and ronan tynan who sometimes makes me sing with him. i apologize in advance. >> brian: he adjusted my back one time, too. that story coming up. crazy. >> steve: see you tomorrow. everybody, we'll start with breaking news and a fox news alert. a major development in afghanistan. president hamid karzai saying u.s. and nato forces should pull back to their bases out of towns and villages and let afghan forces take the lead sooner than planned. at the same time the taliban says it suspended peace talks with the u.s. these developments after increased tension in the country following the accidental koran burning and deaths of 16 civilians allegedly at the hands of a u.s. soldier. this is all moving at the moment. more as we get inside "america's newsroom." meanwhile new evidence iran is supplying weapons being used in the deadly government crackdown in syria. this is new video showing a

cargo plane smuggling tanks and ammunition to a syrian military base, all provided we are told by way of tehran. good morning, everybody. big issues on the table. good for you to be with us. i'm bill hemmer. good morning to "america's newsroom". how did are you doing juliet? >> i'm juliet huddy in for martha maccallum. this is another example of the regime giving weapons to local loyal syrian troops willing to fight to the death. bill: that battle has been bloody. at least 80 civilians killed by government forces in past 24 hours alone. leland vittert live in jerusalem with with more. >> reporter: bill, syria is being more and mores isolated by they have one powerful friend the iranians. they were using iranian

airliners with passengers on board to transport weapons to damascus. because that. story, tehran shut the route down. they have have new smuggling route. this shows the lengths tehran is willing to go to keep president assad in power. almost every day for the past year syrian military pounded away at its own citizens with tear gas, sniper fire, and lately tanks or artillery rounds. it left president bashar assad's military running low on ammunition, weapons and spare parts. enter this clandestine resupply route from tehran. western intelligence sources says opposition video showing unregistered, unscheduled but civilian cargo planes landing at syrian military bases in the city of hama. its precious military cargo quickly unloaded. the photographer gives

translation of what is next. this trick is transferring ammunition used in killing of unarmed people. in addition the sources say the plane delivers iranian revolutionary guard soldiers to fight alongside the syrian military. this is the route the plane is taking according to our intelligence sources from iran over iraqi airspace into syria. because the turkish government says iranian cargo planes are not allowed to fly over precisely this region to prevent this kind of arms smuggling. the arab league told the iraqi government they want this new air route shutdown of the problem, bill, the iraqis don't have any air defense systems. they can only simply tell the iranians to stop. there is no way right now at least to end the resupply route. bill, back to you. bill: leland vittert from jerusalem. juliet has more now. >> charges have been filed in that deadly soccer riot last month. egypt's top prosecutor

charging 75 people including top police officer and two minors in connection with that riot. on february 1st, more than 70 people died in the world's worst soccer related violence in 15 years bill: we have brand new polling numbers in the race for the nomination. it is a mixed story for mitt romney. romney holding his lead nationally beating his rivals with 38%. santorum in second and newt gingrich and ron paul third and fourth respectively. president obama beating all the republican candidates, besting romney by four points. stephen hayes, "weekly standard", fox news contributor. good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. bill: what do you see in that number. >> it is an interesting number. mitt romney holding lead. a lead of 6 points in a four-way race. it shrinks a little bit if you take newt gingrich out of that race, four points in a head-to-head between mitt romney and rick

santorum. it shows romney's lead is there. there is lot of information underneath the big headline numbers to show that the lead is soft. bill: in the race for republican nomination which would you prefer? that was part of out question. the question can you beat obama and are you true conservative. 58% say number one. that is the most intriguing to you. why, steven. >> that is a fascinating number particularly when you look at gap between mitt romney and rick santorum in head-to-head numbers. i would think number would be largely considered and exit poles suggest that he is candidate can beat barack obama, is best equipped that can beat the president there are numbers inside the number who is most qualified to manage the economy, commander-in-chief, mitt romney has huge leads over both rick santorum and newt gingrich among those. republican pry playerry voters say he is

well-qualified to run the economy, be commander-in-chief but yet his margin between rick santorum is just just four points. bill: meantime the campaign marches on. we want to know from american voters whether they think it is good or bad for the party or divided or weakened. this is what we found. 66% says fighting divides and weakens the republican party, republican brand and weaken themselves. we'll ask mitt romney that in next hour. what do you gauge on that now. >> certainly consistent when i travel around talk to republican primary voters. they are dispirited it is going on. they feel the contest is negative. they would like it to end sooner than later to get on with the task of challenging president barack obama. however if you look at enthusiasm among republicans relative to enthusiasm among democrats republicans still have advantage despite the fact this is viewed as such a contentious primary process. bill: remember democrats went into early june in

2008. we'll see if there is difference this time. stephen hayes in washington. governor romney is here next hour. we will ask him a very specific question. if he becomes the nominee what can the american people expect from a romney administration? where does he stand on big issues of the day, gas prices, afghanistan, iran, going nuclear? the debt at $15 trillion. this is coming up next hour here on "america's newsroom". hope you stay tuned for that coming up. juliet: bill, a fox news alert on a top campaign issue, jobs. brand new numbers and on weekly unemployment claims. number of americans filing for jobless benefits fell 14,000 last week to seasonally adjusted 351,000 that is better than expected. the unemployment situation has been a real roller coaster since december of 2007. back then we were at 317,000. they then spiked to 659,000. today they're down to 15 -- 351,000. stuart varney is anchor of

varney company on the fox business network. good to see you, mr. varney. >> juliet. juliet: what do you think of the numbers? >> you can characterize this as a relatively slow, modest economic growth rate. that is what these latest numbers tell us. the all-important numbers, that is the unemployment rate overall for the economy, that in the future will depend largely on number of people dropping out of the workforce or the number of people coming back into the workforce. you got a lot of dropouts, then it is highly likely the unemployment rate will go down. if a lot of people come back in, the rate will probably go back up again. but the bottom line here though is, juliet, so far these unemployment, all of these jobless numbers that we get, do not reflect the rise in gas prices. we haven't seen that hit the employment picture just yet. juliet: i was asking but the politics of gas prices . what do you think is going to happen there? >> let he raise the issue of ohio. clearly an important state. it is a swing state. the average price for regular in ohio is 3.83 a

little above the national average. the big point in ohio, the last four weeks there has been a gigantic spike in prices, all the major cities, and i can run through the list. columbus, cincinnati, daytona, toe lead he low -- toledo, you every major city in ohio has seen a gain of 55 cents or more in the last four weeks that is a spike. that will have split impact. juliet: stuart varney, always great to see you, sir. thank you for that. the gas price issue huge with voters in this country. they're not happy with president obama's handling of the situation according to the latest "fox news poll", only 26% of the voters approve the president's handling of gas prices the 61% disapprove. when asked if the obama's administration policies are to blame? here is what they said. 47% said yes. 52% said no. bill: new data just in on the troubled housing market.

foreclosure rates spiking last month in half the states in the country. pace of foreclosures speeding up after a multibillion-dollar settlement with the nation's biggest lenders. realtytrac projecting foreclosures will go up to 25% this year to a million homes. we have a lot of work to do when it comes to the real estate market. juliet: yes we do. bill: everybody is down with this big anchor we're carrying for years. those are some of the stories we're watching this morning. the u.s. is drowning in red ink, racking up more debt than the government projected weeks ago. is there anything we can do to dig ourselves out of the massive financial hole? there are ideas on the house side. juliet: plus we'll talk about iran reportedly given an ultimatum over its nuclear program. are we preparing for war here? what is the u.s. saying about this? and how the allies act? bill: a man being held in an alleged shooting spree outside after courthouse. what set him off?

listen. >> first sounded like a lot of firecrackers going off. >> it was pretty scary. it was pretty scary. >> we heard a lot of shots and a lot of yelling, it was so loud. eeeeeeeeeeeee!

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juliet: welcome back. take me out to the -- gunfight? >> hello? hello. [gunfire] juliet: can you imagine? bullets flying outside a baseball game. this was in northern mexico. this is amateur video capturing the chaos. players dropping to the ground. fans running for cover. fortunately no one inside the stadium was hurt. police chased the gunmen down, killing three of them, injuring another. no word whether the suspects belonged to a gang. i know we heard this, drug cartels are active in that area. bill: about 15 minutes past the hour now. developing today in washington, senate republicans set to unveil a new budget plan today that

will certainly spark a new fight over how washington spend your money. meanwhile house republicans are pushing for greater spending cuts now. do democrats have a problem with that? democratic senator mark warner is with me on the senate budget and banking committees. welcome here to "america's newsroom." nice to have you back. >> thanks, bill for having me on. bill: do you have an issue with republicans cutting more spending? >> i have a problem with the fact when you actually make a deal, you're supposed to adhere to the deal. you know, a year ago we put the country through this, be what i thought was a travesty where we almost shut down the government. where we lost america's credit rating, when we almost defaulted on our debt and we finally came to an agreement that said let's go ahead and put in place a budget for next year-and-a-half. we have a budget. it is signed into law. it is budget control act. all the committees know how much they want to spend. now when we need to be building trust we have at least some group in the

house saying no, that law that we signed last august, we're going to disregard that agreement and try to cut a new deal. bill: i understand the argument you're making. i got you. a deal is a deal. but why not go for more? you think voters back in virginia would be offended if you cut into the $15 trillion debt? >> as somebody who put together the "gang of six", as somebody who said let's two ahead and have a balanced plan, cut back spending, raise revenues through tax reform, cut 4 trillion dollars off i would rather get out of tit-for-tat, back and forth political stuff. i don't think we need to take the year off just because it is a presidential election year. we should start now on avoiding the next train wreck that will come at end of the year when we end bush tax cuts, we have the ski questionster come about. let's put together not a little nibble here and there, let's put together a 10-year plan that would knock at least four trillion dollars off. bill: the question was whether or not you think

your voters back in virginia would be offended if you cut more government spending and cut it now? you know that debt is swallowing us, senator. >> we add $4 billion a day to the debt. any plan that will reduce the deficit will require cutting spending reforming entitlement programs and raising some more revenue. what i don't hear from our friends in the house is willingness to say let's go ahead and reopen the revenue side of the question a as well as cutting side. bill: we'll save those questions for republicans. understood. another issue here that republicans are beating on you guys every day is that the senate has not produced a budget more than 1,000 days. what do you say to those? >> what i say to that, remember all the folks who said a year or so ago, read the bill, read the bill, read the bill. the bill that we passed last year, the budget control act, it is signed into law by the president is a budget for both last year and this year. we have got a budget in place. we don't have a long-term

budget but we have a budget in place for this year. it is called the budget control act. i think guys complaining about that ought to read a bill. bill: why not pass it then. >> well the bill is passed and signed into law last august. it was one of the reasons how we avoided the eventual nondefault last august. it put a bill in place, a budget in place. not only for last year but for this year as well. bill: well you know what the other side says? they say you're afraid of going on the record because voters will make you pay? what do you say to that? >> what i say to that, read the bill. we got a budget in place that is signed into law. what is not in place is a long-term plan to reduce the deficit. we laid out our plan. it was based on simpson-bowles. it had 45 senator, equal number about democrats and republicans. a 100 members of the house. let's bring that up. let all the folks who scream on both ends actually put the money where their mouth is and say are they willing to vote on a real long-term plan that deals with

revenues and spending. bill: senator, i appreciate you coming on today. i'm out of time. certainly the issue is not out of time. come back soon, okay. >> amen. bill: mark warner out of virginia. thank you, sir. juliet. juliet: listen to this. terrifying new 911 calls just released in a home invasion. >> he is going to come find me. juliet: a convicted rapist holding six women captives at knifepoint near a college campus. we'll play the call as police bust in. bill: a hit tv show is canceled because the actors kept dying. we're not making that up. we'll explain. watch this. >> who your daddy was. how they killed him. [ male announcer ] the game of life with the prius c!

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bill: got some breaking news right now in the northeast

in the state of maine in the town of orono at the university main campus. there has been a bomb scare. the website for the school says an alert a bomb threated report the at looks like obart hall. stay away. this is what the threat reads. building has been evacuated. police are investigating. more information to follow. that is on the university's website a message going out to the students that is just breaking there. we'll get you more information as we get it here. also there are new 911 calls now being released from a terrifying home invasion near the campus of the university of washington. two college girls, making a desperate call for help when a sex offender breaks into their home and ties up their roommates. >> 911, what are you reporting? >> i there is somebody in my house. he is threatening them. >> what threats? >> of stabbing. >> he is taking her

somewhere. i think he will find me. >> several officers, and four cars are outside the house, okay? what do you think he is doing to her? >> taping her. >> hear someone screaming from what part of the house. >> a yell. going to different rooms, yelling at people. >> the door is open? >> the door is open. did somebody open the door or did you open it? >> there is screaming. should i go? bill: that is terrifying to listen to. police arrive within minutes of the call. they arrested robert hitt. he was later charged with robbery and kidnapping. he is 34 years old, just release from prison for rape in january. juliet: oh, my gosh. bill: brave young lady on other end of the phone. had her wits about her to get help thankfully. juliet: a mother's long nightmare may soon be over. her baby boy vanished, listen to this, in 2004 while another woman was

watching him. now they believe they may have found her son. >> the cops didn't really do much. i didn't get an amber alert. i didn't get anything. they kept my baby's picture on the national missing thing for two years and then took it off. okay. from 2007 i didn't hear anything until last week. they told me they had found him. juliet: david lee miller is live in our new york city newsroom. he has been following the story. good to see you. where was the child found? >> reporter: the missing boy had been living less than 200 miles away in san augustine, texas. there is expected a emotional reunion in next two days. miguel, kidnapped by his godmother, crystal tanner who was taking care of the child. one day she and miguel mysteriously disappeared. miguel's mother called houston police said they

failed to investigate and blaming her family for son's disappearance. when told over the phone her child had been located at first thee shout it might have been a cruel joke. >> overwhelmed. it has been eight years. he made eight on the 1st of march. it is sad it took eight years to get any information. it is difficult because i do have other kids and they do ask questions and i can't give them any answers. all i can do is show the pictures because i only had one picture. that is when he was six months old. >> reporter: as for that reunion, authorities say a dna test will be required before mother and son are finally together again. juliet. juliet: david lee, tell us how was he finally located? >> reporter: couldn't alley, child investigative services was investigating 26-year-old crystal tanner for possible child abuse and newborn and an 8-year-old child. when authorities went to the home, the 8-year-old could not be located.

tanner gave them a number of misleading stories. they connected the dots and led them to the abduction in 2000 four. miguel was found in houston where he was living with the accused kidnapper's sister as for houston police they say the case was never followed up because of technicality. a warrant was never issued because the prosecutor's office they said was never given the exact date of abduction. later today, juliet, houston police are expected to issue some type of a statement. they're are still many unanswered questions here about whether or not this case simply fell through the cracks. juliet? juliet: seems like that. a lot of people will be on the hot seat for that one. david lee miller. thank you very much. bill: 27 minutes past the hour. a scene so scary even the police could not believe their eyes. >> this was a running gunbattle. something like you see in the movies. people were ducking for cover. it was quite a sight. bill: this sight was no movie. and end results were deadly. new details on a possible

motive after this texas shooting spree. juliet: plus, bill, more than 100 lawmakers saying they have no confidence in attorney general eric holder but now calls of support from the top voices in the democratic party. how long will eric holder hold on? >> do you believe you're capable of running the top law enforcement agency in this country? >> when you look at everything i've done in this department for the past three years and you look at the department in the state that it was in when i got here -- [ male announcer ] this was how my day began.

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bill: new information now in this deadly shooting campaign outside of a texas courthouse. we are now learning about a possible motive the suspect killing an elderly woman, wounding three others including his own daughter who he allegedly hit with his own truck. the 41-year-old is in custody and our fox reporter angel san juan is outside the courthouse in beaumont, texas. what is the latest. >> reporter: bill, total of four victims. one was a lady who died. a 79-year-old woman was an actually an innocent bystander. had come here to courthouse to do business with a friend, get some veterans benefits. other three were shooter's ex-wife, daughter and another innocent bystander caught in the cross fire. as far as two of the victims have been released from the hospital. that includes his ex-wife. his daughter however remains

hospitalized in critical condition because as you said, bill, she was shot in the chest. then he took the pickup truck and ran over her, even adding more sadness to the story. she is mentally disabled. authorities tell us she has mind set after fourth-grader. so obviously poor young lady is going through a tough time right now recovering in the hospital this morning in critical condition. bill: this story just gets worse. do police have a motive? >> they do. at this time, they think he was targeting his ex-wife and his daughter because they were witnesses in the case against him. he was standing trial in the jefferson county courthouse for aggravated sexual assault of a child and both hess ex-wife and daughter, the daughter is 20 years old, testified against him. the daughter was going to resume her testimony yesterday afternoon but two hours before that, that is when the shooting took place. so basically they think they were targeting these two witnesses in retaliation, the shooter was. also when he got to the hospital, authorities tell us he was quite belligerent

and made statements he was also after the judge presiding over this case. bill: that is remarkable. explains a lot. angel, thank you for that live in texas. >> reporter: thank you. >> how many more border patrol agents would have had to die as part of "operation fast and furious" for you to take responsibility? >> that kind of question, i think is frankly, and again, respectfully i think that is beneath a member of congress. juliet: there you see attorney general eric holder grilled on the failed gun-running sting known as "operation fast and furious". critics say he failed to answer their questions, many, many questions. so far more than 100 lawmakers have no confidence in the attorney general but top democrats like harry reid, nancy pelosi and dnc head debbie debbie wasserman schultz, they all came out in support of him. how long can this go on? monica crowley, radio talk show host. christopher hahn, former

aide to democratic senator chuck schumer. both are foix news contributors. >> hi, juliet. >> good to see you. juliet: only one democrat declined to defend him. oklahoma rep, dan boren. should he keep his job, chris? >> absolutely. this is latest republican members of congress witch hunts on the president. hey, eric holder looks like the president. so why not attack him a little bit. things like "fast and furious" go on before. they will go on in future administration. they probably shouldn't go on but he is not solely to blame for them. he has done a fine job as attorney general. this is big distraction against real problem in this country, defending people's right to vote in america. and i support eric holder. i know the president supports him. he will not be a factor his re-election. juliet: monica, christopher says eric holder is bogey man, for republicans to beat up on. they have one every year. monica i have feeling you

will jump on that one? >> eric holder is presiding over the most politicized justice department in recent history. dismissed black panthers intimidation case. suing states like arizona over their illegal immigration laws. blocking reasonable voter i.d. laws like one just passed in texas. now of course we have "fast and furious.". this is why, so many republicans, 121 members of congress, three senators, two sitting governors and all the republican presidential candidates are calling for holder to resign because in the "fast and furious" case we have two federal agents who now lay dead. we have an attorney general who presided over a program of gun running across an international border and he claims he,000 nothing about it. well that is either the attorney general either lying or gross incompetence. >> monica, let me go back couple things you said. first, the bush administration dismissed the

black panther thing because two guys dressed up for tv standing in front of one poll in one state. >> is that right, chris? should that not have been prosecuted? >> not holder. second of all the "fast and furious" thing existed before he got there when he discovered what was going on there he got rid of it. people who know him before he became attorney general, including many, many republicans who refused to sign on to these kind of attacks on him, understand this is good man who has been a good lawyer, a good member of the bar and who has done well at justice department and will continue to do well. >> christopher? >> let me explain something. that texas law is bad for america. it does limit votes. let's face it. won't let you come in with student i.d. gun permit, that is quite all right. what are they trying to do there? they're trying to get democrats to stop voting that is only thing they are trying to do. juliet: christopher, good man, stopped in when he came in when he found out about it, why is he not answering

questions and handing over documents? >> he is being asked politically motivated hacking questions by congressman that should be helping economy and passing transportation there but they want to take him in there and drag him over the coals. that is why they have nothing to say here because that is why they're making speeches and not asking questions. >> you have a attorney general stonewalling obfuscating members of congress refusing to turn over key pieces of evidence. two federal agents that lay dead. hundreds if not thousands of more people who have been injured or killed by these guns and you're telling me that the person at the top of the doj, who is department oversaw this, through the atf, has nothing to say about it? he didn't know nothing about no gun running. give me a break. used toe be back in the day -- excuse me. excuse me, chris, i let you finish your point. let me finish mind. juliet: real fast, monica. >> people in the high levels of authority and positions of power used to resign when

things like this happened. absolutely disgraceful that he refuses to answer questions from congress and refuses to take responsibility and he will in fact be a liability for the president in november. juliet: we need to wrap this up. you guys are both in new york. i see. finish this in the greenroom. >> no, don't really want to. >> oh, come on. i love monica. we disagree on everything but i love her. juliet: christopher, monica, good to have you. bill: i don't think their opinions are going to change much whether the greenroom or not. juliet: i like to see a good fight every once in a while. a little "jersey shore" action. bill: uncle sam is drawn -- drowning in debt and it is worse than we thought. how low can the hole grow? rod blagojevich, before the sun came up today. what he said and the gift that just keeps on giving. remember this? >> why the [bleep] should i [bleep]ing madigan gets zero

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juliet: welcome back. pennsylvania now home to one of the nation's toughest photo i.d. laws the state just passing the measure and will go into effect for the november presidential election. state republicans say it will combat fraud. democrats say unconstitutional effort to suppress voters a court challenged is expected. senator barack obama took the battleground state of pennsylvania back in the 2008 presidential election. bill: you know that we as a country are bleeding red ink and new numbers prove that according to a revised projection the 2012 budget shortfall will be 1.2 trillion dollars. that's about 93 billion more than forecasted only 60 days ago. we're up more than $700 billion since president obama took office. and douglas holtz-eakin is former cbo director and

president of the american action forum. how are you doing, doug. good morning to you. >> i'm doing fine. better than the budget. bill: this will sober you up, won't it? >> yeah. bill: what is not working in plain speak other than the answer, everything? >> it is broken from a to z. we've got a senate that hasn't passed a budget in over a thousand days. bill:. >> a president that submitted budget of four straight deficits. bush tax cuts sunset at the end of the year. fundamental problems. tax reform. deepen titlement reform are not even on the radar screen. it is not a pretty picture for the nation's finances. bill: do you think this congress and do you think this president has the guts to fix it? >> there is no evidence of that so far. real fixes are not the kind of things that go on in the annual spending bills. they are large spending programs in medicare, medicaid, health care reform,

social security. we haven't even any serious attempts to reform those. those kind of reforms would require big presidential leadership, bold plans and frankly we're nibbling around the edges. bill: house republicans, some of them anyway are pushing for greater spending cuts right now, democrats say, no we had a deal last year. we'll stick with the deal. we'll not open this up again. can they win on the issue? >> doing right thing with limited power they have. it is just the house. they don't control the senate or white house. democrats effectively agreed to this to agreeing to sequester in the budget control act last august. we agree, once we pass the spending bills we'll cut them even more. this is lot of theatrics. reality spending has to go down. american public wants it to go down. only thing that hasn't happened is watch it go down. >> you look at numbers every day, take the economy in general, if you add a trillion dollars to our debt every year for four years, still going by the way, i don't know where the art

comes back down again, if you see it tell me, but what does that do to the health of our economy. >> we're already paying a price for this. historically countries who have debt as large as ours, ours is bigger than our economy, grow more slowly about a percentage point, what that means is million job as year. we're paying price now. if we don't change direction we'll pay a bigger price. the international community will say, no more spend foreunited states. bill: you will have to make tough, tough decisions under a strict deadline if we reach that point. under this health care -- >> i think bill, that is the major point. we should make these dingss. shouldn't have international lenders. do you want the chinese to make the decisions or we make them? bill: that is great appointment on health care battle whether or not saving money or spending more, i think depends which report you read next week to find the truth . what do you believe is the truth in the health care bill over 10 years? do we have a better idea

whether it saves us money or spends more? >> compared to when cbo first looked at it and both spends more and taxes more. and the difference looks to be a minor saver in the eyes of cbo i still believe fundamentally the bill is so flawed that, we're going to end up spending a lot more than cbo expects. bill: there is a projection of $2 trillion in the hole over 10 years, is that right? >> 2 trillion is the current official estimate. i think 2.6 is a reasonable number. i don't think we can afford either of those. this is big, i think is a big mistake in appointment of view of the nation's finances. bill: the red ink will get darker. douglas holtz-eakin, thai for your time. former cbo there in washington. which have a bya box. leave your question on anything you like. shoot me a e-mail, hemmer@foxnews.com. juliet: i go barefoot at the

air board because --. bill: get away with that? juliet: totally, there are new security rules for some airline travelers. we're going to tell how will have an easier time getting through the airport avoiding those lovely pat-downs. bill: also a big budget tv show is shut down because after string of deaths during production. we'll tell you what happened in this show. >> you can run who your daddy was. ♪ . are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement 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. ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm!

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bill: new details right now. take up to maine. the bomb threat at university of maine campus, orono, in that town. police received a call 8:00

a.m., 8:15, someone saw e-mail bomb threat. not known if person who called police or wrote the e-mail is student or somebody from off campus. 30 to 50 people have been evacuated. this is the campus web site here. not known if any classes were in session. likely 8:15 in the morning though police are on that. they're investigating. we'll let you know what they find out. here in "america's newsroom", hbo cancels a new show because the actors keep dying. the actors are horses. the series is called "luck". it has been shut down. the third thoroughbred was put down on tuesday this week. hbo says the animal was being led to the stables when it reared back and fell and had a critical head injury. animal rights groups says it is sloppy oversight of animal safety. "luck" no more on hbo. juliet: forced to choose your home or your dogs?

a young couple in wisconsin say they didn't really know about the city's rules for doing owners. so now they're not giving up their pets without a fight. douglas kennedy live in the new york city newsroom with latest on this. good to see you. >> reporter: juliet, the city of wausau wants the couple to give up dogs they have had over a decade. the dog owners are refuse and amay be forced to sell their home. >> abby and chester are golden retrievers. archie is a shih tzu mix. >> reporter: to melissa the dogs are her life. you say the dogs are more important to you than money. more important than your house? >> these dogs are like family. they're like our children. the house doesn't mean as much to us as they do. >> reporter: it is the house she may have to sell because of her dogs. in january melissa and her husband james moved to wausau, wisconsin. what they didn't know is wausau has an ordinance limiting number of pets.

meaning here in wausau you can't have more than three cats. and unfortunately for the lackers, you can't have more than two dogs. they gave you a very clear choice. either get rid of the dogs or move out of wausau? >> yes. they told us that the ordinance clearly states they can not work with us. >> reporter: no one from wausau would comment on camera but city officials say the law has been on the books since 1989. they stay it was passed to limit dog nuisance complaints. this municipal attorney says he understands, especially when it comes to regulating dogs. >> they smell. they bark. they have ex-cree meant. -- excrement. >> reporter: you man make those type of nuisances illegal. but the lackers dogs have not had any complaints against them. why punish them. >> you're not punish them. you're regulating society. >> reporter: some say regulating animals is a fun fun right of society. what do you say to that? >> well i believe that there are other ways to handle the nuisance complaints.

>> reporter: melissa says she and her dogs are indeed being punished for what she calls, simply existing. that is it from here, juliet. back to you. >> don't get in the middle of a dog owner. no, no. thanks, douglas. bill: got some breaking news out of afghanistan. if you were with us early in the hour, taliban has called off peace talks with the u.s. at the same time the afghan president asking u.s. troops to back off in towns and villages. that's a two for two punch there. we're live in kabul with the latest on that. plus mitt romney here live in studio. it is a dangerous world. how he handles the biggest issues facing the country will determine a lot in the future. if he gets the nomination and is able to take on president obama. put all those questions to him if he is indeed the nominee live in studio in a matter of moments. first from america live. >> there is no question who can get support of republican party and independents to be able to

win the white house. [ captain ] sorry folks, our landing time got moved back another hour.

[ crowd chatters and groans ] ♪

♪ [ male announcer ] hunger getting to you? grab a ritz crackerfuls. made with real cheese and whole grain, it'll help keep you satisfied until your next meal. get hunger before it gets you. bill: got a fox news alert right now, we're minutes away there talking with governor mitt romney joining us in studio. what he plans to do if he wins that nomination, what happens if he does not get enough delegates to lock it up. we'll pose those questions and a lot more about what america would look like under a president romney. the governor ten minutes away right here inside of "america's newsroom." got another alert right thousand because a call for allied troops to back away from villages and towns and report back to their main bases in afghanistan strictly. that there the afghan president, hamid karzai, only hours after meeting with secretary of defense leon panetta, and

taliban leaders say all peace talks with the united states is over. brand new hour, i'm bill hemmer. >> good morning. this comes amid protests after an american soldier allegedly murdered 16 afghan civilians. we've been telling you about thatful. bill: secretary of defense trying to defuse the matter, but things are deteriorating on the inside. conor powell live out of kabul with more. >> reporter: bill, secretary of defense panetta wraps up his two-day trip here, but it concludes with big bombshells. hamid karzai announcing today he wants u.s. troops to pull out of the small villages and small combat military bases and just go back to the large military bases here. he also wants to see an end of night raids, and he wants the security transition to speed up here. he wants afghan troops to take the lead far sooner than most people think they're ready to, but president karzai says in the

wake of the shooting which killed 16 afghan civilians by a u.s. soldier says the relationship has been damaged, and this needs to be done. now, president karzai can't actually enforce these demands under the current agreement. he is somewhat powerless to enforce this, but u.s. military officials have to work with him, and these are demands that he is saying time and time again. now, the taliban also saying they have suspended all talks with the u.s. government in the oil-rich nation of qatar, the taliban claiming the u.s. military and government keep changing the conditions for talks, and they say there is no point in talking right now. we have talked to afghan officials who think this is more a negotiating ploy rather than a long-term suspension. but for right now two major blows to the current u.s. strategy here in afghanistan. bill: what did panetta say about the sunday shooting? >> reporter: well, with regards to to the sunday shooting, panetta has offered his condolences to the afghan government. he has made sure to express the

idea that this was a single, lone act, this had nothing to do with the united states military, and he's been trying to press the idea that this was a lone shooter and not some type of military patrol that did this. now, that shooter has left afghanistan, he's now arrived in kuwait, and he's expected to be charged by the u.s. military over the next few days with probably 16 counts of murder. bill? bill: conor powell live this afghanistan, thank you. >> as you heard connor just say -- actually, we're going to change subjects. there are some leaked e-mails between syrian president bashar al assad and his wife painting a sort of strange picture of an extravagant, care-free westernized couple, all the wile assad leading a deadly crackdown on his own people. he talks about buying music and games for his ipad, he uses a disguised itunes account. mocking monitors from the arab league and joking about proposed

reforms. his wife, apparently, spending thousands of dollars on home decorations from paris and art from london, somehow sidestepping the laundry list of sanctions. bill: it's amazing what happens when you pull back the curtain. despite the bloodshed, there is still concern about directly arming the syrian opposition. france trying to quiet talk of sending weapons to civilians saying it could lead to a catastrophic civil war. rebel forces asking for more help and heavier firepower. these government forces appear to gain the upper hand in a lot of these conflicts. france's foreign minister saying arming one faction of the opposition could be disastrous. senator john mccain who's advocating military intervention in syria is here live tomorrow to answer some of those questions on "america's newsroom." at the moment here at home, former illinois governor rob blagojevich is on his way to prison. he left his home about an hour ago for a federal lockup this the state of colorado where he

will begin serving a 14-year sentence. when he arrives today, blagojevich will undergo a full strip search, he'll hand over his personal belongings in exchange for a khaki prison uniform. reporters meeting with him earlier today outside of his home in chicago where blagojevich took one last chance to talk about his defense. >> thank you, guys. this is the hardest thing i've ever had to do. i'm leaving with a heavy heart, clear conscious, and high, high hopes for the future. and among the hopes is thousand you guys can go home, and our neighbors can get their neighborhood back. >> what's going to sustain you? rod, what's going to sustain you? bill: well, by federal law it requires inmates to serve at least 35% of that -- 85% of that sentence, that means blagojevich could expect to spend about 12 years behind bars before he qualifies for early release. >> bye-bye, "blago." shares of goldman sachs taking a

dive as a former executive's parting shots rocks wall street. greg smith is the guy's name. he worked in equity and derivatives for goldman, wrote a new york times op-ed describing the company as toxic among other things. he even called out his former coworkers for ripping off their own clients. goldman shares dropping theory 3.5% in trading yesterday, that wipes away $2.2 billion in the company's value. $2.2 billion. wow. let's bring in fox business network's charlie gasparino. charlie, so the headline here, i think, well, besides the drop this shares, um, an op-ed in the "new york times." read between the lines on that one. >> i mean, here's what's -- i don't think we can underplay the political significance here. this is different than a new york times business staff doing an investigative report on what this guy said, you know, using it to develop anecdotes. i used to be a print reporter at "the wall street journal," that's what we did. this is "the new york times" as an institution. this is an op-ed, putting it

sort of, raising its gun and pointing it at goldman sachs, and there's a political issue here, i believe, many people believe on wall street, that it's playing into the hands, playing up to the occupy wall street people. the president's class warfare rhetoric. this is a political hit job in many ways. it's different than the reporters going out and reporting this out. >> yeah. >> this is a guy that was, you know, he made a lot of statements. let's see if it's true. >> goldman basically says we will only be successful if our clients are successful. it sounds very nice and tidy. what do you know about this guy, though, and what do you think of the response? >> i will say two things. i've been reporting about goldman sachs being tough, being sort of darwinian,. [laughter] sometimes sleazy for many years. this has been going on for a long time, but goldman isn't the only wall street firm that does this, and we should also point out this has been going on for many years, and we should also point out that it's kind of getting better. why is it getting better? because there's been so much sec

enforcement action. so this guy comes out -- by the way, a 12-year veteran. he's a vice president. he was never made managing director. that's a big thing. >> there are a lot of vice presidents, too, 12,000. >> right. what i'm saying is a little bit of sour grapes here, and he's saying nothing we don't know. if he has evidence of fraud, he should show it. just don't tell me they're tough with their clients. by the way, guess who their clients are? it's the biggest institutions in the country. >> still? still he calls the clients muppets, i mean, that's actually a term used over in great britain, stupid it means. here, you know, we obviously know what the muppets are. you know, it's the same thing. this is what he says that they call the clients. >> i don't want to defend goldman sachs because i've never defended them in my life. [laughter] i'm just telling you this is an old story, you have to ask what his motives are, you have to ask what "the new york times"' motives are. they did this through the

editorial pages. this wasn't like some reporter found all this stuff out and did an investigative profile, expose. this is the editorial page which goes right to the top of "the new york times" pointing a gun and saying goldman zacks is a pernicious -- goldman sachs is a per in addition firm. and remember, what has "the new york times" been on the roll about? occupy wall street, class warfare. put it in context. i'm not saying everything he said was wrong, you have to put this into context. >> well, investigative reports soon to come, i'm sure. thanks very much, charlie. bill: love listening to charlie. he nails it every time. >> not a fan of goldman. bill: clearly. a new report saying that a message has been delivered to iraning change your ways or get ready for war. her on that headline in a moment. >> also, new developments on the corruption conviction of the late senator ted stevens, why he may not have been guilty. there's a secret report just unsealed. but first -- >> we need mitt! we need mitt!

we need mitt! bill: if crowd gets their way and mitt romney is the nominee, what is in it for you, hurricane? mitt romney is in studio, the governor due in just a moment to take on that and many other things. >> hello, governor, good to meet you. >> thank you. >> talk to you soon. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] help brazil reduce its overall reliance on foreign imports with the launch of the country's largest petrochemical operation. ♪ when emerson takes up the challenge, "it's never been done before" simply bemes consider it solved. emerson. ♪

bill: mitt romney leading the pack of republican candidates, so if he can keep it going, eventually becoming the nominee, what will he do with it? here to talk about the issues of the day, former massachusetts governor and republican presidential candidate mitt romney. how are you and good morning? >> terrific. thanks, bill. bill: you look relaxed. >> i feel relaxed, i'm here with you. [laughter] bill: i'm glad i could make you at home. from this reporter's perspective, there's a lot of back and forth between the personalities with you and senator santorum and newt

gingrich. and the perspective here is that the issues are getting lost. so i want to take time today to find out what america would be like under a president romney. >> well -- bill: okay? so gas prices, they're ridiculous, as you know. >> yeah. bill: up more than 30 cents in the past month, and every day americans are paying a price for this. do you hold president obama responsible? >> absolutely. he has not pursued policies that convince the world that america is going to become energy secure, energy independent. he held off drilling in the gulf, he's held off drilling out of an war, he said no to the keystone pipeline from canada. his regulatory agency, the epa, has held off drill anything north dakota, texas, oklahoma, even our natural gas resources which were going to convince people we were going to use those for purposes of getting off oil, that he hasn't pursued aggressively either. so the world believes america's not going to have the energy we need, and we're going to have to continue spending hundreds of billions of dollars out of our economy going into other

nations. bill: on the policy front, you might be right, but our fox polling shows a different story. it shows a majority, 52%, don't believe his policies are responsible. what gives? >> well, his policies are responsible for not having america using the energy that we have in this country. instead, sending money out to other countries to buy energy from them. we could be developing resources here, creating jobs here and convincing the world that long term america's energy supply is going to grow and have a dampening effect on prices. people who set the prices of oil look not just at the the daily t rate, they look long term to see what's going to be happening, and they buy and sell these shares of, and futures of oil based upon what they think is going to happen. what they're seeing with this president is a series of policies that say oil, natural gas, coal are not going to be used as effectively in this country as they could be. bill: but he would argue blame iran, blame the middle east, blame the speculators on wall

street. newt gingrich says i'll get it to $2.50. can you guarantee that? >> well, no one can guarantee what the price of oil's going to be, but we can take advantage of what we know we have which is abundant energy resources in this country. the president has lots of places to point his finger and, of course, we alone don't set world energy prices. but we can effect whether we send billions of dollars out of our country to people who don't like us very much, and we can determine whether energy resources we take advantage of here create jobs here, and we can determine whether we have an effect on the direction of those energy prices by having an abundant supply here. the president's done all of that wrong. bill: that is issue number one. the other issue is afghanistan, the headlines are coming fast and quickly today. um, this is not easy. do you stay in or get out? >> well, you make a decision on that question by talking with the people closest to the events in afghanistan. you meet with the commanders. we're going the hear shortly from general allen who oversees

our effort there. we're going to determine to what extent are the afghan security forces ready to take over for their security, for the nation's sovereignty. bill: but what is your position today? yesterday president obama was asked about this, and he said the drawdown kennel continues -- schedule continues for the next two years. is he right? >> well, based upon the information we have right now, the answer is you don't make a change based upon some rogue soldier killing people. you don't determine foreign policy based on a terrible event that occurs by a crazy person. bill: agreed. but with all due respect, the schedule was set up long before this tragedy -- >> but my point is you don't change the schedule based upon this crazy person. you assess from time to time what the drawdown table will be, how ready the afghan troops are, and we'll get that report. i don't get the top secret briefing reports the president gets. bill: i understand. but i'm asking you based on what you know, is his strategy right or not? >> but what i'm saying is that

we have received an update from the president or generals in quite some time. i have supported the policy that we've described in the past which is a drawdown by the end of 2014. i think his drawdown of the surge troops in september as opposed to december of this year is a mistake. i think it's based on a political calendar as opposed to what the conditions on the ground demand. but as to a new direction for afghanistan, that would depend upon new information coming from the commanders. we're going the hear about that in the next several days. bill: understood. will you make a trip to afghanistan if you're the nominee? >> i would presume so. i've made trips to afghanistan before. bill: have you considered that? >> of course. bill: you were there in january of 2011? >> i can't give you the exact date because my memory is not good, but i've been there a year ago. bill: on iran, the president says sanctions are working. are they? >> well, he waited a heck of a long time to put in place sanctions. even congress had to write a piece of legislation insisting that he have our stagger bank

sanctions -- central bank sanctions put in place. the right course for iran is crippling sanctions, standing with the dissident voices and moving towards more representative forms of government in iran. number three, indicting am ahmadinejad under the genocide convention, and then finally and perhaps most importantly, communicating to iran that we have military options that we're prepared to take if they don't become dissuaded from -- bill: just yesterday he said that this window is closing which seems to be language that he has used that goes a little further than what we have heard to this point. >> yeah. bill: if window's closing and when that window shuts, what does a president romney do? >> well, we hope the window doesn't get closed, but we've watched for three and a half years a president that failed to put in place crippling sanctions, failed to speak up for the dissident voices in the streets of tehran, failed to communicate we were preparing military options.

as a matter of fact, what we've heard from this administration has sounded like they're much more concerned about israel taking action than they are about iran becoming nuclear. he's finally beginning to speak in a more muscular way. finally. i think that probably has to do with the election year circumstances. bill: okay. i want to bring it back to domestic politics in a moment, i want to talk about government spending, also your opponents, okay? so sit tight one moment. also what's the plan to beat president obama and what happens if no one gets enough delegates to be the thom three before tampa in august? governor romney answers that when we continue in a moment.  [ male announcer ] if you believe the mayan calendar,

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bill: back with governor romney right now. right now he's leading the delegate count. here are the totals as we stand today, 495 for mitt romney, rick santorum about 252, but nobody's put this away yet. what if no one gets to the magic number, 1,144? again, mitt romney, the governor, in studio. good morning to you again. new fox polling shows this. you trail president obama. why? >> well, i just saw a poll last week that i was leading him by four points, rasmussen, so there are a lot of different polls bouncing around. ultimately, this is going to be decided this november, and it's going to come down to a question of whether the president understands how to get more jobs in the our economy, whether to help people get gasoline they can afford. and we're going to win on those issues. he's going to try and divert every source of information to the small issues, but we're going to talk about the big things. bill: well, hypothetically, you're in a debate next october,

let's say you're the nominee. you're facing an opposition that has unemployment right now over 8%, we're spending nearly a trillion more than the money we have and have been for four straight years, some would think on the outside this is a layup. >> well, you've made my case for me. that's precisely what we tell people day in and day out, and people across this nation will stop and say, you know, you're right. the president's a nice guy, but he's over his head. he doesn't understand how the economy works, how what he's done has made it harder for this economy to recover. and we're going to point out that people have been unemployed, large numbers, 24 million people underemployed or unemployed for 37 straight months. this is inexcusable. and as a result i think people are going to say, you know what? it's time for a real change. bill: first, newt gingrich, you have to get by him, and you have to get past rick santorum. gingrich is saying his goal is to do whatever he can to prevent you from the nomination. can newt gingrich give his

delegates to rick santorum if he drops out of the race? technically, he could, and those delegates could make a decision to go against you. >> delegates are guided by state policy, and different states have different guidelines as to what a candidate can do. a candidate can release the delegates or keep them, a candidate really can't get folks to do something they don't want to do. ultimately, the delegates have more say than that. but, look, we're not going to go to a brokered convention -- bill: we're not? >> no. one or the other of us among the three or four that are running is going to get the cel gates -- delegates necessary to become the nominee. as it gets closer, it's going to be clear we've got someone who's in the strong lead. the states that remain will vote for that person, and that person will get the delegates, become the nominee. bill: an aide said this week it will take an act of god for rick santorum to get the nominee, do you stand by that -- >> no, no, no. bill: i mean, of all people, it

was rick santorum. >> we're in a strong spot at this moment. my message of jobs and the economy is what's winning for me. i've got a million more votes from citizens than anyone else in this race, and the reason for that is i'm talking about my expertise in the economy and how i'm going to get the economy growing, put people back to work, help people who are trying to pay for gasoline be able to afford it again. this is, this is the reason that i'm winning in these contests and why i think i'll become the nominee. bill: um, the fight has been, some would argue, injurious to the party and perhaps even to the candidates themselves. we did a poll and asked whether or not, you know, republicans think this current campaign should be, should continue the way it is or whether or not it's doing more damage to folks like you. what's your view? is it helping you, or is it hurting you? >> probably a bit of both. but, frankly, a good, spirited contest prepares us for what's going to happen with president obama. he's going to have a billion

dollars, he's going to be attacking whoever our nominee is on a nonstop basis, and it's good to get your skin toughened up a bit, hear the arguments, respond to it -- bill: so you're encouraging this process. >> look, i'm perfectly pleased with the process we have. i face tough competitors, very capable people. we have different skills and backgrounds. they spent their life in washington, i spent my life in the real economy. that's why i think i'm the right guy to go up against the president. but the process itself, it's working. bill: governor, thank you for your time. it is march madness of a different sort. president obama's taking north carolina, who are you taking? >> i'm not betting on this one, sorry. [laughter] bill: you going to sit this one out? >> i'm sitting this one out. bill: the madness starts at noon. thank you, governor, see you down the trail. >> thank you. >> mizzou. just thought i'd say that. all right, russia set to sit down for talks with iran. now reports say they're being

asked to deliver a serious message on behalf of the united states. we'll tell you about that. bill: also in a moment, a young college student's worst nightmare comes true, but could it all have been avoided? listen to this 911 call. @?

bill: got a fox news alert right now stemming out of afghanistan.

federal authorities now issuing a warning there could be acts of violence here in the u.s. in retaliation for the killings of 16 afghan civilians allegedly by an american soldier. the fbi and department of homeland security, it reads, warn this event could contribute to the radicalization or mobilization of home grown terrorists especially against u.s.-based military targets. there is no specific threat at the moment, but the killings could be used, they warn, about extremist propaganda. so we're watching that as the word from federal authorities out just moments ago. >> well, reports of an ultimatum could be the latest move towards war with iran. according to russia's leading newspaper, the u.s. state department asked moscow to pass along a message to iranian leaders informing tehran it could be their last chance. former vice chief of staff of the army, general jack keane.

great to have you here. >> good morning. good to see you. >> all right. russia, we do know they had a sit-down with iran. the message that was delivered or not delivered is in question. those upcoming talks in april that you're going to be having with, you know, with several different countries including the united states and russia about iran's nuclear program, according to this report in the russian paper, is the last chance before u.s. military action. that is according to the paper which says that they were contacted by a high-ranking russian diplomat. do you give any credence to this report, first of all? >> well, i hope it's true because we really have to get tough with the iranians and get inside their head a little bit. the fact of the matter is while the sanctions have had some impact, the iranians are still moving towards developing a nuclear weapon. that clearly is their strategic and tactical goal, and they're intent on doing it. and any attempt that we can to convince them to the contrary is certainly welcome. i think up until this point the

iranians have always believed that the united states at the end of the day would not attack them and would try to contain the use of a nuclear weapon. however, i think they also believe that the israelis are likely to attack them. >> if israel does strike, what's the fallout as far as we're concerned? many we just heard bill talking about afghanistan and possible vulnerability here in the united states or at least u.s. targets, but what would be the vulnerability if israel strikes iran? >> well, first of all, for israel to strike it's a challenging operation from an air campaign perspective. you know, for them. they've got to go 2,000 miles with refueling, and they also have a very difficult target set to deal with that. all that said, they have the will to do it. this terms of iran's choices as a result of that, if they want to widen the war, they can certainly attack our bases in afghanistan -- >> yeah. >> -- do something with the straits of hormuz and attack our embassy in baghdad. if they do that, then they are

at war with the united states. i believe that is very unlikely. the iranians, look, they know at the end of the day there's only one military power in the world that can change out their regime, and they're trying everything they can to preserve the regime. that's what the nuclear weapon is all about. i think they would choose not to widen that war and directly attack the united states. probably they would use terrorism, however, against some vulnerable targets around the world that involve the united states and possibly at home as well. >> back to that timeline you mentioned earlier, you say the u.s. and israel are not on the same page when it comes to whether or when iran will have a nuclear weapon, but we have the same data, so why the chasm? >> yeah. what happens is our intel analysts and theirs share intel data much as we do with the united kingdom. it's the only two countries we do that in that degree of depth. the answer is about a year to two years to a nuclear weapon. when it gets to our u.s.

policymakers, we're on the outside of that number, two years and some, even longnger tn that. when it gets to the israeli, they're on the inside of the number, they're a year and less, and they're running out of time. and it has to do with where you sit. if you're sitting in israel looking at a potential nuclear holocaust and you're betting the entire sovereignty and survival of the state, you have a tendency to err on the side of caution. and also the intel analysts have been wrong in the past, and the israelis are very much aware of it. >> just one quick question, and then we'll wrap it up. russia's foreign minister has come out amid this report and said those tempted to use military force should restrain themselves and search for a diplomatic solution, and he goes on to say a war with iran would not solve problems, it would create millions of new ones. what's your reaction to that? >> well, he's right. i mean, no one wants a war. but at the same respect, we cannot have a nuclear weapon in iran because of the proliferation issue that will

take place in the middle east and then the potential of a nuclear exchange. the other thing and the harsh reality here is -- and this is on the minds of the israelis -- our policy as it pertained to north korea, we found ourselves negotiating ourselves right into a nuclear weapon with the north koreans. the israelis know that history very well and are very concerned about that, and that's why they're staying focused on the timeline that they have. >> general jack keane joining us today. thank you very much for that, we appreciate it. >> good talking to you. >> so what dueck? should the -- what do you think? this is our question of the day, actually, here in "america's newsroom." foxnews.com/"america's newsroom," just go ahead, log on and tell us what you think. bill: results a bit later. senator mccain has weighed in on that, he says the answer to that question is, yes. he also thinks we should use military force to stop the bloodshed in the she ya. senator mccain will address that tomorrow in "america's newsroom", and we'll have that for you now. 22 minutes, now, before the

hour. a development this morning, only a short time ago a secret report unsealed showing that back in 2008 federal prosecutors knowingly withheld evidence in the high-profile corruption trial of former alaskan senator ted stevens. he was convicted. our chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge watches that. what did you find out? >> reporter: well, thank you, bill, and good morning. we are still combing through this report that was released about an hour ago. its bottom line is that there was clear and intentional misconduct by federal prosecutors in the ted stephens case. the late senate was found guilty in 2008 of failing to report gifts from an oil industry executive. he nearly lost his bid for re-election at time he was the longest serving republican in the be senate, and he was later killed in a plane crash. after his death this it was shon that prosecutors did not provide the defense with evidence that would have helped their case. quote:

>> reporter: the lawyer for the late senator issued a statement this morning that says in part: there was a two-year investigation, it shows each more wrongdoing -- even more wrongdoing by prosecutors who they believe were determined to win at all costs even if it meant abandoning the constitution and their ethical obligations. bill: this is a politically-charged case of sorts, right? >> very much so. former colleagues of the late senator have already called for the federal prosecutors to be disciplined or removed from their jobs. one of the federal prosecutors tried and fail today block the public release of this report, and the senators on the hill noted they wanted full transparency including the office of professional responsibility that's often referred to as opr. >> it is an exhaustive study, it is hundreds of pages long, and i think the people at opr have done a good job and have made -- and there are recommendations with regard to sanctions that

ought to be made. so i'm hoping that we will make that available. >> i'm going to request that you do. >> reporter: the lingering question in this case is whether there is really adequate supervision and discipline of these justice department lawyers by the department itself, and you have to also see this in the broader context of the criticism against the attorney general, bill. billion bill catherine herridge thanks. washington on that breaking story. a chilling 911 call from a young college student. listen to this. >> that was just the tip of the iceberg. could this terrifying ordeal have been avoided? bill daley joins us. bill: it just got a bit easier to go through airport security, but it all depends on one thing. what's that? >> fouled up a few times, i've got a couple replacement hips and, you know, that always stops

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bill: want to get back to this news we broke about 13 minutes ago. federal authorities now issuing a warning here at home that there could be acts of violence here in the united states in retaliation for the killings of 16 afghan civilians over the weekend allegedly by an american soldier. a soldier, by the way, who has since been transported out of southern afghanistan into kuwait city. we're getting a bit more information on this about the threat itself. there's been no specific threat declared, but the warning has gone out. we're going to follow up with catherine herridge and some others working the story in washington in a matter of moments. >> this is a really frightening story. desperate calls for help during a terrifying home invasion.

>> oh, my gosh. a convicted sex offender who was just released from prison for rape breaking into a home near the university of washington. police arrived within minutes, thankfully, of this 911 call. the suspect was arrested, he was charged with robbery and kidnapping. bill daley is here, former fbi investigatorrer, of course, joining us to talk about the aspects of this. i mean, if you're a parent listening to this and you have a college student, it just makes your heart sink. and i remember, you know, when i was in school back in the day, you know, we would sit there off

campus housing, we wouldn't lock our doors, you know? i mean, we'd let, whatever, people were walking around, we didn't care. so many kids in the house. but this reminds us how dangerous it is out there. >> absolutely, juliet. you know, first of all, the response by the police was tremendous. quick response. the fact that this guy is out as a convicted sex offender goes to show you that all the population, people who are out there that have been convicted, wanted, who have served time in jail are out there on the streets, and we can't just let our guard down. these young ladies were fortunate that they were able to call out and undo what he was trying to plan. i think what they did was right, i think, probably, resisting would have also been all right. in other words, take your chances with this person. he had several women in the apartment, and they could have perhaps overpowered him. but i think what they did was spot on. you know, for all our people, young people whether it's cousins, nieces, nephews,

whoever are in college or loved ones, instill in them the fact that you're in school, you think life is grand -- juliet: it's shangri law. >> there are people out there in the public who are walking free who have this ill intent. big question for me is how did he target them? why did he -- did he see them around? was he aware who they were? what drew him to these young ladies? juliet: we just saw the picture of him. you know, he looks fairly young, he's in his 30s. it's not somebody that you would see walking around a college campus and go, he doesn't belong here. maybe be a grad student. you know, so what do these girls do? what do you do if you're on college campuses right now? because it is, again, you have the kids come anything and out nonstop, i mean, i lived with a group of 12 girls in one house. so what do you do? what do you say to your kids? >> this is what e did when my daughter was in school, read her

and her friends the riot act. you have to realize that the front door of your apartment or your dorm is really, in many cases, the front door to the street. in many cases even in dorms where people are, you know, screened, generally screened, they come into the building, you don't know who their visiting, they come by, so anyone at your front door could potentially be this guy. so the thing is to lock your door, have a plan in place as to what you will do with your roommate in the case that you are confronted by one of these type of situations either there in the apartment or the dorm room or when you're walking to and from classes or out at night. >> and this, of course, happened at 3 in the morning. it's one of those situations we'll find out more information on that. bill, always good to see you. it's been a long time. bill: that woman kept her wits about her. juliet: yes, she did. bill: you know, smoking's bad for your health, do you really need to see something like this on television?

>> first it was my left leg. after my left leg, it was my right leg. so now i'm a double amputee all from smoking. bill: that is a graphic new media blitz encouraging people to you kick the habit. does this ad go too far? wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

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juliet: heads up to you iphone owners, a california man had one blow up in his hand. travis dixon says he was just playing a game on his iphone, it overheated, exploded bruising his hand. he says least also lost some movement in his fingers. >> i was just playing the game and, you know, i moved the phone around, moved my head phones, and it popped just like this. juliet: must have been some game. apple is currently working with dixon to figure out what

happened. i bet they are. bill: talk about angry birds! so the government's hope ago dose of reality will stop americans from smoking. a new and graphic ad campaign focusing on some of the gruesome effects of smoking, and jonathan serrie's had a look live in atlanta. these ads are direct, aren't they? >> reporter: they are, indeed. they are graphic, and they feature real people living with smoking-related illness. watch this one. >> it began with my big toe. that was my first amputationing that i had. >> it's a vascular disease brought on by smoking. >> my fingers started to go piece by piece. >> reporter: the ads show relatively young people with amputations, tracheotomies, paralysis and other complications. according to the cdc, more than eight million americans live with smoking-related illness, bill. bill: and the rationale behind this approach, does research tell them that this works?

>> exactly. the research indicates that people have grown complacent to the traditional ads. i remember when i was a kid in the '70s watching this ad where a dolphin leaps out of the water and grabs a cigarette from someone about to light up. those ads apparently don't work anymore because we've gotten so used to them. cdc director says the ads are difficult to watch, but research indicates these hard-hitting messages encourage speakers to stop and prevent young people from ever starting smoke in the first place. bill: jonathan serrie, thanks for that look inside out of atlanta. juliet: the taliban saying peace talks with the u.s. are over despite talks between the secretary of defense and afghan president hamid karzai. we're live at the state department with where washington goes from here. bill: also, a little duck, duck goose for you. whoa! juliet: angry bird. speaking of. >> it came at my person, and i literally had to fight it off

just to protect my body. bill: yes, she did. that feathered friend was in one foul mood. [laughter] gotta see that next. [laughter] [ female announcer ] last year, the u.s. used

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bill: get back to this fox news alert quickly in the state of maine. the all-clear has now within given after this bomb threat was given at the university of maine. the town of orono. the all-clear given a short time ago. that is good news there. want to put a little button on this. >> you've been waiting for this one. do not come between mother goose and her goslings. a vicious, speaking of missouri. the bird is attacking anybody who walks by. scientists say they are extremely protective. she is likely necessarying nearby. >> coming at my face full force and would not stop. i ran and continued to after me. it would not stop.

it was coming at my head and my face. i just had to fight it. >> don't think about getting your weapons out. these birds are protected by the federal government. they get much less aggressive when the little guys are born. jon:. bill: went for that guy's head, whoa. that is a goose on the loose. >> nice. can i give a quick shoutout? bill: you may. you have the might be phone. >> to cub by and cindy and mike at ktu, 103.5. radio station here in new york. it is a hot station. they gave us a shoutout today. so shoutout to them. bill: great to be back with you. a big day of news. that will continue on "happening now.". >> i will take a nap. bill: see you tomorrow everybody, on friday. jenna: new warnings here at home today, what the taliban may be plotting in the wake of the massacre in afghanistan. new aggressiveness from the afghan president about u.s. troops over there. jo