>> brian: pit crew says they can change a tire in 13 seconds. let's go! we only have 20 seconds. ♪ >> gretchen: they did it! see you tomorrow! >> brian: they did it! bill: nice. time's up. good morning, everybody. the white house is facing friendly fire from democrats over the, explosive issue of paying for contraception in the new health care rule. >> i tried everything possible. i was on the conference call december the third talking to the white house. strongly opposing the direction i thought they were going and asked them to consider before they did it. they went ahead and invoked the rule and on february the third wrote a letter to the president asking him to repeal it. i thought it was wrong and encroachment on religious freedom and constitution. so marco and i, there are more of us working together on common issues and what we

think than moving forward than just playing politics. this is political. bill: that is a democrat, joe manchin talking that way. that was a number of prominent democrats siding with their faith over the white house. this issue has not gone away. that was marco rubio in the pack ground. martha: i will eventually talk as well. good to see you this morning. morning, everybody. president's supporters say this is women's health care rights but not religious freedom. house speaker john boehner does not agree with that notion. he says this provision will not stand. >> if the president does not reverse the department's attack on reledge just freedom, the congress acting on behalf of the american people and the constitution that we're sworn to uphold and defend must. bill: more on that statement in a moment. there is new poll from rasmussen reports shows 50% of the americans oppose a requirement that runs against their strong religious belief. charlie hurt, a columnist

for "the washington times." where are we on this issue now that the heat is coming significantly from the other side, charlie? >> i think president obama and administration realize it now, a little late they got into a real jam with this the president's most loyal supporters, joe manchin is not necessarily one of them but a lot of other democrats hot are expressing real reservations about this. i mean you have tim kaine, the dnc chair during the whole obamacare fight who is now signaling that he has a real problem with it. and what makes matters even worse for the president and for democrats is a lot of these democrats are coming from crucial states like pennsylvania and ohio, that democrats can't win without them but there are a lot of conservative democrats who are catholic and they take this sort of thing very seriously. and for them to be signaling that they have a really hard time with one of these very first sort of discussions about obamacare, it signals

a rough road ahead on obamacare and even rougher road ahead on the politics of the next seven months. bill: you raise interesting points. it has been reported that obama reaffirmed his position. the president did just this week. do you see him bending? >> i have a hard time seeing him back down at this point, largely if he does, all of the people who support this, who say that this is a vital function to of, health care coverage for women, they are going to be outraged and then he will lose crucial support from his, from his left flank in states that he just can not be have trouble with right now. bill: the boehner speech on the floor of the house, we just heard from him moments ago. it is rare he make as statement this strong. does that make a difference here, charlie? >> i don't know it in of itself make a difference but it does signal to us

republicans see this as a terrific wedge issue and they're going to drive it and drive it hard. we'll be hearing about this pretty much nonstop for the next, until the election. it is going to be used against obama in the presidential election. it will be used against democrats running in states where you have conservative democrats who are catholics. and i think that it could be the sort of thing that, you know, it will not turn the election one way or the other i don't think but it is a nice synopsys for these republicans to attack --. bill: whether it stands or reversed as you point out. thank you, charlie. we'll see where it goes. charlie hurt out of the "washington times" in your bureau in d.c.. >> thank you. martha: a big development in the housing crisis that gripped nation for so long. the feds have announced a record $26 billion settlement with the banks. that will give relief to two million people that lost their homes or owe on their

home more than their home is worth. here is how it will work. roughly a million people will have their mortgage debt reduced or refinanced at a lower rate. another 750,000 people who lost their homes between 08 and 2011? what will they get? they well get a check in the mail for $2,000. we'll see how far that goes. four million americans have been foreclosed upon since the beginning of 2007. let's bring in fox business network stuart varney, anchor of "varney & company". good morning. the big question here is, what happens to those who get the money, who doesn't get the money? what about people who followed the rules and are in trouble anyway? >> you raise the issue of moral hazard. that is at the very center of this settlement. there are a very large group of people current on their mortgage but not underwater but lost a lot of money in the equity on their home. they have been damaged. they get damage nothing. there are two people who will get money.

those people foreclosed on they will get a check in the mail if they're eligible, those people underwater, some of them will have the principle reduced by up to $20,000. that is over a million people there. so here you have this moral hazard. one group of people who have been affected by the housing bubble get nothing. two other groups of people get something. that is moral hazard. there is also the issue of the banks. are they entirely to blame for this because they're the ones who have having to shell out $26 billion. there is the issue of how do you work all of these groups of people through the system? imagine the documentation problem here? and finally, will this help the housing market? will this really help housing prices recover? the answer is probably not. because this undoes the logjam of foreclosures. more foreclosures will come out there. more houses get on the market. possibly housing prices come down some more. lots of issues with this

settlement. martha: we talked about this, stuart in terms of the banks sort of working out these deals directly with their homeowners but this put the government right in the middle of picking winners and losers in this game, right? >> yes, again, that's moral hazard. who get the money and who doesn't? how will those people who do not get the money but have been damaged, how will they feel about those people who did get the money even though they too have been damaged? moral hazard. martha: we tried several times this is one of the biggest packages and deals they brokered. we'll see what it does. stuart coming up moments away on the business channel. we have more breaking news on the economy this morning. unemployment claims fell to a level we haven't seen in four years. first time jobless claims fell by 15,000. the number for the week? 358,000. it was a better number than economists were expecting. it feeds into the good friday number we saw in terms of a trend. weekly jobless claims must stay consistently

below00,000, we're a little ways from that, to show real substantial improvement on the jobs front but it is headed in the right direction. bill: there was a scathing new report confirming the worst fears about detainees in guantanamo bay. both the bush and obama administration releasing or transferring 600 prisoners after they were deemed a quote acceptable threat. house republicans say 150 of the 600 returned to the fight. peter doocy is live in washington. why were these detainees released if they were considered so dangerous, peter? >> reporter: bill, this report chalks it up to the obama administration and obama administration caving into international pressure at home and internationally and desire to release goodwill abroad to release deanees has backfired in a dangerous way. you see it on page 87 of 93-page report, they the potential threat posed by each detainee was assessed

before transfer or release and that the countries that received the detainees had the capacity and willness to hand them in a way to sufficiently involved. the re-engagement rate suggests failures in one or boat aspects of the process. the numbers of that re-engagement rate here are startling because how quickly they are rising. in september 2011, out of 600 detainees whoever left gitmo, 161 are either confirmed or suspected of being engaged in terrorist or insurgent activities. that 27% of be in anybody that ever left dpit mow. that is up from -- gitmo before. bill: who is criticism coming from. >> a lot of detainees were relocated to bermuda and albania you and nonviolently. the ranking democrat adam smith says i continue to believe the detention facility at guantanamo bay,

cuba is a black eye for our nation abroad serving a as powerful recruiting tool for terrorists. something else the democrats point out, if 27% of detainees re-engaged in terror, that means 73% are not. bill. bill: peter, thank you. interesting results. we'll see what members of congress have to say a bit later about this today. peter doocy in washington. thanks. what's coming up, martha? martha: there are dramatic new details in the death of this young college lacrosse player. all of this is pouring out in the trial of her accused killer who was once her boyfriend. what lawyers say happened the night before yardly love was killed. bill: also the air force taking a latin reference to god out of its logo. did they bow to public pressure? one lawmaker asking them to reconsider all these decisions. martha: he is fresh off a three-state sweep. rick santorum is trying to build his momentum. we'll talk to a former rival, minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann about

santorum's claim that he is the best conservative choice for president. >> wow! [cheers and applause] conservatism is alive and well in missouri and minnesota! [cheers and applause] looking good! you lost some weight. you noticed! these clothes are too big, so i'm donating them. how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios... five whole grains, 110 calories.

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martha: we are just learning some disturbing new details coming out of the murder trial of a former college lacrosse player. george huguely is accused of killing his former girlfriend yeardley love in 2010. this is picture of huguely on the left before love's death. he is in the uva lacrosse uniform. there he is on the right-hand side, that's what he looks like now, two years later. prosecutors quoting a e-mail two days before her death, he said i should have killed

you, in the e-mail. prosecutors say he intentionally killed her after they had an argument at her home off campus. the defense is claiming this was an accident. love's former roommate also testified in the early going here, she says she was the one who walked into their home that they shared off campus and she discovered her good friend, love's lifeless body with serious head injuries in their home. bill: it has been 1016 days since the democratic-led that passed a budget. the federal reserve chairman saying that creates uncertainty that harms the economy. republicans senator ron johnson goes one step further. saying it is a national disaster. former new york governor george pataki with me now. governor, good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. bill: the longest stretch ever. that is the way to ron a business. the white house was apparently asked about this yesterday. it has no opinion. what is your opinion. >> the white house is doing what this president has done for a long time, that is

putting his political interests ahead of the nation's interest. i think it is a disgrace. the no only do we not have a budget almost three years by the senate but bernanke himself is saying it is hurting the economy and unsustainable deficits are going to hurt the economy even more going forward. this president wants to run against congress. why doesn't he talk about the fact that he and the senate are avoiding dealing with the most important issue in our country today, that is reforming the tags code and dealing with the deficit? bill: his budget went down -- >> 97-0. he knew that. he knew that. bill: that is wipeout, huh? what do you think democrats are afraid of? >> i think they're afraid of laying out specifics because it is going to take difficult decisions to get our country back to a balanced budget and to economic growth. look what happened when paul ryan and the house republicans passed a budget? obama said we need to put aside politics. we can't demonize people who offer solutions. the house offer as solution.

pass as budget and the president is the first one out there going around the country demonizing it. i think he wants to run against things because he can't run for things. bill: do you think this resonates? are people locked into the issue? >> no. that is one of the sad things the press paid no attention to this. i've seen countless articles how the republican house is obstructionist and this will be the president's strategy. what about the fact that the senate majority, including when they had 60 democratic senators hasn't tried to pass a budget, putting their political interest ahead of the nation's interest. that is wrong. bill: doesn't make sense. you were chief executive here in the empire state in new york. what happened when there was no budget? was that acceptable to you as a governor? >> i had enormous budget battles for 12 years. every time these budget battles occurred my numbers would go down because the special interests would run ads saying he would destroy this or cut that but it is leadership. and at the end you have to put what is right for the

people ahead of your own poll numbers. and i did it. it was a battle but every year we managed to get balanced. there are budgets with surpluses. this senate and president had no opinion. they have an opinion. it is in their political interest to hide until after the election. bill: you mentioned ben bernanke, he said lack of a budget creates uncertainty for businesses. >> absolutely. bill: companies have to have idea what the government will do so they can put together their own plan. that is business 101, is it not? >> small businesses are aware of two things. we have multitrillion dollar deficits that can't be sustained. this president wants to raise taxes on small business owners next year. that is a anchor around the economy. it is one of the reasons we are not creating jobs we need. sure we're limping back but this is the worst recovery in almost 90 years. bill: it is super slow, right. >> too many people need a job. bill: when you think how recessions normally last a year or 18 months, maybe two years or 24 months at the most and we've been locked

in this recovery now for what, 2 1/2 years? and it continues. >> it is a recovery for a handful. still, i remember back when they were passing this fake stimulus, the $787 billion that they borrowed. saying if we do this unemployment will never get above 8%. now the president saying isn't it wonderful, unemployment is down to just a little over 8% years later. that is not recovery. that is not leadership. that is not what america needs. bill: that will be a point to be made during the election season. ron johnson calls it a national scandal. >> i call it a disgrace. look how people every day have to struggle including people don't have a job, underemployed to balance their budget. they have to figure out how they will make ends meet. the senate apparently doesn't. the president has no opinion on that. well, it's wrong. this president should finally show some courage and leadership, even if it means he might do something that the whole country doesn't get behind. bill: see if the opinion changes the white house. thank you, governor george pataki.

great to see you. >> thank you. bill: here is martha. martha: is a story every parent needs to see, a 7-year-old girl. this is so frightening. she was grabbed by a stranger while stroll the aisles with her parents at wal-mart. she fights back. bill: good for her, right? we brought you a story yesterday, amazing dog rescue on a frozen lake in colorado. that dog is a media sensation and he may not like it one bit. why the rescue dog and tv studio can sometimes spell a lot of trouble. martha: oh, boy. jenna shared her recipe with sharon,

who emailed it to emily, who sent it to cindy, who wondered why her soup wasn't quite the same. the recipe's not the recipe... ohhh. [ female announcer ] ...without swanson. the broth cooks trust most when making soup. mmmm! [ female announcer ] the secret is swanson.

bill: want to bring you a follow-up on the misadventures of max. he is an 85-pound argentine mastiff. we showed you yesterday how a firefighter braved his own life in the icy waters to save max from drowning in a

reservoir. max is making headlines again for the wrong reason, this time biting a local tv anchor in the face. it happened live on television in denver. >> okay, you two, you two, thank goodness for you, gosh, have a great weekend. happy valentine's day. >> oh. bill: now max, his owner and firefighter who rescued him appearing on kua in denver. when the anchor got a little too close for comfort. she had surgery. she will be okay. she will be off the air for a couple weeks before she comes back to work. max is now in the custody of denver animal control. they're going to check him out, the mastiff, to see if he is all right. we're told he will be and could be released in the owner 10 days to two weeks. what a reversal of fortune. bill:. martha: she went at him, the dog doesn't know her and probably very excited over all of the events of the past couple days and that

led to that. that looked like it hurt. bill: remember when we showed the rescue yesterday. that ice behind that firefighter froze by the time he could get max out of the water. it was that cold. martha: we hope she feels better soon. what a story. here is another what a story kind of story for you, a brave 7-year-old girl, fights off a man who tried to kidnap her at a wal-mart in georgia and it was all caught on tape. look at this. look at this, moms and dads out there. little girl, and she kicked and he put her down. it is the most awful, bizarre video. he carries her. her name is brittany baxter. she was in the toy aisle at wal-mart. she fought back and did get away. the suspect escaped but thankfully not for long. rick leventhal in the fox newsroom with this story. that is scary one for any parent. >> reporter: absolutely. fortunately a happy ending. this little girl learned at school what to do if a stranger tried to abduct

her. it has to be the most valuable lesson she learned in her young life. see the suspect in the surveillance video in a wal-mart store in west georgia. there he is walking alone apparently stalking the girl but then grabs her. he doesn't hang on for long and as she struggles and frees herself. here is brittany describing her ordeal. >> he grabbed me. i was screaming and kicking and he just dropped me and ran off. just kicking like this. trying to kick as hard as i can. >> reporter: just man, this little girl was in the toy aisle and her mother was nearby and said she couldn't believe someone would try to snatch her child right out of the store, martha. martha: unbelievable. thank god that girl kicked and screamed and yelled as loud as she could. i told my parents and i'm sure lots of parents make a huge, huge fuss to get out of there as you possibly can. what do we know about the guy? >> reporter: police identified the man as thomas

woods. georgia. he is 25-year-old parolee did prison time on voluntary manslaughter charge. he was caught not long after the incident after police got a description of vehicle. woods told reporters he didn't do anything wrong. they are sure he is the one and praise brittany as a brave little girl. >> she is a hero today. i feel this story could have went another way if she hadn't done what she thought. >> reporter: here is one more twist. brittany apparently stayed home from school with strep throat yesterday. she wasn't feeling well but found the strength to fight back. woods was charged with attempted kidnapping. additional charges may be filed. he is in court. martha: looks like her adrenaline kicked in. we're thankful that it did. you hear some stories go the other way as the police officer said. thanks very much. bill: she learn ad good lesson from her parents. good for her. one of the most influential conservative gathering

kicking off in washington, d.c. three of the four major republican candidates will be there to speak. which ones are gathering steam among conservatives? we'll ask michele bachmann about that. she will join us live in moments. >> plus a one-finger protest. this guy i can making his point clearly and simply, but why? ♪ . 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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cannot be offered to residents of new york. bill: new this morning from the middle east, a growing government crackdown in syria. watch here. >> a la akbar. bill: that is amateur video from syria. the massacre continues in the city of homs. unconfirmed of reports of 20 more killed in a brutal government crackdown. dominic dethat tally streams live. what can we report what is happening in syria, dominic? >> reporter: bill, the latest figures we have are 31 people dead. that is coming from an activists in the city who say the government has not given up on its relentless attack against key positions around the city particularly in the southwest of the city. this is from a sunni neighborhood which has been

specifically targeted because it is seen as a hotbed of the opposition that yesterday, 100 people were killed. now since the assault began on saturday, some 500 people are reported dead in the city. we're hearing that the free syrian army, which is some sort of a formal resistance is doing hit-and-run-style guerrilla style attacks not just against government forces but the proxies that are going around not just attack the free syrian army but also the citizens themselves. we're seeing majority of casualties coming out from dissidents and not opposition fighters, bill. bill: dominic, thank you. there is international effort to crank up sanctions against syria. we'll see what the next move is against the regime. dominic di-natale. martha: republican presidential candidates past and present will descend on one of the most influential conservative conferences known as cpac.

which is a conservative action committee. those speeches kick off today. newt gingrich, mitt romney, rick santorum will be speaking today. that comes three days after santorum's three-day sweep. santorum believes his strategy has paid off. >> they're starting to realize that our best chance to win is to have someone who can make barack obama the issue in this race and not someone, you know, who's positions and policies actually mirror president obama on some of the most important issues of the day. bill: former presidential candidate, congresswoman michele bachmann joins me now. she will be speaking at c spak today. -- cpac. good to see you this morning. >> good to talk to you, martha. bill: we've seen a lot of rick santorum. minnesotans like what they see. what is your reaction? you didn't want to. >> this is bad story for barack obama because his policies helped to drive this last election. this is the first social

policy election that we've seen, martha. clearly was a reaction and based upon the president's dramatic overreach, through obamacare to force religious institutions to pay for contraception in violation of their own religious tenets. this is absolutely flawed, unconstitutional and this was a strong reaction. and i think that is part of what we saw in colorado, missouri and minnesota. martha: yeah, i mean when we've been covering the exit polls throughout the early part of this primary process and you ask people the issues they care about, abortion really only the social issue always fell at very bottom. it was jobs, jobs across the board. now you have this issue thrust into the forefront as you say over the course of these last several primaries. a lot of things have been said and written about mitt romney as he heads to cpac. he will speak two hours after rick santorum. a lot of folks feel it is a extremely important speech

for them. he needs to speak the language of conservativism that convinces the crowd that he deserves the position he is in right now. do you think it is that important for him? >> i think audience at cpac is like none other. they represent the heart and soul of our movement. they are reflective of the entire population. so that is why for any candidate who is up on that stage they do need to address the issues. people are still very concerned about the economy and about jobs, about social issues but also national policy. martha: congresswoman, you've been watching these two, rick santorum and mitt romney all along on the trail. you were right up there on the stage with them. who do you think speaks that language of conservatism better, who pus a better job? >> i don't think anyone decided yet on the nominee. i think that is part of the issue because if you look at the pattern on election after election throughout the primary season the voters are shifting. they haven't made a decision.

and so they see that a candidate is making that argument. that it is resonating with their mind but it's not consistent. i think that is why cpac will be a very important proving ground. martha: i understand. there's been a concerted effort many would say over the past several days on mitt romney's part to sort of relate to people in a better way. seems some of the comments he made about firing people and not being concerned about poor people which a lot of people were taken out of context, that they heard him. he made some of these comments recently. one of them had to do with his dad to try to relate to people more closely perhaps. we'll take a look at it and get your thoughts on the other side of it. >> on his honeymoon he put aluminum paint in the trunk of the car and sold it along the way to pay for gas and hotels. there were a lot of reasons why my father could have given up and set his sights a lot lower. my dad believed in america. the america he believed in, a lath and plaster guy could become a head of a car company. a guy who sold aluminum

paint out of his car could be governor in one of the places he sold that very aluminum paint. [cheers and applause] martha: is this a side of mitt romney that we haven't seen so far? >> well, the story that mitt romney gave was one of the american dream. that is what people want to hear. more stories about the american dream. it is the beauty of the united states, the fact that anyone through their own hard work and effort can make it in this country and provide for their family and do better than their parents did. that's the story. this is a good story. this is what we want america to be about. it is why people do anything to come to the united states to live here. this is the story that people want to hear and that is the republican party message. martha: that is story a lot of people have claimed that he has not been able to really tap into in a meaningful way. clearly at cpac he has a huge opportunity to do just that. you know, is it, do the people at cpac, do they want to see someone who they think is electable or they

want to see someone who they think is the strongest conservative? that is one of the biggest questions of this whole progress, congresswoman? >> it isn't either/or, martha. it is both. that is why you see the decision made. people don't want a second term for barack obama on many levels. one of which is foreign policy i'm speaking today of cpac. unfortunately the president has a 63% positive rating on his foreign policy and yet he has been a disaster, far beyond that of jimmy carter. these reasons are why barack obama can't have a second term and electorate needs to be reminded what those reasons are and why we have to band together, and unite. we have to unite as a party but beyond that to win in november. martha: i got your point, congresswoman. thank you so much. we knee you will speak at cpac later today. everybody is watching that with great interest. always great to have you with us. >> thank you, martha. talk to you soon. martha: okay. bill: well this guy doesn't

think too highly of red light cameras, now, does he? traffic camera in denver capturing the image of a driver giving the old one-finger salute to the automatic cameras. he says he a accidental activist. >> i actually drive at the speed limit and saw it and figured this was a chance to register a protest so i decided to flip it off. i hoped it would be clear. it is a little too blurry for me. bill: some folks can't blame him. the system is pointless because any ticket is not enforceable. he has no intention of paying any fine. we're waiting for a comment from police. martha: i'm with him on that. bill: we'll wait for the comment from the judge when he shows up. martha: that will go over really well, right? let's move onto this one now. the us air force, we've been talking about this a bit. they have been heeding the demand after atheist group by removing a reference to god from its logo. it is not sitting all that

well with one republican congressman. he will tell us what he plans to do about that. bill: a staggering number of americans out of work for at least six months at more than five million. that number is going up more than two years. how can lawmakers say the outlook in the economy is turning around? that is our bya. because you asked at home, eric bolling is here to answer it today. [ male announcer ] this was how my day began. a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪

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♪ . martha: there is good news. hello camera. there is good news out there for swimmers and surfers in the united states. shark attacks have been down in the beaches in united states. the bad news. attacks are up across the other parts of the world. you're better off surfing at

home is the message here. south america and australia had 12 attacks. florida led the place for shark attacks. 11 of 29 happened there. thankfully none of them were fatal. there is the guy plowing through them there. the university of florida studies these things. bill: we say god on our money and pledge of allegiance. what is wrong with a patch from the air force? plenty with an atheist group. they asked the air force to move any. now says doing miracles with other people's money. congressman randy forbes has a problem with this he is a monk a group of republican lawmakers trying to get the air force to reconsider. thank you for your time. >> good morning, bill. bill: you have had strong language on this patch on screen now. you warned about a dangerous precedent. how so? >> well, bill, it is not just me and not just

republican members. i represent the congressional prayer caucus, about 10 members of congress, -- 103 members of congress, republicans and democrats. this is the first time the air force said the very word god even when it doesn't reference a deity has to be banned from a legal precedent across the air force. which basically means with our national motto in god we trust the air force is saying we couldn't use our national motto in the air force today. bill: so you're implying that all references to god could be taken out? by the u.s. military? or is that a stretch? >> bill, i'm not just implying i'm telling you what the air force told us. what they had with the patch, they had this patch since 2003. the patch didn't even refer to a deity. it referred to their generals as a reference from god. one atheist group objected to it. the air force came back and confirmed to us, from a legal basis that they had to take god out because of the word. if they would have to take it out in this situation, they would have to take it

out in every situation. but bill, it also overlaps decisions they have had in the last two years where they banned any kind of ethics courses that have biblical references. they banned commanders from telling men and women who serve under them there are programs that could help them in the chap plain as office. as you remember a short few months ago they ban ad cadet sending out e-mail that requesting people help with a charity to get toys for children for christmas because it had a faith component with that. this is troubling. bill: where do you believe it is coming from, sir? >> we know where it is coming from. there is small group of people in the united states, anti-faith groups, they have declared war on faith and religious liberty and freedom from across the country. bill: the air force doesn't have to listen to them, does it? >> unfortunately they have been capitulating to them and administration has been. not just the air force. as you know the last couple weeks the army even sensored or banned their chaplains talking about the hhs ruling

regarding contraceptives and going to the fundamental core of some religious beliefs. in addition to that the federal reserve last year tried to get a private bank to remove merry christmas from the bank they had in there for years. what we see a capitulation to a small group of people in an attempt to not trample on their desires, we're literally trampling on the constitutional rights of vast majority of americans. bill: you read a letter to the air force. have you heard back? >> they have not contacted us. the facts we got from confirmation by talking to the air force directly. they have confirmed the facts that we've said but we haven't gotten any response to our letter yet. bill: does that surprise you? >> doesn't surprise me. i think ultimately biel get those responses whether we have to get them in hearings or wherever else we have to get them. but we're not going to just step back and let these first amendment rights, the religious freedom, and religious liberty issues be trampled on by the services the way they seem to be doing recently. bill: i want to let our viewers know, you introduced

a piece of legislation i should say to get the national motto to read in god we trust that was what you did just recently. no atheists in a foxhole, sir. we'll see whether or not you get an answer from the air force whether or not that is acceptable. randy forbes, republican out of virginia. thank you for your time today. >> thank you, bill. bill: martha? martha: it is a school where you can get a morning-after pill just by popping money into a vending machine on a saturday or sunday morning and that has a lot of folks asking what is up with that? we went up there to see what the students are saying about this whole mess. bill: also if you win the super bowl you get a big tickertape parade in new york city. but not if you return from the wars in iraq or afghanistan. now the latest on the fight to bring back a celebration like the one you see here. ♪ . [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition?

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bill: about 52 minutes past the hour now. reality tv producer back in mexico to face murder charges. press escorting bruce beresford redman to cancun. he is accused of murdering his wife on vacation a year ago. investigations on all airbus a380 aircraft. there were concerns over cracks in the wing in australia. prince harry is going back to afghanistan completing training with an apache attack helicopter crew. the defense ministry confirmed harry could be deployed within a year's time. as a gunner. >> both brothers are flying helicopters. all right. and we have a follow-up story for you now on that

controversial issue that we talked about yesterday. a college in pittsburgh where students can buy the morning-after pill by popping money into a vending machine and having it come out. we'll tell you what happened when we traveled up to that school to see what the students really think about all this. anna kooiman is in our new york newsroom. anna, what did you find out up there. >> reporter: we talked to a lot of students and getting a mixed reaction from ship pensburg university. here is what some of them had to say. >> i'm a very pro-life person. for me i think that, kind of blows my mind. i'm not a fan. i don't think it is that acceptable for people to just fix their mistakes at the tip of their fingers. if you're going to be doing things you need to be responsible for your actions. >> we're all adults here. i feel like we should be able to make our own choices and, i mean, people run into things every day, that things happen. >> reporter: plan b is legally available without a prescription to anyone 17

and older but must be kept behind a pharmacy counter. the school says plan b is located only in one vending machine inside the student health center at a cost of $25. it is not included, martha, in the normal $150 student health fee. martha: obviously opponents have concerns about all of this, anna? >> reporter: they do. critics concerned that easy access to the morning-after pill in the vending machines will promote a more promiscuous environment. the school is saying that they are not encouraging anyone to be sexually active that is decision he or she makes on their own. they're encouraging all students mike wise and appropriate decisions in all aspects of their lives. health professionals are urging women not to use the morning after pill as a regular form of birth control. fox's manny alvarez says increased levels of he is throw again can be associated with increased breast cancer, and blood

clots. martha: thank you, anna kooiman, with that story comes out of the shippensburg college, out of dutch country. bill: people depending on the government just to get by, day-to-day living this is. see the reason behind the shocking numbers. we'll have that for you. martha: the fight over the obama's administration's contraception policy continues to heat up. it is a huge story this week. it is pitting democrats against democrats in the latest chapter and women against women as well. republican senator kelly ayacht is here to address that. >> this is not a women's right issue. this is religious liberty issue and can apply to all faiths. wind howling ] [ technician ] are you busy? management jt sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese.

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right? the heritage foundation finds one out of every five americans, 67 million people, get some type of money from the government. that is how we start a brand new hour of "america's newsroom" on that cheery note. good morning, everybody, i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. good morning. the dependency on uncle sam, a staggering 23% since 2008 just before the president took office. that is things like housing, welfare, health care and retirement. based on that number, it continues to go up, martha. martha: of course you, the taxpayer pick up that tab. eric bolling is the host of fox business network's "follow the money" and "the five." joins us with his whiteboard. >> i have the whiteboard. martha: this heritage foundation studsy astonishing. >> it is huge. martha: scary part year after year, people are depending more and more and more on checks from the government. what is going on? >> more people getting more money, using more taxpayer dollars. here's the problem.

when you can literally live off the fat of the land and make $32,700 on average, 67 million people doing that, that means $2.5 trillion coming out of the system of the takers. the makers, who are about 50% of the population, only bring home 32,448. so for the first time ever, if you don't work, and you live on government subsidies, you actually on average bring home more than people who are working. >> not only that, so the makers, as you call them on the left-hand side of your whiteboard there, they're going to work every day, making money, paying their federal taxes. so they can pay for those people? >> the problem is, martha, comes out according to the heritage foundation study, 49.5% of these people american householding don't pay any federal income tax. they pay other kind of taxes. federal income tax where a lot of subsidies come from, a lot of programs come from. when that number flips over to 50, or 51 or 52%. those people will be in the majority so they can vote in

lawmakers that make sure that system continues to work. why wouldn't they? martha: that being said, there are definitely people in that category who don't want to be in that category. >> absolutely. >> like to get a job and hard-working contributors to american society. of course everybody respects that but it raises the question when you look at it, there are some people out there who are, you know, like, gee, i can stay home and make that money and get a paycheck from the government every week or go in and make the same amount of money. why would i want to do that? >> not only that, big issue in the tri-state area, talked about little earlier, there are certain states in connecticut, new york, certain circumstances you can actually make more money than working and stay home and not pay child care, not pay parking when you go to work. the system is rigged so that we are pushing more people --. martha: have a job on the side, right? >> we're pushing more people from the maker side of the equation over to the takers. it can't be this way. it can't be that you can rely on government to help you out to the extent that you exceed the, by the way

this is average american household disposable income, disposable income. so, it is a scary number and getting worse and something that to kang there. $2.5 trillion. can i put this very quickly? martha: yeah. >> $2.5 trillion we're spending on this side of the equation is more than we take in all of tax revenue. so our tax revenue year to year is $2.3 trillion, right? this past year. martha: we're not even making enough money to cover that section of the society? >> not covering this. forget the rest of the service that is the government provides including defense. martha: curious. send me a beat@martha maccallum. love to get your thoughts. see you on "the five", buddy. bill: closer look from the study the heritage foundation found this, eric mentioned this, those who depend on assistance from the federal government receive average of 33 grand of benefits overall. roughly 70% of uncle sam's budget goes to individual assistance programs. the survey found 50% of the

americans do not pay any federal income tax. martha? martha: that is what eric was talking about. new this morning on the economy front, the number of americans filing for new jobless benefits dropped by 15,000 last week. so that a good number. the labor department reporting seasonally adjusted of 358,000 people in america walked into the unemployment office for the very first time to file a claim. that number continues to move down. it needs to be under 300,000 though to see real genuine job growth in that. let's talk about that and also this new pew survey that find 41% believe young workers are taking the biggest hit from this recession. compare that to 29% who point to those hot are middle-aged and just 24% for seniors who is taking the biggest hit, young people across the board. bill: there is a significant gathering about to begin in washington, d.c. at this hour. the race for the republican presidential nomination often coming down to a debate offer who is the most

conservative candidate. many of the conservative movement's biggest names are in washington ton for the cpac conference. former candidate michele bachmann will take the podium in a moment. she told martha last hour why that is an important forum for those still in this race. >> if you look at the pattern, on election after election throughout the primary season the voters are shifting. they haven't made a decision and so they see that a candidate is making that argument, that's resonating with their mind but it's not consistent. i think that's why cpac will be a very important proving ground. bill: doug mckelway is live in d.c. what is happening this morning, doug. good morning? >> things are getting underway here, bill. we had our first speaker of the day. it was senator and tea party favorite jim demint of south carolina. there has been a lot of speculation in recent weeks how the tea party lost a little bit of momentum since its heyday of the protests

outside the capitol during the president's health care plan. this gathering serves to rekindle some of the tea party's momentum. here are the remarks. >> we're here to get our batteries charged before this big election. this is the huddle of the conservative movement for the 2012 elections. this is where our ideas and our energy, our enthusiasm, our encouragement, we walk out of here reminded of what keeps us going, reminded of what make this is country great and ready to take the battle to the other side. >> reporter: also this morning we're going be hearing from up-and-coming rising star in conservative circles, senator marco rubio of florida. also senator mike lee of utah. senator ron johnson and representative jim jordan as well. a primary point here that they're going to be hammering home today is the tea party. in fact one of the panel discussions this morning is entitled, it's the spending stupid.

why is it so hard to cut a trillion dollars, bill? bill: doug, thank you. with the results on tuesday night as they were in minnesota, missouri and colorado, we'll see whether or not that adds some added drama today beginning this morning. thanks, doug mckelway. martha: we're getting a lot of drama this morning and attention as well. the white house giving 10 states a waiver on president bush's no child left behind program. critic its are up in arms about this since the president went around congress to do this. senior white house correspondent wendell goler has the latest on this decision. wendell, why is this getting so much attention this morning? >> reporter: martha, this is really a recognition that few states are likely to meet the 2014 deadline and the answer is probably not simply declare the schools to be failures. the president signaled he was headed this route in one of the weekly internet addresses a few weeks ago. addressed a back to school address from the east room last september. the president said goals of no child, accountability, closing achievement gap,

were admirable but in its implementation the no child left behind has flaws that are hurting children instead of helping them. >> teachers too often are being forced to teach to the test. subjects like history and science have been squeezed out. and in order to avoid having their schools labeled as failures, some states perversely actually had to lower their standards in a race to the bottom, instead of a race to the top. >> reporter: states that get waivers will still have to set performance goals for their kids but poorly-performing schools won't be closed which is the most extreme remedy in the no child left behind law, martha. martha: a lot of controversy about that. which states will get the waivers? some are asking why not just change the law? why not amend it to make the changes he discusses? >> reporter: eventually most states will likely get waivers from the no child left behind law. we've got a map for you. the first 10 states to

receive waivers are colorado, florida, georgia, indiana, kentucky, massachusetts, minnesota, new jersey, oklahoma and tennessee. new mexico working now to get a waiver as well. no child was george w. bush's signature domestic achievement and was passed with widespread bipartisan support but in recent years there has been very little bipartisan agreement how to update or improve the law. republicans in the house passed a bill the democrats say has no chance in the senate. 28 other states have indicated they will seek waivers from the no child left behind law. so as i say, eventually most states will be probably away from this law. interestingly california, pennsylvania and texas, three of the most populace states, have not indicated they will seek waivers. martha? martha: very interesting. it highlighted exactly how weak some of our schools were and how weak some of our students were performing. that is a situation that needs some attention. thank you very much, wendell goler at the white house. bill: critics call it an

attack on faith. supporters say it insures a basic right. now even some democrats are pushing back against the white house and contraception. could that help republicans reverse it? it is a hot topic on the campaign trail as you can imagine. >> the bottom line 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. martha: republican presidential contenders like san tore rum vie for support from the religious right but how much will courting the faithful shape the race of this white house? we're going to talk about that. bill: new york city rolled out the red carpet for the giants with a parade after the super bowl but nothing for our troops coming home from iraq. could that change and should it? is now the time? ♪ . that's good morning, veggie style.

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bill: a biggie rupgs from one of the largest volcanos over

italy. spewing ash over the island of sicly. can't fly that stuff with the soot in the air. airport is shut down. eruptions could last like this for days. it's cool if you're far enough away from it. martha: some democratic lawmakers are fighting back against calls to reverse a contraception mandate from president obama's healthcare law. several seem ale senators are saying that they will take this one, they will fight tooth and nail to make sure that women can get, as they say the healthcare that they need. >> we will use every legislative tool at our disposal to protect the women of america. we've done it before, we will do it again. >> we have news for republicans, this is about contraception. and if they think it isn't we'd love them to hear the women whose access to contraception is on the line. martha: barbara boxer and patti

murray outspoken on that. kelly ott joins me, she is one of the republicans who is promising to reverse this policy. as new hampshire attorney general she argued against planned parenthood before the supreme court on a somewhat related issue. good to have you here with me. >> great to be with you. martha: there is some discussion that the white house is considering amending its take on this. i think everybody is aware of what we're talking about here. this is a mandate that would insist that catholic institutions, like universities and hospitals and charities would not -- would have to offer healthcare to their employees that would include contraception. that has the catholic church and others very up in arms. >> i think it's very important, martha, to understand that this is not about a particular issue or women's rights or contraception. this is respect for the right of conscience that has been enshrined in our law and in the

first amendment of the constitution and for this organization to provide faith-based organizations to provide coverage against their core beliefs really affects our rights to religious liberty. that's what this debate is about. it's so important. if you go back in our law in 1993 bill clinton signed a law that this in my view violates the religious freedom restoration act. this has been bipartisan protection for religious free freedom in the past. martha: as archbishop dolan has said. he said we've fought for religious freedoms since 1776 in this country. he says you can't ask a catholic institution not to be catholic when it comes to how they mete out their health insurance. the other side of it is that there are a lot of women out

there who want to have contraception as part of their healthcare insurance, and democrats, i think, and some republicans and some democrats believe that this is a hot, political issue and it is one that conservatives may lose. >> well this is about faith-based organizations. there was a recent supreme court decision, 9-0 our supreme court held that faith-based organizations can hire even within their own religion pwaugs of the importance of the first amendment. in government is going to over reach and force faith-based organizations to do things that are contrary to their religion that goes to the fundamentals of who we are. martha: you know that's now who it will be played from the other side. they'll say it's very much about having your contraception taken away. as it's been said at the white house by jay carney, they are going to do whatever it takes to protect the rights of women to get the healthcare that they need. that's the way they are going to go at it. >> they are absolutely wrong.

they are the ones changing the status quo. they are the ones changing long-standing protections to the rights of conscience for faith-based organizations who do tremendous things in this country, who serve all types of people who are in need. and this is absolutely wrong. martha: you have supported mitt romney, and the take with regard to him on this is that he supported a very similar plan, in terms of how his healthcare plan in massachusetts dealt with catholic institutions on this issue. is he vulnerable on that issue? >> well, you know, the administration is pushing this. and it's false, because mitt romney as he became governor it was already the law in massachusetts. he in fact worked to try to overturn it with a democrat legislature he wasn't successful. he didn't agree with the law but it was the law as he took it when he became governor and he tried to overturn it. martha: kelly ayotte always good to talk to you. thank you very much for being here. we'll see what happens with the

white house on this issue. bill: breaking news from washington. the attorney general eric holder talking about a deal that has been reached. officials announcing a deal between the states and the nation's biggest lenders with regard to foreclosures. a nationwide settlement stems from abuses that occurred during the housing bubble and when it burst. a lot of companies they allege forced the process of foreclosure by failing to verify documents. and the allegations that some employees signed papers they had not read or used fake signatures to speed the process, that is an action known as robo signing. a deal has been reached with the states that were bringing the suit. the average number of weeks a person is filing for unemployment doubling over the last 2 years. the national unemployment rate still dropping. how does that work? it's a head scratcher, because you asked, steven moore is on that with an answer.

martha: the united states military is about to make a very big change. it has to do with combat and what it may mean for these women. [ gargling ] oo-ay-ow. savings. savings. savings? progressive was the first to offer online quoting. you can do better. first to show comparison rates.

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martha: 23 minutes past the hour. a new study suggests that alzheimer's patients benefits from dousing the brain with mild electricity. people playing a video game seem to do better after a boost of electrodes deep inside their brains. apple is planning to unveil the new ipad 3. san francisco, it will happen

next month. it is the newest version of the wildly popular ipad. as much as ten feet accumulated, a lot of snow in japan. everyone has snow but the united states. bill: 15,000 fewer americans filed for jobless benefits last week. total for the week, first time filers 358,000. that brings us to bya, because you asked. john barnes writes please explain to me how the u.s. can lose more than 300 jobs each week during january, add only 250,000 jobs and the unemployment rate goes down 2 points. or 2 1/0th of a point we should say. steven more join moore joins

us. >> i wish i had a dime every time someone asked me that question next week. this is going viral on the internet. they are wondering are they cooking the books at the labor department to make the unemployment numbers look better? to some extent they are, bill. the explanation for how you could actually have fewer jobs but the unemployment rate fall is because when they do this survey, the way we come up with the unemployment number is they call people on the phone, and they say, are you in the labor force? are you looking for a job, or are you employed? if you say you're not looking for a job, then you're not considered under employment. and what's happened, bill, over the last year or so, especially in the last couple of months is actually the labor force has been declining because people are dropping out of the labor force. that explains not much job growth but a reduction in the unemployment rate. bill: are you saying we're just guessing on this number? how accurate is the phone survey? >> you know, the phone survey is pretty accurate. the problem is, bill, what we

look at the "wall street journal," and maybe the most important statistic is what we call the labor force participation rate. that is, bill, how many people who are working age each month are actually working. if you look at that statistic we've seen a steady decline in that over the last two or three years. 64% of the people are working today where as it used to be 66 or 67%. that may not seem like a big difference but that is the difference of about 3 million jobs. bill: that is significant. to your point also the length of unemployment is staggering. this is what we've found. if you've been out of work more than 6 months it was 6.9 million persons. today it's almost double. it's 5.51 million. if you lose your job it takes you a lot longer time to go back into the workforce to find one. >> i think there are two factors here. by the way i agree with you, bill, that is the most troubling statistic of all that people are out of work for so long. it's one thing to be out of work

for three or four months. it's another to be out of work for two years. you're right about that. we've seen a big increase in what we call the long-term unemployed, about 40% of people who are unemployed have been out of work for more than 6 months, bill. and i do believe that this ties in with the whole unemployment insurance issue which congress is debating right now, as you know. a lot of republicans, and i believe this to be true, that when you pay people to stay unemployed they are not going to start looking for a job until the unemployment benefits run out. the statistics clear about this. we are giving people now 99 weeks of unemployment insurance checks. bill: jobs getting better? as somebody told me we've gone from terrible to awful and it feels great? >> that number that you just cited that is a good number. the unemployment insurance number fell below the level we need to get the unemployment rate fall. we might see another unemployment rate fall in february, which would be great

news. we all want this job market to pick up. but one last statistic bill. we are still 5 million jobs short of where we were in seven. we've got to create a 0 lot of jobs over the next few months to pick up. bill: let's get after it. steven moore, thank you, "wall street journal." to our people at home you have a question, hemmer@foxnews.com. martha: he's the man with all the numbers, that steve moore. bill: boom, boom, boom, where does he get there. martha: a celebration 20 years ago from troops coming home from the middle east. do you remember that moment? should we do this again today? that's the big question out there. the fight to honor or troops. bill: nasa plan that could make a space taxi a reality. ♪ [singing]

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martha: women may be moving a bit closer to the front lines of combat. the new rules that have been sugsd by the pentagon would not affect a ban on women serving in infantry, armor or special forces. they would be weubl to serve in other forces on the battalion levels. steve centanni joins us live. steve, why the need for this change. >> reporter: an estimated

250,000 women have served in iraq and afghanistan and many of them served on or near the front lines inch spite of the ban of woman in combat. 150 have been killed because of combat operations. the military is getting ready to formalize their role and allow women to receive credit for career advancement when they perform dangerous jobs. they will open up 14,000 jobs that were previously closed to women. she's include medics, intelligence operatives, communication specialists and police officers. many in the military community applaud the move. >> clearly this is a step in the right direction. what these new rules do is essentially make official what women in iraq and afghanistan have been doing for the last decade. that is serve in close combat units in noninfantry roles. this is long over do. i think the new rules recognize the sacrifices that women have

made. >> reporter: the new policy will mostly affect the army and the marine corps. the navy and the air force already allow a wider raining of jobs that women can fulfill. martha: 150 lost their lives in these wars. what is the response from the women in the military about this? >> reporter: one group, the servicewomen's action network says it's a big move forward but doesn't go far enough. it doesn't live that ban on women serving in the inch fan tree, in the armored divisions. this is where most of the opportunities for advancement in the million tear rear found. they say it's time the military leadership establish the same level playing field to qualify the women to enter the infantry, special forces and all male units. it is unamerican to prohibit women the equal opportunity to abg cell and serve their nations at the highest level. there are other arguments that woeupl are not as combat capable

as men. but they say more research needs to be done. martha: thank you very much. steve centanni in washington. bill: a little bit of perspective. women's progress in the military now. in 194 1948 congress made woman a part of the military service. they made up lens 1% in 1973. by september of 2011 ladies accounted for 14.5% of active duty personnel, quite a change. president obama nominating air force lieutenant janet wolfe nba rger to become a general. for the promotion to go through the senate has to confirm her first, pending that. martha: religion now seems to be dominating the conversation on the campaign trail, from the

contraception battle to the personal beliefs of the candidates. here is rick santorum in a prayerful moment. >> the man plans his way but the lord directs his steps. we pray you direct rick's steps as he campaigns for president. that you would take care of his family and protect them, that you would keep bella safe. >> in my church we don't have a professional ministry. people are asked to serve as the minister or pastor of their congregation from time to time, and i had that privilege for over ten years. in that capacity i had the chance to work with people who lost their jobs n some cases or were facing other financial distress, losing their homes. martha: christopher hahn is a former aid to charles schumer and a fox news contributor. gretchen ham ellis the spokeswoman for the republican conference. good to have you here. we've been saying nonstop that

this election was all about jobs and the economy. that was going to be the main topic, and boy for anybody who sort of got dropped into the middle of this race this week, gretchen it seems to be about something very different from that right now. >> it does seem to be about something very different from jobs and the economy. we've been talking about religious issues. if you look at it at a bigger picture we are talking about government and its roles in our lives and the role in business. [. [no audio] kwroe ]no. martha: it seems to be tapping into a common thread here. >> i think it's a pivot, because they are having less impact with their jobs message right now. the economy is starting to improve and the trend line is pointing up and they can't go to war on that. they are going some wedge issues. jesus said in matthew you cannot serve both god and money and the republican party serves money first and god second.

they do not do unto the least of them as they would do unto christ. they do not care for the sick and poor among us. that is their biggest problem when they talk about the gospel. rick santorum particularly has seized on one very small aspect of the catholic church's teachings at the expect of everything else in the bible and it makes me as a christian offended. martha: some might say if you want to quote the bible, to whom much is given much is expected, and that should apply to the government as well. >> he said that the republicans are pivoting on this issue. they didn't bring -- the obama administration picked this fight and basically made a miscalculation on the reaction that would come from this. they are telling religious institution has they have to subsidize something that they are against. this is not about a republican or democratic issue, this is about our constitution, our right as americans and how government is intervening in our

lives. martha: yeah, you know, i mean it's really interesting to see the kind of reaction. we looked at that video of rick santorum surrounded by people in texas, and they are laying hands-on each other and praying for him in this election. >> right. martha: that is not an image that i remember having seen in the past in presidential elections. mitt romney is struggling, some would say, to make sure that his personal story is told e. wants people to understand that he was a minister. for a while we didn't hear much about his more money faith a morm orbg n faith aon faith. he talks about the work he did with poor people, people that were unemployed in a way we frankly have not heard from him in the past, chris. >> you know, martha, maybe we haven't seen the images like the one we saw of santorum there, because we read the book of matthew, be careful not to make

a show among men. can think of nothing more showee than taking religion as a candidate and inserting it into this. this is why you don't see this. ronald reagan never wore his faith on his sleeve. martha: people can elect him or not elect him, chris, but that's who he is. he's simply being true to who he is, okay. you can like him, not like him, whatever, i don't think that anyone can say that in that particular moment he was -- i don't know -- gretchen what do you think. >> the reason we haven't seen this before is we haven't had the technology that allows us to see this. you talk about bush, bush used to pray all the time. the big story about brush praying before staff members. i worked for someone on capital hill who prayed before staff meetings all the time. they have been a part of

elections. they have been a part of our conversation here, about religion and the role in our nation. martha: chris, quick then we've got to go. >> i don't know if the president picked this fight to help rick santorum, because what has happened this week is rick santorum got a boost out of this. and if the republicans nominate rick santorum, the man who was the biggest loser in the history of senate incumbents in a pennsylvania swing state the republicans are in big, big trouble. >> he didn't pick it to help rick santorum but he did -- [no audio] martha: it's a hot topic. we could go on for a longtime on this one. thanks, guys. and we will. bill: a concrete canyon filled with heros, a celebration for our troops in uniform. look at this. the fight to bring back classic scenes like this one after the second world war also --

[laughter] bill: that is a moment that no one really expected. >> medic please. that right now, you want to know where you are, and where you'd like to be. we know you'd like to see the same information your advisor does so you can get a deeper understanding of what's going on with your portfolio. we know all this because we asked you, and what we heard helped us create pnc wealth insight, a smarter way to work with your pnc advisor, so you can make better decisions and live achievement.

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

i'm a risk-taker. [ female announcer ] only flood insurance covers floods. visit floodsmart.gov/risk to learn your risk. bill: the big apple held a big bash to welcome home the super bowl champions. new york is hesitant to do the same for our tops coming home from iraq. that is supposedly because of uneasiness by the pentagon. there is a new call to do just that. how are you, sir? >> good morning. bill: make your best case why we should have the parade now. >> first and foremost i remember

returning to combat after liberating kuwait i had the honor and privilege of marching in a parade. it was an unbelievable experience, one i will treasure the rest of my life. our heros, returning from harm's way deserve that and so much more. i know that all the veterans returning to staten island and brooklyn in my district i want to be there waving a flag and cheering them on. bill: i don't disagree with you at all. in fact i'd join you for parades like that. listen, you still have marines, army shoulders, members of the military in harm's way. be it in iraq, but also in afghanistan. what would you say to that. >> i would say it's a valid argument and one we can't ignore. let's really analyze this. what we are saying is everyone wants to do the right thing. that is the message our troops need to hear. yes we need to workout the

logistics and timing, there is no question that eventually there is going to be a welcome home parade for our heros, these are heros among heros. they are absolutely valid in saying that some of those that would be eligible to march that served in iraq can't march because they are now serving again in harm's way in afghanistan. very valid argument. we need to work through that. the message is we want to hold a pa parade for all of our troops who are heros. bill: you want this to happen now? >> you know, for the same exact reasons. obviously i want to have a parade. i'd like to have two if we can. i certainly understand that there are a lot of parents, a lot of spouses at home, a lot of children that don't have their moms and dads that served in iraq that are now in afghanistan and they may feel like they should be there. it's very compelling, this is not an easy thing, but again the argument and the debate is about doing the right thing overall for all our troops and that's what i'm supporting. bill: paul rykoff works with the

veteran's association. he tweeted the following. i'm as big a tp-pb a fan as they come. and not the nation's military. if that does happen what does it say about our society and our priorities. he is pushing this in a big way and you may get your wish. why are others saying that the pentagon is resistant on this and the white house is resistant on this. >> again, i think it's out of respect. it's not for the wrong reasons, it's for the right reasons. i think it's a respect issue to say if we're going to hold a parade for those that served in iraq, and rightfully so, nobody debates that, they absolutely deserve a parade, but many of them are still in afghanistan and won't be able to be here to march in that parade. that is the issue. the issue is if we can't do it for all, should we not wait until we can do it for all and i think that is a valid argument. bill: the effort is gaining momentum. we'll see how far it goes. michael grimm.

>> i want to see two parades. bill: thank you for your time on the hill. martha: let's head down to the newsroom and find out from jenna lee what is coming up next at the top of the hour on "happening now." jenna: this is a big story today, religious freedom becoming a major campaign issue at this hour. we have chris wallace, amy stoddard weighing in on all of this. the u.s. killed a major militant tied to al-qaida. [no audio] martha: a new race to space, while heading to the heavens could be pretty much like sticking your finger out to hail a taxicab here in new york city, hello. bill: while you're watching your screen they are watching you.

why walking and texting at the same time to get you a hefty find. martha: probably not a good idea. bill: don't do it. [ 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.

bill: i feel like we should be going over the brooklyn bridge right now. nasa is working on a space taxi. it plans to give 3 to $500 million to two companies to develop a new program. boeing hoping to be one of the lucky pair to research and develop a new castl capsule that would take people to the

space station. corey powell is with us. what is a space taxi. >> it's a way to get into space, it's not something that nasa is building, it's something that nasa is hitching a ride on. instead of giving money to the russians to ride on one of their rockets, nasa basically tells a bunch of private companies, here is what we need to do, build something and we'll pay a fair. bill: they are giving them the vision and contracting the work to folks like boeing or those who win the contract. >> exactly. for 250 years nasa had one way of doing business. we got a bunch of smart guys, we have the plans, build it. bill: you say this is a milestone? >> yes, now they are switching to a different plan. i stead of this is what would he want build it. it's here is what we want to do, tell us how to do it. bill: costs would be what? >> the amount of money you're talking about 300 million to $500 million a year over the next few years to get this program jump started. by nasa standards that is a

small amount of money. the space shuttle program way was doing a lot of the same things was costing close to about ten times that much at the end. the idea is, let these companies compete, let them do it by commercial standards, which can be cheaper than government standards and potentially save a lot of money, be able tow do more exploration. bill: why do they call it a taxi? >> i don't know, maybe the new york mentality has finally infiltrated washington d.c. the big idea is the private companies really own it. the private companies, you know, they can offer rides to nass a but they can offer rides to anybody who wants to hitch a ride there. this is not a nasa-owned rocket that just lives on a nasa launch pad. this is a private thing, like a taxicab that nasa can hail a ride, or boeing could say, if you're a space tourist and you want to go up, a private explorer and you want to go up. bill: how far away do you think the is. >> they have a pretty set

program right now. they want design proposals in 2014, first launches by 2017. it's not that far off. bill: keep in mind we're hitching a ride with the russians for five years at a minimum since the shuttle was retired. >> you're learning how to talk in russian. bill: make sure you tip your guy on the way. thank you. martha: we are learning more about the rocky relationship between a former college hro lacrosse player. what one former roommate said she witnessed, coming up.

martha: there was unexpected drama on "american idol." check this out. [laughter] >> medic please. >> o