intraparty war in the republican party, warring factions. well, dr. ben carson who made headlines at the national prayer breakfast for taking the president to task appeared on my radio show today and he had some very good advice for the gop. >> do you think cpac is making a mistake there by excluding people who believe ha they believe? >> you need to make the tent as big as you possibly can. and focus on the things that are important. there will be plenty of time to focus on the other issues later. but there will be no time to focus on them if we get to a place where it doesn't matter. >> all right. show appears monday through friday, 9 to noon. >> eric? >> very quickly, forget sequestration. how about se crestation. look who i bumped into today.oo >> ryan seacrest. >> that looks great. >> where did you come up with

that? >> could we say good-bye to ack producer that's been with usod since day one? jay sanes. she's been e fantastic. >> i'll missa: you. >> red eye, saturday, 11:00 o'clock, east coast. new show. annst coulter, tucker carlson. >> people listening on the radio they only hear your hand.- >> that's true. >> i'll do it i again. 11:00 o'clock, red eye, east coast. >> i would not miss that show for all the money in the world. >> i stopped. >> we're cashing in. >> i'm last. >> let me say that i thought eric took that quite well. it is a tough year to change. but i want you tof know something,o eric, we've been on the air almost two years. it's been an absolute pleasure. you're a pro and you've done more to promote the show than anyone else. >> happy birthday, coach. >> are you guys goinge to kiss? >> no. >> sty stay tuned. we'll show that you on monday. thanks forha watching.

>> arthel: hello. welcome to a brand-new hour inside america's news headquarters. i'm arthel neville. >> rick: i'm rick folbaum. topping the news, the president signing those forced spending cuts into law, making it official, for blaming republicans every step of the way. now that the latest battle is behind them, can washington fine will he come together? >> arthel: also, your boss knows a lot about you. but now some employers are tracking what you eat. and even what you buy. what? we're going to explain why and send me your thoughts about this on twitter at arthel neville. >> rick: also "consumer reports" just released a list of the top auto buys and we've got a couple of them right outside our plaza here in midtown, manhattan, including the top sports car. there she is. we'll take you outside. that's coming up later.

>> arthel: we're going to begin with this fox news alert. searchers calling off the search for a florida man swallowed by a massive sink hole. 37-year-old jeff bush is missing and presumed dead after the ground opened up under his bedroom. now emergency crews are giving up on finding the victim and they plan to demolish the house as the sink hole continues to grow. >> at this point in time, i've been told by our outside experts that this site is extremely unstable. this is not your typical sink hole. this is a chasm that covers a great distance. >> arthel: and when the ground gave way thursday night, the victim's brother, he jumped into the hole to try to save him, but when police arrived on scene, he needed to be rescued. the chaos of those moments were captured in the family's desperate 911 call to police. listen. >> what's your emergency? >> wed into an ambulance and the

cops. the house just fell through. >> okay. and what happened to the house? >> the bedroom floor just collapsed and my brother-in-law is in there. he's underneath the house. >> can you imagine the 911 operator thinking what? what did you just say? by the way, engineers still don't know how large the sink hole is or whether it's connected to other chasms in the area. >> rick: more on that as we get it. now to that series of forced spending cuts that have gone into effect. president obama signing an order authorizing the government to begin cutting $85 billion from the federal budget. but the fight over how washington spends your tax dollars is far from over. as of right now, the two sides seem miles apart. >> we've already cut $2.5 trillion in our deficit. everybody says we need to cut $4 trillion. which means we have to come up with another trillion and a

half. the vast majority of economists agree that the problem, when it comes to deficits, is not the discretionary spending. >> let's make it clear that the president got hits tax hikes on january 1. this discussion about revenue in my view, is over. it's about taking on the spending problem here in washington. >> rick: chief congressional correspondent mike emmanuel. hi. >> nobody wants to accept the blame burks the spending redunks are reality. both republicans and democrats recognize those receiving furlough notices or pink slips will feel some pain. president obama says he is worried about the big picture. >> this will cause a ripple effect across the economy. businesses will suffer because customers will have less money to spend. the longer these cuts remain in place, the greater the damage. economists estimate they could eventually cost us more than 750,000 jobs and slow our economy by over one half of 1%.

>> last tuesday he traveled to newport news, virginia to spotlight the damage towns would suffer. he tour add shipyard where nuclear powered aircraft carriers are built. the visit was designed to pressure congress to act by noting the threat to tens of thousands of workers. leading house republican says the commander in chief could have solved the problem staying home. >> this week the president traveled 180 miles to newport news, virginia, instead of traveling 1 1/2 miles to senator harry reid's office on capitol hill to negotiate a replacement of smarter spending cuts. the president failed to act and his senate never passed a bill to replace the sequester. >> democrats wanted new tax revenue to replace some of the spending cuts. but gop leaders said they would absolutely not agree to increasing taxes. both sides recognize the need to

fix the cuts, but it's not clear how or when they will do that, rick. >> rick: mike emmanuel live in d.c thanks very much. >> arthel: there is growing concern and controversy over the release of illegal immigrants in response to those budget cuts. according to the associated press, more than 2,000 illegal immigrants have been released from immigration jails in recent weeks. thousands more could walk this month. meanwhile, the department of homeland security saying, quote, immigration and customs enforcement reviewed its detained population to insure detention levels stay within ice's current budget and place several hundred individuals on methods of supervision, less costly than detention. it goes on to say, all of the individuals placed in less costly monitoring programs remain in removal proceedings. priorities for detention remains on serious criminal offenders and other individuals who pose a significant threat to public safety. >> rick: and we have a very

powerful prime time line - up tomorrow night. it all begins at 6:00 p.m. eastern time with a fox news sunday exclusive. former republican presidential nominee mitt romney and his wife, ann, sit down for their very first interview since the election, discussing life after the race for the white house. >> in a flash, it was all gone. secret service, the crowds, the intensity, the minute by minute schedule and suddenly nothing. how tough is that? >> it's an adjustment. it is an adjustment. but it's one that we i think we did well. it's interesting, in our church we're used to serving and you can be in a very high position, but you recognize you're serving and then all of a sudden, you're released and you're nobody. we're used to that. it's like we came a step forward to serve. and the other part of it was an amazing thing and it was really quite a lot of energy and a lot of passion and a lot of people around us and all of a sudden, it was nothing.

but the good news is fortunately, we like each other. >> it's different, but it's like riding on a roller coaster. we were on a roller coaster, exciting and thrilling, ups and downs. but the ride ends. and then you get off. and it's not like oh, can't we be on a roller coaster the rest of our lives? no, the ride is over. >> rick: chris wallace and his team getting the scoop there. chris' show is followed by the fox report, then fox news reporting comes up next. showdown on debt row, the host, john roberts, will take you inside the fight over the automatic budget cuts we've been talking about and he'll explain how it could change the financial world that you and your children live in. >> republican congressman david schwikert is back in arizona telling his constituents he will hold firm. >> you're going back to dc on monday, from there there will be five days to either solve this or go over whatever fiscal cliff will happen when the sequestration kicks in. how do you see this unfolding? >> first mistake in the question is solving.

if we can't do this tiny marginal reduction in spending, which ultimately by the end of the decade isn't even a reduction in spending. it's just reduction in the growth of spending. >> god forbid what our future is if we can't do this. >> that's john's special. it all starts tomorrow night. >> 6:00 p.m. eastern time right here on fox news channel. >> arthel: new calls for the obama administration to approve the long delayed keystone xl oil pipeline. the state department release ago new report lending support to the project's backers. but environmental groups are keeping up their opposition as the project enters a 45-day public comment period. peter doocy has this report from washington. >> the state department has determined that tar sands will probably be developed whether the keystone pipeline is built or not. so using a pipeline to 840,000-barrels of crude oil day

is not necessarily work for the environment than trucks and trains. but at this point, the state department has not given the project a thumbs up or a thumbs down. >> i think it's important at this point to really just deal with the comprehensive nature of the document and look at all of the different environmental issues that are raised. >> in about a week, the epa will post this document and that will kick off a 45-day public comment period where both can weigh in on the proposed pipeline that would send crude oil from canada to montana to texas. john boehner says after four years of needless delays, it is time for president obama to stand up for middle class jobs and energy security and approve the keystone pipeline. the energy and commerce committee's ranking member, henry waxman, disagrees and says to stop climate change and the destructive storms, drought, floods and wildfires that we are already experiencing, we should be investing in clean energy.

not building a pipeline that will speed the exploitation of canada's highly polluting tar fans. transcanada is the name of the corporation trying to build keystone and their president says nobody is more committed to making sure the pipeline operates safely than they are. arthel? >> arthel: peter doocy, thanks. >> rick: we are just getting started for you this saturday night. american family begging lawmakers in congress to help them get to the bottom of their son's death. it happened overseas in singapore. authorities there say he committed suicide. his family doesn't believe it. they think that it may even be linked to our national security. we'll explain. >> arthel: plus, who says you can't fight city hall? we're going to introduce to you an 11-year-old boy who calls outlaw makers for being rude. we'll explain why and have their reaction. >> rick: also a capital seriously divided. what will it take to get everybody in washington to work together? >> we'd be happy to provide the president with a flexibility to

reduce exactly this amount of spending over the next six months in a different way. but we're not interested and will not reduce a penny less in spending than we promised the american people i'm still stubbe. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks. that's the cold truth! thanks. ♪

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>> rick: near tampa a community is coming together right now mourning one of their own. these pictures coming from tv -- wtvt. jeff bush was swallowed up by the earth while in bed in his home the other day. giant sink hole forming beneath him. they had been trying to get him out of that sink hole, but rescue workers, unfortunately, have determine that the ground there is so unstable and he is presumed dead, they're going to give up that search and they're going to demolish the house. you can see members of the community, including some family members, coming together to comfort each other during these difficult times. live pictures from florida where 37-year-old jeff bush is missing and presumed dead. >> arthel: we'll get you caught up on other headlines. a firearm accessory company is raising the stakes in the gun control battle. in colorado, the company telling

lawmakers it will leave the state if they pass a bill to ban magazines that hold more than 15 rounds. an autopsy on an illinois man poisoned after winning the lawsuit lothery finds no significant new clue. but the case is still considered a homicide. authorities are staying tight lipped about any possible suspects. new problems for florida fruit growers. a warm, dry winter is taking a big toll on this year's crop. but a surplus from last year may prevent a price hike for most consumers. a multi-million-dollar sports complex now open for business in sin city. it may look like a golf course, but inside, instead of using club, they're using guns. did i get that right? streaming live from vegas. guns? >> yeah, you got that right. but there is not a driver or

putter inside at the shooting complex in vegas. as you'll see in this story, shooting experience is not required. the gorgeous views would lead you to believe you're at a golf course. except there is one major difference. >> what's different here is that instead of having places in the golf cart to put your bag, we have gun racks built in these carts and a place to put your ammunition. >> they call it golfing with guns, since you can ride around in a golf cart around 75-acres of land. it's 5 minute trip from the las vegas trip at the clark county shooting complex. >> every station offers a different type of shooting challenge. all the target launchers are different on each station to simulate game running on the ground. >> my first time shooting a gun, and you don't have to be an experienced shooter to try it. >> we got people that come out

with you and show you how it do it. i've got supplement range masters and people that are glad to come out and spend time with you. >> if you want to test out your shooting skills or in my case, lack of shooting skills, the course is open wednesday through sunday and shotguns are going for 20 bucks per rental. if you want to rent one of those golf carts, it will cost 50 bucks a day. arthel? >> arthel: there you go. thank you very much for that report from las vegas. >> rick: back to those across the board spending cuts that are a reality, with $85 billion in new spending reductions in effect, attention turned to the next chapter in the budget battle that's a fast approaching deadline to pass a measure prehave noting a government shutdown. both president obama and the house speaker john boehner say they plan to get it done. >> the house is going to move a continuing resolution next week to fund the government past march 2. i'm hopeful we won't have to deal with the threat of a

government shutdown while we're dealing with the sequester at the same time. >> rick: with all the dysfunction in washington these days, will lawmakers be able to cooperate? former communications director for former house speaker dennis hastert and richard goodstein, a political consultant, former advisor to hillary clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. always good to talk to you. thanks for being here. ron, are we going to see a government shutdown? >> i don't think we are. i think both sides understand the stakes are very high. they're already dealing with the sequester. the government funding runs out on march 27 and they have enough to deal with. look, the president has lost his leverage. republicans are -- we are now dealing with spending cuts and not tax increases. so the president has every incentive to come to the table to keep the country functioning. republicans, on the other hand, they want to deal with the sequester. they want to deal with the debt ceiling. they want to get those issues done.

i think that i -- i do think that they will find a way to avoid the government shutdown. >> rick: richard, do you agree, that the republicans now have the upper hand in these battles? what do you think about the likelihood or not of a shutdown? >> i would tell awe couple months ago i actually thought a government shutdown was at least as likely as not. i tend o agree it's not. i think both parties are coming at this for different reasons. the republicans still have vivid memories that they did not kind of profit from the government shut it is down under speaker gingrich. this was not something that the public very much thought was a good course of action and they blame the republicans for it politically. i think president obama, on the other hand, doesn't want to be saddled with all the fighting around the government shutdown and frankly, all the economic uncertainty when he's trying to get immigration reform done, addressing gun violence and other priorities. so for him, he'll put up with the sequestration and hopefully

will make the most out of it. again, for those reasons the parties will come together. >> rick: fox news polling this week, ron, asked folks how they thought the president could solve the nation's problems. 59% say you might want to talk to the republicans. 32% say okay, go ahead and travel and talk to voters, which seems to be what the president has decided to do. how can you blame him, ron? the president is a good campaigner. all you have to do is look at the last election. he certainly has a way of speaking to the voters, doesn't he? >> the challenge here is that while the president is going out and campaigning on the trail, he's trying to scare people into believing that the sky is falling and he's trying to scare republicans to the table. that hasn't worked. so he really has to come to the table now and negotiate with the republicans on the sequestration if he wants to get something really done. i think that in the media is starting to catch on, too. the president has made claims that janitors would be -- would have pay cuts who are working in the capitol and that teachers

cuts would be -- teachers funding would be cut. in fact, the media found out, no, that's not the case. so i think he's losing a lot of credibility while he's going out there to the campaign. it's different when you're campaigning to win an election. it's another thing when you're trying to govern a country. i think -- i think frankly, generally americans want him to come to the table to negotiate with republicans because he's the commander in chief and the buck stops with him. >> rick: is there a political advantage, though, richard, for the president in not putting these fiscal matters to bed and sort of keeping them alive, keeping the fight, you know, and putting the republicans, trying to keep them on their heels, do you think the president is sort of taking some kind of pleasure in not being able to resolve all of these things? >> look, he benefits, the country benefits, both parties benefit if the economy does better. i think all this uncertainty, look, even if you're not getting a pink slip, you may be worried you might and you therefore, might be pulling back on your spending. that's not good for anybody and

i don't think the president profits from this. i have think there are signs his travels around the country are work. what you hear from the republicans are whining about the fact that he's doing it. and honestly, he should have been doing this four years ago because he realized when he had kind of -- before he committed his first budget plan, the republicans said we will go down line against it. the only way he was going to get his goals accomplished was going to states where there were persuadable senators and congressmen who were republicans. that's the only way he's going to do it this time as well. so i actually think he will keep doing it because i think that's the most beneficial way for him to get his goals accomplished. >> rick: ron, about your fellow republicans, speaking of the jedi mind meld that the president made reference to yesterday that a lot of people were laughing, is there a jedi my melt that boehner could use against his caucus that don't want to follow his lead? >> listen, i think most republicans are with boehner this time of the president has

gotten what he wanted. he got $600 billion worth of tax increases and now republicans across the board are saying no more. we are not going to do that. we're dealing with spending cuts only and that's why the president's campaign across the country to scare people and scare republicans to the table didn't work. i think frankly, boehner has a great mind meld on president obama. >> rick: he got to pass a lot of bills that have not gotten a majority of his majority, which is your old bosses rule. can he get it together? >> i think it was really smart of boehner to do that. the reason i say that is when you have a republican president having a majority, the majority works. but when you're trying to get a politically sensitive issue out of the way that hurt them in the last election, i think it's a smart move to get it done now as opposed to later. >> rick: we got to leave it there. gentlemen, enjoy the rest of the week. >> thanks very much. >> arthel: okay. well, what if your boss was keeping tabs on everything you ate? that's exactly what's happening

at several companies around the country, all in the name of health care. i want to hear your thoughts. tweet me at arthel neville. >> rick: plus, a family begging lawmakers to launch an investigation into the death of their son overseas. but a case that looked like suicide may have been a murder and may even be tied to china trying to get their hands on sensitive information. >> we want pressure put on the singapore government, the singapore police from our government in a congressional investigation to bring the two together and really investigate this as -- for our u.s. security verizon 4g lte. 700 megahertz spectrum, end-to-end, pure lte build. moe most consistent speeds indoors or out. and, obviously, astonishing throughput. obviously... you know how fast our home wifi is? yeah. this is basically just as fast. oh.

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>> arthel: it's the bottom of the hour. time for the top of the news.

$85 billion of spending cuts in effect. president obama and republicans are stalled over a deal to stop the spending reductions. the president is calling for more tax revenues. republicans favor serious spending reforms. >> rick: abandoned the search for a man in florida swallowed by a massive sink hole. engineers say the entire area around that house is so unstable, it's too dangerous to continue that operation. so they are now planning to demolish the entire home. >> arthel: the vatican says pope ematter us benedict is spending retirement praying, watching tv and taking walks. he stepped down on thursday. he's now at the papal retreat near rome. a vatican committee is running church operations until a new pope is elected. >> rick: family in montana is calling for a congressional investigation into the death of their son who was overseas in singapore at the time he died. authorities there declared shane todd's death a suicide. but the family says they told

them that his company was helping china get sensitive military technology. speaking to megyn kelly on america live, describes what she says is a cover-up. >> they gave me a description, told me cat goriccally this is how my son hung himself and it was a very detailed description, followed by the suicide note and handed it to us. it was a typewritten note that they said they got off of his computer. and the note started by thanking ime for giving them every opportunity to succeed and he was sorry he did not meet their expectations. that was my first sense of joy joie as a mother to know my son did not write this note and i knew in my heart at that point he was murdered. >> rick: dominic is live in los angeles with more. >> if shane todd was murdered, who killed him? his family have their suspicions and believe it may be a chinese telecommunications company that has worked. he was found dead in his apartment last summer. local officials saying it was

suicide. but the family says many things point to that being a cover-up. his engineering expertise was used to develop a technology for china, which the united states government has actually identified as being a security risk. in the months running up to his death, todd warned his family that he was being asked to do something that had risked u.s. national security and that his life was being threatened, too. >> simply he was a key man for the -- he knew all the formulas and recipes. when he was broached by the company when we later identified. >> that's the chinese company. >> he would have known all the key players, all the formula, everything they were asking for and he would be able to identify the company and he could also identify who was contacting him. >> towed told his family he had been instructed by his singapore employer to develop sophisticated high powered semiconductors to improve radar

and disruption systems that china could use against the united states. the family says there needs to be a congressional investigation now because it's a national security issue. they called on the help of their senator, whose spokesperson told fox news that his taken up the death with top white house officials. the singapore authorities have yet to conclude their investigation burks there is many flaws in their findings. so far. >> rick: dominic live in los angeles. thank you. >> arthel: we've all heard about employers keeping an eye on our internet activity. but what about the things we spend our money on? or even what we eat? that's exactly what's happening at several companies. according to employers, it's all part of an effort to help lower your health care cost. kyle harrington is the founder and managing partner of harrington capital management. so you're laughing already. so is this too far, kyle? >> arthel, i'm all for taking

care of costs with respect to your company. this is just overboard. i mean, if i want to go out and have a large pepperoni pizza and large coke, i want to be entitled to do that without anybody watching me. what i am in favor of is if companies would like to put on conferences and give educational talks about proper health care or eating habits or exercise routines, that's fine. but to follow me around or be pro-active each and every day about how i eat and what i eat, i have no interest at all. >> arthel: by the way, lawrence tweeted me and says, i don't see why not. the military has been doing it for years for reasons other than financial, of course. let me ask you, so you're saying, kyle, you agree that, look, these companies, you don't blame them for want to go keep their health care costs down, but saying, look, you're gog have me there at work for eight hours a day perhaps. maybe you incorporate 15 minutes of time to go do a little exercising around the campus for each day. i don't know. >> i actually think in a lot of

companies are doing that. apple has done that in california where they're pro-active about having an exercise routine or giving 15 to 20 minutes of stretching classes or education about proper dietary habits. but i certainly am not into this big brother is always watching kind of situation where everything i eat or what i do on my free time is going to be watched, monitored. >> arthel: listen to this, kyle. blue cross and blue shield of north carolina recently began buying spending data on more than 3 million people in its employer groups plan. listen, if someone says that -- by the way, purchases say a plus-size clothing, the health plan then could flag this person for focus obese at this time and then call or send mailings offering a weight loss solutions. >> arrest they will -- arthel that, is beyond invasetive. i don't have any interest in having my data sold or having

people, like i said, being watchful over clothes i buy or -- but i am, again, i think people need to take responsibility and be pro-active about protecting their own health. i'm all for that. i just don't want other people necessarily breathing down my neck about what clothes i wear, the size i buy, or the dietary habits that -- my dietary habits on a day-to-day basis. >> arthel: let's say just try this on for size, or super size, i'm just saying. so let's say i sit here and the person next to me in the kiosk next people, are two people. one person talks to that person, they eat out, eats healthy. the other person sitting this drinking big gulp and fries from mcdonald's, which are tastily, you know what i'm saying? there is sort of a playing irrelevant responsibility. so here you have employers going, guys, come o. you got to help me out. just don't depend on me to cover

your exorbitant health care costs 'cause you are maybe being lazy or irresponsible. >> listen, i think that maybe there is data out that says that people being irresponsible for their dietary habits do increase health care costs. there is no doubt about that. all i'm suggesting is that the individual himself needs to be aware of what he eats and when he eats or how he exercises. not some governmental intervention or company intervention on a day-to-day basis. >> arthel: imagine if the lawsuit -- i can't imagine that will come. let me ask you this before we go, kyle, so if your company, i know you're the boss, but let's say you had a boss, he or she happen to be monitoring what you ate today, what would they find out? >> that on monday, which is my birthday, that i president-elect obama will be having a large pepperoni pizza. >> arthel: don't you know calories don't count on your birthday. you can eat whatever. but i'm talking about day-to-day. >> today, right. today, no, i would not be interested in them watching what

i eat tonight. >> arthel: 'cause you're in new york. >> exactly. >> arthel: all right. i tell you what, i'm going to say good-bye. before i do, happy birthday. >> thank you. >> arthel: thank you very much. >> rick: happy birthday, kyle. who says you can't take on city hall? that's just what one brave 11-year-old did in this video that's now gone viral. david williams is his name. he was concerned about violence in schools. he decided to ask a question during a meeting in the dallas city council and when he noticed that no one was paying attention, he asked this pointed question. >> to be up and walking around their >> rick: well, that got everybody's attention. as you can imagine. it prompted this humble response. >> let me first be apologetic to you to say that i do walk a lot around here, but if we have to keep things going at times.

but it is not so respectful for folks to be walking when visitors are speaking. so i will adhere to that as well. >> rick: all right. when asked if he would like to sit on the council himself when he grows up, david said yes. but he's more interested in become the president of the united states and we think he's got a pretty good shot. >> arthel: heck yeah. he's like, excuse me, i'm speaking. it is not too early to start thinking about a spring get away. if you plan to invest in a new vehicle before hitting the road, "consumer reports" is here with a look at the new top models to help you get the most for your money. >> rick: also the deadline for billions of dollars in forced spending cuts has passed. who is the public going to blame for all of this? with the spark cash card

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billions of dollars in forced budget cuts that just went into effect. lawmakers couldn't reach a deal to stop it and there has been plenty of finger pointing. so who are the winners and losers in all of this? what sort of political fallout can we expect bringing in now susan estridge, good to see you. >> good to see you. >> arthel: let's go to it. where did each side go wrong? >> well, maybe they went right and maybe they went wrong. i think what's going to happen is that partisan republicans in this country, those of you who even when you don't like them, vote for them, are going to all blame president obama and the democrats in the senate and partisan democrat also all blame the republicans for being too inflexible. people in the middle will probably blame everybody. at the end of it, no matter who you are, a majority of people will blame you for what went wrong. >> arthel: okay. >> perfect politics.

>> arthel: you're staying neutral. let's talk about some of the specifics because you're right, there is going to be lots of people, even inside your own party that might have a problem with what you're doing. for instance, there is the chatter that speaker boehner might lose his speakership because if he doesn't stand against new tax hikes, regardless if it's closing loopholes or increases. so what do you make of that? chatter? >> i think the speaker has a problem, which is there is almost two republican parties. there is the more establishment, karl rove, let's get pragmatic and win. big money republican party, which says we've got to make deals here. we can't be blamed for shutting down the government. and you've got another wing of the republican party that says who needs two democratic parties? we should have a republican party that stands for republican principles and if sequestration goes into effect, fine. it's the first step and we'll have to make adjustments.

but not tax increases. i think you got real tension within the republican party, which is part of the sort of cauldron that's on fire here. >> arthel: let's talk about the democratic side. let's talk about the president in particular. i'd like to ask you how you feel this will affect his leadership and how he's handling affairs. >> well, i think in the short run he's probably -- he's been running this political campaign where he's gone across the country and they basically said oh, my god, the air traffic controllers are going to get laid off if we have sequestration. the food safety people will be gone and you're oh, my god, i'm afraid to eat. they backed off a little, right. they backed off a little because they were scaring people a little too much. i think at the end of the day, the buck stops with him. and while i think he's great at putting some blame on the republicans, there is going to have to be some find of a deal and if there is some kind of a deal, i think the guy in the hot

seat is going to be speaker boehner. and how much he brings to that deal. >> arthel: let's talk about the president again. keeping on that, i want to show you a poll here. this is regarding the president's strong and decisive leadership. if you look at it there, you've got 54% saying that they believe the president is a strong and decisive leader. that compares to august of last year where it flip flopped. it was 45%. and then 44% are saying no, they don't think he was strong and decisive leader. so at the moment the president is looking good. let me ask you about the democrats overall. are they looking like winners or whiners? >> oh, i think, you know, they are looking like the president's men and women. i have think the challenge for the democrats face is they really got to give obama a united front and i think there is some of them who are afraid that he will go too far in accepting spending cuts. i think there are some who would like to see bigger tax

increases. there are probably some who would like to see lower tax increases. but i think the democratic party right now is a pretty disciplined group. and i think the attitude, particularly in the house they have no power at all, i think the attitude is the democrats in the senate have to cut a deal with the moderate republicans and then they go. >> arthel: lots of deals to cut. that's why we're where we are right now. susan esteridge, thank you so much. always interesting hearing your analysis. i want to remind everybody you can read her syndicated column in newspapers across the country every wednesday and friday. rick, take it away. >> rick: i would like to send you home in a brand-new car tonight. take a look at this baby. not sure about the color, but this is actually one of the top cars, according to our friends at "consumer reports." we've got another one for you. we'll talk about it when we come right back. don't go away. [ kate ] many women may not be absorbing the calcium they take

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>> rick: choosing the right car is a big decision, of course. so "consumer reports" went the camille. >> arthel: they tested cars in a variety of ways to find its top picks in ten different categories. mike quincy, auto personnist joins -- specialist joins us now. >> how are you? >> rick: let's start with the sports car. >> this is a subaru brz. "consumer reports"'s top pick in the april issue for sporty car. more fun to drive than you can imagine. >> rick: what makes it so fun to drive? >> one of the reasons, 200 horsepower, 4 cylinder engine, manual transmission for people that love to drive. that's a real bonus. >> arthel: that's when i was thinking, you got a stick. >> it's got a great balance with a front engine, rear wheel drive ain't gresssive seats hold new place. you can not drive this car and not have a grin on your face. >> arthel: is it good on gas? >> it is. 30 miles per gallon overall. really does it all. as long as you don't have to

drive through a snow storm, you'll do great. >> rick: what's the deal with the snow? tires? >> into the a lot of weight over the rear tires. summer time vehicle or if you live down south. really fun to drive. >> arthel: if it's good for summer, is there any trunk space in there? maybe enough for a bikini? >> you can fit a couple duffel bags in the trunk. anyone that you really like, you don't want to put them in the back seat unless they're really, really small. >> arthel: niamey dogs can go in the back seat. >> rick: then we have mr. dan here. this is a top sedan. why? >> "consumer reports," we really like the honda accord. honda is back with a vengeance. the accord is everything that the old models used to be. it's fun to drive. it is spacious. it is fuel efficient. you can get 30 miles per gallon overall. from "consumer reports" testing, the 4 cylinder model, for those who want more power, punch in a

v 6 in there. but really, the accord is all the things that we've always loved about hondas. great finish, great reliability. a lot of value fort money. you can start in one of these, 23, $24,000. >> arthel: i like it because it has good leg room. >> rick: you look good in that car. >> arthel: thank you. >> rick: "consumer reports" is testing these just to give people a sense of what kind of tests you run these things through before you get you scored up. >> every car that we test, we go out and buy like anyone else. we don't take any cars from manufacturers. we put every car through our test regime, about 50 tests, acceleration fuel economy, braking, ride, sound levels. we really live with these cars day-to-day. we drive them. i drive a different car every night. take my kids to soccer practice. we car pool in them. we -- >> arthel: youfully them. >> day-to-day. just like everyone else. we get a thorough evaluation,

especially our fuel economy test are among the most thorough of anyone out there. >> arthel: how much does this cost? >> about 23, $24,000. lot of car for your money. >> rick: more in the latest issue of "consumer reports." always good to see you. >> arthel: that's going to do it for us. harris faulkner up next with the fox report. see you next weekend. [ dad ] find ? a. alright, another one just like that. right in the old bucket. good toss! see that's much better! that was good. you had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. let's do it again -- watch me. just like that one... [ male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagen passat. pa down something he will be grateful for. good arm. that's the power of german engineering. ♪ back to you.