>> steve: all that history, all live today. a big show planned for tomorrow. >> brian: keith ablow, history channel swamp people with a great story there. i'll be on "the five" in a little while. >> gretchen: clay walker in the after the show show. have a great day. bill: let's start with a fox news alert because tensions are soaring yet again on the korean peninsula getting hotter by the day. north korea saying it is restarting a nuclear plant that can make nuclear bombs as the u.s. ramps up its presence in the region yet again. good morning everybody, a lot of headlines on that story. i'm bill hemmer. welcome to "america's newsroom.". martha: good morning, everybody, i'm martha maccallum. the rogue regime says they are reopening a nuclear plant that has been shut down, closed off for several years for defense purposes and the u.s. is now positioning a navy destroyer. they sent the uss john mccain just off the korean peninsula now and that

destroyer can target enemy missiles. that its function. bill: greg pal court reportered extensively out of that secretive nation. he is live from london. what the latest you're hearing out of north korea? >> reporter: significant news we're getting out of the north korea this time about their nuclear capabilities. pongyang announcing they will start two different nuclear systems with the aim in their words, quote, bolstering their nuclear arms forces in quantity and quality. the reactor in was shot down in 2008. the cooling tower destroyed. part of the negotiations with the west. i'm told that whole thing can be rebuilt, restored to service in short as time as six months. they can turn out enough plutonium from that plant to make a bomb in one year. just as dangerous i am told, a parallel uranium enrichment program which pongyang says today they are revving up, bill. bill: so the rhetoric continues. how is the united states reacting to that, greg?

>> reporter: again, bill the u.s. continues to take this very seriously. uss john mccain coming to the area. we're seeing reports in south korean media of a floating platform moved to the region to detect any activity from north korea. at the same time, however, bill, we're hearing a little it about of moderation on both sides. pentagon reminding folks a lot of u.s. activity as part of preplanned joint activities with south korea. the white house saying they're not seeing increase in military activity in the north. i am seeing the same kind of things from defector website that i monitor, but we're hearing from kim jong-un. new words today. he is say he is seeking peace, prosperity, happiness for his people along with a nuclear deterrent. that should deter anyone from completely calming down about this whole situation, bill. bill: greg palkot with the headlines out of london starting our coverage on that story today, martha. martha: all of that is what makes this story very big not in terms of threats and rhetoric.

the u.s. has close to 30,000 troops we have stationed in south korea along the demilitarized zone. they have been there, members of the army, air force, navy bases, north korea wants the removal of all u.s. forces stationed in south korea. it wants a formal peace treaty to end the korean war which technically has been on since the 1953 armistice that left the peninsula really in a state of war. bill: and its number one industry is its military. the north boast as significant military for a country of its size including reserve force of 6.3 million soldiers. north korea's army has some 4,000 tanks. and its air force has more than 600 combat aircraft. what to make of the firing up though of this closed nuclear facility. all bluster or real threat? former cia analyst peter brookes is our guest on that just moments away. martha: let's go down to

texas where a first look at the warrant now shows that the texas d.a. and his wife were shot a number of times in their home over the weekend. they found casings near the bodies. the couple was killed two months after the assistant prosecutor from the same county was gunned down outside the courthouse. the deaths have left that community visibly shaken. >> i think it is very terrifying nothing something like this can happen in a small town. >> we're still in shock i guess is the best way to describe our feelings about this latest incident. >> gunn schotts i you into it was a lot -- gunshots. it sounded to me like an assault rifle. >> they were great people. i'm going to miss them, i really am. good neighbors. they were good neighbors. martha: sad situation this is. dan springer is on the scene. he is live in kaufman, texas. what is the latest on the investigation here, dan? >> reporter: well, like you said, martha, that search

warrant obtained by police confirms that martha, that mike and cynthia mclelland had been shot multiple times at close range. those shell casings found right next to their body. we spoke with a neighbor who is behind the mclittle lands. he told us he heard several shots from a high powered rifle. he thought they came around 4:00 in the morning on saturday. they were last heard from, from a nabe for, from a family member on friday night. it is also being reported that police have questioned a convicted felon but they are not considering him a person of interest at this time. the search warrant indicates investigators want to look at the victims cell phone records and nee bicell towers. standard procedure in these investigations. a dallas tv station is reporting that police are backing away from the theory that the white soup prem sift gang, the aryan brotherhood of texas is responsible for these murders and killing of a deputy d.a. back in january. that is interesting. there is a lot of speculation this was aryan brotherhood.

a big investigation led to 34 indictments in november and aryan brotherhood put out the directive that public officials should be targeted. they seem to be backing away from that and possibility of drug cartels from mexico. martha: wow, that is very having development in this. there is new interim d.a. put into that position in kaufman. that can not be a very safe feeling for this woman. what's being done to protect her? >> reporter: her name is jody fernandez. she was appointed yesterday because she was the next in line. she is the first assistant d.a. we are told she will have 24 hour security. they will take every measure possible to keep her safe. texas governor rick perry will appoint a permanent district attorney. we're told that will take place in three weeks. meantime there was a small prayer vigil outside the courthouse last night. they prayed for the arrest and safety for other public officials. extra precautions are taken

throughout the state. >> safety of everyone in the courthouse was primary. we he is court them back and forth. we increased our patrols in the parking lot if they need to be walked out to the car. >> reporter: governor perry also suggested that public officials get a license to carry a concealed weapon, to protect themselves. also the funeral arrangements are being made and we understand there will be a public service for the mclellands on thursday. martha: boy, sad situation and a lot of unanswered questions and the ongoing investigation. dan, thank you very much. dan springer. bill: spoke with the d.a. yesterday out of the state of georgia. in our next hour we'll talk with a district attorney who knew mike mclelland. he will talk about the murders in the case and why he says these murders cause prosecutors to examine personal safety issues and courthouse security more than that ever before. martha: well it is official now. a federal judge will allow stockton, california, to become the largest is city to ever enter into

bankruptcy. so this is a state of affairs right now. so now the city says that they will have trouble making cuts as they have in the past in the pension fund. they're doing a lot of cuts in that town. they are home to nearly 300,000 residents. it is about 80 miles east of san francisco. stuart varney the anchor of "varney & company" of course and of fox business network and here almost every morning. good morning, stuart, good to have you. there is a large precedent being set here. the possibility of more bankruptcies in this country, right? >> yes. that is exactly the right word to use much the judge, christopher klein, has set a precedent in stockton. he has opened the door for stockton to not make, to make lower payments to its pension fund. that in turn threatens the pensions of existing retirees. make no mistake, martha, pensions are at the heart of the problem in stockton, other california cities. indeed stays and cities all across the country. stockton, for example, pays

out 40% of its payroll just to its pensions. in other words, to people who are not working as opposed to those who are working there is moral component here. should you meet your contract obligations, those contracts to pay those pensions were signed in good faith. and if you do, then you can not afford to keep the city running. it's a moral and a financial die lemma. that's where we are this morning. martha: i mean, there is just so many questions here when you look at how all of this was arrived at in first place. the housing bubble contributed to this. there was a lot of property tax money coming in. they thought they could afford to pay the pensions down the road to all these public officials. now they can not. what is the ripple to other cities? there is bondholder issue and a lot of stuff here, stuart? >> the precedent has been set in stockton ton. that precedent may be followed by three other

california cities, san bernardino mammoth lakes. they could go the chapter 9 bankruptcy route to get out from under their pension problems. you mentioned the bondholder problem. that is huge problem to people that lent money to cities like stockton because they will take a haircut. they may get less money back than they actually put in. that is the first time that ever happened. so there is precedent on two fronts. the bond holders, they lose and maybe the pensioners, certainly the pension fund, that will lose and the ripple effects are spread out all across the country, certainly across california. martha: used to be if there were a couple of things you could count on it was a state pension, a city pension and a municipal bond investment in america's cities and small towns across -- >> martha, if i can say this. martha: yeah. >> the bottom line, if you have lent money to a shaky city, watch out. if you're getting a pension from a shaky city, watch out. martha: good advice.

stuart, thank you. we'll talk to you later. bill: so then pension number, pension crisis by the numbers he said. last year state and local government pension funds unfunded liabilities equal more than 4 troll and the cities with pension plans with the worst funding, chicago at 48% underfunded. portland, oregon, at 50% unfunded. martha: well it is nice work if you can get it. there is a new watchdog report that has just come out that shows some government workers are getting a 75 to 80% salary boost because they work in a government job. this is it an outrage just story. we'll show you this coming up in a few minutes. bill: a new town taking on extreme gun measure. and what it is making mandatory. plus? >> you really believe this story? osama bin laden? what part convinced you? >> her confidence.

martha: getting bin laden as depicted in "zero dark thirty". but the whole thing may not have been possible without this man. a pakistani doctor jailed for helping to make america safer. now the potential new breakthrough to free dr. afridi. >> my brother, my family, don't have any protection here. i don't know in guise someone might come for us. i'm afraid the government agencies, the taliban and other terrorists ♪

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in fact, over the last five years, no other energy company has invested more in the us than bp. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. today, our commitment to the gulf, and to america, has never been stronger. bill: now for the why of what's happening in north korea. that country announcing it is firing up a nuclear reactor that can make atomic bombs. peter brookes, heritage foundation. good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: why is behind this decision and why? >> it is latest of ratcheting up tensions in north korea but the short answer, nobody, meaning the

united states and south korea, haven't run to north korea to say, please tell us what we can do, we'll do anything for you to stop doing what you're doing. that's the reason but the south and the united states have pushed back on north korea. so this is just the latest opportunity for them to increase tensions, increase the temperature on the korean peninsula. bill: what does north korea need? i'm looking at 598 major nuclear facilities that includes, five for nuclear enrichment. it is tested a nuclear device three times since 2006. estimated the north korea has enough separated plutonium for at least half a does nuclear weapons. if this facility goes back on line i read they could produce one nuclear bomb per year. does that square about what you know? >> that sound about right. the important thing is what greg palkot said. people should focus on this. north korea has a parallel uranium based program. north korea in this recent

announcement talking about a plutonium-based nuclear program but they have a uranium program. there is real concern that test it february, that latest nuclear test was actually a uranium test. a more difficulty producing plutonium for bombs than they do uranium. the real concern they have oken through to develop a uranium bomb. they have plenty of uranium in north korea. it is much'ser to process than plutonium. they will have more bombs sooner than we expect. that is the real news in all of this going on in north korea. bill: june, 2008. i want you to watch the video. our viewers can watch it too. this was the implosion of a nuclear facility at pongyang. north korean journalists were invited in to watch it. they made a big deal out of it. is this the site that will now be rebuilt? >> yes, that's what they're talking about. the problem how many times will we buy this facility. we bought it back to 1994 in

the clinton administration for them to stop operation. the bush administration tried to get it taken apart. part of it was dismantled. now they're talking about putting it back. the north koreaians have this foreign policy, basically foreign policy of brinkmanship and blackmail. that's what they're doing here. they're pushing us to the edge hoping to get concessions from south korea, united states and even china to turn down the temperature. we've seen this many, many times. i'm not telling you not to take these threats seriously. it is a very serious situation on the korean peninsula. north korea will have to do something because if you continue to make these threats and fulfill none of them, the threats lose their leverage. so we have to be very concerned. bill: will we or others concede to what they want? >> it's very possible. it's very possible that they will. i don't believe the obama administration should but it's very possible that they could come to some sort of an agreement. maybe they come back to the nuclear negotiating table and they get some sort of

food aid or something. maybe they get it from china. but the problem is that you're rewarding bad behavior. that is a moral hazard. bill: you have a new leader and a young leader who is still trying to win over the favor of his people. >> i agree. he does not have the gravitas of his father or his grandfather. so these messages are not only met for the external audiences but internally as well. they're trying to burnish his cult of personality. to make him look like a strong leader, standing up to not only china, south korea and the united states who is their archenemy. this way he can say to them you're suffering, you're deprived and hungry but i'm keeping the americans and south koreans from invading, imagine that, invading north korea and keeping you safe. bill: seems only issue he has. >> that's right. bill: perhaps that the country has. >> certainly not economic success. bill: peter brookes, thank you. appreciate it from washington. >> thank you, bill. bill: with us from today. martha. martha: how about this? there is outrage in a

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bill: the jackson family is filing wrongful death suit worth $40 billion. it is take on the entertainment company aeg. they blame the company for hiring dr. conrad murray as contributing factor in the death of michael jackson. dr. murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for giving michael jackson the lethal dose of the painkiller that eventually led to his death back in 2009. my, my.

martha: all right. there is new outrage after a state plans to send terminally ill prison inmates to a nursing home in a residential town. connecticut lawmakers claim that it will save taxpayers millions of dollars. eric shawn is live in rocky hill, connecticut with the details on this. eric, i can only imagine if your mom or dad are in the nursing home you will not be too happy with this idea. >> reporter: martha, here is the situation. they will take prisoners pack rolled or released on medical or compassionate reasons and put them a now not used nursing home behind me. look at this. you have housing all around the nursing home. some yards away. the state says the plan is only take those most severely debilitated patients in the nursing home that will only have the prisoners, not other people. it saves money. if they're in the state prison the state pays. if they're in the nursing home the federal medicaid picks up half of the tab. folks here don't buy that, they fear, child molesters,

prisoners and ex-cons will be among them. >> i'm just mad. i'm really mad, you know. my kid can't even play in the backyard. you know. thinking that someone might escape. >> i mean this is, we're going to call what it is. it is not a nursing home the it is a prison. they're prisoners. they're coming from prison and, you know, my grandmother is in a nursing home. >> reporter: worry about property values and say the state is violating zoning laws, martha. martha: what does the state say about these people's concerns? >> reporter: well the state says that these prisoners are only ones that need 24 hour skilled nursing care. they have alzheimer's, dementia. they're really the most sickest, sickest cases. only those prisoners that post no danger will be here. just those who are very, very ill. >> there is plenty of very, very sick people who continue to pose a danger that we would not consider for such a placement but there are sick people who,

by any medical or criminal justice analysis no longer pose a threat to anybody and those are the ones that would be in this facility. >> reporter: the state knows they have been doing this for year placing people in nursing homes around the state. this is chance they say to put them in one location. martha? martha: doesn't seem to be quelling fears of folks in the neighborhood though. we'll see. eric, thank you very much. bill: so the hear row doctor who helped us catch and kill usama bin laden is still in jail today. in a moment meet the americans who are trying to set him free. martha: plus, in the middle of a national gun debate. the controversial law that a small city did pass. >> what this was all about with me was i likened it to a security sign, that people put up in their front yards. some people have security systems. some people don't. how we get there is not. we're americans. we work. we plan.

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bill: it is being called the toughest gun law in the nation and just passed in connecticut. this is nearly four months after the sandy hook school massacre. 20 elementary students, first-graders, and six adults killed at the school that day. rick leventhal is on the story this morning. do the restrictions, new ones in connecticut do they have support from republicans and democrats? >> reporter: they do. there has been a vote yet. we heard from a republican supporter who said the issue should rise above politics. the democratic house speaker said it was important to act quickly and intelligently. there was tremendous amount

of pressure from newtown families and gun opponents after a sandy hill shootings by a troubled 20-year-old left 26 dead including 20 first-graders t has far-reaching provisions. adding 100 new assault weapons to guns banned by the state. it will require universal background for sale of all firearms. certification for buying ammo and long guns, requiring fingerprints and firearms training. weapon offender registry, first-of-its-kind in the state. restricted ownership for mentally disabled. stricter storage rules and ban on future large capacity magazine sales. >> turning off the spigot is critical. you have got to draw the line and say from this point forward all sales will be prohibited. >> reporter: the bill is expected to go before both houses of connecticut general assembly tomorrow and bill passage does seem likely. bill: there are still disagreements, right, whether lawmakers have gone

too far and not gone far enough. >> it's a tough issue. gun opponents wanted a complete ban on high-capacity magazines of more than 10 bullets. they didn't get it. gun supporters say it won't change what happened at sandy hook. the problem was with the individual and his mother. lawmakers said there should be enough here to satisfy all sides. >> no gun owner will lose their gun. no gun owner will lose their magazine. >> there is something in here that people on both sides may not like. at the end of the day i think it is a package that a majority of people in connecticut will be proud when we vote on wednesday. >> reporter: there's a question now whether other states will follow connecticuts lead on this one, bill. bill: indeed we'll watch that thank you, rick leventhal in the newsroom in new york. martha: there is the a potential new breakthrough this morning in the case of the hero doctor responsible for helping find usama bin laden's compound. days after that 2011 raid, dr. shakil afridi was arrested by the pakistani

authorities and locked up in prison. now his lawyers say they think there might be a breakthrough coming in his case. here are two individuals who have a lot at stake here. they have invested a lot of their time and energy in freeing dr. afridi. they launched a campaign calling on hollywood to help just before the oscars and indeed hollywood and some of the actors in "zero dark thirty" did step up to the plate and called for his release. they join me. welcome back to the program, bob and choir a. good to have you with us. >> good morning. good to be here. martha: bob, let me start with you. april 25th could be a very significant day in all of this. why is that? >> well, apparently the tribal court in pakistan has held 10 hearings where they have discussed the fate of dr. afridi and for whatever reason whether it is intimidation of the tribal court judge or simply because the isi has been interfering with regulations and laws, the judge has not

been able to make a decision or has not made a decision. in his last court appearance or in his last court meeting with the attorneys for dr. afridi, he made the commitment that on april 25th he was going to rule. now we don't know if that is the good news story or the bad news story but a decision is going to be made and that's why it's so important for us to talk about what everybody in america can do to make a difference. martha: kera, take us back for a moment and remind everybody what dr. afridi's role was in finding usama bin laden. >> dr. shakil afridi was the doctor that worked with america to help pinpoint the exact location where usama bin laden was hiding in pakistan. so he is the guy who actually helped us get rid of the world's greatest terrorist. >> in coordination with the united states he helped identify the courier. he helped identify the residence.

and he made all the difference that enabled us to capture usama bin laden. >> he has been left behind. martha: and some may remember the scene in the movie where the doctor was going door-to-door, trying to collect dna samples. they said they were doing tests. that is one of the ways they were trying to pinpoint that lo

dr. afridi refused to leave the country without his wife. that is why he has been left behind. since he cast captured and detained and started being tortured, it seems like the united states government has left everything status quo. and when asked what the story is, and why they have left this man behind, there's, you get these answers really are kind of circumspect and nonspecific. martha: he was sentenced to 33 years in a pakistani prison for colluding with terrorists which is ironic when you consider that, you know, pakistan was supposed to be an ally in terms of trying to find usama bin laden and we all know sort of what the reaction was when he was found literally right under their nose and not far from a military school facility just across the street. what is the state department telling you in your work on this, bob? >> well the state department really hasn't said anything. what we understand is, that

the, that dr. afridi is a casualty of this whole embarassment of pakistan. it is pretty clear that the pakistani government is embarrassed and the only way that we have been able to get them to fess up and get involved and do something and make a difference and move things forward is by running the campaign for freeing afridi. running the ad in "the hollywood reporter" and getting the support of all the people who have signed and registered for this website and wanted to know what they could do. >> that's all we're asking. we're asking for the obama administration to tell us what they're doing to help free dr. afridi. that is why we have a petition up at petition petitions.whitehouse.gov. easiest way to get there go to freeafridi.com to make your voice heard. we have to have the government tell us what they're doing to free this man. >> documentaries, films. the best thing we know how

to do is make as much noise as possible in this country so that judge on april 25th hears the message loud and clear, the isi hears the message loud and clear and the government hears the message loud and clear and by sending the message through freeafridi.com the obama administration will respond because they have heard the message loud and clear. martha: we heard other cases that kind of pressure doing exactly what you're doing putting it under the spotlight led to that positive result. one of the questions about his family, that one of the reasons he didn't want to leave there wasn't right documentation for his wife to get on the plane as well after the raid. what do you know about his wife, his children? i have seen his brother interviewed on this story. >> we understand they have been ostracized. they have lost their jobs. they live in a really impoverished situations. it's, they have lost their friend of the they have lost their position in the community. they're basically living in

hiding and the, in fact the only thing that has been done for them is a group in the united states did organize a small fund-raising project where they were able to get money to them so they could pay legal fees and housing and food and basic necessities. martha: bob and kira, you made it a biggest in your life right now and we're following it closely as well. thanks very much for being with us. we'll see you next time. >> thank you very much. bill: think too about the role that man had. face nominal. martha: a congressman wants him to be called an american hero in this country. there is a lot of think to think that is appropriate title for him. bill: the white house is encouraged by the work being done on immigration reform. what about securing our borders? we asked how that can be accomplished. fighting for the right to dance, america. yes, they are. ♪ .

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martha: well the reports are this man was drunk and found himself in a very high voltage situation you might say. he climbed up to those wires and then he was clinging upside down, apparently unaware of the danger he was in. so horrified people were called to help. emergency crews were set in to cushion and break the fall, the power company cut the electricity, his strength gave out as you saw in the video and he fell. we think he is doing okay. bill: big night out. martha: that is not the place where you want to end up. bill: so the white house says that it is encouraged by progress made by a bayh partisan group of senators working on immigration

reform. the lawmakers indicated they're close to deal, we think but how would they make our southern border secure? it stretches for hundreds if not thousands of miles between california and arizona, new mexico and texas. bob beckel, former democratic campaign manager co-host of "the five" on fox news channel and mary katharine ham. editor of hot air.com. good morning to both of you. it is my sense you will not get republicans on board, unless, mary katherine you can define what border security means. am i right on that or not? >> yeah. i think the first step, many democrats will say, look there has been more deportations there has been more money spent. and those things are true. what is also true the department of homeland security right now is not actually even measuring metrics for border security. if you can't --. bill: what do you mean? >> well, what happened a couple years ago during this administration they decided, well we need a more holistic account called, bci is the

name for it. but they never came up with the new metric. so it is very up in the air how they're measuring the point being if the federal government is not even sure how it is measuring the security, byron york reported on this last week when they had a subcommittee on it and a bunch of democratic lawmakers said, guys you have to get in the game and prove to people you're making improvements. that would be the first step. bill: this is no small point either. bob, how do you see this, how do you define it? >> you sure you don't want to follow up with the easter egg roll? let's go onto this thing. >> you can talk about it, bob. >> there is 2,000 miles of border which there is now a third of them have had now fencing put up, congressionally mandated fencing. there are 300 national guardsmen. there are 18,000 border patrol and other agents along that border. there is a lot of people. one of the things that happened now is that the people crossing the border illegally have gone down significantly. the obama administration has deported back to their home

countries the maximum allowable, over 400,000 for the last two years. that means because the budget is there for only 400,000. there is great progress being made. what has not happened is that we have not yet, for some reason, cracked down on u.s. businessmen who continue to hire these people. and until and unless that happens, that is definition of border security. bill: the businesses is a whole different avenue of this argument here because what we found on our "fox news" polling is this. almost 70% of the people we surveyed, when they were asked about border security, they say, complete the border security first before you make any kapgs -- changes on immigration policy. >> what, this, employment doesn't have anything to do with border security. if they weren't employing foreign people, people wouldn't come across. bill: bob, even the statistics you rattled off and even if they're true does not appear that is not

enough. this is what we understand, the "gang of 8" border plan. personnel on the border. who? surveillance equipment. how much? drones, infrastructure what kind? that is something chuck schumer talked about going there with john mccain. all of the above is the answer, mary katherine. >> all of this is easy to say you have a framework and you see the bill, people go, well i don't like this, i don't like that. that will be the where the rubber hits the road. i agree with bob, cracking down on employers or working for instance, visa overstays which the federal government promised to crack down on the past and hasn't, the main thing you have to convince people, it is a really hard job especially with independents and republicans that you are actually going to take these actions before the path to citizenship or legalization as residents happens. i'm not sure that people are willing to believe that. that is the key to getting a comprehensive bill. politically and practically. bill: what do you think about that, bob. >> first of all i want to say questioning my

statistics which i find very painful. bill: no, no. if that is all true, even then you have to do more because the border is not -- >> that's right. of all the things you listed there, all those things are being dealt with. there are more drones. there are more agents. there are more, there is new technology used and tried every day. all those, and all those things that you listed there have been substantial improvement over the last year. bill: even then it doesn't appear that it's enough. >> why do you think it is not enough? bill: because people are still coming across. >> you're not going to get everybody coming across. bill: last week, chuck schumer and john mccain were down there they watch ad woman scaling an 18 foot well. >> that didn't help. >> they have yet to finish the fence. that is very expensive by the way, that will cost $50 billion to maintain that fence. bill: you're right about that. >> it is an enormous amount of money. now we would be willing so far to put it up we'll see. i think, the idea that you're going to have zero crossings is just unreal list i can. if you can get it down to a

reasonable number, i think, and if you have a immigration reform bill, i don't think you will have any trouble sending everybody back and not letting them stay here. that i think is the key to this. right now if the people who are in the route to citizenship the rest will be sent back and you won't have a problem. bill: thank you, bob. >> my pleasure. bill: mk hammer. good to have you beat both. martha: we'll look at a watchdog report that came out today. some folks are;÷ outraged what it says. basically sometimes public workers making 75 to 80% more than they would make if that was a private sector job. how does that happen on your taxpayer dime? we want to know. bill: watch closely. a purse snatching meeting his match. martha: oh, boy. bill: no need to call the cops. martha: that didn't go well. bill: right through that door.

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♪ . bill: you know in the movie "footloose" a small band dancing. that town was six degrees removed from kevin bacon. kidding. protesters in washington state are fighting to repeal a decades old tax on dancing. they say the government can not take their dancing rights away. no way. >> i don't believe we, we should be taxed for dancing. it is like being taxed for walking. being taxed for drinking out of a drinking fountain. it is something that we as people have the right, inherent right to be able to dance. bill: who will disagree with that, right? washington state has had the th. a bill to overturn the tax is up for a vote in the state senate. martha: all right. so how about this. exorbitant salaries on the

taxpayer's dime. that would be your dime. that has come out in a new watchdog report for the department of energy. and they have uncovered some rule bending to pay contractors. can you believe that? several of the salaries for these individuals reached as high as $337,000 for a public job. it is 82% higher than the market rate. that is sort of the number that they're supposed to hover near as a guide line for these jobs. finally a recent decision approved total executive salaries up to nearly $3.5 million for 10 jobs to a contract be group. john fund watches these things closely. columnist for "the national review.". good to have you with us. >> thank you. martha: this is a contractor in tennessee. 10 jobs in this program that tallied up to $3.5 million. how are they getting away with that? >> well the inspector general told them to stop. martha: yes. >> they did. martha: waived the big finger in their face and what did they do? >> they stopped and

reinstated everything as before. in other words you can't end this program. this comes on top of last month's revelation, head of the labs in new mexico, energy facility there is making $1.3 million a year. obviously you have to be competitive with the private sector. these salaries are out of line and they're not transparent. the public couldn't easily get those. it only happened because the inspector general looked into it. martha: when they assigned these salaries they have to go to hr approved market value rate for the job, right? there is absolutely no, sort of way to hold them accountable for that. nobody was fired. nobody was, you know, pushed out of their position in any way that i can tell in this case? >> you know the energy department actually doesn't produce any energy but it has a whole lot of energy in order to evade these laws. they seem to have --. martha: very energetic. >> exactly. here's the problem for the public out there. at the same time this is happening in the department of energy, in very critical areas like air traffic

controllers, we're furloughing, laying people off, which will lead to all kinds of aircraft delays. this government is a complete mismatch. on one hand we're overpaying over here. on the other hand, we're basically telling people to stay home when traveling public is hurting. martha: so how does a sweet deal like this happen? >> largely, i think it is the loopholes where you hire consultants. the department of energy has a 100,000 people that it hires through consultants. they go through the, they don't go through the normal civil service procedure. i think clearly you should have either a smaller department of energy, or fewer consultants or something. clearly the department of energy, i think, look, we need them it maintain our nuclear arsenal but we don't need them to produce energy. they don't. martha: 100,000 individuals. john, thank you. as always good to have you here. >> thanks. bill: one of the largest cities to file for bankruptcy is on the mend now but this could mean big changes for workers re --

retirement plans. is this the start of what we could see in countless cities across the country? we'll look into that. martha: the death of colorado's prison chief. we learn there is a man suspected of killing him. this pizza delivery driver got out of prison early due to a mistake. nexium, the purple pill,

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martha: a robbery and assault prison inmate being released too soon may have led to the murder of a high-ranking prison official. you remember this horrible story? corrections officer tom clements gunned down when he answered his front door 8:00 in his house in colorado a couple weeks ago. the court admitted that the main suspect was released from prison four years early. awful outcome as his family continues to grieve in colorado. we're starting a brand new hour of "america's newsroom." we're glad you're here with us this morning. i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. the suspect, was supposed to

remain in prison until at least 2017. he however was allowed free in january. martha: alicia acuna joins us live from denver. is the court explaining today, alicia, how this happened? >> reporter: we're getting a bit of an explanation, martha. turns out in 2008, evan ebel was already serving time in prison when he was ordered to serve an additional four years for assaulting a guard. according a statement by the 11th judicial court here there was an addition that was supposed to be tacked onto the time he was already serving. but in an error by a clerk, it was actually put down in the paperwork that it was to become concurrent. so, ebel was mistakenly released this past january. now in a statement released by the court the court says quote, the district has undertaken a review of its practices in an effort to avoid a reoccurrence of this circumstance. the court regrets this oversight and extends condolences to the families of mr. nathan leon and

mr. tom clement. ebel was killed in a gunbattle with authorities last month. he ran to colorado where they finally caught up to him in texas. martha: that is not much solace i would imagine for the families of these victims. this clerical error? >> reporter: no, not at all. tom clements family is not speaking at this time. tom clements you will remember is the prison director, was the prison director of colorado prisons. he was killed last month when he opened his door one night to a stranger. colorado law enforcement says ebel is their suspect and evidence taken from the clements scene links to that of the murder of a pizza deliveryman, nathan leon. he is a father of three who police say was likely killed by ebel two days before clements was shot. here is his wife hearing upon the court's admitted mistake. >> how do i tell my 4-year-old? oh, daddy was murdered

because of a clerical error. because of something they failed to look into? how do you tell your 4-year-old daughter that? >> reporter: katie lee on is still considering legal action think time. martha: what a story. bill: here is the timeline of events that lead to this point. evan ebel released from prison, january 28th. march 17th police believe ebel kills a pizza delivery driver and steals his car. two days later prisons chief tom clements gunned down, killed after answering his front door at home. on march 21st, ebel dies in a shootout with texas police after a high-speed chase in that state. leaving two victims dead apparently from a clerical error. martha: well, another deadly shooting that has grabbed national attention. authorities are now searching for clues in the deaths of the texas district attorney and his wife cynthia. deputies were called to their home on saturday when

relatives and friends were unable to reach mike mclelland and his wife. the couple were murdered two months after an assistant d.a. from the same county was gunned down near the courthouse. governor rick perry is urging caution. >> we live in a, you know, times when people's safety are, you know, you look across the board what happened in various and sundry places. i suggest everyone should be careful about what goes on, whether they're public officials or otherwise but, this i think is a clear concern to individuals who are in public life. martha: indeed it is. so coming up, just how dangerous are these jobs? a little bit later in the show we'll focus on the new attention on security and the dangers that most prosecutors and county officials inherit when they take on this line of work. bill: also, we watched this story yesterday. prosecutors now say they're seeking the death penalty against this man, james holmes.

25 years old, accused of killing 12 and wounding dozens in last summer's movie theater massacre in aurora, colorado. yesterday prosecutors rejected a deal where holmes would have pled guilty in exchange of a life sentence without parole. some survivors and victims families are talking now and voicing support for that decision. >> we were just saying how you wanted to plead guilty if we, if you didn't receive the death penalty. well, you're still pleading guilty to basically to all of us. we already know you're guilty. why don't you just plead guilty to accept your faith? >> he took my good friend from this earth. i was one of the groomsman in the wedding. two days before his first wedding anniversary on his birthday. so, i mean, death is justified. bill: it is sad all the way around. holmes trial was supposed to start in august but the judge pushed that back to next february. economic matters,

jobless rate reaching a record high in the eurozone, 12% in february. that's more than 19 million people unemployed in the 17 country zone. fox business's network melissa francis is with us now. how are you doing? host of "money" at 5:00. wondering how that affects us here at home, melissa? >> sounds like it is far away but it absolutely affects us. for example, 40% of the profits for companies within the s&p 500, all those big names you hear about all the time, comes from outside of our borders. i will give you another example. a company like wal-mart. 25%, excuse me, of their revenue comes from outside the u.s. so whether you even the stock of one of those companies, whether it is in your 401(k), maybe someone in your houseworks for a multinational or somewhere along the way, you work for a company that is either a seller to one of these companies, it impacts you if things are bad there, it comes back home. when you hear about growth in china and india, that turns out to be great for us, one way or another.

but when you hear about these kind of things going on in europe it is not great because we're all related. if you look at your financial relationship somewhere you are related to what is going on in europe. bill: i think that's a great point. what about a bright side. is there anything positive to be taken away here? >> there is. you hear a lot of economists and market watchers saying we're the best looking horse in the glue factory. that simply means all the problems going on in europe makes our treasurys look more attractive. foreign investors are looking for a place to park their money they want to lend the u.s. government debt. so that is helpful to us. it is also good for our dollar. it makes our dollar look better, so it props up the value of that and gives you more buying power to buy things that come from overseas. looking for a silver lining, at least i can tell you that much. bill: is europe getting better or worse? 17 countries. 12% unemployment. holy cow. >> they're calling it ever receiving recovery.

that is headline. both here and abroad especially in europe. you look at economists this week and they're cutting their growth forecast how they saw things would get better in europe, for spain, italy. it goes on. of course you know what is going on in cyprus. it feels like it is slowing down and getting worse. the recovery at least is feting -- getting worse in europe. look at spain, for example. the unemployment rate for people under 25? 55%. bill: ridiculous. melissa, thanks. see you at 5:00. >> great. bill: on fox business network. "money". thanks, melissa. martha: a little context on the eurozone's financial crisis. unemployment struck 12% as y'all were just saying for the first time since the currency, euro was launched back in 1999. 12%, in february youth unemployment was 23.9%. in the eurozone. the highest jobless rate scene in greece. 26.4% in december.

all right. so, how about that? if you're one of the millions of americans waiting on getting your tax return back the irs says it is slowly catching up with their work. last minute changes in tax rules delayed the irs. a little bit slow. they have got about 10 days of a backlog. so far the irs has processed more than 77 million returns. are yours among them? are they already in? the average refund is $2827. that is pretty good. down slightly from last year. bill: if you got a refund it is coming on the way you get a little anxiety. martha: you want to see that check in the mail. bill: come on now. it's mine. see me strike that pose there? that was me. martha: that was bill for a moment. bill: waiting for you to, right on. we've been warned of dire consequences on the sequester spending cuts. one month in we're seeing one group may have been spared. tell you who that is. martha: new developments in

the health care law today. what part of it is now being delayed. listen up, folks. it could help small businesses. bill: also a rough crowd for a governor at a public debate. what has everybody so hot under the collar here if? did you hear? >> not worth it. not worth it. >> that's a fair point. i understand that. so i think that there is --. >> [inaudible]. [ anouncer ] ihop in time square to compare

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>> this debate over oil and gas getting feisty in colorado. what you're about to see new video of governor john hickenlooper being heckled at the university of denver. >> this company -- >> not worth it. not worth it. >> that's a fair point. i understand that. i think there is a legit -- >> it is about being in bed with big government and, at the expense of -- and the environment.

[inaudible] >> if you look at the, this is about -- oil and gas. >> that is not worth it. bill: always more dramatic when the camera shakes back and forth. they were debating fracking. three audience members slamming government for siding with the oil and gas industry. you saw they were kicked out. hickenlooper says he supports renewing energy. martha: washington is just starting to see impact perhaps of the $85 billion in automatic spending cuts that went into effect last month. most government employees are taking a pay cut this year but not your local lawmaker or the one you send to washington. in fact, they got a raise during this sequester. rich lowery is editor of "national review" and a fox news contributor. always a pleasure to have you with us. >> hi, martha. martha: they are, lawmakers are exempt. there is no way they can do anything in the budget that cuts their own salary, right? >> this is a bit of a

mystery. i first thought this had to do with the 27th amendment. congress can't do anything affecting its own pay in the middle of the congress. martha: right. >> but the sequester was set prior to the 2012 election. then they're elected. then the sequester hits. so there is no reason they couldn't have put their own pape into the sequester. at the beginning. but, i guess they forgot. martha: i guess they forgot. martha: now there is some discussion about perhaps they could change the current law. that would allow them, come on. this is not going to happen. this is not, is anybody out there, any congressman or congresswoman that you know of, sort of pushing to make this part of the sequester? >> they're proposing it. but the problem now is really the 27th amendment because they can't do it in the middle of a congress. martha: isn't that supposed to protect them from raising their salaries. >> the original purpose very conveniently prevents from changing at all. so they can't cut it. when they could have included it at the beginning of the sequester, they

didn't. now that you can't, you have congressman and senators say we want to cut our pay. too bad. the constitution forbids it. they could do it for the next congress. i think by then they will have forgotten as well. martha: it seems like, you know, that the feel, the impact of this is, certain places, pentagon cuts, air traffic controllers, these kind of areas, omb is doing, 10 for one sort of deal with a furlough on the 10th day for some of their workers. in general is this something people feel is really impacting a lot of people's lives? >> it is a big nothing burger so far. the white house has been discredited with apocalyptic talk we heard prior to the sequestration. only thing that canceling white house tours and people don't think that is necessarily on the up and up. what i look for potential effect could change the politics on it is air travel. will there be cuts at tsa that eventually create

longer lines at airport. that is something people really feel and get them mad and irritated. we haven't seen it yet. martha: people suspect strings are being pulled. we saw one memo from the agricultural department i could, money manager there i could change things so this doesn't hurt us so much. we want to make sure it is presented in the way we present to the american people is the feeling. i mean so maybe tsa is going to get hit because that will certainly hit home as you say. >> well, there are a couple instances. there memos out there are with the administration said, do not do anything to prepare for these cuts if you reap -- prepare for them in advance you wouldn't look at the dire scenarios. you spread it out over time. there is big controversy between the airline industry and the faa where they're shutting down towers at various airports. airline industry says there is lot of give in the budget and there are other ways to do it. there is constantly the suspicion out there they're doing it in the most high-profile way to try to create stories.

martha: how politically difficult is this for the administration? we have a poll think if president obama wanted to reinstate the white house tours he would have the power to do that, 63%. what does that tell us about the political implications? >> there is a cynicism about washington in general. the administration just applied to congress and everyone would blame congress for things. that is pretty good reflex to blame congress. people are suspicious and cynical about the white house. and people do think there are games being played here. martha: yeah. we'll see. what kind of impact that has and you know, every president has, you know, certain amount of credibility and credit that they can sort of call in. we'll see whether or not it was injured to any extent by this exercise. rich, thank you. >> thank you, martha. you too. bill: we know a judge is clearing athe way for a big city in america to file for bankruptcy. this could mean big changes for retirement plans for a lot of people. so we're wondering whether or not this is just the beginning? martha: it is not "baywatch." it is a

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martha: supermodel heidi klum acting more like a superhero. she dove into the ocean to save her 7-year-old son who got caught in a rip tide. a wave knocked them over. they were on vacation in hawaii. the "project runway" star said a wave came out of nowhere with clearly happens t knocked over him and two nan -- nannies.

she was there with all of her children. her bodyguard boyfriend came in to help. she credits her son as being a strong swimmer. they got out of the water safely. based like any mother would. you see them going this way and water is moving and you get scared. bill: you have four nannies. martha: yes, i have a whole team. bill: she has two. martha: including our resident lifeguard who travels everywhere with us as well. bill: that too. don't forget him. 23 past now. so a judge has cleared the way for a large u.s. city to become this largest american city actually to go broke and declare bankruptcy. stockton, california. it is dealing with $700 million in debt. the city claims a $26 million budget shortfall last summer. in january stockton's unemployment rate hit 18.7% that is just too high. now the city's handling of its pension obligations could set a new precedent

nationwide. claudia cowan has more on that in san francisco. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, bill. a federal judge ruled bankruptcy was the only way stockton could continue to provide basic services but this is not over yet. >> what chapter 9 did is basically push the reset button. >> reporter: now the city has breathing room to restructure its debts and get back on its feet. victims of the housing bust and staggering pension costs stockton residents have had to live in a bare bones police force trying to keep the peace in one of the nation's most violent cities. civic projects abandoned and infested with rats. jobless rate of 18.7%, twice the state average. at heated council meetings officials argue the bankruptcy was the only optional louing the city to shortchange all the creditors except for its biggest calpers. the california public employees retirement system. under state law stockton's

$900 million payment to the pension fund must be paid in full. a long list of bondholders argued it was unfair for them to lose money while the retirement fund remains intact. federal bankruptcy law they argued held that calpers should be shortchanged and everyone else. the judge put those arguments aside and the stockton firms are looking to the future. >> it provides stability. once we begin putting together a framework for a bankruptcy exit plan, then i think we need to have a conversation with our citizens about making the general fund insolvent. going forward and restore services in the public safety area. >> reporter: stockton officials hope to have a plan in place by june and it could include lower payments to its pension funds. bill, a lot of issues at stake here with this ruling and there could be more court battles ahead. bill: a lot of people in the country watching what companies out of that too in stockton. thank you, claudia cowan in

san francisco on that. martha. martha: americas prosecutors are on edge after two are gunned down in short order including this man and his wife in that case. so what is being done to protect everybody while the manhunt continues? bill: we're hearing today a key piece of president obama's health care law is set to miss a major deadline. what that means now for many small businesses counting on coverage. we'll have that story for you. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle --

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martha: new reaction from washington this morning as north korea threatens to restart its nuclear in a silts. wendell goler is live at the white house. how is the white house responding to this? >> reporter: they say they've seen this movie before. north korea makes a series of threats to try and get aid, or end u.n. sanctions like the new ones imposed after the north korea nuclear test in february. the threat to reopen the reactor follows a threat to end the 1953 armistice between the north and south, another threat to fire missiles at the u.s. and video soldiers shooting at targets taken to be americans. the north hasn't backed up the talk by taking other actions but the u.s. is taking the threat

seriously. >> the actions we've taken are prudent, and they include missile defense to enhance both the homeland and allied security and other actions like the b-2 and b52 flights have been important steps to pre dues pressure on seoul to take unilateral action. >> jay carney says the threats will further isolate the north. martha: how about reaction outside the white house to all of this. >> florida republican senator marco rubio who is trying to show foreign policy credentials as he considers a 20/20 16 presidential bid has said to not reward north korea for its bad behavior. he said, quote i also call on the obama administration to relist north korea at the -- as a state sponsor of terrorism. he went onto say history will not look kindly upon us if we do not learn the lessons of our past mistakes on north korea and do nothing to change the status

quo. u.n. secretary general ban ki moon says north korea seems to be on a collision course with the international community. back to you. martha: thank you very much. tense times. bill: now we are hearing the obama administration is not able to meet some of its own deadlines passed in obama care, the so-called exchange program. that's designed to help small businesses provide affordable healthcare, openings for its employees. apparently it's being pushed back an entire year. steven moore senior economic writer for the "wall street journal." good morning to you down there in washington d.c. >> good morning. bill: what is the intent of the exchanges as they relate to small businesses. >> bill, the point of this program is to provide small businesses with a way to provide health insurance for their workers if they don't have a plan already. the problem with this being put on delay is it's putting businesses in-kind of no man's

land where they don't know whether they will be able to afford the insurance, or they are going to put -- cut their insurance all together. and so this is a big problem with small businesses. bill: let me stop you right there. because the idea was designed to give people options, right? >> these light, exactly. bill: to give them coverage and keep their costs down. >> that would be affordable coverage, exactly. bill: why the delay? this is being pushed back from 2014 to 2015. >> well there's two reasons, bill. one is the white house just doesn't have its act together in terms of doing all the administrative work to get the plan to work. the second problem they have is the costs are rising dramatically on health insurance. you and i talked about this a few weeks ago. with an average family plan costing about $20,000. they are finding it very difficult to tee vice plans that will contain costs and not run up the budget deficit. this is a very big dilemma, and the problem, bill, is i predict

we are already starting to see this. a lot of businesses aren't going to participate at all, they are simply going to drop their health insurance plans completely. bill: what does that mean for the worker then? >> that is terrible news. of it means that they will be on their own basically and they are not going to get an insurance program from their employer. look, if you're an employer with 20, 30, 40 workers this is a significant cost to hiring workers. a lot of them are just saying, you know what we can't afford this any more. bill: one point you touched on there is the confusion about understanding how the law affects you as a business honer now. if this is pushed back another year, how do you plan your business? how do you get ready to game out the next year or two and come up with the right strategy? >> you know, bill, i do a lot of speeches to business groups, small business groups, to people who own franchise, like burger kings, and mcdonald. one of the things that almost universally the businessmen and

women tell me is their biggest concern about the economy right now and the operation of their business is how they are going to deal with obama care. if you talk to the average small businessman it's a total mystery to them how it's going to work. bill: still. >> this only adds to the mystery. now it's being put off by another two years. bill: a couple of quick facts here. the healthcare law calls for insurance exchanges for small businesses. we mentioned that, that is one item there. the exchanges would offer workers a choice of plans, and the schedule was to start enrollment on the first of october. i'm assuming that deadline slips as well, right? >> it certainly looks like it's going to, bill. bill: your friend art laffer makes the argument that there are a lot more changes coming because the bill was incorrectly lined with incentives. what does that mean? >> let me just give you one example, bill. if you have a firm and you have more than 50 workers you have to provide all this health

insurance coverage. it's mandated by law. and by the way, a full time employee is considered a worker who works more than 30 hours a week. so what small businessmen and women are telling me and art laffer has found the same thing, a loot of businesses are saying you know what i'm not going to higher more than 50 workers. i'm going to cap my workers at 49 so i'm not put into the law. a lot of businesses are saying you know what i'm only going to hire workers for 28 hours a week, not 30 or 40 hours a week because i can't afford the insurance. think what that means to an employee. how do you feed your family and pay your bills what 28-hour a week job. bill: a part time nation. >> exactly. bill: if if this is all true and plays out the way we are discussing here, how does that affect the kpwhe? economy? >> i think right now obama care is a big negative for the economy for the very reasons we've been talking about.

not just because of its implementation. it's a big question mark, a risk, a negative for the economy because businesses don't know how to grapple witness. i think any time you have that kind of uncertainty that is a negative for the economy, bill. bill: small businesses too we talked so much about them over the past couple of years. they are going to collapse. >> don't forget, bill, two-thirds of all jobs in the united states economy, small businesses. bill: point taken. steven moore, thank you "wall street journal" with us in washington. thank you, sir. >> thank you, bill. martha: you're look for job growth and one of their main initiatives is impeding small growth for small businesses. we hear it hear all the time. a lot of companies are staying below that mark and keep people part time because they can't afford to keep everybody else on the payroll and pay for health insurance as the costs keep rising. new details coming in now about the murder of a district attorney and his wife in their home over the weekend. terrible, terrible story about what happened to the

mcclellans. we are going to talk to a friend of mr. mcclellan. why he says these recent murders are going to cause prosecutors to rethink their personal safety at home and on the job. >> who has the never t nerve to do that? what kind of person can walk in and take two lives and instantly walk out?

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bill: there is a tiny town taking a bold stance on gun control. the town is nelson, georgia. passing a law requiring people there to own a gun. of it doesn't include a penalty for those who do not comply. leaders in the city of 1300 saying they wanted to send a message. >> basically i really felt like this was a security sign for our city, just basically it was a deterrent ordinance to tell potential criminals, you might want to go on down the road a little bit before you come kicking down a door with a family in nelson.

bill: nelson is about 50 miles north of atlanta in northern georgia. while largely symbolic the mandatory gun law does not apply to convicted felons and those with certain physical and mental disabilities. martha: new details that are just coming in from warrants in the indicates of the texas district attorney and his wife who were tpwupbd down in their own home over the weekend. it shows that they were shot a number of times. there were casings that were found near their bodies that are being only hraoeuzed as part of -- analyzed as part of this investigation trying to figure out who did this to them. there is new focus on security for prosecutors and other courthouse employees in the wake of this. others in the same line of work are raising concerns about the danger that comes with this job. and i'm very glad to be joined now by doug lowe, anderson county district attorney, not far from kaufman county where this happened. and, sir, thank you for being here, and our sympathies are with you.

the mcclellans were friend of yours. >> yes, he was a friend of mine. i'm mourning the loss today of a friend, a fellow prosecutor, somebody who was making a difference in this small town, and was just taken out in stride. and so i'm real sad about that. martha: you say he was a 23-year military veteran, and that he -- >> yes, ma'am. martha: and he really was very sort of -- he went at his work with a lot of passion. he wanted to find the bad goes who were committing violent acts against people and bring them to justice, right? >> absolutely. he was not afraid to tackle the hard cases. we worked cases together. you know, we have the same, similar communities. we have a highway that joins us, and he was not unafraid. he would go after the bad guys. martha: tell me a little bit about -- you have so much experience obviously with

criminal cases. what does this look like to you? does it look like this is connected to mark haas the assistant d.a. gunned down at the court house there? and who do you think might be behind this? >> i will tell you it's hard for me to speculate on the investigation, the status of it the f.b.i. is conducting along with the texas rangers. from my perspective it does look like it's not a coincidence, there is a keck. as far as who is responsible, i think that we are at the point, it's early in the investigation. i'm not sure that i can say that there was an organized criminal gang behind this. but it might -- i feel like it was related to what mike did for a living and that was to prosecute criminals. martha: there's been a lot of talk about the aryan brotherhood, that they might be behind this. also some discussion of drug gangs from across the border may have been involved in this. any thoughts on those potential

leads? >> well, let me tell you about the aryan brotherhood. the jurisdiction where i'm from, anderson county has five maximum security prison units, in the texas department of criminal justice, there's about 15,000 or so inmates and a significant number of authors aryan brotherhood, and those guys in the prison system are some bad hombres. but that's inside the prison system where they can intimidate witnesses and do protections. but my experience outside the prison system is their ability to carry out crimes is -- it's still there, but i don't see -- my personal thought is i'd be surprised if they were behind this. if they were i think there would have been somebody snitching each other out. martha: interesting. what about you, sir? when you go to work every day, and your family, you know, we are looking at a picture right now of the mcclelland, mike and cynthia who are no longer with us.

how concerned are you about your own safety in. >> well, when i woke up sunday morning and found out the first thing that struck me was how sad it was. and the second thing was i have to be more aware of my surroundings, aware of the people i do business with. we deal with some bad people, some really bad people that are violent. a lot of those people are capable of carrying out threats. the reality is there have not been many prosecutors assassinated for executed for ha they do but you still have to worry about it. you have to be cautious about your circumstances, and my investigators are on me all the time about that, you've got to be more careful. you can't just pretend that your bulletproof. i'm mindful of that and we are taking steps for me to be more careful, to take care of the people i love, and to go day-to-day and keep doing my work. martha: you think about the system that we all hold dear, and, you know, you folks on the front line who are trying to

make sure that violent actors are brought to justice and there is a certain lawlessness feeling about it when one of those people, or groups can, you know, show up at somebody's door and end their work. >> that's true. thankfully it doesn't happen every day, it's a very rare circumstance, and i personally feel that i'm probably more in danger when i get on the highway and there is a drunk driver coming at me from another direction. martha: doug, thank you for sharing your story with us. i know this has been a very personal one for you, and our hearts go out to you and everybody in that area. >> yes, ma'am. martha: we hope they find these killers or killer soon. thank you so much. doug lowe. >> appreciate your words. bill: imagine the amount of tension down there right now too that moves through that county. jenna lee is standing by, she is coming up in a couple of moments live on "happening now." what is going on, jenna.

jenna: more on that breaking news out of texas today. the u.s. is moving from being a huge oil importer to an exporter. what might an energy independent united states mean to our relationship with the rest of the world and what will that mean to your wallet as wall? we will dig in on both side of that story coming up. a surprising arrest in a string of arson tph-s virginia. we'll take the look at the death of a reality tv star 21 tphoeld west virginia. a new one hundred million dollar investment into the human brain funded by the government. a pwrapbld new announcement on that today. what are we really getting for your money? dr. siegel will join us coming up at 11:00. bill: we'll see you then. okay? threats of cuts at our border that could impact security and safety, the decision that was just made. details on that in a moment. martha: watch this. folks. that is going to leave a mark. why this guy had it coming to him. ooh!

martha: it was a painful escape for a thief down under caught on tape. take a look at this guy. runs, runs, runs -- ooh, that was not supposed to happen. he grabbed a lady's purse, was trying to make a clean get away, but it wasn't so clean that, was in australia. went right through the door, impact knocked him out. everybody gathered around him, are you okay? can we help you? can we get you out of here? he got out of there, he and an accomplice got away in a stolen car and the police are still looking for him. here he is, run, run,. bill: i've seen people walk-through screens. martha: i've walked through screens. bill: it always makes me laugh. martha: he shouldn't have been stealing that lady's purse, you know, bad karma. bill: the border patrol is now

reexamining a controversial plan to save money by eliminating over time and cutting positions. this is triggered by the federal government's forced budget cuts but it could reduce manpower by as much as 25%, and leave major holes in security. all this comes as we get word of a surge in illegal immigrants crossing the border. william la jeunesse has been on that border countless times. how much or significant is this surge they describe, william? >> it's huge. the word south of the border is bill you need to get to the united states now, if you want amnestyment if you wait it will be too late. that is from post apprehension interviews. we are told and documents show a surge of illegal immigrants now hitting the southern border especially texas. the nine sectors on the southern border apprehensions are up in four areas, roughly equal to two down in three. the total number arrested is actually up 30,000, not down reversing a five-year trend and

contrary to the administration narrative. number two the increase is not coming from mexico, but central america. eufpl legal immigrants from el salvador, honduras and guatemala more than account from the decrease from mexico. i want to show you email traffic from border patrol officials in texas from this weekend, quote, not sure if you saw our last detention report but we have approximately 700 ready to go, another thousand unprocessed. we have been at emergency levels for a while and we are now entering a critical mass. we need to take a hard look at a tent city and maybe even broach the subject with secretary napolitano when she is here that our agents and stations need relief shaos possible. what is happening -- as soon as possible. what is happening bill, they hav have illegals coming over. they ask nor a hearing. there is no time because of sequestration. they let them out and they go. people know this. it's in the latino media.

we've asked for numbers, for the last six months you get the updated snapshot so far the department has not given us those. bill: that is remarkable information, william. it's almost like they see the deadline so they are rushing toward it to get their protection here. but how its the border patrol handling this? >> well obviously they rescinded that decision to cut by 20% because of over time, also because of a tphaoefr revolt from their agents who would lose the pay. we obtained results from an internal survey released yesterday. the employee morale is down. the only good news is it's better than dhs as a whole. border security is fluid. some places you have it, san diego and yuma, some places you don't, texas. traffic moves based on weakness. latino media word is out get to the u.s. now, that is the surge. and financially the claim that the border is adequately secured, that is open to interpretation. bill: interesting report,

william thank you. we'll get back to you on this throughout the week okay. william la jeunesse live in los angeles. martha: we've been talking about this story all morning the u.s. military taking a major move off the korean peninsula as north korea has now come out with yet another significant threat. what the rogue nation is now saying they are going to do. [ male announcer ] it's red lobster's lobsterfest

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jenna: runners run to that song. when was that movie "chariots of fire." sometimes a workout is all about the right music. a new study find that any song with 125 to 140 beats per minute is actually the best. and there are some programs that you can do to get that on every song, right? jon: you're not going to listen to chariots