enemies and take on mitt romney shoulder to shoulder. >> steve: what about governor sarah palin saying vote for newt to keep this thing going. >> brian: i didn't hear that. >> steve: we'll see you tomorrow bill: good morning, everyone. the search for survivors now suspended in the italian cruise ship disaster. that vessel tilting in turbulent water. there is new concern it might slip into the open sea and sink entirely. that is what they dough not want. good morning, everyone. the story is still with us. i'm bill hemmer. welcome to america's new room. martha: good morning, everybody. i'm martha maccallum. it has been a dramatic 24 hours in this story. divers and firefighters searching. looking for the still missing 28 passengers and crewmembers. that captain screen right under house arrest. investigators try to figure out why he sailed his ship so close to land.

>> the fact the ship went on the rock and the rock was on nautical chart. everybody sailing this area knows there is danger rock over there and really close call. under 50 meters. so we know that. the investigation, that we are taking is to understand why the captain let the ship go so close and hit the rock. bill: we also heard from the captain's lawyer this morning, blaming the ship's construction for the matter. greg burke streams live from the island on italy's west coast. greg. >> reporter: bill, you know, this really looks like a movie scene. it is just incredible. the thing is very, very sad movie as you see that boat just behind me, really just yards away from the island from the shore here. now the rescue at this point as you mentioned was temporarily suspended. the water is not very rough. it was a little rougher this morning. the problem is as big as

that boat is. it is on a risky ledge. there could be a lot of movement if things heat up. time is of the essence. they hope to work on salvage as early as tomorrow. they have begun preliminary work on salvage. the first thing to get all the fuel off of there. they have been blessed by good weather so far. they're hoping that can hold. bill? bill: it is a stunning sight to see the ship off your right shoulder, greg. what is the latest with the cape taken there in italy? >> he is becoming a name of shame for the italians. there was a mob scene at his house. he sneaked in the back door. they caught his wife going in. he was released from prison and under hoist arrest. the now headlines are captain coward. what the italians are saying he has brought shame upon us. they're saying that they have actually come out with some t-shirts already saying get back on the ship. which of course would be

funny if so many people hadn't lot of their lives. >> greg burke, thank you. live in italy. we'll be in touch throughout the morning. there will be more headlines. here's martha. martha: there is a report that the captain claims he fell into the lifeboat. we'll get more information on that one. in terms of those missing from this cruise ship, jerry and barbara highly of minnesota. they say they were on the dream cruise around the world when this nightmare began to unfold. the death toll from the cost at that concordia crash is 11. five of the dead have yet to be identified. bill: what kind of charges might this captain face? what about a possible environmental disaster? they are not out of the woods on that front either. a maritime lawyer who has seen his share of sea time disasters on what we can expect coming up. we'll have that. martha: turn your attention back over to the political scene here for a moment. big questions surfacing about what mitt romney pays in taxes. that has taken center stage

on this day in the battle for the republican nomination. the former massachusetts governor says he probably pays about 15% of his income in taxes. that admission coming as his gop rivals stepped up pressure on romney to make the tax records public. >> here's the real issue for us. as republicans. we can knot fire our nominee in september. we to know now. so i hope you will put your tax records out there this week so the people of south carolina can take a look and decide if you know, we have a flawed candidate or not. >> i think i heard enough from folks say, let's see your tax records. i have nothing in them suggests there is any problem. i'm happy to do so. i sort of feel like we're showing a lot of exposure at this point and if i become our nominee, and what has happened in history people have released them april of the coming year and that is probably what i do. martha: a lot of discussion not necessarily about the

underlying facts but about the way that mitt romney handled answering that question got a lot of attention. joined by fox business network's stuart varney, anchor of "varney & company". stuart, you would almost think listening to governor perry there was some suggestion in illegality in all this which certainly not? >> there is nothing illegal about paying a 15% tax rate on your investment income. that's what governor mitt romney has been doing. why does anyone pay a lower tax rate on investment income compared to income on wages and salaries? well the answer is, that we want to encourage investments. we want people with money to put their money to work by buying businesses and stocks and bonds which grows the economy. so we have a low rate on capital gains, investment income, compared to regular wages and salaries. it is that 15% rate, that is what everybody is focusing on because it is a lower rate of tax on investment income than it is on regular

work, wages and salary. martha: you know, i mean it is interesting. i guess you could argue almost a double tax. you make that money. you get taxed on it. you turn that money that you take home, turn around and invest it. and then those investments make money and that is being at thatted at a lower rate. i mean that is just one of the arguments that perhaps mitt romney needs to clarify and make a stronger way, stuart? >> perhaps he needs to come out with a forceful response on why he has paid a 15% tax rate. because it brings into question the whole issue of income and wealth inequality which is said to be growing in our society. it is clearly going to be a big issue in the november election. but you have to go back to why do we tax investment income at a low rate? the answer is, we want to promote growth. we want the economy to grow. what you tax less you get more of. and this, investments. now, governor romney is has not made that case just yet. he hasn't said it yet.

martha: perhaps he needs to in the course of this campaign, if you want to succeed. that is one of the big questions. he hasn't been somebody out there yelling for a flat tax as rick perry has and got a lot of support from folks like steve forbes on. is this a golden moment to embrace that, do you think. >> it is an opportunity. so far mitt romney has not embraced tax reform. by that i mean lower tax rates and fewer deductions. he has not embraced it yet. now he has the opportunity to do just that. a 15% tax rate, that is what everybody is focusing on, that is the focal point of criticism. if he turned that around and said why don't we use that as basis for a flat tax, he might be onto a winner. martha: might get attention. thanks very much, stuart varney. coming up on "varney & company". bill: we asked our research department, the brain room as we act tech shun atly call it, to break down tax numbers for you. 2009, get this, 42% of all tax-filers paid no federal income tax. in that same year the

average income tax rate was 17.8% after you factor exemptions and deductions. top easterners paying 24% in taxes. >> federal income taxes. on top you have estate taxes and the rest. let's talk more about taxes when it comes to this gentleman. he is calling it comeback new jersey situation, governor chris christie is. he unveiled his new tax plan during his state of the state address on tuesday. here is a little piece of that. >> i propose to reduce income tax rates for each and every new jersey ann in every tax bracket by 10% across the board. [applause] we have the highest tax rates in the nation. we have the highest unemployment in a quarter century. and the largest budget deficit per person of any state in the nation. so, step one, was to stop

the bleeding by stopping the spending. martha: well the governor has gotten a ton of attention. he is somebody who a lot of folks wanted to see run for the top office in the land this time around. his speech kicked off the new legislative session for new jersey and outlined the agenda for coming year. outlined major achievements including overhauling state pension and systems. new jersey's tax burden as he said is the highest in the nation. 12.2%. it had highest income tax rate for single or joint filers making $500,000 or more in income. he wants to lop the top off of this by 10% for everybody. bill: fox news alert. on the hill congress will take up a familiar fight today over raising our nation's debt limit. the house could pass what they call a resolution of disapproval over the president's request to raise the debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion. a debt clock ticking away. right now 15.2 trillion.

such a lovely sight. the vote mostly symbolic because the senate widely expected to shoot down the resolution that makes the debt ceiling go up. much more in a live report on the hill coming up next hour. a lot of that settled back in august you remember. martha: indeed it was. how about relief coming for this ice-bound town we've been talking about this week? a russian tanker and crew offloading more than a million gallons of fuel to nome, alaska, one of the most remote places on earth. after a 5,000 mile journey through rough seas and ice eight feet thick, can you imagine? bill: nope. martha: eight feet thick ice they had to cut their way to get there a ice breaker hoped to clear the path. look at astonishing pictures from alaska. because of a massive storm, nome missed their last oil shipment. without the delivery the city would run out of fuel by march. they would let the ice freeze to roll out this hose, mile long distance to get

the oil. bill: imagine how much winter weather alaskans can see. for this to be a major story you know it is really tough up there. martha: two feet of snow. bill: we have more coming up here. martha: we do? bill: also coming up here on "america's newsroom" is this. a usually rainy seattle may look a lot like alaska? oh my. the northwest getting pounded by snow and ice. something they have not seen a lot of. we're on the ground with a live report as a major storm system develops there. martha: plus is president obama doing a good job on the economy? new poll numbers out that may tell us something about 2012. we'll take a look at those. bill: still no endorsement for a republican candidate sarah palin but the former vp candidate coming pretty close to one, don't you think. listen? >> you haven't gone rogue yet. you haven't given an endorsement. are you getting closer to giving an endorsement? >> well i can tell you what i would do if i were a south carolinian. [ male annouer ] juice drink too watery?

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martha: the white house is now saying that iran may be supplying weapons to syria, a country that has been rocked by protests and a brutal crackdown in such a huge loss of life in that country as a result. an obama administration official says a recent visit by an iranian military commander provided them what they believe concrete examples of high-level cooperation between those two countries. iran has been one of syria's closest allies for decades. it has been a vocal supporter of the syrian president as sued during this bloody crackdown on protesters. bill: all right, meantime it is not a full endorsement we say, but sarah palin says if she were voting in south carolina saturday there is one candidate at the moment she would support. >> i do think that newt is the one who won the debate, if you will because newt

came out, just like south carolina's own smokin' joe frazier, came out swinging. talk be about work and job ethic and how government needs to get out of the way in order for all americans to have sense of opportunity to work. if i had to vote in south carolina in order to keep this thing going i would vote for newt and i would want this to continue, more debates, more vetting of candidates. bill: she had major reasons for that. want to bring in the former communications director for the republican national committee. he worked on four presidential campaigns. live today in charleston, south carolina. jim, good morning in the low country. thank you for your time. i know you have not endorsed anyone yet. what do you think of what sarah palin said last night? >> i think she's right that the candidates need to be fully vetted. you can't hide things in presidential elections to the degree this goes on further, we'll have continue to have a robust discussion as we did at the debate on monday night about the

policies, the contrast with president obama, the importance of economic growth. it didn't seem like a full endorsement to me but speaker gingrich continues to sort of take one step forward and two steps back. i know yesterday he was back on attacking capitalism again. so, there is more than the debates. we'll have to see how it plays out. bill: as a republican do you believe in her premise iron sharpens iron and longer it goes and more debates you have, the better the candidates get? and then the voters themselves have a greater contrast? do you agree with that? >> well, obviously the candidates would like for it to be over quickly but there's a benefit to the party and to the candidates as it goes on longer. obviously with the proportional delegation system that the republican party has adopted there is the real potential for it to go on for a while. but the party organizing in these primary states is important.

having large voter turnouts is important. so that is good for the party but you could also make the case certainly if you're one of the candidates you like for this thing to be over. bill: i could see that. in south carolina, scott rasmussen went around and polled a number of people. here is what he found. who is strongest against president obama, overwhelmingly romney at 49%. gingrich distant second at 23%. what palin argues we failed to vet president obama as then senator obama four years ago. >> well, yes. there wasn't much to vet. he had a pretty thin record coming in. now president obama did. it's important to vet all these candidates. you can't hide anything in a presidential election. it will come up sooner or later. that is the process we're going through now. i think that will won tin. bill: here is what newt gingrich set about that. he sent out a tweet to all his supporters thawing sarah palin usa for throwing your support my way in the south carolina primary. what happens saturday, jim?

>> well i don't know. the argument being made on the ground by all the candidates interestingly enough is electability. suggesting that santorum brop drop out. santorum suggesting that gingrich and perry should drop out. the thing is that ultimately benefits mitt romney. who ultimately made the case in iowa and new hampshire that is he is most electable candidate. bill: we'll talk with your former governor about that very issue, governor mark sanford. jim thank you. >> thank you. bill: nice to have you on. martha. martha: interesting thing today. lights out for some of our biggest online sites. they're going dark today as a means of protest. what they are so angry about these web sites they're even willing to cut off their customers for today? bill: did researchers just find a real fountain of youth. the luth is very intriguing. details on a possible medical break-through that

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bill: they shall make it through rain, sleet or snow, martha. but if you want your mail in one piece, don't put up a fence. lesson learned. michael was watching surveillance camera when he saw the antique cuckoo clock he had been waiting for. it was delivered and it went, it went flying over that fence. martha: oh. bill: apparently the barrier outside of his house was too much for this guy to handle. michael says the clock will have to be repaired. he filed a complaint with the postal service because that stuff is --. martha: oh. all right.

well now this for you this morning. many of our veterans returning home from iraq and afghanistan and finding themselves in yet another fight, the fight to find themselves a good job. in their home country. there is a look at unemployment rate for veterans right now, 7.7% in december. more than 850,000 of them currently out of work but the veterans administration is trying to help. peter doocey is live from washington today. peter, how many jobs are available at this job fair today for veterans? >> reporter: 6500, martha. it is a very big number. that represents not only the people who will be receiving job offers today, but people very least will receive a call back about a follow-up meeting to potentially lead to a job offer. it is -- public companies are here. big ones and small ones as well as federal agencies. look behind me, some of the companies here, citibank, coca-cola, lockheed martin, microsoft, the defense department, the tsa. they have all the red, white and blue booths lining

entire huge convention center. there are recruiters here. off to the side when the vets first arrived, they are matched up with a coach, who listens to them, figures out what kind of expertise they got in the service and matches them up with a recruiter. for example somebody in the army, navy, air force or marines, was a medic, they might be sent over to the booth to johns hopkins hospital. >> we're looking for veterans who may have been medics or have some medical experience during their time in the service. because they are committed, hard-working and after everything they have done for our country we just figure they would be great employees for our johns hopkins hospital. >> it is important for the vets to know they come home and have opportunity not just come back home to the duty station or retiring, if they're retiring they can come knowing they have a job waiting for one. >> reporter: martha, you can see a lot of the recruiters are very enthusiastic.

many that i have spoken to are veterans themselves. martha: that's great, peter. let's hope they connect with each other in a very good way. peter doocy from washington. bill: they face another challenge after what they have been through. good luck. the president needs to convince america he is on the right track. new polling numbers today suggest his campaign might have serious work to do on that front. fair and balanced debate with a terrific panel on that. martha: folks in the northwest now are bracing for the worst. a massive snowstorm. look at all the white on the left side of the united states of america hitting a major u.s. city. >> it comes and goes. right now looks like it will start snowing hard again. it has been like this all day today. it will be an hour with nothing. and then it will snow like, a blizzard up here for two hours straight. hello, how can i deliver world-class service

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bill: got a fox extreme weather alert now where there is a potentially crippling storm forcing seattle to basically shut down. this is new video out of seattle about to get slammed with five inches of snow. there is lot on the ground already in fact. much more than that town is used to. >> i was colling down the driveway and i hit a patch of ice and i slid and i thought 100% sure i would hit the house. bill: that's a hilly city too. combine the snow and experience with a serious shortage of plow trucks you have got yourself a problem. dan springer live in seattle

now. what is it looking like dan, good morning? >> reporter: bill, you can see, this is rain city, not used to all the snow. the big question will this storm live up to its hype and oh, boy has it been behind. the national weather service as you mentioned issued a winter storm warning for the entire day basically all up and down the pacific northwest. they're talking anywhere two inches up to 14 inches in various places the most snow in the city of seattle since 1985 when seven and a half feet were dumped on the city all in one day. as far as normal totals here, they're saying that six inches is the normal for the entire city of seattle for an entire winter. so they're saying we're going to get that all in one day. right now you can see that it is snowing right now. it is light though. we have only accumulation of half-inch or less in seattle. other parts of the pacific northwest are getting pounded. down in olympia they have 10

inches of snow there. the city of portland had snow overnight and turned over into rain. a lot of schools canceled in the portland area and all the way up and down the pacific northwest on the western side of washington. bill: something else. 26 years since you've seen it like this. that is remarkable. if it is rain you're used to, not snow, is that city ready for this? >> well, i think most drivers are not ready for any amount of snow. so most people will be staying in today. i drove into work today and i saw a snowplow and three deer before i saw my first other car. so i think most people are going to be staying home. the city of seattle is urging people to stay home. they have plows out on streets. they have ice trucks out or salt trucks out that have been laying salt overnight. and i think they're doing what they can to prepare. the airlines have already canceled dozens of flights. in fact alaska airline, which is the major carrier out of sea-tac has canceled 38 flights already. bus routes have been

changed. schools are closed up and down the pacific northwest. most people will take it very cautious. people were at the stores stocking up. store shelves were basically empty when i went out to get my supplies. i think most people are getting prepared for this. they have emergency shelters opening up in the city. the courts have been closed, court buildings. so i think what you're seeing is, people being very cautious about a lot of snow that could be dumped throughout the day, bill. bill: in a winter absent of snow you're finally getting it and a lot of other people. >> reporter: that's right. bill: dan springer in seattle. >> reporter: okay. martha: the cars are sliding around but plows are not doing much better. spinning tires in bellview, washington supposed to clear the way for everybody else. that is bad situation. they're trying to clear the roads before today's expected snowfall. with plenty of powder on the way they have a long road ahead of us. bill: remember, for the latest what is happening in the northwest or wherever you are with extreme weather in your area, head to our website,

foxnews.com/weather. type in your zip code for the latest details and developments wherever you are, wherever you go. you can take us with you on the road. you can't get enough of fox, can you. martha: winter finally came. we have brand new poll numbers we want to share with you this morning. it shows a lot of americans have a negative view of the u.s. economy right now. look at washington post "abc news poll" numbers. only 9% say they see a strong recovery. 30 6:00% say it is a weak recovery. 54% say they don't think any recovery has begun at all. let's talk about what it means for the presidential election. we bring in our good friends, tucker carlson, editor of "the daily caller", fox news contributor and alan colmes, host of the alan colmes radio show. good morning to you both. let's pull up this other number and get you to react to both of these. has president obama accomplished a great deal in

the last three years, over the course of his presidency so far. 12% say a great deal. 35% say a good amount. you put those two numbers together at 47%. not much or little or nothing adds up to 52%. this is the question, i guess that will be on people's minds as they look at this election going forward, alan. do they think the president is doing a good job or give somebody else a shot basically? >> we don't know the ultimate answer yet, more so people are seeing more economic recovery. 9% more than two months ago. 21% increase in democrats say we're headed in right direction. there are pretty good numbers. ratio more than two to one. independents are blaming former president bush is where the economy. there are other things, other indicators in this poll. face it the race really hasn't begun and people haven't really gotten to know who mitt romney is the likely nominee. once that becomes one-on-one matchup i think president is much better shape. martha: tucker, alan is absolutely right. there are lot of indications

in the polls they talk about the new normal and. >> right. martha: your perspective on things is huge in all this. how do they look to you? >> people get used to anything i guess. what hasn't, what is so striking about the numbers how little they have changed. the country is evenly divided on obama. that has not altered in the last two years. the one thing we can say about the obama presidency is, it has been divisive. the country is split. there is no indication that he is bringing people together on support for his presidency. democrats despite the fact only 9% of the population buys into economic program, thinks it is working democrats are more enthusiastic about him than ever. so it really tells you this election is about obama getting his base out to vote, not reaching across the aisle. not winning independents but getting hardcore democratic voters to the polls. that is their only goal. martha: very interesting. so that would be an argument for sort of sticking with the entrenchment and difficulty and obstruction on both sides gone on over the course of the last year. i don't know how the

american people are going to feel about that, alan. >> congress has highest disapproval rating ever, 84%. in the same poll, 56% say that president obama is somebody who sticks to his principles. i'm not sure they say the same thing about mitt romney. research on mitt romney, john mccain research in 2008 came out over the last 12 hours or so on mitt romney would show all kind of different positions depending upon office he is running for. that will not help romney going forward. martha: tucker, we talked a lot about big stakes right now in the country and these huge divisive arguments that go on between conservatives and democrats. i wonder if once again, the ground, every national poll we see shows mitt romney and president obama in a very tight race if that is what it turns out to be. so does the question become not huge philosophical issues just sort of, would you like to give another guy a chance or do you think this guy is on the right track? >> well, if it is, if that is indeed the question, then obama loses. if this becomes a referendum,

as almost all re-election campaigns do, on the incumbent, what do you think? you've seen four years of this. you want more of this? is that is the debate obama is not reelected. i think that obama campaign is going to do everything it can to make the debate about the challenger. the press will help in that because they have been abetting obama since the very beginning. if republicans keep it on that question, i think they're going to do well. >> i love how the press gets credited always helping a democratic president. >> not every democratic president. clinton took a lot of abuse from the press. but obama has been worshipped by the press. >> maybe at one time. maybe earlier on. certainly not taking place. >> of course it is. >> you say that. martha: american people have certainly had a few years to look at presidency to decide what they think. alan, i think it is very compelling which you look at job creation he did better on now, if you see these numbers, tucker, alan, 8.5%, if that number creeping down a little bit you may see a new historical baseline for a president being able to be reelected.

things have been so bad. if they're incrementally better -- >> that is happening. 23 months in a row of job creation. he has to make the case. tucker is right, it can't be about the president. the president has to make the case he actually done all these things. he has to disabuse the republicans of the idea that it's about him because they have got to come up with a plan to make thinks better. they haven't done that yet. >>ist is and economy built on sand. our debt is as large as our gdp. if prepublic cans can't make the case that that is disaster, then they don't deserve to be elected. >> they have it come up with a plan of their own. >> they just have to point out that is disaster. >> what are they going to do that is better. >> virtually anything. martha: pick it up where we left off next time. thank you, gentlemen. alan, tucker, thanks. there is the south carolina primary where folks come out to make their own decision about these arguments and what they think. saturday, january 21st. bill and i will be here. bill: 6:00 returns roll in. we see where we go next.

which is florida at the end of the this month. it could have been a major roadblock to a legal challenge against the health care law. a major development allowing the case to go forward. details on that. this is fascinating too. martha: one newspaper this morning blaring headline, calling the captain of this ship, chicken of the sea. the captain who was not ready to go down with his ship will face charges. we'll be right back. >> translator: captain, please, there is no please about it, go back on board. assure me you're going back on board. i'm in the lifeboat under the ship. i haven't gone if i where. i'm here. what are you doing? i'm coordinating. if there was a pill

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discussing the war on terror with police chiefs from across the country. members of the fbi and cia will share tips with local police on how to identify and handle violent extremists who may be living in their communities. a bison roundup in denver. more than 100 head arriving for an international action and conference. they will be weighed. they will be tagged. then they will be judged, bill hemmer and they will be sold to the highest bidder. bill: then they will be on our plate. martha: will be the burgers we heard reported on yesterday. bill: tastes like chicken, right? come on, it is bison. tastes like chicken. major development now in the supreme court battle challenging the health care overhaul. the high court will allow two business owners to join that case, a matter which is expected to decide whether or not parts of the law or the entire law is constitutional. a judge andrew napolitano, fox news senior judicial analyst and host of fox business network's "freedom

watch". judge, good morning. you're all over this story, aren't you?. >> the supreme court decided what issues it is going to address and it also already told the lawyers when it brief these issues, when the briefs will be due, it is set aside, as you may recall, bill, historic amount of oral argument. bill: five or six hours, right? >> correct. bill: tell me the significance why these two business owners are allowed to join this case? or is it significant? >> the constitution requires that federal courts from a trial judge up to the supreme court of the united states can only hear cases where there is a real case or controversy. it can't hear hypothetical cases. so one of the plaintiffs in this lawsuit, and it is many lawsuits consolidated into one case, challenging the president's health care reform, has since gone out of business. so if the plaintiff, a small health care provider, is no longer in business, then it no longer has an adversety to the president's law and to the justice department. so in order to make sure

that all plaintiffs have real adversary nature in here, a real case or controversy, the supreme court allowed another plaintiff to come in. bill: i got you. let me be clear on this. the business no longer in business is part of this case? >> correct. bill: because the business could argue that the law itself forced me out of business, my costs went up to high, i can't afford it anymore, is that a fair argument? >> well, except because this business no longer exists it can't appear in the courtroom and it can't have lawyers there to make an argument in its behalf. so to address this little gap, if you will, in the continuum between the filing of these complaints, 2 1/2 years ago and resolution of this matter by the supreme court this spring, the court has permitted another business to be substituted in the case at this late date because this is going to be argued this two months, bill, to take the place of the business that went out of business. bill: is that a big deal? i mean they want to hear all

sides, right? they want to be fair and get a good evaluation of the evidence? >> it is a big deal for legal scholars because it is precedent for future cases where someone drops out the last minute, the case can still stay there. as for the arguments that are going to be made in the spring, they're probably not going to change. this person's lawyers are probably not going to make those arguments because there are too many lawyers in this case for the list court to listen to all of them. bill: i came across the article earlier today those that support the law thought they would have a really good chance of upholding it when this decision comes out and now they're not so sure. now are you hearing the same thing? >> well, yes and no. bill, this is really reading the tea leaves and people who do it for a living, what i do, which is watch the court and explain it on air, attempt to read the tea leaves. every time one member of the court says something in unrelated by similar case we

try to predict how they would rule on this case. bill: sure do, right. >> from reading the tea leaves people have been changing predict uns is. i've been predicting all along, 5-4 obamacare will be ruled unconstitutional on the vivid mandate. that will cause the rest of the bill to collapse. bill: i see. >> most people agree with that but some people are changing their minds, saying 6-3 it will be invalidated. bill: thanks, judge napolitano. >> pleasure. bill: go to foxnews.com, /americasnewsroom. click on the bya box, leave a question on health care or whatever is on your mind. shoot me a twitter@bill hemmer and,. martha: give them your home phone number or cell phone? bill: after the comercial. martha: newt gingrich out on the campaign trail, they're all over south carolina these folks. he is at a town hall in

south carolina. three days before the palmetto state primary. why the former speaker could be closing the gap on frontrunner mitt romney. campaign carl cameron will check in on that. bill: i love this story too. ponce de leon look out. scientists say they may have hit the fountain of youth for real. a special investigation by the next medical a-team is coming up after this. martha: we have to stick around for that. ♪ wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

martha: listen up, folks. this is hopeful story we've got here. researchers at the university of pittsburgh's medical school say they found a way to slow the aging process. how do that? a simple injection they say

is shot of youth. fox news medical a-teamer marc siegel is investigating this. this has never been done before, mark. >> this may be a fountain of youth pill. i'm very, very excited about this. you know me, i'm conservative. we traveled to the university of pittsburgh school of medicine to speak researchers. it has three things that i have never seen before. first it shows immature cells age as we age. in other words, our cells wear out and the things we used to repair wear out. then they took cells from young mice and injected them into prematurely aged mice, you know what they did? they reversed the aging process. these mice then lived two to three times longer. martha: wow. >> their diseases went away. they identified something called factor x. mysterious factor x's that the cells we're making that literally they think might be able to be one day a pill

that you and i might actually be able to take to reverse aging. we heard from a doctor who is one of lead researchers at university of pittsburgh school of medicine. you have to hear what she had to say about this. >> my hope that the work that we've conducted in mice could some day be translated to humans so that we can use adult stem cells, isolated from individuals, to help them live healthier, happier lives so that we can use their cells to stave off many of the aging related dises that they fear. osteoporosis or loss of muscle or cognition. martha: wow! that is pretty remarkable. >> we're not talking about embryonic stem cells here. we're talking about our own mature cells. she said she wished she had banked her own stem cells when she is young so when she gets to be old to reinject them to live longer. this is amazing stuff. martha: how far off are we from the possibility that someone could do that? that young, that kids, that my kids could bank some of

their stem cells to help fight off some of these things that happen when you grow older? >> martha, i asked them that. they seemed to think within five to 10 years we'll see work within humans on this. the doctor from the university of pittsburgh school of medicine said the key is the factor x, this mysterious substance the cells are producing. you put the cells in the abdomen, next thing you know the brain is rejuvenated. >> they have no idea what the factor x is? >> they're working on it. they think it could be a growth substance. listen to what the doctor has to say about this. >> i'm a dreamer. we do science because we think we can improve quality of life of patients doing study, basic science research to try to understand what is being secreted. what is the factor x. when we understand that, maybe we can use this factor x and use knit a pill somehow that can be used to reduce signs of aging. martha: fascinating. >> to hear a scientist say he is a dreamer, a scientist

is dreamer looking into the future. martha: how inspiring to see young doctors working on this. that is great, dr. siegel, like yourself. tap into the old fountain of youth when it is available, right? thank you, dr. siegel. >> thanks, martha. bill: bring it on. i will hire you, siegel. >> i'm ready. martha: exactly. bill: a new fight over the country's massive red ink. the house expected to vote on president obama's massive debt ceiling increase. we're talking trillions. folks. we're awaiting that. plus? martha: this is most outrage just story. he went into a lifeboat while his ship was sinking and people were dying. the passengers were fighting for their lives and this. >> couldn't even run their boats. that is part of the reason we had to get off a boat because they didn't know how to run it. >> a five 1/2 hour grueling experience. we faced death four times. >> a lot of problems the way things were handled. very unfair and unsafe. the cruise lines have to change. >> training of the crews. training of the crews. they were totally

incompetent. mornin'. i guess i'm helping them save hundreds on car insurance. it probably also doesn't hurt that i'm a world-famous advertising icon. cheers! i mean, who wouldn't want a piece of that? geico. ah... fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent oh dear... or more on car insurance. like many chefs today, i feel the best approach to food is to keep it whole for better nutrition. and that's what they do with great grains cereal. see the seam on the wheat grain? same as on the flake. because great grains steams and bakes the actual whole grain. now check out the other guy's flake. hello, no seam. because it's more processed. now, which do you suppose has better nutrition for you? mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal.

martha: running out of money and time to ask for more. familiar story, right? the house is back in action today after their holiday break. that was a long holiday break, waupblt wasn't it? they are set to vote on block being the president's request to raise the debt ceiling one more time. brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum. greg: i'm bill hemmer. good morning to you. congress arguing over the same bill passed last summer after the standoff over the nation's debt. under that law the limit is automatically raised after the president says the country is super close to topping the current limit of $15.2 trillion. martha: mike emanuel is on this story for us at the top of the hour live on capitol hill. mike, it looks like this vote is not going to get the kind of tussle that we saw before christmas. >> reporter: that is right, we

do expect some arguing, martha. bottom line house republicans say it keeps the focus on the government spending problem, our massive growing debt problem. in the end it's expected to pass the house but not go beyond that. here is the lead sponsor of the bill on today's resolution vote. >> what this will do is send a strong message to the world and throughout america that the house, and in particular the house republicans are focused on getting our fiscal house in order and that means taking care of our national debt. it's a direct threat to our economy and nation's future. >> reporter: as a practical matter it also gives house republicans a chance to say they voted against raising the nation's debt ceiling, martha. martha: what is the democratic response to all of this. >> reporter: steny hour says this is all a charade and he believes this is taking away home from work on more substantive matters. here is a key house democrat a short time ago on today's vote. >> we think that this is a

manufactured crisis, you know, we think and we support the president and the country's obligation to pay its debt. >> reporter: a vote is expected in the house late this afternoon, but in the end we do expect the debt ceiling will go up, martha. martha: mike emanuel thanks so much. greg: a bit of context right now and you need context when you're talking about these kind of numbers. our entire public debt has increased $656 billion since the august debt deal was reached, that was what, four months ago? martha: yeah. greg: the total debt sum is larger than the combined economics of the europe union, that's 47 countries. that amount of money would fold the country the size of poland. poland is the 22nd largest economy in the world. martha: maybe it was better before.

it sounds even worse now. occupy protests sparking a brie lockdown aa brief lockdown at the white house. somebody through a suspected smokes bomb onto the white house grounds. a hazmat team sprung into answer and officers closed part of that property of the white house until the object was removed. the protest of about a thousand people was broken up, no arrests were made. the president and first lady were not in residence at the time. greg: three days ago before voters head to the polls in the first in the south primary. the candidates in a race against time to attract votes for them, in fact hitting the trail again today. our chief political correspondent, carl come roeup cameron is in spartansburg,

evangelical country. newt gingrich is saying something. >> reporter: candidates aplenty have come here to campaign. in just a short while rick santorum will be one of them. newt gingrich is making bold statements trying to undercut romney's support. they are pretty close in the polls, romney is considered to have an edge here, gingrich has a lot of momentum and been making a lot of noise since his debate last night. newt gingrich called it like he sees it and it was bold, listen. >> your support in the next four days can change history. if i win the primary saturday i will be the nominee. i think it's literally that simple. and if i don't win the primary saturday we will probably nominate a moderate and the odds are fairly high he will lose to obama. >> reporter: that is obviously a shot at mitt romney as the massachusetts moderate. he goes also after rick santorum

saying because the senator lost his last election by a large marriage inch he is snake pweupbt and unfibitten and not for the presidency. greg: who is rick santorum doing. >> reporter: we'll hear from him today that newt gingrich is not reliable as a conservative or a leader. >> we haven't had a good message, we've had good policy proposals other than the ones newt have put out there. you're not going to wake up in the morning and look at newspaper and say, oh, my, gosh he didn't say that, did he. >> reporter: tough stuff. the romney campaign will put occur gatout surrogates to say that mitt romney believes that

newt gingrich is unreliable and trust worth thaoefplt ric trustworthy. rick santorum is obviously saying that on the stump today also. greg: who knows how it goes. martha: rick perry is urging rival mitt romney to fully release awful his tax information. mitt romney has revealed some of the details. he says full disclosure may come in a. but rick perry says he believes that that is not enough. here he is on fox & friends earlier. >> 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 is going forward and someone who is going to get eat even alive either because of business practices or because of the taxes, and the system that they are set up, we need to talk about it now. this is not a personal attack at all, this is about, you know, who is the candidate. martha: we'll see if he gets

anywhere with that line of argumen argument he says his own information has been out in the open since the 08s. greg: does it matter how much money mitt romney is worth and church pays to uncle sam, for that matter,ed rollins has played a role in so many other campaigns, we'll weigh? in on that in a matter of moments. make sure you tune in to fox news at 6:00, that's when we start coverage on the south carolina primary. they always surprise us, we'll see if saturday holds a surprise also. martha: the online world is mounting a defiant protest today. several web sites, including wikipedia literally shutting down their sites. if you go to something on wikipedia, this is the screen that will pop up. you're not going to get where you want to go. they have gone dark today as a protest of a new bill that many

critics say could lead to censorship. claudia could you eveclaudia cowan has more. >> reporter: silicon valley opposed this. and 7,000 web sites are taking part in this internet strike. wikipedia, at least its english version, by far the largest with 25 million visitors today, but not today it's blacked out and says imagine a world without free knowledge. the intent here is to draw attention to sue controversial bills now before the u.s. congress. the stop online piracy act, a bill known as sopa and protect intellect all property act known as pipa in the senate. it would force comcast or at&t to block communications to off-shore sites that steal content, whether it's music or movies made in this country. >> we have these sites located outside of the united states that are stealing intellectual

property not only from the entertainment business but from millions of other people who work in the copyright or intellectual properties of our country. >> reporter: critics say jobs are at stake as well as free speech and privacy in cyberspace. martha: we know that wikipedia is on board with this. who else is taking part, claudia? >> reporter: a lot of other sites, take a look at google, the search engine is up and running today, but it blacked out its name in a show of solidarity. some call this ironic since google's business is to link users to various sites, essentially cricket essentially to steal content every day. they argue anyone with a tkpwraoeub could make gripe would make an impact. people for looking information online don't have to be in the

dark today. they can check out scolarpedia.org or a lot of other sites that are up and running today. martha: thank you so much, claudia. greg: ring r-r ha newt gingrich has a message for two of his rivals. get out of the race and get on board of my train. we will have the governor of south carolina all about that in a few moments. martha: scott walk tpher a fig walker in a fight for his job. will the wisconsin governor face a recall? he is here to make a prediction. greg: he abandoned ship as it went down and faces manslaughter charges. why his lawyer just called him a hero today. >> 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. you tell me the number of each of these categories, is that clear? look, schettino perhaps you have saved yourself from the sea but i will make you look very pwarbgsd i will makbad, i will make you pay for this. comdamymit. could've had a v8. you know when i grow up,

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greg: there is some rather extreme weather pounding the wets. we talked about seattle earlier, a massive snowstorm said to dump as much as 20 inches in parts of idaho. this is i-90. you can't even see through the black out here, the white out i should say. many truck drivers forced to pull over and chain of their fires, while many are used to that kind of weather the crews out there say the warning to slow down is worth repeating and listening to. >> it seems to me as a state trooper that people forget how to drive from snowstorm to snowstorm, yes it's a problem we do encounter. what you need to realize is that speed limits are for dry roads.

greg: forecasters say the snow will fall for most of the day. a winter storm warning in effect until tomorrow. sun valley it's coming your way. here we go. martha: italian prosecutors are now accusing a cruise ship captain of both manslaughter and abandoning his ship while passengers were stranded in the middle of the water there. this is a u.s. march time official that calls his actions a quote, mortal sin for abandoning his ship. here is the captain make excuses as a coast guard official repeatedly ordered him to get become on the ship and do his job and help those victims. listen to this. >> this is captain schettino. >> listen schettino there are people trapped on board. you need to go in your life boat under the bow of the ship on the side. there is a ladder. you need to lime the la ladder and get on ship. you need to report to me how

many people there are. is that clear in i'm recording this conversation, captain schettino. captain, speak up, shield the mike known with your hand and speak up, clear? >> at this moment the ship is tilted. >> 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, schettino you have saved yourself from the sea, but i will make you pay for this dammit. martha: michael winkleman joins me now a maritime tofrpblt he comes to uattorney. he joins me from miami. he is begging him to give them the information that they need.

who is on the ship, how many people do we need to rescue. have you ever seen anything like this in your years covering maritime issues? >> absolutely not. good morning, mart that. it'martha. it's absolutely shocking. having represented numerous cruise ship captains in various cruise lines i think of them as heroes, this is precisely the opposite here. it's utterly shocking. martha: i called this man the antisulle nberger who walked back and forth until he was a hundred percent sure all the people were off the plane. some came out and said he was a her oh that his story has not been told. is there any indication from what you're learn that we have it wrong here? >> absolutely not. i must say at first i thought maybe this was trying to find a

scapegoat for this conduct and what happened. but everything seems not to lean towards that. reports have just surfaced that earlier in august of 2011 the same ship did the exact same thing and was in fact closer to the shore. that phases issue of what did costa know and when did they know it? this happening five, six months ago, the exact same things opens the door to punitive damages against costa cruise lines for flagrant dangerous conduct which is nothing more than sho* who hmore than show boating. martha: you're representing some of these passengers. >> that's correct. it calls for them to sue in jenoa, it lay. we may argue in u.s. courts that they shouldn't have to go to

italy. but if they have to go to italy, we have 75 years of experience suing in italy. martha: i understand. what is the captain's future going to look like? >> it can't be good. he's already been tried in the court of public opinion. he has his company that is looking to hang him out to dry as a scapegoat. he has nothing but a dim future in his future. martha: he comes from a long line of ship owners and sea captains. that has to be a lot for his family to bear. greg: a lot more on the story in the coming days. newt gingrich has a plan to beat mitt romney. it involves rick perry and rick santorum. what is that all about? governor mark stanford is live

on that in a moment. martha: more money and more problems for mitt romney, but should how much he makes really matter? >> what's the effective rate i've been playing? it's probably closer to the 15% rate than anything. the last ten years i've -- my income comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the basha past rather than ordinary income or rather than regularly earned annual income. to walk like one.

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martha: 23 minutes past the hour. we've got positive new u.s. manufacturing numbers today in the mix. federal reserve reporting u.s. factory output surged nine 10th of a percent. the biggest gain in a year. and the he will december son of the dictator kim jong-il reportedly fears north k

korea's collapse. he says without reform his home country he believes is doomed to failure. and there is a baby on board, folks, a couple welcoming their first child on the path train as we know it here between new york and new jersey. the mom wasn't due for a few weeks, but that little baby was ready to come out, bill, so the train pulled into penn station and it was all over. everybody was fine. i wish my deliveries had gone quite that smoothly. bill: they saved on the fare. martha: martha: they didn't have to pay for the baby. bill: that's what i'm talking about. as the clock ticks down to the primary on saturday in south carolina newt gingrich has an interesting strategy. he is suggesting that rick perry and rick santorum get out now see he can beat romney. romney is leang in the state, gingrich in second-place, back about ten minutes, 32 to 22% e.

says support from pair reand rick santorum could catapult him to victory. how about that. former governor of south carolina, mark sanford is with us. thank you for your time down there in charleston. what do you think of newt gingrich's appeal here? >> there is a lot of validity to it. if you look at numbers last time that romney ran here in south carolina, his numbers were capped out at about 25%. this time it's gone as high as the third mark. what that says is about two-thirds of the folks out there in south carolina have been looking for somebody other than romney. if you could consolidate those votes i think it's a winning strategy. the $94 question, though is can you consolidate the votes, can you get the other folks to join forces? time will tell. bill: i think that time is running short. what newt gingrich goes onto say is he would guarantee victory. do you believe that? >> well i would say that there are no guarantees in the world of politics. what i would say is i've been in

this spot before obviously at a much smaller level. my first run for congress i was in the number two spot, and the difference, though, is you've got to get into a runoff which paired it down to two people at that point folks had to pick are we going with me or with the other guy, and ended up with a number of different endorsements from those other contenders. there were seven of us in that race. i'd say that the number two spot is an enviable spot in the world of politics if that frontrunners numbers really haven't been moving, which romney's haven't really over the last two election cycles in south carolina. the $94 question earth real problem in this instance is are those other folks going to drop out? because if they don't i think it gets awfully, awfully tough for gingrich. bill: today is wednesday. we are looking at the calendar here. even if y you buy all that argument, governor, there is a group of social conservatives over the weekend who got together and they announced that they are backing rick santorum. they did not support newt gingrich in that little survey.

>> well, no, again, santorum i'm sure would argue the same, gingrich and pair rened t perry need to get out and send their votes my way. i'm making the point that the number two points in the world of politics is oftentimes an enviable spots if the frontrunner hasn't broken out. while romney's numbers have been consistent you have not seen break out numbers on the front here in south carolina. bill: what is your expectation in your state on saturday? >> well, i think u know, we'll see a hearty debate come thursday, and a good turn out come saturday. i'll make no predictions beyond that. if something doesn't change materially i think romney gets it. if somebody gets out, then i think it's up for grabs. bill: governor, thank you very much. we'll see you real soon. thank you, governor. >> yes, sir. bill: martha. martha: bill, the state unions in wisconsin taking on their governor big time. >> scott walker woke us up, he

woke us up with his policies and his lies and what he did not address in his campaign. he woke us up and now we're going to wake everybody else up. martha: after a fierce battle with union boss necessary 2011 scott walker is now fighting to keep his job in 2012. bill spoke with the governor. you'll see that coming up. bill: he just turned a hundred years old, that is not slowing him down. he runs a few miles each and every day. martha: i love this story. bill: talk about a special, special man. you'll learn about him. martha: bless him. >> he's just great. he's amazing, we are so happy to have him part of our crowd. he makes shots, we don't think he's going to get them back, and then he does and we say, oh, bill. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

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martha: check it out. brand-new polls that just came into "america's newsroom" that shows newt gingrich picking up some steam in r*bg. this rasmussen poll shows an 11 point jump for gingrich the past couple of weeks. he's three points behind mitt romney and that is within the margin of error in south carolina in this poll. it shows that voters are looking for an alternative to mitt romney and they see gingrich according to the numbers at this point as that candidate. romney and gingrich topping south carolina's pick when it comes to who can handle the economy the best. romney has 34%, gingrich 29%. this is looking to maybe become

a tight race. bill. we will be here covering it for you with all of the election coverage gang, 6 to 9 clack saturday night be there or big square. bill: we will be right here. iowa was a big surprise. new hampshire not so much. martha: yeah. bill: for the first place finisher with romney. martha: maybe a little intrigue though in south carolina. bill: we shall see. that's why they sroefplt we'll finvote. we'll see on saturday. union leaders in wisconsin with big time help outside the state turned in a million signatures demanding the recall of its governor, that is the republican, scott walker, all over a bill that he signed last year that occur tails the power of some of the state unions. i talked to him a bit earlier about that. governor walker good morning and thank you for your time here. >> good to be with you. bill: i want to remind vires what your law did that forced union members to put more in. >> yeah the interesting thing --

bill: the state kitty, what were the parameters there. >> we completely reformed collective bargaining which is not a right but an expensive entitlement for the state, all the local government, school boards, county governments, you name it they don't have to be forced into collective bargaining, instead everything is on the table. it had local and state employees pay late bit more for taxes and healthcare and empowers schools to be able to determine their own rules. over time abuses in the past or the millions of dollars spent on healthcare they did not have to spend by not investigate i bidding it out, all that went back into the state government. state government saved about 300 million. you have a half a billion on top of that and plenty more in the future. even though we made budget adjustments like nearly every

state across america we gave our local governments the tools to offset them. bill: what was your state debt? >> we started out with a $3.6 billion budget deficit per capita was one of the largest in the country. we are projecting a $300 million surplus. bill: wow, already? >> uh-huh. instead of laying off thousands of public employee, instead of raising taxes and using budget gimmicks, and cutting medicaid we added money to medicaid to protect needy families and children in our communities. we balanced the this time and ultimately this will help us to balance it for generations to come. bill: the other side is gearing up for you and they have gathered more than a million signatures they say at this point u. could face a recall election over the summer. you could be tossed out of office. >> we are a long way from that. bill: however if that happens and the law you signed is overturned, what happens in the

domino effect for wisconsin's budget then, do you believe? >> the irony is, rile it's a choice of the past. previously before my taking office we had a billion -- multibillion-dollar budget deficit, double digit tax increases. we lost 150,000 jobs before i took office. it's clear if the recall proponents have their way and elect someone who will repeal the law and go become to those standards we will be what wisconsin was in the past we'll face the same dilemmas like places like illinois that they face today. bill: they are deep in the red. >> they are worse than california right now. bill: worse than california. >> they surpassed california as the worse debt rating out there. they have 10% unemployment, versus ours at 7.3% which is down from a year ago. the cynics out there, the big government union bosses that drove this election and the operatives in the state of wisconsin and the democratic

party ultimately want us to fail. but in the end our success is much greater than other states and is much greater than we had in the pass. we either continue to move forward. that is the real choice here, do you want to go become to the days when we had record job losses in the multibillion-dollar budget deficits and the big time tax increases or are we going to work together forward. bill: you said already you believe you within a recall election. >> i do. we earned the majority of the trust of the voters in wisconsin in 2010 if you look ahead to a june or july election. once they get the signatures certified assuming they are legitimate. i said this four, five months ago there would be an election. i believe the unions will invest so much money from washington out of the big unions out there that they would force an election in our state. when voters hear the truth and see the facts with what is really happening in our states. schools in september when my kids went back to public schools, they saw the schools

were better. school levees went down for the first time in six years in our state, and they saw true property tax relief -- bill: governor, thank you. the country watched you a year ago. we're going to watch you this year for better or for worse. scott walker. it is clear he believes there will be a recall and this issue will come up yet again. he is also absolutely convinced that since the law has already been in action that people of wisconsin can see the benefits they are getting from it and that's his strongest argument for the opponent that he will face. martha: property tax relief is something that could get you some attention in elections, and, you know, this is the hard work that these folks are trying to do after they get elected. they've got to put through these changes. so we'll see how he fares. very interesting interview. okay. ahead the republican presidential frontrunner responding to questions about his wealth, about his taxes, and about his income. >> my income comes overwhelmingly from investments

made in the past rather than ordinary -- rants earned annual income. i got a little bit of income from my book but i gave that all away. and then i get speakers fees from time to time, but not very much. martha: that is getting a whole lot of attention right now. should his bank balance be a matter for the voters? we are going to ask one of the most prominent campaign managers of our time. bill: he has friends in low places, today those friends do not include the hospital that treated his mom. why the country superstar garth brooks is bringing a lawsuit. my name is jill strange, i'm forty-nine years-old, i love gardening, and i love volleyball. i've been taking osteo bi-flex for several years now. i really can't see myself not taking it. osteo bi-flex is a great product. i can go back and do gardening with comfort. [ male announcer ] osteo bi-flex, the glucosamine chondroitin supplement with 5-loxin advanced. shows improvement in joint comfort within 7 days. [ jill strange ] since taking osteo bi-flex, there's nothing that i can't do.

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♪ [singing] bill: garth brooks wrote that for his mom as she was undergoing treatment in a

hospital. he's suing the place. he said he donated $500,000 in 2005 after it promised to name a new wing after his mom. the singer claims he was even shown building mock-ups. in 2008 he was told the donation would be used for something else. brooke says, give me my money back. the hospital says no formal arrangement was ever reached. lawsuits will be coming. martha: this is the hot talking i shall you've the day today, presidential candidate mitt romney revealed information about his tax rate after weeks of hammering from his republican rivals. they are calling on him to release his taxes, he said maybe around april. listen to what he said in south carolina yesterday. >> the effective rate i've been paying, it's probably closer to the 15% rate than anything. my last ten years my income comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past,

rather than ordinary income or rather than earned annual income. i got a little pw*euft income from mbit of income from my book and you gave that all away. and i get speakers fees from time too tomorro to time, but not very much. martha:ed rollins was the campaign manager for ronald reagan and played roles in nine other major campaigns. he said, i got speaker fees, it turns out it's $360,000 in speaker fees but he says that wasn't much. why is that a big deal. >> because to ordinary americans that is a lot of money. most people don't ever see that kind of money in not just one year but in many years. the key thing here is not to -- i'm sure there is absolutely nothing that he's done that is improper. i'm sure he's paid all the taxes. you've got to fully disclose. he ought to have disclosed it before he started the race.

i've had lots of candidates that have been millionaires and billionaires. at the end of the day if they find out you're paying your taxes that is okay. he better have someone on his staff not look at it from an accounting perspective but a political perspective. what does this mean and how are they going to come at us. he cannot be evasive. he has to be forthcoming. martha: he should have had a great answer ready. he should have said, 15%, and i tell you why we should have a flat tax, tax reform is essential. in terms of speaker fees it's not how much money you have, people don't care if a president is wealthy, many presidents have been wealthy. he said it's whether or not you a pier to be ou appear to be out of touch. >> when people are out of work, it's how you relate to ordinary people.

we talked earlier about president bush 41 not knowing what a scanner was and the price of things. you need to know what the little people are going through. martha: we have a picture of that. this was a moment that a lot ever people thought was a turning point for the first president bush. if we could pull up that picture he went into a grocery store, and he was like, oh, what is this scanner thing that you scan your prices and, and the rest of america said, you've never seen a scanner in a grocery store? and it made him look like he hadn't gone shopping in a very longtime, which of course he probably hadn't, but it was tough for them. >> i would argue this the this point in time romney came from a wealthy family. his father was kind of a self-made man. he himself has to relate to ordinary people and i think that's got to be the test. the other thing is going to be a lot of financial information out there, usually they come out of you on your charitable contribution, what have you, being a devout more money he gives 10% of his income to gross income. i'm sure there are other contributions. martha: it goes back to the warren buffet thing e pays a lower tax rate and this is the

tax rate that people pay on investments and that's what he's talking about doing here. he could have seized that moment right then h. he could have said, i'm just like warren buffet. i'm an investor and that's the rate that i pay. missed moments would you say? >> lots of miss moments. there is no inevitability to any of this. his nats thought he was at 47% and ended up a at 7% back in 1968. martha: there is a man who is a big supports of mitt romney who certainly has that every man touch, and his name is chris christie. do you think that there is any potential for them to team up, if indeed he gets the nomination? >> there is plenty of potential. christie is a gigantic name in the republican party. he certainly relates to ordinary people, he's doing an extraordinary job. there are a lot of others, there is the pennsylvania governor, tom core about it who is

fabulous guy, similar-type credentials, you have rubio. we have a very strong bench to be the vice president. i think christie made it clear again this morning that he likes the job he's doing. martha: well, we'll see. >> we'll see. martha: ed thank you, always a pleasure to talk to you and have you here,ed rollins. bill: we will have complete coverage on saturday at 6:00, won't we martha. martha: we sure will, bill. you're not going to be anywhere but here with us. bill: jon scott is coming up working on "happening now" what is coming up. jon: right now, thank you they have called off the search for more bodies inside that crippled cruise liner as rough seas shift the giant ship. we are live as the rescue operation increasingly looks like a recovery mission now. russia chimes in on the heated discussion about what to do about iran. the u.s. house meets today, could send a big signal to the white house on raising the debt ceiling, plus mitt romney's taxes, newt's new tactic, and

have you heard about the dolphins beached on cape cod? we'll talk to an expert ahead on "happening now." bill: thank you for that. there are tough new sanctions in the works for iran. is worst inevitable? some are making that argument. general kabg keen is here to straighten us all out on that. next martha? martha: he's a hundred years old and setting records. this man is an athlete who is more active than some folks who are less than half his age. we love this story and this man. we will be right back with more. >> it really doesn't feel any different to be 98 or 99. it seems like you get up to a certain age it's all the same. wake up!

that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

bill: new warnings on a possible march to war in the middle east iran threatening to retaliate

against a proposed oil embargo saying that they'll close the world's most important shipping lane. general jack keane former four-star general, chief of staff of the army and a fox news analyst. good to have you here this morning. >> good morning. bill: you argue we are on a collision force with iran in what way and which direction do we go. >> they believe we are their strategic embassy. they want us out of that region, that's why they bombed the embassies in kuwait and and lebanon, and the barracks in saudi arabia. we pulled out of lebanon, saudi arabia and iraq. they are assisting in afghanistan the taliban in making war against u.s. what is truly in front of us is their desire to have nuclear weapons and that is truly causing the tension. the sanctions we imposed on them recently is causing their currency to be devalued a little

bit and also their economy is beginning to shrink, that's why you see the saber rattling. bill: you would argue the sanctions are working. what i have come to understand is the sanctions have little to no effect on the inside. >> i totally agree. bill: what is different now, then, general? >> i think they've had some impact but they will not, they will not stop the iranians from having nuclear weapons. we would have to do two major things, one impose crippling economic sanctions, in other words countries stop buying the oil, stop trading with the iranians and take the mullahs personal assetts away from them and conduct cyber attacks and espionage, you do both of those things maybe you'd stop them from having nuclear weapons. bill: do you think they will do something about the strait of hormuz. >> i don't think they will do anything about the strait of

hormuz. if they disrupted the strait of hormuz that would require the united states to respond military. bill: that would take everything to a whole new let. the other argument you make is we're out of time. >> we are flat out of time. secretary panetta has publicly stated that some time by the end of this year iran will have a nuclear weapon. and that will bring the israelis in to the picture for sure if we don't stop them before then. bill: it will be a big story throughout the year. thank you. be in touch, okay. >> okay, bill. bill: nice to see you. martha: we continue to get brand-new information on this deadly cruise ship crash off of the italian coast. what an awful, awful story that has turned out to be. live coverage from the scene where the victim -- where the search for the victims is now on hold, we understand, and brand-new questions at this hour about the captain who ran his ship around and abandoned it. this is an rc robotic claw.

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martha: he is hitting the century mark in full stride, folks. north carolina's bill finch turning 100, not slowing down. he plays badminton. when not on the court he jogs a mile a couple times a week. he is having a good time basically. >> i think it is wonderful. i love it. that's, i just wish i could play better. i wasn't as good as that fellow i was playing with. >> i think he had probably close to 50 years on you. >> he probably did. but he is one of the best players i have ever seen. martha: what a lovely man. we wish him well. he says there is no secret to long life and good health. eat healthy. stay active. all there is to it. i love he is competitive with that guy. bill: we could only be so lucky, all of us. jay leno taking a crack at jon huntsman. >> huntsman endorsed mitt romney because he believes romney has the best chance to win. is the best judge, huh? up until yesterday he thoughhe had the best chance to win.