>> happy new year as we ring in the new year. you guys ready? coming up after the show, a guy who's going to teach us how to savor. >> good-bye! >> sandra: fox news alert now from baghdad where i ran back to militia supporters have attacked the u.s. embassy in the iraqi capital. protesters see and they are smashing the main gate and storming inside with the sounds of gun fire and flames rising from inside the compound. president trump now calling on iraqi forces to protect the american embassy. good morning, i am sandra smith sandra smith. >> eric: good morning, i am eric shawn in for bill hemmer this morning. that violence erupting in baghdad two days after those u.s. air strikes against iranian backed militias in iraq and

syria. retaliation for those rocket attacks that killed an american contractor and wounded four of our soldiers in northern iraq. in her >> good, sandra. people in the u.s. embassy said there is no evacuation despite reported claims from iraqi officials, but there are thousands of protesters there. many from iran backed militias into baghdad heavily guarded green zone where the u.s. has its largest diplomatic facility in the world. they report they smashed a main door and set fire to a reception area. the protest began after prayer services for two dozen i ran back to militia fighters killed in u.s. air strikes over the weekend. president trump tweeting "iran kills an american contractor and wounding many. now iran is orchestrating an attack on the u.s. efficacy in iraq. they will be held fully

responsible in addition we expect iraq to use its forces to protect the embassy and so notified. the american air strikes in syria and iraq struck an iranian backed militia. the trump administration said they are responsible for a missile attack friday on in iraq he military base that killed an american contractor. senior state department officials say after so many attacks, i ran back to fighters and their significant presence in iraq, united states had to respond in a way iran understands the air strikes. the iraq he government caught here between american and iranian influence protest at the american air strikes as a violation of iraqi sovereignty and warned they would invite trouble just moments before these protest began. members of congress are beginning to react to all of this. senator marco rubio said the government as a recipient of billions of dollars of usaid in a and american military

assistance. back to you. >> sandra: a lot more information coming in on that, more on this with dan hoffman in just a moment, the former cia station chief who served in iraq. we will hear from him in just a few minutes. >> eric: meanwhile, the suspect in the hanukkah stabbings breezes now facing federal hate crime charges. accused of entering a rabbi's home and seriously injuring five people with a machete. the fbi says they did find several journals of his containing references to nazi culture and hitler as the jewish community is grappling with the rise of anti-semitic violence rising in the new york city area. >> our community is angry. this incident is the culmination of a long period of hatred directed towards the jewish

community and specifically the organized community. >> eric: lauren green has been tracking these latest developments and is here with us. >> sandra: while his family pleads it was mental illness charging grafton thomas with federal hate crimes in the attack at a rabbi's home while dozens of abraded hanukkah. at the federal charges were filed monday against a 37-year-old grafton. officials say he had handwritten journals containing anti-semitic references and had searched online to find information on hitler including entries asking "why did hitler hate the jews" and "prominent companies founded by jews in america." he entered their home in monsey on the 79th of hanukkah. he slashed and stabbed the group sending five victims of the hospital with serious injuries including deep lacerations, a severed finger, and a skull fracture. he is now charged with five

federal counts of obstructing the free exercise of religion in an attempt to kill. the attorney for grafton says he and the family pastor reviewed his journal and said they showed more evidence of mental is illness than anti-semitism. >> scores of papers which frankly show the ramblings of a disturbed individual, but there is no suggestion any of those ramblings and pages of right of anti-semitic motive. >> the attack has sparked tensions as the latest in a mountain of anti-semitic attacks of 23%. at last night, senator kirsten gillibrand hosted a roundtable discussion. grafton is also charged in state criminal court on five counts of attempted murder. in the next court date is friday.

>> are 21-year-old son said the other night, i wonder if joe biden would consider choosing republican as a running mate. >> the answer is i would, but i can't think of one now. there is some really decent republicans that are out there still, but here's the problem right now, the well-known ones. they've got to se step up, you w what i mean? >> sandra: former vice president joe biden saying he would consider a republican running mate if he wins the democratic nomination. biden did stop short of naming any potential vp candidates. good morning and happy new year, thanks for being here this morning. could this be a good strategy for joe biden? >> i think joe biden's strategy is to say a lot of words. joe biden's strategy is to cover

the entire earth, like a wood chipper of verbiage and he is just going to spray it out especially in the early state, three to 5 inches of accumulation already on the ground in iowa and new hampshire and its stuff you say. unless the ghost of dwight eisenhower shows up, i doubt he is going to pick a republican. the only way he would would be if he got to the democratic convention and it looked like his real problem was in the suburbs. that should actually be the place where he is strong but if he is actually weak there, he needs to compensate. that sounds pretty far-fetched. >> sandra: is a clear politics average in a general election matchup to joe biden and donald trump and as it has been, it has joe biden leading the president 48 and a half to 44, so he said that a potential running mate in response to a woman saying he would have to pull out all the stops to beat donald trump so we will see where that goes.

meanwhile, the campaign administration are putting out their goals for the new year and what it's going to take win the election, the to-do list for 2020. among them, finalizing usmca. we know that has long been a goal, prescription drug pricing, confessing more judges, prioritizing paid family leave. you have some different goals for the trump administration and what it would take to win the election. >> i pray we are keeping some perforated separation between the administration and the campaign, actually going to joe biden which is they have to win back the suburbs. in 2016, donald trump beat hillary clinton. a lot of factors, but one queue they have to remember and they saw the consequences in 2018. a skeptical voters who dislike him both voters, traditional base of the republican party,

college-educated white people, those folks took a chance on donald trump and said we hate hillary clinton so much, we can't handle it, we will take a chance on something different. those same voters snapped hard against trump and republicans in 2018 and they've got to win them back in the way they do that is the punch list you talked about there were you're talking about look at the economy, it is not trade wars, trade deals, good things are happening, don't worry about all the noise, just focus on the good stuff going on. >> sandra: so to be clear, those are the administration goals, now gallup has the most admired man for 2019 which they asked this question every year and you know it's an open-ended question. you can respond with anyone you want, typically a sitting u.s. president that gets that top spot but it's interesting the tie that has taken place here. barack obama 18% of the current

sitting president donald trump, 18%. obviously this was broken down along party lines. but interesting to see the two of them at a tie there. do you give credit to donald trump for taking that top spot along with barack obama? >> i hate this poll so much. i could not hate this poll more if it were made out of salamander tongues and as best is. it's the worst. hits the kind of polling that makes americans misunderstand and mistrust holes. there is nothing wrong with the survey, this would be about as useful as waking somebody up out of a dead sleep and saying what is your favorite sandwich? guess what, they would probably dominate because i don't know, i haven't thought about it. here you go. asking open-ended questions like this and then pulling out of it the most divisive answer possible, 19% on each side of people said when they were asked questions they hadn't been thinking about ever in their lives are asked a question by a stranger on the other end of the loan, who were the two most

famous people in american politics? has a not surprising? the most admired people, so they did men and women peered the most admired man in america are not individuals, they are classes of people, dads, firefighters, doctors, brothers, soldiers. those of the most admired people in america, not politicians because we are not a country of weirdos. >> sandra: for those who don't like to look at the pole, this was his 12th time and that top spot on this was president trump's first, so while it typically is the sitting president, this is the first time for him to make that top of the list so worth noting at least a dozen grilled cheese get a mention? >> i totally would. i would be there with you on that if there is bacon in it. >> sandra: it is chilly in new york city, a warm saying which goes a long way. is always good to see you and happy new year to you. >> eric: i want to know what he has against fuddruckers. >> sandra: a lot of people do

look at that poll, there are some interesting in there. michelle obama took the top spot for women. >> eric: meanwhile, international affairs yet again. more threats from kim jong un's regime hinting at expanding military testing ahead of the dear leader's new year's eve address. >> sandra: plus, deadly attacks targeting the jewish community fueling concerns about how to curb an alarming rise in anti-semitic violence across the country. we are going to be speaking with governor mike huckabee with a lot to say about this and what can be done about it. >> eric: now learning more about that man who opened fire killing two people at a church in texas as an armed security guard and a parishioner who brought him down and speaking out. >> when this individual came into the building, we were aware that there was some concerns for him. we were already watching him, had cameras turned on him.

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>> sandra: some 2,000 and unvaccinated students in seattle may not be allowed to return to school in the new year. the school district warning parents before the winter break citing washington states new vaccine laws. now parents are weighing in. >> i am concerned about my kids wilwell being. >> it is important because you never know what's going around or anything like that, don't want anyone else to get it. >> sandra: some schools in the district are now hosting vaccine clinics to help students get in compliance. so that is something to deal with and certainly an issue around the country, a big discussion for doctors and parents. >> eric: especially with measles and the other issues. the president trump blaming iran for the latest attack on the american embassy in baghdad. following the deadly u.s.

air strikes, the targeted has the law officials constrain the killing of the american contractor and wounding soldiers in an attack on the iraqi military base, served in iraq, pakistan, and moscow. whenever angry crowds attack and storm and embassy, this is exactly what iran wants? >> it is, strategically absolutely what iran wants. they have ratcheted up the pressure with roughly 11 attacks on iraq you basis which house u.s. contractors and u.s. service personnel over the last couple of months. secretary pompeo very clearly warned iran earlier this month at the united states would respond with decisive action in the event that these proxy militants continue to target our people. so i think iran did expect this and they see it as an opportunity, a pretext because they knew we would respond to

assemble those iraqi militants who are just iranian proxies to storm our embassies. let's not confuse these militants with the brave iraqis who have been protesting iraq a graft and corruption and iranian influence. those same mobilization units have been targeting those brave iraqis and right now, the iraqi government is really struggling to deal with this iranian influence in their country. >> eric: it is iran's goal to get us out, to have american troops leave. >> it absolutely is, it's a zero-sum game. it's been this way since 2003. they've been using their proxy militants to target us, they want to drive a wedge between the united states government and the iraq he government. the iraq he prime minister said this was a violation on those weapons locations, a violation

of iraqi territorial integrity, he felt like he needed to say that. it's a wedge between the two countries and iraq is caught between iran and the united states. it's an uncomfortable place to be. i am quite sure that this attack today was not a tactical surprise for us, among the highest intelligence collection priority for us to track these proxy militants and their plans against us, but at the same time i'm sure that iran has more in store it if they want us out. we've got 5,000 troops in country and that's a threat to iran's efforts to influence us iraqi government. >> eric: you mention the popular mobilization forces, they say "our battle with america and its mercenaries is now open to all possibilities." we have no alternative today other than confrontation and there's nothing that will prevent us from responding to this crime." here is what senator marco rubio tweeted. "it is beyond dispute that these militias aren't just backed by iran, they are directed and

controlled by them. and he attacks by them are the direct work of iran's." how does president trump respond, even more forcefully potentially to the iranian revolutionary guard? >> this is going to spiral into more u.s. response, more iranian response potentially five senator rubio is right, popular mobilization units is also the leader, he's a designated terrorist. he's been very closely associated if not a direct iranian proxies closely working with the iranian military. based on today's incidents and storming our embassy if we continue to see installations, they will be forced to respond and we are trying to deter future attacks on they want to attack further to give iran a pretext for these popular mobilization units. it diverts attention from iraq's

poor governance and iran's influence in the country which has come under great stress and strain. >> eric: finally, does it not also indicate the success of the trump administration maximum pressure policy on tehran? that they are lashing out, supporting and sponsoring these types of groups trying to ferment this type of violence? >> iran's economy is incomplete free fall at this point and they are struggling to support those proxy militants from lebanon to yemen. this administration has been tough on iran, and i think we saw sunday is clear determination that we won't stand for it. >> eric: always good to see you, happy new year and thank you for your insight. >> sandra: a republican senator breaking ranks now signaling openness for calling witnesses and the impeachment trial.

we are going to have more on that just ahead. >> eric: the new york city police department will be out in force tonight over at time square saying it is the safest place to be on new year's eve. we will have a live report. than on america's most reliable network. that's why we give you disney+ on us with your unlimited plan. he loves star wars more than anything. and since we have verizon, we're gonna be able to stream it... (snaps) like that. (vo) and plans start at just $35, so your family can mix, match, and save. plus, now when you buy one of our best phones, you get another on us. anybody wanna join the dark side? i will! (vo) because the network more people rely on gives you more. amanda's mom's appointment hello mom. just got rescheduled - for today. amanda needs right at home. our customized care plans provide as much - or as little help - as her mom requires. whether it's a ride to the doctor or help around the house.

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>> eric: a fox news alert for you preparing to ring in the new year. that means massive security you see in place and time square weather will be celebrating tonight. an estimated 1 million people are expected to be there personally to watch the ball drop as so many more watch on tv, police department in times square. >> we were out here last night and it was pouring rain. today, the skies are clear, that's great news and take a look a at this. people that have lined up and started about an hour ago. this is where they have to stay until the ball drops, and you can see just how busy times square is getting with people coming from all over the world. last night, they tested the ball to make sure all went off without a hitch and it went very wrong, take a look.

>> happy new year! >> with a flip of that famous large white switch, the crystal new year's eve ball made its way up to the top of the 130th all around the world to keep their eyes on here most from the comfort of their warm home and of course is a very special year to celebrate as a new decade just one day away walking in the moment a couple of twos and zeros this year as the 2020 gets put into place. it's expected to be clear and hallelujah, not in good shape, not a lot of rain or snow so whatever you have in place should have some pretty decent weather for it from coast-to-coast. it's always a top concern here for the nypd and counterterrorism teams, police say they start planning security that day the ball drops each year and have been preparing

numerous layers of protection including heavy weapons teams, snipers, canine teams, and more. >> we have no specific credible threat against new year's eve. there have been other years where we've dealt with either credible threats or specific threats. this year, the chatter is down a little bit. >> the nypd will be using drones flying high above the crowds this year for the very first time. they want to do it last year, the weather and the rain kept those drones grounded so we are going to see another layer of protection tonight and as the top brass says, this will be the safest place on the planet tonight. >> eric: is amazing the folks behind you, 14 and a half hours to go. the be standing or sitting and you can't leave once you get out of there. that's dedication. thank you. do my protesters in iraq chanting death to america storming of the u.s. embassy in baghdad after u.s. air strikes

killed dozens of iran backed militia fighters in iraq and syria. >> eric: impeachment, that stalemate goes on and on. why one democratic candidate said the processes actually strengthen the president heading into 2020 election. that gentleman right there, former arkansas governor and friend of mike huckabee. >> sandra: believes identifying the gunman and that texas church killing, going to have a live report just ahead. >> obviously a horrific incident that we are all sad about but if there's any church that is prepared for it, it was this church.

to my president trump calling on iraqi forces to protect the u.s. embassy in baghdad as it comes under attack by iran backed militia supporters. dozens of protesters seen breaking through the main gate shouting death to america and setting fires after u.s.

air strikes against iranian backed militias in iraq and syria. we are following this breaking news for you in baghdad i'm going to bring in the development as they come in. >> tonight, we honor the memory of tony wallace, one of her deepest, a great man. a nurse for the texas health season and also the loss of my best friend who died saving lives. >> eric: they gather last night for that candlelight vigil. to limit the victims who were killed at the texas church shooting. now we are learning more about the gunmen and we hear from the hero who shot and killed him. >> i don't feel like i killed an individual, i killed the evil and that's how i'm approaching it and that's how i'm processi

processing. >> eric: a lot of people across the country praising him now. jeff paul live in white settlement texas. >> and a true showing of strength and resilience, many of those members of the church here where that shooting happened crowded outside to send the message that this shooting does not define them. for some of these worshipers, it was the first time they had shown back up to the church that shooting had happened and since they lost two of their own fellow worshipers. the senior minister of the church telling those who gathered that they will not give up and they will not be silenc silenced. >> lost two great men, friends, men that i consider putting above myself who did the same for me. >> we are learning more about those two men who were killed. at the time of the shooting when the gunmen initially pulled out

his shotgun, security volunteer richard white had reached for his gun to stop the threat. he was the first to be shot by the gunmen. his family rode to us saying he was a devoted man to the church and constantly putting others first. the other victim who was a communion server and was shot shortly after white. his family spoke about the life he lived saying he was a very selfless man. >> the mediator and that's the main thing that always matters. that shouldn't get on the way of our love for each other. >> he taught me everything. i'm going to miss him being he here. and him just being in the house. >> what still remains unknown right now is what might have motivated or pushed the shooter in this particular situation.

the senior minister here saying that he had met and seen this particular man before and given him food. authorities meanwhile saying they did search his home in a nearby surrounding area, seemingly nowhere close to understanding why any of this happen. >> eric: totally heartbreaking. thank you. >> it's time that individuals understand that new york state is a state where anti-semitism or any other type of hate will not be tolerated by anyone. >> sandra: that was a new york attorney general promising to take action following a series of anti-semitic attacks in the new york city area. the latest coming saturday when five people were stabbed with a machete inside a rabbi's home. five counts of attempted murder for federal hate crime charges. former governor of arkansas and fox news contributor mike huckabee, good morning to

you. this is something we have talked together about, these attacks are clearly on the rise. what can be done about it? >> it is such a bewildering situation and what makes this most irrational is why our jews being targeted like this? jews represent less than 2% of the american population but 60% of religion based hate crimes in 2018 were directed towards jewish people. that is radically disproportionate to the population. so something is driving anti-semitism. is it the bds movement and all of the negative talk about israel and jews? is it something that is beyond human understanding, something otheutterly demonic where people just livid at the jewish faith? i don't understand it because jewish people are some of the kindest, most generous, most civic minded, most peaceful people and for us to continually

happen says something is driving anti-semitism and no one has put their hands around it. >> sandra: thoughts with the community as they continue to group this morning. we will bring that to our audience as we get more details. meanwhile, governor huckabee in the final hours of 2019, hard to believe and we are going to transition into a brand-new year and it is a presidential election year. tulsi gabbard is grabbing a lot of headlines for a video that she put out on her twitter account talking about the impact impeachment will have on the upcoming election. here she is. >> the house impeachment of the president has greatly increased the likelihood that donald trump will remain the president for the next five years. we all know that trump is not going to be found guilty and removed from office by the u.s. senate where they have increased the likelihood that republicans

will take over the house of representatives. >> sandra: want to dig into a couple parts of that, suggesting impeachment will only embolden the president. will it? >> i think she's absolutely right, she's looking at this with a much more independent voice, most of the democrats are like sheep. whatever nancy pelosi, jerry nadler, adam schiff, aoc tell them to think and do, that's what they do. they line up and they followed just like good cheap. one of the reason they don't like her, and they don't like her, they can't stand her. they've done everything to marginalize her and keep her off the debate stage and keep her quiet is because she's telling the truth. she is no trump fan, she is not a person who sympathizes toward donald trump and republicans, let's be clear. speaking out from her heart and democrats simply don't have. i admire her for that.

>> sandra: we all know that trump is not going to be found guilty by the u.s. senate. she talks about this emboldening president trump. she also talks about this emboldening his supporters. what impact will that have on his voters? >> his voters are on the fire. they look at this, they see what it is, it's a sham, they say they've been working on impeachment for over three years but it's all based on a phone call that just happened a few months ago. everybody sees through that. they know it's phony and they are angry and they are fired up. the people that voted for trump in 2016 will come out and there will be a lot more to join them, particularly the people whose jobs have gotten better, whose households have gotten better, 401(k)s are screaming out better. why did they want to get rid of a president who has been so effective? it's going to backfire around them. >> sandra: only about a minute left that she put out of

prediction ends as this increases the likelihood of trump's reelection and said it increases the chances of republicans retaking the house. any predictions from you, governor huckabee as we enter the new year? >> i think i will join tulsi gabbard and sing i think she's right, i do think the republicans will have a real shot of getting the house back because after watching this horrendous parade of nonsense, there are a lot of house democrats going to be sent home packing. they increase the members in the senate which gives the president an opportunity to really get some things done if he has both houses of congress and may be some of the people in both houses will work with him and get this country totally on track. >> sandra: we will see when congress returns of the new year how things get going. it's great to end the year with you, thank you very much. happy new year.

>> eric: speaking of democrats, senate minority leader chuck schumer has got some new demands for impeachment trial after that new report on the effort to withhold aid to ukraine. more what he is calling for ne next. >> let me be clear, this is about getting to the truth. they're walking into a trap. your orders are to deliver a message calling off tomorrow morning's attack. ♪ if you fail, we will lose sixteen hundred men. if we're not clever about this, no one will get to your brother. i will.

>> eric: president trump facing a possible senate trial of speaker nancy pelosi does send over those articles of impeachment. at another republican saying a decision about witnesses and any trial should wait until after opening arguments. >> i am open to witnesses. i think it is premature to decide who should be called until we see that evidence that is presented and get the answers to the questions that we senators can submit through the chief justice to both sides. >> eric: joining us for more

on this is ceo of 32 advisors from an economic advisor to president barack obama and fox news contributor. good to see you. what is your prediction, you think susan collins going to twist arms for majority leader mcconnell? >> we are seeing a crack in the g.o.p. last week, talking about she didn't like the approach senator mcconnell was going with the idea of coordinating with the white house, this week you saw senator collins. i think if he took a clear up and down about to say would you like to have witnesses, he would get north of 51 because you have to have someone like omb director and chief of staff mulvaney who went into the press room and said there was quid pro quo and yes, we held that aid. or ambassador bolton who is hinting that yes, he knows things. those two people, i've been saying this all along so this is not what i said during the senate, i was saying this during

the house. those two are the key people who now we are going into a witness environment. i think it's time. >> eric: you've been to washington behind the closed doors, what are the conversations like? one block saying we want to quickly done and get it out of the way and then maybe another block saying they've got to have some witnesses? >> it is clear we are at the most polarizing time i can recall because during the clinton impeachment trial, we had 100 senators that agreed to the process and then they had witnesses although there witnesses were closed doors. but 100 people said yes to a process. we can get 100 people to say yes to anything under the senate so it's important, this is the third president to be impeached. it's important we have a process that both sides agree to. >> eric: here is a "new york times" headline about ukraine, a meeting they are

reporting on, 84 days of conflict and confusion. the inside story of president trump's demand to halt military assistance to an ally shows the price he is willing to pay to carry out his agenda. saying they were meetings about this, discussions with ambassador bolton and others at the highest levels. >> we are seeing a process right now where every day we see a new thing come out. i think that's why we need real trials with the people who were in the room really speaking truth to power. i don't think president trump is going to be impeached, i do think we need to have an impeachment trial where the americans can see what actually went on behind closed doors. >> eric: meanwhile, the impeachment issue is going on, let's talk about the economy for a second. yesterday peter navarro was on talking about getting jobs and the unemployment rate basically at a record low, here is

mr. navarro yesterday. >> everybody who wants a job, you get a job in this economy. everyone has more opportunities to do so. >> eric: of saying anyone who wants a job can get one. >> no disrespect to peter navarro, that's a ridiculous comment because yes, the economy is doing better but they were over 6 million people unemployed looking for jobs. we have an incredible skills gap and we have had it for a while, it still exists, 6 million people looking, that tells you the mismatch. the second thing is the participation rate is still below the labor participation rate under 65% so it is still at the low end almost near where we were around recession time. and the third thing is the underemployment number is still showing that there are 15 million people that have better skills than their jobs.

so no disrespect, all these people would like to have a job. there is no guarantee job program and if peter navarro thinks he can guarantee jobs, that would be an incredible thing for this president of the united states to put a guaranteed job program because he would not do that. when that good to see you, thank you for your service and happy new year. >> sandra: it was one of the biggest scandals of 2019, parents including the celebrities accused of paying thousands in bribes to get their kids into elite colleges. so where does the varsity blues investigation stand now? also, a new year means new laws go into the books. so how one could affect drivers for ridesharing services in one state. stay tuned.

>> sandra: hundreds of new state laws will take effect involving everything from internet privacy and electric car thieves to gun rights and immigration. jonathan hunt's live in los angeles with more on that. good morning.

>> let's start here in california where the vision is consumers will be able to see more clearly what personal data companies are keeping on them. and allow those consumers to ask the companies to delete their personal information and not sell it. it's the nation's most far-reaching data privacy law aimed at the social media giants like facebook, but it will affect any large company anywhere in the country that has customers in california and keeps data on any of us. the new year also bringing the new registration charges for electric vehicles in many states. of 200 in alabama and ohio, 100 in kansas. iowa, oregon, and utah also raising. now with mass shooting so prevalent in 2019 and mental health a major part of the gun control debate, colorado is introducing a red flag law that will allow family members or law enforcement officers to petition a court to have guns seized from people deemed a

threat to themselves or others. california also wading into the growing gig economy making it more difficult for companies to treat workers like contractors instead of employees with minimum-wage benefits, et cetera. uber and post mates are seeking an injunction to prevent that law going into effect at midnight tonight. >> sandra: jonathan hunt in l.a. for us, thank you. >> eric: stunning new twist in the search for missing idaho children. they say their mother knows what happened to them but will not talk to police. we will have the latest on that curious investigation next. plus, president trump blaming iran after those crowds. more on that from the pentagon at the top of the hour. and soothing softness to relieve. a nose in need, deserves puffs, indeed.

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to my breaking news as hundreds of iraqis have stormed the u.s. embassy in baghdad following funerals for the 25 fighters of iran back hezbollah. retaliatory u.s. air strikes early this week. you come to a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." >> eric: good to be with you, eric shawn in for bill hemmer this morning. the embassy has not been evacuated, meanwhile a separate officials say the ambassador is out of the country. >> sandra: the president responding this morning, "we strongly responded and always will. now iran is orchestrating an attack on the u.s. embassy in

iraq, they will be held fully responsible and in addition, expect them to protect the embassy and so notified. >> eric: lucas tomlinson live at the pentagon. >> you mention hundreds if not dozens of iranian backed militia trying to storm the embassy compound in baghdad but so far, they don't look like they have gone too far inside, no reported injuries and i am told by officials inside the embassy all american embassy personnel are safe. teargas has been fired from inside the compound to those protesters but it does not look like it is having much of an effect. there are reports had to be evacuated but that's not true according to embassy personnel i spoke to today. the ambassador is on vacation. this mob represents the propaganda machine working on new year's eve following this u.s. air strikes on an iranian backed militia killing 25 fighters.

iraq's prime minister tweeted in english a short time ago "while we condemn the u.s. air strikes on iraqi military units and acknowledge that symbolic funeral marches for the mourners of the solemn act of remembrance, those taking part must stay away from diplomatic buildings and compounds. any act of aggression means foreign embassies in iraq and those responsible face the full force of the law. it is a sign of iranian control over militia groups, not a sign of iraq anti-americanism. we must protect their citizens from belligerence. the group targeted sunday and all militias in iraq was photographed outside the embassy in baghdad earlier today. he is responsible for killing hundreds of u.s. troops during the iraq war and orchestrating the bombing of u.s. embassy in kuwait two months after the

beirut barracks bombing. the militia men attempting to storm the embassy following the funerals of its fighters killed in those air strikes sunday. the pentagon's as it carried out the strikes friday. u.s. officials want iraq is to know that they viewed those iranian backed militia men and their supporters attempting to breach the embassy compound as separate from the peaceful iraqi protesters elsewhere in the country that want change in their government. and will be moderating the situation. >> sandra: could take some attention away from the 2020 democrats the same night in iowa for the first debate of the year, let's bring in our atms, there he is. cofounder and editor of real clear politics and former

economic advisor to president obama and fox news contributor, good morning to all of you. happy new year, thanks for being here this morning ahead of the celebrations tonight. battleground wisconsin. >> the key he is going to emphasizes jobs, the numbers they have come out with our phenomenal, the congressional budget office came out in 2017 saying they are going to be 2 million new jobs by now, and fact we have a 7 million, more than three times what the cbo predicted they were going to have. so jobs are very important in wisconsin, they had a terrible situation with manufacturing in that state all during the 2,000 republican a administration but jobs are beginning to come back not as fast as a lot of wisconsinites would want and i think democrats are hoping that they could emphasize that but

the ones who want to reach out and bring new jobs they are, doesn't sound like much but in a state like wisconsin, it means a lot so he's going to emphasize that. >> sandra: you seeing that. but out a statement saying "president trump delivered for wisconsin creating 37,400 new jobs including new manufacturing jobs. new construction jobs, president trump looks forward to celebrating his message of promises made and promises kept. are they able to distract from democrats? >> going to be the seventh night of debate over the past 13 months and we may only have five candidates on the stage at that time so you will probably get a little more play and tv forward, the last debate was good, not surprising that the president is going to wisconsin recently in michigan and in florida so he is already into the 2020 campaign season. i respectfully disagree with my friend david.

my great friend david. we know that industrial america, manufacturing jobs have slowed, we know business investment has slowed quarter to quarter business investment is down. we know that the gdp expectations north of 3 percent did not come to fruition. in >> sandra: you argue that there is not robust economy? >> it is not robust, we are at 2% gdp. i >> sandra: i want to get tom bevan in here. >> classic trunk counter program and come up going to do what he can to steal the stage. i suspect most republicans and trump supporter's who watched trump and most democrats will be focused on this debate, the last one to take place before the vote in iowa that happens on february 3rd, so the last chance for democrats to make their case the democratic primary voters particularly in that state. >> eric: what does it say about focusing directly on wisconsin and those states that

hillary clinton was criticized for ignoring? >> wisconsin is probably the pivotal state, 1 of 3 perhaps that will decide the election, both campaigns know that, they've already 4 tons of resources into wisconsin. it's been that political war for the better part of a decade with all that went on there. so both parties are very robust. >> sandra: this is president trump versus democrats in the field and how they measure up in a potential matchup in the state of wisconsin. joe biden beating president trump by one point there, you can see down the line it is pretty even matchup. >> it was razor-thin, so this really is bad. this is the youth battleground state, maybe not the most important in terms of votes and so forth, but it's a psychologically important state. with regard to what robert was

saying about manufacturing, this president has created 500 -- i shouldn't say this president, under president trump, we have created 500,000 new manufacturing jobs in the united states. that came down a little bit about 30,000 jobs but there is a net increase of over 400,000 jobs many of which president obama said were never going to come back at all. so there has been an -- if you want to run the campaign on jobs, go ahead but you're going to be defeated easily by what you say are the facts. >> we know when the midterms, we weren't defeated, we flipped 41 states red to blue, took over seven governorships. and we know that we have won two of the last three governorships, so once again. in >> those were on health cared things that democrats had legitimate complaints about. >> i know you haven't been for tariffs. >> i have to push back a little

bit. as a free marketeer, i don't like tariffs but you look at what the results are, this is a president whose rhetoric is very different from his results. you have to look at the results of this president, results are we're about to sign a phase one trade deal, just came out this morning announcing the signature is going to take place in mid-january. all of these things that a lot of us free marketeer's are either afraid of or against on philosophical grounds, a lot of them have turned out to be working in the president's favor and we have had to change our opinion as to whether tariffs are effective. >> eric: you just hit on something that this is a president whose rhetoric is different than his results, that can go both ways. how would the american people parse that when it comes to the election? >> rhetoric may be different than his results on some things but in other things he's been remarkably consistent. china is one that he's been remarkably consistent on for a long time. the trump campaign feels like they have a pretty good case to make to take the american people

in 2020, not just jobs but on trade, on foreign policy, some of these others. >> sandra: page one of that trade deal getting signed. >> the one area is health care is still at the top of the list along with the economy and trump really doesn't have much by way of a health care policy to match up against the democrats. he will say he is been able to lower drug prescription costs and the like. >> sandra: going back to your point, some republicans in new jersey the answer to that, made some headlines over the weekend, so he felt confident republicans could flip democratic house seats in his state with the help of donald trump at the top of the ticket, is there concern there? >> no. i am not surprised chris christie of the former governor of new jersey could think that they could flip. there are 21 republicans and it may almost be up to 25 that are retiring from the g.o.p. house, there were only six democrats.

i think it's 18 house republicans. i will you on that one. i'm looking right now at the figures. the mecca number two, i think the idea that new jersey is flipping, we are kidding ourselves. is a staunch blue state and is going to stay a staunch blue state. i think if i was the g.o.p. today, i would look at the most recent polls that both in florida and virginia, biden is beating trump on both. it is key to us who the candidate is. until we know who the candidate is, we have no idea. is still too early to figure out where the house is going where the senate is going. >> one thing about new jersey that shouldn't be overlooked, actually a businessman, he has raised taxes enormously in new jersey now the highest property taxes in the nation and of course they were hit in a bad way by the removal of your ability to detect interest on your house and so forth and

federal taxes. so those residents have a very antigovernment feeling now that they haven't had in the past ten years. new jersey does have a history of going republican when taxes get too high. we saw in the past. that's what's happening right now, why you may see a number of these, christy says the receipts might flip from blue to red, and that sounds reasonable. >> sandra: i want to move onto the last topic here and that is ivanka trump because she made news when she appeared in an interview and seemed to not confirm that she will return to the white house if the president is reelected. >> i am driven first and foremost by my kids and their happiness, so that's always going to be my top priority and that's my decisions will always be flexible to ensure that their

needs are being considered first and foremost so they will drive that answer for me. >> sandra: so she seem to signal that maybe she won't return to the white house if he is reelected. >> she's got to prep for her 2024 run against chelsea clint clinton. these are tough jobs to begin with and to stay in that position for four years let alone eight years especially when you do have little kids at home is really tough. so i wouldn't be surprised to see her take a pass if trump gets reelected. >> not surprising, for years is more than most people in the administration, valerie jarrett was the only person the obama administration that stayed eight years. seldom do people go past. >> she said at the time comes if i don't feel the chill go up my spine, that's the time to leave. you have to have that kind of respect for the white house.

in >> eric: that she is a presidential daughter. >> i hope she runs for mayor of new york, we need somebody. in >> sandra: she did dodge questions about whether or not she herself is considering a run for office. maybe not that office, i don't know. we will see. >> eric: the congressional seat that is going to be opening up or is open. >> she said she's not going forward, not happening but there's already ten people running. >> sandra: her response to whether or not she would consider running for office and she is really energized and deeply passionate but the day i walk in the west wing, and i don't feel a shiver of the spine is that they have been here too long so we shall see. >> mayor of new york, there's a big opportunity there for someone to straighten the city out, it's a wonderful city but it needs a big person to come in. >> are really sharp guy, i think he can really bring this city

back. >> sandra: letters are a team this morning, happy new year. >> eric: we already got quentin-trump 2030 too. brush fires in australia are intensifying and getting worse. while they are reaching scorching levels, you can see flames turning this guy darkened every read. they cannot escape. >> sandra: plus, jeffrey epstein's alleged madam under investigation by the fbi. how authorities say she is connected to all of it next. >> she is kind of the end-all be-all because epstein is out of the picture now. so here's the full court press in this investigation because she can begin to connect those dots. just one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. because life starts when heartburn stops. take the challenge at prilosecotc dot com.

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>> sandra: a tennessee police officer killed chasing two suspects across the highway last evening. authorities say a navy veteran was hit by oncoming traffic and later died from his injuries. the two suspects bristol was pursuing are now in police custody. wildfires in australia worsening today as temperatures skyrocket to over 100 degrees fahrenheit. evacuations in parts of the country were stopped were fires burn too close to the roads. thousands of people on the southeast coast forced to take refuge on the beach. plus, the dow dropping more than 200 points falling from all-time highs in the second to last trading day amid the santa claus rally period which historically sees a boost for stocks which had as seen. >> eric: how about that? let's take a look at the top

three crime stories that we've covered this past year, let's start with developments in the molly tibbetts case, you may remember that. a judge now ruling that most of the evidence and testimony against a suspect will be allowed at the trial. with more on this, criminal defense attorney, so molly tibbets what a tragedy. what is the latest in terms of the case? >> we were worried they might go free because of the way the evidence was collected, we can all breathe a sigh of relief because that is not going to happen. the judge ruled even though some of the statements that he made were not voluntary and were improperly collected because they didn't properly read the miranda rights, so will the rest of the evidence that ensued after that, there's a whole lot of evidence against this guy, the trial is scheduled for february. he actually in essence had stalked her and then tried to

get romantic with her. he was rebuffed, she fought back, and that's when he killed her. >> sandra: now want to develop this in the jeffrey epstein case and has alleged madam now under investigation, what is new on all of that? >> if we thought it was going to die when he did, we were wrong. he had a lot of friends and a lot of friends in high places, but not all of them are going to be investigated. this particular was close to him and has been depicted in a lot of pictures with him and other people including one of the accusers. makes sense for them to want to talk to her but since she is not here across the pond, the chances of her talking are slim to none. >> eric: allegations are that she allegedly helped bring them in and introduce them. in >> this is in the investigation stage. they charged her, maybe then we

could see an extradition for right now, they just want to know what she knew. >> sandra: finally, the college admissions scandal, hard to believe that all broke this year and where does everything stand with that now? >> i came out of the gate and i thought lori laughlin was really dead to rights here but her attorneys are making a very smart move asking for some exculpatory evidence to be produced by the prosecutors. it exists in any case, it could make the case go away paired what we might find is i was duped. i was told that all the money that i was spending to get my kids was going to an actual charity, was going to the college, going someplace come i didn't mean bribe anyone. and that theory might have legs. we have to see what the documents produced. >> sandra: meanwhile, felicity huffman did her time.

>> she ate a little bit of crow and now it's behind her. >> eric: it has long been alleged that you can donate to a college and get your kid in. >> people do all the time so what made this different? this ringleader is trying to save himself because he just sang like a canary and we are going to wait to see if that helps him. >> eric: and she can take that as a defense saying that's what i thought. >> they have to lie in order for the contra work. we don't know what he said to them and may be her theory will hold water so i'm going to walk it back a little and wait and see what happens in 2020 with her. hard to pick only three cases this year. we had a lot of legal stuff. >> sandra: more breaking news now from baghdad, the u.s. embassy they are under siege after iraq he protesters stormed the compound in response to those deadly u.s. air strikes

on the iranian backed militia. live in the middle east with an update next. >> sandra: democrat calling for the dnc to conduct new and more polling before the next debate in iowa, a push to increase diversity, the democratic party is reacting on whether they have a problem now on their hands. in >> the dnc saying we can do nothing about it seems disingenuous because they can clearly reach out to any of the approved polling organizations and ask for the pole to be conducted. don't live in a vacuum. we need to prepare for uncertainty. and you can... with rosland capital - a trusted leader in helping people acquire precious metals. call rosland capital today at 800-630-8900 to get started. gold bullion, lady liberty gold and silver proofs, and our premium coins, can help you preserve your wealth.

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>> secretary pompeo has made it very clear to the iranian regime that any attacks by the regime or by any of these militia groups whether it is hezbollah, that if any of these proxy groups threatened over attack the united states or our allies that we would hold them accountable.

>> eric: state department spokeswoman doubling down on the warning to iran. that after dozens of angry iraqis stormed the u.s. embassy compound and retaliation for those u.s. attacks on an iranian backed militia group. lawmakers in washington are responding, senate intelligence committee member tom cotton, tweeting this morning saying "when and iran backed militia killed an american in iraq last week, it was met with a firm response. a number embassy in baghdad sovereign u.s. territory has been attacked for in another reckless escalation is the president notes iran must be held responsible. trey yingst has the very latest live in jerusalem. >> hundreds of iraqis stormed the embassy prompting security forces to intervene, protesters set fire to parts of the compound smashing windows and even chanting down, down usa.

reports indicate the embassy is on lock down and american citizens are inside. the ambassador is out of town though embassy security forces were seen trying to push back demonstrators with tear gas and rubber bullets. today, mike pompeo spoke on the phone with iraq he prime minister to reiterate the u.s. will protect its people. president trump today calling on the iraq is to protect the embassy sing the situation was orchestrated by a ran which comes after u.s. air strikes on sunday targeted a militia group responsible for rocket attacks on friday that killed one american contractor. the group that was hit has vowed to respond against the united states. >> it is flagrant aggression, aggression on iraq sovereignty. this aggression won't pass unpunished. >> i did speak today with a u.s. official who stressed the difference between the eye iraqis who had been demonstrating for the past few months against their government in the streets of baghdad and

across the country and those who attended this the embassy storming today, many of them militia members, that official adding president trump has been receiving regular updates from his security team and will be making the final decision about if and when to respond to this event today. >> eric: thanks so much. >> sandra: is shaping up as a key issue when lawmakers return to capitol hill next week, house speaker nancy pelosi singh democrats will focus on health care trying to get to bills passed and the law. one on lowering drug prices, the other curbing so-called surprise medical billing. i've had mine around this tuesday morning, donna brazile, former interim chief in fox news contributor, good morning. >> go tigers, sandra. >> sandra: it is going to be a big game between those two tigers team, will be watching that of course. let me ask you first, what do

democrats want to get done, what do they think they can get done? >> they passed over eight bills to protect and enhance health care in america, speaker pelosi has signaled to the democrats that she really wants to fight to lower prescription drugs, that bill is sitting on mitch mcconnell's desk, there's also a bill on surprise billing, it has bipartisan support. that's when you go to the hospital and come back and look at your bill and say oh, my god, what is that? speaker pelosi believes that it's not just democrats and republicans, she is going to work with the republicans including the president who also wants to lower prescription drug prices. his notion doesn't go far enough in terms of negotiation for medicare and other types of insurance but i do believe the speaker's right to focus on this

issue when they return next we week. >> sandra: she penned a letter and said basically this, if we continue the drumbeat across america to press the president and the g.o.p. senate to pass the lower drug costs now act into law. we also look forward to ending the financial unfairness of surprise billing which has bipartisan support in congress and among the american people so we will see what happens because the trump administration has made it clear on this is a priority for them too. >> it is a priority but now that the affordable care act otherwise known as obamacare hangs in the balance and millions of americans turned to may be subjected to having their health insurance disappear because of pre-existing conditions and as you all know, she also says the recent news of congressman john lewis, my personal hero, a hero to millions of americans if she wants to make this a focus of the democrats when they return next week. >> eric: we will be talking about john lewis later on in the

program, our thoughts are with him and his family. the democratic primary. absolutely. but when you talk about health care and medicare for a all, she is having some fund-raising troubles now. do you think that has damaged her campaign? >> i do believe she will have a sufficient amount of resources to compete in the early states but as you all know, she put out a big plan a couple of months ago, didn't go over well with democratic voters and others. i still believe she has enough steam and enough fuel in her engines and make it through those first four important states but as you all know, one super tuesday comes around on march 3rd, it's going to be all hands on deck because it takes a lot of money, something michael bloomberg seem not to have a problem dishing out good as you well know, opened up a big headquarters in times square, he has a lot of money, i hear people live on his payroll all across the country

going out there getting signatures, trying to get his name recognition up in areas where people don't know him. but i still believe elizabeth warren is one of the top-tier democrats. >> eric: let's say when they come out of the first contest, pete buttigieg, the senator bernie sanders goes with new hampshire, vice president biden out of south carolina, nevada, don't know. and running a general election right now. >> he is, he understands more than 50% of the dead look delegates will be chosen of the first two weeks of march. he has the resources, doesn't have the name recognition, may not have all of the relationships but he is competing hard. i still believe this nomination is fluid. i know we are going into the final weeks before we get to iowa but in my judgment, there's a chance that somebody in still -- a sleeper candidate and i look at amy klobuchar, cory booker, people who might

not be drawing headlines right now but they are still in the game and i still believe they have an opportunity to win. >> sandra: andrew yang wants a chance to win and wants more diversity on the stage of the first debate in the new year and he has penned a letter to the dnc on the poles with the upcoming holidays, he writes a meager number of polls currently out on the field a diverse set of candidates might be absent from the stage in des moines for reasons out of anyone's control. this is a troubling prospect for a party regardless of the best intentions, could make unfounded claims of bias and prejudice. to that, you say what is the former interim chair of the dnc? >> not only the former chair, someone who has fought very hard and very long, the battle that started with jesse jackson and shirley chisholm to make this a party of diversity and a party that believes every american deserves opportunity to compete for the presidency of the united states, i think the dnc is absolutely right. you set the rules in the beginning of the game that says

we are going to have certain numbers of debates and here are the criteria, you have to live by that but to dip into the pool and say we are going to commission our own polls would be inappropriate. it's inappropriate for those who have already dropped out and those who were still competing. so i recognize mr. yang's concerns and i share many of his feelings about diversity and inclusion but i think it's inappropriate for the dnc. we have independent polls including fox news and others that will be coming out soon and hopefully other candidates as well as nondiverse candidates will be able to show that they have strength. one thing i want to point out, this is a race for delegates, he need to get 15% or more of voters. you are not pulling at 15%, you are not going to get a delegate. so stop complaining, go out there and start competing because this race is still flu

fluid. >> sandra: that equals the response from the dnc because they essentially answered no. they responded back, they've been more than inclusive throughout this entire process with an expansive list of qualifying poles. the dnc will not -- this will break with a long-standing practice of both parties using independent polling for debate qualifications and it would be inappropriate use of dnc resources that should be directed at beating donald tru donald trump. >> can you imagine the dnc commissioned a poll and then said who was going to poll them? secondly, how many people are going to be in the poll? who concluded this is the resu result? sleep cause more trouble. i understand the frustration, i supported and worked for jesse jackson in 1984. including the state where i am now sitting, the sitting, louisiana, we once did it louisiana '84, but you know what he had, he had a message and he

had momentum so go out there, get a message and then connect with voters who still have time to win but you have to stop whining and complaining and go out there and just work to do well in those early states. >> sandra: cory booker took us back, by the way. the fact that request to change the polling saying it was conducted before the november debate. this race has changed a lot since then, there should be more early state polls, we are investing in grassroots campaign them because that's the best way. might as well throw up the real clear politics average for the democratic presidential nomination, biden still the clear front runner, sanders, warren, pete buttigieg, and andrew yang seventh at 3.6%. >> you go back in 2004, and you look at hillary clinton and 2008

and 2,016 numerous examples. numerous examples that the color of your skin or your nationality, ethnicity, it is not the barometer we should check. we should check your momentum, your post, your message. go out there and make a connection with voters. i believe we are going to have a very fine group of candidates who will be competing for those delegates in 2,020. >> sandra: i will give you a go tigers and it's going to be a fun new year for everybody watching that game. >> i'm a double team, i love my home state, i wish you were home with me, there is a sugar bowl parade and a couple of hours. i will be there. >> eric: and the great city of new orleans, have a great new year's. >> my beloved hometown, god bless you all, happy new year. >> eric: speaking of the new year, they could see the minimum wage rise in many parts of the country. to some critics are saying that

it will end up costing workers millions of jobs. >> sandra: plus, using up on children's videos and how this might affect what your children are watching. we are going to talk about it with charles payne coming here he comes, happy new years. ok everyone!

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1.3 million, but a worst-case scenario would be 3.7 million jobs lost, that's important to note because of the 82 million people in our country were on hourly wages, only 2% of minimum wage right now, 1.3 million under, so to bring those folks up 1.7 million to sacrifice 3.7 million jobs. i think we should let it happen organically and i think we are already seeing that. one of the phenomena as the sea with this great economy, how amazing it's been in every aspect, small businesses are struggling, between one to 19 employees and in 2016 we had 377,000 additional workers in that group. 2,070 and a thousand and into thousand 18, 386,000. we have lost 6,000. think about that, a million and three prior years to a loss of 6,000. they cannot compete with higher

wages so the states were forcing small businesses to pay what they can pay are counterproductive. >> eric: what is your advice to a small business owner? >> there's nothing they can really do. they have to try to be like the big boys and bring in technology, by a software system, try your best automation, you want to stay in business and you want to survive but you also want to go. to stay where you are. and that's the whole thing, we want to grow these businesses, don't want them to be stagnant. where the rules change when you have more than 15 employees, a backlog of businesses that did not grow passed 15 employees. in this particular case, we are hampering these folks and right now people are making more money. businesses that can't afford to pay it are paying it. >> sandra: a lot of ways to look at that, big privacy changes coming to web sites everywhere starting

new year's day, going to be a button at the bottom of your screen, a lot of web sites that we frequent that is going to help hear data stay more priva private. >> it is all based on rule in california and also that a lot of these companies are saying we might as well do it and prepare for the whole country, essentially saying do not sell my personal information. in it applies to companies that make 25 million or more. any of those, youtube, any of them. it i thought it was interesting, going to cost them 55 billion to comply with this, i don't believe that number but it is interesting and i think at some point next year, we will talk about us getting paid for our data that's the next step. >> sandra: otherwise, you have to go into the small writing and figure out where. maybe bill hemmer, right?

happy new year. thank you so much, thank you both, appreciate it. >> eric: new developments in the search for two children missing in idaho, police now saying their mother does no more than she is saying, live report on that intriguing investigation next.

>> eric: an alert from idaho where there are some developments in the case of these two missing children. authority saying their mother might know what happened to them, but she is refusing to cooperate with the police investigation. alicia acuna is following the story. >> the last time anyone heard from these two kids. joshua and his sister 17-year-old were last seen in the idaho town of rexburg. police say the children's mother and her new husband are not cooperating with investigators and are wanted for questioning. both of their former spouses are dead, her estranged husband was shot by her brother and is being ruled suspicious. in a statement, rexford police said we strongly believe that their lives are in danger.

told witnesses that lori's daughter had died a year before the death of her father which is untrue. around the same time, chad told another witness that laurie had no minor children. also the couple is no longer in idaho and are part of a doomsday like a cult former fbi deputy director last week on "fox & friends" explaining why that makes this all the more delicate. >> they don't cooperate with law enforcement so it is exacerbated by the fact that there is such a close society and looking at law enforcement is this mentality for their apocalyptic ending. in >> no charges have been filed, back to you. >> sandra: fox news alert now where the u.s. embassy is under siege they are, protesters have attacked a compound in the iraqi capital and now we are getting a brand-new reaction from the white house, the latest on that developing a story top of the next hour.

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>> sandra: fox news alert on new reaction from the white house after iraq he stormed the u.s. embassy in baghdad. president trump saying iran will be held responsible for orchestrating the attack. welcome back to "america's newsroom," i am sandra smith. >> eric: good to be with you this morning, i am eric shawn in for bill hemmer this morning. calling on iraqi forces to protect the american embassy. after that mob smashed the main door and then set fire to the reception area. those protests sparked u.s. deadly air strikes on iraq and syria. tweeting this moments ago, millions of people who want freedom controlled by iran, this is your time. rich edson live at the state department with the very latest. >> a defense official tells fox news that 100 more marines are going to the u.s. embassy in

baghdad to bolster security there according to our pentagon team and lucas tomlinson who is also telling us moments ago a u.s. army apache helicopter gunship flew over the embassy, dropped flares in a show of force in an attempt to try to disburse that crowd. here are the state department, secretary of state mike pompeo says that he spoke with the prime minister and the iraqi president this morning and stressed and made it clear the u.s. will protect and defend its people serving in iraq. protesters storm the heavily guarded green zone in baghdad, a location of the largest american embassy in the world, many carrying flags and banners of iranian backed militias. embassy officials say there is no evacuation that the ambassador was already out of town when the protesters arrived at the embassy. president trump tweeted "iran killed an american contractor, wounding many. we strongly responded and always will. and now iran is orchestrating an

attack on the u.s. embassy in iraq. they will be held fully responsible in addition, we expect iraq to use its forces to protect the embassy and so notified." the american air strikes in syria and iraq over the weekend struck an iranian backed militia. the u.s. says they are responsible for a missile attack friday on an iraqi military base that killed an american contractor. senior state department officials say after so many attacks from iran backed fighters, the u.s. military had to respond in a way that iran understands. the iraq he government caught between american and iranian influence protests at the air strikes is a violation of iraq he sovereignty and warned they would invite trouble. it is a solemn act of remembrance. those taking part must stay away from diplomatic buildings and

compounds. security forces will respond to any aggression or harassment in this being perpetrated against diplomatic facilities in any country. back to you. >> sandra: for more at all of this, let's bring in fox news national security and foreign affairs analyst, good morning to you and thank you for being he here. your reaction to these thoughts as you look back on the events unfolding in baghdad this morning? >> the first and most important thing is to clarify for the public, who are these so-called demonstrators? if you play the video, we see those yellow flags, this is not the iraq he flagged, these are the flags of the pro-iranian them militia, mostly has the luck of baghdad and iraq, second very important, the uniforms. i am speaking of looking at militia men with his uniforms of what means basically is that these are militia conducting an urban attack, meaning without

firearms to put pressure on the united states embassy. that's the immediate goal of these militias. >> sandra: let me give you some examples of the reaction we are seeing this morning in the middle of all this, a tweet from marco rubio. "it is beyond dispute that these militias aren't just backed by iran, they are directed and controlled by them. any attacks by them are direct work. also joined us on this program just a short time ago and said this. >> iran has been using their proxy militants to target us. they want is out, they want to drive a wedge between the united states government and the iraq he government. we saw the iraq he prime minister say this was a violation of u.s. at 50 and strikes on those has been the weapons locations with a violation of iraqi territory integrity. he felt like he probably needed to say that, but that's what drives a wedge between our two countries. >> sandra: with tensions quickly escalating, the question is how we respond next.

>> first of all, let's be calm about the security of our embassy, and a forces underground to protect ourselves. i don't think they are going to play the game of frontal attack directly with firepower against the embassy. they know the response. we are not in the tehran of 1979, the iraq he government politicians are saying this is not a legitimate strike. we had an agreement with the government, we actually had destroyed isis across iraq and an attack by the murder of the rules of engagement. they are attacked, they're going to respond so we could do the same. but the most important point in my view here is that why these militias are doing this, they are doing this for two reasons as we all know to drive us out, get to the issue of the sanctions but more important, they want to divert attention from the millions of young iraq use demonstrating in iraq for

the last two months, that's the goal because there have been statements made this morning and yesterday by the heads of the militia saying now we are going to attack the americans and then going to go against the agents of the american in the streets of baghdad, that's the reason for why they are doing those aggressive acts against us. >> sandra: is for the american response that killed two dozen fighters, wounded dozens more, secretary of state mike pompeo appeared on fox news yesterday morning responding to that hand hinting at what is to come. here is a secretary of state. >> this was an iranian backed broke militia acting toda to dey basic sovereignty. they are working to expand their terror campaign all around the world. they took a strike in american facility, president trump has been pretty patient. and he has made clear at the time that when americans of lives were at risk, we would respond. >> sandra: you come to the

moment now to reach us saw the white house put out a statement saying to those many millions of people iraq will want freedom and do not want to be dominated and controlled by iran, this is your time. give us your sense of what we are seeing the next in the days and weeks to come here. >> absolutely, there are a lot of voices in washington and elsewhere about what can we do. we have in big trouble, not at all. we actually should divide our strategy if i may say, to respond to military actions by military actions has been the militias attacked, we responded in a very limited and very rational way. but at the same time, you just mentioned the tweet of the president, this is exactly what demonstrations should be doing, starting with the president, secretary of state and with the congressional leaders, that is to talk to the iraq he people, talk to to the iraq he demonstrators and tell them this is your time. it would flip most of iraq, the

sunny are already against them, it is a good momentum if you know how to engineer it. >> sandra: this is a developing situation they are in baghdad, some of the video that we have and we are going to continue to bring our viewers anything that we get as it comes in. we appreciate you coming onto rack this morning, thank you. meanwhile, former vice president joe biden not ruling out a republican running mate. he wins, the democratic nomination. >> are 21-year-old son said the other night i wonder if joe biden would consider choosing a republican as a running mate. >> the answer is i would, but i can't think of one now. there are some decent republicans that are out there still, but here's the problem right now of the well-known ones. they've got to step up. in you know what i mean? >> sandra: let's bring in the political panel, richard fowler is a radio talk show host and the former campaign manager for

the reagan-bush '84 campaign. both fox news contributor's. so could this be a good move for the former vice president to pick up republican running mate? >> absolutely not for two reasons. first of all, he's the oldest candidate to ever run, promised he'd only run for one terms of the picks a vice presidential candidate of the opposite party, gives a leg up for the future. democrats are not going to tolerate a republican, no republican that is not a trump supporter that would do any good for them so my sense it's about 20 years behind the times and this is just wild thinking. >> sandra: he admitted, i'm going to get clobbered by the press for this and not trying to be a wise guy. we do see this is a good news for the front runner of your party? >> met with them a couple of times and i've got to say, this is in really thinking about this because this is a very thoughtful individual. this speaks to why he is

overhead in the polls because he is trying to speak to where a lot of americans are. a lot of americans are saying we are tired of division, tired of this versus that. we think there has to be some bipartisanship here in washington. have to get things done for the american people and the only way we can do that is by both parties working together and is one of the greatest examples of that and the answer that question there shows that he is a great example, which is why he will do very well in this primary context. to back you look at the national polling on the top tier candidates heading into the new year and while joe biden is still clearly the front runner, bernie sanders and elizabeth warren trailing behind in third place as we begin 2020. what can she do as we now know she's about to make a pitch to voters in the new year. what can she do to pick up some new momentum in the new year? >> sanders obviously but the runner-up last time. so combined, very serious

challenge and my sense is whoever does best in these early primaries probably emerges a long way to go, voters obviously start, don't win new hampshire or iowa or what have you, so a very different year than we've ever seen. predicting what democrats are going to do with the reality here is you have an expert compared to what democrats are going to do. >> sandra: says that this page to voters in her home state is going to be discuss what possible ordinary americans dream beyond the corruption they see and imagine a new future together. can she went over new voters in the new year? >> i can't say i have 50 years of experience like ed does but he is absolutely right on this. really in a fight with bernie sanders, so they are trying to sort of appease the left wing of the party, trying

to appease those voters that say they don't want a centrist candidate. they think the best way to win his policy plans and procedures that will remake america and for that to be the case, we'll have to go after bernie voters but the problem with that is that bernie's name idea is a lot higher and the bernie voters have been with him for a very long time. so she's going to have to stay in their and stick this out. for joe biden, this bernie and warren were to continue, this will keep them at the top of the polls. the moments that these two individuals drop out of this race and they've coalesce behind one candidate, then we will see a totally different dynamic than the democratic field. >> sandra: let's throw up the real quick politics polling average in iowa topping the poll they were in new hampshire, bernie sanders topping less than two points ahead of pete buttigieg they are. some key states we are watching,

who are you watching in the new year? the candidates to watch. >> i'm watching lauren, gets her second win and starts doing well, very credible and bringing rising numbers and has done a lot of ideas out there and generated a lot of support. i think the rest of the field clearly is weak at this point in time, we'll have to emerge as time goes on. >> i am watching mayor pete buttigieg and here's the reason why. 1 of the only candidates poised in this race to have a meteoric rise that we saw president obama have in 2008. while he doesn't have this element of the obama coalition because those elements are with joe biden right now, if he does have a good performance, really good performance in the iowa caucus, he could really skyrocket and take off so we are watching to see what he does but i don't think that will happen. you will have a three-way tie in iowa, three-way tie a

new hampshire, takes south carolina and fights for delegates after that. >> sandra: he set it up for u us. neither of whom are going to be the nominee but being able to turn and spend millions of dollars against trump and that may have some impact. >> i think he is right about that. >> sandra: happy new year to both of you, thank you, see you next year. >> they will be masses of security in place tonight in new york's times square. a million people are expected to bring in the new year coming up on what to expect. >> sandra: plus, the man who shot and killed the gunman seconds after fired on a texas service. >> i don't feel like i killed an individual, i killed evil and

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a camera might figure it out. that was easy! glad i could help. at xfinity, we're here to make life simple. easy. awesome. so come ask, shop, discover at your local xfinity store today. >> sandra: former fbi agent claiming the fbi violated his right to freedom of speech, responded to the justice department's motion to dismiss his lawsuit, claiming he was fired because of political pressure from president trump, played a senior role in the early days of the russia investigation. >> i don't see myself as a hero. i see myself as doing what needed to be done to take out the evil threat. >> eric: that is jack wilson who was security at the texas church speaking out about him stopping a gunman on sunday. fatally shot that man just seconds after the gunman opened fire during the services,

killing two worshipers at the west freeway church come alive in the white settlement texas just outside of fort worth. >> is the investigation into the shooting continues, came back to the grounds for the very first time since the shooting, it was a huge vigil outside, dozens and dozens of people out here not only to show that this community is strong but also the shooting does not define them. we gave them food in the past, also said the shooter got angry at him at times when the church refused to get him money. still under investigation. as the shooter was shot by one of the armed security volunteers, jack wilson took him down with a single shot ending the situation near seconds after it started.

>> went over to cover and pulled the shotgun away from his body and then other people that are armed in the church part of the security team came forward in order to help, did try to get up which he did not. >> more information is also starting to surface regarding the two men who were killed by the gunman. at the time of the shooting when the gunman initially pulled out his shotgun, another security volunteer richard white had reached for his gun to stop the threat. was shot first by the gunman. his family wrote to us saying that he was a devoted man to the church and constantly putting others first. the other victim tony wallace was a communion server and was shot shortly after white. his family spoke about saying it was a very selfless man. >> he taught me everything.

>> what remains the question is why he came to this church to do it, investigators say they did search his home but having to talk about prior arrests in the past, but haven't further elaborated. >> eric: just so heartbreaking, thank you. >> sandra: elizabeth warren speaking in front of a live crowd in boston is a marked one year of her presidential campaign with no clear front runners, the democratic race, could she pull off a surprise win? plus, it is all about the money. who is up, who is down from a with the fourth quarter earnings tell us about the state of the race as we rolled into a brand-new year, 2020, karl rove here to break it down next.

>> sandra: senator elizabeth warren this time last year announcing she was exploring a presidential run, now one year later is delivering a new year's eve speech, live in boston with the more with pictures there of the presidential candidate on stage. >> a campion from boston exactly one year ago today marking the anniversary right now addressing a crowd of supporters here just behind me, just asked voters to imagine what she sees as the possibilities for a better america and as supporters have the courage to help her fight for it. her speech today is in the old south meeting house, the place where the boston tea party

began, where benjamin franklin was baptized, lauren is telling this crowder has told this crowd part of his story, a poet who devoted spending most of her life, became the second woman, first african-american woman to published a book of poetry. elizabeth morin has told the crowd to big cheers that phyllis wheatley imagined a world that did not yet exist but a world that she could see, penned ideals of a better america. of more and then went on to say today, we come together to imagine a country where the decisions made in washington aren't simply bought and paid for by lobbyists and big donors who imagine a country where the fossil fuel industry doesn't have a death grip and they don't get to put their own profits above the safety of our children. to imagine a country where no politician has to kiss the rings of the rich in order to win

elected office. that's what she just told the crowd here, got big applause is, each of those lines, warren says that reality is now within the grasp. the fund-raising deadline to the fourth quarter is tonight, senator warren is expected to raise at least 20% less than what she raised last quarter and in an email as supporters chip in whatever they can to try to help the campaign hit $20 million by tonight. mayor pete buttigieg has risen in a number of early staples, warren has gone after him hosting private fund-raisers, did hold similar fund-raisers in the past then realized how corrupt the system is and in her presidential campaign, she strums them instead relying on small donors. pete buttigieg supporters tend to argue that she had the luxury of doing that because in the past, she did have support for more wealthy donors and has a bigger fortune than he does. >> sandra: thank you.

>> eric: senator warren has been falling behind in the money race coming in fourth in the fourth quarter fund-raising battle with senator bernie sanders leading as you can see, former vice president joe biden rebounding after the third quarter, so when does the campaign fund-raising race tell us about? former white house deputy chief of staff to george w. bush. lots of energy and enthusiasm in that rally in which she was speeding but she has fallen short, is that the shadow of a controversial medicare for all proposal and other issues or is it something deeper? >> fund-raising tends to ebb and flow. the support from medicare for all, but what i've been really going to be interested in is not simply the fund-raising numbers but the cash on hand. of how much money do they hold onto? my sentences they are likely to

find at least four candidates who have raised enough money to be competitive in the first four primaries and iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina and beyond on march 3rd at elizabeth warren is likely to be one, biden will be one, buddha judge will be one and of course competing in those first primaries and mike bloomberg who is competing on march 3rd. we will have six people with enough money to be competitive through the 3rd of march by which point the delegates will have been selected. they are front loading their delegates the democrats are. getting enough money to be competitive, that's important. >> eric: show it more towards us. cash on hand, in terms of running a presidential campaign, how important is that and how important is the burn rate when you've got to get that massive organization going.

>> the burn rate is important because if you spend it early like kamala harris ran a campaign where she spent a lot of money early on things that were not important, so she ran out of -- essentially running out of money. on the other hand, elizabeth warren got a good start by transferring $10.4 million from her senate campaign and she has been very stingy on her spending. as have been some of the other candidates but that's what i want to see the final end of the year cash on hand because we are now getting to the point where when you spend the money, it's going to have more of an impact. he run an ad in march or april or june or july of 2019, it's got a little bit of an impact in building your name i.d. but mail and cable between now and the 3rd of february, it's going to be really important and iowa and during the month of february important in those early states and then on march 3rd, super tuesday, going to be really important and my second thing that i'm watching besides the cash on hand is a number of

delegates because remember, the democrats say if you get 15% of the voting in the district, you get delegates. we've got right now three if not for candidates and iowa who are pulling above 15%, we've got to a new hampshire polling above 15% and two bowling right underneath. we may see these delegates chalked up in the early stages over the board and if we could to super tuesday when mike bloomberg start spending money so that we have three or four or maybe even five candidates who can compete or 15% at least and slices of those states, we could have the democratic field all carved up because they are frontloading it, it may be virtually impossible for anyone to get 15% of the delegates by the time they get to milwaukee. half a billion dollars. >> eric: but he's aiming towards this, so they are chopping up the votes like sushi. coming out of iowa that could be

pete buttigieg, let's say out of new hampshire could be senator warren or senator sanders and biden get south carolina, we will see how that goes. bloomberg is now on internet, on television, field organizations, focusing on the general election for the super tuesday states. >> i think he's going to be a player but i don't think he is going to be the dominant figure because there's going to be some momentum behind the people who were scoring in those early contests and that's going to offset some of the spending but i do think it's going to be a factor. for a dominant factor on the 3r, 48% would have been selected in less than five weeks, so what if they get split up among 4 of 5 candidates, bloomberg get some,

maybe gets a few here, maybe amy klobuchar gets a few here, minnesota is going to vote early, she's going to do well there. the more you chalk up that 48%, the more difficult it gets to be to have 50% on the first ballot i'm a member, by the end of march, 69%, nearly seven out of every ten delegates at the democratic national convention will be chosen by the end of march because they have enough money to be competitive and some of those states will be playing right through the end of march and we are likely to see this thing chopped up all across the board. >> eric: and when you are chopped up all across the board, how do they put it together? >> i've got a call them coming this week in "the wall street journal" my predictions for 2020 and i predict nobody arrives in milwaukee with a majority of the delegates. what they call the pledge delegates. they could win on a first ballot but only if there's a preliminary ballot that gives the sense that somebody is way

ahead and people stand up and saved ohio changes or colorado changes from x to y. for second ballot. remember if they go to a second ballot, there are 765 superdelegates who were not allowed to vote on the first ballot, who are unelected, been appointed a long time ago, donna brazile is a superdelegate and has been one since 2001, for example. those people get to vote on the second ballot. not the present on the first ballot, it could be complicated picture. >> eric: the democratic power brokers are trying to win the game again. >> absolutely. won't be as bad in chicago 1968, but it could be ugly. anyone who has been in the 2016 democratic convention and saw the bernie sanders supporters, how they reacted to any traditional, that could be an unpleasant place all the way to the end.

>> eric: they are still out there. carl wrote down, have a great happy new year, going to be some here. >> i've got a four leaf clover zen where she was on my tire let's hope it's a lucky year as well. happy new year to you. >> sandra: speaking of which, we are 12 and a half hours away from a new year in new york city and a new decade with partiers already gathering in the streets of new york city, that is a live look at times square. can you believe it? lined up already, massive security operation underway before the ball drops at midnight tonight. plus this, the humble brag, it got a little popular on social media in 2019 so now it is making the overrate list for 2019, what else is on it? and is anything missing that should have made that list? think about that. we go beyond the headlines x.

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when not counting down to the end of the decade and preparations are underway, times square's you can see. they raise extra security there and it will be in place to ensure that everybody tonight will be celebrating in a very safe way. >> we have no specific credible threat against new year's eve. there have been other years where we have dealt with credible threats or specific threats. this year, the chatter is down a little bit. >> eric: at least 1 million people will be on hand in times square tonight to watch the ball. >> sandra: we made it, it's that time to go beyond the headlines and take a break from the fast-moving cycle. so we are looking at the annual overrate list, all things overdone in 2019 including pop-up shops, cancel culture, and email read receipts.

joining us now is fox nation host, the email read receipts, happy new year, good to have you here, you know when someone receives the email because it tells you they received it, people are saying that i don't want to do this anymore. >> if you're the one who read it and didn't respond, you don't win. you are not winning either. >> sandra: so change your setting, people are over this one, so you have a fitbit watch in a fancy watch and you decide you want to wear both. so people say they are over that one and then the humble brag. >> here's the thing, when you are doing something impressive, people are going to know it, you don't need to say it, i was watching ellen last night and there was a very popular radio talk show host, and every sentence that came out of his mouth was littered with a humble

brag. i couldn't tell you what the point of the entire conversation was because that's what it is, people are throwing something out hoping someone else will pick it up and i will say with you, i had no idea that you were on the track and field team at lsu until i heard it through the grapevine and you have never said it. so the humble brag goes off the list, so we went through some of those influencer fatigue as well. >> the time is coming. i will say tick-tock is booming now, so maybe the influencers moved to tick-tock. let's keep it positive, some favorite things, you had one. >> i love that national parks are becoming trendy again, you see it everywhere. national park t-shirts, i am biased but i host a show about national parks that makes me

really happy because people are learning more about conservation efforts, i am all about it. >> eric: we have a video of the auburn women's basketball team. my other favorite thing, dance offs. tell us about it. >> the auburn women's basketball team danced to this song and just look at them, does that not make you happy? nobody wants to watch a tall lanky awkward girl dance, but these girls have some rhythm. i watch this video 9,000 times, i was responsible for it going viral because i watched it so many times and this is the kind of thing that we need. i think you and i because we are athletes, should we dance? we could try. i will not look like that. this is not to be on tape. >> sandra: two years to them because that was fun. the 10-year challenge viral moment and this is where you put a picture up against a picture of you. now versus ten years ago, no,

did you? >> nobody wants to see what it looked like ten years ago or what i looked like right now. not at all. >> eric>> sandra: janet jacksona moment. >> if i was ellen, i would've done the tenure challenge for sure. the thing i love about this is when i was looking through pictures, i decided not to but i was looking through and it reminds you of a time that was simpler because you were younger, ten years ago, there were no worries, but you are also looking at photos past ten years ago because you want to find the perfect one. i just think that people need to be reminded of the values they had when they were younger, when stresses were alaska and that's why i personally like the tenure challenge but i do like watching it on social media unfold. >> sandra: you could go do it right now. by the way, words that everyone is over, binge, bob, canceled. some list out there. it's great to have you here,

happy new year's. eric? >> eric: it is known as the silent killer. coming up, discussing the challenges that two american legends are facing as they both battle pancreatic cancer. ♪

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>> eric: it is being called a major medical breakthrough, the fda approving a new treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer. within the last year, long time jeopardy host alex trebek and noted civil rights icon congressman john lewis both have been diagnosed with that deadly disease. a professor of medicine is here and a fox news contributor. so good to see you. so often, you hear of pancreatic cancer can be a death sentence, is there any good news and the prognosis? >> we are moving in a more positive direction now. this is really tough because the pancreas is very deep in the body and the part that is usually involved is where we make our digestive enzymes but by the time you know you have pancreatic cancer, it is called the silent killer for a reason. eventually, you start to lose weight and start to turn yellow but that's late in the game so it's often diagnosed when it's

already spread around the body. so what do we do? chemotherapy doesn't work well, immunotherapy doesn't work well but here's the part that is more positive. we are finding there are genetic variations from one patient to the next. your genes are not the same as mine and if i were to get patriotic cancer and i had a makeup of the tumor, i could tat that tumor once i know the genes and the new drug that has just been approved for this does exactly that. looks for a mutation where the tumor is having a lot of errors you can actually cause the tumors to self-destruct and they found in a study on this that 50% of the time, they were able to have a positive impact. >> eric: can it be detected, how was it detected early? >> that's a really good question and that's going to be more good news down the pike because we are looking at protein tests in the blood that will tell us laying advance.

because by the time we find it, it is too late. we knew early enough, we could remove it surgically and cure you. there is an operation that works for this but you have to get it very early in the game. >> eric: and has not there yet, i don't have that availab available. the detection is not available and that's why people like alex trebek or john lewis have stage iv, it has already spread. we read about how hard it is, he is courageous, i admire him. i think he is out there working and congressman lewis as well, courageous people and that hel helps. one method is exactly what alex trebek's wife jean has been talking about and mr. trebek himself has said he's willing to try anything. here's what his wife said about this. >> for me, it's when i see him in pain and i can't help him. and when he doesn't eat right. >> eric: how can patients be

able to deal with this? alex trebek has been fighting them a mental attitude is important. >> i'm a huge believer in that, what is it you love, what is it you're good at, to find yourself in those ways, don't give up hope, keep going. treatments and cures her down the road on the horizon here if not for alex trebek, for someone like him and like congressman lewis, able to have a much more effective treatment. today's news is really good news, really tough disease. we have to be able to find it early and be able to treat it personally and genetically. >> eric: it is a glimpse of good news, our thoughts and prayers are with both alex trebek and congressman lewis who are valiant symbols of trying to fight this terrible disease. >> heroes in the fight against cancer. >> eric: absolutely. good to see you. >> sandra: new reaction now to the developments at the u.s. embassy in baghdad. we will have a live report on the ground coming up. we will be right back.

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>> a big change for the panama canal in today's today's newsroom vault. the 50-mile strategic waterway linking the atlantic and pacific oceans in 1914 after president teddy roosevelt championed its construction and cost the u.s. $375 million to build. president carter responded to decades of protest over control of the canal and called for the transfer in 1999. which happened 20 years ago today. and there you have it on this new year's eve, 2019. 2020. >> in 35 seconds in thailand. >> there you go.

the streets are filling up here in new york city, times square, people are getting ready for the big celebration. >> have a great new year's eve tonight and a great 2020. >> thank you for joining us here on "america's newsroom." "outnumbered" starts right now. >> molly: a fox news alert, president trump issuing a new warning to iran amid escalating tensions. the u.s. embassy in baghdad staying under siege, dozens of protesters attempting to storm the complex, prompting u.s. troops to fire tear gas. this coming days after u.s. air strikes in iraq and syria killed at least 25 iranian backed coalition members in response to the killing of an american contractor. the militia group now calling for retaliation. >> we are warning the united states as we warned before that there illegal presence means they are standing against the iraqi people and the iraqi people have the right t