america's news headquarters starts right now. what is called a catastrophe storm. feels like dejavu and paralyzing parts of the country. snow and ice slamming the south and 200,000 lost pour in georgeia. hundreds of flights are cancelled and delayed and it is just the beginning of all of this. we'll have johnathon in the thick of it in atlanta, georgeia. >> reporter: good afternoon, bill. we are overlooking the downtown connector. it is ordinary crowded. most people are heeding the warnings to stay off of the roads. it so manies that georgia managed to avoid all of the bottle necks we experienced in the last storm two weeks ago.

and the governor is urging georgia resident not to let down their guard. >> even now, people will look out of the winnow now and say it doesn't look too bad. maybe we should go to work or do other things. we shouldn't be deceived by that. this storm has come in waves and there is another wave in the process of coming toward us now. >> and ongoing concern is power. utility trucks are out restoring the power it areas where power was knocked out. more than hundred thousand customers lost pour in georgia and south carolina. power to some of these areas has been already restored, but officials say it is likely we'll see more power outages in other areas as this storm system moves through the southeast and up through the eastern sea board. >> here we go in georgia.

there we'll track the path of this storm. where is it headed, rick? >> it is moving south and moving northeast. the ice storm in parts of the south. it is where you so the pink. along from atlanta to macon and augusta and south carolina. that is half an inch of ice on every surface and that will bring power lines and trows down. we'll see power out in this area. at the surface cold temperatures and that is below freezing temperatures and above that moisture and that falls as rain and touches the rain and freezes everything on contact. around through atlanta and maconand augusta and interior of north carolina and west virginia we'll see the ice. we have ice storm warnings in

parts of georgia and over to charleston. it will end there as snow as cold air gets in and cools things down. and it will move over the northeast. with the nor' easter, it is about where the storm trash as to who gets rain and snow. it will be a fine line on the i- 95 corridor. interior sections is where we'll see the heaviest of the snow in upstate new york and interior sections of new england. coastal areas, cape cod and the islands and down to long island and new york city. it could be less if that track goes further west. we'll see more rain mixing which i think is a possibility. 6- 10 to philly and new york. that could be lower with more rain and that would be a good news. we have snow on the rain for a

lot of polices. getting 6- 10 inches of snow will be problematic. >> absolutely. where will we put it all. >> i love it. thank you, rick. >> and fox news alert. and awaiting a vote in the senate. same day the director of congressional budget office cbo, warned that it the growing national debt means financial disaster. >> the estimated public debt will be 74 percent of gdp and under the current law sfoin percent in 2024. such large and growing federal debt could have negative consequences restraining economic growth in the long-term and giving policy makers less flexibility to respond. and increasing the risk of a fiscal crisis. >> the translation is not good.

elizabeth mcdonald, emac, good day to tu. did he say anything positive? >> it is hard to find anything positive in his comments here. what he is saying, the size of the u.s. debt is going to restrain economic growth in future years, and going to give dc policy makers less flex eblt as the debt gets bigger and the size and increasing the risk that sometime in the future, investors in the debt could demapped higher interest rates. and here's what is going o. the cbo is expecting exactly below average economic growth in and around starting in 2017 according to the report and the jobless rate will stay above six percent. and what is missing in action in these discussions is the size of the cost of the u.s. debt. it is just $225 billion. and that is about the size of

a country of kasisstan. and about the size of belgium. what needs to be in the mix is what taxpayers will owe in terms of interest costs. the federal government collects 2.8 trillion in tax collections from individuals and businesses and the like. that is the issue. >> when you talk about the labor participation rate, you get a sense of a lost generation and the unemployment rateabove six that is eight years plus above that mark. the other thing he talked about less flexibility to respond to unexpected challenges and that is economist and politicians, they have fewer arrows in the quiver to fight back if a fiscal challenge hits us again.

>> what is interesting, we are six years in the 0 interest rate policy in the federal reserve. that could be with us sometime. and as for the labor force, we have 92 million people not in the labor force. that is sitting near record highs if not at record highs. that is really the issue. lack of economic growth and ballooning debt. who will pay the costs on the federal debt? >> a lot more to talk about going forward. and emac, check out on fox business. law makers pushing for new regulation on tax exempt groups. they claim it is another effort to silence free speech. karl rove is former advisor to president bush and a fox news contributor, great to see you. >> great it see you. >> we want your thoughts. you have a vested interest and you helped to find 501 group

called cross roads gps. what is wrong? >> there is good definitions out there and these rules are abided by, by liberal and conservative groups and have been for a number of years. and only when conservatives mimicked the liberal groups in organizing 501 c4s that obama administration got involved. let me give you an example. 2011 cross roads was involved in battling the debt ceiling and insisted on spending restraint. everything we did was considered political activity, campaign activity because the president's name was mentioned. if you mention the name of a united states senator in all or in the last two years of their term. it is a political activity.

and house members name it is political activity because they are up for reelection every two years. it is designed to shut down the president's opponents. >> how much of these groups doing political activity and social welfare. doesn't it need more clarity as to what is social welfare? >> there are complex standards that applies. in cross roads gps. we don't expend 40 percent of our funds on anything that the lawyers will remotely say constitutes political activity. 60 percent on our social welfare goals promoting limited government and tax cuts and fiscal restraint and strong moral values and look, every single piece of tv ad, radio adand mail piece, anything has to be looked at by the lawyers to make certain it crosses the line.

we never get close to crossing the line. there are serious rules in place. imagine, you can't say president obama's name if you are a 501 c4. in 2011 or 12 because he is up for reelection. same for member of congress. if you tell congressman jones to support house bill 453, you can't do that because that constitutes political activity. >> what do you want the treasury department to do now? >> back off! they have rules if place and stop doing. this is clearly intimidation and directed out of the treasury department and authorized by the white house and trying to discourage tea party and conservative groups from being involved in the public dilog. the president doesn't like them and intimidated. he department have concerns with the nn a c or liberal groups are

involved. it is only the conservative groups enters the fray they are concerned wanted >> a house panel led by republicans is fighting the same fight. we'll see where that goes, carl, thank you so much. >> thank you alley. >> we are waiting for the senate vote on the debt ceiling. and will boehner's strategy pay off. and also there is this. >> this is the police department. >> all right. that is an intense search following a carjacking and the police issuing an amber alert for a teenage girl and elderly man kidnapped at knife point. >> also. no, when you got off the bus the last time. >> tension was building on board of the bus and then this happen. what could be the legal fallout

in the wake of a school bus driver now fired. >> when that goes the bus pass is no longer any good. this is for you. ♪

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>> right now a manhunt underway for a 13-year-old girl and elderly man. police say they were kidnapped at gun point. police say the suspect you are about to see in the surveillance photostuffed food under his jacket and kidnapped the victims in the parking lot. >> witnesses said that the occupy ans of that vehicle did not know the suspect. we want to find them and find them safely. >> police issuing an amber alert and asking people to look out for a red sedan can california

license six jfm63648. >> and afghan president karzi get readying to release prisoners. some are responsible for the deaths of americans and that is not sitting well with the pent govenlt jennifer is there now. >> reporter: hi, bill. the u.s. capture of the deadly terrorist will be undone in one day as president karzi will release deit tainees and seen as a move to appease the taliban as he negotiates with them before the u.s. withdraws. and members of congress expressed their anger tuesday. >> i will introduce a resolution condemning the action by president karzi and urged a cut to all development aid off to sfan stan until after the next

election, as 64 coalition forces have died because of the 88. this is a major step back ward in our relationship. >> the men that karzi is set to release has american blood on their hand and 17 are linked to the placement of road side bombs and 23 of them tested positive for explosive residue when captured. it is the second major set back with karzi this year. cards cars refuses to sign a security pact that keeps u.s. forces in afghanistan beyond 2014. rick granel who was on your air yesterday, bill said this. >> we have to deal with him right now and we undercut him all along. this administration is got terrible relationship and tried to put a office in qa ta r and he took that as a signal of

undercutting his power. >> pentagon said they upheld their part of the deal. in turn the afghans were supposed to put them on trial and that is not happening. >> alisyn has more on this now. >> the u.s. warns that the release of 65 prisoners would threaten our security and future in afghanistan. and joining me to explain is kt macfar mand. why is karzi releasing them. >> he's playing both sides. we are leave and this taliban is coming in and he's trying to negotiate behind our backs with the taliban and now release prisoners who killed americans in hopes that the taliban will think he's their guy and you want to know why? his predecessors was when the taliban came in the first time, they took that president and they torteured and dragged his body through the streets of

kabul and hanged him upside down and karzi knows that and he wants a different outcome. >> no wonder he is scared. in that it way, he does need to a mellerate the taliban. what else could he do it. >> he's been a traitor and betrayed us and i think the taliban is not going to buy what he is trying to offer. what should we do. karzi will show up with a plan b. bags of american gold and try to get on the last helicopter out of kabul. i don't think we ought to let him on the helicopter. >> what is our plan to deal with karzi. >> we had 150,000 troops and we couldn't secure the country. we are not going to do that with a token force of several thousand and what we are leaving behind an awful lot of american

aid workers and teachers and people who work in hospitals. they will not be protected and i am very concerned that we have sitting ducks this we will leave behind and end up having to shoot our way out and i don't think we owe karzi. we have given him ten years and a trillion dollars and not even counting the american blood and treasure. if we took the money and doled out to every man and woman in afghanistan they would have had 25,000 each. >> that is incredible. what are you suggesting we should stay longer? >> no, it is it a done deal. we were right to get after the al-qaeda, but we got rid of al-qaeda in december 2001. we should have left then and followed the remaining al-qaeda over the tora boramountains and killed them off. we stuck around in afghanistan to nation build.

you are not going to build that nation in anything that resembled motteder day democracy. >> how sickening. where we find ourselves today. >> the american military did what we asked them. they fought for us. and followed both commanders and chief and fought for their brothers. and in the end our political leaders failed. >> hundreds of thousands without power. there is a massive storm and snowing in greenville, south carolina. that is a ghost town. >> eight cars swallowed by a massive sinkhole. >> and also the woman. meet her, she had her name changed and guess what name she has chosen. come on. ♪ ♪

♪ what's your name. ♪

what is in a name? apparently a woman in ohio could not find happiness in her name. she is known as sheila crabtreatment and wanted a monapproximateicker that reflected her personality. she changed hear name to sexy. crab tree called sheila the ugliest one out there. >> she objects to sheila and not crab authority tree. why sexy she told the judge it is fun.

>> and she is now sexy crabtro. >> we want to know what you would change your name to. >> i see alisyn lane. >> and have you thought about this phillip george? >> you can send me a name. >> i am sure a lot of people have a lot of suggestions for what to change your name to and theirs to. there is a break in one of the highest profile cold cases in the midatlantic. this 40 years after two young girls went out for a walk and never seen again. doug is live from washington to tell us the latest. >> reporter: alisyn, it is an unsolved riddle that captured the attention of the entire washington area. 12-year-old she'll anda ten year kathleen left their home on march 25th to walk to a shopping center for lunch. their mother told them to be home by 4 o'clock p.m.

a massive manhunt ensowed and there were leads and potential suspects and the lyon family received phone calls for people seeking ransom in exchange for the girls and 39 years later, maryland police interviewed a person of interest. 57-year-old lloyd welch in prison for sex crimes. >> we have established that welch was observed paying attention to the lyon sisters at the plaza. and welch has multiple convictions for fences if against young girls and incarcerated since 1997 in the state of delaware for one of these offenses. >> reporter: the girl's father was a well known permanent in washington. he wrote me and said the family will do no introduce until this thing is over. the police spokesman read

a statement. >> they care about the case means a great deal to us. >> reporter: it had a profound affect on the way the parents super vise the kids in the area. wes baker was the same age as 10-year-old kathleen lyon. >> we were going to the play basketball and jump on the bus and go someplace and i think that i remember my parents being more strict about things like that and being careful at least for a while. >> reporter: police are asking for the public's help. and point out welch mug shot bears an uncanny likeness to the artist rendering of a man near the girls in the shopping center but they don't have enough evidence to charge welch for the crime. >> oh, my gosh, let's pray that the family gets answers now. >> extreme weather alert now.

and there are hundreds of thousands without power and millions more in the path of the storm. we'll get an update for you on what is happening outside on the ground. >> and congress votes to rauz the debt leader. and the speaker hammered for giving in but could this be part of a broader political strategy? >> she is the top dog in the westminister dog show. now this is sexy. >> i was going with cute or adorable. >> that is fair and balanced. [ male announcer ] marie callender's knows all white meat chicken was made to be blanketed in golden breadcrumbs. with whipped mashed potatoes, topped with a thick homemade gravy. so she makes her country fried chicken to be eaten together. so they savor every last bite. marie callender's.

time for a quick check of the headlines, closing arguments in the trial of a florida man charged with the shooting death of 17-year-old jordan davis in an argument over loud music. michael dunn said he acted in self defense. there is a massive sinkhole that swallowed eight vintage cars. it is eight feet deep. >> and the wire fox terror winning the dog show last night and taking home the coveted best

in show. a wired fox terrier won the title 14 times. >> she's won 129 competitions so far. >> she's good. >> and she is cute hairy legs. >> and well done, skye. >> and fox news alert. dangerous ice storm crippling the south already. >> the roads are slick and schools and businesses are closed flights are cancelled and trains are suspended. it is expected to intensify tonight and moving up the coast and in the northeast tomorrow. >> ken davis is a spokesperson for the georgia emergency management agency. ken, how much on the ground and what are you dealing with? >> we are holding our own right now. but just say it is icy and very cold. >> ken, what are you doing

differently this time around than two weeks ago? >> this time around, we just have a lot of people on the ground ahead of time and we are continuing to field request for assistance. fortunately most of the people in georgia heeded the messaging from the local and state authorities to stay off of the roads and so crews are able to get out and about. and treat the roads and respond to downed power lines and trees and so forth. >> are you in atlanta. the town has been shut town. most schools and dpft offices are closed. do you stand by that reaction?

>> that was a opportunity move as proved by the conditions of the roads and the situation with power out ages and we have approximately 200,000 customers without power statewide. that number is expected to grow later today and early morning on thursday as wind gusts increase to 20 miles per hour plus. >> and you don't want a repeat of the last scenario where kids were stuck at school asks having to sleep over there. >> we'll not have that issue this time. >> we looked at our camera. right on the 75 and 85 connector in atlanta, there were hardly any cars on the road. >> yes. that is to the credit of the public and everyone who again heeded the message because it is dicey. >> did you bring in more salt and gravel for the storm?

>> i understand that the local public works department and georgia dot and others have yes, replenished their supplies and i understand they have had to go to, to some -- they had to do a lot of looking to find some. you know, there is a shortage. >> your governor asked for generators and said that was the biggest need right now. do you have what you need? >> so far, yes. i believe that was monday, the government requested an emergency declaration from the president and that was approved yesterday and initially we asked for access to the generators should the need a rise and right now we have access to what we requested and i don't believe we've had an overabundance of request for those yet

fingerpri fortunately. but we could. nden davis you are from the georgia emergency management agency. thank you. and good luck. >> thank you, ken. >> thank you. fox news alert. a verdict reached in the corruption trial of ray naggin. he is accused of taking bribings worth more than half million dollars starting before hurricane katrina and continued through the recovery. the alleged grft was money and vacation and kick backs to a business that naggin owned. we'll bring you the verdict as soon as that is in new orleans. stay tuned for that. >> and we await a senate vote on the debt limit conservative groups are lashing out at house speaker john boehner. >> they say he caved in for a house bill without spending

cuts. ray is a founder ofro she. and christen powers is a fox news contributor as well. and hello. david, are you okay with how the republican leadership voted yes and while most members said no? >> i got to tell you, bill, i brought my notes, i have to swallow this one, because for fiscal hawks like myself. tea party conservative and fiscal conservative all over the country, this is disa pointing and we face a reality here. the reality is our political opponent if they have the gun, don't buy him the bullets. but the political opponent which is the democrat party and messaging will hit us on a shutdown and i am all for shrinking down government. no republican wants to shut it down. but it gets penned to us. i am swallowing this one and written on the paper, i have to say this one. what the republican have to do

however, they have a lot of work to do between now and 2014 to provide solutions out of the congress as a co-equal branch of government. they have a tough fight with harry reid. but need to provide the wins. >> they say it a grand scheme of john boehner so republicans can keep the attention focussed on obama care. >> it is what it is and it is very smart. john boehner, the republicans would have been wise to listen to him in the first place they would not have ended up shutting down the government which went badly for them. and it is good for them. and if i was a republican, i would support it regardless of how you feel about the debt, because they want to win back, they would like to win back the senate. the only way to do that is focus on obama care and not get

distracted by side issues in the medium turn. and if they get control they can really try to get done what they want. >> i apologize for the interruption. you get no where in washington unless you have the votes? >> right. and the votes that matter in the house, bill, and also of the american people. we need to take the senate. republicans have to focus on governing from the congress. in order to be effective we have to stop the president and his policies that are harming americans. we will not do that if we don't win more seats in the senate and lock it up and fight and take the majority and fight against the president. we'll take more seats in the house. i think that is safe. and i am swallowing even my own notes because it is disappointing that our federal government and this congress and presidency have not changed their bad spending habits that

have taken us to 17 trillion in current federal debt. we are literally running ourselves in the fiscal ground. we are over the cliff, folks and headed for the ground here. but we have to win in november and i am swallowing the political strategy. >> and christen, i heard you on special report last night say that you are sick and tired of having to defend obama care. now you have had a good night's sleep are you feeling the same way. >> i was not lashing out. but it is getting harder and hearder to defend. it it was something i was believing what the president said right down if you like your plan you can keep it. and i think there is so many stumbles and mistakes and delays, and things that are unfair, and why do we have the delays for some people and people in the individual market are stuck.

right if >> they areulosising health insurance orble if premiums and it is increasingly hard to defend it. the good things that are coming out of it, but really a lot of bad things, too. >> thanks for both of your candor today. interesting segment. >> thank you. >> and meanwhile, a bus driver fired after stepping away from the wheel after fighting off a teenage passenger. the driver claimed self defense. but did he go too far? and should he get his job back. that is the issue. honestly? my kids re always on my laptop.

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. >> hi, everyone. the president uses pen and paper to raise the minimum wage for federal workers. will there be an inkress push to

raise for all workers. and a woman wrote she couldn't date liberals. could you date or marry someone you don't agree with it >> and small business owner said the firm they hired to pay their taxes ripped them off. they owe double money. all on the top of the hour. >> we have new video. a fight between a bus driver. >> the driver fought back. the bus kept rolling and the driver was fired for leaving the wheel and now the unon is trying to help him get his job back. this is from fox in milwaukee. >> i know it is you. >> scotty wells greets a 17-year-old who steps on the bus after school on january 17th.

>> no, when you got off of the bus the last time. >> the police report wells claimed that he asked for the teen's information after having problems with him on previous rides which included vulgar language. the tone sat down and the teen got up as wells speaks. >> when that border that bus pass is no longer any good. >> the video shoes the teen punching wells twice and breaking his glasses and wells gets out of his seat and fights back. and wells told police he feared for his safety. meanwhile. the bus begins to move forward. and hits a station wagon before rolling in other parked car and it is teen is arrested for battery and endangering safety.

wells was treated for bruises to the left and knee. and he was fired for the incident. >> wow. >> and so now the bus driver's union is trying to get the driver his job back. and the fox legal analyst and former prosecutor. ladies, the bus driver tried to defend himself and also trying to drive the bus. whose law is on the side. >> the kid screwed up obviously screwed up. he made the first punch and he is held criminally liable and separate him out. the bus driver and in charge of the other 30 kids is supposed to be the adult and not fight back. the kid is down. and bus driver is going after it. and at that point, the bus is rolling, why he didn't put the emergency brake and he is

derlength in his duty. >> this is 30 second and the computer will cut us off. we'll ask the crit 58 question. >> this is not a teen. it is a disrespectful punk and he was charged criminally. the bus driver had no choice but to defend himself. he was punched in the face. after sitting in the face broke his glasses and with a bus full of kids. this is on the kid and not driver. >> find out if the driver should get his job back after this quick break. then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagin how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 3years or mor so maybe we need to approach things dferently,

if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪

back now with lis wiehl.

>> list, i take it based on your answer, there's no chance you give this guy a job back? >> no. >> jonna, you argue that he should get it back. how? >> here's how. the only mistake the bus driver made was he didn't put the bus in park before he defended himself. that is forgivable. >> that's a big mistake. that's huge. >> it's rolling 2 miles an hour. nobody got hurt. he wasn't thinking with a clear head when he was defending himself. what if he didn't defend himself and that teenage derelict got the better of him. >> what do we hire the bus drivers for? to drive the bus safely, protect our kids and also for their judgment. when the kids get on these buses. i have two kids, they've been on the buses. they're completely in the hand of the bus driver. do you want a bus driver who will lose it like that? granted, what the kid did was wrong, he's being punished for it criminally. to react like that, not just one punch, but again and again when the kid is down, that's not a

good call and judgment. i don't want my kids on that bus with that bus driver. >> but i want a bus driver that's going to protect my sid. lis, you and i know if we punched a bus driver in the face at 15 or 17 years old, we'd still be grounded. why are we raising a nation of these disrespectful kids? >> i'm not excusing the child. he should be punished, he is going to be punished. but in fact, it's not answering the point about the bus driver who should lose his job. you can't have bus drivers doing that. think about the kids watching this going oh, my gosh, the bus driver went berserk. >> maybe he could have deflected the punches instead of getting up -- >> you're not buying self-defense for the driver? >> i would buy self-defense at the first pun. back or deflecting it like this. but like this, down and down and down again, that's not self-defense. >> all right. ladies, we'll see if he gets his job back. we'll update the viewers and both of the you.

>> thanks so much. >> we've got breaking news down in new orleans. the former mayor now found guilty. he was facing a 21-count indictment. guilty on how many charges? on how many counts? that's next.

♪ she changed her name to sexy. so we asked what would you change your name to? >> i'm going to change my name to stud must have fin said. you can't. i'm paul, but you can call me gaga. >> shell said i'd change my to mrs. hammer. >> now you're winning points. robyn that name will be fun in the nursing home. >> really? >> sexy sheila. >> her name is actually sexy crabtree. she didn't change her last name. >> sheila crabtree. she should have changed the last name. have you seen her with her dog? >> yes, it is a sexy pose.

>> classic. >> i agree. >> thanks so much for watching today. i'm allison, but you can call me funky town camerota. >> you can call me late for dinner. >> got it. >> see you tomorrow. hi everyone. fox news alert for you. i'm gretchen carlson. welcome to the real story today. let's go live to the what house as the president is ready to sign an executive order boosting the minimum wage for federal contract workers. you can see the live shot as we await the president. these folks will see their rate jump to more than $10 an hour. the president announcing this measure during his state of the union address a few weeks ago. so it applies only to federal contractors working on new contracts. but will this put extra pressure now on congress. could they reason passing the minimum wage for all workers in the