you're going to be in the after the show show. >> juliet: you didn't know that, but you are. >> brian: coming up tomorrow, geraldo, peter johnson, jr., chris wallace and dolly parton, john schneider might even sleep over. >> steve: huh? bill: stay tuned for that, won't we now. good morning, everybody. doubling down on solar energy as you wake up to even higher gas prices. price at the pump spiking two cents overnight. national average, $3.88 a gallon. president obama saying we need more investment however, in green energy. listen. >> one member of cone guess who shall remain unnamed called the jobs phony. called them phony jobs. i mean, think about that mind set, that attitude, that says because something is new it must not be real. these guys were around when columbus set sail, they would be charter members of the flat earth society. bill: welcome to our society.

good morning, everybody, in "america's newsroom.". you look great over. martha: thank you. bill: feels like summer on the outside. heating up with solar energy. i'm bill hemmer. martha: i'm mart that -- martha maccallum. critics are not buying that argument. they say the president is playing with taxpayer dollars. here is newt gingrich. >> this is like solyndra. one of the interesting left-wing ideas which works theoretically as longing a it is not real. you put in a half billion dollars, you go, oh, that didn't quite work. bill: stuart varney shakes it down on anchor on the fox business network. good morning to you. you say timing is everything. >> difficult timing for the president's energy tour. she goes to columbus, ohio. unfortunately columbus, ohio is experiencing a very serious gas spike. just in that city the gas has gone up 23 cents in 48

hours. that is a spike. in ohio the price of gasoline went up seven cents whoever night. it stand as the $3.94. if you go up the road to chicago, they're paying $4.66 a gallon for regular. very difficult timing for the president who is on this energy tour and arrives right in the middle of a gas price spike in columbus, ohio. bill: all the above strategy will have to sell it hard in cases like this. also set to announce, the white house is, plans to push forward with part of that keystone pipeline. what are the facts on that, stuart? >> if the president claims credit for approving this part of the keystone pipeline perhaps you should not be blaming credit, credit goes to the states and army corps of engineers which approved this part of the pipeline. secondly, this part does not deliver any fresh oil, any extra oil to the united states. the president will make the announcement, this extra leg of the pipeline will be approved today. he is going to cushing,

oklahoma, where that extra leg of the pipeline begins. he will make the announcement today. bill: the idea for the southern part of the pipeline to get the bottlenecks cleared up, right? >> cushings oklahoma, is where the pipelines come together. that is pipeline central. bill: if you get that bottleneck help the price or not? >> it may a little bit because it will distribute the product around the country more evenly. in the immediate future, no, you have a long time to go before the pipeline is built. bill: what about the rest of isn't. >> if you had the rest of the pipeline built and could say definitely millions of barrels of canadian oil will come to america at some point, it wouldn't affect the price immediately but probably would affect the price somewhere down the road. bill: meantime we have jobs numbers out. really that has not much relationship to what we're talking about here. >> no. bill: can you measure the impact of gas prices in our economy now? >> ben bernanke said yesterday, look, rising gas prices will take spending power away from consumers

and will eventually hurt the economy. we're probably not arrived at that point yet. but with this spike in progress, 3.88 is the national average as of today. most drivers are paying $4 and a above. the impact will be apparent fairly quickly. bill: 100 bucks. fill 'er up. thanks, stuart. 9:20, fbn. that impact is apparent. martha: gas prices hit all-time high this month. americans consumed more than 340 million gallons much gas a day. americans spent nearly $481 billion on gas and world energy use will increase, get this, by 53% by the year 2035. this is a problem we'll have to deal with for some time, folks. now to france where a tense, 30-hour standoff ended in a hail of bullets. an admitted terrorist who claimed ties to al qaeda is now dead.

this is what we heard when it all came to a dramatic end. [gunfire] martha: it went on and on. 23-year-old is described as an islamic radical. the main suspect in a series of shootings that killed seven people including the brutal murder of three young children at a jewish school earlier this week. greg palkot joins us now live from toulouse. greg, how did this all end? what happened? >> reporter: martha, it is all over. as you noticed the loaning siege, 32 hours long punctuated by serious explosions and blasts. the suspected killer, self-proclaimed killer, self-proclaimed terrorist dying in a shootout.

we were here throughout the night. we heard a lot of sporadic gunfire and ex-plosz shuns nothing like what was heard this morning, 10:30 a.m. local time. police burst into the apt. he came out with guns blazing. jumped out of a window. police found him dead on the ground. police were injured. they wanted him alive. they talked to him for a long time. when he went silent they went in, martha. martha: what is the french president saying about all this, greg. >> reporter: just went on television and made a national address. strong law and order message. among the points he was making a crackdown on people who push terror in prison. who use the internet to spread the terror message. who go abroad to train in terror. all these are elements, according to officials, of the profile of the dead suspect, mohammed mara. obviously sarkozy running for re-election in a tight

race has a lot on the line and he pushed hard. a lot on the line too for the french people. they were disgusted by the cold-blooded murders this week of that rabbi and the three children in a nearby jewish school. also last week of the french soldiers. right now here in this town and even in this neighborhood, we have been talking to people. they are breathing a sigh of relief, martha. martha: awful, awful sad story. that is the end. thank you very much, greg palkot. bill: 30 hours there. got some brand new numbers on the economy. labor department reporting weekly jobless applications dropped by 5,000, to 348,000. that is the lowest level we've seen since february of 2008. remember back then? wow!. a little context on the jobs here in america. more than 23 million americans are unemployed or underemployed. 8.1 million are employed part time for economic reasons. they would like full-time work but can only find part-time positions. issue number one in america

today. martha: topic in the election of course. one of the most coveted endorsements in the 2012 election season is a done deal. former florida governor jeb bush says that mitt romney is indeed his pick for the nominee. in a statement bush says it is time to unite behind governor romney in his opinion and that was greeted in some quarters with pleasure. >> just before we left to fly here this morning ann and i were together. it was, it is our anniversary. thank you. [applause] my, my cell phone rang and i looked at it. just said jeb on it. i picked up the phone and it was jeb bush. [applause] he said, i didn't even have to ask. mitt, i want to let you know i'm endorsing you today. and that was good news. [cheers and applause] martha: very good news indeed for mitt romney there. he also says that jeb bush's counsel and support will be critical to him in the coming months. bill: watch now, see whether

or not there is pressure amped up by some party leaders too, whether or not they get on the same bus with jeb bush. something to watch. martha: he clearly wants this thing wrapped up. we'll see if he gets his day. on a day where leaders in the republican party are calling for unity we're talking about, candidates in the race seizing on a comment by one much romney's senior advisors. why rick santorum is shaking up the etch-a-sketch. good day for the etch-a-sketch. they got a lot of attention. bill: question whether or not he should be. life, liberty and pursuit of happiness under the president's health overhaul. two years since the president signed that into law. plus there is this. >> do we go away until this is all settled or do we stay around and see what happens? all night long we're hearing rumblings, booms going on. martha: what the heck is going on? the mystery continues in this small wisconsin town. these booms, look at that

clintonville is booming. they're hearing the booms and hundreds of people are calling the police trying to find out what is going on. we have that for you coming up call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

bill: happy birthday, health care. tomorrow marks two years since it was signed into law. critics say it exceeds federal powers laid out by the constitution. next week they get to make their case before the supreme court. house minority leader nancy pelosi says the law meets the fundamental goals of america's founders. >> what our founders put forth in our founding documents which is, life be liberty and the pursuit of happiness and that is exactly what the affordable care act helps to guaranty. bill: how about that one? kentucky senator rand paul with me now. the republican senator is also an eye doctor. good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: welcome back to "america's newsroom.". nancy pelosi says if you want to be a photographer, writer, artist, or musician

you can do so under the affordable care act. you have the liberty to pursue your happiness . what do you think about that? >> somehow forcing people to buy something that they may or may not want doesn't seem to be consistent with pursuing happiness. this also comes from the same congresswoman who told us we could read the bill after she passed it. this also comes from the same congresswoman who was incredulous when we told her it violated the commerce clause of the constitution. now that decision is actually going to be made in the next few days or as least heard in the next few days. i'm not sure congresswoman pelosi is up on her constitutional or founding documents. bill: as we move toward the supreme court arguments next week, it will be headlines every day next week for sure, if you do not win at the supreme court level, what is the republicans strategy to go after this law? will you pick it apart piece by piece and declare victory in some areas and not so

much in others? >> i think it is better than 50% chance we win at the supreme court level. we have to very much hope for that because it is difficult to repeal. the only reason democrats passed obamacare because they had 60 votes in the senate. that is very unusual. no party had 60 votes, at least republicans haven't in over 100 years. so repealing the whole thing will be hard. we'll still fight for complete repeal but who knows what will happen, whether or not we'll have to settle for partial repeal. i really believe fundamentally you can't say that by my inaction, by me not buying insurance that is somehow commerce. so i think the supreme court is going to side with common sense and i really think this is going to be a major victory for those who believe in a government that should be limited by constitution. bill: we're getting various opinions on that. we appreciate what you're saying there. we'll see whether or not in the end you're right or not. your proposal to allow every senior citizen in the america has the same health

care options as member of congress like yourself. explain that. >> part of the tea party platform has always been when we pass laws or we create benefits for congressman or federal workers should be the same for everyone. so our medicare reform would save a trillion dollars over 10 years but would allow every senior citizen to have exactly the same health kay which is a gold-plated, great health care plan. it is subsidized but it is more market-oriented and it will save the taxpayer money to let senior citizens have the congressional health care plan. bill: what do you mean it will save us money? how so? how much money? >> it saves a trillion dollars over 10 years and it does it in a couple ways. one, when you bring in competition, competition works. when people have to pay for something they bid prices down. that is why capitalism keeps offering cheaper and cheaper products. we do two other things. we gradually let the age of eligibility rise over 30 years and we means test the benefits which means wealthier individuals will

have to pay the full cost of their medicare. bill: why wasn't this considered in the first place? >> well we're still working on it and think the more people --. bill: two years ago, before the law was passed? >> yeah, i think that's a good point. i wasn't here then might be part of it. now that i am here we'll make it part of the debate. if the supreme court strikes down obamacare which they may do i'm hoping my ideal louing people to have the congressional health care plan. i'm hoping that becomes part of the debate. bill: what is your sense now as a doctor, two years into this law? what has it done to medicine in america? >> i think my biggest fear is that millions of people are going to lose their private insurance and be dumped on to medicaid or government insurance that would be a tragedy for the patients who lose their private insurance but also a tragedy for the country because medicaid is very expensive and it also will be a tragedy in the sense that people have to wait and have to have their health care rationed over time. i'm concerned about the consequences of obamacare. bill: take this up on house

side too, so-called death panels, ipab, we'll follow that vote on the house side. rand paul on the hill with us today, martha. martha: now you heard the republican side of the argument. coming up, dnc chair, debbie wasserman schultz is here and will explain why the white house is not really celebrating the big two-year anniversary tomorrow. bill: there are new polling numbers. buckle up. is the republican race far from over? martha? martha: a father's emotional plea after losing his son. we'll tell you what trayvon martin's dad today is now demanding. >> this guy looks like he is up to no good or on drugs or something. it is raining and he is walking around, looking about. >> okay, is this guy, is he white, black or hispanic? >> he looks black.

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bill: all right. 22 minutes past the hour. we're awaiting new testimony from the commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan. general john allen appearing before the senate armed services committee delivering the latest report on the afghan war. nasa delaying a project to study forces behind our weather. the space center out of virginia delaying the launch of five rockets, due to, you guessed it, bad weather. the experiment will help scientists understand the jet stream. a colorado family chased out of their home by skunks. exterminators ripping up their floor finding 13 neighbors under their house. a nightmare. >> tunneled all the way you can see over there. we were sleeping and woke up coughing and thinking it was a gas leak. it was just, it was awful. bill: i bet.

martha: 13 skunks under the house? bill: you know what you do at that point? martha: move? bill: you put the for sale sign. you get the heck out of there. martha: can you imagine, must be a gas leak. no, ma'am, i'm sorry, 13 skunks living under your house. oh, boy. back to very serious story here. emotions are running high as hundreds of civil rights activists get set to rally in a florida town that has become the focus of this nation. they are demanding an arrest after the deadly shootings of trayvon martin. the unarmed teenager was gunned down by so-called neighborhood watch volunteer. trayvon's father delivering an emotional plea for justice to hundreds of supporters who turned out in new york. >> the people are not going to stand by and let this just go by. we can't sweep any of these crimes under the rug anymore. we hope that we get an

arrest. we hope that sanford police department see that. people are not going to stand by and let this happen anymore. martha: they are under a ton of pressure to do just that. steve harrigan joins me. he is live in miami covering this story. steve, we had judge napolitano here yesterday, he says the shooter must be arrested now in his legal opinion. a lot of pressure on them to do just that, steve. >> reporter: martha, pressure to arrest the shooter, george zimmerman. pressure also building to fire the police chief of sanford bill lee. last night in sanford there was a meeting of the county commissioners. they voted 3-2 to express no confidence in the way the police chief handled this case but their vote is nonbinding. it is up to the city manager whether or not to fire the police chief. he says he intends to wait until the investigation is concluded. that opinion did not sit well with members of the audience last night. >> what does vote of no confidence means? it means that man right,

that has to make a choice. you've got to make a choice. he works for you. don't work for them. so if we keeping it. >> reporter: that investigation led by the department of justice is expected to take several weeks. there will also be a grand jury convened to look into the case next month, martha. martha: big question if zimmerman remains a free man during all of that. this is all about the stand your ground law in florida which allows you to go outside your own property to shoot somebody if you believe they are a threat to you that is coming under a lot of scrutiny because of all this, steve. >> reporter: certainly is. a number of lawmakers already suggesting that florida's law should be changed. in this case it is interesting, even the author of that law said the law should not apply in this shooting. he says that zimmerman should be in jail. >> there is nothing in that law that authorizes them to

pursue and confront. >> reporter: 21 states have similar laws to florida's stand your ground law. in coming days we're likely to see growing protests including one at a baptist church tonight led by al sharpton. martha: there is evidence on the tape he was indeed pursuing. he was running after the boy at one point. steve harrigan, we'll stay on top of this. thank you, sir. >> reporter: thank you. bill: 20 six minutes past the hour. new questions why the main gun smuggling suspect? the "fast and furious" operation was in custody and allowed to walk free. congressman darrell issa wants answer on a that. the sound that keeps folks in one town up all night long. >> we sat up recording a number of things in that split second you can tell if there was movement. >> everybody is trying to figure this out in clintonville. >> everybody is trying to figure it out in

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bill: here we go. just into "america's newsroom." new polling before the next big primary battle, that is louisiana. rasmussen reports the following. rick santorum out in front

with 43% in that polling. mitt romney in second at 31% followed by newt gingrich and ron paul with 5%. the candidates battle for 20 delegates in louisiana. scott rasmussen is here from rasmussenreports.com. good morning to you. what did you find, scott? >> good morning, bill. what we're finding there is not really any momentum in this race. the basic dynamics are pretty much etched in stone. when the schedule moves to the south rick santorum will do better. more conservative voters. more evangelical voters when. the race moves to the northeast we can count on the same dynamic, good news for governor romney. for mitt romney, the month of april has almost all the primaries in the northeast. bill: you specifically asked the following which republican candidate will be strongest against barack obama. this is what you found. who% whether they support romney or not, 32% say santorum. does that surprise you in louisiana? >> not really a big surprise.

it is a little tighter in this than it is in some other parts of the country. it is also important to recognize this is all a sense of scale. any 4% of louisiana voters think there is a chance that romney could beat obama. nearly as many, 75%, think that santorum could beat obama. republicans in louisiana feeling pretty good about their prospects. bill: another question, regardless who you want to win who do you think will win the republican presidential nomination. 73% say mitt romney. what does that number mean? >> this number has been growing in the last couple weeks, all across the country. again it gets back to the basic dynamics. if nothing changes, if rick santorum can't find a way to change the demographic underpinnings of these polls, mitt romney is going to be the republican nominee. santorum needs to find something to change it. he would have to go into one of the northeastern states and win. we see signs the romney campaign starting to feel

more confident about their own performance and their own prospects. bill: puerto rico had a decent week. one more question here, what's more important, choosing the candidate as best job to represent republican values, 41%, choosing best candidate who has best chance to beat barack obama, 54%. does that match what you found elsewhere? >> pretty much. republicans would like somebody who could do both but given a choice, most republican primary voters say winning is most important. santorum does better of people representing values. mitt romney wins among those saying beating the president is job one. bill: thanks, scott. >> thanks, bill. bill: hot off the press we say. scott rasmussen there. after louisiana this weekend the next critical day on the republican primary calendar, tuesday, april 24th. five states in the northeast hold republican primaries including new york and pennsylvania. keep an eye on that state. 219 delegates up for grabs on that single day.

33 minutes past the hour. martha: there are some new demands from republican lawmakers investigating the botched gun-running sting known as "fast and furious." leaders from the house and senate have written a letter to attorney general eric holder, they're asking why this man, the main gun trafficking suspect in this case, was not captured when he was caught by them, the atf and that is one of the biggest questions of all because he was the main target of this whole investigation? let's bring in congressman darrell issa who has been obviously very much in the lead on this he is one of the republicans asking for more information from attorney general holder. also chairman of the house committee on oversight and government reform. congressman issa welcome. good to have you here today. >> martha, thank you for continuing to cover this as we get sort of to the end of our patience with the justice department last friday gave us 350 documents out of some 75,000 documents still due. most of those documents, as

we've gone through them we discover were basically off of public web sites. this is, this is frustrating people in both the house and senate. we're reaching out right now to the 31 democrats who asked the attorney general in their letter to cooperate, who i believe agree with me that he is just not doing it. martha: you have really nailed down all the time lines on this in terms of when eric holder, at least publicly admitted that he knew about this program. and it seems that, the initial impetus was to allow these guns to cross the border in order to have the guns lead them to some of their top suspects and figure out what was going on with the drug cartels. so this man, man well chaos sta was the number one -- why did they have him when they let him go? >> clearly gun-walking is why they let him go. he was part of the successful gun-walking

what we're realizing, guns don't talk, they can kill. that is our problem. they would have you believe that the gun tells a story. the gun doesn't tell the story. at the scene of these crimes all we know a "fast and furious" weapon killed brian terry. "fast and furious" weapons have killed over 200 people in mexico and we're nowhere closer to shutting down drug cartels as a result. martha: what have you learned about that stop? when they got him, what transpired there? what information did he give them? did they know they had him when they had i am? if so, why did they make the decision, who made the decision on the scene to not apprehend him? >> well, we believe this was in fact a justice department decision. that ultimately, you don't catch somebody with, red-handed crossing with ammunition and the like and let them go. this was not an accident. this was part of "fast and furious", if you will, this

failed program. this program that at its core, can only be explained as a program to let guns walk in the hopes that american guns being found at the scene of crimes and death in mexico, would outrage the american people enough to allow justice to do more. that concept is at the core of "fast and furious." we believe that always was. ultimately, we know that lanny breuer, jason weinstein and people that directly deal with eric holder every day knew enough that eric holder either knew or should have known and ultimately he has to be accountable for firing nobody in his offices so far over this. martha: you know, separately 100 republican lawmakers have asked for the procedure to begin to request resignation of eric holder. where do you stand on that issue? >> we are moving toward the met not call process of --

methodical process for creating a vote on contempt. that is the jurisdiction i have. that is something we can control. only the president can control whether or not eric holder resigns. we can control whether or not we hold justice and eric holder for willfully and almost a year refusing to answer senator grassley's lawful request or our request in any meaningful way. martha: congressman issa. thank you very much. >> thank you, martha. bill: a chopper landing like you have never seen before. take a look at this dramatic new video. roll it. >> holy [bleep]. oh, my god. bill: that is a u.s. apache helicopter. how this happened, what we're learning about it and how the crew came out of that in moments. martha: mitt romney's rivals bringing etch-a-sketches to campaign stops yesterday. what is that all about?

>> this morning we have the perfect example why governor romney is having so much trouble. it is captured by this. any of you know what this is? do you know how to use one? you notice that this is an etch a skoch -- etch-a-sketch. martha: why newt gingrich is talking about that toy and mitt romney when we come back. in america, we believe in a future that is better than today. since 1894, ameriprise financial has been working hard for their clients' futures.

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martha: that really creeped me out. remember that movie? bill: oh, yeah. martha: a lot of sleep deprived families in a wisconsin city are starting to get worried about a sound of mysterious booms in the night. they're calling 911 in droves. ?

martha: no, haven't heard anything like that. 600 calls in fact. the loud noises prompted a special meeting last night in the town of clintonville. town managers say they're doing everything they can to figure out where these booms are coming from. look at that sign, clintonville is booming. people want to know what is keeping them awake, bill. >> what happen, if we don't have any warning. >> there may be something reason that the warm spring could be shifting granite rock under your community. >> as much as i thought obviously we don't know what is going on. >> there is no sinkholes. there is no explosions. >> somebody mentioned maybe some dynamite from the old mines may be going off. i don't know what it is. but whatever it is it is kind of nerve-racking. >> hopefully experts can figure this out, the mystery in the town here. everybody is trying to figure this out. booming in clintonville. martha: bring in the experts,

right? some people haven't found the mystery. they believe it may have something to do with aliens. bill: they could be right. who knows at the moment. maybe they have a point. >> you think there is something to that theory, the alien theory. bill: just saying. >> send me a tweet @marthamaccallum or bill hemmer. we know you have theories. let us know what you think is happening. bill: the aliens among us. martha: clintonville is booming. bill: here's shake-up now on mitt romney's big day. only hours after picking up a key endorsement from jeb bush. romney's senior campaign advisor has pushed his man too far to the right for general election voters. his answer. >> you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. almost like a etch-a-sketch. you shake it up and we start all over again. bill: you know where that leads? the other candidates jumping on the chance on the etch-a-sketch comments.

first from newt gingrich. >> my children had etch-a-sketchs. they were great for car rides but you will notice that their pictures aren't permanent. there is nothing locked down. you can redo it anytime you want. and that's the problem. >> you're not looking for someone who is the etch-a-sketch candidate. you're looking for someone who write what is they believe in in stone and stays true to what they say. [applause] bill: what about all this? monica crowley, radio talk show host. christopher hahn, former aide to senator chuck schumer. both fox news contributors. how are you guys doing. you guys rocked it last week. we thought you we bring you back around. monica, is this a big deal? >> not a big deal at all, why not? >> because everyone knows what he was refering to there. he was talking about the need for a victorious primary campaign and they're assuming mitt romney's campaign is going to be that

victorious campaign to reset for the general election. and every winning primary campaign does this. barack obama did it. john mccain did it. you emerge from the primary season. you reset for the general election. that's what he meant. you know what? newt gingrich, rick santorum and media who have been misreporting this for the last 24 hours they know very well what he meant and shame on them for taking it out of context and warping it. bill: you're on the record. you think chris hahn is one of those people, monica? >> i do. i do. bill: we're about to find out. >> i have to hand it to the communications director this is the first honest moment of the romney campaign. we all know mitt romney changes his position more than the kamasutra and more flexible than plastic man. instead of a etch-a-sketch, we should compare him to silly puty. he stretches and bends and manipulated on all the issues he stands for. conservatives have to worry about this in him. he will tack back to the left because he governs to

the left of the as his supporters said, past is prologue. we can only govern on his as governor of massachusetts. he governed as a liberal. bill: chris, and his favorite toys. >> if he is liberal you will vote for him right? >> absolutely not. bill: here what mitt romney talked about after this came out. roll it. >> i was conservative republican governor. i will run as conservative sieve hopefully at that point running for president. that policies and positions are the same. bill: monica, should gingrich and santorum stand on the stage with a etch-a-sketch? they want to be leader of the free world. how does that look? >> it looks foolish frankly because everybody in their right mind know what mr. fernstrom meant. that is what i said earlier. rick santorum and newt gingrich are increasingly despralt.

they resorted to this met at that far. that reinforces image of a flip-flopper and that has been a problem for him. they know those comments are taken out of context. there is plenty to go after mitt romney for. they have been doing it. so you know, use legitimate arrows that you have. don't go -- >> monica, they were taken completely in context. they asked about him moving too far to the right. this is the man who created the individual mandate. who brought it to law in massachusetts. this is a man who gave a personal donation to planned parenthood, not just government money as governor, a personal check from the romneys to planned parenthood. now he will end it? he has changed every position he has had. he shakes up his position more often than the etch-a-sketch user. >> what he was saying when you come out of the primary process the winning candidate you obviously reset. barack obama --.

bill: i gotcha. they would rather talk about anything on their records. that was from the romney team. we'll pick up on this again in a moment. chris thank you, and monica. round two was pretty good. maybe we shoot for round three next week. >> we'll try. bill: we'll talk with a member of romney team on those questions. that is coming up in a matter of moments. stay tuned for that. martha. martha: there are new warnings that al qaeda may not be the most serious threat we face on the homeland. there are rising fears of another group, sleeper cells, that may be at home. bill: she is proving you are never too old to set a world record. ♪ . [ female announcer ] here in california, our schools need help.

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♪ . if you are among the very young at heart ♪. bill: want to dance? martha: i do actually. take a break here with a little dance. bill: age is just a number for 101-year-old mary hardison. martha: good grief. bill: her age puts her in the "guinness book of world records". she is the oldest female to paraglide tandem. she completed record in september. she is reveling in her newfound celebrity status. >> i'm not a celebrity every day [laughing] to have fun, i went to catch up with my son. held up the words happy birthday so i can see it from up in the air. as old as you feel. if you want to feel that

you're old and decrepit go ahead. if you want to really enjoy it, get up and do things. bill: i love her attitude, right? martha: if you want to be old and decrepit you go right ahead. bill: daredevil mary is not done yet. she is planning to take down a ride alpine slide in park city, utah. that is one of the longest slides in the world. when she does it we'll have a picture for you. martha: george herbert walker bush. bill: at 75 went skydiving. martha: i think at 80 too. there is no controversy on in california. the l.a.p.d. is deciding it will no longer impound cars of illegal immigrants found driving with no license. they call it issue of fairness. it is a double-standard that violates state law and leave as lot of drivers with no license perhaps out on the road. william la jeunesse joins me live from his home of los angeles. hey, william. >> reporter: martha, the law says no green card means no

driver's license. if you're caught police impound the car for 30 days. that is mandate. not an option. law enforcement agencies are ignoring the law because it impacts illegal immigrants disproportionately. >> doesn't matter to me who killed my son, what their nationality was. the fact if the law was followed he would be alive today. >> reporter: don rosenberg lost his son because of unlicensed driver who repeatedly ran over him trying to flee. they must impound for 30 days the vehicle of any driver without a license, most of whom are illegal immigrants. >> oh, 100% political. >> reporter: over police union and l.a. district attorney, l.a.p.d. will ignore the law and allow people to keep their car. >> we take the car away, what have we accomplished? >> reporter: supporters of police chief charlie beck's decision say current law is unfair because illegal

immigrants in california can't get a license. >> a low income person doesn't have the ability to pay the fees after 30 days to get their car back. so basically, we're just creating more punitive problems for them. >> by not i'm pounding unlicensed drivers cars, you endanger the citizens of this state. >> reporter: opponents say unlicensed drivers are more likely to drive drunk, cause fatal accidents and leave the scene. >> it is more important that people who are in the country illegally get to drive than it is that people who are here get to live. >> reporter: police chiefs say the impound amounts to taking illegal immigrants livelihood away because it costs $1200 to get your car back. however politically that does not fly here. so opponents predict that accidents will increase when you return cars to those who don't know english and haven't learned rules of the road. martha.

martha: that dad has a compelling story. bush, thank you very much. bill: george bush, 75, 80, and 85. waiting on 90. why more than 100 american towns may have a demonstration this weekend. we'll explain that next everything can cost upwards of...[ whistles ] i did not want to think about that. relax, relax, relax. look at me, look at me. three words, dad -- e-trade financial consultants. so i can just go talk to 'em? just walk right in and talk to 'em. dude, those guys are pros. they'll hook you up with a solid plan. they'll -- wa-- wa-- wait a minute. bobby? bobby! what are you doing, man? i'm speed dating! [ male announcer ] get investing advice for your family at e-trade.

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martha: here come the public protests, folks. mass rallies nationwide scheduled to fight for religion just freedom. this issue continues to be very hot. hundreds of cities across the country set to host protests tomorrow over the contraception mandate as the new healthcare law turns two years old tomorrow. that's how we start a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. good morning to you. martha: good morning, bill. bill: the organizers are saying it will mark the beginning of a tea party live like movement. 45 states on the list including washington d.c. against the federal man date requiring employers, including those with

religious objections to provide contraception. martha: religious liberty is the goal of this group. jonah joins me now. i got a flyer on sunday at church. how big a deal do you think this is going to be and are they able to muster the ferver we saw from the paep? tea party? >> it's hard to say. i have friends that are deeply deeply involved in this. they lost steam when liberal activists turned this into some kind of strange argument about how many needs free contraceptives, the sandra tphrubsandra fluck thing and the rush limbaugh thing.

conservatives are the one fos that get the brief for wanting a culture war. conservatives get blamed for fighting back. one of the largest points about obamacare is things like this religious freedom thing are inevitable when the government takes over something like a 7th of the u.s. economy. you're going to have, if not this. a dozen other culture war flare-ups when bureaucrats are deciding people's healthcare. martha: obviously it's a very important issue for the catholic church and cardinal dolan spoke about basically this kind of thing, saying that there could be protests to continue to make the point on this issue. but you've touched on something that is also very significant in all of this. it appears that conservatives have assessed this issue as not perhaps politically popular, especially with independents. will it get the kind of support that these groups who are so

fervent about it would like it to get? >> i don't know. it's a difficult thing to sort of gauge. the tea party movement itself is an anti-obamacare movement. there is competition there in terms of narrowing the argument against obamacare to the religious portion, even though it's important. rick santorum getting corn earned into thcornered on this stuff on birth control, the white house has a similar problem. they are not trying to sell it to independents, they are not celebrating the and verse raoerbgs they are trying to microtarget its plus side to the youth vote and women because those are the groups they desperately need for the

re-election. martha: thanks. very interesting. good to have you here today. >> good to be here. bill: new this morning as you were sleeping gasoline went up another 2-cents overnight. today we'll see the president on his energy tour stopping in cushing, oklahoma. he hats now agreed to bull the southern stretch of the keystone pipeline saying it will eliminate a choke point for the nation's oil supply. that is raising yes, sir about how much oil we really have in our country. jim angle live in washington on this. >> reporter: in almost every energy speech president obama makes the same taeuplt. >> we'v statement. >> we've got 2% of the oil andee was 20 search. >> it's accurate but extremely misleading. what he is talking about is the oil we have found. >> reporter: misleading because the president is pointing to proven reserves which is some 21 billion barrels but the u.s. is sitting on vast reserves of

untapped energy that are far greater. one federal agency says there is ten times more, 219 billion barrels more in what is called technically recoverable agency. another agency says there is 20 times that month, 400 billion barrels more. and some in the industry says there is 67 0 60 times that much, energy the government knows we have but has not yet been drilled for. industry experts argue it's there for the taking. >> the trillion-plus barrels of oil in this country, more oil than in saudi arabia is not counted by the president, and i think that is misleading to the american people. >> 200 years of the amount of oil that we use today, without any imports, we use 7 billion barrels a yore i a year in the united states, and

if you add canada and mexico the numbers go off the charts. >> i don't think it is a good decision for this country, or for the globe realistically to push for maximum drilling. the atmosphere, particularly when you talk about global warming pollution the atmosphere can't hold that much carbon dioxide any more. >> reporter: you get a sense for all sides of the argument there. the president uses the proven number of reserves to say it would do no good to drill for oil because it could never be enough to meet our needs. >> as much as we are doing to increase oil production, we won't be able to drill our way out of the problem of high gas prices. >> some of us believe the president is trying to suggest we don't have adequate resource here in the united states, which is just not true. >> reporter: analysts prove out that proven reserves were 20 billion barrels back in 1944 since then we've produced 170 billion barrels and proven reserves are still just

20 billion. suggesting leely always under estimate what we have. martha: there are new warnings this morning, an iranian link terror group may be positioned for attacks inside the united states. they come from congressman peter king who is saying there are hundreds, maybe thousands of hezbollah agents in prime positions here in this country and ready according to that assess many. th that a assessment. the group being called for damage runs al-qaida. >> they are trained to lie low for years or decades. those who have gone up against this enemy for our government estimate the number to be at a minimum, at a minimum in the hundreds. top intelligence officials and leaders have told us that hezbollah is the group most capable of flipping its nationwide network of criminal fundraising celts into an

operational terror force capable of great violence on orders from its leaders in iran or lebanon. martha: he went onto say that we have a duty to prepare for the worst. ambassador john bolton joins me now, former u.n. ambassador to the u.n. and a fox news contributor. good morning. what do you make of peter king's comments there? >> i think it's very important that people understand the reach that iran has through the hezbollah network around the world, throughout this hemisphere in sick, not just i particular, not just in the middle east and the risk it poetsess. poses. we had the justice department indict for trying to kill the saudi ambassador here in washington. congressman king has really put his finger on a potentially se serious problem. martha: do you agree that the assessment that hundreds, perhaps thousands of hezbollah

operatives may be lying low in a disciplined manner in the united states waiting for some kind of go signal? >> well, i think the congressman obviously has access to more information that's classified than i do. but i would not under estimate this. hezbollah is a very powerful organization, it has received hundreds of millions of dollars of financing from iran over the years, and they clearly have global aspirations. i think that is one reason when you combine the reach of the hezbollah network with the potential of iran getting nuclear weapons, that iran could transfer nuclear weapons to terrorists, bring it into the united states and detonate it here years before they have a ballistic missile capability. martha: that is a very frightening scenario, of course. it is ratcheted up by the tensions we're having between the united states and iran and israel and iran primarily in this case because of their work on the nuclear facilities. all the fear has been that they

might attack israel's interest or our interests abroad but they could also trigger something like this in a retalitory move prior to that, right? >> i think iran's objective here, obviously is to free itself of the threat that its nuclear weapons program will be attacked, whether by israel or the united states. if they weakness in the united states, and they clearly do. using terrorism to intimidate the obama administration makes perfectly good sense from their point of view. this is why i think congressman king is saying this is a present reality right now, however bad it is, whatever the nature of the threat turns out to be, just imagine how much worse it will be once iran gets nuclear weapons. martha: ambassador bolton, thank you. always good to hear from you. bill: mitt romney's comments, his rival's any way jumping on a comment from his top adviser comparing romney's future campaign to a well-known toy. >> you're not looking nor someone who is the etch-a sketch

candidate. you are looking nor someone who writes what they believe in in stone and stays true to what they say. bill: is that a valid argument or a waste of time? mitt romney's campaign responds live in a matter of moments to all that. martha: the nfl handing down what is being called the most severe penalty in its history. new orleans saints head coach suspended one year without pay for the bounty program, playing players to injure specific opponents. we are live with that, what it could mean for one of america's most popular sports. plus this. >> oh, my god. bill: it is dramatic new video, how this happened and how the crew got out above.

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bill: that dramatic video sur fashion of a helicopter using control in afghanistan. it's an apache. watch here. >> oh, my god. that's from a hard landing back in february. watch here, watch what the pilot is able to do. the pilot and the crew walked away. no one was hurt. a spokesperson for the international assistance force in afghanistan says it's not clear why it went down but they are investigating that. do you not see that very often. they are all right. martha: busy morning for mitt romney's campaign, they are now responding to a whole bunch of attacks from their rivals after a senior adviser used an etch-a sketch met for to explain where

the primary battle will make romney look too conservative in the end come general election time. here are the phepbts that got so much attention. watch. >> i think he hit a reset button for the fall campaign. everything changes. it's almost like an etch-a sketch, you can shake it up and we start all over again. martha: that got a lot of attention. we are joined by john senunu, a mitt romney supporter. we are glad to have him back with us this morning. welcome. what do you make of this whole etch-a sketch discussion. >> mitt romney is talking about creating jocks and rick santorum is waving kiddie in the air. it's from the sublime to the ridiculous. as governor he cut spending and turned a $3 billion deficit into a sur class. he supported traditional marriage, opposed cap and trade. that is governing like a real

conservative governor. he has put forward in this campaign a set of specific conservative proposals that he will use when he becomes president, when he is present. they are -ts most conservative, comprehensive proposals since ronald reagan ran for president. you have rick santorum and newt gingrich reaching in their desk and pulling out kiddie toys. martha: that question has been raised whether that makes them look unpresidential. i think that is a valid point to bring up. it was sort of a bizarre optic as they say in politics. does the romney campaign, because there have been several events over recent weeks where mitt romney said something which ends up being the story and getting the attention the next day, whether it's comments about the money or things along that line. now you have this comment ain't basically feeds right into the

hands of those who want to call him a flip-flopper. saying that you can take the etch-a sketch and shake it up and you have a brand-new story. it ends up becoming the story. is that a misstep for the campaign? >> you say things that are as dumb as rick santorum saying he's not concerned about unemployment. you say things as dumb as rick santorum's spouting off when he went down to puerto rico, that happens in campaigns. there is a difference, however, between general elections and primary elections. in primaries you're running in one state or a handful of states vet. in general rehrebgs general elections you're running simultaneously. you have to have different resources and a different network of communications. martha: the question that was asked, the question was whether or not the prolonged primary

process here has forced mitt romney to go, you know, further right than he would have liked to have gone, and when he gets to the general election will he need to sort of go more to the middle to pull back in the independent voters that he may lose if he's pushed right in this process? that is what the question was, and the answer was, well, when you get to the general election you shake it up like an etch-a sketch and we start from scratch. >> look, how much further right can you go than being a governor that cuts spending, cuts taxes, stands for life, strands for traditional marriage and opposes cap and trade, and how much further to the right can you go than making an absolute commitment to get rid of obamacare starting day one? these guys, the two guys that are out there as losers now, mr. gingrich, and mr. santorum, are grasping at straws and grasping at toys. the fact is that mitt romney was a conservative governor, has a

conservative platform he has put out as to how he will govern as president. i think rick santorum is going to look back at this silly waiving of a toy trying to make a point as one of his most embarrassing moments in the campaign. martha: it's a good thing for the etch-a sketch folks, it kind of reminded all of of us. it's a classic great back seat toy. >> i'm a frisbee person myself. it allows you to soar to greater heights and longer depths. martha: we'll put you down for the frisbee come holiday time. thank you mr. senunu, always good to talk to you. bill: best press that toy has had in 20 years. martha: it's a great classic toy. bill: 1960 it is. martha: you could do worse than spend a half an hour with an etch-a sketch. bill: we are drowning in debt. even in the best of times how long would it take to pay down the debt? we'll tell you, because you asked. plus there is this.

>> it's going to be very, very exciting, but we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it away from the fog of the controversies. martha: it was going to be very exciting when you get to see is in it. the chair of the democratic national committee is here today to talk to us about the healthcare bill two years later it is still being hotly debated.

>> we will be cutting indiscriminately lee just like they are doing in greece. we have a moral and legal obligation to budget, to show how we will prevent this debt crisis, this most predictable crisis from coming. bill: that is paul ryan detailing how is proposed budget

can balance the budget. the debt is $15 trillion. randy laverne writes, how long would it take to pay down the debt if our economy returned to its most robust year and spending stayed at current hrefplts steven moore, writer for the wal "wall street journal." good morning. if you took the best year in the history of america, based on surplus, the year 2000, under bill clinton we took in $236 billion. if the debt at 15.5 trillion does not change, for 66 years you would then achieve the accomplishment of paying down the debt. that's if we don't go any deeper than 15.5 trillion and if you get a surplus at a record high for 66 years. that is phenomenal. >> well, bill, let me say this.

that is the absolute best case scenario that you could possibly come up with, because remember, we are facing about $10 trillion of additional debt over the next ten years. so you're kind of assuming that we would move from a trillion dollar deficit to a $200 billion surplus overnight. not very likely to happen. bill: the point on that, steve, this is all a hypothetical by the way. >> sure. bill: based on the track we are on right now it's not going to happen. i think the emphasizes how deep the whole is. >> no yes about it. it's a lot worse than even your statisticses indicate. it will take a longtime to get to a balanced budget. in the last 40 years there's only been three or four years we've had a balanced budget. under the scenario you layout we'd have to have 67 straight years of record surpluses, that is kind of hard to imagine. there is another risk factor here that i think people should be paying attention to. we are the largest debtor in the

world. we have the record low interest rates right now, 2 or 3% interest rates on these bonds. imagine what happens if we start to see a hundred or 200 basis increase in interest rates, then the debt situation gets a trillion dollars worse for every one percentage point increase in the interest rate. so -- bill: you're not making me feel any better, steven. >> yeah, what i'm saying, bill is it's not going to happen in your lifetime or my lifetime. the main thing is, let's take this one step at a time. i would be overjoyed, bill if he could just get to a balanced budget so we are not -- sometimes people get the deficit and the debt mixed up. the deficit is the amount we add to the debt every year. if we could at least balance the budget at least we won't be adding to the debt year after year as we've done for the last ten years. bill: steven, thank you, i think. >> mind boggling question. i had to get mychal khraeute

mychamy calculator out. these are big numbers. bill: you've got a question you want answered? compose that email in the form of a question, just need one line, only a click away, because you asked, bya hemme hemmer at fox news.com. 66 years. martha: up lifting. thanks, bill. so a daring plot tow bus to bust the only woman on death row out of prison. how close the plan came to working for that lady straight ahead. bill: he is a super bowl champion that will be banned from his team the entire season. sean payton suspended from the new orleans states for backing a bounty program. fair punishment for not. >> it was devastating. i was looking forward to another super bowl this year. i think it's truly unfair. >> i think they are going too far with it.

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anna is live in our newsroom. how far did the plot get. >> reporter: there was a plan in the work to break the woman out and money changing hands but no imminent danger of escape. that's according to the tennessee bureau of investigation spokesperson. it is clear she has a wildly violent past and an ability to lure in men to help her. the 36-year-old is still behind bars and a former prison guard and a frequent male gest of hers have been charged in connection with the plan. she was sentenced to death back in 1996 at the age of just 19 for the slaying of a fellow job core student, an 18-year-old who had apparently been in a love triangle with the woman and her then boyfriend. they stabbed and beat the woman and carved a pen pentagram into her chest. in a prior interview the woman

said she was terrified of being put to death. >> i'm scared of the electric chair, i'm scared of having my head shaved bald and being strapped in a huge chair and being shocked to death. if you think about it, you know, you can touch someone else and get shocked and that hurts and that's just barely being shocked. >> reporter: she remains on death row, and martha no execution date has been set. martha: you have uncovered that this is not the first time that she has been in trouble while she's been in death row, right. >> reporter: right back in 2004 she was convicted of attempted first-degree murder for an incident that happened back in 2001. she almost choked a fellow female inmate to death with a shoestring. she had mentioned in the past wanting to escape with another previous boyfriend, at least one former boyfriend that she has done so with. martha: thank you very much. bill: 25 minutes now before the hour. new this morning on that unprecedented punishment for the

new orleans saints, they won the super bowl only two years ago. head coach sean payton gone out pay for the entire year, and that is just part of the penalty for the saints' bounty program. that program offered money, cash dollars to players who knocked out certain opponents during a game. the commissioner, roger goodell says the league will not tolerate this. >> we have a serious violation of an existing rule that threatens the health and welfare of our players. bill: bernie gol goldberg is a fox news contributor, and does real sports with brian gumbal. fair punishment? >> i think it is. i think it is. it's worth repeating what you said in the lead in. what was this all about? it was about players being promised bonus money, not for hitting the quarterback or some other player on the other team as hard as he can, that is part of the game, but for injuring

him and putting him out of commission, either for part of the game or for the entire game. that crosses a line, that's -- bill: to say the punishment fits the crime and the proof that they have on the table. the head coach is gone for the year, the defensive coordinator has jumped to another team, he has been suspended indefinite leave. the general manager of the new orleans saints is out for half a year. this is a punishment we've never seen before. >> that's p-l right. exactly right. if you're asking if i think that is the right punishment i do. it's inherently a dangerous game. you can't get violence out of football or you'll have ping-pong or something. repeated hits to the head, brain trauma can lead to brain damage down the road. the early on set of dementia, alzheimers, even lou gehrig's

disease, and then to where some players kill themselves. that is part of the game. unfortunately the violence is part of the game. to go that next step and to say, we'll pay you if you injure a player and put them out of commission and put them on that cart so that they have to wheel them off-the-field, i find that disgraceful. bill: what it tells me, bernie, is that the commissioner had the goods and he knows how deep this program ran within the team. and what he's saying to every other football player and coach in the league, is that do not go down this road, because if you knockout one of our star players there will be hell to pay down the road. >> that's exactly it. bill: there is a tweet from drew brees, he says sean payton is a great man, coach and mentor, the best there is. i need to hear an explanation for this. perhaps in time he gets his explanation. this came out, bernie, on the

same day, keep in mind this is americ america's most popular sport this morning, on the same day that tim tebow is coming to the world's largest media market, new york city and the new york jets. what is your best guess on how the media is going to treat this? >> well the new york media i think is going to treat it one of two ways. if he does well everything is fine, you know. if he wins no problem. if he loses i think the media will resort to what liberals in the media, and liberals in the general population have done, they make fun of people of faith. tim tebow was probably the most pol polarizing figure in sports for one reason, because he is religious. if he doesn't win, they loses games, if he fumbles, if he does

all the things you're not supposed to do in football i guarantee you the crazy religious, crazy i'm putting that in quotation marks, religious stuff will pop back into the story. bill: even when he was winning in denver he was criticized. >> that's right, bill but a lot of criticism was coming from people outside of denver. listen, as far as the fans are concerned, once you start winning, i mean they don't care what you do. they don't care. but i just think that people of faith in some circles are seen as odd, and tim tebow is a person of faith, he was seen as odd, and he will continue to be seen as odd. but if he wins, as i say, it will be less -- much less of a factor. bill: winning is everything. thanks nor coming in today, i really appreciate your input on this. i forget that you cover sports for a living as well. appreciate you coming and

chipping in on this. i think it will be a fascinating year to see how all this develops in new york. if the jets win he'll get a good ride, if not look out. thank you. martha: a couple of quick thoughts on that. i think it may light a fire under marc sanchez as far as competition to be sure. joe namoth thought it was a really bad idea. you have two quarterbacks, they are making each other better. how about this image of seeing rex and tebow next to each other chatting on the field. bill: usually march madness is associated with something else, and yesterday we were tkel dealing with the nfl. martha: it is turning into a trend during prom season. celebrities accepting going to

the prom with fans. one school says, no, no, no, microphone lined up not one but two porn stars to go to the prom with him. the two stars in question both said sure, we'd love to go to your prom. after stone tweeted the invitation to hundreds of adult stars the school says piper is not welme quote, is inconsistent with the district's policy. bill: he got two, huh? martha: he has one on each arm. bill: he's a popular man. martha: he has to by two corsages and has to save up and a limo. bill: days before the law goes before the u.s. supreme court they want to repeal it. debbie wasserman schultz is in the wings to respond to that. martha: he was trying to spruce up his home, one guy in the slammer for not getting the job done quite fast enough.

you'll hear why the city finally cracked down. smiths.

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that developing nations meet demand from a growing population dealing with the affects of climate change. 14 now before the hour, martha. martha: president obama has said that healthcare is his greatest accomplishment so far as president and is now facing a major hurdle as you well no in the u.s. supreme court. that a gets underway a couple of days from now. according to the latest fox news polls 46% say that they believe that the law should be ruled unconstitutional. 43% believe that it is constitutional, and that may reflect what we see as a tight shape up in the supreme court as well. that remains to be seen. how about this poll as well, 59% believe that at least parts of the law should be repealed, only 14%, only 14% of those asked want to leave the healthcare bill exactly as it is. a lot of room for change and development, perhaps in the bill reflected in that poll. joined now by florida congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz the chairwoman of the

democrat take national committee. congresswomen welcome. >> great to be back with you. martha: a lot has been said that there is not a big celebration going on tomorrow. it marks the second year anniversary of the passage of healthcare. president obama resent lee said that he really feels that is his single greatess accomplishment as president. he's very, very proud of it. why do you think there isn't sort of a marking of that big day tomorrow? >> there absolutely is a marking of this big day tomorrow. it's the two-year anniversary of the signing of the affordable care act into law. the two-year anniversary of 2.6 million seniors being able to get lower prescription drug costs because of the doughnut hole, the dreaded medicare prescription drug coverage gap that the republicans left open when part b passed now is beginning to close, and those millions of seniors are saving money, the 2.5 million young adults that can now say on their parents' insurance until they are 26 years old. i want to talk -- we should talk about what there is to celebrate

because there is quite a bit. martha: and you have mentioned several of those items, and the white house has said that they will not be sort of mark being imarking it in any kind of anniversary sort of way tomorrow and that may be because the supreme court gets underway next week and that will get a lot of attention. there is a recent cbo report that shows that it will cost actually twice what they originally estimated, that the original cost of the healthcare program $986 billion now looks like more closer to $2 trillion over ten years, and they estimate that 20 million americans will lose coverage because small businesses will decide that they no longer want to cover their employees. how do you square that, you know, with the pluses that you are pointing out? >> well, you're not going to have people lose insurance. in fact millions more small businesses will decide to cover their employees, because right now small businesses can get a

35% tax credit for covering their employees when they don't now. by 2014 they will get up to a 50% credit on those premiums, and so we anticipate that many more people will get coverage. martha: they may be covered but they are not going to be covered by the plan that they have, the president said that they could keep their plan. >> let me finish. martha: this is a cbo report so i'm asking you. >> and i'm responding. martha: 20 million people will lose coverage according to this report. >> they won't lose coveragement you're not quoting the report accurately. martha: i believe i am, go ahead. >> as opposed to -- okay. let me answer the question, please. if a business decides not to cover their employees any more, those employees under the affordable care act will be able to enter the insurance exchanges, which is private healthcare insurance that they will be able to get that is the same coverage, and in many cases better coverage than they have now.

so don't suggest that the cbo is saying they'll lose coverage. they have more opportunities for coverage. but small businesses in particular will have an opportunity to get a 50% premium tax credit, which they don't have available to them now, so this is actually a boom to small businesses. martha: they won't cover any employees any more because they are moving over to the coop that you're talking about. >> no, no, no it's not a coop. they are private exchanges. martha: an insurance exchange would be the term for it. i wanted to get into the whole budget issue. i hope you'll come back another day for that. these are obviously really important topics that we're talking about. right now in the house they are debating the independent board that would decide medicaid coverage. how do you think that is going to go? >> well, i think it's clear that the republicans in the house are doing everything they can to make sure we can go back to the days when insurance companies could drop you or deny you

coverage when the insurance companies decided to charge women more simply because they were women. martha: will you hold over, over the break for us please. we are going to take a very quick break and we'll be right back. >> sure, no problem. picking a wireless network is a lot like picking a team. you could go with the fastest, most reliable, and at the very least, talented at what they do. or... you could go in the other direction,

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martha: my thanks to congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz who stayed with us over the break to continue our conversation about healthcare reform. thank you for that, congresswomen. i want to get back to the issue that is being debated i believe right about now on the floor of the house of representatives. of it has to do with this ten to 15 panel board of people that would make some decisions in terms of senior healthcare. a lot of representatives in the house want to see that p repealed. it's got even a lot of negative attention. why do you stand by it? >> making sure that we can continue to bring down costs in healthcare overall is

important. keep in mind that that board is not the final word. you have the secretary of health and human services who is able to approve their recommendations, and then congress ultimately has the final say. so there's been a lot of miss characterizations and misunderstanding about the role of that board. the goal is to make sure that we can continue to bring down costs and insure that everyone has access to healthcare. martha: paul ryan, who as you know rolled out his plan for the budget yesterday morning, he wants to do away with that panel, and he feels that if you allow the coverage to stay exactly in place for everybody 55 and over you won't have to deny them any coverage, that they might be denied through this panel. he's saying skip the panel, keep the coverage that you have, under 55, then we'll start to work on ways to lower the costs of coverage for medicare. why isn't that a plan that you could maybe talk to him about? >> because paul ryan wants to turn medicare into a voucher program, and end the medicare

guarantee safety net that we established more than 40 years ago that insures that a senior never has to worry about going medically bankrupt and children don't have to worry about going bankrupt themselves taking care of their elderly parents. martha: why not compromise and say everyone 55 and over you get to keep it exactly how it is. cost cutting is so essential in this department, why not have have that discussion at least. >> we should have a discussion about cost cutting. we don't believe we have to have a discussion that turns medicare into a voucher program, republicans do. that is the essential difference between the way we think we should bring down healthcare costs. martha: we tried to cram in a lot. thank you very much. we hope to talk with you again. bill: you're right, big issues on the table. bill: can republicans retake the senate? larry sabato on that.

all right, let's decide what to

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