the skies above dulles international air sport. gregg: an historic moment. and "happening now" begins now. jenna: thank you, gregg and martha. we cannot take our eyes off the screen. we are not going to. we're going to leave this picture up. it's astonishing to see what really is the final flight for the discovery. not exactly the flight back into earth's orbit but the flight into its final resting place at the smithsonian. you can see it hitched a ride on this boeing 747. it doesn't look like it's held by much. it looks like two pipes that are keeping it on the top of that, the top of that 747. i'm sure it's a little bit more technical than two pipes. that's what it looks like. it's trying to make its final landing into dulles international airport. rick: seld my jus held by just enough i'm sure. this will be the first of three different shuttles to be on

display at a museum as we take a look at macing pictures, the discovery soaring earlier this morning over the washington monument, over the white house, over the capitol building, a little bit of a sight seeing tour for the shuttle. jenna: you don't see it every day. rick: true. jenna: that is the truth. discovery is familiar -- well to most of us a shuttle that's made so many different trips up to space, 39 trips. it's actually the most traveled shuttle that was part of the fleet, the oldest one as well. it is going to land today, tuesday, and it's going to make its way to the smithsonian by thursday. it got its name by the way from four british exploring ships all named discovery. so the ships once explored the great unknown of our sea, and the discovery really explored the great unknown of our skies. rick: discovery's trip this morning began at day break at florida's kennedy space center. about 2,000 people came out to see it take off. former shuttle workers, tourists, of course, journalists and other dignitaries who

gathered along the old shuttle landing strip to watch discovery take off for washington d.c. actually i believe it's northern virginia where this smithsonian is based, and where the shuttle will now be hoeusd. housed. doug mcelway has been watching this with us. he joins us on the phone. it's quite a sight to see. >> reporter: it is. we are standing out here on the runway at dulles international airport. they have ferried a lot of dignitaries out of lounges out on to the runway and they said please don't venture any farther than where you are right now. i'm looking out of the window of one of those lounges so i could get out of wind noise to see the approach of the 747 and the shuttle. i believe this is the final approach. it's still some distance off and it's hard to tell whether it will be another fly by at this point or the actual landing. i've been watching it and a lot of planes have landed on this runway earlier today. the wind is blowing really hard

out here and those planes have been bobbing and weaving. i suspect that this huge airplane the 747 with the shuttle atop it will probably not be as buffeted as some of the smaller planes but it could be an interesting landing. on that subject i was speaking to some nasa folks about the modification that has to be made to the 747 to accommodate the shuttle. the shuttle even when it's deprived of all fuel weighs about 200-tons -- excuse me a hundred tons. 200,000 pounds. and this one removed of all gear, it weighs a little bit less than that, about 175,000 pounds. it's a huge weight and it changes the center of gravity on the 747. they've had to make all kinds of modifications to it. you can see that as you took at the tail structure of the 747. the single financ fin in the back is removed and there are two separate fins on either side. it's coming this way and it

looks like it's probably going to make a landing this time around. and later today it will be carried to a different part of the runway. it will be as they say demated from the 747 and will go on display almost right away, thursday, after a ceremony at the annex to the aerospace museum at dulles. if you and your family have never been out here to the air and space museum it's really something to see, in large mart because it's just so much bigger than the air and space mo museum, one of the biggest museums in downtown washington. the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb is there. you have the concord, the sr71 black bird, the world's fastest airplane and the shuttle discovery will be joining the ranks of those esteemed aircraft. looks like it's coming in on final approach right now. jenna: just a sight to take in, isn't it. 200,000 pounds is what doug just

told us. that is the weight of the discovery that is sitting right on top of that 747 if you're just joining us. can we listen in here a little bit? >> reporter: yeah. jenna: let's go ahead and listen in and take in this shot. >> as soon as you tell me you can break out. >> okay i just want to let you know. >> all right. tango, the t38 will cross the runway to clear room for the t38 downwind. >> copy that. >> go ahead and cross right now if you would and head right at my tower please and then you can hold right in front to the north of it.

jenna: it doesn't get much prettier than that. rick: a picture-perfect landing. jenna: you have to give that pilot credit. he probably didn't expect to do that when he started his career, to fly in the discovery. the first mission by the discovery was in 1984. something to think about as we're now in april of 2012 and that shuttle is being retired to the smithsonian for us all to be able to enjoy, but really marks an interesting turn, if you will, in our space program, and the space program ahead. doug, you're with us still. what is the reaction on the ground there. >> reporter: all eyes are rivetted on that. it just passed by maybe a little more than a hundred yards from where we now stand. it was just amazing. it was like watching a tennis match, you see the eyes all moving in one direction. that's what it was like here, and the size is what really impresses you. even when it flies by at a thousand feet or so it's huge, but to have it pass by as

closely as it just did it just is absolutely magnificent. just as advertised as you look at the discovery it is a well-worn spacecraft. it's not clean, it's not shiny, it's not pretty. it looks every bit as used as it is. it spent something like 365 days, a cumulative 365 days in space on all of its 69 missions. 37 years of life span. and they want it to remain looking that way when they put it on display at the annex to the air space museum here. they don't want to clean it up. they want it to look like the well used craft that it is. rick: i was going to say, doug, she is showing her age, discovery. definitely looks like she's been put to good use over the years. when she is on display -- i haven't been out to the annex but i've been to the main air and space museum in washington d.c. and you can really get very up close with all the displays there. do we know how they are going to be displaying the discovery, and

what kind of access folks are going to be able to have? >> reporter: you know, i'm not quite sure what kind of access, whether or not people will be able to go on board it. i suspect given the important historical nature of this particular aircraft that people won't be able too wander through it. rick: i'm sorry into the rum. we are just watching this again, another look at a picture-perfect landing as nasa's 747 very, very skillfully, carefully glides and brings the shuttle discovery back on to the ground at the runway at dulles international airport. it could not have been any prettier, doug. >> reporter: right. i know. just spectacular sight. back to your point about the display here. i believe it will be taking the place in the same location in the annex where the enterprise now sits. and that particular aircraft, which never flew in space but

which did the early testing of the aerodynamic tkpwhraoeding testing fogliding testing for the program will be mated to the 747. on monday it will be flying from dulles your way and there will be similar low fly byes past some of the monuments and sight seeing sights of new york city, including the statue of liberty, that's in store for you on monday. look forward to that. i'm sure people will be coming out from all over the place to enjoy that. jenna: 149 million miles in the air before retiring. we definitely got our use out of discovery. 39 missions. some would argue, well there was more to be had as this shuttle is retired and really the shuttle program is also being retired. what is going to happen next for nasa is a big question. as far as the shuttle launches and how we're going to get to the international space station, the a astronauts from the united states will be hitch a ride if you will, hitching a ride that will cost us several

million dollars in a russian kraflt. that' craft. that's how we will get to the international space station for the next couple of years. we have to decide if this is the kind of investment we want to have in times of austerity, or whether this is the right time to take a step back from this type of space exploration, a debate that's been on going as we've learned the news about the retirement of some of our shuttles. in the next three to five years are the big question is will the private sector kind of stef step in here where the government is taking a step back and create a way to space for some of our astronauts. doug, as i mentioned this is a debate that is ongoing right now. >> reporter: it's a debate that is ongoing right here and right now. i spoke to senator leahy who is here, his son is an aviation buff an came out here with his son. i talked to him about that, and he expressed to me he has great

disappointment that years ago, ten or 15 years ago when it became fairly obvious the shuttle program was going to have to wind down that so much of the financial expenditure went towards the maintenance and creation of the international space station. he felt it should have been divided up between that and a new generation of space shuttles. he said that he had senator john glenn at his office a little while ago, he told me this. and he says that senator glenn is not a happy camper about the direction of the united states space program. now, on the other hand, there is an assistant nasa administrator out here who i spoke to a little while ago who is very, very confident and optimistic about the future. she says the future is brighter than the past. not only are there all kind of interesting experimentation going on at the space station in the microgravity atmosphere here, the creation of vaccines that cannot be fabricated on earth with gravity and all kinds

of research that is going to be absolutely necessary for deep exploration, deep manned space exploration. you have to have human beings in an environment like the space station for long periods of time to find out what the physiological things will be for long space exploration. those things of ongoing. there are plans for a manned exploration of a astroid and the distant planets beyond that. it's not taken concrete shape yet, but it's in the basic states at this point. you're right, the big issues on capitol hills are expenditures. this is not a wealthy country any more. we are badly indebted. and there is great resistance on capitol hill to map expenditures of money for space exploration. there is much attention today on capitol hill today and yesterday where there is just outrage at

superfluous spending and it makes them want to pull the reigns back on legitimate spending at the same time. rick: this is a live look at dulles international airport in our nation's capitol. sitting on top of that 747 is the world's most traveled space ship, the space shuttle discovery that has now landed in washington, and its wheels will stop for the very last time when it is taken to its final resting stop at an annex of the smithsonian air and space museum in northern virginia, and there it will stay for all the world to come and see it. we mentioned the world's most traveled space ship, jenna, this is a space ship that has flown nearly 149 million miles before it retired last year. jenna: here you and doug were talking about how she looked a little worn. you would be too -- reubz she look rick: she looks good, don't get me wrong i'm not criticizing her.

jenna: well put. context for us to take in today. we often don't think of the smithsonian as a retirement home. in a way that's what is going to happen to discovery. doug, if you will just take us to, again the scene that you're watching. i tried to describe what is tolding discovery onto the 747. can you talk to us a little bit about how they made -- what they did to keep discovery attached to the 747 to make this flight? >> reporter: well, it's something that nasa is well experienced with. it's basically a process that is 27-years-old now. they modified the 747 at the early stages of the program, even before the first shuttle was sent into space, because they had to do the arrow dynam aerodynamic testing to find out what the glide characteristics were like.

they altered the 747. it is involved because it changes the center of gravity on the 747, it khaepbg changes the aerodynamic characteristics. the space shuttle is boxy, it's not all that sleek. it's covered with tiles. very unaerodynamic and they create a lot of wind resistance. tremendous modifications had to be made to the plane. in addition to that the space shuttle is very, very heavy. when it's empty of fuel it ordinarily weighs 21,000 pounds. this one now is 175,000 pounds with no fuel in it. it's a tremendous amount of weight. it eats up a tremendous amount of fuel, much more than the 747. it has a space shuttle on its back. it can't fly as high as an ordinary 747 would, which is great for the viewers up and down the east coast.

ordinarily they fly at an altitude of 15,000 feet and i suspect that there are a lot of people up and down the southeast coast of the united states that got a very good view of it coming up this way. and you'll get to see it again in new york on monday when the shuttle enterprise is put on the back of the 747 and heeds up to the sea air and space museum. jenna: that is right. >> reporter: in the hudson. jenna: we can't wait for that. that will be a sight to see as well, just with the city's scape as we saw over in d.c., it was really a pup a humbling sight and a little emotional to watch when you take a look at what is next for this program. on the ground there did people cheer? was there a quiet resignation that this was the last flight? what was the reaction from some of the crowd there? >> reporter: i think if i can express what i felt is, cow, that iwow, that is big. people's eyes were rivetted to it and you watch the massive thing pass by and you hope it

stays on the run way it looks precarious, unnatural. and it looks huge. so i think that was the reaction. i didn't see any cheering. talking to people, though in advance of its arrival here you do sense melancholy that we're proud, despite the losses of two space shuttles, we are proud of the program, what it accomplished, again, it was, you know, i think in many senses the last hooray of america's man's program, the gemini program, the apollo program, now we are without a space program, hopefully for the time being, and people are optimistic that that will change one day. as you said earlier, jenna now we are relying on the russians to ferry human beings into spa

space. rick: taking a look at the shuttle discovery's resume. flying 39 times between the years of 1984, and just this past year, 2011 more missions than any of its sister ships spending all together 365 days in space. so one full year when you take all of the different missions, and you combine them. the 100th shuttle mission was flown in the year 2000. discovery launched on its final flight to the international space station, the iss back on february 24th of last year, 2011. and over the years there have been three flights to the hubble space telescope, two flights to the russian space station, as we talk about the russians and their importance in the future space travel and 13 different flights to the international space station, again the last one being just this past february, february 24th, 2011, so a year ago february as we take a look at this -- at this sight here, and you can see that they are sort of taxing on the

runway. doug, i don't know whether you talked about this or not or whether you know. who was on board for this aside from those in the cockpit of that 747. any special passengers? >> reporter: that is a good question, rick. i don't know. there is going to be a press conference with pilots of the 747 at this midway point where they stop for a while and hop out of the plane. we'll find out who is on board. we are curious how it is to fly a 747 with the shuttle on back of it. you're talking about the history of this space shuttle, i think it's important to add that i think the discovery developed a reputation throughout eults 27-year lifits 27-year life as the most companiable of its fleet. it's the third one constructed. nasa learned through experience with the first two half to save to weight. carry a heavy pay load.

that was put to good news the 27-year life. the hubble space telescope. it had a number of other firsts. it was the first shuttle to fly after challenger disaster. it was also the first shuttle to fly after columbia dissass teshs the one that burned up in the atmosphere after it had the hole punctured in its wing by tile debris. so it had a very, a real history of being the most reliable of the shuttle fleet and probably the most capable. another first that it had which you did not mention, rick, it also carried john glenn into his second trip into space when he was in his 80s, thereby becoming the oldest man to fly into space. jenna: i was taking a look, doug, at who was actually in discovery. as you mentioned we don't know exactly who made this flight and we're awaiting that press conference for a little more information on that. john glenn was 77 years old

when he went into space making him the oldest person in space. i believe back in 1998. but a little piece of trivia for you as we take this incredible sight at dulles international airport, discovery carry ad buzz lightyear toy into space in 2008. >> reporter: that is a first. jenna: ended up that little toy stayed 468 days in space. you can see that at the air and space museum in the mall as part of the culture collection. a lot of interesting little facts, doug as we take a final look at discovery as it continues to taxi. again it will be here at the airport while it gets disattached if you will --. rick: decontaminated as well. there is that process i was reading. jenna: from the 747. then it will make its way to the smithsonian a little later on this week. we'll be right back with more "happening now.". [ male announcer ] if you believe the mayan calendar,

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jenna: welcome back, everyone. on the deadline date for americans to pay their taxes, sorry, lawmakers are again grilling top brass from the general services administration on what's being described as a giant waste of taxpayer money. that includes a lavish conference in las vegas for federal employees that cost almost a million dollars. i believe you're looking at live pictures by the way of this hearing. you can see congressman denham on your screen there. he was a guest of our show yesterday. lawmakers say what is going on here is a culture of wasteful spending at the agency and they want to bring it to a stop. to bring up to speed there was particular moment of high drama yesterday. there was a hearing and congressman mike turner of ohio revealed contents after gift bag that gsa employees got at the las vegas conference, just one of so many perks there. take a listen. >> this is one of those

examples of gsa spending, miss johnson under your leadership. includes the conference logo and everyone was given one of these. this is a apparently i'm told, a blackjack dealers vest so everybody could feel as if they're in character when they get to the conference. in addition to that they were given a participatory directory that has everybody's picture and in it assigned characters and roles. one is assignedded cher, sammy davis, jr., elvis and celine dion. additional items given to people there, including then and now book on las vegas signed by mr. neely himself thanking you for being there. this was printed in china. the vest was made in china. they were given other party favors there, all gsa spending, taxpayer dollars spending. rick:. jenna: just an educated guest, probably no gift bags for attending the hearing. mike emanuel is there.

he is our congressional correspondent. mike, doug mckelway gave us a lot to think about because we're watching final flight of shuttle discovery as it gets retired because ever money issues. yet we had this hearing on capitol hill that is attacking some of this out of control spending. unfortunately speaking of all this, mike stand by for us. we'll be back to mike in a second. lots of breaking news today. this is the president. he will talk to us about the gas prices and a plan he says he has to bring them down. >> -- that produces more oil and gas here at home but also produces more biofuels and fuel-efficient cars, more solar power and wind power and other sources of clean, renewable energy. this strategy is not just the right thing to do for our long-term economic growth. it is also the right way for us to reduce our dependence on foreign oil right now of the it's the right way for us to put people to work right now and ultimately it is the right way to stop spikes in gas prices we put up every single year.

the same kind of increases we've seen over the past couple months. obviously rising gas prices means a rough ride for a lot of families. when you're trying to get to school, trying to get to work, do some grocery shopping, you have to be able to fill up that gas tank and there are families, in certain parts of the country that have no choice but to drive 50 or 60 miles to get to the job. so when gas prices go up, it's like an additional tax that comes right out your pocket. that's one of the reasons we passed a payroll tax cut at the beginning of this year and made sure it extended all the way through this year so the average american is getting that extra $40 in that paycheck right now but i think everybody understands that there are no quick fixes to this problem. there are politicians who say if we just drilled more gas prices would come down right away. what they don't say we have been drilling more.

under my administration america is producing more oil than at any time in the last eight years. we opened up new areas for exploration. we quadrupled the number of operating rigs to a record high. we added enough new oil and gas pipeline to circle the earth and then some. but as i've said repeatedly the problem is we use more than 20% of the world's oil and we only have 2% of the world's proven oil reserves. even if we drilled every square inch of this country right now we would still have to rely disproportionately on other countries for their oil. that means we pay more at the pump every time is instability in the middle east or growing demand in countries like china and india. that is what is happening right now. it is those global trend that are affecting gas prices. so even as we're tackling issues of supply and demand, even as we're looking at the long-term, in terms of how we can structurally make ourselves less reliant on

foreign oil, we still need to, need to work extra hard to protect consumers from factors that should not affect the price of a barrel of oil. that includes doing everything we can to insure that an irresponsible few aren't able to hurt consumers by illegally manipulating or rigging the energy markets for their own gain. we can't afford a situation where speculators artificially manipulate markets by buying up oil, creating the perception of a shortage and driving prices higher only to flip the oil for a quick profit. we can't afford the situation where some speculators can reap millions while millions of american families get the short end of the stick. that's not the way the market should work and for anyone who thinks this can not happen, just think back to how enron traders manipulated the price of electricity to reap huge

profits at everybody else's expense. now the good news is my administration has already taken several actions to step up oversight of oil markets and close dangerous loopholes that were allowing some traders to operate in the shadows. we closed the so-called enron loophole that let traders evade oversight by using electronic or overseas trading platforms. in the wall street reform law we said, from first time that federal regulators will make sure no single trader can buy such a large position in oil that they could easily manipulate the market on their own. so i would point out that anybody who is pledging to roll back wall street reform, dodd-frank, would also roll back this vital consumer protection along with it. i've asked attorney general holder to work with chairman leibowitz out of the federal trade commission, chairman gensler of the commodity

futures trading commission and other enforcement agencies to make sure that acts of manipulation, fraud, or other illegal activity are not behind increases in the price that consumers pay at the pump. so today we're announcing new steps to strengthen oversight of energy markets. things that we can do administratively we are doing. and i call on congress to pass a package of measures to crack down on illegal activity and hold accountable those who manipulate the market for private gain at the expense of millions of working families. let's be specific. first, congress should provide immediate funding to put more cops on the beat to monitor activity in energy markets. this funding would also upgrade technology so that our surveillance and enforcement officers aren't hamstrung by older and less sophisticated tools than the one that traders are using. we should strengthen

protections for american consumers, not gut them. and these markets have expanded significantly. chairman gensler actually had a goodnal dwi. -- analogy. imagine if the nfl quadruple ed number of teams but didn't increase the number of refs. you would end up having havoc on the field and you would diminish the game. it wouldn't be fair. that is part of what is going on in a lot of these markets. so we have to properly resource enforcement. second, congress should increase the civil and criminal penalties for illegal energy market manipulation and other illegal activities. so my plan would toughen key financial penalties tenfold and impose these penalties not just per violation but for every day a violation occurs. third, congress should give the agency responsible for overseeing oil markets new authority to protect against volatility and excess

speculation by making sure that traders can post appropriate margins. which simply means they actually have the money to make good on their trades. congress should do all of this right away. you know a few weeks ago congress had a chance to stand up for families already paying an extra premium at the pump. congressional republicans voted to keep spending billions of americans hard-earned tax dollars on more unnecessary subsidies for big oil companies. so here's a chance to make amends. chance to actually do something that will protect consumers by increasing oversight of energy markets. that should be something that everybody, no matter their party, should agree with. and i hope americans will ask their members of congress to step up. in the meantime my administration will take new executive actions to better analyze and investigate trading activities in energy markets and more quickly implement the tough consumer protections under wall street reform.

let me close by saying none of these steps by themselves will bring gas prices down overnight but it will prevent market manipulation and make sure we're looking out for american consumers and in the meantime we're going to keep pursuing an all-of-the-above strategy for american energy to break the cycle of price spikes year after year. we'll keep producing more biofuels. we'll keep producing more fuel-efficient cars. we'll keep tapping into every source of american-made energy. and these steps already helped put america on a path to greater energy independence. our, our dependence on foreign oil has actually decreased each year i've been in office, even as the economy has grown. america now imports less than half of the oil we use for the first time in more than a decade. so we are less vulnerable than we were but we're still too vulnerable. so we've got to continue the

hard, sustained work on this issue and as long as i'm president we'll keep placing our bets on america's future, america's workers, america's technology, america's ingenuity and american-made energy. that is how we're going to solve this problem once and for all. thank you very much, everybody. jenna: that was the president talking about a new plan when it comes to the oil markets. let me take a moment to bring together some of the news we shared with you. we skipped around a little bit. we had the landing of the space shuttle discovery that will be retired in due in part because of economy. we'll talk a little bit the gsa hearings happening on capitol hill and a question about spending and whether or not there is proper oversight. now you have the president talking a little bit about the oil market and something that affects all of us which are gas prices. really a theme here, although different topics about the bottom line in this economy. joining us now, eric bolling co-host of "the five". a former oil trader. one of the main reasons we'll rely on him for his

expertise. phil flynn is a current oil trader and analyst and a fox business network contributor. he is coming to us from the cme where they trade oil futures there. let me start with a basic question if i can, eric. when the president talks about a irresponsible few that are tweaking the oil markets how big of a deal is that for us? how big of an issue is it for us at pump and just in general overall? >> well, jenna, by the way, governor sarah palin happened to put on a special last night on gasoline prices. one of the four parts of strategy we put together, it is not the obama strategy for energy and lower gas price, it was our recommendation, one happened to be exactly this, give the cftc more teeth if you will. let, go after traders who are rogue traders. it is not a bad thing. also raise the margin requirements, most importantly, raise the margin requirements on trading energy futures. it is not a bad idea. jenna: so you think the president was watching your special, is that what you're

saying? >> look it is fantastic. you should have been. hopefully if he was and hopefully takes the other parts. jenna: in your opinion, eric would that translate to lower prices at pump? >> yes. here's why. let me explain this. goldman sachs who happens to be of the largest trading groups of all tradedders in the world, it is not saudis or oil companies. it is wall street banks. goldman sachs put out a report every time you fill a your tank up, 7 to $14 of that fill-up is because of speculative long positions by traders. so if you remove that or at least curtail it. now i'm not saying i'm not saying don't allow it. i'm simply make it more accountable. currently you can trade $100,000 worth of oil with a few dollars, a few hundred dollars. jenna: that is interesting. >> not saying you shouldn't be allowed to trade it but fiscally accountable to the traders. closer tied to the barrel. jenna: the question becomes if you do it for oil traders what about the other traders as well? fair is fair, phil.

is this something that should be done across the board? and in your opinion what will the effect of a law like this, if put into place, if congress passes something, that is still a big if, what would real effect of it be? >> it means you will pay higher gasoline prices and higher oil prices. i can't believe what i'm hearing out of eric bolling. this is unbelievable. this is nothing but a political red herring for a failed energy policy. you've got the president taking credit for more oil production that was all george w. bush, that he was against and now he is looking for a scapegoat because oil prices are rising. >> phil? >> yeah. >> i didn't say this alone would drop the price of gasoline. this in conjunction with more drilling and embracing natural gas. hold on, phil. stop. have you ever had to make a margin requirement? have you ever had to say have to put up 10 or $20 million to feed this position? no, you haven't. what that does, it stops you from doing it. that is the bottom line. >> eric you need to be doing

it. listen the bottom line, right now, the reason why open interest in oil is at highest level ever because of risk to the global economy is higher than it has ever been. you have interest rates negative right now. countries on the verge of bankruptcy right now. you're seeing billions of dollars being forced into these markets because of federal reserve wants you to. they're printing more money because they want people to take risks in this economy. i don't think people get it. >> let me give you one more example. >> i would love it. >> the global using 83 million barrels oil a day. do we agree on that number. >> sure, whatever. >> how many barrels are traded on daily basis, phil dow know. >> 20 times. >> 5 trillion barrels. >> because the risk, because the risk is higher than it has ever been, eric. >> come on, phil, you know better than that. >> i do know better than that i know every futures contract is higher --. jenna: phil, trivia question of our statement will be over as we start, phil,

quick final point here. >> yeah. jenna:. jenna: this is still anti-threat call at this point. what does this mean for consumers overall? if you're saying risk is really issue here and global demand is really an issue, for the rest of just listening to this, what are we to make where gas prices are? and are we really protected as consumers? does the government really have our back right now in the market? >> well the last time the government tried this type of manipulation in the markets it was the 1970s. we ended up with price controls, gas lines and shortages. this is nothing more than a political red herring by people that don't really understand this market. if they think more government intervention is going to make gasoline prices go lower, what's going to happen, it will make oil trading less transparent. there is no way that the government is going to stop oil prices from doing what they're doing. you've got people hoarding supply in europe right now because they're worried about a war that is driving up prices. if you didn't have speculators i believe prices

would be twice as high as they are right now. jenna: according to the st. louis fed, speculation makes up 15% of rise in prices. so it is a factor as i think we all agree. both of you can agree speculation is a factor but there has to -- >> has to be part of a full energy policy including drill, including fixing epa and including embracing natural gas. that's all i'm saying. >> a lot of different opinions on this. gentlemen, gas prices are around $3.90 a gallon. been down from recent weeks. phil, eric. thank you. >> thank you very much. jenna: we'll have you back, both of you together to talk more about this. certainly a lot of opinions on the subject. rick: absolutely. we have more lively discussion straight ahead. federal prosecutors pulling out all the stops in retired, trial, rather retrial of baseball legend roger clemens, after last year's embarrassing mistrial, remember that, will the feds be able to prove their case? we have judge andrew

napolitano next we have two car insurances that we're going to have you taste. the first one we're going to call x. go ahead and take a sip, and then let me know what the baby thinks of it. four million drivers switched to this car insurance last year. oh, she likes it babies' palates are very sensitive so she's probably tasting the low rates. this is car insurance y, they've been losing customers pretty quickly. oh my gosh, that's horrible!, which would you choose? geico. over their competitor. do you want to finish it? no. does the baby want to finish it? no.

rick: switching gears now to politics. not too long ago conservative democrats had a lot of power and say on capitol hill. but the so-called blue dog democrats may have lost a lot of their bark and their bite lately. a story on the website "politico", said five of them are in real danger losing their seats in november on top of losses suffered in the 2010 midterms. joe trippi was a campaign manager for former presidential candidate howard dean. he is fox news contributor. always good to talk to you. the article in "politico" blames redistricting. newly-drawn districts are going to be tough for democrats to win in november. could there be something else into play, joe. could they moved so far to the left under president obama there is no room in the party for any other kind of voice? >> no. i think one it is redistricting and secondly the country is being

polarized. this is not just a democratic problem. you see this happening with the tea party and republican primaries as well. only real hard-liners in party participate in the primaries. when you have these new district what is is happening you're pushing out the middle in both parties. what is, what is left are the extremes, more than we're getting elected to congress. more polarization. more not getting anything done. it keeps recycling and even doing it harsher every single cycle. it is an amissing thing that don't see an end of it but it's a problem. both parties are losing the middle. rick: where does this leave folks who are in the middle? the independents are the ones who pick who our next president is going to be. so, who is speaking to them? >> well, in primaries very, it's not happening. i mean, you look at a race, senate race in connecticut between linda mcmahon and chris shays for example on

republican side. if linda wins, then you've got, you know hard-line democrat, hard-line republican. only one of them wins. it is happening in blue dog districts around the country as well. both tea party and in the democratic party as well and i don't, doug schoen, who appears on fox news contributor, has a great book about the hopelessly divided. how this is really creating havoc and a dysfunctional government. rick: so, do you think that as a democrat that both parties would be stronger, that their long-term health would be, better if they were to have a sort of a divergence of opinion within the parties? >> well, yeah, i think a debate, discussion within parties is good. the problem here is that these house districts, you know, they're supposed to be elected locally and you now have partisan special interests and idealogical

groups with citizens united and super pacs, spending amazing amounts of money trying to get their view elected locally even though their money may be coming from elsewhere in the country or from an interest group. those things combined with redistricting again keep pushing the middle out of these primaries and only the extremes are succeeding. rick: joe trippi is a fox news contributor. good to see you, joe. thanks so much. >> thanks, rick. jenna: judge napolitano is up next on the roger clemens trial, the second one this time. we also have some major developments in the case of that deadly stage collapse last summer in indiana. the manager for the band is at the center of a lawsuit. now she's speaking out. [screaming] call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

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selection in the retrial of baseball legend roger clemens. a federal judge declared a mistrial last july after prosecutors introduced evidence that the judge said, look, you can't introduce. this time around the prosecution, the united states government is not taking anything for granted. we have judge andrew napolitano here with us. he is a yankees fan but proceed regardless. why are we back here again? >> because the federal government steaks -- takes umbrage when they feel people have misled it and felt that roger clemens was lying to congress. does the congress have more important things to do? jenna: what do you think? >> that is not from me. that is from some of the potential jurors in this case. jenna: do you think it will affect the case, judge? >> well the judge in the case has the obligation of finding 12 jurors who can be fair not only to roger clemens but to the government but the judge has been hearing and it is very,

very rare, i never heard this in hundreds of juries that i have picked, jurors in a public courtroom criticizing the government saying, why are you wasting taxpayer dollars here? somehow these numbers slipped out, jenna. the government spent over a million dollars on the first trial which ended in a mistrial. if this one goes through to a jury verdict, the government will have spent an additional $2 million. and we all know how the government doesn't have any money. it has to print it in order to spend it. jenna: that has been a major theme of our show how the government is choosing to spend our money. obviously a major theme of so many big stories. in your opinion, judge, do the jurors have a point? >> yes i think the jurors do have a point. i don't think anyone was harmed by what, anyone was harmed by what roger clemens in said. think about it this way if you will permit me big picture. the supreme court has said the government may lie to us, so why should the government be prosecuting someone for lying to them? not like he lied on the witness stand in a trial and

as a result of what he said a guilty person got off or an innocent person got convicted. jenna: so wait a minute, the supreme court said if you're a member of congress you can lie? >> the supreme court has said that the government may lie to us, whether you're a member of congress or an fbi agent or a cop interrogating someone you can lie. but if the answer to the interrogation is untruthful, then the government will prosecute you. roger clemens is finding that out the hard way. jenna: what do you think really is at stake here? >> what i think is at stake here is the pride of the investigators who pursued roger clemens doggedly and who were furious at the prosecutors for having blown this the first time around. they showed a tape to the jury which had in the background a statement involving andy pettitte's wife and what mrs. petit said her husband andy told her. the judge expressly excluded that from going to the jury because it's hearsay the prosecutors played it for the jury anyway. not only was the judge angry

but the investigators who worked up the case who got the evidence against roger clemens were furious at the prosecutors as well. jenna: we'll see what happens again. they're trying to get the jury together. they will probably do it, judge. then we'll have you back where this case goes from here. nice to have you. go yankees. >> he is still the most intimidating pitcher in modern times no matter outcome of this case. jenna: roger clemens. i'll leave it to twitter for everyone to take you up on that. rick is right here. he will start talking to me about the phillies so i will have to go. >> pleasure, jenna, i have to agree. pretty intimidating on the mound. yes absolutely. all kinds of women out there. stay-at-home moms. women that work. impact all women will have on upcoming presidential election. we're live with an in-depth look coming up. members of the american postal worker's union

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jenna: and now this fox news alert, amazing live pictures out of detroit. julie banderas, what's happening

here? >> reporter: this is an active scene at this point, but what we are learning is this is in detroit, and there are fire crews working vigorously right now to put this thing out. fire crews are on the scene of this building fire on detroit's west side. several crews right now battling these large flames, you can see the smoke pouring from the roof of the building. this location is on west mcnichols and biltmore. there's no report as of yet how this fire started. it's in a commercial building. we don't know what type of commercial building it is, exactly, or if anyone has been injured, but as you can see, it's still an ongoing situation. there are a lot of onlookers outside, hopefully, nobody inside that building other than firefighters who, obviously, put their lives on the line to put the flames out. this thing has been burning for over a half hour x hopefully, they'll get this thing under control and we'll get more information. they're fighting it from the top. the fire and the smoke billowing out of the roof, so is they're trying to go from the top to the

p bottom, and once they get those flames under control, that's usually when the firefighters rush into the building in order to check to see if, god forbid, anybody is trapped inside that commercial building. we'll bring you the laidest as we get it. jenna: julie, thank you. rick: coming up all new this hour, it's called the pig book. coming up, a list of the worst examples of government waste. that's straight ahead. plus, he's experienced zero gravity, he's been to the pakistani village where bin laden was killed, but one man and his passengers are stranded near an an arty car, the latestn the efforts to save them all. and sugarland's manager now under brand new scrutiny. we'll tell you about that. jenna: a lot of great stories coming up, but we have new information on the secret service sex scandal. we're glad you're with us, everybody, i'm jenna lee.

rick: and i'm rick folbaum in for jon scott, and security clearance revoked for all 11 agents accused of soliciting prostitution in colombia, and after reviewing video from security cameras, the defense department is now saying even more military personnel may have been involved. jenna: yet another twist to this story. catherine herridge is live in washington with more. catherine? >> reporter: thank you, jenna. this morning the secret service investigation is expanding. a short time ago republican senator susan collins whose homeland security committee has oversight of the secret service confirmed to fox that she has been briefed by the secret service director mark sullivan and that 11 agents were involved, 20 or 21 women, all foreign nationals, were brought to that hotel, and marines were also allegedly involved. the probe now includes more members of the military than previously reported. as first reported by "the washington post," the defense department reviewed hotel security cameras, videos suggesting that at least ten

members of the military were involved in the incident. speaking to reporters, the defense secretary yesterday was blunt. >> whether our forces are in colombia or any other country or here in this country, we expect them to abide by the highest standard of behavior. that's a requirement. >> reporter: on foreign trips like the one in colombia where the scandal unfolded, the military provides transportation support and communications and other essential services. the service members have now been sent back to the united states. also this morning the chairman of the house homeland security committee that also has oversight of the secret service defended director sullivan. >> right now i know there's a very severe investigation going on. i've known mark sullivan, i have a great regard for him, and from what we know so far, he acted quickly, promptly and did the right thing. >> reporter: so the takeaway this morning is really twofold. one is that the secret service investigation continues to expand at a fairly dramatic rate, and we also are getting a

handle on the number of women allegedly involved, somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 or 21, jenna. jenna: wow. as this story continues to develop, we'll bring our viewers more. catherine, thank you. >> reporter: you're welcome. rick: it's a little pink book that reveals the big spending in washington, d.c., the annual congressional pig book they call it stuffed with all the pork barrel legislation backed by congress. the report says that our government is still sneaking in a lot of very expensive pet projects, and steve centanni is live in washington with the details. >> reporter: hi, rick. here's the latest pig book from that group outlining government spending they say is either redundant, unwanted or ineffective. take, for example, the abrams m1 tanks. the pentagon has called for production to be suspended, but congress went ahead and spent $220 million to upgrade the tanks saying it'll preserve thousands of jobs. and what about alternative

energy to power our military ships and planes? $120 million for three different earmarks. senator john mccain is worried this could lead to another solyndra situation, investing in technologies that aren't ready yet. and he pointed out the navy has spent $900 a gallon -- $400 a gallon for fuel made from algae. more than $38 million went to the office of national drug control policy even though after 40 years and a trillion dollars spent the group says drug use among teenagers has increased in the last three years. the good news is that overall earmarks are at their lowest level in many years, we can take a look at the numbers. in 2010 there were earmarks totaling $6.5 billion -- $16.5 billion, but that went down to $3.3 billion in 2012. as senator mccain says, members are still trying to put them into their bills. >> isn't that a damning indictment of the mindset of

members of congress that we can't pass a bill unless we pay people off? >> reporter: the group says earmarks are passed under different names which means the whole process has become even less transparent. rick? rick: all right. steve centanni in washington, thanks, steve. jenna: president obama's buffett rule failed last night in the senate. this issue, the issue of taxes, is sure to be a big one in november. our next guest who voted to block the buffett rule says instead of a new tax we need tax reform. ohio senator rob portman is a republican on the budget committee. happy tax day to you, senator. are your taxes done? >> my taxes are done over the weekend, like many americans, though, it was painful. [laughter] complicated and painful. jenna: down to the wire. >> look, this is tax day today. it's also tax freedom day, so it's the day when we finally end up paying enough taxes to start putting the money in the bank for ourselves and our family and

kids and grandkids. we have a high tax rate, and we have a tax code that's way too complicated and, frankly, this buffett tax that the president proposed does nothing to get our deficit under control. it pays for about a week of spending on the interest on the debt, and it's bad economics. i know it's good politics or else he wouldn't be pushing it as he is, but it doesn't do anything for our fiscal condition, and it's bad for the economy. jenna: i was reading an editorial you wrote yesterday, and one of the things that you ended with was this: a bipartisan consensus is beginning to take shape on tax reform. tell us about that. >> absolutely. jenna: what do you mean by that? >> there are two good things happening. one is people are understanding that we've got to get this economy moving. we're coming out of this recovery from this deep recession, it's the worst recovery, the weakest recovery we've had since the depression, so we need to do things to get the economy moving, and tax reform is one thing we can do both on the individual and business sides to get the economy moving. so i think that's good because there's a growing consensus

around that, by the way, including members of the administration, democrats and republicans. second, there is a growing consensus about what we ought to do. what we should do is get rid of some of the tax breaks, the preferences in the tax code, lower the marginal rates to create more economic growth and jobs, and every economist that looks at it says that our current code is inefficient, antiquated, hurts our ability to create jobs and there are ways to do this that can create work, investment and jobs. the bad news is the politics of things like the buffett tax that are going to do nothing -- jenna: specifically, what tax breaks would you get rid of? >> well, i think you have to look at the entire code, and if you start on the corporate side, for instance, we now have a 35 percent rate which is the highest in the industrialized world. japan just lowered theirs to make us number one in the world in something you don't want to be number one in. and you need to get that rate down to, i think, 25% which would put us in a competitive position and do so by

eliminating some of the preferences in the code. now, some of these are hard to do. you know, there are issues that some people feel very strongly about. but we've got to get at this, look at the deductibility of interest, things that are written off more quickly than others. there's lots of things in the code including some energy preferences both on the oil and gas side, but also significant presences on the renewable energy side that need to be looked at -- jenna: for consumers as well, not just businesses, right? there's some personal deductions, whether or not you have an energy-efficient car -- >> absolutely. jenna: we'd like to talk to you more about it, but i have to move on to the second topic that mitt romney just announced he's officially looking for a v. cial candidate. have you been contacted at all by the mitt romney campaign? your name has been out there by many, many speculators, if you will, about what's going to be next in this campaign. >> i have not, jenna and, look,

i'm very happy where i am. you and i have talked about this before, but the big issues -- tax reform, getting this debt and deficit under control -- this is all going to go through congress. i think i can help the most here. i've spent my career here in the house and senate doing that, trying to bring people together to solve problems. we've got some big problems in this country. again, things like the buffett tax are not going to solve problems. good politics, lousy economics, bad for the fiscal condition. we need to work on some of these things -- jenna: we certainly do have a lot of big issues. do you think you'd make a good vice president? >> i think i'm better equipped to be here to get the legislative process moving. look, i have a passion for these economic issues as you know, and i think these are things we have to do. if we don't, our kids and grandkids are going to live in a country that's very different than the one we have today because the debt and deficit will end up in a fiscal crisis and an economic cry crisis. if we don't get the economy

moving, the united states will fall behind. in terms of tax reform, every other industrialized country has reformed their taxes in the last couple decades and lowered the rates except us, so it's a good example of where the united states needs to be much more aggressive with dealing with the structural problems in our economy that this administration is ignoring. jenna: we look forward to talking with you about your ideas for a solution, especially bipartisan legislation in the future. >> thanks, jenna. jenna: nice to have you, thank you very much. >> take care. rick: when we come back, we'll turn our attention overseas, and the president of afghanistan is blaming nato for the latest attacks by the taliban in his country at the same time he's warning the taliban that more violence will just mean that foreign troops are going to have to stay in afghanistan even longer. plus, new testimony on outrageous federal spending for luxury suites and lavish parties with taxpayers footing the bill. ♪ >> mr. neely, um, has, has not -- is not with us today.

we had requested that he be with us, and he has, i guess, taken the fifth in another committee. i guess the only way we'll get to see him is on a video in the hot tub.

jenna: a few developing stories we're following this hour, the gunman accused in a norway massacre that killed 77 people telling a court today his actions were, quote, sophisticated and spectacular. anders breivik has pleaded not guilty to last july's car coming and shooting spree at a youth camp in norway. during a statement, he said held do it all again if he had the chance. julian assange making his debut on russian tv, assange says he has full editorial control of the program and is promising guests you won't see on mainstream tv. usama bin laden's widows and their children will be deported to saudi arabia tonight. they've been in pakistan since

the raid that killed the terror leader last year and, obviously, a great deal of time before that. their deportation is part of this 45-day prison sentence for illegally living in the country. rick: back to taxes now, and forget about billionaires like warren buffett. everyday americans are facing huge tax hikes. the average family could owe an extra $3800 unless congress takes action before next january. chief national correspondent jim angle is live in d.c. with more. hi, jim. >> reporter: hello, rick. well, today is tax cay, of course -- tax day, of course, but some are looking towards what analysts call taxmaggedon. >> it's a $500 billion, one-year tax hike that hits the economy on january 1, 2013. almost the entire tax code has been put on a year-to-year lease and in some cases a month to-to month heat which is no way to run a tax system.

>> reporter: a large number of tax policies expire together at the end of this year. all the extended bush tax cuts, including lower rates for all and things such as the expanded child tax credit, also the payroll tax cut and a host of other cuts meant to stimulate the economy. taking all of them away at once will increase taxes by $500 billion for one year which could cripple an already weak economy. >> unemployment's going to go up, you're going to have, probably, an economy that's about 1 to 2 percentage points smaller than it otherwise would have been and unemployment that's a full percentage point higher than it otherwise would have been because of these tax hikes. >> reporter: now, the increases would hit every taxpayer in the country with some 70% of the burden falling on those of low and middle income. of course, congress would like to avoid all that, but with the uncertainties of the fall elections for both congress and the presidency, action may be delayed.

>> it's my guess that nothing will happen on any of these issues until after the election which means that we have a small, virtually one-month window after the election to deal with all of these major issues before the entire tax system collapses. >> reporter: and all this raises the stakes for the economy because until congress acts, businesses can't know what their tax rates are going to be. that makes it hard to hire workers or plan for the future. leaving the economy and taxpayers in limbo, rick, adding even more uncertainty to an already weak economy. rick? rick: jim angle live for us in the nation's capital, thanks. >> reporter: you bet. jenna: afghanistan's president blaming the united states for failing to stop a new wave of terror attacks. hamid karzai saying an intelligence breakdown led to this outbreak of deadly violence, and now one nato partner says they're pulling their troops out earlier than planned. here's australia's prime minister.

>> this is a war with a purpose, this is a war with an end. we have a strategy, a mission and a time frame for achieving it. we are serving our national interest in afghanistan. jenna: the troops are going to come home. world affairs correspondent dominicdi-natale streaming live with more from kabul. dominic? >> reporter: hey there, jenna. they're going to pull 1,500 of their troops who are training the afghan national police force by the end of next year, they'll start drawing them down this year, and by the time all of them have got back to australia, that will be a full 12 months ahead of schedule. australia now joining the united kingdom, canada, the french and germans in pulling out well ahead of schedule. they're handing over control to the afghan national security forces who president karzai had partly blamed for the security incident we saw on sunday but mostly blaming u.s. intelligence gatherers for not alerting the

afghan government to intel that they did have. martin dempsey, who's -- sorry, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff was saying that yesterday in washington, d.c., there was some intelligence, but not enough to know specifically what was going to happen. president karzai pointed a finger very harshly, really, at the united states for that lapse in actually transmitting, i'm sorry, in terms of informing the government what was really going to happen there. but, of course, karzai also picking on the united states today by saying that the u.s. is actually trying to fudge just how much it wants to publicly say it will fund the afghan forces after the combat troops leave in 2014, what appears to be a bit of a row in terms of the final wording of the strategic agreement we hope to have before the nato summit in may. jenna: thank you very much for that update. in the meantime, we have this update on a story we brought you first yesterday that many of you responded to. we told you about a young u.s. soldier who was severely injured

in an explosion in afghanistan about a week ago. sergeant travis mills lost his arms and legs, both his arms and both his legs in the blast and understood went surgery in germany yesterday. we're told now that he is on his way back to the united states and should be arriving this afternoon. he's going to be reunited with his family in washington, his wife and his young little girl there, chloe, who's four months old. this homecoming sure to be bittersweet. we spoke to sergeant mills' wife on the phone yesterday, they plan to stay in washington for at least a year while he recuperates. several charities that build custom homes for vets have already lined up to help sergeant mills, there's a lot of support coming forward, but that's still a long way out. the immediate part of the journey will take place at walter reed, and we're going to continue to follow their story on foxnews.com as well as on "happening now." for more information you can check out the web site, travismills.org, and we'll bring you more updates as we get them. rick: and when we come back, a

new person under scrutiny link today a deadly stage collapse. you remember this from last summer. now the manager of a well-known country band is facing brand new questions. we'll tell you about it coming up next.

who have not complained, nobody's complaining, and you've got these plaintiffs' lawyers from other states coming to new york, florida mostly, and finding people so they can bring these lawsuits against small businesses, that's just wrong. rick: fred, do you want to try to defend this? who's benefiting from this, aside from the trial lawyers? >> wait, wait, wait. what i haven't heard is a single person say that these places were not in compliance with the ada, okay? the law's on the books. you know what people like. they don't do things until they absolutely have to -- >> but, fred -- >> this law was passed to help americans with disabilities, and you can't say it's not working.

>> but the problem is these plaintiffs' lawyers from other states that come into new york don't even give the business one second of a chance, don't say, you know what? your shelf was just a half inch too high, maybe you should remedy that. they don't do that. they themselves get thousands of dollars where the plaintiffs get maybe a few hundred if they're lucky? rick: is that the way it works, fred? a plaintiff who's approached by a plaintiffs' attorney, hey, i've got this suit, you'll get a few hundred bucks? >> that's it. rick: and how much does the attorney get? >> hey, guys, the attorney gets their fees under the act. otherwise these cases wouldn't be brought. but i'm going to tell you right now, there are a lot of cases on federal law that require you to do certain things, provide notice before you bring suit like with the eeoc. if you want congress to change the law that provides for having to give these people notice, then do that. but this is the law as it's written now, and what these guys are doing you may find distasteful, but it's helpful and not illegal.

rick: i'm sorry to interrupt, lis, but as you said, this is a laudable effort that people out there who have special needs and disabilities should have the same kind of access to the same kinds of things that everybody else does. but is there a problem, as fred points out, perhaps, with the way the law has been written? do lawmakers need to revisit that and take out some of these loopholes? >> yes, absolutely. you asked the question how much do the lawyers make and the plaintiffs make? the plaintiffs make, on average, $500 per suit. by the way, these plaintiffs are used again and again and again, sometimes 19, 20 times going against different companies, restaurants, flower shops, whatever. the lawyers for that 500 get about $5,000. there's something very wrong with that -- >> what you're not looking at -- i'm sorry, lis, but these stores then become ada compliant. >> but give them a chance, give them a 30-day chance, but they don't do that. >> where i'm with you. >> wow, we agree. >> until they rewrite the law,

you may not like it, but it's not illegal. >> it's not illegal, but it's an abuse and a misuse, and you know that, and that's the problem. that's what gives lawyers a bad name. >> i wouldn't do it but, you know what? somebody else would. rick: good discussion. i'm sure you have some friends, fred, i know you do -- >> well, i have two friends, and neither of them do, okay? rick: all right. tell them we'd like to talk to them about it. fred, lis, thank you both. jenna: lis got a little surprise there, she was right. what do you think? i like picking winners in those things. that's not exactly fair and balanced. all right, moms are now the hot topic on the campaign trail, right? this after a democratic strategist sparks a firestorm saying ann romney never had to struggle financially and never worked a day in her life. instead of us telling you what moms want, we decided to let them tell you themselves. plus, gsa administrators on the hot seat over big spending

on your dime. take a listen. >> i'm here to tell you the buck stops here. we're not going to hold up any longer. the american public demands to see the budget on the public building fund, the federal buildings fund and how that money's been spent. this slush fund is no longer going to be used for personal uses. jenna: congressman jason chaffetz took part in the hearings yesterday, he joins us live next. members of the american postal worker's union

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rick: breaking news right now, a whistle-blower on lavish spending by the gsa appearing on capitol hill today, telling law meekers that she shares their anger. a gsa building commissioner said he didn't know that taxpayers would be billed nearly $2,000 for a party in his luxury suite. the government and oversight reform committee was having its meeting yesterday. there is another committee holding a meeting today. everyone wants in on the act when it comes to this scandal, isn't it? >> everybody is offended, absolutely. this egregious spending out of control wasteful spending. i feel it's the tip of the iceberg, this isn't the only department and agency that has even gauged in this nefarious activity. rick: i understand there are other whistle blowers coming forward now. what can you share with us? what have lawmakers heard about

other examples of this? >> well, we do, you know, as the oversight committee we have people come to us. even since this first broke we've had other agencies highlighted. we are reviewing those documents to make sure they are authentic. i worry that this is much more pervasive. present it's the gsa that sets the per diem, that sets the travel standard. they are potentially one of the biggest abusers of it. they let the white house know almost a year ago, they did nothing about it. they don't seem to fire people over there. i just think that that is more pervasive than it should be. rick: we've all seen the first of jeff nealey from the gsa enjoying time in his hot tub at the hotel suite with cocktails next to him. he was living it up in vegas. he's pulling a paycheck. was the law broken here, congressman? >> there are a couple of things that are highly offensive to me.

hopefully the inspector has given the information to the department of justice so they can potentially pursue a criminal indictment. what is fearful in my part is that despite what the president said, remember the president stood before the american people and said that there is a pay freeze in place, but they were still giving out bonuses, and this bozo got a $9,000 bonus despite knowing, the administrator knew this was a problem, she gave him a $9,000 bonus and he is still on the payroll, today he's still earning a check, he has a six-figure salary. what does it take to actually fire somebody over there? there are too many good people who are patriotic, frugal, good government workers. we've got to get rid of the rivet riff-rff like this bozo. rick: how do you do that. >> we've got to highlight and put pressure. this was a continuing theme with the obama administration, with fast and furious. one guy got promoted to chief of staff. do you see firings in solyndra?

no. do you see firings at the gsa? no. they were allowed to retire or step down. why don't they fire someone like this guy and let the american people they are serious about this. rick: do you think you are going to get this guy to talk at all? is this pleading the fifth going to be par for the course with a lot of the people you usher in front of your committee? >> we respect anybody's constitutional rights. he has lawyered up and probably for good reason. there are probably criminal charges here, i'm not sure, but they will face a criminal probe. rick: jason chaffetz, republican congressman from utah. thank you so much. jenna: hillary rosen's comments that ann romney never worked a day in her life, what do working and stay-at-home mothers really think about the controversy and how big a role will they play in

november? john roberts is live with more. john, you like rick have a set of twins at home. maybe that gives you a free pass into the world of mothers, is that part of this report? >> reporter: all i can tell you is i look forward to going to work to get a bit of a break, jenna. rick: here, here. >> reporter: rick knows what i'm talking about. i spoke with three women about this. all three of them made the decision to leave their careers to be full-time moms. michelle was in marketing at ibm. she left ibm in 2004. she has three kids, anna, ten months old is her youngest. michelle is a swing voter and reskwrebts hillary rosen's comments about stay at home moms. >> it's a lie to say one is better than another. the number of women who choose to stay at home sacrifice their atonomy because they going for a greater goal in their mind. >> reporter: i spoke with lisa,

a harvard mba, 16 years ago she left her career to be a stay at home mom. she is back in the working world at a medical office. she is a swing voter. here is her perspective. >> i've heard all this -- all these messages from the democratic party that there was a war on women, you know, from the weapon party, so, you know, all of it wasn't making sense. so it didn't make sense for me one way and it doesn't make sense for me the other. >> reporter: for the record lisa does not feel that there is a war on woman. her top issues, israel and jobs. for holly morris it's all about the economy. she left a job in real estate to be a full time mom. her husband is in real estate too. since the housing market crashed things have been very tough for the family. >> i get multiple phone calls every day from people i owe money to. it's embarrassing, i wish i could pay the money.

i want our debt cleared, cleared, and it's not going to be cleared until the economy turns around. >> reporter: for holly she is looking for a president that will fix the economy and lift the housing market. a new reuters poll just came out, it shows president obama with a 14 point lead over mitt romney among women. why the gender gap? lisa says obama appeals to the way women thing, more intuitive, romney more concrete, which is the way she believes a man thinks. jenna. jenna: thank you very much. some important voices there. rick: coming up next an important story, are u.s. hospital patients at grave risk because of a major drug shortage? a shocking new study that answers that question and we'll have it for you. a cruise ship stranded in the icy waters near antarctica. details on the race to save the passengers, a lot of whom are american. we will talk with the daughter of one of the men who was stuck on that ship coming up.

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jenna: fox news alert. a little information on what is going on with our 401k. you have the dow up about 200 points and also broadly speaking the markets are up on a few different factors including a little bit of hope that maybe things in europe are looking better. we also have some positive news out of the tech sector today in that it's moving higher and bringing the market with it after a rocky day for the nasdaq yesterday. take a look at the dow, up 200 points. rick: right now rescuers fight violent waves to save stranded people in the antarctic. passengers including a dozen americans are stuck in a cruise ship. the il ill-fated trip set sale

from argentina headed to ecuador with a stop in the antarctica. as they arrived in the port on south georgia island the liner loses power, they are stranded. joining us on the phone is bob bonaface. his daughter is stateside and she joins us as well. bob, this is a fine mess you've got even yourself into. >> yeah this is. i find myself getting into these every now and then. rick: we should mention you are a world traveler. you've been to over 800 different countries in your lifetime. i'm guessing you've never had a trip quite like this one. >> no, i've never been -- rick: we should mention that bob is in antarctica talking tow us on a satellite telephone. he's had to go to the bow of the ship. if we lose reception or the call all together you'll have to excuse us. let me ask his daughter, connie

who is joining us on the phone. i know your dad is an adventurer, you're used to him setting off on travels, but you must be worried sick about him. >> we are used to him traveling the world. that part is okay. i don't think i'm worried sick about him. i think they are in a safe place. they broke down near a harbor, are able to take anchor and are safe. i know he's board but that's not really the most of the problem. you know, when you go adventure travel you sometimes run into these things. rick: that's i think an understatement. we should mention that there is enough food and water to sustain everybody until the replacement ship, the rescue vessel arrives, we are told some time tomorrow morning and then when do you expect to get your dad back home? what is his itinerary after that? >> they basically this given up the cruise as it was scheduled, so they've been stuck for ten days, they are going to get on a ship tomorrow, then it's

supposed to take six days in open seas to get them back to the tip of south america and then he'll be back here probably next thursday about, so another week or so. >> i know you guys are -- our dad lives in illinois, right by the lakes. maybe a summer trip a little closer to home? >> he doesn't travel in the summertime because he loves his lake, so, yes. rick: all right, good. we wish him a safe trip home. coneconnie, thank you very much. and bob bonafac stranded right now but should be coming home within a week or so. the phone went out. jenna: much easier to keep track of him on the lake. rick: i would not like if my dad went off and was stuck on the ship in the middle of antarctica. jenna: he told us the bar was open, right. rick: 24-7. got to be, right. jenna: dr. siegel will join us

on a new study on anesthesia drugs. quite interesting findings from dr. siegel, up next.

rick: right now, new details in a lawsuit over a deadly stage collapse last summer. julie banderas is following the breaking noose for us. >> reporter: on the surface it looked like a terrible accident caused by the weather. behind the saeupb scenes there is a storm of blame. after months of investigation, sugarland's tour manager health they are rallins who kept everybody backstage for a prayer

was asked to delay the show. she said, it's only rain we can play. lawyers are seeking millions in damages for the seven people who died in the tragedy and dozens of victims injured when the stage collapsed at last summer's independent state fair. a key factor in the out cox the lawsuits will be determining who was responsible for the decision not to delay the concert. state fair officials says a concert promoter asked the band twice to delay the performance because of the weather and was rejected. jennifer nettles said she doesn't know who was told anything. she said if she feels responsible. she said i don't feel it's my responsibility or my staff's responsibility to evacuate the fans. do i care about their safety, of course i do end quote. they deny the band was responsible and say the decision

to delay the show is left up to the venue, in this case the fair. jenna: a shocking headline revealed in a new medical survey. doctors are blaming anesthesia shortages for the deaths of some patients. dr. marc siegl is a member of the fox news medical a team and professor of medicine at ny nyulangcom medical center. why would that lead to somebody's death. >> we have 265 drugs that are short right now which is five times what it used to be five years ago. anesthesia is one you really worry about. it's a life and death situation. i think it's routine in hospitals for there to be delays in anesthesia. death is rare. eight doctors in this survey out of 3,000 said that patients actually died from this. i've seen personally where surgery had to be delayed, where you didn't get the anesthesia that you wanted. why is it happening? the first reason is because of

patents running out. the drugs have been around a while, the patents run out, they can't make a profit on it the drug company doesn't want to make it. jenna: can i stop you there for a second. you said something really important, that maybe it's not the drug itself. so it won't be necessarily me taking the anesthesia that would kill me but the fact that i had to delay surgery because the anesthesia wasn't available. that's what you think the doctors might be saying when they say that their patients passed away because of anesthesia shortage stph-s. >> that's exactly right. they got into a situation in the operating room where the drug they wanted wasn't available, where they had to use an alternative or where they actually reached for a drug and it wasn't there. that's what is going on. as i said it's the tip of the iceberg, because it's not just anesthesia, it's going on with chemotherapy, with heart drugs, with sedatives, with antibiotics, steroids? >> why? >> because the patents are running out and there is no profit to be made. all of these intervene just drugs have to be sterilized. there was a report last year some of them they found glass

fragments, fungal contamination. it's very hard an expensive to make sure that they are sterilized. the third reason is that there may be production problems from that and there may be distribution problems. and the other reason is that there is not enough of a spotlight being shined on this. the fda is saying, we want to know six months in advance of these shortages, but i think that that is not necessarily going to solve the problem either, because you can't force the drug companies to make a product that they are not making a profit on. jenna: i only have 30 seconds. what does solve it? >> we could stockpile drugs we really need. we could allow them to charge more. we could look into the insurance issue where insurance is refusing to cover some of the drugs so drug manufacturers don't want to make them. it's a big mess whether we go under the current health reform climate of extending insurance to more and more people but not necessarily covering the life-saving medications we need. we are already getting, jenna, 85% of our drugs from overseas, that is already a mess. we have to figure out a way to incentivize this so that the

drug companies actually make the drugs we need. this is a real crisis in our healthcare system right now. the anesthesia may be the worst example but chemotherapy is a terrible thing. heart medications, antibiotic, steroids. a lot of them are over in the war theater still where we really need them as well. we don't have the drugs we need. jenna: it sounds like this begs for a longer conversation. it's a big topic. rick: breaking news in the secret service sex scandal. what investigators have uncovered now in this stunning breach of presidential security. that is coming up. [ male announcer ] this was how my day began.

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strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. jenna: after the doc stopped in we have a little junk food to talk to you about. apparently junk food is threatened with extinction. hostess brand heade headed to bankruptcy. if the court aeu profits the deal the union representing