everyone get involved. [applause] >> thank you very much. >> that is all the time we have left. as always, thank you for being with us. let not your heart be troubled. the news continues. with will see you back

>> good morning. i am ainsley earhardt. >> i am heather nauert. it is monday february the 18th.

thank you for getting up with us and watching "fox & friends first". >> we begin with a fox news lart. the music world is mourning the death of troubled country singer mindy mccready. >> we have the latest details on mccready's suicide. >> mindy mccready the country singer who soared to the top of the charts with her debut album 10,000 gauges has died. ♪ >> police found her dead on the front porch of her arkansas home from an apparent self inmrikted gun shot wound. back in 96 she scored a number one billboard country hit with "guys to it all of the time." ♪ >> but in recent years she

received more media attention for her troubled personal life than her music. she claims she had a long time affair with pitcher roger klemen that is started when she was 15. she struggled with daiks, mental illness and was raised multiple times. she waged a bat well her son. they expressed condolences on news of her death. >> carrie underwood said: >> mindy mccready was 37 years old. >> mary ann, thank you so much. >> those are the top five stories making news at this hour. brand new details emerging about pope benedict's health. a german magazine is reporting that his hearing has deteriorated and he appears to

have gone blind in his left eye. last week it was revealed the pope had heart surgery three months ago to repair batteries in his pace america. the pope is set to step down at the end of this month. >> a brand new bombshell revealing olympic track star oscar piss tomay have drunk afty drinking during a search of his house. they had a blood covered cricket bath leading investigators he might have attacked her before shooting her. they have canceled all of the races so he can defend himself against the murder charges. serious and stable condition this morning. the men suffering severe burns while they were fighting a fire at a lodge near college station on saturday. officials say they may be hospitalized for more than a

month as they recover. two other firefighters lost their lives and dozens gathered for a vigil last night to honor lieutenant eric wallace and lieutenant gregory packard. investigators are trying to figure out what caused the blaze. a imapassenger raised after attempting to board a plane with a loaded gun. the 59-year-old pennsylvania man was taken into custody after screeners saw in his handbag that he had a hand gun. he reportedly told cops that that loaded gun was in his bag. >> millions of workers have the day off for presidents' day. stock market is closed as well as banks and the post office. president obama heads back to washington after he played a round of golf with tiger woods on sunday. the president spent all day saturday at the floridian national golf club taking lessons from wood's coach. this is the first time they have played golf together.

and that is your 5@5:00. >> i wonder of all of the people he could play golf with. >> he's getting lessons from one of the greatest coaches. the northeast cannot seem to escape all of the snow. last week it was a blizzard. now parts of new england getting hit once again with even more wicked weather. there's word another storm is heading to the northeast just in time for your workweek. a blast of icy air hitting the southern states. parts of florida below freezing. it's a huge concern for farmers who are working hard to spray their crops in order to keep them from freezing. maria molina is tracking all of this extreme weather. good morning. >> good morning everyone. we are talking about bitterly cold air across portions of the southeast all of the way down into florida. we are not used to dealing with temperatures that are this cold. take a look at these current temperatures 27 degrees right now in tallahassee in the 30s in orlando even in miami that's a little bit chilly.

49 right now in the city of miami. otherwise temperatures will be rebounding as we head into the afternoon hours. it will be getting better. it's a very short lived blast of cold air across florida. we have concern about damage of crops a freeze warning is in effect through georgia florida panhandle and down into central portions of the state of florida. just very told today during the morning hours across the state of florida. where it is very cold is the northeast not because of actual temperatures but because it's so windy that makes it feel even colder. current windchill temperature only 6 degrees below zero across new england otherwise a brand new storm system across portions of the center of the country making blizzard conditions northern sections north dakota winter storm warning in northern minnesota. we are talking up to 10 inches or more of snow gusts up to 45 miles an hour. dangerous conditions on this monday in north central.

>> we don't mind the cold we just hate all of the wind coupled together. the white house is trying to diffuse anger over an immigration reform bill that gives citizenship for 11 million immigrants. administration officials call it a plan b. but lawmakers say that's not helping bipartisan negotiations. kelly wright joins us live with the details. tell us what this is all about. >> the president's leaked immigration plan outlines actions the obama administration can take to actual ploy vied amnesty for immigrations living in the united states legally. the white house says no specific action was ever taken on the plan. but chief of staff says the administration's approach is to have a plan b in place in the event that bipartisan talks in congress failed to produce comprehensive immigration reform. >> the fact of this report all it says to me is we are doing

exactly what we said we would do. the bipartisan talks we are gracively supporting. if those don't work out we will have an option ready to put out there. >> republicans are expressing concerns about the obama administration's 11 prague memo. they are concerned the president planes fails to address border security protecting people who are living in the country illegally and ignoring the laws for immigration enforcement. >> this does set things in the wrong direction. the question we always had to ask ourselves particularly with this white house is the president looking for a partisan advantage or looking for a bipartisan law? by putting these details out without a guessworker program without addressing future flow by giving advantage to those who cut in front of line for immigrants who came here legally not dealing with border security adequately that tells us he's looking for a partisan advantage

and not a bipartisan solution. >> marco rubio is one of the 8 senators outlined a set of principles to achieve a bipartisan immigration reform plan says the president is making a mistake to draft immigration legislation without seeking input from members of congress. in a statement he says if actually proposed the president's bill would be dead on arrival in congress leaving us with unsecured borders and broken legal immigration service for years to come. senator rubio doesn't stop there he adds the plan is half baked and seriously flawed. he claims it would make america's problems worse. >> kelly wright in washington. thank you so much. that brings us to look whose talking. massive budget battle that is not going on in washington right now. >> while the president and congress are taking a break

10-days to see queststration. 80 million in budget cuts will take effect. 42 billion will be from defense spending. michigan congressman mike rogers says the pressure is on the president to get a deal done since see queststration is already his idea and wasn'ted the tax hikes back in january. >> he made the argument everything will be fine if we get the wealthier to pay taxes. he got that. now he can't come back and say the wealthier have to meyer in taxes. he's going after seniors who were doing better. now he's coming back and saying if i can tax more and then he proposed in his state of the union address more spending. the greatest threat to our national security is the debt and the deficit long-term. that is why those of us interested in national security frying to posture ourselves to

defend the country are so worried about the debt and deficit debate. we can get through this and do it in a way that is respectful to america's priorities. >> a lot of experts are warning the major cuts to defense spending will put thousands and thousands of jobs at risk while jeopardizing our national security. more on that through out the day. >> it is 10 minutes to the top of the hour. one senator wants you to pay more in taxes even though the irs says she is not paying what she owes. >> looking to buy a new car this month we will tell you which car dealers are now looking to unload and how you can score a major deal. today is the day, right when everybody goes car shopping.

>> it is now 14 minutes after the hour. mickey vanished off a cruise ship in italy 7 years ago. now her ex-husband has been raised accused of killing her for money. cops say that he strangled his ex-wife and through hefr over board. they had divorced but went away to try to reconcile. they got all assault weapons out of their state. a bill would force gun owners to destroy or surrender any semiautomatic weapons. they would have the option to sending their weapons to another state. that bill is not expected to pass the republican controlled house. ainsley let's head over to you. >> now to stories you can bank

on this morning. you might want to buy the steaks and burgers now. lauren sim mettey tells us why. they will keep smaller heards when a time for beef has risen. they are packaging meat in smaller portions to keep their prices down. if you want some port of protein in your diet you don't have many options. chicken prices while cheaper than beef they have also hit record levels. it's expensive to have protein in your diet. >> beef the new lobster come summertime, right? it's going to be expensive. >> if you are in the market for a new car we are going to show you thighs deals you should pounce on now.

rio giving booirs 20 percent discount the toyota sequoia saves you 16 percent. the gmc terrain maza 3 and audi 25 on the list. >> americans as you know are obsessed with seeings media and facebook. facebook users have gone down. >> a pew research center poll finds 61 percent of facebook users are taking a break from the site some for several weeks at a time. among those users paining taking breaks are those 18 to 29. it spells trouble for the trouble. >> 21 percent of us were too busy 10 percent lost interest and another 10 percent considered it a waste of time.

9 mers said the drama was old. >> seems like a year ago. >> it has gotten big. >> a lot of people have gotten off facebook. >> they changed it. >> you can't stalk as easy any more. great for baby pictures. >> keeping up with the friends down south. >> it's 17 after the hour and coming up, you have heard doctors stay away from carbs will that make you gain weight? mark ceiling is here to talk about the diet facts and fiction. one lawmaker wants to tell you what toaster you can use in your house.

>> it is 21 past the hour. now time for a segment called what the hill. mary landrieu last week argued the government needs to increase your taxes to raise revenue. she owes 1200 bucks in tax penalties to the district of columbia. democratic congressman pushing the obama administration to regulate oil refineries and household appliances. if congress doesn't act on global warming the president should. and finally... speaking of global warming thousands of climate activists

gathered in washington, d.c. to call on the president to fight harder to combat global warming. the weather not exact lipping them make their case. temperatures well below freezing most of the day. >> show that go video makes me think of summertime thousands of diet tips on the market. a lot of trick out there. we can often find ourselves confused as to what is fact and what is fiction. joining us now is mark seigel. good morning, doctor. we are thinking forward to nicer weather and trying to lose weight as a lot of us often struggle with. separate facts from fiction here. only calories affect weight. isn't that true? >> that is completely fiction. >> the university of florida looked at this recently and found the key is antioxidants. if you have more fiber more fruit more vegetables more

grains you can absorb your sugar further down the line. not just calories what kind of calories. >> which led us to our next point not all calories are created equal. >> we need proteins fats and carbohydrates. we break things down for cal he radios or you don't get the building blocks you need which are proteins. you have to have a proper mixture. if we ob success on calories we ignore what we really should eat. >> 100 calories in a canned bar is not equal to 100 calories of fruit. right? >> your body burns it differently. >> those kind of calories you are talking about like with candy bars are completely unhealthy. you should get calories from fruits or vegetables. >> sometimes numbers lie. what do you mean? >> in a that is absolutely true. labels are variable.

you don't have to put the exact amount on the label. different amounts get digested. you may say here's what's in an almond the amount that gets absorbd in your body isn't what you think. obsessing on calories is a down side because it's not accurate. >> cortisol you say how bad it is a stress hormone. how do you limit the cortisol in your body? >> that is a fact we need to worry about. when you worry about calories you get stressed which increases your appetite. the idea of all of this worry, the excess worry causes you to have a problem. it's better if you have a ritual a routine that you follow that includes exercise, proper diet, mixture of different types of foods and not worry. >> lastly you say the map is precise and that's a myth. >> that's a complete myth. the map th is not precise. what i have already said when you start to count things your counts are never right you end

up absorbing totally different amounts of calories than you think you are getting. >> what's a girl to do? >> i think you have a perfect figure but what i want a girl to do is exercise right and limit overall intake. small portions high fiber dietings less processed food. when you eat a lot of processed food you gain weight. >> mark seigel, thank you. >> great to see you. it is 25 minutes after the hour. new details into the death of country sirng mindy mccready. we will get reaction from the music world. we will bring that to you straight ahead. he blew up a truck at the world trade certainty killing 6 people and now this convicted terrorist is suing so he can socialize. we will tell you about that. first on this day in history in 193 1930 pluto was discovered. ÷÷

>> good morning to you. welcome back to "fox & friends first". i am hither nauert. >> it is 5:30 on the east coast. country sirng mindy mccready is dead this morning after an apparent suicide with a gun. >> the 37-year-old had a soaring career and also devastating personal problems. struggling for years with drugs

and alcohol. mauer reann rafferty has the latest on the star's tragic death. >> the country sirng who soared to the top of the charts in the 90s with her debut album "10,000 angels" has died. ♪ >> police found her dead on the froefrnt of her arkansas home from an apparent self-inflicted gun shot wound. in 96 she scored a number one country billboard hit with "guys do it all of the time." ♪ but recent years she received more media attention for her troubled personal life than her music. she claims she had a long time affair with pitcher roger klemen that is started when she was 15

s. mccready suffered addiction and was arrested many times. she waged a battle for custody of her oldest son. country music stars expressed condolences on hearing of her death. sad for her family. many prayers are going out to them. winona jade stweeted oh my windy. breaks my heart to see what addiction does to a life. she was 37 years old. ainsley, heather back to you. >> now for the top 5@5:30. a mother whose toddler was slaped by a total stranger is speaking out. the man used a racial stir and even drew blood when he slapped her two-year-old son. i said, what did you say? because i couldn't believe that he would say that.

his mouth was in my ear. he said it again but even more hateful. >> that man identified as joe ricky had you hadly there's his picture facing federal assault charges now. he's also out of a job. he has been sus spened from his post as president of a company in idaho. >> wouldn't you punch that guy if he did that to you? >> over 15 years in solitary confinement the man responsible for world trade center bombing is suing for more human contact. he wants to live out the rhetts of his life sentence in a more open prison environment. evidences sentenced to life in a bombing that killed 6 people and injured more than 1,000 in new york city. >> class is in session for these teachers in palm harbor florida looking to learn how to handle a gun. they were offered a concealed permit course for he had dierts

in the area. >> if you are confident with the weapon confident with your skills educated and trained properly you will understand how the weapon works you are not going to be afraid of it and you are going to control the weapon instead of the weapon controlling you. >> the concealed weapons in the classroom once they have completed the course but instructors say the class is still valuable. >> they have a big announcement for those who love it. they announced they were cutting the alcohol content of which is see due to a shortage. it is prompting makers mark to restore the alcohol volume back to the historic 90s proof and tweet the company's foirnled skunlers you spoke we listen. there you go. >> her father died a hero in world war ii before she was ever born. decades after he was killed she

received her dad's purple heart and half a dozen other medals snooefr knew he received. >> tears of joy and surprise and shock. to me it means we are honoring his memory. >> the medals were found in an apartment building where her mother lived in the 60s. for some reason her mother never mentioned them. >> for the white house now backtracking this morning calling a leaked immigration reform plan just a plan b. law americas say it shows the president is not serious about real reform and bipartisan negotiations are now in darrening. doug lieu zahered joins us live on this back pedalling. they got immigration reform it may be a backup plan as they say but it very quickly moved to certainty stage as the president finishes up this golf vacation

in florida the administration has been working behind the scenes to advance what would be a massive rework of the nation's immigration system. details of a plan to usa today that was legalized perhaps 11 million lisle immigrants. >> we have a bill that does what the president said it would do which is we are preparing we are going to be ready. we have developed each of these proposals so they are in a position where we can succeed. the white house says the president still sports the ongoing bipartisan effort. if it fails the president will have a fall back. by offering a form of amnesty and a pass to permanent residency even to those with criminal records without a strict requirement for more border secretary pub cans say the white house may be hoping to

fail. >> i am willing to come toward them. when they say it's my way or the highway if they don't ask i will put it on and say pass it now that's no way to get it done. he will blame it on us. it shows that the president doesn't want immigration reform. >> the white house may be putting down a marker to prevent any compromise to lean further to the right t. shows how contentious this issue is going to be in the weeks and months and maybe years ahead. back to you guys. >> dug lou zahered in washington. -- doug luzader. >> he got into a heated discussion about why the investigation must condititinue why he believes there's been a lack of outrage from many in the media to find out what happened. listen to this. >> we have had two movies about getting bin laden and we don't even know who the people were

who were evacuated from the consulate the next day after the attack. we have had a massive coverup. >> susan rice said there was a lot of confusion. i am asking you sn tore what is the cover up of what? >> i am asking you do you care whether four americans died or the reasons for that and shouldn't people be held accountable for the fact that four americans died. >> you said there was a coverup. a coverup of what? >> of the information concerning the deaths of four brave americans. the information has not been forthcoming. you can obviously believe that it has. i know that it hasn't i will be glad to send you a list of the questions wthat have not been answered. >> they are now focused on finding the vined you'lls responsible for the attack and

said they have answered all questions. folks are bracing for more snow in the coming days. it is not expected to pack as much of a punch. it could mean a real mess for people heading back to work. >> maria molina is tracking the information for us. let's get a check of the latest forecast. >> good morning everyone. something we are going to be seeing throughout the day today cold temperatures. take sometime to bundle up out there. it is a frigid morning. 6 degrees is what it feels like out there. new england temperatures below zero. 8 below zero is the current windchill temperature. some of the cold air making it all of the way down into florida where we have hard freeze warnings in effect. temperatures early this morning in the 20s across portions of

the florida panhandle including tallahassee florida and hard freeze warnings across southern portions of the state of georgia. it will be warming up across florida as we head into the afternoon close to 70 degrees in the city of tampa in time for many of you having a day off there. it is presidents' day across portions of the north central heather and ainsley we have a brand new storm system developing. it will head east. a winter storm warning in effect for northern parts of minnesota. gusty winds 40 miles per hour. a music producer co wrote the song "the leader of the pack has died of cancer. ♪ flu ♪

i always love that voom, voom. >> an angry man left a singer with a bloody knee. he screamed at her about her relationship with chris brown. bruce willis action sequel good die to diehard has the top draw at the box office taking in $25 million. >> you didn't see that one, too y did you? >> danica patrick becoming the first women to win the polls at the daytona 500. she will start in the first possession at the signature event. sprint cup champ gordon gets behind her. during her qualifying run she topped 196 miles an hour. >> but i think it just shows

what a great organization it is and when you put a group of people together what can happen. >> the best of nba showing off their skills last night in houston. if you were up last night for the all star game it was the western conference beating out the east 143-to-148 victories. one day earlier the all star showed off their best slam dunk. ross took first place. whoa. 180 wrap around dunks and dunks through the legs as he dunked over the ball boy. >> and finally, rafael nadel winning his first title since last june at the brazil open. nadal beat david nabadeum. in two sets for the title. the tennis champ is coming off a

7 month break for a knee injury. >> it is 42 after the top of the hour. coming up next on the rundown multi million dollar homes go up in flames and mother nature makes it hard for firefighters to stop the damage. >> hire criminals or we will sue you? they are making a demand to employers they have to hire these people. is it fair? we will report you decide that's coming up. , 2004. the battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto-insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

troy polamalu's going deeper. ♪ and so is head & shoulders deep clean. [ male announcer ] with 7 benefits it goes deep to remove grease, gunk, and flakes. deep. like me. [ male announcer ] ad & shoulders de clean for men. ♪ is moving backward. [ engine turns over, tires squeal ] and you'll find advanced safety technology like an available heads-up display on the 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back.

>> 45 minutes after the hour. obama administration wants to sue businesses that refuse to hire ex-convicts? is that even legal? diane macedo has the details. hi diane. >> hi, heather. the obama administration equal employment opportunity is threatening to sue businesses

that won't hire convicts because it has an impact of niern hiring. criminal record exclusions have a different impact based on race and national origin. the commission's guidance on consideration of rays and conviction records says if a background check discloses a criminal defense they must do an vined you'llized assessment that proveings it has a business necessity not to hire that ex offender. if he doesn't do that they could be accused of race discrimination. the wall street journal reports they are demanding one client for those who lied about their record. businesses complying with state and local law that is ban ex-cons in certain fields can be targeted for lawsuits. if they hire the felon they could get sued by local government or outside party if a

crime is committed but if they don't they could get sued by the ooc. studies found employers are much less likely to hire niernity applicants when background checks are banned. it may harm the group that is it sells. it is confidence it will boost minority hiring. >> is this currently in effect or is it already a proposal? >> there are cases already launched. this goes back to the 90s where the commission did in court and struck it down in a particular case. this is another effort to do it and a much stronger one at that. >> it is now just about 12 minutes before the hour. coming up still ahead it could be a miracle drug. listen to this. it soeshs people up in seconds even after drinking for hours and hours. >> i want to hear this story. he's the youngest person to travel to every single country in the world.

next we are asking lee how he did all of this. first let's check in with steve doocy. >> coming up the presidents' day edition we are going to tell you some things about presidents you may not be familiar with like who is the shortest one? huh? which one was actually a licensed bartender? you are never going to believe that one. also donald trump drops by and to wrap up the show the texas tenors sing god bless america. fox and friends starts live in new york city 131 minutes from now. put down the remote, we will be with you shortly. the capital one cash rewards card

gives you 1% cash back on all purchases, plus a 50% annual bonus. and everyone but her likes 50% more cash, but i have an idea. do you want a princess dress? yes. cupcakes? yes. do you want an etch-a-sketch? yes! do you want 50% more cash? no. you got talent. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card gives you 1% cash back on every purchase plus a 50% annual bonus on the cash you earn. it's the card for people who like more cash. what's in your wallet? i usually say that.

>> it is 8 minutes before the hour. a fire destroyed two multi-million dollar homes in cap tooef vau highland, florida.

you can see the strong winds that helped spread that fire because the island can only be preached by a boat or a plane it took assisting fire crews nearly an hour just to get there. four firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation. a generator is believed to have caused the fire. scientists have a drug that can sober you up in seconds. it is a chemical cocktail made of enzymes that act like liver cells only a lot more naturally. it has only been tested in mice so far but those poor little drunk mice, maybe they are feeling better this morning. he's the youngest american to visit every country around the world. how did he do this? let's go to sydney, australia. you are our travel expert. you are usually in the studio this morning you are in a warmer spot australia. i want to know how many

countries and how you have been able to do this. >> how are you doing? there's a couple different lists but generally accepted list is the united nations list of 193 countries plus territories like vatican and taiwan i have been to those. >> have aed can is the smallest country in the world when i was there. beautiful spot. >> it is a great place. now they have turmoil with the new pope. >> financially many of us we would love to do this take a year off from your job and go travel. financially how do you recommend people can do this? >> well, obviously the bigs thing in travel are time and money. i have been working while life. i had a pape peer route when i was 6 years old and landscaping company when i was in high school. kept working from there. basically just safe your money. if you are not working your whole dlief side what you want do and set goals and that's how you can really do it. know what you want to do save

the money sacrifice some other things because you only have one time to travel. do it while you are young. do it while you can. >> do you live out of a backpack? do you carry one bag with you? >> it's not a back pag. it's a carry on, though. >> that's the way to go. >> nicest country you have ever been to? >> the knights count-- nicest country. i am not just saying it because i am sitting in sydney, australia now. >> you are a suck up this morning. >> no it's an amazing place it really is. new sgleep land t zeeland, neigg country south africa it is great. i love the commonwealth countries. >> most dangerous place? >> i actually got shot at going into libya. the hast clast country i was go do to be the youngest person i had to sneak into libya in a mini van.

after they through out khaddafy the rebels control the border. it was a days as trous situation. i did a radio broadcast while inside libya. >> traveling by yourself, what is that like? >> traveling by yourself can be really rewarding. it teaches you about yourself. you are more outgoing than you ever would be. i prefer to travel with friends but i am not afraid to travel by myself. i have been to some of the most dangerous places in the world by myself because it's hard to get friends to go with you. >> prayers to your mother this morning. i am sure that makes her nervous. sthooivengs, lee. wish you the best. you are 16 hours ahead of us. 9:30 to 9:50 there. >> it is 4 minutes until the top of the hour. do you suffer from withdrawal when forced to stop surfing the web? you are not line. we could all have serious

addictions about this. plus the most amazing video you will see all day. it's worth it. stick around. oh! progress-oh! [ female announcer ] with 40 delicious progresso soups at 100 calories or less, there are plenty of reasons people are saying "progress-oh!" share your progress-oh! story on facebook.