lots going on. gregg: following the gun debate as well, which could open today, maybe a vote on thursday. we will owe wait and see. "happening now" begins right now. have a great day. martha: bayh, everybody, have a great day. jenna: right now brand-new stories and breaking. rick: the budget battle on capitol hill. as the president gets ready to unveil his plan he's taking heat not only from the right but from the left as well. also, new signs that korea is on the brink of all-out nuclear war, the warning just issued. while the north told foreigners to get out of south korea. and if north korea isn't enough to worry about what about an astroid wiping out the earth? nasa taking a page from the old west, considering a way to lasso the cosmic ball of destruction. it's all "happening now." rick: the lasso is coming up later. brand-new developments in the

budget battle. hi, everybody, i'm rick folbaum in for jon scott. jenna: we've had a lit of positive, up lifting stories at the top of the show, didn't we. rick: sure did. jenna: we'll get to the bright and cheeree stuff in a little bit. glad you are with us. i'm jenna lee and we are live on capitol hill where lawmakers are returning to work from spring break, their spring break one day before the president releases his long awaited budget plan. there is push back from both side of the aisle. the taxes, the deficit, the state of the overall economy all playing big roles in this debate. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel back in action on capitol hill. what is the early reaction as folks are just coming back through the hauls there, what is -- halls there what is the reaction to the president's plan? >> reporter: folks on the left are not happy because it would tweak the way social security ben teuts are calculate -- benefits are calculated in terms of determining inflation. that is something folks on the left are promising to fight. on the other side there are conservatives who are not happy witness, they don't like the idea of increasing taxes.

i interviewed a key member of the house budget committee on foxnews.com live and here is his take. >> the president is using some very careful word, he says he's going to put a pw-ld approach. he continues -- balanced approach. he continues to hammer over and over again. it's got to be balanced. what i means by that is some reduction in spending, some tax increases but it never, ever bams. >> reporter: still many here on both side are looking forward to reading awful the fine print when the president's budget arrives up here tomorrow about two months late, jenna. jenna: right now we just have the reports. last week we just got the early reports about the president's plan. what have we heard from the white house ahead of this much awaited release? >> reporter: well the white house is saying that this is not the president's ideal hraoeuzed plan, it is not what he would propose if he were king. still the white house spokesman jay carney it reflects mr. obama's guiding principle stkpwhr-s when i. >> when it comes to jobs and

economic growth that remains his number one priority. the middle class, growing it and expanding it. providing ladders of opportunity to the middle class for those who aspire to it, that is his north star. >> reporter: president obama calls it a compromise he is willing to accept, expect it to take heat from the right and the left, and if he's trying to lock like the reasonable guy in the middle, well, that may be what he gets after it's received up here on capitol hill. jenna. jenna: all right, mike, thank you very much. rick: a warning in the budget battle with three liberal groups the progress tiff change campaign committee, democracy for america and moveon.org telling democratic law mcers that if they support the president's budget which calls for cuts to medicare and social security as mike reported, they could face a challenge from the left in the next election. joining us now is cusack managing editor of the hill and jabs from the right kind of predictable. what about this stuff coming from the left, bob? >> i mean, rick this is remarkable, six months after the president's re-election, and his

very liberal inaugural address now we have these groups saying if you support the president, a democratic president we are going to come after you. rick, we've seen over the last few years the republican party, they've dealt with their base. we've had tea party candidates versus ken tourist candidates, that has ripped open the party. now we are seeing it on the left where democrats say on the left if you are going to attack social security or medicare, change eligibility haeupblg and change the formula for paying social security we are coming after you. rick: we've seen effectiveness on the part of right groups to affect republican lawmakers. what do you think about the possibilities that some of these threats from the left could actually sway some votes? >> in primaries it's very difficult to gauge who will come out to the polls. we've seen that on the republican side over the years, christine o'donnell meeting mike castle a few years back and then she lost the general election. so, this is a problem for democrats. these groups on the left are serious. also they have many allies on capitol hill. there are many liberals in the

house and the senate that have publicly warned the president not to do this. and the president has said, i'm willing to take on my base, and he's also got even some plaudits from that from budget committee chairman paul ryan for proposing this. it will be a very different type of budget than we've seen for the past four years from the president. rick: we are only getting these reports, we haven't seen the actual document. we won't get to do that until tomorrow. based on what we're hearing, based on what you're reporting on capitol hill, how much compromise is the president really willing to make? >> i think he's willing to make compromises on social security. on medicare he'll go after the providers, drug industry companies in his budget. one idea tphae floated two years ago in his talks with speaker john boehner was to raise the medicare eligibility age to 67. i don't think that will be in there. changing the formula for social security payments will likely be

in there. he's got even some cover on that from nancy pelosi as well as harry reid. liberals in the caucus will be objecting very strong low tomorrow. rick: on the right there are reports that the president will call for taxes to be raised on the wealthyist americans. republicans went along kicking and screaming and voted for the first tax hike in 20-some order years right at the beginning of this calendar year. what is the likelihood that republicans would once again vote to raise taxes a single penny on anybody? stphreu don't think any time soon, not in the spring. but the bottom line is that the debt ceiling fight looms this summer. so there is going to have to be some type of deal on that, whether that is a grand bargain on entitlements and tax reform or just aspects of tax reform. but the big issue is is whether tax reform is going to be revenue neutral or are you going to take some of the tax increases and use them for debt reduction? republicans want -- they say, hey if we raise taxes in one

area we should lower them in another. that is the rub right there and the import of this document is fairly significant because it is a step toward the g.o.p. but the g.o.p. says listen, you and i agree on social security change, let's make that change, but the president says no, there must be tax increases along with that. rick: last question, bob, all this plays out ahead of the second dinner date that the president is to have with republican leaders in the united states senate, that dinner tomorrow night a few hours after he releases his budget. what do you think will come from it? >> the first dinner was kind of a smashing success. a lot of republican whose went to that dinner praised the president. we haven't seen a lot of bills being sent to the white house. i think this is a key meeting. it will be a different group of republican senators than were at the first one. the first one was more centrist, this one will be more leadership officials. this will be the most important dinner that the president has had with republicans on capitol hill in along time.

rick: we will be joined live by one of those who will be at that dinner. bob cusack, thank you so much. >> thanks, rick. jenna: north korea is ratcheting up its rhetoric telling foreigners in south korea to get out of the country, warning the two countries are on the verge of nuclear war. north korea reporting accusations that the united states and seoul are trying to provoke a conflict and warned once a war is ignited on the peninsula it will be an all-out war. japan is taking the threats from north korea very seriously and is setting up missile defenses at three bases outside tokyo. here in the united states a hearing is underway on capitol hill before the senate armed services committee addressing north korea's recent threats. here is senator carl lemon. >> the north korean regime, which is a long-standing international pariah has elevated its reckless rhetoric and provocative behavior. any guarded optimism about north korea that may have accompanied

the december 2011 death of long-time dictator kim jong-il has faded as the new regime has adopted many of the same destructive policies as its predecessors. jenna: david piper is streaming live in seoul, south korea with more. david. >> reporter: hi, jenna, yes. i'm not sure if anyone is heeding the call to get out of seoul here. i haven't heard of any reports of a rush or panic and everyone trying to get to the airports. this statement it came out of pyongyang's asia pacific. peter: committee. say said the situation on the korean peninsula is heading for thermal nuclear war. in the event of war we don't want foreigners living in south korea to get hurt. this is the latest in a series of warnings about an upcoming nuclear war here. pyongyang has said it could fire aoubg lar weapons at the u.s. mainland and south korea. experts don't believe it has the know how yet to put a nuke on a

long-range missile. it has though capability of firing medium range missiles without nuclear war head we under. according to the south korean government the north looks like it's preparing for mid range missile test now according to reports out of here and the south pyongyang has made preparations, and they are now complete for the test of a missile. now the news agency quoted an unnamed senior military official as saying their intelligence shows pyongyang could fire the missile tomorrow. the south korean government has said the missile test could be conducted on the someth of april. it's the same day that pyongyang has warned foreign embassies in the north to evacuate their staff. as you said, japan is at the moment preparing to deal with any missile launch because of course it could be in the flight path. there has been a missile flying over their country before and they didn't actually know anything about it back in the 1990s. they put a patriot missiles around the japanese capitol

tokyo now and also they've put ships out to sea to track and perhaps even knock down any object that comes their way. back to you, jenna. jenna: more north korea throughout the show today. david, thank you. rick: parenting front and center in a controversial new television ad, one that suggests a collective effort should play as important role as parents and families when it comes to raising young kid. do you think your kid belong to you, or to the community in general? we'll hash it out coming up next. also we are awaiting a huge decision, one that could decide whether the nfl faces a legal fight for years to come over player concussions. we'll break down exactly what is at stake for all side, that is coming up. tdd: 1-800-345-2550 searching for a bank designed for investors like you?

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how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed: the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪

rick: new reaction to a show,

promotion on the cable network msnbc raising eyebrows and it hosts melissa harris perry, suggesting the community should play as influential a role as parents and family when it comes to raising children. take a listen. >> we have never invested as much in public education as we should have, because we've always had kind after private notion of children. your kid is yours, and totally your responsibility. we haven't had a very collective notion of these are our children. part of it is we have to breakthrough our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents, or kid belong to their families and recognize the kids belong to whole communities. once it's everybody's responsibility and not just the household's then we start making better investments. rick: in a column today rich lowry editor of the national review had a response to that line of thought writing, quote as the ultimate private institution the family is a stubborn obstacle to the great collective effort. he goes onto say, quote, that the family is so essential to the well-being of children has

to be a constant source of frustration to the reminder of the limits of his power. rich joins us now, he is a fox news contributor. thanks for joining us. this is a left-leaning host on a left-leaning cable network exspousing left-leaning views about public education, what is so surpris surprising? >> msnbc has the public service commercials they run, like promoting wind farms or pwuflding bridges or spending more on government. this one stops you cold. she is saying literally we have to get over the private notion that parents and families have primary responsibility for their children. and i watched it over and over again, is there something i'm missing, is there a hint of irony here? is this a left over april fool's joke? it's not, it's quite sincere and i think it's representative of a strain of thought on the left that is extremely disturbing. rick: go into that. what is disturbing about the fact this a community, a greater

community could and should play a role in helping to raise children to be productive and healthy, and members of society? >> look, no one disputes that neighbors are important, community groups are important, schools are important, but the idea that the notion that parents and families have primary responsibility for their children is an obstacle in some way to those things, or something we have to get over in order for the government to have a larger role is just plain nuts. and if you actually look at the fact of it since 1970 we've increased spending on public schools several times over and got ten no results for it. that is the other fundamental point. there is no substitute in the well-being of children of parents and you'll never have a government substitute for that. rick: this is along the lines of what hillary clinton wrote about a number of years ago in her famous book "it takes a village." can it be both? can it be strong, active, present, involved parents and that outside support?

my wife and i have a bunch of kids at home, we'll take all the help we can get. >> right, and grandparents, aunts, uncles, again neighbors. we do have a public school system. but the fact that you and your wife care more about your children than anyone else does is not an obstacle to us having a private school system and it's not something that we node to get over, and this is the other thing, is just parents -- sorry, children who have engaged parents have intact families and have two-parent families they get huge social advantages. there is no doubt about it. the answer is in the more government spending, it's having more of those kind of families, and, again, there is just no substitute for that. rick: rich lowry always great to hear your thoughts on theufpblgts you can find his column in the "new york post" and always at the national review. good to see you. jenna: north korea is warning its on the brink of a nuclear war with the thought. even if the rogue north can't currently reach the u.s. mainland with its missiles our

next guest says we shouldn't let down our guard just yet. we will explain why. forget the security alarm, where this homeowner has a few crocodiles standing guard. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle --

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jenna: north korea is intensifying its threats again today telling foreigners in south korea to leave the country now, warning that the new nations are really on the brink of nuclear war. heritage foundation's senior fellow peter brooks writing today, it's highly unlikely the missiles north korea is mobilizing have the ability to successfully target south korea or japan or the united states, but he goes onto warn this saying, quote, before you start your happy dance assuming north korea is going to launch a missile in an open ocean test the missile may pass over japan

a less than fully successful flight test could result in missile debris falling on japanese territory causing death or destruction on the ground. the u.s. isn't free or clear either. while the u.s. mainland might be out of missile range guam is within reach of the missile type it has moved to its east coast. peter king is our guest now. i had no idea you had a happy dance. among the scenarios that are very serious here with north korea you say the most dangerous one is that kim jong un has delusions of grand you're that could -- grandeur that could be. why do you consider that the most dangerous of all scenarios. >> i worry he may be on the verge of or have delusion of granduer. i don't know maybe we should have dennis rodman. the regime is kind oven a role. they had a nuclear test in december. a long-range missile test in december that, was successful.

his nats wasn't able to do that. they've had a third nuclear test that they are saying is a new type of weapon, a lighter weapon, may be moving in the direction of a war head, and they may even launch a new missile this week, maybe as early as tomorrow. and i think, you know, that he may think that he is actually in a position to push things further than they should be pushed. right now we are just i in a war of words. jenna: based on what we've seen, peter is he right? he's been able to push and push and push and push over the last couple of weeks. >> again it's just been a war of words haepbs pushed but he's not taken any violent action yet. my concern is misperception, miscalculation that comes from their policy of tkhra lidge rance of brinkmanship and blackmail that could lead to a war. that is my real concern. we have to be measured in responding to north korea because you don't want to push him. think of this. jenna, as, you know, two kids in a playground doing a little chess thumping.

-- chest thumping. you don't want to get to a situation where someone throws the first punch. it could be very, very dangerous and a lot of death and destruction could come from that. jenna: those two kids you're talking about on the playground are we equal, are we talking about equal super powers here pushing each other? we have been stepping back from -- not the sanctions, we have the sanctions in place, we recently said you know what we are not going to do the missile test that we planned because we don't want to provoke them. is that the right move right now, pete stpher. >> yeah, i think a measured approach, a prudent approach, a practical approach makes sense and i'll tell you why here. do you really want to have that night? north korea would lose to the united states and south korea, but the fact is is that north korea has the capability to kill a lot of people, in fact there have been estimates that north korea in a war would kill maybe a million people in the opening days of the war. seoul, the capitol of south korea which is about 10 to 20-mile people in that metropolitan area is within

range of north korean artilleries, including memorandum cal weapons. it's only 25 miles from that dmz, a lot of people could be killed. the question is do you really want to have this fight while you're pushing each other. jenna: i'm not advocating war, a former cia operative was on our show yesterday, i know you're former cia as well and mike baker says we don't really have any good intelligence when it comes to north korea beyond the video really that we see of them, you know, test firing these missiles. so how good is our intelligence real buy what potentially is to come? >> there is a lot we do know. you know, i agree with mike, i was also a deputy assistant secretary of defense for this part of the world in the bush administration so i looked at this. there are a lot of other things we need to look at, jenna. are they mobilizing their ground troops for an invasion? what are they doing on the ground? there are things we can glean from intelligence, satellites, from communications, other things. it is a hard target, we don't know everything but there is things we are certainly watching

day-to-day to see if the tensions are actually going about on the ground, fulfilling thepblss on the ground. are the north korean troops moving closer to the dmz? are there ships dispersing? there are a lot of things out there. we have to be very, very careful. when you kick in that door, you know, to a war you're not exactly sure what you're going to get. like i said i think there would be a lot of death and destruction. we ned to be cautious and we are taking good, defensive measures with missile defense, very, very important and a delicious irony here that the obama administration is finally embracing missile defense which can protect us from these north korean missiles. jenna: quick final question to bring us full circle, if the kim regime end, however it does, would our problems be solved? north korea? >> no, not necessarily i. mean what happens right after if there is an implosion of the regime? what does china do? do they rush into north korea? what does south korea do? what does the united states do?

lofts refugees. would there be a civil war in north korea? a lot of bad scenarios out there unfortunately. it would certainly hopefully in the long run be good for the north korean people who live under this respecial for many, many years, the most reexpressive state in the world. this is a very complicated issue. have you to act very cautiously because the consequences can be very dire indeed. jenna: we'll talk about how this is a regional story a a little later on in the show, peter and how potentially it sets a precedent for how we are dealing with iran right now which is attempting to go nuclear. >> good point, absolutely. jenna: heights a big story. i wish we had several hours to cover it. peter i always enjoy our conversations, thanks so much. >> thanks, jenna for having me. rick: some homeowners go for alarms to scare off would-be pwaug lars, others news dogs. we want to show ahh guy who has a couple of crocs. two adult crocodiles acting as guard dogs at his home in thailand. he has one that patrols the

yard, another one that patrols underneath the house and it's working. burglary is very common in thailand apparently, there has not been a single one here in 15 years than i think we can all see why. jenna: you going to try that at your place? rick: if i could build a moat i might try it. jenna: why not? rick: why not. jenna: if it works. the calendar says spring but a blizzard is pounding the plains and this is just the start. there is plenty of hazardous weather out there for other parts of the country, including tornadoes. some places facing some of the most severe out breaks since last may we. have that forecast you don't want to miss. rick: also, snow white and the seven dwarfs, a so-called jail cell manifesto and einstein, believe it or not. all of these things coming up in a combative day of testimony in the death penalty trial of jodi arias. the details on the latest twists and turns next. >> one of the things with regard to low self-esteem, isn't it true that when the defendant was about to be evaluated isn't it

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rick: welcome back. testimony set to resume in the jodi arias death penalty trial about an hour or so from now and it comes on the heels of new twists and turns yesterday in the courtroom including a heated exchange over a classic

fairytale. as you probably know by now, arias admits she killed her ex-boyfriend but she says she did it in self-defense. prosecutors say she planned his murder and carried it out in avengeful rage. yesterday the prosecution dropped a bomb shell claim that arias wrote a so-called manifesto while in jail in the event she became famous. the lead prosecutor also questioned the credibility of a defense witness who said arias was the victim of domestic violence at the hands of her ex-boyfriend. this same psychotherapist argued snow white was also a battered woman. >> did you speak to anybody involved with this fantastical tale? >> i think that answer would be quite obvious, that i couldn't speak to snow white, nor could i speak to the seven dwarfs. >> would that be no, then? >> okay. that would be no. rick: adam housley with more from our west coast newsroom. adam? >> reporter: yeah, rick, just another day in the jodi arias murder trial. you mentioned that also this manifesto which we expect to

hear more from this morning as well as contention by the prosecutor jodi arias having an iq like einstein. all this came out at the end of the day. they had a couple of side bars, at one point he turned to the judge, the prosecutor turned to the judge and said we'll start this again tomorrow and they ended the day a bit early. we're all waiting to see how this begins this morning. the prosecutor is extremely aggressive with the final defense witness, alice violet. she claims she is victim of mental abuse but physical abuse at the hands of travis alexander the victim. the prosecutor says she is biased and of course she will say that listen to the back and forth tweern the two yesterday. >> in your notes, doesn't it indicate that the defendant actually signed copies of the manifesto in case she became famous? >> i believe those were in my notes. >> and again, if that is true, doesn't that speak against the idea that the

defendant lacks self-esteem? >> no. i don't think it does at all. >> reporter: that is basically where we ended. what is interesting about this, he is trying to show her credibility is in question here. not only does she say if jodi arias lied to her there or at different times, she says it doesn't matter because it is the overall theme basically of travis alexander's e-mails. the prosecutor alleges that she never interviewed other women he had relationships with. you're basing this decision on interviews with jodi arias and e-mails. now the manifesto becomes front and center. we're curious what it says. we know jodi arias had interesting moments in the holding area in northern california. we saw video here on fox a couple weeks ago where she was standings on her head and talking about makeup before she had the booking photos. as you can see, rick, every day is something different in this case. we're very very curious after snow white on friday and yesterday what this manifesto is all about

today. rick? rick: oh brother, adam, thank you very much. jenna, let's send it over to you. jenna: well-said, rick. we'll bring in our two legal experts. lis while as well as doug burns. guys, what is going on here? what is happening? >> the prosecutor here in this recross of this cross has a lot to work with, and you know, normally you try to get in, try to get it out and do quickly. there is so much to work with. there is snow white. there was the manifesto. why was she writing that. why was the defense expert talking to other people other than arias? why was only looking at some e-mails allowed? the victim feels he was stalked by arias. jenna: is that a -- >> i think it is. he has to go there. this woman padded her resume' apparently. she is clearly biased by the defense and make that really clear to the jurors so they're not confused by the defendant's tactic. >> what do you think about that, doug? >> first of all, padding her resume'. she put down at

keynote speaker at an event. turns out she was a breakfast keynote speaker. makes the prosecutor look really bad. jenna: breakfast is most important meal of the day. >> joking aside makes him look terrible. i want to bring up something lis said, she is saying you should get in and get out. if you want to be a little bit theatrical, serious, think about it, prosecutor, get up, saying isn't it true all the conclusions you reached were based upon what jodi arias told you? and isn't it true you know she has propensity and history for lying? thank you, no further questions. >> they wouldn't have gotten out things like the manifesto and einstein comment and all of that where she claims to be -- sorry. jenna: you didn't jump ahead. the manifesto everyone is talking about was apparently written in jail. >> in jail. jenna: no one has seen it, including -- >> including --. jenna: including the expert and we're not sure about the prosecutor. we're not sure who has seen the manifesto. apparently it was written in

case she became famous. why is that important. >> it is important the idea the expert is putting forth arias is so fragile with so low self-esteem, if she is writing a manifesto to herself or her public viewing audience when she becomes famous that kind of belies feeling of low self-esteem as does the einstein comment. >> trial theme, the simple chord on the panel, don't start going down all the collateral paths, snow white. you never interviewed snow white. that is ridiculous. >> well -- >> number two you have some manifesto. what does that have to do with what happened at the moment of the encounter? jenna: the defense is actually doing this on purpose. there is something they're trying to confuse for the jury with this expert. >> yes. jenna: what is it? >> i said all along if this trial were very quick that would bode poorly for the defense, to drag it out just in general is good, but to answer your very good specific question, the point is, you have self-defense and what we lawyers call battered women's syndrome.

battered women's syndrome he abused over a long course of time and that's why i killed him. it is not recognized as defense technically in every jurisdiction. jurors don't know that there confusing apples and orange you're the prosecutor you can't be so short and sweet bit. you have to be sure the jurors go back and deliberate nobody is there to guide them at this point that they're not confused between the two defenses. jenna: you think there is a risk as doug says, that they are getting confused they will think, like snow white, she's a battered woman and it justifies in their argument and -- >> that's why the prosecution has to go hard after the defense witness and bring her down a couple notches so she is not believeable. so her testimony from the prosecution's perspective will be thrown out when they deliberate. >> and while people have said almost to the point of too much of a cliche they're trying to save her life but reality there is menu as it will work out of lesser included charges the jury can select. you can have first agree murder, second-degree murder,

and manslaughter. lis and i discussed it. the fact of matter is, in my view, i don't have a crystal ball she might get conviction of second-degree murder. if she is lucky manslaughter. jenna: how long will she be in prison. >> 25 years. that is big difference from life without parole or death penalty. >> i love it you have the crystal ball and i don't. i'm not saying what i think. jenna: einstein, snow white, manifesto. >> you hear that? she is no einstein. jenna: lis and doug, great to see you as always. jenna: rick? rick: thank you, jenna. emotional appeal for gun control coming up. live from washington as sandy hook parents head to capitol hill. how many government offices does it take to oversee catfish inspections, if you're thinking one, you're wrong. coming up why congress may have not learned any lessons about wasteful spending. ♪

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rick: congress is addressing

a stunning new report showing that federal spending is just as rampant as ever with $95 billion being wasted on overlapping programs including not one, but three different government offices in charge of inspecting catfish. chief national correspondent jim angle is live in washington. jim, i hope you will not diss catfish? >> reporter: no, no. that is only the beginning of all the duplication, rick. fox has obtained the results of a new gao report that find 162 areas of duplication or wasteful spending adding almost 100 billion dollars a year. on top of a larger amount from two previous reports. listen. >> that is $250 billion a year. that is three times what the sequester was. you know and just in waste and duplication and stupidity and lack of efficiency and effectiveness by the federal government. makes you want to pull your hair out. >> reporter: now there are

76 different programs that treat drug abuse spread across 15 different agencies for instance. that costs $4.5 billion a year. 47 programs for job training. three federal agencies as you said that inspect catfish. two parts of homeland security that let five separate contracts to detect the same chemical. six overlapping programs in defense aimed at increasing number of camouflage uniforms from two a few years ago to seven. renewable energy programs top them all with 679 overlapping programs. listen. >> nobody knows what's going on there. not the department of energy or all these other 13 agencies that have these programs. nobody knows. we're just throwing it money thinking it will stick on the wall. >> reporter: a house member says there is nothing partisan at all about all of this. listen. >> it's partisan only in the sense it is the bureaucracy against the american people. it is fiefdoms within

government against any kind of real reform. >> reporter: now, coburn says the federal government could save $2.5 trillion over 10 years if congress and the administration worked at it. money that would reduce deficit spending which would reduce the debt burden on our children and grandchildren who will inherit a lot of unpaid bills. rick? rick: jim angle, live for us in washington. thanks so much. >> right now we're learning the results of a critical hearing over a massive lawsuit filed by thousands of former football players against the nfl those players are con accusing the league of trying to conceal the information on long-term risks of traumatic head injuries. julie banderas is live with more on this. >> reporter: 4200 football players hope to finally shed some light on the risk players take when they sign the multimillion dollars contracts which could cost the nfl billions of dollars. the players accuse the league of committing fraud.

fraud is the key word by the way, by hiding information about dangers of head trauma caused by repeated hits to the head. some say they suffer from dementia, depression, even alzheimer's disease. others want their health monitored. the nfl argues that the case belongs in arbitration not in court so they want the lawsuit thrown out saying plaintiff's claims are covered by collective bargaining agreements. today's hearing before a u.s. district judge centered around the nfl's motion to dismiss the more than 200 cases which have been rolled into one case. and her ruling we are told could take months. they are adjourned. now we wait for a court date to be set which has yet to be set at this point. one sports attorney we actually spoke with said this unprecedented move by former players could be a danger to all organized sports and create a potential pr disaster for the nfl. listen. >> the nfl doesn't want to continue to take a public relations hit.

how many days is there of concussion story? how often are we going to hear of a junior sarria killing himself? >> reporter: meantime the nfl maintains it has taken the proper measures to protect its players. here is roger goodell. >> what's i greed to do is invest in science to accelerate our knowledge of head injuries to improve not just the game of football but sports in general and life in general. not just head trauma but also brain disease. >> reporter: the judge's ruling could result in several outcomes from dismissing the case completely to granting the plaintiff's wishes to proceed with discovery and ultimately a trial. regardless how the judge rules her decision will most likely be a appealed meaning this case could drag on for years. jenna: we'll continue to follow it. julie, thank you. >> sure. rick: new fears that amid space rocks could hit earth.

will it keep our planet safe? we'll go in depth coming up next. more than two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. and every day since, we've worked hard to keep it. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy. we've shared what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. bp's also committed to america. we support nearly two-hundred-fifty thousand jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger.

rick: nasa planning its next big mission right now. it is sort of a galactic rodeo you can call it. the space agency is looking to lasso a small asteroid and park it next to the moon for astronauts to explore. a space rock came close to earth and exploded over russia last february. 1500 people were injured. nasa not only ones working on ways to protect the planet from asteroids. scientists engineers, policymakers are now gathering in flagstaff, arizona for the planet terri defense conference which kicks off next week. joining us derek pitts, planetarium speech sponsor. great to be here. idea of lassoing a asteroid

sounds like a will smith movie to me. what is going on? >> it may sound like that but the idea is to grab an asteroid about seven meters inside and bring it back to lunar orbit where it could be used as a place for extra vehicular activities for two reasons. to investigate what asteroids are made from and also to do a little bit of preparation for perhaps traveling to mars. rick: how feasible is this? how would we actually lasso or grab ahold of this asteroid and put it where we want to put it? >> we have actually developed our robotic capabilities in space to quite a high degree. we've had robotic spacecraft flying through the solar system for decades. what this would entail to go out and grab a specific asteroid and bring it back via the robotic technology. that is not really the difficult part but what it does enable us to do is catalog all the near-earth astory rid that we -- asteroids we need to look at any way to assess their

potential for damaging the earth at some time in the future. not only could we collect one to bring back but also assess how many of them are out there and where. rick: the cost of simply finding the right asteroid to try to target it is somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 million. and that doesn't even include building the robotic, you know, engineering to actually go and do the job. people are wondering, is this worth it? >> the way it turns out to be worth it, rick, a number of the technologies that would be needed to actually make this happen are already underway for other projects that would reduce the cost of doing something like this already. we're just using technologies that are already in existence or already in development but 100 million against the value what would happen to the planet if an asteroid of considerable size were to strike a large urban area is really quite minimal. 100 million is nothing compared to that. so it is really worth it to do what we can to identify these asteroids even if it

is for research bringing one to lunar orbit for us to take a close look at. rick: derek pitts is the franklin institute planetarium. chief astronomer. as a kid growing up in south jersey the franklin institute was my favorite place to go when we had a family outing. looking forward to bring my kids to visit a great museum in the city of philadelphia. everybody should check it out. their, derek. >> thank you, rick. we look forward to see you in the museum. jenna: go fillies and eagles. noting where his loyalties lie in the city of philadelphia. how this may potentially affect the battle for immigration reform. we're going to go in depth on that and tell you all about it. also a new money-saving source of renewable energy and you can find it all on the farm. the key roles that cows play next.

jenna: right now brand new stories and breaking news this

hour. millions of americans dealing with heavy snow, wind and severe storms. we're going to go live to one of the worst-hit areas and get the latest forecast this spring. spring, isn't it? rick: yep. jenna: lawmakers say they're close to a deal, but will it include new ways to protect our borders? we'll talk about it. and guess who's coming to dinner at the white house? the republican senator who's helped arrange the dozen or so gop senators set to break bread with the president tomorrow night. that's all coming up, "happening now." rick: well, a new threat from north korea warning folks in south korea to get ready for war. a brand new hour of "happening now," i'm rick folbaum. jenna: hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. and north korea is certainly raising a lot of new alarms today. right now the nuclear state is telling foreigners in south korea to prepare an escape plan. tensions are rising as the region's top u.s. commander

gives testimony today on capitol hill describing north korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles as a clear and direct threat to the united states and our allies in the region. national security correspondent jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon with more on all of this. jennifer, what's the reaction at the pentagon? >> well, jenna, honestly, they are concerned that the young north korean leader is not getting the message. the north koreans have moved the missile to their east coast site, preparing for a test. that, of course, puts it closer to guam and a path over japan. general maxwell sherman canceled an appearance before the senate armed services committee this morning due to the tensions. the head of u.s. pacific command, admiral locklear, told senators that kim jong un's recent actions pose a clear and direct threat to the united states. >> his father and his grandfather, as far as i can see, always figured into their provocation cycle an off ramp of

how to get out of it, and it's not clear to me that he has thought through how to get out of it. >> my experience in the army, almost 37 years now, tells me that many people miscalculate the will and capability of the united states. and i believe that we will do this in a way that we sustain the capability and capacity, and i would suggest that i would be very careful about miscalculating and misjudging what our capability is. >> reporter: that a very clear message from the army chief of staff in an interview with fox's jamie colby over the weekend addressing the issue of budget cuts. the pentagon trying to deal with budget cuts at a time when they're trying to deal with this north korean tension. jenna: a lot of accusations back and forth, really, the talk of miscalculation. but the talk from north korea about nuclear war and bringing nuclear war to the korean peninsula is really scary. how seriously should our viewers take the latest threat of

nuclear war? >> reporter: well, it is scary, and what is interesting is that the north usually telegraphs when it's going to carry out a test. they warn the embassies in pyongyang, they telegraph what they're going to do. japan right now is taking very seriously the threat of another missile test. they have positioned patriot missile batteries around tokyo. that -- they're, obviously, making preparations there. now, what's interesting is fox news spoke to the father of pakistan's nuclear program, a.q. khan, he is the one, of course, who provided north korea with many of the elements of their nuclear program, and he said in an exclusive interview that north korea would never launch a nuclear war. >> if america drops a single bomb, there won't be any north korea on the map of the world.

>> reporter: admiral locklear told the armed services committee today that he did not recommend shooting down north korea's missile if they carry out a test unless that missile is directed toward the u.s. or its allies. jenna? jenna: a story we continue to watch very closely. jennifer, thank you. rick: right now a new push to secure america's borders. lawmakers on both sides of capitol hill introducing legislation today that would force the department of homeland security to lay out a comprehensive plan to secure the borders and verify the results. the chairman of the house homeland security committee and the house subcommittee on border security joining texas senator john cornyn to introduce the border security results act of 2013. in a joint statement, they point out, quote:

>> byron york is chief pretty correspondent, and if there's going to be a deal on immigration, it's going to hinge on our ability to secure our borders. that is the demand outright, and yet it seems more obvious than ever that we don't really have any way of knowing how good a job we're doing. >> that's right. this new bill came as a result of a couple of things that have happened in the last several weeks. one, the department of homeland security had promised they'd come up with a new way, a new method to measure border security, and a few weeks ago they admitted it wasn't ready, and it wasn't going to measure border security, so there's no way to actually measure border security which, as you've said, is key to even starting imi gration reform. and -- immigration reform. and the next thing is the d. of homeland security -- department of homeland security had always said the declining number of apprehensions indicated that the flow had been reduced in recent years. well, they've just tried -- the

border patrol has tried a new radar mounted on a drone. it was actually developed to find taliban fighters in afghanistan. and they flew it over part of the border in arizona, and they discovered that the border patrol was apprehending fewer than half the people who were crossing illegally, and they didn't even know how many people had been crossing illegally. so those two things really kind of shocked a number of lawmakers on capitol hill. and this bill that was filed today is a result of those developments. rick: does this bill have any legs? will it have any impact on the overall debate we mentioned on immigration reform? >> well, i think it's going to inject border security bigtime into this debate because we've been hearing a lot lately about guest workers, an agreement between labor and business and all that stuff in immigration reform and, in fact, it's the issue of border security for a lot of republicans at least that's going to be a major part of it. and i think, if anything, it's going to cause the groups that are working on bills right now, the gang of eight in the senate and another group in the house,

to make sure that their border security provisions are as tough as they can make them and still have democrats agree. rick: lindsey graham, one of the leading republicans in the senate who's been talking in favor of comprehensive immigration reform, he was on fox news channel earlier today, let's take a listen to what he said. >> it's about controlling jobs, controlling the border, having a guest worker program so you can access legal work, a legal work force when you can't find people here to do a job at a competitive wage. but at the end of the day, i think immigration reform is going to help the economy. rick: so that's lindsey graham's take and, obviously, there are some republicans like marco rubio who agree with him on that. but an awful lot of voices on the right who disagree with that as well, and now the conservative-leaning think tanks are getting in on the act and weighing in on whether or not this is a good thing. does it matter that there is sort of a unified message on the right when it comes to immigration reform? >> well, it does. there's more support for

immigration reform among democrats, and if republicans are completely divided, that means that, certainly, probably the reformers are going to prevail in this. there is a big division over the question of whether increased immigration would actually end up costing the american taxpayers money or whether it would be a boon to the american economy. what happened last time around in 2007 when they were considering one of these bills, a very influential study came out of the heritage foundation, a conservative think tank, saying that illegal immigration was a net cost to the taxpayers; that is, that immigrants were consuming more in federal services than they were in paying taxes. now you're seeing that battle start again with the new bill about to come out, and there have been a number of republican groups that have said, no, no, immigrants are actually a boon to the economy. they will increase the work force participation rate and the gdp. and we're about to have yet another study from the heritage foundation that's going to say just the opposite. so republicans, conservatives are not at all on the same page

about that. rick: byron york, always good to talk to you. thanks very much for joining us today. >> thank you, rick. jenna: another one of our big stories today, extreme weather. spring is here, but that's not stopping a powerful snowstorm from sweeping across colorado right now. forecasters are predicting potential blizzard-like conditions with brutal winds and snow drifts up to 3 feet deep. alicia acuna is live in denver s. there skiing weather? is there a silver lining somewhere, alicia, for this snowstorm? >> reporter: you know, jenna, i'm looking for it -- [laughter] but i just can't -- it's april, and i can't feel this side of my face because the wind chill is in the single digits. but i'm not the only one who's angry right now because there are a bunch of travelers who are out there trying to get in and out of the denver area. denver international airport just updated their numbers, 535 flights in and out of the city of denver have been canceled due to this weather. and it's not so --

[inaudible] when it comes to visibility. they've got the deicing crews out there, but they're still having problems payoff the wind and all of the ice -- because of the wind and all of the ice. on the roads it's an issue as well. lots of accidents, and interstate 80 in wyoming has been closed, nebraska's reporting problems as well, and we've definitely seen a lot of problems here in colorado. you talk about a silver lining, i can tell you the younger population in this area's very happy because it's a snow day all throughout the metro area. schools are closeed. it's very dangerous for the buses because the wind so bad. 50 mile-an-hour winds brought the storm into this area. so kids are at home, they're staying warm -- mine are, i can definitely tell you that -- and let me show you something. i want you to see the snow. there's not a lot, but it's really icy in there, and that's what the roads are like, kind of like an ice rink out there for people just trying to get around today. and it's going the continue on til about 6 p.m. mountain time.

down in pueblo which is south of the denver area they have a harley davidson dealership, the whole black wall blew off. we're trying to get a picture so we can show you guys, so it's pretty bad. it's the wind, and it's april. so people here, they're kind of mad. [laughter] jenna: we can understand that. windy and icy and all of that. all right, alicia, thank you very very much. appreciate it. rick: go inside, get off the roof. more details as that storm moves east as we take another live look in denver. you can see what it's doing to traffic. you've got to really be careful on the roads when this stuff is.coming down. visibility affected, janice dean lye in the fox extreme weather center. >> reporter: terrible to point out, it's 76 here in new york where people are saying it's springtime. unbelievable shot out of denver. 42 in chicago, but look at that cold front. 15 in denver, 12 in rapid city. that's one of the main ingredients we need to see severe weather, and moderate

snow coming down in and around denver, and that's going to continue as this low ejects from the rockies, ahead of it still seeing some moisture across the midwest. winter weather advisories posted for many states including the denver area where we have blizzard warnings in effect. travel's going to be next to impossible. 6-12 inches, even up to 24 inches of snow which could be record-breaking for some of these area, april snow across the rockies and the northern plains, and all of coming together to give us the potential for some very dangerous weather across the plains states. so here's our severe weather threat today. you see that red area, that's where the storm prediction center has deemed all those ingredients are going to come together for, perhaps, tornadoes. moderate risk for oklahoma and texas, and then into wednesday traveling across the mississippi river valley and then into thursday, we're still going to be talking about this low and the cold front pushing across the ohio river valerie into the southeast. so a many-day event,

unfortunately, bringing the snow and the possibility for severe weather outbreak, one that we haven't seen since last year. rick, back to you. rick: all right. janice dean at the fox extreme weather center. thank you, j.d. jenna: guess who's coming to dinner at the white house? probably not as fancy as a state dinner, but 12 gop senators are headed there tomorrow night. we're going to talk to senator johnny isakson, we'll ask him about appetizers and napkin colors -- rick: what's on the menu? [laughter] jenna: plus, frantic efforts to save a little girl trapped deep underground on a well, and it's all caught on camera. and sticker shock, the tough news for millions of american men and women on campus. how much their student loans are going up. ♪ [ male announcer ] at charles schwab, we've committed to setting the bar high

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rick: we're following developments ouf iran where a deadly earthquake struck near a key nuclear facilities, the operators of the plant say that the reactor is operating normally after the 6.1 magnitude quake. iran's state television reporting that at least 30 people are dead, hundreds more injured. this quake was so powerful that it forced the evacuation of offices across the gulf in qatar and also bahrain. we will bring you new developments as we get them. ♪ ♪ jenna: well, a new report indicating student loan debt tripled between 2004 and last year. an event today on capitol hill seeks to help identify potential solutions to this problem. molly henneberg is live in washington with more. molly? >> reporter: hi, jenna. virginia democratic congressman bobby scott and financial adviser susie orman will be speaking on capitol hill on the student loan debt crisis. if you add up all the student loan debt in the u.s. right now, according to this new report, it

approaches $1 trillion. according to a survey from the federal reserve in new york, student loan debt almost tripled from 2004 to $966 billion at the end of 2012. in addition, in that time frame there was a 70% increase in the number of borrowers and a 70% increase in the average loan balance per person. the survey suggests part of the reason for the increases may be because more and more students are attending college and graduate school, and those schools are getting more and more expensive. also more students are spending additional years in college instead of graduating in the traditional four years. but students may not realize the impact of this increasing debt load after they leave school and how it carries on into adulthood. for example, it may make it difficult to access additional means of credit, or if they're clip went, it may hurt their scores, and this may mean they midnight qualify for a loan when they'd like to buy their first

house. a survey finds in 2004 fewer than 10% of people with student loan debt were delinquent in their payments by more than 90 days. by the end of 2012 with much tighter budgets in homes around the country, about 17% of people with student loan debt were delinquent. jenna? jenna: more on this story as we get it, molly, thank you. rick: he is the imposter who called himself clark rockefeller, but is he also a killer? closing arguments in his murder trial, the very latest straight ahead. and an emotional push for tighter gun control laws. families of sandy hook victims making a personal plea to lawmakers in washington. a live report from the white house straight ahead. [ male announcer ] how do you measure happiness? by the armful? by the barrelful?

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rockefeller family is wrapping up. both prosecutors and the defense agree on one thing, the man once known as clark rockefeller is a liar, but do jurors believe he's also a killer? heather is here with the latest. >> reporter: closing arguments take place in los angeles today in the cold case murder of john who is the former landlord of the man who called himself clark rockefeller. now, what is so hard about this case for prosecutors is that there's no clear motive, and there's very little evidence to go on. the trial, on trial today is christian gerhart schroeder, and he's the one who claimed to be a member of the wealthy rockefeller family for decades. he had deceived acquaintances and even his own wife. he's accused of hilling john back in the '80s when he rented a home from him and his wife. the skeletal remains were found on the property in the mid 18990s -- 1990s, you can see a picture of him right there, and that is when new homeowners were digging in the yard to build a swimming pool. his wife, linda, was believed to have been killed at the same

time, but her body has never been found. defense attorneys are trying to show reasonable doubt, and they suggest that linda may have killed her husband before fleeing. prosecutors say that gerhart schroeder is simply a master manipulator who ran from the scene and then created a new life for himself on the east coast where he eventually caught the attention of police. now, a lot of arguers may -- viewers may remember there was a national manhunt for this guy a few years back. he kidnapped his 7-year-old daughter at the time from his wife who also, by the way, believed he was a rockefeller. his daughter was found in baltimore and then returned to her mother. gerhart schroeder right now is serving time in the prison for the kidnapping of his daughter. if he's acquitted in the murder, he'll be eligible for release. that murder case goes before the jury later today. so it's a complicated case, but we've been following it all along. rick: it sure is, a lot of moving parts there. heather, thanks very much. jenna: a check on where the

markets are trading today. the dow certainly is riding high in some of these record highs we've senior over the last couple weeks, close to another record close to today. we'll see what happens. investors are bracing for more earnings reports from our biggest companies, and so far there is some caution about what the reports might tell us about where the economy's at and what's ahead. mike santoli, senior economist for yahoo! finance is with us. the big question, mike, is why is the market where it's at right now, at these record highs? >> yeah. the formula really has been strong corporate profits in general, profits more than doubled off the bottom in 2008. easy money, low interest rates. the federal reserve doing all it can to kind of prop up football markets and -- financial markets and try to encourage growth, and really that's going on around the world. so the fact that you have investor confidence that money's going to be there to support markets and business activity in general whether it's from japan, europe or the united states, plus profitable companies. so that's, basically, been the mix. jenna: how much is momentum a part of this? that's something we could

probably all understand, right? everyone kind of gets into this mentality and can move the markets. is that part of it as well? >> it is part of it, especially, i think, going into this year. since mid november when the market got on this latest run, you really have had the sense that those big fears of kind of another meltdown around the corner have receded. maybe we have disaster risk off the table, and therefore, it's encouraged more people to say maybe i should be more exposed to market. when you look at very large multi-national companies in this country, it looks relatively attractive to the other options, so that's kind of self-reinforcing. jenna: but how risky is it to believe there is no more risk in the economy? >> when people get overconfident about that, people think that it's going to be, you know, no downturns for the foreseeable future, yeah, that does sow the seeds of its own decline. but i really do feel like you see a lot more hesitancy about, look, is the market disconnected from the real economy here?

that's the question i get more than, gee, it's blue skies from here. jenna: because we're seeing some of that in some of the news reports, and that's why we wanted to ask you about this. there's some caution about what the companies are going to be saying, but we don't actually see that caution necessarily in the market. >> right. jenna: so far. and that's very unusual when you see stocks take off, but the companies might be saying something. that's a little bit not as excited -- >> to some degree. what we really have seen is that the stock market has kind of spent the last year or so catching up to how good profits have been. so for the first three years of this market rally, profits were doing much better than the market, and now you've had a catch-up move. the the question is, as you mentioned, have we gone too far in basically thinking that the stocks can still work even if those companies don't have the earnings, and they don't really right now have the growth. earnings are at high levels, but this quarter they're not going to grow very much. jenna: it's amazing to see the market where it is when we get a jobs report like on friday where it's not, again, showing an abundance of job growth, an

economy that's off to the races. how do you see the job market figure into these other conversations about companies seeming to be doing okay? >> friday's report was definitely a disappointment, but in the grand scheme of things, 88,000 new jobs last month as to proposed to the close to 200,000 expected, it's been okay. fast--growing economies usually also come with the threat of potential inflation down the road, maybe the fed's going to become more unfriendly. so i think we're in that zone right now where good enough economic data as long as the growth picture is intact, it's okay. you can't go very long with that, and i think one other thing to mention is the last three years we had a very strong run of economic data in the winter, springtime softened up a lot, and the markets also softened up a lot, so i think that's what we're on alert for. jenna: is good enough okay for your daughters and their grades when they come home with a report card? [laughter] >> we have different definitions of what to good enough is. jenna: that's something we have to take into consideration with

the economy as well. mike, great to see you, as always. rick? rick: jenna, thanks. coming up, the president making another push at passing tougher gun laws, but he's facing stiff resistance on capitol hill. plus, how north korea could be helping another rogue country's illegal nuclear program by taking attention away from iran. >> translator: you did all you could to prevent iran from going nuclear. well, iran has gone nuclear. the new guy is loaded with protein! i'll believe it when i--- [ both ] oooooh... [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. ensure high protein... fifty percent of your daily value of protein. low fat and five grams of sugars. [ major nutrition ] ensure! nutrition in charge! our largest selection of lobster entrees, like lobster lover's dream or new grilled lobster and lobster tacos. come in now and sea food differently. now, buy one lobsterfestntree and get one 1/2 off with a coupon at redlobster.com.

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jenna: welcome back, everyone. "happening now," an emotional appeal for gun control. sandy hook parents on capitol hill making their personal plea for congress to ban the kind of weapons used in the school massacre as a push for tighter gun control measures is running into some significant hurdles. a dozen of the sandy hook family members rode back to washington on air force one after president obama told a crowd in connecticut that their hurt and their suffering would not be forgotten. wendell goler is live from the white house with more. >> reporter: this is really shaping up to be a make or break week for the president's push to get gun legislation through the senate. he's all but conceded that a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines can't pass, he just wants a vote on them, but he won't even get a vote on expanded background checks unless he can block a republican-led filibuster. >> the american people demand at least that. they elected members of the

senate to vote. that is their principal job. that's what they get paid for. >> reporter: aides say the president brought a dozen people who lost loved ones in the sanity hook mass can kerr back to washington last night aboard air force one because he wanted them to be there for his speech in hartford, connecticut, in the evening, though they'd already committed to lobby lawmakers on capitol hill today. it's clear he thinks they're the most powerful part of his push for new gun controls. he's called the day of the shootings the toughest of his presidency, but he says if the push for gun control fails, that'll be a tough day too. [applause] >> you want the people you send to washington to have just an iota of the courage that the educators at sandy hook showed when danger arrived at doorstep. and we're all going to have to stand up. and if we do, if we come together and raise our voices together and demand this change

together, i'm convinced cooperation and common sense will prevailment -- prevail. >> reporter: a couple hours from now vice president biden and attorney general eric holder will pick up the call with an event here at the white house in which law enforcement officers will talk about their fear of being outgunned. jenna? jenna: wendell goler live at the white house, thank you. rick: also "happening now," gun control not the only thing on the president's plate this week. tomorrow night the president will have 12 republican senators over for dinner, expected to open the conversation the president's new budget which will come out earlier that day. we hear it calls for cuts to social security and other entitlement programs -- that would be a first for this president -- but it also includes more tax hikes. johnny isakson put together the invite list, the senator who sits on the finance committee is our guest now, and it's always good to talk to you, sir, thanks very much for being here. why do you think the president reached to out to you to help organize this second get together with republican senators? >> well, i think over time he'll

reach out to the entire conference. i was honored that he called me. i guess he thought i could find 11 other friends to come to dinner and we were able to do that. rick: is the president an honest broker here, someone you can trust, someone you can make a deal with? >> i never made a deal without sitting down at the table and working things out. maybe we can find some common ground. we've got big problems, we need big solutions. rick: you have had a chance to read the president's budget proposal by the time you sit down with him at the white house, but reports are already trickling out, we mentioned a couple key points in the introduction here. based on what you've heard so far, what do you like, what do you not like? >> well, i haven't seen the whole document, but what i like is the fact the president appears to be willing to embrace true reform in terms of entitlements, and we'll never get our arms around debt, deficit and our national debt unless we do that. he's got some taxes and things like that that i might have issue about, but he didn't put

prereck by diss in there, and i think we've got an obligation to find those areas where we can reach agreement and begin the process over time of solving a big, big problem for our country. rick: knowing that you're never going to get the president to go along with everything that you and your republican colleagues would like him to, do you feel as though you could actually get him to move enough to the point where a deal could be dope? done? >> if people want to make a deal, a deal's there to be made. reforming of entitlements, getting our arms around spending, taking a look at the corporate tax code and reforming it, it's possible to be done, and people of goodwill can do it. >> if he gets resistance, though, from republicans, he's going to be able to say to to the american people, look, i proposed cuts to entitlement programs, i went ahead and did something that my party is not happy with, that i said i wouldn't do. and then republicans are going to be left standing there. i'm just wondering how republicans ex34r5eu7b it to the american people that they're not going to go along with a deal offered by the president that

proposes cuts to entitlement programs. >> well, you know, a deal portends that you have shared sacrifice, particularly when you have two different philosophies, republican, democrat, conservative and liberal coming together. i think we'll look for a way to make a deal and not point fingers at each other. rick: it seems, though, that this white house and a lot of democrats on the hill are engaged in an effort to paint members of your party as extremists whether we're talking about the budget, whether we're talking about gay marriage, whether we're talking about gun control legislation. it's an effort that's being played out in a lot of the mainstream media every single day. do you get the sense that it's working? >> america is not a nation of extremists. both parties will have some extreme folks, but the middle is where we've got to find common ground. right of center is where america is, that's where i am, and that's where i intend to stay. rick: since we just heard from my colleague at the white house talking about this gun control legislation, you are one of those senators who has said you will not sign on to a filibuster.

what would you say to those republicans who say that they will filibuster any kind of stronger gun control lieus? >> well, everybody's entitled to their own opinion, but i think there's no ambivalence on capitol hill as to the composition on guns. i think we're obligated to vote, and i intend to vote. rick: so an up or down vote is what you think should happen? >> that's correct. i'm not going to vote for a ban on weapons or a limitation on cartridges. i'll wait and see what they talk about on background checks, but that hasn't even been written yet. rick: johnny isakson from the state of georgia helping to organize the dinner between the president and republican senators tomorrow night at the white house. enjoy the dinner, we look forward to hearing what comes from it. >> thank you, rick. jenna: well, a dramatic attempt to rescue a 4-year-old child trapped at the bottom of a deep, deep hole, and it's way too small for rescuers to climb down. we'll tell you about what happened here. coming up. plus, nuclear north korea threatens to bring the entire region into war, and that's not all. why north korea is now growing,

is a growing political threat affecting countries not only in the region, but around the world. we'll tell you how coming up. >> we know that over the period of time that north korea goes through cycles of provocation, one of the things they rely on to fund their a ability to do what they do is through proliferation and movement of arms sales around the world. [ male announcer ] at his current pace, bob will retire when he's 153, which would be fine if bob were a vampire. but he's not. ♪ he's an architect with two kids and a mortgage. luckily, he found someone who gave him a fresh perspective on hisortfolio. and with some planning and effort,

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as well as they could because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. ♪ rick: a life saving rescue caught on camera. it happened in china where a 4-year-old girl playing at a construction site fell down a 55-foot well. she was so deep rescuers needed to lower an oxygen hose to get to her. the well was too narrow for some of their equipment, so they instructed her to slip her wrists through a knotted rope, and then they pulled her up. she was not hurt, but she did spend the night in the hospital just as a precaution. glad she's okay. jenna: back to one of our top

stories today, the top u.s. military commander in the pacific said that north korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons, well, they already have nuclear weapons, but their pursuit of what they're doing right now is a clear and direct threat to the united states and our allies in the region. that region a hotbed of emerging and established nuclear powers along with others eager to really join the nuclear club. north korea has been right there providing critical help for others and their nuclear programs, causing some mischief in the middle east. we've talked a little bit about this before, sharing nuclear plans with syria -- a proxy of iran -- and reportedly allowing iranian experts to observe their nuclear tests in north korea just a few weeks ago. this developing story in north korea is not just about one country, but about the region as a whole and our approach to it. and taking it one step further, one can also argue it's not just about the region, but the precedent it sets globally. joining us now, mark dubielewicz, executive director of the foundation for defense of

democracies, gordon chang, author of "nuclear showdown." an appropriate title, gordon, and we'll start with you. why is this story in north korea or recent weeks so significant for the region as a whole? >> it's not just north korea. this is also iran because iran and north korea have had joint missile and nuclear weapons development program, and behind all of them is china. of just a few hours ago people's daily, the communist party's flagship publication, issued a commentary severely attacking the united states. xi jinping said on sunday no one should be allowed to roil the region and even the world for selfish gain, and everybody interpreted that to be an attack on north korea. well, people's daily just a few hours ago made it clear that the remarks were directed against the united states, not against north korea. so this is not just one country, not just two countries, this is three countries; china, iran and

north korea. jenna: mark, what do you make of it? the significance of the story in north korea not only what it means for the region, but for other places like iran. >> well, jenna, i think that north korea is exhibit a about what happens when a rogue regime -- by the way, with a bankrupt economy and a bankrupt ideology -- gains nuclear weapons, advanced ballistic missile technology and threatens the united states, nettens the world -- threatens the world. if you don't like north korea, you're going to hate iran because iran is an energy superpower with an ideology that appeals to tens of millions of the world's faithful. and they are an aggressive power. they want to seek regional and global hegemonny. and so an iran that is dashing to an undetectable nuclear breakout in 15 months suggests we're going to be facing an even more profound national security challenge in the coming year. jenna: so if what we're witnessing right now, mark, is somehow a case study for what we

might see for rapp, what do we -- for iran, what do we do about it? >> well, we have to stop iran from developing nuclear weapons, there's no doubt about it. i mean, iran, again, in 15 months will have undetectable breakout. we've tried sanctions to put punishing economic pressure on this regime. it hasn't cracked the political will. we've had five rounds of diplomatic negotiations that have gone nowhere, and this regime seems uninterested in a deal and is learning from its north korean partner, as gordon said, that you can develop nuclear weapons, do so in an undetectable way, you can violate your obligations under the npt, and you'll get support from beijing as your closest ally. jenna: well, gordon, we've tried all that mark has just said with north korea. we tried paying north korea, we've now said we're not going to do certain missile tests because we don't want to provoke north korea. in many ways some could describe it as a policy of containment, just keeping north korea at bay so that they don't bother us.

how do we change that? how do we change this cycle of seeing north korea act out, engage other enemies and really disrupt the region? >> well, i think there are two things. first of all, south korea can close that industrial complex which has provided a lifeline of economic support to north korea. but more important, we need to talk to the chinese. we need to use our economic leverage and, basically, say to the chinese you can be friends with north korea, you can be friends with the united states but not both at the same time. a fragile chinese economy is now more reliant on the united states. that gives us leverage that we should be using. because if we don't use that, we know what's going to happen. north korea is going to end up with a fearsome nuclear arsenal, they're going to have long-range ballistic missiles, and every spring there's going to be a cuban missile crisis. jenna: mark, isn't china causing mischief in iran right now too with the sanctions? sounds like it's a problem with north korea, but you know what's going on in iran, what is china

doing with iran right now? >> well, china has been a country that has provided iran with parts and components for its nuclear program, for its ballistic missile program, state-owned chinese companies were years were assisting the iranians. now chinese middlemen are facilitating that proliferation-related trade. the chinese have resisted punishing sanctions from the u.n. security council, they've really tried to protect their iranian ally on whom they depend for a fairly large percentage of their oil imports. so i think, again, china's a problem in north korea, china's a problem in iran. the message to beijing has got to be you are helping other countries go nuclear, and if south korea and japan are going to go nuclear unless you solve the north korea problem, and saudi arabia and turkey and other middle eastern countries are going to go nuclear unless you solve the iranian problem. every one of these countries on a hair trigger and the potential for a nuclear holocaust. jenna: i have a quick final question for you, but we're

going to take a quick commercial break. well, two questions. one is if you solve the china problem, does north korea and iran problems go away? the second is a question from "the wall street journal" about whether or not in our history right now we are witnessing the greatest proliferation of the atomic age that we'll ever experience in a lifetime? some serious questions, we'll be right back after a commercial break with more. mine was earned in djibouti, africa, 2004. the battle of bataan, 1942. [ all ] fort benning, georgia, in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto-insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. [ female announcer ] from more efficient payments. ♪

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jenna: back with us, gordon chang and mark buick wits talking about north korea and iran. i'd like to start with this quote from "the wall street journal," a big editorial about what's happening in the world overall. the world can see the united states has acquiesced in north korea's weapons program and lacks the will to stop iran. it can see the u.s. is shrinking its own nuclear capacity through arms control even as a rogue

threat grows. above all, the world can hear mr. obama declare for domestic american audiences that the tide of war is receding despite the growing evidence of the contrary. on present trend, the president -- who promised to rid the world of nuclear weapons -- is setting the stage for their greatest proliferation since the dawn of the atomic age. now, iran and north korea have been a bipartisan problem for many administrations whether you're republican or democrat. the question is, how do we stop proliferation from happening? gordon, your thoughts first, and then mark, we'll get yours. >> i think the one thing that we've really got to do is to separate beijing from pyongyang. because china supplies them with 90% of their oil, 80% of the consumer goods, 45% of the food, most of that on concessionary terms. beijing is the only supporter of north korea now in international councils like the security council. and so i think that, clearly, we've got to get rid of china. to do that, though, we've got to have different policies because

the policies that we've employed since the beginning of the bush administration just clearly have not worked. we have tried to put china at the ender center of the global efforts to get north korea to disarm, and so clearly, north korea has not only during that time has not only gotten long-range ballistic missiles, but nuclear weapons as well. we have to use our economic leverage, and we have plenty of it. the people in washington, though, don't want to use it, and if we don't use it, it's just going to be disaster for everyone. jenna: mark? >> well, i think on the north korean side, i mean, i think the chinese, obviously, have been very close allies with north korea for years. i think what they are really concerned about is the potential for a nuclear-armed south korea and a pneumonia lahr-armed japan. i'm not suggesting we encourage proliferation in asia, but i think the japanese and the south koreans may make their own calculation that a nuclear-armed north korea so dangerous that they can't rely on a north american umbrella. i think on the middle eastern side with respect to iran, look, there's only one answer there. the answer is to stop iran from

achieving undetectable breakout capability and stop iran from developing an undetectable nuclear weapon. we've tried sanctions, we're trying diplomacy, we've got to massively intensify the pressure on this regime. but within about 6-8 months, that timing's beginning to run out. this president needs to send a message that he will use military force to blow up iran's nuclear weapons capability, and he needs to make that message clear and unambiguous. jenna: mark, gordon, great to have both of your thoughts today. thank you so much. >> thanks for having us, jenna. >> thank you. rick: fox news alert, and there has been a series of stabbings on the campus of lone star college in houston, texas. five people stabbed in the health science building. no information right now on the suspect, whether they have any kind of a description, whether that person is still on the loose. one of the victims, we're told, airlifted to a local hospital, two others being taken to other hospitals.

we'll have more on this as we get it. oh, he's a fighter alright.

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