for owners o

>> bret: there is trouble tonight for some american icons. first, another setback for general motors. with its foray in the electric car business. correspondent doug mckelway is here with details on the latest problems with the chevy volt. good evening, doug. >> good evening, bret. today, g.m. asked owners of all 8,000 chevy volts to bring their cars back for safety enhancements, a move that falls one step short of a recall. g.m. made the decision after three electric chevy volts caught fire. the fire occurred not in real world crashes but after the insurance for institute for safety conducted high speed impacts of the volt. seven days to three weeks after the test, three of the tested volts caught fire. to determine the fires were called by the coolant leakage from the volts 400-pound battery that crystallized and caused electrical short. a bit of a sore point for the

taxpayer bailed out g.m. and the green car whose debut featured a drive by president obama. but critics say the $40,000 volt is heavy subsidized. $250,000 per car when you include the state and federal dollars. according to the mackinack center for public policy. sales of the volt had fallen below expectations. g.m. hoped to sell 10,000 of them in 2011 but fell more than 2,000 shy of that. in a conference call this morning, g.m. executives stood by the volt. >> there have been no real world indents like the one -- incidents like the one experienced after a severe crash test. to reiterate, not one. we have stand by all third party ratings that confirm volt as a leader in customer safety. >> the safety enhancements include adding a sensor to the coolant reservoir, bolsters protection around the battery pack. and temper resistant bracket to top of the coolant reservoir to prevent overfilling. >> bret: thank you.

the picture is growing very blurry for vulnerable film company kodak. chief washington correspondent joins us now with that story. good evening, james. >> reporter: good evening. for more than a century, kodak was an american success story and enjoyed for years a virtual monopoly on the technology of camera film with iconic canisters like this one producing countless iconic images. but now, analysts say the american titan headquartered in rochester, new york, buffeted by the global transition to digital technology is preparing among a number of other options to file for bankruptcy protection. the shares fell for a second straight day and for the second straight day also hit an all-time low. closing at 42 cents this afternoon. the slide accelerated after the "wall street journal" reported yesterday on the possibility of an iminnocent chapter 11 filing. analysts tell fox news a court supervised bankruptcy would better position kodak to sell off some 1100 patent for digital imaging software and the slash kodak enormous pension and healthcare cost

for retirees. eastman kodak did not return our request for comment. but the company has been struggling for two decades now. we have found this photograph showing a rochester newspaper headline from 1997 when kodak cut 10,000 jobs. another 12,000 would be cut within the next eight years. in all, the heart breaking moment for the company founded by george eastman, 131 years ago. so innovative and successful, it's been called the apple of google of its day. over the last five decades, kodak slowly morphed to a business to business firm. and its hopes for the future now rest on the commercial printing market. the new york stock exchange by the way this week warned the company its shares will be dropped from the exchange's listings if kodak shares remain below $1 through june. bret? >> bret: thank you. california's high-speed rail project has hit a significant bump in the road. a peer review group recommended the state legislature put plans on hold. it says the $98 billion project is fundamentally

flawed because it fails to identify long-term sources of funding. the federal government sends a teenage run-away far away. the reason next in grapevine. and allegations that the president may have been a president may have been a little too ready for his financial advice is everywhere.

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it's about mine. straightforward guidance. that's what makes td ameritrade different. ♪ [ male announcer ] trade commission-free for 60 days. plus get up to $600 when you open an account. >> bret: now fresh pickings from the political grapevine. the family of a teenage girl from texas who had been missing for two years says she was mistakenly deported by immigration authorities to colombia. even though she doesn't speak spanish. 14-year-old run-away turner was arrested for theft in 2010. she told police she was illegal immigrant from colombia so texas officials handed her over to i.c.e. after insisting she was not an illegal immigrant she was sent to colombia, where her family members found her on facebook. turner is currently held by

the colombian authority. i.c.e. maintains the story passed various checks but is it investigating the matter. pentagon and c.i.a. are said to be investigating possible release of classified information about the usama bin laden killing to a movie director. the inspector general agreed to look in report that the white house granted filmmaker kathryn bigelow high level access for a movie originally scheduled for release right before the november election. the white house did not respond to our request for comment. cover of a new book about the afghanistan war is raising eyebrows. operators by michael hastings features a highly decorated four-star general holding a glass of liquor and a pistol. as the "washington post" points out, the uniform matches exactly that of retired general and current c.i.a. director david petraeus when he was on active duty.

they report it as a coincidence. we report, you decide. our top story at the bottom of the hour, republican candidates are scouring for votes in the first of the nation new hampshire primary. molly line tells us that the granite state holds many challenges for the contestants. >> oh, beautiful, for spacious skies, amber waves of grain. i told the folks of iowa corn counted as an amber wave of grain. >> mitt romney invoked what he called a favorite national hymn in a town hall this morning in new hampshire as he tried to bridge the gap between voters in iowa and granite state. a tough challenge for all the g.o.p. white house hopefuls. the first in the nation primary contest is sandwiched between two states, iowa and south carolina, where

evangelicals and social conservatives hold greater sway. 21% of the new hampshire republican voters surveyed in the 2008 exit poll said they were evangelical christians. and the same number considered themselves to be very conservative. >> i am not a religious fern. so i don't like the hear candidates talk about how god has anything to do with their decision-making process whatsoever. >> while religious voters in iowa are credited with helping santorum reach national prominence, they are seeking common ground, citing fundamental values put in place by the founding fathers. >> i bet you also believe that this government under barack obama, is undermining that very basic principle of what america is all about. >> instead of farming and big agriskull hour, the landscape is filled with the old mill town where fiscal restraint is valued and small businesses dominant the landscape.

>> the economy is the top issue. >> hearing someone with a plan. >> if you create jobs and energy you can move to a better budget fast. >> the unemployment rate in new hampshire is among the lowest in the nation. consumer confidence is causing them to struggle. >> welcome to the state of small business these days. a tough go for people. >> tough for the candidates, too. voters in new hampshire and iowa are so different no nonincumbent g.o.p. presidential candidate won both states since they took on their voting prominence. what they have today in the mid-'70s >> bret: we will see you saturday. the grandson of the late senator kennedy is taking first step to run for congress. joseph kennedy iii is forming

exploratory run to replace barney frank. the leader of the opposition in burma says the government approved her party to run an upcoming election. she would not say whether she would stand in the election but a party spokesman says she will. we will talk about what is going on in new hampshire ahead of the the primary when the fox all-stars join me [♪...] >> announcer: bank robbery certainly is a frightening crime. after all, bank robbers stole $43 million in one year. but identity thieves? try 37 billion! and guess how identity thieves are getting some of that money. by taking over our bank accounts. they may not even need your social security number anymore. all an identity thief may need are a couple of simple pieces of information, like your mother's

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this president is engaging in crony capitalism. >> the president has proven he will violate the law, ignore the senate and do whatever the hell he wants. it's wrong.

and someone needs to stand up and say enough mr. president, you are not the emperor. >> bret: heated rhetoric in new hampshire today. ahead of next week's new hampshire primary. first, look at the new national polls out in this race. gallup has a new national poll out. this is national. you see mitt romney at 27%. newt gingrich at 19. santorum made an up-tick there. and paul is in third. santorum up to 11%. let's take a look at rasmussen, a different national poll that shows a much bigger surge nationally for santorum. he is now at second, 21%. and if we look at the average of all the recent polls, this is the real clear average, just to give you a perspective, average of all the recent polls and it takes some before iowa. there you see the average of the polls. okay. so, we're giving you a lot of polls, but the average of the polls in new hampshire, now this is the state of new hampshire. ahead of tuesday's primary. and there you see. romney holding on to a big

lead. a little bit of an uptick for santorum in this average of polls. others are likely to come in the next few days showing santorum probably getting more of the bounce out of iowa. let's bring in the panel. bill kristol, editor of "weekly standard." juan williams, columnist with the hill and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. bill, you heard the candidates today in new hampshire. talking about president obama. and actually, mitt romney sounded a lot like michele bachmann on the crony capita capitalism charge. perhaps he is moving that in to try to get some michele bachmann voters. >> yeah, or maybe trying to appeal to some of the populist unhappiness with the wall street washington crony capitalism conglomerate. that mitt romney talked about, sarah palin talked about and santorum remains the best speech given by a republican in a long time. his speech tuesday night,

really captured the appeal to the reagan democrats. appeal to the hillary clinton voters of 2008. not simply saying markets are great. let's cut the budget. let's get the government out of there. which is fine, santorum is for that to some degree. but also saying let's help working people have a chance to rise. let's be for opportunity. i think romney has a sense his message has looked a little bit too -- market is great, business is great. get government out of the way. now he is trying to pin it a little bit and pick up some of the populist middle american rhetoric that santorum deployed effectively. >> bret: juan, newt gingrich, on the attack. against mitt romney. he was at first praising rick santorum for his performance in iowa. today, it took a bit of a turn. take a listen to this. first about romney. then about santorum. >> i don't believe a massachusetts moderate is in a good position to debate barack

obama. it will be hard to win the general election. hi has been the june your partner. he is not a bad partner but i don't know he has any track record to organize a large-scale campaign. >> bret: okay. that is a bit of a change. he was saying, praising him but today he is the junior member of the team back then. >> i think we call this left left-handed compliments. he was saying he was the senior partner and if you look for conservative that proven himself he is newt gingrich. he is trying to be polite to santorum because they have gotten along in general. but this is a competition now to be the anti-romney. he has got to somehow stake his claim; particularly, after iowa in the surge that we are seeing in the polls for santorum. that is coming directly out of newt gingrich who had been running second in many of the

polls that we just saw. now we see a shift in some of the polls, not only huntsman in there, but ron paul. it's a different mix, i think. the other part that interests me, though, is his description. right now what is going on is the politic -- vengeance politics. angry, somebody biblical, newt's angry as what happened to him with the ads in iowa. he goes on in the spech to make a case about -- speech about romneycase and that romney, appointing liberal judges and that he had a budget that allowed money for planned parenthood and abortion. i think now he is starting to merely ad some hard meaning to the idea he does not believe that mitt romney can win conservative passion going forward. >> bret: he said on the radio show, laura ingram radio show he was going to team up with santorum in new hampshire. i don't know if santorum will sign on as the junior partner

of the team, charles. >> it's old newt. this is newt, the unreliable, the unstable, the man who has trouble containing himself. two nights ago in iowa, he gives not a concession speech where he lavishes all kind of praise on santorum. he tacks, of course, ron paul and romney. yesterday on the laura ingram show he says he wants to be a parter in with santorum in taking down romney. then one day later, he simply can't restrain himself. he says yeah, i'll be a partner. but i will be, i will not be in any way subordinate. he will be my junior partner. santorum, this is the guy that got twice the vote -- >> bret: he was talking about a junior partner back when he was speaker and santorum was under him. >> yes, and had he stopped there, it would have been historical statement. he would have been speaking again as he always has as a historian. however, in eight seconds he goes on and attacks santorum,

or de denegrades him as a man with a track record able to organize. implying he is a junior as of today as well. look, i am quoting here and not making it up. i read what is presented in front of me. here he is, and he will be the senior partner. he relegates santorum. remember, the guy who got twice the vote he did in iowa. two days ago, he asked him, said in '90s santorum was a junior. but today, newt is on the way down and santorum is on the way up. i don't think santorum will accept a backseat. >> bret: what about the hundred houston factor in new hampshire? you know, he is out today saying, praising rick santorum and all that happened with retail politics in iowa. he says he is the guy that can do the same thing in new hampshire. >> huntsman problem, he never articulated -- people think the santorum thing is magical.

what happened? santorum had a coherent message and went around and worked hard in iowa. what is huntsman's message? he is sort of, he is like romney but he is not romney. he is a more moderate and more conservative sort of. i don't see how it's taking off. he worked hard there and spent money there. as a result, he is around 10%. the trouble is he wants to be the next santorum. but santorum is going to be the next santorum. what the rasmussen poll shows me is santorum will surge in new hampshire and compete for paul for second place and i suspect huntsman will not make it in new hampshire. >> do you worry about that with huntsman? >> i don't see it. i see motion in the polls but, you know, given the amount of time he spent there, given he has put everything there, you would think there would be more. >> bret: we didn't see polls in iowa for santorum until the last several days. >> but we did see something big was coming. the last few day he is had a sudden surge. >> bret: that was saturday before tuesday.

that would be. >> two days before. >> bret: if t "des moines register poll" and. >> tomorrow is friday. >> okay. >> next up, president obama defense cuts, what do you think of them? vote in the online question of the day. at the home page, foxnews.com/specialreport. results after the break. we know a place where tossing and turning have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions, such as tongue or throat swelling,

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military will be the leader but the world must know that the united states is going to maintain the military superiority with forces that are agile. flexible. and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats. but make no mistake, we will have the capability to

confront and defeat more than one adversary at a time. >> if they're not going to give anything up, they don't have the resources to do all the things they say they want to do. it just doesn't add up. >> bret: the president making a historic trip to pentagon, briefing room to lay out rather defense cuts that will be coming. focus shifting toward asia pacific. away from ground wars toward air and sea power. the army and marine corps will get smaller. the f-35 fighter jet production will be slowed. but not stopped. aye before the break we asked you what do you think of the defense cut. 93% say they cut too much. >> this is road map of the american decline.

this is a budget without any cut or entitlement, which is killing and adding to the deficit, but instead he takes it out of defense. he says yes, we don't want to have a new large ground war. well, i agree. that is fine. but sometimes pearl harbor happens or invasion of south korea or a 9/11. then ground war is thrust upon you. it's not as if it's a choice. so the strategy is to reduce the ground forces, increase navy and air force. and yet, huge cuts in the joint strike fighter. this is a budget to reduce the american capacity. it will make it hard to carry the role that we have for 70 years. >> bret: we don't have a lot of specific numbers, we have specific strategies. the joint chiefs are saying that they can do this and

fight two wars. there is a lot of people that are very concerned about that possibility. >> well, legitimately so. i think a lot of people are not necessarily looking for it. you go back to donald rumsfeld in the last administration. he, too, was talking about making the military leaner, more agile, more effective. but looking to do so again, by reducing the footprint of our ground war capabilities. the army and the marine corps. i think the president made a point here that is very important. which is that after 9/11, there has been a tremendous increase in defense spending in this country. and that there has to be some balance, especially at the time when budgets are tight and there is a need to reinvest in the united states in terms of our domestic issues here. that to me totally legitimate. not at all the case that i hear from any of the critics that somehow our military has been decimateed or that we have been weakened. >> bret: are allies affabilityed by the play -- affected by the play? >> yes. it would weaken the united

states of america. don't kid ourselves. there is no magic. you have don't cut the ground forces he wants to cut, cut capacity around the world. tell allies, whoa, you know, you thought in the past ground troops could land if there was a problem. i'm not so sure anymore. we had 15-month tour for army. luckily, nothing will ever happen anymore. there will never be a case we have to intervene or attacked or set up the safe haven and never surprised by korea. so we can go ahead and blindly do this. it's unbelievably irresponsible. the savings are tiny when it comes to the actual budget deficit. the highest number is $40 billion a year. when he is running $1 $1.5 trillion deficit and he wasted $800 billion on the stimulus. none of which went to the military. doesn't that tell you everything? $800 million in 2009. every cabinet secretary coming to see the president, hey, spend more money. secretary gates, begin

cutting. the cuts are on top of earlier cuts that the defense department was supposed to inform. it's why we need a new president in january of 2013. >> bret: it does not take in to count the sequestered possibilities if you don't reach a deal with congress. as it stands currently another $500 billion would have to be cut. >> right. i think, though, that, you know, i disagree strongly with bill. you seem to think that we should just put more and more money, keep our capabilities at the current level or higher. again, what you are seeing is even with the cuts, the defense budget is going to continue to grow. so i don't understand. you just want to us be totally investing in the military at a loss to every other part of the american government and to the american people at a time of economic need. >> it grows nominal dollars which is meaningless. it shrinks as a percentage of our economy. under john kennedy, whom i don't remember ever attack us us as a man who overspent on

defense, half of the budget of the federal budget was on defense. today it's a fifth. under kennedy, we spent $ed 9.5% of the economy on the military. today it's headed to 4%. and shrinking. as a percentage of our economy, can get smaller and the fact is even if you don't want to work with the numbers, obama said himself we better be shrinking our capacity on the ground. the fact is that you can't simply announce and hope that there is not going to be incidents in the world with china arming itself hugely, iran about to go nuclear. instability in the middle east. how do we know that we are never going to have to be forced in to another land of confrontation in the next decade? we are not going to be prepared. >> bret: this will not be the last panel on this topic for sure. that is it for this panel, however. stay tuned for interesting prognostication.

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>> finally tonight, a lot of pundits and a lot of politicians are making predictions about the general election outcome in november. sometimes interesting characters get a lot of attention for new predictions. >> if you believe the man holding the cards, barak obama will lose the u.s. presidential election. >> (speaking spanish). >> obama expelled more hispanics from this country. this time around, he won't have the latino vote. wait a minute. let's move his beard and mustache and eyebrows and wig. [ laughter ] thanks for