voice, the president of the united states. bill: raise to money. martha: $3 million in new york. it's a have visit, and a solo. bill: see you at 4:00 on saturday. we'll take you to south carolina tomorrow. martha: join us there. "happening now" starts right now. we'll see you then. gonzaga good friday morning t jon: good friday morning to you. we are on a roller coaster ride leading up to the saturday primary. the polls are tightening, a one-time favorite drops out, one candidate facing tough questions about his taxes. accusations that another candidate wanted an open marriage and a new result in iowa, hang on, everybody, keep those seat belts success eld, i'm jon scott. martha: that sounded like a quiz. it was a lot for each and every candidate on the stage last night for the debate. jon: *pb ther there are fewer

of them. the polls open in less than 20 hours from now. right now it's anybody's guess who will win. one thing we know for sure, since 1980, every g.o.p. candidate who won south carolina went onto win the republican nomination. last night the candidates made their case to voters yet again. the debate starting with fireworks when newt gingrich was asked about an interview his ex-wife gave to abc. check it out and pay close attention to the crowd's reaction. >> as you know your ex-wife gave an interview to abc news and another interview to the washing post and it has gone viral on the internet. she says you came to her in 1999 at a time when you were having an a fair. she says you asked her sir to ope enter into an open marriage. would you like to respond to that, sir. >> no, but i will. [cheering]

>> i think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to eye tract decent people to run for office. and i am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that. [applause] [cheering] jon: what do you think about all that? let's talk to david drucker, he is a staff writer for roll call. talks politics all day long. newt gingrich had basketball pretty heartened by the crowd's answer to that. >> he had to be. will south carolina voters react the way the crowd in the room did? we need to look tomorrow to see what the female vote is versus the male vote. newt gingrich even in south carolina does not do as well with women voters as he does

with men voters. and we have to see if female sroerts are as responsive to his answer statewide as it appeared as though people in the room were. jon: do you think it's a male, female thing. >> i think when you're talking about a photo finish race, and my sources are telling me we are finishing with a photo finish. newt surging, romney trying to hang on, sant rick santorum not getting up there soon enough. newt has kphaeupbgd minds over thchanged minds over the course of this week. we would look at newt's answer last night and say this is a horrible answer and a horrible question to be dealing with. in a state that is conservative and republicans are angry and want to change the way the country operated under barack

obama, they are very suspicious of the media, and this kind of argument can definitely work in a state like this. i think the big question mark is was it enough to stop the bleeding for mitt romney, get him a chance to sort of go on offense with the message that he has and hang on just enough to win tomorrow. jon: you talk about stopping the bleeding for mitt romney, you talk about a photo finish. the polls indicate that. let's take a look at the rasmussen poll taken two days ago. it showed newt gingrich ahead in south carolina 33% to 31% for mitt romney. now it's within the margin of error. essentially we have to call it a tie. "real clear politics," their poll which is an afternoon of all the polls out there she's sepbgs alley the samshe's sepbgs alley the same thing. this thing rile is going to be a photo finish, and i guess the determining factor might be last night's debate. >> it could.

coming out of monday night's fox news debate newt had all the momentum, he performed well, he gave south carolina voters his best case. mitt romney was on defense over his tax rufrpblts he wasn't a *b able to talk about his record in business as a positive thing. unemployment is a big deal in south carolina and he wasn't able to present himself and the strengths he has in dealing with that. not really that people care about his tax returns and ran his business at bain, but it obscured the positive mess edge had that could work in south carolina tkpweufp his liabilities with evangelicals and social conservatives. will last night's debate and the interview with mary ann gingri gingrich, will that change the narrative over the last 36 hours? and top newt's upward climb? he's clearly got even to a point where he's either tied or ahead

of mitt romney. can this stop the surge for mitt romney and give them a chance to? jon: let's talk quickly about the other two men on the podium. ron paul and rick santorum. did they get their points across and win sroerts. >> this rick santorum can't win voters after last night's debate he will never win voters. he more or less won iowa. he's way back in the pack. he attacked mitt romney effective leave. he attacked newt gingrich effectively. he made his case for his policies and his vision very effective leave. if that doesn't do the trick with south carolina voters today and tomorrow it's never going to work. but you have to say he did a great job. ron paul was sign, it's just he's ron paul. he's only going to get a certain segment of the electorate. south carolina is not a hot state for him because of his views on national policy. while he's personally a social

conservative his libertarian outlook and approach to government means that he doesn't want government involved in the way that social conservatives prefer on issues like abortion, and other things, and so that's his problem there. jon: it has been a fascinating 48 hours in this case it's going to be a photo finish and interesting to watch over the next day or two. david drucker from roll call. thank you. for the past years the person who wins south carolina has gone onto win the president seat. we want to know what you want to know. send us your questions on the palmetto primary. our panel will be here with some answers next hour. log onto our live chat, go to foxnews.com/"happening now," click the america's asking link, get those questions into this. jenna: this big story, the massive cruise ship grounded off the coast of italy is shifting yet again forcing divers to

suspend the search for 21 people still missing and raising fears of a massive fuel spill. if it falls into the open see. prosecutors are appealing a decision placing the ship's captain under a*er. greg is streaming live from us from giglio island. >> reporter: hi, jenna, we've been looking at the shot all week, it is amazing and i'll get you a closer look at it. i'll scoot out if he can push in on there. you get a look at what we see from here, it is just amazing. a lot of business out there today, families for those still unaccounted for arriving in giglio. going out to play flowers, very sad to see them do that, they are not getting a lot of closure from it but a closer look. underwater searchers were suspended for a time today after the ship moved a bit, some

movement detected. nothing major. there is fear that rougher cease could be coming and it would push the ship off the ledge on witness is standing. that would be major problems for the searchers and for the fuel aboard, what would happen there because it could break apart if it would go into deeper water. salvage ships are already getting into place. that is a complicated process of recuperating the fuel. they have to heat it up first so it will be a lot easier to do if the ship remains stable writ is. if it goes into deeper water all bets are off. a lot of this resolves around the captain currently under house arrest. there is speculation as to what he was doing, a lot of documentation, the black box, and the coast guard logs do not lie. they have the document takes, it took 734 minutes before the ca 73 minutes before the call came

in. a new word in italian is coming in, to do a skettino, to do something stupid. jenna: this shipwreck a compelling and complicated tragedy to say the lease. ha rapido rivera will take an in-depth look coming up. he's hosting a special this weekend tragedy at sea, saturday at 10:00pm eastern time. jon: a cargo ship flying the sierra leon flag in danger of sinking after colliding with two other ships in turkey. 18 people on board. no deaths or injuries reported this time. the ship has been taking on water, and as you can see is now listed to one side. turkey's director general for coastal safety says blame the bad weather. jenna: afghanistan, six u.s.

marines killed in a helicopter crash. it went down in the province of hellman. conor powell is streaming live for us there. >> reporter: hells are a vital mode of transportation in afghanistan because of the mountain and treacherous sort of landscape of this country, and helicopter crashes and hard landings are a somewhat frequent occurrence in afghanistan. usually they are the direct result ever a mechanical malfunction, sometimes the taliban have been able to bring down a u.s. or international helicopter. right now the u.s. military is saying that there was no enemy fire that brought down the ch534 marine helicopter that killed six marines. the taliban claims responsibility but the u.s. is saying there was no enemy fire in that region. they are continuing the investigation. it looks like it was probably a mechanical function that brought down the helicopter in the hellman province. four french soldiers were killed ta when an afghan soldier turned

his weapon and opened fire. he killed four french soldiers and wounded others. this has happened with frequently over the last three or four years compared to other training missions like iraq where there's been very little friendee fire. hereinafter began afghan soldiers and troops have turned on the u.s. and afghan troops. the u.s. military is saying this is not a big incident. they are investigating what caused this. sometimes there are ties to the taliban, but in all likelihood this was probably an angry afghan soldier who was unhappy with his trainers. martha: conor powell with an important story for us today. thank you. bill: have you seen some of the weather picks out there? first the snow now the blooding, the heart-breaking toll that this storm is taking on the pacific northwest. look at that. jenna: also republican candidates fighting for their political lives. the questions about mitt romney's background and his

finances derail his candidacy? we'll ask. >> pre enterprise works, and i find it kind of strange on a stage like this with republicans having to describe how private equity work and how they create jobs. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

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jon: take a look at the south carolina primary and mitt romney is watching his leadee srap pa lead evaporate in that state. he is trailing newt gingrich by one point. he is meeting with voters in gilbert at a tree farm there. he has been criticize thed wee criticized this week for failing to return his tax returns and for a report that he has

off-shore accounts. he says he won't apologize nor being a successful businessman and the economy is a top issue in south carolina where the unemployment rate is nearly 10%. so what are governor romney's chances tomorrow? let's talk with another former governor, mark sanford, the former republican governor of south carolina, also a fox news contributor. the question about taxes and when he'll release his tax returns that didn't -- his answer didn't seem to go over well in that debate, governor, would you agree? >> i would agree. it seemed evasive. i don't know why he's draining on his own torture on this front. i what's elected governor twice and in both cases just as a matter of course i released my tax returns. it's something that south carolina voters have come to expect. again, i filled out all the fcc requirements as a member of congress, i'd done owl that, they still want to see the tax returns. it's a tradition, long-standing in this state, and by not

releasing it it raises the spector of you hiding something. i think he very well defused the whole issue of capitalism and crony tap ta limbs and vulture capitalism, all that is gone, but the tax issue remains and i don't know why he doesn't take it off the table. jon: we have an image on screen next to you of the current governor nikki haley. she has endorsed rom rofplt is that doing a lot for them in that state? >> time will tell. election is tomorrow night. any time you have a sitting governor endorse a candidate it's certainly more plus than minus. it can be viewed as a good thing. at the end of the day none of these endorsements matter compared to where the candidate stands on the issues and based on personal appeal how they can get the messages across. ron paul has tremendous ideas that he can get across, he's not

able to communicate those ideas. newt gingrich is a forceful personality and can convey ideas incredibly well like we saw last night. jon: gingrich seems to be on a roll. this was taken two days ago, 33% to governor romney's 31%, within the margin of error. essentially they are tied. you've seen gingrich's numbers surging and his debate performance last night most observers seem to say shows him on a roll. how would you assess his momentum as opposed to mitt romney. >> i would say south carolina is a much more conservative state and different. if you look at romney's numbers, they in the last time he ran for president were capped at about 25%. this time it's been about a third.

which means two-thirds of the voters were looking for somebody else. it was splintered up for a long while between a whole host of candidates. now that we've got even to the end it has begun to narrow. that number two spot is an awfully good spot to be in in the world of politics, which is whether rick santorum, perry, newt gingrich or cain, that was the slot they were vying for. when it comes down to romney or somebody else it may not bode all that well for romney because his numbers have been stuck in the same place for a long, longtime. martha: thank you t jon: thank you to mark san tornado. go to to foxnews.com/elections. be sure to tune in all day to. beale hav we will have the best coverage of the primary.

jenna: our next gest guest served as a key national security adviser to president reagan and he says there is an option besides sanctions that we need to senior. he'll join us right after the break. and thousands forced out of their homes as a fire spreads, destroying at least 20 structures. the latest on a dangerous firefight straight ahead. 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.

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jon: fox news alert and a monster storm is gripping the pacific northwest still. take a look at the water in portland, oregon. torrential rains causing severe flooding there sweeping away a car, killing a mother and her one-year-old son. harris has the story. >> reporter: actually, you know

what, jon i'm going to start with what is break opening the story right now. it's crossing the associated press wires, it's the outage of electricity that is crossing. 280 customers in three different counties, including seattle, tacoma and olympia, washington. and then there is this. officials have closed down, the washington department of transportation closing down both direction of interstate 5 for eight miles north of centralia. power lines are littered on the roadway. here is the story, swollen rivers and waterways in oregon and a coating of ice across much of washington state. unusually strong winter storm has shut down seattle's international airport for just a while. it is back open now. some areas seeing evacuations and occur fuse, as the city of seattle was telling people you have to get home before you get dark because the ice is so thick on the road you won't be able to see it.

then there is the flooding you're looking at here in oregon. people in a frenzy to get down sandbags around their houses to keep out the muddy water. spokane washington declaring states of emergency. through out all of this the human toll, three people confirmed dead, mom and a baby, just mentioned moments ago, they died in a downpour that swept away their car, they were in an oregon grocery store parking lot. in seattle a machine was hit b a man was hit by a falling tree east was backing -- he had a good plan, he was backing the all terrain vehicle out and a huge tree fell on that vehicle. things could get complicated by what seems as a break, warmer temperatures. that will mean more melting and flooding. oregon and washington just getting punched. we'll get more of course from meteorologist janice dean later

in the program. for now the jet stream is aiming at the northwest bringing more rain, mountain no and winds. jon: what a mess. jenna: another voice saying enough is enough when it comes to iran's refusal to suspend its rogue nuclear program. it's coming from french president nicholas sarkozy urging the european union to impose sanctions. iran warning it could retaliate against the sanctions by shutting down strait of hormuz. it carries one fifth of the oil supply. they say if it happens oil markets will be affected. robert bud mcfarland served under president reagan, it's great to ask you here. as i was taking a look at your article in the national review.

the title of the article, on iran, emulate tr. and by tr you meant teddy roosevelt. what do you mean like that? >> jenna, nice to be with you. there's been a rising pattern of provocative behavior by iran in recent months but indeed for 30 years. this regime, this crusade to drive out all person influence from the middle east has reached the point where you've got four areas of real danger. first is their nuclear weapons program that's been accelerating in recent years. of course they've been providing support and training to terrorist groups that act as sur tkpwrat surrogates, against lebanon and israel and also hamas in the palestinian territories. worse, they provided the weapons and training that have been used in iraq to kill american soldiers, and they've been

supporting terrorists, the taliban, as well as al-qaida in afghanistan next door. in short this is a very provocative regime. and then most recently there is the threat to close the strait of hormuz, which of course could cause the collapse of the global economy. this is out rages, our european allies are beginning to realize that this requires stern measures. however the pattern of trying to negotiate sill plea hasn't worked. the obama administration after three years of so-called engagement has nothing to show for it, and indeed a worsening, escalating series of threats and provocations from iran. jenna: in the model of theodore roosevelt you would suggest sending at least four carrier battle groups and a substantial amount of strategic bombers to

locations where they could potentially carry out operations. you said you would stop talking, don't talk any more about iran, just go ahead and send the groups out. why do you think that would be effective against this regime? >> well i think that a regime like iran, that is very devoted to driving out western influence is not going to be deteared or changed away from that course simply by rhetoric, empty dialogue. when we use the analogy of teddy roosevelt, again he didn't threaten, he just wanted to make it clear to our friends, as well as our adversaries all around the world that the united states is not a paper tiger, that it does have the mean to take action, and that there was going to be a balance between diplomacy. not rhetoric alone, but rhetoric backed up by the necessary force and will to be able to change the course of debate. i think it's important here to

realize, jenna, that we are not up against the iranian people. indeed most of them are proamerican. it is the revolutionary guard core that is the power behind the throne, and they need to be told that the united states is tired of empty, on again off again dialogue. we are not going to tolerate them collapsing the global economy. i don't think we'd ever have to use it. it's time that the people in the revolutionary guard core sober up and get a shot across the bow that life could change really badly for them. jenna: we thank you sir for being here. it's a big story this year. jon: speak softly and carry a

big stick is what teddy said. there is new violence in pakistan. is now the time for peace talks? senator lindsey graham weighs in.

jenna: a new push underway for talks with the taliban. right now the white house, confident, according to reports, that negotiation planned for next week are the best chance to end a 10-year war in afghanistan. mid the intelligence

community is warning, though, the stb more interested in fighting than making peace and this now may not be the best time negotiate. senator lindsey graham of south carolina is joining us. senator, what are your >> well, here's what i would do. i would not sit down with the taliban until we could assure ourselves and the afghan people that the taliban have no hope of coming back militarily. what i would like to see is an enduring relationship between afghanistan and the united states, where, after 2014, when we wind down our combat presence, that we'll have a follow-on force, several air bases, with special forces units, enough military capability past 2014 to make sure the taliban never come back military earth. it will be a follow-on force that would help the afghan security forces always defeat the taliban. then you sit down and try to reconcile between the loyalty and afghan people,

the dictator like mullah omar, i would never negotiate with him, but there are plenty of taliban foot soldiers that could back into the fold of afghanistan, which you only do that when you assure the afghan people, the american people, and the taliban themselves, that they can never win a military conflict. it is premature to do that in my opinion, to negotiate. jenna: senator graham, a few things that you just said that i'd like to touch on. one is having bases in afghanistan and also special forces on the ground. you say from 2014, on, is that 2014 from now until eternity? how do you define success when it comes to missions that could go beyond 2014? >> we've got military bases all over the world. they've served us well. there hasn't been a major war in europe since world war ii. if the afghan people request a follow-on force, an economic, political, military partnership, it is in our interest to have one. if we had had military presence after the russians

left, the taliban would never have allied with al qaeda. so let's wind down this war in items of a large u.s. presence, let's continue to train the afghan security forces and let's have an agreement, if the afghan would like, an enduring relationship militarily, where you have air bases throughout the country, with special forces units, that could always come to the aid of the afghan security forces. it is in our national security interest that the taliban are defeated and never run afghanistan again. wouldn't it be very sad if after ten years of struggle in afghanistan, when we left, the taliban came back, thrived, and survived? if that happened to the united states, our national security interests would be compromised forever, and that's unnecessary. follow-on security agreement. -- >> jenna: sad is one word to describe it senator graham. i can't help but thinking about the troops on the ground taking bullets while peace talks are happening

with the very enemy that they're taking fire from. >> right, you don't negotiate while you're -- the point is that you start negotiations when you assure yourself and your allies that the taliban are finished militarily. you don't negotiate from weakness. these negotiations seem to wreak of wanting us to get out, about an exit strategy with perceived honor rather than what's best for the united states. i've said this for years, jenna, our national securities in iraq are not going to be judged by the day we left but by what we left behind and i'm worried we've left behind a mess. history will not judge afghanistan as a success or failure by the day we left by what we left behind. and i believe if you do this right we can train up the afghans to win a fight against the taliban, with a relatively small follow-on u.s. presence, the taliban are finished military earth and afghan people over time can flourish. if we cut our ties with afghanistan like we did in iraq, all we fought for could be lost and the next

thing you know, radicalism takes over in afghanistan, the taliban come back in parts of the country, and that's terrible. we would -- >> jenna: we can't judge history at this point, we have no idea what is going to happen over the next decade and that's certainly a point well taken. i want to shift quickly to iran, because when we talk about this iran we can't talk about it without iran. >> absolutely. jenna: we have the peace talks potentially happening next week and also reports the administration is looking to talk with iran as well. you issued as arelution to rule out containments of a nuclear-armed iran. quickly, sir, can you tell us exactly the hour of the senate can do when it comes to this very important foreign policy? >> what i'm trying to do with senator lieberman is to get every united states senator on the record as to whether or not, as a body, we believe you can contain a nuclear-armed iran. i believe that is a failed strategy, that if iran gets a nuclear weapon, the sunie arab states will want a nuclear weapon and all hell

breaks out in the middle east in items of nuclear proliferation. i want to take that option off the table. again, if we had a secure afghanistan with a follow-on u.s. presence, iraq turned out well, that would be a signal to iran that we have staying power and they would be ice layed, but if you leave iraq in chaos and afghanistan in chaos, iran is not going to take your threats with disarming them seriously. so they're watching what we do. jenna: that is for sure, as we are watching them, senator, we look forward to having you back, it's an important temperaturic and we'll be talking about it. thank you. >> thank you. jon: a fox news alert. and some sad news about one of the great american voices of all time. harris has the story. harris. >> reporter: etta james has passed away, we are learning from our los angeles affiliate kttv, they are confirming after talking with her manager that she has died in california from complications of leukemia. we knew she had been ill, she would have been 74 years old next wednesday, we're birthday was coming up on the 25th.

one of the greatest all-time favorite love songs, "at last", etta james passed away, born zamjetta hawkins. six grammies. back to you guys. jon: she will be missed. jenna: the family of a daring young skier who died after a terrible accident on the slopes is now coping with their loss and more than half a million dollars in medical bills, fortunately they have donations pooring in. we're going to tell you about sarah burke and what her family is facing, just ahead. also this story, jon, you know a little something about this. jon i love this story, whooping cranes, they were down to i think 15 in number. well, they traveling south for the winter, with the help of operation migration. inside this unique organization that inspired an oscar-nominated film. we'll update you on how the cranes are doing and what they're doing, right now. >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪

jen this is a big story out of reno, nevada today. thousands of people, evacuating their homes there, as hundreds of firefighters are trying to get this brushfire under control. high wrindz pushing those flames into neighborhoods, burning more than 20 homes, and threatening many more. claudia cowen is live from our san francisco bureau with more. claudia. >> reporter: jenna, we're standing by for the first media briefing of the day. the numbers could change, but so far, more than 20 homes destroyed and 3700-acres burned, an area roughly about a quarter of the size of manhattan. this fire started around noon and quickly became an infern no, # on mile per hour gusts tore through a six square mile area in a few hours, forcing thousands of people to flee. by nightfall, flames had reached the city's southern outskirts and could be rene from renoo seen from reno's

downtown district about 10 miles away, then the fire split into two fires, straddling a major freeway that still remains closed at this hour. here's how reno's fire chief summed it up last night: >> to say that we're in the thickest battle is an understatement. you've got a lot of people working to protect homes, protect neighborhoods. >> reporter: more than 10,000 people were told to evacuate, 2000 residents are still out of their homes today. thousands more are without power. and nearby schools are closed. fire officials also saying that one person died, but they're not providing more details at this time. the governor has declared a state of emergency which will help nevada get federal aid. nearly 400 firefighters are on it and they did manage to save about 1000 buildings last night. today's plan calls for more structure protection. rained snow are on tap for later today. that should help these fire crews who have this fire 50 percent contained but if they get a whole lot of rain, flash floods could be a problem and those strong

winds are also expected to continue today, grounding any kind of air assault. so jenna's, today -- jenna, today's mugs mission, putting out the hot spots and getting folks back into their homes. jon: jenna, teenagers get accused of doing bone-headed things. jenna: was that when you were a teenager? >> jon: this is not a flash back! this is a story about a florida teenager accused of playing a fake cop. what happened when he had a run-in with a real officer. >> he was impersonating an officer, no doubt about that. >> it was serious. there was a weapon inside the vehicle, beneath the passenger seat. jon: oh boy, that story coming up. we are one day away from a high stakes contest for the gop candidates. we're taking your questions on the south carolina primary. our "america's asking" town hall panel will be here with some of the answers. tell us what you want to know. log on to our live chat, go

to fox news.com/happening now, click on the america's asking link. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

jon: you probably snowy love i'veiation stories and this is will pilots as they try to help whooping cranes fly away home, you might say, they were near extinction in the 1940s but the flock has grown to nearly 600 parchtion thanks in part to operation migration whose founders inspired "fly away home". that was about geese but this is about whooping cranes. the organization flies light aircraft to lead whooping cranes south for the winter. the odds, though, are often very much against them. joe duff is joining us now, live, on the phone. he is in franklin county,

alabama. we have a convenient photograph of you up there on the screen right now, joe, but mosto because most of the time you look more like this, sort of the stay puff marshmallow man with a beacon your hands! tell us what's going on, why do you wear those suits when interacting with the cranes? >> the suit is designed to disguise the human form, basically. from the time our birds arrive in florida after they've been conditioned to follow us from wisconsin, they will have never heard a human voice, they will have never seen a car up close or a tractor and they will have never seen a normally dressed person so once they're released into the wild the first time they encounter those things, they're afraid of them, so after all this migration effort, our birds are still wild birds. jon: so when they hatch, they imprint on the first person or thing they see. you try i guess to resemble a whooping crane, huh? >> to some degree, yes. we carry a vocal idahoer, an mb3 player on a speaker that

broadcasts a natural crane call, and we also carry a puppet that looks like an adult crane and with that we can teach them how to eat, drink, forage, and when you don't talk, you actually become a crane. jon: we have video up right now that you provided us of what takeoff looks like. they're flying these ultra light aircraft, really hand glider, motor rise dollars hand gliders, and the cranes actually learn to follow you, huh? >> that's right. it starts from when the chick is still in the egg, we start playing a recording of the aircraft's engine and do a lot of ground work with them, getting accustomed to it, and they learn to follow us. actually, it's a long, hard process, takes a lot of work, but it does work. jon: now, these cranes are born in wisconsin, is that right, that's where they hatch? >> no. actually, they hatch at the wildlife research center in maryland. they have the largest captive flock of whooping cranes. back when the whooping crane was almost extinct, they brought eggs into captivity to see if they could save guard the species and we

used that flock to generate the eggs for release. jon: all right. so you are flying down to florida -- it's my understanding that their original wintering ground was in texas. why are you going to florida? >> well, there were several original wintering grounds but when the population was decreased to only 15 birds, the last remaining flock wintered in texas, but it also nested in the northwest territory of con and they made a 2500-mile migration every year. the problem is it's subject to all kinds of threat, you could have a disease or hurricane or the gulf oil spill that happened a couple of years ago. so what you really need is a separate population, a new and discreet population. the problem is that whooping cranes, like a lot of birds, learn the migration group by following their parent generation and the parents in the eastern flyaway from let out in the 1870s and after that so that migration

may have evolved for 10,000 years, taxed from one generation to the last but lost when the last bird is extricated. jon: we have to go but we're going to put more information on our show page. i just live it. i'd love to look off my wing tip and see a whooping crane there. great story, joe. we know you're going on down to florida. we wish you well. stalled by the weather right now as we understand it, but they'll get there. jenna: what incredible video. would you that do? >> jon: i would never flown one of those ultra lights, one of those hand gliders, but i'd love to try it. jenna: we could run that all day. we might run it in a small box while talking about politics and everything else! how about this story, this is a bizarre story that's grabbing national headlines, a served head found near the famous hollywood sign. a real life l.a. murder mystery, next. disaster at sea, geraldo has new information on the cruise ship tragedy in italy, plus a stunning twist, a mystery woman, why

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jenna: we are less than 24 hours away from the polls opening. jon: if you love politics it's a fascinating time. jenna: south carolina is shaping up as a real showdown. we are glad you are with us, everybody, i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. mitt romney remains ahead in the polls on the republican side but newt gingrich seems to be surging in south carolina. the candidates are holding events across the state as voters get ready to cast their ballots. carl cameron live in charleston, south carolina. looks like that state high school a new frontrunner, carl? >> reporter: if you look at the polls and the momentum on the ground and the crowd sizes showing up for newt gingrich you can call it newtmentum.

he sounds as though he's going to win. the "real clear politics" a*frpblg says gingrich is a percentage point ahead of mitt romney. that is within the margin of error. we are going into this with a deaden tie. to give you an example of how pronounced the newt america's entum will be, he is trying to lower expectations of a south carolina win and battle newt gingrich down the road. listen to this. >> you know, i think i'm going to be the nominee if i do a big job, if people get behind me. there is a long road ahead. newt gingrich is obviously a feisty competitor. we will have a contest that i'm sure will take us down the road a ways. >> reporter: that is not the tone that you would expect from the candidate leading in the

national point, and had a ten-point lead in south carolina. that lead in south carolina is gone. and the gingrich campaign is eagerly awaiting a raft of national polls today that many believe will actually show that the newt gingrich surge has begun across the country and the gap is closing against mitt romney national lee too, run. jon: than lee too. jon: thank you. jenna: some voters say they could change their minds in the next several hours. john roberts is live with more on what the voters are saying. >> reporter: you need to look at way the polls are changing to know how volatile the election threat is here. ron paul voters made up their minds, they are solid on him. talked to a lot of people who are waffle link between two or three candidates. they like romney in the economy, don't like him changing his

positions. rick santorum, they think is a good conservative. whether is question whether he could beat mitt romney in the election tomorrow. gingrich, they love his intelligence and the way he's come out fighting in these last two debates. however, some voters have an issue with newt gingrich. lynn bennett is the chair of the national gop. she is an undecided voter. here is what she fold me. why are you u undecided after this long. >> i think he might implode. he has great ideas, he's a general just when it comes to policies and explaining it. he does get his moments and i'm just nervous we will see one. >> reporter: she says she probably won't know until she pushes the pwo button tomorrow. i talked to another gentleman who said he was undecided, and

may not know until he pushes the button tomorrow. jenna: it will be interesting to see what kind of latest impact the news has. the interview with abc news and the interview with tkpweupblg beginning's wife. does that seem to be an issue. >> reporter: to a person they say it's not an issue for them. they say it was a longtime ago that newt gingrich has done a lot of growing since then, he's happily married to his wife calista, they are willing to leave it behind. listen to what scott walsh told mow. >> if this came out ten years ago and we found this out, yeah, i think it would. today he's learned from it, he's grown from it, he explained his position on it. he is finding forgiveness in the lord and trying to do right, everybody tphaeubg mix

mistakes. >> reporter: they know that newt gingrich is a flawed canned tkarbgts he has packed a lot of baggage on the campaign bus and they are willing to forgive. there is voter booth conversion, people will go in with their private thoughts, they say one thing public here but when they go to push that button they make a different decision. we'll see how it plays out. jenna: you're meeting a lot of nice folks down there, john. >> reporter: it's great to come down and visit here too. my daughter goes to college here. you get to experience a wonderful, wonderful city. it's great to be down here. jenna: it's interesting to see if we can take a national message from tomorrow. it's a big number of hours. thanks. fox coverage of the south carolina primary all day long. our special coverage with bret baier, megyn kelly kicks off at 6:00pm eastern.

jon: my daughter was in college in charleston too. i'll have to check in with john on that. the battle over online piracy is heating up, the f.b.i. shutting down the internet's most popular website, mega up load. they say they stole copyright holders money, more than a half of million dollars of product. they are striking back with a string of cyber attacks including one that cracked the justice department's website. catherine herridge is live. >> reporter: former senior intelligence officials tells fox that the working assumption is that the arrests in new zealand yesterday are linked to the justice denial of service attack last night. the investigation is like a fresh crime scene, you've got a body and a guy holding the smoking gun. you don't know if he's the one who pulled the trigger, in this case whether anonymous is really behind it. four employees of mega upload

were arrested in new stkpaoe land after the company's popular file sharing website was shut down by the f.b.i. the hong kong-based company generated more than 175 million in criminal proceeds and was responsible half a billion dollars in losses for copyright infringement. the justice department indictment specifically identifies a 37-year-old the founder of megaupload who goes by the same kim.com. >> i've been arrested on warrants relating to preach of copyright in the united states, money laundering, and racketeering. >> reporter: this intelligence official tells fox there was signs before the attack that something was imminent. it brought a surge of hits i was told from 50 hits a minute to kwhropbd a thousand hits a minute at which point the justice department took the site off line to install filters based on the i peurbgs addresses. fox was also told the incident

lasted about five years. a lawyer for megaup poed says they will fight the allegations claiming the vast majority of their internet traffic is legitimate, john. jon: what an amazing story. thank you. jenna: what do you think about the 2012 race for president? we are taking your questions on the south carolina primary. go to foxnews.com/"happening now." click on the america's asking link. our american town hall panel will be here to answer your questions. brand-new details just in on a gruesome real life hollywood murder mystery. what police are saying about a severed head, feet and hands found near the famous had sign. >> the body parts that we found yesterday have all been brought to the coroner's office. it will be up to the coroner's investigators to check for fingerprints on there, if necessary check for dental evidence and dna. >> i think it's really frightening that it's this close to my house. i live right next door.

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jon: major developments over cease. france is threatening to pull its forces out of afghanistan, this after an afghan soldier killed four french nato troops. france is suspending training operations with afghan forces. next door in pakistan a drone strike is said to have killed a senior operations organizers for al-qaida. u.s. officials saying the militant was targeted last week. in syria the clock runs out on the arab league so-called observer mission. the group was given one month to monitor government pledges to end the bloody crackdown on its own people, but violence surged since they arrived leading to wide-spread criticism of their mission. jenna: now this fox news alert, brand-new information coming into fox news on the body parts found near the world famous

hollywood sign out in california. that is where we find bob decastro from our affiliate station. bob. >> reporter: the l.a.p.d. had told me from the beginning that the big break in this case would come from the forensics identifying this man. on tuesday they found the severed head. they were able to compare dental records and the following day they found hands and feet. the hands were flat, they had to pump up the fingers to extract the fingerprint date a. they were able to identify the man today according to the l.a. county coroner. they are withholding the identity of this individual because of the murder investigation that is underway. a number of search warrants were executed in the los angeles area last night. they were looking at some missing person data, and were able to go around and try to question some people who potentially could be some suspects. the l.a.p.d. telling us this

morning emphatically that no one has been detained, and there has been no arrest, but, again, they had told me in the beginning that the forensics would be key to this case. they have a lot of cops on this case. their robbery and murder homicide squad working on this case very quickly, and we now know that the man has been identified. jenna: that is the big headline, an identification for this body. and the search warrants, tell us if you can about them. were they in a certain area of l.a.? is it still around the area where the hollywood sign is? do we know anything more about where exactly they are looking? >> reporter: it's just around the area. a number of search warrants were executed. what they did was they recognized based on the decomposition of ts body that this person had been killed just overt past couple of days. they took awful the missing person date a the reports that came over the past couple of days, they were trying to cross reference and toub talk to a number of people who may have

had someone missing, their friends, relatives, that's what lead to those search warrants last night. certainly this for repb particular identity will be the new information that police believe could lead them to their killer. jenna: that is a big headline. thank you, bob, out in los angeles for us today. >> reporter: sure. jon: fox news alert a new information on a story we've been following this week. congress is now putting controversial anti-web piracy bills on hold. it was this legislation that caused wikipedia and other web sites to go dark for a day. the goal of the bills was to try to stop domestic access and funding for foreign-based web sites that offered pirated music and movies. the bill caused great outcry. web sites say they could be targeted and shut down for unknowingly being linked to pirated content. the lawmakers say they will take time to look more closely at

ways to move forward with the legislation. it is make-or-break time for the republican candidates on the eve of the south carolina primary. america is asking who could have predicted the state of the presidential race? a big part of the us about to get hammered with snow, sleet and maybe even freezing rain. this big storm that is in the northwest, where it's headed, next. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. i want to fix up old houses.

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jon: a fox news weather alert for you now, a winter storm is moving east across the country after dropping several inches of snow in places like chicago, milwaukee and cleveland. it could mean the first mess aur rabl snowfall for the northeast since october. janice dean the weather machine is working over time in the fox

news extreme weather center. >> reporter: is your shovel arm ready, jon scott? jon: phou about my sno how about my snow belower. >> reporter: we have had a snow drought especially across the ski areas. the system jon is sidewalk talking about, moving through kheufplt chicago o'hare airport over 4-hour delays, not fun. that is on average. you know you'll start to cancel flights and it will cause a ripple affect across the country. here is our alberta clipper, a fast moving storm originating from canada into the haoeuz valley anohio. if you're traveling tomorrow morning be very careful we will be dealing with icy roadways. as the storm exits, it will be a quick mover, by saturday afternoon it's out of there, then we have another clipper that is waiting to move across

the great lakes. a little bit of a busy pattern over the next several days. there is your snow accumulation again anywhere from the new york city area up towards connecticut, one to three inches. which is kind of nice. we ned a little snow this wins, jon, back to you. jon: i love snow. >> reporter: i know you do. jon: thanks, j.d. jenna: this is an interesting fact, it's exactly one year until inaugurations day 2013. think about that. republicans are getting ready for the south carolina primary tomorrow. we are going to bring in van hitt, he worked on creating the first presidential prime air r primary back in 1980. and troy murdock, thank you for joining us. south carolina since 1980 really has been key in predicting who the presidential nominee will be for the g.o.p. and also

determining where the south will go with their voters. do you think that is the case for this particular primary? or do you think this one is going to be different? >> south carolina always gets it right, jenna. i believe we are going to get it right once again. you know, i think south caroli south carolina citizens realize this is one of the most important election of our lifetime. most agree with jim demint, this count tree is on the path to social socialism. this is the last time to be able to turn this country around. we are headed for a photo finish tomorrow night. jenna: do you agree or do you think it's going to be a south carolina surprise this time eye round. >> i think it's a surprise, it's a crucial election, no question i agree with van we are on the road to surfdom and we need to get off that road. unlike iowa that is dominated by

social conservatives and new hampshire by economic conservatives you've got the variety of conservatives in south carolina with a lot of active military and lots of military veterans. i think you get a real good cross section of the entire republican party and maybe something that is a little bit more representative of the entire g.o.p. coast to coast than you might find in new hampshire or in iowa. jenna: it's interesting that you mentioned military veterans. kiley wants to know the factor of perry in this case, obviously skwreupbs he served in the military e just got out yesterday, what do you think the impact is going to be for the remaining candidates? >> i think that has actually helped newt gingrich a good bit and i'll give you an example. one -fltd most popular and respected military veterans in south carolina retired major general jim livingston, a marine veteran who won the congressional medal of honor will appear with newt gingrich

at a rally tonight i believe on the york town with another medal of horn. these are people who supported rick perry. there is no question ma rick perry has done has helped further gingrich's surge in south carolina. jenna: it will be interesting to see what the impact will look like when we have the results of the polls. rob kelly and we are getting a lot of questions from carol on this. a lot are asking about mitt romney. you mentioned the road to surfdom, and the economic side conversation we're having with the candidates. they want to know why mitt romney is waiting to release his tax returns and whether or not that will be a factor in south carolina. >> reporter: i think it's a factor for a couple of reasons, people want to know what is in his records. more importantly is that mitt romney has had a problem in that he seems to be on all sides of every issue. he could say, look i'll release my records today, i believe in tran sparpbs see, people respect that. he can say look, it is nobody's business but mine, i'll seep

keep it between me and my account. i think they would respect him for that. but he says he's going to release them after 60 days. he falls in the cracks, not wanting to maintain his privacy, it's another example of romney not taking a firm stance and sticking with it. jenna: we look forward to having you back. >> thank you very much. jon: the media, they are out of line, that's the line from former house speaker newt gingrich, as he pushes hard for the vote in south carolina. so what is and isn't fair to ask a candidate in we'll get into it with our news watch panel. plus, a big mess on the high seas the effort to recover victims who might still be on board the cruise ship. that is now coming under fire from all sides. >> during the night the ship moved a little bit, and so we decide to suspended the search

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jon: you might have caught it. newt gingrich lashing out at the main street -- stream media during the republican debate, attacking moderator about a personal question about his failed second marriage instead of issues he says are important to america. >> i think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes

it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office. i am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that. [cheers and applause] jon: moderator john king sat there and melted in the chair after that exchange. then, there was herman cain who dropped out of the race after the news media extensively covered allegations of sexual harrassment and extramarital affair. here is what mr. cain had to say about gingrich turning the tables last night. >> i love newt gingrich's response because that is the same crap that they pulled on me and that's what's wrong with politics. this is what is turning the american people off. jon: so do they have a point? talk about it with judith miller, pulitzer prize-winning investigative reporter, and kirsten powers, columnist for "the daily beast". both are fox news contributors. judy, what do you think first of all about the question to newt gingrich

and his response? >> i think the questions were entirely appropriate. character and morality are issues within the republican primary. they are issues that newt gingrich himself has talked about. and to make this a media conspiracy because he asked a question, john king asked the question that was very much in the news because the second mrs. gingrich, his ex-wife, made an allegation about open marriage, how newt wanted an open marriage. newt denied it. both the assertion and the denial were reflected in the media coverage. this is appropriate. this is not, as charles krauthamer, no radical he, suggested this is not the work a kind of elite media conspiracy even though it may play well the republican electorate and people that attended the debate. it is appropriate. jon: kirsten, let's get your take. >> it is completely appropriate.

only newt gingrich could get sanctimonious about cheating on two wives and abandoning them. john should have have been ready for gingrich to be self-righteous and indignant and blame the media. for john king not to address the issue would have been silly. it was something that was clearly in the media. i think the question of whether abc should have run the interview is a different one. once it is in the public conversation, then of course john king had to ask it. if he asked it as third question, newt would have been outraged asked it as third question. no way to bring it up where he wasn't going to get that from newt. jon: let me bring you back to a column couple weeks ago from richard benedetto. he put this on line at realclearpolitics.com. treatment of media of republican candidates very sus the president. mr. obama's ability to avoid tough questions, skate above the fray and look presidential while his

potential successors appear to be foot tilely flailing is not by accident. they are being shut out by the president and spoon-fed the message of the day. a former white house correspondent for "usa today." does he have a point? the media picking apart the republican candidates and maybe giving the president a free pass, judy? >> i don't think they're giving him a free pass at all. look what has gone on with michelle obama for example. the notion she is this assertive woman who is suddenly involved in all white house meetings or important ones. that she had a kind of snit fit being asked to be at a campaign function she didn't want to attend and wouldn't campaign for people. i mean they are going after obama even on his family issues as well. so i don't believe that the media, the mainstream media are carrying water for barack obama. i just don't see any indication of it. jon: but again, maybe newt gingrich would ask this question, kirsten.

do family issues really matter? we've got, well, i guess we're at 8.5% unemployment although many people think the real number is bigger than that you've got iran on the verge, programs of getting nuclear weapons and threatening the straits of hormuz. we have got afghanistan in a mess as we pull our troops out of there. are there other questions the media should be paying attention to? >> look, this is the republican primary. they're going into south carolina which is dominated by evangelicals. they're simply holding these candidates to the standards that they have set for other people. they should be held to them themselves. we always hear about how character matters. i think character does matter. character matters. and so, you can't say it is just a family issue. it is a issue about his character. it is something that certainly they would be railing on if it was a democrat. and i, just don't see how this group of people could possibly complain about being asked about something like that. jon: if character matters, i suppose mitt romney wins, right? nobody has suggested that he

has ever had an affair or had any family issues like that, judy? >> there is still the dog issue. gail collins of "new york times" doesn't without mentioning seamus and the car. if i were mitt romney, i would be out there with a dog commercial, son of seamus, grandson of seamus. having seamus lick me all over. that is an issue. his lack of connectedness, connectivity with the average person, that is very much an issue in this campaign. it is appropriate. jon: okay. thank you both. always an interesting discussion with these two. judy miller, kirsten powers. thanks. >> thank you. jenna: well breaking now. investigators trying to piece together exactly what was happening in the moments before that ship crashed and started to sink in italy and they're focusing on the actions of the ship's captain and someone with him, a woman by his side in the moments before the tragedy is speaking out now about

why she was there. >> translator: i was asked to remain on the deck because i speak five languages. just so i was there in case needed to make the last announcement. i was next to the captain, 20 officers and the director of the trip who was quite important person on the ship. we were waiting for orders from the captain to pass the information to passengers. jenna: sound very calm, very orderly. geraldo rivera, anchor of "geraldo at large" here on the fox news channel. i want to ask you about the interview. we just got brand new video into our newsroom that shows a crew member and the crew members instructions to passengers while this was all playing out. so let's take a list 10 to -- listen to the video. >> [speaking in native tongue]

jenna: so we have some subtitles the situation is under control. go back to your cabin. things will be back to normal soon. geraldo, we know that was not the case. so, here we have these two, two new videos. seems like different descriptions of exactly what was happening on this ship. >> just shows, jenna, the appalling lack of discipline on board that vessel, it comes from the captain on down. he should have been the person who was directing his crew to deal with the passengers. and to be lying about it, to be deceitful about it, to try to submerge the reality that this vessel was sinking is something that is appalling. it is just, one of the most egregious examples that compounds the blame that

this cap tape now carries on his shoulders. he was grotesquely reckless. he was negligent. he was incompetent, and he was a coward and that calm interview you blade with dominica, the 25 year-old hostess is a fraud in terms of what she said. what she left out, i don't buy that story at all. i think that francesco schettino, drinking wine and dining with her and others, he should have been a mate tra did i in a club med. that is nice job for this guy. not having a vessel of 114,000 tons and 4200 souls on board, this playboy with his girlfriend showing off. the cook, the cook on the vessel is coming forward, the cook from the ship is telling people that the

captain ordered dinner at 10:30 in the evening, 50 minutes after that vessel struck the rock. he is having dinner and the cooks are telling him that the dishes are flying off the shelf. the galley in the vessel of the kitchen is upside down. and he is ordering dinner and then getting po'd because he didn't get dessert. this man was so reckless, the fact that he is now charged with manslaughter is totally appropriate, jenna. jenna: we're still seeing incredible video of search and re cues. it is still a recovery mission, the missing people there are many questions whether or not they will be found. it is a terrible story and so sad. i know you have this major special we're looking forward to tomorrow. thank you for the sneak-peek, geraldo. >> thank you, jenna. jenna: there are stories breaking moment by moment when it comes to this. this bigger story about what happened here off the coast of italy.

geraldo will take and in depth look. hosting a fox news reporting special, "tragedy at sea". 10:00 p.m. eastern time. right after the coverage of the south carolina primaries. you don't want to miss it. jon: remembering a fallen hero. lieutenant colonel luke weather passed away last october. he was a member of the legendary tuskegee airmen from world war ii. the first african-american pilots in the u.s. military and they did an amazing job. today he is being buried with full honors at arlington national cemetery. jennifer griffin live at the pentagon with more on his story. >> reporter: jon, exactly three years ago today, 180 members of the historic tuskegee airmen at attended inauguration of press president obama. they told me the racial barriers they broke during world war ii paving way for african-american i have a aviators paved the way for

election. one of the airmen, colonel, luke wet they ares was buried. he was one of the pioneers. after the war he became the first black traffic air controller with the faa in memphis, tennessee. despite his success during the war he and other airmen faced discrimination at home. subject to jim crow laws inside and outside the military. they provided bomber escorts over italy and germany. they were called red tails because they painted thes tails of their planes red. 1981 the war department was forced to form a all black unit. 996 pilots were trained. 445 deployed overseas. they flew more than 15,000 combat sorties, destroyed hundreds of german planes and came home to fight another war against racism. president harry truman ended segregation in the u.s. military in 1948 by executive order. lieutenant colonel walter mccreary was a red tail and

ace pilot. he described to me how he had to continue to fight discrimination after returning from the war. >> even congress went on record by saying that black boys, we were called boys, did not have the and coordination to fly military aircraft. jenna: the ranks of this storied group, tuskegee airmen may be dwindling as their age progresses but they're being remembered and honored today at arlington national cemetery, jon. jon: they were some of the best a avery atores of the war. jennifer griffin there in the pentagon. jenna: rocking the boat for 2012. which way young voters are leaning and how it could change the outcome of the presidential election. nasa's latest plan to explore deep space. uh, i'm in a timeout because apparently

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jon: some new developments to bring you out of nasa. the space agency giving a test run of its latest space exploration vehicle. this thing comes fully loaded with all the most advanced high-tech gear. kris gutierrez live at the johnson space center in houston. give us a look, kris. >> reporter: jon, it is kind of like a fully-loaded car but a whole lot more expensive, blow me. to put this in perspective our astronauts haven't ventured past low earth orbit since 1972. that was the last apollo 17 mission when our astronauts went to the moon. when they were at the moon they would cruise around the lunar surface in the lunar vof very. the nasa want to to go an asteroid they need something that doesn't require gravitational pull for them to float around. they developed this prototype. this is the new sev, or space ex-exploration

vehicle. there are two men inside putting it through tests. look at this video. they roll back the rubber mats at johnson space center and it reveals an air-bearing floor. instead of like a air hockey table for example, that pushes air up and instead, this new vehicle has a jetpack that pushes air down which allows it to float over the surface of the johnson space center here. it is really the next generation of space exploration. take a look here and listen. >> if we break back out and explore rest of the solar civil, asteroids, mars, we need to do things besides plant a flag and leave a few footprints around. >> reporter: two men are inside the vehicle. we can't see them because they're hard at work. they will be inside the vehicle for the next two days putting it through a series of tests. so the government says we're ready to go to an aster i had road they're ready to take the equipment there. jon: as long as the asteroid

has a smooth linoleum floor it will work very well. >> reporter: exactly. jon, they have the technology. they say they're ready and willing to go when they're ready. jon: cool, love to see it be used. kris gutierrez at the johnson space center. >> fascinating stuff. jon: i love that. jenna: well, what do ron paul, and president obama have in common? think about it. the surprising thing they share and how it could change the outcome of the election. stick around for the answer. it's next

jenna: it is a tragic story out of utah. more than a week after a terrible crash on the slopes sking champion, sarah burke, a pioneer in her sport, died of her injuries at the age

of 29. harris is here with more. >> reporter: super pipe sking, some of the most incredible sking to watch in the world. in fact she won an argument not too long ago to get it into the olympics. we might have seen her compete in those games even. i will talk more coming up. 29-year-old sarah burke being mourned the world over in her birth country in canada. burke in a accident on training accident in you utah. nine days in a coma. talks about burke's death and recent injuries in the sport will ignite safety of halfpipe competition t was set to debut in the winner olympics in russia in 2014. her husband and fellow skiers and parents, apparently her medical bills were in excess of half million dollars. they say they need help. she created so many

opportunities in the sport of sking and her specialty the super pipe. amazing sking, that they're wondering if maybe her fans and the fellow skiers can help out. the website, give forward.co forward.com/sarahburke. she is missed today. jenna? jenna: harris, thank you. jon: well, back before the commercial break we asked, what do president obama and ron paul have in common? one of the answers? they both enjoyed a lot of support among young people but there are new questions about how much support the president can expect from young voters this year. in 2008 he won a whopping 66% of the youth vote. new poll numbers say 52% of the young approve of the job he is doing. what does it mean for the president's re-election chances? let's bring in alexander hefner, a senior at harvard university.

already studying politics in a big way. he is founder and editor of scoop2012.com. a website that is on line today, right? >> yes jon. jon: you examine political issues as they relate to young voters? >> yes. wesley lowry reporter at ohio university and i launch the website to chronicle young people's journey this election cycle. jon: the young pepped hut barack obama in office, no question about it. >> 2/3 of young people supported president obama had his bid for election. whether they will come out this time is open question. ron paul apparently enjoyed a lot of young people support and has dedicated libertarian followers. jon: he is the oldest candidate on the republican side he really energized a lot of young voters in iowa. in iowa he did better than any other candidate among the young. >> only 3 to 4% of young people caucus which is problem for republicans. where in 2008, 12 to 13%

caucused for president obama. but you're right, he is channeling young people's energy in a constructive way to fuel what could ultimately be a third party candidacy because it is pretty clear that he won't get the nominees to become the republican standard-bearer against obama. but, one thing interesting about ron paul is that he is concerned with bread and butter economic issues of concern to young people. he says cut these international, assaults overseas and adventures that are not emphasizing young people's lives here and instead focus on paying our debt, especially college students. that is a message that resonates for people who are in red ink, especially this millennial demographic. jon: all right. but aside, what are the indications you see that president obama might not be enjoying the same kind of support among the young that he saw last time around? >> well, in 2010 we saw a record poor turnout among young people in the midterms,

which is traditional. that typically --. jon: they get more excited by the presidential elections just like everybody. >> it was especially weak, allowed, tea party, an older demographic to win. on college campus there is is not the same zeal for obama. there is feeling he missed opportunities to connect to young people. it will not be an easy ride for president obama this time when he travels to college campuses. he can't just be an eloquent speaker. he has to strategically approach a message that will resonate with young people. jon: alexander hefner, the website is scoop2012.com. thank you. >> thank you, jon. >> and we'll be right back forty years ago, he wasn't looking for financial advice.

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