america's news headquarters with shannon bream starts right now. >> take care. >> shannon: election day, 20 delegates up for grabs in puerto rico. a primary that doesn't usually grab the spotlight. but in this prolonged primary, every vote counts. >> i will ask the governor of puerto rico why he is supporting mitt romney. republican discontent. why has the g.o.p. gone on so long? at one point, halley barber was asked to run. and he didn't. and he won't endorse anyone will. he comes live. the president's helt care law, costing 3 times what is promised and millions could lose their coverages. we go live. and the battle to reunite a u.s. member and her dog, sarkant rex. you won't want to miss that story. i'm shannon bream. america's news headquarters from the nation's capitol starts right now.

>> mitt romney has the big lead in the republican camp, but rick santorum is making it clear, he's in it for the long haul. both candidates have campaigned in puerto rico. now they are looking to campaign in states that are still to come. we go live to the race for the g.o.p. nomination. >> reporter: this is really an important weekend. puerto rico's 20 delegates at stake today. on tuesday, it's illinois with 69 delegates up for grabs inform illinois, romney has been maintaining a lead of 6.4%. but the gap is narrowing in recent days, 37 passport 7% for romney and santorum's 33.3% and gingrich, 13.3 and paul, 7.3. on the talk shows today, the talk of romney's huge advantage of funding came up. the two candidates with very

different perspectives on that subject itch this is a primary process where somebody had a huge advantage, huge money advantage, huge advantage of establishment support. he hasn't been able to close the deal and even come close. that tells that you that there is a real flaw. >> if i become the nominee, i will be going against president obama. he has an organization that he said will raise $1 billion. we have to have a nominee who has the capacity and the organization necessary to raise money to be competitive. >> illinois shaping up as a key state for romney. it is heavily populated with the suburban, well-educated, financially-secure voter that has favored romney. he has outspent santorum, 7-1. if santorum won, it would be a sea change, a first victory in a northern state, not known to be allegiant to the conservative base of the republican party. we will be watching carefully.

>> shannon: we sure will. it may be unlikely, but it is possible that when republicans gather in tampa in august, they won't know who the nominee is. that could mean the first brokered convention in decades. joiningitous talk about that possibility, former mississippi governor, halley barber. he has not endorsed anyone in the primary race. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> shannon: why have you chosen not to endorse? >> i didn't endorse anybody last time. they are all friends of mine. i don't think one of them so stands out that i -- shathat i should endorse somebody. but i am interested. i was interested in what you had to say. i think it's most unlikely that we will go to tampa with an open convention. it is not impossible. it's more of a chance than usual, obviously. but i don't think that's likely. it's something that the primary voters, either they will coales and somebody will get 1144 delegates.

or they will continue to be split and then, we will have to go to the convention and go through that process. >> shannon: here's what the current frontrunner, former governor mitt romney had to say about that possibility. >> we got mind john mccain last time. he lost 19 states in the primary process. but when the process was over, we got behind him. we worked for him and helped his effort. the party came together. he lost. there are a lot of things that could have come differently and i think he could have won. but we will come together. in part because president obama has been such a failure. >> shannon: mitt romney says whoever the nominee is, republicans will coalesce. how do you heal up the wounds and the barbs? >> the main point that mitt romney made at the end, barack obama is the great uniter of republicans. he will pull the republicans together because we know other differences and preferences among these guy, any one of them is better than barack obama.

our country has to have a change in direction, the obama administration has been the biggest lurch to the left in american political history. any one of these would set us back toward where we need to be as a country. i am confident about the party coming together. what i don't like about the process is that we spend almost no time talking about policies and the failed results of the policies. if this election judges is a referendum on policies, he will lose. >> you want it to be more about content and for them to stop attacking each other. >> i don't think that's helpful. i don't think it's just destructive. don't get me wrong. im old enough to have been part of the last convention and didn't know who the nominee would be in 1976, for republicans. it was a very hard fight and sometimes divisive. but after the convention, republicans came together mind gerald ford and he made up 30 points in two months and probably fhe hadn't had messed up in one of the debates about poland and the soviet union,

might very well have won. but a tough convention, a tough nomination contest is not necessarily negative. but any time we are not talking about obama policies, we are not on message. >> of course, mississippi and its delegates played a big floal that 19sfiex. >> we did. >> shannon: and how that played out. a lot of these debates, the number and it is math, rick santorum says there is a path forward for him. the math is there. there is a way he could make it. the delegates will go to jail if they don't go to the person that they are pledged to. how realistic do you think that is? >> first of all, i don't think you will see delegates violating the pledge have you made. i don't think you will see that. but right now, romney has 500 delegates and he needs 1144. he has won more votes, he has a million 200,000 more votes than the next week one.

but i don't think there is a guarantee that we are going to go forward where romney wins illinois. we have seen governor romney have three big victory it's new hampshire, florida and super tuesday, after which, every time people thought, now he's going to coalesce the party and he didn't. so now, is illinois going to be another iteration of that? or might illinois go for santorum? i am not predicting because i am not smart enough to did that. >> shannon: no crystal balls? >> anybody stupid enough to predict that this year trail does need his head examined. i am not that stupid. but i don't think you can rule out anything. so we will see what happens in illinois on tuesday. >> there were calls for to you get in this race as well. you said in april twasn't for you. you had had a difficult decision process is it and it wasn't the right one for you. seeing how fractured it's been and there hasn't been a clear

path, any doubts, any thoughts that you wish you had gotten involved? >> i have made it a habit not to look back. try make good decisions and once made, this is the decision frankly, that was personal. i have been around a long time, been around a lot of campaigns. this is about the presidential campaign. the candidate has to be all in or not at all. it's not fair to the people who quit their jobs and move their family, not to mention the volunteers and donors. when people do that for you, you better be all in. if you are not, you don't get in at all. that's the decision i made. >> shannon: any chance you would want to be on the short list for a presidential -- for a vice-presidential slot. >> i am out of governor. >> shannon: it's a no for the v.p. slot. former mississippi governor, halley barber, thank you. we will see what happens with the convention and whether --t

wraps up tuesday or in august. >> thanks. >> shannon: you have heard the governor, now it's your turn it weigh in. will a prolonged g.o.p. primary help president obama's chances of re-election, or is it battle testing the g.o.p. field? we want to hear from you. we will read if sm of your responses later on in the show. that's our online poll question this week. we have 62.7% saying it will help president obama's chances for re-election. and 37.3% say no. >> confidence words from rick santorum. santorum says he's won every state in the midwest and a victory in illinois will solidify the success he's had so far. >> if we are able to come out of illinois with a hume surprise

win, i guarantee you -- i guarantee you that we will win this nomination. >> the romney campaign says, not so fast. he says that he has insist that the delegate math shows that nobody but romney can gather the delegates needs to secure the nomination. and a campaign spokesman points out that romney won michigan and ohio. we are getting a clearer picture of army sergeant bales, accused of killing 16 afghan children and women. he has suffered professional disappointment and financial problems. >> in 2005, robert bales and his wife paid $280 grand for a house in michigan. this week, that house went on the market for less than $2 thist grand, more than a $50,000 hit. his wife asked the agent to put the house on the market officially three days before her husband's alleged shooting

spree. the couple owns another home in washington as well. but they abandoned it 2 years ago. and the president of their homeowners association says that about that second home, it was ramshackled, they were not dependable. when they left, there were vehicle parts left on the yard. we had given up on the owners. what is interesting is that sergeants bales turned himself in after allegedly carrying out the killing spree, because back in 200 19, pea he fell asleep at the wheel, hit something and was seen running away in a military uniform, bleeding and he was arrested in 2002, for allegedly assaulting a girlfriend, but had that dismissed after he pled not guilty and attended 20 hours of anger management. his wife had a blog, featuring posts with a life of loneliness and disappointment, lonely because her husband was halfway around the world while she was pregnant and giving birth and disappointed because she was not promoted, she wrote, after all

the work bob has done and the sacrifices he has made for the love of his country, family and friends and she blogged about moving to germany or italy because of the potential of advantage but now she is under federal protection and her husband is in a military prison in kansas. >> thank you for the update. u.s. gas prices jumped 6% in february and it looks like there is no relief in site. prices will climb higher because critical refining operations in the northeast are shutting down. from new york, to philadelphia, refineries are suspending operationings or closing completely because their owners are losing money. the price of gasoline is averaging $3.84 a gallon. star-mangled banner? a citizen tries to get a tattered flag replaced. see what happens. in puerto rico, 15%

unemployment. puerto rico holds its primary today. we'll ask the puerto rico governor why he's supporting mitt romney. blam are do you have anything for a headache...like excedr... bayer aspirin... ohh, no no no. i'm not having a heart attack, it's my head. this is made for pain. [ male announcer ] bayer advanced aspirin enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes extra strength relief to the sight of your pain. feel better? yeah...thanks for the tip! ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for excellent fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion, also refreshing plus tea. could've had a v8.

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>> a foreigner working as a

teachener ye meb men, reported an american has been shot and killed. he was in his car when two gunmen on hoik motorcycle, drove up and shot him. investigators are trying to fine the shooters and u.s. officials cannot confirm that the victim was an american. president obama says the u.s. is making progress in afghanistan, but despite the gain, several recent events have increased tensions between the u.s. and the karzai government. joining me is general jack keen. thank you for joining us today. can you hear me? all right, we have trouble. we will come back to the general. in the meantime, rick santorum has been a strong supporter of puerto rico, saying he had to step up because puerto puerto rd no voice in the u.s. senate.

behe was in hot water he made for comment hes made on his trip to the u.s. territory [inaudible] >> i will ask for the governor's comments on that and why he is supporting mitt romney, rather than his friend, rick santorum. . so to save money, i've found a new way to get my profile out there. check me out. everybody says i've got a friendly disposition and they love my spinach dip. five foot ten... still doing a little exploring. but... my sign is sagittarius, i'm into spanish cheese, my hairline is receding but i'm getting a weave. getting a weave.

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>> before the break, we started to talk about the increased tension between the u.s. and the afghan government. we want to check in with four-star general, who has been there many times on the groined and seen it himself. we are back with you, general. let's dive in. what do you make of the situation, this time a week ago,

the news was breaking about the allegations against a u.s. soldier, killing 16 afghan civilians. it stirred up a lot of tension with president karzai, saying there is no way that the solar acted alone and the u.s. is stonewalling answers. where do we go from here? >> that was certainly an horrific situation with the soldier and the the fact of the matter is, mistakes, setbacks, they are all a history of war. what we need to do here is, we need to persevere despite these kind of setbacks. our goals in afghanistan have want changed. we do not want the taliban to have a safnghtuary from which the al qaeda horrifically attacked the united states and we don't want the al qaeda to come back to that sankuary from pakistan. that's why we are there. that's the reason we have been there for these 10 years. our priorities changed in that

time frame because of iraq and it delayed our completing this war. as far as karzai's concerned, he's a mercurial figure, we have our hands full dealing with him. every time he talks, you the background is that karzai is very insecure because he believes he's a puppet of the united states, so he pushes back on his publicly, quite a bit, much more than he should. that's part what have this is about here. we are not going to change our policy, as it pertains to afghanistan because of karzai's comments. >> shannon: he said that he would like to see afghani forces take the lead in 2013. our plan innocent to be gone until 2014. do you think tell influence our options for the plans for u.s. troops to be gone from afghanistan? >> what our commanders believe is happening, the conscience on the ground are driving it. we will start transitioning to

afghan lead. we have some of that in areas where there was not much of a contested area, in other words, there hadn't been much combat. but this summer in kandahar province, with serious fighting, we will begin that transition in 2012 and we will continue through 2013. we won't complete it in terms of our time table until 2014. so the transition has already started and we will continue that. [no audio] >> shannon: unfortunately, we are having technical difficulties. general, we thank you for your time. he has been with us many times and discussed the progress there in afghanistan. there is more on the legal case against the soldier accused of killing 16 civilians in afghanistan. peter doocy has that and the other top stories. >> a u.s. military official says charges are expected to be filed against robert bales within a

week and that official tells a.p., if charges, he -- if charged, bales will be try in the u.s. >> the four g.o.p. presidential hopefuls are looking to pick up 20 delegates in the primary. two of the four have campaigned in puerto rico, but they are shifting focus to illinois and louisiana, both states hold their primaries later this week. a u.s. man held in iraq more than nine months has been released. iraqi officials say he was taken as revenge for their country and he was being released as a gift to his family. a battle is brewing in brooklyn, new york, over a tattered american flag, flying in harlem, after complainting -- complaints from a veteran, she said she would take care of it. but the vet said, it's been a month and so far, nothing's been done.

>> puerto rico holds its very penitentiary primary, 20 delegates are at stake and there are three unbound delegates. but puerto rico cannot vote in the general election. while they don't pay federal income tax, they pay many other federal tax, like social security and medicare. they have a very high unemployment rate at 15.1%. and this fall, they will vote on a referendum, the first step to move forward with statehood. the current g.o.p. candidates support puerto rico becoming a state. both frontrunners have spent time in puerto rico. but mitt romney secured the endorsement of the puerto rico governor, who joins us live from san juan puerto rico on a very busy day. what are you seeing at the polls today? >> let me tell you, there is a lot of excitement out there. i just came back, as you mentioned, from voting. we are already hearing stories from some of the polling places that we have run out of application forms because a lot

of new voters are coming to the polls. we are implementing pro pro--growth conservative values in puerto rico and unemployment is down from 17 to 15%. we have lowered taxes and shrunk the size of government and we are stream liang the process, exactly the same values that governor romney has espoused in his campaign. >> have you said that you have great respect for all of those who are running. hua friendship with rick santorum. he did a lot in the view of the puerto rico people as senator, noting many times that puerto rico didn't have a voice in the u.s. senate and he thought that was important. but ultimately, what tipped you in favor of governor romney? >> let me tell you, as you were mentioning, he was extremely helpful in the senate and we appreciate that. all four candidates, actually are fine men. they actually have served the count in different ways and we are thankful for their service.

having said that, however, this election is about leadership. this is about electing the person that will provide not just the leadership, but will have the experience and will bring it to the white house, to create jobs and to secure the border and to secure our nation. i believe governor romney's the best qualified for that job. >> shannon: you talked about the fact when folks think about securing the border, most often, they think about the southern bord wer mexico. but you say there are issues in the caribbean as well. >> yes, indeed. as you were mentioning, most people in the mainland think you are just talking about mexico, our border with mexico and the southwest. america's caribbean border is puerto rico and it must be secure. if the federal government is not doing enough to secure the border. if i may, just to close your front door and let the back door open, makes no sense. this is a national security issue that needs to be addressed, shortly. >> shannon: i want to ask you about rick santorum. we touched on the fact that you

do share a friendship. he did stir up a controversy, talk about this predominance of the english language, he feels for an entity pursuing statehood, that would be an important thing to focus on. do you think his comments were misconstrued as some in his campaign say? or do you think that will wind up hurting him at the polls? >> if i may clarify, certainly, i was not there when he provided that interview to a local newspaper. having said that, however, both english and spanish have been the official language of puerto rico. as you know, that's a right that is reserved to states. we believe that strongly, that it should remain that way. as the father of triplets, however, i must tell that you most parents here want our children to be fully bilingual, to speak perfect english because it's the language of opportunity. but at the same time, we are proud of our heritage and we

want to preserve the spanish as well. there is no contradiction at all. i believe it enriches our culture and at the same time, it provides opportunities, not just for jobs, but opportunities for free trade with the region. and we certainly want to pursue that. finally, i must say, over 2,000 -- i mean, over 200,000 of our men and women have served in the armed forces since we became citizens. we are proud of their service. no one asked them if they were fully bilingual or not. i want them to be fully bilingual. but we are proud of their service and many of them made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. >> shannon: in november, you look to a vote there, where the people of puerto rico will decide if they want to pursue the next steps in becoming a u.s. state. are you confident that will move forward in the direction of statehood? and beyond that vote, what do you think the opportunities and chances are? >> it is going to be a process.

but i am confident that indeed, our voters will pursue that route. it just makes sense. we have been part of the united states since 1898. natural-born citizens since 1917, as i mentioned earlier, our men and women have served in greater numbers than most states since then. and i only believe that it's the right thing to do in the 21st century to allow almost 4 million american citizens to express our will and then to work with the white house and hopefully president romney to address this issue. >> shannon: as you mentioned the turnout today and the need for paperwork and ballots because so many people are showing up, a great example to all of america, for people who can't vote in the general election to come out to have their voices heard. we know it's a busy day, thanks for taking a break for us. we appreciate it. >> thank you, shannon. good day. >> shannon: the first family,

doing what a lot of american families are doing on sunday morning, they are going to church. they went to st. john's episcopal church across the street from the white house. every president has attended service there is at st. john's. this morning's sermon was on the origin of the song "amazing grace." it's a drawnout, chaotic race to choose a republican nominee. is the long slog helping president obama's re-election efforts? a fair and balanced discussion on that. and worth the wait, after a tour in afghanistan, one soldier finally lives out the moment he had dreamed of, a welcome home from the newest member from his family. get out the kleenex, that's next. when i grow up,

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>> no one hates war more than

the soldier or their family because we understand the cost. >> shannon: after nine months in afghanistan, more than 200 members of 45th infantry brigade came back to oklahoma. the family and frens anxiously awaited their soldiers. kevin hughes got to live out the moment he has been dreaming of -- meeting his 3-week-old son for the very first time. nearly 2200 45th infantry members are returning home. it doesn't look like the g.o.p. primary will be resolved any time soon. could a prolonged primary be a good thing for president obama, helping him expand his lead over the g.o.p. candidates? check out the poll there. joining us for a fair and balanced debate, former rnc spokesperson and former dnc

spokesperson. they play very well tsmght thank you both for coming in. >> thank you. >> shannon: let's talk about the first poll we had, which showed each of the g.o.p. candidates head to head can the president, and losing to the president if the election were held today. it do you think that change when is you wind up with one nominee? >> yes, definitely. but something to keep in mind, shannon, although, you know, they're splitting it four ways, so whether they match up against obama, they are splitting it four ways. but he can't get above 50%. >> he has some time. >> he has some time. but he is not getting above 50% and the robbery problems are not getting better. he has obamacare, which he doesn't like to talk about. and of course, you know, the supreme court's going to be ruling on it in june or july. and rasmussen says 53% of all americans want it repealed.

what does he have to say? >> tony, what is he going to say -- on that or the other topic? >> on obamacare, i think he will make the case. they are showing how it's affecting millions of americans whose children can stay on their health care until they are 25 years old. that's a big deal. and the idea -- president reality that it is saving lives. but to get back to the poll question, because it goes long and the season might drag out, that doesn't necessarily hurt him. it didn't hurt senator obama four years ago. and it certainly didn't hurt senator clinton of course as mitt romney is trying to convince the base that he's a true conservative, that's where you see the gaps. one is with women voters and the other is with latino voters. if he doesn't improve the numbers with those, i seriously wonder if that chasm can close. that's a worry for mitt romney right now. >> shannon: i want to look at a couple of polls that give us an

idea, if one of the current contenders drops out, who would benefit? let's talk about the poll that looks at, if we had newt gingrich out, which most people think he won't leave, but if you look at the numbers, there is a 6 of point gap between romney and santorum, if gingrich gets out, that closes to a 4-point gap. newt gingrich argues. but do you think that rick santorum will convince newt to get out. >> if newt can't win illinois and right now, they're neck and neck -- >> shannon: you mean santorum. >> no. i am talking about newt, in terms of getting out. romny and santorum -- romney is ahead 5 points in illinois. i can't imagine why he is going to stay -- he is not winning any states. so i don't understand the point of why he would stay in. nobody's in the business of telling newt what to do. but i really think -- and with

every state we keep saying, oh, this state's a game changer. i really do think this time that illinois is probably a game changer because i think if newt can't win there, what is the point of staying in. >> shannon: he and ron paul continue to pick up delegates if they are not outright winning. >> busure. but look at the math. there is just no way. i can't imagine how newt can catch up. >> shannon: he has talked about santorum getting out f. santorrum walks away, there is a 25-point gap between romney and gingrich. gingrich has said if santorum drops out, they will coalesce behind me i i felt, but it's ony a 24-point gap. so if newt doesn't have an amazing showing, what is his argument for staying in. >> this week, there is no none. he didn't have one after losing mississippi and alabama. his rationale is gone. but santorum makes the case, i would run stronger.

that's true. it gets closer and state after state, that's a national picture. but that might work for him. can his advantage in the southern states, might have been even larger. but here's the thing. why -- this is not a top-tier group. they don't have top tier candidates, why is mitt romney struggling against non-existent campaigns? with such. he is outspending them, i think on average 5-1. how do you draw even or even lose to candidates who don't have the structure to get them delegates that if they were to win the district that they would get the delegates. that's what romney is losing to. >> shannon: there is clear concern. what do you think about the g.o.p. extended primary, how does it make you feel? 56% responded and say that it divided and weakens the feel and 32% throat it energized or strengthened them. >> here's the core question,

regardless of what you think the g.o.p. field looks like, let's talk about the president. he's a guy who can't get above 50%. i think voters have this perception that this is the j.v. team that needs four more years to become varsity. look at what they are doing on energy this week. they are scrambling. choose there to scramble about? you knew this situation of the reality is, we need to rely less on foreign oil. what -- there is no secret here. we need more drilling here. we need less reliance on foreign oil. the navy has seemed to figure it out with moving toward biofuels, i would think they have some idea about how much fuel costs are. why is this 3 years into this administration, he is scrambling and trying to change the message. >> shannon: tony, quickly, fair and balanced. >> i'll be quick about it. when president obama took office, there were 1500 oil rigs in the country, today there are more than 2,000, that's progress

-- >> that's drilling on private land. >> you may not understand what final word means. >> sorry! >> but -- but, to wrap it up, there is that and then our oil is a 16-year low on imports. >> shannon: we have to leave it there. we will bring you back. thank you both very much. >> thanks a lot. >> shannon: talk about fighting for del gairkts police had to show up at at missouri caucus, when not even the robert's rules of order could settle a dispute. would you make a run across the border for cheaper gas? that's what some americans are doing, that's. no [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar.

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>> here's a quick look at the top stories. rick santorum says he's in it for the long haul. in fact, he says he has math to prove that the race is closer than it appears. puerto rico's primary is today. 20 delegates are at stake. illinois's next, their primary is on tuesday. in missouri, one county didn't caucus at all. it was shut down by police, after the crowd got upset over the caucus rules. two rong paul supporters were arrested. but we are told they have been released. the six-month anniversary of

occupy wall street ended in chaos. more than 100 police announce thatdz park was closed and scores of protest rez who refused to leave were arrested. the average price of a gallon of gas is $3.84, up 30 cents from a month ago. this is causing in americans to drive mexico, just to fill up, dispite the danger. casey has more. hello. >> reporter: hey, shannon. $3.84 may be the average nationally. but are you ready for the average here in california? a whopping $4.thirty two 33 a gallon. the second high ev in the country, behind hawaii. so it is no wonder that in some areas, like san diego, for instance, people are going into mexico, to fill up their tanks because ag gallon of unleaded regular is nearly $1.50 cheaper. the price in mexico, $2.91 a gallon because the mexican government regulates the price

to keep the economy going. >> a lot is because mexico has quite a bit of oil production of its own. the state-owned oil company may be forced to sell at certain prices, to refineries, whom then process the oil and sell it at a lower price. >> reporter: this is especially beneficial for truck drivers. experts say more of them are heading south than average drivers because many of them buy up to 300 gallons at once. so you can imagine the savings there. but the u.s. state department has issued travel alers in parts of mexico because of the drug cartels and some drivers we talked with say they don't care how cheap the gas is, they won't go. >> i think it's ridiculous. not worth it. right now, it's better over here just to put gas. i know it's a little bit expensive, but it's more safe here. >> reporter: experts say, you

also not know the quality of the gas that you are buying in mexico because that country's standards are not the same. they are not as tough as our standards here at home and one expert tells us, you could actually void the warranto your car or vehicle, shannon, simply for filling up there. amazing that the things that people will do to save some cash irk they will in tough economic times. thank you for that story. >> reporter: sure. >> shannon: trillions in debt and now the very real possibility that the senate won't agree on a budget -- yet again. >> senator reid said it's foolish to pass a budget. not fulfoolish to pass a budget. it's necessary to pass a budget. this country has never needed a budget more than it needs it today. never. we are heading to financial catastrophe. >> shannon: we will talk live with the senate budget

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>> shannon: federal authorities are warning of the possibility of violent attacks here at home in response to the killings of afghan civilians. there was more backlash last week in afghanistan. james rosen explains. >> defense secretary leon with a net at that left afghanistan

after 28 hours on the ground there in which he fended off a demand by karzai for u.s. and nato forces to withdraw from villages and rural areas and stay on their bases. u.s. officials both in the region and in washington down played the demand and made clear that panetta's private talks with karzai contemplated no change in the american timetable. >> we really did focus on strategy for the future and what needs to be accomplished as we move towards the end of 2014 and then beyond 2014. >> we will finish the transfer to afghan security lead in 2014 and that's the mission and we are sticking to it. >> independent an lasts saw a different meaning in the demand. >> think about it from his perspective. he knows once the united states leaves, there is probably going to be civil war in his country. he's trying to make peace with the new guys.

>> clearly suits what karzai wants to do politically and it probably in all honesty reflects what the administration would like to do. >> to be sure, afghans remain outraged by recent burnings of the koran and by sunday's ram package by an unidentified soldier who allegedly shot and killed nine children and seven other civilians in the south. the soldier's swift rendition to situate inflamed local sentiment >> america has not done the right thing. he should have been put in prison in here and put on trial here in afghanistan. >> further implicating u.s. policy was thursday's announcement by the taliban, citing an alleged shifting of terms by the americans that it is suspending the peace talks that it had only barely begun. >> that's going to take two to tango. they'll have to decide what they want to do in this regard. >> finally, the afghan interpreter who on wednesday drove a stolen truck at high

speed straight at a group of marines who gathered to greet secretary panetta shortly before his landing at a coalition base has died. 7 o% of his body burned after the truck caught fire. he was never questioned. panetta said he did not believe he was the intended target. shannon? >> shannon: words in the race for the white house. senator rick santorum pledges that if he wins the illinois primary on tuesday, he will capture the gop nomination. but mitt romney has a big lead in the delegate count, both of the front runners campaigned in puerto rico, which held its primary today. now they are look ahead and campaigning in states with primaries still to come. i'm shannon bream, we begin the second hour of america's news headquarters. now the latest in the race. >> the next three days are crucial for both rick santorum and mitt romney. 20 delegates at stake in puerto

rico today, ordered proportionately unless one gets more than 50%, then he will get all of them. then to illinois for tuesday's primary worth 69 delegates. illinois, an interesting test. largely considered to be a northern state with the kind of suburban upscale voters that romney has done well with in early year primaries. it also has a significant rural population and borders the states of iowa and missouri where santorum has done well. romney maintaining his lead in most poll, but it's a lead narrowed in recent days with santorum getting a bit of momentum. in the big picture, it remains that race for 1144 delegates to capture the nomination. this morning both were asked on the morning talk shows about the mathematical possibilities of achieving the magical 1144 delegate threshold. >> i think the people of our party want to make sure we have a nominee that can beat barak obama and i know a lot of people will talk about delegates and

strategies and math and that's interesting to the insiders, but i think the american people want to see someone who has the leadership, skill and experience to defeat the president. >> the hypothetical presumes this, that governor romney can't get there. if through running this entire process, if he can't get there with the huge advantages he has, i think it tells you something about his support within the republican base. >> most analysts discount the likelihood of a brokered convention or a floor fight to pick a nominee. if neither capped date is able to reach that 1144 delegate count before the last primary, which is in utah on june 26, we may be looking at the first convention floor fight since the year 1976. 36 years since it last happened. >> shannon: could get ugly. thank you very much. as you saw, governor romney spoke exclusively with bret baier who is filling in for chris wallace. i sat down with him to get his thoughts on the front runner. you talked with mitt romney live from the campaign trail.

you started out by talk being international hot spots and how he would deal with afghanistan. >> right. he said he would be more engaged than president obama, which was interesting. he didn't say that he would withdraw troops any faster. he said basically what you heard from the bush administration, which was to hear the conditions on the ground. you're hearing that now from the obama administration as they stick to this 2014 time line for withdrawal. but he did say that the president is not engaged enough and he should be calling karzai, the president, every day. it was interesting distinction because the republican party for a large part has soured on afghanistan and increasingly candidates on the trail and lawmakers on the hill are saying it's time to pull the plug. >> shannon: here domestically you talked about domestic production of oil and gas price. >> that is a big issue for him. he is hammering at every stop, says the president has to fire

people in his administration for how it's been handled. he's got line after line now. this is a new development in the past month or so for mitt romney, every other speech economically didn't focus on that, now it does. they see the political power in this issue and the political vulnerability for president obama. >> shannon: talk about the delegates, the math, and their different versions depend who war talking about. but he's clearly in the lead now. >> he is. it's interesting he said the math is an inside game. his campaign has been talking about the math nonstop. so they've been playing the inside game. the question is whether he can get to 1144, the number needed to clinch the nomination and santorum and gingrich pledged to try to keep him from getting there. he seems determined. illinois will be a big night. >> shannon: how is he feeling about his chance there is? does he think that could be a chance to lock this up or does

he concede can t could go to august? >> he needs to win 40%. that's lot of road to go. santorum is saying if he wins illinois, then he will guarantee he wins the nomination. that's a bold prediction. but it clearly would shake things up. >> shannon: a lot he joe namath comparisons. great panel. >> my voice survived through allergies. >> shannon: good to see you. >> thank you. >> shannon: also on fox news sunday, chris wallace sat down with george clooney this week. he has been in town meeting with congressmen to talk about the humanitarian crisis in sudan. he told chris wallace his star power helps to spread the message. >> if we go and we're standing in a place where people are shooting rockets at us and we're standing this where there is a bomb hit the ground and didn't blow up and that helps get attention to the story that we're trying to tell, then that's all we can do. i don't make policy. i can just make it louder.

>> shannon: you can catch both interviews after america's news headquarters right here on fox. house is ready to roll out its budget, but so far for the third straight year, nothing from the senate. the senate's april 1 deadline is approaching and the ranking member on the budget committee says democrats are drumming up phantom controversies to deflect attention from the lack of a budget and also this week, alarming discoveries about the millions of americans that could lose their coverage under president obama's health care law. senator jess sessions joins us to talk about those. thank you for coming in. >> good to be with you. >> shannon: let's start with the senate budget implement how many days has it been and why isn't there a budget? >> well over 1,000 days since the senate passed a budget or brought one to the floor and senator reid reid said held be foolish to bring one and said it

would be foolish. our deficit per capita is $44,000 per person. that's greater than greece, greater than any other country in europe. it's unsustainable and under the president's budget that he just submitted a few weeks ago, it will go to 75,000 per person over ten years. so this is unsustainable, as every expert has told us. you would think a a party that wants to lead the senate would produce a budget. you are correct that paul ryan and the house team, i'm so proud of them. they're going to produce a budget next week. it will be a historic budget. it will alter the debt course of america. it will take us from unsustainability to sustainability. i'd like to see them go really far with that budget, but whatever they come up with, i'm confident it will put us on a sustainable path and that's what we need. >> shannon: politics aside and parties aside, doesn't the senate have some type of legal obligation to produce a budget

each year? >> yes. in statutory law, there is a requirement that by april 1, the senate committee passes out a budget and we pass a budget and by april 15, an entire budget be passed. that has not been done for years now. it's just unacceptable because really, when senator reid says it's toolish to bring up a budget, he's really avoiding having his members have to confront in public -- not in secret meeting, but in public with votes the real issues that threaten america. it's tough. i got to tell you, it's not going to be easy. but we are absolutely able to change the debt course and get on a sound path if we make up our mind to. >> shannon: i want to give you a chance to respond to some comments from senator conrad who is the chair of the senate budget committee. he says the republicans have convenient amnesia and talking points because there is a budget in place for this year and next. he talks about the ten-year

spending caps. he's referencing the budget control act passed last fall. it's not the same as a budget, but says there is framework in place and that republicans aren't being honest about that. >> senator conrad would like to bring up a budget, but he's basically overruled by the majority leader, senator reid. but yes, the budget numbers are there. but they are still numbers such that it's unsustainable that we passed last august. but amazingly, the budget control act that passed last august that put ten years spending limits if place, not nearly enough, but a little improvement, president obama's budget he submitted five months later wipes out those cuts! the $1.1 trillion in cuts through the sequester, he would totally eliminate those cuts. the bill he signed that put us slightly improved, but not enough, he's now wants to undermine that. so this is why american people are losing confidence in us.

we talked one time about cutting spending and being more frugal and tightening our belt. as soon as the situation gets tough, we walk away. >> shannon: i want to get a question in about the president's health care law which will be challenged at the supreme court starting a week from monday. new cbo predictions that came out not only about the cost of the law, but also by cbo projections, a nonpartisan group, of course, that up to 20 million americans could be forced off of their current employer provided coverage. there is pushback from the white house and other groups that say these aren't the full picture. these projections and numbers aren't completely accurate because of the way cbo calculates, but to most people, they were startling numbers. >> they were startling numbers and what we know is the president promised that in ten years, the health care bill would cost $900 billion. what we've learned from this budget is that in the ten years that it takes effect, the first ten years it will cost three times that much.

$2.6 trillion. and we do think and many experts have analyzed it, they think far more people will leave the private coverage that businesses will drop their coverage and they will then go into this group, this pool and it costs as much as $10,000 from the taxpayers subsidy when people go into that pool. if many times the number go into it as have been originally suggested, then deficits in the health care bill will be even larger than expected. so we really do need to look at that closely. and the danger is, nobody knows. i mean, literally, multiple times as many people could lose health care coverage from their business, go into these pools and hammer the treasury of the united states with huge, unexpected costs. that is a very real possibility and, in fact, i think there will be quite a few more people going

into it then originally projected. >> shannon: we will be watching, as i know you will, when the supreme court takes up these arguments. we'll see what they decide on that. senator session, thank you for visiting with us. >> thank you. >> shannon: ahead in 20 minute, another aspect of the health care debate. expansion of medicaid under the new health care law. dozens of states says it's an unconstitutional power play by the federal government could that send them into bankruptcy. will the justices buy that? a fair and balanced debate on medicaid coming up. >> wet weather in california is causing major issue, mud slides and flooding and downed trees. where is the stormy weather headed next? meteorologist rick rite matthew has more on that. >> almost everybody is going to get in on this storm this week. it's a really slow mover, but a potent one. the strongest storm we've seen all winter across arizona. very heavy snow falling in the northern country. flagstaff, look at this picture

sent in to me from flagstaff, arizona on my twitter page. all of that, though, since 3:00 a.m. this morning. right now it's getting a foot of snow in a seven-hour period. incredible snowfall rates there. you're going to get more snow there later this afternoon. that's kind of the snowy side of what we have going on. take a look at these temperatures today across much of the central plains and east. these same story of all these temperatures that are much more like june than they are of march. that's going to continue. as this storm here ejects its way out towards the plains, it hits all that hot air and it's a very vigorous, strong storm. we have the threat for severe weather firing throughout parts of nebraska, in towards texas throughout the afternoon. we could see a tornado or two. i think the best spot would be parts of oklahoma, western oklahoma, and texas. tomorrow it inches to the east and the big important story with this is a slow mover. some areas will see four to eight inches of rain here and big flooding concerns in addition to the concern for tornadoes for much of this

coming week. >> thank you very much for keeping us updated. we love the viewer images as well. thanks. >> you bet. >> shannon: a new study shows a large number of adults are moving back in with mom and dad. brenda is live with more on what is driving the popular trend. hi? >> hey. there is no place like home. that's what many of your children are saying. even after they have left for college, graduated, and started working. a new survey says young adults are coming home at the highest level in more than half a century. three in ten adults age 25 to 34 move out for school or work, are back to live with their parents. that's the word from a pugh research report just released. and if you look at 18 to 24-year-olds, the number is even higher. half of young adults from that group live at home. call them the boomerang generation. the main reason? the bust, mainly a weak economy. they can't find jobs that pay

enough for them to make it on their own. a lot of trends contribute to their return to the nest. young adults start out with college debt higher than ever before, then face unemployment often higher than the rest of the population. so they take a number of part-time job, postpone marriage, put off looking for the penthouse suite and instead head for your basement. don't feel sorry for either those adult adolescents or their parents. apparently the vast majority of the boomerangs are satisfied and although they may not have the money to live the lifestyle they want, they hope to have it some day soon. and they may be helping out their parents who are having some trouble and tough times, too. almost all the so-called boomerang kids, 89% from this survey, help with household expenses such as rent and chores. and parents say the family living together again is paying off too in better relationships for everye. so forget the empty nest. the house is crowded with all ages these days, proof, it

seems, you can go home again, at least for now. shannon? >> shannon: as long as you do your own laundry, maybe a little bit of cooking, too. >> absolutely. that's part of it. >> shannon: it would be required in my house. thank you very much. government stimulus money, that's your taxpayer money, intended to help communities through the economic crisis being used to lobby the government. we'll talk to a congressman who is demanding answers. an arrest marks the six-month anniversary of the occupy movement. >> 73 arrests made by new york police here from the occupy wall street movement. we'll tell you more about the madness and what the group has planned coming up. [ kate ] most women may not be properly absorbing

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>> shannon: might sound crazy, but more than $230 million of your taxpayer money may be used to pay lobbyists. kentucky congressman says stimulus money is being given out to programs in many states that then turn around and use that money to lobby the government. he is live with us to explain. thank you for your time today. >> thank you for having me here today. >> shannon: how exactly is this working? i know you had a hearing on the hill and you confronted secretary kathleen sebelius. what's the deal? >> what's happening, there's a

grant fund through the heal and human services that comes from two sources. stimulus must be and then the president's health care bill. the grants money to local entities and they're taking this money and lobbying state and local governments for such things as taxes on soft drinks, zoning ordinances for fast food restaurants and different things to deal with the health care. the issue with that is, the federal law expressly prohibits using hard working taxpayer dollars to lobby any level of government. so secretary sebelius, without the permission of congress, she chamber subcommittee and her point was -- in the president's submitted bill, they actually striked that language to allow the local lobbying. so my question to her was, well, it's been going on since the stimulus bill for three years. we gave 25 specific examples. it's on the web site of the recovery. there is one specific -- we used the recovery money for the purpose of finding sponsors for a bill to have a no smoking ban

in california. it's blatant lobbying. her position was the law only bans lobbying members of congress. she understood that and that's what she believed. i was surprised let her staff go in that direction because it's clear that it's actually in the law, it's in the health and human services regulations that they can't use taxpayer dollars for lobbying and it's in the o and b directives as well. >> shannon: you have asked her in a letter that you and others authored to her for an investigation into this. have you gotten a response? do you think that will happen? >> we haven't got the response yet. it just happened. i believe her that when she was standing before us, i read the law to her and my copy of the law in front of me, she said, i don't have that in front of me, i'll have to get back with you. we asked her to go back and investigate how much money has been spent, first to suspend sending more and then give us an interpretation of why they're doing it and accounting for the

money. we think that's fair for her to do. it's been a couple of weeks. i do expect to hear a return back on her position. >> shannon: all right. as you mixed, she thought it was okay because the money was being lobbied at the state level as opposed to federal members of congress. so just to be clear, was that against the law? was she misinformed about that. >> i believe she was misinformed by her staff because it's clearly against the law because it says member he was congress, any jurisdiction or any public official on any legislation pending. even if -- i was in the kentucky legislature. so even if they're talking about filing a bill in the kentucky legislature, you can't hire lobbyists to go do that. it's not just existing legislation or ordinances. there is an example in philadelphia, the mayor proposed a soft drink tax and during the soft drink tax vote leading up to it, they led a campaign against soft drinks or they're talk being unhealthiness of soft drinks. their e-mails between the mayor's office and the people

who got the grant trying to decide which council members district they should put more effort into because they needed the votes and it was all timed for the vote before the philadelphia city council. it's obviously against the law and we want them to go back and to give us an accounting for everything that they've done. and the thing about the stimulus money, even besides what we're talking about in this way, is that stimulus money, most people thought and i'm not one that thinks you can spend your way to prosperity, but even if you think that way, that spending money lobby be state governments on health issues is not a way to grow the economy if that's the way you believe it should have been spent. another example of misspent stimulus money. >> shannon: keep us updated if you hear back on that investigation. we'd love to know more. >> we sure will. thank you very much. >> shannon: we did preach out to hhs and secretary sebelius' office for comment. if we get that, we'll factor that into this story and give you an update. police shut donnan occupy wall street protest of what

marked the 6th month anniversary of the movement. they cleared out a park in lower manhattan after occupiers refused to comply with the law. here is more. >> hey there. yes, so you see the crews that have been here all morning power scrubbing and really cleaning up zuccotti park. it was a mad house here last night. we're told hundreds of protesters from the occupy wall street movement were here and new york city police tell us they made 73 arrests with some pretty serious charges. here is what they included. attempted robbery, sex abuse, assault, trespassing, disorderly conduct, and obstructing governmental administration, two officers were injured. but the group says they really feel like they were treated unfairly. they began gathering yesterday afternoon, making known this was a six-month anniversary of the movement. this is really where it all began. they've been marching on wall street and having sing alongs in the park and by 11:00 o'clock last night, 300 people had gathered. film maker michael moore made an appearance.

just before midnight, about 100 cops swept the park, handcuffing dozens of protesters. earlier, 15 people were arrested and three police officers -- actually two were injured. and we're told electrical boxes were tampered with and there was also evidence of graffiti. the occupy movement, if you'll remember, began on september 17. protesters began bringing in tents and camping out and say they were drawing attention to the income gap between what they called the 99% and the 1%, the poor and the very, very rich. then on november 15, police came in and cleared zuccotti park, claiming they were breaking park rules and could not set up any permanent structure. the nypd says last night they saw tents going up and sleeping bags being rolled out and that is why they moved in. also if you remember back on november 17, thousands walked on wall street and marched brooklyn bridge, chanting for what they call the occupy day of action. we did talk with a rep from occupy wall street, he says the

mood here was pretty much jubilant up until the evening and they also claim that they did not have any permanent structures, that they were setting up like police are insisting. according to the group, several of the protesters were taken to the hospital, going forward, they say they plan on marching every single friday and we're also seeing this coming just across on twitter that occupiers are planning an emergency meeting at pace, across from city hall, and that's at 2:00 o'clock. shannon, back to you. >> shannon: thank you very much. they were partners, working together to discover and disarm i.e.d.s in iraq. now the pair are bound together by war, separated by red tape. the latest on the fight to adopt sergeant rex. the president's health care law is about to get its day in court. one thing the justice also consider, does it unconstitutionally burden states with the bill that some of them say they can't afford? a fair and balanced debate on that question next ♪

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>> shannon: new information regarding the pending legal case against the u.s. soldier accused of killing 16 afghan civilians. the bottom of the hour. peter doocy is standing by with the top stories. >> u.s. military official says charges are expected to be filed against robert bales within a week. that official tells a.p. if he's charged, he will be tried here in the u.s. the four remaining gop presidential hopefuls are looking to pick up 20 delegates in puerto rico's primary today. two of the four campaigned in puerto rico, they're shifting now to illinois and louisiana. both states hold their primaries later in the week. a u.s. man who was held in iraq for more than nine months has been released. iraqi officials say he was taken as revenge for their country and he was being released as a gift to his family. president obama decided to celebrate st. patrick's day with a pint of guiness.

he stopped by an irish pub on capitol hill and enjoyed his guiness with his irish cousin and share add toast with the crowd and that bar, shannon s right next door to the dubliner. and i popped outside to see what the deal was, if they were letting people in, how people were reacting, i'd say of the crowd of 100, half of them were very excited to see the president there. and half of them wanted him to leave so they could go in ask use the bathroom. >> shannon: i'm surprised they didn't usher you right in. >> i think he had my normal seat at the bar. >> shannon: thank you very much. all right. one week from tomorrow, the supreme court will hear three days of arguments over the constitutionality of the president's health care law. while most of the focus has been on the individual mandate, the justices will also consider other portions of the law, including the expansion of medicaid and the way many states

are arguing will usurp their power and freeway their budget. here is elizabeth, chief counsel for the constitutional accountability center, and karen, executive director of the nfib small business legal center. nsib is a party to the case before the supreme court. welcome to you both. >> thanks for having us. >> shannon: this has to do with the fact that under the president's health care law, the states will have to take on a bigger medicaid burden. some of them say that it's an unconstitutional power grab. elizabeth, the one they can't afford. how do you respond? >> many folks were surprised that the court even took the medicaid issue in the first place. it was a complete loser in the lower courts and for good reason. medicaid is and always has been a voluntary partnership we know the federal government and the states. and now it's up before the supreme court and we really have to take it seriously. i think that even if the court upholds the constitutionality of the medicaid expansion, which it should based on case law in the texas history of the constitution, the court could

still do significant damage to the federal government's ability to give money to the states and the conditions that the elected representatives in congress determine are best. >> shannon: and karen, the government is arguing, listen, congress has the power to decide how money is meeted out through federal programs and the states can take it or leave it. >> right. but elizabeth said something very key here. up to now it's been a voluntary program. the states argue that the health care law changed all that. now you've got the government saying we're going to pull all your money, states, if you don't fund up to 138% of your population's over the poverty line, and give them the kind of health insurance that we say is best. basically, states, either do what we say or you don't get any of that money. money that's 40% of their budget to fund medicaid today. >> shannon: elizabeth, how do the states deal with that all or none proposition? is it really as dire as that sounds? >> no. first of all, the federal government is going to split the bill 100% at the beginning of

the program and then it tapers down to a whopping 90% still. so this is a great deal for the states. many state leaders, we have over 500 state legislators from every state in the union, district of columbia and puerto rico saying hey, we totally disagree with the challengers to this. we think this is a great deal for our state budgets and for the neediest among our residents who really need access to quality affordable care. >> shannon: karen, aside from the financial issue, a lot of the states are arguing this is the federal government overstepping its constitutional powers. is that accurate? >> right. because the fear is that let's say we win on the individual mandate issue, could we lose the war, so to speak, if the federal government can just do an end run and reply to awful to us do whatever they say because they'll threaten the states with less funding if we don't? >> shannon: i want to ask you all about a poll that we have. this is from fox news and it's overall about what the supreme court should do when it comes to the constitutionality of the health care law.

46% say the court should rule it unconstitutional. 43% rule that it -- say the court should rule it is constitutional. elizabeth, we know the supreme court justices are not sitting around reading fox news polls or any other polls probably in making their decisions. but the country still seems on the two year anniversary, still very divided about it. >> yeah. what's interesting is while the country may be divided, we haven't actually seen that division amongst the judges and who have considered the constitutionality of the affordable care act already. we've had two of the most prominent conservative judges in the lower court uphold the constitutionality of the individual mandate. so judges from across the ideological spectrum have said it's constitutional. i expect we will have a couple justices vote to uphold it under the commerce clause and provision of the constitution to

pass laws like the affordable care act. >> shannon: final word to you? >> we feel good about our position and i would note that we have the one democrat appointed judge that said that the individual mandate was unconstitutional in atlanta this summer. >> shannon: all right. the arguments next week, we will cover that wall to wall here and then we wait, all of us, for the decision. thank you both very much. >> thank you. >> shannon: supporters have been pushing it for years. is little rock finally going to rename its airport to honor one of arkansas' favorite sons and his wife? that story is coming up. a lot of americans are nursing their st. patrick's day hangover, the party rolls on in spain. the latest from the valencia festival of fire.

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>> it's not fair to people who support you, that quit their job, move their families, not to mention volunteers and donors, when people do that for you, you better be all in. if you're not, don't get in at all. that was the decision i made. >> shannon: any chance you would want to be on any short list for the presidential slot? >> i have my last government job. >> shannon: are we going to get general sherman on this? >> it's one of the few things we agree on. >> shannon: all right. you heard there. barbara also a former rnc chair is not any gop hopefuls but says no surprise, don't read too much into it. he didn't endorse anyone in 2008 either. little rock national airport may soon change its name to honor the clintons. you're looking at a mockup now of what the sign outside the facility could look like. airport officials say the new name under consideration is the bill and hillary clinton national airport. officials are meeting tuesday to consider the proposal. bill clinton was governor of arkansas for 12 years before

becoming president. >> st. patrick's day is over here in the u.s., but in spain, a five-day celebration is still going strong. amy kellogg is live in valencia where thousands gathered to celebrate st. joseph and the festival of fire. hello, amy. >> hi. well, this festival all goes up in flames at the end, but not in tears. according to the artist who made the monument behind me, real valencia people love it, too, and the reason this whole city doesn't go up in flames, along with these paper ma shay models when they're burned is that apparently we've got some firemen who will manage the night of the burning of all of these tomorrow. now, this was the year's top categories, winning, which cost $525,000 to construct. took a small army of artists,

better part of a year, 60 feet high. you can see there is a lot going on. one of the characters is that they're awfully busy. this one takes a swipe at moody's, depicted here as squeezing the living daylights out of it. here is one of the committee member high school to say about the meaning of this creation. >> the theme of this fellow, and it couldn't be any different, is the crisis engulfed us all. a victorrian figure had to come down, abandon their big home, gardner and butler. >> last night saw what is called the ofrenda, they make floral offering as to a massive statue of our lady of the forsaken. this procession of men, women and children down to the tiniest of babies goes pretty much nonstop for eight hours over two nights, very emotional. you see people tearing up as they approach the madonna.

they hand over their bouquets to brigades of very agile men who put all the flowers into the formation of a robe for the statue of of the virgin mary. the city does everything on a big scale. tomorrow night a firey one. back to you. >> very details and beautiful. thank you so much. >> shannon: soldier and her dog, they fought together in iraq. now corporal meghan levy is fighting to adopt her military dog, sergeant rex. it should be easy, right? there is a whole lot of red tape to cut through. they're still working on it. their story is next wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. is the pain reliever orthopedic doctors recommend most for arthritis pain,

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>> shannon: a quick look at some of today's top stories. gop presidential hopeful rick santorum says he is in it for the long haul. in fact, he says he has delegate math he will reveal this week that proves the race is closer than it appears. puerto rico's primary is today. 20 delegates are at stake there. missouri, one county didn't caucus at all yesterday. it was shut down by police after the crowd got upset over the rules for the caucus. two ron paul supporters were arrested. the six-month anniversary of occupy wall street ended in chaos last night. more than 100 police officers

announced zhu catty park was closed for the night. sergeant rex is a retired war hero and an iraq veteran. rex is the center of a lengthy adoption process now that's because he is a dog. the case is rapped up in red tape and has a senator urging it forward. >> sergeant rex, just like corporal levy, defended us and they were a team doing, among the most hazardous duty anyone in the military can have, finding and disarming explosive devices. i.e.d.s. they were injured together. and they deserve to be reunited. >> shannon: now one of his former handlers, purpose heart veteran, meghan levy, is eag torre unite with rex and joins us, along with mike dowling, the author of the book, "sergeant rex ." he served with sergeant rex. we thank you for your time and service to this country.

>> thank you. >> shannon: mike, i want to start with you. you wrote the book about this. you served with sergeant rex before corporal levy did. so tell us about the work you did together. >> well, rex is a very special dog. he's done ten years in the marine corps and rex is a beautiful dog, which we nicknamed him sexy rexy, 'cause he was so beautiful e. also had another nickname, which was tie ron sore russ rex because he was very protective of me. we deployed together in our first combat tour to the triangle of death in iraq in 2004. we were one of the first 12 marine corps dog teams to deploy into the iraqi war. we developed this bond. he protected me and all the marines. when i got out, i passed him on to meghan and she took the reins from there. >> shannon: meghan, i want to ask you about this 'cause now since i believe 2007, you've been trying to make sure that you would eventually be able to adopt rex. >> yes, i have. i tried when i got out of the

marine corps in 2007, but i kind of knew it wasn't really his time to be retired. i had done physical therapy with him and --'s a it was a matter of time, so we would wait it out. >> shannon: from what we understand, he is now officially retired because he's not in the physical shape to do what he needs to do and so good at doing. you tried to get the paperwork done. you need help along the way. it's not just what you can do and senator schumer from new york has been trying to help you move forward as well. how optimistic are you that you will be reunited with rex? >> i'm very optimistic at this point. all the media attention and senator schumer really helped me, so i am really hopeful. i think we'll know soon.

i'm really excited. >> shannon: mike, you both having served with sergeant rex, tell us what it's like. to be in a battle zone together. it's an animal, but it's not somebody, but in any world, dogs are people, but it's a fellow serving along with you in some very dangerous conditions. what is the bond like, mike? >> very hard to describe. it's unbreakable. and rex, all military dogs are very special, just like you said. we look at them as another marine. he's not just a dog or animal. i'm a marine. he's a marine. i'm going to take care of my fellow marine like he took care of us. he can detect explosives and caches and attack and insurgents if we need to. he has the added benefit of psychologically being there for us, therapeutic aspect to all the marines that can play with him examine remind them of their dogs back home. i want to make a point that this transition process for rex to get adopted out, all of the service members, myself, meghan,

every single service member when they get out go through this transition process. it's the same for the dogs. they have to go through it. it's very necessary. we wanted to make sure it didn't take longer than it needed to take inasmuch all right. mike and meghan, we thank you very much for sharing the story and we look forward to you being reunited with sergeant rex, meghan. when that does, we would love to have you back and tell the happy ending to the story. thank you both very much. >> thank you so much. >> shannon: we've been asking you, will a prolonged primary season benefit the president? you have been answering. stewart writes this, quote, the longer the gop primary goes, the more time obama gets to save most of his war chest for the fall campaign. stick around. we've got plenty more twitter responses coming up after the break.

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>> shannon: cherry blossoms arrived early. the festival starts tuesday, but warm weather means the trees have been blooming for a while now. peak bloom is expected to happen this week, a little early. this year's national terry blossom festival marks 100 years since the trees were gifted to the u.s. from japan. you know we love hearing from you at home. today we've been asking you if you think a prolonged primary will help president obama's chances of reelection. many, many of you have written in here today. tony writes, no, because he has to use more money to attack three instead of one person. i'm not going to guess which of

the gop contenders he's leaving out. there are still four. but another says yes, we need to get this over with sooner rather than later. conservatives need to unite. i'm sick of this divisiveness. carroll said, maybe, but i think if your primary comes after march, you should still have a voice. and that is definitely a good point. we want to send a shout out to our 5,000 followers. joseph, twitter handle is at korman dad. we'll get fox news goodies on. 5200 and counting. we always love to have you join us. thank you so much for sharing. we always love hearing from you at home. that's it from us in washington. fox news sunday is up next. bret baier is in today. he talks with gop presidential candidate mitt romney about international and domestic policy and all of that delegate math. you'll also see chris' interview this week with actor george clooney here in d.c on behalf of