Rise and Shine

Hi.

The hardest thing about doing the morning show is working with Jerrick, hehehe. Seriously, the hardest part for me is waking up early. I'm not a morning person – frightening for someone who chose a career that requires them to wake up when most people are coming home from a night out. So when the coffee isn't working for me (i.e. it has grounds in it, is too weak, or – worst case scenario – it just wasn't delivered) I'm forced to pray to the Morning Gods that I'll have energy.

Today was one of those days where the Morning Gods felt charitable. We all felt particularly awake and energetic, despite coffee-with-unwanted-grounds. A big reason, I'm ashamed to admit, was all the buzz and excitement over the Army Golden Knights (search), the parachute team. Jerrick and Julian accused me of being excited because Jerrick and Julian have dirty minds and figured I'd think the G.N.s were cute. (Well, they were, but that's besides the point...) The real reason is actually because I'm hoping to do a future story on "Jumping with the Golden Knights" (jumping —  as in out of a plane).

During the Golden Knights segment, I kinda forced them to agree to let me jump with them. How? Well, I just asked them if it would be alright while on camera. What were they going to say? No?

Unfortunately, upon further consideration I realized that, yeah, they agreed, but SO DID I! So stay tuned for a sight I certainly thought I'd never see.

I told you I'd answer some of your questions... the ones sent via e-mail to friends@foxnews.com. But first I'd like to address one of our 'talking points' today — the news that Illinois Senate candidate Jack Ryan was dropping out of the race.

I went on a lengthy rant today. I have enormous respect for the man. He's brilliant, some would say altruistic (check out his bio) and in my opinion, getting railroaded by the media and his own GOP cohorts there in Illinois.

I understand that, as Jerrick suggested, "America may not be ready to" elect a guy who cops to going to sex clubs. (Ryan admits he went with his then-wife, actress Jeri Ryan to an avant-garde club in Paris, was uncomfortable and left quickly.)

But Americans will go to bookstores, pay a fairly hefty chunk of $$$ for Bill Clinton's book and then stand on line for hours for an autograph?! The same guy who cheated on his wife with a White House intern in the Oval Office while president?!

Final though on Ryan — these accusations were leveled during a child custody dispute in the middle of a divorce. Jeri Ryan has sent a message through Jack Ryan's campaign (!) that she thinks he's a good guy and would make a good senator.

And again, these allegations have not been proven true. Some observers wonder why, if she's such a fan of her ex, she isn't taking her story back. She IS a celebrity. Why would she want to admit she lied, if she did indeed do so?

I'll end on a lighter note. A lot of folks wonder what's going on behind our desk. Are we storing newspapers? Tissue? Notes? Starbucks frappucinos? A monster?

Yes, yes, yes, yes and no.

Juliet

Friday, June 25:Cleaning Out the Closet

Hey guys,

Well, considering I'm a "blog" virgin (ahem), please forgive me. I'm sure a lot of you are wondering what Julian, Mike and I do when we're not hosting the weekend show. I host the Wednesday and Friday editions of "FOX & Friends First"; an occasional news update here and there.

Julian is the busiest “F&F” weekender, albeit OFF-AIR. The man hosts more events around town than Regis!

And then... there's Mike. Mike travels from town to town, visiting his various girlfriends when he's not doing the weekend show. Oh, and then there's that little show "DaySide" — he hosts when Linda Vester's out.

I'm going to try my best to give you the inside and updated scoop, although this weekend's going to be tough. I'm having a surprise party (shhhhhhh!) for my husband (don't worry, he never reads the Web site) (ahem again) this weekend. Come to think of it, that party should be pretty good fodder for the Blog, hehe. Quite a few FOX folks are going to show up. Stay tuned!

If you have any questions, please write friends@foxnews.com and I'll try to answer as many as I can. One frequent question: Where do I get my clothes.

Anywhere I can find 'em cheap, baby!

Actually, most of my clothing is provided by 'wardrobe' and it's all different designers/brands. So if you ask, be specific and I'll try to find out.

Hair: Dop Dop salon in Soho (New York City). "Lori" is the colorist.

I'm about to go into our prep meeting for this weekend's show — it should be a pretty feisty one considering the recent rantings of Al Gore, the Clinton book, are there weapons of mass destruction, etc. etc.

The party starts at 7 a.m. And no, contrary to popular rumor, we don't start drinking before the show! Afterwards, well....

See ya!

Juliet Huddy

Friday, June 25: Lost and Found

Dear Friends of “FOX & Friends”;

It's Friday... and the end of our first week of Blog-a-poloosa!

Despite previous blogs from this week, Brian is not a SLOB. However, he is the most UN-ORGANIZED human I've ever met. I say human, because dogs are generally not good bookkeepers.

Brian's disorganization isn't hard to describe, we see it everyday. Let me paint you a picture — without paint, without black velvet:

Brian hides lots of stuff from view behind the screen of our $159 IKEA coffee table. He's got newspapers, wire story papers, divorce papers, cocktail napkins with the major from Mosul's (search) cell phone number, his junior high school transcript (five days absent, 19 days tardy) you name it, it's under there.

And because he's got such a volume of stuff, chances are, he's going to lose it. Here's how he does it. EVERYDAY.

Depending on the guest location, and the number of hosts interview said guest, we change chairs. When Brian sits in my chair or E.D.'s chair, he takes a wad of his papers with him, and deposits them near that chair. Then when the interview is over, he quickly scoops up ALL HIS PAPERS, the problem is, he frequently scoops up ALL OF OUR PAPERS too! He looks like a crazed CPA at 11:59pm April 14, running to the post office.

Remember, we get up really early and do our own research, so our papers are like daily term papers. So many facts, so little time. So when our papers disappear IT'S A MAJOR CATASTROPHE.

However, E.D. and I know that when our papers are gone... Brian's got ‘em.

Usually he simply has combined HIS papers and OUR papers. But because he's gotten a little paranoid lately, he's had a shredder installed next to his chair, so Matt Laur can't get our trash and piece together our magic formula. So we have to act fast.

As soon as we realize our papers are missing, we simply ask Brian a few questions. We ask him the same thing everyday. His answers are always the same, as recorded by this Journal Graphics transcript:

E.D.: "Brian, did you take my papers?"
Brian: "No."
E.D.: "Are you sure?"
Brian: "Positive."
Steve: "Mine are missing too."
E.D.: "Can you look, just to be sure?"
Brian: "I'm POSITIVE I don't have your papers. (shuffling sounds) Why don't you go check your weather computer, Cloud Boy. Uh-oh. This isn't my stuff! (Pause for reflection/retraction) Are these YOUR papers, E.D.?"
ED: "Yes. The paper that says PROPERTY OF E.D. HILL, is my paper."
Steve: "Cloud Boy?"

You only hurt the ones you love.

Of course, Brian always has the same excuse, "Hardy took the papers", and mixed them with Brian's to add tension to the set. (See photo of Hardy in our photo gallery). How much tension on the set? Think Cheney and Leahy.

Have a great weekend, watch Juliet, Mike and Julian this weekend, and we'll see you back Monday!

Blue Skies,

Steve Doocy
"Cloud Boy"

Thursday, June 23: Setting the Record Straight

Well, finally there is a way to get your youngster behind the wheel and on a motorcycle before their teen years.

Yes, the Razor Scooter people came down with their motorized go-carts — and yes, a mini motorcycle. Of course my road race came to a grinding halt when I went to make a hard left turn and the thing just stopped. Here's what I would do if I were the scooter people: Construct a course where the vehicle doesn't become inoperable on international television. But that's me.

I feel like we accomplished our goal at 7-ish: We got Steve Harrigan to smile. Mulitple bombings and explosion within blocks of his live position and we got him to smile! OK, so it was based on E.D. once again insinuating that I was gay, but hey, anything to juice up the Playgirl Sexiest Anchor crosstalk. By the way, I understand why I was excluded, but Doocy just oozes sex appeal. Although I am not allowed to talk to him after the show I understand he's quite a talker!

We had juror No. 5 on from the Scott Peterson trial today — hats off to the bookers. However he just about disavowed everything he said at his presser and on Greta. But hey, I didn't pick this guy, but he rips the prosecution.

OK, at 6.30 a.m. I learn I am the same weight as Steve. Ninety minutes later we find out he's not even working out at our gym anymore. OK, so we got sidetracked. Why? Because Hardy and Chris walk around naked too much. You know Hardy and Chris — two key camera guys — when they are awake, side note: If you ever hear us whispering on the set its because they are napping and they invariably wake up cranky when rousted.

Talked to two senators on show today. Democratic Senator John Corzine and Sen. Saxby Chamblis. Both were down on this Saudi Amnesty offer, but differ on Iraq. Sen Corzine says not enough troops, Sen. Chamblis says enough troops, time for the Iraqis to start standing up on their own.

What is interesting about today's show and somewhat strange we talked politics and talked about Democratic strategies and yet not a syllable about Senator John Kerry. Think about it: Al Gore announces a major policy speech. Why didn't Dan Quayle ever do that when President Clinton was in office? Former President Bill Clinton's book setting all kinds of records and not a word about Senator John Kerry. No one at the Kerry camp seems to mind.

Remember that car chase on Wednesday in Southern California? Well, the genius made a run for it after driving to a dead end and took quite pounding from one officer. Now the officer will have to explain why he hit him 11 times. Is there ever not a LAPD internal investigation going on?

Sports-wise let me recommend you read the San Francisco Chronicle. Tim Montomery is claimed to have testified to a grand jury that Barry Bonds was given steroids and switched to THG — the previously undetectable ‘roid — after baseball started testing. If putting on 45 pounds was not enough proof, this might just be the smoking syringe.

OK, now to the big issue of the day: My sloppiness on the set. Once again E.D. is mis-portraying, perhaps intentionally. Yes, I have more news stories. Yes, I usually bring out — at least one newspaper and she's does not. And yes, my area at time is in disarray, but I do clean up. Maybe not every paper everyday, but it’s usually not my issue. I blame the crew. They are in such a rush to clean the place up and start their one-hour break and emotionally prepare for “DaySide” that they blitz my seat. Maybe they do so because they know it takes a cleaning tag team to conquer the region, but it’s their inability to wait for me to clean, which makes me look like the slob that leaves a mess behind.

I know despite this blog and our three-hour news marathon, that the No. 1 issue on e-mail will still be E.D.'s hair. It’s just my reality. See, at least she didn't write about the E.U. this time!

Brian

Wednesday, June 23: Cleaning Up

Well, Brian gave me a ton of trouble about my last BLOG. He thought it was dull. So here's the skinny on the inside… actually the backside of the desk we sit behind:

Brian is a slob. He brings in five times more photocopied papers than I do. He wads up some, spills coffee on others and in general makes a mess. Furthermore, after the show he NEVER cleans up his area. I toss my tea-cup in the garbage. Steve and I both remove our newspapers and notes. Brian, on the other hand, forgets (or pretends to) that he has anything in front of him. Each day Chris and Hardy have to clean up after him. I know Brian's mother and she did not raise him this way.

So, how about that car chase? What are these people thinking? They never get away. Why do they always pick junker cars? Turns out it's because the parts are so valuable. The 1989 Camry was the most stolen car in 2002. The most interesting information I found out while watching the car chase was that Brian had a 1969 Ford Mustang. What a car. How did he get that? Turns out a cousin gave it to him. Both Steve and I had old Caddies. I had a '61 with fins. He had a '63. Both our parents said the cars were such tanks that we couldn't get hurt if we had an accident. Plus, they were pretty cheap by the time our parents got them for us.

Have a great day.

E.D.

Tuesday, June 22: Bill Clinton vs. 'Bridezillas'

Dear Friends of "FOX & Friends,"

Another busy day behind the scenes at the F&F show.

If you were watching, you saw a dozen green brides drop by as a promotion for “Bridezillas” on WE network. They looked like the next 12 Mrs. Incredible Hulks. I mentioned to the PR person, they should crash the Bill Clinton (search) book signing across the street, because there would be plenty of publicity. They were across the street, on camera within three minutes. Within five minutes, the former president had already issued a denial, "I did not have sex... with those women, those Bridezillas."

In his book, Mr.Clinton says the impeachment was bogus — "a phony deal." More importantly he didn't see it as a stain. Wasn't a stain what started the whole impeachment in the first place?

Mr. Clinton is not scheduled to appear on “FOX & Friends” to promote his book. I've invited him, but no response.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, our producers were told that the official Saudi (search) spokesman would not appear on our program, because they didn't think he would get a "fair interview." Right.

During a commercial, on the laptop on the screen I saw this and had to chuckle:

Saudi Moves: In a new crackdown on terrorists, the Saudi Kingdom plans to do the following things: (Novak)
• From now on, no more cash payments to terrorists... checks only
• Switching pro-terrorist telethons from free government channel to cable
• Cutting back on phys. ed, art and music at all Anti-American madrassahs
• From now, all terrorists have to make their own beds and clean their own rooms when they stay at the royal palace
• Jacking up gas prices to $2.50 a gallon so Americans will stop wanting to buy gas and indirectly funding terrorists... oh wait, we did that already

Thanks to www.tvspy.com for that.

Also, I got a couple of shout outs from viewers, saying congratulations to my daughter Mary, who graduated from middle school Monday night. Click the photo above to see Mary Doocy, beaming. It was a perfect night: A bright blue sky, a light wind, and 72 degrees, with no humidity. The principal of the school started the ceremony by saying "You can't order weather like this." Yes you can, just invite the weatherguy... and you get good weather – 50 percent of the time.

Finally, the U.S. Olympic boxing team dropped by and while you saw them present us all with satin robes, you don't know what we'll do with them. Brian has already misplaced his (Hardee's wearing it), E.D. will keep it for her presidential library and I will wear mine around the house as I boss the kids around "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, go get another cold beer, for your Dad-dee!"

See you in the morning.

Steve Doocy