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signs of balance tonight that donald trump is making progress in his presidential campaign. more republican lawmakers are signing on, more donors are being asked to sign up. the media is looking for any sign of weakness, no matter how old or trivial. senior national correspondent john roberts reports from new york. >> like moths to the flame. the aftermath drew record numbers to his outreach meeting. >> today the room was overflowing and mote of the committee chairman are coming on board. it's right where we want it to be. >> trump has the endorsement or support of 68 members of congress. still no word on what house speaker paul ryan will do.

but trump supporters believe he will come on board. >> the sooner the better. >> in vegas today, hedge fund managers who trump would hit with new taxes are being courted by trump's financial team at the sky bridge alternative conference. trump's finance chairman is after big dollars to bankroll the general election. >> steve set a goal of a billion and so listen we're going to do everything we can to get to that billion-dollar number. >> one of the guests at the conference, former c.i.a. director david petraeus went off script. took aim at trump's foreign policy. writing when western politicians propose blanket discrimination against islam, they bolster the terrorists propaganda. democrats are turning up the heat on trump over his refusal to release tax returns. hillary clinton intimating he has something to hide. >> my husband and i have released 33 years of tax returns. we got eight years on our website right now.

so you got to ask yourself -- why doesn't he want to release them? >> trump says he hopes to put the returns out before the election but wristled this morning when pressed for more. >> what is your tax rate? >> it's none of your business, you'll see it when i release, but i fight very hard to pay as little tax as possible. >> in a hint of what lies ahead for trump, the "washington post" recycled an audio recording from 25 years ago, where trump appears to be playing his own pr person. >> what's your name again? >> john miller. >> ex-wife marla maples identified the caller as trump in 1991, he insisted it wasn't him. >> you're going so low to talk about something that took place 25 years ago whether or not i made a phone call under a presumed name. the answer is no and let's get on to more current subjects. >> while we may never know if the voice on the recording is indeed trump. he is now on record as denying it.

with the "washington post" assigning a 20-reporter team to look under every rock in trump's history, you'll be faced with plenty more opportunities to respond interest about items from his past. >> john roberts in new york. officials with the clinton global initiative are accusing "the wall street journal" of willful ignorance. the charity directed funds towards a for-profit company operated by friends of former bill clinton. the initiative response is that working for profits is not uncommon and that mr. clinton has a wide range of personal and business contacts that share his charitable goals. the journal says it stands by the story. also today the energy department said it awarded the funding through what it calls a competitive selection process. >> the clintons are spending a lot of time in the unexpected battleground of kentucky these days. bernie sanders headed what way, too. the contest and in the remaining primary states is about more

than just delegates as clinton tries to choke off the sanders momentum. here's senior political correspondent mike emmanuel. >> in north dakota which votes in june, bernie sanders told supporters he needs their help to pull off a shocking upset. >> it is a very deep climb but we have a chance to end off the democratic nominating process with more pledged delegates than secretary clinton. so it's -- >> pressure is building on sanders to step aside. for example, california democrats senator dianne feinstein told reporters yesterday about sanders and clinton, it's actually harmful because she can't make that pivot wait she should and trump has made the pivot and is going at her. >> democratic congressman steve israel told the a.p. that i would hope he would understand that we need to begin consolidating our votes sooner rather than later. >> former president bill clinton slammed sanders and donald trump

while praising his wife. >> she's the only candidate left in the race, in the primary or the general, that's actually got a record of getting things done with members of the other party. >> hillary clinton and sanders are heading for a showdown in kentucky. sanders is expected to launch a two-day swing through the bluegrass state ahead of tuesday's primary and then he's hoping to put pressure on party insiders. >> we want to make sure that we defeat mr. trump and we defeat him badly. we think our campaign is the surest campaign. we will be talking to the super delegates who have come on board. secretary clinton even before i was in the campaign. >> some sanders staffers and volunteers appear to be working on plan b if a political miracle doesn't happen. politico was first to report on a draft document proposing to build an independent organization focused on

defeating trump. call it revolution 2016 or another name that best speaks to base and message and its task might to be mobilize voters under 30 with likely positive impacts on senate and congressional races. >> no surprise a spokesman for the sanders campaign insists the candidate expecting to win more delegates and is campaigning to win the nomination. he's calling the draft plan totally irrelevant. doug? >> mike emanuel, thank you. an anonymous democratic congressman or former congressman said lawmakers are running what he calls quote an expletive casino. the 65-page manifesto features passages like most of my colleagues i promise my constituents a lot of stuff i can never deliver. and my main job is to keep my job and lastly, harry reid is a a pompous ass. has persecution of christians in the middle east reached the point of genocide? we'll take a look, when we come back.

russian president vladimir putin says he will take necessary steps to maintain strategic parity with the u.s. and nato as the west ramps up its missile defense programs. ground was broken today on a facility in poland, and one in romania became operational on thursday. nato insists the shield is mechbt to discourage attacks from the middle east. especially from iran, russia remains skeptical. hezbollah militants are mourning their top military commander tonight. the coffin of mustafa bedreddin was carried through the streets. he was killed thursday in fl damascus, he's the highest level official to die since it became involved in syria's civil war. the isis reign of terror on baghdad continues.

set off two suicide bombs, 13 people were killed. bombings the previous two days left nearly 100 people dead. the body count among christians in the middle east continues to rise. in fact a one group says the war against christianity is getting bloodier by the year. senior foreign affairs correspondent, amy kellogg looks into that tonight from rome. >> rome's trevi fountain runs red on a recent night for christian martyrs. according to the christian relief organization, open doors, 2015 was the worst year in modern history for persecution of christians. pope francis has been vocal on the issue. other says the rest of the world has been slow to admit to what's going on with the exploitation of power vacuum by extremist groups in the middle east. >> we don't like to say these are a bunch of muslims killing a bunch of christians. unfortunately that is what's happening. the facts are those. >> it is to the point where the bombings, the beheadings, the crucifixions and other forms of

persecution are in fact being called genocide by the u.s. secretary of state and a chorus of other voices. that doesn't necessarily activate a particular plan of action, but the symbolism is potent. >> while the majority of isis victims are muslim, the group is decimating christian communities. as many as two-thirds of syria's once-vibrant christian population have fled. iraq's christians have dwindled to a fraction of what they once were. pakistan saw a deadly easter day attack on a playground filled with christian children. christians well you they feel marginalized. >> we're living an everyday life in pakistan is just a small piece of the iceberg of the persecution we are going through. >> the race is on to revive a spirit of co-existence in the best of times before all christians leave the middle east and beyond. in rome, amy kellogg. fox news. stocks were down for the day.

the dow lost 185, the s&p 500 was off 17.5, the nasdaq fell 20. for the week the dow lost about 1.25 percentage points, the s&p 500 was down a half, nasdaq fell a third. the house and senate will consider measures toward funding the fight against the zika virus. that fight could include a way to get the mosquitos to do the dirty work for us. correspondent phil keating explains from south florida. >> in the picturesque florida keys, three million genetically modified mosquitos could be released into this one neighborhood. key haven, home to about 1,000 people. some opponents call it the frankenfly. >> it is now all about preventing a zika outbreak as florida has one-fifth of all zika infections in the country. >> we cannot afford to have a major outbreak in this country. of zika. >> public health experts and both florida senators support the plan.

the food and drug administration is evaluating the potential impacts on the environment, public comment period ends friday at midnight. a british lab says its male mosquitos produce offspring that can die before they can bite you and aims to reduce the mosquito by 90%. >> i've met geneticists, medical doctor, by and large the majority say it is safe. throughout key haven, opposition is obvious, with signs of no consent part of the tropical landscape. >> my family and my community are being used as a guinea pigs. >> there's more to consider than just the science of is the biology correct. is the, is this correct, will this work? there's always unforeseen, unintended consequences. >> the lab claim those adverse effects reported in three countries so far. ultimately, though, this could all come down to a vote of the people here.

in august. >> doug? >> phil keating in south florida. >> is president obama trying to bully your child's public school into allowing transgender students to use whatever rest room they want? we'll have reaction from the panel after a quick break.

the challenge is not to isolate anybody, not to discriminate against anybody, not it make anybody unsafe. it's to insure that our schools are as inclusive and respectful and safe as they can possibly be. >> we will not be blackmailed by the president's 30 pieces of silver. if they want to keep their money, keep their money. they're not going to buy our children. tell families what to do we will find a way in texas to find the dollars if they want to pull the money. >> this underscores the risk of electing a right wing radio host to a statewide elected office.

>> this saul about a new obama administration directive directed to all public schools across the united states, which requires them to allow transgender students to use the bathroom and the locker room of their choice even if their gender is different gender on their birth certificate. the guidance does not impose any new legal requirements, but it comes with a strong stick as well as a carrot, the threatened withdrawal of federal funding for the school district in which the offense happens. let's bring in the panel, steve hayes, senior writer for the "weekly standard," susan page, washington bureau chief at "u.s.a. today" and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer what do you think of it? >> on one level could you say it's a fairly small problem. tiny population. but there's something very large at stake here. and that is the federal government is unilaterally decreeing without a debate, without consulting that as of

now sex is no longer or gender is no longer a fixed category. as we have assumed for say 5,000 years. but actually a simply a matter of declaration, of preference, that's a huge step. it's going to have a lot of implications in the future. again this is a rather trivial issue, the use of the bathrooms in comparison with other items on our agenda. it's important to the individuals involved. but this is a major change on how we view one of the defining aspects of any person. i think it deserves a lot more than simply a declaration, unless you accept the idea that you can declare yourself a man on a monday and a woman on wednesday, and it's completely up to you, that unless you accept that, you are a bigot. and you are acting like, the segregationist in the south. 60 years ago. think that is a huge step. and the use of the power of the federal government to bully, i

think that's the right word. to enforce this, think is disgraceful. it shows how the air against of an administration unilaterally sort of overriding the federalism, the separation of powers, we know about that, is a terrible example for the future. >> susan? >> i agree this is a serious issue that deserves serious attention. i'm not sure it's fair to say people declare themselves a man on monday and a woman on wednesday. the transgender people i have met have felt from a very early age that their jend certificate not the one on their birth certificates. we should be aware that this is of course going to go to the courts. this is the administration does not have the final word on their interpretation of this law. it's going to go to the courts. we're going to have a debate. >> i don't think people assume it's going to change gender identification over the course of a night. but some have argued this could adversely affect women's sports for example. if you take a man who identifies as a woman and wants to join the

basketball team. and he happens to be 6'4" and has muscle mass and body mass that's much bigger and stronger than female players urks going to put the female players out of business. >> there are going to be a lot of repercussions, it reflect as big sea change in attitudes. public attitudes on issues. this is not a stance i think the obama administration would have taken eight years ago. not everyone is in agreement on them. >> i have a slight difference of opinion with susan in what she just said. i don't think it reflects a sea change, i think it seeks to drive a sea change from my perspective, what the obama administration has done is taken an issue that requires, demands, compassion and thoughtfulness on a local level, on a school-by-school level. dealing with individuals. and tried to force what i think what i think is an ideologically extreme view on the rest of the country, and they've done so

really in an or wellian fashion. if you look at title ix, intended to prevent discrimination on women and girls, the administration is saying we're going to use the same exact language to erase those same distinctions. >> can contradicts the plain language of title 9, i think that's where they would have legal problems if it does go to court. >> it really struck me as the kind of thing a president would do only in his second term. it's not a step he would have taken in the first term. >> there have always been people of indeterminate sex. they have the sense that they

belong to another gender. that is true, once you are making this ruling, you have declared it from now on there's no relation to genetics, there's no diagnosis, there's no showing that are you a one sex or even you are inclined to one sex. simply a self declaration, it's a matter of your choice. that's a radical change. there are people who are, who have and have a sense of unstable sexuality and who do change. it's not a majority of transgender. >> it would show you if you're a person of that kind it's up to you to decide who are you on these days with no external objective criteria. >> even school districts that seem to be looking at this situation in a spirit of goodwill are facing the heavy hand of government. there's a case in illinois, the last november the office of civil rights of the u.s. department of education sent a letter to the superintendant of township high school in illinois. the letter read, the district

has honored student a, a student in question, the transgender student, request to be treated as a female in all respects, except to be provided access to the girl's locker room at school. the district stated granting student a the option to change her clothes in the girls locker room would expose female students as young as 15 years of age to a biologically male body. the district settled, but only under the threat of losing over $6 million in federal funding. >> i think this is one of those are using this dictate from the obama administration and saying have we lost all common sense? why isn't it the case that they things can be handled on a case-by-case basis, on a district by district basis, or even a school-by-school basis. rather than having the federal government come in and make a sweeping declaration, a sweeping

decree of national policy? i think when you hear something like that, if i'm a father and i've got a young daughter who is going to be changing in the same locker room with somebody who is biologically male, however that person may self-identify. that's causing me huge problems. >> this certainly seems to be lighting a fire across the country and i suspect we've not heard the last of it. certainly courts are going to be taking a look at it next up the friday lightning round. ♪ you're not gonna watch it! ♪

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uh, no thanks. i have x1 from xfinity so... don't fall for directv. xfinity lets you download your shows from anywhere. i used to like that song. 20 aircraft assigned on station currently. out of those 20 only nine arely noable. >> cut our program in half and that's -- i mean that's not sustainable operation. >> fox news' national security correspondent jennifer griffin reported last month that the marines were having to canal cannibalize helicopters to keep them to fly. she was told it is exclusive to the air -- >> you know what we struck me a month ago and now people from the active duty military talking '"on the

record" basis. that tells you that the military brass is concerned about this and wants attention to this issue. >> their commanding officers are letting them do this. >> exactly. >> i had the same exact reaction that susan did. it's remarkable that you are hearing people make this case on their own behalf wearing the uniform. i think it goes to show just how badly cut our military has been overall. if you go back to secretary gates last budget in 2000 12. we have averaged $100 billion below that budget number, which he said was as low as you could possibly cut between 2017 and 2021. we are in dramatic need or serious need of a dramatic reversal. >> charles, there is lots of blame to go around here. societal blame because we talk about the defense budget as abstraction in terms of numbers. what's important about this report is it shows people how the abstractions translate into burn out lack

of readiness and as a result we will lose pilots in the future. >> another thing on the ground but when it comes to major war. >> with the chinese islands we have to know how to fight again. >> ts.tsa is advise to come arrive at your local airport two hours in advance. security lines have gotten so, so long. let's listen up to tsa administration peter neffinger before congressional hearing yesterday. he got an earful. >> you cannot recruit, you cannot train, and you cannot retain and you cannot administer. it's just a huge failing government program. and it will fail. >> steve, another confluence of troubles with the tsa here. >> correct. it is failing. anybody who travels a lot, you have seen this. it's clear that the lines are longer. it's clear that things are taking much larger. what you are hearing from larger airports the possibility of privatizing

that will have to be looked at more seriously. i wouldn't be surprised if you saw more airports move in that direction. >> susan? >> travel is not miserable enough. seats are this back. chair backs come right into your lap. they don't give you meals. so this just makes it more miserable. people are heading for spring bake break. for summer. it's not going to get fixed in the next few months. even jeh johnson said it was months down the road before the efforts to hire more fsa agents is going to show any results. >> you don't liked the mixed nut? a male in itself. look, there is no way around this. we all know it's 90% charade. when you do the test where you try to smuggle stuff through it always gets through. it gives us a sense of safety and that's the price we pay. >> tsa has the lowest morale of any agency. losing 100 agents every week which raises the question should the service pert be provided by a private firm. >> maybe we will find out if places like new york city

decide it's not working for them. >> we have a minute left. winners and losers for the week. start it off. >> we'll go fast. it's police week here in washington, d.c. we have seen a lot of scrutiny the police over the past year. focusing on some bad apples and there are bad apples but there are a lot of good police officers who show up every day to their jobs do them bravely and quietly and don't expect much in the turn. bad is white house. on the iran deal. white house exposed as being deceptive which i think many were arguing at the time. that's its most significant foreign policy achievement. not a good week for the white house. >> ben rhodes will be at the state dinner tonight i am told. is he not hiding. >> not going anywhere. >> my winner reince priebus. impossible job. emerged as indefense cybil

hand with donald trump. weary of donald trump. including his good friend, fellow wisconsinite paul ryan. my loser elizabeth warren so close to the white house and so far away. we know by reporting from politico that joe biden if he run for the nomination and gotten it, he plan to do put other on the ticket. hillary clinton much less likely to do that. >> all sports edition. winner is matt 20 strikeouts in nine inning game. third man to do that in 150 years. apologies to the producers the washington capitals. best team in the league. they lost in the playoffs. doug, it's okay. it's only hockey. >> the new chicago cubs. >> that's it for the panel. stay tuned for a word from paul ryan. [woodworker] i live in the fine details.

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>> let me say. this i think we had a very encouraging meeting. and, again i'm very encouraged. i heard a lot of good things from our presumptive nominee, i was very encouraged from what i heard from donald trump today. this was our first meeting. i was very encouraged about this meeting. i'm very encouraged that we can put that together. i think we are off to encouraging start. >> we encourage you to have a delightful weekend. thanks for watching "special report." i'm doug mckelway. good night from washington.

"on the record" live from the national law enforcement officer's memorial just down the road from us for police week coming up next. ererererere. have a great weekend. see you monday. welcome to this special edition of "hannity," trump versus the left. since day that donald trump announced he was running for office, the left has been trying to vilify him and his positions. tonight, for the hour, we're going to show you how radical liberals really compare to donald trump. let's take a look. ♪ >> i will build a great, great wall and i will have mexico pay for that wall. mark my word. >> we don't need a wall and we don't need barbed wire.