>> bill: got your green ones over here, blue ones over here. marsh & mclellan thank you for being here, everybody. bill: have a terrific week, everybody, back here tomorrow, right? >> marsh & mclellan -- martha: same thing tomorrow, same time, same place. take care, everybody. jon: who knew you could do art with a rubiks cube. jen pretty clever. jon: three states and three different winners, now the race for the republican nomination is a whole new ballgame with the biggest prize so far up for grabs, next week, of course talking about florida. good morning, i'm jon: jon: scott. jenna: eny meeny miny mo. i'm jenna lee, newt gingrich riding a wave of momentum from south carolina into florida, mitt romney increasing his attacks on the former speaker and relying on his strong organization inside that state and out to get out the vote. remember, 50 delegates at

stake in the winner take all state of florida. that's where steve harrigan is live. steve. >> reporter: jen yarks they've already started voting in florida, between absentee and other votes, it could be as many as 200,000 votes have already been cast. early voting across 67 counties start on saturday. so by the time of the primary, january 21st, we could see up to 40 percent of the vote, in a state which is going to be very different than anything we've seen before. >> florida is a lot bigger than any primary state that's come before, its 19 million people are twice the population of iowa, new hampshire and south carolina combined. >> i am ready, i'm much more energize dollars. >> that means it's expansive -- expensive to campaign here. mitt romney and his allies have already spent $4 million across the state's ten major media market, including spanish language ads. >> mitt romney, [speaking in spanish [gleen florida is the first primary with a significant hispanic

population, mostly cuban americans and porto ricans, but citizens can still be turned off by talk -- tough tack on immigration. >> for many latinos, the way that a candidate talks about immigration can get in the way of their hearing all the other things. >> reporter: most important, florida is a state whose economy has cratered. one half of florida homeowners with mortgages owe more than their home is worth. those like realtor john grawdy who's lost his hours, his car and his business know there are no easy answers. what they are looking for at a minimum is straight talk. >> i would like to see kind of a talk about clarity on the issues. not what i want to hear, not what is going to make me vote for them, but just an honest assessment of what they believe they can get done. >> reporter: and in that vote, eight days from now, florida, of course, is the first closed primary, just registered republican voters, and nine largest bloc is expected to be senior citizens who could

make up 40 percent of all ballots cast. jenna: interesting point about the housing market, sure to be a theme at the president's state of the union address tomorrow. this is something we'll be watching all week long. steve harrigan in miami, steve, thank you. jon: a fox news alert, as hearing for one of america's most notorious would-be assassins is set to resume at this hour. john hinckley, jr. is fighting for more freedom after spending decades locked up in amental hospital. doctors say the man who shot president reagan should be released, and that hismental health has improved. investigators, though, say otherwise. catherine herridge, live at u.s. district court in d.c., so what is john hinckley looking for, catherine? >> reporter: thank you jon and good morning. the question before the court is a significant one. hinckley's team is asking for more in extended releases with the end goal of releasing him in the psychiatric hospital where he's been a patient since 1982. since 2009, hinckley has

been allowed to visit with his mother in williamsburg, virginia for these 10-day block, his treatment team wants to extend that with two, 17-day blocks followed by six, two four-day blocks. they want to accomplish that within an eight to ten month time period with the ultimate goal of giving' a con vo lessens leave, a fancy term saying he will live with his mother and treated on an utpatient basis, jon. jon: what is it about that plan the prosecutors are objecting to in. >> >> reporter: well, prosecutions' objections boil down to three factors. first and foremost they believe he's a risk to the community, there's resistance within the community of virginia, which would ultimately house hinckley, and third, they say he's lied to the people who have treated him on a number of occasions. i went through the court documents late yesterday and there are two incidents that really stand out. in one incident, hinckley was being treated by a dental student, when they searched his internet records, they found he was tracking this woman online, he told them that she had

encouraged him to track her on line, when she was interviewed she said that was not the case, then the second episode and we should get testimony this week from the secret service, it was in july last year, he was out at a movie which he allowed to do on his own when he's on these releases with his mother and he went to a bookstore, barns & nobel, and the secret service reported he stopped at a bookshelf that contained books on presidential assassinations. he did not pick up the book but this is going to be discussed at length in testimony this week, jon. jon: pretty strange behavior there or so it would seem. cath lin, thanks. jenna: well now this fox extreme weather alert for you. there are reports of at least two people killed in alabama, and 100 more injured as a deadly storm system tears through the south and midwest, as reports of tornadoes in several states. maria molina is with you us and normally this time of year we're talking about snowstorms. this time a bit of a surprise. >> it's been a mild winter and that's probably why

we're seeing this severe weather outbreak earlier in the season. we're not even into spring yet, and that's what we normally see the peak of it. the tornadic activity is normally in the month of may. we're well ahead of time, we've had million dollars temperatures and that's what we're seeing today and part of the reason why we're looking at this severe weather across the area. we do have tornado reports, 20 of them stretching from arkansas into alabama, and plenty of wind-reported damage, winds in excess of 50 miles per hour, 119 at least, stretching from indiana all the way down in through alabama and parts of arkansas as well, and like you mentioned, jenna, we do have a fatality reported out of the state of alabama. currently there is a risk we could see additional weather, although most of the severe weather is starting to wind down. we do have a tornado watch across western parts of georgia in effect until 4:00 p.m. eastern time, that means that conditions are favorable for the thunderstorms to develop that could produce severe weather, so this line of thunderstorms continues to head eastbound, atlanta, you're in the clear, and once those storms do push through your area we

actually see that severe weather threat completely go away and some sunshine move into your area. right now no tornado warnings in effect but of course we'll keep you posted on that as we go on throughout the rest of the show. otherwise as we head into tomorrow, guess what, guys, another risk of severe weather across central and southern parts of texas, san antonio, austin, heads up, with large hail damage and wind gusts possible. we don't think as we head into tomorrow we'll be looking at as much of a risk as we saw in the overnight hours. jenna: we'll certainly keep everybody updated as we hear more, maria. thank you. jon: let's get over to florida once again and talk about what it's going to take for a republican candidate to try to win that state. for more on what issues matter to florida voters, we're joined by lenny curry, chairman of the florida republican party. this is critical stuff, because the florida vote is already underway, right? folks are already mailing in their absentee ballots. >> that's right.

with absentees and early voting already close to 230,000 votes cast. jon: all right. >> so florida is on the move. i'd say to the candidates, welcome to florida. >> onjon they are already obviously working for the vote. what do you think the big issue is? >> my hope is, my message is that the negative campaigning stop. floridians want to hear a vision and a compelling argument for the free market and job creation. that's what floridians are looking forbes that's what our governor has been talking about and working on, and that's what i'd thriek see and i think the voters would like to see the candidates talk about. jon: obviously florida has that large elderly population, entitlement programs like social security and medicare are very important as well, aren't they? >> they're important, but look, the free market has lifted more people out of poverty in any government -- than any government program. if we have a robust economy and we have people back to work we can fund things like education, we can reform social security and

medicare, and make sure that there's a safety net and people are taken care of but it all starts with opportunity and the economy and job creation. jon: you said that you'd like to see the candidates move away from negative campaigning, but some of the superpack money is already being spent, isn't it, trying define these candidates pretty much in a negative way? >> what i would just ask the electorate, to send the message back to our candidate to say look, we want to talk about visions. our guys have a vision, i've heard them talk about it. it's a compelling vision, they all have different ideas and in these debates, i would like to see the discussion be around what we want the united states to look like. jon: mitt romney -- >> in stark contrast -- >> go ahead. >> it's a stark contrast between what the obama administration -- they're going to roll out another stimulus plan. we are -- our vision for america is different than the obama administration's

vision for america where the federal government directs everything, makes investment decision and we continue with an ongoing recession and banking crisis and depressed home values. we started to see that turnaround in florida because the leadership of our elected officials, republicans, in the state of florida. jon: you talk about some of the economic issues. i mean, florida still does have and steve harrigan was talking about it, earlier, florida has an awful lot of homeowners under water in their mortgages, the real estate problems have really hit that state hard, you've also got higher unemployment than the national average in florida, right? are the candidates addressing that, those issues? >> well, our unemployment is actually at a 31-minute low, and that's -- three one-month low and that's based on the governor shuch of rick scott, and florida needs to continue to move in that direction. yes, that's what the electorate is looking for, both the republican base that will vote in this primary and independents that we will need to attract

in a general election. jon: all right. three winners -- >> we need -- >> jon: three con test so, far florida is the next one. lenny curry is the florida republican chairman, thank you for being with us. >> always a pleasure. jenna: interesting to hear about let's not go negative, let's see what happens, where an saturday night if he was running our coverage both online and on air, everyone was talking about florida as dog fight to come and what it's going to look like is anyone's guess. jon: candidates always promise they're going to go positive and it never seems to. >> jenna: it's a superpack, right? that's the whole dynamic in this race. newt gingrich is in south carolina, setting up a bit of a fight in florida, "wall street journal" calling this matchup, in one corner, the establishment and the other, the insurgent. which is which, who is who, what does it say about the state of the gop coming up? >> jon: the death toll rise necessary italy as divers make their way deeper into that stricken cruise ship. breaking details on what

they found just, just ahead. jenna: and skechers facing a super bowl flap for giving kim kardashian the boot. jon scott is up in arms about this story. jon: kim kardashian. jenna: a new campaign that has folks sparking mad. that canine controversy, coming up. >> ♪ >> ♪ [ male announcer ] for fastidious librarian emily skinner, each day was fueled by thorough preparation for events to come. well somewhere along the way, emily went right on living. but you see, with the help of her raymond james financial advisor, she had planned for every eventuali. which meant she continued to have the means to live on... even at the ripe old age of 187. life well planned. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you.

jenna: we are america's election headquarters and we are glad you're with us today. what a dramatic turn of events, south carolina changing the dynamic in the race for a republican nominee for president and our next guest argues that the gop race is shaping up to be a battle between the insurgents and the establishment. joining me now, executive

washington editor of the "wall street journal," gerry seib and a provocative piece in the capitol journal today. let's start with the basics, who's the establishment and who's the insurgent? >> well, that depends upon who you ask, i suppose. basically the point here is that mitt romney is the establishment candidate in the republican party right now. i don't think anybody would dispute that. newt gingrich kind of accepts the insurgents and the point i make in the piece is there's been this tension in the party for the last couple of years. it hasn't just started now t. didn't just start in south carolina t really started when the tea party started to bubble up in 2009 and either the tea partied co-opted the tea party or the republican party co-opted the tea party, it's hard to know which but the tension is between the field in the field unhappy with the republicans losing the 2008 plex -- election, thought they lost their bearings, didn't trust the leadership and rose up on their own and that was in the 2010 election in which the tea party people want to go one direction and the establishment went the other direction and it worked well

for republicans and that's really what you saw in south carolina, the establishment against insurgent voters who don't really want to listen to leadership from washington so far. jenna: what do you wng -- it says about the gop and the sneart. >> i think there's a tension for the party, not to make it overly dramatic but there is a question about whether you want to go safe in this election which is to say pick somebody who in a normal year would probably be coasting to the nom naights right now, that would be mitt romney, very accomplished, you know, very experienced in the business world, very acceptable to lots of different parts of the party, or somebody who's going to shake up the system and the party more and that's what newt gingrich is presenting himself as, and i think that the idea that is out in the country is that if the grass root -- at the grassroots, there's more of the insurgent rebellion insurgency sentiment than there has been in the past. that's the tension you're going to see play out week after week i think in the nominating contest. jenna: when you say there's more of that dynamic, an insurgency dynamic, do you see that in independents, as we look ahead to the general

election? who do you think would actually play better, not necessarily the candidates themselves, romney or gingrich, but someone that can capture that insurgency feel or someone that's more establishment, more traditional, if you will? >> that is the question i think. i'm not sure there's a clear answer. you know, i think you have to look beyond mitt romney to see the sentiment. i would also look at ron paul and how well he's done in this campaign. if you go back and add up the votes that ron paul got in 2008 in iowa and new hampshire and south carolina and then compare that to the number of votes he got in those three places so far this year, he's well over three times the number of votes in 2012 versus 2008. the ron paul message hasn't changed, it's very antiestablishment, libertarian mess arnlings so that hasn't changed, so the times must have changed to match the message a bit and ron paul, even more than newt gingrich is tapping into that independent minded sentiment out there and i think you'll see it in the election, but i would caution it's kind of an

unchained horse in their land and it's hard to predict where it will go. barack obama has the capacity to tap into that as much as republicans, and he has shown that before. jenna: i'd like to talk to you about that. obviously we're talking about the gop because we're waiting to know who the nominee is going to be but we know the president will be the nominee for the democrats. do the democrats have a similar tension in their party or is there something else, a different undertone, perhaps, that you'll be watching going into 2012? >>is a good question and a different undertone in the democratic party. there isn't that kind of tension necessarily. the tension in the democratic party is whether barack obama positions himself in the campaign to excite the base, the democratic base, or whether he plays for the swing vote in the middle more and that's a really important source of tension within the obama campaign that hasn't been very visible so far, biewrp going to see a lot more of it. by the way, you're going to see it tomorrow night in the state of the union address, the state of the union address which is in a way a campaign speech in an election year, is it framed more to speak to people in the middle, or is it framed more in a populist tone that

is designed to get the base excited? and does that populist tone also appeal in the middle a year like this in which there's so much anger across the land. that's similar debate in the democratic party. it's playing out in slightly different form. jenna: do you think you can do both as a candidate, whether a democrat or republican, at this time, be both an insurgent and member of the establishment? >> i think it's possible. you know, it requires a really good politician to do it. bill clinton could probably full it off. -- pull it off. we'll see if mitt romney has that in him and barack obama as well. jenna: we'll watch this fight the way you've divided it, very interesting in the capitol journal of the wall street journal. thank you very much, gerry seib. >> happy to be with you. jon: there's new information on that deadly cruise ship crash off the coast of italy as new audio recordings surface. the captain, raising more eyebrows with what he told his rescue workers. you'll hear why, next. and will iran follow through on its threat to

close the strait of hormuz and disrupt the flow of oil to the rest of the world? our next guest has decades of experience dealing with iran, he was a white house adviser during the 1979 hostage crisis. we'll ask him what the u.s. needs to do now. when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we were determined to see it through. here's an update on the progress. we're paying for all spill related clean-up costs. bp findings supports independent scientists studying the gulf's environment.

thousas of environmental samples have been tested and all beaches and waters are open. anthe tourists are back. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp.

jon: right now we are hearing some disturbing new audio recordings from the costa concordia in italy, investigators hope to go learn more about what happened in the moments before that cruise ship ran aground. >> reporter: niece new audio recordings are already revealing a lot about that deadly crash off the coast of italy, captain schettino is telling the port authority he will be the last man leaving the ship. >> will everyone leave the ship or will someone remain on board? >> i will stay here.

i think we are resting on the sea bed and i think there's water inside. the rocking of the ship should ease maw that the ship is filled with water. more than this, it shouldn't move. >> you will stay alone on some someone stay on board? >> no, i believe i will be staying. >> only you? only commander, very well. >> maybe the second in command but i don't know where he is at the moment. >> please continue disembarking people and we will talk later. please keep this phone with you so we can get through in case we need to. jenna: well, as we all know, this captain did not, in fact, go down with his ship. at least 15 people have now died since that january 13th crash, and authorities say 17 are still missing. and shat ino is -- schettino is under arrest for manslaughter. meanwhile the cruise line ser said to be stable, resting on a rock ledge and divers are resuming their search for the missing. the removal of some half a million gallons of fuel from the ship could begin as early as tomorrow, and coming up in the next hour,

we're going to have a live report from giglio island. jon: patti ann brown, thank you. jenna: now this, the european union, the e.u., taking a bold step today, formally adopting a tough new iranian oil embargo and freezing assets of iran's central bank. new sanctions meant to pressure the islamic republic to resume talks on its nuclear program. that takes a while for this to take effect, six months, so we're going to be watching that time period closely. in the meantime a senior iranian official says their military will, quote, definitely close the strait of hormuz in retaliation for such a move if it comes to fruition. as the strategic gateway, that strait of hormuz is responsible for getting 20 percent of the world's oil supply out and then into the global market. joining me is the former principal white house aide during the iranian revolution in the 1979 hostage crisis when militants stormed the u.s. embassy in tehran, you're seeing images of that, still so fresh in our minds.

remember region held 52 americans for more than 400 days. adjunct professor of middle east politics at columbia university, professor sc schtik, the next six months, how big are they? >> we'll know how big they are if we just keep an eye on the oil price. basically it's really not certain what's going to come out of this business in europe, if they do, in fact, freeze -- iran may retaliate by not selling anymore oil to europe. jenna: what would that do? >> well, the big hitters are greece, which is already in deep, deep trouble, and italy, who they -- that's where they get much of their oil, and if they are forced to then go out and start looking elsewhere, the price of oil is going to go up because there's only so much around and people are going to be fighting over what is left. jeb jeb -- jenna: how does that change the dynamic, when we're looking at our foreign policy with this cup and you having a front seat to it for so many years, how does that change the dynamic of how we talk about things and what our actions might snb. >> our big problem in this

in terms of making policy is that we dealt with this as if we can do anything we please, and there's no cost to us. i mean, we don't think about -- we would act with impunity. the reality is we pay a price too and the europeans are in the process of perhaps paying a very high price. jenna: is it worth that price. >> that is the whole question. if you basically think that somehow you're going to -- by playing this game of which iso which is really a chicken game, you each go racing at each other and who is going to swerve first, if you think that you're going to win that game and that the payoff is really worth t. then you can accept a certain amount of price, but you know, with the world in the kind of economic situation that it's in right now, we're playing a very dangerous game, and iran knows that as well. raising the price of oil actually helps rand it hurts us. jenna: as we look back to the 1970s and take in the last several decades, we talked about the game of chicken, it's taken

different forms over the last several years, but why are we still playing it? at a certain point, do we need to play the game dead on, and i mean that in every sense of the word unfortunately. >> well, i think there's a sense that this is the moment to actually see if our theory is correct. our theory being that if you push iran hard enough, they'll collapse. not just their regime will go, that they will give up, they will give you sanctions, they will do -- give you concessions, do what you want them to do. actually, history does not tend to support that. iran, for instance, in 1953, iran's oil was embargoed by the entire world. they never gave up. and you know, most of that actually forced the shah to leave at that time. so there's a history that's not particular --o particularly helpful. jenna: as americans, how nervous should we be about the threat of a nuclear iran

or an iran in the process of getting nuclear capability capabilities? >> there are two different things. if we are prepared to see iran that has a nuclear keepility, we know it could go for a bomb but isn't actually doing it, there are about 30 countries in the world that have that capability, and probably we can live with it. it may not be what we would ideally like, but we can. if it actually goes to a ball and iran builds a bomb, then we have a different set of problems on our hands. proliferation in the region, a possible confrontation with iran, and so forth. and i think we should divide those into two and say we're prepared to accept the one but not the other and then try to keep that capability of iran as low as possible and as far away from an actual bomb as possible. jenna: i only have 30 seconds but how would you advise the president? >> basically i would say sit down with the iranians, they've said they're ready to, and we -- maybe the pressure is working.

we're never going to find out, though, if we keep the pressure up and never actually sit down with them. so basically, we're going to have to decide how we, in the next six months -- the next six months are going to be absolutely critical. jenna: we'll have you back, too, to watch this. professor, thank you very much. nice to have you on set with us. jon. jon: a deadly night in the south. tornadoes reported in several states. at least two are dead, 100 more hurt, and firefighters are going door to door, looking for any other victims. a full report on what happened there, next. dad, why are you getting that? is there a prize in there?

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lifelock service guarantee cannot be offered to residents of new york. jon: as we inch closer to the general election, we're going get an idea of how the campaigns will mold their messages. president obama already trying to frame the race as a fundamental choice between two ideologies. you just heard gerry seib say that the state of the union is something of a campaign speech for him. the four remaining gop candidates are doing the same thing, asking noarns choose between two very different formulas for america's future. chief washington correspondent james rosen live from our d.c. bureau with more. >> reporter: jon, good morning. if president obama, framing the fall contest as a choice election rather than as a straight up or down referendum on his own job performance obviously carries benefits of any dhiend any incumbent would seek for unless.

some republicans express tr if gingrich becomes the nominee he will become the dominant issue, obscuring obama and his record in office. so from gingrich we saw on saturday night, during the south carolina victory speech, a preview of the choice that he would ask americans to make in november. gingrich spoke of the america of paychecks and food stamps, of independence and dependence, of strength and weakness in foreign policy: >> those two choices, i believe, will give the american people a chance to decide permanently whether we want to remain the historic america that has provided opportunity for more people of more backgrounds than any country in history, or whether, in fact, we prefer to become a brand new secular, european-style, bureaucratic socialist system. >> reporter: the 2004 reelection messaging of then-president george w. bush cast a vote for democrat john kerry as so dangerous it should trump my

contemplation of bush's record in office that, is widely seen as the model for the obama reelection team. to that end the president told an audience at harlem's apollo theater that a vote for the gop in november is a vote for gusting our investments in education, research and technology. >> the contrast this year could not be sharper. so the question is not whether people are hurting. people are hurting profoundly. a lot of folks out there, still out of work, looking for work. the question is what do we do about it. >> reporter: in other words, i may not be perfect but get a load of the other guy. some analysts warn that mr. obama seeks to replicate the bush model only at his peril insofar as bush 43 won reelection by the lowest percentage of the popular vote of any republican incumbent. jon. jon: and the president didn't say what we have done about t. what should we do

about it looking forward. >> exactly. jon: james rosen, thank you. jenna: many remembering legendary college football coach joe paterno, who died yesterday morning after battle with lung cancer. he was 85 years old. david lee miller has the latest. >> reporter: jenna, at this hour, the community, as is much of the country, now awaiting details of the funeral for joe paturn oavment on the campus there's an an outpouring of grief. take a look over my shoulder, across the street, the bronze statue of joe paterno outside the stadium, there's been heavy rain throughout the day here, it is very cold, nevertheless, you can see here the stream of people coming by to bring placards, candle, cards, flowers, in memory of the coach. last night, there was a candlelight vigil that was held on the campus, thousands were in attendance. among them, the school's

quarter back, he talked about paterno's legacy, tainted by the recent sex abuse scandal. >> the reality is joe paterno was a human being like the rest of us. he did make wrong decisions. he did fail to make the right decisions, like the rest of us do, and like the rest of us do, he's done things in his life that require forgiveness and he's done things in his life that require redemption. >> reporter: and the school is also going to have its own memorial service held sometime in the next few days. the school's board of trustees issued a statement over the weekend. they said that joe paterno was a great man who made us a greater university, but here on the campus, jenna, there is still a great deal of bitterness directed at the school's board of trustees for firing joe paterno so unceremoniously over the telephone, just about two months og. many here say that that phone call may have contributed to the decline

in his health. jenna. jenna: david lee miller for us live in state college, david, thank you. jon: a fox news alert, rescuers going door to door after a deadly storm system tears through the south and west, high winds ripping trees from the ground in arkansas as the tornado touches down there. a tornado apparently also hit alabama, leaving at least two people dead, 100 more injured, and this storm system is still on the move. let's bring in art faulkner, director of the alabama emergency management agency. he joins us by phone from birmingham. art, the two people dead, we understand, were both killed in alabama, is that correct? >> that's correct, jon. we do have reports that we have had two fatalities in alabama. jon: it's up to three now, that's the latest information? >> that is unconfirmed. we cannot confirm that, the other fatalities, but we do

know we have several in the state. jon: a 16-year-old in clay outside birmingham and an 82-year-old man in ecgrove. when we look at some of these pictures you can understand why. these are absolutely fierce storms. did you have the kind of warning you would have liked to have had? >> well, we've been coordinating with the national weather service on this since last friday, and you know, yesterday, the governor worked with some of his key cabinet members to make sure the state agencies were ready. we've been communicating with our local government here in the state. fortunately as the sun rose in alabama we were not facing the catastrophic devastation that we faced last spring, however, any fatality is one too many, and when homes are destroyed, then that's relative to those individuals that own those homes. so we'll be out there assisting every person that we can, the governor has issued a state of emergency this morning which frees up state agencies and resources and personnel to assist the

local government. jon: i know you got hit hard last april with those tornadoes that hit in part near the university campus there, in alabama. what do you need now? i mean, i can't imagine being a firefighter, for instance, and having to search through some of the rubble of these homes. where do you start? where do you begin? >> well, you know, fortunately, our first responders are very trained, they exercise and train continuously, and unfortunately, they've had some live instances where they've had to go in and do this before. so you know, they are very experienced, very professional individuals. my understanding, from on the ground, in jefferson county, in the eastern part of the county chf the hardest hit, is that the effort is being coordinated very well there, and hopefully, you know, we will not have anymore reports of any fatalities or injuries as the day moves on. jon: well, i know america reached out and lifted you last time those storms came through, i'm sure they'll do

it gefnlt art faulkner, thank you. >> thank you jon. jenna: those picture, those images, every time you've seen them -- we've seen tornado damage before but each and every time, it's so shocking. jon: as maria said, this is january. you normally see that kind of damage later in the spring. jenna: we'll certainly keep everyone up to date as we get more images. we're getting them as we are on the air so we'll continue to share that with you. >> in the meantime we're going to talk about this other story as well. country superstar garth brooks taking on oklahoma's largest health care provider, defending the memory of his late mother. we'll tell you why, just ahead. >> plus sketchers going to the dogs with the a new super bowl ad, why some folks are picking a bone or two with the fitness giant. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation,

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jenna: some developing stories we're keeping an eye on in the news rool and from our control room as well, congress bottom gab ril giffords will finish the public meeting intues yoon where she was critically injured last year, six people were killed, 12 others injured in that attack, she wanted to finish the event she started, she also announced she will resign from congress to focus more on her recovery. in the meantime news from the supreme court, rule ing for a search warrant using gps to track suspect, the case stems from a washington nightclub owner suspected of drug trafficking who was tracked by investigators for more than a month. and the head of the arab league's syrian observer is defending their heavily criticized mission, saying their presence has cut down on violence in the country, and pointing to signs of progress, including thousands of detained protestors. a developing story in syria. jon: well, the super bowl might be two weeks away, but we've already got an ad

controversy to tell you about. a group of greyhound lovers, protesting a new tv spot for the shoe company skechers. fox business network's dennis neil has more. dennis. >> reporter: jon, the skechers had to have kim kardashian as a celebrity endorser but these days the company is going to the dogs. a french bull dog, in fact, his name is mr. quigley. he has his own facebook and twitter accounts, or soon will have and wears red sneakers promoting a new line of skechers, with go run technology. in the upcoming ad, this plucky puppy is pitted in a race against six speedy greyhounds and that's where this dog fight begins. a boston-based group has collected 50,000 signatures to pressure sketchers -- skechers into scrapping the commercial, descending on a skechers store over the weekend. here's one of them, jeannie tuttle and what she has to

say. give a listen: >> we feel like there are a lot of creative ideas skechers can choose for their ad but don't colorfy gray howpped racing. it's not cute or funny, it's cruel and dangerous and dogs are injured and killed by the thousands. >> reporter: skechers is doggedly proceeding with this ad, leonard, the president of the fitness group says the greyhound protestors make mr. quigley even more famous. >> this isn't a commercial about glamourizing greyhound racing, rather it's about this french bull talk who's a metaphor. i don't think our sales will be adversely impacted. in fact it's drawing more attention to our wonderful commercial, our wonderful technology. >> reporter: skechers execs say the -- execs caying there was a humane person on site to make sure the pooches were pampered, not punished in making this super bowl spot. the greyhound group said at least the company -- they've

run a blush saying you don't support greyhound racing but said them dogs won't hunt. >> we have no intention to change the ad. in fact we've shown the ad to many animal lovers and not one single animal lover has anything but positive things about our ad. everyone loves it. >> reporter: skechers isn't releasing the ad in advance, so dog lovers will have to wait until the big game to decide whether skechers is barking up the wrong tree with this commercial. jon: i just think he's computer on kim kardashian. jenna: you should get the same treatment. you got to get the water on the set, own dressing room and everything else. that's what the animal lovers would want. jon: you heard it from jenna lee. jenna: it's only fair. jon: thank you dennis. jenna: a hostage standout coming to a dramatic -- dramatic conclusion, the swat take down and details just ahead out of houston. >> a british couple taking

an extreme stand on parenting, concealing their son's gender for five years, and raising him as a so-called gender-neutral. is this a good idea? what is this all about? dr. keith ablow weighs in on that, coming up. 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.

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jon: it the middle of the night, today, maybe 3-bg a.m., 3:30 a.m., when a round of storms tore through alabama. at least two people, possibly three people, dead in the birmingham area, a 16-year-old girl near clay and an 82-year-old man in the community of oak grove, severe storms thought to be tornadoes. there are at least 100 people hurt. we're getting an assessment. we'll keep you updated on the latest. jenna: well, over in south carolina, an investigation underway right now with the

state attorney general, looking into possible voter fraud, after the department of motor vehicles discovered that dead people, that's right, dead people, splay voted in recent elections. senior correspondent eric shawn has this story. >> reporter: jenna, south carolina's attorney general is now asking the feds to investigate possible voter fraud there. allen wilson, a republican tells fox news in recent elections in the state, ready for this, shows that 953 dead people voted. and the dead people voting goes back before the last presidential election in 2008. attorney general wilson tells us an astounding 37,000 dead people were still on the state voter rolls after they died. there was no evidence so far that dead people may have cast ballots in a presidential primary two days ago. wilson says that is a possibility, considering the historical trend of ballots that are cast in the names of dead people. the letter dated january january 11th causing for the probe, wilson said, quote, there are numerous

discrepancies for people in elections who may not have been entitled to vote. over # hundred persons who were deceased at the time of the electricals appear to have voted. voter fraud, he says, cannot be tolerated. in 2008, college journalism students in connecticut found more than 8000 dead people on their rolls there. and 300 of the dead people cast ballots. we talked to one woman whose dead mother was listed as having voted. officials there blamed faulty data and said no dead people actually voted in consz. the possibility of voter fraud in south carolina comes as attorney general eric holder's justice department has blocked the state's new controversial voter for theo i.d. law. he claims it discriminates against minorities but supporters dispute that and say voter -- and say photo i.d.s prevent voter fraud. in the brennan center for justice in new york says most delegation -- allegations of the dead vote iraq unfounded but others say the prospect is ripe for

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martha: after newt gingrich's win in south carolina it's a wide open race for the g.o.p. nomination depending on who you talk to it's always a wide open race. it's florida's turn now. hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. jon: florida sounds pretty g. the pep race heating up in the sunshine state. hello to you i'm jon scott. newt gingrich is surging in florida as the candidates fight for the biggest battleground state since this campaign got underway. jenna: you say surging in florida i wonder what carl is seeing down there. our chief political correspondent, carl cameron is live in tampa, florida. the weather keeps getting better for you. that is a positive. tell us a little bit of what is going on in florida. how does the race look at this

moment? >> reporter: newt gingrich is about to hold his first event in florida since winning the south carolina primary. he'll do so in tam path. he has been all over the air waves in news coverage. this will be his first personal appearance. he comes in here from a huge head of steam from his victory. there are polls that suggest that he may have shot to the top, albeit in one-day polls because the results from saturday are so knew. gingrich recognizes now he is the man under attack and that his chief an antagonist is mitt romney who is taking the gloves oef and going off gingrich wholesale on a list of things that mitt romney says would disqualify newt gingrich from the nomination and the presidency. he says he is erratic, and has ethics problems. romney went and talked to the press about gingrich. >> saying that newt gingrich is a lobbyist is just a matter-of-fact. he indicates that he doesn't

fall within the narrow definition of lobbyist that he might have in mind but if you're working for a company getting paid for a company through one of your many entities and you're speaking with congressmen in a way that would help that company, that's lobbying. if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it is a duck. >> reporter: very tough stuff from mitt romney who in five consecutive appearance necessa appearances in florida has attacked him as speak e of the house. he said gingrich was forced to resign in disgrace. reminding folks that 88% of house republicans voted to reprimand speaker gingrich back in the 90s. a very, very aggressive attack clearly showing that he's not going to stand by anything close to idly with newt gingrich coming out of south carolina

with momentum. jenna: what will newt gingrich? this is the big topic on saturday night. what does he have to do to win florida, is it a possibility? >> reporter: of course it is. he's raised about a million dollars off of the south carolina victory. he'll come into florida today and defend the charges from mitt romney. this evening there is a debate, which has been established as the gingrich wheel house he hits it out of the park in debates and either an opportunity to play to his advantage. there will be another one in the eight days that remain before the florida primary. having said that, gingrich does have a whole list of structural hurdles. he has an organization here, a number of offices, dozens of volunteers, a lot of paid staff as well, but it's nothing like what mitt romney has, who has been spending a lot of money here from his own campaign in florida, as well as the super pac that supports romney. they've been on the air for ads literally for more and month. today romney will hit gingrich with an attack ad back up some

of the earlier criticisms we mentioned. gingrich has to defend himself, coalesce conservatives around here in florida. there are ten media markets. the panhandle is very much and old south, more conservative values voters area. the southern part of florida, there are a lot of people transplanted from the northeast and much more moderate. a major population here seniors and there is the cuban-american vote, hard-core republican conservatives down in the miami area all of that mix for a very complicated race in a s-fp larger state that is far more expensive to compete in. in all of the organizational activity that romney has done he has an advantage. but he out spent gingrich ten-one in south carolina and lost which is why this is likely to go right down to the wire in the sunshine state as well. jenna: interesting to hear that about south carolina and beyond. carl, thank you so much. we'll look forward to florida and your coverage, thank you,

sir. jon: we have seen a lot of twists and turns since the republican race really got underway. the field looks a lot different than it did in the beginning. for a closer look at the campaign and how the candidates are stacking up let's talk with bret baier, he, of course, is anchor of special reports, special report and keeps a very close eye on all things political. so they head to florida, who has the momentum, bret. >> reporter: clearly newt gingrich does, jon. just to follow-up on what carl was saying, you know, free media makes a big difference too the amount of free media that newt gingrich is getting and will get from now until the florida primary is tough to put a dollar figure on, but he's going to try to capitalize on it as he has. i want to break down some numbers from south carolina. the voting total, the total number of voters, 602,000. that was a huge surge from four years ago, 150,000 more. that means there is excitement,

and the late-breakers, the late deciders overwhelmingly went to newt gingrich. now you look at 602,000. iowa had 120,000. new hampshire had roughly 250,000. that is a big state, south carolina with a big turn out. already in florida there have been 225,000 votes cast, both absentee ballots and early voting. one would assume that since a lot of that has not factored the momentum of south carolina from newt gingrich that a large percentage of those likely go to rom tphaoerbgs th romney, the early votes. there is so much you can't calculate about momentum in a political race, that newt gingrich clearly has it as we head into these next couple of crucial debates. jon: there are the two debates this week. as you point out newt gingrich has done well in them. mitt romney, though has a lot of organization, he's got a big get out the vote effort and he has a lot of money to spend. that is helpful.

>> reporter: sure, very helpful in a state like florida, as carl mechanics edit is ver mentioned, it is very helpful. he has not countered the ability of newt gingrich to tap into the anger inside the g.o.p. electi electorate. there is all the talk about the tea party not factors into the race. i think you're starting to see in south carolina, the feeling if not the actual flag and note of the tea party establishment, but you are starting to see the impact of that feeling, the -- the country is going over a cliff, we need big changes, and big ideas, and newt gingrich has tapped into that. whether romney can get him off that game, we'll see. florida is really the deciding factor. jon: jerry seib told jenna last hour that the first big political speech of the year from the president will come tomorrow night in the state of the union. should we look for mr. obama's answer to some of the criticisms

that have been thrown this way from the republicans? >> reporter: sure, this will take on a much more political tone than it has in the past. traditionally state of the union addresses often become laundry lists of ideas, but this will have some other notes to it, and tones of the election, and the re-election effort. so, sure, i think there will be some congress bashing in there, there will be some talk about the difference between rich and poor, and the income gap. i think you're going to see common themes from the president that you will see from him on the campaign trail. jon: will he criticize the supreme court? that's one question. we have breaking news to get into. thank you. jenna: this will be something certainly in washington that makes big news, maybe bret wants to stand by. we just got information that senator kirk, senator kirk of illinois apparently suffered a stroke. i'm just reading a statement from his spokesperson that was just provided on his medical condition, and there is a look, he's been a frequent guest on

"happening now," the republican from illinois. this is what a spokesperson for him said today, on saturday senator kirk checked him civil in to lake forest hospital where doctors discovered a k artery desection in the right side of his neck. further tests revealed he had suffered a stroke. early this morning the senator underwent surgery to relieve swelling around his brain, stemming from the stroke. the surgery was successful. due to his young age, good health and the nature of the stroke doctors are very confident in the senator's recovery over the weeks ahead. that is coming from a spokesperson. we understand, jon, apparently there is going to be some sort of press conference held by his doctors at northwestern memorial hospital if i have the time correct, not too far from now. so this is just breaking at this moment. unusual to have someone so young, and bret baier is still with us from washington. just unusual news, bret.

breaking news is always unusual, but this is the first that we're hearing of any sort of medical condition surrounding senator kirk. >> reporter: right, arguably a young, healthy, vibrant senator from illinois. no known problems, health problems listed before. i just talked to him a couple of weeks ago in georgetown, passed him in the street talking about all the things he's working on. he's running point on the effort to sanction iran's central bank. he is speaking out dramatically about iran, and has been in recent weeks. he is also part of the coalition that really has a hard time with the spending that's been going on and he's talking out about that. listen, this is a stress full place, a stressful job, and it's sad to hear. hopefully he is doing okay. jon: senator kirk what's elected to the senate seat that barack obama left vacant, isn't that correct? >> reporter: it is.

after that whole back and forth with roland burris, remember all of that, he was sitting in the seat, he what's elected to that position, and he has -- he came over from the house, was seen as not a staunch conservative, had some moderate views that some people thought were going to cause him problems, but he has since run his office here from an interesting point, in that he's taken the lead on a couple of major issues. so, yeah, this is big news. hopefully we'll hear good news from his doctors soon. jon: i believe it was former pennsylvania senator arlen spector also suffered a stroke when he was in the senate and he came become to work and did a great job for the rest of his term. at any rate we will keep an eye on the situation involving senator kirk who reportedly suffered what sounds like a relatively mild stroke. i'm in the a doctor, but it sounds like a relatively mild stroke, and they are expecting him to do well. jenna: they say he was the one

who actually checked himself into the hospital. definitely more information as we get this. senator kirk of illinois suffering a stroke and more as we get it. jon: still ahead, garth brooks breaks down in tears, why that country superstar choked up in a courtroom defend being the memory of his late mother. plus, brand-new audio tapes coming to life from the capsized cruise ship off the coast of italy. we'll play them for you after a break. eggland's best eggs. the best in nutrition... justot better. high in vitamins d, e, and b12. plus omega 3's. there's one important ingredient that hasn't changed: better taste. better taste. yum! [ female announcer ] eggland's best. the better egg.

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with 15 grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. jon: a terrifying night in many states in this fox news weather alert. a line of deadly storms pounding the south and midwest, at least three people are dead in alabama. take a look at this brand-new video out of birmingham. more than a hundred other people have been injured in that state, we are told. the powerful storms have left thousands without power. the governor there, governor robert bradley has declared a state of emergency in all 67

cities in alabama. meteorologist maria molina, live in the fox extreme weather center to tell us more. maria. >> reporter: it's very unusual to see severe weather during this time of the year. we actually typically tend to see it peak as we head into the months of may and june when we have all of the warm air in place across the south clashing with cold fronts and we see severe weather firing up. it's been so mild this winter we are starting to see the storms in the month of january. even though it's unusual to see severe weather during this month it's not unheard of. we have had reports of severe weather during this time of the year in the past. 170 reports of severe weather you can see here on our images, knocked down trees, power lines and also reports in the county of jefferson, near birmingham, alabama that we did also have major structural damage to some structures out there. very unfortunate. we again had over 170 reports of severe damage through parts of indiana, arkansas and eastward into parts of alabama.

most of the tornado reports were further off from the south from alabam through arkansas and into alabama. we have rain stretching across pafrts the northeast. no severe weather expected up there. we still have a tornado watch out across western parts of georgia in effect until 4:00pm eastern time. what that means is that conditions are favorable for these thunderstorms to develop and produce some isolated tornadoes as well as damaging wind gusts and large hail. right now no tornado warnings in february. we have had a couple of severe thunderstorm warnings which could potentially produce an isolated tornado touchdown. of course we'll keep you posted on that coming up throughout the hour. as we head into come tomorrow, guys we still have a risk across the state of texas. we don't think this risk as we head into tomorrow will be as great as today. jon: those people in alabama have really been hit hard this year. i guess it's actually going back into last year.

thanks. jenna: new information on the cruise ship disaster off the coast of italy. divers today finding two more bodies in the wreckage. that brings the total confirmed death toll to 15. we are also just getting word a new effort to try tow avert a possible environmental kphas tee. greg burk catastrophe. greg burke is streaming live off the coast of italy. >> reporter: the costa condoria seems to have settled in on the ledge on which it sits right now. that is good news nor the search and the salvage. it was a couple of hours ago when they did recover two more bodies, both bodies of woman. there have been family members coming here. it's very difficult for them the waiting game. total confirmed dead, 15, 17 unaccounted for although that number has gone up and down recently but it should be about right. getting the fuel out is a priority. that should be starting as early as tomorrow morning. vessels were moving around the costa condoria all day today to get in place to get that

started. it's a very complicated process, drivers have to go down, actually have to heat up the oil to get it up. they say it will take an entire month, and that is if the weather remains good. the ship's captain, more information coming out about him and his interrogation on wednesday. he seems to be taking the tack that this was a normal thing to go by these towns closely and to give this salute, to blow the horn as a kind of pr stunt. well, jenna, you know, it may have been a pr stunt but it really turned out to be a pr disaster, and as long as that ship is sitting as it is behind me, it will remain a disaster in terms of public relations. jenna. jenna: more to this story as we get it, gregg, thank you. jon: back in this country a police s.w.a.t. team surrounds a building in texas in a standoff with two armed men suspected of murder. we will i'm date you on what happened there. plus, a report that syria's embattled regime may be getting

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murder suspects are in custody after a tense standoff with police. patti ann brown has more from the breaking news desk. >> reporter: swat teams had to be called to that neighborhood in southwest texas this morning. it all started with a fatal shooting in dairy brooke over the weekend. two people were killed in thaeupbs dent. early today police tracked two suspects in those murders to an operate complex in forum park. cops knocked at the door around 3:00 this morning. they say at least ten to 12 people were inside the apartment and at least half came out peacefully, but the rest barricaded themselves inside, and that sparked a standoff that lasted more than three hours. swats officers were called to the scene and 24 families in the

apartment complex weree evacuated. police knocking on doors warning them they may be hit by stray bullets. everyone surrendered by 7:00 in morning and the two murder suspects were taken into custody. they were charged with capital murder in the deaths of two men in that saturday shooting. jon. jon: patti ann brown, thank you. jenna: now this new report that russia will send dozens of combat jets to syria in a show of support for the embattled regime. syria's government is rejecting a new arab league proposal to end the crisis. that plan would call for the president, bashar al-assad to step side allowing the formation of a brand-new government. they don't want that to happen, at least those in power right now. michael syngh is the managing director for near east policies. let's start out with this one report, only one out of europe today that russia had signed a

contract to sell combat jets to syria. how much water do you put in a report like that? do you think that is happening? >> as you said, jenna it's just the one report. it's hard to say whether it's true or not. at the same time i wouldn't put it past the russians to be doing this sort of thing. you may remember there was a news conference recently with the russian foreign minister where he was challenged whether in fact the russians were providing munitions to the syrian regime. he was very defensive saying russia is not going to make excuses for selling weapons to the syrians because there are no sanctions that prevent him from doing so. he made clear that he thought that this effort to push assad aside, the president of syria aside was a big mistake by the international security. jenna: what is in it for russia to be so involved with syria and iran? >> russia has long had relations with syria in particular. russia has a naval base in syria. since the soviet times they've had a strong strategic relationship with syria. i think first of all russia is

loathe to let that relationship go. they don't like the notion of essentially u.s. influence spreading across the region, or in their minds sort of the u.s. toppling governments across the region and replacing them with ones that are friendly to the west. you remember that the u.s. and russia recently got into a sort of a quarrel over our own criticism of what was happening inside russia. and there is a broader sort of u.s.-russia context here which needs to be kept in mind. jenna: it's interesting to hear russia's comments about the sanctions coming from the unitette united states and also new sanctions announced by the eu. it will take about six months for the oil epl bar goes to go into effect. russia is not happy with that. do you see if there is a confrontation with iran or syria on any level, do you see that confrontation including russia? would we -- when we come up against iran where there is military, and i don't want to get too crazy there, michael, whether it's military, diplomatic lee or otherwise will

we have to also negotiate with the russians? >> i don't think russia would intervene on the side of iran in a conflict with the west. they made it clear that they wouldn't be getting involved but the west is on its own when it comes to conflicts. they will try to put diplomatic things in place. again supplying these regimes with weapon raoefplt it's easy to forget that, you know, when we talk about the strait of hormuz and we talked about the tensions in the persian gulf a lot of those weapons aeu iran would use against the u.s. navy are coming from russia and china there is no embargo on all weapons going to these regimes. it's important to keep in mind, even if they are not actively involved that these governments are supporting these regimes. jenna: if russia and china are not on board with this new round of sanctions whether it's from the eu or from the united states do the sanctions lose all their affect? >> se certainly lose some of their effect. i think it's important we won't

be able to get sanctions through the u.n. security council. that means fewer countries around the world feels they have to comply with them. it means that chinese and russian firms can backfill whatever business is being abandoned by eu firms or american firms or firms in other countries which are cooperating. it certainly does harm the effort to use sanctions or other peaceful means to affect these regimes. jenna: it shows how complicated the issues are in the middle east. michael, thank you for letting us work through it together. we'll be talking more about it. >> thanks, jenna. jon: you might have heard newt gingrich bashing the mainstream media. seems to be helping him win with voters, but can it get all the way to the white house? get him all the way to the house i should have said? a fair & balanced debate coming up with our news watch panel. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition? ♪

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jenna: tens of thousands of anti-abortion activists are conversion on the national mall to 39th event for life. marking roe v. wade, a the supreme court decision legalizing abortion. shannon bream is there at the mall. and congressman cantor is speaking to the crowd. >> reporter: this is rallying points for thousands gathering on a cold, rainy day in washington this. is the response to the 39th

anniversary of roe v. wade legalizing abortion here in the u.s. the pro-life activists want a peaceful conversation about a heated topic. i spoke to one unique activist. she survived after her biological mother underwent a abortion procedure. >> what is difficult for me as a abortion survivor, for 39 years, so much of the same rhetoric. the words like it is a choice. it is my body, all of those things and i'm living prove it isn't just a choice. it is a child's life that we're talking about. >> reporter: pro-choice advocates sound the alarm. these pro-life groups gotten successful getting things done not necessarily on federal level but state level. some 70 measures passed in states limiting changing procedure for getting abortion all across the u.s.. these pro-choice groups say that should be alarming to anyone that values choice. >> now is the time to make

sure our voices are heard in support of women's freedom and privacy. none of, none of it's easy but it is important. my belief is that the conversation by conversation, we will change the hostile legislative landscape that clearly is out of touch with our country's values and priority. >> reporter: house speaker john boehner kicked things off a few minutes ago. for him human life should not be a political commodity. he says he will continue to fight to make sure no taxpayer money is ever used for abortions through the federal government. he is one of many speakers from heres marchers go several blocks down to the supreme court where they will rally again and share stories on this very controversial topic. jenna, back to you. jenna: question you had the statement from the young woman survived a abortion? was late term abortion? how dud she survive? >> reporter: it is such a stunning story when you hear her tell it. the pregnancy was six months

along when her young, scared, biological mother underwent this procedure. the young woman survived obviously she had medical problems as a young 6-month baby. she survived and adopted but did not know her story until years later when she was a teenager. found out what her birth was all about. jenna: very interesting comments. wanted to hear more comments. shannon, we'll continue to watch the story. jon: wow! newt gingrich is crediting is recent attacks on the media helping him win over voters. the former house speaker said his big win in south carolina proves it. will attacking the media land him the nomination? let's bring in part of our news watch panel, alan colmes, part of the alan colmes radio show and cal thomas is syndicated columnist and fox news contributor. call, along with people like mitt romney, rick santorum and ron paul, some of the opponents had had names like

juan williams and john king. >> bashing media has been a full contact sport in the modern times since john kennedy who canceled his subscription to the new york "herald-tribune" because he didn't like their approach to his policies. richard nixon didn't like media. mainly that was his own fault. lyndon johnson didn't like media. if i lost walter cronkite i lost the war in vietnam. bashing media will only get you so far especially in florida and beyond that, newt gingrich made his point about the media. he needs to branch out. he is giving a speech i understand on space which certainly resonates with florida voters since the kennedy space center is there. so much of our manned space program has taken off from there of course the obama administration canceled any future manned space exploration. it riles the base up. gets you so far but doesn't get you all the way. jon: alan, are we going to see a kinder, gentler newt gingrich? >> i'm glad to see all the words in the same sentence. cal is right. only gets you so far.

worked in south carolina among white men who love the idea that the media is the enemy. attacked juan williams and juan doesn't understand work after the conflagration they had at the previous debate. he attacked dave briggs and clayton morris on fox an friends over the weekend. it worked very well for him obviously. but i think he has to move beyond that at some point which he is capable of doing. the question is he disciplined enough to realize at some point you have to leave that behind and really focus on the issues? jon: cal, would you agree the assessment is that a lot of republican voters are looking for someone who will take on barack obama and they're imagining what the debates will look like eventually this fall when the republicans do come up with a nominee. a lot of people seem to think that bulldog newt will be the best debater. >> right. i just written about this. i think we've come a long way in the traditional values group from requiring somebody to be the husband of one wife, not a cheater, honest and up right all of this, they want a wrecking ball. they want to tear down the

welfare state. they want to wreck everything the obama administration has been doing to socialize the country. i think they're putting a lot of that behind them. in a sense maturation what suesed to be the known as religious right. they're far more pragmatic than they have ever been before. they acknowledge gingrich had a lot of personal character failing and flaws. they're rolling dies in south carolina. we'll see about florida. "rasmussen poll" interestingly has gingrich up over romney. i think about 12 points which is an amazing turnaround. we'll see if he can keep the momentum going. if the religious conservatives made a pact with the devil at least pragmatism i think that is major step. jon: alan. go ahead, alan. >> interesting to me they will forgive newt gingrich because he landed on the right, no pun intended side of things. if it were a liberal had issues newt gingrich had, marital issues and ex-wife coming out saying things i wonder if the same people would be so quick to foregive and vote that person in a primary.

i think there is double-standard. will it play with independents? will it play with women [i question if the broader electorate go for as south carolina did. jon: have you checked in on gary hart, lately, alan? or bill clinton? here is a question, alan. a lot of the late deciding voters in south carolina apparently went with newt gingrich. you know, warts and all. even with the al gangses from the ex-wife. >> i think they want a steamroller. there is no great excitement about mitt romney. mitt romney not really generated great energy among the base. that is probably, certainly it helps newt gingrich. >> i think he is bob dole with better hair, no question about it. people are looking for passion. they're looking for conviction. >> that's right. >> they're looking for somebody who actually, romney said, okay, i want to reduce the size of the federal government by attrition. that is not very exciting. not by attrition. you don't put paint on failing building. you come in with a wrecking ball and tear it down.

that is what newt gingrich saying. >> people who can't stand obama they wanted to take wrecking ball to obama. the more they dislike obama more they like newt gingrich. will be a lot harder coming at the president. jon: alan, cal, good to have you on. >> thank you, jon. jenna: at the top of the hour we got this breaking news, senator mark kirk suffered a stroke. he underwent surgery this weekend. joining us on the phone, dr. steven garner from new york methodist hospital. i don't want to speculate too much as dr. kirk's surgeons are giving a press conference. we're learning more details what happened to him. when you hear the reports, a 52-year-old man suffered a stroke, underwent surgery but checked himself into the hospital, what's your first reaction as a doctor? >> i assume he has high blood pressure or has a lot of disease with plaque build up in the arteries. what happens in the type of condition he had which is known as dissection of the

carotid artery it means the portion of at terry that is up price portion of blood to the brain gets blocked off. as it is blocked the brain dice because it doesn't get enough oxygen. similar to what happens in heart attack when you don't get enough oxygen, same thing can happen in the brain. the brain doesn't get enough oxygen and begins to die. critical you get into the hospital two to three hours to save the brain because there are ways to restore the flow. jenna: what would be some of the signs? a good time to talk about this, doctor. what would be some of the signs that someone would be suffering a stroke? >> you start getting weakness on one side of the body or start getting tingling and numbness on one side of the body. also you begin to have trouble speaking or you're not completing sentences and people around you would in the that. the biggest problem, people don't get there in time because they deny it. must be a, temporary problem, nothing serious. but the earliest signs of a stroke, if you get there within three hours you can often reverse the stroke and

have no problems. jenna: dr. stephen garner, thank you so much for that. we're hearing from the associated press or reading from the associated press, senator mark kirk underwent surgery this morning to relief swelling around the brain. we'll hear directly from his doctors any moment. his doctors are quote, very confident in his recovery based on his age and his health. we'll bring up to date as we hear more about senator kirk. jon: we wish the senator well. a big scare in the turbulent skies. what american airlines is saying after six people were injured on a miami-bound flight. plus, gender controversy. have you heard about this one? a mom and dad wait five years, five years to tell the world the sex of their child. they believe gender stereotyping can be harmful. dr. keith ablow how this impacts that child. [ monica ] i'm away on a movie shoot

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>> hey, everyone, i'm megyn kelly. the obama administration has catholics in an uproar today after mandating that they pay for employees birth control sterilizations and even some drugs that cause abortions. we'll explain and have live reaction. plus the teachers union is outraged in massachusetts after voters want their say on whether a teacher gets evaluated based on their years of service or merit. newt gingrich says voters have a choice in this election between a saul alinsky radical and american exceptionalism. how will that play with america? all that plus who is putting together the president's state of the union? is it the white house or is it his re-election team? see you top of the hour. jenna: now this story. a british couple made headlines a few years back after deciding to keep their child's gender a secret. is that the story we're going to next guys, or doing a different story? i have to wait from the

control room to find out. jon: we're taking about my own hometown, fort collins. jenna: i guess we'll go there. do you want to take it, jon? jon: a new motor city in the rockies, fort collins. a college town fast becoming a hub of automotive innovation and cleaner green technologies. alicia acuna live from denver for us. alicia? >> reporter: jon the work being done in fort collins is university research on green technologies but what i cans it so different is they have taken a bunch of private companies, all working together in the same building so this research doesn't sit on the shelf and put to practical use quite quickly. which means in two to four years we'll be driving with a larger variety of fuels. >> it will be those that will be natural gas. it will be electricity. it will be a variety of different fuels and solutions. >> reporter: many future transportation leaps won't just come from detroit but fort collins, colorado.

it will feel the same but cost less? >> it will cost less and use a lot less fuel. >> reporter: ed's fuel developed an engine to capture the vehicle's own heat and rout it back into the car t was created right here at the for the collins energy super cluster, a building filled with green energy companies and researchers from colorado state university. >> technology for the detroit for the future. >> if you want to do innovative stuff especially in engines this is the place to be in colorado. >> reporter: guy babbitt is on his 7th project here. his company moved to the city of 147,000 people to take advantage of the lab and a unique culture. >> we love it. we work on so many different projects with outstanding top-notch university researchers. >> reporter: it works they say, because fort collins built an ecosystem where private and public sectors built work that comes out of csu.

>> the students don't know what always can be done. they're trying to push things to be at the leading edge. >> reporter: one ceo of a company in that building says, jon, with the way they see the future of automobile regulation going, it is all going to be about using less fuels. this is must-do work now. back to you. jon: i miss fort collins. i spent four great years there. >> beautiful here. we loved it. >> it is a great town. thanks. a british couple caught the world's attention a while back. you remember this story? they refused to tell the world their child's gender. the secret is out now. we'll tell you what the answer is and what finally prompted the parents to reveal veal it -- reveal it. stick around call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy.

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jon: right now new information on some stories we're watching across the u.s. and around the world from inside our control

room. search teams are back on washington state's mount rainier. they're looking for four people missing in that monster storm. two climbers, two campers were scheduled to return about a week ago. no sign of them so far. country music singer garth brooks is set to testify in the lawsuit against the oklahoma's largest health care system. brooks claims he donated half a million dollars in 2005 to build a new women's center to build for his mother colleen. the center was never built. the hospital is refusing to return his money. strong turbulence injures six crewmembers an american airlines flight. the flight headed from miami to brazil landed last night carrying 136 passengers and nine crew. no word on the severity of the injuries. jenna: now this story. a british couple made headlines a few years years back after deciding to keep their child's gender a secret saying they wanted to raise the child free of

againer-based stereotypes. sasha the child, pictured here, named sasha on purpose because it could be a boy's name or girl's name. he recently began school. they had to reveal the gender. turns out sasha is a boy. raised a lot of questions and eyebrows and controversy. we'll bring in psychiatrist and fox news medical a-team member, keith ablow. >> you say this is physical abuse? >> jenna, someone hitting you have a chance in life to say that person is out to hurt me. this is somebody who doesn't love me. under the guise of protecting a child from prejudice from society, to provide that child of underpinnings of his masculinety, and suggest that it is something to be hidden is a form of psychological abuse that is tremendously toxic, these people shouldn't have had this kid to raise, this child should have been taken

from them some time ago. jenna: parents say they really want to prevent the child from being impacted by consumer trappings. we wanted to keep him completely gender neutral of anything. just to play devil's advocate, i have responsibility, dr. ablow. >> sure. jenna: what about overdueing it in the opposite direction. they didn't want to attach any gender stereotypes at all. what about parents only give their boys tonka trucks and toy guns and only give the girls everything pink and if it is green doesn't go in a room. what about the opposite? >> sure, listen anybody who would suggest to a little girl hey, this idea that you want to run a business. that's terrible. you shouldn't be so aggressive. or don't compete so much in sports that is masculine. that would be awful. this is extreme in the other direction, and if you can't be raised at least comfortable with your body, at least being able to look, what is different between this and saying hey look, we're not convinced you're

right-handed or left-handed. don't reach for things with your right hand. it is confusing to children. it chiefs them from certainties in their lives. makes them question literally. am i loveable? who am i? maybe my ideas are embarrassing too and my parents will seek to hide those. if this isn't a case of psychological abuse, we definitely lost our way in terms of protecting young people with those from agenda politically who would cleave from what is true in life. jenna: while they had to announce the gender of their child while they went to school, doctor, the school seems complicit allowing saw shato wear a girl's blouse with boy's pants because girls and boys wear different uniforms. this is not end of this story. he is five years old. well, it is what it is, doctor. thank you so much. a story that caught our eye. >> all right. jenna: we wanted to talk a little bit more about it. >> we'll talk more about it in the future i bet. jenna: no doubt. we'll be back with more

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