>> gretchen: plus we're breaking down if it's worth it to buy a brand name or the generic store brand. plus national grilled cheese day. wow, from subs to grilled cheese. >> brian: i can't wait for tomorrow's show. >> steve: see you then. martha: neither can i. thank you guys. we start with a fox news alert because there are devastating storms out there. at least half a dozen reported tornados ripped through the midwest. look at this damage. 100 mile-an-hour winds ripping down trees, tearing down homes and power lines. look at that car. hazelwood, missouri got hit so hard that the governor declared a state of emergency. check out why. look at the st. louis arch. hit by lightning. gregg: at the very top. martha: wow, you don't see that every day. i'm martha maccallum. welcome to "america's newsroom". gregg: i'm gregg jarrett in for bill hemmer.

missouri jaf jay nixon will look at the severe damage. the threat of tornados extends from the ohio valley to the gulf coast. martha: we have complete fox coverage. maria molina is in the fox extreme weather center. kim hudson from fox affiliate ktti gives is the update from the ground. let's start with you, maria. >> good morning. i want to show you why we're looking at the risk for severe storms. ahead of the system we have warm temperatures. early this morning we're looking at temperatures in the 60s across georgia, alabama and the carolinas. that will help fuel thunderstorms. behind the front very cold air. between the two air masses that's where we expect the thunderstorms and severe weather to erupt as we headed later on today. yesterday we had 250 reports of severe weather from texas to louisiana all the way up into the northeast across parts of pennsylvania. areas of new jersey saw rough storms move on through through and very dangerous

lightning of course as well with some of the thunderstorms. two counties hit hard by tornados, six reported is one of them, van buren county in arkansas and another one, st. louis county in missouri. we have reports of damage to structures in both areas and tree branches coming down. there is the some of the damage from hazelwood, missuri. that in st. louis county. that is devastating news to the counties. we have storms from the eastern part of texas and louisiana all the way up into portions of the great lakes. a widespread area still dealing with heavy rain and thunderstorms. on the backside of this, we've been telling you the last couple days, significant snow associated with the storm system as well. anywhere to eight to 12 inches of snow could still fall today across places like minneapolis, across minnesota. winter storm warnings are in effect. gustings to 20 to 30 miles an hour have been reported. icing is another big concern. southeastern minnesota you

have an ice storm warning. about a third of an inch can fall. that is it dangerous on the roadways. a severe threat from parts of ohio to west virgina and parts of the florida panhandle and southeastern louisiana as well. new orleans a brand new tornado watch has been issued for the possibility of more tornadoes across parts of louisiana and also mississippi. martha: wow, big concerns with that. that's a busy weather map when you take a look at it and it is april. >> yes. martha: way too late in the season for the huge snowstorm like the northern plains is getting. maria, thank you very much. let's go to kim hudson from fox affiliate ktti. she has this report for us from the ground. >> reporter: here in the shenendoah valley elementary i will look behind me. part of the roof is lying on the ground. smaller pieces lying all over the parking lot. we did hear from district officials contractors said they can install a temporary roof structure to protect

the inside from anymore rain. right now the school is shut down because we hear that inside the carpets are soaked. wood pieces have fallen into several kindergarten and first grade classrooms. it looks like oatmeal all over the floor. we're hearing that from one of the district officials. they're meeting right now to decide exactly how long the school will be shut down. right now it is just not safe for any of the kids. if necessary they will move the kids to another part of the building or maybe to another building all together. gregg: our thanks to kim hudson from our fox affiliate ktti. arkansas also took a major hit. the dangerous storms walloping the homes there. a church, trucks flipped over. one truck driver describe harrowing ordeal when his semi flipped over during the storm. >> it was sitting there and all of sudden got real quite. then it started pouring down rain. suddenly it sounded literally like a freight train.

we saw the all the debris flying at it. some busted my window. the back of the truck was actually lifted. >> major damage. >> major damage. >> trees down. power lines down for about a mile. it will be a while before they get them put back together. >> dropping trees everywhere. pretty nuts. gregg: boy, look at all the wreckage. unbelievable. at least three injuries reported in arkansas although none are believed to be serious. that's amazing. crews from the national weather service will be fanning out across the state to look for signs of tornado damage. stay tuned we'll be following severe weather threats throughout the newscast. martha: let's go back to capitol hill now where there is some new reaction coming in on president obama's budget. you saw it rolled out in the big thick books yesterday. now we'll get reaction from the house budget committee. they're having a hearing. it is a $3.77 trillion

budget proposal. the acting director of the office of management and budget is slated to testify before those on the hill this morning. the president's plan calls for new spending t calls for more tax increases and proposed changes to entitlements. all of that getting attention especially folks like this man who had his hand on the budget and budget ideas for some time. that is paul ryan, the fiscal hawk. he proposed his own budget as you well know. it calls for more of the same what he has been talking about all along. he says this budget from president obama takes more from families though and spends more in washington and ignores our soaring debt. here he is last night with. greta: greta "on the record.". >> we have trillion dollar deficit. we have a got a debt crisis on the horizon and it is spending driven. what does the president propose? a one trillion dollar spending increase only to be eclipsed by $1.1 trillion

tax increase. the total deficit reduction in the 10-year budget. is $119 billion. oh the deficit deduction begins in 2020, four years after he left office. more of the same. take more from families. spend more in washington. ignore the deficit and the debt. so it is just not a very serious attempt to get ahold of our physical problems. that's what we see. martha: critical take on that from paul ryan. e mos from now we will get more input on this when we hear from the ranking member from the senate budget committee. at bam senator jeff sessionses joins us with his take on it. we'll see where it goes from here. gregg: as lawmakers do battle over the budget and the deficit wall street is soaring to new highs these days. both the s&p and the dow hitting record highs yesterday with the dow jumping nearly 130 points to finish the day at 14,802. that putting the dow up a whopping 13% on the year.

we're only really three months into the year. stu varney, anchor of "varney & company" on the fox business network. what goes up must go down eventually. >> hold your horses, gregg. gregg: i won't be the pessimist, i'm sorry. >> not today. first of all i will give you the jobs numbers. about 40 minutes ago we got news from the labor department the layoff trend eased up a bit last week. just 346,000 layoffs last week. that is still a very, have he high number. a slight improvement from the week before. it does not change the equation on wall street which is this. ben will keep on printing money. the whole world will keep on printing money. profits in american corporations remain strong. therefores as of this morning that opening bell rings in 22 minutes time the dow jones industrial average will go up again, not much. 10 points maybe. but it will go up. it's not going to be the big selloff at the opening bell today. up 10. gregg: you know, stu, the

more money you print, you and i have been talking about, the more money you print the risk of inflation down the road right? >> we haven't seen it so far, have we? gregg: why not. >> inflation in energy prices. gas prices are up. you have some inflation in food prices that's true but that is declines in prices elsewhere for technology for example. so far the much predicted jump in inflation because we're printing all this money, it has not happened. all this money printing has dropped your rate of return when you get a bank cd. what are you getting a quarter of a percent? you buy a 10-year government bond, you will get 1.77%. that's why people are flooding into the stock market. i can tell you a half dozen stocks which are going up in price and yield you 3, 4% dividend per year. >> i get half a percent just under my mattress. >> really? martha: that's a good trick. gregg: "varney & company". >> how did you do that? gregg: i'll tell you off the air. martha: we'll find out how

that works later from gregg. well, we are about to see the first court appearance of the couple who is accused of kidnapping their two sons and taking them on a boat to cuba. thankfully the cuban government cooperated in this instance. they sent them all back. joshua and share run hakken will appear in a florida court. they face charges of kidnapping and child neglect. the two boys are back living with their maternal grandmother who has custody of them. has for some time. josh hakken, the dad, imagine this scene for a moment, barging into the house, tying up the grandparents and kidnapping these two adorable little boys. what an ordeal they have been through. they are back now with grandma and grandpa. gregg: do you drink milk? martha: i do. gregg: i had half a quart already today. martha: really? gregg: yes. i'm worried there is shocking new report what could be added to milk very soon. what dairy farmers want to add that is leaving a sour

taste for many parents. concern for their kids's safety. martha: plus a very emotional moment, many of them, as we watch these parents from newtown as they appeared off of air force one the other day on capitol hill. it is a big issue and there's a big question about what's been seriously overlooked in the legislation in washington. gregg: and a harrowing scene when a gunman suddenly takes a group of first-responders hostage. they call a s.w.a.t. team. had to come in to save the day. we'll tell you all about it. >> she was screaming. he just, we were on the floor, so he just, you know, attached to me and just figures that was it.

martha: we are getting some new information now about the funeral plans for former british prime minister margaret thatcher. it will take place as we told you next wednesday. organizers we're learning have sent out about 2000

invitations to margaret thatcher's funeral. the guest list as you imagine include several former american presidents and former secretary of state hillary clinton. this will not be technically a state funeral but she will be buried with military honors. the service will be at st. paul's cathedral in london which you all remember is one of the most famous cathedrals in london where princess diana was married. it will be a huge wedding. gregg: president obama's budget getting a thumbs down from republicans calling for $800 billion in new taxes projecting a deficit of 97 billion which would drop to 744 billion by next year. the proposed spending for the fourth fourth fiscal year, an increase of 2.5% over the current year. president obama is trying to make this a bipartisan effort. >> when it comes to deficit reduction i already met

republicans more than halfway. so in the coming days and weeks i hope republicans will come forward and demonstrate that they're really as serious as serious about the deficits and debt as they claim to be. gregg: senator jeff sessionses joins us, ranking republican on the budget committee. senator, good to see you. >> good morning. gregg: the republican side of your committee examinedded the president's proposal and concluded once all the gimmicks are removed the truth of the matter is as follows. we'll put it up on the board. 1.1 trillion in new taxes. 8.2 trillion in new debt. 964 billion in a new spending, and a scant, the important number, 59 billion in actually deficit reduction. is the president here through thinks budget saying, i want to grow government and i want the private sector to pay for it? >> absolutely. that is what they're saying. what they're really saying

is that they're going to produce a clearly, they are producing a tax-and-spend budget. they raise taxes by 1.1 trillion and raise spending almost exactly the same amount. it's tax-and-spend. while they claim they reduced the deficit 1.8 trillion, that is total false. that is totally false. it is just amazing to me that government officials and persist in misrepresenting this budget to the degree that they have and it makes it so difficult to even communicate when you get down to reaching some sort of progress on the challenges we face. gregg: but you heard the president, senator, yesterday standing there in the rose garden. i will quote him. my budget will reduce our deficits by nearly $2 trillion. you disagree. you say that it is really a tiny fraction of that. do you think the president is being dishonest and deceptive? >> they have consistently, for a long period of years now, totally misrepresented

the impact much their budget. it is breathtaking in its inaccuracy. it is just amazing to me. i think the press, mainstream press should do a better job of digging into the numbers. this is a major tax increase. they claim they have a balanced plan. they suggest that raising taxes and cutting spending the same amount. but what they're really doing is raising taxes and racing spending the same amount. this is no way to alter of the debt course we're on which is unsustainable and it is just very difficult to deal with that situation. gregg: the president's plan never balances the budget but it does raise the debt to $25.4 trillion in 10 years. is that very close to the so-called, danger zone of 90% of gdp and what does that do to economic growth and jobs? >> so important a question you just asked.

we are really as a gross debt number today at 104% of gdp. over 10 years their budget remains well over 90%. that number, the figure you're talking about. three different studies out of europe, the international monetary fund, the european central bank have all indicated when debt reaches this high a level as we have in the united states, growth slows. and you're seeing that, our growth is way below what we expected to be having now. there is no doubt in my mind that this large debt that we're not dealing with, is pulling down growth, costing jobs for americans, costing pay raises, costing bonuses. costing overtime for people right now. and we've got to get out of this path. gregg: the president is holding out an olive branch, he says. i'm willing to cut entitlements. he is offering to alter the cost of living measurement for social security.

is that simply a small shifting or correction, or is that genuine, meaningful reform? >> it is one of the things that have been discussed about how to fix our entitlement programs but it is nothing like a comprehensive, serious review of our entitlement programs that would put them on a sound, long-term path. so it certainly is something that has been discussed and would be part of a but it is disappointing we don't have proposals from the chief executive that could actually help us get those programs on a sound path. gregg: very quickly, senator, i'm out of time, but does this budget move congress closer to a grand bargain or away from it? >> i don't think it gets us any closer. i think it is very disappointing much the fact that they persist in misrepresenting what they proposed makes it even more difficult unfortunately. i wish it weren't so. we do need to reach an agreement. maybe that can happen. i don't dismiss it.

but this is not an advancement in my opinion. gregg: senator jeff sessionses, ranking member of the budget committee on the senate side. thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. martha: well, coming up it is the centerpiece of president obama's health care overhaul. we're now learning new details about it, including more changes and what it could mean for how you will pay for your health care. stick around. gregg: and fighting for his life, armed with just a baseball bat but up against a robber with a gun. how it ended. martha: wow! this is $100,000. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much. i appreciate it. i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money? if your bank takes more money than a stranger,

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gregg: the united states taking action from the latest outbreak of bird flu racing to make a vaccine. nine people have already

killed. chinese officials released the genetic sequence of h7n9 as it is known. at this point people don't appear to be infebruarying one another at least not in large numbers. martha: what a story this was. there with new details on the daring s.w.a.t. team raid that did end up freeing a group of firefighters who were being held hostage in a georgia home. just imagine the image inside that home. gunman and what might have been his motive during this standoff. jonathan serrie joins us in sue juan knee, georgia, just out of atlanta. what are we learning why he would do this? >> reporter: good morning, martha. the house behind me was in foreclosure. the man living here was upset his utilities were being turned off. yesterday witnesses saw a comcast cable van racing to the scene. this apparently to acquiesce to one of the suspect's

demands, his cable tv be restored. but as negotiations continued, police became concerned that those firefighter hostages, those four hostages still inside the house were in imminent danger. that is when they sent the s.w.a.t. team in, martha. martha: some first-responders were injured during all of this. how are they doing right now? >> reporter: yeah, in fact, just to show what you they underwent, i'm going to step away from the camera and let's zoom into the side of the house. the damage you see to the side of this house was caused by those explosions the s.w.a.t. team set off to stun the suspect in inside as they went in. the four fight are firefighters still inside the house at the time, suffered what police are describing as superficial wound, some minor cuts and bruises. the one of the swat officers who gained entry into the house was shot apparently either in the hand or in the arm. he is said to be in good condition today. those firefighters also

recovering. it is certainly could have been a lot worse. martha? martha: boy, it sure could have been. the gunman was killed as you say. thankfully the firefighters look like they will be okay. jonathan, thank you very much. gregg: an invasion of your privacy. the government agency that says, it can read your texts and e-mails, no questions asked. is that going too far? we'll talk about it. martha: and a democratic senator from a pro-second amendment state breaking down after a meeting with the newtown families. now he and a republican colleague have put together a deal that they think could help situations like that. >> this amendment is a genuine compromise. in addition to expanding background check it is includes a number of measures to that help secure second amendment rights of gun owners. >> understand this is common sense. this is gun sense. we're not infringing on their rights as an individual citizen. with angie's list, i save time, money, and i avoid frustration.

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gregg: some new jobs numbers just in showing 346,000 americans applied for first time unemployment benefits but the job market is particularly tough for recent college grads. many are now being forced to settle for low-paying gigs. others are dropping out of the workforce entirely. and concerns their financial struggles could have a ripple effect on the economy for years to come. peter doocy has more from washington. peter, explain why the lack of jobs for young people

hurts workers of all ages? >> reporter: gregg, it hurts young people because they get a late start on adulthood. no job means no money to buy things and that is what hurts everyone. >> you're saying to this generation, you're going to be years behind where you should be and that forces young people to delay getting married. delay buying a house. delay buying a car. and, as we know, those are some big drivers of the economy. >> reporter: right now the unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds, 16.2%. it is more than double the overall 7.7% rate. i spoke this week with evan mccann who graduated from iowa state four months ago. he wakes up 7:30 in the morn every day to send out resume's. 500 applications submitted on linkedin. zero job offers. only a fraction of employers write him back and ones he

do he lacks experience. >> a lot of them say they're looking for people with more experience. entry level positions. recent college graduate, you know, this would be, kind of right up my alley. >> reporter: the real problem evan has it is hard to get experience those employers say they need without any entry level jobs. gregg: catch-22. how do i get experience unless you give me a job. how long will it take for the young people to find jobs, any way to know? >> reporter: it is hard to put a precise date on it, gregg, the jobs for young people will start coming back when older people stay in the jobs longer than they wanted because their nest eggs were crushed finally retire. >> the baby boomers will retire. at some point a major chunk of workforce retiring that will open up a lot of jobs for youth. if that is delayed, that will create a problem. at some point baby boomers will retire. the real issue is what

happens in the meantime, how far behind will people get in their careers? >> reporter: economists say grads who find themselves long-term unemployed out of school have lower lifetime earnings on average. that's another problem. gregg? gregg: peter doocy, live in washington. peter, thanks. martha: something to pay attention to. the irs is now claiming that agents can legally access your personal e-mail, also texts and other private forms of tron trick communication without a warrant according to some documents that have just been rerevealed. i'm joined by doug schoen, former pollster for president clinton and monica crowley. radio talk show host. both would be happy to share their e-mails with the irs, right, guys. >> right on, martha. >> we've gotten used to the idea that we have almost no privacy. you try not putting anything into an e-mail you wouldn't want someone to read. this is real interesting.

the aclu submitted a freedom of information request and they received documents and manuals from the irs which basically claim that the irs says that they believe that they have the right to go through e-mails. there was a case, united states versus warshak, which basically threw out e-mail evidence in an irs case and you can't use it. but now the big question, monica, i want to explain it all up front, whether or not they're actually adhering that case and whether it applies to the 6th district court and not other places, right? >> right. it is interesting that the aclu filed this because they're invoking fourth amendment protections. the fourth amendment guaranties protection against illegal search and seizure. what they're saying this is actually an illegal search performed by any government agency. in this case you have got the irs which is the most feared government agency in america, now there is another reason to fear them. according to their handbooks, as recently as 2010 they're saying you know what?

according to the electronics communications privacy act of 1986 all we need is a subpoena issued without a judge's approval. we don't need a warrant to go in and look at these private communications. you don't have a reasonable expectations on privacy on your e-mails. the aclu and other privacy groups are saying, wait a minute, whether it is the irs or any other government agency that actually not true and it is unconstitutional. martha: doug, people send e-mails to their tax attorneys. people who are advising them on issues. so these, according to the irs, at least from what we're seeing here, could be obtained from them with a subpoena? >> martha, this is bone-chilling. one of the things i do, others do, is to ask my tax lawyer, my accountant, how should i handle something? how should i treat it? should i take a risk? should i not take a risk. i say this in context. i paid my taxes. i always do. martha: we want to get that up front. no red flags here at all. >> it is absolutely the case

as monica said the right to privacy should be absolute. particularly without some government or judicial intervention and the fact that your private communications can be read, it is more than bone-chilling. martha: when you think about it, monica, this goes back to as you pointed out a 1986 law on electronic communications. boy, 1986, cell phones were the size of a shoe box in 1986. so much has changed. you think about the constitution and laws you want to stay the same in many ways or be reinterpreted to some extent over time but the whole world has changed in this regard since 1986. >> that's right. we're living in a completely different world. as you mentioned, martha, there are some, there are some areas where you don't have a reasonable expectation for privacy. for example, social media, on twitter, if you're on facebook. the irs can probably go in and look at that because it's public to some extent. but e-mails are a digital

form of snail mail. and when you get snail mail you do have an expectations of privacy. your mail is actually protected by federal law. people can't just open your mail. e-mail at least should be the same accorded, afforded the same protections yet in this case it's not. what is interesting, martha, lawmakers in both congress and the senate are now working on legislation to protect your e-mails and give them the same protections of snail mail. martha: definitely an area we need to have a little bit more of the law laid down and things to be much more clear. doug, we talk about how the poor post office is having trouble. maybe people will resort to snail mail with some communications they want to remain private. it may be good news for the post office. >> it may be good news for the post office but all this is bad news for ordinary law-abiding citizens because you want to feel you can have private confidential communications not only lawyers and accountants and friend and colleagues without fears you will be

intercepted of the right now you can't have that presumption. >> martha, i got an e-mail from my accountant telling me how much i know on monday, april 15th, i issued a string of expletives in that e-mail. what, are you kidding me? martha: we all have had similar feelings going over the documents. >> apparently the irs can see my horror now. martha: unbelievable. monica, doug, thank you very much. >> thanks. martha: take care. we'll see you soon. gregg: new details just coming out about the president's health care law. remember this? >> we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it away from the fog of the controversy. gregg: yeah, perhaps most famous quote ever on capitol hill. and that is saying something. more than three years later, what we're now learning what could cost you a whole lot more. martha: and armed robbers get a little bit more than they bargained more from this man who yields a pretty good bat there.

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martha: well a store owner protects himself with just a bat against a robber who had a gun. look at this. one robber opened fire, hitting the store owner and his partner. and then the owner pulled out a baseball bat and started swinging. look at this guy. he has beguns in his hand and swinging at him with a baseball bat. apparently he did have injuries, the store owner will be okay. expects to be back behind the counter soon. he would not let the guys take over the store. the robbers, bad guys, unfortunately still out there. keep a watch out for those guys. gregg: amazing sticker shock over the president's health care plan. insurance exchanges, the center piece of the president's health care law, costing way, way more than a originally expected. that is according to documents released by the

department of health and human services. hhs expects to spend nearly $4.5 billion on exchange grants to states by the end of this year. and guess what? that is double the estimates a year ago. the department also asking for another 1.5 billion to set up a federal exchange in 26 states. out of that, $800 million is for operational costs. 550 million for outreach and education. let's bring in the "weekly standard"'s and fox news contributor steve hayes. steve, cost overruns in washington are endemic. i mean, you know, they're famous but you could see this coming a mile away, couldn't you? >> i mean not only was this predictable it was actually predicted. a number of people and critics, skeptics of the president's health care reform who have said from the beginning this would cost a lot more than the president suggested it was because at the end of the day you can't cover 30 million more people, provide

better coverage and better care, and reduce costs. it is just not going to happen. gregg: but the most surprised person in washington apparently is health secretary kathleen sebelius. who a couple days ago over at harvard, gosh, she underestimated the complexity of obamacare. here is more of what she said. take a listen. >> there was some hope that once the supreme court ruled in july and then once an election occurred, there would be a sense of, this is the law of the land, let's get on board, let's make this work and yet we find ourselves still having, sort of state by state political battles. gregg: are you astonished that she seemed to be surprised by all of this? >> surprised by it and in effect blaming republicans today who are still warning against it. ironic as we're seeing hhs having to raise its cost projections she is complaining about republicans who are opposed

to law as these republican concerns from the get-go seem to have been validated by these concerns. what is really interesting the extent to which what a lot of the critics and skeptics said beforehand has become conventional wisdom, is reported as facts today. i will read you this sentence from "bloomberg news" wire in a story about this. the $1.3 trillion health care system overhaul is getting more expensive and will accomplish less than intend. that is a straight news story saying what republicans were saying before the law was passed. gregg: the president said that the obamacare would bend the cost curve in conceivable way for consumers. sebelius says obamacare is driving up premiums. i mentioned it yesterday but say it again. unitedhealthcare said the increase could be 116%. that utterly bee i loos the president's promise, doesn't it? >> yeah, it sure does. one of several broken

promises we're already seeing. president said if you like the health insurance you can keep it. won't be any change in the status between your relationship between your doctor. you can tick down and look at number of things skeptics raised as warnings about obamacare and the difficulty of implementing something so complex as takeover in effect of 1/6 of the u.s. economy. they're all lining up as things the administration is having to answer for today. gregg: when you suddenly add 30,000 people to insurance and health care you've got a doctor shortage. the latest estimate. 63,000 doctors by 2015. that is a shortage. and a shortage of 140,000 doctors by 2025. does that mean that the quality and access to health care is going to go way down? >> look, i don't think there is any question that the quality and access to care is going to go down. if you look at the president's budget, yesterday one of the things he tried to do, in an effort

to further save costs is, ratchet down the price controls. bring down the vice from washington top down, command style attempts to cut payments to providers and hospitals and insurance companies and others in a way that will, i think necessarily mean that you see more providers leaving the market. they don't want to deal with this. gregg: a lot of them are just quitting. >> right. gregg: steve hayes, good to see you as always. >> thanks, gregg. martha: boy, we've got some brand new pictures that just have come into the newsroom from the severe damage that is happening from the weather out in the midwest. we'll show you these on the other side of the break. there are new concerns about what some farmers want to put in your milk. this is very controversial. stick around.

martha: boy, we are getting some incredible images in from missouri. this home just outside of st. louis. watch this. >> there watching the television. i heard the weather start kegging up and the wind. i walked over to the door and looked out my front door and, i just see, you could see the wind and feeling it coming. i shut the door and started walking this way. i got about right where he is now and everything just went and it threw me into there in the kitchen against that wall. martha: wow he is lucky to be alive. that just literally ripped his home apart. he thought he could close the door avoid that storm. and no. we have tornado watch boxes coming up on this screen. this is a very serious storm system. so stick around. we'll give you an update where you need to be concerned about this coming up but there's the watch box as it exists right now.

more on that coming up. gregg: right now to a dispute over something that most of us drink each and every day. the dairy industry is looking to add aspartame to milk without putting it on the label there. but that doesn't sit well with organic farmers or advocacy groups. douglas kennedy is here with more on this hi, doug. >> reporter: gregg, you and martha are telling your kids they have to drink their milk and most people argue it is good for kids to drink milk but should the dairy industry be able to hide what is in their milk in order to get more kids to drink it? one farmer we talked to in new york says no. rick is a dairy farmer in new york's hudson valley. he says he needs to know what's in his food before he eats it. that's why you're an all natural farmer. you want your food as natural as possible? >> i want my food personally as all natural as possible. we pride ourselves trying to

make the foods legible. >> reporter: that is driving his outrage over a new proposal from the dairy industry. nonorganic milk makers are asking the food and drug administration to discard labeling requirements when they add aspartame to milk. currently if a dairy wants to add an artificial sweetener they have to warn consumers. >> true not only artificial sweetener, any ingredient at all has to be prominently displayed on the packaging. aspartame is a known carcinogen. leave the milk alone. >> reporter: a sentiment being expressed by consumer groups across the country who inundated the fda with complaints about the proposal including this petition which already has over 100,000 signatures. the dairy industry says it is just trying to encourage more children to drink milk. >> milk is a wonderful nutritious beverage. >> reporter: she is from the international dairy foods association.

>> kids can be skeptical if there is labels such as diet milk, reduced calorie milk, no sugar milk. >> reporter: dairy industry says more kids will drink milk if there are no labels on it. what do you say to that. >> seems ludicrous to me. seems an attempt by someone to hoodwink somebody else. >> reporter: he says people should know what is in their food, gregg, so they can decide whether to eat it or not. pretty good a vice i think. gregg: absolutely. i always look at labels all the time to see what is in it. >> reporter: especially aspartame. my goodness. martha: that is amazing. douglas, thank you very much. aspartame as we talk about one of the most common artificial sweeteners out there. it is sold under brand nutrasweet and equal. it is used in breath mints, iced tea. critics question whether it is safe. claims that it causes headaches, die guess tiff

issues and. no findings it is harmful to your health. research into its safety is continuing. as some people believe it is a carcinogen. you can make up your own mind to decide whether or not you want to have it. gregg: absolutely. we have the key vote that could make-or-break the sweeping gun control measures on capitol hill. when can we expect the vote to actually happen we're following. martha: plus the president's budget. have you finished reading it. gregg: just like a novel. martha: got a bit of a thumbs down from the critics out there. what was said across the dinner table at the white house last night? we'll talk to senator john thune. we'll ask him whether it was chilly or warm in there when they broke bread on pennsylvania avenue. >> the house republicans budget will balance in 10 years. so we'll stop borrowing. at the end of 10 years, just the debt of what we're going to pay every year will be more than $700 billion.

that is what you're going to be paying. and that is absurd. how can you ever solve a problem?

martha: on on the hill this morning we are awaiting a crucial volt in the senate, one that could determine the future of gun legislation, but more than a dozen republicans have threatened to filibuster any debate, although there has been some backing off on that idea. we're going to get you up-to-date. welcome, everybody, to "america's newsroom." we're or glad you're with us, i'm martha mccall lumbar. gregg: and i'm gregg jarrett in for bill hemmer. among the proposals is the measure for mandatory background checks and tougher penalties for illegal weapons sales. martha: chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel joins us from capitol hill. mike, we understand that things are moving there. what's next ahead of this vote? >> reporter: well, martha, right now the two connecticut

senators, chris murphy and senator presumen that would are exprerlting support for this bipartisan measure between joe manchin and pat toomey, democrat and republican, on expanded background checks. both murphy and blumenthal from connecticut are calling on their colleagues to remember the victims of the newtown school shooting december 14th. those behind this measure are saying they believe it makes sense, and they're talking about the impact of hearing from those newtown families. >> there's no fantasy in here, and i share joe's experience separately. meeting with the families, i was amazed at their strength. and they understand there is no panacea. but a measure that helps to make it harder for violent criminals and the dangerously mentally ill to get guns, i think that's just common sense. >> reporter: now, moments ago senate republican leader mitch mcconnell called this measure an overreach that will punish neighbors, friends and family. and so he says he will oppose

this critical procedural vote. martha? martha: interesting. so no doubt the nra is not happy with any of this, right, mike? >> reporter: well, that's right. and i am told that they were consulted throughout the process. they were a part of the discussions with senators toomey and manchin, but they call this effort misguided. and chris cox in a letter to senators wrote, quote: as we have noted priestly, expanding welcomed checks -- become checks will not reduce violent crime or keep our kids safe in their schools. it's expected this will clear the procedural hurdle, but still a long way to go for gun control on capitol hill. martha: both manchin and toomey have a high rating with the nra, and that's one of the reasons this has gotten credible attention in terms of where it goes. mike, thank you so much. >> reporter: thank you. gregg: one of the central sticking points, of course, is on background checks. a record 19.5 million background checks were actually performed in 2012, that's nearly three

million more than the previous year. last december, well, that set a record for the most background checks in any month, 2.7 million. and according to the latest fox news poll, 85% of americans approve of background checks on all gun buyers. martha? martha: while the debate continues at the federal level, several states have already passed their own restrictions including connecticut. one gun maker has decided to leave the state because of it. ptr industries explaining in this statement, quote: martha: the vice president for public policy at the national council for community behavior health care is going to talk about the whole mental health part of this picture. a huge question that has been really left off the table. gregg: north korea reportedly ready to fire, saying their

launchers are in position, missiles are facing skyward. david piper is streaming live from seoul, south korea, just 30 miles from the north korean border. could this test launch come at any time? >> reporter: hi, gregg, yes. well, there's a report coming out of japan now, i'm quoting a japanese official, as saying one of these missiles has been put into the launch position. no other confirmation at this time, but we do understand they did move two of these missiles to the east coast over the last few days. and from what they're saying out of japan, firing this missile could happen at any time. also a news radio came on north korean tv a short time ago talking about war, not about a missile test. gregg? gregg: what's being done to try to diffuse the crisis? >> reporter: the focus is on that g8 foreign ministers' meeting in which secretary of state john kerry is attending. they've issued a state urging

north korea not to do anything more to provoke the situation here. no response from north korea as yet from that. and john kerry will be arriving in seoul tomorrow for talks with the korean politicians. perhaps most importantly, he will be heading to beijing later in the week to talk to the chinese leadership because they, perhaps, are the ear of the pyongyang still. back to you, gregg. gregg: approaching midnight there in south korea. david piper streaming live, thanks. martha: as you just saw, david piper is in seoul, south korea, where psi is very different. in south korea life expectancy is 81 years. in north korea it is just 69 years. and in the south 100% of the country has electricity, in the north just 26% have any form of electricity. it is a dark nation in so many ways, and in south korea 81% of the country has internet access. this is a huge issue. imagine what would happen in

north korea if they had internet access which they have none of right now. ♪ ♪ martha: back to capitol hill now where there is yet another battle going on, and this one is about the immigration bill. republican lawmakers have raised concerns about why they say there's only one hearing, democrats say there have been several hearings on the issue, but this is an 1100-page plan that could provide a path to citizenship for up to 11 million undocumented immigrants. this is the latest sort of outdry from republicans this morning is that it's a big bill, and we've barely had a chance to look at it and figure out what we like, what we don't like. >> yeah, that's what they're saying. you know, senator sessions of alabama and senator are leading the charge on the costs of this bill. they're saying they don't know what the costs might be. and i'm not sure how well this is going to play with the public, martha.

this is, basically, an argument over washington procedurallism which usually makes most people's eyes glaze over. the issue in the center of this, of course, is immigration. are we going to resolve the immigration problem for which they have not been able to pass a bill in years? and i think the republicans are, it seems to us, getting themselves on the wrong side of this not so much on the substance, but on the politics right now, martha. last week these senators -- the premise, of course, here is this bill does not exist. there is nothing to look at yet. some of us would love to see the details of the immigration bill. doesn't exist. last week the republicans said they would filibuster any bill meaning they would filibuster a bill that doesn't exist. now they're asking for cost estimates for a bill that does not exist. it strike us that they're, basically, charging into the democrats fixed bayonets, and they're going to allow president obama to say the gop is once again being obstructionist on a serious issue that the american people want to resolve. again, i'm not saying that

they're wrong on the substance of the details of this, they're just wrong on the politics at the moment. martha: we know the group of eight senators have been trying to get together and come forward with something on this. i think marco rubio, in ways as a potential presidential ca who speaks out on these issues a lot is somebody everybody looks to. where is he on this issue? does he like this bill? what are you learning? >> well, he's trying to forge a bill that he thinks can be passed. and i think, essentially, what senator rubio's trying to do is get the issue of immigration behind the republican party. i mean, looming beneath all this is hispanic demographics. i think it's clear that they did not vote for mitt romney in the last election. "the wall street journal" had an interesting article this week about texas, a solidly republican state, whose hispanic population suggests that sooner than later texas could be going democrat if those hispanics continue to vote for democratic candidates.

and that's the problem that i think senator rubio's trying to resolve and the one that the rest of the party has to come to grips with. martha: we'll see if his leadership on the issue can pull the rest of the folks along. dan, thank you very much. great to talk to you. gregg: a little context now on illegal immigration in the u.s. according to the most recent data in 2011, there's an estimated 11.1 million undocumented immigrants living right here in the u.s. nearly 400,000 for removed that same year. immigration and customs enforcement says that's the most in the agency's history. in 2012 our government spent about $18 billion on immigration enforcement, that's more than the combined budgets of fbi, the atf, dea and the secret service. martha: well, there was a big dinner last night at the people's house. you were not invited, of course, neither was i, but there were several republican senators who sat down for dinner. this just a week after the president suggested the only way he can get anything done is, he

sort of said, gee, wouldn't things be a lot easier if nancy pelosi was speaker of the house? he is sitting down with republicans and trying to get consensus. senator john thune was at the dinner, and he will join us live to tell us what it was like in there. plus -- >> all of a sudden you couldn't see nothing, and then all of a sudden i just started spinning out of control for a long time, and then all of a sudden it just stopped. and then i, you know, all i could do was pray and ask the lord to, you know, not let me die. gregg: devastating storms tearing through the midwest. tornadoes flipping trucks, destroying homes. and more could be on the way. we're going to have brand new video of the damage, an eyewitness reaction -- and remember? [gunfire] martha: that is the scare yes,

sir video, and her scream. wouldn't you hear that? the meteor over the russian skies. look at these pictures. unbelievable. nasa says they're working on a plan to capture the next space object that flies by. good luck with that. we'll tell you how they're going to do it. we'll be right back. man: the charcoal went out already? ... forget it. vo: there's more barbeque time in every bag of kingsford original charcoal. kingsford. slow down and grill. we are outta here! finding you the perfect place. hotels.com.

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gregg: all right, take a look at this. new images just coming into us from outside st. louis. a possible series of tornadoes literally blew apart some homes across the midwest. the storm there with snow and ice and incredibly high winds just knocking out power to tens of thousands of people, and you can see why. look at all the downed trees, downed limbs. lots of folks lost their homes. take a listen. >> we got, you know, into the front basement part of our house, and, i mean, things just sounded like they just let loose up above us. things were hitting the house, and it was like a train was going over us, and it lasted

like a couple minutes, and then it was dope. gregg: boy, that's all it took to destroy a lot of homes and businesses. there it is, the storm system heading to louisiana where there are storm watches. there's the red box, you can see it in effect. we'll keep you updated. martha: all right. well, the senate is now preparing for a key test vote on the issue of gun control this morning. there's two prominent pro-gun state senators, they're from pro-gun states, i should say, they are national senators, and they're working to nail down a bipartisan deal, joe manchin and pat toomey. one is west virginia democrat, joe manchin, he became very emotional during a meeting, and who wouldn't, with the sandy hook families. watch some of this. >> [inaudible] but i can ayou, we're protecting the rights of law-abiding

governors the same as we're trying to prevent people who are capable of having a gun. he does both. martha: he said, i'm a dad, i'm a grandfather, and he was or very emotional, as you saw there, but would this legislation -- here's the key question, folks -- would it do enough to stop tragedies like the ones in newtown, virginia tech, aurora and tucson, all of which had a huge mental health component that we do not hear much about in all of this discussion? i'm joined now by tuck who is the vice president for public policy for behavioral health care and dr. daniel borer, good to have you here. i want to get light to it. let me start with you, chuck. is there anything in this bill that would stop any of those young killers from carrying out what they did? >> unfortunately, probably only just one of them, the virginia tech shooting was the only one that would have been caught by a

background check. none of the other individuals involved in these violent killings would have been triggered in the gun check system. they had not been adjudicated to a mental institution, yet perhaps likely that they could have used mental health services. and i think that's what's missing from this debate, is a little discussion about how decimated our health system has become and its inability to serve folks like these killers. martha: you know, i keep thinking you have to connect the dots. i mean, we heard senator toomey say we don't want people who are violently mentally disturbed to be able to get their hands on guns, and he feels that's part of what they're doing. but you need to connect the dots, say this person has expressed an interest in killing people, they need to be on a list. it's very touchy. let's pull up for a moment. dr. keith ablow, who's going to join us most likely tomorrow, wrote an amazing piece this morning that everybody should

read x. he says: martha: doctor, do you agree? >> well, you know, this is obviously a very complicated issue. the fact is that only 4% of homicides are committed by people with mental illness. what we immediate to be looking at are specifically the dangerously mentally ill, those with disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar. if you look at these shootings, what they all have in common were they were all committed by sort of this paranoid loner type who had an axe to grind with society. and this had been going on for a while. we need people to be more aware of this and act before it's too late. martha: so how do you do that, chuck?

do you develop a database that a psychologist or a psychiatrist who's licensed can say i recommend this person not be allowed to purchase a gun? is that what you do? >> no. i think picking up on what the doctor said is that what we need to be able to do is identify these people earlier and intervene, get them into treatment. and i think one of the issues that dr. ablow raised was that there is insufficient capacity in community mental health right now to identify and treat these people. and that's why there is a bipartisan kind of effort on capitol hill to wild community capacity -- build community capacity led by senators stab now and blunt -- senators stabenow and blunt. martha: is there any legislation that really directly goes after the mental health piece of this discussion, and there isn't. they've sort of, you know,'s eshoo t these two plans.

they want to separate it in order to pass it. doctor, what about you? would you be in face-to-face of a database that doctors could register, you know, people who they feel it would not be safe to allow to have a gun? is that a possibility, or is there a better way to do it? >> well, you know, you always have to balance privacy rights with public safety. but unfortunately, i think we're at a point in our society now where we do need some sort of database that red flags these people who have a higher potential of violence. as a field, you know, psychiatry, we're not very good at predicting future violence. but we do know that people with certain types of disorders have a greater propensity for violence. martha: chuck, last word on this, you know, because the gentleman that we showed in those pictures, and i guess i use that term loosely, but they were, obviously, all mentally disturbed, nothing in this new legislation, just to book end, would stop any one of them from walking in they got a background check, would anything pick up

their mental history as it stands right now? >> it wouldn't. and i think the problem is we're not very good at predicting who will be violent. but we do know that people experiencing psychosis who aren't treated, that's the group we need to target. and we need to target them with education so families recognize the signs and symptoms and then the capacity to actually get them into adequate care. martha: great discussion. i hope people are listening out there to you folks. doctor, thank you very much. chuck, thanks for your time as well. we'll have more coming up later in the week. >> thank you. gregg: the judge making a preliminary ruling sort of impacting the case of the foxnews.com reporter who is facing jail time for sticking to her principles. why the judge decided not to decide yet. martha: and nasa is tackling an unprecedented technological feat, how they plan to go after asteroids, knock them out of the sky and save us from disaster. gregg: come on.

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martha: it's a battle over freedom of te press, and for now a foxnews.com reporter will not go to jail, at least for now. a colorado judge has delayed his decision on whether fox's jana winter will be forced to name the confidential source in her news-breaking reporting on last summer's movie theater massacre which are reported that the suspected gunman had drawn pictures in a notebook of a mass shooting and sent them to a sigh chi right before the attack. it was a big development in that story. the suspect's defense team is claiming that that news-breaking story violated the suspect's

right to a fair trial. we will, of course, stay on top of this. that's the latest for now. gregg: real life space cowboys. nasa wants to lasso an asteroid. i'm not kidding here. the details coming out when it proposed its 2014 budget yesterday. take a look at this animation showing their newest mission to capture a space rock hurtling through the solar system. wow. kind of put a shroud arnold -- around it. corey powell is with discover magazine. good to see you. strikes me as incredibly risky here. can it be done? >> >> well, there have been studies about in this, there's a lot of theory about this. we don't really know if it can be done. this is probably the most visionary thing that nasa has proposed in the last decade, maybe even two decades, of really pushing the boundaries of what technology can do. you saw the animation, we've got an idea you basically put a giant glad bag around it, strap a rocket to it, stop the

asteroid from spinning and bringing it back toward the earth. gregg: sure. >> you know, all the pieces of those technologies exist at least in principle, but actually doing it, phenomenally difficult. gregg: it was also use a solar electric propulsion system. >> right. and that's also a very interesting technology. that technology actually exists. we have a couple of spacecraft that use it, a number of commercial satellites use it. we've never used it to do anything like this. it gets rid of chemical rockets, sort of the big, fire-breathing rocket that took us to the moon, and instead it uses a very, very slow, steady thrust using solar energy turning it directly into propulsion. it's a very efficient way to go. gregg: in addition to, obviously, avoiding catastrophe, an impact with earth, could this also help us learn about the universe? >> well, yes, i mean, that's the other exciting part. it's a very pragmatic thing which is you don't want to get hit by a space rock, but these small asteroids, these are

leftover pieces from the formation of the solar system, the lego blocks. if you could study it in detail, we would learn all kinds of things about our own origin, about where the earth and the rest of the solar system came from. gregg: fascinating. corey powell, always good to see you. thank you so much. martha: new concerns that al-qaeda may be playing a bigger role in the carnage in syria. so will this prompt the u.s. and others to act? the lawmakers today grilling our intel sources. we're going to tell you what we're learning about that. gregg: and north korea moving missile launchers to the coast. possibly preparing for a test launch. we're watching it. putting our pacific allies within distance. what this move could mean for the region, we'll tell you about it coming up. [ male announcer ] there are only so many foods

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martha: all right, breaking news right now. this is a live shot, that is senator mike rogers of the intel committee. they are grilling our intelligence leaders, and moments ago the dni, james clapper, said that he does believe that syria's leader assad has just numbered days. he said we don't know what that number is, though, which puts us kind of in the boat we've been in for some time in many ways.

just yesterday the leading syrian opposition group pledged its allegiance to al-qaeda in iraq. that has raised a lot of new concerns about what's going on. catherine herridge has been monitoring all of these proceedings this morning, of course, and she joining us now. what are we expecting today in there? >> reporter: only twice a year the intelligence officials laying out public the current and emerging threats so that congress can set the budget priorities for the 16 intelligence agencies as well as the fbi. the witnesses will be pressed on this week's confirmation, the leading opposition group whose fighters are considered to be the most seasoned in syria, is a fully-owned and operated subsidiary of al-qaeda in iraq. and on the eve of the hearing, the state department attempted to downplay the connection as old news. >> the link between al-qaeda in iraq was well known before this announcement, but aqi's public claim of ownership validates what we've long known,

that the front is the syrian arm of aqi of the aqi franchise. >> reporter: but this public confirmation now leaves no doubt about the strength of the relationship, and it seems to explain why the iraqi government has been so concerned about the growth of the front across its border in syria, martha. martha: certainly does. catherine, what does this mean for the administration's support in some ways at least of the syrian opposition? >> reporter: well, this clearly complicates an already complicated situation. a congressional source telling fox news that in early september last year, a week before the benghazi terrorist attack, then-cia director david petraeus went to turkey to emphasize that the u.s. needed more visibility on who was getting the weapons traveling into sur ya and falling into the hands of extremist groups. so there we have this chain, martha, this concern about who is ultimately getting these weapons traveling from turkey into syria predates the benghazi attack last fall. martha: i remember senator rand

paul raising that question at a hearing, and now we know a little bit more. catherine, thank you very much. >> reporter: you're welcome. gregg: new concerns out of north korea today, two mobile missile launchers have been positioned on the country's east coast. pentagon officials say a test launch could come at any time, and this particular missile has a range of about 2500 miles putting japan directly within striking distance. joel rosenberg joins, former aide to prime minister benjamin netanyahu, and author of "dead heat." thanks very much, joel. past the prologue this is just another missile launch and nothing more, what's incalculable, however, is that both leaders -- north korea and south korea -- are new, and to some extent president obama has not been tested by crisis. does that make this all the more dangerous? >> it certainly does, gregg, and you've got a situation in which

north korea now has had three nuclear weapons tests since 2006. it's not entirely clear whether they have miniaturized the nuclear warheads and are able to attach them into the ballistic missiles. some experts believe they can, some aren't sure. so there's a lot of indecision about exactly how to handle it not knowing if north korea actually has weapons that they could fire that are nuclear weapons. but you're right, these leaders on both sides are untested, and president obama has never faced a nuclear crisis. this is akin to the cuban missile crisis if it goes much further. now, hopefully, it's just huffing and puffing. gregg: right. >> but there could be a miscalculation here. gregg: there are two countries who are watching these events very, very closely; iran and israel. what are they learning? >> well, that's right. my novel, "dead heat," buzz about a pre-- was about a

preemptive nuclear strike by the united states on north korea, and it draws on my experience with prime minister netanyahu about north korea working closely with iran and syria to build nuclear weapons. here's the risk, if the united states and the allies do nothing to stop north korea from becoming a full nuclear power -- which at in this point it looks like there's nothing we will do -- well, this is a huge message to iran that if it continues on its nuclear weapons bid, no one will stop it except israel. israel is the x factor. and the question is whether netanyahu would consider -- and i think he is -- launching preemptive military strikes against iran so iran can never be in the position that north korea is now. gregg: the u.s. is adopting what some are calling a strategic patient here and, in fact, they backed off the minuteman icbm test. and i have to imagine that israel is watching this very closely. is it your sense, therefore,

that all of these events put together make it more likely that netanyahu would engage in a preemptive strike against iran's nuclear facilities? >> i think it's trending that way, gregg, and that's what's so dangerous. look, president obama said in israel just last month that all options were on the table and that he has put a credible military threat, option on the table vis-a-vis iran. but compare the two situations. the united states is pulling carrier battle groups out of the persian gulf region while we're sending b-52s, naval assets, stealth bombers as well as antimissile defense systems to the korean peninsula and the pacific. that sends a message that we get the north korean threat and want to send a message to pyongyang, but netanyahu is watching obama pull assets out of the gulf region which is leaving israel feeling very much alone, and that is a dangerous situation given the current moment with iran.

gregg: joel rosenberg, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. martha: major controversy that's brewing out there today, and it's over a new collection of barbie dolls. some say that these dolls are promoting racial stereotypes. julie banner the rah has that story for us and a couple of other things. >> yeah. buy your girls -- they're probably too old for barbies. gregg: i have any own collection. >> reporter: i believe that by the way. anyway, i'll get to barbie in a minute, folks. first, imagine be they made a tiger woods doll. that would sell, right? speaking of the price of tiger, watching him play just got more expensive. ticket prices are up 276% as the world's top-rated golfer enters the masters tournament. four-day badges on the secondary market are listed for around $14,000, that's up from $3,675 last year. oh, and did you vote more your

"american idol," your favorite last night? well, someone called 911 instead not to vote, but to pull a prank on the show's host, ryan seacrest, making him the latest celebrity-swatting victim. the caller claimed to have seen, quote, mobster-looking guys firing off shots inside his beverly hills mansion. when cops arrived this, there were no signs of trouble. thank goodness for seacrest, by the way, who recently bought the mansion from ellen degeneres for $39 million. tom cruise's new sci-fi movie oblivion premiering in los angeles last night. the film takes place in the year 2077, and it's another action flick for the star. by the way, this is the film cruise was reportedly filming when katie holmes dropped that bomb that she was filing for divorce. and now the moment you have been waiting for, barbie and her latest accessory, a faux passport. it's mattel's latest child's

play thing, and it's named mexico barbie. not sure if mattel is siding one way or the other on the immigration issue, but the new doll is part of barbie's dolls of the world collection, a line that first appeared over 30 years ago. what will they think of next? gregg: were you suggesting i dress like ken or barbie? >> reporter: i won't answer that. [laughter] martha: we're going to -- >> reporter: martha's laughing, so i'll just leave it at that. martha: i used to have this doll, you know, dolls of the world, they're fun. and all the different costumes, the one from the united states is usually like a cowgirl. they're just fun to play with. gregg: for boys and girls alike. martha: what is that about? >> reporter: it's a faux passport, so i hope she hasn't passed the borders illegally. martha: good luck with that. thank you. gregg: about a dozen top republicans joined the president for dinner at the white house last night. what did they talk about? we'll ask south dakota republican senator john thune next. he'll tell us what really went on behind those closed doors.

martha: that's going to be interesting, right? and a path of destruction miles wide. we just keep getting these pictures, and it's unbelievable. this storm system is still on the move, everybody, so we need to show you where it is headed next. the mayor of a town that is right near that end center's going to join us to tell us what it was like. >> saw the damage, saw the boat and the trailer and the storage build anything the woods, saw a roof gone. >> i was really scared. i've never been through anything like this. it was very, very frightening. ♪

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gregg: we're following this horrible bus crash in irving, texas, just outside dallas. a bus suddenly rolled over. we're getting reports that as many as 40 people may be injured and some may be trapped. the highway is shut down in both directions. obviously, a major rollover. rescue workers are on the scene, looks like there's a movable crane, a mobile crane there to try to lift some of the wreckage. and rescue workers are trying to

take care of all of those people who are injured and some who may still be trapped. we'll let you know what's going on. ♪ ♪ martha: president obama now saying that his dinner with 12 republican senators at the white house last night was, quote, constructive. they apparently covered big issues like the economy and immigration as well as gun control, owl of which have been in the -- all of which have been in the headlines so much this week. we're joinedsouth dakota republican john thune. he's the chairman of the senate republican conference, and he joins me now. always good to have you with us. >> good morning, martha, thank you. martha: so i understand it's a very tiny room, and that sort of forces everybody to be really up in each other's faces, so to speak. what was it like in there? >> well, it was very, it was nice. the president was very gracious with his time, listened patiently to what we had to say. so from that stand point, it was a constructive discussion. as you mentioned, we covered a lot of subjects, principally

spending, the budget, the president's budget, tax reform, things like that. i tried to focus on things that i thought were important to economic growth. we got some very grim economic news last month in the month of march. we had half a million people who quit looking for work. the labor participation rate was the lowest level since 1979. and so there's a real issue out there in terms of what we can do to stimulate and grow the economy. and that's what i thought -- that's what i think the president and we up here in congress ought to be focused on. martha: when you brought that up about the labor participation rate and the bleak numbers we got, what was the president's reaction to that? >> well, i think that the president is, obviously, like all of us concerned about getting the economy growing. but the challenge i think we have, martha, is we have very different ideas about how to do that. as you saw reflected in the president's budget, he didn't do anything to address the long-term drivers of our spending and our debt. he instead relied on tax increases. and i think that's the big challenge that we have. most of us up here believe in

order to stimulate and grow the economy and create jobs and increase take-home pay for middle class americans, we need to reform the tax code, we need to approve projects like keystone pipeline. but we've also got to have a spending plan that addresses reforming entitlement programs. the president wants to, instead, rely on tax increases which we think are harmful. martha: so how did that go when that came up? >> well, i just think it's a very -- i came away from the meeting thinking we're a long ways apart on this. now, the good news is that people are talking and, hopefully, there's that, you know, sweet spot where we can find some consensus. martha: excuse me for interrupting, he says i've already more than met the republicans halfway. he feels doing the chain cpi, which i'm sure makes people's eyes glaze over, but it doesn't change our finances that dramatically. aren't we a long way from sort of beginning to fix this debt situation? >> we are. and most of us give him credit

for at least rolling out a chain cpi fix. and you're right, most people's eyes glaze over, but that scratches the surface of what needs to be done in terms of reforming our spending. and, again, the president in his budget, it's very clear in the contrast in approaches here. one is more spending, more debt, more taxes. we believe we've got to get spending under control -- martha: so let me ask you because i'm almost out of time. >> raising taxes won't do that. martha: i'm sorry to jump in on you, senator, i apologize. did you leave the dinner feeling like there was any room to move in terms of spending cuts from the president's side? >> i, i don't see that. i mean, i think there's some interest in doing some spending cuts in the area of medicare, chained cpi. i think the discretionary budget there's some additional savings that he proposes in his budget. but the real issue here is not on the table, and that's what are we going to do to reform social security, medicare, medicaid, those things that are driving federal spending.

and he insists upon, and i think this is where we're going to have a very big difference of opinion. republicans felt the tax issue was settled on january 1st and that now we want to talk about spending. the president wants to talk about more revenues. martha: all right. >> it's very hard to figure out how we get this done. martha: thank you so much, senator thune. it's very good to have you with us and fascinating to hear what happened in there last night. we'll see you soon. >> thanks, martha. sounds good. gregg: let's go to jenna lee standing by for "happening now." jenna: we'll have the results of the gun control debate. plus, remember the down the middle strategy used by bill clinton back in the 1990s during his second term? we're going to talk to someone who says potentially we're seeing the same thing under president obama. plus, that controversial trip by jay-z and beyonce to cuba. well, jay-z has a new song about it. it mentions the president. why it's raising some eyebrows. and jodi arias takes to twitter. she hasn't mentioned us yet,

gregg, but we'll tell you who she's tweeting out. gregg: keep me out of that one. a series of possible tornadoes strike the midwestment we're going to talk to a mayor from a very hard-hit town just outside st. louis in a moment. stick around. so...how'd it go? well, dad, i spent my childhood living with monks learning the art of dealmaking. you've mastered monkey-style kung fu? no. priceline is different now. you don't even have to bid. master hahn taught you all that? oh, and he says to say (translated from cantonese) "you still owe him five bucks." your accent needs a little work.

gregg: well, a devastating reality for thousands of folks in the midwest today. reports of at least a half a dozen tornadoes causing serious damage. the governor of missouri declaring a state of emergency. trees into homes, power lines torn down, hundreds without power. and joining us on the phone, hazelwood, missouri, mayor matthew robinson. mayor, when the sun came up this morning, what did you find? >> we found more damage this morning than we had, and which we knew we would, which we had originally estimated and walk pped around and seen last night.

we knew we had three dozen homes that were unoccupy bl and just one devastated area. but we still had to evaluate the whole city as a whole. and we found quite a bit of damage with trees through windows and cutting houses in half. gregg: we just saw one huge tree split a house. what about injuries and/or deaths? >> well, that's the blessing part of it. there are no fatalities and very minor injuries. i think the worst i've heard of was a broken leg. gregg: that is truly amazing. what was it like when this storm system came roaring through last night? >> well, we were in the middle of a council meeting, and we hunkered down, and the ladies went to the restroom, and we took careful our business of trying to be safe ourselves. and then with a matter of minutes after the storm was notified that hazelwood was hit, and i immediately came to the

dispatcher's office to hear the 911 calls to see where the damage was and to stay out of the way but to assist where i could and find out where the damage was and got up there and just started to evaluate things ourselves. so, um, it was pretty devastating. there's some pretty -- homes that were completely torn up and unoccupy bl. gregg: right. well, you're very lucky. mayor matthew robinson of hazelwood, missouri, lucky that no fatalities and very few injuries. mr. mayor, thanks for being with us. good luck to you. >> thank you. bye-bye. martha: so we are waiting for a key vote right now in the senate on the gun debate. will this legislation pass? we're following this live on capitol hill. much more straight ahead. we'll be right back to "america's newsroom."

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