>> hello, folks. welcome to studio e in the "fox & friends" program on this wednesday morning. >> all right. we hope you're going to have a great day as we head to the end of the week, we've got so much show to bring to you today before we do that, let's check out the big board. we have governor scott walker from wisconsin. remember, they're trying to recall him in his state. he's going to be with us just 15 minutes away live on the curvy couch i think for the first time. >> just had a chance to speak to the governor. he said the recall is nothing. that he has -- it's nothing compared to the disappointment he feels about the green bay packer loss. so if you compare the two, the recall is really no big deal. rick santorum will be here live as well. newt gingrich called him out. said essentially what mitt said to rocky before he wanted a rematch, you can't win. >> of course, rick santorum running for president as is the guy far right. ronnie from "the jersey shore" will be here on the curvy couch. we'll talk to -- >> we'll meet him! >> dennis kucinich.

jerry springer will be in the special panel talking politics. >> jessica alba will be here and rick perry so let's get right to the other topics of the day. mitt romney who wants to be president on the republican side of things, yesterday, was this a gaffe or a good thing? he admits that he pays a tax closer to 15% instead of what you might expect for a wlty person. this is the whole warren buffet thing. when you make most of your income from investments you pay capital gains tax which is 15% thanks to george w. bush. instead of paying income tax, regular old income which will be taxed at a much higher level. is this a good thing now when mitt romney has also said at the same time he's not going to release his tax returns until april. >> well, it's a good thing, i guess, one thing, i do not think mitt romney can wait now until april. if you're going to give away the fact that you're paid 15% in your rate, that was the thing that everyone said that the governor politically said it's not a good thing to bring up right now because of the current

climate between the 99% and the 1%. he's clearly the 1%. and he did this thing called earning it. now he's investing it so if you ask mitt romney, he should get the pain over with or at least right after the south carolina primary. here's the thing, is south carolina going to feel a little duped if they don't get the answers before their vote. are they going to feel as though they're not important enough for the romney campaign to get the information for the future primaries? >> there are a lot of retirees in south carolina and a lot of them depend on capital gains. they know what 15% is. however, look for the republicans to be absolutely attacked by the democrats. look, he's part of the 1%. he paid so little. it's interesting, "the wall street journal" today says if mitt doesn't want to spend the campaign defending his 15% tax rate, we'll get out front and propose a serious tax reform. and he did say on monday that he didn't think it was fair that anybody should pay more than 25%

so, perhaps, mitt romney will come up with a great big sweeping tax reform. >> first of all, the dnc already has that ad put together. >> come on, guys. we've had debbie wasserman schultz here many times. she chairs the dnc. this has been their goal from the very beginning. they have been attacking only mitt romney on the republican side. to go further on this "wall street journal" editorial which is very important for people to read today because mitt romney has not been in favor of the flat tax. other candidates have been. and now "the wall street journal" is saying look, turn this into a positive. take this as a positive and start talking about a flat tax reform plan right now since you already said yesterday you only paid 15% so we'll have see if he does that before south carolina and before florida. >> "wall street journal" gave a recommendation to mitt romney saying you should use the bain capital attack to outline why capitalism is such a popular thing.

meanwhile, newt gingrich didn't waste any time jumping on this news. he says i have a great idea. with the 15% rate that he pays on his income tax, we should just factor him into my plan. >> i didn't realize until today that governor romney paid about 15%. we're calling my 15% flat tax the mitt romney flat tax. and our principle is why shouldn't you be allowed to pay the same percentage he does? now, that's going to lead to what liberals would call a revenue shortfall to which my answer is terrific. that means we need to cut the government more. this is not a country which is undertaxed. it's a country which is overspent. >> well put. all right. meanwhile, governor sarah palin has not officially endorsed anybody for president on the republican side until, perhaps, last night with sean hannity. she said this regarding newt. >> if i had on vote in south carolina in order to keep this thing going, i'd vote for newt

and i would want this to continue more debate, more vetting of candidates because we know the mistake made in our country four years ago was having a candidate that was not vetted to the degree that he should have been. i want to see this thing continue because iron sharpens iron. skill sharpens skill. i guess you could say she's not endorsing mitt romney because if she didn't want this to continue, she would endorse mitt romney, then if he wins south carolina and florida, a lot of people say this thing could be over so, you know, get what you want out of that statement. she's not officially endorsing newt gingrich like her husband did but i think what i get out of that is she's not endorsing mitt romney. >> rick santorum with one of those people say it's not over even if i lose south carolina and mitt romney takes the whole south including florida as they head to nevada. he said this thing is going to go on for a whileful we'll talk about that when he joins us live. a little bit after that, rick perry who arguably is coming off his finest debate will be with us live at 8:45.

this could be his last stand. >> it could be. we have a busy morning. meanwhile, the headline of "the new york post" says it well. this is the captain of the costa concordia. chicken of the sea. they've released a tape and a transcript that shows exactly how the coast guard tried to get this guy back on the boat even though he was apparently out in one of the tenders, one report is he was underneath a blanket. come on, you got to go back. he would not do it. >> the amazing thing is a transcript now is being put into english for us. it's amazing the conversation that was going on between the guy in charge of the coast guard and this captain. so here's part of that. you need to tell me, this is the coast guard, if there are children, women or people in need of assistance and tell me the exact number of each of these categories. is that clear? listen, captain, that you saved yourself from the sea but i'm going to make sure you get in trouble iechlt going to make sure you pay for this.

go on board for blank's sake. >> yeah, and he went on to say this -- commander, please, they went back and forth. no, please, you now get up and go on board. he wanted him to turn around the lifeboat, turn around and get back in and help people on shore. the captain went on and said i'm here with the rescue boats. i'm here. i'm not going anywhere. i am here. steve, you take it from here. >> then the coast guard said what are you doing, commander? he said i am here to coordinate the rescue. what are you coordinating there? go on board! my air rescue is on the prowl. go, there are already bodies he says to the captain. how many bodies are there? i don't know. i have heard of one. you are the one who has to tell me how many there are. christ! >> the captain goes on to say, but do you realize it is dark and we can't see anything? the coast guard says and so what? you want to go home? the captain says it's dark and you want to go home, get on that

boat using this -- this is the coast guard still. get on -- basically what he's telling him get back to the ship. this is an amazing exchange folks, it goes on and on and on. keep in mind that this captain, i think he was on land at this point in time and he has his officers with him. so now nobody in command of this ship is actually on the ship helping people as they're dying and by the way, 29 people are still missing and unaccounted for. >> by the way, you can see the video. the green video at night, it shows people scrambling around running up and down the corridor looking for a way out not knowing where the land was. so these guys -- this is the utter definition of cowardice and he's trying to deny that he actually abandoned ship. when this tape is released, that eliminates all of it but it's unbelievable that the italian court system gives him house arrest. >> exactly. he was in jail for a little while. there is one eyewitness account that apparently that guy and some of his crew members may have been in the absolute first lifeboat out. that's crazy.

>> he did not go down with the ship. >> the story is far from being over. we'll continue to cover it for you here. in the meantime, a fox news alert for you now because you're looking live at the white house. it is on lockdown last night after someone in a crowd of occupied protesters tossed smoke bombs over the fence. peter doocy life now from our washington bureau with the very latest. all right, peter, what can you tell us? for those of us who were sleeping and didn't hear about this. >> the secret service says at one point there were between 1,000 and 1500 occupy d.c. protesters outside and that at some point, someone threw what appeared to be smoke bombs on to the north lawn. possibly two of them. there were two arrests and there were no injuries and there was no damage that we know of. but while a robot was brought in to check things out, the white house was put on lockdown. all this started at about 8:00 p.m. and took a few hours to resolve but before the huge crowds were disbursed, there was

some question about whether or not the commotion would prevent the first couple from getting back into the white house because while all of this was happening on pennsylvania avenue, the president and the first lady were up on i street in northwest washington at blt steaks with valerie jarrett and some friends celebrating the first lady's 48th birthday. blt's web site says it's an american steakhouse that combines bistro ambiance with steakhouse fare. they did not have any problems getting back into the white house. their motorcade took a slightly longer route back that completely avoided protesters and got them home at about 9:45. by then, things had quieted down so the first couple was never really troubled by this and as far as we know, the occupiers did not complicate the first lady's evening. back to you. >> now let's get to the rest of the headlines. series of rare winter tornadoes touching down in indiana, kentucky and mississippi. at least two people have been hurt. let's take you to louisville where the powerful storms

destroyed homes, ripped down power lines and tossed two tractor-trailers off the freeway snarling traffic for hours. forecasters say the warm weather is what's triggering these tornadoes in the winter. now over to seattle where people are bracing for what could be the largest snow storm to hit the area in 27 years. snow has been falling for the weekend. the biggest amounts are expected today. seattle tacoma area could see 5 inches to a foot of snow and hurricane force winds could be felt along the coast. alaska airlines already canceling 38 flights in and out of seattle as well as portland, oregon. a murder mystery is playing out right in the shadows of the famous hollywood sign. two women were hiking with their dogs in the rugged hills near canyon drive in los angeles when the dog found a plastic bag in the brush and inside, a human head. investigators believe the man is of armenian descent and in his 40's. man was murdered pretty recently. one of our nation's bravest marines killed in the line of

duty finally being honored for his heroism. the lance corporal died during a 2009 attack in afghanistan. he was holding a metal detector, discovered a roadside bomb and warned his fellow marines before it blew up. he saved their lives. yesterday, the navy secretary presented hogan's parents with the navy cross. several newly built barracks now named in his honor. those are your headlines this morning. >> all right. 12 minutes after the hour. he put unions on notice. now his job is on the line. wisconsin governor scott walker up for recall here next to tell his side of the story live in new york. >> plus, a personal gift addressed to president obama from iran. this one certainly will tick you off. details straight ahead. [ male annouer ] juice drink too watery?

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>> wisconsin governor scott walker is in a fight for his political future, immediate future. yesterday's democrats -- yesterday, democrats turned in more than one million signatures in an effort to recall him following the budget showdown last spring well chronicled here. >> yep, if the state's government accountability office verifies the signatures a recall election could come as early as may. >> and wisconsin governor scott walker joins us. i believe this is your debut on curvy couch, is it not? >> that's right. >> so great to see you in person. i wish for you personally it was for better circumstances because now it looks as if you are going to be in the hot seat in a recall election which will take place when? june? >> probably june, maybe even early july. the bottom line is they've got to certify the signatures. there's plenty of examples of people who signed multiple times but in the end, as i predicted about four or five months ago, i said there will be a recall election.

we anticipated this. in the end, we earned the trust of the majority of people in the state of wisconsin. it's our chance to earn them again. >> you went in and said i can't balance the budget without reeling in the unions. you said we're going to get rid of collective bargaining rights and we're going to do it right away. you did it. you passed it and your program is in place but a lot of people are upset. >> yeah, you know, it's interesting, you look at all the other states that had budget deficits and ours is one of the largest in the country per capita and we said we're not going to cut into services like medicaid and we added more money into medicaid and not going to use budget givings. those are things that all states did in the past. illinois and connecticut did pieces of those things and they faced real trouble. instead, we did long term structure reforms that helped me balance my budget but all the local districts all the school boards and town boards have long term structure reform to make their government work better and the bottom line is the national unions want their hands in the money. it's about the union's money and not about the workers' money.

they want those automatic dues and spend about anything to get that back. >> the national union people can inject money into your race but they can't vote. any idea how the people of wisconsin stand? i know in 2008, president obama won that state. and then this past year, the republicans were swept into power in both houses. so where does it stand now snoo auto it's going to be very close. wisconsin for example in 2000 and 2004 was the closest blue state in america. couple thousand votes were the dierence in the race for president. it will be the close race. for years, it's been an equally divided state politically republican and democrat. in the end, though, the majority people in this state put me in office to do what i said. normally you have a recall about someone who breaks their promise. we kept all of our promises and yet, you've got a core group that are just sore about that. >> by the way, wisconsin has added jobs in the meantime and cut costs at the same time. i think it's very fascinating to look at the same thing that new york is doing with the democratic governor. governor cuomo in the paper today talking about slashing pensions. so will he face the same

blowback that you did? >> of course not, because it's the politics. you had duvall patrick sign collective bargaining reform in massachusetts. you had cuomo talking about it in new york. you have a democratic treasurer in rhode island and even rahm emanuel in chicago talking about some of the same things at a local level that we're doing at a statewide level. the difference is the politics. it's about the power here. interesting enough, you think back. people can go back to the state of wisconsin but billion dollar budget deficits or record job losses or work together with us. >> what i'm getting from you and plethora of material, it's not about governor scott walker. this is about the next election and the direction of our country. >> it really is. think about it, not just about the 2012 elections but ultimately about whether or not we're going to have leaders, whether it's in wisconsin and madison, our capital in new york or any statehouse and for that matter the halls of congress, when people are courageous to take a stand and think more about the next generation than the next election, what are we

going to do about that? my position is they're going to stand up not just for me and figure out long term that our country is better off. >> it was the big story yesterday. it's good to see you live here on the curvy couch. >> thank you, happy new year. >> stay out of trouble in new york, ok, steve will only be here until 2:00 to bail you out. >> i keep getting these giants fans that keep rubbing it in. >> who won that game? >> sorry about that but you got miss america from your state. >> and a great one undeed. >> congratulations. coming up on our show, mitt romney paid only 15% in taxes, less than the average american. stuart varney thinks romney can capitalize on that and win more support. how can he do that? stu varney is next. >> the buzzer beating shot we're about to see, flat out inkr inkred -- incredible and the announcer covering the game. >> oh, my god! oh, my god! >> unbelievable!

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>> some quick headlines for you. president obama hoping more seats equal more money. he's moving his democrat convention speech in september to the bigger venue, bank of america's stadium. remember the president has spent years bashing the big banks, bank of america big bank. and country superstar garth brooks suing an oklahoma hospital to get his $500,000 donation back. he claims it was for a building named after his mother who died of cancer. the hospital is not naming anything after her and says brooks' donation never came with any conditions. all right. gretch? brian? >> republican frontrunner mitt romney a 15 percenter? >> what's the effective rate

i've been paying? closer to the 15% than i think is my last 10 years, i've -- my income comes overwhelmingly from investments. >> now, the president and his republican rivals on the attack. >> i didn't realize until today that governor romney paid about 15% so we're now calling my 15% flat tax the mitt romney flat tax. and our principle is why shouldn't you be allowed to pay the same percentage he does? >> well, joining us now is stuart varney to try to break this all down. some people are saying it's a good thing that mitt romney got this out in the forefront yesterday. 15%. some are saying maybe it's a bit of a gaffe. if people don't understand how this fits together is going to say why isn't he paying a higher tax? he's rich. >> why do we tax investment income at 15%? why do we do that? it seems unfair. the answer is we put a low tax rate on people who put their money to work to grow the economy.

you invest in a business, a house, a stock, or a bond. you're putting your money in. you take it out for a profit and you pay a low tax on it. that encourages investment which encourages growth for the economy. there's one point you got to make here. if you make a profit in less than one year, you pay 35% on your income. that's a short-term capital gain and you pay the same rate as ordinary wages and salaries income. >> did he ever pay 35%? for example, if you make $350 million or whatever he's worth, it didn't all come from stocks and investment. so he paid at some point the highest end. >> i don't know how you can break down when he paid what. i don't know how you can do that because it depends on the time frame and when he actually took the money out. but this election, the coming election is going to be about what is a fair rate of tax for people to pay, whether you're rich or poor, whether you're investment income or wages and salaries. that's going to be a debate.

>> this could be a missed opportunity as "wall street journal" points out today or a great opportunity for mitt romney to suddenly get much more behind tax reform and flat tax. let's face it, the other republican candidates have been talking a lot more about tax reform than he has. >> this opens up an opportunity for mitt romney to come out in favor of tax reform. a flatter rate of tax. so far, he's not done that. i think he should do that because tax reform should be front and center. this is an opportunity for him to do it. >> at this point, what else could be on that tax form that might be a political liability? if the rate was the big thing, we already know he's very rich. we already know now he earned his money. what else could a tax form reveal? >> i don't know. i don't know what else could be a problem for him other than the rate that he's paid. >> here's the argument that the journal points out which i think is so important. the reason that they say that the income rates are -- tax rates are so high like 35% is because we have all these loopholes in the system which we have to pay for through

paperwork like the mortgage interest and state tax deductions. if we made it simpler for everyone else, we would save more money that we wouldn't have to have the tax rate so high. >> that's the opportunity being presented to mitt romney. come out in favor of lower rates for everybody on all forms of income, maybe even a flat tax of 15%. you pay 15% on everything. whether it's wages, salaries, capital gains, doesn't matter. this is an opportunity for him to do that. and get out front of the tax reform movement. >> varney & company, 9:20, fox business network. you better show up. >> i most certainly will. >> thanks, stu. >> speaking of mitt romney, polls show he has a solid lead in south carolina but the campaign guru dick morris says newt gingrich after that debate performance has a secret weapon? >> not secret soon. plus stranded in the snow in temperatures below zero for two straight days. this guy survived by burning his own money. oh, my goodness. why live, then? would you? first, happy birthday to jason

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>> time for the shot of the morning. forget about the cheerleaders. one college basketball team getting all the support it needs from a zealous, dare i say overzealous sideline announcer. >> with the rebound. half court, full court shot. oh, my god! oh, my god! he hit it from the free-throw line on the other side! unbelievable! it's the most unbelievable shot i've ever seen in my life! >> that very excitable gentleman you heard was the announcer for lindsay wilson college. in case you couldn't tell, he was very impressed by the team's last minute victory over georgetown college and this video getting more than one million hits. >> i love it. i love the fact -- he probably was so excited in the competitive nature of the game. probably doesn't have a son or

anybody else on the team. i love it! >> the guy that hit the shot's name was chase spring. >> chase. >> lindsay college won over georgetown. >> you're supposed to be impartial. >> even the guy from the hindenburg called and said calm down. >> the tsa now admitting to improperly searching two elderly women at j.f.k. airport in new york. in separate complaints, 89-year-old ruth sherman and an 85-year-old said they were strip searched. the tsa defended its agents at first saying they didn't violate screening procedures. now the department of homeland security admits the tsa went too far. >> what happens now? i wonder if those ladies can sue the government. probably not. anyway, iran apparently reading the kindergarten's guide to global domination because they're now using toys to taunt the u.s. the latest piece of propaganda, a miniature model of the u.s.

drone that crashed in the islamic republic last month. so far, ron has refused to return the real drone but they say they'd be more than happy to send president obama one of the replicas along with a commemorative stand that says we will put america under our feet. yeah, i bet he'd put that right in the oval office. >> we canceled war games because they're too provocative. they have stockpiled tamiflu. a study said it could reduce the duration of flu symptoms but researchers said they could not confirm that tamiflu reduced complications of flu like pneumonia. >> talk about having money to burn. a snow shoe hiker survives two days in the freezing cold by setting fire to the cash in his wallet. the 66-year-old was leading a snow shoeing tour through the mountains of washington state when he fell down a steep slope and disappeared under two feet

of snow. lucky for him, he had enough ones and fives in his wallet to keep him warm until rescue crews arrive. you don't have to feel so bad because it wasn't like he was burning $100 bills. >> exactly. it just goes to show you, always get change for a 20 if you're skiing. >> sure. and what situation would he be in if he were just a guy like a lot of people that just carries plastic. >> a cashless society, if we got that, he would be dead. >> a guy with lots of ones and fives in his pocket is dick morris. he joins us from florida. >> what was his burn rate? >> oh, always a political consultant. what do you think? the south carolina primary a couple of days away. a dynamic performance the other night. can newt gingrich make a comeback? >> yeah, he sure can. i think newt could very well win in south carolina. and if he does, then you have a real contest in florida and down the road. if romney wins in south carolina, this is basically over.

because then he'll go on to win in florida fairly easily and we won't have much to talk about in the morning. but if there's a gingrich victory, this could go on. i thought in the last debate gingrich put out red meat and santorum put out white meat of chicken. but since it was a republican debate, nobody served pork. but -- >> meaning that rick santorum was not dynamic enough? >> right. he was lawyerlike. he was precise. he did a lot of statistics and facts and arguments but gingrich showed the passion and the strength that i think republican primary voters are looking for. and i think -- and i thought romney's performance was weak. now, on the other hand, we have a debate coming up on thursday night and by the way, i'll be tweeting during the debate so you can read my comments on my web site. but -- minute by minute and romney could well make a comeback.

but if gingrich continues to dominate the debate on thursday as he did on monday, then i think he could make a real race of it. it would be a fascinating time where one debate could really spell the whole difference. >> here is gingrich unplugged from the debate. let's listen. >> by the best food stamp president in american history to maximize dependency is terrible. has it improved in three years? no, they haven't built the road. they haven't helped the people. they haven't done anything. andrew jackson had a pretty clearcut idea about america's enemies. kill them. >> all right. so it's fascinating to me, dick, because one of the things that we were tossing around here on the couch in the last couple of weeks was that one of the reasons that newt gingrich may have gone down in the polls besides all the negative ads against him was that he didn't have a lot of debates suddenly. there was a lull period around christmastime and moving into the new year. do you agree with that? >> yeah, i think that's really true. i hadn't thought about that but you're right. i also feel, though, when

gingrich is attacking romney, i think he hurts himself. i think he doesn't look good. he looks divisive. many republican primary voters are saying hey, newt, romney might be the nominee. let's not give obama the ammo to shoot at him. when he gets off the negative and goes on to his positive vision, he's very compelling and i think very good so i hope that he learns his lesson from this but when i heard that sound clip about the 15% tax thing, maybe he hasn't. how can you fault a guy for paying the amount of taxes that he owes? do any of us put in voluntary contributions in addition? auto that's a good point. of the people out there, and i know after this comes florida and something like half of the people in florida have already done early voting as you know, living down there, are the people who are looking to november, are they on the republican side in particular, are they simply anti-obama more than pro romney? >> well, i think now they are. but, of course, i think that

romney grows on you. i think that in 1980, they were more anti-carter than pro reagan. but i think gradually, of course, we all forgot about carter and focused on reagan's achievements. i think romney has the capacity to be an incredibly great president and i think that he has a wonderful leadership, charisma that i think is terrific. but let me say this, what is the difference between romney in 2008 and romney in 2012? obama. in 2008 being a mormon was unforgivable to some voters. it's forgivable if your opponent is obama. romney's wealth, romney's bain capital, well he's running against obama and i think all of a sudden, it's no longer a primary. it's an audition to see who will perform the best against obama and i think that when gingrich shows that passion and with romney shows that ability to reach out to independents and moderates, i think they're both doing very well in this audition.

>> by the way, the fox news poll came out, obama against -- obama against romney, it's virtually a dead heat. >> but a dead heat doesn't mean a dead heat as gretchen knows well. the undecided vote goes against the incumbent. remember, gretchen, i asked you if you could be married to the same guy next year. >> sure, put me on the spot. >> and you said yeah. that means you're not undecided. >> no, i'm decided on that issue. but i also think those polls are a little erroneous when you put only one candidate against the president. president is the president and mitt romney isn't yet the nominee so i don't know if i put much credence in those head-to-head polls. >> i think i do. but when you show obama in the mid and low 40's, you're talking about a massive defeat. it doesn't matter what the democrats -- what the republican is scoring. he'll come up when he's the nominee and the undecided vote will go against the incumbent. >> all right. we got to wrap up.

thanks, dick. >> thank you. >> all right. >> look forward to that second debate that will decide south carolina more than likely. straight ahead, money for nothing. the government dumped millions of your tax dollars into foreclosed homes and got nothing back. even worse, the private sector warned him it was a bad investment. one of those people here next. >> and the administration really on a roll with its investments. yet another government funded solar company handed out pink slips. could bankruptcy be next?

i'm a home in a high-risk flood area. it doesn't look risky. i mean, phil, does this look risky to you? nancy? fred? no. well it is. in a high-risk area, there's a 1-in-4 chance homes like us will flood. i'm glad i got flood insurance. fred, you should look into it.

i'm a risk-taker. [ female announcer ] only flood insurance covers floods. visit floodsmart.gov/risk to learn your risk. from centrum. it puts you in the center of everything that's good for you. its unique self-assessment tool helps identify the multivitamin and supplement combination that's right for you and your lifestyle. so visit new nutritionpossible.com and take your personal assessment today. better nutrition is within reach. centrum. nutrition possible. >> 45 minutes after the top of the hour. a couple of quick headlines for you now. another government solar company on the verge of collapse. the company from ohio is laying off 40 workers, half of the work

force. they received $20 million in government loans and tax breaks and was visited by vice president joe biden and the indianapolis colts firing head coach jim caldwell. this after he led the team to its worst record in two decades. the colts general manager also getting the boot. but also they didn't have peyton manning, right, brian? >> he could be gone next and unbelievable for indianapolis throughout the super bowl. $1.5 million of your -- $$1.5 million of your tax dollars spent to renovate eight foreclosed homes like those in modesto, california. after renovations, the value of all eight homes combined is less than a million dollars. it's part of the federally funded neighborhood stabilization program which was expanded under the stimulus act which is now being audited. our next guest was actually consulted by the city of modesto, california, back in 2009 and he told them the project was indeed a bad idea. they didn't listen and they're all paying the price now. a veteran appraiser of modesto,

california. when did you hear about the program? who did you tell? >> we were first contacted in 2009 by city staff asking us if they purchased a home and then put a significant amount of money into it, would they be able to recover the cost? and we told them that the market will only pay for those items in a home that are typical to the neighborhood and the city improved property in excess of what the neighborhood would pay for. >> here's an example. must be driving you crazy. there's a house that was bought for $223,000. and then fixed up. but when the 16 month rovation project was done, the house sold for $114,000 and everybody was surprised by it. but that's what you're talking about. the market dictated the price despite what the government put into it. >> that's correct. the city improved a lot of their properties with excess amenities as has been mentioned before in

a community area or neighborhood where formica countertops were typical, they would put granite countertops and tile floors where vinyl floors were typical so their improvements were excessive in terms of what was typical to the neighborhood. >> is one of the problems no one went into the real world to ask a real appraiser like you, can this work? and now, there's nobody's name on this program. dollars are out the door and nobody pays the price. in the private sector, a company would go down and maybe have to collapse because of this. >> i feel the city was being altruistic and had good intentions but from my knowledge, none of the private sector was included either as advisors or in giving opinions as to whether the program would work. >> now, what should we all learn from this? people around the country wondering from their community should be the next modesto where the government comes in, pays and revamps.

>> the city's idea of coming in and buying vacant property and improving them is a good idea. but in this market, the cities around the country should hold on to those properties and rent them until the market recovers and then sell them out on the open market. but to buy and renovate and sell is not a good idea at this time. >> a painful, a painful lesson. rich, thanks so much. >> you're welcome. >> all right. 11 minutes before the top of the hourment -- we move on. should unemployed americans be trained while they collect a check. the authors of a new biography here to reveal all about the potential republican nominee leading the field. [ male announcer ] where's your road to happiness?

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>> welcome back. so who is the real mitt romney? that's what our next guests spent five years finding out through research and interviews. and they say they really know -- know mitt romney, you really have to know his father, george romney. micha michael cranish is the washington bureau chief for the globe. and a brand new book came out called "the real romney" and they are the authors. good morning, guys. >> good morning, steve. >> tell me about the moment, apparently he was talking to his sister and he realized i love my

dad but i don't want to be like him. >> i think in some -- what she's talking about here and i don't know if it was sort of a moment where he's actually talking to her but one of the most -- one of the things that everybody knows for george romney, he ran for president in 1968 and what helped sink his chances is when he said he had been brainwashed on a trip to vietnam. sort of this -- it's that line that sort of lives in his obituary, you know, because it's the one thing that everybody knows about him. and this is how george was. he was very sort of blustery. he said what was on his mind. mitt, according to his sister, took a lesson from that and realized that he was going to be more diplomatic. he was going to be more -- >> shoot from the hip. >> more scripted and less shoot from the hip. you see that on mitt romney from the campaign trail today. in many ways, we make the point in this book that he's very similar to his father. in that way, he's very, very different. he's very different political style. >> what's different between this run and the run in 2008 for president? >> in 2008, there's a chapter

in the book where we talk about the clashes in the campaign. the folks in boston had their own ideas. there were two sets of advisors. obviously, it was a failure. a lot of things went wrong so i went back and talked to a lot of the individuals involved with that. this time around, they've learned some lessons in that. they didn't go for the iowa straw poll and spend $2 million to win that. he won iowa or the count seems to be. maybe it will change from what people say. and he has one layer of advisors. they have more confidence in those advisors on the ground. winning a different campaign, frankly the competition is different. the issue is different. the economy and so forth. so the different factors there as well but they did take a lot of lessons. >> one of the things he's running on is he helped save the winter olympics. is that true? >> i think it's mostly true. i mean like most of these things there's asterisk to it. by most accounts, mitt romney walked into a situation that was a disaster or at least perceived to be that and really helped pull off a pretty successful

game. i mean, remember, this wasn't too long after september 11th so this was the sort of big challenge regardless or already and then september 11th happened and then you've got this massive security concern. remember, we were all worried something was going to happen. this is a big gathering of people so i think he does deserve a fair amount of credit for turning those olympics around. >> give us a tidbit. something we don't know about mitt romney. we see him on tv all the time. something you were amazed to find out about him. >> well, you know, what i was interested in is when he was 19 years old, he went to stanford for a year. if you listen to him talk and read his books, it's a missing chapter in his life. when you're 19 years old, these are very formative times so i was able to track down his stanford roommate and all the people that were close to him at the dorm and so forth so i was really interested in one day he sold off his coat to make money to go back and visit ann in michigan. >> we just saw a picture. you got to read it. it's called "the real romney." thank you very much for joining us live. >> thank you so much. >> came out yesterday.

straight ahead, he called president obama the food stamp president. now the white house firing back saying that's crazy. but who's got the real facts on their side? we're going to report and you are going to decide. ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for unsurpassed fru and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion. could've had a v8. i had[ designer ]eeling enough of just covering up my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. [ rv guy ] enbrel may not work for everyone -- and may not clear you completely, but for many, it gets skin clearer fast, within 2 months,

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and i've got better aces to go than always going to the bathroom. so take charge of your symptoms by talking to your doctor and go to vesicare.com for a free trial offer. >> good morning, everyone. you made it to the middle of the week. it's wednesday, january 18th. i'm gretchen carlson. thanks for sharing your time. a big endorsement this morning. sarah palin giving her nod to newt. but she's putting an expiration date on her endorsement. you'll want to hear this one. >> so much for going down with the ship. brand new audio just released reveals the captain of the costa concordia had the spine of a jelly fish. >> he did. meanwhile, chris christie called them bad news for the entire state of new jersey. ronnie from "the jersey shore" here live with a message for the governor. they don't wear a lot of clothes on that show. we do. "fox & friends" hour two for wednesday starts right now.

>> welcome, everyone, to a wednesday day. steve, are you going to put on some snooki cologne? >> it's not cologne, gretch, it's snooki ultradark tan maximizer. this is -- we got ronnie from "the jersey shore" here. how many people on the show use this stuff? ted, you want to try it on? >> we should ask rick santorum if he wants to use that or dave ramsey. they're two of our featured guests in this hour. >> if they need some bronzer. >> and we'll have ronnie. dennis kucinich will be here. jessica alba will be here today. stay tuned, gentlemen and we'll round out our show with governor rick perry. steve is bronzing up. >> it comes out completely white and it smells fruity and delicious. >> that's fantastic. >> let's see if your hand suddenly becomes bronzeilicious. they smell coconutlicious now. >> all right.

just on my left hand. >> i don't see a difference. >> could snooki be peddling something that doesn't work? >> couldn't be possible! >> lab's approval on it. >> the better question is should snooki be peddling anything at all? beginning with the fox news alert, looking live at the white house, it was on lockdown for several hours last night after someone in a crowd of occupy protesters tossed two smoke bombs over the fence just after midnight, the secret service gave the executive mansion an all clear after robots checked out the devices. no one was hurt and no arrests have been made. the president and first lady were not home during the commotion. they were out to dinner with friends celebrating mrs. obama's 48th birthday. a murder mystery is playing out right in the shadows of the famous hollywood sign. two women. they were out hiking with their dogs in the rugged hills near canyon drive in l.a. and the dogs found a plastic bag in the brush. now, inside that bag, a human head. investigators believe the man is

of armenian descent in his 40's. they also say it's not a cold case and believe the man was recently murdered. people in seattle bracing for what could be the largest snow storm to hit the area in 27 years. snow has been falling since the weekend but the biggest amounts are expected today. the seattle tacoma area could see 5 inches to a foot of snow and hurricane-force winds could be felt along the coast as well. alaska airlines already canceling 38 flights in and out of seattle as well as the portland, oregon, area. the famed base jumper known as bird man recovering at a south african hospital this morning after crashing into a cliff. the whole thing caught on camera. you can see here 35-year-old jeb corliss is in black, leaping off a 3500 foot mountain. things were going smooth until he clips a rock, spins out of control and crashes. he broke both legs. he was known for his daring stunts in 2006, he was arrested for trying to jump off the empire state building. and those are your headlines.

excuse me. >> man. >> the pictures are something that everybody that has taken a cruise have thought about it. absolutely fears. thought it could never happen in this day and age but it did. it happened off the coast of italy. and what happened in the aftermath of this catastrophe is just stunning in how inept and cowardly the captain acted along with his crew. >> the captain was released from jail and placed on house arrest. you can talk to a magistrate and say look, i arrested hundreds of thousands of people, i never did abandon the ship. that's what he told the magistrate but when you hear the transcript and the audio tape that was released by the coast guard yesterday, you realize this guy going down with the ship, "new york post" refers to him as chicken of the sea. this guy did everything he could to get out of harm's way and left a couple thousand people behind him. >> one of his colleagues said who was the captain of the ship before him, they called him, he has a pattern of going off

course. he says the former ship captain called -- they once said he's a bragger and been called out by many of his colleagues. >> very interesting. here's part of the transcript. we'll do our best to relay it to you between the coast guard and the captain. the captain says he's there with the rescue boats and not going anywhere. >> i never went back to the ship. he went to shore because he was afraid of the dark. >> later on in the conversation,

coast guard said my air rescue are on the prowl. go. there's already bodies. how many bodies are there he asked the coast guard? i don't know. i haven't heard of one! you are the one who has to tell me how many there are. christ, he says. but do you realize it is dark? and here, we can't see anything captain courageous says. and so what? you want to go home? it is dark and you want to go home, get on that boat using the pilot ladder and tell me what can be done. how many people there are and what their needs are. now! >> as much as you think the captain is the worst ever, you got to wonder who trained him and how he got that job. the coast guard is right on the money. knows exactly what to do in a catastrophe and called on the captain to go back. horrible behavior by this guy. >> it's because the captain technically abandoned ship, the coast guard was now in charge and he was ordering the captain back which could play into the whole legalities of this situation. and that's probably why he's been charged first and foremost

with either manslaughter or homicide now. murder. he could be facing, 29 people remain missing. >> after he slunk off, he got into a taxi and took it to the hotel in the bahamas where he was complaining of having wet clothes. he showed up with a plastic bag and laptop and simply asked, yeah, can i have a cup of coffee with a lot of sugar in it? that's the guy. >> let's move on to political scene back here at home, newt gingrich continues to take on the president of the united states over that food stamp discussion that he had during the debate the other night. and now, jay carney, the spokesperson for the president is calling newt gingrich crazy for that? listen to this. >> yeah. fact of the matter is that this country is emerging from the worst recession since the great depression. the result of that terrible recession was a dramatic increase in unemployment and a dramatic increase or an

increase, rather, in the number of people who need assistance, needed assistance. >> that was true in january of 2009 and in the three years since then, it has been obama's policies which have weakened the economy, crippled american energy and put americans on food stamps. >> find out that the president did ease eligibility requirements and for the most part, recipients were nonhispanic whites. far outnumbered those who currently receive food stamps. >> newt gingrich says come november, it's going to be a choice. do you want a food stamp president or a paycheck president? >> in the meantime, what has sarah palin been up to recently? last night, it sounded like she was giving at least a bit of aen do -- an endorsement to the republican side of the race so far. that endorsement will be very important. listen to this and see who you think she's endorsing. >> if i had to vote in south carolina, in order to keep this thing going, i'd vote for newt

and i would want this to continue more debates, more vetting of candidates because we know the mistake made in our country four years ago was having a candidate that was not vetted to the degree that he should have been. i want to see this thing continue because iron sharpens iron. steel inner -- sharpens steel. >> you can't say that president obama wasn't vetted. he debated endlessly for about seven months with hillary clinton. >> right. so do you really think that the candidates have not been vetted yet? she's not exactly endorsing newt. she's just saying she would like the process to go on longer and longer. it's kind of reminiscent of -- remember when -- in 2008 when rush limbaugh suggested that people in the primary state of pennsylvania vote for hillary clinton. i think he referred to it as operation chaos just to keep things going. and to deny barack obama the nod there. >> i think what's important here is that if she were a romney fan, she'd be endorsing romney. so it's obvious to me that she's

not -- >> if she were a gingrich fan, she would come out flat out and say newt gingrich is my guy. >> she said that about south carolina. her husband has endorsed newt gingrich. maybe she doesn't want to put herself on the line completely just yet. but it looks like mitt romney might win south carolina so then why would -- i don't know. to me, it says to me she's not endorsing mitt romney. let's move on to another topic. that's this, it has to do with that keystone oil pipeline that as you recall, president obama has decided to put off a decision on that until after the election. >> but you know that's in the legislation which means the president will have to decide within two months whether he'll go forward or not. >> ok and the canadian prime minister is now meeting with china. is that what's going to be the end result here? that the canadian prime minister stephen harper is going to move on to china because he doesn't see any action here in the united states? >> he wanted to build the $7 billion keystone pipeline. he thought it would get done and now he's getting upset about the delays and the distractions. all he wanted to do was employ

american workers across the country to install a pipeline that goes 1700 miles and that would give us 900,000 barrels of crude oil a day. >> sure. you got to figure if he's going to go to china and talk to the chinese about how would you like to buy canadian oil? you know, we'll have to ship it over to china. on the first one out, they're probably not going to close the deal. clearly, this is to light a fire under the president of the united states. hey, come on, you're sitting on this good deal. act now before it's too late. i mean, do we really want to wind up buying canadian oil that has gone to the great country of china and then we wind up buying it on the spot market here in the united states? that absolutely could happen. >> yeah, but right now, the big thing is about nebraska and the sands, that section of nebraska and they said they just need to -- they said they've already figured out a way to get around that spot that might be environmentalists gone out, so

maybe they could get this done and eliminate it but until they actually have the chart for the pipeline to roll, environmentalists will have a case. >> right, but i think there are already pipelines that go across that aquifer right now. >> all i know is i can only think about the beach because i'm smelling coconut. >> you're smelling snooki. >> the tan check, no difference. >> this should be orange. not yet. >> you look a little tanner. >> do you think so? >> yeah. >> coming up on the show, straight ahead, a major television network makes a big offer to tim tebow. he tells them to take a hike? we have the details. >> and newt gingrich says it's about time that rick santorum drops out of the race for president. really? senator santorum will respond live after this. >> i bet he would say that newt gingrich should drop out of the race. >> i don't know. don't know! as i get older, i'm making changes to support my metabolism. i'm more active, i eat right,

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>> tensions are rising in the race for the republican nomination. former governor mitt romney leading in the polls just days before the south carolina primary. not by that much. one of romney's rivals accused the g.o.p. frontrunner playing dirty, dishonest politics. joining us now on the road in south carolina getting set to visit a bmw plant, former senator from pennsylvania rick santorum. welcome back. >> thank you, brian. good to be with you guys again. >> wearing your trademark vest. first off, senator, you have a situation where newt gingrich evidently by almost all accounts had an extremely strong debate at which time yesterday he came forward and said something about you i thought was quite interesting. he said rick santorum is a nice man but there's no evidence he can put together a national majority and can win. and win an election. your thoughts? >> my thoughts is that newt gingrich has been a congressman from the most conservative

district in georgia and suggested somehow he can put together the campaigns that have won this election when i've won in two democratic districts as a conservative and won the senate in pennsylvania, key state to win as a conservative and put together major campaigns. in fact, much, much bigger campaigns that newt gingrich conceived of doing. by the way, let's look at the record in this campaign. i'm 2-0. i've beat newt gingrich not only in iowa by a lot, i doubled his vote total and i beat him in new hampshire where he had the union leader endorsement and spent millions of dollars so the proof is in the pudding. we've been very successful so far in this campaign of putting together a message with a lot less money and a lot more discipline. we've had a very disciplined message. we haven't been all over the place. we've had good, solid policy proposals as opposed to the irresponsible ones that newt has thrown out there and irresponsible statements. you want someone who is solidly conservative that you're not going to wake up in the morning and look at the newspaper and say oh, my gosh, he didn't say that, did he? that's the kind of campaign we're running. that's why we're doing well and that's why we're going to do

very, very well here in south carolina. >> senator, you elected to not get involved in the condemnation of mitt romney's days at bain capital. i just want you to weigh in on his revelation yesterday that more than likely his tax returns will reveal that he paid about 15%. that's kind of the middle class bracket as opposed to the 35% but he did it on capital gains from investments. >> right. well, i mean, that's exactly right. i mean, you look at -- that's why i want to lower the tax rates and that's why i put forth a bold plan to do it. this is a problem not of the -- not of governor romney's doing, but a lot of people do have money and this is the point i try to make with folks which is we have to have a tax code that's flatter and simpler. people pay and encouraged to pay at those rates the same -- you know, the same whether you're higher income or lower income, you're going to be able to pay those same rates and that's the way of a 10% and 28% and a flatter tax, five deductions and, you know, it's important for us to have a tax code that's

fair for everyone in the -- no matter what your income is. >> you don't think it's a big deal to you he pays 15%. it highlights something about the tax system. i have to bring you to something else -- >> can i make one other comment? >> go ahead. >> the thing that's the difference, brian, is to make a statement that i made a couple of extra bucks giving speeches when that couple of extra bucks was over $300,000. i mean, that to me says a little bit more about governor romney and his connection with the american people than his tax rate which is driven by a tax code. >> you're saying because he -- because he made a lot of money, he doesn't understand what american people go through? >> no, to refer to 300,000 some as a few extra bucks to me is -- 300,000 isn't a few extra bucks to me. >> and finally, real quick, he might skip the florida debates, does that bother you? >> look, i'm going to be at every single debate. i think it's important for the american public to see you, to

be accountable to them and i think ron paul and i are the only two that have been to every single debate and i will be at every single debate ooch. >> i know you got a busy day and thank you so much for the quality time with "fox & friends." >> great to be here. we'll promote manufacturing today in south carolina with our manufacturing plants. >> all right, senator, a sprint to saturday. straight ahead, don't steal from this store. suspected shoplifter gets decked. wait until you see this. newt gingrich says unemployed americans face mandatory job training while they collect a government check. is that a good idea? dave ramsey who helps unemployed americans every day here with his thoughts. >> obama will be going to disney world where he'll unveil his new plan to create jobs. what better place for the president to talk about his job plan than fantasy land. yes. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air -

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>> news by the numbers now. first, zero. that's how much money is left in the occupy wall street coffers. zero? protesters freezing all new spending until donations start coming in again. good luck. meanwhile, 10%. that's how much new jersey governor chris christie wants to cut the state income tax by. the reduction would be the first of its kind in more than 15 years. i live in new jersey and i think it's a great idea. finally, four. that's how many of the world's 10 worst airport terminals can be found right here in the united states. they include terminals at new york's j.f.k. and laguardia as well as chicago's midway airport and newark liberty international. all right. over to you. >> at monday night's debate, newt gingrich had an interesting idea for someone to obtain long term unemployment benefits. they should be required to complete employment training. listen to this. >> all unemployment compensation should be tied to a job training requirement. now, the fact is, 99 weeks is an

associate's degree. we actually think saying to somebody, i'll help you if you're willing to help yourself is good? >> so should the united states make job training a requirement to be able to collect unemployment benefits? joining me now, personal finance expert and author of "entree leadership" dave ramsey. good morning to you, dave. is newt on to something? >> well, i think he hit a lightning rod that a lot of people have been thinking and, you know, even if you're on unemployment, you know that there's no dignity in sitting at home watching oprah reruns. it's tough on you! and so you've got to get out there and do something and start moving your feet. and if the government requires that, then maybe it will force some people off the couch that otherwise wouldn't. i know a lot of people are out there looking. it's tough times but, you know, to plug this in and philosophically to hit a lightning rod, newt is on to something. >> i guess what he's saying is that 99 weeks you're receiving the government check, in that amount of time, you could be better educated and you could

get an associate's degree. >> well, you don't want -- the person sitting there that is on unemployment and those of us who are paying for it, you don't want the 99 week benefit to be anything other than to help somebody who is hurting. we don't want it to cause them to be demotivated to look for work and i'll tell you on my radio show, i'll talk to a lot of people who will say i can't take that job. it's not as much as my unemployment. when unemployment runs out, all of a sudden, blowing leaves looks like a good plan. >> you have some tips for what people can do when they lose their job to make themselves get back out there and one thing you say is stop paying extra on your debt. what do you mean by that? >> you don't want to work your get out of debt plan when your income has dropped and you're between jobs so we put a lot of the financial dave ramsey stuff on hold. you just pile up cash, build up that big emergency fund. stop paying extra on your debt. go to scorched earth on the lifestyle. we're batening down the hatches here. we're putting the -- we're closing the doors to the fort to keep the enemy out. and so you really got to watch

the outgo big time and any income that you have, severance or anything else, pile that up and make that your war chest to plow through this time. and then as soon as you get re-employed, all that pile of money essentially becomes a signing bonus. >> of course, you say to cut back on your lifestyle and stop using credit cards which is one of your main mantras anyway and cut them up. you also say, though, to try to get a part-time job while you continue to look for full-time work. >> you know, i've got 320 some odd folks working on my team and it's amazing. i had a guy, a professional come in here the other day and offer to work for free for 60 days to get his foot in the door. almost like an intern. and i thought wow, that's pretty incredible. what a great idea. that's like a part-time job that doesn't pay. we probably start paying the guy pretty quick if he was earning his keep, right? if he was selling something, started selling something, we don't mind paying the guy pretty quick. so find creative ways to get out there and listen, start exercising. you need the adrenalin and you need the proteins released in your body. don't read fiction. and sorry, guys, don't watch too

much of the news. you need positive stuff coming into your body and into your mind and into your spirit so you keep moving out there and don't get caught up in the i haven't got a job blues and become bitter. >> you heard it from dave ramsey with some tips for you today. thanks so much. see you next week, dave. >> thank you. >> vice president joe biden gave this government funded green company a thumbs up. why are half of the workers now just laid off? and governor chris christie of new jersey called them bad news for the entire state of new jersey. today, ronnie from "jersey shore" is here with a message of his own for the gov. brian, take him! wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. day my journey continues across the golden state,

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over the last three y we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love ience. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ >> ok. this is your shot of the morning, l.l. bean celebrating their 100th anniversary this year with their boot mobile. it is traveling the country to remind people of the many ways it can get outside and joining us right now outside with more is richard bouman of l.l. bean. >> great to be here. >> chilly. >> a little bit. we're from maine, this is nothing. >> what is that? this is essentially the maiden voyage. the world has never seen the boot mobile before. >> this is the l.l. bean boot mobile and it is a symbol of the quality and craftmanship that l.l. bean has been known for for 100 years. we're celebrating our 100th

anniversary. l.l. bean, the man himself, the first product he developed was the l.l. bean hunting shoe and this boot has not changed very much over 100 years. >> what's inside the boot mobile? >> we'll be carrying gear, l.l. bean gear. >> can we take a look? >> sure, let's take a look. >> this is going to be in times square later on today, right? >> that's right. it will be in times square later on today and touring the country this year and it really again is a symbol of our commitment to getting outdoors and getting outdoors is never been more important than it is now where people find it harder and harder to get outdoors and we did a national survey with the national parks foundation and found out that 60% of kids are spending less than an hour a day outdoors. we want to be a part of solving that problem. the way we'll do that is with a million moment mission. folks at home can go on line and share a moment -- an outdoor moment with a photo or a story and for every one of those moments, we'll donate a dollar to the national parks foundation.

up to a million dollars to help kids get into the outdoors. >> if you see the boot mobile, upload the pictures to facebook and twitter and you'll do all sorts of things. >> that's right. that will count as a moment and every one of those moments, a million dollars to help kids get outdoors. >> all right. you should be wearing some l.l. bean gloves right about now. a little chilly here. >> great to be here. thanks so much. >> thank you. if you see the bootmobile, just wave, you'll be driving, right? >> sometimes, you bet. >> let's real quickly take a look at the day ahead weather wise and as you can see, we've got a little bit of rain in portions of l.l. bean country and snow in new england as well. the main storm is in the panhandle of florida up through the mid atlantic. heavy storms and also we were telling you earlier today one of the biggest winter storms in decades is on tap for seattle. they're already treating the roads out in that area. next map will show you the day ahead temperaturewise. first up, current temperatures, it's only 4 in minneapolis. we've got 40 here in new york city.

49 in tampa. one more map shows you today's daytime highs and eventually here in new york city for the bootmobile, we'll have 41 degrees. 76 in tampa. it should be 55 in dallas and 66 in san antonio. and that's your fox travelcast. these are good looking boots. gretch, brian, back into you. >> they're quite becoming. i think you should be very happy with your new look. get back in here. we have a big interview coming, all right? leave. rest of the headlines now. the tsa admitted to improperly searching two elderly women at j.f.k. airport in new york. separate complaints, you have 89-year-old ruth and 85-year-old lenor say they were strip searched and the tsa defended its agents at fist saying they didn't violate screening procedures but now the department of homeland security says the tsa went too far. >> what does that mean? i'm not sure. another government funded solar panel company promoted by the obama administration now on the verge of collapse. willard and kelsey solar group of ohio laying off 40 workers.

about half of its work force. the company did receive $20 million in government loans and tax breaks and was toured by vice president joe biden and labor secretary. >> any time i see an official with protective glasses,ic we're losing money. tim tebow apparently not ready for his close-up just yet. broncos quarterback turning down an offer from cbs pregame show to be an analyst. he says he's not going to do it. the broncos were eliminated just barely by the patriots over the weekend. so he's going to wait on that on-air gig. >> a new jersey man tries to steal a cartful of baby formula from target by wheeling it out of the door. one security guard would have none of that. surveillance footage shows the guard pummelling the would-be thief to the ground. look at that. and an all out brawl ensues and he eventually got away empty hanlded. as for the security guard, he suffered a broken finger in the brawl. >> all right. that's it for the news now. 24 minutes before the top of the hour. after a season in italy, the show and it is a hit, "jersey

shore" has returned home safely to seaside heights in new jersey. >> it looks like the partying has caught up to one of the housemates. >> like i'm at a breaking point. i can see it. >> what do you do if you don't want to go out to a club? you know what i mean? >> a lot of things that are happening here are triggering my anxiety problems. not being able to sleep. all the partying, all the staying up, the loudness. it's pretty scary feeling. >> we're joined by one of the cast members of the jersey shore, ronnie ortiz, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> i walk in, you walk in. you say nice boots to me. then i look at this watch of yours. is that from "the jersey shore" collection. >> yeah, i got this at the shore store. no, i'm kidding. >> i don't think so. >> first off on that, i never heard of someone partying themselves through to an anxiety attack. is this one of the fears of partying too much? >> i don't know if it's so much the partying.

i think it was going to italy and, you know, we did party a lot but it was also the time difference. and not seeing our friends, not seeing our family, you know, we filmed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. the only time that we really have a break is when we're in the bathroom. other than that, we're miked up at all times. >> that is a relief. >> i mean, if he really seriously has anxiety, i think people feel sorry for that. i don't think they feel sorry for you guys becoming superstars from a reality show. >> that's thanks to you guys. thank you very much. >> let me ask you this, the governor of the state -- you're not from new jersey but the governor of the state of which the show is from, chris christie has said that you are bad news and not good for jersey and i believe that he turned down more than $400,000 credit for your show to be taped there, right? >> i think that was in a different part of jersey. >> ok. >> seaside. >> he doesn't seem to be a fan of the show. do you have a message back for him? >> i think we did pretty well for jersey. i mean, seaside looks like it's really fun this summer when you see the season, throughout the season. so --

>> and that rental house goes for a lot of money now, thanks to you. >> apparently, a guy from the show said it's doing very well and that's good for him. >> you're thinking about the series and you were on episode three but you shot the entire season so far. you think the season and you are the funniest in the whole cast of the funniest when there's no drinking. when you guys are just hanging out and nothing is forced. >> i think a lot of us -- a lot of stuff that -- drama that does go down is alcohol influenced but i think we're just funny people in general. we're entertaining, you know. it's like you don't have to be drunk to be funny. obviously we had personalities before the alcohol to get on the show. >> that's a good message, you don't have to be drunk to be funny. if you can get that out to the kids, that would be important. this season, we'll see some new faces, right? >> yeah, apparently, everyone is saying we got new castmates and stuff like that. it's just so confusing. >> why? what do you mean it's confusing? >> because these people -- they're just in the house too much and not real castmates. >> what about the fact that --

and i think this is really important message for you to get out because it's such a growing problem which is bullying in schools and you were the target of bullying growing up. >> when i was younger, i was always a smaller kid up until i was about 18 or 19. i didn't -- i had a growth spurt from like -- maybe like a senior. i was like 5'3" when i was like a junior. i was always the smallest kid. kids in the higher grades would bully me because i was smaller and i would get to a point where you can't take it anymore. you discover the gym. you discover girls and then, you know, you go from there. >> right. and also, you know, you said you were bullied for a while. do you have an action for people to take that might be going through that right now? >> just stick through it. i learned that the people that bully you in school are really the most successful people in life. karma will get you in the end. >> what would you have done in life if you would not been a cast member in jersey shore? >> us a real estate broker for five years. >> the market has crashed so

it's given you the time to do this. >> i was very lucky because at the time the market really went down is when the show discovered me. >> ronnie, can you tell next time you see snooki, i've tried her tanner. we had the tanner right here. i poured some on about 40 minutes ago. >> does it work? >> you tell me. which is the tan hand? >> did you go in the tanning bed, though? >> no, on the tanning bed and the tanner -- >> yeah. >> you got to go -->> can't just put on the lotion. >> oh, really? >> the bronzer is the spray. >> let me see. >> so that's -- >> put the sauce on. >> yeah. >> this is a maximizer. there are lotions, though, that -- >> sprays some on. >> that you can put on to get immediate tanned but this is the one that you're supposed to put on before you go -- >> ok. >> i'm ok now. >> snooki should be clearer with her directions. she has stumped the crew. >> all right. thanks very much. good luck on a new season of "jersey shore" kicks off on mtv. >> at 10:00 on thursdays which i believe thursday is coming up.

>> tomorrow. >> whatever happened to that old mantra, women and children first? that's not what happened on board this doomed cruise ship. has survival replaced chivalry? peter johnson jr. on that next. >> first, your trivia question of the day -- born on this date in 1955, this water world star developed a machine that british petroleum b.p. used to help clean up the golf oil spill. who is he? is it fast?

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>> you may remember this scene from the movie "titanic" where the captain gave a direct order to his crew as the ship was going down. >> women and children first. >> women and children first. new details emerging from the recent ship disaster in italy are telling a much different story. the captain of the costa concordia may have abandoned ship and the passengers on board. take a listen to this. >> at this moment the ship is tilted. >> i understand. listen, there are people who are coming down the ladder on the bow. go back in the opposite direction, get back on the ship and tell me how many people there are and what they have on board. clear? tell me if there are children, women and what kind of help they'll need. and you tell me the number of each of these categories, is that clear? look, perhaps you have saved yourself from the sea. but i will make you look very bad.

i will make you pay for this [beep]. >> after hearing that, has survival of the fittest replaced chivalry? peter johnson jr. joins us live. >> good morning. he may have saved himself from the sea but if the allegations are true, there's a special seat in a special circle of hell for him. and people, you know, don't like to say damn someone to hell but if that's true, what we saw is that he apparently abandoned everyone! on that ship! not only men, but women and children as well. and the reports that men were fighting with each other and rushing ahead of pregnant women and children is astounding and disturbing. we have a cultural phenomenon in our society and we heard it in that titanic clip. women and children first. and i've said god, is this animalistic behavior? not to do that? so i said -- i started looking

through the -- these books about lions and tigers and i said, animals protect women and children. animals understand that women are a generational protection. the future of a society, whether it's an animal society or human society, so something went terribly, terribly wrong here. >> and you could tell, i've heard reports that apparently people on board were taking the life vests off of people who were already wearing them, ripping them in half. but had the captain gotten out there and said ok, be calm. we're going to evacuate the ship. he waited 70 minutes. i was talking to a brilliant and courageous marine this morning and talking about this phenomenon. he said some people will leave that situation. men will sometimes act in ways they shouldn't act. marines are trained to take the dead, to take the weak, to take the people who are most vulnerable with them.

and this instance, it's very disturbing about human nature and about how people act in crisis and it's not what we anticipate growing up in your house, in my house, in small mundane ways. i've never been exposed to this kind of emergency of crisis and i hope i never am. but i hope that i act in a better way than what we saw this captain do and what reports are about other people. it's really disturbing. >> all i know is that captain was no captain sully sullenberger. >> absolutely not. and i can't use words. >> we can tell. >> it's bad. >> we all feel the same way. >> it's terrible. >> thank you very much. >> really interesting. >> good to see you. >> straight ahead, he ran against obama in 2008 and had some advice for the g.o.p. candidates. now, up next, congressman dennis kucinich and his wife join us. first on this date back in 1984, the number one song, "owner of a lonely heart." remember that?

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>> answer to the trivia question, kevin costner and the winner is not kevin costner. he came in third. michael gaston won from new york. hey, ohio congressman dennis kucinich is no stranger to presidential campaigns. he ran for president in 2004 and in 2008 eventually coming up short to then senator barack obama. but what advice does the congressman have for this year's republican nominee who will take on the president unopposed from the general election? joining us right now, congressman dennis kucinich and his wife who we'll talk to shortly about an extremely moving cause. congressman, first thing is first. good to see you again. and i'm wondering what you think

so far of the study that came out today that said when asked, 52% of the country say president obama has accomplished not much or little to nothing as president, 47% said he's had -- they have a positive assessment of you. where do you stand about his accomplishment three years in? >> well, you know, the economy is really central here. and if the economy begins to come back, i think the president's standing in those kinds of polls will improve. ultimately, it's a 50 state race. and the president does have support in many areas across the country but the economy must come back for him to be able to rally his support to get re-elected. >> has he done a good job according to congressman dennis kucini kucinich? >> well, i think the jury is still out with respect to trying to get america back to work. i mean, in ohio, for example, we have close to a million people out of work. and what we care about is what can be done to put the country back to work.

let me give you an example. in cleveland, we were just told by the ohio department of transportation that we're going to have to wait another 10 years at least for a new bridge that is vital to our commerce and our community and to safety and if the state can't produce, the federal government is going to have to move forward with highway transportation spending and infrastructure spending. if the president is able to key into that, not only in ohio but across the country, that's going to happen. >> if he does more spending, that will win it over for you. i want to talk to you, elizabeth, about one of the causes that means a lot to you. the passage of the great ape protection and cost savings act. what would you like to see stopped? >> we'd like to see the use of chimpanzees and other great apes stopped in invasive medical research. we're the last country in the world to continue to use great apes in this kind of research. it's totally immoral. the science doesn't stand up and it's costing the federal government a heck of a lot of money. >> so some say hey, we need this in order to move forward with

medicines or to help the human condition. you say they should use somebody else or something else. >> actually, the institutes of medicine came out with a report at the end of last year saying that we don't need great apes anymore for any current medical research. that's under way so the science is behind my argument. >> all right. so we'll find out where this stands and we'll follow it. congressman dennis kucinich and elizabeth, thanks so much for joining us this morning. always great to see you two. >> thank you very much. >> straight ahead, a personal gift addressed to president obama from iran. this one will certainly tick you off and you asked for it -- so we delivered. jerry springer is here and he's taking on our political panel. sweetie i think you need a little extra fiber in your diet.

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with us today. mitt romney says he'll probably release his tax returns in april. but his biggest supporter, chris christie, saying something else entirely. what he just said moments ago. >> steve: meanwhile, live pictures from italy right now where that cowardly captain's lawyer is making his case, saying he, the captain, saved lives before abandoning ship. details straight ahead. >> brian: there might be a personal gift on wait to america addressed to president obama. it's coming from iran. we'll tell but it. "fox & friends" starts, you heard me, right now. >> steve: i didn't hear the right now part before you said you heard me. >> brian: you will, for the west coast. when we play it back, i'll reverse it and it will make total sense. with one hour left, we have a lot to discuss, including about a possible running mate for mitt romney and we'll talk about what

mitt romney said yesterday that could be the best thing or one of the worst things that's happened in the campaign. >> gretchen: we'll hold our breath for that. but first some headlines and a fox news alert. live look right now at that italian cruise ship still submerged in the water where rescuers suspended their search now. the ship slipped positions, making it unsafe for them to be near it. the death toll has risen to 11. 28 people still missing, including this couple from minnesota. the captain speaking into the back door his home after being placed under house arrest. hold ago press conference. we are working on translating that for you. it's in italian. yesterday his lawyer claiming the captain actually saved hundreds of lives. shocking audio recordings showing just how cowardly that captain appeared to be. the coast guard ordering the captain and his second officer, both in rescue boats, to get back on board. the captain replying, commander, i want to go on board, but there are other rescuers. the coast guard official fed up telling the captain, it's been an hour that you are telling me

the same thing. now go on board, get back on board. looking live at the white house right now because there was a lockdown for several hours last night after someone in a crowd of occupy protesters tossed two smoke bombs over the fence just after midnight. the secret service gave the executive mansion an all clear after robots checked out the device. no one was hurt and no arrests have been made. the president and first lady were not home during the commotion. they were out to dinner with friends celebrating mrs. obama's 48th birthday. wisconsin governor scott walker refuse to go apologize for limiting union workers collective bargaining rights and earlier on "fox & friends," he stood his ground despite the likely recall election. >> the national unions want their hands in the money. it's all about the union money. it's not about the workers' money. they want those automatic dues and they'll spend just about anything to get that back. in the end, as i predicted, i said there will be a recall election. we anticipated this and in the end, we earned the trust of the

majority of people in the state of wisconsin november of 2010. it's our chance to earn that trust again. >> gretchen: governor walker says the recall election will probably take place in june or july and he predicts it will be a close vote. by the way, it will cost the taxpayers there at least $9 million. iran apparently reading the kinder garter's guide to global domination because they're now using toys to taunt the united states. the latest piece of propaganda a miniature drone that crashed last month. they said they'd be happy to send president obama one of the replicas, along with a stand that says, we will put america under our feet. >> brian: your serve, mr. president. >> gretchen: yeah, right. like he's going to display that. >> steve: that color looks like the malibu barbie drone. >> brian: it really does. that does come with a complimentary drone. >> steve: let's talk about this. yesterday mitt romney was asked

about his income tax situation and in front of that bus right there, he revealed that i probably pay about 15%, which is what people pay on investments with capital gains. he hasn't drawn a salary for years. when do you that, you do it at that time a higher rainfall he has said he would release his tax returns by april when he would release his 2011 taxes. but that's not soon enough for chris christie who said within the last hour, mitt should too it tronto. >> you already started to speak about it yesterday, about the rate he pays. what i would say to governor romney is, if you have tax returns to put out, you should put them out and put them out soon rather than later because it's always better, in my view, to have complete disclosure and especially when you're the front runner. >> gretchen: i mean, it's really interesting because governor christie, several times now, even though he endorsed mitt romney, had disagreed with him in the way in which he is handling his campaign. this is one of them. maybe mitt romney will listen to him and release them to put the story to bed, so to speak.

if you recall, chris christie said he wished that mitt romney would have a more dynamic personality when he was out on the campaign trail. we asked mitt romney and he said he thought he was doing just fine with the personality that he had. but it's interesting to see somebody so close to him actually giving him constructive criticism. >> brian: the dnc has come out right away and said the 15%, here is an ad that shows mitt romney is so rich and pays so little, even though the top 10% of the country pays 70% of all the taxes. he's part of the top 10%. then mitt romney, well, this is investment income. that's what you pay in this country because investment spurs the economy. that's why it's a little lower. does he have to now, after explaining to a degree what he did at bain capital for those people who don't do this, does he now have to go in and justify the 15%, because that's pretty much what the middle class pays as opposed to the high end, which would be 35%. >> steve: it's on par with that. this would be a great enpree for

mitt romney to unveil a whole tax reform proposal, which is lowering all the bracket, streamlining the brackets or coming up with a flat tax. also we understand on the today show, here is a clip of chris christie talking a little bit how the current president has let us down. >> only through presidential leadership. in the end, what i've done as governor is bring the democrats into the room and say, we're not leaving here until we come to a solution. and there is a boulevard between getting everything you want and compromising your principles. no one has compromised their principles. especially divided governments never get everything you want. >> you don't think president obama has tried to compromise? >> i don't think the president has shown the type of leadership. giving speeches in the oval office is the easy part. get not guilty a room with janer and mitch mcconnell and the other democratic leaders of congress and saying, we're not leaving here until we come up with solution, 'cause that's what the people are paying for, that's the kind of leadership we

need. >> gretchen: you hear that tough talk. a lot of people will be saying, i wish he was running for president. he says he's had no conversations with mitt romney about maybe being his vp choice. zero conversations about that thus far. >> brian: the president is not going to change his ways. he's made it clear he's not dealing with congress for an entire year action unless he has to. >> gretchen: because that's good campaign reelection strategy. >> brian: guess who was paying attention to mitt romney's briefing in front of his bus yesterday? newt gingrich. he said i heard mitt romney pays 15%. i have an idea. >> gretchen: anyway. >> brian: we have patience. >> steve: 'cause ideas take time sometimes. >> brian: right. okay. >> i didn't realize until today that governor romney paid about 15%. so we're now calling my 15% flat tax the mitt romney flat tax and our principle is why shouldn't you be allowed to pay the same

percentage he does? now, that's going to lead to what liberals would call a revenue short fall to which my answer is terrific. that means we need to cut the government more. this is not a country which is under taxed. it's a country which is overspent. >> steve: that is so true. >> gretchen: the interesting thing is, newt may be attacking this 15% now, but trust me, the dnc attacks would be much greater and from president obama himself if mitt romney is actually the nominee. so that's why he should come out and explain it. the "wall street journal" is pointing out maybe it's an entree for mitt romney to talk about tax reform. because if you get rid of all the loophole, then you don't need the higher tax rates for everyone and disparity and everyone pays the same tax. >> steve: the thing about mitt romney paying 15%, it's all he's supposed to pay. it's not like he's break the law or anything like that. newt gingrich also said yesterday that if he wins south carolina this weekend, he's going to be the republican nominee. but brit hume of this channel says hold it, mr. speaker. not so fast.

>> hard truth, though, is that the best opportunity for an underdog to overtake a clear front runner is in iowa or new hampshire where a candidate running on a shoe string can have a real chance for an upset showing big enough o start a major challenge. after that, it gets harder as the pace quicken, the states gets bigger and the need for money and organization intensifies. >> brian: newt gingrich is the mohammed ali of this because this is the second time he proclaimed his path is clear. rick santorum said he heard him -- his reaction to us. >> newt gingrich has been a congressman from the most conservative district in georgia to suggest that somehow he can put together the campaign to win this election, when i've won in two democratic districts, won the state of pennsylvania, as a conservative. and put together major campaigns. much, much bigger than newt gingrich conceived of doing and by the way, let's look at the record in this campaign.

i'm 2-0. i beat newt gingrich not only in iowa by a lot, i doubled his vote total. i beat him in new hampshire where he had the union leader endorsement and spent millions of dollars. >> steve: rick santorum knows he can not win if newt and rick perry are going to split the vote, so he's in it to win it, as is rick perry, who will be joining us in a few minutes. newt gingrich was asked in south carolina how he was going to bloody president obama's nose. and he said, i don't want to bloody his nose. i want to knock him out. >> gretchen: it does go to the.of how many conservatives have said, we need to -- the conservatives need to coalesce around one of those candidates because otherwise the vote is splintered and it will be an automatic win for mitt romney. so there is some logic behind that strategy of trying to get -- i don't think anyone is going to do it, but there is logic. >> brian: coalescing leads to a long winter and very long spring because we have a long way to the convention. i'm anti-coalesce. >> steve: it leads to bus not

driving anywhere. >> brian: exactly. >> gretchen: okay. congress has a problem coalescing and they just completed their most unprotected session in decade. so here is a bright idea. should we give them all a bonus? you're going to want to stick around for that. >> steve: plus, you asked for him. jerry. we delivered. jerry springer taking on the political panel today, coming up next with those two fine people. you're next on "fox & friends" frank, instead of scratching your way to retirement, get on e-trade. set up a real plan. frank! oh wow, you didn't win?

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>> gretchen: the 2012 election heat o'clock up. it will be here before we know it. a controversial "newsweek" magazine cover story is asking this. why are obamas critics so dumb? the author says it remains a fact obama delivered in way that the unhinged right and purist left have yet to understand or absorb. their short-term outburst missed obama's long game. here is former mayor of cincinnati, jerry springer, senior editor at large at fortune magazine, contributor and author of "inside apple," adam. and president of the public notice and former bush administration spokesperson, gretchen hamel. another gretchen on the set. good morning to all three of you. >> good morning. >> gretchen: jerry, would you categorize yourself as being on the far left as in that quote, that you have not come to understand the benefits of president obama thus far? >> i'm probably more liberal than the president. but when i read that article, i'd have to say, it's very good

article. when he's saying that the critics are dumb, i mean, obviously that's a headline to grab your attention. but it's not really that the people are dumb. it's that they're miss ago point of how he's been successful in a very difficult time. >> gretchen: in what? >> well, i think he saved our financial system when it was just about to go under. people lost almost half of their life savings and pension funds and things like that. so clearly that. he saved the auto industry. he got osama bin laden. the economy is now growing. we have added in the private sector 2.6 million jobs in the last two years. i mean, the fact of the matter is, he's doing very well. and it is a little disingenuous for -- here we are at fox complaining that gee, newsweek may be a little partisan. >> gretchen: well, they've had a pretty good track record. by the way, this same guy who wrote this article, i believe is the same person who tried to start that whole conspiracy about sarah palin's down syndrome son and whether or not it was her child.

take that into note. could you ever imagine a cover like that that said why are president bush's critic sos dumb? >> i thought this was kind of childish to say his critics are dumb instead of actually talk being what they're saying examine why they're saying it and getting to the root cause of why we are criticizing this president and why we criticize all presidents. this is nothing new. a president's up for critique because his agenda is. but this is about selling magazines. this is a fledgling magazine. you're in the magazine business, you know. >> to that point, i wouldn't fault any magazine for having a controversial headline that can sell some magazines and yes, i think that we would see or we could see a magazine cover that said why are president bush's critics so dumb if it would sell magazines and if there was a good point to make. i think the author made a lot of good points. again, saying that people who shouldn't be overlooking the president's accomplishments are overlook them. >> gretchen: somebody else wrote an article in response saying why are president obama's critics so smart?

and here were some of the points that they understand the mood of the country, they reject big government, they support a strong foreign policy. they show respect for opposing views and they're aware of the administration's gaffes. jerry? >> yeah. i'm sure there are a lot of people that don't like what president obama is doing. but i'll say it once again, if the point of this discussion is to be upset with a magazine that even if it took the position that they're pro-obama, again, everybody in the media is doing things like that. we're here on fox news. every single day in fairness, you guy, every single day, bash president obama. >> gretchen: i'm going to take to you task on that because on this panel right here, we have a fair and balanced panel right here. >> exactly. >> gretchen: i'm the independent. >> what's the rest of the show? every single morning you guys are slamming obama. you know you are. i'm not saying you don't have a right to. but every single conversation is something bad about obama. >> be that as it may, i think

the point is that someone who says, well, the president's critics are dumb, that's their opinion. i think to talk about a bad foreign policy or the mood of the country, that's an opinion and i think sullivan and newsweek took the perspective that the mood of the country ought to be look at what he did with the financial crisis. look at what he did with the auto industry. look at where the country was and that's his opinion. >> i think totally paradigm and good points. >> gretchen: by the way, jerry, you don't watch our show because you do not understand that there is a reason -- i'll speak for myself. i sit in the middle. and we present both sides of the story and leave it up to our viewers to decide where they fall. all right. i got to take a quick break and hopefully everyone will stick around. congress wrapped up its most unpredicttive year yet -- unproductive. why are they handing out bonuses? our panel sticks around to debate that. and our control room has never looked so good. jessica alba is on deck. she just added entrepreneur to her list of accomplishments.

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>> gretchen: welcome back. ready for this? despite 13% of americans approving of the job congress is doing, three vermont lawmakers gave more than $236,000 in bonuses to their staffers, all on the taxpayers' dime. but with congress coming off of one of its least productive years in modern history, are these bonuses warranted? our political panel is back with their reaction. all right. i'm going to start with gretchen 'cause you worked on capitol hill. you understand how this system works. help us understand why this is the way government works and not just stupid. >> yes. every congressman is given an allowance for the full year and if they don't spend that

allowance, they try to find ways to spend it because if they return it to the treasury, it doesn't go down to pay the debt and a lot of people believe and agencies alike, that if they tonight spend all their money, they risk getting a lower budget the next year. so members of congress normally lease cars, buy new equipment, give their staff bonuses and this is true of all the government. there is no incentive for them to actually have fiscal responsibility and not spend a lot of money. >> not that it's any excuse, but you could see a corporation behaving this way, too. there is occasion for bonus, you're a manager, you either spend that money, you're not going to give it back. that would be silly. by the way, this 236,000, that's the aggregate of the bonus pool that these three lawmakers had. these are typically 1 and $2,000 bonuses. the polling notwithstanding, i have no problem saying that these people probably worked hard last year and deserve 1,000 bucks extra on their pay. >> gretchen: jerry, understand why the people, the american people might be angry from the outset when they see $236,000 going to staffers when, in fact,

most people don't like the job congress is doing right now. >> and i think that's a very fair criticism. i think the system is a little bit crazy, that there is no incentive to cut back what the congress spends. people are dissatisfied with congress. they're trying to make ends meet. they see congress spending, particularly on things like that. of course they're upset. so i agree. i'd be upset with that as well. >> gretchen: gretchen, is there a way we could change this? what would it take so that this extra money could go towards offsetting the deficit? >> it's the mentality change that needs to happen in washington that you actually can cut spending, that you can have some fiscal responsibility, and go back to the treasury to pay down the debt. right now the incentive is not there. so until the mentality changes, nothing is going to change. >> first of all, it will never change. >> gretchen: thanks for the optimism. >> i'm going to end on a high point, which is we're not talking about growing the number of members of congress. so the federal bureaucracy grows

all the time. congress doesn't. it's just not that big a deal. >> it does. you were talking about these one and $2,000 bonuses. members of congress, especially on the house side, can't even have but a staff of less than 20. so some of these bonuses were a lot bigger than $1,000 here and there and if you look at the average staffer and what they're making compared to the average american, i think they'll have an issue. >> these people help run the country. >> i know. >> and i think when we have a better economy, people will have a better view of congress. i think there is a direct creeling relation. >> what about perry's suggestion that congress should be half time, that their salary should be cut? >> terrible idea. they should do a better idea. it's good to have a professional legislature. >> gretchen: i think on its face, people, until they get into the details like you have for us, gretchen, they see that amount of money and they think, oh, more government waste and they throw their hands up in the

air. i got to wrap it up. it was nice have you, other than your comments, jerry. newt gingrich says he's the only republican who has a chance to be the nominee. not according to governor rick perry. the governor here next. from actress to mom, jessica alba is now adding entrepreneur to her resume and she's here live with us as well i had enough of feeling embarrassed about my skin. [ designer ] enough of just covering up my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. [ rv guy ] enbrel may not work for everyone -- and may not clear you completely, but for many, it gets skin clearer fast, within 2 months,

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>> did you see this? president obama is visiting disney world on thursday to promote a new plap to boost tourism. of course, it's going to be offered when he walks into the hall of presidents and sees them making room for mitt romney. >> brian: that is true. you can get to the hall of presidents. woodie have a chance to go to the same place the president will be at in a couple of days. disney world. they couldn't have been nicer. that's me, my brothers and my son and my nephew. >> steve: was it all guys? >> brian: i felt this is good parenting because i said, it's about 6:00 o'clock and we can go to a bar. >> gretchen: what did you do with the rest of your family?

>> brian: they're coming up. we have other photos. >> steve: oh, my goodness. >> brian: that's them in disney regallon i can't. the tall one is james, 16 going on 35. that's mickey and mini. i believe mini is wearing the dress. of course, my daughter, the girl in the middle, it's her birthday today. she is 11. >> gretchen: happy birthday. >> steve: look at all those. >> brian: kaitlyn is in front. i should mention both their names in order to be going home and not having -- >> gretchen: how many kids do you have? >> brian: for all i know, i'm going to cut it off at three. >> steve: your son, brian, is in both pictures. >> brian: thank you very much. to everybody who helped me with my family. >> steve: that's right. >> brian: i was there and as you know, go there, you can't get fox news until this weekend. they put it in. >> steve: because you showed up. >> brian: yes. i think it's related to me. the history channel, i can't explain. but the fox news now on.

>> steve: it's safe to go? >> brian: yes. >> gretchen: glad you had a lot of fun on your trip. let's do some headlines for wednesday now because murder mystery is playing out in the shadow of a famous hollywood sign. two women were hiking with their dogs in the hills near canyon drive in l.a the dogs found this plastic bag, a plastic bag in the brush. inside was a human head. investigators believe the man is of armenian descent and say this is not a cold case. the man, then, was recently murdered. >> steve: meanwhile, there is a graphic, that means an extreme weather alert. a major snow storm is pounding seattle today. today's storm could be the biggest to hit the area in almost 30 years. snow has been falling since the weekend. the biggest amounts are expected later on today. the seattle-tacoma area could see five inches to a foot of snow. that's a lot for them out there. plus hurricane force winds could be felt along the coast. alaska airlines already canceling 38 flights in and out of seattle as well as portland, oregon. that number is going to

skyrocket as the storm moves through. >> brian: 27 minutes before the top of the hour. talk about something really paying off, a snow shoe hiker survives two days in the freezing cold by setting fire to the cash in his wallet. 66-year-old man was leading a snow shoeing tour when he fell down a slope and fell down a cliff. he said he had just enough fives in his wallet and ones to keep him warm until rescue crews arrived. >> gretchen: forget about cheerleaders. one college basketball team getting all the support it needs from a very zealous side line announcer. >> no good. with the rebound. half court, full court shot! oh, my god! oh, my god! he hit it from the free throw line on the other side! unbelievable! it's the most unbelievable shot i've ever seen in my life! >> gretchen: i love that

enthusiasm. and the announcer for lindsey wilson college not able to contain himself after the team's last minute victory. his enthusiasm contagious. this video getting one million hits. brian informed me it's because that team came from a 19-point deficit to pull off the win with that amazing shot. you know why it's get so long many hits? because people want good news in their life. >> brian: i think we'll serve something that everybody can enjoy coming up right now. >> steve: look at this graphic right there. >> brian: she's the trend setting superstar who has proudly put motherhood before hollywood and now has a whole new role. >> steve: jessica alba announced and launched a site of eco friendly baby products called the honest company. >> gretchen: joining us is actress jessica alba. great to see you. >> hi. >> gretchen: you just had a baby again. >> i did. i have a five-month-old. >> gretchen: so you have two children now. but it was with your first baby that you really realized, wow, there are some products out here that i don't like and i don't

know that much about, right? >> yeah. i actually did a bit of research after i had a huge allergy attack. i washed my clothes in my -- my baby's clothes in, like, the baby laundry detergent. >> steve: supposed tore safe. >> and my mom is like, everybody does it and i did it with you and so i washed my child's clothes when i was pregnant with honor in these laundry detergent and i was like sneezing and my eyes were watering and i was like, i'm having this kind of a reaction. imagine what a newborn baby, how she would react to this. so i looked up the ingredients and i found out that there are like toxic chemicals in that product. i was like, why are their toxic chemicals in a baby product? that's nuts! and then i did a little bit more research and i read a book called "healthy child, healthy world" and it exposes how there are lots of toxic chemicals in baby products and household products. so i was like, i want to create

a better way and i want to have products that are toxic chemical free, but cute ask affordable and convenient. >> steve: so tell us what -- there are a lot of things you can make for babies and you got a vast array of the stuff here. >> yes. >> steve: okay. you can buy it on-line? >> you do two packages. one package you can purchase diapers and wipes and in the other package is household and family essentials. >> brian: so what do we got? detergent there? >> we have laundry detergent and we do the basic cleaners that you want. counter spray and hand soap. then like a truly tearless shampoo, that is completely safe for your baby, tested on my daughter. [ laughter ] >> brian: she's crying. back to the drawing board. >> she likes this. she doesn't even notice when the bubbles get in her eyes. >> gretchen: how can people get this product?

>> go to honest.com and sign up. i also found that when i was trying to find eco products, that they were so expensive. they were hard to get. and they weren't cute. >> brian: could i make a suggestion? i know you know the business and you do know cute, and also if you're looking for -- for someone to endorse this product, why not choose your children? ultimate win. your company, your kids, your commercial. >> yes. and it's like for less than $20 a week, you get a month's supply of diapers and we have cute designs. >> steve: like a subscription? >> right. >> gretchen: for example, with this diaper, what would be different between yours and the one that you can already get at the drugstore? >> it's all plant-based materials, is what our diapers is made out of and no petro chemicals. >> steve: pirate diapers. >> the designs are really cute. >> brian: you went to the golden globes a couple days ago. right? >> i did. >> brian: what was it like, knee deep back in show business like that? was it fun? >> it was fun. it was actually like i've sort

of took time off and did the mommy thing and had another baby and it's been like the greatest adventure of my life. building this business and working on it nonstop. now i'm ready to get back into acting. >> brian: what do you got going? >> right now i have an animated movie that's coming out, but i'm really working on producing and developing some stuff. >> steve: shoot you the child be wearing the pirate diaper about now? >> right. >> steve: were you pushing them at the golden globes? >> no, no. the thing is, us parents are always trying to find safe products and then if it could be affordable and convenient and cute on top of it, it's kind of a no brainer. >> gretchen: really important topic. there will be a lot of people who will be very interested in this. thank you for bringing it to our attention. jessica alba. >> thank you for having me. >> steve: thanks for coming back. >> gretchen: coming up, newt gingrich calling himself the only true conservative in the

race for president on the republican side. would governor rick perry agree with that statement? well, let's ask him. the governor joins us next. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! can you enjoy vegetables withs. sauce and still reach your weight loss goals? you can with green giant frozen vegetables. over twenty delicious varieties ha sixty calories oless per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce.

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gotta get that bacon! bacon?! bacon! smokey bacon, meaty bacon, tasty bacon! bacon? ohh, la, la... oh, i say, is that bacon?! oh, good heaven con! bacon! baon! bacon! whoants a beggin' strip meee! i'd get it myself but i don't have thumbs! yum, yum, yum, yum, yum... it's bacon!!! mmmmm...i love you. i love bacon. i love you. i love bacon. i love you. [ male announcer ] beggin' strips! made with real bacon. there's no time like beggin' time. [ dogs] bacon...bacon... con...bacon... >> steve: welcome back. the republican field is down to just five candidates. but if former speaker newt gingrich has his way, it would be down to just two. him and mitt. >> look at the polling, i'm the only conservative who realistically has a chance to be e nominee. any vote for santorum and perry is a vote to allow romney to

become the nominee. >> steve: okay. so what does rick perry have to say about that? let's go on the road to south carolina where the governor is standing by. good morning to you, governor. >> hey, good morning. y'all are all good up there. >> steve: we are doing well. and we know you're real busy, so we thank you very much for dropping by. so what do you make of newt gingrich yesterday saying any vote for mitt or rather any vote for perry is a vote for mitt? >> yeah, well, i think you could say that about anyone in the race. it's a good line and we'll see whether it works or not on saturday. >> steve: absolutely. so another debate on saturday. we had one two nights ago. are you exhausted from debating? >> no. actually the debate is on thursday. so we got the debate on thursday, tomorrow night, in charleston, and then full day work on friday and then people go to the polls on saturday and make their wishes known. so you get up every day, hopefully you have a good night

sleep and there is a lot of energy out here. we were in florence yesterday and a crowd of a couple of hundred plus that were out at the diner. it was just a great amount of energy, a lot of volunteers. the people feel the energy and they know the importance of this election. when you look at what president obama has done to this economy, people are very frightened for not just current condition, but the future of this country for their children, their grandchildren, and $15 trillion worth of debt. i ask people, i say, hey, are you better off today than you were $4 trillion ago? people get it. they understand that washington is out of control and these insiders, between washington and wall street have just really corrupted the system and put america and our future in jeopardy. so that's a reason my story of being the outside who are will come in and really turn that place upside down, whether it's a balanced budget amendment to the united states constitution

or passing a constitutional amendment that makes congress part-time, that is, i'm telling you, the most powerful message. people are sick and tired of these congressmen knocking out $174,000 a year, which is 3 1/2 times more than the average family in america makes, spending not much time in washington, d.c so cut their time even down more. let them have a real job back home and live under the laws that they pass. >> steve: there you go. a couple of nights ago, you had a very good debate. i heard number of commentators say that was his best debate yet. one of the things you brought up was hey, mitt, how about releasing your tax returns? yesterday he repeated he'll probably do it in april when he's done with his 2011 year. chris christie this morning said, though, you know what, governor? he is one of his surrogate. you should probably release it earlier. one of the things mitt romney revealed yesterday is he's probably taxed at 15%, which is absolutely the rate for capital

gains. how do you feel about the 15% rate, because obviously the white house is going to make hay, look, he only pays 15%. a lot of middle class people pay that or even more. >> the issue is do we need to change the tax system and the answer is yes. that's a reason i laid out that flat, simple, flat tax of 20%, straight across the board. you get to deduct for your home, mortgage, your local tax, your charitable giving. do away with capital gains tax and the difficult defends tax -- dividends tax. that's what americans are looking for. it is important for mitt to release his tax returns. the fact is, we can't fire our nominee in september. by then, it's too late. so if we've got a flawed candidate that's going forward and someone who is going to get eaten alive either because of business priors because of their taxes and the system that they're set up, we need to talk

about it now. this is not a personal attack at all. this is about who is the candidate? my taxes have been out since the '80s. every year they've laid out. i'm the governor of the 13th largest economy in the world. we helped create an environment where a million jobs have been created, at the same time america lost 2 million jobs. so i make the argument that i'm the outsider and the person who is the true conservative and has the record to back it up. >> steve: you got another couple days to make your case down there in south carolina. governor, thank you very much for joining us today from greenville. >> you're welcome. best to all of you. >> steve: you bet. right back at you. a dozen minutes before the top of the hour. he's already overcome incredible odds. now five-year-old kiren is helping save lives across the country. he and his family join us in a cummins. let's check in with martha mccallum for a preview of what happens in 11 minutes. >> hello there. we'll be seeing you soon. coming up right here on america's news room, when bill and i join you, the captain of

the cruise ship's lawyer has some brand-new comments this morning about the captain. we will bring you that live. unbelievable information coming in on that cruise ship. governor scott walker facing a recall in wisconsin. he sits down with bill this morning. governor christie speaking out on mitt romney's taxes. what does ed rollins think about that and the vp question. bill and i see you at the top of the hour. that's good morning, veggie style. kirren.

>> gretchen: welcome back. it's a life saving organization that finds ways to help prevent premature births, among many other things. this morning, we're going to meet the new 2012 ambassador for the march of dimes. joining me is five-year-old kirren and his parents. >> thank you.

>> gretchen: good morning. >> hi. >> gretchen: are you figuring out that you're on tv right over there? yeah? you're the new ambassador. give me a high five for that. oh, all right! he knows how to do that. i know originally when he was born prematurely, you probably never thought down the road this is going to be a fantastic thing because at the time, it was very, very trying, right? >> it was. it was a scary experience to hear our baby was going to be born the same day and not understand the long-term issues he might have because of the prematurity. >> gretchen: he was born at 31 weeks. we're looking at the photos here. how much did he weigh at that time? >> 3 pounds, one ounce. >> gretchen: and i understand that one of the complications, shane, was that because he was so small, he would actually fall asleep when he was eating and it was hard to keep him aroused, right, to be able to get the right nutrients to continue in growth? >> right. that was one of the concerns we had. another one was that he would stop breathing while he was sleeping. sleep apnea was a big issue. luckily while he was still inside her belly before she

delivered, they were able to provide a therapy, something the march of dimes played a big role in, contributing to the research of. that helped his lungs develop adequately enough so he was actually crying when he was born, which was a big step. so the sleep apnea could have been a lot worse if he hadn't received that. >> gretchen: as the ambassador family what, will you do, because you're just getting started, but what's the main goal of your year traveling around the country? >> i think just to promote the mission of the march of dimes, which is to insure that all babies are born healthy and given an opportunity and with their early start. then also help with prematurity, premature births and to share knowledge and to share our story and inspire others to get involved with the march for babies. >> gretchen: you were in the nicu, in the hospital for a month. how do you feel now? >> good. >> gretchen: good. what grade are you in in school? >> kindergarten.

>> gretchen: i know you did something exciting last week because you were telling me -- oh, thank you so much. is that your autograph? he gave me his card with his autograph. thank you. you were just at disneyworld last week. >> we were. we were able to participate with the walt disney world half marathon which helped raise funds for the march of dimes as well and we were able to experience orlando and talk to some folks about the march of times and the upcoming march for babies in that market. >> gretchen: i can't think of a better way to start off your year as ambassador at disy world. what was your favorite ride? >> thunder railroad. for folks who have been to disney world, they know that's more of a lower key roller coaster, but that's my speed. another high five for that. i hope you have a fantastic year as a march of dimes ambassador. and to the parents as well, i know it will be a lot of work, but what a great mission and coming up, we want to remind everyone that the march of dimes walk will be in april all across the country. >> one of 900 walks. we encourage everybody to

participate, get out and it's a great community day and he's been walking it since pretty much since he was born. thank you for having us. >> gretchen: we have the whole family here. congratulations. have a fantastic year. more "fox & friends" two minutes away -one. -two. -three. -one. two. three. one. -two. -three. -one. -two. -three. [ male announcer ] with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% back on groceries. and 3% back on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. -it's as easy as...one. -two. -three. [ male announcer ] 1, 2, 3 percent cash back for the things you buy most. the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

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♪ when i have school. and work. every morning. it's faster and easier than coffee. every afternoon when that 2:30 feeling hits. -every day. -every day. every day is a 5-hour energy day. [ male announcer ] 5-hour energy. every day. >> steve: tomorrow op our program, you're not going to want to miss. there is a big debate tomorrow night and we'll talk politics with michelle malkin, eric bolling will be with us. plus a lot of people have financial questions. we got a guy in vegas to help us with that. >> gretchen: bob massi, who has been talk being what to do if you're facing a foreclosure situation. he'll be giving us medical advice. and our medical a team will be here. brian, i'll see you up on radio. >> brian: i think it's going to be fascinating to see what happens. it's coming up between 9:00 o'clock and noon. sirius 126. i hope your local station. but it's going to be very interesting to see what happens in south carolina, especially