>> gretchen: we had fun. >> steve: tomorrow on our program, a bunch of people will go to vote in two states in the district of columbia. we will talk about who the winners are. >> brian: jenny finch. >> steve: so long. bill: great show and good morning. what happens in vegas doesn't necessarily stay that way. a top government official is out after spending nearly a million dollars of your money on a lavish sin city conference. good work if you can get it. good morning. i'm bill hemmer. martha: like we heard this story before. good morning, everybody. i'm martha maccallum. the white house is calling this a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars. the head of this agency is called the general services administration. we'll tell you what they do in a minute. her name is martha johnson. she handed in her resignation. two other employees were forced out. bill: the training session they put on cost an eye-popping $850,000 including a mind reader and a clown.

stuart varney is not a clown. he is from the fox business network. he is with me now. >> all right, bill. bill: what are the facts here? >> two years ago, october, 2010, 18 months ago to be precise, they hold a trading meeting at the m resort in henderson near las vegas, nevada. this was junketing government style, similar to the junketing which got so much bad publicity at the crash time. this time it is on your dime. bill: here is what they were paying for, $19 for cheese per person. $7,000 for sushi. $3700 for t-shirts. $2800 for water bottles. the mind reader i mentioned was 3200 cal. $75,000 on a training exercise to put bikes together. what happened to frugality? >> it went out the window, did it not? blatant examples of extravagant spending. let me draw your attention

to $147,000 spent on expenses for people to travel to las vegas six times to plan this meeting. and when they were planning the meeting they secured a low room rate at this resort in exchange for spending more money on food and beverages. so they fixed the low room rate to comply with government rules and then deliberately overcharged 41,000 bucks worth of food to make it up to the hotel taxpayers lost. bill: remind us what the gsa does. they are agency in charge of watching how the government spends a lot of its money. >> they run things. they oversee government is pras. they have 12,000 employees. it is a very important agency. martha johnson gone. two top aides gone. for administrators on leave. bill: this is big deal, it happened in 2008, 2009. shows it still goes on. you will pick up on this in 15 minutes on fbn. stuart varney on that. martha? martha: that report is not

sitting too well with many lawmakers this morning. democratic congressman elijah cummings, ranking member on house oversight and government reform. released a statement saying quote, this report appears to be a gross abuse of taxpayer dollars and a breach of public trust. although i'm encouraged swift action was taken to hold officials accountable i have requested an immediate briefing from gsa's inspector general on this report. bill: a lot of sushi. martha: that is a lot of sushi. $10,000 worth. also, this morning, there are some grisly new details emerging in the shooting rampage we all watched play out yesterday afternoon at a small christian university. police say a former nursing student lined up people against the wall and opened fire. seven people lost their lives in this tragic incident and witnesses of course were horrified by what they saw. >> oh god. oh god.

>> scary. we didn't know was happening. that was the scary part. >> i heard a gunshots, gunshots like five or six. like that. and a woman screamed. and then, my teacher, he went outside and they checked. then she heard, oh like somebody has a gun, run. martha: my gosh. claudia cowan joins us now live on this story from oakland. claudia, what are we learning this morning about this accused gunman? >> reporter: well, good morning, martha. i just spoke to oakland police chief howard jordan. he was able to give me a better idea who the alleged gunman is and why he opened fire. just as classes were getting underway at oikos university, an asian religious vocational school. the suspect has been identified as oakland resident. 43-year-old, one l. goh.

the chief says he was kicked out several months ago for behavioral problems. he was a former nursing student. felt he was disrespected by school employees and other students. armed with a handgun with thoughts of revenge he came back yesterday with the specific target, the school administrator. she wasn't here. he entered a classroom an opened fire on anyone in sight, shooting students and school employees and in the hallways as well as students hid behind locked doors or ran for their lives, police searched campus looking for victims and unsure of the gunman's whereabouts. >> the suspect initially believed to be still on the scene or inside. potential victims remained inside the building either trapped by a locked door which officers were unable to open, or unable to evacuate due to injuries. >> reporter: 35 people were inside the school at tile of this shooting. 10 people were hit. seven did not survive.

we understand the three who were wounded are expected to fully recover. martha, a memorial service is being planned for the victims and their families tonight. as for the school, oikos university, you perhaps see the patrol car in front of the building, it remains closed until further notice because it is still an active crime scene as police go through those classrooms, go through those hallways collecting more evidence to build their case. back to you. martha: awful story, claudia? how did they track down this suspect? it was a long haul. >> reporter: the gunman fled the scene before officers arrived. he apparently commandeered a student car and drove a few miles away to a nearby shopping center where he reportedly walked into a safe way supermarket and confessed to an employee there. that prompted calls to police who arrived immediate and made the arrest. he is inside the patrol car that you're seeing here in this video, one goh taken

away into custody. the police tells me he is very cooperative and should be arraigned on multiple charges in the next few days. martha. martha: claudia cowan in oakland. bill:. seven minutes past the hour. new this morning they are voting today in wisconsin, maryland and washington, d.c. mitt romney the only candidate holding events in wisconsin today. during a stop in milwaukee romney says he is focused on the nomination and not a vice-presidential choice but he did not rule out wisconsin congressman paul ryan. have a listen. >> surely he is on the list of the very top people in our party. >> how long is that list, do you know? >> i haven't a clue. we haven't put it together. >> you've been with him a lot. what do you talk about. >> we talk about the economy the we talk about the campaign. bill: watch that story. back and forth they go. rick santorum meanwhile is in pennsylvania. that primary is three weeks from today. on the program yesterday, yesterday santorum

guaranties victory in pennsylvania on 24th of april. ron paul holding a rally in california later tonight. martha: mitt romney halfway to the magic delegate number of 1144. that is the number of delegates a candidate needs to clinch the nomination. boy, would he like to do just that. he is halfway there as we said, 572. sick santorum at 273. gingrich at 135. ron paul has only 50 delegates in the big count. bill: this primary may not be the biggest battle in wisconsin. watch this story. the push to recall republican governor scott walker is heating up. mike tobin live in new berlin, wisconsin this morning. mike, hello to you. >> reporter: hello, bill. between the ads on tv and signs on the lawn it is difficult for the presidential candidates to get noticed here in wisconsin. the election people here care about the one certified last friday. that is the recall of governor scott walker. on primary day wisconsin is

obsessed with the recall of governor scott walker. the recall linked to the big battle with unions. >> the presidential race has had a hard time getting on the radar screen in wisconsin. so much attention has been paid to the recall elections and there has been recall fever over a year now. >> let's keep wisconsin moving forward. stand with scott. >> reporter: the airwaves are loaded with ads supporting or attacking the governor and his challengers. the top contenders in the republican race align themselves with governor walker and dug into their pockets to let voters know the presidential race has arrived. >> we spent plenty of money to get our message out and. >> reporter: dairy state donations to the presidential campaigns are down 57%. by contrast governor walker set a record, raising $12 million by january before the recall was certified. >> there's no question that there is money flowing, big

money flowing. it is just not flowing to presidential race. >> reporter: now the recall is seen as an extension of the presidential race. if walker wins or loses this recall in june that is seen as a strong indicator for how wisconsin will vote come november. bill? bill: a big deal up there. thank you. mike tobin live on the ground in wisconsin. 10 minutes past the hour. watch that walker story. martha: this morning those are sus a few of the stories we have cooking up in "america's newsroom" right now. mitt romney is starting to focus his battle squarely on the president in so many ways. what does he need to do to take the white house? is his campaign in a bit of trouble if he doesn't show voters the quote, real romney? boy that has been discussed. we'll talk about that with ed rollins. bill: president obama with a stern warning for the u.s. supremes. unelected judges should not strike down health care. was he right to make those comments?

a terrific panel set to go. martha: house minority leader nancy pelosi makes some interesting comments about her work place during an interview this week. >> americans overwhelming numbers show that they don't approve of the congress. why do you think that is? martha: hmmm wait until you hear what nancy pelosi had to say about that. back in "america's newsroom" after this last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years.

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martha: this morning there are serious new warnings as authorities are investigating a mysterious image threatening the return of al qaeda to new york. this chilling graphic, take a look at this, which looks like a poster for an upcoming movie, appears on a handful of arabic web sites. includes the words as you see, al qaeda coming soon again in new york. the nypd and now the fbi also investigating this. a spokesman says the fbi takes all threat seriously. at this time there is no

specific or credible threat to new york, however, they're looking into that. bill: there is a new warning from president obama directed at unelected supreme court justices who are now considering his health care law, whether or not it is constitutional. here is his comment yesterday. >> i just remind conservative commentators for years what we we heard the biggest problem on the bench is judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint. that, an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law. well, this is a good example and i'm pretty confident that this, this court will recognize that and not take that step. bill: andrea tanteros, daily news columnist, co-host of "the five", fox news channel. sally cone, fox news

contributor sitting in for sally beckel. sally, good morning. andrea, good morning. you guys are an elected panel. we chose both of you to appear. andrea, what do you make of this comment? >> at least is consistent progressive. progress serves, always bill have a disdain for the constitution and separation of powers. president obama is looking at the scenario and looking at the way the media played it last week. look huy the arguments went down monday, tuesday, wednesday and he is saying this mandate might fail. there could be some truth to the fact that this administration wants to lawn of a full-throated attack on the court. number one would rally the base certainly. could you imagine the talking points already only thing standing between universal health care are a couple of george bush nominees and on and on. bill: the base would love that, would they not, sally. >> no. >> the base would love that, also more than that, bill, this is what progressives really believe. they have not, they have ignored marbury versus

madison for a long time which says congress is not allowed to pass a law that impeeds the constitution. as justice marshall said, if you don't uphold this why even have the constitution at all? bill: the reason why the supreme court was set up and not elected to make sure they were not influenced by voters or playing to any particular group. sally, would you like to make a comment. >> let me say andrea is misrepresenting progressives. progressives believe deeply in the constitution and i. and, tossed out as not representing the constitution but the president is a constitutional scholar. let's give him a little credit on that one. bill: why does he go on record the way he did? i mean, the question is, pretty simple, are you okay with this or not? >> i'm okay with him making the point. bill: hedging a little bit. >> look. here is reality of the politics of the situation. he is being very consistent that he thinks that the

country needs health care reform. that in fact a major part of our economy especially when people who do not have insurance have to off-load the costs on to taxpayers. we end up paying for the care of people of people who don't have insurance. bill: understood. that is not a question of constitution. >> well it is about the commerce clause and right --. bill: if this law goes down it is all politics. >> i think what he is setting up and i think it is a smart move, he is setting up a challenge around his campaign, not only about the supreme court but about congress as well in setting up the logjam that is part partisan conservative ideology in washington puts ideology ahead of innovation and puts politics ahead of progress and the people. bill: what about that, andrea. >> he speaks to the middle. country too. >> one the fact that progress serves have not been fully supportive of the constitution, look at any of theoretical writings. they think it is archaic. a lot of liberals think it should be abolish ad lot of portions of it because it is out of date.

look, sally just admitted it. this president wants a political strategy to go after the court. bill, he welcomes this. they want this type of fight. remember, we've seen presidents do this before with fdr and his signature piece of legislation. the supremes rule ad lot of pieces of thatness constitutional. the court was made up much like it is now. he put forth his court packing scheme. guess what it worked. i'm not sure obama would do something similar saying justices should retire at age 70 like fdr did. bill: we went back. the last real significant nationally recognized case by the supreme court, bush v. gore. we found no evidence that bill clinton, in that november-december, battle re-election count where he suggested politics on the court or suggested judicial activism. he said we haven't found it. >> bill clinton, to be clear he was lame

to be continued for 2 1/2 months. thank you, ladies. martha: serious charges of election fraud and at the center of the case the race

for the highest office in the land. bill: also whitney houston's mom is talking for the first time. how is she doing and if she has any regrets. >> i'm truly believer of god. i know he works by his own. nothing i can do about it. nothing nobody else can do about it. if i could do something to bring her back that is exactly what i would do but i know that is impossible. copd makes it hard to breathe,

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bill: for the fires time since her daughter's death we're now hearing from her mother. cissy houston opened up about whitney's final days. while her daughter suffered from addictions, she says she is doing the best that she can at the moment. >> i know i did the best i could for everything. >> mom to mom, anything you could have done differently? >> not really because my children are my whole life.

she was very special to me, very special. she is my only daughter and a good one. very good. she looked out for her family. >> how are you doing? >> i'm good. i'm good. i have my moments. i'm not there yet. i know more courageous anyone else let me tell you. i have my moments. i haven't gotten angry yet. i might. >> do you still hear her talking to you? >> yeah. yeah, i do. bill: she is back in church and singing which probably gives her --. martha: helps a lot. bill: she releases a new song, called, walk on by tath faith. our best for her. martha: that must have been a hard interview for her to talk about that. a long close relationship, mother and daughter. all right. well the kentucky crowd as

you might imagine still getting over the big news. they went crazy inside the arena last night after the wildcats took down kansas university to claim the ncaa national championship last night. but outside, things looked a little different. like this. [cheering]. martha: they look pretty happy out there. the other night they were turning over cars and that kind of thing. dozens of folks were arrested in that melee after the big win over kansas. a few arrests. julie banderas is working on the story with an update from the newsroom. julie, what was it like outside the arena? >> reporter: you said it. they did look happy for a moment. then they took celebration to a whole new violent level. ex-lexington police say a man got shot as thousands of people were celebrating. kentucky win over kansas for another ncaa title. students went wild and

taking out a fire truck and taking out the hose to play tug-of-war. acts of violence and vandalism. the shooting happened shortly after 2:00 a.m. when someone, inside a vehicle exchanged words with some people standing on the sidewalk and according to the police when the people in that car got out a person on the sidewalk pulled out a handgun, opened fire, hitting a man from inside the vehicle. the victim in his 30s was taken to the hospital with serious injuries that aren't believed to be life-threatening. police lost track of the gunman when he disappeared. he is on the loose. he somehow disappeared into the crowd behind buildings. so far there have been no arrests, martha. martha: it was all sparked by the big win the question is always what causes people to go to these kind of extremes in celebrating? >> reporter: i'll never know. you watch these championships it is great when they watch their team but turning on each other is

ludicrous. there have been more than one of the riots. it happened after the university of kentucky beat kansas with the final score of 67-59 that was supposed to be a good thing. before the game ended riot police were in place. all hell breaks loose. students set 30 fires, landing several fans in the hospital with injuries. it was supposed to be a celebration. it was a good thing for the school but a really bad thing for the city, martha. martha: julie, thank you very much. julie banderas. bill: they have a good team, kentucky. >> they are amazing, we carried the goalposts through town in oxford, ohio my senior year. martha: you didn't hurt anybody. bill: nobody got arrested. nobody injured. we were two for two. martha: carrying a goalpost is one thing. drinking has to be one of the main problems. bill: how about the house they tore apart? they knew this was coming. martha: poor guy was shot. bill: gas prices continue to rise, we know that. president obama says drilling will not help you america.

why does he keep saying he is boosting our oil supply? jim angle will sort out the facts on that. martha: a story this morning that may cause a bit of tension on the romney team. are they split about how to guide their candidate? ed rollins knows all the players in these stories and he joins us with his take on that piece coming up. [ male announcer ] when do you take 5-hour energy?

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bill: there are new developments on an election fraud scandal. fox news first broke nationally. four indiana democrats now officially charged with forging petitions for the 2008 presidential race. eric shawn live from the newsroom here in york. >> reporter: election fraud charges on a race for the highest office in the land. presidential petitions that put barack obama and hillary clinton were faked. four democratic officials and political operatives in south bend are charged with forging names and signatures of unsuspecting voters on the petitions in the 2008 presidential election. reports say so many names may have been illegally forged, that the president may not have legally qualified for the ballot. long-time chairman of the st. joseph county democratic party, butch morgan is accused of being the mastermind behind the forgery scheme. democratic board supervisor, pam brunette and democratic

elections worker beverly shelton as was democratic volunteer and former board worker dustin blythe. blythe allegedly forged signatures on president obama's petitions. when we caught up with him last november he refused to comment. >> can you talk too us about the petitions? >> no, i'm sorry. i don't have anything to say. >> reporter: did you forge any signatures? >> i don't have anything to say. >> reporter: did you fake any taet petitions at all? >> i don't have anything to say. >> reporter: investigators say they found forgeries on 22 petitions that list 10 names each. voters told us they were stunned. is that your signature on this? >> that is not my signature. >> reporter: did you sign this petition for barack obama? >> no. >> reporter: you did not? >> no i did not. >> reporter: this is forgery? >> absolutely. >> reporter: this is fake. one handling mrs. clinton and another then senator obama and blythe, john edwards who he met. when edwards dropped out of

the race they say blythe was assigned forgery duty to the candidate that would become the president. if you suspect voter fraud or elections problems where you live we want to know about it. there is the address. voterfraud@foxnews.com. bill: when you find mickey mouse come on back. >> reporter: will do bill. bill: eric shawn. martha: there are new reports this morning mitt romney's inner circle is working to resolve one of the main main attacks against the campaign and his image and ability to connect with the voters out there. critics say he fails to do just that. here is romney on one of the main themes of his campaign. >> part of the miracle of america was that the founders saw something which frankly was an extraordinary insight. they began by writing the words in the declaration of independence, that the creator gave us our rights, not the king, not the state. we would be free in this

nation to pursue happiness in our own ways. we would not have a government telling us what we could do with our life. martha: this example of mitt romney out on the campaign trail. we saw him early this morning on "fox & friends". we're joined by ed rollins, former deputy of chief of staff for president reagan. he managed the campaign for reagan's landslide election in 1984. fox news contributor. good to have you here. >> great. martha: this is what the romney campaign wakes up to this morning. they go through what is written about the campaign this morning. this particular piece comes from "politico". it is quoting mostly unnamed sources we should point out. the operative says the campaign has become overprotective romney. part of the quote, we have to keep him locked in a box thing. he has been overprogrammed. says another section he has become like a golfer with too many thoughts in his head. we know what that feels like

you can cramp up and can't hit the ball at some point . what do you make of this story? >> first of all people are writing books as campaigns come on. this came out of a political book. usually the books are written after the campaign. and basically everybody is trying to get their place in history saying this is what really happened. here is how smart i really am. if the candidate would have done what i asked him to do. this is not helpful to a campaign. this is a campaign that has struggled. they're on their way to be the nominee. he is much better candidate than he was four years ago, debater, what have you. critical thing is not democracy. you have a bunch of people in a campaign and one person has to be in charge. the candidate has to go out and be the candidate. when ronald reagan asked me to run his campaign. you're my director. i made movies. i've been a candidate before. you tell me what you want to do i will go out and do it. that is what has to happen here. martha: put on that hat for us, ed because it sound like if this piece is accurate, and all of these pieces some of it is, some of it isn't

usually ends up being the story, what would you tell mitt romney how to respond to this question, of quote, should we let mitt be mitt or that might be dangerous because he sometimes says things that end up getting way more airtime than the things we want? >> three weeks after today. today he will have a good day. i think he will win all three the primaries today. you have three weeks. here is how we have to finish. we have to finish off santorum in pennsylvania. get ready for the big states, california, new york, texas. think about what you want to say and what you want to do. it has to be about you. what are you comfortable with. when you're comfortable you can perform at a high level. at this point it is time to reload and get ready for the long haul. martha: one suggestion, they should take him off the teleprompter. they say he is very good on his feet when we allow him to get out there and talk. would you tell him to do that? would you losen him up? you know what, if you say one or two things that get negative attention, don't

worry about it. get out there and -- >> only thing i would offer get him out of the jeans and get him back in a suit. i think he is more comfortable in a suit. martha: why? >> i think he is more comfortable in a suit. you look at a president you don't think about a guy in jeans. as he gets ready for the fall campaign. he doesn't need a teleprompter. he is a very smart guy. at this point in time he ought to know what he will say. you repeat the message over and over again. that's what he ought to do. martha: they talk about him stepping aside at some point to spend time with his wife ann for a difficult question about how he would go into a debate i believe it was in florida. how important is that grounding the candidate, the husband-wife relationship. >> it is critical. he adores his wife. she has been his most important ally for a long time. nancy reagan was his closest visor. at end of the day if she was mad with me for some reason i was going to have a bad day next day. martha: do you think that

way with ann romney. >> she is very strong supporter of this man. i think the comfort level is very important. martha: when that comes through it is very humanizing. >> as i said, right now he is on his way to victory. he has had a very hard primary process. do what he does best and most comfortable doing. martha: ed, great to have you here today. >> great. bill: breaking news within the news corp family. james murdoch stepping down as sky network. parent company of fox news channel. in a written statement, murdoch says the following. quote in light of continuing intensity and volume of commentary about past news events at news international, i want the interests of bskyb on matters that ultimately have nothing to do with it. i'm aware my role as chairman could become a lightning rod. now is the right time for me to step aside, end quote. murdoch went on to say it is important to continue to do what we believe is right

even when that is controversial. he has been under pressure following britain's phone-hacking scandal. he will remain a board member to be replaced by nicolas ferguson, the current deputy chairman. breaking news out of london. 19 minutes to the hour. martha: the vast majority of americans say they disapprove of the job congress is doing and now one of the top leaders of congress says essentially the same thing. that coming up. bill: can't make it up, can you? stunning new evidence connected to the mysterious booming sound in one american town. what are the latest clues? ♪ . all right, let's decide what to

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middle of the night happening in clintonville, wisconsin. listen to this. okay. now we know what it sound like. >> first time we heard that. martha: that is the sound a lot of locals are wondering, you can understand what the heck is going on down there. experts believe it is coming from small earthquakes. listen. >> i had to go back and try to figure out, it is not something as simple as playing it back and seeing if you can hear it. >> sounded like nothing so much as somebody whacking on a 55-gallon drum. too sharp and too distinct. >> not only important for people to call but to make sure they look at their watch as soon as they hear it. martha: interesting, right? the u.s. geological survey is asking people to report strange noises to its website so they can get a pattern and figure out what is going on. bill: they weren't making that up, were they? martha: unless somebody made up that tape. bill: we hope not.

martha: we hope not. bill: house minority leader nancy pelosi none too pleased with congress. did you hear? >> americans in overwhelming numbers show they don't approve of the congress. >> right. >> what why do you think that is? >> well, they don't see, i don't approve of the congress. count me among them. the fact is that we've had a period of time where there has been just obstruction to anything that the president wants to do. bill: what about that with reince priebus, chairman of the republican national committee, former chairman of the pub wisconsin republican party. >> good morning, bill. bill: there was a lot in that interview. how do you react to that? >> first of all, if nancy pelosi would resign the approval rating would skyrocket by 20 points. she is the most unpopular member of congress but here's the deal. nancy pelosi and harry reid ran the congress and the senate for two out of the three years that barack obama has been president.

so all of the whining and complaining, they should just look in the mirror and they can find the culprit. i mean the reality a guy like paul ryan, by even democratic accounts is the only person in washington right now leading with the republican congress now in a budget proposal that is an adult conversation as to how to get our debt and deficit under control. and actually, the president could support the ryan budget and the republicans and fulfill some of his own campaign promises but instead they didn't do that. and in fact, they voted down the president's own budget. bill: democrats had the majority for four years. four of the last six. talked about health care law being crown jewel accomplishment of current administration. she wants hillary clinton to run for the white house in 2016. she does aprove of congress and folks like mitch mcconnell have only one interest in mind and that is making sure this president fails. mitch mcconnell referred to that some years back. what do you think about

that? >> well, i think that this president has some sort of repellant around him and he has an inability to lead this country and he hasn't shown any leadership. his budget failed in the senate 97-0. his budget failed last week, didn't get a single democratic vote including nancy pelosi's in the congress last week. i think these issues are great facing america. i don't believe that republicans, i'm included in this, i don't believe this and these problems facing our country are about the republican or this election. i think that these issues are about the country that we all love which is america and unfortunately the democrats are more interested in winning an election and i'm sure --. bill: you would agree that we need to figure this out and how we do that is issue number one? >> of course. bill: quickly, being from wisconsin what happens to that republican governor scott walker do you believe? >> i think scott will do a great job in june and win

re-election and be bolder and stronger after he wins the reason is the policies are working number one. number two, the democrats are completely foolish there. they set up this world series event in wisconsin for a recall except one problem. they don't have a candidate worth two nickles on the ballot. they put two candidates on the ballot have done nothing but lose statewide elections. they have big problems. scott's policies are working and we're excited about that. bill: as you well know it has national implications what comes out of this recall vote. we'll see whether or not it is successful in the end. reince priebus, head of the rnc with us today. martha. martha: it is the toughest immigration law in the nation and now civil rights groups are taking their fight against this law all the way to the united nations. alabama's attorney general is here on that. bill: a new twist and awful one of that in the case of the missing mother in utah, if police acted could they have saved her two young children? susan powell's parents are speaking out of the we'll

talk to her father live today. >> he should have been arrested so long ago. i don't think he should have been let loose, when he started giving them bad answers at station and they knew he was lying. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition? ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8.

bill: quick check of the markets right now. we've been trading for 22 minutes or so. investors reacting to news just out from ford. ford says the sales are up 5% in march. that is the best performance they have seen in about five years. so we're off a little bit here. we'll see whether or not that money reverses momentarily. 13,235, the dow. martha: opposition groups are now taking their fight against the strictest immigration law in the nation all the way to the united nations. the alliance on this is made up of union and civil rights groups who claimed that the law hurts labor workers. luther strange is leading that charge for the

immigration law. he is alabama's attorney general. good morning, mr. strange. good to have you with us today. >> good morning. martha: so you have been, you talked about it here, this very tough immigration law that exists in alabama. tell us why, how is the question of this ending up at the united nations? >> well, martha, that is a very good question. i think it is really all about labor politics. the united nations has no jurisdiction over the state of alabama or the united states for that matter. alabama is a right-to-work state and intercompanies that have come here over the year mercedes, hyundai, are nonunion. this is opportunity for unions to make their case which has been rejected uniformly here in alabama. that is one of the reasons people come to alabama because they like the labor climate and the business climate here. martha: yeah. it's interesting because law, the alabama law, prevents people from knowingly transporting undocumented immigrants and it also

prohibits the courts from upholding contracts that are made with them. so now you've got the union groups traveling overseas to the home base of these auto companies and pointing the finger back at alabama saying that somehow you are stepping on the rights of these undocumented workers, right? >> well, i think that's their charge but i can tell you, martha, as a lawyer in private practice i represent ad number of these international companies including hyundai and traveled overseas. when they selected alabama they were very sure because i was there, to comply with the laws of the united states and of the state of alabama. the same sort of requirements we're expected to follow if we're doing business in germany or korea or somewhere else as americans. the system works. people that want to be here legally are welcome to be here. question really are we going to enforce the laws of the land? that is my job as attorney general to make sure the laws are enforced. that's what the country's based on, the rule of law. martha: well that immigration law in alabama has gotten a lot of

attention. now they're talking about it at the u.n. interesting situation. mr. luther strange, always good to have you with us, sir. thank you very much. >> thank you. bill: there are some high-profile supporters saying this about president obama's re-election bid. have you heard? >> in the second term, it's on. bill: what do they mean? we'll find out. martha: and take a look at this. what made this truck, this unbelievable, go over the edge?

i remember the day my doctor told me i have an irregular heartbeat, and that it put me at 5-times greater risk of a stroke. i was worried. i worried about my wife, and my family. bill has the mos common type of atrial fiillation, or afib. it's not caused by a heart valve problem. he was taking warfarin, but i've put him on pradaxa instead. in a clinical trial, pradaxa 150 mgs reduced stroke risk 35% more than warfarin without the need for regular blood tests. i sure was glad to hear that. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding, and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have a bleeding condition like stomach ulcers, or take aspirin, nsaids, or bloodthinners, or if you have kidney problems,

especially if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all medicines you take, any planned medical or dental procedures, and don't stop taking pradaxa without your doctor's approval, as stopping may increase your stroke ri. other side effects include indigestio stomach pain, upset, or burning. pradaxa is progress. if you have afib not caused by a heart valve problem, ask your doctor if you can reduce your risk of stroke with pradaxa.

martha: so if president obama wins reelection has he made promises to certain groups about what would come in that second term? that is being suggested by some of his most outspoken supporters, they're calling

on voters to give him that second term and find out what good things it may hold for some of the groups and that's getting attention. that's how we start a brand new hour of ""america's newsroom"". hi bill. bill: martha, good to see you, i'm bill hemmer, a new campaign saying all bets are off if the president wins a second term. >> obama has to get in the next four years, and what's going too whee really makes me excited about that is that a united states president only has two terms in the second term, it's on! martha: what does that mean, right? chris stierwalt joins me now, fox news digital politics editor. she's very excited about something that's going to happen in the second term crist and it makes folks look at that and go what is it? >> well certainly that's been the question martha, and whether it was last week, the president with his hot mic gaff, when he was talking to dimitri medvedev

about what he could do to limit u.s. missile defenses in a treaty with russia in the future, certainly he has talked to different interest groups in his base, to hispanic americans who favor what they call a comprehensive immigration policy, and other things that once he gets into a second term he can do so much more once he's sort of beyond the grip of voters and need to please folks in the middle. martha: well, he has been criticized in some quarters for not doing enough on things like immigration and same sex marriage and you bring up some of those issues. it begs the question whether or not those things will be promised in a second term and on the flipside, chris, every president, when they make it to the second term, is liberated by not having to go through the reelection process to carry out the things they want to accomplish in that second term, right? >> well, it's a fine line, martha, between being liberated and egabout lame duck, because presidents also find when they are no longer politically viable or useful figures that their

own parties tend to go off on their own direction and it's hard to get initiatives through as president bush found certainly with his social security initiative, and for president obama, though, since he had a struggle, he's having a struggle of this first term and some of his initiatives have not been popular and he's failed to deliver on some things his base wanted, he's running something very unusual, which is an aspirational reelection campaign, he says look, it wasn't so great in term one but in term two, it's going to happen. those may be difficult promises to deliver. martha: that's very interesting what you're saying there. you're saying that many presidents can run on the things they did in the first term, but you believe that in this case, he will be running on the promises of what he can accomplish if given another chance and you think that's unique, i feel like i've heard some presidents say that in the past, give me a couple of years to finish. >> generally not to this degree. generally you see a president say we've accomplished good things and we turn to look to the future to accomplish more of these good things. this is a president who says

the situation was much worse than we expected, the republicans are much worse, the oil companies are much worse, all of these bad actors have prevent us from doing what we wanted but once we get into a second term we can do this differently and get there. this is a grave danger for the reelection bid. this strategy and communications method plays into the hands of mitt romney who is warning moderate voters, independent voters, don't put this guy in office unbound by the will of the electorate. martha: very interesting. thank you, cries stare walt in -- chris stierwalt in d.c. thanks chris. bill: also new this morning, voters heading to the polls in wisconsin, maryland and washington, d.c., mitt romney is out in force in wisconsin this hour, planning to meet supporters there, rick santorum facing an uphill battle, campaigning in his home state in pennsylvania, at stake, 92 delegates. mitt romney has half the delegates needed to secure the nomination. on the map behind me we

focus on wisconsin, and the state of play there. our landscape, the deeper the red, the more trouble you're in. if you're green, you're doing all right relatively speaking. the numbers go back and make a comparative basis to november 2008, the last time persons went to the polls. in wisconsin, unemployment rate is decent, six-point # percent, well below the national average, however, when you look at the number of jobs lost, that's significant. since 2008, 83,000, which shows you how well wisconsin was doing before the recession rolled across the country. so we'll see how the economy plays out. today, steve brown is live in berlin, new berlin, wisconsin. how does this race shape up in those three places steve? good morning. >> reporter: good morning, bill, you're right. an awful lot of manufacturing jobs lost across the last four or five years in this state and they're trying to regain those jobs back, but this does still set up as a state that mitt romney is favored to win. the three contests that you mentioned, district of columbia, maryland, and

wisconsin, maryland, district of columbia, prohibitively favor romney. romney has a slight edge here in wisconsin, expected to win, and the math for santorum starts to get tougher the further we go down the rine. -- line. romney has half the delegates he needs towards the nomination, as he collects more and is expected to win contests going down the road that means the math gets steeper, by our count, maybe three out of every four delegates going forward today that santorum may need if he's going to get that nomination away from mitt romney, bill. bill: some of the polling we're watching on the national level shows president obama against mitt romney and romney trailing when it comes to women voters in the last two weeks. how does he address that issue steve? >> reporter: this is a classic general election swing group of voters, women, particularly suburban women, and for romney, what he is starting to do, at least early, is start to reframe some of the issues where he feels strongest in terms of the women --

womens' vote, take for example how he spoke out yesterday, about how his wife was talking to voters and how they're concerned about the economy. listen: >> getting good jobs for themselves, and for their families, understanding that their kids will have good jobs, they're concerned about gasoline prices, the cost of getting to and from work, getting kids to school and the practice -- women are really struggling in this economy. >> reporter: on the other hand, the democratic national committee and obama campaign have been talking about things like mitt romney wanting to de fund planned parenthood and bringing in questions about health care and reproductive issues and this is going to set up as a very key constituency going down the road. this is going to be an area that's going to be fought over. when you talk about swing suburbs around the cities, that's largely the female vote, and we are just beginning to hear this. this will be going on for months, bill. bill: that it will. steve brown, thank you. we'll watch the turnout, too, in wisconsin. thank you sir.

martha: fox news alert out of syria, where we're getting through amateur video that claims to show violent clashes ahead of the deadline that will be put in place to enforce an international peace plan there. this video is just coming in to our newsroom this morning, and that plan, of course, calls for the assad regime to remove their troops and tanks from residential areas by april 10th. human rights groups are accusing the government of hunting down opposition activists before that deadline hits. now local militias appear to be fighting back against that, the assad regime agreed to several peace plans before, only to ignore them later. so we will see. bill: there is no end in sight to the high gas prices you're pay, aa reporting a gallon of regular unleaded, 3.93 a gallon, 16 cents higher than a month ago. so is increasing america's oil supply the key to bringing down prices? have you listened to

president obama? the answer is yes, and no, kind of. chief national correspondent jim angle sorts that out. what gives jim? good morning. >> reporter: good morning, bill. as gas prices rise, the obama administration has repeatedly claimed it's doing everything it can, but that more drilling would not help. >> the fact is, producing more oil at home isn't enough by itself to bring gas prices down. >> it's simply drilling more and producing more in the united states would reduce the price at the pump, we would have seen that already. unfortunately it doesn't. >> reporter: one reason the administration may be sensitive about the question of supply is because it is reducing it, not increasing will. -- increasing it. take drilling permits, for instance, the bush administration increased permits by 116 percent, but under president obama, permits have fallen by 36 percent. and, the lion's share of increased production has been on private land, on lands under the president's

control, though, we're producing less. in 2011, production on federal lands actually fell by 275,000 barrels a day. now, while the white house argues supply doesn't matter that much, other democrats seem to think it does, because they keep encouraging other nations to produce more and praise them when they do. as senator schumer did when the saudis agreed to increase production in case sanctions on iran disrupts supplies. >> it is the best news on a very bad front, that is, of rising gasoline prices that we've had in a very long time. >> reporter: and as recently as last year, president obama himself was urging increases in supply, but not in the u.s. he urged brazil to produce more, promising the u.s. would be a good customer. >> brazil wants to be a major supplier of new stable sources of energy, and i've told her that the united states wants to be a major customer, which would be a win/win for both our countries. >> reporter: and some push

for a release of the strategic petroleum reserve, another increase in supply, only temporary. some argue that increasing supply would reduce prices over the short term but argue drilling more at home has other advantages, such as more secure energy, also, increases in jobs and federal revenues, both desperately needed, of course, and one analyst says anyone who doesn't believe in supply and demand hasn't tried to sell a house lately, bill. bill: trudat! jim angle in washington, thank you. martha: he calls it the most predictable economic crisis in history. >> if we want to copy european policy, we'll get european results. we have a debt crisis coming in front of us. we know this. and this debt crisis is going to get us if we don't prevent it. martha: today the white house steps up their assault against congressman paul ryan. we're going to tell you what president obama is about to say today. bill: before she was an nfl cheerleader, she was a high school teacher, now accused

of having sex with one of her former students. how did she explain that before the judge, you wonder? martha: and what can wipe out a tow truck and semi in a split second? this is frightening video. we're going to tell you what happened when we come right back. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition?

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bill: now we know, not guilty pleas from a professional cheerleader and her mother. former cincinnati bengals cheerleader sarah jones, a high school teacher before she joined the pro squad accused of having sex with one of her students. her mother is accused of tampering with evidence. both women pleaded not guilty, they're out on bail, they were ordered not to have any contact with the student at the previous school. martha: well, president obama is set to launch his counterattack against congress paul ryan's budget plan today. the white house is ramping

up that front after the majority of republicans in the house passed that proposal without democratic support. that was no big surprise, with paul ryan's plan in terms of its passage in the house, but the house budget committee chairman says it is time, he believes, to get serious about what is in front of us and turn the country around. watch: >> we need to offer the country a choice of two futures, a sharp contrast, so that the american people can decide what they want their country to be, not some back room deal or some commission. we owe you the respect of letting you decide what you want americans and america to be in the 21st century. martha: so that's his side but according to the prepared remarks, president obama also agrees that there is a difference between the two of them, saying that ryan's plan is, quote, a trojan horse that is built around radical ideas. let's talk about this, because these are pretty stark ways of looking at the country and george pataki joins me, former governor of

new york. welcome, always good to have you here. >> good morning. martha: it's very interesting the way this is shaping up and the president is doing an a.p. lunchon this afternoon so some of the remarks are out already but he's clearly pitting his view of how to fix the economy right against paul ryan who becomes the headline person in the republican party on this issue, right? >> this president to me is acting more like the democratic national chairman than the president of the united states. i read excerpts from what he's going to be saying today and it's rhetoric out of the partisan '60s, trickle down economic, class warfare, trojan horse, and this is not a candidate. this is the president of the united states who should be trying to bridge the partisan divide and solve the problems facing this country. i disagree with one thing paul ryan said. he said there's a financial crisis looming in the future that financial crisis is here today. almost $16 trillion in debt. he at least takes steps that would cut that debt in half. cut the growth in half.

this president willy nilly, trillion dollars decifits as far as the eye can see and engages in nothing but this '60s partisan rhetoric. martha: paul ryan's plan, obviously, calls for very dramatic decreases in income taxes, he would say to free up more money, put more money in peoples' pockets so they can invest in companies, houses and other things. >> right. martha: it also, although some have charged it's not specific enough on this front, kind of seeks to even the playing field among corporations, to eliminate the loopholes so that everybody pays taxes, and that would make up for it, that would compensate for some of the revenue that gets lost. is he getting that message across clearly and do you think that the american people understand that, or does he need to be more specific? >> i think we do have to be clear, because paul ryan is proposing lowering the top rate to 25 percent. the point i would make is obama's ownby partisan commission proposed lowering the rate to 24 percent, so that he is basically building on what obama's

commission recommended. get rid of the loopholes, get rid of the exemptions, and allow people to know what their taxes are going to be, tax at a lower rate but get a higher tax to the federal government. people would pay more. millionaires, the wealthy, as obama would call them, would pay more if you eliminated those loopholes and deductions and had a fixed rate. so i think this is something that had broadby partisan support, it's very close to what the president's commission recommended, yet he is out there with this partisan rhetoric, not trying to lead the country and bring us together, but to try to win his election, and i don't think that's the right thing for the president of the united states. martha: quickly answer if you can, is paul ryan a person you see in the vp slot? >> i certainly think he should be considered. he understands the budget, he understands the crisis and how you create jobs. this president does not. martha: george pataki, former governor of new york, good to see you as always, sir, thank you very much for coming by. bill: nice to see you governor, see you next week,

okay? they were saved in the nick of time. a dangerous yacht rescue, and the coast guard officer in charge of this daring operation is here to tell us how they pulled this thing off, martha. martha: here's a big question today: did the police ignore clues that could have saved those two little boys that you just saw pictures of? susan powell is gone, but we're going to ask her father about critical evidence that we have just learned about in this case. >> they didn't tell us everything, you know, even in the affidavit. they just had to give enough information to justify. it was clearly justified. pshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. i was worried it would be hard to install. but it's really easy. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. yeah. you're not... filming this, are you?

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martha: sarah palin, facing off with katie couric in the battle of the network morning shows.

this has been interesting, right? guest hosting on the "today show" on nbc while over at abc, former "today" show host -- palin poked fun at herself, reading newspapers and writing notes on her hands, a reference to the now infamous interview with couric in the 2008 presidential campaign, there was discussion of her keeping notes on her hand in a debate at one point. she seemed to take this ribbing very much in stride this morning. >> tell everybody what happened when you were coming to "30 rock". >> geez matt, nicest lady in the world, ask me where i'm headed, i said "30 rock" and she said come here, tina fey is here! >> tina fey did those impressions of palin and she said she thought fey did a great job. bill: she's always been great at that intimtation. martha: what the heck is going on with all that, right? bill: where's dr. keith

ablow when you need him? he could analyze that. martha: exactly. bill: a battered yacht, pulling into port days after the coast guard made a daring rescue. that ship hit by a massive wave as it hit the san francisco stop. the wave washing away the steering wheel on the yacht, seriously injuring two crew members, the coast guard managed to get them to safety but the waters were so rough that rescuers could not parachute in to reach them. captain thomas tramm was the ing officer during that rescue. captain, job well done! >> thank you very much. bill: you make a living off this stuff, and well, you save lives in this case. but that must have been one heck of a wave, sir. >> yes, it was. we steamed right into the teeth of the storm, i embarked a helicopter, tried to get that helicopter off to the vessel, and the stricken mariners. were unable to at first. by the time we closed them the weather abated enough to

get the helicopter off, the helicopter got off overhead. because of the rigging of the vessel they were unable to get the rescue, swim -- rescue swimmer down to them so we placed our boat in the water and got the mariners off. bill just like you trained for but this santa san francisco bay. >> it certainly wasn't. bill: it was 200 miles out into the ocean. what kind of challenge did that present? >> the sea always presents great challenges. when you've got a gale, a large storm like we were contending with, you take what the environment gives you, you place your training and skill and best judgment against it and you do what you can to help those that need help at sea. bill: well, i think the captain -- i believe he's british -- said a monstrous foaming swale broke over our stern. only the english would put it in those terms! but how were the injured doing? -- how are the injured doing, are they okay? >> the injured are doing well. our original reports were broken bones and potential internal injuries. we got them aboard and they

were certainly in pain but their humor was rising, their spirits rose, and throughout the time that we had them on board and until we got them in port. i hope that they'll be fine. and they were able to walk off the ship and we took them right to medical care. bill: i tell you what, they may not be here without you guys. job well done to you and your crew. thank you for sharing. >> thank you very much. bill thomas crabbs with us out of san francisco. martha: so if the supreme court throws out the individual mandate on health care what happens to the cause of free -- the clause of free contraception. that is coming up on because you asked, bill hemmer. bill: thank you martha maccallum, new jersey! have you seen this, the tow truck driving up a snowy road? perhaps you might want to choose a different day to go up that road. there is the driver in the front tow truck, and wait until you see what happened on the other side of that ravine.

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people would somehow overturn a duly stud and past law. martha: well, that has all kinds of legal scholars talking about that statement this morning, and shannon bream joins me live in washington with some of the reaction that has been sparked by the president's comments yesterday . >> coming from the campaign trail, here's mitt romney. >> they will opine as to whether omabacare violates the constitution. i believe it does. that will not be an activist court, that will be a court following the constitution which is precisely what it was designed to do.

>> reporter: of course, this isn't the first clash the president had with the supreme court. you remember in the state of the union address, the justices sat feet away and he chastised them over campaign finance decisions martha. martha: who can forget. president obama is not the first president to clash with the supreme court over a law that he is in favor of. what's the history on that shannon? >> this dates back to thomas jefferson, but one of the most memorable clashes involves fdr. in the late 1930s he got so frustrated with conservatives on the court and decisions that were limiting the programs he said he needed to help rebound from the great depression. he started calling for a shakeup to the court, he talked about appointing six new justices, one for each justice over the age of 70. now of course there's nothing in the constitution that would have blocked that plan but critics of the plan were able to strike down the idea. president nixon has called out the court as well. there's a long list of clashes. martha: shannon, thank you very much. shannon bream in d.c.

bill: bya, because you asked this morning, maggie out of houston writes the following, if the supreme court kicks out the mandate does that stop president obama's free contraception? doug holtz-eaken, president of the american action forum was in court for all three days of arguments last week and with us now. doug, good morning to you. >> by hill. bill: the viewer's question, it has to be tweaked a little because it deals with the executive order that came out of the white house. what happens if the mandate is out? >> well, there are a couple of scenarios. the courts spent a lot of wednesday talking about severability. if the individual mandate goes, what else goes with it. one possibility is it's only the mandate in which case the remainder of the law stands and the president's executive order stands. another possibility, what the government wanted to have happen is the mandate goes along with other insurance reforms, but that would leave in place the so called essential benefits in the contraception mandate as

well. the only way it goes in for sure is you throw the whole law out. bill: the question is if you get rid of the mandate, the contraception executive order stands, but you're saying if you throw the whole law out, everything goes with it. >> yes. and it was a vigorous debate about whether there was any place to stop, once you get rid of the mandate, you have to get rid of the insurance reforms, then you might have to get rid of the essential benefits and the whole law has to go and the court will have to make that decision. bill: you were in court. what is your sense of how these arguments went back and forth? >> well, certainly, those who perceived this as a strictly ideological battle would have been surprised by the tenor of the discussion. it really was a court trying to discuss a tough constitutional question, and the constitution says the federal government has limited enumerated powers. they kept asking the government attorney, what's the limit here? if we can force people to buy health insurance, what can we say they will not force people to buy? and they could never find the so called limiting

principle and i think that was the key moment in the course of the deliberation, the notion that somehow, you pass the .. in the constitution where the federal government had limited powers and those questions came from both the left and right. bill: do you have a guess or do you want to ventura guess as to how the supreme court rules? >> my personal guess is it's a question as to whether the individual mandate stays or goes. my personal preference would be it goes and if they get rid of the mandate they will leave the remainder of the law standing and congress will have to go back and fix it. bill: appreciate it, doug. if you have a question you want answered, compose it in the form of a question, martha. you're only a click away, because you asked, martha: i'm only a foot away! i don't have to click at all! bill: 1 inches, right? also on twitter. martha: hey bill! >> bill: hey! >> martha: living under water, millions of american homeowners owe more on their

homes than they could get for them in the market right now. that's a sad situation that is so prevalent in this country right now and adam housley is live in paradise valley, outside of phoenix. beautiful area, but one that has been hit really hard in this real estate crisis. and it's part one of our special report on the housing crisis. adam, what's the situation in beautiful paradise valley? >> you know, paradise -- it may look like paradise when you drive around and look at the massive homes but for homeowners their mortgages are extremely gloomy, if you want to take a look at them. in fact for a lot of homeowners in this area, they're struggling with their mortgages, their homes are in many cases worth half or less than half of what they were worth months ago. recent data shows in the u.s., 20 percent of homeowners are under water on their mortgage, in arizona, double that. nearly 50 percent of homeowners are under water on their homes in arizona. for some, in upscale neighborhoods like this one outside of phoenix, that's meant losing millions.

>> numerous people that i witnessed, here in this neighborhood, had lost their cash, along with the house, so it's bad enough to lose a house and then get that on top of it. it's like icing on the cake. >> reporter: and for homeowners who still have their home, while they are under water but can make payments, not a problem, the big question is what do you do next. martha: that is a big question. what is a homeowner to do? >> you know, we're hearing a number of things. first of all, again, you have two different types of homeowners, you have some who can afford to pay their mortgage under water and those who cannot. there are several things they're doing. one, homeowners are walking away, saying listen im, i'm done, i'm not doing this, you have people short telling -- selling and those who are making payments, hope o'clock the prices come back and others who are doing upgrades, hoping that will bring the price of their home back up. basically everybody says the whole idea is to ride it out and they hope everybody gets

better because right now times in this area at least are bad. >> it's a matter of pride, it's a matter of i paid so much for it and i don't care about what the market is doing, because the market will change. >> people who say they're not in trouble, they're foolish. this is just silly. >> reporter: we do have a positive, though. there's an increase in sales, an increase in stock, but that also means martha that people are getting rid of homes at a cheaper price. that's what we're seeing and we're going to continue to watch this for you in our series. martha: thank you, and for more on the shattered dreams housing series, head over to foxnews.com/shattered dreams and tomorrow, tune in for part two of the series which is a closer look at whether now is the time to buy or is it maybe time to rent? bill: got breaking news right now, this out of oakland, california. police are now giving a few more details about the shooter, age 43, who gunned down seven people yesterday

in oakland, california. police say the suspect says that a number of students were making fun of his poor english skills, this at a christian university, 43 years old, wen geau is his name, seven dead. police said he was targeting a female administrator of the school where he was excelled for potential pee haveior problems, and apparently had been planning this attack for several weeks. those are some of the small de -- details emerging after that deadly scene yesterday in oakland, california. martha: awful, awful. all right. this is another very awful story that we have followed for you for the last couple of years, and now susan powell's family is outraged over new revelations of evidence against their son-in-law, all the way back to when susan disappeared, back in 2009. >> i need that answered. he's been arrested so long ago. obviously something was dropped, somewhere. i mean, the judge should have never allowed the

visitation. martha: parents of susan powell join us here live in "america's newsroom", moments away, to talk about a secret note that their daughter left in a safe deposit box.

bill: here we go, forget save this for another day, like for when the roads are a bit better! a truck was being towed when it loses traction on the icy roads of norway. skipping over the rail, plunging down a 200-foot cliff. you see the tow truck driver in the lead, he's able to jump out but the truck driver is still inside of his truck. he goes down with the ship! miraculously, he only suffered a few broken bones. must have been wearing his seat belt. that's about the only thing you can do to survive inside of a cab when you go down a cliff like that. out of norway. seventeen minutes before the hour. martha: well, the parents of

missing utah mom susan powell are now speaking out, asking some very significant questions about whether the police had enough evidence to arrest her husband, josh, even if her body had in order yet been found. josh powell was from the beginning the primary person of interest, the only person of interest in this case. really almost from the moment that his wife went missing back in 2009. last month, josh killed his two sons and himself. the utah police chief is still defending the way that they ran that investigation. listen: >> in hindsight, would you have arrested him earlier? >> no. no. what would we have to arrest him on? probable cause? then go to court and lose it or plead to a lesser offense? he would have been out and probably still did what he did. mash marioo martha: susan

powell's parents join me. welcome. i know all of this must be fresh for you, especially the loss of your grandsons. our heart goes out to you in that loss. but i know that you're fighting for susan and for your family, still, in so many ways. so when you hear that chief say that there wasn't enough evidence, talk to me about the newly found evidence that you now know about in this case, chuck. >> that was -- new evidence, that wasn't newly found, they've had that all along, and i believe that was enough evidence to arrest him on. there's only two big problems to with saying they should have arrested him, if they did arrest him and he was convicted, then our grandchildren would be alive, but that's a big if, because arresting a person and convicting them are two separate things, especially with no body. so they were the professionals and we depended upon the professionalism and opinion.

martha: so you stand by the decision they made? >> we don't know all the evidence they have. it appeared to us that he should have been arrested a long time ago. martha: i mean, judy, talk to us about the note that your doctor left. if you write a note and you put it in a safe deposit box, you are sending a very big signal to those who love you about what's going on. what did that note say? >> basically, if there was an accident, it doesn't -- that appears to be an accident, it wasn't most -- most likely wasn't, and that he was involved with it. and she did make a note basically saying that she didn't trust him. so right there, that bothers us a lot. but we knew they were having difficulties in their marriage. martha: but you say you wish she -- and i know this must be so heart breaking for you as parents but you wish she had come to you.

she talked to her sisters, i guess, and often people want to protect their parents from anything bad that might be going on at home. you know, they're also -- in the other evidence, there was blood that was found, susan's blood found in their home, this note, as well, and also, a cell phone that he had messed with, that he had taken, right? >> he had susan's cell phone with him, and with that, with the cell phone in his possession, he called the cell phone to leave a message, to basically establish an alibi for himself, and i would think that would have been enough right there to arrest and at least attain for interrogation -- not simple we have a few questions for you, but we want to hear some real answers here. martha: how do you think -- when josh powell set fire to that home with your grandsons in it, and it's so difficult to think about, talk about, and i can't imagine what it's like for

you, why do you think he decided that that was his only move at that point? what was he so afraid of? >> he was feeling cornered. we saw that in the court, just a few days before. and we were worried. because he had that look to us, and there was issues, even before he came into the courtroom, there was a lot of noise. martha: did you ask the court to leave the children with you, to not allow him to see your grandsons? >> i just wanted the judge to basically say no, you know, visitations for a while. >> we were not willing parties of that. that was between the state and josh powell, the custody issue, but we were very concerned about it. >> martha: we're out of time but do you believe that steve powell, his father, may be the only person left that might give you closure, who might know what happened? because a lot of suggestion that he spoke to his son about what happened.

>> in the affidavit, the police gave to the judge to show probable cause to get the warrant to search steve powell's house, they specifically listed their cell phone calls between josh and his dad the day that susan went missing and the day he showed up afterwards. anyway, i'm convinced that his dad knew everything that was going on, if not helping with it. martha: you still have a hope that that will lead to some kind of finality for this? >> i'm sure he knows where she is or where his son put her. martha: very, very difficult for you. thank you for speaking with us and good luck to you as you search for some kind of answers still to this day. chuck and judy cox, thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you. >> thank you. bill our best to you. jenna lee comes up in about 11 minutes. quick preview now of what's coming up on "happening now". how you doing jenna? jenna: coming up, judge napolitano's comments to a judge to the supreme court about the health care law.

also new al-qaeda propaganda. i know you guys have covered that a bit late last hour. this is about terror returning to new york city. ray kelly, police commissioner of new york, speaks live in about ten minutes. we're going to have those comments for you. >> we're coming up on the 100th anniversary of one of the biggest maritime disasters in history, the sinking of the titanic. we have new pictures, new video, and new stories for you, coming up, bill. bill: all right jenna, thanks, we'll see you then, okay? >> as jenna mentioned, fox news alert, awaiting the police commissioner, ray kelly, in a moment, to talk about this poster that popped up in an arab language website. we'll see whether or not anything is behind it and what ray khel -- kelly has to say about it. >> and we're talking whiskey, folks, and now you can go on a tour! [ kyle ] my bad.

[ roger ] tell me you have good insurance. yup, i've got... [ kyle with voice of dennis ] ...allstate. really? i was afraid you'd have some cut-rate policy. [ kyle ] nope, i've got... [ kyle with voice of dennis ] ...the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance -- and you still get an allstate agent. i too have...[ roger with voice of dennis ]...allstate. [ roger ] same agent and everything. [ kyle ] it's like we're connected. no we're not. yeah, we are. no...we're not. ♪ the allstate value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate.

the largest class size in the nation. 47th out of 50 in per-student funding. but right now, we can make history with a ballot measure to send every k-through-12 dollar straight to our schools. to every school and every child. not to sacramento. it's the only initiative that can say all that. check out our online calculator and find out how your school would benefit. visit ourchildrenourfuture2012.com today.

bill: it's happy hour, six hours away, right? forget about wine tasting, how about whiskey tasting? laura ingle is in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. no sampling yet laura! good morning there. what's happening? >> reporter: good morning! yes, in fact, there are a lot of small distilleries hoping that whiskey tasting will become as popular as wine tasting and distilleries like the wiggle whiskey company here, i want to introduce you to the cofounder and owner of this small company, and you know, when we're talking about the whiskey, i'm going to have eric pour it and show you. when we think about whiskey, we think of brown. but it's not brown, it's clear.

1k3-7 explain. >> all whiskey is clear and this is originally the way that all people drank whiskey, especially in western pennsylvania, we were the whiskey cap toll of the whole world in the 1700s. >> give a little sniff of that, that is very good, and one of the things we found while we've been here filming this, you actually make it into beer first and that's traditional, the stuff behind us. >> all whisk ce is beer first. you have to make beer before you make whiskey is the silver equipment is what we make the beer in, the fermenter, then the copper device, next to the silver stuff is the still and that turns the beer into whisk ce. >> when the new law passed in pennsylvania in december, you guys are just starting up, it's obviously brand new and gorgeous, a new law is also passing in new york, michigan, oregon, and hopefully this will be a trend, right? you got more people coming in. >> we have more and more people coming in every day and we're hopeful this will not only support our

families, but will restart a trend that was a very dominant industry in western pennsylvania. >> reporter: very good. eric meyer, wiggle whiskey. bill: you're still on the clock, by the way, laura! >> reporter: i know. we'll bring it to go! martha: we have to do a little research, bill! a little research wouldn't hurt! bill: apparently they have the research done! martha: i never knew that whiskey used to be beer. learn something every day. bill: we're waiting for the pictures! martha: the ill-fated luxly liner, the titanic, as you have never seen her before. an up close look at the titanic's remains but essentially after the ship sank, there are new fears now for the wreckage site. ♪

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♪ you do ♪ something to me ♪ that nobody else could do ♪ bill: i think they're having whiskey in ken tub after the game last