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. ... who share your values. for our free usaa retirement guide, call 877-242-usaa. >> steve: watch the big show tomorrow and see history live because we will have the very latest from the papal conclave in vatican city. >> gretchen: we might have a pope by then. we'll watch for the smoke later on this afternoon. have a fantastic a afternoon.

log on for the after the show show. more with our choir live. >> steve: so long, everybody. bill: the world is watching. we're all waiting. a look at the vatican live. 115 cardinals filing in the historic sistine chapel, officially starting the process of selecting the next leader of the world's 1.2 billion catholics. screen right is the chim my camera where the cardinals start the day off with a mass at st. peter's. later we might get the very first sign a vote has taken place out of that chimney on the right on top of the sistine chapel. a lot more to talk about. a look at the possible frontrunner. huge day on capitol hill for all of our future here. we're awaiting details on congressman ryan's new budget proposal, this only a day before senate democrats

expected to unveil a plan of their own, expecting a a fierce budget battle. the senate has not produced a budget you in, oh, 1200, give or take a couple days decided that. a long, long time. martha: good morning bill hemmer. i'm doing great. i'm martha maccallum. good morning everybody. congressman paul ryan says his plan will balance the budget he claims, without raising taxes and slash the nation's crippling debt that stands at over $16 trillion. it is already facing a lot of opposition from the other side. bill: ryan is getting the budget battle together for opposing the opposition. steve centanni leads the coverage in washington. good importanting. what do he expect this morninging, steve? >> reporter: congressman paul ryan, chair of the budget committee, hold as capitol hill news conference at 10:30 to reveal his plan that he says will balance the budget. he says it will reignite the economy, reignite the american dream and putting

people back to work earning higher wages. it seeks to balance the budget in ten years without raising taxes by making $5 trillion in spending cuts. ryan says something needs to be done. >> the president has us on a path towards a debt crisis that hurts everybody. brings us toward recession and brings us a european type experience that we want to avoid. we want higher wages, more jobs. a growing economy. we get that by balancing the budget. >> reporter: an op-ed piece in the "wall street journal" he writes, the most important question is how we balance the budget is why. the budget is a means to the end. the end isn't a neat and tidy spread sheet. it is the well-being for all americans giving them stability and protecting them from tax hikes. our budget will promote a healthier economy and help create jobs. ryan's budget seeks to repeal obamacare. bill: so the battle is being joined here. what about democrats, what are they saying about ryan's plan? >> reporter: of course the

president and democratic allies want to raise new revenues, eliminating tax loopholes for the wealthy, a whole different way to go about this. at white house press briefing on monday, jay carney said the president would just continue working with congress. >> our focus now as the president has said is on working with congress in regular order on the budget process. and, through that process hopefully produce a bipartisan agreement on deficit reduction. >> reporter: senate democrats unveiled their own budget plan tomorrow, one that calls for spending cuts and tax hikes. bill: here we go. what's old is new again. steve centanni leading coverage on that. martha? martha: april 1st is the deadline for the senate to the present a budget resolution but that hasn't meant much in recent history. this is 1413 days since the senate passed a budget resolution. that is april 29th of 2009.

that is almost four years since they have done one of the most basic elements of their job. at that time it wasn't the budget. it was a guideline for producing a budget. try to imagine getting away with that. that is your job. bill: tough to plan. as we mentioned earlier, national debt topped 16 trillion. 16.7 trillion. a $6 trillion or 57% increase and the last four years, 36% of that debt, accumulating under the current president obama. our annual deficit also exceeded one trillion dollars for each of the past four years. we're looking at 17 trillion from --. martha: buying a burger is about to get more expensive at some five guys hamburger joints, one of my favorite places to get a burger. one franchise owner has to hike prices in order to pay off the bills from president obama's health care law. stuart varney, anchor of "varney & company" on the fox business network of course. good morning, stuart.

good to see you. >> martha. martha: this is the latest example of a business owner who says that the health care plan is forcing him to raise cost, raise prices on consumers. >> that is precisely the situation. mike has eight of the five guys franchises in the raleigh-durham area. he sees obamacare coming at him. it will cost him a lot of money, $60,000 a year to be precise. he is preempting that and say i will raise prices. mike ruffa, five guys, very typical of dilemma faced by literally hundreds of thousands of small businesses all across america. they can see obamacare coming and here's the choices. if they have got 50 employees working more than 30 hours a week each they have to provide them with health care or they can pay a fine. or they can cut their hours of workers so they don't qualify for obamacare or, they can pass through the costs. one of those choices. here it comes. you know you have to do something.

in this case they're making burgers more expensive. sorry about that, martha because i know you like them. martha: i do and you know it is interesting because it is one of the, companies that sort of have been thriving in recent years, there is this kind of gourmet, fast-food burger combination and five guys and smash burger and all of those really capitalized on all of that. it is a simple business plan. they're very fresh, clean, diner style stores with big bags of peanuts everywhere, it raises a question, do you want to put a damper on that kind of a small business actually doing very well right now? >> well, that is precisely what is happening. these guys have a choice. you can eat this extra money that you've got to pay out for obamacare, or, you can raise prices, or you can cut the hours that the people you work. it is going to put a damper on their business. they're not alone. this is common throughout the restaurant industry in america. not to mention the hotel, the tourism, the leisure

industry, which employ large numbers of people who don't make a great deal of money, who are very susceptible to higher prices for obamacare. you can see it coming at you. all of them will have a crimp put on their business. martha: but, stuart, quickly, if you can, their other option is to say they will not cover anybody, all the five guys employees would be pushed onto the government alternative. >> yes. that is precisely correct. then the individuals who are pushed out, have the choice. do i go to these exchanges and try to get insurance on my own, or, do i say i'm not going to get insurance. i'm essentially will pay the or do i say, i can't afford any of it. let the government pay for me. the last option is probably the most common. martha: probably what we'll see is increasingly happening. stuart, thank you very much. i highly recommend five guys. bill: some terrible news out of afghanistan this morning. five americans are dead after a horrific helicopter crash there. nato confirming this morning

it happened outside the city of kandahar in the south. the military says the crash does not appear to be the result of enemy activity but the deadliest since august of 201 when a helicopter crashed during a firefight, killing seven americans and four afghans. eight minutes past the hour now. martha: we're six months later and there are still no answers. remember this? on september 12th? >> will not waiver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act and make no mistake, justice will be done. martha: justice will be done said the president and he was referring to the scene, the night before in benghazi, libya. has justice been done? a congressman demands answers next. bill: also why is north korea putting troops on maximum alert and ready to move? remember the united states has tens of thousands of forces in south korea. we'll look at that. martha: and big gull pers,

rejoice. a judge makes a major ruling on the nation's restrictive ban on sugary sodas. why this fight is just getting started. >> obesity is going to bankrupt this country because the health care costs of people overeating is just growing leaps and bounds, much faster than we can come up with money to pay for it. it's a big problem @e

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delicious and wholesome. some combinations were just meant to be. tomato soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. martha: horrific scene. a navy plane going down during a training mission in washington state. it happened in a rural area about 50 miles west of spokane. much of the plane appears to have disintegrated on impact. investigators say the cause of this crash is not known. bill: on the korean peninsula tensions remain high. north korean leader kim jong-un tell his troops to be on maximum alert. telling soldiers near disputed waters quote, war could break out right now.

john bolton, former ambassador to the united nations fox news contributor. good morning sir. the rhetoric, it is cranking up by the day. how do you measure it? >> certainly the rhetoric is pretty intense. i think the odds of anything actually happening are remote but you can never tell with a regime this irrational in our terms, is closed and hard to read as this one is. and for the people of south korea, in particular, the suburbs of seoul, the capital go right up to the demilitarized zone. this behavior by north korea combined with actual physical attacks, the sinking of a south korean corvette a couple years ago, necessarily should concern us quite a bit. bill: i think that is what is difficult to gain here. how much attention, how much credence do you give him or not? >> well, i wouldn't worry about how much credibility we give to him. i think any country with nuclear weapons ruled by a hereditary communist dictatorship has enough

credibility to get our attention and that's why i think what we need to focus on is how to solve the problem of this irrational totalitarian regime with its hands on nuclear weapons. that's why i long believed the only real solution is to eliminate north korea, reunify the korean peninsula and put in a representative government. to do that we have to persuade china, no small task, but that is the route we need to go. bill: i will show our viewers the region. china you just mentioned. south korea downer who russia to the north, always a player. so to japan. advance it, 38th parallel. this is where the treaty was agreed to in 195. last week the north said the treaty could be scrapped. that is being dispute as well. here, mr. ambassador, you have thousands and thousand of american force,. that brings us to bya, a question i want to get to because you asked.

brian rights, in north korea goes against the cease-fire and attacks the 38th parallel will the u.s. send more troops to south korea and end up being makings for another korean war, is that a possibility or not? >> look, we had a mutual military agreement with south korea since the end of the korean war. it is alliance as old as nato. we have a similar agreement with japan. let's be clear. we've been epfromming for this a long time. if the north is foolish enough to come across the demilitarized zone it will be mean the end. regime in north korea. it will cause terrible damage in south korea. we don't want to see it happen. again we're not dealing with somebody on the other side of that demilitarized zone who is rational in our terms. as long as that regime exists, the kind of threat we're concerned about especially with a regime with nuclear weapons will exist. why we have to try to find,

hard though as it may be, the permanent solution, which is getting rid of that regime. bill: let's be clear on this. a north korean attack on the south, with near certainty would end in the destruction of north korea, is that led by south korea or us as well. >> absolutely. it is said by us. colin powell left being chairman of the joint chiefs of staff before he became secretary of state he used to say if north korea attacked south korea, especially if they used chemical weapons, we were turn north korea into a charcoal briquette. that would be the end of the north korean regime. it is a conflict we don't want to have it in the first place. bill: how many forces do we have there, mr. ambassador. >> we have under 0,000 now. the number has been coming down -- 30,000. our goal is to move them away from the demilitarized zone and put them in a rear area at the southern part of the peninsula, so they're available for deployment all

around asia. we would like to give south korea the lead and the command. look, we do exercises with the south koreans all the time. we are prepared in the event the north koreans do something foolish. it shows when you're at the mercy of a regime that simply is not rational in our terms it is not an acceptable way to live. bill: is it your view if the u.s. forces were not there in south korea, the north would have done something already, perhaps an invasion? >> it is possible. anything is possible with this kind of regime. it is ironic, the north koreans don't want americans to move away from the 38th parallel along the dmz. they want us pinned down because they think they hold us hostage. it shows how fragile the regime in the north is. china knows it too. that's why they have been afraid to put pressure on north korea which they uniquely could do because they have not wantinged to see the regime collapse and peninsula reunified. ultimately china doesn't

want north korea with nuclear weapons. they have to take the weapons away from north korea or find an alternative. i think reunification is the only long term route to peace and stability in northeast asia. bill: point noted. thank you, john bolton. mr. ambassador in washington. >> thank you, bill. bill: shoot a e-mail to hemmer@foxnews.com. because you asked, lines are open right now. martha. martha: very exciting goings on in the vatican. they are meeting in the first conclave just hours from now. what they're doing, that is it a scene on the right of the mass today. it is a visually stunning site. listen to the chants as they walked in to pray before they begin the voting process. who is the frontrunner is one of the big unanswerable questions. we'll talk about that coming up. bill: also a big deal in new york because there is a big ruling on the big ol' drink. the soda ban that is heating up in the big apple.

martha: you can say the plan is old even before it got off the ground. the judge moving yesterday to block new york city's controversial ban on supersized sodas. the ban was set to take place today. everybody was drinking big gulps yesterday in advance. new york city mayor michael bloomberg said even though things didn't work out the way he hoped the fight is not over. listen to what he said. >> today a court judge said the department of health didn't have the authority to do it. we think that they do. we'll appeal, in the meantime, this year, 70,000 americans will die from obesity. 5,000 here in new york. we've got to do something about it. martha: senior correspondent eric shawn joins us live. two over to eric. there he is. >> reporter: hey, martha. martha: what did the judge

have to say? >> reporter: he said the judge had interesting ruling. gives the government limitless authority and takes regulations to a new height. the judge sided with groups, software industry, korean grocers, unions and national restaurant situation who went to court challenging the ban. they claim it is unfair an infringement on personal liberty. in the ruling judge tingling wrote, it is arbitrary and capricious because it applies to some, but not all food establishments in the city. excludes other beverages that have significantly higher concentrations of sugar, sweeteners or calories. the american beverage association says the ruling provides, quote a sigh of relief to new yorkers and thousands of small businesses. martha, one loophole, you could get smaller bottles and filling, refill as many times as you want. bill: there's that. >> reporter: null and void because of that. >> why should you have to though you know? that is the crazy question. eric, thank you very much. does the city have plans to

appeal on this? >> reporter: yeah they are. the city, mayor bloomberg, you saw him last night on david letterman. he said they will appeal the ruling. he says it was aimed trying to address the crisis in obesity. he is believes he is doing the right thing to protect the public's health. he called the judge's decision, quote, clearly an error. >> anytime you adopt a ground-breaking policy, special interests will sue. that's america. but we strongly believe that in the end the courts will recognize the bored of health's authority to regulate the sale of beverages that have virtually no nutritional value and which consumed in large quantities are leading to disease and death for thousands of people every year. >> reporter: he says there are a lot of deaths as he cited 5,000 new yorkers a year die from obesity. he says more than 57% of new yorkers are overweight. and it costs the medical community $4 billion a year. so that is what he is trying to address. martha: that's what he says. thank you, eric.

eric shaun. bill: if you don't live in new york it is kind of confusing, would you agree? martha: even if you live in new york it is kind of confusing. bill: for all of us. if you look at three drinks right here, if the judge had not ruled the way the judge ruled which of the three would be considered illegal as of today? gatorade, diet coke and coca-cola. all 20 ounces. this one would be out. 16 ounces only. martha: 20 ounce. bill: gatorade drinking since the third grade. it is out because 20 ounces, have to go down to 16 ounces. diet cola would be valid. martha: that is one i would pick any day of the week. all the companies are i can making smaller bottles in preparation for this. some people are going back to wanting smaller bottles anyway. i think market forces are prob any legislation mr. bloomberg can legislate. bill: the judge said capricious and arbitrary. you can buy any of this at a 7-eleven, but can't buy it

at the deli next door had the ruling not been overturned yesterday. he wants to crack down on volume in your ear phones. martha: i'm a trailblazer. i'm ahead of my time. the court will have to catch up with me. bill: we'll see if he is right. former first lady laura bush in the spotlight. what she is saying about the republican party. martha: it has been six months since the terrorist attack in benghazi that killed four americans and we still have no answers in this case although we were promised them. now one republican lawmaker says he believes enough is enough. what he is now demanding. >> the security in benghazi was a struggle and remain ad struggle throughout my time there the situation remained uncertain and reports from some libyans indicated it was getting worse. diplomatic security remained weak. in april there was only one u.s. diplomatic security agent stationed there. [ female] from more efficient payments. ♪

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bill: 9:0 in new york. apparently the cia ramping up the effort to fight al qaeda in iraq. a report says the cia is working with the country's anti-terrorism unit to control flow of extremists flowing in from the syrian border. that is part of a larger shift the way the u.s. will plan to fight terrorism overseas. martha: congressman is now stepping up his demand for answers exactly six months after the benghazi terror attack. he says lawmakers have not been able to interview any of the survivors or the

suspects from that awful night. four americans were killed including ambassador chris stevens in the assault on the u.s. consulate. here is our own greg palkot inside the consulate describing exactly how everything played out that fateful night. >> reporter: september 11th, 2012, 7:0 p.m. the u.s. ambassador to libya, chris stevens takes his last meeting on the 11th anniversary of 9/11 in the large rest dengal building. it ends in an hour. he escorts diplomats at the main gate. makes small talk with in arabic with the guard. he goes back to his room to retire for the night. 9:40 p.m. some guards here up the street explosive going off. people are yelling and chanting. a mad mob of attackers break through the main gate gate, a weak point in the defense of the mission. they go to the you know

staffed. barracks, they light up epbassey cars and move on. asian in tactical operations center sees and monitors scores of men pouring into the compound. at the annex a mile away which fox news confirmed was a cia installation, tyrone woods, a former navy seal and other agents can hear shots being fired in the vicinity of the consulate. sources tell fox news national security correspondent jennifer griffin that they asked permission from their cia superiors on the scene to assist but are told to stand down. meanwhile, security agents at the consulate are sounding the alarm too. >> a diplomatic security agent working in the tactical operations center immediately activated the imminent danger notification system. he also alerted the quick reaction security team stationed nearby. the libyan 17th february brigade, embassy in tripoli and the diplomatic security command center in washington.

>> reporter: 10:00 p.m. a surveillance drone begins to who have who haver over the consulate and peoples back live pictures to washington. the special age sent david uban and and gets ambassador stevens from his bedroom and bringings him along with sean smith to a room in the safe haven. aside for medicine and other supplies, a big dark windowless closet. then, outside, a locked gate. hoped for security. uban radio others as to his whereabouts. the scene at compound is erupting in gunfire and explosions. at this point there are seven americans, three different locations. ambassador stevens and two others in a main residence. two special agents at the second residence and cafeteria and then here in the tactical operations center, two more agents. attackers, all around. inside the main residence, attackers come in here and they ransack the place and then they go for the locked gate. they look inside. it is dark, they can't see

anything. then they tried the lock. they can't open it up. inside agent uban has a gun trained on them ready to shoot if need be. as lieutenant colonel andrew woods says the safe haven is only safe for a short time. stevens, smith and uban were trapped by diabolical killers who poured diesel fuel around the house, light it and leave. martha: craig palkot shut that oy amazing walk-through back in october. i'm joined by virginia republican congressman frank wolf. congressman. welcome. there has been so much said about that night but when you listen to greg palkot go step by step, it raises so many questions in terms of the alerts that were sounded and the reaction that we got from the administration back here. and this is something that you do not want to let lie. >> there are so many questions and right now with yesterday being the six-month anniversary, the

only way the american people will ever know is to have a select committee, bipartisan group, being able to subpoena these people. right now i got a call the other day, there are several people who were wounded in benghazi who are still at walter reed. six months, wounded at walter reed? you know they're very serious. we don't honor the people. we don't mention their names. like it is a dark hole. and i think we're now at a point now there is a cover-up. it is clear this is a cover-up. hillary clinton ever go visit these people at walter reed? why did it just come out two weeks ago when we need a select committee. every member of congress, if you want to get to the bottom of this, should support a select committee. martha: the president said that next day, we played the sound a little while ago, that justice would be done and that these killers would be found. what is being done right now? should we all need to be patient because the investigation is very thorough and it's underway or is there something worse

at work here? >> no. there is not going to be justice. given the fbi, and i fund the fbi, my committee, they're great people, they have given the fbi an impossible task. here this administration killed awlaki in yemen with a drone missile who was an american citizen, yet using the fbi to apprehend. i've seen videos. there are many of these guys. they're walking the streets in benghazi. walking the streets in tripoli. there was a person in tunisia that it took the fbi five weeks on the ground to even talk to him for three hours. there is another person expect connected to it in egypt. we have given egypt, what was it 250 million last week when kerry was there, a total of over 60 billion for last numbers of years and we can't get access to that individual. really the fbi has been given an impossible task. can you imagine fbi going up to a door in benghazi, fbi we'll take you away? it is an impossible task.

the only way to get to the bottom of this is to have a select committee. if congress wants to know, they have to change things, a select committee. subpoena and secondly, the american people will never know if there is not a select committee. martha: there are some people in congress who think people like you should just let go of this, let go of this story. they think it is what it is. things got out of control. it is a very tumultuous country, difficult part of the world, these things happen, that's what they would say. >> we lost four american citizens that was a battlefield. that was a battlefield where america basically withdrew from the battle. some people connected to the algerian refinery were connected to the benghazi. some of the people in egypt that took down the american flag were connected with regard to that. and don't forget, for two weeks the administration's position was it was this video that no one had even seen. you know, if i will not stop pushing for this. the only way you're going to be able to do it is off a

subpoena power. many people would now like to come in and testify but they need to be subpoenaed. if the congress doesn't do that, the congress will have failed in its obligations. martha: go back to the simple point in that piece and surfaced in jennifer griffin's reporting those two former cia agents asked to go help and they were told to stand down. we still don't know who gave testimony that order. who told them not to go and help as one example. >> was there not a military crew ready to go? we hear different stories they were ready it go. they were taken off the plane, put back an the plane. there are so many questions. we need a select committee. no other way. martha: any chance you will get one? >> yes, i do. it took a long while to get iran-contra. it took a while. i appreciate what fox news has done by speaking out of the i appreciate your guy going on the scene. keep in mind the fbi couldn't even get into benghazi for weeks. your guy got in there before

anybody else. martha: unbelievable. >> ultimately if the american people want to know there will be a select committee. martha: congressman wolf, thank you. please keep us posted, thank you. >> we will do that. thank you very much. martha: thank you, sir. have a good day. bill: quick check of the markets on a tuesday morning. how about an eight-day rally? is that possible? will the dow 30 see another all-time high? will investors look this some profits? 14,440 is on the monitor at 9:39 in the morning. that is amazing number. martha: it is. especially given the economic backdrop, hard to explain some ways but perhaps the u.s. is still the best market going out there, right? bill: take a bet on the market and take a bet on this. we're only hours away from making history at the vatican. cardinals about to meet for the first day of the conclave today. but with no clear front-runner, or is there? how long can we expect them to take? martha: it could take a while. we'll talk about it. the calls are getting louder for iran to release

this american pastor who is jailed in one of their most notorious prisons. the wife of said abedini will join us here in "america's newsroom" live. the hearing they're so pleased to have finally gotten on capitol hill. big news in this story is coming up. >> what we're working towards. why she is doing interviews. why she is telling the story so publicly. his life is in jeopardy. is he is suffering from internal bleeding. he is not getting the medical care he needs.

martha: this is awful story. we have new details now in the deadly suv crash that killed six teenagers in ohio. reports are now that the car was stolen. investigators spoke with the owners shortly after the accident. police say that 18 agers were riding in that suv when it hit a guard rail, flipped and landed upside down in a nearby pond. bill: tragedy that is.

unnecessary. two hours from seeing history now. it begins 115 cardinals. end with 77 votes. that's why what you need before you get white smoke. they will head into the sistine chapel, close themselves off from the outside world. john moody, executive vice president, executive editor here at fox news. author of, pope john paul ii, a biography. nice to see you, john. i gave a little bit what happens today. take us inside. what will they do? >> pray. they will do a lot of praying. not what the news media wants to hear. they want to hear about daggers being withdrawn, deals being cut, money changing hands. none of it. they will pray a lot. they will pray for guidance. cardinal sidano did introductory prayer and lecture for everybody. mostly humility. make the right choice.

do what god asks us to do. bill: when they go into the sistine chapel, ten: 30 eastern time here in new york. will there be a vote today or conduct the balloting today? >> it will be a not conclusive but by tradition the day they go into the sis seen chapel they have one vote. bill: is that to figure out where everybody stands? >> it is to plant stakes in the ground. wait a minute, a the guy we thought would be the front-runner isn't? what should we do now? it sets the stage. bill: the cardinals learn the results of that first vote? >> cardinals know what the results are after they have done the vote. bill: that is interesting too. foxnews.com. does the church need more of a manager to clean up the vatican bureaucratic mess or a pastor to inspire 1.2 billion faithful in time of crisis. is it a or b? >> it is a-bb. they would love to get that.

pop john paul ii, legendary and benedict were not particularly interested in the ceo function that goes with the red shoes. so as a result. many people think that the roman kcuria, the inside group that runs the church is in disarray and needs a little bit of a cleanup. bill: interesting. almost like the difference between a manager and employee. some people are good at managing. other people are good at working. foxnews.com, the fact that not everyone got to speak on monday, a clear sign there is unfinished business before the conclave begins. does that give us a clue how long the conclave could last? >> it is a clue in the sense that everybody is going to get a chance to speak. they're just not interested in news cycles or whether this all gets done at the top of the hour or not like you have to be. these men are in there to try to divine what god wants them to do and they do that by speaking to each other, bouncing ideas off of each other and hoping to get

inspiration. bill: i think that is an excellent point because the conversation here in america that the church has to reach out to africa, has to reach out to latin america or asia. the cardinals take the longest view possible on a timeline because they're concerned about the stability and the future of the church. >> yeah. people have always said the church thinks in centuries. that's just not a 21st century way of doing things in this digital age but they remain very much unaffected by the passage of time. bill: that's what explains how benedict won seven years ago. >> it was continue ages there, yes. bill: a couple of front-runners. angelo scola, archbishop of milan. is the guy? >> he is italian. there are more italian electors than any other country. they would like to bring this back home. they think of the papacy as the america's cup. it belongs here. cardinal scola is the archbishop of milan. he is not part of the curia,

or part of the inner circle and therefore seen somebody who might go in and shake things up and try to manage it a little better. bill: four weeks ago you walked into the studio and told martha and me keep our eye on mark oulette from canada. >> his star seems to level off during the weekend conversations. these conversations are so important. he may have said a few things that didn't sit right with some of his colleagues. he is nonetheless in charge of the congregation for bishops, a very important part of the vatican and will have a lot of friends. bill: that person gets to know everybody. >> you get to know them and also get to promote them. bill: timothy dolan, archbishop new york city, sean owe mali boston, massachusetts. is this possible or hail mary for america? >> what an interesting way of putting it. both are hail maries. cardinal dolan over the weekend apparently impressed quite a few of the fellow cardinals with the things he

said. he is full of common sense. how often do you say that of something you just met. cardinal o'malley from boston gets high marks in america because of his handling of the sex abuse scandal in boston. he is a friar, not a monk. it would be first time in quite a long time. he is very humble, self-deprecating. that makes him all the more interesting to his fellow cardinals. bill: we showed on the screen, two con chrafs in 1978, lasted two days, three days and 2005 it was two days as well. cardinal revasi. he is italian. have a ten seconds to why i could being the next pope. >> genius. absolutely revered by his fellow cardinals. bill: thanks, john. martha: thanks to john moody. it will be a fascinating two days to watch. come up first lady laura

push is speaking out on the republican parity and women. and what she is saying. bill: that will be interesting. security on the mexican border. the debate going on in washington. what do people on the border think how safe or how possibly dangerous it is today. >> i think it is important that they realize it is a dynamic, it is an active border. and it will always be that. there will be always some activity going through the border. sion commercials. yep, there i am with flo. hoo-hoo! watch it! [chuckles] anyhoo, 3 million people switched to me last year, saving an average of $475. [sigh] it feels good to help people save... with great discounts like safe driver, multicar, and multipolicy. so call me today. you'll be glad you did. cannonbox! [splash!]

martha: all right. former first lady laura bush is now weighing in on the republican party in the wake of the 2012 election which obviously did not go the republicans way. she said some of the candidates with extreme views may be scaring away some of the female voters. here is her quote. every candidate was different, you know.

each one of them. there are obvious examples of candidates that were, that, i think frighten some women butter they the exception rather than the norm in the party. let's bring in byron york, chief political correspondent at the "washington examiner" and a fox news contributor. byron, good morning. nice to see you. >> good morningsing, martha. martha: mind goes to aiken and murdoch specific examples of people she was talking about as people that don't reflect the larger party. >> it is not just them though. the story behind what mrs. bush was saying is in the exit polls from last year. among men mitt romney won the election by 7 points. barack obama however won by 11 points among women. if you dig deeper into those numbers, among married women, romney won but among unmarried women president obama won by 36 points. it was a landslide among unmarried women for the president. republicans are very worried about that. i covered a number of republican and conservative meetings during the

election. they were traumatized by the aiken situation and the murdoch situation. the question they're grappling with, do we need to find candidates who won't make a big gaffe or say something really stupid. or is there some deeper change to be made in the party? martha: if republicans and conservatives are scratching their heads over what went wrong, at one place where they seem to be extremely focused on this group was the democratic convention, byron. we watched speaker after speaker focus on women's rights, reproductive rights, all of that. i think a lot of people at the time thought, why are they spending so much time talking about something that really doesn't feel front and center when you talk about the economy and jobs and all the things that seem to be the headlines? they had a very good grasp of a group they needed to focus on and win over and they did. >> that was no accident at all. they had done a lot of research on that. you're right. republicans say, seems like jobs and economy are the biggest issue but the obama campaign and democrats. >> very well among those target voters, especially

unmarried women, the social issues actually were quite important and they really, engaged in a lot of scare techniques. they suggested republicans would make abortion illegal and that who knows what else they would do. and that ended up actually working because there is this group of not only democratic women but independent women who look at republicans with some suspicion. martha: byron, thank you. >> thank you, martha. martha: interesting sort of emergence of laura bush on this issue. we'll be watching to see if we hear more from her on the future of the role of women in the party. byron, see you later. thanks. >> thanks, martha. bill: in minutes paul ryan releases details on his budget plan. what is in it. a key democrat reacts on the ryan budget. we'll have all that for you. martha: plus the american pastor who is enduring a very harsh sentence in one of iran's most notorious prisons. his wife and his lawyer have a very big day this week on capitol hill. they will be hear moments from now.

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lets you hear it... in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. mmm... [ male announcer ] sounds good. it's amazing what soup can do. martha: the top intelligence chiefs in the country are all on capitol hill this morning and they are speaking out on the reality of the security threats to our country. so what will they tell us today? that's a big question this morning and a brand new hour starting of "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. good morning. the list is long. it is iran. it is syria, north korea, cybersecurity. among the issues likely to be talked about starting today. martha: and our chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge joins us live from washington where she will of course be watching every word of this catherine, good morning. what do we expect? >> reporter: thank you, martha, good morning. a primary focus is going to be the rising threat of cyber attacks from u.s. interests of nation states of china, iran and russia. threat of nuclear iran.

prepared testimony from nation's top intelligence officer, james clapper. iran is developing nuclear capabilities to enhance its security, prestige and regional influence and give it the ability to develop nuclear weapons should a decision be made to do so. we do not know if iran will eventually decide to build nuclear weapons. there is ample evidence al qaeda is on the rise in west and north africa with the attack on the consulate in benghazi and 9/11 underscoring a threat against u.s. and western interests. quote, the al qaeda in the islamic maghreb capability remain focused on local u.s. and western interests in north and west after from. though talk about a dozen homegrown plots in the united states inspired by al qaeda overseas in the coming year. this is a significant drop and may well be disputed by lawmakers, martha. martha: what else should we be listening for, catherine? >> reporter: a key question what point. suleman abu ghaith, son-in-law of psalm usama bin laden was read his

rights and no longer cooperated with federal investigators before he was transsferd to new york. nothing is publicly known about the 22-page statement and whether it addresses his decade in iran. why more than half of the muslim hijackers, passed through iran in training camps in afghanistan before the attacks. in some 9/11 commission reporting that iranian border age wrenlts were told not to stamp their travel documents. abu ghaith according to intelligence sources does not have operational information but rather is in the best position to explain a whether there is a partnership or understanding between al qaeda, a sunni group and shia iran, martha. martha: fascinating. catherine, we'll look forward to your reporting on that later. thank you very much. >> reporter: you're welcome. bill: any number of attacks might be noted today. january of this year, 2013, 37 hostages, 29 militants killed when security forces stormed a gas plant in algeria after a four-day standoff there. september 11th, 2012, ambassador chris stevens and

three other americans killed in an assault on our con sue late in benghazi libya. in march last year, a french algerian gunman killed seven in a shooting spree until toulouse, france. that in three minutes. martha: on the hill today senate democrats expected to move several gun control bills. it includes broader background checks and assault weapons ban. the bill is expected to face a tough fight if they get to a full senate vote. earliest that could happen is expected to be after the easter recess. bill: there is a new battle over securing our southern border. there is a brand new report claiming that some senate democrats may try to rush an immigration reform bill as soon as easter recess concludes. meanwhile new questions over what the administration and congress are doing to secure the border in the southwest. william la jeunesse traveled back to arizona, city of phoenix. william, good morning. >> reporter: well, bill, what defines a secure border is a critical question and a potential sticking point in

an immigration reform debate. the administration argues more bodies, more boots, mo technology results in fewer people trying to cross but critics say the apprehension numbers alone are meaningless if you don't also know how many people tried to get in or are getting in on a daily basis. >> anytime somebody mentions immigration reform we see a spike, we see more people coming there. >> reporter: arizona rancher dan bell sees the border differently than those in washington. >> our borders have in fact never been stronger. >> reporter: today tis i canly secretary janet napolitano is right, with apprehensions at record lows but numbers don't tell the whole story. >> there are areas of border never been worse or more dangerous. >> canyons and mountains of santa cruz county, that is where the activity is. >> reporter: he patrols nogales, arizona, where 50 miles of fence made the city safer. >> i've been here 45 years in law enforcement. i have never seen it more secure than it is right now.

>> reporter: but for smugglers outside of town? >> the activity shifted from the urban areas. it shifted over to the rural areas. >> reporter: while the u.s. has spent more money on manpower and infrastructure and fences like this one, the only thing separating mexico from the u.s. just like 50 or 60 years ago is a barbed-wire fence. ranchers say these are ruely cut. >> whether our water lines or fences, putting our cattle back into a pass stir they're supposed to be, that is time and money. >> reporter: bell says it is inaccurate that it is safe or secure since the border patrol only counts those they catch but not those getting away. >> they're getting better in one place they're actually getting worse in another place. >> reporter: the bottom line, no one expects to seal the border. that is impossible. you want to know how many people you tried to catch but failed. last year the border patrol kept the data. they caught 125,000 people in the tucson sector in 2011 but 125,000 got away.

we'll look at technology that may deliver accountability lawmakers want before they legalize the 11 million people who are already here. back to you. bill: looking forward to seeing that. quick question, william. it is difficult to answer. if the security of the border has never been better, how many further does it need to go to make it secure for sure and preserved? >> reporter: well, here's the deal. so you need some kind of a measurement or metric to tell you how secure the border is. you can throw a lot of resources at it but right now we don't know how many people are getting through. they used to keep that data by every border control sector. right now they're not. the border, the dhs is now considering a border control index to try to convince lawmakers to get on board. so, bill, you don't know what you don't know but there are some times when you're following somebody, but they get away. so you come out of a group of ten people. you catch five. three get turned back. what about those two that got through? they used to keep that number. they don't do that anymore.

that is side republicans are saying wait, you can't expect us to sign on when we don't know how many people continue to get in. bill: that is a important question. william la jeunesse, live in phoenix, arizona. martha: illegal immigration in the united states. there are an estimated 11.5 million illegal immigrants living here. in 2011, mexican immigrants represented 59.1% of all the undocumented. breaking that down it is

bill: republican governor has ideas. we'll see whether or not i gets traction on that. the case of an american pastor now imprisoned in iran. a hearing has been set up this week and the wife of saeed abedini. she will testify on friday. we'll find out questions she wants answered when she joins us live here. martha: we've been talking about this all week here. now the tsa being beaten up is fighting back from accusation as former employee said that airport security is quote, a complete choke joke. what the tsa is now saying. bill: a cyber nightmare for a group of american high-profile celebrities. hackers are going after pretty personal information and taking the information and plastering it all over the web. ♪ .

. ...

bill: there have are hundreds of drivers that were forced to spend a night in their cars. this is snow and ice that brought traffic to a standstill in southern england. cars lining up for miles we're told. police say red cross volunteers checking on the drivers throughout the night. flights were canceled in paris and the airport in frankfurt. that is the third largest airport in europe. big stuff. martha: well a hearing for the jailed american pastor in iran is finally set to take place this friday on capitol hill. they have been fighting for this venue for a very long time. saeed abedini is serving eight years in a brutal iranian prison for preaching his christian faith and for refusing to turn away from it essentially. i'm joined now once again by nagmeh abedini, the pastor's

wife and jordan sekulow low who has been fighting for her husband ace return. executive director at the american center for law and justice. welcome back both of you to "america's newsroom". >> good morning. martha: what does it mean to be able to sit at the table in front of members of congress to explain to them what is happening to your husband? >> this is a great opportunity to speak before, in the hearing and to discuss about saeed's violation of human rights by the iranian government and to be able not only talk about saeed but also to the persecutions of so many christians in iran and all over the world, but mainly iran and their violation of their agreements for iran's violation of their agreements for human religious freedom. martha: we think about the contrast to what your husband is going through and why because of freedom of

religion and freedom of speech that we have in this country. you will have the right to sit at that table and to talk about it in an open forum in congress. the contrast is not lost. what do you want to make sure you get across in the time that you have there on friday? >> that our country was founded on religious freedom and that, i expect our country to be a leader and take every step possible to defend saeed, who is an american citizen. his religious freedom and to be a voice and a leader in defending religious freedom, especially for the christians. martha: do you think, -- you say that you expect our country to stand up for what it believes in. that tells me that you're very disappointed and you feel that we're not right now? >> no, we're not. it is something we were founded on. we, it is something that our country is based on, freedom of religion and standing up

for that and unfortunately i'm disappointed we're not taking a strong stance and being a leader in defending that religious freedom. martha: you know, jordan, you brought up something the last time we talked that has continued to come to mind when i think of this story. that is the impassioned plea when the hikers were imprisoned in iran and how much press coverage there was and how much discussion about those hikers and we're all very glad they got home but why are we not seeing the same attention given to pastor saeed do you think. >> martha, i'm about as outraged at the state department as i've been throughout the entire process is which is saying a lot. yesterday at the united nations there was a focus at the u.n. human rights council only on the human rights situation in iran. all 47-member-states as well as other countries can give remarks. we gave remarks last week. we may as we speak right now, our european director may be giving remarks again. the european union called for saeed abedini release.

you know what the united states did? absolutely nothing. martha: why? >> iranian blogger. martha: why are we not seeing the new secretary of state john kerry, john remember the president, saying this pastor is a christian. he was starting an orphannage. he deserves to be back home with his family. why is that so difficult to articulate for these people? >> australia even showed up for pastor saeed. they spoke out. european union, australia, the governments have done more than the united states government. i say that the congressman have done a great job here, members of the u.s. house and senate. that's why we're having this hearing on friday to get to this answer. why site an iranian blogger beaten to death in a prison but forget the american citizen sitting in that same prison today? >> exactly. martha: one more point before we go. the numbers on this are tough but i know that your

group, jordan, basically believes 100 and 200,000 christians are killed, are march martyred every year in prisons and through persecution in muslim countries. i this, we look at the fact we're about to see a new pope in the world. do you think that this is an issue that we can shed a little bit more light on? >> you know, it is sometimes takes these stories unfortunately that think, you know, saeed and this situation, not asking for it, but this is part of what we do. we're there to help the persecuted when they can get to us. many iranians can't. we know of pastors that were named by the european union have had a tougher time getting their stories out because it is tougher for them to get information. thankfully saeed as nagmeh here in the united states who can speak out on his behalf and knows him enough to come on tv and tell people his story. many of the persecuted people, they don't have that story. martha: she has been incredible through all of this. standing by her husband and

your children. we wish you well on friday. we'll be covering it. thank you very much. naghmeh and jordan, thank you very much. >> thank you. thank you. bill: no white house tours, america and it does not stop there. how the new changes in spending are affecting everyday americans like you. >> you will continue every single day. you will see the best known national parks close down. airports being targeted. they are going to try to make this as painful as possible because they're trying to make a political point. bill: if that is true and it is a political point, wait until you hear what is happening at the white house instead of those tours, martha. martha: another sinkhole story? nearly scaring a family to death. we'll tell you where the ground once again just fell out from underneath these people. >> we believe this started deteriorating. we try tried to put a fix last week. obviously it didn't hold and another leak sprung up over to my left. [ male announcer ] it's relobster's lobsterfest

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martha: the tsa is now reacting to the former agent who reportedly says the tsa does little to keep flyers safe. it was an exclusive interview with the "new york post" and the former tsa worker from newark airport said this, we always said it is not a question of if terrorists get through, it is a question of when. the interview came after reports surfaced that an undercover agent, this was a federal agent, was able to sneak a phoney bomb in his pants through not one, but two different security checkpoints at newark airport last month. so now the tsa is coming back and here's what they have to say about all this. tsa will not comment on anonymous reports. we continue to evolve our security approach by examining the procedures and technologies that we use. how specific security procedures are carried out and how screening is conducted. doesn't that make you feel

better? bill: fake bomb, right? martha: it was a fake bomb. bill: a little oxymoron. how you have a fake bomb. it is not really a bomb. martha: it was a package detectable that was not detected. this former tsa, we've heard from these kind of folks before who worked with the tsa who basically said they were not the highest caliber. that does not say every tsa employee are not up to snuff but there are holes in that system and this test proves it. work to be done. bill: my guess the whole swiss army knife thing didn't go over well. the reaction was stunning. delta ceo came out said, forget about that. hackers exposing very private financial information about very famous people. rapper jaycees, his wife beyonce, mel gibson, ashton kutcher, kim kardashian, paris hilton. things are there. credit reports are published online. molly henneberg is in washington on this what do we know about the website? >> reporter: we don't know

who is behind it, but internet address ends with dot su, sam, u, which is internet suffix originally assigned it soviet union. we're looking at website and flashing an alert has posted what it says is private information on first lady michelle obama including reportedly her credit score and social security number. fox hasn't confirmed any of this. we're getting word from the secret service and that the secret service is just telling fox, quote, secret service is aware of the report but not commenting at this time. and the website continues to add more celebrity information since it first went public with jay-z and mel gibson and others. more public figures have been added such as britney spears, former gop vice-presidential candidate sarah palin, hulk hogan and donald trump and arnold schwarzenegger are now online. political and law enforcement public figures. vice president joe biden, attorney general eric holder, former secretary of state

hillary clinton, fbi director robert mueller and los angeles police chief charlie he can about. most of the people on the list have not commented or responded to this information being posted online but the l.a.p.d. says it is illegal and quote, a creepy thing to do. the l.a.p.d. and the fbi are investigating as are the secret service as we're learning just now. bill: stunning to see how much you can find out just trolling the internet. this kind of hacking, how does it work, molly? >> reporter: the land said it may not be a case of hacking as we know it but a type of cyber crime called do x-ing, they described it to yahoo!.com. process of obtaining deducing information of a person based on limited set of initial information. as you're talking about trolling, bill, it is possible the people behind the postings may have not actually hacked into a person's account but figured out how to get it putting together various bits of publicly available information. bill: molly henneberg, sure

is, live in washington on that. martha: we are just getting this crossing the wires. the fda is saying that zithromax, which is commonly known as the z pack, can cause a potentially fatal irregular heart rythym in some patients. this is a widely prescribed antibiotic and there are some issues according to the fda and a new warning which is no doubt going to get a lot of attention in doctors offices around the country because it is widely prescribed for ear infections and all kinds of things kids get and things people pick up traveling. that will get a lot of attention. bill: as strong as some other antibiotics part of the reason they prescribe it. moments away from a news conference with paul ryan unveiling his next budget plan. what is in it and how specific does he get and democrat chris van hollen responds live. we'll talk to him next. martha: keep your eyes on the skies, folks, because something else is going to

happen tonight that you will only see once every 100,000 years. so you may not see it again. that's the point, bill. ♪ . ÷÷

martha: they are walking in right now. we are waiting for the news conference to get underway. the house budget committee chairman paul ryan about to unveil his budget proposal. he got a lot of the details of

it into a "wall street journal" piece that came out this morning. mike emanuel is watching all of this for us. mike the introductions are going around. what do we expect? >> reporter: martha, paul ryan will say that his budget plan will balance within ten years. it will reduce government spending $4.6 trillion over the next decade. he wrote in the "wall street journal" quote on the current path spending will increase 5% each year under our proposal it will increase by 3.4 per. because the u.s. economy will grow faster than spending the budget will balance by 2023 and debt held by the public will drop to half the size of the economy. but the ryan budget also calls for repealing the president's healthcare law and there are even republicans who say, with president obama in office another four years that isn't realistic, martha. martha: so, of course, a lot of democrats are not going to be happy with paul ryan's plan. they haven't liked it really

from the beginning, but we haven't heard much from their side about developing a budget. >> reporter: this is budget week. we expect senator patti murray the chair of the budget committee to unveil her proposal to her colleagues in the senate this afternoon at lunch. the bottom lighten does not balance ever, but she says it would be good because it would be more balanced in terms of increasing tax revenue by a trillion dollars, can youing spending pie a trillion dollars. meanwhile the president's budget, we expect that to arrive last. >> the president's budget will achieve what it has in the past, which is through sensible, you know, balanced deficit reduction, bring our deficit and debt into a place where we are in a fiscally sustainable path. >> reporter: just as paul ryan's unveiling his budget already senate majority leader harry reid has called it extreme, martha. martha: fascinating that the murray budget never, never comes

into real balance. but jay carney suggests that they are just looking for something that is fiscally sustainable in the long run. we'll see how that goes down with the folk. thank you very much, mike. bill: that's paul ryan on your screen. we'll get to him in a moment too he claims to erase the budget deficit in ten years, the plan does. it's important to note the plan does not cut rating it lowers the rate of spending, $5 trillion less over ten years. it would substantially lower tax rates for individuals by establishing just two tax brackets, 10% and 25%. it also assumes the repeal of the president's signature legislation obama care. the budget calls for welfare and food stamp reform including the reinstating of welfare programs work requirements and will provide more than $560 billion for defense spending over the next fiscal year. maryland congressman chris val van holland with me now.

welcome back to "america's newsroom." 4.6trillion in deficit reduction over ten years, that's the headline. what is wrong with that? >> there is nothing wrong with deficit reduction. the issue is how you achieve it and making sure you achieve it in a way that doesn't harm the very fragile recovery right now. we will also reduce deficits so that they are not growing any faster than the economy. we will stabilize the debt, but we will not do it in a way that guts our investment or our kids' education and violates the commitments we have made to seniors, whether in medicare or medicaid. it's a question of whether you take a balanced approach, which is what we've proposed or you take this lopsided uncompromising approach which is what we're seeing in the house republican budget. bill: paul rain argued it's not lopsided or unfair. the changes in medicare don't take place for another ten years. 2024. you have a decade to wait for that. what he also argues is that the tkpwroft is too big. you look at the deficits right

now. deficit has increased $6 billion in four years time in the administration. annual deficits more than a trillion dollars for each of the past four years. he writes in the "wall street journal" the traoeuts the nation's debt is a sign of over reachment government is trying to do too much and when government does too much it does not do anything well. can you argue with that? >> well, as you know, when the economy was going through the tank deficits went up, they are now coming down and the key is to make sure they come down steadily and certainly do not grow any faster than the economy. we are going to have a budget that builds on the $1.5 trillion we've already cut in discretionary spending, that will be at the lowest level of the percent of the economy as during the eisenhower administration and that is before the impact of the sequester, so, yes, we have to tighten our belt. the issue is whether we also should close some of the tax loopholes that benefit folks at the very top in order to cushion the blow to seniors and cuts to

kids and cuts to important investments in our struck struck like transportation. if you take a balanced approach then you have shared responsibility, bill, rather than just giving folks at the very top a -- bill: i've heard the talking points many times and i respect you for coming back and arguing this again with us today, talking points, it's economics, it's economics. here is the question, though. how do you know where you even stand if your colleagues in the senate haven't even shown their hand in 1400 days? how is it possible to work that way? >> well, number one as you know, the senate democrat hr-s have will have aette. for the last two years we've been operating under a budget control act which has greater force of law than a similar he will budget resolution. the budget control act was not -pbl passed by one house of congress, whether it's the house or senate it was also signed by the t-t. that has bee operative for the last two years.

we are moving into a new cycle and will go into a situation where you have house and senate acting. bill, don't belittle, you know, statements by calling them so-called talking points. this affects people's lives. and the reality is if you take the budget the way the republicans in the house are presenting it it will have a dragon the economy right now. that is not according to me, that is according to the independent, nonpartisan congressional budget office. bill: do you think it will make the government healthier? >> no not because -- bill, because of the very steep and immediate cut in government spending in the areas that they are targeting will result according to the congressional budget office in 750,000 fewer jobshe end of this year. bill: ryan is making the statement that it's not just cuts it's cuts in spending. this is in the "wall street journal." >> i read his article stphaoeu go. bill: i gout. this is important. >> no, this is important.

bill: hang on, hang on. i will ask the question then i will let you answer. >> i will answer your question. bill i will answer your question. >> the other side will demagog this issue. remember anyone who attacks our medicare proposal without offering a credible alternative is complicit in the program's demise. that goes right to the point that we are having right now. >> it actually does. can i answer you now, bill? >> you may. >> what did paul ryan and mitt romney do in the last presidential election? they demagogued the $715 billion in medicare savings that was part of obama care. you remember that, don't you? that was 715 billion in savings in ten years. they have nowhere close to that amount of savings in their ten-we are window. they took every penny of those savings that that he ran against. the savings that they demagogued. it's really interesting to hear you talk about hard decisions when they campaigned against those savings and now they are using those savings in their

budget to get it balanced. isn't that interesting. bill: let me get to one more point. >> you find that interest stph-g they are also using the tax revenue. they are also using the tax revenue. bill: with all due respect, congressman. is now the time that washington can do a grand bargain? do you believe it possible or not. >> yes, i do. i do. if people are willing to compromise. and, you know, you heard chairman ryan himself say the other day on national television that he didn't think that that you know that big parts of his plan would fly. that's right. if they are willing to compromise and take a balanced approach, the same kind of approach that bi-partisan fiscal commissions have recommended in terms much the split between revenue and cuts, then there is a path forward. if they are going to insist on doing this simply by cutting our investments in education, and violating our commitments to seniors we are not going to get there. you just talked about the lack of medicare cuts they whack

medicaid by almost a trillion dollars. bill: he's talking right now. we'll bring you back on. >> reading a "wall street journal" article by paul ryan on the air i don't see how that is a anywhere and balanced approach. i appreciate you being honest. bill: we had you onto present the democratic side and we used the "wall street journal" piece to present the republican side. >> in my world that is not fair & balanced. bill: come back any time. chris van holland, democrat from maryland. martha: let's talk about the sequester. it looks like it is not hurting anybody who are some of of the highest paid folks in washington. you heard a about the tours and awful that. what about the folks at the white house, are they take any pay cuts on this? it's a good question. we'll show you soft numbers fair & balanced. incredible video today a car slams into a popular coffee shop where and how -- look at that. where that happened, we'll be right back with america's news room. dad, i'd put that down.

ah. 4g, huh? verizon 4g lte. 700 megahertz spectrum, end-to-end, pure lte build. the most consistent speeds indoors or out. and, obviously, astonishing throughput. obviously... you know how fast our home wifi is? yeah. this is basically just asast. oh. and verizon's got more fast lte coverage than all other networks combined. it's better. yes. oh, why didn't you just say that? huh-- what is he doing?

that says that dozen of white house staffers are still earning six-figure salaries despite repeated warnings from the obama administration on the consequences of the big automatic spending cuts. senator marco rubio says the white house he believes is playing politics with a serious issue. listen to him. >> they are going to lock for the most painful cuts from a publicity perspective in order to drive home the point that this was a bad idea. the reality of it is there will be spend raoeg deductions here and there. i think people watching this program who have had reductions of 10, 15, 20% in their house old budgets, some people have lost everything, i think they'd be shocked to hear a bunch of of politicians belly aching with a 10% across the board spending. when people have seen mass reductions in their own home budgets and so forth. martha: with that as a backdrop we bring in doug schoen a

pollster to bill clinton and mary katherine ham, both are fox news contributor. when you look at the big picture and look at fact that president obama has talked time and time again that all we need to do is everybody has to do their fair share. he says it all the time. my income is such if i get hit harder with taxes that is not going to hurt me. the question is being raised when you look at white house staffers, 20 of whom make the maximum mum allowable salary, it raises the question. if we can't go to the white house on a tour or cutback on the parks don't they need to do their fair share. >> i think there is a calligrapher that is getting close to a hundred thousand dollars. >> nice work if you can get it, right? right, i was going to say maybe until the sequester is done we ought to hand address the envelopes the old fashioned way. you're raising i think a fair point.

look i'm a democrat. i don't think the sequester ace good idea. it could cause pain. seven rubio was right. but there is a larger point. everybody needs to tighten their belt and i'd feel more comfortable with the white house announced a two, three, 5% across the board cut in staff salaries as a sign of showing solidarity with the hard-hit american people. martha: we do, mary catherine hear so much about this from this president. he says look if you're making a little more you should give a little bit more as well. wouldn't it be a good symbolic move to insist that the same thing happen in his own company so to speak, if his own business at home? >> yeah, as much as i hate to agree vehemently with doug -- >> it's not worst thing in the world. >> i will take chicken scratch on my letters from the white house too of which i get plenty. martha: invitation -gs are pouring in every day. >> to safe a hundred thousand buck -gs or so. it's not necessarily the salary number of the white house staff that is so jarring although that

is jarring to people who hear $172,000. what is interesting is that they get a lot of raises. in 2009 and 2010 when other folks were not getting any raises for the most part 50 to 75% of the white house staff got pretty large raises in some case up to 17 and even 80% when they were promoted in some case even though the president was saying and making a big deal about how he's going to freeze salaries. i think the extravagance that people see inside the white house while being told to tighten their own belt and we all have to do our fair share the white house would do itself a big favor by being a little bit more modest in its actions. >> what about the issue of these white house tours. you've got this recording that says, i'm sorry because of the sequestration we can't do any white house tours right now. is that a pr debacle for this white house, doug? >> i think it absolutely is. there is the footage i think it was from christmas of 2010 where michelle obama said quite rightly that the white house is the people's house and that she and the president were committed to keeping it open as much as

possible. and yet after we hit sequester it's $18,000 a week to do the tours, we're told the tours are canceled. would i have hoped that that would have been the last thing to do and salaries would have been the first thing and this is the sort of thing that to me is a national embarrassment. martha: the reason that they are giving is that the secret service has been cut and they had -- they don't want to skimp obviously on security so they had to skimp in that area. but doug has volunteered up the ka big graph for. >> i'll kick in a few bucks myself for the tours. i'm happy to do it. >> that's the thing, that's the only suggestion the white house has made when it's own budget is the tours for regular people, which seems like it's intended to hurt people and make the impact of the sequestration felt by them instead of saying, look we'll do our best to make this as painless for the american people as possible which should be the president's job. martha: and it is the people's house. >> absolutely. martha: abraham lincoln used to let folks hangout in the hallway waiting in line to chat with him. >> i tried it all the time, it

never worked. >> my invitation was lost in the mail too. martha: we'll call the ka big tkpwrafrer. doug, mary catherine, thank you. bill: jenna lee standing by "happening now" rolls our way in ten minutes. what you took cooking up there. jenna: awaiting breaking news out of the vatican city where the conclave to elect a new pope gets under underway. we'll bring that to you live. plus karl rove is here. he'll jane us with his take on the latest move by the preside president. plus, what mummies, not mommies, mummys are telling us about modern, human health. we'll tell you all about that coming up on "happening now." hello?

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♪ [singing] bill: listen up all you star-gazers a comment called pan-starrs is about to come within a hundred million miles of earth. in space terms it's practically right next door and it will put on quite a show over the next few weeks. steve harrigan as his eye in the sky in miami. what are scar gazers excited about. >> we talked to a number of star-gazers in florida and they are extremely excited about what they say is the chance that few humans will get to see something unseen in generations in the sky tonight. >> it's more like an elegant painting in the sky, and it moves as well. it throws itself around the stars. this one in particular is only going to be here once every hundred thousand years or so, so you definitely don't want to miss it. >> reporter: as far as the size of this comet goes it's about ten miles in diameter to give

you a sense of that the island of manhatten is about 13 miles long so what you could be looking at tonight, just after sunset, will be a ball of dirt and ice just about the size of manhatten moving through the sky at 20 miles a second. bill: i don't feel real good about that steve. is there a chance of a collision with planet earth? >> reporter: no chance of a collision. the closes ithe close the closest it will get is a hundred million miles away. and they are takintoday we view them as something to look at and beautbeautiful show watch not of bad things to come. >> there is going to be a crescent moon in the sky at the same time. star-gazers say it could be spectacular. bill: we'll be watching.

hoping for clear skies in the northeast. steve harrigan in miami. martha: history making at vatican city, the cardinals minutes from locking themselves into the sistine chapel, unbelievably historic moment for catholics all over the world. live coverage here from rome.

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