>> gretchen: i kind of like that, actually. i'm going to try that tomorrow. >> steve: very nice. >> brian: tell you what, it's very -- really something that we can have done for you tomorrow. >> steve: we've got creative viewers. thanks to all of you. see you back here tomorrow, same time, same channel martha: hope they hang onto the picture, brian. here's a question for you, everybody. why do today what you can put off really until after the election? a bombshell from the leading democrat in charge of our nation's budget. he basically says, you know, there is just not going to be a vote until after the election and how long have we heard that for? good morning, everybody. i'm martha maccallum, here in "america's newsroom." good to have you with us. gregg: nice to be here. i'm gregg jarrett in for bill. as our nations continues to rack up mountains of evening, senate budget chairman, kent conrad effectively kicking the can down the road saying the country will have to wait for a vote on

the budget. >> i said i don't think it's wise to vote when they did, right before an election, people are probably not going to be ready to get out of their trenches. martha: well, it has been three years now, folks. it is a high-stakes showdown in our nation's capital. you have the debt crisis hanging in the balance. fox business statute varney joins me. stuart, i don't think anybody would stretch calling this pathetic. there has been no budget out of the senate for three years which is the responsibility of this committee. it is in their mandate. you say this is just really have to look at the whole picture here what a crisis this is. >> look at, expand the big picture for a second here because you could almost guaranty financial chaos for america's finances in the immediate month and indeed the next year to come. you have already got kent conrad saying look, no budget this year, kicking the can down the road. no budget even though we've

had three years with no budget, no budget for the rest of this year. sooner or later toward the end of this year we'll bump up against the debt ceiling. we'll have a authorize a lot more government borrowing. on january the first, two big tax increases will go into effect. all of the bush tax cuts go away. payroll tax holiday also goes away. that is a big tax increase. simultaneously, january the first, in go massive spending cuts for the military and for health care. you add all of that lot up and you're not going to get anything happening before the end of the year and you've got financial chaos. i put it to you, martha. here's the choices. we have another debt crisis on our hands in the immediate future or another downgrade on our hands or recession looming. because we're not going to do anything until after the election and then it is all up to a lame-duck congress to do something. rectify all of those problems before january the 1st. out of the question. martha: i mean, i hate to be cynical but for the

administration they may look at this situation and say, look it's an ugly picture we'll have to deal with the bush tax cuts down the road. they may indeed decide to continue them if we're in dire straits as you paint the picture of. it behooves them to do nothing. >> yes. martha: that is difficult situation. >> everything gets kicked down the road. raise the debt ceiling to borrow a bit more. go on with continuing resolutions to keep the government operating. keep the bush tax cuts in place. just kick it down the road. keep the payroll tax holiday in place. kick it down the road. go on running the government on almost a month to month basis. that is likely outcome but it is not a solution to the chaos that's approaching. martha: and it is going to be the other sides job. romney, as he goes for election here, to convince people of the dire straits that you're talking about in the midst of all that. >> yes. i keep using the word, it's chaos. guaranteed and almost upon us. martha: stuart, thank you.

we'll look for you on fox business news coming up. thank you so much stuart varney. with that cheery, cheery message for this morning to start us off, gregg. gregg: i'm so excited about the day now. i think i will go back to bad. house speaker john boehner weighing in on the budget wrangling he and the president were very close to a deal but all the president cares about now is his campaign for re-election. >> lost his courage? >> he lost his courage. >> he couldn't face what? >> why did blow the deal up? >> what did he tell you? >> that he needed more revenue, needed more revenue. he lost his courage. >> will anything happen between now and the election? >> i would hope so but i'm not optimistic. the president checked out last labor day. all he has done is campaign full-time for the last six months. he has not been engaged in the legislative process at all. there has been no effort trying to work with democrats and republicans to address this issue at all. and it's shameful.

gregg: speaker boehner adds that the president can not run on his economic record. yesterday he announced his support of gop candidate mitt romney. martha? martha: very strong comments from john boehner. more on that later. just to give you a little bit of context how bad the budget situation really is, the last time the senate passed a budget resolution president obama had been in office for only three months. it was april of 2009 since they have done the work that they are supposed to do as part of that their job description. have not done it. today marks 1086 days for those marking it up on their calendar since the senate passed a budget. now back to this very big story that we have been following throughout the week. a top lawmaker is calling out the white house, laying the blame for the gsa spending scandal right a at president obama's feet. he is florida congressman john michael. he says that the obama administration knew about the scandalous taxpayer-funded conference

long before it was made public. he claims the white house chose to do nothing about it. >> they knew about this and they were also told again to sop the nonsense, to stop the waste and possible criminal activity and nobody did anything. martha: we're going to ask congressman mica about that. he also tore into this man, jeffrey neely, who has become well-known to all of us. he is the one who planned that more than $800,000 event. he has repeatedly pleaded the fifth questioned about, even his name or if even worked there. he did not bother to show up to yesterday's hearing. >> mr. neely is not with us today. we had requested that he be with us and he has i guess taken the fifth in another committee and is not appearing today against the, one of the requests that, at least i made for him to be with us. i guess only way we'll get to see him is on a video in

the hot tub. martha: a little attempt at humor there. he is referring of course to this picture, which shows mr. neely living it up, a couple of glasses of wine at his side in a vegas hot tub. we'll speak to congressman mica about this and we want to know how he backs up that statement that the white house knew about this and chose to do nothing. i will ask him that coming up. some harsh comments as well leveled against mica by harry reid. all that ahead. gregg: serious concerns in the meantime in the prostitution scandal rocking the secret service. senator susan collins saying at least 20 women were brought back to the el caribe hotel by the agents just before president obama's arrival in colombia. that of course pose as serious security breach. >> i'm very concerned we really don't know who these women were. we don't know whether they were working for the drug cartels. whether they were working for radical forces within colombia.

who knows who they were working for. gregg: doug mckelway is following this story, joins us live from the white house. doug, sound like some in congress are deeply concerned this was not an isolated incident. >> reporter: that is definitely true, gregg. yesterday secret service director mark sullivan was grilled on capitol hill as he shuffled from briefing to briefing whether these prostitutes may have had access to sensitive information such as the president's schedule? the sheer numbers of people involved, we're talking about 20 one prostitutes and as many as 20 one secret service and military personnel suggested that one senator this may not have been an isolated incident. >> it is hard for me to believe that this is the one and only time that this has happened because there were so many secret service personnel involved. if it had been one or two you would think one bad apple but for 11 or 12 to be involved is really alarming.

>> reporter: at the end of a rose garden ceremony yesterday reporters shouted questions to president obama. he did not answer but later at white house briefing jay carney expressed the president's confidence in the secret service. >> they put their lives on the line. and it's a very, very difficult job. and he acknowledges that and appreciates it. >> reporter: secret service director mark sullivan has now turned the investigation over to a private government investigator. gregg? gregg: well, i understand, doug, at least one of the secret service agents undergoing questioning has been identified? >> reporter: that's right. he is the brother of maryland u.s. senate candidate, republican senate candidate, excuse me, dan bongino. he told nbc news last night and i'm quoting. i know everyone in the case and i'm not apologizing for anyone's behavior. the ones i talk to their families are just beaten up by this he said.

then he later admitted that his brother joe was on the team that quote, made bad decisions but he was not implicated in the prostitution. gregg? gregg: doug mckelway live at white house. thanks very much. martha: those are a few of the stories we're getting started with this morning in "america's newsroom." this one, folks, harry reid has a message for the republican who dared look into the gsa spending scandal. he told florida republican congressman, that he quote, needs to get a life. we'll get his response. you see him shaking his head. gregg: i think he has a response for that. meantime, misterry solved in tiny town waiting to find out who the megamillionaire is among them. we're waiting for it live. martha: this horrific, tragic, tragic story out of texas this morning. the mother of a newborn shot dead and her baby snatched right out of her hands. we have breaking news on this capital murder case,

just filed charges right after this. stay with us. >> the mother tried to get into the scar and the car sped away knocking the lady to the ground. >> she is laying on the ground. she wasn't moving for nothing. i saw a blue lexus drive off in that direction 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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gregg: some dramatic new videotape of a gas pump suddenly bursting into flames. people running for their lives. in happened in california. a driver packing up into a pump, then hitting the gas and slamming into the gas pump. it set it on fire. the police captured the driver that was rushing to the hospital. >> it was smashed up. it was wide open. >> i don't think it was very responsible. if he did that at least he should stay. >> i would like to tell them i'm sorry for what happened. my gas pedal got stuck so i couldn't stop the car. that was it. but i want to apologize to

that man. gregg: that may not be enough. the driver is facing possible felony hit-and-run charges. martha: bombshell allegations that wild spending scandal that has been rocking washington this week. congressman john mica says that he believes that the white house knew about the gsa's 820,000 conference in las vegas way before the rest of us found out about it. >> the white house knew about this in june of 2011. that's great for the president and others to condemn the action in the last week or two. they have known for nearly a year of what was going on. martha: congressman mica is one of the lawmakers leading this investigation. he is the republican chairman of the house transportation and infrastructure committee. congressman, welcome. good to have you here. >> good to be with you. martha: you say that the white house knew about it. what's your proof and why do you think they didn't do anything sooner? it would

maybe behoove them to get out in front of it, right? >> absolutely. we have documentation. the conference took place in october of 2010. and then the whistle-blower asked for the ig investigation a month later. it was reported back in may of 2011 that what was going on, and that was enough time to investigate. and then the white house briefed beginning of the june. we've known they have known almost for a year and tried to keep this swept under the carpet. the other thing too which is amazing, it took the whistle-blower another time coming in and blowing the whistle on a 17-day south pacific junket that would be held. they went ahead and approved it even after knowing what had already been done in corrupt spending of taxpayer money. martha: just try to imagine what the frustration is like for this whistle-blower who is in this agency and taking

this chance of kind of turning this information over and then, the shock at the fact that nobody seems to care about what's going on, this rampant disregard for taxpayer money that appears to have been going on in this agency. i want to pull up a quote. this is a full screen quote as we call it from harry reid about you. here is what he says about you taking this issue on. first of all, mica, who is doing this, should get a life and do what he is supposed to do. what do you think about that? >> well, you know, trying to intimidate me to stop the investigations won't work. know he is not happy. i stopped some $3720 per airline ticket subsidy from one his airports. so i know i'm not his best friend. i'm not going to be intimidated. this isn't about taking a trip to las vegas which he represents. people can do that and have a great time and enjoy it at their own expense but this

is wasteful spending. i don't care if it was in my backyard in disney which is right below my district. if they were wasting taxpayer money, then they have to be held accountable. finally you know, this hearing also brought to light not just las vegas but south pacific trips, atlanta, napa valley, hawaii, the list goes on and on. martha: i want to pull up an e-mail from mr. neely, that gets to the heart of this matter. he is the person who was grilled to no avail, really. he took the fifth on first day of all of this. here is what he said. this was read into the notes from the committee. we'll get you guys a room near us, referring to some friends of his i guess, and we'll pick up the room tab. it could be a blast. i know i'm bad, as deb and i say, why not enjoy it while we have it and we can. it ain't going to last forever. the outrage just nature of this attitude on the part of

a public servant really, i think is just shocking people and raises the question how deep do you think this goes? how many other agencies do you plan to look into? >> well, again, whether it is gsa, tsa, we've gone after amtrak. there's a whole host of federal activities. we actually list in a report that i did two years ago, it's entitled the federal government must stop sitting on its assets. a whole list of areas which gsa not just loses millions in these conference, wasteful spending but billions. this is available. it's our primer for trying to bring some reform and reasonable accountability for hard-earned taxpayer money that is being squandered in many federal agencies. martha: let's hope it is a wake-up call for everybody watching and also for those who are in these agencies to maybe get a little bit more careful about the way they're doing business. john mica.

>> we're not going to stop. we're not going to back up off. thank you. martha: hear you, congressman, thanks for being with us today. >> thank you. gregg: he says we're on the road to a economic apocalypse. the top senator who says the country is facing quote, a debt bomb. senator tom coburn is here to explain. martha: and base ball history made by an old-timer. colorado rockies pitcher skbram my moyer -- jamie moyer becoming oldest pismer ever to win a baseball game. he is ripe 49 years old. he threw 87 pitches over seven innings, helping colorado beat san diego 5-3. congratulations to jamie moyer back in "america's newsroom.". back after this, folks. ♪

martha: here is what's developing right now in "america's newsroom" this morning. afghan defense officials say they're on track for the u.s. drawdown beginning in 2013. a defense ministry spokesman saying security forces will peak at more than 350,000 and are expected to take over much of the fighting by next september. that is the target. a massive volcano threatening an area near mexico city. the nearly 18,000 foot mountain has been spewing ash and rock fragments. how about this viewing as well, perhaps? kim kardashian, the politician? the reality tv star reportedly mulling plans. she is thinking she may want to run for mayor of glendale, california, gregg. gregg: really? martha: it could be a couple years away. thinking about a future in politics. gregg: she has all kind of assets. i'm not sure political is one of them. we'll leave that up to your imagination.

martha: tell us those a little bit later. gregg: on a very serious subject, a frightening story to tell you about. a body, arrest and bizarre new details in the search for the missing wife of a u.s. marine. san diego police are not confirming the identity of the victim with but could be 22-year-old britney dawn kilgore, seen here with her husband cory. cory is returning home from overseas. investigators say they fear the worst. >> we initially suspected foul play based on the totality of circumstances when she disappeared. unfortunately, if this is confirmed to be her, then our suspicions were well-founded. gregg: rod wheeler is a former d.c. homicide detective. fox news contributor. do you suspect some sort of a love triangle here? because a woman by the name of jessica louis lopez is arrested in a motel on sunday night, self-inflicted wound and allegedly, a

suicide note that details where brittany kilgore's body is? >> exactly, gregg. i think that is exactly what we have here. we have a very bizarre love triangle. i think what is interesting is the fact that, you know, this woman that's missing had filed for divorce. brittany had filed for divorce about a week before she went missing. why does she file for divorce at that time when her husband is over in afghanistan? then not only that, it was only a week later she went missing. the question here, gregg, police are trying to figure out, i actually think they already know, what is the exact relationship between jessica lopez, same last name, as this guy luis lopez. luis is about 42 years old. jessica is 27 years old. they're trying to piece together now as i speak. gregg: louis lopez is the allegedly the last person to see brittany kilgore alive. he is behind bars because they found in his possession,

what, an assault rifle? >> exactly, they found an ar-15 actually that was missing from the military. something else that will be interesting from this investigation. the manner of death if in fact this is brittany the police have found. how in fact did she die and whether or not that ar-15 was the cause of death or manner of death. so i think that is another element of this investigation that the investigators are trying to figure out right now. why would this woman in this hotel room be trying to kill herself? i believe guilt. all of these folks are involved? absolutely i think it is guilt. i think at this point she decided she wanted to take her own life versus facing jail time and things like that. so i think by the end of today, probably tomorrow, we'll know exactly, gregg, all the details in terms of what could have happened. gregg: rod wheeler, thank you very much for being with us. good to see you. >> thank you, gregg. martha: well, police are now piecing together the bizarre details of a who are rising -- horrifying crime. a mother gunned down with

her newborn baby in her arms. and now an arrest as they are trying to search for what could have possibly been the motive in this horrific crime. we'll be right back with more. hey, did you ever finish last month's invoices?

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gregg: a woman is now facing charges in connection with an absolutely horrifying case out of texas, accused of murdering a young mother just outside her doctor's office and taking off with the woman's three day old baby. fortunately the infant has

since been found safe. heather childers live in our new york city newsroom with more. hi, heather. >> reporter: hi, gregg. three day old keegan golden was found 8:00 p.m. six hours after his mother kala marie golden was kurd. another woman, verna mcclain, 30 years old has been charged in capital murder and abduction this started yesterday north of houston in springs, texas. 28-year-old golden had just left a pediatric clinic with her son. witnesses say the suspect, mcclain, in a lexus, parked next to the pickup truck. two began to argue. as many as seven shots fired. the infant snatched,ed suspects sped away hitting the dying mother as tree tried to reach into the lexus screaming, my baby. >> the wild was put into the suspect vehicle. that's when the mother tried to get into the car, the car sped away knocking the lady to the ground. >> she is laying on the ground. she wasn't moving for

nothing. i saw a blue lexus drive off in that direction. >> reporter: there are unconfirmed reports with a machine with mcclain in the lexus. the car was found parked outside a nearby apartment complex late last night. the drivers side stained in blood. we have additional information to bring you, gregg. in reference to the suspect. this is all just coming in via affidavit we just received. the suspect, 30-year-old mcclain, reportedly is a nurse. she has three children of her own. ranging in age from six years old, 10 years old and 16 years old. she is reportedly just recently told her sister that she was in the process of adopting a child. now the baby, the young baby, keegan, was found inside the suspect's home. gregg: what do we know about the condition of the baby though? >> we do know that the baby was found unharmed, in good condition. is currently with child protective services but they do expect him soon to be reunited with his father. again, neither police, nor

the baby's maternal grandmother has said much yet, except obviously this is an incredibly disturbing story. we'll bring you more information as we get it. gregg: all right. heather childers, thanks very much. >> you're welcome. martha: dire warning this morning from one of capitol hill's leading budget hawks as our nation's debt chreems. there it goes ticking by, folks. over $15 trillion right now. republican senator tom coburn has always been an outspoken voice on all this. he paints a harsh picture of the economic future for the united states on a number of fronts. he is on the senate finance committee and we are very pleased to have him with us this morning. senator coburn. good to see you this morning. >> good morning, martha. how are you? martha: i'm doing just fine. i have a couple of different areas i want to hit you with this morning. >> okay. martha: we'll start with the piece coming out today that has to do with medicare. you feel that people need to

wake up. you say medicare will become insolvent you say, much sooner than anybody thinks by 2016. what are you revealing we don't already know here? >> we have the trustee's report last year, said in the worst-case scenario, the medicaid part a trust fund, the part that pays hospital bills for seniors, will be bankrupt in the 2016. what that means is, is that there will be a limitation on the amount of payments that go out to pay for seniors. and the antideficiency act which is an act in congress doesn't allow congress to borrow money other than what it has in the trust fund to pay those bills. so all, the point about it is that we've got to reform medicare. we've got to make the changes in it to secure health care for seniors and also to make it financially viable and nobody is working on that. martha: yeah. >> we have $15 trillion in debt. we'll run a $1.3 trillion this year and nothing is on the senate floor to dress that issue, to assure seniors that their medicare is going to be okay.

martha: you make some very strong comments about your colleagues in congress. you say that you're in favor of the jack welch principle in reverse. that 90% of the people who work with you on capitol hill should be fired. that maybe the 10% who are productive should remain and that the senate is heavily sedated. support that, for me. >> well, that was kind of a, i have this new book out called the debt bomb. martha: yee. >> i outline what the problems are facing our country and why it is more urgent and more real that the politicians, the career politicians would suggest. and i just did a tongue-in-cheek. ge, jack welch had a program where the bottom 10% got terminated every year and replaced them. i think if you did a measurable assessment of the u.s. senate today, the fact that we're not addressing social security, which is going to run out of money, we're not addressing the debt, we're not addressing entitlements. we're not reforming the tax code. we're not doing the things to stimulate the economy.

we're not reining in the regulations, that in fact maybe they ought to be changing who is up here rather than to continue to send the same people back. martha: i read the beginning of your book over the weekend. i recommend it. it is very interesting. you start out with a fictitious scenario where there's a huge financial disaster that's looming and a lot of it comes from the fact that so much of our debt is owed by china and by japan and that basically they're going to be able to hold the strings of us like a puppet as a result. >> well, think about what happened to greece. what is going on right now? the rest of the europe and international financial community is now telling greece what they will and won't do. for greece to be able to get more money, to borrow more money, what will happen is, they're going to do whatever their creditors say. should we allow that to happen in our country or should we be acting now to fix these problems so that we don't get in the position where creditors are telling what we would do?

i would much rather negotiate with dick durbin and my friend across the aisle than to have to negotiate with chinese and japanese sovereign financial dealers in terms of how we fix our country. we don't have one problem, martha, we can't solve but they're all going to be much more deaf cult to solve if we wait until the quote, time is right. in other words politically safe to do it. martha: well, apparently according to your colleague kent conrad we'll have to wait until after the election at the very least before we see any kind of budget out of the senate. >> people ought to ask the question. first of all, it's a law that the senate. martha: exactly. >> needs to vote on a budget. we have harry reid not allowing that to come up. he is not allowing it to come up for purely political reasons. whereas in fact the country needs us to have a budget. we need to decrease our spending. we need to reform the tax code. we ought to be voting on it. i don't think we should be being paid right now because we're doing absolutely

nothing of import in the u.s. senate. martha: you make great points. breaking the law to not come forward with a budget which they haven't done for three years. you're right, maybe they shouldn't be paid because secondary to the legal aspect of it, they're just not doing their job. senator, it is a compelling argument you make in the debt bomb. we look forward to talking to you about it in the future. thank you, sir. >> thank you. gregg: take a quick look at the markets now. u.s. stocks poised for a modest retreat as investors wait for latest round of corporate earnings after a big day yesterday. right now the big board is down 64 points. investors reacting to asian and european stocks. we'll keep an eye on the markets throughout the show. martha: and pointing the finger for rising gas prices. who president obama is now blaming for that and why critic it is are saying they think that's a gimmick. gregg: and we have heard of silent protests. how about naked protests? well, one man stripped down

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martha: well it felt like they are falling out of the sky. that is not a good feeling right? the passengers on a us airways flight now describing what they thought was happening when their plane hit very, very heavy turbulence. here's a picture of the damage to the cabin from this. the plane was heading from denver to phoenix when they hit very rough air. >> the plane just dropped, literally dropped. like and didn't stop droing. there were people like, screaming on the plane. i could hear people puking. like there are people praying. two flight attendants were

hurt really bad. there was nothing anybody could do for them because they were incapacitated. martha: how frightening does that scenario sound? that plane thankfully landed safely at denver international airport. two passengers and two flight attendants were hospitalized due to their injuries. ntsb is looking into it. they're trying to figure out what happened up there. gregg: new controversy over our spiking gasoline prices. president obama calling on congress to pass a law regulating oil speculators. he says those speculators are what's driving up the cost of a gallon of gas. but the speaker of the house is not buying it. john boehner says we have enough regulation as it is. >> if he believes that the oil market is being manipulated, where is his federal trade commission? where is the sec? he has got agencies there. gregg: alan colmes is the host of the alan colmes radio show. gretchen hamel joins us, executive director of public notice and a former spokeswoman for the house republican conference.

good to see you both. gretchen, let me start with you. the president claiming speculators are to blame. you know what? speculators don't care if the price goes up or down. they bet both ways. they make both ways. they're perfectly happy if the price of gas goes down. so in your judgement is the president's premise and reasoning flawed? >> well, of course. i mean we were, we've been told time and time again that speculators have a, have been affecting prices but dodd-frank was actually supposed to fix this problem. they promised us that dodd-frank would fix this problem as speculation affecting prices. in fact it even gave a government board the power to regulate prices but it's not working. why is that? because oil prices are not affected by speculation. they are affected by supply and demand, volatility in the middle east, and emerging economies like china. gregg: alan, oil is a finite commodity which means price fluctuations are dictated by supply and demand.

it is econ 101. in fact that is the very argument the president made last year. i will put it up on the screen. here is what he said then. the problem is, you've got china and india and brazil and other emerging nations that using more and more energy as their economies advance. that was to blame he said for the rising gas prices. >> right. >> was he right then or is he right now? >> both, both. he was right then because that really, as gretchen just said there are number of factors go into it most of which the president can't control. you have the republicans in election year whining about it. the president is not doing enough. and isn't doing anything. finally does one thing he can do say look, if you're going to bet on this, if you are going to speculate you have to have more skin in the game and have more collateral into it. plus we'll fine you if you break the law more. we'll make it more difficult for you to avoid the regulations which is exactly the thing he can do. gregg: all right. >> he finally does something. that is not good enough because nothing he does will satisfy the right. gregg: gretchen, want to show you a couple of polls

because americans do not buy the president's argument. a new "fox news poll" finds only 7% think speculators are to blame. 15% think the president is to blame. the second poll shows half of voters believe the president can do to more to bring down gas prices but for environmental reasons he doesn't want to do that. in your judgment what could the president do? >> well the president could provide an overall, and really a true above all energy policy that could actually provide multiple sources of energy. he could open up the keystone pipeline. he could do a number about different things but the problem that we have here is both the president and congress keep thinking short-term and they aren't thinking long term about the policies. now i want to go back to that poll said speculation isn't the problem here. not only do the american public know but the congressional research service which is an independent body actually looked into this and looked into all the studies that actually cause oil to fluctuate and they didn't find that speculation did this.

so not only are the american public right, but the experts are right. gregg: what about that, alan? there were several studies in the congressional research agency looked into those. said speculation isn't the cause. >> speculation is one of the causes and what the republicans tend to ignore we have supply. the president has opened up drilling. you want to focus on the pipeline which for environmental reasons obviously can't be done. he actually opened up a pathway to the pipeline. he created more oil drilling in this administration than we had in the previous one. yet, nothing but nothing he does will be. gregg: that is in dispute, alan, and you know it. react to boehner's argument, wait a minute, why spend all of this money, millions of dollars in new regulators when we already have the ftc, and sec. why can't they do it? >> the issue is the speculators which all of sudden being denied by the right, is one of a number of things that needs to be done. he also has an all, and everything energy policy. >> no he doesn't. >> sure he does. he is developing new technology.

he is investing in green companies. it is. >> investing in green companies that have failed time and time again. talk about a waste of taxpayer dollars. >> that is a lie. >> i think solyndra filed for bankruptcy. >> talking about one or two. beacon and solyndra out of dozens and dozens of companies that is continued right-wing talking point which is not tell the whole story. come on. >> i think --. gregg: we'll out of time. gretchen hamel, alan colmes. >> thank you. >> thank you. gregg: good to see you both. martha: she is a private first class from fort bragg who left the base and never returned. now why police say they think something very bad may have happened to her. we'll follow up. gregg: plus, could the secret service scandal be just the tip of the iceberg? why lawmakers are not only worried about what we know, but what we do not know. >> the incident raises so many questions. one of them in my mind is, has this ever happened before? it is hard for me to believe that this is the one and

only time that this has happened. because there were so many secret service personnel involved. wake up!

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gregg: all right. here's the naked truth what happened when a traveler got fed up with the tsa taking his anger to the next level. oh, man. we saw the real thing but fortunately we're going to spare you that. martha: a little red swish to cover it up. gregg: oh, that is a big swish. witnesses say he took it all off while going through a security check point. oregon police busting the man for disorderly conduct. i would add a few other charges. he says the striptease was a protest and that tsa screeners were harassing him. martha: i don't blame him for feeling harassed. that's for sure.

may have took it a little too far. certainly made a statement. we had him on our show this morning. we turn our attention to this very serious story today. a fragile cease-fire that seems to be falling apart. [explosions] imagine trying to weather what has been going on in that city in syria? that is amateur video from the very hard hit community of homs. new reports that the government troops are once again pounding the rebel strongholds there. this is nearly a week after the u.n.-arab league supposed cease-fire took effect there. the assad regime facing new pressure from the international community to withdraw their forces and to honor that police plan now. but that is not happening at this hour. leland vittert joins us live from jerusalem. he has been following this throughout. leland what is the latest on the ground there? >> reporter: martha, looks like the syrian government

is doing the classic say one thing do another. on one hand their foreign minister has said his country is honoring that cease-fire. at the same time the video we're seeing coming out of opposition strongholds show nothing short of the syrian army in a battlefield assault. >> "allahu akbar!". [explosions] >> reporter: amateur video from one of the opposition strongholds. they say that mortar assault killed at least two civilians and as you can tell set a number of homes on fire. another part of the cease-fire the syrian military was supposed to withdraw from syrian streets. that certainly has not happened. on the other side, state tv says 20 soldiers have been killed in two roadside bomb attacks put out by the opposition there. so certainly seems like, martha. we are right back at the civil war we had ongoing for a few months before this

cease-fire took place on thursday. martha: boy, this is just a horrific story that has been unfolding now for months. thousands have lost their lives. so how does the internal support seem to be holding up in this area, leland? >> reporter: interestingly enough, president assad and his wife seem to still be popular among some groups there inside of syria despite at least 10,000 syrians dead. this is video of them handing out aid there at one of the syrian distribution centers for displaced people. assad and his wife still popular. there is still a lot of support there inside of syria. seems as though time is running out if the u.s. and rest of the world wants to give these opposition rebels any kind of help because at least right now, assad is pretty close to crushing them all. back to you, martha. martha: incredible. leland, thank you very much. more on that later. gregg: who could it be now? we will soon know who america's megamillionaire is.

a live report from a small town in illinois straight ahead. martha: that will be exciting. as it turns out despite. gsa scandal, harry reid is still a big fan of government conferences in the city of las vegas. why he says, keep on coming to vegas, folks! that is coming up next

martha: december fight a wave of negative publicity a while back that surrounded government conferences in las vegas harry reid said don't cut them out. he of course would like to see even more of those conferences coming to las vegas in his home state. that's how we start a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum good morning, everybody. gregg: i'm gregg jarrett in for bill hemmer. he posted a youtube video touting white house support. >> president obama has taken to flack as a result of people

saying, well why did he do this? he didn't do it. it started in the bush administration. they sent two letters of directions saying don't go to nevada. so what i did is sent a copy of the president's chief of staff's ronnie manual's letter to every government agency in washington. they all know now very clearly that las vegas and reno are on limits not off limits. martha: bring them onto las vegas. that was in 2009 the year before the controversial gsa conference which brought their business quite happily to sin city. steven hayes joins me, a senior writer for the weekly standard and a fox news contributor. i just folk with congressman pheurbgs cha at the top of the 9:00 hour. he has gone after this micha big time. he says he needs to get a life, back off of this story, focus on other stuff and not this. we know that harry reid wants

all government agencies to bring as much business as they possibly can to las vegas. >> i think it was very unwise for harry reid to go after congressman micha for investigating the a buys. this is textbook examples of government abuse. one could argue that congress had a greater responsibility to provide this kind of oversight before all of this -- these abuses came to light. that is what congress should do. on the other hand i completely agree with harley reid that it's appropriate for the government and everybody else to hold conferences in las vegas. las vegas is a conference town. as long as taxpayer money is not going to fund things like gambling and strippers and what have you there is no problem at all with having conferences in las vegas. martha: i could see encouraging corporate business to come to las vegas, and i guess there would be times when it's appropriate for government agencies to go there, but i think a lot of team look at this and say, do any of these government agencies really need to hold conferences -- i don't

care where they are in vegas or anyone where else, in order to get their business done do they really need to have these big parties? >> that is a separate question. if you were listening to the gsa hearings the other day the western regional conference held in las vegas that created all of these problems was the only conference. other parts of the country don't have the regional conferences, and it sounds as if this was a pretense to go and have a great time. they'd had a western regional conference previously in new orleans which doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense. martha: i think a lot of people would feel for harry rhode to say, bring all the business we can to my home state, every representative certainly wants to see business come to their home state, but make sure you do it on the up and up and you're not wasting any taxpayer dollars. that would have been an opportunity for him to say that. that is not what he said. i want to ask you about this story as well when it comes to the economy. let's take a look at what the president has been up to today. that scandal of course what we were just that you canning about

added to his troubles during this election year, because there is information that the white house new about the gsa scandal and didn't make any efforts to do anything about it in the early going. you've got the sluggish economy, weak evening job growth in the month of march. today president obama will campaign in the midwest, with stops in ohio and michigan to highlight plans to boost the economy. house speaker john boehner is very outspoken on this issue today. he says that will add to the problems. >> they've made matters worse. america should be doing a lot better today. when you look at his calls for higher taxes, his refusal to deal with the debt, the regulatory regime here in washington, out of control, they've scared every business person an investor in america. that's why you see record amounts of cash in these businesses, in banks because they don't know what tomorrow is going to look like. martha: this is the battle states, whether or not the economy would have been better off if they had done a deal, john boehner says in that same

interview this morning,er said the president lost his courage when it came to the grand bargain and that we could have been somewhere down the road to deficit reduction right now. >> yeah, certainly the president i don't think has shown much leadership on this question of debt and entitlement refor. he hasn't actually still to this day put out reform proposals which republicans have voted on twice in the house, been very specific about the reform proposals, i agree with speaker boehner there. martha: clearly he's using the stops to make his arguments. >> you saw david axelrod on fox news sunday suggesting that the economy is not heading in the right direction. ohio is a hard state for pefpltz it's important because it often decides who wins and loses presidential election. if you remember back to october of 2008. this is when the president gave his biggest economic policy speech following the financial collapse. it was in october of 2008. and he very specifically laid

out his stimulus plan e. called it an economic emergency plan, laid it out point by point by point, that's what the democratic congress then passed in february of 2009 after the president what's inaugurated, and by a wide margins polls suggest that the american people don't think that the stimulus has worked. martha: steve hayes always good to have you thanks. gregg: an apology from secretary of defense leon panetta. he says he's sorry that tax players have to pay so much to fly him home to california, 30,000 bucks a trip because he has to travel on an aircraft with special communications equipment. since becoming defense secretary last july he has flown home 29 times. the price tag so far about $870,000. martha: fox news alert. u.s. military officials now condemning the actions of several u.s. soldiers after a group of troops sent overseas, pictures have surfaced to the "l.a. times."

those pictures reportedly show u.s. soldiers posing with the bodies of dead militants in afghanistan. officials say that an investigation is now underway, tensions of course in afghanistan have been running very high since the accidental burning of the quran at a u.s. military base two months ago. now it appears there is another incident the u.s. military is trying to get out in front of that with apologies and an investigation. gregg: mystery solved. we are awaiting the unveiling of america's newest megamillionaire, red bud illinois, population under 4 thourbgs buzzin4,000 people. ttike to be inch is live from red bud, illinois. people there must be awfully excited, mike. >> reporter: a little farm town of 3700 is on the map. that's because one of those jackpot winners as you mentioned is from here, and will take home

a check half $218.6 million. let me bring in the mayor of red pwurbgsd tim lowry. what is amazing to me is here in small town america this secret was able to be kept for this long. you still don't know who the jackpot winner is, do you? >> that's right i don't. >> reporter: that tells me since it was sold at a minimart that that is probably someone who passed through red bud and bought the ticket. >> there is always a possibility of it happening that way. there is a lot of traffic that comes through town. route 3 is a heavily traveled route. it's always good. i think that the person is from red bud. >> reporter: why do you think that? >> when i was talk being to the lottery people they didn't tell me the name of the winner but they said, he knows you, and you know him, so you almost have to be from red bud for that won't you think. >> reporter: sw-b knows who the lottery winner, is they are not just telling the mayor. >> that's right. the lottery people are the ones that know. >> reporter: red bud, illinois is getting a lot o of attention

for something not negative. gregg. gregg: thanks for sharing that one. martha: i can't wait to find out who it was. he knows you and you know him. he's got to be going through his mind trying to figure out which one of his friends it could be. could give you context on how small a town we are talking about. there is even estimated population of 3700 people. a typical army bra grade for example has 3 to 5,000 soldiers. you could almost fit the entire town of red bud on one carnival cruise line if they wall wanted to get on the cruise line and go. that holds about 3600 guests. the rose bowl holds 90,000 people, that is more than 24 times the population of the town of red bud, illinois. congratulations to the big winner. maybe they'll decide to take the whole town out for ice cream, which you could easily do with that kind of crash. gregg: small time america hitting the big time, at least one person. martha: i can't wait to find out

who that person is. mike to be inch has a goo tobin has a good story. gregg: just vanish to ba hreurbgs, how about that. marthabali. the justice department losing its bid to block voter id soefrt. some say the case may end up in the supreme court. we'll talk to judge andrew napolitano straight ahead on that. martha: new details about the investigation into the secret service prostitution scandal. reports now that the president could have actually been put in danger by all of this. a congressional investigator will explain. gregg: a desperate search for a missing soldier in north carolina. detectives with new information, and now think she may be in danger. we'll have a live report. >> being a shoulder for kelly is something she wouldn't jeopardize for anything. missing work is not something that is in character nor kelly.

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martha: a raging fire destroys three houses in the middle of the night. it happened in new jersey right outside of new york city. it took firefighters from nine companies about two hours to get the fast moving fire under control. firefighters saying that two people were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. the cause of that fire is under investigation. >> the president has confidence in the director of the secret service, director sullivan acted quickly in response to this incident, and is overseeing an investigation as we speak into the matter. gregg: new details in the widening investigation into the secret service prostitution scandal, and now reports that the agency involved bragged about being on the president's detail, may have had documents with them in the hotel room that detailed his every move during his visit to columbia. joining me now virginia congressman randy forbes a

member of the house armed services committee. congressman, thanks for being with us. at least one of these agents apparently had the president's schedule and maybe a whole lot more. if one or more of these women was brought to that very room, is that a security breach so serious it could jeopardize the life of the president? >> i think there is no question that it is. we've got to remember the secret service is the lead agency for designing and implementing the security planning for the leadership of the united states of america. if you travel across the country, if you travel across time and you can find a book that says security planning 101, first chapter, first page, first paragraph, first sentence says, don't get the prostitutes in. if we can't get that fundamental principle right how can we get the rest of the principles right we need for national security. gregg: you heard what jay carney the white house press secretary said, the president has confidence in the director mark sullivan. do you, or should he be fired?

>> you know, in baseball you get three strikes and you're out. i don't know how many strikes you get in national security, but the strikes are mounting up. they can't control their budgets, they can't control who gets in the white house. now they can't even control the fact that their agents are busting in loads of pros taoufplts i think it's about time that we say they are out. we've got to get people in to make sure the security job is done. gregg: you're calling for him to be fired? >> i think it's time that we move and put somebody in that can get the job done, because gregg, perception really does matter. americans across the country are waking up today, they are concerned about whether they can afford to send their children to college, whether they are going to have a job tomorrow, and what they see on television is our secret service that is supposed to be focusing on defending them is putting their attention on prostitutes, and they are seeing gsa employees dancing around in clown costumes, swimming in hot tubs, and taking the fifth amendment about where taxpayer money goes. it's time we have some accountability and say when it comes to national security

wifeee got to get the job done. gregg: congressman up to 20 women allegedly were brought back to this hotel, and according to what the director told your colleague, peter king, 11 of them went up to the rooms with 11 agents, or some areas of the hotel, 11 with 11 agents. does that suggest to you that this is not just sort of a isolated incident that happened once, but rather this may reflect a consistent pattern of conduct by the secret service? >> well, gregg, whether it's a consistent pattern of conduct or just one, it only takes one failure of national security. and again when you come down -- you can't get more fundamental across history when you're doing security planning than to say don't get the prostitutes infiltrate your security team and that is what happened here. somebody needs to be accountable for that and make sure it doesn't happen again. gregg: what should happen to the 11 agents?

>> i think there is no room for allowing these agents to continue on. if we find out these allegations are true they should be gone yesterday not tomorrow. gregg: congressman randy forbes on the armed services committee. thank you very much. >> thank you, gregg. martha: if you think the election has got even a little bit ugly so far, one prominent conservative says, you ain't seen nothing yet. charles krau kraut krauthammer says hide your kids and check your plumbing. gregg: concern for a military person at fort bragg. >> everything was happy and on the up and up, that's why this is so out of character. it's not something that was anticipated, it wasn't expected, it's not kelly.

gregg: about 22 minutes past the hour. the swiss government now saying it's up edits sanctions on iran freezing the assets of 11 more companies. this follows european union sanctions over iran's nuclear program. citigroup shareholders rejecting a $15 million pay package for its ceo. though nonbinding it's the very first time they give a thumbs down for executive pay. london kicking off the 100-day countdown until they host the 2012 olympics. opening ceremony for the summer games, july 27. martha: a desperate search is underway for a missing female soldier who police believe may be in danger. she is 23 years old, she is private first class kelly

bordeaux last seen leaving a nightclub near her post at fort bragg early saturday morning. her sister later traveled there and is trying to help with the search. >> she joined the military to make her family proud. she just wanted to, you know, have that future securely in place and she knew joining the military would do that. she is just a really beautiful, smart person. she is an amazing soldier. being a soldier to kelly is something she wouldn't jeopardize for anything. missing work is not something that is in character for kelly. martha: jonathan serrie joins us live in atlanta. what are the police saying so far about this case? >> reporter: right now, martha police say they have no suspects in the case, but based on statements from family members, and other soldiers at fort bragg they believe she may be in danger. listen. >> what we do know at this point

in time is that she's not home, and from what i'm being told from her unit is that this is not like her. she is not the type of person just not to show up, that i think one person described her as being a topnotch soldier and this is very much unlike her. >> reporter: the 23-year-old combat medic was last seen leaving froggie bottom's bar, a popular night spot. martha: what are investigators doing? how is this proceeding. >> reporter: investigators have returned to the area in and around the bar. not only is it the last place that she was seen, but also the last place where her cellphone delivered a ping. police are also asking for the general public's help in finding her and they've updated her description with some more specific details. she is described as 5'1", weighing 102 pounds, and was last seen wearing a pink tube top with spaghetti straps and black shorts. anyone with information is asked

to call crime stoppers at the number on the screen. martha: we'll stay on top of this story. somebody knows where that young woman is. jonathan, thanks for the update. more to come on that. >> reporter: certainly. stpho: it's a law demanding a note owe id when you cast your ballot. the department of justice said it discriminates against minorities. well now a court of appeals has weighed in, its decision and how it will ripple across the country. martha: here is a disturbing thought, you can watch your home be burglarized from your cellphone. look at this. can you imagine watching this guy walking around your home, on your cellphone? we'll tell you what happened when we come right back. wake up!

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gregg: arizona court of appeals upholding the state's controversial voter id law after the department of justice said it discriminated against minorities. at the same time, though, they struck down the provision requiring proof of citizenship. judge andrew napolitano, fox news senior judicial analyst joins us on the set. good to see you. this is a curious ruling. yes, voting is racially polarized, and yes latinos are discriminated against, but the id law is okay.

>> the justice department argued that the affect of the id law, that is having to physically show a government-issued id at the time you vote would suppress minority voting, because a lot of minorities, for whatever season, don't have a valid government-issued id. and the law of the land is that the state does something that desperately suppresses a minority group differently than the majority then the law arguably violates the 14th amendment. this court of appeals, the most liberal federal appellate court in the country said there is no significant evidence of disparate impact. they say the state has the right to have you show your i. why did they say that? because the supreme court of the united states hat has basically said that is the law of the land. the law is neutral and intended to secure the soundness of elections, and if there is no

evidence that this is adversely affecting one racial group more than another the state can require you to provide an id. gregg: that was a 2008 supreme court decision involving indiana. the supreme court upheld the law, i in fact it was stevens. martha stevens. >> john paul stevens, a liberal justice. gregg: you do not have to show proof of sis seven ship. you can show up and say, i attest to it. >> arizona says to those who register voters, usual require proof of citizenship. that doesn't mean verbal assertion that one is a citizen but some documentation that one is a citizen. the 9th circuit says you can't do that. because in the clinton years in 1993 a democratic congress and a democratic president enacted a statute that superseded state law. gregg: federal law triumphs state law. >> correct and said all you can do is ask if the person is a citizen, and if they say no,

they don't vote. if they say yes you then ask the other question, where do you live and how long have you lived here. gregg: but it's under penalty of perjury. >> it is under penalty of perjury. but what this means is a federal court is saying, a federal statute triumphs the ability of the states to assure that only citizens vote. that is an issue ripe for supreme court review. gregg: let's put up on the screen, we have some brand-new fox news polls on this very issue, voter identification. 70% say it's needed to stop illegal voting, just 26% say it's unnecessary. are americans right about that? it may be a minor inconvenience, but it will eliminate voter fraud and impersonation. >> not only is there an overwhelming majority in favor of these type of laws, but there is an overwhelming majority on the supreme court and in federal appellate courts saying when it's done in a neutral way it's

absolutely acceptable and the inconvenience is diminimus. gregg: opponents say it's an attempt to diseven franchise minorities and the poor and thus giving the republican party an advantage in local elections. >> you know, i didn't know this but every state in the union will give you an id whether you have a driver's license or not. it looks like a driver's license, it has everything on there like a driver's license does, but it doesn't authorize you to drive but it does prove who you are. you use this when you go to the tsa, when you go to the airport and now in many states when you go to vote. gregg: that was stevens point, wasn't it? he suggested the outcome, though could be different in a state where voters could provide evidence of their rights being impaired. it doesn't happen very often. >> right now the flip side of this is if the justice department does find that there is a disparate impact and not enough poor people can get the

id, then the courts will intercede. but there was no evidence of that in arizona. gregg: judge andrew napolitano, always learn a lot from hanging out with you. >> you ask great questions my friend. gregg: thank you my friend. martha: the word diminimus, that was a good one. >> of no value. gregg: by the way fox news has been tracking voter fraud for years, as you well know, our owner i can shaun haown own eric shawn leading the charge. his report showing the fraud is rampant ph american elections. check out our in-depth version it's called "stealing your vote, this weekend right here on the fox news channel. martha: we are following a major announcement that could have widespread implications for investors world side. pwerbg sheur hathawawarren buffett has said he's diagnosed with possible state cancer. that has raised questions about

how much information should be disclosed to shareholders. buffet's announcement yesterday had a lot of detail in it about his personal situation. does that set some kind of new standard for what krerbgs o's need to disclose about their health. >> buffet may be establishing an entirely new level of extraordinary openess, martha about the private medical matter of a ceo. that strikes especially sharp contrast with another famed billionaire, the late apple steve jobs who was reluctant and reticent and maybe a little misleading about his cancer. buffet issuing a 189 word statement saying, quote, this is to let you know that i've been diagnosed with stage one prostate cancer. the good news is that i've been told by my doctors that my condition is not remotely life threatening. buffet then goes onto reveal when he learned the bad news was on wednesday of last week, that he had a cat scan, a bone scan last thursday, an mri yesterday, that he begins a two month treatment of daily radiation in

mid july and how it will restrict his travel. and also how he discovered the cancer, his psa test results were elevated above normal levels. in fact buffet is so candid and so detailed that the 81-year-old sounds a lit like your grandfather detailing all his ailments on a chat on the front porch. steve jobs at apple handled his illness in a different way. he started losing an alarming amount of weight. it was pancreatic cancer. details were sketch aoefplt he had a liver transplant that wasn't disclosed until later. when his cancer return he may have been in denial but he put out this less than direct statement, quotient quote, i have been losing weight throughout 2008. the reason is a mystery to me and my doctors. after further testing my doctors think they have found the cause, a hormone imbalance. that statement came out januar january 5th 2009. steve jobs died 2 years and 9

months later. martha: it's a fine line, it raises a lot of interesting questions. good to see you, dinner neal from fox business. gregg: it sounds like mitt romney wants to go back to a time when women and blacks could not vote. a prominent conservative says this attack is just the beginning. you wait and see. and to quote him, get ready for the dirtiest, uglyist campaign you've ever seen. our lady's panel is here with that. martha: no more heartbreak for tom petition taoefplt the mystery of his missing guitars has been solved. wait until you hear who allegedly took them. that is the interesting part. we'll be right back. [singing] ♪ if you have copd like i do,

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♪ [singing] gregg: well, it is music to tom petty's ears. l.a. police recovering the five vintage guitars belonging to petty and his band the heartbreakers. a security guard now under arrest charged with stealing them from a sound stage. police say in the brea the break came when he tried to pawn them at a pawnshop for $150. recovered not a moment too soon because tom petty and the heartbreakers new tour kicking off today in colorado. martha: attacks against presidential candidate mitt romney now intensifying, as if it becomes increasingly clear that he will be the republican nominee. here is what a former dnc official had to say about a

recent speech that mitt romney gave, and this is getting quite a bit of a tpepbgs, this is from karen finney. the picture that he was painting of america, you know, restoring an america i kept thinking, well it sounds like you want to go back to a time when women couldn't vote, blacks couldn't vote. we didn't have -- i mean it just didn't sound like this was the america that we all know. that got a little bit of attention, as you might imagine and conservative come even tate tere charles krau kraut haimer says this is just the beginning. >> the democrats are running a devisive campaign on race,ette nice taoerbgs and on gender. it's going to be the dirtist campaign you've ever seen. hide the children and check the plumbing. you're going to have to shower several times a day. martha: check the plumbing folks. let's bring in our great panel today. crystal mclarey is an attorney and author.

and kt mcfarland is a national security analyst, former secretary of defense for president reagan. chris, what did you think of karen finney's comments to start with. >> first i think the right and the left, karen financeee being on the left, we can't really take at this point any of these comments very seriously, because what i think they honestly are are distractions to the issues, and the real issues that voters are concerned about, particularly women, and i certainly don't speak for all african-americans and i don't speak for all women. i certainly speak for working women who are mothers, who care about the real issues, being the economy, education, healthcare, and language like that, as well as language that is coming from both sides, quite honestly is devisive and it does not serve this process of all of us americans really wanting to learn what mitt romney has to say, and what obama has to say. martha: it definitely distracts from the entire issue, and i

agree with you there. when i listen to that, that she thinks that mitt romney wants to take us back to a time when blacks and women couldn't vote, i just think it's so blatant in what it's trying to appeal to, the sort of most basins teupbgts in negativity anbase inks instincts. does she really believe that that's what he thinks? >> what exactly did he say to prompt that comment, mart that he says i want to restore america. he's probably talking about, you know, lowering the teen pregnancy race, having intact families. god forbid anybody talk about that. getting people to go to church and synogog more often. the left is in a very cynical, sad down spiral in terms of pigeon hoelg us into these boxes. they want to put everybody into

a race box or gender box or stay at home mom box. that is not the way americans look at each other. and i think obama 2012 is much more gloom and doom, sour and do you remember than obama 08. they've gone from hope and change to scare and dare. they have as to frighten women into thinking the alternative is a scary place. martha: i want to take a look at a quote that i came across this morning and get your thoughts on it. and let's pull that up. it says when the romney's got married and moved to boston in 1971 they set up house in a suburb, befriended other young mormon, she points out couples and get to their khroeus terd, conservative traditional white heterosexual circle. campuses were rolling with change. feminists, civil rights, antiwar demonstrations, but the romney's were not mart of that. they were throw backs. this is really interesting to me. i've heard this from several different voices out there who are very influential on the left. this way of painting them into this sort of like, well they are

from the 50s, they are not like us, they are not cool, they are not cool is one of the sort of overarching themes here and that is something that has clearly been said about the president and his wife, that they are sort of young and hip and cool. what do you think that about characterization kt. >> i've worked for presidents since the 1970s, nixon, ford, reagan, i have never seen a campaign where everybody is starting to sling the mud this early, sling the mud at the opponent, sling the red meat to the base. by trying to put us into these little pwoebgs, you know, that's not where the american are. the american people voted for barack obama because he was hope and change. what he famously said at that 2004 democratic convention. i'm not red, i'm not from a blue state i'm red, white and blue. that's what everybody wants, that's what elected him and that's not where he is now. when i see this back and forth arguing it reminds me of my kids. where one says, he hit me, you hit me first. you are going to see a nasty dirty campaign.

>> it's both sides and it's just back and forth. and we cannot a tribute karen finney's remarks about mitt romney any more -- to president obama any mourn we can a tribute ted nugent's comments about barack obama to mitt romney we cannot say -- >> that is their pwrapbgd, it's in their materials, it's on their website, it's in every sound byte that they put out there. >> they have been much more proactive about -- the first bill we all know that president obama signed was a lil' bee ledbetter fair pay act. the issues coming up surrounding women, surrounding women's healthcare and reproductive rights. >> you said yourself the women most important thing is voting

rights. >> a majority of women voted against obamacare. >> tha martha: that issue of women and the economy comes down to even time and protecting entitlements, whether you're a man, woman, old person or young person it seems to me that is where that is centered, giving something for free, whether it's healthcare or whether it's contraception, that issue of entitlements which seem to play into and be pegged as a women atmosphere issue i think it's cloaked in a larger entitlement sort of government. >> everything is about contraception and abortion. republicans want to talk to the whole woman. mind, body, soul, heart head, and two short years after barack obama got an incredible 56% of the female vote in 2008 more women voted republican than democrat two years later, why? all fiscal issues. martha: we know that mitt romney is pulling low with women right now. >> they don't know him yet eat, though.

martha: this is the second time he's run for president, he's been around for a longtime. >> most women i know -- ann romney, a lovely woman who raised five extraordinary boys and worked, really, really hard, we all know that, but the paid workforce for women out there who don't have a choice is very different than the reality of women and men who have the luxury of being able to stay at home and not be in the paid workforce. over 70% of women are working. >> the paid workforce for women has shr u.n. shrunk since obama took office. martha: we have to head down and see what is going on with jenna lee. jenna: we have new hearings today on the growing scandal at the gsa. today it's the senate's turn. the breaking developments out of d.c. on that. we'll also take a closer look at the growing power of the irs, the latest proposal is this. if you don't pay your taxes, the

fed can take your passport when you try to leave the country. is that legal? we'll take a closer look. for those of us who seem to worry a lot, scientists are finding a link between anxiety and intelligence. plus can a simple blood test detect teen depression? we have a great guest line up coming up, that is going to be at the top of the our. gregg. gregg: moments away from the big announcement in tiny red bud, illinois who bought that third winning ticket in the record-setting megamillions jock pot. live there at the top of the hour. to catch a thief in the act, believe it or not there is an app for that, smart phone meet dumb thief. details next. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

gregg: buying american. san francisco's subway system has become the very first transit agency in the nation to adopt that policy as it upgrades its aging fleet of rail cars. but some are saying the pro jobs approach could have a big downside. claudia cowan is live in in san francisco. claudia, bart, the bay area rapid transit appears to be blazing a new economic trail? >> reporter: well, they could be, that is right, gregg, good morning. bay area rapid transit, or bart as it's known is the nation's first transit agency to give preferential consideration to companies that manufacture most of their trains in the u.s. it's a move that makes the agency eligible for federal funds. bart is replacing nearly 800 trains, which are among the oldest in the country with a so-called fleet of the future made in the u.s.: agency is spending $3 billion to do it,

more than it might cost to buy these trains if they are manufactured overseas. but bart's president says it's worth it. >> it's our commitment not only to the patrons of bart, but also to our fellow americans in the recovery -- towards the recovery of this recession, do everything that we can to help the economy, and put our americans -- our unemployed back to work. >> reporter: ironically bart is looking at three foreign train makers all with assembly plants in the eastern united states. the one that uses the most american-made components from engine parts to seat cushions will stand a better chance of winning the lucrative bid. gregg. gregg: i rode bart last year when i was out there, and i thought they were nice and modern, gosh they are going to replace them already at $3 billion? that is a load of money. >> reporter: it is a lot of money. i think you actually got lucky and rhode on a pretty nice new car. all the seat cushions were recently replaced that pleased

the 370,000 riders that take bart every day it is a lot of money and proof that doing business in america isn't always cheap. one economist we spoke to thinks that bart's passengers will get hit with higher fares. >> they already admit in their paperwork that the cost will be 5 to 10% greater as a result of this process, this buy american process than it would have been otherwise. those dollars have to come from somewhere, and most likely they are going to come from the riders. >> reporter: in the next few weeks bart will decide which foreign company will be the winner of this buy american policy with the first new trains rolling out by 2017. gregg. gregg: i ride metro north here in new york. the air-conditioning rarely works and usually you have to get out and push. hrart, thanks very much. martha: how about tiny red bud, illinois, that is the focus of the country right now. they will announce their newest multimillionaire. who is it in red bud? when we come back we will reveal what is behind the curtain.

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