>> steve: make sure you watch the presidential debate tonight, 9:00 p.m. eastern time right here on the fox news channel. we've also got a president in the "wall street journal." tomorrow morning, the post game show for analysis. >> gretchen: and also, cuba gooding, junior and the new miss america will join us tomorrow. have a good day tomorrow. bye-bye. bill: all right. good morning, everybody. on this monday morning. confusion amid a deadly tragedy at sea. death toll rising after this cruise ship disaster. we're getting new accounts what could have gone wrong on board. that is live look from italy. i'm bill hemmer. i hope you had a good weekend. welcome to "america's newsroom." what a story this is. martha: unbelievable. i'm martha maccallum. so far six people are confirmed dead. 16 are missing. more than 4,000 people on board. among them 120 americans. right now there is a

desperate search going on for anybody who still might be trapped below. survivors describing complete chaos. >> they said everything was okay. we're kind of tilting. then it came act a little -- back a little bit. then it did i had again. i grabbed poll and grabbed my friend. we have to go to our room to get our life jackets. >> we were jumping into the rafters. now this is happening for real. >> all of sudden the breakage of glass, breakage of so many plates on the dinner table started to happen. >> before we jumped off, one of the crewmembers was telling us we need to stay on. that is when mark was saying, we don't need to stay on because, sinking so fast. >> keep praying the whole time for somebody to come and rescue us. i had to keep, i thought i was going to die. because nobody was say

anything to us. we were so afraid. bill: that cruise line company blaming significant human error on the part of a captain to left the ship and thousands of terrified passengers behind. greg burke streaming live from italy's west coast. anymore survivors, greg? >> reporter: hi, bail, that's right. this is really interesting. it will be tough at this point any hope of survivors because of the cold temperatures here. obviously because of the difficult situation. even though the sea is still here and has been doing the rescue with high tide, that ship is moving slightly. there is obviously problems there. plus on its side. dark down there making it very difficult for all the under water searches through those captains, through those cabins. the difficulty has more than 2000 tons of fuel. they are worried with slight movement of the ship that should like to leak. beautiful area. clean water.

they're worried about the environmental disaster as well, bill. bill: why did the survivors sound so angry, greg? >> reporter:. bill:, you heard some of them yourself. basically you answer that in two words, chaos and cowardice. a lot of chaos and confusion. you see that through the amateur video. the cowardice, a lot of claims as well that the crew took care of themselves first. we saw also with the campaign -- campaign getting away and a sense of betrayal. for the first half hour they were told no problem, no problem at all. this is just an electrical failure. they really feel betrayed and lied to in that case. bill: there was a bit of a perp walk with the captain already. what will happen to him, greg? >> reporter: well, he is in trouble. he is in a heap of trouble as you saw the company initially defended him. now not at all. saying serious human error. he may have been one half mile off course.

we don't know about all these reports but we will find them out both from satellite images and the black box. report wanted to get close as greeting a friend on land. we don't know about that. also the fact that he left the ship before the others that is clear. there are a lot of witnesses to that. bill: went down in darkness, 10:00 at night. greg burke. thank you. we'll talk to you later this morning. here is martha with more. martha: this is one of a dozen notable cruise ship accidents. you remember this one? that was back in march of 2010 when a rogue wave hit that ship. it shattered the windows. the cruise ship traveling through the mediterranean off the coast of spain. two people died in that incident. of course the most famous sea disaster of all, in 1912 the sinking of the titanic. more than 1500 people died after the ship struck a an

iceberg on its maiden's voyage across the atlantic. there have been more than 15 since. among the world's worst peacetime shipping disaster. 4340 people drowned when a ferry collided with a tanker in the philippines. bill: ironic. 100 years to the year of the titanic. later on our program, one the american survivors from the latest tragedy in italy. we'll talk to her live from rome. how she and her husband made it off the boat alive. martha: gas prices are rising. aaa is saying that they're at historic high for this time of year. the national average is now at $3.39. that is up 11 cents this month. compare that to the same time last year, prices were nearly 30 cents lower at 3:10. drivers are saying enough is enough. >> we have never paid this much in january for gasoline. >> there is no money. making things very difficult. sometimes i have to think

twice about where i need to go before i start driving. unless it is really important. >> when i fill up, but like 2, $300. so it's not good at all. i've been trying to pray that it goes down. martha: boy i have that feeling over the weekend when. you're on empty and fill that thing up, your eyes pop when you get the bill. stuart varney joins me, anchor of "varney & company" on the fox business network. what is going on here, stu? good morning? >> we're stashing what i would call a new normal for gasoline that is normal price range we're in for a long time. at the moment, way north of $3 a gallon. looks like it will go north of 3.50 fairly soon. at this time of the year, martha as you just pointed out, normally gas prizes start to moderate and come down. not this year. we're supposed to go down but because we drive a whole lot less in the middle of winter, this year we're going up. i've spoken to a lot of observers who say come

spring when we start to drive a lot again, up goes the price some more. there is a lot of talk in the industry about $4 a gallon gasoline by this sum jeer as that man said he was thinking twice about taking this trip or that trip but demand, if demand is falling with a bad economy wouldn't those prices be falling with it? >> you expect so, yes. however you have a problem with the supply of oil especially in the middle east and especially in nigeria. constant threats to close the straight of hormuz, tension over iran the whole gulf uproar. that is major supplier of oil. with the supply looking shaky you have to expect the price will go up regardless of demand from drivers in the united states. and again, there are observers who are saying, watch out. $4 a gallon gasoline this summer, here it comes. martha: that sure cuts into people's disposable income and money they can spend on other things like dinner, clothes, or other things we hope to many a up the

economy. >> you're very aware of it. everybody knows when the price of gas goes up because you have to fill the tank and cost as whole lot more. martha: so true. stuart, thank you so much. we'll see you soon. stuart is coming up a few minutes away on the fox business network. what about that new music? we're waiting to hear from former utah governor jon huntsman. he is expected to come forward and announce he is withdrawing of the race for presidential nomination. he is set to speak at 11:00 a.m. this morning in south carolina. we're ramping up to that. we're told he will endorse mitt romney. that is the word on the streets. keep it right here on fox news channel. we'll break that as it breaks. bill: that is bit of a stunner. after he get as major endorsement from a newspaper in columbia. rick perry trying to get on another ballot in another state, the state of virginia. we're awaiting a event from south carolina. his lawyers asking an

appeals court to add his name to the virginia ballots or stop them being printed all together. a lower court said friday he waited too long for the objection. kelly wright is on the case. does he have a case this morning, kelly? >> reporter: bill, he think he has a case. i'm holding appeals or motion in my hand here. it is 50 pages long but to be conservative on paper i printed three pages of it. the gist of it is this. lawyers for republican presidential hopeful rick perry argue it would not have made sense to proceed with the lawsuit before the deadline to collect 10,000 signatures had passed adding the texas governor had not received any legal harm at that point. they further argue at that point, perry expected to collect the signatures to qualify for the ballot. they also claim that in virginia only people who are eligible to vote in the state can actually collect signatures for getting a candidate on the ballot in the first place but they

point out in virginia only eligible voters can do that. because of that they feel their first and 14th amendment rights have been violated. therefore they're trying to put injunction on this and would like the state of virginia to put them back on the ballot or halt the printing of the ballots until some remedy can be made. bill: are there others responding to perry's lawsuit, other candidates? >> reporter: in fact there is. newt gingrich who currently lives in virginia as you know and expressed his anger already over the virginia ballot situation commented on perry's lawsuit. >> as i understand, i'm not a lawyer, but as i understand it from the lawyers the judge said yes the law was unconstitutional but he felt we should have filed in july before there was a problem. so he was using the date of filing. so i think the lawyers thought since he had ruled on substance that the law is unconstitutional but he thought it was worth appealing to the courts to see whether or not you get redress despite the judge's

procedural issue. >> reporter: newt gingrich also adds, if they can't get the appeal what then? gingrich went on to say, quote, if you can't get that appeal then you have to win the other 49 states. there is a point where you relax and don't worry about it but the attorneys thought this was worth one more effort. bill? bill: easier said than done relax and not worry about it. thank you, kelly wright in washington. martha: keep it right here for the best election coverage. the next gop presidential debate. you don't have to wait very long for it, folks. it is tonight in fox news channel. we're live in myrtle beach. 9:00 p.m. eastern. stay with fox news channel this saturday for the complete coverage of the south carolina primary. here we go again. bill: 12 hours from now. we had seven million viewers from the last debate. no pressure. martha: can you make it eight this time around? that would be great. bill: then there were five on stage. more coming up in "america's newsroom.". remember the 12 high school

teenagers suffer from sudden onset disorder looked a lot like turret's. health officials say they know what it is. parents are none too happy. martha: the mystery. new polls show a race that looks like this could be extremely tight, folks. president obama and mitt romney head-to-head. brand new fox poll numbers. those are coming up. bill: majority leader harry reid with a message for republicans, quote, drop to the tea party extremism. we'll talk to tea party leader with reaction with that. >> i hope what happens this last week, last year in congress republicans learn they can't be guided by the tea party because the tea party is putting them right over the cliff. ic water bottles to stretch around the earth over 190 times. each brita filter can take up to 300 of those bottles out of the equation.

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alaska. it got stuck in 300 miles of solid ice. the images are incredible. the coast guard is preparing for dangerous delivery. they will funnel the fuel using over a half mile of hose. >> all the equipment is in place to carry the tactics out. training has been down. all the manpower is place to make sure if something goes wrong we could respond to it. >> we're looking for cracks in the ice. to see if the ice has any fissures that might be a hazard. when you are out there some of the ridges are five, six feet tall. martha: they had to cut the ship through the ice. now they use the hose hose to get the fuel to the people that need it in an incredibly cold winter for alaska. takes five days to get it to them. bill: hang in there. takes time. congress is back to work with a message from harry reid. republicans, time to drop the tea party extremism.

have a listen. >> i hope that the republicans will understand, as i think they learned in the last week of last year, that they can't be led over the cliff by this extremism that is in the republican party. bill: really tough language there? amy cramer, chairman of the tea party express with us out of atlanta. good morning, to you, amy. >> thanks, bill. thanks for having me. bill: led over by the cliff of extremism. what do you think of that? >> harry reid shows out of touch with reality he is. there is nothing extreme about the constitution. there is nothing extreme about a balanced budget and washington living within their means. that is exactly what the tea party movement's about. we'll continue to fight this. bill: he is suggesting that the party is losing influence. this is also what he said on nbc. roll this. >> i hope that tea party doesn't have the influence in this next year they had in the previous year. that because it has been

really bad for this country and i understand, i repeat, why the american people feel the way they do. i think the tea party is dying out as economy is getting better. bill: what about that last comment, dying out, amy? >> he couldn't be more wrong bill. look, this is a man that, he is the leader of the united states senate and under this democratic-controlled senate they have not passed a budget in almost 1,000 days. that is almost three years. that is unacceptable that is not doing the work of the american people. and that is exactly why the tea party is engaged and paying attention and one of our goals this next election cycle to take that gavel out of his hand and allow the republicans to take back the senate so they will do the business of the american people and they will balance the budget. at least pass a budget. they won't even pass a budget. harry reid needs to stop worrying about the republican party and do his job. that is lead the senate and do the work of the american people and pass a budget. bill: he is making a case that will likely be made by

president obama as well. that the economy is improving. it is not great but it is getting better. but for the tea party, a lot of issues in the beginning were about taxes and that $15 trillion debt, were they not? >> bill, you know what? the economy may be getting a little better and we all hope that it is because we're all suffering from this economy but when this, when this president is asking for another $1.2 trillion to be added to our debt, we're going to have $16 trillion in debt, that is not getting better. at zoom point the spending has to stop. you can't raise enough taxes to pay for all this you have to cut programs. that is entitlement programs. everything has to be on the table. all these different departments. all the entitlement programs. we have to restructure some of this so we're able to pay down the debt and washington can live within their means you folks are getting hit by harry reid on one time, "new york times" on the

other opinion page. as we approach one of the more kilometer more russ elections in our history some are miss at this feed that the tea party has disaperred poo. they shouldn't be. it was a media creation and such things, whether kardashian or political never last. a media creation set to disappear, amy. >> they couldn't be farther from the truth. i mean, look they wouldn't be attacking us if we weren't relevant. they wouldn't be talking about us if we weren't relevant. we have having an impact. we've proven it time and time again. this last congress, when have democrats even talked about cutting spending? we have driven the narrative so that both parties are taking about cutting spending. we have to live within our means. we're not going away. the tea party movement has been focused on state and local issues and they have had a big impact. we're going to continue to do that. bill: we're going to follow this storyline as it takes us through the election

year. amy, thank you for your time. tea party express out of atlanta. >> thanks, bill. bill: we'll speak again. martha. martha: there are some disturbing reports this morning from a strategically vital country. al qaeda taking over an entire town. we'll head overseas for a live report. bill: what a sunday on the gridiron. what a saturday too. martha: what a day. bill: baltimore ravens beating the houston texans. ravens head to foxboro next weekend to take on the patriots. what a game at lambeau field. giants quarterback eli manning with a hail mary to end the first half. wildcard giants beating defending champs gene bay packers and -- green bay packers and giants and san francisco square off sunday at candle park. martha: good stuff. we'll be right back. >> fans with at the championship wake up!

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bill: 24 minutes past the hour now. car bombings in two iraqi city, eight are dead. 150 people have been killed since the beginning of this year in that country. the failed russian spacecraft finally landed. the problem? only experts are not sure where. mars moon probe fell to earth yesterday. reports say it could be off the coast of chile. trouble on the roads in florida. massive brush fires causing problems for commuters. it is burning half a mile from interstate 95 up and down the east coast. 25 past. here is martha. martha: you know what? it is finally winter and feels like it. felt like it on the east coast this weekend from freezing temperatures to blizzards in some places. in see at tale washington heavy and wet snow proved too much for the young driver. >> started spinning in circles. all of sudden flew into the ditch here. >> obviously they can see the snow.

they see it is snowing. they see a wet roadway and they really underestimate the conditions. martha: be careful out there. maria molina is live in the extreme weather center. good morning. >> good morning, martha. unfortunately across the pacific northwest they're looking more unsettled weather and winner-like weather. all the winter weather you were experiencing across parts of alaska, we've been looking at those incredible images and will not shift and impact the parts of the pacific northwest. we have a big storm impacting that area coming up on wednesday. first the northeast, yesterday we had very cold air and below zero temperatures. right now still chilly. 19 in new york city. seven in syracuse. fortunately not a lot of wind so the windchill values are not too bad. 4 below zero at burlington. once you look at below zero temperatures make sure you're bundling up heading out the door. we have a winter weather tonight. we do have winter weather advisories. new york city we're expecting mostly rain but

the problem is that we could be looking at some freezing rain mixing in on that. please be safe on the roads as you head out to work tomorrow morning and across the west, winter weather advisories, warnings, watches in effect a lot of snow and wind. we could look at over two feet of snow, martha, across parts of the cascades and northern rockies. martha: snow for the ski places one silver lining. maria, thank you very much. bill: the football games may have been the talk of the town but a commercial played during one game has a lot of people talking. we'll play that for you and ask why. martha: that was interesting. this picture, look at this picture. can you believe that's for real? luxury cruise ship owner that crashed in italy is now saying that he knows what happened. we're going to have more on that. that is coming up with one of the survivors who we will speak with next. >> we were tilted, absolutely tilted. so we ran back to our room and we lost power so you couldn't see where you were going. >> i was crying and i was

terrified. i was telling my husband we were going to die here.

bill: so reports al qaeda has taken a key town in yemen. that town is a key transit route in the nation's capitol or towards the nation's capital about is00 miles away. now 200 militants are in control. greg palkot screaming streaming live from london has been to yemen many

times. what is happening in the town of radda? >> reporter: the town is in control of al qaeda fighters. six different government offices being commandeered by militants. critical for a couple reasons, bill. you noted its proximity to the yemen capital san'a. and growing influence of al qaeda in arabian peninsula. they have influences in provinces there. despite crucial killing last year of the u.s. born radical cleric, anwar al-awlaki, very important member of that al qaeda chapter, bill. bill: how does this tie in with the turmoil surrounding the president salah? >> reporter: yeah. president salah, efforts to get rid of him, it is all part of the turmoil happening in that country, bill. today in fact marks the first anniversary of protests to get abdullah sala out. there are various deals to get him to leave. we're told he might leave as early as this week but he

wants to stay be maybe to try to extend his influence. he might allah some of the towns to fall to al qaeda to other factions. we know for sure that the power vacuum in the country right now is allowing al qaeda, allowing tribes, allowing separatists to cause turmoil. the country absolute a critical strategic location for the united states and interests in the region. bill: thank you, greg palkot. terrific work there, for us, greg. this whole region started changing a year ago last week, whether it was libya or egypt, up in syria where it continues to boil beneath the surface. in a lot of ways not beneath the surface. this is saudi arabia. shares a border with yemen, a long border. saudis have been concerned about extremists in yemen. here is what greg was mentioning here. hear is the capital city of is a that. raud dow is 100 miles south

and east of the capital city -- radda. really an ancient town. this castle which has taken form here for hundreds of years on the top was apparently taken over by the extremists. anwar alaki who used to head al qaeda in the arabian peninsula taken out by a u.s. drone last september. despite that killing, it is a hotbed for extremism and something we need to keep an eye on and we shall here in "america's newsroom.". 34 minutes past. martha: well, we've got some bombshell developments in this tragic cruise ship disaster over the weekend. the cruise line is now admitting that the captain of the costa concordia made quote, significant human errors that led to this scene. look at this. this is not a movie, from the coast of italy. six people were killed in this. 16 are still missing and being searched for. 4200 were evacuated. here is what the passengers

on board had to say. >> when i was standing on the wall and became my floor. bid a meter, there were five of us about a meter with a step either way. >> there was a young woman next to me on the lifeboat with two young kids. she had nowhere to hold. i asked her, hold my hand and hold my arm. she was latching on. i was holding him. >> it was chaos. we had to go through the center of the ship which had been owe bit tate -- obliterated by glass. everything was everywhere. >> so frightening inside the ship the survivors describe a chaotic scene. you could see in the video, plates going across the floor as the ship begins to list. unbelievable. that video was taped by the

husband of dean necessary who will -- denise, who was on the ship on their honeymoon. she is 23 years old. they had been to israel. denise, welcome. >> hi, martha. >> hi, good morning to you. tell me what happened. you were having dinner and then take it from there. >> yes, we were having dinner, meeting new couple we would spend our dinners with during the crews. when we finally got the appetizer. we took one bite and then we heard everything, you know, we heard strange sounds and everything started shaking really hard. and then suddenly the boat started tilting, and all the plates and all the glasses and chairs all started falling down towards us. coming down from the second floor. there is like a balcony in the dining room.

and so everything started breaking. it was complete chaos. people did not know what to do. when we started going towards a safe place, the lights went off. just got worse because you couldn't see where you were walking. and, well after that, they announced that it was just an electrical problem. it obviously wasn't because we all felt the hits and also, you know, it wouldn't be tilted, the boat wouldn't be tilted if it was just an electrical problem. martha: that makes sense. >> it was hard from the begig. through the hole from thiship, similar what happened to the titanic, really. >> yes. martha: talk to me how you got off. how did you finally get off? >> after that. two hours went by. no instructions what to do. i asked several crewmembers if i needed to put on my

lifejacket? they said no. looked at me if i'm ridiculous asking these questions. until finally the alarm sounded and then we all went, into different groups, you know. and still we waited 40 more minutes until we finally got into the boats and they did know how to lower the boats which was the worth part. first one side came off and we fell to one side and then other side came off. at that point i was scared we would die own the little boat. that time i wanted to be on the big one. if that boat would have flipped over we could have drowned inside that and nobody would be able to get out. martha: there are reports that the captain got off early. that he hightailed it out of there. >> yes. martha: did you hear about that? did you see him? >> i have no idea who the captain is still. i never saw him. the people who were piloting

the boat were cooks and housekeepers. they had no idea. that is not their job. they were not trained to do that. so, you know, the crew, the crew who was supposed to do that was already on the peer. and the -- pier. the campaign -- captain i never saw him. the we were one of the first ones to get there, the crew was already there, which is, you know, they were supposed to be helping people until the end. and not half of the people were there at the end. martha: unbelieveable. >> it was horrible. martha: what were the passengers like? were they frantic or were people fairly calm, helping each other? what was that scene like? >> there was everything. people were frantic and pushing and screaming. other people were comforting each other, you know, trying to survive together you know but it is really hard in

these circumstances. you don't know how serious. however, you know, very hard, everything. it's very, it is horrible. martha: denise, that is, some honeymoon, huh? the first part worked out really well, the nice trip to israel but this is honeymoon you guys will fwhefr forget, right? into no. never ever. martha: good luck to you guys. i'm glad you're okay as you start your life together, 23 years old. good for you for, you know, weathering this horrific situation. as we said, there are still 16 people who are missing who they are still searching for. denise, thank you so much. good to have you with us. bill: a lot she said i was on the lifeboat. wish i was back on the big boat, which was going underwater. great to know she is okay. martha: they didn't know how to lower the lifeboats. look at all the lifeboats on the side of huge cruise ships. you have to know how to operate. bill: they were owe fully

unprepared for something like that. martha: what a nightmare for these people. bill: we'll get back to the controversyal keystone pipeline. it is back and heating up. the white house agreeing to make a decision weeks from now but we hear the administration may try to push back. we'll have that for you. plus this? >> i'm talking about something that comes on within a couple weeks. these kids are totally normal. next thing you know they're going, blah and their arms are swinging. and they can't control themselves. martha: remember that? that father was concerned about the mystery illness that his daughter and 10 others came down with. new reports what is causing that and why the parents are not too happy. you name it.

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martha: well, here's a weird one. new rarts about the mysterious illness we've been following in upstate new york. officials have ruled out environmental factors and medical experts are calling this, happened to a group of teenage girls, mass hysteria. 12 teen girls having the same seizures and the same

ticks. the health department holding meetings on the matter that a large number of parents attended. parents of the victims are disputing that diagnosis. bill: there's a new battle set to erupt over the keystone pipeline for canada, bound for the u.s. 1700 mile pipeline, expected to create 2200 jobs. some say more. some say less. 2200 is the number we're going with today. white house agreed to a february 21 deadline for approval as part of last month's payroll tax cut extension in congress. pipeline supporters is saying that the white house is stonewalling the project to avoid a showdown between two elements of president's base, the unions and environmentalists. tony sague republican campaign consultant, political analyst and kirsten powers, "daily beast" columnist and fox news contributor. how are you two doing, and good morning. >> good morning. bill: how do republicans win

on this issue? >> this is great for job creation and energy independence and you mentioned it bill, construction and shovel-ready jobs the president himself campaigned on and promised during the stimulus package. >> how do they win if it is not built? >> they want it to be built. the whole idea this could paint politically to paint barack obama giving in to extreme wing of his own progressive base versus the overall good of the entire country and frankly many democrats. don't forget, bill, in october, a bipartisan group of democrats sent a letter to the president endorsing this. in august the state department, the president's own state department actually gave a favorable environmental impact study saying this would have very limited environmentally bad effects for the country. bill: they're saying a new study could take exsix months or nine months. >> they studied for three years. the republicans put the president in game of political chess in a corner deciding to give in to the liberal progressive base he

wants to placate for the 2012 election or for actual jobs for the rest of the country. bill: that is the big point, kearse ten, the longer it lingers do they score more points because of isn't. >> i have a problem with this just being put in political, you know, like, oh, they're just scoring points. it is not just a political issue. i think that, you know, substantively i actually am with the democrats who think that the president should approve this if, if it is not going to have serious environmental impact. of course they have been looking at different routes where they would go around this aquifer. i don't think it should be allowed to go anywhere near the aquifer. where much the midwest gets their water supply and i think that's fair. if they come up with something they can go around that then the president should approve it. bill: but if he trying to decide between satisfying the environmentalists on one side and unions on the other, why go with the environmentalists? >> well, because the

environmentalists give a lot of money. i think that --. bill: more than unions? >> no more than unions. >> well, here's the thing. obama actually did not rely on unions that much in his, in his campaign last time. he set up his own kind of infrastructure and he really relied on them a lot less than previous democratic candidates, who really rely on them for get-out-the-vote. that said, white, working class voters, or just working class voters in general will be so important to the election coming up. obviously a lot of those people belong to unions. >> i have a different theory. i have a totally different theory. go back to the state department report came out in august. the white house then said we will make a decision by the end of year 2011. the democrats in congress started getting behind it. a letter went from the house. half dozen if not more democratic senators in the senate announcing publicly they support it, including senator nelson from nebraska where the aquifer.

they appointed. ron johnson the lobbyist for keystone to the obama. the environmentalists went apoplectic. they looked at this and seized it as a point saying obama is not doing enough for us. he is not placating the base. issue is not money. it is intensity. barack obama needs intense turnout from the liberal base to win the election. >> that is ridiculous. bill: how many jobs would be created? >> they say 20,000. bill: 20,000. >> almost within the two years of project. 20,000. >> hold on. the base are the unions. okay? the idea that the environmentalists -- >> he gave them stimulus. >> the environmentalists make up like this vast majority of the progressive base is ridiculous. [all talking at once] bill: hang on guys. >> african-americans, the environmentalists are talking, are concerned with obama because they give him money. they do not generate votes. bill: the suggestion that

unions will vote for him anyway. thank you. it will be with us at least a another month if not longer. tony, thank you, kirsten, thank you. i'm well out of time. >> good-bye. martha: all right. here is a question for to you think about. is monitoring a child's every movement the answer to stopping childhood obesity? one school thinks that it could be. the plan to monitor overweight children with a monitor that is stuck to them. does that go too far? feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for unsurpassed fru and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion. could've had a v8.

martha: childhood obesity is a major problem here in the united states and some say it is getting even worse. but the fight to keep kids healthy has a new tactic that has a lot of people worried that sort of a big brother tactic joining the battle of the bulge shall we say. here defense attorney and

fox news contributor tamara holder. good morning to you. >> hi, martha. martha: this is interesting. this is a project for bayshore schools in new york. what they would do, is put these active monitors which cost $90 a piece. it is a wristwatch kind of thing. it would detect your heart rate. detect how much activity you're putting out during the day. it would watch your sleep patterns. do you have any problem with this? >> well there are two parts. there is the procedure that the schools are stepping in and they're saying look, we're going to not only monitor the child's heart rate monitor or heart rate but we'll also try to fight this childhood obesity issue in general. there were only 10 kids in the entire school that were given these heart rate monitors. the question is, the second part, what do they do with this information? and i understand that's where the privacy concerns come in. are they sharing it with polar, the heart rate monitor company? are they sharing it with the

government? but the procedure itself i don't see a problem with. martha: and that is one of the big questions, where does this information go? does it bam part of their record, their school record? does it go to the insurance company that covers their family, questions like that. it also, i'm wondering, it is not clear from what i have read here, how they choose the children and if the children volunteer for it and i'm choosing to wear it or strong arm suggestion to them it would be a really good idea and in some cases their grades are contingent how they perform, how much activity they're putting out? >> well, the question is, is a heart right like a medical issue where parents need to be informed or is it something like you know those little babies that the kids take home and goes to the bathroom and it cries. there is a monitor in that baby that says if the kid is caring for the child. i don't see really the difference unless we're saying it is a medical issue. but schools also have a duty to monitor the physical

health of children. you know, they do scoliosis checks and herniated, or hernia checks for athletes. so there is a duty there, martha, to check the physical condition of the students. martha: there was one case where a mother said she didn't even know her child had been given this monitor. so a lot of questions are raised by this. tamara, thanks for verying in on it. tamara holder. bill: brand new fox poll just into "america's newsroom" on the race for the white house in 2012. these are interesting. plus --? >> god 3:16. >> for god so ofled the world. >> the whole world. >> everyone. >> anyone. >> that a lot of people. martha: did you see that during the big game over the weekend? a tv ad inspired by denver broncos quarterback tim tebow. what is all the fuss over this ad? bill: waiting to hear on jon huntsman expected to drop out of the race for the white house. what this might mean for the

rest of the field in minutes. >> i would say third place is a ticket to ride, ladies and gentlemen. [cheers and applause] dinner? candles?

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martha: fox news alert, a live look in washington d.c. where the president and mrs. obama and family are participate nothing a martin luther king service day event. it's at the brown service campus in d.c. they have a hundred volunteers painting and fixing up the place to improve it as part of this service on this martin luther king jr. dave observance. there is the first lady heading out the door there as we get rolling for another hour here on "america's newsroom." and we are going to start you off with this this morning, brand-new poll numbers as the big south carolina primary is days away. we are waiting from words from jon huntsman, from his campaign this morning. the former governor of utah is expected to officially drop out

of race and that is expected to happen within the next 60 minutes. keep it right here. mitt romney is now a heavy favorite. look at those numbers for him. look at the jump from december when newt gingrich was ahead, look at the gingrich slot in that particular poll. brand-new hour of "america's newsroom" gets rolling on this monday morning. i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. mlk day we'll observe that throughout the day. he has dominated the republican field but mitt romney is deaden according to this poll with president obama. martha: all eyes are on what could be the g.o.p. debate of the election season as we get revved up for that, carl cameron is live in myrtle believe, south carolina. good morning, carl. >> reporter: big debate tomorrow. there will be one absent podium, we'll remove it from the stage, one less for this big debate before the south carolina

primary. jon huntsman will resign from the race this hour. he didn't play hard in iowa and put all of his money and time in new hampshire and came in a disappoint -d thir disappointed third place. third place was not good enough for him to get a fire lit in south carolina. he will withdraw. when he does so he will throw his support behind mitt romney, a significant boost probably not so much in south carolina for rom rofpl mitt romney. huntsman didn't have a lot going here. there is not a lot of evidence to suggest that his 8% is a lot. he will say this he's going to support mitt romney as the candidate best suited to go up against bam pw-p barack obama and beat him. endorsements this late from a campaign in trouble it's questionable whether it there help mitt romney, it certainly won't hurt but it is a very lows

race between him and newt gingrich here. martha: it's been an interesting story to watch jon huntsman. if he had praoeutse had surprised and come in first he would be living in a different world right now. you have this interesting gingrich santorum head-to-head match up here in south carolina at this point. >> reporter: they are in a doubt for second no doubt. quite possibly if necessity can get they can get more wind in their sails they can edge above mitt romney. that is a bill hill to crime. santorum and gingrich continuing to spar. tonight on the debate stage they will definitely two of the most closely watched in terms of how they interact and go after each other. this morning santorum commenting on huntsman's withdrawal. he's basically dissing it all as one moderate throwing miss

support behind another moderate and one of them bailing. >> moderates are backing moderates, that is sort of the bottom line. no surprise there. governor huntsman ran as a moderate trying to compete for governor mitt romney for the establishment moderate vote, and governor romney had a leg up on them, being the solid moderate that the establishment could get behind and governor huntsman continue track through that. >> reporter: usual supposeyou are supposed to get the talking point there that they are moderates, moderates. a third of the ele crash torate is about to changelectorate may change their mind. if romney were to win south carolina a 3-0 seat would make it very difficult for folks to unseat him from frontrunner

status. martha: in south carolina, carl cameron, we'll see you later. newt gingrich is dismissing santorum's new-found support in south carolina. a group of 150 conservatives voted to support the former pennsylvania senator as their conservative candidate but begin rich says that that report is quote, highly exaggerated. >> i think it will be a very, very lively week, one of the most important weeks in the history of the g.o.p. because i think nominating somebody who is essentially a massachusetts moderate makes it much harder to defeat president obama and nominating someone who is a reagan conservative makes it much easier to defeat president obama. martha: you've heard those couple of lines from newt gingrich all the time in the past few days. he has strong support from christian and social conservatives. let's see how it shakes out for him in south carolina, bill. bill: it's a very interesting state, mart that. we'l martha.

results from 2008, this is really republican territory in south carolina when barack obama took on john mccain back four years ago. in south carolina mccain won easily beating the former senator obama 55 to 54%. red is republican, blue is democrat. you see all the strength for mccain in the northern part of the state. that is york county, greenburg county. a lot of conservatives living in this part of the state of south carolina. also one could argue the birthplace of the tea party in the northern part of the state. also tonight, when you're watching our debate at 9:00 eastern time, that will be in ori county where you find first he will beach here in the northeastern part of the state and mccain was an easy winner 62%. we had 7 million viewers watch our last debate -- what did you

say martha, maybe we'll get 8 million this time. martha: exactly, why not. bill: 9:00 in prime-time. martha: the folks can turn in i know they can. we have the best election coverage. the next g.o.p. presidential debate right here on the fox news channel live in myrtle beach. our special coverage on primary day, january the 21st, saturday, live in south carolina with realtime results and analysis. keep it right here. do i have to say it again? keep it right here. how difficult is that? do not change the channel. bill: we didn't put any pressure on our folks tonight when we said 8 million? martha: do you think people are getting nervous about that? i have faith. bill: new tension with iran now, now forcing the u.s. and israel to postpone a major military exercise in the region. the diplomatic sidestep comes more than a week after the u.s. released this video showing iran's navy proceed provoking

two american warships. why was the drill postponed, rinna? >> reporter: the israelis are saying initially it was because of budget concerns. they say it will be pwurbd bac pushed back likely to the summer of this year or later in 2012. they want to use the timing of this drill to put maximum pressure on iran to threat tone carry out an attack. this will be the largest drill ever. the video you're seeing is from back in 2009 of the last joint session that the two of them convicted in military drills. 3,000 american troops are expected to come. they'll bring all the american gear, the military hardware along with it to defend israel against missile strikes is the whole purpose of these exercises, bill. bill: is the u.s. and israel on the same page regarding iran? >> reporter: a lot of people are asking this question, bill, and sometimes the things that diplomats say publicly might not be exactly what is going on

under the surface. we hear reports that the white house is upset with the israeli prime minister with going forward with an attack on iran. they have always said 2012 is going to be an important year. the u.s. is worried that we hear reports about a possible strike of israel taking unilateral measures. it's hard to imagine that israel will conduct some sort of unilateral effort without the u.s. bill: watching all those developments now from the middle east, thanks, rinna. martha: it is so much more than just a floating airport. they are capable of delivering dozens of u.s. warplanes and choppers anywhere in the world. the u.s. navy has eleven of them. what happens if we lose one or even two to bring it down to nine or eight of those -- nine or ten of those? we'll ask our national security expert about that.

bill: awaiting the announcement live this hour from jon huntsman expected to officially drop out of the race and make a key enforcement, and now we wonder, what impact could that have on the race? >> i can't find the value added in the department of education. number two, we need to get education policy as close to the local decision-makers as possible, because families, parents, teachers, local elected officials they don't want their schools to fail. [applause] now, which do you suppose has better nutrition for you? mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal.

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over the last three y we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love ience. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ bill: we'll show you a live look in atlanta, judge wher georgia where there is a service underway honoring martin luther king jr. the first family participating in an event in washington d.c. the president speaking in washington had this to say. >> at a time when the country has been going through some difficult economic times, for us to be able to come together as a community, people from all different walks of life, and

make sure that we are giving back, that is ultimately what makes us the strongest, most extraordinary country on earth, is because we pull together when times are good, but also when times are hard. you guys all represent that. so, on behalf of our family we want to say thank you. i'm sure dr. king, were he here he'd want to say thank you, and i look forward to spending some time next to you guys, hopefully i have some good instructors here so that i don't mess anything up. bill: he would have been 83, martin luther king jr. on this day today. we'll continue to mark observations throughout the day here on the fox news channel. 14 minutes after. martha: right now we are awaiting a major announcement on the race for 2012. less than an hour from now we expect that presidential candidate jon huntsman will step in front of the microphone and say he is ending his campaign for the white house.

this comes days before the south carolina primary, which is of course on saturday. former utah governor is also expected to endorse his rival, mitt romney. huntsman was among five candidates to attend a forum that was hosted by mike huckabee over the weekend. here is what he told a group of voters that night. >> i intend to defend who i am, my faith, my beliefs and my family by being who i am. because in the end the good voters and the good people of this country are going to come to know the nominee of the republican party in every way, shape and form. martha: interesting sort of closing remarks, really in that campaign, and we're going to hear from him moments from now. brit hume joins me now, fox news political analyst. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, martha. martha: a hand of people came up to mow over the weekend, whatever happened to jon huntsman? why didn't he catch fire? he seemed on paper to be such a good candidate in so many ways to a lot of folks. >> reporter: he did, martha, in a number of ways and in person.

i didn't know huntsman, you know, he was in utah as governor, and we didn't see much of him in washington, and i had a chance to talk to him in recent weeks, and i found him quite charming and engaging and attractive and i thought, gee, whiz, what a difference between that and the way he seemed on the stump where he seemed out of sorts. he seemed disapproving even of republicans and disapproving of his fellow candidates, and unhappy to be there, and i don't think he intended that, but on the stump -- and in the debates in particular which is where most people saw him, i think, in terms of numbers -rblg, he was kind of a sour p p us puss when you contrast that to him as a person. martha: initially was a little bit disturbed by the content of the conversation that was going on in the country. he felt it needed to be about other things. he had expertise having been the

former ambassador of china he seemed a little miffed that that wasn't where the conversation was going. if he backs mitt romney is that going to make a ripple for romney or does he need that ripple. >> reporter: we assume that huntsman would attract a few percentage points of that support and that support or much of it would go to romney, obviously it helps romney. i don't think that the huntsman vote is going to go significantly to newt gingrich or rick santorum although you never know about these things. huntsman had a reputation as a moderate despite the fact that he had quite conservative positions on a number of issues. i think, you know, it takes the other moderate, if you will, the other reputed moderate if you will, out of the race, so that probably helps romney to extent. martha: let's take a look at some national polls which we do with the caveat that the national polls are not that significant although maybe we're getting to a point in this race

where they will become more significant. very tight race it looks like, a fox news poll, and follow it with the real clear average poll. very night race between mitt romney and president obama if that's how it turns out. >> reporter: that's the way it looks. my own view of this is that the public will make a decision some time later this year as to whether people want to make a change or not. and if they decide they want to make a change the next step is to take a look at the alternative to the president and see if that person is an acceptable and plausible choice. and that's how the decision will get made. and the public opinions polls as they go along at this stage and even into the summertime may not matter that much. i think conditions within the country real and perceived will be the devisive factor and republicans need to avoid somebody who could be successfully portrayed as an unacceptable extremist. i think that will be the issue. martha: the rick

santorum-gingrich face after, santorum got support from a large group over the weekend. thedo they have any shot at this point? >> reporter: it's late. we are only a couple of contests in. when you get to south carolina things have moved along pretty well. tkaoet efficiencies tha deficiencies that the other candidates face, which has to do with money, organization and all of that is increasingly important. it will be important in south carolina, more important in florida, a bit of a lull after that. super tuesday is a whole bunch of states voting at once. it will be hard for either newt gingrich or rick santorum if one of them emerges as the clear alternative to romney to piece together a real organization to help them in the states going forward to get the money together and the ads made and all the things you need to do. it's hard to do on the fly, it's very hard. i've never seen it succeed. martha: they will be scrambling for that attention trying to make a big flash tonight in the

debate. that may be their last shot at tkpwarpb earning tha garnering that kind of support. thank you, great to see you. bill: cut off from the rest of the world for months by frozen winter ice and now the new life, savings delivery that town is receiving. details on that. martha: the bible verse that he sometimes sports under his eyes john 3:16 inspired a new playoff television ad. do you have any problem with this? >> that whoever believes in him will not perish. >> but have eternal. >> life. wow! who sent it to cindy, who wondered why her soup wasn't quite the same. the recipe's not the recipe... ohhh. [ female announcer ] ...without swanson. the broth cooks trust most when making soup. mmmm! [ female announcer ] the secret is swanson.

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skwraot search continues at this hou

martha: the search continues for 16 cruise passengers. 16 people were loss. the carnival owns this ship, and they are expected to lose more than $90 million from this accident, that is just to say that the boat that you're looking at right there is being pulled out of service of course for the next year at least. i mean who knows if they'll be able to ever recover that ship them. dropped more than a billion dollars off of the company's value due to all that. the ship's captain is now under arrest and he is facing manslaughter charges. bill: what an image that is. 24 minutes past now. the new england patriots sent the packers packing. an ad inspired by tim tebow's favorite bible verse. there has been mixed reaction to this. >> the whole world. >> everyone,. >> anyone. >> that is a lot of people. >> that he gave his one and only

son. >> his only son. >> that whoever believes in him. >> will not perish. bill: tim tebow's openess about his religious beliefs garnered as much attention as his performance on the field. here is more reaction to those who saw it. >> i just think it's wonderful that somehow tebow is getting people to read the scripture. >> i just don't agree witness at all. religion is a family value. keep it in your home. bill: what about that father jonathan morris a roman catholic priest, a fox news contributor. the author of the book "god wants you happy." good morning to you, father. this is from focus on the family, refresh our memory. >> it's probably the largest most influential group of evangelicals but very open to catholics and all faiths, and quite honestly they have done a fabulous job i believe of taking advantage of something under the

social phenomenon. i'm there routeing for tebow and i have never been a denver broncos fan. bill: you look at the ratings and the viewership that he brought in. i was watching the game, that ad stopped me in my tracks. i expect to see budweiser, or maybe an influence company. what did you make of the ad? >> they say that a hundred million people looked up john 3:16 during the football game. a hundred million people, focus on the family is estimating. that is a lot of people. bill: is that because of the ad? is that because of tebow, is that a combination. >> precisely because of the ad. during the football game they are estimating a hundred million people, a hundred million hits were actually going and looking up john 3:16. that is a lot. that's according to their spokesman. now is that a good thing? i think it's a fabulous thing. whether you're a christian or not, the fact is looking at a football game and then having a serious conversation about something, it's a social phenomenon that is amazing. bill: it is a social phenomenon,

you're right about that, probably religious phenomenon too. what did you make ever what the come said, keep religion in the home. >> that's why i think it's such a great conversation that there is a very strong trend i would say in the united states, bill, that suggests that separation of church and state means you keep your religion in the church or in your home, but don't have any public expression of this. tim tebow is not pushing his faith on everyone, he's living his faith. he's actually expressing what he believes. all the more power to him. i think it's a wonderful thing stphaoeu don't think tebow cares. >> you know what, probably not. and his fellow players have said very clearly, he's not pushing his religion on us. we love this guy. he's the real deal. what an inspiration, rather than guys shooting themselves at clubs, you know, torturing dogs, these are the type of heros that we've had. it's wonderful to see that there are people in sports who are actually living what they preach.

bill: he's clearly made a different example. that is for sure. >> john 3:16. bill: great to see you. martha: we looked at the verse at our house and talked about it with our kids. it came up, they were interested they wanted to see it and talk about it, it's remarkable. let's talk about it after the break in the couple of moments away, it's one of the most powerful weapons in our american arsenal, the aircraft carrier, capable of delivering dozen of warplanes and choppers anywhere in the world. we'll ask our national security expert what looming budget cuts will mean for our fleet and security. bill: also, nome, alaska, have you been there? it is cut off from the rest of the world. how the ice has been keeping it quarantined for much will actually help the town get some critical supplies today. >> we are looking for cracks in the ice, we were out on the ice to see if the ice had any fissures that had any cracks. when you're out there some of

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martha: help is on the way to a town that was cut off by ice for more than a month. a russian tanker arriving off the coast of alaska after a coast guard ice breaker managed to clear a path through hundreds of miles of ice. the whole thing takes quite a longtime. dan springer is following this story from seattle. when can these people expect some help? >> reporter: there is really no place like nome. this has been an incredible

operation and it continues to amaze. the russian oil tanker arrived in the harbor of nome on saturday, but then had to sit there for an entire day yesterday waiting for that ice to refreeze around it so they can deliver the 1.3 million gallons of fuel, and they could do it safely. the tanker has a one-mile long hose, four inches wide. if the ice is strong enough today the crews will take the hose from the tanker, hook it up to the tanks on land and deliver all the oil that nome has been desperate for. it should take 26 hours. this is not a don deal yet. they have to test the ice for the safety of the workers and there's always the potential of a spill. >> we are taking ever effort possible to drill the ice before anybody goes out on it to test that, as well as you have the potential for a fuel spill. we've got everything in place right now to assist in that if something was to go wrong. >> reporter: that russian oil t*pbge tanker traveled

5,000 miles to get to the nome harbor. it was escorted by the only coast guard cutter in the fleet. due tokes team cold and wind last week it was slowed to a crawl. they were supposed to have the delivery done last week. because of the conditions they weren't able to get to nome until saturday. now if all goes well they will have the oil to the people later today. martha: wow, what a story. imagine how cold it is out there for those folks working on that. thank you very much, dan springer. bill: the line of the day, no place like nome. martha: no place like nome. thank you, dan springer. bill: new reports from the u.s. navy that it's in danger of losing one or more of its crucial aircraft carriers. the reason, the pending military budget cuts in washington. right now the navy operating with eleven active flat tops. they have five other ships along with a submarine. the ships carey more than 80 aircraft, 7500 sailors call it home. cutting one of those groups may

save billions of dollars but at what cost to national security? kt mcfarland is a fox news national security analyst. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. bill: how risky is this for national security. >> reporter: i think it's very risky. when i worked in the reagan administration we had a 600-ship navy. we are down to half that. if they are going to cut a carrier strike group even significantly less than that. even though our stipulates have got even more capable the ocean hasn't got even any smaller. when president obama comes out and says, we are going to do more with less. the reality is you do less with less. bill: what do you think the decision will be, k. t.? >> reporter: well, he's talked about pivoting to asia, right? what does that mean? it means probably smaller army, smaller marine corps, more aircraft, more ships but we are not building more ships. when he's talking about doing a one-war strategy, what does that mean? that means that we could be involved in the persian gulf

keeping the strait of hormuz open and the world's oil supply flowing, but we won't be able to then at the same time pivot to asia and keep up with the asian sea lanes of community through which the majority of the world's trade flows. today we rely on global shipping. we rely on the ability to move oil and all goods by sea, and if the united states steps back from that role, which we have had since the end of world war ii who is going to keep up in the sea lanes of communication? the chinese, the russians, the iranian navy, none of those will work in the world's interest. bill: your former boss said peace through strength. that's how he governed for eight years. and you believe if you start chipping away at it now it just leads to more down the road in the future? explain that. >> reporter: yeah, bill you're so smart to point out reagan's strategy of peace through strength.

most people think it's a throw away line. it's not. what it means is we don't want to fight a war, we want to make sure we are strong enough so that nobody dares pick a fight with us. that is the whole reason have you a naval presence. think about it this way, somebody is thinking about robbing a convenience store, they are not going to rob a convenience store if there is a cop on the beat right in front of it, they'll go some place else. that's why we need to have the cop on the beat in front all the convenience stores, right? in the sense that that's what the navy does by having a naval presence that can span the seven seas and what president obama is going to do, cutting back one carrier strike group, maybe even two, that is going to really, really seriously impede our ability to do that. bill: watch this story too, because virginia's home base to a lot of the u.s. navy and there are 13electoral votes in that state. >> reporter: and it's a swing state. bill: you're mining for votes anywhere. he won it for the first time as a democrat since 1964. winning it again in 2012 would be remarkable if not difficult to. kt mcfarland thank you for being

with us today. >> reporter: thanks, bill. martha: it has become one of the hottest topics of the campaign season, the time that mitt romney spent as ceo of bain capital. so how do all these claims actually stack up with the facts? chief washington correspondent james rosen is live in our d.c. bureau with more on this. james, tell us how this is working out in the fact check. >> reporter: we begin at the beginning, mart that. bain capital is a privately-owned investment firm head quart erred in boston and employing about 900 people. it handled private and public equity deals. that means buying ownership next ising companies and trying to increase their market shares and venture capital deals, investing in promising start up. bain has made private equity investments in more than 240 companies, by its own estimate manages some 66 billion in assets. mitt romney was vp of bain's

predecessor firm and launched bain capital as its first ceo. he left the firm in 1999. under his guidance a $37 million bain investment fund returned 200 million to investors. as late as 2006 he was still earning up to 15 million a year from his tenure at bain. >> most companies that i brought by private equity, their value is enhanced by growth, that somehow they are able to grow their revenues and their cash-flow, and in most cases employees are added, and so in most circumstances private equity firms realize success by growing a company not by chopping it up and selling off the parts. >> reporter: ironically among the investors for whom bain capital and mitt romney did very

well over the year are the pension funds for public employee unions, just the kind of folks who will be working hard to doe feet romney should he become the g.o.p. nominee, martha. martha: it's an interesting history. his own claims, mitt romney's claims about the accomplishments at bain, have they shifted or changed over the years as he told this store row? >> reporter: somewhat in his run against senator edward kennedy romney claimed to have helped create between 10 and 17,000 jobs. those claims at that time were verified by both of boston's major newspapers the herald and the globe one of which endorsed ked kennedy that year. however, more recently in the last year romney has spoken about helped to create 100,000 jobs, not just 10 to 17,000 to get to that figure he's using all the jobs that the companies that were successful under his tenure have added over the years, even since romney himself left bain capital 13 years ago. tricky stuff you've got to keep

on top of it. martha: we heard from the ceo of staples this morning who backed up those numbers. bill: a lot of paper clips isn't it, staples. martha: a lot of cheaper paper clips according to him. bill: search and rescue crews heading back to the crippled cruise ship that ran aground in italy. we'll tell you what and who they might be looking for at this hour. look at that picture. martha: hours before the south carolina debate and days before the big primarily, guess who south carolina voters consider the true conservative candidate? we'll talk about that. >> there are a lot of states to come, we need to get this eventually down to a conservative alternative to mitt romney.

martha: brand-new fox new poll shows that a majority of south carolina voters consider

presidential candidate rick santorum to be the, quote, true conservative in the 2012 race. 29% chose santorum, mitt romney is in second-place on that particular poll at 15% as a true conservative. gingrich is in third with 14. paul is down there and perry with 5%. they are very good at picking republican presidents. joining me now is republican congressman joe wilson of south carolina. he's a member ever the house, ways and means committee. thank you for being with us. >> it's good to be with you. martha: for rick santorum was helpful to him in iowa he was seen as a true conservative. do you think the race will be tighter than it looks in south carolina? >> the voters of south carolina are very perceptive. i'm excited about the record that we have since 1980. every presidential primary, the winner of south carolina has

gone on to be the nominee. martha: i'm curious about this whole bain capital issue we've been talking about a fair amount here. i wonder how it plays with south carolina voters if they see his experience at bain as a positive or negative or looking at this 28-minute documentary put out by the gingrich supported super pak and whether they are buying what is in it. here is an exchange of chris wallace and rick tyler of the gingrich super pak that happened over the weekend. here it is. >> the couple that you showed, forgive me so, the couple you showed, tommy and tracy jones say they got a 30% raise while bain owned the plant, and they say they were talking about the people who four years later shut down the plant. they were not talking about mitt romney. they also say they were given money to do the interview. >> and we'll be glad to release the entire transcript of their interview, because you only see part of it in the film and i determined they were talking

about bain. >> how can they be talking about bain shutting down the plant when bain shut down the plant a year before it was sold by another entity. >> what they said is i wish bain had left them alone back in the early 90s. martha: it was quite an interesting interview. they put a lot of money the gingrich folks into this long documentary about bain capital that is airing a lot in south carolina. how is that argument resonating with voters there? >> well, mart that, as i travel aroundmartha, as i travel around people see the service of mitt romney as creating jobs. i drove by the staples store right here in myrtle beach, i believe it's a story of creating jobs. we know not every venture will be successful, but we also, i believe, and i believe the voters here see bain capital as creating jobs. martha: last time around of course mitt romney lost to john mccain. how different is the picture in south carolina today, in terms of what they are looking for?

unemployment numbers are high there, the economy has been tough on your state. >> jobs is the number one issue. sadly, the president's policies are failing, his spending policies, his borrowing policies have not worked in this state. we know that he promised that unemployment would not exceed 8%, but sadly in south carolina it's almost 10%, and so we need a change, and that's why there is such excitement in the republican presidential primary this coming saturday. martha: last time around in the exit polling 60% of the voters at the exit polls described themselves as evangelical christians. how do you think -- what is most important to this group, which is a huge voting block in south carolina? >> well, they are huge, and i am one too, and they are looking for morality in government, that's what it is. and so the candidates who are running, the five who are remaining, each have positive attributes. i also want to point out just in

this community, hilton head that i represent, aiken, lexington that a vast majority of the people that i represent and who will be voting on saturday are largely transplants largely from the midwest and northeast. south carolina is a composite of america. we truly with half a million people voting this will be a very significant primary, a great indicator of who can appeal to the public. martha: that is very interesting. it takes on a florida-almost quality in that regard in some of those areas in south carolina. thank you representative. good to see you today. >> hey, thank you so much. martha: keep it here on fox for the best election coverage. we have it all throughout the day and tonight the gop presidential debate from south carolina is going to be very interesting. one fewer person up there on the stage this evening on fox news channel. then you can get our special coverage of the primary day, that is saturday, january the 21st. it starts at 6:00pm eastern. bill and i will be here filling knew on all the exit polls andnl the realtime analysis.

bill: that's right. tonight is going to be huge, right? martha: yes. bill: greg jarrot will be big too. >> reporter: medium, jon scott is big, i'm filling in for him. we will hear from jon huntsman expected to announce he's tossing in the towel calling it quits. his comments live. the increasingly dire situation with iran, a top u.s. military leader headed to israel as the crisis deepens, can this thing be defused as iran now threatens its neighbors? they are calling this the italian titanic, the search for survivors or bodies off the coast of italy after a cruise ship disaster. all of that coming up on "happening now" in ten minutes. bill: as you mentioned, waiting on jon huntsman, the huntsman daughters are avid tweeters. they sent out a tweet, many flames burn out in politics, our dad's has just been ignited, what an incredible journey for our family.

thanks for all the support. we are live in that location. in myrtle beach, south carolina, in moments. wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

bill: you wonder where the beef is here in america. you can find that some place else. ranchers are cashing in on buffalo. alicia acuna is live with the story. >> reporter: we are here at rocky mountain national meats. this is the final stop before the product goes to market. they are busier than ever right now because more people are demanding this healthy meat. it's what is making its way back to tables across america, book, yson. at the buffalo restaurant and bar in colorado the lean head meat has become so popular --

>> the market has had problems keeping up with the demand. >> we basically lead them with this truck. >> reporter: boyd has been a byson rancher for ten years. >> we've seen a pretty good jump, markets doubling. >> reporter: huge profits are driving him and others to increase heard numbers. they take longer to grow and are more expensive. after a byson boom and bust in the early 90s this type of ranching became rare. now with healthier consumer appetites supply is tight and prices rising. >> we don't see beef as something we are trying to compete with. we feel we have our own market we are trying to expand. >> reporter: there are plenty of room. byson farmers produce less than 1% of what the beef industry does. rocky mountain natural meats is the largest byson processor in the country, even exporting to europe. >> some people will go, we are afraid to eat it because it's going to taste funny or weird. then they are happily

surprised. >> it was good. it didn't taste any different than beef. >> it tastes a little bit leaner. >> reporter: the busiest times for the industry, bill, are 4th of july weekend. now when people are trying to stick to the new year's resolutions to eat better. bill: tastes like chicken. thanks a low she a. >> reporter: it does not. martha: does not she says. on a much more serious note, this is just an awful, awful story, and we are now getting those reports that an american couple are among the 16 people missing out there right now in that cruise crash. the latest report coming in from italy. >> when i was standing on the wall and the wall had gone horizontal it became my floor, and i had about a meter, and a step by the way and that was it. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements.

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