because i killed osama bin laden [laughing] martha: i love the smile. flashing a smile. do you think they edited that a little bit? bill: pretty good chance. martha: pretty funny. conan o'brien. good stuff. thanks for being with us. we'll see you back here tomorrow. bill: tomorrow is friday. we'll be happy about that. martha: we look for to that. see you then. jon: good thursday morning, to you and to you. i'm jon scott. jenna: i'm jenna lee. hi, everybody, we're glad you're with us in the fox news room and happening now. new poll numbers out of florida, with less than a week to go before the primary. jon: the american research group finding former massachusetts governor mitt romney ahead in florida. he has 41% of the vote.

former house speaker newt gingrich has 34. jenna: in the latest "quinnipiac poll" if the race were between president obama and mitt romney they're both tied at 45%. jon: compare that to a contest between mr. obama and newt gingrich. president obama with 50% and newt gingrich with 39. bob cusack, managing editor of "the hill." what is the significance of these numbers, bob? >> i think it is pretty significant. mitt romney is starting to gain. the newt is starting to slip. the big question is this the beginning of mitt romney's come back or is this the beginning of the end for mitt romney? you can't overestimate or over state how important florida is. in 2008 john mccain won florida and that was nomination. he went on to win fairly easily. so florida is just so important. jon: well, if newt gingrich were to win florida, and you know, anything, the numbers seem to indicate it could be possible, the nationwide

match-up numbers between newt and the president versus mitt romney and the president, not as good. >> yeah. and that's what gingrich has to convince republicans. there are a lot of republicans who are panicking in washington, who served with newt gingrich, not fans of newt gingrich but newt gingrich has to make the case that he can beat president obama. not only outdebate him but beat him in the general election that is his handicap now. romney has his own handicaps but gingrich has to make the case in a debate and coming days. jon: kind of interesting. newt gingrich enjoys great support among conservatives who say they really want somebody to take on president obama and sort of take him to the woodshed but that, take no prisoners attitude that he can sometimes display might be, might be, a negative among independent voters. >> yeah. that's right, jon. there are only going to be three debates. gingrich wants to debate obama around the country but

there is only going to be three debates. that is what the president will agree to. so that is going to be reminding, romney camp reminding people all the debates we're seeing, two dozen on the republican side will not happen for the general election. so that is the jostling right now. mitt romney, has made some comebacks. he is playing offense. in south carolina on the tax issue, certainly playing defense. so good news for mitt romney. this race is a roller-coaster, jon. it could either way. jon: florida is republica republican-rohnly primary right? you can't be democrat and vote in florida. you can't be an independent in and vote in florida. if mitt romney wins that could put away the lie that mitt romney is not popular among republicans. >> it is more moderate than some other states like south carolina. he will be able to say i've won a battleground state. people will say you only won new hampshire. that is in your backyard. that is why so much is riding on florida.

jon: bob cusack, managing editor of "the hill" newspaper. bob, thank you. >> thanks, jon. jenna: a race surely we'll continue to watch. meantime this fox news alert. we're awaiting a news conference out of the pentagon today where defense secretary leon panetta is set to announce a few changes the way our military is structured in the united states in the face of some deep budget cuts. the pentagon planning to downsize the army as we currently call it with more reliance on drones and special-ops teams. they must come up with a half troll dollars in savings there is a lot going on here. national defense correspondent jennifer griffin is live. how will some of the cuts affect the army specifically? >> reporter: certainly looks like the army will be shouldering the bulk of these cuts. they're talking about reducing the size of the army to 495,000 troops that is down from a high of 570,000 troops at the height of the iraq and afghan wars.

they're talking about, reducing them by, at least eight brigades, possibly as many as 12 brigades, down to 32 brigades. that is, you know, a significant reduction and certainly it has raised some eyebrows among those historians who have watched the army over the years and at the end of every war since world war ii, presidents have tried to cut the army, anticipating they won't be fighting any future land wars and guess what, and they try to rely on air and naval power. guess what? usually there is a land war and they won't have those troops. they want to, as you mentioned to, reshape the army into really a special operations fighting force and, you know, those are really two different things. special-ops have a role they have played, a brilliant role in the last 10 years. in fact we saw the navy seals and the freeing of those two hostages. that is the result of special operations but the

army is going to certainly take the biggest cut in this defense budget which leon panetta will announce at 2:00 p.m. today, jenna. jenna: general bob scales in about 10 minutes or so. more specifically about, about the army and those cuts. what about the air force? how is the air force, and many cuts to the air force playing into all of this? >> what is interesting on the one hand we're told the defense budget will increase the amount of money for the unmanned drone program by about 30% but at the same time we've learned that the unmanned drone known as the global hawk, a very important unmanned drone, is going to be cut. it is going to be terminated. that will force the air force to buy old, old cold war era, u-2 spyplanes which had been terminated as well. that will be costly to get that line up and running again. there are a lot of contradictions in what we're hearing about these budget

cuts. you also have heard that the f-35 fighter jet, that is the most expensive procurement program in the history of the pentagon, they're going to slow down the purchase of those f-35s. these are state of the art planes but they have been troubled and have, there have been huge cost overreturns. -- overruns. tony capacio of "bloomberg news" who follows this very closely, in the upcoming budget for 2013 there will be 12 fewer f-35s purchased. they will slow down the purchase of expensive warplanes as well as ships. jenna: a lot to work through in this news today. jennifer, thanks so much for the preview. we'll await for the announcement a little later on this afternoon. thank you. jon: the senate is meeting right now to discuss a house bill that would deny the president's request to raise the debt ceiling. the resolution is expected to get shot down, allowing the u.s. to go ahead and borrow more money and thus raise the debt ceiling to

$16.4 trillion. members are expe congressiol correspondent mike emanuel is live on capitol hill. so in the senate what are the republicans trying to do, mike? >> reporter: well, jon, last week the house passed that resolution disapproving of the president, raising the debt ceiling $1.2 trillion. we expect republicans in the senate and moderate democrats to vote to disapprove. hear is the senate republic kahn leader making his case. >> republicans will send simple message to the white house, no more blank checks. democrats have been in charge of the senate and white house for three years. they have had the time they need to figure this out. they have chosen the path of blame instead. they have had their chance. they have made it worse. we must do better. >> reporter: republicans are clearly making the case that something needs to be done about the massive debt

problem this country is facing soon, jon. jon: what are democrats saying in response? >> reporter: they're saying the debt ceiling had to be raised under republican presidents. we have to raise the debt ceiling again to pay the nation's bills. a leading senate democrat says they are trying to get a handle on the debt issue. >> there have been many efforts to reduce the budget deficit whether deficit commission, so-called super-committee, many budget proposals submitted, or talked about and talking about bowles-simpson and rivlin - domenici, a lot of efforts getting closer and closer keep working at it we'll get the job done. >> reporter: that vote in the senate to give the president additional $1.2 trillion or disapprove of doing that is expected sometime in the next hour, jon. jon: we'll watching it. mike emanuel on capitol hill, thank you. jenna: there is certainly a lot going on today. jon: yes, there is. jenna: how about talking a little bit about ron paul? he is still looking for his

first primary win. he is making a mark on the race than maybe his delegates suggest. we'll have a closer look at ron paul and his impact coming up. jon:. jon: new questions whether justice elena kagan should be part of the health care decision. opponents have new evidence that she should recuse herself from that very important case. jenna: drought-stricken part of the texas hit it flooding rains and powerful winds. and tornados. will this help the region or cause more problems? we'll have a full report next. ad a surprise party for our dear friend, lizzy. surprise! surprise! surprise! surprise! we totally got her! [ male announcer ] when you combine creamy velveeta with zesty rotel tomatoes and green chiles, you'll get a bowl of queso that makes even this get-together better. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

and also to build my career. so i'm not about to always let my frequent bladder urges, or the worry my pipes might leak get in the way of my busy lifestyle. that's why i take care, with vesicare. once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle and is proven to treat overactive bladder with sympts of frequent urges and leaks day and night. if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. vesicare may cause allergic reactions that may be serious. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue, stop taking vesicare and get emergency help. tell your doctor right away if you have severe abdominal pain, or become constipated for three or more days.

vesicare may cause blurred vision, so use caution while driving or doing unsafe tasks. common side effects are dry mouth, constipation, and indigestion. i've worked hard to get to where i am... and i've got better aces to go than always going to the bathroom. so take charge of your symptoms by talking to your doctor and go to vesicare.com for a free trial offer. jenna: the supreme court is refusing to hear arguments on whether justice elena kagan should recuse herself from the upcoming health care challenge. opponents say her work as solicitor general on part of the administration suggests she took a position in the case. they're pointing to a 2010 legal brief saying it is more evidence she should not be part of that health care

decision. talk more about this with shannon bream. shannon, what impact does the 2010 we just referenced what kind of impact does that case have on the cases this year? >> reporter: jenna, the case you talked about comes out san francisco. it involves a debate over a local measure like the president's health care law which subsequently passed. the solicitor general's office filed a brief talking about the legal underpinning of the national health care law. in may 2010, in a memo written for then solicitor general elena kagan who was then nominated for the supreme court the acting solicitor general wrote, cases kagan substantially participated referencing the golden gate case out of san francisco. ed discussed with elena several times. that proves that she has been involved in specific strategies related to the health care law an must be recused. we have a the lawyer from the heritage foundation. >> it is not a witch-hunt she had her own office

saying she substantially participated in that case. this is not one of these gray areas where it is open to interpretation. her own on said she substantially participated in this case and, the amicus brief can be read by anyone. >> reporter: absolutely no indication, jenna she is even considering recusing though. jenna: who decides whether a justice must recuse himself or herself? >> reporter: well it is completely up to the discretion of each justice. there have been outside challenges including one by the group "freedom watch". earlier this week the court will not allow the group to participate in the oral arguments in the case in march. they wanted justice kagan to sit that one out. by the way she did not participate in the vote or decision that led to denying the group's request. chief justice john roberts defending colleague but kagan and justice thomas has been asked to recuse from this case. here is what he said in an end of the year report he put out. quote, i have complete confidence in the capability of my colleagues to determine when recusal is

warranted. they are jurists of exceptional integrity and experience whose caringer and fitness examined through a rigorous appointment confirmation process. he is backing them up. he is telling the groups to back off. looks like all nine justice will stay in for the long haul on this case. general that? jenna: fascinating case at that. thank you. jon: dangerous storms in texas unfolding yesterday during "happening now." we're getting a better picture of just how severe it was. you remember that radar image from yesterday? well it brought buckets of rain, powerful wind and at least one tornado ripping through the state. in college station, significant damage to homes and businesses. storms knocking down trees, leaving many without power and record rainfall in the area causes major flooding, making driving conditions in houston very hazardous. we're learning of eight high-water rescues in the dallas area. look at the aerial view of the stranded car there in the lower right-hand corner. all you can see is a roof

sticking out of the water. check out this. widespread damage just south of use ton in pearland where the national weather service confirmed a tornado shut down. destroying a chevron gas station and ripping off a build roof of a nearby building. what is in store for the good folks of tex stas? meteorologist janice dean is tracking the weather. she will join us in the next hour. jenna: major general bob scales what he says is the plan's biggest problem is one that could leave america less ready to fight. he will join just coming up after this quick break. spectacular light show lighting up the winter skies. what caused all of this and who got the best view next. ♪ across the golden state,

where everyone has been unbelievably nice. mornin'. i guess i'm helping them save hundreds on car insurance. it probably also doesn't hurt that i'm a world-famous advertising icon. cheers! i mean, who wouldn't want a piece of that? geico. ah... fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent oh dear... or more on car insurance. ask me.

if you think even the best bed can only lie there... ask me what it's like... when my tempur-pedic moves... ...talk to someone who owns an adjustable version of the most highly recommended bed in america... ask me about my tempur advanced ergo. ask me about having all the right moves. these are real tempur-advanced ergo owners! find one for yourself. check out twitter. try your friends on facebook... see what they have to say...unedited. it goes up... ask me what it's like to get a massage ---any time you want. ...it goes down... ergo...nomics... ergo...nomics... tempur-pedic brand owners are more satisfied than owners of any traditional mattress brand. (in chinese) ask me why i never want to leave my ergo. ask me why i'm glad i didn't wait 'till i was too old to enjoy this. start asking real owners. ask me how to make your first move... find out more about the tempur advanced ergo system! call the number on your screen for your free dvd and information kit. to find an authorized dealer near you, visit tempurpedic.com. tempur-pedic. the most highly recommended bed in america.

jon: this is the act -- acquisitions room in fox news channel we bring in satellite feeds from all over the country and all over the world. look at remote 291. that is the u.s. national debt clock at 15 trillion and counting. congress apparently needs to raise that debt ceiling again or actually the president does. the senate on remote 278 is getting ready to vote on whether or not to do that. big debate on capitol hill about whether to give the president the authorization to do so. we'll be following that vote. it is expected in about 40 minutes. on remote 267 a live look at tampa. there is the first lady michelle obama. she is working with latino organizations to promote health and wellness in their communities. she is there amid that

display of fresh veggies. that is the first lady and that is the latest from acquisitions. jenna? jenna: thank you, jon. right now deep defense cuts we're taking a look at today. this afternoon's announcement from the pentagon expected to announce a fundamental realignment in america's military. a shift away from ground forces to more reliance on drones and special-ops teams. on the chopping block? at least eight, possibly as many as 13 brigades. that is up to 80,000 troops and major weapons program like the global hawk, unmanned spy-plane. supposedly the replacement is a u-2 spy-plane from the cold war. fox news military analyst bob scales joins us right now. general scales, in our conversations you mentioned you've seen rounds of cuts before. >> right. jenna: i'm curious as you look at these initial reports, will these cuts make us less safe? >> oh, i don't think there is any question, jenna. we reduce our conventional forces after every war. that is probably a good thing. the problem with ground

forces habitually after world war ii, korea, vietnam, after the fall of the soviet union we reduce the ground forces too much. all too often what happens our young men and women on the ground go to war with too few numbers, too poorly equipped and trained and too many young men and women die as a consequence. we've been doing this now for 70 years and inevitably, after a major land conflict, the administration says, well, we'll never do a land conflict again. yeah, but the enemy knows land forces are our weakness and that's where they will challenge us in the future, jenna. jenna: if you look, this is from many a business perspective. if you were running a business you would like to try to predict what the marketplace would look like. >> right. jenna: you try to predict what your consumers might want. using that model, seems like that is the model we're trying to use for the military and proper defense cuts. but i'm curious if we can actually do that when it comes to defense? is that the right model to

use? what model would you use to be at least more efficient with the way our resources are going? >> i would use the model, the past is prologue. every war since the end of the world war ii we model the military force to emphasize air and sea power. we haven't fought a major naval campaign since i was born, 1944. yet we maintain 11 aircraft carriers. we haven't had a challenge to air superiority yet we have more air squads than infantry. it is easy to go to high-tech warfare than the soldier and marine on the ground. the enemy knows this. he will threaten us. he will present a challenge on the battlefield where he perceiveds we're we're weak. of course, jenna, that is on the ground. jenna: let me ask you about the model to go more in the direction of special-ops teams. >> yeah. jenna: i was looking at one of the write-ups in "the wall street journal" today about these cuts. they say what the goal is,

to see deployments of more of these special-ops teams where they can launch missions like we've seen in the past. >> yeah. jenna: but also mentor local allies. i'm curious with the most elite fighting forces in the world, and these are what the special-ops teams are, how much mentoring should they really be doing? >> well, that's the whole point, jenna. the most we'll have of these special forces teams is 70,000. as we've seen in iraq and afghanistan today their biggest backstop in the force that is sort of keeps them in the field and protects them on fire bases that does this coaching and training of allied forces are the conventional forces and yet we're going to cut back on conventional forces. expand special forces, that's a good thing but the whole team, the whole land power team will be diminished. next time we go to war we can't rely on lilly pad approach to future warfare. we won't have enough boots

on the ground to face a substantial enemy and win. jenna: major general bob scales. always a pleasure, sir. thank you for your perspective especially for a day like this. we have food for thought about defense cuts ignores the $800 pound gorilla in the room. the largest part of budget is entitlement spending. the brain room cut through the numbers you have social security around medicare, that cost us $132 billion a month. now, if we compare that to what we spend on defense, we spend $56 billion on defense a month. so that giving us perspective where some of our money is actually going. jon: spectacular light show lights up the skies around the world after a huge solar flare erupted from the surface of the sun. the burst captured here in this image from nasa, causing disruptions in satellite communication as well as forcing some airplanes to adjust flight plans. rick folbaum has more who got the best view.

rick? >> reporter: jon, a word or two scanned knavians, sweden, norway and finland got best view of the amazing site. we think they got tuck kets on the stubhub. this solar flare was first to erupt in five years. what happens a huge burst of charged particles and magnetic fields explode on the surface of the sun. this happens a lot but not usually this strongly. some american utilities companies dialed back the electricity generation to protect the grid. that shot of solar power triggered a light show on both ends of the planet. the northern lights are known as the aurora boreali is. and on south pole they are the aurora astralis this is a video shot in sweden. this photographer got these images. unbelievable. it is time-lapse and comes three hours. he worked with a handful of other photographers to capture the amaze video. this light show is available

for viewing in the states with reports of sightings from maine to montana. jon, scientists say we can expect to see more of the light shows in the next few months. it is still time to get tickets. jon: especially in the dark where you live in northern latitudes. rick, thanks. ron paul is not winning any primaries or caucuses to date. he could still yield power in the race for the white house. the impact ron paul is having in the contest. we are live with more on that. you footed the bill for all the bailouts. some brand new information on more than $130 billion still owed you. why you're probably never going to get that cash back, next. ♪ [ male announcer ] this was how my day began.

a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪

jon: fox news alert. brand new polling from rasmussen reports. mitt romney has jumped back into the lead in the florida republican primary race. it shows his support back to the levels where it was before newt gingrich's big win saturday in south carolina. romney has 39% support to gingrich's 31% in florida. former u.s. senator rick santorum earns 12%. texas congressman ron paul bringing up the rear with

9%. latest rasmussen reports survey of likely republican primary voters taken on wednesday night. interesting numbers. jenna: developing stories we're keeping an eye on here in the newsroom and from our control room as well. transportation secretary ray lahood, as egypt bars sam la loot from leaving. he heads an organization in egypt recently raided by egyptian authorities. a lot of questions for the secretary and obviously for his son. freed hostage jessica buchanan arriving at the u.s. base in sicily one day after her dramatic rescue in somalia. u.s. ops teams parachuted in the country and freed her and other aid worker. this headline. iran's president says he is ready for nuclear talks with world leaders. but mahmoud ahmadinejad

making it very clear that the sanctions against his country won't force it to give? to the west's demands. -- give in to the west's demands. jon: hasn't won any primary or caucuses out right but ron paul has a loyal set of supporters. while that might not be good enough to get him the gop nomination, he is making his mark, impacting the race and getting a chance to put his policies front and center. chief washington correspondent james rosen live in washington with a close look. james? >> reporter: jon and jenna, good morning. there are people who believe, especially after the 2010 midterms, ron paul is the tea party movement what neil young was to grunge, the godfather, inspiration, indispensable catalyst. on foreign policy paul's views undeniably placed him out of the mainstream of the party. at monday's nbc debate in tampa, the u.s. congressman said the u.s. committed a

act of war against iran. his suggestion during the fox news debate in south carolina that u.s. endlessly bombs other countries and adopt a golden rule in the foreign policy elicited booing from the audience. the feisty former ob/gyn he admitted he does not really see himself in the oval office. >> maybe they sit around and day dream about being in the white house. i just don't sit around daydreaming about it. i'm in the race. i run a good race. you talk about electability. why don't we take on first three states and take everybody 30 years and under, i'm doing pretty darn well. >> reporter: on the domestic themes ron paul has been sounding for decade, the need for smaller government and lower taxes value of constitution and sound money policy, paul unquestionably helped shape his party's dialogue. witness the change evident in newt gingrich over the last month. first at an "abc news" debate in new hampshire and after his big win saturday in south carolina. >> dr. paul has a long

history of saying things that are inaccurate and false. you have dr. ron paul, who, on the issue of money and the federal reserve has been right for 25 years. and while i disagree with him on many other things, there is no doubt that a lot of his critique of inflation, of fiat money and of the federal reserve is in fact absolutely the right direction. >> reporter: now a number of conservatives have warned the party's establishment figures to show respect for congressman paul. so as not to offend his famously fervent supporters in november. jon and jenna, they are fervent. we have seen that here. james rosen. thanks. >> reporter: thank you. jenna: there might be another option when we move to election day. there could be a newbie partisan ticket. work is underway to build a coalition that could include one of these candidates you're seeing on the screen. as long as their running mate is from a different party. americans elect now on the ballot in 15 states and still collecting signatures.

the goal to give americans a chance to create their own bipartisan through a second nominating process. it will be done online. we'll all have access to this. we have the chief operating officer for americans elent. welcome back to the show. >> thanks very much for having me. jenna: we have to go back to the concept so we fullly understand it. when you say there is a third choice doesn't necessarily mean there is a third party. explain what it means. >> we're giving every registered voter in the country to go to american americanselect.org to put an independent ticket on the ballot in all 50 state. we see the field of candidates shutting down and settling we're opening up at americans elect and 2012 will be a three-horse race. jenna: when you have a bipartisan ticket are you picking from candidates announcing their candidacy for president? for example, is it someone like santorum and joe biden or could it be anybody? could i be nominated as candidate for president?

i'm not announcing officially but let's just say. >> when you get 50-state ballot access you can reimagine the way we hold a primary. right at end of the january we're opening up at americans elect and opening up our process for candidates to announce they want to compete on the ballot for all 50 states for americans elect and draft. mos for candidates. this is imagining a broader field and ticket that can put the interests of the country ahead of the party's interest. jenna: does anyone get on the ticket or is there some sort of committee that aproves them to be on a ticket as we move closer to november? >> what you're going to see happening, you will see folks coming to americans elect.org announcing their canada is. you will see draft movements emerge. we have a long history of draft movements in this country. everyday americans putting the best americans forward to run for the presidency. as they go through and they gather support of our delegates and any registered voter can be a delegate, we'll hold a convention in june of this year, whatever

ticket wins that convention will inherit 50-state ballot access. jenna: real interesting the combinations. some are skeptical of this, i don't need to tell you that. david axelrod, the guy running the president's campaign had a comment about this committee that he says, that you have to approval of to actually be a candidate considered on american americanselect.org. he said, quote like uber-democracy meets back room bosses. he doesn't like the council of elders approach. what do you make of a comment like that? >> well, i think that's a simplistic mischaracterization of what we're doing at americans select. this is opening up process from more competition. it shouldn't be a surprised to voters we have duopoly in the political life. if you want to express yourselves you have to go through the funnel of the democrat and republican parties. this is about eliminating barrier that exists to on the ballot. we like every registered

voter to weigh in who they would like to see on the ballot as third choice in 2012. jenna: we see the bus pick a president, not a party. don't want to screw up that slogan. pick a president, not a party. we think what you're doing is pretty interesting. thanks very much. >> great speaking with you, jenna. jon: bailouts are still costing you big-time with taxpayers now owed more than $130 billion. while it turns out that some of that cash may be fon forever. -- gone forever. liz macdonald from the fox business network is live with the story. were we misled as taxpayers? >> that is the question being put forth by this special inspector general for the troubled asset relief program, otherwise known as tarp in the quarterly report to congress. essentially the watchdog here is saying that taxpayers could basically still be owed up to $133 billion on stakes tarp still owns in 458 companies

including aig, gm, and allied financial. jon, here's the thing. the watchdog is saying that essentially the public perceived that the tarp was going to exit out of basically these invests when bank of america and citigroup stakes were unloaded. but then the public basically did not get the full information from the treasury department essentially that basically the tarp program is continuing, continuing and it could be cemented into the government's permanent architecture of bailouts, quote, for years to come as tarp has now morphed into 13 bailout programs for, not just banks, but for the automakers and the housing market. so this is the warning that is coming from the overseaver of tarp, jon. jon: is there any one thing really driving the losses here? >> yeah. that is an important question. basically what the overseer, the watchdog is saying is that back in october of 2010

the watchdog had taken the treasury to task for, that tarp would exit out of the aig and carmaker stake much faster than expected. now we're still seeing that tarp has about a 3/4 ownership of aig. 3/4 ownership of allied financial formerly known as gmac. taxpayers still owe a third of gm. the stakes are still underwater. see the break even price the stock has to hit at about 24 bucks, aig, and 52 bucks for gm. ally is not a be lickly traded company. the watchdog is saying watch out for ally. that may not be exited in the tarp investment for years to come, jon. jon: the president was bragging on gm in his state of the union but the stock price is less than half where he bought it? >> reporter: that's exactly right. the full investment in gm is about let's say $52 billion, a little over $52 billion. we're still waiting to see

whether or not tarp can make money on any of these companies. we know that the gao is already estimated based on an audit of treasury's financial statements that taxpayers could eventually see losses of $70 billion despite what you're hearing from the government that taxpayers will make money on tarp investments. could be up to $70 billion or even more in tarp losses. back to you, jon. jon: i would like to handle my own investments. >> reporter: there you go. jenna: like to handle my own too. jon: don't give me your money. jenna: republican voters are still trying to decide who the strongest candidate is to go up against the president come november. larry sabato will join us next with a look at his crystal ball predictions.

[♪...] >> announcer: bank robbery certainly is a frightening crime. after all, bank robbers stole $43 million in one year. but identity thieves? try 37 billion! and guess how identity thieves

are getting some of that money. by taking over our bank accounts. they may not even need your social security number anymore. all an identity thief may need are a couple of simple pieces of information, like your mother's maiden name or the city you were born in, and they could add their name onto your bank accounts in order to make your money their money. you need help. [whoosh, clang] you need lifelock-- the only identity protection company that now monitors bank accounts for takeover fraud. lifelock is the proactive identity protection company with an early warning alert system that is state of the art. when we detect any suspected breaches of your personal information within our network, we contact you right away, before the damage is done. lifelock has the most comprehensive identity protection available. no one can stop all identity theft-- that's why lifelock offers you peace of mind, and you get our million dollar total service guarantee. >> having your identity stolen feels like you've been totally violated. you go around looking over your

shoulder. it's almost as if someone has broken into your home. >> announcer: don't spend another day without lifelock. call now! try lifelock's service risk-free for 60 days. lifelock is the only identity protection company that now monitors bank accounts for takeover fraud. no one provides more comprehensive identity protection than lifelock. if you're not convinced after 60 days, simply notify lifelock and you won't pay. and to keep your documents out of the wrong hands, we'll even add this personal shredder-- a $29 value-- absolutely free with your enrollment. don't wait another minute. call now or go to lifelock.com. lifelock service guarantee cannot be offered to residents of new york. jon: fox news is america's election headquarters. we're getting some new predictions from november straight out of larry sabato's crystal ball. given a choice between mitt romney and newt gingrich looks like mr. romney has the better

chance winning the race for the white house if he is nominee. he is considered the closest, to close a generic republican unquote, among the current field. look at the numbers from the crystal ball electoral map. shows a very close race between the president and generic republican. democrats with 247 votes. republicans with 206 electoral votes. the rest are a tossup. those are battleground states. look at predictions if the race between mr. obama and newt gingrich. the gop doesn't do nearly as well. democrats would have 303 electoral votes, far fewer lean republican. let's talk about it with the man who put this all together, larry sabato, director for center of politics at the university of virginia. important to point out, larry, this is a snapshot in time. these numbers could change a lot between now and november? >> absolutely. jon, look how the numbers have changed in the republican primaries and caucuses. what we did was simply go

look at the catalog of all recent polls that have been taken in the 50 states, particularly those that can switch from one side to another. mitt romney is close to a generic republican although interestingly, he does a bit better than the generic republican. he is actually leading in those 85 electoral votes to upstates, many of them. he is at, worst, tied with obama in the electoral college right now. maybe he is a little bit ahead. as you mentioned, newt gingrich doesn't do nearly as well. he runs 7, 8, 9, 10 points behind where romney is in many of the key states. therefore obama has 303 electoral votes with of course 270 needed to elect. jon: well, so if mitt romney says i'm more electable than he is, is he is right? >> he's right if the election were held today. the election of course is on the, is in november, november the 6th and that's a long time to go. things can change. but i think it is a good

argument for mitt romney and certainly his supporters, and establishment republicans are using it. i have heard this from many of the members of congress. the republican members of congress, who when asked very pointedly would you rather share a ticket with romney or gingrich, the vast majority of them have said to me, mitt romney. now maybe they're wrong. maybe they will be wrong by november but that's what they say today. jon: but, you know, as newt gingrich likes to say, the establishment is scared of him because he is going to shake things up. >> that is a very good counterpoint. it is an argument newt gingrich makes on the stump. i think it is why he is disproportionally drawing tea party support and anti-establishment republicans who don't like to be dictated by members of congress and others and governors who endorsed mitt romney. jon: it will be a fascinating run-up to the election. larry sab toe -- sabato, thanks for bringing in your

crystal ball. >> thank you, jon. jon: you bet. jenna: ever worry what people are saying about you on the internet? we'll google that during the break. one man is suing after some of is exs posted juicy details about his breakups. this is not jon scott but another man completely. we'll tell you how this case may change what you're allowed to post on line.

jenna: here's a loaded question. what do people find when they search for you on the internet? well, one attorney hoped they would see information about his legal practice. instead the top result, when

you search for him is a site with his ex-girlfriend's accounts of their messy breakups. well he is suing in a case that could help determine what you can post on-line. douglas kennedy is live with our latest in a series, taking liberties. >> reporter: everybody says nice things about you, jenna. jenna: yeah, right. >> reporter: on the internet anyone can say anything about anyone else. it's a virtual wild west of free speech that some say is now ruining reputations. he was the youngest prosecutor in norwalk, connecticut. he worked for the nfl. and "court tv". but if you google mat kuhllet -- matt couloute, first things that comes up is liars cheaters r us.com. this is available to anyone with a computer? >> anyone can go online do that to someone. >> reporter: one of the

posts is from amanda. she says matt lied when he said he would marry her and cheated on her with his current wife during their three-year relationship. couloute says the effects on his life have been devastating. you say you lost clients. hard to get a mortgage? >> when we went to buy a house with my wife and i we have problems with homeowners selling us their house. they want to knee what is going on. >> reporter: couloute is suing two ex-girlfriend's posting on the site. he says they don't have the right to ruin his reputation on the internet, and. they both hired the bodyguard of the broken-hearted celebrity attorney gloria all red. >> it seems ironic that men can lie and cheat and then look to the courts for legal protection. >> reporter: gloria all red says you lied, you cheated and hurt these women and

they should have have right to say so. >> you don't have the right to defame people on the internet. it is wrong. >> reporter: so wrong he says in fact that the rules of internet need to be changed. a goal hopes his lawsuit will accomplish. that is it from here, jenna. back to you. >> a very interesting case. i'm googling you and jon scott after the show to see --. >> reporter: wow i hope that doesn't come up with anything. jenna: new baby right, doug? >> reporter: yes. thank you very much. jenna: congratulations. >> reporter: you put that on the air. appreciate it. jenna: that is other news. we had to change something better and brighter. douglas, interesting report and congratulations to you and your wife. >> reporter: see you, jenna, we'll talk to geraldo about that next hour. google me. very boring. medical mystery for its sufferses. feels like bugs are crawling all over their bodies but some doctors are saying it is not on their skin, it is all in their heads. is it? fox medical a-team, dr. manny alvarez weighs in on a new report.

plus, it looks like a seen out of a movie but it is not. a former hockey star and kids have a seconds to escape when the roof comes crashing down on the ice rink. ♪ i'm in a tricky situation here.

i'm bidding on a 1979 dukes of hazzard lunchbox, but my auction ends in 15 seconds ! even worse, my buddy's bidding on the same lunchbox.

it's airbrushed ! but i've got verizon 4g lte. it's so fast that i can outbid him at the last second. i got it ! yes, i won ! woo hoo ! it's got a thermos ! rely on verizon 4g lte. because only the fastest survive. >> i'm rick rick folbaum, a coue stories we're watching for you. that, of course, is the capitol building in washington, and we are moments away from a vote against raising the debt ceiling, but this is pretty much a symbolic one. it will not pass, and the debt ceiling will be raised to $16.4 trillion, that vote coming up. and take a look at nightfall off the italian coast where that cruise ship remains on its side, 15 people confirmed dead, but there are 16 people who are still unaccounted for as rescue workers continue their search there. a couple of stories we're following as the second hour of "happening now" starts right

now. jenna: a lot going on in the world today, we're glad you're with us, everybody, i'm jenna lee. jon: you ready for a second hour? jenna: why not? we're here. [laughter] jon: i'm jon scott. the candidates in florida today before heading to jacksonville for the final debate before primary day next tuesday. jenna: new senate polls showing a bit of a breakup at the top. a strong showing tonight is a must. carl cameron is live at the university of north florida in jacksonville, that's the site of tonight's debate. a lot going on with the candidates, let's start off with newt gingrich because he's hosting some different events, and some of them have to do with tea party voters. what's that all about? >> reporter: well, he went the a rally this morning, jenna, and this is really an attempt by newt gingrich in the closing days of this campaign to coalesce conservatives and rally the tea party and the base of the republican party around a

populist message and what is going to be an incredible sprint in the final days. gingrich has opened up a new round of rhetoric, going after mitt romney as an out of touch wall street insider, an elite, too wealthy and too distant from real people to understand what the country really needs and timid and a massachusetts moderate and disqualified from leading conservatives. very, very tough populist rhetoric today from gingrich essentially saying those aligned against him are all part of the problem. reid establishment. that's his words exactly, listen. >> the romney apparatus says whatever it says, do i care? no. i think the washington establishment is going to fight me every step to the nomination, and i think they're going to say whatever they have to say. but what i said today, frankly, came about because i looked at the totality of the information we now are getting. >> reporter: now, by contrast romney has actually got a

populist counterattack of his own. he makes the argument that newt gingrich was a failed speaker who had to resign in disgrace and then became a washington influence peddler cashing in. and he says that's part of the problem, and he can change it as an outsider who's had experience as one-term governor in montana, but spent most of -- massachusetts, but spent most of his time in the private sector. this is a two-pronged attack at both barack obama and gingrich. listen. >> some people call that crony capitalism. it's a culture in washington where people are paid to say and do certain things, but what the washington folks actually do is in the benefit of the people who help them out the most. and we watched president obama. he ghei the national labor relations board the running room to do what the organized labor wanted to do and tried to keep a boeing plant out of south carolina because they were a right to work state. >> reporter: mitt romney talking populist issues about both barack obama and the crony

capitalism and the reference to his ongoing assertion that newt gingrich, while his contract said he wasn't lobbying for freddie mac and was, in fact, a consultant, was engaged in lobbying anyway, something that infuriates newt gingrich which is by design. romney wants very much to get under the speaker's skin hoping he can prompt some anger to reveal itself, what has been called inflammatory language and inaccurate language when it comes to such things as the debate over immigration. there was a spanish-language attack ad up against mitt romney by the gingrich campaign saying he was anti-immigrant. marco rubio, the florida u.s. senator, scolded gingrich for inflammatory and inaccurate language. that's now appearing in a robo call against gingrich in the belief that inflammatory and inaccurate rhetoric is the kind of bumper sticker criticism of newt gingrich that may remind folks of his past as an unreliable leader. it is very, very nasty, it is very, very personal.

we're five days and counting from the it'll primary, and the polls show it's just as tight as a tick, so there are no holds parred from this point -- barred from this point forward. jenna: this race will not be wrapped up in january though. there's a while to go on the campaign trail, so what is truly at stake for tonight, and how is this going to set the stage for the next several weeks to come, not just days? >> reporter: and frankly, jenna, it's not just tonight. this is the swire campaign here. it's very, very difficult to imagine a situation wherein newt gingrich wins the florida primary and mitt romney isn't very, very seriously disabled by the damage it would do. it is a critical moment for mitt romney to pull off a victory here. conversely, if m romney does win in florida, newt gingrich will have a very, very tough time catching up in the delegate count in subsequent states for a whole host of reasons. there is a tremendous amount at stake here in florida not just in this debate tonight, but in the debate every day right up

until tuesday. the last thing to remember is this is the first state where absentee ballots and early voting are very important. early voting is going to continue on until saturday. already over 150,000 votes have been cast in florida, and the absentee ballot, a half a million ballots are requested, and nearly half of them have been returned. many, many of them, about 100,000 plus, were submitted voted and completed before the gingrich win in south carolina. the romney camp is counting on that to be a base of support, a cushion that'll give them a bit of an advantage, and that in part explains why gingrich's language has gotten so amped up. he recognized that cushion, and he has to make up all the more ground for it. it's a steeper hill for gingrich because he's being outspent dramatically by romney, it puts all the more onus on his rhetoric there the campaign trail and getting news media coverage of that because, frankly, when it comes to the paid campaign, romney is way, way ahead and blanketing the

airwaves more than gingrich can. jenna: quite a wrap-up for us, carl. thank you so much. carl cameron in florida. >> reporter: thank you. jon: let's talk about somebody else who won't be on the air waves very much. candidate rick santorum. he says he may be going back to virginia this weekend instead of campaigning in florida. he's already said he won't be in florida on primary night. santorum's been having trouble gaining traction in florida due to his limited campaign funds. let's talk about it with stephen hayes, senior writer for the weekly standard and a fox news contributor. a lot of what's at play here, frankly, stephen, is the construction of the florida rule. it's winner take all, right? >> right. i think that's everything that's at play here. rick santorum stands very little chance of winning the florida. he's down in the 10-15 point range, others are up in the 20s or even the 30s, so it's unlikely that rick santorum is going to mount a 20-plus-point surge in these final four days. so he doesn't need to try to play in florida in an attempt to

win florida. i think what he does need to do is hope to do well enough in florida percentage wise that he remains in the conversation. i mean, so much of the discussion has been about this two-man race between newt gingrich and mitt romney. what rick santorum needs to do is get himself back into that conversation and not be sort of an after thought. jon: so people don't want to feel like they're wasting a vote. >> right. i think ha's exactly right x. this is, i think, what's important for santorum, to assure florida voters they wouldn't be wasting a vote, that he's a viable candidate, that he's going to stay in for the long run. and if you think about it, there is no reason for rick santorum to get out. as long as the guy can buy a plane ticket from one state to the next, he ought to stay in. this hayes has been so -- this race has been so incredibly volatile with santorum having won iowa, i mean, there's no reason at all for him to get out. jon: let's talk a little bit about the mood of the country as

we get ready to elect a new president this year. there's a new poll out, i think this one's from quinnipiac, do you think the country's headed in the right direction or on the wrong track, by and large people are saying this thing is, you know, we are really headed down the wrong track. that's a pretty ominous -- i'm sorry, this is an nbc/"wall street journal" poll, not quinnipiac. 61% say the u.s. is shot headed in the right direction, and yet when you look at the president's poll approval ratings in the same poll, 48% approve, 46 disapprove. his ratings are actually on the upswing. can you explain that? >> it is. i mean, i think the key in the both of those numbers is to look at the trajectory, the trend. which direction are those numbers heading in? actually, if you can believe it, those numbers are the wrong track numbers for president obama had been higher in that poll and many others, in some cases up near the 70% mark. people who think the country's

on the wrong track which is close to what it was shortly before president obama took office. president obama and his campaign team, and i think we saw this in the state of the union address with his attempt to project optimism, they're counting on the trends going in the right direction. so their argument will be, in effect, look, things aren't great. we understand this has been a long time, it's taken a long time for us to correct the problems that we inherited, but, boy, things are certainly turning around. and if you look at these numbers, they're not turning around in a great fashion, but they're starting to. and i think that's what obama's team is counting on. jon: so hope and change takes eight years or, at the very minimum, four? is that the argument? >> yeah, i think that's their argument. look, it's not a totally honest argument, to be candid about it. if you look back, they're saying, well, we didn't appreciate the depths of the problems that the country faced when we came into office. that's total nonsense. they did appreciate the depths of the problems, and they were talking about it at the time as the potential for the next great

depression. so there's some revisionist history going on, but if they can convince voters to be optimistic about the trends, you saw this in ronald reagan's re-election year, people believed he was turning the country around, economic growth was likely to continue to pick up. if president obama and his team can convince voters to do that, i think he'll go a long way to possibly being reelected. jon: i had a 13% mortgage, i think, during the reagan presidency or coming off of the carter years at any rate. anyway, stephen hayes from the weekly standard, thank you. >> thanks, jon. jon: do not miss "america live" today, rick santorum is going to join megyn kelly live to answer questions about the florida primary. 2:15 eastern time, about two hours from now. jenna: new information on the the dangers of terrorism facing the united states. in a revealing new interview, defense secretary leon panetta saying nearly nine months after the death of usama bin laden, al-qaeda remains a threat to americans. >> we're going after al-qaeda

wherever they're at. and, clearly, we're confronting al-qaeda in pakistan, we're confronting the nodes of al-qaeda in yemen, in somalia, in north africa and, obviously, whatever al-qaeda links are involved in afghanistan. have we defeated al-qaeda? not yet. there's still a real threat, there's still al-qaeda out there, and we've got to continue to put pressure on them wherever they're at. jenna: this interview will air in its entirety this sunday on "60 minutes." we do expect the announcement on defense cuts to come a little later on this afternoon with more specifics as well. jon: jenna, there's also a desperate search for survivors underway after threal buildings collapse in the middle of a busy city. details and the dramatic video straight ahead. plus, what iran's president has to say about tough new sanks as he calls for nuclear talks. and rick is at the web wall for us. >> reporter: maybe folks heard

douglas kennedy's report about that attorney whose ex-girlfriends have set up a web site talking about their messy breakups with him. he doesn't like it. we have a poll that we'd like you to participate in. if you go to the "happening now" page and then scroll down, is slamming your ex on the internet freedom of speech, or is it libel? geraldo will be our guest live coming up later on, and we'll have the results of the poll. and we'll have more of "happening now" after a quick break. don't go away. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your ruy nose. [ deep breath ] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8.

new8% every 10 years.age 40, we can start losing muscle -- wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge!

jon: right now new information on some stories we're keeping an yard eye on, building collapse in rio de janeiro, brazil, has killed six people. reports out today that the operator of the costa concordia knew the ship was taking an water and likely would sink, and yet they still waited an hour to issue evacuation orders. sixteen people are known dead

with more than a dozen still missing. and australian prime minister julia gillard nearly falling down in a crowd of angry protesters. riot police had to clear a path to get her to safety. she was okay, but she did lose a shoe. jenna: so the president of iran says that his government is ready for a new round of nuclear talks. at the same time, ahmadinejad is saying that those tough new sanctions that have been put out this year by the united states amongst others won't hurt his country. k.t. mcfarlane is a national security analyst. the question we have to ask is why is ahmadinejad saying today, thursday, that we can continue talks that haven't taken place over the last year? [laughter] >> right. it's so predictable. it's almost a joke. i mean, every time he feels the pressure, what does he do? let's have negotiations, let's talk about having inspectors. and at the same time, what he knows in the past, what we do, we let off the pressure while he goes ahead and continues with

his nuclear program. jenna: so in a way he's repeating a pattern. >> he's also repeating a pattern he saw the north koreans do with the previous administration. every time things got tough, they promised they were going to negotiate. and so we let off the pressure, they pretended to negotiate, the minute the pressure was off, they went ahead. and at the end of the day, north korea has nuclear weapons. jenna: so there's two choices here. there is coming to the table with negotiations and also the choice of how how much pressureo continue while you do that. do we go back to the table, back to negotiations, and what do we do about the pressure? >> you never let the pressure off. this is when you want to apply more pressure. why is iran nervous? because they're rattled. you know, the united states, britain and the european union have just in the last two weeks imposed serious sanctions. not the good, old-fashioned not very strong sanctions, these are the equivalent of an oil blockade around iran. iran knows without that oil money they're finished, they're broke. that's how reagan ended the cold war, using the oil weapon to so

stress the soviet economy that the soviet people -- jenna: interesting you bring up the soviets because russia has a role in this dynamic as we take a look at whether these sanctions are truly going to work. because russia and china both are customers of iran. >> yes. jenna: so when we have these sanctions, whether or not they work is whether or not we give a waiver to certain countries and institutions to allow them to continue this business. >> yeah. jenna: what happens if russia and china don't come onboard? >> they probably won't, and the indians probably won't either. the chinese have gone to the iranians and said, look, if you can't sell your oil to the west, sell it to us, but we'd like to negotiate a much lower price. at the end of the day, it's less money for iran and less money for the iranian government to pay off the subsidies it gives to it own people for food, for gasoline, for heating oil and less money for them to give to hamas and hezbollah and syria. jenna: we forget their economy is really structured on oil.

>> 80%. jenna: and only, i should say. what about option c? you wrote this great editorial for foxnews.com, and you talked a little bit about the options. tell us about that story and what is option c when it comes to iran? >> when i worked for henry kissinger, he always insisted you need three options to present to the president for anything. and so we always thought, well, this is just -- we're sick of hearing this, so we did a joke memo; option a with this in proposed policy, all-out war. option b, surrender and capitulation. option c, something else. so we wrote the spoof, and it got all the way to president ford's desk before he picked it up and said, what's this? you do want an option c, and with iran we've had two options; bomb iran which leads to a regional war, but iran gets a bomb which means everybody in the region gets nuclear weapons, so that's why we need option c, use the economic weapon. jenna: and even the higher oil prices would be worth it -- >> well, you wouldn't necessarily have higher oil

prices. and in the past we weren't nest about option c with iran, but the saudis have come out and said they'll sell more oil, they'll open the pumps and compensate for the iranian losses. and the other thing that's happened is in the last couple years the american energy industry has developed natural gas and oil, so we should take the hand cuffs off the american industry. jenna: maybe we're at that point for a lot of things to converge at one moment. >> this is the silver bullet, and this is year you need it with iran. jenna: kt, thank you. jon? jon: after a very bad breakup, this guy's ex or exes created a nasty profile of him on a web site. now he is suing to get it all taken down. how this case could effect what you can and cannot do on the internet. we told you about it in douglas kennedy's report, we'll have more with geraldo coming up. ♪

uh, i'm in a timeout because apparently riding the dog like it's a small horse is frowned upon in this establishment! luckily though, ya know, i conceal this bad boy underneath my blanket just so i can get on e-trade. check my investment portfolio, research stocks... wait, why are you taking... oh, i see...solitary. just a man and his thoughts. and a smartphone... with an e-trade app. ♪ nobody knows... [ male announcer ] e-trade. investing unleashed.

day my journey continues across the golden state, where everyone has been unbelievably nice. mornin'. i guess i'm helping them save hundreds on car insurance. it probably also doesn't hurt that i'm a world-famous advertising icon.

cheers! i mean, who wouldn't want a piece of that? geico. ah... fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent oh dear... or more on car insurance.

jon: ever googled yourself? what if you find something you don't like or something that's just plain not true? well, it happened to this guy, attorney matt couloute, and now he is suing to have those nasty comments taken down. l if he wins, his case could actually shape what you can and cannot put on the internet. let's talk about it with geraldo rivera, host of "geraldo at large." this guy had a couple of jilted ex-girlfriends who didn't apparently like the way he had treated them or the way he had broken up with them. they put his name out there, he

says that's wrong, that they're lying, and he's suing them. does he have a case? >> well, it depends on whether or not what they're saying is true or not, jon, because it's the slander and libel laws that will apply. in terms of the internet, these are anonymous postings -- in this case on a web site called liars, cheaters are us.com, and some people consider it cyber trashing or smearing, i but these web sites allow anonymous postings -- in this case calling this guy a devious don juan, saying be forewarned, he's scum, run far away, and it turns out one is a relationship he had, a woman with whom he has a child, and another girlfriend who he broke up with. and both women he discerned who they were, they didn't put their names on the web site. both of them are now represented by gloria allred, the famed women's rights attorney. and she's saying these women have the right to say things, and if they believe he is, you

know, a devious don juan or in the words of the other, scum -- quote, unquote -- they are willing to say it because the first amendment protects them. now, it's, i don't know how you prove whether or not someone is devious or scum, but i'm sure that it will be an entertaining lawsuit if it ever gets to that. jon: yeah, well, in this era when you can type a few key strokes, and your words reach millions of people on the internet, it's a whole different ball gam than it was 15, 20 years ago. >> absolutely. and there are laws, there really are laws, and this is gloria allred's legal point, there are laws that prevent women from suing because it's largely women who are cheated against. i know i don't want to start a whole big debate about it, but there are laws that prevent jilted women from suing for things like breach of promise. you know, so gloria's point is women should have this outlet, they should have this access to the internet to tell people how they feel about their boyfriends.

now, in mr. couloute's case, this former connecticut prosecutor who's an attorney, his complaint is, now, if people do google him, they don't get that he is a successful attorney who is, you know, diligent in his representation of his clients, they get the fact that he is a cheater and these women are very angry at him. i understand his frustration, but i think he has a hard row to hoe unless he can prove that the women not only are nasty, but are being untruthful, that they are libeling him, that they are tarnishing his professional character in a way that is, because it is untruthful, is protected by his rights. jon: well, again, he is suing in federal court, and it could break some ground. we'll keep an eye on the case. geraldo, thanks very much for joining us. don't miss geraldo this weekend, he hosts "geraldo at large" this sunday, 10 p.m. eastern time here on fox. jenna: well, next, a bizarre

illness and a new study about it. apparently, this illness makes victims feel like bugs are crawling on their bodies and fibers are sprouting out of their skin in different colors. what federal health officials say is causing it. the cdc did look into it. dr. manny's here, and he's joining us next. ♪

an accident doesn't have to slow you down... with better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual insurance, if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy a car thas one model-year newer... with 15,000 fewer miles on it. there's no other auto insurance product like it. better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual. it's a better policy that gets you a better car. call... or visit one of our local offices today, and we'll provide the coverage you need

at the right price. liberty mutual auto insurance, responsibility -- what's your policy?

jon: fox news alert. no surprise, the u.s. senate cleared the way for a hike in the nation's debt ceiling. the vote is on this house-passed bill that expressed disapproval of president obama's request to raise the debt ceiling by another $1.2 trillion. republicans control the house. they said they didn't want the president to be able to borrow that much more money. the senate controlled by the democrats voted to go ahead and do it. the vote, 52-44. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell saying earlier today nearly every republican senator would vote against that deal but it has passed. democrats control the senate. the debt ceiling will be going up. jenna: now there is a stunning new report from the commerce department today

saying that last year was the worst year in history for the sales of new homes. in the meantime there's a huge inventory of foreclosed homes, that is existing homes working its way through the housing market. according to realtytrac, they made up 20% of all u.s. home sales in the third quarter. david asman is an anchor on the fox business network. two different news items, david. let's take one at a time. first, lowest number of new home sales. >> should put it in a little context. december was up. so you're looking at a really bad year. we all knew it would be a bad year. you always look for trends, is it trending up or trending down? coming from the bottom it is trending up a little bit. this foreclosure, if you don't mind me linking the two, the foreclosure news is a trend in the right direction. it was 30% of homes were in foreclosure. but you have got to put that in context, in good times, usually own 5% of the homes sold are in foreclosure. so 20% is not good. also, a lot of banks are

getting afraid about selling foreclosed homes because of all the robo signing things that are going on. they don't want to get sued. remember the big robo-signing scandal where a lot of banks were getting sued because they said they were forces people out of their homes into foreclosure? that is one reason why foreclosures are slowing down a little. jenna: sound like you're saying the system is still clogged? it. >> is still clogged. jenna: foreclosed homes and trying to work through some of the inventory through the crisis? >> it is slow. bottom line, no magic bullet will solve this. foreclosure is nasty, dirty business and painful but one way you clear out the inventory. we have a huge inventory of homes not stuck, not novembering. that is what is freezing the housing market. good news, florida is a example of foreclosures are going down. used to be a year ago, 40% of the homes sold in florida were in foreclosure. now it is 19%. what is happening a lot of people are realizing what terrific deals they are. they always want a house

this places like florida so they go down and buy one. jenna: the housing crisis spanned so many years, you have people plan ad couple of years to try to pick up a foreclosed home. we reported earlier this week potentially a settlement between certain states and big banks when it comes to those robo-signing and foreclosures that allegedly shouldn't have happened. is that a major factor. if we see that go through this year will that help with the housing market? what is going on with that? >> depends on what guidance they get from on high. if you have a president saying nobody should be moved out of a foreclosed home and come out with all the housing programs which frankly haven't done good either clearing the housing market or stopping foreclosures, then the lawyers will get on board, i have the potential to win a lawsuit. it is in the news. people are sympathetic to the foreclosed people therefore we win a lawsuit. as long as there's a lawyer who find a way to file a successful lawsuit and gets 40%, you better --.

jenna: what can we see you tonight on fox business? >> 9:00 p.m. on "power and money" on fox business. jenna: you cover it all. >> we do. thank you. jenna: jon? jon: senior citizens will play a big role in next week's florida primary and the republican candidates are making every effort to try to win their vote. steve harrigan live at the sunshine senior center in st. petersburg, florida, with a look at that. steve? >> reporter: [inaudible] we've been asking them what is the most important factor in this election. we've been surprised by some of their answers. >> 10 times. one. two. >> reporter: 80% of florida's four million seniors are registered to vote. the republicans know what they don't want. >> i'm looking for, at this point, honestly, anybody but obama. anyone but obama.

>> reporter: the factories and jobs they grew up with are gone. >> everything has been moved overseas because it is cheaper but that doesn't mean it is better. sooner or later we'll not be able to afford the things we normally buy because nothing is made here anymore. >> reporter: what these seniors are looking for in a candidate, more than any specific policy or social security or medicare is a quality, a toughness. >> i want a man to stand up or man or woman, to stand up and say, i'm going to fight for this country, to bring it back where it was and i'll be honest and open. if you like it, fine. if you don't like it, vote me out. >> i would like to see more respect for our country. everybody hates the american the become the ugly american. and why? we have no one to stand up for us. >> reporter: jon, seniors are supposed to make up 40% of the total vote here on tuesday. back to you. jon: wow, it will be interesting to watch those results. steve harrigan in florida, thank you.

jenna: the doc is in and there is potentially, step forward in treatment of an illness that really caught our eye. it is called morgellan disease. has creepy symptoms, like feeling you have bug all over your body and looking down see fibers popping out of your skin. we had to talk more about this with manny alvarez, member of the fox news medical a-team. senator feinstein out in california asked the cdc to investigate this. >> cost a lot of money. cost over $600,000. look, for years there's been a group of patients, probably one out of 100,000 people of complain of atypical symptoms. scratching. things coming out of the skin. sores. painful, you know, body aches, many, many weird things. so at the beginning doctors thought that it was an

infectious origin because, if you have it, say, i feel, you know, itching all the time, people think you have parasites in your skin. so what happened is, the cdc looked into this very carefully. they looked at all but 109 patients that were well-documented. they found nothing. they did not find one single, kind of pathogen. there was no fungus, no bacteria, no parasite. the fibers were mostly fibers that you find in every carpet and things like that. the sores in the skin were from scratching yourself. but they also looked at the psychological aspects of these patients and there was a lot of themes in common. a lot of anxiety. a lot of moody's orders. so at the end of the day --. jenna: is that common among patients in general to find moody's orders or find depression or fatigue? >> what that is telling you the power of the mind can really make you physically

ill and give you very atypical symptoms. jenna: wait a minute. in this study they did look at a particular part of the state of california because the reports mostly came from northern california. i'm from san francisco. don't say northern california people are crazy. not now but you never know. >> right. jenna: what is interesting in a particular geographic area. there weren't clusters. meaning people were not necessarily talking to each other. they were all over the place. >> listen, i have patients in new york complain about these atypical symptoms. jenna: what do you tell them? >> we go through the panoply. the problem i have with this disease, i know for many of them it has to do with a lot of, you know, mental health issues that need to be addressed properly. i just don't want patients to go doctor to doctor and then the doctor takes advantage say, oh i will give you a little cream come back next week. because you have to, there is no infectious or medical reason but here but this needs also to be treated. so i look at this as a way to say, you know what?

there are other issues going on. we did the workup. let us fix some of the emotional mental health going on. jenna: may be something came up in upstate new york caught some headlines here on the east coast about girls in high school, a group of them, suddenly waking up from naps or from sleep and getting ticks and shakes. >> mass hysteria. jenna: their parents when the doctor came out and said listen this, is mass hysteria, they're not accepting that explanation. >> but i'm telling you it is, the power of the mind can do wonders. patients have walked into my office saying they're pregnant. show me their belly and believe they're pregnant and there is no baby in there. jenna: how do you break that news to them? >> we got ways. ultrasound does winders at the end of the day. jenna: leave it at that. some people believe it is surreal. the investigation doesn't show anything conclusive except it is not what they think it is? >> nothing infectious. jenna: dr. manny, power of the mind. >> power of the mind.

jon: it is a very powerful thing. talking about worries there are new worries the investigation into operation "fast and furious" could go nowhere. key officials are refusing to talk. critics say that shows they have something to hide. is that true? the next step in this inquiry straight ahead. a former nhl star and a bunch of kids in a hockey rink when the roof suddenly gives way. how they narrowly escaped. the video next. [shouting] when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and they have 6 grams of sugars. with 15 grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes.

♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8.

>> hey everybody, i'm megyn kelly. newt gingrich getting attacked whether he really supported ronald reagan or not. is he as close to ronald reagan? was he or wasn't he? he says ask michael reagan and he will tell us the truth. we will, today, live when michael joins us. plus new home purchases setting the worst-ever record. charles payne is here with "what you need to know.". is rick santorum about to drop out? he is here live to debunk

some claims. also a father and son on trial for an alleged honor killing of three young girls. the case is about to go to the jury. a bomb threat just shut down the proceedings today. a powerful kelly's court. see you top of the hour. jon: well a roadblock in the investigation of operation "fast and furious." that's the federal gun-running sting that allowed weapons to fall into the hands of mexican criminals. now u.s. attorney general eric holder is blaming federal officials in arizona for giving bad information to congress. those officials though are refusing to talk so where do we go from here? william la jeunesse in live in los angeles with an update. >> reporter: well, jon without that testimony, congress has almost nothing. after year-long investigation of an illegal federal program, an international embarassment that left one u.s. agent and dozens in mexico dead, no one has been held accountable. patrick cunningham was the lead attorney in "fast and

furious." he is taking the fifth, refusing to answer congressional questions. without him the committee can not determine if "fast and furious" was, at the attorney general claims, a rogue operation with a few bad apples only in phoenix. or was it a top down, washington approved scandal? so yesterday the committee asked to talk to the number two attorney in phoenix. mike morrissey says the attorney general said it can not. leaving chairman darrell issa with few options. one is flipping a key player. >> we have the ability to grant limited immunity. we take it seriously. we don't want to do that haphazardly. so ultimately we may grant him some some munt after we've seen if we get same information from other sources. >> reporter: issa told holder in a letter, quote, this is a major escalation of justice department culpability. without their testimony, the committee can not gauge the veracity of claims that

holder and others in washington didn't know about the operation. critics say issa's next option would be, put these attorneys in front of the cameras, where it would appear they're covering up for themselves or for washington. >> i wouldn't discount the power of putting on a public hearing and asking a lot of very difficult questions to increase the pressure so that they definitely do have leverage. >> reporter: so the stakes are very high next week when the attorney general appears before issa and his oversight committee again. that is a week from today. no comment on the letters from the justice department, jon. jon: so it is going to get hotter in washington, huh? >> reporter: looks that way. jon: thanks. jenna: take a look at this, young hockey players running at their lives at a brand new ice skating rink caves in. what happened and how everyone escaped. plus what some towns are doing to cut their costs. anna kooiman has the story. anna? >> towns are losing big

bucks to lifeguards all summer and living off the government in the winter. mayors are rallying for change. their story is next.

jenna: a former nhl star practicing in a rink narrowly avoids the roof, collapsing on him and the rest of the youth league he was working with. a strange situation. rick has more on this rick? >> reporter: this is a guy, jenna, richard zednick already escaped death once. now at it again. back in his home country of slovakia coaching young players. look at video. it is harrowing to watch. this rink which opened past november for practice. there was a lot of snow and ice. and that wound up inside as the roof of the facility begins to collapse slowly at first. watch as the whole thing

caves in like a hollywood movie. we'll stay on the video. zednick and the kids able to escape just in the nick of time. you see the chaos, you will as the people try to escape from this rink. there it is. the it comes down in the middle of the ice. zednick spent 13 seasons in the nhl. in 2008, one of his teammate's ice skates slashed an artery on his neck, almost killing him. now richard zednick has another story to tell. thankfully no one was hurt when the roof caved in. jenna: wow, rick, thank you. jon: scary stuff there. an uproar on the jersey shore. folks that work seasonal jobs at shore towns could lose their unemployment benefits. fox news's anna kooiman is live in seaside heights, new jersey. >> reporter: jon, some lifeguards worked all summer long. now they're living off the government collecting unemployment. you see in the state of new jersey you only have to

work 20 weeks and make $7300 in order to qualify. some towns along the new jersey coastline are rallying for change, pushing for tougher legislation against the seasonal employees they say are taking advantage of an already generous system. now they say it is not just the principle of the fact, it is also the idea that these people are doing it when they know they have a start date and an end date. >> we want to be spending our money on things that helped to improve this community, to make it more attractive, to make it easier on the workers, our public works people. we don't want to be spending it on frivolous things like, unemployment for seasonal workers. >> reporter: well, and it is not just shore towns dealing with this it is also water parks. it is golf courses. holiday retailers that beef up employees during the season. they have to budget for it as well.

12 states are already pushing for more legislation regarding this. and they have done that for seasonal workers already. but opponents argue getting rid of them completely could bring about other issues like having underqualified people taking these positions. they also say that some people have to work seasonal jobs while they look for a permanent one. >> we're in a labor market right now where people are piecing together jobs to keep body and soul together. so what may have looked like a summer job may be part of somebody's survival scheme right now. >> reporter: and the town of seaside heights says they're taking matters into their own hands, not expecting any new legislation to take effect by next summer. they said they will cut hours of lifeguards and make them start later in the season. back to you. jon: a lot of people could identify with the idea they don't get benneys for working the summer. anna kooiman. thanks. jenna: a ghost ship, lost at

sea, reappears thousands of miles away. we're going to tell you about it next. bloating? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

and also to build my career.