should know this, we aren't laughing. obamacare pulled a fast one on you. i'll see you on the five. have a great weekend, everybody. hello, everybody. i'm uma pemmaraju in washington. we may finally have a clue on the location of the malaysia airline flight. four weeks after the plane vanished, china's official news agency is reporting that a chinese ship has detected a pulse signal deep in the southern indian ocean. the big question now, is this coming from the jetliners black boxes. this search is in high gear because it's critical to get those black boxes since the batteries are running down and will stop emitting sounds within a few days. holly is joining us now with the latest developments. >> reporter: yes, those batteries will only last for

about a month and the plane disappeared march 8th. today is april 5th. time is of the essence for those searching for malaysian flight 370. chinese news report say a chinese ship picked up a signal in the southern indian ocean. at 37.5 kilohertz. that's the same frequency emitted by the plane's black boxes or flight data recorders. malaysian authorities say they're trying to verify the report. the chinese also say one of their air force planes spotted some white floating objects in the search area. again, we do not know yet if the report of a ping or if these reports of the floating objects are true and if they're related to the missing malaysian 777 jet. military and civilian planes and ships from several nations, including china, australia, britain, and the u.s. are scouring parts of the indian ocean where the plane may have gone down. we're getting word from angus houston, the coordinator of the joint agency coordination

center, he's coordinating some of these efforts, we have a new statement in from him we can put up on the air. it says, quote, i have been advised that a series of sounds have been detected by the chinese ship in the search area. the characteristics reported are consistent with the aircraft black box. a number of white objects also were sighted on the surface about 90 kilometers from the detection area. however, there is no confirmation at this stage that the signals and the objects are related to the missing aircraft. so, uma, at this point we don't know yet what this may mean, and those who are familiar with these kinds of searches in the ocean say there's a lot of noise underwater. there's a lot of noise in the ocean, and we just don't know yet. >> we just don't know, but let's hope that it's a promising lead. all right, molly, thank you very much. joining us now on the phone is john golio, former member of the ntsb with 40 years of aviation experience. thank you so much for joining us. given the latest news, we know that the batteries from the black boxes will be running down

really soon, so time is of the essence as molly pointed out. what is involved if the pinging sounds are actually tied to the black boxes, and how difficult an operation is it to retrieve them? >> well, we have the technology to retrieve those boxes no matter how deep the water. just a matter of time and effort to get to them. it's really encouraging that we get -- that we have the possibility of a signal, even if we don't zero in on it, just to have one in the general area because that signal only travels a few miles. >> so they have to be really on top of it then if that's what you're saying, just a few miles, you can only hear them from that vantage point. >> right. and as mentioned a minute ago, the sound in the ocean is tremendous. not only from animals but some other things. so it gets confused, but the fact they have it at the right frequency is very, very encouraging. >> we're talking about water, as

i understand it, that's between 10,000 to 15,000 feet deep and 932 miles from perth, australia, which is like new york city to jacksonville, florida, talking about the scope of this area. when you're talking about depth like that, how difficult is it to actually go and get those boxes then? >> well, it can be challenging at times with currents and other factors, but we've done it before. this isn't the first time that we've had to operate at deep ocean depths in order to recover things. so salvage people are very good at what they do. once we get the location -- >> what other things can make that kind of noise? >> well, whales make noise in the same frequency range and it's probably one of the reasons why we -- the early design picked that frequency because we know whales talk to one another at fairly good distances. we nolo frequency sound travels best in the ocean.

in fact, there's some newer recorders that are looking to operate in the eight kilohertz range which is considerably lower than the 37 we're talking about. >> let's talk about the black boxes for a moment. the cockpit voice recorder, will that be of any use at this point to us? as i understand it, it records over itself every couple hours. >> it does record over itself, but, yes, it will be useful because the microphone in the device is very sensitive, so if there's a person moving around in the airplane, if there's a person making inputs into the devices on the airplane, moving the control wheel, all of those make noise. you make noise just sticking your arm up makes noise, and those can be picked up by the microphone. so you could tell whether there's a person in the cockpit doing things or if the airplane is dead quiet and maybe

everybody is gone. >> well, what about the fact of the flight data recorder? that will give us some important information, particularly after the plane took that left turn. >> well, it's going to give us, you know, hundreds of hours of recording. so we're going to be able to see how this airplane performed over the past several months, and also the last eight or ten hours of this flight. at least 300 parameters on that recorder. it records an awful lot of data, so it's going to have the potential of solving the puzzle, even if we have nothing from the cockpit. this is going to tell us if there was inputs from somebody in the cockpit into the automation of the airplane or if the automation was just going cuckoo which none of us believe because the flight was too long. >> well, mr. golio, thank you for joining us with your insights. of course, we don't know for sure if actually these sounds are coming from those black

boxes. it is a hopeful sign though, as you point out, we'll be following this very closely. thank you so much for joining us today. >> bye-bye. now to another big story making news at this hour. in afghanistan where voters are heading to the polls in a landmark election to choose a new president. defying intimidation and threats by the taliban. the turnout has been high in what promises to be the nation's first democratic transfer of power. conor powell is standing by in kabul, afghanistan, with more. conor? >> reporter: well, it is way too early to declare this a successful election, but things appear to have gone today far better than anyone was expected. the taliban had vowed to disrupt this election. it launched a series of attacks leading up to today's vote but the violence today was minimal. at least one person was killed, but for the most part the violence was only sporadic and really didn't seem to disrupt today's vote at all. the afghans turned out in huge numbers, at least roughly 7 million afghans turned out today to vote.

a huge improvement over the last election in 2009. we saw significant improvement in the number of women and also young afghans voting. so this is being hailed as a landmark election here in afghanistan. the taliban have declared that they will disrupt this but it really seems to have done little to des courage afghans from taking part in this election. now, there were three main candidates that are sort of leading the pack of eight to replace outgoing president hamid karzai. ghani, dr. abdullah abdullah and rasual. all three have promised to improve the relationship with the united states and the international community and they have all promised to sign the bilateral security agreement with the united states, something that president karzai has refused to do, and it's been a real source of tension between the united states and afghanistan, but all of the main candidates here have promised to sign that agreement, and once that agreement is signed, the pentagon can then announce how many troops they would leave here in afghanistan. the rough estimate, uma, is that

there would be roughly 10,000 or 12,000 american troops here in afghanistan to help train the afghan security forces and to provide counterterrorism support. that can't all be announced and decided until this election is wrapped up. there is still concern, uma, that there are chances for some ballot stuffing and some fraud. we saw a lot of that in 2009, but at least so far what we've seen today is that it's been a very good election, but the real fraud and the potential for harm going forward is still there. we hope to have an announcement of who could be the winner or at least the top two candidates for a runoff in the next several days but this is a country with a long history of fraud and problems with ballot stuffing so it could be much longer than that. >> thank you for that update live from afghanistan. as we've been reporting, the taliban has been vowing to disrupt polling centers, this after a week of high-profile attacks in kabul which led to the deaths of afghans and journalists. despite earlier assertions by

the white house that the taliban has been destabilized, that terrorist network has not backed down. it's on the rise. even the latest "time" magazine cover spotlights the growing dominance of the taliban. joining us is lieutenant colonel oliver north. he's gone there many, many times. as we've been talking about the fact, the taliban is not going away and, in fact, is really working hard to intimidate voters there. >> but as we just heard from conor powell, what a great correspondent we have on the ground out there who is giving us a great report about the failure of the taliban to disrupt this election. and what's really important about this election is what the conor just sent me this e-mail before he went on the air remarking about the fact that in this election, significant improvements in women and young voters. now, that would be the people who would be most suppressed by the taliban. the taliban are going to make an effort to come back. when we reduce our forces, because all three of the leading contenders, in fact, four of the

top eight contenders for president all support a bilateral security agreement and a status of forces agreement that karzai has for lord knows what reasons -- >> he has refused to leave troops there. >> all these guys campaigned as not karzai, kind of like the next american election will be, not obama. they all want the international forces to remain in some number between 10,000 and maybe 14,000. they're going to be essential to train the national security forces for afghanistan. those forces are more capable today than almost any other third world country. we've invested billions and billions of dollars in it. the most important part is what was reported earlier, and that is the women of afghanistan are not going to tolerate being put back into the fifth century. what we're going to see is, i believe, a resurgence, not an insurgency so much, as you will

of involvement in the rest of the society. when half your population in any country is denied participation in the economy, the social life, the politics, the country is doomed. what afghanistan, because we've set the model, americans wearing flak jackets and helmets have shown how to treat muslim women and children, and they're the ones who are most going to benefit from the secure country without the taliban having anything more than a minor role. >> how about the high-profile attacks we saw this last week and we had some important journalists killed, two of them, as well as other casualties in afghanistan. they're not letting it -- they're letting it be known they're around and that they're not going to disappear quickly. >> they're not going to disappear but i think "time" magazine has it wrong. i don't see the taliban coming -- when every person in afghanistan wants one of these things, can have one ever these things, they can't shut down enough cell phone towers to control communications. you can't take away the licenses of women to not only drive but also to participate in business,

and what you're seeing is a country that is slowly but surely emerging from basically a millennium of maltreatment for women and children into a country that's at least looking forward to a more western perspective on how their people participate in the process. >> here is that video of you that we want to show our viewers. when you look back at that video, what runs through your mind? >> well, again, that was taken last year in july. shortly after i was with that unit, we saw the afghans conduct combat operations without a single american adviser with them, without a single western advi adviser. >> very encouraging. >> it was. and the fact they captured enemy combatants who came in from pakistan. there are still big issues of dealing with a hostile neighbor on the east and west. pakistan has nuclear weapons,

iran is about to get nuclear weapons. karzai does have enemies, not just without but also within. >> there is also rampant corruption in the government. >> and it's a long tradition of corruption throughout that part of the world. the institutions of democracy are not made in a single election. this is the first time there's been a transition and a head of state in afghanistan that didn't end with the last guy going out on a noose or with a bullet or with his head chopped off or fleeing the country. this is a very positive sign, and i think "time" magazine, as it often does, got it wrong. >> okay. there you have it. the word from colonel oliver north there. thank you very much. he's been keeping close tabs on developments there as we have been as well. always great to see you. thank you very much. >> my pleasure. we've got much more ahead on what could be a major break through in the month-long search for malaysia airlines flight 370. a live report coming your way. but first, we have the very latest in the investigation into the deadly ft. hood shooting. and will lois lerner, the

woman at the center of the irs skarndal, be held in contempt of congress? the house oversight committee is set to vote on that next week. a key member of that committee will be joining us next. stay with us.

you are about to become very popular. because when you buy the new samsung galaxy s5 on verizon, you get a second samsung galaxy s5 for free. so, who ya gonna give it to? maybe your brother could use it to finally meet a girl. your mom, but isn't your love reward enough? its not. maybe your roommate, i mean you pretty much share everything else. hey. your girlfriend. just do not tell her it was free. whoever you choose, you'll both get the best devices on the number 1 ranked network. for best results, use verizon.

they don't know it yet, but they're gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children lauing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where th almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some financial folks who will talk to them about preparing early for retirement and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade.

welcome back. everybody. investigators say they may never know exactly what caused a soldier at ft. hood to go on a deadly shooting rampage there. the commander of ft. hood saying there is evidence of an escalating argument with another soldier prior to the shooting. army specialist ivan lopez killing three soldiers and wounding more than a dozen more before taking his own life. hundreds of people gathering last night in washington state to remember the victims of the mudslide that devastated the community. four memorial services were set for this weekend for victims there. 30 people died in the mudslides. rescuers are still searching for 13 others. well, heated testimony this week on capitol hill as lawmakers challenged former cia

deputy director mike morel over his role in the benghazi talking points insisting politics did not play a role. joining us to talk more about the benghazi scandal and other news, south carolina republican congressman trey gowdy. great to have you here. >> thank you for having me. >> let's talk for a moment about what's at play with the benghazi scandal. certainly a lot of folks were quite dismayed by the testimony, particularly because of the way he attempted to work very directly to remove any reference to al qaeda and saying that there was no evidence of terrorism that took place in the situation there. how did you feel about his testimony overall? >> well, uma, he made a half dozen changes to the talking points, and every change he made was calculated to cast the administration in a more favorable light. he changed the word attack to demonstration. he deleted any reference to al

qaeda. he changed the word terrorist to extremist, and importantly, he just washed out all of the prior notice that the state department had that the situation in benghazi was worsening. all those episodes of violence against the british and the red cross, he just decided the american people didn't need to know that. so every change he made was calculated to make the administration appear better, but the thing that none of us can understand is why he took the word of an analyst sitting in washington over the word of the libyan chief of station who had the best evidence. the whole notion that this was in response to a video or a protest, only one person in washington reached that conclusion based on reading press reports. so he took her word over the word of every eyewitness and over common sense, and we still don't know why he did that. >> yeah, and he continues to say

that politics played no role in putting those talking points together. it's interesting also that he took out these reference to any warnings that may have been coming from any type of terrorist group, even though general petraeus wanted those in the talking points. >> well, of course. i mean, if you want to tell the truth to the american people, then you need to let them know, look, the situation was getting worse in benghazi for a long time. his explanation is he didn't want to hurt the feelings of the state department. i mean that's essentially what he said. >> he said he didn't think it was appropriate to dump on the state department. >> well, his job is not to determine what's appropriate. his job is to determine what's accurate. we can sort out the appropriateness of it, and if the state department wants to then come in and say, well, wait a minute, you know, we did "x," "y," and "z," then that's fine, but he unilaterally decided we aren't smart enough to weigh and balance whether or not the state department messed up. >> where does it go from here?

the investigation. >> well, what i would love -- i've said before i think we ought to have a select committee, and that select committee -- what i would love, uma, is to have morel and the state department and the department of defense all sitting at the same table. you can blame other folks when they're not around. it's tough to do when they're sitting about 12 inches away from you. so if you want to know what happened in benghazi, have the dod and the state department and the cia sit being 12 inches away from one another and then give members of congress another chance to talk to susan rice and hillary clinton because in three years i have never had a chance to ask either one of them is question. >> let's go to the irs scandal because i know the house oversight and government reform committee is planning to move ahead next week with a vote on whether to hold former irs official lois lerner in contempt of congress. that vote set to take place next week. from there though, even if the

committee does vote to do this, it has to go before the congress in terms of getting a vote there as well. how confident are you that congress will do that? >> 100% confident because i'm 100% confident that legally she waived her fifth amendment privilege. i counted last night 18 separate factual assertions that she made before she invoked her right to remain silent. that is a lot of talking for somebody who wants to remain silent. she said, i've done nothing wrong. i have broken no rules and r regulations and broken no laws. that's a pretty broad statement for somebody who wants to remain silent. i'm 100% confident she's going to be held in contempt of congress. what i'd prefer rather than go through that legal exercise is for missmiss lernor and her atty to con clute is to come in and tell us what she knows. i'd rather hear what she has to

say than put a mark against her name for all of eternity. my preference is to get her information. >> but it obviously doesn't appear she's going to do anything unless she's cited for contempt. even with that, can she actually be forced to come and testify before you then? >> well, you can't talk unless you're willing to use extreme extraordinary measures, which i'm pretty sure are illegal. so you can't make anyone talk, but you can assign consequences for their failure to talk, including putting them in prison. but you can't make someone talk. you can incent them for give them an incentive to do so, and i'm happy to discuss that, but i'm not giving her immunity, and to ask for it, which her lawyer has done, is absurd. that's not going to happen. but if you want to work something out, you want to negotiate like i did for 16 years as a prosecutor, that door is open. but she's going to be held in contempt of congress. >> trey gowdy, thank you so much for joining us. we'll be watching how that vote goes next week and we appreciate you joining us today.

>> yes, ma'am. have a good weekend. >> you, too. coming up, teaching to the test. just one of the test that is some parents have about the federal government's common core. what they're doing about it, coming your way next. and the international hunt for flight 370 ramping up. time is running out. could the latest developments lead to a big break through in the search? we'll continue to update the story for you next. stay with us. [ dennis ] it's always the same dilemma -- who gets the allstate safe driving bonus check. rock beats scissors! [ chuckles ] wife beats rock. and with two checks a year, everyone wins. [ female announcer ] switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. only from allstate. call 866-906-8500 now. [ dennis ] zach really loves his new camera. problem is...this isn't zach. it's a friend of a friend who was at zach's party and stole his camera. but zach'sot it covered... with allstate renters insurance. [ female announcer ] protect your valuables for as low as $4 a month

when you add renters insurance to your allstate auto policy. call 866-906-8500 now. what are you doing? we're switching car insurance. why? because these guys are the cheapest. why? good question. because a cut-rate price could mean cut-rate protection. you should listen to this guy. [ female announcer ] with allstate you get great protection and a great price, plus an agent! drivers who switched saved an average of $498 a year. call now and see how much you can save. just a few more ways allstate is changing car insurance for good. [ female announcer ] call an allstate agent and get a quote now.

when my son was born, i remember, you know, picking him up and holding him against me. it wasn't just about me anymore. i had to quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven o help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. chantix didn't have nicotine in it, and that was important to me. [ male aouncer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal tughts or action while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away.

tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which uld get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a seris allergic or skineaction to it. if you develop these, stop antix and see your doctor right away, as some coue life threatening. tell your docto if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, r if you develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have mptoms of a heart attack or stroke. use caution when driving or opating machinery. common side effectslude nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. i had to qt smoking to keep up with this guy. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chanti is right for you. all right. back to our top story. could it be the break those searching for flight 370 have been waiting for, that we've all been waiting for over these past several weeks? china's official news agency reporting a chinese ship has picked up what it calls a pulse in the indian ocean near the search area, but is it related to the missing jetliner? that's the big question at this time. david piper has been following

the story ever sips this news broke and he's joining us live from bangkok with the latest on the search. david? >> reporter: a possible break through in the search for the missing plane, a chinese ship has reported detecting pings which could be coming from the black box of the plane. the official chinese news agency, xinhua, says chinese patrol ship detected pulse signals in the southern indian ocean. a possible ping sound from the plane's black box were discovered by the ship in an area outside today's search area, about 1,000 miles west of perth, australia. the chinese report, which is believe to have come directly from the ship, said the pulses were on the 37.5 gigahertz frequency, the same as the pings that would be coming from the plane's black box. chinese television earlier reported some of its ships have been moved to the new location. they didn't say why, but could indicate they had a new strong lead for the plane. but it's worth being wary about those reports because there have been so many false leads before,

and a chinese reporter who was on board says everybody should be cautious. >> translator: we cannot confirm that the pulse signal detected this afternoon belongs to the black box of mh370. the information compiled is being analyzed by china's maritime rescue center and they are waiting for professional confirmation of the nature of the signal. >> reporter: the australian authorities, which are leading the sea search, haven't confirmed the report, but are likely to send ships and planes to the area sunday. earlier the malaysian authorities which are leading the investigation said they wouldn't give up on finding the plane. >> it has been almost a month since mh37 went missing. our determination remains

undiminished. >> reporter: so the search for the black box is heating up but weather forecasts say it could be difficult for search planes and ships over the coming days. over to you, uma. >> david piper, thank you very much for that update. we are also being told we should remain skeptical of this latest news and we're a long way of knowing if this is really the missing plane. welcome. great to have you here. you know, we are talking about an area that the waters are between 10,000 to 15,000 feet deep and 932 miles away from perth, australia. given the news at this moment, it's a hopeful sign, but we do need to remain cautious. >> we do, uma. as a matter of fact, i would love it to be it, but it's a very, very long shot, and we do have to remain skeptical and cautious because we've had previous alerts like this before, and particularly from the chinese. so i think it's very important that we understand that this did

not come through air chief marshall houston, who is heading up the joint coordination center on this. doesn't mean there's anything wrong, but it does start to look a little discombobulated, and it worries people because normally what the process would have been, it should have been reported to air chief marshall houston. he should have sent out people to look, see if they got the ping again. they only got a minute and a half ping. they should have done more due diligence because now they've enthused the whole world and clearly the parents, the sisters, the relatives' survivors, and we're in a position where if it doesn't, it is going to have a great impact, i believe, on the credibility of the search. >> also when you point out about the chinese reporting this information, we have had experience with this before because they released those satellite images early on, as you may recall, and those photos were days old when they showed that they had possible debris sightings, and yet people ran with that information, and it

turned out to be nothing. >> turned out to be nothing. i think what they're going to have to do, if this doesn't work and if they don't find that pinger there and can't verify it, they're going to have to go back to what they do know. we know the malaysian prime minister said there was a criminal act involved. we know that there were of a transponder cut and a radar cut. now, i have found out, and what i'm leading towards is, i think we're going to have to reopen both the northern route sector and the southern sector and for various reasons. number one, we need transparency on why they took the southern route and the malaysian prime minister said that's where it is. until we can have enough people looking at it and transparency on it on the methodology, we must keep that northern sector still in viable play, and that's what concerns me. i would like it to be in the south indian ocean, but the fact is it could be north. >> we've had no satellite images

over the last couple days showing any possible debris sightings either. >> that's correct. and we've had 15 ships out there -- excuse me, 15 aircraft, 11 ships. we've got a lot of people searching in this area. they've gone through 15 different locations out there, at least 15 locations. this particular location was not in the daily search area, so it was an anomaly that it was discovered. but the point is i think they're going to have to go back to basics, and the malaysian government has got to be more forthcoming and distribute more information. >> when you take a look at this area, as you point out, it's not in the area they were focusing on, does that suggest to you that, again, it's because of this lack of information, coordinating information from the malaysian government in terms of what could help us with -- >> was this a rogue chinese ship that was en route or something or trying to get in the area? we don't know that. >> we have a picture of the ship

as i understand it coming up on the screen. >> but the fact is they're going to need to get the right technology there. they've got two pinger identifiers plus we have the sub out there which may be the best because of its acoustic sensing. so they can send all these over there plus the british ship, the k echo that's got sonar detection and look in this area and they could even send a deep dive, but it wasn't coordinated this way, so now we've got our hopes rising up to a peak, and we don't really know what we've got yet. >> we don't even have the australians commenting on this either and confirming this. >> well, air chief marshall houston came out and said, well, we've had a cut that we're going to look at and investigate, but no confirmation. >> right. >> and that could, i think, create more disruption between the search. this is a very difficult search, and the malaysian government, the chinese government, i think

they've got to focus it through the air chief marshall, who is a very capable person and is the right person to do this. it looked like everything was going in that direction until this came out early this morning. >> let's talk about the black boxes for a moment. the fact is we've been saying the batteries will be running out, they'll run down after more than 30 days, which we're coming up on. >> yes. >> pretty quickly, day 29 today. in terms of the actual information that we're going to get, do you have -- put more of your hopes on the data recorder or the voice -- cockpit recorder, cockpit voice recorder, excuse me? >> i think the data recorder will be very important. they will complement each other. it could be the cockpit voice recorder will just reflect silence. i don't know that. it would be ideally the best one because i think the malaysian government has focused on the two pilots in a criminal action. they haven't said which one or what, were they in cahoots or whatever, but i think that would be very valuable if that data

was still there. it would be invaluable to us. >> absolutely. all right. well, i know, of course, we're all watching it, the whole world is watching it now obviously because this news is out there, and, again, we've got to proceed with caution and i know you're going to be watching it very closely as well. thank you, sir, as always for joining us. appreciate it. >> thanks, uma. turning to another news, parents are protesting common core testing by pulling their kids out of it. live report on the controversial standards in america's schools coming your way after the break. stay with us. what super poligrip does for me is it keeps the food out.

before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. [ male announcer ] just a few dabs is clinically proven to seal out more food particles. [ corrine ] super poligrip is part of my life now.

to seal out more food particles. the owner of a vehicle, with a bumper sticker, "turrible" your lights are on. you wanna get that genius? not mine. on the passenger seat, there is a collection of charles barkley highlight dvds. must be a big fan. and the license plate reads "sir charles." i'm gonna get some drinks with my capital one venture card. be right back. earn unlimited double miles with no blackout dates from the capital one venture card.

forgetting something, sir charles? what's in your wallet? welcome back, everybody. a new standardized testing program in more than 35 states has youngsters and parents up in arms, and opting out. brian is in new york now with more on this story. brian? >> reporter: hi, uma. this week more than 4 million students in 36 states and the district of columbia were tested on english and through what's called the common core standards initiative. a national test given to students from grades 3 through 8 that seeks to ensure kids all over the nation are reaching a certain standard of learning. but thousands of parents are opting their kids out of the test. from new york to oklahoma, parents and critics say common core testing is causing unnecessary stress and anxiety forcing students to pass a test rather than become critical thinkers. concerned parents say the testing allows the federal

government to dictate curriculum taking power away from local districts and educators. daniella opted her two children from taking the test this week in long island, new york. parent advocacy groups say as many as 30,000 students in the state opted out from taking the test. >> we have as parents collectively all been noticing a trend that our children are just getting stressed out, they're enjoying learning a lot less. i hear many children not just an occasional complaint that they don't want to go to school, but a real marked difference in their attitude towards learning. >> reporter: parents are legally allowed to opt their kids out of the 90-minute test given over three days, but many schools still require those students to sit in the classroom during testing and sit and stare. still, advocates support the test. >> common core is designed to be

more rigorous and to help students are ready for college and career, and by opting out, the students aren't going to see the data that comes from completing that assessment to really see where they're at. did they progress through the year? did they learn the curriculum? do they have the knowledge and understanding they really need to move on in the grades? >> reporter: now, the anti-common core movement appears to be picking up speed. just last month indiana opted out, and now oklahoma is expected to follow suit. uma? >> brian, thank you very much. well, as you might imagine, folks out on the west coast and in chile rattled over those recent earthquakes. now some people are abuzz with concerns that an even bigger quake could be on the way. we'll talk to one expert who will answer some questions on predicting mother nature's next move and how people are preparing to stay safe. that's coming up next. stay with us. okay, listen up! i'm re-workin' the menu.

mayo? corn dogs? you are so outta here! aah! [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. [ bottle ] ensure®. nutrition inharge™. [ bottle ] ensure®. i'm on expert on softball. and tea parties. i'll have more awkward conversations than i'm equipped for, because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy more than a few times before they're grown. but it's for them, so i've found a way. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. ready to plan for your future? we'll help you get there.

i'm taking off, but, uh, don't worry. i'm gonna leave the tv on for you. and if anything happens, don't forget about the new xfinity my account app. you can troubleshoot technical issues here. if you make an appointment, you can check out the status here. you can pay the bill, too. but don't worry about that right now. okay. how do i look? ♪ thanks. [ male announcer ] troubleshoot, manage appointments, and bill pay from your phone. introducing the xfinity my account app.

all right. updating our top story. china's official news agency is reporting that a chinese ship searching for malaysian airlines

flight 370 has detect what had it calls a pulse deep in the southern indian ocean. what they don't know is if the ping has anything to do with the missing jetliner. searchers are racing right now to find those black bocks. the batteries are expected to run out very soon so time is of the essence and, of course, we're monitoring the story and will bring you the latest developments as they happen. now, coming up to another story that has a lot of folks rattled. from california to chile, millions of people are dealing with hundreds of earthquakes in the last week including a massive 8.2 earthquake off the chilean coastline. it seems that these continuous aftershocks are creating big concerns that an even larger earthquake may be on the way. dr. greg berrosa is a professor at the way. dr. greg barosa is a professor at stanford university and deputy director at southern california earthquake center. last year was appointed to serve

on the seismic safety commission for the state of california. welcome. great to have you here. >> great to be here. thank you. >> we often hear about those reports of the earthquakes and aftershocks over the last several years up and down the west coast and in south america. what's got a lot of folks rattled is the fact you have hundreds of earthquakes and aftershocks over the last few weeks. some obviously very large. others smaller. we are getting a report there was a 2 on the richter scale in the last hour in california. that is something you're quite aware of and deal with all the time. for folks who aren't familiar with this arena, give us a sense of what's at play right now. are these two incidents related in any way in california and chile? >> they are related in the sense they both represent earthquakes and earthquake sequences.

earthquakes tend not to happen by themselves but in clusters. the earthquake in california magnitude 5.0. there are earthquakes of that size throw or four times per day on average somewhere on the planet. the earth is a restless planet. the earthquake in chile much larger measured 8.2. we get an earthquake on average that large somewhere on earth about once per year. these are rare events, but they do happen. in chile which is exceptionally active they happen pretty frequently. >> we are talking about an area that experienced a lot of activity over the past few weeks. what about concerns that the so-called big one may be on the way in the future? >> talking about chile? >> in california.

>> california has had very large earthquakes in the past. 1906 was the last big one, the earthquake that devastated san francisco. in southern california there was a large earthquake in 1857 about the same size. los angeles was a small town back then. that earthquake only killed two people. the southern most andreas fault ruptured in the late 1600s. the fault had enough time since the last earthquake to support having another earthquake. it could be a decade away or decades away. those are the faults, the san andreas fault is the fault we worry about the most. >> we are more prepared than we were back then, of course. we have buildings up to code, but at the same time, it's important to stay proactive, isn't it?

>> absolutely. there are a number of buildings that were built before we understood as well as we do now how strong the shaking of earthquakes can be. we have to rhett go fit those buildings. there are a lot more people, more things to break like the internet than there were in the past. there are vulnerabilities we have now we didn't have then. >> because of the breaking news, we are running out of time. this is something you are watching closely. we are, too. we appreciate you joining us. let's hope we are not in for that big one any time soon. >> let's hope. >> we'll be back with more after this.

you are about to become very popular. because when you buy the new samsung galaxy s5 on verizon, you get a second samsung galaxy s5 for free. so, who ya gonna give it to? maybe your brother could use it to finally meet a girl. your mom, but isn't your love reward enough? its not. maybe your roommate, i mean you pretty much share everything else. hey. your girlfriend. just do not tell her it was free. whoever you choose, you'll both get the best devices on the number 1 ranked network. for best results, use verizon. how did i know? well, i didn't really. see, i figured low testosterone would decrease my sex drive... but when i started losing energy and became moody... that's when i had an honest conversation with my doctor. we discussed all the symptoms...

then he gave me some blood tests. showed it was low t. that's it. it was a number -- not just me. [ male announcer ] today, men with low t have androgel 1.62% testosterone gel. the #1 prescribed topical testosterone replacement therapy, increases testosterone when used daily. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or signs in a woman, which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are or may become pregnant or are breastfeeding, should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting.

so...what do men do when a number's too low? turn it up! [ male announcer ] in a clinical study, over 80% of treated men had their t levels restored to normal. talk to your doctor about all your symptoms. get the blood tests. change your number. turn it up. androgel 1.62%.

opens up at his presidential

library in dallas, texas. 24 paintings of world leaders he met including vladimir putin. introducing putin to his dog pardony who reportedly dissed the pooch saying, "you call that a dog?" mr. bush was not amused. we ask you to stay with the fox news channel as we continue to monitor the developments that are coming to us about the search for the malaysian jetliner. we'll continue on from new york with jamie colby and gregg jarrett. this is still preliminary. we don't have confirmation yet whether the pings we are hearing are tied to the black boxes from the missing jetliner. tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern, we'll have an exclusive inside look at the 25th anniversary celebration of george h.w. bush's presidency and an exclusive interview with his son

jeb. chris wallace talks exclusively with general michael hayden. have a good day, everybody. fox news alert. a possible major break in the search for flight 370. china state-run media is saying that one of its ships detected a pulse signal in the southern indian ocean. it is not yet clear if the signal is from the plane's black box. after nearly a month of frustration and false leads, it does offer new hopes, perhaps, that the trail may be getting warm. welcome to america's news headquarters. happy saturday to you. i'm gregg jarrett. >> i hope it's good news for these families. it's always a long shot and a