>> gretchen: we'll continue our discussion with dr. drew on the after the show show. log on for that discussion. >> brian: big results. if you have to run from the tv, turn in to kilmeade and friends right now. >> steve: see you tomorrow, everybody. >> thanks everybody. gameday for three states in the race for that republican nomination. colorado, minnesota, and missouri. all with contests that might hold the key to how long this fight lasts. how long will it go? morning, everybody. welcome here, i'm bill hemmer. how are you doing today? martha: welcome back from the super bowl, mr. hemmer. good time? bill: great time. great game. shame somebody had to lose. martha: we'll have more on that later. i'm martha maccallum. good morning, everybody. tonight's vote is the last before a three-week break in all this primariry and caucus action. we could get a clear idea who has got momentum to stay in the race perhaps we might

not. bill: all three guys clear in their message. president obama has to go. >> some respects president obama has done everything wrong. bill: susan fericio, chief congressional correspondent for "washington examiner". good morning to you. what do we watch for, susan? >> we have three states, minnesota, colorado and miss missouri. missouri is a sort of a contest because they don't pick delegates until later in the month. we're looking for breakout win for rick santorum struggling since winning iowa or ron paul finally pulling ahead. we're trying to see here, mitt romney still needs to come out respectable in all three places. he is considered the frontrunner. bill: is the heat on romney today or is it on santorum or gingrich? >> i actually think because

romney is in such a strong place the heat is on santorum at this point because this is his opportunity to go head-to-head with romney in missouri where newt gingrich isn't even on the ballot. there is possibility he could win the minnesota caucuses there are many evangelical voters there. he has got the message that resonates most with that voting bloc. bill: interesting, missouri and minnesota. you mentioned ron paul in your first answer. what about him today, susan? >> ron paul as you know has not won a caucus or primary yet. he has 20% of the votes. he has a lot of followers. he needs to win at some point. here is possibility for him in minnesota as well. he has lot of followers there. he is well-organized and caucus state where he tends to do better this is a chance for breakout moment for ron paul. bill: thanks, susan. good to have you back with us. >> thank you. >> in light of all that, you guys, mitt romney is not taking any chances with all this he is bringing out the

big guns to get votes in minnesota. former minnesota governor tim pawlenty and former united nations ambassador john bolton teaming up to boost his hopes for the white house. >> obama economy is not serving minnesota well and it is not serving the rest of america well. we have a situation where the president of the united states has a misguided understanding of what it takes to have this economy moving. >> we don't have a strong american economy. we don't have a strong america internationally. i think governor romney understands that. martha: interesting right? both of course praising him. they always try to keep expectations a little bit low so as not to exceed them or to be able to exceed them i guess. pawlenty saying, quote, modest turnout at caucuses lean toward more conservative in apparent reference to rick santorum. they're hedging his bets if he does well. that will with be the reason. bill: wonder of 3 feet in colorado will keep folks away? martha: they're pretty hardy out there. bill: caucus you have to be

there in person. make sure you are with us later tonight for special coverage. bret baier is here throughout the evening to bring you result as this is they happen in three states. martha: he would like everyone to report in person, bret baier. rick perry, in the first post-campaign interview he could see another white house run for himself. the texas governor not ruling out a white house bid in the future. perry tells fox news the one thing he regrets waiting as long as he did to get into the this race. watch. >> there aren't a lot of things differently i would have done in my life but looking back now. we would have got in this race substantially sooner. i haven't left the fight. i just went home and rearmed and reloaded my mafs. i'm going to be fighting on a different front. martha: get the mags reloaded. his wife anita would be up for another run. clearly many people who won the presidency ran a couple times before they did it. he is thinking about it,

rick perry. of the president obama set to unveil the new budget plan if that sounds familiar because it is. the president is calling for 3 trillion in deficit reductions 10 years, half of that would come from what else, tax increases which is big part of his plan all along. he wants to get that money from the wealthy. the plan also calls for ending the bush-era tax cuts for tam families earning more than $250,000 a year. that would have a huge amount of backlash as we heard when it was suggested last time around. and it would count about $750 billion in savings from ending the iraq and afghanistan wars, also a controversial subject, many people feel that pullout would be happening now anyway. stuart varney joins me, fox business network. stu, the president is out with his budget t was shot down in overwhelming way last time around. any luck perhaps this time? >> this is almost certainly dead on arrival. because of that looks more like a re-election campaign

manifesto then it does a serious budget with likelihood of success. if you look at big picture, tax the rich, that includes people making more than $250,000 a year. new tax on millionaires. no structural change for medicare and medicaid. in other words, not going to rein those in too much over the next 10 years. don't touch social security at all. and, there is no deficit projection in this budget. yes, reduce it by 3 trillion over 10 years but that doesn't tell us how much extra debt we're actually going to pile up. result? if that is the big picture, that is dead on arrival. looks more like a re-election manifesto. martha: even given that, stuart, if he got the tax increases on wealthy that he would like to see, simultaneously allowing the bush tax cuts to expire, would he get there financially? can he get to these numbers that way? >> that ignores what happens to the economy if you raise taxes on people making more

than 250,000 and put in a new tax for people making over a million. the cbo, congressional budget office just last week said, you do that and you will slow the economy. all right? we're at a 2% growth right now. if you put in tax increases, you slow it some more, therefore you build up the deficit even more. so there is a contradiction here between what the president wants to do on the deficit and what would actually happen on the deficit if he got his way on taxes. >> no doubt we'll hear about these the meantime and also in the head-to-head in the general election, these ideas. stuart, thank you so much. stuart varney coming up in a little while on the business channel. bill: new this morning on the horrific of death of two boys at the hands of their father, josh powell. a man long i'd for the disappearance of his wife susan. police say he attacked his sons with a hatchet before setting the home on fire before killing all of them.

neighbors and family had good reason to be stunned. >> i don't want to talk too much about it. i'm still numb about it. i'm still numb. after seeing it on the news i don't want to see anymore of it because, you know, that's two little boys, two little innocent boys that was taken by the dad. oh. just breaking my heart. bill: try to make sense of this. in seattle, dan springer now. did josh powell plan this more than we even thought? >> reporter: well, bill, certainly appears so. if this story wasn't disturbing enough those new gut-wrenching details came out from the coroner and the arson team. we know this was very much a planned double murder and suicide. josh powell poured five gallons of gasoline throughout that house and then he took an axe and chopped the necks of both of those boys but that did not kill the boys. he then lit another five

gallon can of gasoline, which caused that explosion and fire all three bodies were found in the same room next to the can of gas. all three died from smoke inhalation. just a few minutes before this horrific act, josh powell sent e-mails to his lawyer, cousins and pastor saying he was sorry and could not live without his kids. charles age 7, braden, age 5. there is growing speculation today that he killed his boys because they were starting to talk about susan powell's disappearance remembering details from over two years ago and powell may have been feeling like he was about to be arrested. we talked with chuck cox's attorney, susan powell's father's attorney. he told us that chuck cox was told by the west valley, utah, police, that ask josh powell would be arrested by june of this year. bill: where does this leave the investigation into the death of his wife then, dan? >> reporter: west valley police say this is an open investigation. they are not closing it. they want to get the answers

for the cox family. of course josh powell has always been the person of interest but now the fox station here in seattle is reporting that there is another person of interest and that would be steve powell, josh's are father. west valley police would not confirm that but they did tell us that there is a high probability that someone else besides josh knows what happened and he was obviously refering to steve powell who is in jail right now on child porn charges. steve powell is on suicide watch at the jail. there is a report that he almost showed no emotion when told about what happened on sunday. he continues to be uncooperative with police but the west valley police say they are going to continue to investigate this to get closure for the cox family. bill: a difficult story to report. dan springer in seattle on that story. developments when we get them. >> we're hearing from the boys grandparents who say the children were happily playing in their home that morning and they didn't want to go visit their father on

the day they died. now the grandparents are trying to cope with this news. >> i felt it, that he was big enough threat, there were enough red flags that he was big enough threat there should have been law enforcement there or somebody to make sure he didn't do something. >> well, we feel that, that there they're with their mom now. we believe in life after death and, there's a lot of other things that would be -- >> we know they're with their mom. >> yeah. >> we know they're back and they're safe and they're innocent. martha: can't even imagine what those grandparents are going through. no doubt they're still in shock about this whole thing. so both charlie and braden, they shared a bedroom in their grandparents home since last fall when they were removed from their father's custody and a lot of people wishing they had never had that opportunity to go back to their father's house. bill: there will be more to report on this story.

also this morning, as we move forward now with defiant iran thumb its nose at the u.s. sanctions is a showdown between iran and israel inevitable? martha: a major reversal for president obama. why the white house is now giving the thumbs up to super pacs. gregg: he calls it an attack on religious liberty. that is mitt romney wading into that controversy over the new health care and birth control ruling. a fair and balanced debate on that with bob and andrea. don't miss it. >> think what that does to people in faiths that do not share the views. this is violation of conscience. we must have a president who is willing to protect america's first right, a right to worship god according to the dictates of our own conscience. [cheers and applause] -- from accounting. peter. i can see that you're busy... but you were gonna help us crunch the numbers for accounts receivable today. i mean i know that this is important.

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bill: okay. tehran dismissing u.s. sanctions against iran, calling it a psychological war. the foreign minister saying it will not stop the

country's nuclear program. press secretary jay carney was asked about this and impact on israel, he says israel is firmly committed to the jewish state. >> our level of cooperation with israel, mill rare littlely and -- militarily and intelligence matters have never been higher. we made that point repeatedly because i think it demonstrates this country's commitment to israel's security. bill: dan senor. former policy advisor to put george w. bush and good morning to you. impact of these sanctions? >> oh limited. bill: what? >> i think it is positive. the sanctions bill, or the sanctions measure on the central bank was passed late last year and attached to a defense authorization bill. it has taken a while to be implemented. good finally being implemented. all pressure on iran is good. i think at this point the

iranian regime has made a decision there is only a downside to suspending nuclear program and only upside in getting it. they have seen places like what happens in north korea, they get a nuclear bomb be, they are able to act with impunity, no one is able to touch them. as opposed to libya, gave up weapons of mass destruction program and easier for us to take them on. iran made the decision. nuclear program means protection and these sank sense -- sanctions will not slow down. bill: there are suggesting that u.s. will dissuade iran from inside and. >> that is the question. israelis and americans clearly disagree on timing. they agree that nuclear iran capability, an iranian nuclear capability is unacceptable. the israelis say we have a tighter clock than the americans. we believe that there is this window of invulnerability, of immunity that israeli defense

minister barack speaks to which is getting close. the americans believe we still have more time. so the americans are trying to calm the israelis down. ehud barak gave a tough speech at a tel aviv conference. he said, he gave a speech in hebrew. he talked about sometimes it makes sense to wait on taking actions but sometimes waiting can find you in a position where you're too late. when he said that, he flipped to english, clearly speaking to an american audience. that was only part of the speech in english. bill: very interesting. >> americans are saying to israel we're working on it. we're putting in place these sanctions. let us have time. bill: rasmussen reports, among americans, should the israel help iran or do nothing? 48% say help israel. what is the scenario there as it plays out in your mind? >> i think, if israel were to take military action against iran there would be a lot of international pressure against the united states government to show

some distance from israel, perhaps to criticize it. u.s. government in '81, when israel bombed the nuclear reactor in iraq, u.s. government criticized israel. the senate passed a resolution condemning israel. there will be pressure internationally, particularly in europe, particularly on the united states, the obama administration to create distance from israel in the reaction. there may be reaction in the region. what you're saying in the "rasmussen poll" that is not where the american people are. the american people would want to walk arms with israel. bill: by tune of 48%. dan senior, thanks very much. martha: buying stolen goods in bargain basement prices we'll tell you how in this case crime apparently does pay. bill: arizona immigration law going all the way to the supreme court. why the arizona governor says the decision on this law will affect every state in the country. but with advair, i'm breathing better

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bill: there is a new theory this morning as to what might be causing more than a dozen high school teenagers to shake out of control. a professor of neurology at the university of buffalo saying facebook and youtube might be to blame. dr. david lichter says the teens may be unconsciously mimicking symptoms from videos up loaded online. the national institute of health disagrees, saying it still beliefs it is conversion disorder a condition brought on by stress. martha: so are you still looking, listen up, bill, for that perfect gift for your valentine? we've got a real steal for you. literally get your valentine, sweetheart, something that was stolen. it is all legitimate. perfectly legal. the stuff is up for sale. rick leventhal checking it out hopefully secretly in farmingdale, new york. how does this work?

i hope my husband is not listening. >> reporter: how about a samurai sword for your sweetheart. martha: that is pretty nice. >> reporter: this warehouse at property room.com where they sell stolen goods on internet legally because they work with police departments legally. a lot of this stuff is recovered in drug raids, credit card fraud, burglaries. rightful owners never pick it up, so the police departments by law have to auction the stuff off. apparently they weren't very good at auctioning, a this guy, former detective decide to create the business, came up with idea of property room.com. signed up 3,000, fire departments, municipalities, collecting stuff, cataloging and selling it on the web. >> we don't celebrate, we don't celebrate theft. our point of view on this is, listen, life serves up lemons, make lemonade. these are public goods. they, this existed before our business came along. it was a problem. and we've taken a problem

situation and we're making it better. >> reporter: propertyroom.com says doubling tripling quadrupling money many of the municipalities would otherwise collecting. >> we're all busy googling the website to see what we find there. how do you know if they're not selling counterfeit goods? >> reporter: they're not allowed to hire goods. they hire experts to look at jewelry and coins and sunglasses. when it is counterfeit they have to destroy it. they will let me destroy a fake rolex watch. this is it what they normally do. they will let me do it. are you ready? here we go. that's what they do. they smash them and they discard them. you're not getting this for valentines's day. martha: take a licking and keep on ticking? that is my question. maybe it is still valid. >> reporter: no, it is done. this thing is trashed. i would smash it again. martha: i would be afraid i got earings and someone came

up to me on the street would accuse me from stealing them from their house. these people didn't go look for their stuff? >> reporter: we found a that buy as loaf the bikes, refurbishes them. and ask them where do you get the bikes? he can't really tell them. they are stolen bikes but he bought them legally. business has gone up as the economy has gotten worse. martha: thanks, rick leventhal, who will come back with a backpack loaded up. bill: honey, you will not believe where i got that. it's all yours. president obama changing his tune. his new push for campaign money. what it means for the 2012 race. hold onto this one. martha: plus acost in -- chaos in syria, we've been covering this in last couple days. it is going on this morning as we speak. government forces are stepping up deadly attacks against civilians and the like. a live report from syria is

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bill: the bloodbath in syria intensifying at this hour yet again getting reports now that government forces are stepping up their assault on the town of homs. that city a long center of resistance against the syrian regime. rebels saying 50 of their own have been killed in recent attacks.

leland vittert live in jerusalem on this. what is the latest at this hour as it continues to change, leland? >> reporter: absolutely, bill. the assault by the syrian military is continuing. in fact many people on the ground say it is getting worse. not only do you have tank shells flying in and heavy artillery and mortars but we're now told syrian infantry is massing outside the city of homs to come in and sweep through the entire city. a couple hundred killed over the weekend. a least another couple hundred yesterday. we're waiting to get word what is happening there in terms of death toll. takes a while to get information out of the city where siege has been laid. electricity is cut off. medical supplies are extremely, extremely short supply. and right now, bill, it appears on the ground there we could be heading towards an absolute slaughter by the sir grand government. bill: appears russians and chinese are getting in the way of implementing certain action in syria. the russian foreign minister was here today. what did he say about al line itself with this

regime? >> reporter: the russian foreign minister showed up to a hero's welcome. they protected syria and assad regime in the u.n. by issuing that crucial veto. president assad has very few friends. clearly this is one of them. the russian came out of meeting with foreign minister that assad is committed to ending violence although we have heard those words before in this part of the world. bill, back to you. bill: leland vittert. thank you. to show you the region we're talking about. here is syria to the east. iraq. israel to the south and west. about 22 1/2 million people living in syria today. shares a long and common desert border with iraq to the east. to the north shares a long border with turkey. some estimates say 5 and 7,000 have been killed at the ongoing violence that goes back 11 months. and in turkey they have taken in already about 7,000 refugees. we'll see as long, the longer the fighting goes on whether or not that refugee

number increases. we'll keep an eye on headlines for you throughout the day here on fox. martha: back to topics here at home now. a big turn around from president obama's re-election campaign. his aides are now telling big donors they need to get in the super pac game and they need to do it big-time even though the president has repeatedly criticized the these outside fund-raisers. his campaign chief says it is time for people to get on board. he says quote, jim mess sina, the campaign manager for obama for america, we decided to do this because we can't afford for work you're doing in your communities and grassroots donations you give to support it to be destroyed by hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads. we're joined by missouri senator rou brunt who endorsed mitt romney. he joins me with reaction. good morning. >> good morning, martha. how are you? martha: i'm doing just fine. you look back at history

what the president said against the super pacs, he railed against them one of the most prominent ways in the state of the union address in 2010. let's listen to that and we'll get your thoughts on that. >> i don't think an american election should be bankrolled by america's most powerful interests or worse by foreign entities. they should be decided by the american people. martha: why do you think the president is changing his tune on this. >> i don't really think the president is changing his mind. he may be changing what he is saying. the president holds all the records for spending both ghost spending and political spending. when he ran for president the last time he spent more money than anybody has ever spent. he is the first president ever not to be restricted by the amount of money that was provided through the campaign finance reforms for the campaign. he said i will raise all i can raise. moveon.org was out there. i think it was just the idea that the president has anything like clean hands on spending and outside groups

just doesn't, there is no truth to that. whether it is government spending, where he set the all-time record or campaign spending where he said, martha, he was going to spend a billion dollars. he could have said, he could have said i'm going to take the amount of money that the law allows if my opponent will do that by the way john mccain last time took the relatively modest amount of money that the law allowed and spent it. the president took all he could get and spent all he could spend. martha: part of what led to the successful campaign i guess but it is interesting on this monday night phone call of his advisors they're urging people to give money to priorities usa which is led by two of his former aides. you heard so much criticism coming from the left about mitt romney and newt gingrich and super pacs that they have out there and the fact that their staffed largely by former advisors and former consultants to them. in these super pacs. i'm wondering if this usa seems to be behind the game

in fund-raising and this is a call to arms? >> i don't know if they're behind the game or not. i sort of doubt that they are. my guess is plenty of money is coming in and they want more to come in. no yo about specific rules on super pacs but i thought at some point you had to disassociate yourself with the super pac which could say you can't give money to the pac. i don't think romney or newt gingrich saying give money to the pac that is supporting me. they asked for money for their campaign. i think there may be a place where the president's team stepped across the line by saying give money to this group that we're not supposed to have anything to do with. martha: that is very interesting. so you're saying that the other candidates to your knowledge have not reached out to their super pacs and asked them to raise money? >> i actually think there was a cuttoff time beyond which they couldn't do that they could have done it a year ago, six months ago. i think there is specific date beyond which you can't say give money to this other

group because they're now totally to be separate from anything you're doing and we'll see if, i think the obama team constantly steps across the spending line. remember, they're the ones that first person ever not to take the limits. the first person ever to say we won't take the money in the general election even though our opponent, john mccain is. the president, billion dollar number that he came up with, nobody ever thought about spending a billion dollars to be elected president before and nobody ever spent more than the president spent last time. and they're right down the same road again. all the money they can get, spending it however they can. martha: at that may be. that billion dollar number put out there, that is also really interesting point, may have been partly inspiration for a lot of fund-raising we've seen on the other side because they knew they had to go up against, supposed billion dollar number coming from the obama administration. i'm very interested in this idea you brought up, that this may be perhaps against the rules for the obama for america team to come out and

say, we can't have two sets of rules. we can't unilaterally disarm and call for fund-raising to be stepped up we'll look into that. >> look into that and see because they're pretty aggressively now trying to get money to send, get people to send money to a group they're supposed to not have anything to do with. let's see what happens. martha: senator blount, thanks so much. good to talk to you. bill: meantime, mitt romney is calling out president obama attacking religious liberty and the white house is firing back at him directly on an issue quickly becoming a battlefield in the race for 2012. frank, instead of scratching your way to retirement, get on e-trade. set up a real plan. frank! oh wow, you didn't win? i wanna show you something... it's my shocked face. [ gasps ] [ male announcer ] get a retirement plan that works... at e-trade.

martha: all right, everybody, it is 41 minutes past the hour right now and there are reports that the u.s. and japan are working on a plan to move thousands of u.s. troops from okinawa over to guam. some in japan opposed the okinawa base for years.

they found four more dolphins that were rescued after getting stranded in massachusetts. 129 dolphins stranded themselves on the shores of cape cod in the last several months. strange things happening on the coastline. celebration is underway to mark the 200th anniversary of charles dickens birthday. if you don't remember freshmen high school english, author of oliver twist and the "a christmas carol". they marked the occasion by cutting a cake. that's what they always do to celebrate these occasions. churches and institutions they run and such as schools and let's say adoption agencies, hospitals, that they have toe provide for their employees free of charge contraceptives, morning after pills, in other words abort tiff pills and the like at no cost. think what that does to people in faiths that do not share those views. bill: that was mitt romney

last night on the obama administration's health care law that recovers full coverage of contraception. the white house is facing major backlash as more church leaders, not just catholics of all faiths are coming out against this policy. romney even launching a petition against the mandate and tweeting quote, if you had enough the obama administration's attacks on religious liberty stand with me and sign the petition. less than an hour later the president's deputy campaign manager pushed bacalling romney a hypocrite. tweeting hope petition signers don't find out that mitt's massachusetts policies are identical. host of "the five", andrea and tear rose and bob beckel. how are you doing? >> we couldn't find bob this morning. for just a little while ago. he was missing. >> i was hiding out. i got beat up on "the five" yesterday. i was hiding out. bill: back in the alley. it is okay to come out and see the sunshine. andrea, does the white house

have romney on the ropes for this? what is his likely response. the white house is on the ropes, bill when it comes it this issue. this is another example after politically tone deaf white house driven by ideology now asking people to compromise their core values and go against their faith and i'll tell you what. the blow back has been intense, not just from catholics but from the jewish community this puts the hispanic vote in jeopardy. a lot of these religious groups like catholics are based in key battleground states like pennsylvania, ohio, wisconsin. this is angering atheists and libertarians who say this is a huge government overreach. i predict the white house will back off for the decision and provide religious exemptions. bill: will it reverse itself? will it do it within the year? >> yes. i think they will provide a carveout for religious organizations. they have to. bill: bob, what do you think? >> they already provided carveout for churches and

for those organization that have majority of catholic or, in this case catholics as employees but, we very quickly went by it and andrea didn't respond to that point, that mitt romney signed a bill that did exactly the same thing except it didn't have the same carveouts that barack obama's plan does. secondly, i frankly, the idea that this somehow going to cost him the election, this is a massive issue among catholics, 90 some percent of catholic women in america use contraceptives at one time in their life or another. bill: you both agree they will reverse this? >> i think they will probably want to take the heat off some and axelrod indicated somewhat this morning. they may have something --. bill: he budged a little bit. 54-45, obama over mccain for catholics in 2008. in addition, 27% of the vote in 2008 was catholic as well. you've got 65 1/2 million catholics across the country.

andrea, why go there in the first place? >> exactly. that is what everyone is asking. this white house seems to be politically tone deaf when it comes to these issues. now i think the president was just driven by his ideology and really trying to rally the base. he really can see there is this pro-choice lobby and very liberal base and they didn't see down the road that this would have the impact that it is having. bill: why not? why not? >> because they have done this over and over and over and over bill, with the decisions that they have made. i think largely the reason catholics broke for president obama because when he was on the campaign trail he and joe biden said things like, joe biden, silent on this issue, he is a catholic, in 2008 he said i will shove my rosary beads down anyone who suggest my party's position on social issues put them at odd with their own faith. this is exactly the administration is doing. >> you know what you all are missing here? bill: bob, why even go there?

>> very real reason you should go there and tell you what it is. there are a lot of woman who are poor and catholic do not want to have children and do want contraceptives available to them free of charge. the idea somehow, what this is frankly, shoving ideology down somebody ales he is throat. the idea providing people this opportunity you're somehow, at newt gingrich said ridiculously so at war against religion, look the republicans are jumping on this they could care less about this. bill: care less? >> making it politically. andrea is too this morning. fine. we'll figure out a political way out of it. they want to play a political game we'll play a political game. bill: remarkable thing when political letters are read in church on sunday. seldom if ever they go there. >> you can tell the outrage continues with what happened this weekend. clergy are extremely upset. bob, these services are provided to woman already. give them free birth control which we shouldn't have to pay for they wouldn't use it anyway.

this flies in the face of also obama's supreme court, his two appointees, kagan and sotomayor ruled in a unanimous supreme court decision just recently, bob, that religious organizations and schools have the right to choose their own clergy. what they just did on this issue flies in the face of that. >> explain to me why catholic university in washington provides this very same thing. >> can you? why? >> why? they do. so i mean, what is the point? >> shouldn't that be organization as choice? why should it be a government mandate? >> maybe that is the way out of it. maybe it a choice. there is good idea. >> we'll see. bill: we'll run that by axelrod. 5:00. bob, thank you. andrea, nice to see you. >> bob, don't run away. bill: he won't of the he will come out fighting for you, andrea, later today. click on the b.j. a box and e-mail your question and on twitter @billhemmer. we can talk about this online and pick it up tomorrow. martha: think about all the exemptions carved out for

different states said they couldn't handle the health care bill financially, right? raises the question why are not these institutions allowed exception that they request when other states brokered a deal on their own? the contraception controversy is making our way to the armed forces. why the u.s. army is being accused of muzzling its chaplains. big story. bill: this snowboarder caught in an avalanche and using something you find in your car to get out alive. she is here with an amazing survival story and the rest how it plays out and how it saved her life. still toe come.

bill: show you a new look at the largest tunnel u.s.

officials found along that u.s.-mexico border. this one heads from san diego to tijuana. the opening of the tunnel is through a hydraulic floor. opens up in a bathroom in a mexican warehouse. they can even use cell phones inside. it has a signal. >> this is the original equipment down here. they actually ran power lines. they ran communication lines down here. ventilation. communication, they could call each other on the phone? >> absolutely. bill: the tunnel discovered before the cartels were able to put it to use. the border patrol uses the tunnel for training purposes. you can use the blackberry and iphone down there. martha: landmark ruling is expected out of the ninth circuit court of appeals. at issue, whether or not a voter approved ban on gay marriage in california is unconstitutional. claudia cowan is live for us this morning in san francisco. claudia, how important is today's decision in all of this? >> reporter: martha, it is very important and both side

are standing by for the decision in one of california's most emotional and intense legal challenges. many experts are predicting that the ninth circuit will uphold a lower court ruling that california's ban on same-sex marriage violates rights of gay and lesbian couples, because the third judges that heard the case are among the most liberal members. if that happens don't expect gay rulings will resume anytime soon. the case will be appealed to a larger panel of 9th circuit of 11 judges and the u.s. supreme court. to avoid legal acost no gay weddings will be allowed to happen here in california until the high court weighs in. this trial lasted over a year. there was a delay when the california supreme court was asked to weigh in whether sponsors of proposition 8 had the legal standing to defend it. that court ruled that they do. prop 8 backers claim the original ruling should be tossed out because the presiding judge in that case, retired vaughn walker, is gay and they argued he could

personally benefit from his own decision. both those issues could factor into today's ruling. martha: a lot at stake for both sides, right? >> there really is, martha. if the ninth circuit panel affirms the lower court's ruling it is a big win for activists seeking to legalize gay marriage again. remember 18,000 couples tied the knot here in california before proposition 8 passed. if the ninth circuit reverses lower court ruling it would be a major setback for gay rights activists and a huge victory for supporters of traditional marriage and majority of california voters who passed prop 8 back in 2008. again today's ruling, critical but, most likely not the final word. martha: not the end of it. thank you so much, claudia cowan in california. bill: there is new fallout over solyndra. republicans are demanding answers and threatening a subpoena. congressman darrell issa is in charge. he will joins us what he wants to know now. martha: one day, three contestants. the republican candidates fighting for votes out west.

how tonight's results could change the game in the race for the republican nomination when we come right back with more in "america's newsroom." wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

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represents for your best rates. give your family the security it needs at a price you can afford. call this number or go to selectquote dot com. selectquote. we shop. you save. martha: colorado, minnesota and missouri, three states up for grabs today in the republican presidential cal campaign, a sweep for mitt romney coul could cement his position. that's how we get started on a brand-new hour of this tuesday version of "america's newsroom." glad to have bill hemmer back in the house. i'm martha maccallum. bill: conservative voters in both missouri and minnesota could throw everything into flux if they deliver a strong showing

for rick santorum, possibly. martha: mitt romney not focusing on his competitors, he is taking straight aim at the president. >> this president what's elected at a critical time when the nation faces real challenges as a patriot has been quoted saying, you either lead, follow or get out of the way. now it's his time to get out of the way. martha: joined by bret baier, he joins us live from washington and we'll be doing the coverage tonight. good morning to you? does it look like we could get a three-way split to keep this interesting? >> reporter: it is possible. going in mitt romney looks like he has some momentum in colorado, he did there four years ago. in minnesota it's not the same ball game. you have his sur owe gates, tim

pawlenty says this state often goes to the more conservative candidate, it's a caucus. they are kind of doing some -- laying the groundwork for a loss in minnesota. in missouri it's one-on-one, because newt gingrich is not on the ballot there, rick santorum goes head-to-head with mitt romney, essentially and ron paul. but rick santorum going in looks like he has the momentum in missouri even though delegates aren't tied to it. potentially you could have a big game-changer night for rick santorum and that is what the santorum campaign is looking at. they are noting that the romney campaign, even though the candidate eupl hefl i -- the susurrogates are going after spots. martha: colorado is so interesting, because it's

considered one ever the real pivotal general election states as well. how strong mitt romney does there will tell us a little bit, perhaps, bret about the intensity of support for him. >> reporter: it is a big swing state, just like nevada was a big swing state. mitt romney in nevada did very well, didn't do as well as he did in 2008, but of course in 2008 he didn't have as many competitors going up against him. turn out in nevada for republicans was down, significantly. we'll see what happens in colorado. he spent some significant time there over the past couple of days. they've dumped a little bit of money in there. gingrich is there, santorum is there, and we should note that ron paul historically does well in caucus states. they are looking to minnesota to make a mark. martha: we'll be watching. thanks so much, bret baier joining us, we'll see him tonight for the big coverage of the three-state primary. bill: let's look at results from 2008 and let you know where the three states broke down between

minnesota, missouri and colorado. two of the three are really considered battleground area. minnesota not so much the case. four years ago president obama beat john mccain handily, 54, 44%, beat him by ten points in the state of minnesota. mccain won missouri by 10,000 votes four years ago. the show me state was won by mccain that year. that was hotly contested. this is a big democratic pick up four years ago when colorado knocked off republicans. on the economy colorado is right around 8%, missouri around 8% -rpbg, they are a little bit under the average. we'll see how that plays out based on what the voters tell us a little later today. martha: rick santorum is banking on the land of 10,000 lakes for a big boost pao tonight saying that the minnesota competition could be, he hopes, a game

changer for him. >> it completely changes this race again. it will reset the race. the idea that the challenger to mitt romney is newt gingrich, that is reset, and that mitt romney is the heir apparent. martha: he's right a lot of changes so far. cold weather we are told could present a significant roll in a turn out at the caucuses. do you think people stay home because of the cold? bill: in colorado, he was quick to point out a major misstep in the nation's energy policy. >> i think if you're an editorial writer at "the new york times" and you live in a hirise in manhattan and ride the subway to work it may not occur to you that more most americans

the high price of gasoline is a real problem, because in fact you don't drive. but if you are the rest of the country, the high price of gasoline, and as a consequence of diesel fuel and heating oil and so port has a lo for the has a lot of affects. bill: gingrich looking ahead to super tuesday early march scheduling several campaign stops? ohio. early voting in that state starts today. earlier today on fox & friends he said he can take it all the way to california, which would be at least early june. we shall see. martha: what about ron paul? he is out there rallying support at a town hall in minnesota. the one candidate who hasn't come in first in any of these primaries or caucuses is trying to win over some new supporters. >> we don't have to go backwards, we can take what we have in the pass and improve on it. the greatest test we've had in this country, we need it reversed. i think the last hundred years

we've been doing in the wrong direction, we node to state what we really believe? [applause] martha: ron paul out on the trail. for complete coverage check out foxnews.com and be sure to tune in tonight for election results as they come pouring in it should be interesting. bill: it will tell us a little bit more about the story as it shapes you the throughout the night. pedestrians of president obama giving back near here a quarter million dollars in campaign donations. coming from a mexican casino owner to skipped bail in the u.s. back in 1994, that man is linked to corruption and violence back to the border. steve centanni is looking into this nowment what do we know? >> reporter: pepe cardona who now lives in mexico and is the fugitive you mentioned has major interest in some of the casinos around monterey mexico. according to a memo uncovered by wikileaks he's isn'ted of orchestrating the killing of one

of his business rivals in mexico. he used to live in the u.s. his relatives still live here in the u.s. where his two brothers rounded up at least $200,000 for the obama re-election campaign. the brothers are said to be in the advertising and marketing business in chicago. their brother in mexico, pepe did not make any donations. pepe was reportedly charged and convicted of fraud while was at the university of iowa, later arrested in new mexico on marijuana charges, and appeals were made on his behalf to the former governor of iowa to have a probation violation pardoned. but that effort was not successful. bill: i'm trying to follow this. what reaction are we getting now from the obama campaign on this. steve? >> reporter: they say, the president obama secretary for the obama campaign, for obama for america who used to be a staffer at the white house, we reached out to him by email and he responded saying, quote, more

than 1.3 million americans have donated to the campaign and we constantly review those contributions for any issues. on the basis of the questions that have been raised we will return the contributions from these individuals and from any other tkoepb aor donors that they brought to the campaign. according to "the new york times" the state department memo said pepe cardoza made donations to this campaign but there is nothing to indicate anything illegal went on here. martha: the archbishop for the armed services wrote a scathing against president obama's healthcare law but it was never delivered by the army chaplins to the congregants. what happened? did the army silence the archbishop? we'll talk about that coming up. bill: darrell issa has questions for the energy secretary on solyndra. what the congressional watchdog wants to know and whether or not

subpoenas will follow. congressman issa is here live and we'll put those questions to him. martha: a snowboarder caught in the middle of a massive avalanche, how she managed to make it out alive. she joins us later this hour. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪

bill: an update on violent clashes between police in brazil. have you seen this? authors soldiers making their move firing rubber bullets and charging striking police officers who had barricaded themselves inside the state assembly. police demanding better wages and working conditions. the murder rate has doubled in the state capitol of salvador since police stopped work on

tuesday. the government has sent in more than 3,000 soldiers to patrol the streets. the clashes coming only day before brazil is set to host the carnival festival. >> the catholic church has been arguing and negotiating this for a year and the administration is saying, ork, it's just a misunderstanding, it's just a bunch of bull. the bottom line is this administration, as you can tell from my reaction has been hostile to people of faith, particularly christians, and specifically catholics. and i'm not going to stand for it, and i'm going to call him out on it. martha: presidential candidate rick santorum blasting a controversial birth control policy in president obama's healthcare law. there you new accusations that the obama administration may have violated the rights of catholic military chaplins after prohibiting them through the army for reading a letter that would criticize this contraception mandate during mass for folks in the armed services. i'm joined by tony shaffer, a

retired army lieutenant. just the thought basically of someone stepping in between the chaplin and his congregation at a mass and saying excuse me, we are going to pull that letter from the mass, we don't want you to read that le letter to the people. how can they do that. >> they can't. the catholic priests were having problems with "don't ask don't tell." i really see this as not an army issue. i don't think this is the army's doing. one ever the seven values in the army is respect. so this is one of those things that i think the army is trying its best but i do believe there is outside influence coming down hard on it. and frankly, let me be blunt here, this is socialism. this is where you have the state inch seeding in such a way that they don't want a certain

doctrine within its religion preaching preached to its flock. if it went to court they would lose hands down on it. martha: the president is the commander and chief of the armed forcers and one of the lines that was in this letter basically said, we cannot, we will not comply with this unjust law. and it was a question raised as to whether or not that was a call for civil disobedience. there was an agreement made with the archbishop for military services and the secretary of the army that they would axe that one line from the archbishop's letter because they felt it might not be appropriate for the military audience. what do you think about that? >> it's censorship, violation of the first amendment. the catholic church ain't going to change its view of this. i talked to several catholic friends about this today. i understand where they are coming from. if you start here, where does it stop? what if a jewish individual, or a faith leader doesn't like something, is the administration

going to go against them? this is a dangerous slippery slope and frankly if people want to not obey that, it's their right. this is a free country, and individuals may differ with the catholic policy. that is the beauty of being free. individuals don't have to go with the catholic doctrine if they don't want. martha: that's right. that's the point that comes up over and over on this. they have surveys done that say women want to use contraception. that is their decision with their own faith but you can't necessarily change the institution of the church that has made that doctrine. you can't make people obey it or not obey it. that is not issue as you apt lee point out in all of this. there is some sort of inkling today that the administration may back down on this. that they may find this politically difficult to uphold. do you think that will happen? how will that be reflected in your world. >> martha, i'd like to believe that. again the army's job is to fight wars and win them not be a social matrix, petri dish if you

will. this has been something that i didn't appreciate last year whether this came up, other issues came up relating to religion where the army was trying to insinuate on people changes that they didn't want to have on their religion. this is the bottom line to me. i hope the white house backs down, clearly the army's job is to be a military organization, not be in the middle of a social values conflict. i agree with rick santorum on this. this is something we've got to resolve quickly, otherwise it will diminish our ability to fight as a military. this is a distraction we don't need. martha: they are forced to side with their church or country and puts them in a terrible position. and i'm sure that is something they don't want to do. good to talk to you. bill: arizona blazed the trail pass passing the toughest immigration laws in the country. arizona's governor is striking back as a lot of important parts were struck from that bill.

plus this. martha: definitely not -- definitely not part of the act there, a high-flying nightmare under the big top. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition? ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. day my journey continuese. across the golden state, where everyone has been unbelievably nice. mornin'. i guess i'm helping them save hundreds on car insurance. it probably also doesn't hurt

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video that we teased before the break of a circus stunt that went horribly wrong in michigan, watch. the audience gasping as a motorcycle stuntman plunged 25 feet to the ground, his bike hit a cable in the final act of that show. he hit one of those cables east went across. we are told he's doing so kay.

he has a broken leg. thankfully there were no more serious injuries on that. bill: landed perfectly on that mat. martha: that's why the mat is there. bill: that cable was not there when he practiced this thing earlier in the day. the president laying out a campaign theme that the poor are getting poorer with a little chance of advancement. is that the case in jim angle has been looking at the facts on the ground. what did you find? good morning to you. >> reporter: you're going to hear this all yearlong and there is nothing subtle about the administration's case. listen. >> the vast majority of the americans, the middle class is getting screwed. >> over the last few decades the r u.n. gs on the ladder of opportunity have grown farther and farther apart. the middle class has shrunk. >> reporter: suggesting everyone but the rich is losing ground. analysts say that is not true. one supportive of obama say arguments that the poor have a harder time moving up in income are as he puts it deceitful and

dishonest. >> we hear year and year this is the first generation that is going to do worse than their parents. i don't think there is any data so far that supports that that ever actually has been true. >> reporter: there is no dispute that the wealthiest 1% has done very well, have enjoyed stunning gains in income over recent decades. there is no evidence that those gains came at expense of the middle class. >> the chance of starting out at the bottom and ending up in the middle class, end up being something like 55%. >> if you're born in the lowest 20% the likelihood is you're not going to end up in the lowest 20%. >> reporter: a few foundations today looked at more than three decades and found that over any ten-year period, quote, americans are much more likely to experience a large income gain than a large income drop. one study after another shows people are constantly moving up and down the income ladder much

like an escalator with some people going up and some going down. the american enterprise institute looked at federal reserve data showing between 2001 and 200744% of those in the lowest 20% of incomes moved to a higher level. 34% of those in the highest 20% moved down. looking at all the data the administration argues the deck is stacked against the poor and middle class, but researchers say the deck is constantly being shuffled. and some say their argument is sending the wrong message to the poor by suggesting they have no hope of moving up no matter how hard they try. bill: between 2001 and 2007, some of these years were tough going for a lot of folks. jim angle, thank you, in washington. martha. martha: the count done is now on. energy secretary steven chu has 60 days to testify to congress about the solyndra scandal.

darrell issa tells us live what he expects out of that. bill: that spec on the mountain coming down there was a thick-thinking snowboarder, saving herself from what could have been a deadly avalanche. we'll talk to her and find out how she saved her own life. ♪ [singing ] ♪ ♪ 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. sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get bk to these invoices...

martha: you know, pretty much in owl the exit polls we've covered the number one issue with republican voters comes down to which candidate people believe has the best chance to beat president obama. that is what voters seem to be caring the most about out there. as they head to the polls in three states today, what is driving their choice? mike tobin is live in blaine, minnesota. what are the voters talking there about, mike. >> reporter: if you dived the caucus goers here in minnesota into two groups you have one group of people who says the most important thing to do is to pick a candidate who can beat president obama in the general election. the other group of people will repeat the talking points you hear from ron paul. ron paul is drawing a very big passionate crowd, and quite possibly he could motivate those people to brave the winter cold and get out to the caucuses. despite the fact that oftentimes he polls down around the bottom. the analysts are watching ron paul to see if he produces a surprisingly strong showing. >> they call us dangerous.

[cheering] >> of course we're dangerous. we're dangerous to the status quo and the people who have been ripping us off and living off everybody else. [cheering] >> reporter: paul spent the last five years working the ground here in minnesota and the analysts say he has really tabbed into independent polls, the kind of thing that has supported ross perot past years, and jesse ventura. when he shows up he has a big, passionate crowd, they really eat up the kinds of things he has to say. martha: very interesting. what about the other candidates, they are trying to score points as well. >> reporter: they are trying to score points. mitt romney opted not to show up in minnesota the last couple of days. newt gingrich did an appearance in bloomington and took shots at mitt romney, especially about the safety net for the poor. he says it's a spider web that traps the poor. we have rick santorum doing appearances out here. a lot of activity. interesting results right now,

martha. martha: mike tobin in minnesota thanks, mike. bill: is there more solyndra trouble for the administration. energy secretary steven chu was called six months ago to testify before congressional investigators. darrell issa is with me now. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, bill and thanks nor covering this expanding scanned he will. bill: we're trying to work through this and figure out if something was done illegally or not. are you prepared to subpoena the energy secretary? >> reporter: yes, we are. in the case of the six months we've been negotiating with the secretary, and other cabinet positions on the misspending, and a wide group of misspending, we've continued to find example after example, the majority of them coming either through the labor portion or department of energy, and we reached a point where it's time for government oversight to look not at the very important but narrow single issue of solyndra but what we

see as a pattern of cronyism and breaking the rules to give money that they want people to support, particularly in green energy. bill: is it your hunch, your thinking that he's hiding something? >> the amazing thing is that his people keep telling us he's not qualified to answer our questions. of course in some cases his signature appears directly on the applications. so we've pushed back on that and said, look, we are happy to talk to others but ultimately the buck is supposed to stop with the secretary, and if it were one example we'd say let's talk to the project manager, but when it's dozens of examples, and a growing number of miss investments, if you will, under the law, we need to speak to the secretary himself. we've made it clear that this is one that we can't allow to be said no to, and we are expecting compliance within the next few weeks. bill: the energy secretary apparently, or the department, rather has said they'll give you the deputy secretary. i know that is not good enough for you. others suggest, hey they've been

cooperating the entire time and you're just on a fishing expedition. to them you say what, sir. >> we've got groups like beacon who have gone through bankruptcy, we have blue mountain back in harry reid's home district that clearly, clearly created no jobs. the secretary's signature is on that one. it's very clear that at the time that the loan was given on the face of the application you could see that it was loan repayment to a parent company and not new money to create new jobs. so we could go through these individual examples, i know you don't have time. we have an obligation to get to the bottom of it, and the secretary has an obligation to answer. bill: let me no through one here, because many believe, i'm not sure if you're one of them, but i think it's your hunch, that this was all political payoff. now do you have the smoking gun that proves that? >> we have a pattern of violating the law, or at least the intent, but in many cases the letter in order to make these loans. our job is not to presume the

intent behind those violations, ours is to ask them, what were you thinking and why did you do that, and how can we make sure that if we pass laws you obey them. i do share the fact that it's beginning to look like if you play with the president in his party, in his re-election you do better in these loans, and i think anyone has a right to consider that as one of the questions to be answered. bill: we will see very soon whether or not -- what sort of answer you get from secretary chu. darrell issa thank you for coming back here. 34 minutes past the hour. martha: fox news alert for you on a story we did a lot of work on in recent days. karen handle who was the vp for public policy at susan g. komen foundation has resigned from her position. there was a big dispute that happened over funding for planned parenthood, the komen foundation which is the nation's largest breast cancer fundraising arm basically said they were going to pull their money from planned parenthood.

it was met with a ton of controversy. she has now announced her resignation. there was talk that she had run for office prior to this and was very outspoken against abortion services. we has announced she will resign from the komen foundation. more coming up later. we want to go back to interes international affairs now. there have been reports of more bloodshed in syria's hotbed. government forces are come barring a kebombarding a key rebel city. [gunfire] martha: thousands of people have lost their lives in all of this. and i'm joined now by even reek say zimmerman who is an international journalist, also author of voices from the center of the world the arab israeli conflict told by its procee

protaganist. what goes through your mind when you see people losing their lives in syria. >> what really surprises me is it's not new. it happens 11 months, every day there are massacres in the streets in syria. maybe now there is more conscious in europe, and in the united states, even in the arab world they understand that, the arab spring is really a deep winter in syria for a longtime hr-frplt i had an interview recently with the former vice president of syria who left syria in 2005 after being 30 years in power, an was in europe leading the opposition in syria, and getting all kinds of information every half an hour, i'd been for a whole day with him telling him, look you have 20 here, 30 here, one hundred people died today, old men, women, children, and i think they had lost the control. it's good that the western countries are now aware of that. it's better late than never skwraot fact that russia and china turned their back on this

u.n. resolution has been a huge issue this week. what happens now? do you think bashar al-assad will step down? he seems to be emboldened by these recent action. >> everyone thinks, all the experts, the israeli analysts that are following, for israeli it's really vital, they say the countdown for the end of this regime is there, it's happening, and i think that really bashar al-assad -- i've been in the gulf recently in dubai. they said he bought a house in dubai. it looks like it's really the beginning of the end of bashar al-assad, in a question of weeks or months. the key is now the army. and i know some officers, high rank officers are leaving him. if it continues, this process it can be a question really of some months, and we are going to see a huge change in syria, because,

you know, the end of this regime is also a strategic event for the area, because as you know syria is an ally of iran, and hezbollah is in lebanon is an arm of iran. there will be a cut between iran and hezbollah that can change the situation. martha: the big question about who will fill that vacuum, whether iranian forces or opposition forces that are fighting for a more democratic form of government. enrique thank you very much. >> i will only add to you something that a syrian said to me, they said, look, politicians and diapers should be replaced frequently for the same reason. martha: very good advice no doubt. there is an analogy there in many cases. thank you. good to have you here today. bill: put that on a bumper sticker. the obama administration says it will spend an additional $50 million as part of its next budget to bolster research on

alzheimers. it's part of the 2013 budget. expect to hear more about this later today and tomorrow. in the meantime it was the toughest immigration crackdown in the country but parts of arizona's law were blocked by the highest court. now arizona is fighting back. we'll tell you what they are up to. also there is this -- >> how do we come from behind? how do we come together? and how do we win? they showed us it can be done. and what's true about them is true about all of us. martha: that little ad got a lot of attention at the super bowl. clint eastwood is insisting he is not giving up his day job for politics. what he is telling fox news about the controversy surrounding that super bowl ad. we will tell you next. as someone who uses insulin,

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2:30 in the afternoon, a lot to do, and you've hit the wall. but you got to get stuff done. so take 5-hour energy. just open it up, knock it back, and roll up your sleeves. 5-hour energy is faster and easier than coffee. man, does it work. you'll get that alert, energized feeling you need to get stuff done. a lot of stuff. wow. look at you go. 5-hour energy. when you gotta get stuff done. bill: we are getting reaction from clint eastwood. he's reacting to the uproar over a super bowl commercial for

chrysler. it's called halftime in america. >> how do we win. they are showing us it can be done. and what is true about them is true about all of us. this country can't be knocked out in one punch, we get right back up again and when we do the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. bill: some are calling it a political call from the white house. the actor released a statement to fox news saying quote i am certainly not politically affiliated to mr. owe pw-pl a. it was meant to be a message just about job growth and the spirit of america, end quote. he also said he gave his fee for that spot to charity. martha: he's a long-time republican. it's not surprising that he says he's not affiliated with him in that way. in the meantime we'll head back to this story in arizona. governor jan brewer takes the next step in the battle over arizona's controversial immigration law. lawyers filing their opening

brief now with the u.s. supreme court. brewer is appealing a ruling that blocked key parts of the law from being enforced. we have the director of the american center for justice. he joins us right now. what is in the brief that was filed? >> the main part of the brief obviously and the legal argument is the reasonable suspicion stop. can local law enforcement officials and state officials do what federal law enforcement owe i figureses can. arizona's law was crafted to follow 0 federal law. federal law enforcement officials can do this. all the federal officers can carry automatic the same thing. it's about whether or not after a crime has occurred, so police are already involved, if they have reasonable suspicion, which is a legal term of art, they can then check someone's immigration status. if they are illegal then they are turned over to the federal government. arizona doesn't handle anything. they are not rewriting immigration or naturalization

laws. so the issue here is can states when the federal government has failed try to protect its own citizens? arizona has 500,000 estimated illegal immigrants. fast and furious is running through arizona, they are right there on the border and they want to protect their citizens. martha: you have the controversial element of this law regarding someone's status when they are pulled over for a separate violation. and should immigrants get and carry immigration papers is another thing that was shot down by another court that picked apart pieces of the legislation that they didn't like and said they were unconstitutional. now it goes to the supreme court. the big question is whether or not a state, and arizona is going to argue that they are unique, that they are under unique pressure in the immigration fight and if the federal government doesn't carey out this law, uphold this law they have the right to do so, correct? >> that's right. the obama administration has kind of declared war on states here.

they are going after utah, south carolina, alabama, there are two other cases, georgia and indiana. other states look at these laws, we'll get a decision on this by the end of june, so we will know about these two major cases of obama versus states, the healthcare case, and also arizona immigration. if this law stands and arizona can do this you're going to see this happen across the country. and we won't be talking about it, martha, it would not be an issue we'd have at the u.s. supreme court if the federal government secured the borders. they aren't. arizona is facing -- i mean there is violence right on their border. again, fast and furious, gun running going through that we are paying for through federal tax dollars. they want to protect their citizens. if you drive you have a driver's license. most immigrants here they always keep their documentation on them, you know it's important, you know when you travel it's important to keep your passport on you as well, just like if we're overseas. i don't understand why that is a civil rights violation. there is no proof, this law

hasn't got even to go into force so you can't make a claim that they are all going to be violating civil rights, the federal law has been on the books for years, and no one has ever made that claim. martha: just a couple of seconds, so june is the timeframe. when do you expect that they'll decide if they are going to hear it and when they will actually decide on this case if they do hear it which is expected. >> they'll hear the case in april, the oral arguments will be towards the end of april and issue a decision no later than june. we'll have that decision very clear and it will affect all of the other states in court because they've got similar laws and then every other state in the country. and we're only at this point, because the federal government has failed. we represent 50 members of congress here who are saying arizona is right we are not doing -- the federal government is not securing them. martha: thank you very much. we'll be talking about that no doubt all the way through the spring. bill: the survivors, they say it's like being buried in concrete. the raw power of a avalanche. it can kill a skier or snowboarder no matter how tough

they are. meet the woman right here lost in that little spec on the mountain that used a sophisticated new device to help keep her alive. her story is only a few moments away. martha: a hero's welcome home for one of our bravest americans and his new four-legged friend from the battlefield. >> he told me, he said, mom, she slept with me, and i opened my eyes and her nose was on mine. >> just knowing that she was over there with him it was definitely a little piece of home. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition?

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martha: you know what that is, right? that is the streets of new york where crowds are starting to gather for the ticker tape parade for the giants, and everybody is revved up for that. it's supposed to get underway at 11:00 this morning. a huge congratulations they deserve, what a game necessity played.

they'll head over this afternoon, 3:00 this afternoon to the met life stadium over in new jersey where they play. they will be congratulated in a huge event there as well. a big, big day for the giants, and congratulations to them. good thing you were there cheering them on. bill: i think that our viewership out of boston for that parade will be huge. martha: it will be very small. bill: shredding powder in the colorado back country. watch here when gravity sends tons of snow hurdling down. in the middle of all that is a snowboarder. she is lucky to be alive. you will see a specially designed tool that just hit the market, it's an airbag that floats the victim to the top of the snow instead of getting buried alive. the snowboard eris a pro, she is with me now by telephone. good morning to you. how lucky are you? >> i feel pretty lucky to

morning to be talking to you. bill: have you used that airbag before? >> no that was the first day i had ever used it. we just screwed in the compressed air cartridge that morning. bill: you've got to be kidding me. >> i'm not kidding you at all. bill: this is live training that saeufpd your life. >> exactly, yeah. bill: where did you have to reach for that? where was it on your body, was it a button, a lever, what was it. >> it's like when you pull the rip cord on a parachute, it's the right shoulder strap of the backpack, it's a little lever. bill: why did you think you needed that? >> my parents got it for me for christmas after they saw the stuff i did at tailgate, alaska. bill: what happened in alaska? something similar. >> no, no they just think i'm crazy, they think i need all the protection i can get. bill: your parents may not be alone in that, no offense. what was it like sliding down that wall of snow? >> it was as gentle as could be for the circumstance.

i'm just glad i was prepared with the right equipment. i bruce ver bruise very easily an stand here today not bruised or scratched at all. bill: have you been in a avalanche before, have you experienced anything like that. >> i've seen them but never been in one, no. bill: i read you said it was like sliding down a mountain in a mattress. >> like when you're a kid and you ride a mattress on a staircase, it kind of felt like that. bill: avalanche's have been common in that part of colorado, this is vail beaver creek. >> this is the back country right outside of keystone. bill: how often. have you seen avalanches in this snow season? i know the weather has been spotty but you picked up three feet last weekend. >> this is the first one that i witnessed myself. but i've heard all the horror stories this year and i just don't recommend that anyone go out there right now. it's not a good place to be. bill: you're going to bring your airbag next time, aren't you?

>> i'm not leaving home without it, no way. bill: you're probably making your parents very happy hearing that. thank you for your time today. >> i think so. than that you so much. bill: ride well when you're out there next time. thanks. >> oh, i will. martha: i want one of those next year for christmas. you have to wait all year. her parents got it for her for christmas, a good story. all right, well facebook and twitter, just how addictive are these social media outlets? people check them all day long, folks. a surprising new study, millions of people may not be too happy to hear. stick around for that. we'll be right back. hello, how can i deliver world-class service

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bill: this is so well deserved, a soldier getting a very warm welcome. that's cool! quite a celebration for sergeant t.j.homan of new jersey, back from afghanistan, the reunion a bit more special because of this little dog, the sergeant rescued him, abandoned in afghanistan,

just a pup at the time, grown up since then, he later made arrangements to have her shipped back home. >> i couldn't leave her behind. >> the sergeant says her dog brought us from the horrible place where we were and brought us back into happiness. >> martha: that dog is from new jersey. that's good. a warning to any presidential hopefuls who might decide they love to sing in public. check this out. >> at the beginning of the super bowl, you see the celebrities singing "america the beautiful". it started out great with miranda and blake, then -- here, take a look: >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪