>> but wait until you hear his attack on the elite media. a full recap of last night's debate moments away. >> yes. and we got more to the show than just the debate. you how is this for extra baggage? a flight attendant caught with a little extra in her carry-on. we're talking booze and police say she was indeed thirsty. "fox & friends" starts just about now. >> hi, everybody. welcome to studio e. man, it was the 20th debate in mesa and it was kind of a messa. i saw one blogo sphere writer say, rick santorum need a big night and he didn't get it. >> why is ron paul only attacking two of the candidates and not mitt romney? is there some sort of a secret deal going on there? i thought that was fascinating. he, by the way, called rick

santorum a fake. we'll analyze that a little bit later on. and did newt gingrich have any sort a comeback? was it enough to put him back? he seemed to be above the fray in not criticizing people and talking about polls. is that what people want to hear? >> here's for the first time, we saw another frontrunner come in and have to defend himself and stay on top of the mountain and he really just like mitt romney, just like newt gingrich had trouble staying there. he had to defend his 16 years of his congressional record which can be tough even in the best voting record but i think rick santorum in his answers got himself in trouble and just as he got done with the left, mitt romney, he got hit by the right. ron paul. newt gingrich stayed above the fray where they can have it. one of the topics of discussion, rick santorum and his votes and being the frontrunner, let's listen to some of the exchanges. >> well, i'm looking at a historic record which voting for raising the debt ceiling five different times without voting

for compensating cuts, voting to keep in place davis bacon that costs $100 billion over 10 years, a whole series of votes. voting to fund planned parenthood and expand the department of education during his term in the senate. spending grew by 80% in the federal government. >> congressman paul, you've questioned the conservative, fiscal conservative credentials of all these gentlemen but particularly this week, senator santorum have a new television ad that labels him a fake. why? >> because he's a fake! >> >> i'm real. i'm real. thank you. >> why was it that ron paul appeared to be mitt romney's wing man? there's a couple of stories. on the daily caller, they suggest, perhaps, rand paul might be being considered to be vice president for mitt romney. the other one suggested that even ron paul might wind up being mitt romney's running mate. that was made by the santorum camp, that allegation. >> what about chris paul somehow? >> or mrs. paul? >> yeah. >> who knows?

but the idea that there might be some sort of an alliance here in the last couple of days, ron paul has admitted that the two camps discussed whether or not they're going to do the debates and then rand paul went on a radio show and said that he would be open -- open to being considered for v.p. that's the first time i've heard someone considering rand paul for v.p. >> it would be an honor, he said. on the national review, what they suggest is maybe what's at play there is the fact that dr. paul has served with both newt gingrich and rick santorum in the congress. and they simply did not live up to his world view. he hasn't served with mitt romney at this point. >> yeah, but he's so far away from the foreign policy thoughts of mitt romney, you would think that he would criticize mitt romney on at least foreign policy. none of those three agree with ron paul on foreign policy and he doesn't agree with them. >> not many people in the libertarian movement agree with ron paul and the foreign policy.

to ron paul's credit, he does not budge. let's talk about what's at stake. rick santorum's momentum was at stake. his surge was at stake and he had to justify his record in a way in which he's had no problems in the past. you answered this for yourself. let's listen to mitt romney engage him on his record and see if you think that rick santorum did well. >> he's out there in television ads right now, unfortunately, attacking me for saying that i'm this great earmarker when he not only asked for earmarks for the salt lake olympics in the order of tens of millions of dollars, sought those earmarks and used them, and he did it as governor of massachusetts, $300 or $400 million. he said i would be foolish if i didn't go out and try to get federal dollars. >> in the history of the olympic movement, the federal government provides transportation and security. we came to the federal government to ask for help on transportation and security. i was fighting for those things. our games were successful. while i was fighting to save the olympics, you were fighting to save the bridge to nowhere.

>> that was a good one. >> it was a good one. >> it's so subjective about how you feel about how somebody did in this debate. if you read through all the blogs in the newspaper he had -- editorials this morning, almost everyone had a different opinion. newt had a comeback because he stayed above the fray. maybe he'll take some of the votes away from rick santorum. another blog said that mitt romney had a strong night and you read another blog and it says that rick santorum defended himself. it's up to you. >> the people have to speak. john put it very interesting, he said mitt romney should teach a master class in how to get an a minus and b plus. he doesn't have the best lines and doesn't have the most memorable moments but he's consistently strong from debate to debate. that's what he needed last night. they feel like they locked up arizona which is coming up on tuesday and they might have taken back michigan with last night's performance. >> you know, in the polls and there goes rick santorum, he's number one in the national polls right now. and newt gingrich in the back of the pack. he came back last night, the old

newt was back, in particular they wound up with a question that would be considered a gotcha question in most circles on the conservative side. and newt would have none of it. watch this. >> birth control is the latest topic, which candidate believes in birth control and if not, why? as you can see -- it's a very popular question that you have. >> it's a very popular question in the audience as you can see. >> you did not once in the 2008 campaign, not once did anybody in the elite media ask why barack obama vote in favor of legalizing infantcide. let's be clear here. if we're going to have a debate about who the extremist is on these issues, it is president obama who as a state senator voted to protect doctors who kill babies who survive the abortion. it is not the republican. >> and newt is exactly right. when you look four years ago, did we hear any of those tough

questions he proposed to president obama, did we hear any questions about the rose law firm to hillary clinton? no, people want to know about the big issues and they did start with a money question and that was good. but how come the whole planet is talking about gas prices and nobody asked a question from cnn, on gas prices. the candidates had to bring it up themselves. >> i was going to go back to the newt gingrich comment. i think that's what people like about newt is he tells it like it is and he sort of stands up to it and as you can hear from the audience, they appreciated that with applause but the gas question, come on. remember when john keane did the last debate, the first question to newt gingrich was about his ex-wife. he thought that was the most important question to ask during that particular debate. wouldn't you think that the most important question if you're going to use something top of mind what people are talking about on that particular day, would be gas prices? >> absolutely. >> i mean, they didn't even go there in two hours, brian, that was what was so amazing. >> the president is making a major speech on it today. not asking to reach back into

the headlines and the other thing that's brought up the elephant in the room, i thought, was the fact that the president slipped in last week and he wants to cut our nuclear arsenal by 80%. how can that not be a question for the republicans? you're a debate moderator, one of your jobs is to show the contrast is. anybody believe that we should have 20% of the nuclear arsenal left? >> how about iran? >> they did have a -- >> at the end. >> here, they're having a debate in arizona and here's another elephant in the room. where's the question about fast & furious? that's a scandal in the president's administration. not one question about that. we're talking about a border state so arizona. >> are we talking about three elephants in that room? >> actually four. four elephants on the stage and then -- >> in a -- >> some accuse some of being a rhino. that's a completely different member of the animal planet. >> right. >> who by the way are endangered. >> that's right. who do you think won the big debate last night, rick santorum needed a big night. did he get it?

e-mail us, friends at foxnews.com. >> and don't let your answer be that. we have to hear more of that. >> we have to hear your opinions and not giving any opinion when we ask you that. other stories making headlines beginning with the fox news alert. brand new terror threat from the taliban. the group now calling for jihad against americans and all westerners in retaliation for the accidental incineration of several copies of the quran at a nato base in afghanistan. taliban sparking new protests today urging afghans to target foreign military bases. several copies of the muslim holy book were taken from the jail library because taliban prisoners were reportedly writing extreme messages in them. writing inside the quran is forbidden and burning them is an acceptable mean of disposal. extreme warning to members of congress, don't open any mail from portland, or oregon, the consequences could be deadly. three members of congress received letters containing a powder substance.

tests ruled the substance harmless. there are dozens more in the mail. each letter reads this. there is a 10% chance you've been exposed to a lethal pathogen. all three letters used a phony return address but postmarked in portland. hundreds of friends and family came together last night to pray for the safe return of a missing south carolina ceo. he vanished after work on saturday. his car was later found in his usual spot near his office. so far, a search of his office and car have turned up nothing. police can't rule out foul play. he is a retired member of the air force who currently runs a hospitality association that lobbies local lawmakers and he's married with three adult children. how's this for extra baggage? a flight attendant reportedly caught with bottles of empty booze in her carry-on and whole lot of vodka in her system. the flight attendant reportedly was so drunk, she couldn't even spell her name.

she was sent home early once the plane landed, of course, that means the next flight she was supposed to be on had to be canceled because it was understaffed. >> can you imagine that? maybe it was a hard name to spell unlike doocy that rolls off the tongue. >> my question about bottles, were they that big? the empty bottles in her purse? >> if they were that big, that's a major problem. speaking of big, we have a big program. chris christie will be joining us at 8:00 eastern time. we have lots to talk about regarding the debate with him plus he's got a big plan in my state of new jersey to cut taxes. >> and great idea for warren buffet. >> that's exactly right. >> speaking of getting to point. here's getting to the point as well. can president obama really get re-elected with gas prices pushing $5 a gallon. dick morris will weigh in on that coming up next. >> does it pay to sail? solyndra bigwigs who lost all that government money getting big benefits. >> for the trauma. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition?

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>> i have to tell you, the price of a gallon of gas is going up. it's rising. nationally now at $3.61 a gallon and in new york, you got to pump it yourself. the highest it's been since last july. what can president obama do to stop this surge? according to the white house, no magic. >> there's responsibility for a rise in the global price of oil. it's certainly not because of anything he hasn't done to expand domestic oil and gas production. there are no magic solutions to rising oil prices and the pain that americans feel at the pump. >> without a solution, though, will high gas prices make the

president vulnerable come november especially considering summer and spring usually mean higher gas prices traditionally? joining us right now, former advisor to president clinton, fox news contributor dick morris who knows the president will give a major speech on gas and energy in miami today. what can the president do? >> well, that statement reminds me of a guy who, you know, quit his job, spent all his money and then says there are no magic solutions to the fact that i'm getting evicted. obama could have over the course of his term, he's done everything he possibly can to reduce our production of oil. he's refused to approve off-shore leases, he's done everything he can to oppose horizontal drilling. in fact, they may yet regulate it out of existence. he's opposed the alaskan pipeline. he's opposed drilling in anwar, he's opposed the keystone pipeline and the fact that our domestic oil production is higher than it's ever been is entirely because of the permits

that were issued during the bush administration. off-shore oil drilling is down by about 7%. and on private and state-owned lands that he has nothing to do with. in the short term, he can't do anything about it. this is certainly a problem that will be laid at his doorstep because he's the one that brought it on. by his actions he has ownership of this problem. >> he was quick to blame in 2008 president bush for the high gas prices. he says what can the president do through his spokesperson? to be specific, what you're talking about, leases on federal lands are down 44%. permits for new wells are down 39% compared to 2007. we have 57% decrease in monthly deep water permits since the -- since the b.p. disaster. these are facts even though production is up that he's going to have a hard time slipping out of. >> that's interesting, brian. i didn't know any of those. he also is going to blame the oil companies and he'll talk about, i guess, excess profits tax and stuff like, that the usual liberal stuff and a lot of

people have this misconception, they think that oil prices are determined like at a farmers market. a farmer decides how much to charge for carrots. and if there's a shortage, he raises the price. oil prices are determined globally by a bidding process, by an entire market and they're determined by what a speculator is willing to pay for a future price on oil guessing what it's going to be like in a year. and the reason for that is the oil companies need to hedge against those bets so that they're prepared for when the reality takes place. >> right. >> oil prices are going to continue to go up and they're going to pose a serious, serious threat to obama's re-election. >> dick, i was really surprised because john king was quick to open up the news of the day last time he hosted the debate talking about newt gingrich's problems with his ex-wife but the big news yesterday and today is gas prices. why do you think it wasn't brought up in the debate? >> i think he must live on another planet, you know. and i really agree with the three elephants in the room you

guys were talking about. ridiculous that he didn't talk about fast & furious. ludicrous that he didn't talk about gas prices and that he didn't mention the 80% cut in our warhead, in our missile warheads. those are such huge, huge issues. i think that whoever won the debate and we'll talk about that next segment, i guess, the guy who lost that debate is john king of cnn. >> true. hey, dick, stick around. as you mentioned, we'll go over the big winners and big losers from last night's debate. >> you don't have to do the tease. i did it already, brian. >> let's skip it. prompter person. let's go to the next tease because dick morris obviously wants to save time. plus a birthday she will never forget. her soldier husband away for two years making it home in time for a big day. more of this awesome reunion ahead. [ sniffling ] [ male announcer ] all stuffed up?

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>> quick headlines for you on this thursday morning. a series of bombings and shootings hitting iraq overnight leaving nearly 50 people dead and another 200 hurt. they were spread across the country but mainly in baghdad. the attackers targeting security forces naturally. and former university of virginia lacrosse player george hugley found guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend yardley love in a drunken, jealous rage. recommending that he spend 25 years behind bars as well as an additional year for stealing her laptop the night he murdered her. a sentencing hearing is set for april and then we'll find out how long he'll really serve. >> well, there was no shortage

of fireworks at last night's g.o.p. debate. the four remaining candidates in a final face-off before arizona, michigan and then super tuesday. >> so who won and who lost? dick morris back to break down the debate performances. >> all right, dick, so if you had to do a grading score, what would it look like? >> romney won. santorum lost. and gingrich came in a strong second. i think that romney really acted, talked and sounded like a president. i thought gingrich sounded like a congressman. i found myself agreeing with gingrich -- excuse me, with santorum. sounded like a congressman. i found myself agreeing with santorum but wanting to follow romney. i found myself nodding that santorum was right in the points he was making but having confidence in romney. romney was presidential with stature. santorum did not live up to his hype. he was kind of like a much

younger version trying to make the point, trying to win the point. part of the problem was technical. romney knew to look at the camera. santorum was looking every place but the camera. and he just didn't seem to realize there was a red light there you're supposed to look at. >> sure. >> and i think as a result, you just didn't get the feeling that this was a commander in chief. i thought gingrich did well. >> he did. >> and i think that also helps romney. >> surely. in particular, you have told our producers that this is one of the soundbites that got your eye on why romney won last night. here he is talking about iran. >> this is a president who instead should have communicated with iran that we are prepared, that we are considering military options, they are not just on the table, they are in our hand. we must not allow iran to have a nuclear weapon. if they do, the world changes. america will be at risk and some day, nuclear weaponry will be used. if i'm president, that will not happen. if we re-elect barack obama, it will happen. >> dick, the big -- over the last number of debates, people have said, you know, we love

newt because we can really see him going head to head, toe to toe with barack obama. the mitt romney we saw last night could easily go toe to toe with barack obama. >> yeah, i kind of feel like gingrich would be the best one at critiquing barack obama in a debate. whereas romney would be the best one in actually opposing him. i feel that gingrich has this ability to sort of rise above the debate and comment on it. >> exactly. >> and i thought last night, he had this wonderful line about the schools of education. you have high self-esteem because we tell you you do. i thought that was great. but again, it's kind of like a side bar feature commentary on the debate. >> but let me ask you this, if you thought romney and gingrich did the best, does it still allay the concerns of many in the republican party who still don't like romney, they for whatever reason don't feel like he's conservative enough. how do you see it now panning

out as we move forward to arizona, michigan and then super tuesday? >> i don't think it will allay those concerns. i think those concerns will last well into romney's first term. i do believe that the -- but i do believe that he'll probably now win michigan and arizona and i think he'll be poised to sweep super tuesday. there's still another debate and we have to see how he does. you got to realize, romney has won your father's republican party. the republican party that existed before 1980 is almost unanimously for romney, the business community, the chamber of commerce and all that. the republican party that came to be under reagan, the evangelicals and recently the tea party have as their two main points among the tea party, it's romney care. and among the evangelicals, it's abortion and romney is suspect on both issues. he's not going to -- he's not going to shed his past until he repeals romneycare -- until he repeals obamacare which he will.

everybody will be worried that he won't. >> right. dick morris joining us with his prediction. romney will win arizona and michigan. we'll know on wednesday. dick, thank you very much. check out his web site, dickmorris.com. >> thanks, dick. there are going to be 13 primaries before march 6th and the next 13 days, 14 contests if you look at washington state. >> fasten your seat belts. we're in for a bumpy ride. >> might as well watch us 24 hours a day. meanwhile, a mystery with "the amazing race." >> it's growing now. bizarre new details and a blame game beginning in the death of one of the show's producers. >> and guess what? it pays to fail. at least at solyndra. bigwigs who lost all that government cash getting big time bonuses. >> but first, happy birthday to -- >> the comedian -- i was pausing and taking a breath. he turns 42 today.

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>> president obama sang a few lines of "sweet home chicago" with b.b. king the other night at the white house. had a big blues thing. you see that? mick jagger. here's the president singing. take a look. >> ♪ come on ♪ baby don't you wanna go >> ♪ sweet home chicago >> not to be outdone, ron paul is trying to get the rock crowdment you -- crowd. did you see him today? take a look. >> you don't see that on the other channels. they're covering him up. >> he's got a very good build. >> he's got abs of steal. >> he has the young vote. i mean, that's the irony that he has the college vote. a lot of the other republicans, can't see where he got it. >> he can play the guitar and he's a doctor. >> i never knew it was his

band. i thought it was his policy on marijuana. bizarre new details in the death of "amazing race" producer jeff rice. police in uganda saying rice had large amounts of cocaine in his stomach suggesting he died of a self-inflicted overdose? but experts in the u.s. say not so fast. they say it's more likely rice was forced to ingest the cocaine, that theory going hand in hand with rice's wife's claim that he was poisoned by local thugs who tried to shake him down for money. >> he was acting like a jihadist on a plane but passengers say it turns out it was just a saudi teenager being an unruly jerk. the 19-year-old, that guy, causing a few terrifying moments on a continental airlines flight from portland to houston. he was tackled by passengers. cut by the flight crew after yelling "allah is great." praising usama bin laden and throwing bunches at everybody. it was started off being told to put out his electronic

cigarette. he's charged with interfering with a flight crew and not terrorism. he led police on a chase a few days ago ramming cop cars and almost hitting someone. he was bailed out on bail. he should be banned from flight for life. >> he could wind up on that list now. meanwhile, when was the last time you got a $370,000 bonus for failing? that's what the remaining bosses at solyndra, the bankrupt solar panel company are getting. they originally wanted to give themselves half a billion dollar bonuses. >> huh? >> that's right. now, if you want to buy solyndra's old headquarters, the $300 million building has been put up for sale and expected to go for half the price. $150 million. >> just call it the birthday present of a lifetime. staff sergeant nicodema noble making it home to california in

time to celebrate his wife's birthday. he's been away for more than two years, what? stationed in charleston, north carolina, he was scheduled to get home in a month but couldn't wait any longer. >> from charleston all the way to here in my little tiny car. >> just to make it here by her birthday. >> i can't -- i'm speechless! >> the noble family says they now plan to make up on some lost time. >> that's great. happy birthday. meanwhile, let's take a look at what's going on in the weather in the northwest. and the northern rockies being slammed by snow this week. great for the skiers. that is steamboat springs in colorado. they've had more than 4 feet of snow in the last three days. reported 27 inches in 24 hours on monday alone. that is great if you're a skier. it could get another foot of snow today but nobody is complaining. it's been a great week for the resort. and for the skiers as well. get the shovel. meanwhile, as you can see, we got a little bit of snow moving through the dakotas at this

hour. widely scattered showers all the way from the upper missouri valley through the mid-mississippi valley moving into the ohio valley a little later on today and a mix of snow and some rain as well moving through portions of the northeast down through the mid atlantic. real quickly. as you head out the door on this thursday, almost 50 in new york city, it's freezing in cleveland and we got 60's and 70's across much of dixieland. already, a beautiful day in texas as well. all right, brian. let's talk phenomenon. >> talking about my a block today? >> that was it. >> jeremy lin managing to get a little rest before the knicks' big game with the heat tonight and they did it by playing the hawks. they cruised by atlanta who forgot to play. lin sitting out most of the fourth quarter still had 17 points and nine assists. he's just 13 years old, now winners of 9 of 11. caramelo anthony had 15 points in his second game back from injury.

it's his first victory with jeremy lin. it looks to be a huge ratings getter. and if you can't get enough lin, hang tight. a book about the knicks sensation coming out in may. oh, my goodness, and the drama continues to swirl around the lakers. the other team that played basketball in los angeles heading to the all star break with plenty to be happy about. the clippers are 20-11. it's their best start since 1974-1975 season. they beat denver last night 103-95. chris paul with 36 points. scored 17 straight. blake griffin who can touch the rim it turns out scored 27. they're both starters in the all-star game and the duo told the crowd they're going to be making them proud this weeken and they're now the top ticket in los angeles and finally, a bad cold and falling behind early not enough to hold back tiger woods. he can still play golf when he wants to. in matchplay, the three time matchplay champs staging a late rally in the first round. held off gonzalez fernandez, yeah, that guy, giving up a one

over victory for an amazing bunker shot to 9 feet in the 18th hole. the golfer admits he was far from perfect and somehow managed to survive like the old tiger, he'll face nick watney in the second round today. >> excellent. >> thanks very much, brian, for the sportscast. >> you owe me. >> let's move back to politics and the debate last night because much of it was santorum and romney going after each other because they are the two frontrunners so one of the things that rick santorum has been effective on in the former debates was taking on romney on romney care. so they went at it again last night. who won this particular point? listen to both. >> a study just came out about 10 days ago, two weeks ago, that listed 15 ways in which romney care was the model for obamacare. everything from individual mandates. everything from fines. it would be a very, let's say, it would be a difficult task for someone who had the model for

obamacare which is the biggest issue in this race of government control of your lives to be the nominee of our party. >> first of all, let's not forget four years ago, well after romneycare was put in place, four years ago, he not only endorsed me. you went to laura ingraham, this is the guy who is really conservative and we can trust him. let's not forget you said that. >> i've been waiting for that for a little while and you know, this was, perhaps, the most important debate as we sail into arizona and michigan next tuesday and then followed by super tuesday. he finally played that hey, wait a minute, you supported me four years ago and that was long after romney care was installed in massachusetts. why are you complaining now? >> i got a new chapter in this story. it goes back and forth before. and santorum did so well against romney in the last debate and that's the bringing up of arlen specter. he said if you did not support arlen specter and did not get that spot back, you would not have obama care today. he ended up flipping parties and supporting the president. he said if you went with pat

toomey back then, it wouldn't have happened. that knocks rick santorum off his axis a little bit. >> it did. i do think there's -- that's a little bit of a stretch to say that it's rick santorum's fault that we got obamacare. i mean, that's a little bit of a stretch when, in fact, mitt romney actually had a similar kind of a program in his own state of massachusetts. i think there might be a closer connection to obama care with that. than rick santorum. it's his fault because he supported arlen specter. >> an element to bring up. >> it is. >> also, one other name from the past was dick cheney. rick santorum took a shot at dick cheney which i thought was an unusual tactic given the nature of the -- how fluid things are at the top right now. chris christie is a guy who is supporting mitt romney right now. he's going to be joining us right here on the curvy couch. >> you think he's nervous about his appearance? >> wouldn't you be? 8:00 eastern time. >> never know what's going to come out of his mouth. >> chris christie? >> yeah. >> the three of us should be -- >> he's a straight talker and we know you want to see him so that's coming up.

also straight ahead, iran ordering the death of a christian pastor for refusing to denounce his religious beliefs and they're not backing down. is there anything we can do to help? >> plus forget cookies and chips, kids, the food police, are they back now? cracking down on vending machine snacks at schools. >> i could stare at that all day. [ male announcer ] where's your road to happiness?

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comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. forty years ago, he wasn't looking for financial advice. back then he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future. but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning for our military, veterans and their families. now more than ever, it's important to get financial advice from people who share your military values. for our free usaa retirement guide, call 877-242-usaa. >> all right. quick headlines now. don't ask where i am. bradley manning, the army private accused of leaking thousands of classified u.s. government secrets to wikileaks will be formally charged this afternoon for the first time, he'll be asked to enter a plea

and whether he wants to be tried by a judge or a jury. and the food police are at it again. the obama administration considering new regulations for school vending machines much like the rules implemented for school lunches. expect less fat, sodium and sugar. the new rules due out next month. bad news for snickers. steve? >> thank you, brian. it's a case that's gained worldwide attention. a christian pastor in iran being sentenced to death for refusing to recant his religious beliefs. for now, international outcry so far has spared this man's life. but for how long, can we hold out hope that he will live? joining us right now with the very latest is journalist and mideast expert lisa doctari who has been closely following this case. good morning. >> good morning. >> it's a case where he was born in iran and he was born a muslim, raised a muslim and then at what age did he convert to christianity? >> he was born a muslim nominally. he was never a practicing muslim. he converted at the age of 19

and that's exactly the premise by which his case was appealed the first time. the islamic law has this, you know, age of majority which is the age of 15 so he wasn't practicing by the age of majority, was he really considering a muslim? again, there's religious persecution all over that country but most harsh on people who turn away from islam. >> at age 19, he said you know what? i've looked at the muslim world. i'm not interested in that. i'm going to be a christian. and then at what stage -- here's some pictures of the guy, a father of two and husband as well. at what point did iran say you know what? because he will not renounce christianity, we're going to kill him. >> basically, he was very large in the christian community where he lived and he went to, you know, different -- petitioned different things about the school system teaching indoctrination to his children so he was arrested two years ago, and his case has just been lingering because the government finds itself in a bind.

should they release him? they are basically disrespecting the tenets of sharia law and should they kill him? obviously, we're seeing all the international outcry thus far. i mean, imagine what would happen if they were to execute him. >> absolutely. do you worry that this guy is being used as a pawn by this regime given the fact that the western world is cracking down on iran with sanctions? >> that's exactly a concern that we have here. i mean, when execution orders are put out, the individual can be executed anywhere from 48 hours after the order is put out up to, i mean, can linger for two or three years. >> has our state department gotten involved in this? >> our state department has gotten involved. many congressmen are coming together and putting together resolution, one was signed last friday. i mean, hillary clinton has spoken out, so many representatives from different countries have spoken out. there are on-line petitions. >> twitter. >> there's the aclj has put out a tweet for use campaign. you can donate a tweet a day talking about how many days he's been in prison. and calling for his release.

so i mean, we have no diplomatic relations with iran, obviously with their government. this is the best that we can do to keep his story in the spotlight and to, you know, learn more about his case. >> knowing a lot of people are learning about it for the first time and to think that a christian would be put to death because he won't denounce his own religion. >> you've hit upon a great point. would he be used for a pawn? i mean, executing a christian would be the biggest strike against the western world. right? right. >> we thank you very much for telling us about this story. it's shocking. thank you. straight ahead on this thursday, we told you last week the people that make these presidential jackets were in danger to losing their job to prison inmates. the president of that company is here shortly with a major update and it's good news. and we know you're feeling the pinch at the pump. but what about at the grocery store? or booking your next vacation?

stuart varney talks about the domino effect and we're not talking pizza when we return. ♪ just one bite opens a world of delight... ♪

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>> in case you haven't noticed, gas prices are soaring up to $3.61 a gallon now, the national average. now those rising prices may also have domino effect on the re of the economy. look at your screen. look at all those things crashing down. nice graphic. experts predict gas prices will impact the travel industry, food prices, consumer spending and ultimately jobs? so what if it climbs to $4 a

gallon in the national average. could we be in for another recession? stu varney is here with the answers. that was a fabulous graphic, wasn't it? because it really shows the chain reaction effect you can have here from only gas prices. >> that's precisely right. there's two points to make here. number one, the gas price spike is now. it's happening right now. that graphic just showed $3.61. that's up $0.03 just in one day. and that's up $0.09 in a week. and in california, the price went up $0.07 overnight. just over last night. up $0.07. so .1, the spike is upon us. now that chain reaction you talked about, that is very really and happening now. up goes the price of gas, that raises the cost of transportation, putting goods into the grocery store. it takes consumers' money away from them, they can't spend it. up goes the price of travel, leisure, hotels, airline fees -- fares have already gone up so

prices rise, consumer spending power comes out, down goes the economy, down go hiring intentions. >> it's interesting because the president has seen more favorable ratings in the last couple of weeks on his handling of the economy. >> right. >> and you have to wonder now whether or not this will have a dramatic effect on those approval ratings. >> it could well have an effect on his approval ratings because we are now beginning to see the effects on the economy. this chain reaction that we've been talking about is just starting. it's just getting going. when it really hits and it will hit very, very soon. then maybe that will be reflected in the president's approval rating. >> let's put it in some hardcore numbers here because this caught some attention. in one year of people paying higher gas prices, that's $8430 out of their pocket. >> correct. that was last year compared to the year before. this year with prices up $0.30 a gallon already, you can expect another $800, maybe $1,000 extra

taken out of the average family budget. one point, scott rasmussen told me, got a poll recently, half of all families live paycheck to paycheck. you take money out of that paycheck, they hit that point where they got no money left much sooner. >> all right. thanks so much for explaining the chain reaction and i will see you later on "varney & company." >> yes, you will. look forward to it. >> i'll be part of the company. thanks, stu. big hour of "fox & friends" ahead. michelle malkin joins us straight up at 7:00 with reaction to last night's debate and brings new meaning to the phrase super mom, this 51-year-old woman completing basic combat training and crushing the competition! where's kilmeade when you need a story like that? @@

>> top of the morning to you. it's thursday, february 23rdrd. i'm gretchen carlson. hope you're going to have a great day. thanks for sharing part of it with us. newt gingrich going after the president and the media. >> not once did anybody in the elite media ask why barack obama voted in favor of legalizing infantcide, ok? so let's be clear here. >> so there. a complete wrap from last night's debate coming up. >> unemployment good for the economy? yes. according to a president obama senior advisor valerie jarrett, it is. how exactly does that work? michelle malkin will break it down with us. we got her a telestrator. >> we did. factory workers in danger of losing their jobs to prison inmates, federal ones. the president of that company came here to "fox & friends" to make this plea. >> hopeful that this broadcast today will get the american people behind us and, perhaps, save these jobs. >> well, we've got a big update on that story.

you're gonna want to hear it and it's coming your way this hour, "fox & friends" live from new york city rolls on right now. >> countdown to christie. one hour. >> he's here in one hour. >> you know, he is the political rock star these days even for democrats, they will admit that. >> we love him in new jersey because he's going to cut our taxes by 10% so bring it on. >> all right. he's going to be joining us one hour from now. michelle malkin is just around the corner. in the meantime, other stories making headlines, a fox news alert. brand new terror threat from the taliban. the group calling for jihad against americans and westerners in retaliation for the accidental incineration of several copies of the quran at a naval base in afghanistan. the taliban sparking new protests today urging afghans to target foreign military bases now. several copies of the muslim holy book were taken from a jail

library because taliban prisoners were reportedly writing extremist messages in them. ironically under islamic law you're not supposed to do that. writing in the quran is forbidden and burning them is acceptable means of disposal. video in showing scary moments last night in rochester. their plane skidded off the runway. the brakes didn't work. according to passengers, the pilot told him he put on the brakes but weren't able to grab traction. they slid right into the grass. the 45 passengers were stuck on the plane for about 20 minutes before emergency crews were able to get them off. luckily, no one was hurt. members of congress getting a disturbing warning about their mail today. if they open up a letter from portland, oregon, it could be fatal. the stern warning was issued after three members of congress received threatening letters. they contained a powdery substance which was ruled harmless but the author claims there was more letters out there and some are harmful. each letter reads "there's a 10%

chance you have just been exposed to a lethal pathogen." the letters had a phony return address but were post marked in portland. a federal judge striking down the controversial rule in washington state that requires pharmacists to sell so-called emergency contraceptives. the judge saying that the law is unconstitutional because it could violate a pharmacist's religious beliefs. the ruling could have an effect on the legal battle against a new federal mandate under obamacare that all health insurance plans, even those sponsored by religious employers provide free birth control. and those are your headlines. that ruling will be much talked about now as we move forward and continue -- it may energize that discuss again. >> they talked about it last night as the republican candidates back at it debating for the 20th time last night in mesa, arizona. >> right, this is the most we've talked about contraception since seventh grade. >> let's keep it that way. >> for more on that we go to peter doocy live in washington. hey, peter. >> hey, brian.

and last night all the candidates were sitting on stage instead of standing but that didn't stop them all from jumping over -- all over senator santorum and every aspect of his record. for a good summary of the way things went for most of the night, look at the answer that congressman paul gave about an ad alleging that santorum is not really a conservative and then santorum's response. >> because he's a fake! >> i'm real. i'm real. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> and that's not all. there was a big battle over earmarks. senator santorum defended the earmarks he voted for while in congress and then accused romney of abusing earmarks while he was putting the salt lake city olympics back together but romney sponlded. -- responded. >> the idea that somehow earmarks were this thing that drove up spending in washington, d.c., if you actually look at it as i said before, as a percentage of gdp, actually the deficit, the debt went down.

what happened is there was abuse. >> while i was fighting to save the olympics, you were fighting to save the bridge to nowhere. >> shortly afterwards, the former governor reminded the former senator about something he said during the last election season. >> first of all, let's not forget four years ago, well after romney care was put in place, four years ago, you not only endorsed me. you wnt -- went to laura ingraham and this is a conservative and you can trust him. >> all four candidates were asked to define themselves in one word. paul said consistent. romney said resolute and gingrich said cheerful. >> i saw that you tweeted that last night at pdoocy, thank you very much for the live report. >> 5 minutes after the hour. so we have to also tell you that michelle malkin will be on the show. >> there she is.

>> without any further adieu, here's michelle malkin. >> good morning. >> did you watch the debate at all last night or you want to talk about something else? >> whatever you want to do. i'm cheerful, resolute, too. >> yeah. >> you think newt got himself back in the mix last night? >> i don't really think it was a game changer for any of the candidates. i don't think that newt gingrich moved the ball that much. that's because he had set expectations that high. he did a good job of challenging the media narrative but we've been there and done that with him. >> speaking of media narrative. >> it was john king again, he's had some tussles with him before. ea let's look at this last night. >> you did not once in the elite media ask why barack obama voted in favor of legalizing infantcide. ok? so let's be clear here. if we're going to have a debate

about who the extreme is on these issues, it's president obama who as a state senator voted to protect doctors who kill babies who survived the abortion. it's not the republicans. >> and you know what? right there, he revealed, you know, the dirty secret, the mainstream media is in the tank in many cases for the president of the united states, we didn't air any questions like for the democrats four years ago. >> that's right. and turning it around on the white house, barack obama, the democrats and exposing who the true radicals are is something that all of the candidates should be doing. and in addition to that, of course, moving just beyond this birth control mandate, this obamacare mandate. in general. look, they were in arizona and was there a single question? was there a single in-depth question about the number one issue that is facing that state with regard to fast & furious, border security? we just learned yesterday that one -- that another of the guns that was involved in the murder

of the ice agent was also connected to this operation fast and furious debacle and we got none of that. i think it's a given, of course, that the media is in the tank for this administration. but i think what really needs to change is the entire way this g.o.p. presidential debate system is structured because we put it in hands of our own enemies. >> shouldn't they be in the tank for the american people speaking of tanked and asking a question about gas prices. that's probably the top thing that people are talking about, i don't care who you are, at the water cooler yesterday morning, the day before that and the day before that. and not one question about that until newt gingrich had to weave it into one of his answers. >> yeah. that's right. it's about the blame game but more importantly, of course, it's about the frame game and the way that the media has framed republicans as the extremists, as the menaces, as the ones who are ruining american society, culture and this economy.

when this white house has presided over so many corrupt policies that have put us in a dangerous position. >> we've been downgraded as a nation, that didn't come up. the president proposed cutting 80% of our nuclear arsenal. that didn't come up. valerie jarrett talked about the economy, the number one advisor for the president and she actually believes that unemployment checks stimulate the economy. they are a good thing. in fact, let's listen. >> throughout our country, many people were suffering long before the last three years particularly in the black community so we need to make sure that we continue to support that important safety net, it not only is good for the family but it's good for the economy. people who receive that unemployment checks, they'll spend it and help stimulate the economy. that's healthy as well. >> jobs probably would stimulate things a little better, wouldn't they? >> yeah, you would think. she is the magical thinking czar

in the white house and it's this kind of voodoo mask that has put us on the wrong path. this idea that these intermnible "temporary" benefits are good for the economy. and that handing over these checks rather than giving these people jobs and calling it stimulation, that they're spending these at the mall is ridiculous and, of course, it completely leaves out of the calculation who is paying for these benefits. it's small businesses. the backbone of the american economy. and now they're seeing their unemployment insurance taxes double, triple, sometimes more than that. a lot of these state unemployment funds, of course, are bankrupt themselves. and it's this big money laundering operation because, of course, the federal government is borrowing to bail them out while their own federal unemployment benefits program is bankrupt as well. >> and it all has this domino effect because the more people

that are on unemployment, then, the more people who are not paying income tax because of that threshold. we already know that 47% of the american public does not pay -- >> does not pay. >> federal income tax and now the amount of people who don't pay that is on the rise in the united states. is there sort of a correlation between all of these things that we're discussing? >> of course there is. i mean, it is all towards the left wing progressive goal of advancing a nanny state and this permanent state of dependency and entitlement and the way they pat themselves on the back is completely surreal. a couple of months ago, i blogged an item noting that the department of labor actually has something called an unemployment insurance hall of fame. these people are praising themselves for keeping the rest of america dependent. >> right. while criticizing those who are paying the taxes and as we know, the top 10% pay 70% of them.

they're the villians while 50% who don't pay any are just escape any criticism. >> that's right. that's right, brian. >> all right. she joins us every thursday at this time from, i'd imagine it's about a mile high as well, colorado springs out in colorado. michelle, thank you very much. have a great rest of the week and nice weekend, see you back here next thursday. >> you bet. thanks a lot, guys. >> coming up straight ahead, rick santorum getting a shot to take on mitt romney in front of the national audience. did he take advantage of the opportunity? juan williams and a woman named andrea tantaros square off next. >> that should be good. >> we told you last week, those who make these presidential jackets were in danger of losing their jobs to prison inmates? the president of that company is here with a major update. [ male announcer ] drinking a smoothie with no vegetable nutrition?

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>> big night for the republican presidential candidates and especially rick santorum. the former pennsylvania senator finally getting his shot as a frontrunner. so how did he do when challenged by his rivals? take a listen to this exchange. >> looking at a historic record that voting for raising the debt ceiling five different times without voting for compensating cuts. >> congressman paul, you've questioned the fiscal conservative credentials of all these gentlemen but particularly this week, senator santorum. you have a new television ad that labels him a fake. why? >> because he's a fake. unreal. unreal. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> yikes! >> joining us with their take on last night's debate, our fox news political analyst juan williams and co-host of "the five" andrea tantaros. all right, andrea, was that fair

for ron paul to call rick santorum a fake? >> it seemed like romney and ron paul were working in tandem and gingrich and santorum were working in tandem. gingrich ended up looking better than rick santorum last night but i think santorum had an opportunity to shine. i think in the first half of the debate, he missed it. but gretchen, in all fairness, it's tough to be in that middle when you're being banged up. we saw gingrich be flustered before and romney in that same position. i think romney came out on top last night. his answers were perfected and polished. his punchbacks were pretty good, too. when he hit rick santorum on his support of benedict arlen specter, that made the crowd go wild and it showed rick santorum sweating a little bit. in politics, you never want to see them sweat. >> they should do commercials for deodorant. juan williams, i think you have a different take, don't you? you thought that rick santorum held up ok. >> i did, gretchen. i thought he was the center of the entire debate last night.

clearly, mitt romney wanted to make the case that rick santorum's not the conservative alternative to mitt romney. but i was looking for mitt romney to jump out, pop out two conservative voters and say i really am conservative. i'm really someone that you can trust to make the republican nominee to send to the white house and what i saw was he was engaged with rick santorum in hand-to-hand battle over who the real conservative was to the point where he was saying, yes, i did accept money for the olympics and for massachusetts from the federal government. but, but, but and then, of course, all the back and forth that andrea was talking about with santorum over abortion and funding for planned parenthood. to me, it was mitt romney clawing at santorum and santorum being the focus of every, every exchange. >> well, andrea, let me ask you this, in the past debates when we have seen in fighting between the top two candidates, it's the other candidate sitting in the back who has come out on top. and before in florida, it was

newt gingrich and romney and then rick santorum rose. do we expect now to see newt gingrich rise from this? >> well, i think that him staying in the race definitely helps mitt romney because he siphoned some of that conservative vote. and he'll probably end up maybe taking a state or two in super tuesday like tennessee or georgia. that's what he's been banking on. i will say this. i agree with juan in the sense that santorum was able to regain his footing in the second half. the question is -- will it be enough? will it be enough? in politics also when you're explaining, you're losing and he did a lot of explaining last night but there's no way mitt romney is going to convince anyone he's the real conservative in this. i think he convinced people he was presidential but that horse has left the barn on him being a conservative. right now, he's just got to hope that he can spend a lot of money, convince people he's presidential. and hopefully sweep super tuesday. >> what do you make of that? will we see a change up in the polls now? >> well, i think that clearly, you know, this goes back to the idea that santorum is under

attack from all sides. that exchange with paul, you know, where he's -- i thought, man, everybody is after him at the moment. so that plus the big spending particularly in michigan, coming from the romney campaign and the romney super pac, i'm looking already at polls that now show that whereas santorum was in the lead in michigan now it's too close to call. it's that tight. so -- and we're going into a weekend where i think that we're going to see something of a resurgence in terms of santorum because after last night, i think people are going to say wait a second, why is the media picking on him? why is romney picking on him? >> that's interesting. i think it's going to be romney who pulls ahead. >> yeah, we'll see which one of you is right. thanks so much for your time. next thursday. >> we will. >> interesting debate. chris christie, the governor of new jersey will be joining us top of the hour, 8:00 eastern time. also coming up, the hard working people that make these presidential jackets are about to lose a key government contract until "fox & friends" stepped in? >> hopeful this broadcast today

will get the american people behind us and, perhaps, save these jobs. >> the president of that company joins us next with some very good news, you got to love good news on a thursday. dad, why are you getting that? is there a prize in there?

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>> you want some good news? we got it right here. last week we told you this story, the federal government taking jobs from hard working taxpayers and giving them to federal inmates. that's not the good part. here's michael manch, the owner of ashland sales and service, his company makes jackets for the u.s. air force and was just about to lose his government contract with the feds. >> thanks for having me. >> federal prison industry doesn't have to go forward. so we're hopeful that this broadcast today will get the american people behind us and,

perhaps, save these jobs. >> you know what? here's the good part. one day after that segment aired, senator mitch mcconnell announced that federal prison industries, fpi, had e-mailed his office to say they were no longer seeking that contract saving his company and the hundreds of workers and back to share his story is michael manch. congratulations, michael. i know that 100 people's lives were hanging in the balance. until thursday when we talked about it right here on this show. >> yeah, it was a great day on friday for our employees and myself, the entire company and a lot of citizens of this country because we were able to stop prisoners from taking work from taxpayers. >> ok, so for the folks who didn't see the story last week, the story was your factory in kentucky makes jackets for the air force including the ones famously that the president of the united states has worn on air force one and marine one

like we're seeing right there. you received word that the federal prisoners were going to wind up taking the jobs that you people had making those jackets, right? >> that's exactly right. we received word towards the end of january. >> all right. and so, you know, you did everything you could at your end and we wound up doing the story here on "fox & friends" and, of course, that helped change everything. what do you -- you know, the prisoners that got to do something while they're in jail. they got this thing called federal prisoners industries, fpi, what do you think those people should be making? i know you think that they shouldn't be taking other people's jobs. >> it's a great question. it's one that's been a problem, i think, for the people that run the program for fpi as well. they're forcing to take work away from taxpayers to keep prisoners busy and no one seems to be able to come up with other

products that they can make that wouldn't harm current employees that work for a private enterprise. >> exactly. also last week when you were on this program, you invited the president of the united states. you were about to lose your contract and you invited him to come tour your plant and visit with the 100 people that were about to lose their jobs. did you hear back from the white house? >> we did not hear back from the white house. and in the president's defense, i'd have to say he has, perhaps, the hardest job in the united states and i'm sure he had other priorities that maybe took his time in the last week. >> sure. i can completely agree with that. the good news is the 100 people that work at your factory still have their jobs. they've got to be breathing easy today. look at that, a sign, thank you, "fox & friends." listen, michael, when you go back to work later today, could you personally thank all 100 of them for hanging in there during a tough time? >> i will.

we'd like to thank "fox & friends" and our two senators, paul and mcconnell for helping us with this because everybody is stepping up to the plate got this accomplished for us. >> all right. >> thanks again. >> all is well that ends well. all right, sir. thank you very much. michael manch, the owner of ashland sales & service out there in olive hill, kentucky. see? good story. all right. half past the top of the hour. straight ahead, did mitt romney do enough to steal back the frontrunner's status from rick santorum? romney's former debate coach has his scorecard coming up in the next half-hour and colonel ollie north knows a thing or two about heroics. he'll join us from somalia on how local troops are learning to become heroes amid the violence in that country. ollie to the rescue. she brings new meaning to the phrase "super mom" this 51-year-old woman completing basic combat training and crushing her competition. you're watching "fox & friends"

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>> we start with a fox news

alert. we're getting brand new reports of two u.s. soldiers who have been killed in afghanistan. it reportedly happened at a u.s. base in the eastern part of that nation. and afghan soldier reportedly opening fire just hours after the taliban called for this exact kind of attack against u.s. and nato troops. all this in retaliation for an accidental burning of the quran at a different u.s. military base earlier this week. i don't think it was accidental. be sure to keep you posted as we learn more. >> marked for death, shocking reports this morning suggest the american journalist wasn't just in the wrong place at the wrong time when she was killed in yesterday's bombing. she may have been intentionally murdered by the syrian government. officials in lebanon now say they intercepted a direct order from the syrian military to destroy her makeshift press office in the city of homs. we're told syria's president assad was in on the plan and that it was his henchmen who located her by tracking her allegedly and other journalists'

cell phones. >> meanwhile, a crazed passenger causing a few terrifying moments on a continental airlines flight between portland and houston. the 19-year-old tackled by passengers and cuffed by the flight crew after yelling "allah is great." praising usama bin laden and throwing punches to everybody on board. it started when he was told to put out his electronic cigarette. oregon police say he's the same guy in this mug shot that led them on a chase just days ago ramming two cop cars and almost hitting somebody. he was out on bail after being charged with drunk driving and assaulting an officer. >> call her g.i. mom, 51-year-old army sergeant sandra coast graduating boot camp with the highest physical fitness test scores in her company! >> whoa! >> sergeant coast had to drop 30 pounds just to qualify but

ended up scoring better than men and women half her age? the average age is 42 but she was allowed in because she served in the navy in the 1980's and she's now assigned to a virtual unit that conducts operations on the phone and internet. her son who is a marine says he's proud of his mom. >> amazing. >> very nice. >> way to go, mama. >> didn't think that a woman could do that? >> please. that's the pot calling the kettle black. >> by the way, i'd love some tea. >> i got some coffee for you down here. >> let's take a look at where it's raining and man, it's raining in the pacific northwest. days of rain wreaking havoc on homes in washington state. look at that. and check out this video after a mudslide in stanwood. one home was destroyed and another has major damage. one of the houses had people inside it at the time. look at that. luckily, at the house, everybody got out safely and in the city

of snowhosham, i'm sure that's a mispronunciation and i apologize, numerous homes were surrounded by water and some home owners forced to make boats as their cars to return them home. meanwhile, as you can see, a little bit of rain out in the pacific northwest. not so much right now. the major activity is from the northeast down through virginia. and back through portions of the great lake states and widely scattered showers this morning all the way from kansas up through nebraska and the dakotas. current readings, 30's in the northern plains, new england as well. approaching 50 from the mid atlantic to the big northeastern corridor cities. it's freezing in chicago. we get 70 already this morning in new orleans. later on today, 75 in the big easy. it's going to be 77 in tampa. 55 the double nickel here in new york city where jeremy lin, brian kilmeade, plays basketball. >> oh, yeah. does he ever?

it's what the world is talking about these days, at least the sports world. jeremy lin managing to have another great game last night in the knicks's big win. they have the heat tonight. the knicks cruised past the hawks. he was able to sit out most of the fourth quarter and he had 17 points, nine assists. the knicks have won 9 out of 11 games since he got off the bench and started. caramelo anthony had 15 points his second game back. the game versus the heat is the last one before the all star break. if you can't get enough of lin, finally he's going to put a book out in may. after all, if you win 9 out of 11, you have to write a novel and not enough to hold back tiger woods yesterday at the matchplay, three time matchplay champ staging a late rally to win the first round. he held off gonzalez fernandez costano, three names and just one man. he rallied late despite not

feeling good and just another sign that he could have a big, big year. >> yeah. so jeremy lin is going to write a book. how soon until he gets a lifetime achievement award? >> i'm pretty soon that he's going to get it or an espy. real quick, thanks to you guys filling in, wlad of danbury, connecticut, is joining us on radio. >> i noticed that on monday. i welcomed them on monday to your radio show. >> now we made it official. >> joining the kilmeade family. >> right. we now own connecticut. so now you have something to listen to. >> right. >> fantastic. he has helped fight terrorism here in the u.s. and now colonel ollie north, combat decorated marine, of course, spending time in somalia helping troops become heroes amid the violence in their country. he joins us live from mogadishu where blackhawk down happened. what are you seeing today, ollie? >> what you're seeing right behind me is a commuter jet. a commuter jet between here and

mogadishu, somalia and kenya. it comes in every morning and goes back every night using american tax dollars to international communities who are here to help the people of somalia. i make that observation because that jet isn't benefitting the people of somalia one bit. but today, we got to go with those troops from the african union actually ugandan eighth battle group out over the same terrain that blackhawk down occurred back in 1993. just take a look at some of this footage. this is the ground that those remarkable soldiers fought on, 19 years ago this october. this is the terrain that they bled on. and, of course, this is now terrain that's been captured by these african union troops. remarkable thing of it is they have made a commitment in blood and in sacrifice to help this country of somalia rebuild itself. it's being done at extraordinary cost to them in both injuries

and dead. it's also put al-shabab back on their heels. the good news in all of this is the somalia government wants to have their own country back and what they're looking for is the kind of help necessary to make it happen. we're seeing that all over this country today. >> colonel, are we doing enough do you think? i know we're doing something obviously more than any other nation but are we doing enough? >> great question, brian, because a lot of the soldiers that we've talked to out here, these are ugandan soldiers, the officers, many of them are graduates of u.s. military schools. they're practicing counter insurgency the way it was meant to be done. one of them said to me yesterday, when we came to the united states, we learned from your mistakes. they were taught that in u.s. military schools, they're doing a great job, brian. >> colonel, they know who you are? some of these guys? >> yes, they do.

as a matter of fact, amazing how many somalia ex-patriots are back here in this country and they're grateful to fox news being the only ones that have covered this. >> and you in particular. >> absolutely. >> thanks so much. >> thank you. >> 19 minutes before the top of the hour. next up on the rundown, one major bank making a big promise to u.s. war vets. how their guarantee is changing this man's life after he returned from afghanistan. >> great story. and time to play thursday morning quarterback. mitt romney's former debate coach is here to break down the x's and o's from last night's debate. >> first, let's play trivia question of the day -- [ female announcer ] when your child has a fever,

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>> last night's republican debate had the candidates going after each other. many said it was a big night for mitt romney. he had one last chance to make a final push before michigan and arizona vote on tuesday. so did he? >> let's ask his former debate coach, bret o'donnell. good morning to you, bret. >> good morning. >> so you know the inside-out of how a debate should go and who performs well and who doesn't. if you had to grade last night's debate, what would you say? >> well, i would say that mitt romney did win the debate last night. and the reason is he got the better of the exchanges between he and -- and senator santorum. i also thought that newt gingrich actually had a pretty good night. the problem is that newt is fighting from way behind and i'm not sure that that performance is going to make that substantial of a difference to get him across the finish line in michigan or arizona. >> yeah, i'm with you on the

newt question in particular when newt said hey, wait a minute, you didn't ask questions like this back to obama and hillary and stuff like that. he had the audience in his hand. here's an excerpt, we want to get your reaction, it was, perhaps, rick santorum's strongest statement. he's taking romney to task on balancing the budget in massachusetts. >> yes, governor, you balanced the budget for four years. you have a constitutional requirement to balance the budget for four years. no great save. i'd like to see it federally but don't go around bragging about something you have to do. michael dukakis balanced the budget for 10 years. does that make him qualified to be president of the united states? i don't think so. >> zing! what do you think? >> yeah, i mean i think that was one of santorum's better moments in the debate, tying romney to dukakis certainly is devastating for mitt romney. the problem is that, you know, that was in the discussion over romney care and so instead of really going after governor

romney on romney care, and sticking to that subject, he moved it off to the massachusetts balanced budget. that's not anything that i think voters are going to care about in the end. that's the problem with what santorum did last night. he was in the weeds a good bit last night defending earmarks, talking about the earmarking process, talking about why he endorsed senator specter over pat toomey. i mean, i just think those moments were not very helpful to advancing rick santorum's message which, you know, he has a pretty good message on blue collar workers and how he's going to cure the economy for them. >> all right. let's take a look at now when romney took on santorum and reminded him who he endorsed just four short years ago. >> first of all, let's not forget that four years ago, well after romney care was put in place, four years ago, you not only endorsed me, you went to laura ingraham and said this is

the guy that's really conservative and we can trust him. let's not forget you said that, number one. >> did that work? >> i absolutely thought it worked. i thought it was one of governor romney's better moments last night. i thought that the fact that he was able to take the attack and turn it back on santorum to basically make him eat his words, that santorum had said that governor romney would uphold the conservative principles four years ago, even in the -- in light of the fact that romney care was already in place i thought was devastating for senator santorum and he didn't really have a good rebuttal of that. >> before you go, i know you study debates all the time. aren't you astounded, speaking of media bias that not one question about the price of gas which is what everybody is talking about these days nor one question there in arizona, a border state, about fast & furious. it looks like media bias that we hear about all the time. >> well, not only that, there wasn't one question on housing and the arizona market has been devastated. >> good point.

>> by the housing -- you know, by the housing market so i think those were big misses last night, you know, and instead, there was again a protracted conversation about contraception and some of the social issues. and so, you know, i -- and i think the candidate, by the way, all of them did a great job in handling that issue and putting it back to rest. >> all right. it's great to get your insights since this is what you do for a living. the former debate coach for bachmann and mitt romney, brett o'donnell, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> you bet. he's taking heat for saying everyone should pay the same tax and he's silencing his critics in the same way he always has. new jersey governor chris christie sits down with us live. >> and one major bank making a big promise to u.s. war vet. how their guarantee is changing this man's life after he has returned from afghanistan. >> and on this day in 1992, mr. big had the number one song "to be with you." [ male announcer ] where's your road to happiness?

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this guy's amazing.

>> answer to the trivia question, peter fonda. the winner is not peter fonda. he came in third. paul won. sorry, peter. j.p. morgan chase promised him a job when he returned from war and they kept their promise. andrew mccollough set off for afghanistan in 2010. he didn't know when he returned what would be his job when he come back. after returning from the front lines, what was waiting for him? that banking job and the chance to start a new, exciting career with a great company. joining us with this incredible story that's happening very often now, captain andrew mccollough along with nate herman. he serves as the executive director of military and veteran affairs at j.m. morgan chase.

thanks for being here. >> thanks for having us. >> how did you meet? >> we met yesterday over the phone. >> how did you -- i should say, how did you first come across j.m. morgan chase? >> well, i had a friend that worked there and on deployment. i was visiting my family and went to j.p. morgan and walked the trading floor. >> you wanted to see what these jobs were like and see if you could do it, right? >> see what they do on a daily basis and as i was walking the floor, this executive pulled me in his office and i had no idea who he was we spoke for about five minutes. he said when you get out of the marine corps, i'll give you a job. and like i said, i didn't know who i was and i didn't believe him to be honest but i kept in touch with him. when i got back, i interviewed and got a job. >> what are you doing? >> i work in loan operations in the investment bank. >> wow. right from the battlefield where it's dusty, sandy, windy and rainy to the tough world of wall street. andrew, what's the attraction? you're in charge -- you're part of this 100,000 jobs mission, j.p. morgan chase and 29 other

countries to hire 100,000 veterans. >> that's correct. >> what's the attraction to marines like him? >> it's a business imperative. i mean, what andrew has done, we can teach the functional skills. we teach how to do loan operations. it's the leadership, it's the work ethic, it's a decision making he brings to the table. we don't view this as -- we view this as the right thing to do but we view this as a business imperative. we're in a war for talent and we want folks like andrew working for us. >> with this program, j.p. morgan chase specifically is hiring 10 vets a day and every vet that applies gets a call back within five business days. now, andrew, you also said that you would feel like a test -- you're running a test for your buddies who re-signed to the marines because they weren't sure they could get a job. what's the message to them? >> a little early right now but the message is, you know, good initiative out here with several companies trying to get veterans jobs so, you know, i keep in touch with them so where do you think i'll fit really? and i'll help them out where i

can. >> is it true that you can apply what you learned in the marines in values and ethics to the real world with the suit and tie? >> definitely. a little different, obviously but still quick learning and thinking on their feet and just getting the job done. >> for the most part, no one is shooting at you. >> not at all. >> that's one of the best things. >> thanks so much for your service and i love what you guys are doing as part of this program, andrew and you have -- nate, and you have a great job as executive director of military affairs for j.p. morgan chase and keep us in touch. if we need a loan, most of our control room is flat out of money and we'll take a shot at them. if you can try to get their paperwork and get them some money because they're flat out. >> all right. >> all right. need some applications? >> excuse me? >> you can leave some application? >> sure. >> ok, good. thanks so much. >> thanks for having us. >> coming up straight ahead, in the final hour, on our rundown, he's taking heat for saying everyone should pay the same tax and he's silencing his critics in the same way he always has. new jersey governor chris christie sits down with us live but first he's going to stand up

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>> gretchen: top of the morning to you. it's thursday, february 23. i'm gretchen carlson. thanks so much for sharing part of your day with us today. it's going to be a good final hour here. the 20th republican debate was last night. could it be the last one now? even though rick santorum is surging, mitt romney had the crowd. >> as george could stanza would say when they were applauding, stop, right? >> gretchen: will his performance convince conservatives that he's their man? >> steve: since he's quoting seinfeld, i bet kramer will vote for mitt romney. new jersey governor chris christie famous for speaking his mind, has some words for billionaire warren buffet. >> can you write a check and shut up?

really. just contribute. okay? >> steve: chris christie sitting down on the curvy couch moments from now. >> brian: how is this for extra baggage? flight attendant reportedly caught with booze in her carry on and lots of it. judging by how much she had, she must have been very, very thirsty. "fox & friends" starts just about now. >> steve: yeah. shut up and write a check. awesome! >> gretchen: it's not the first time that the governor of new jersey has spoken his mind. guess what? he'll be with us in moments. first fox news alert. american soldiers have been killed in eastern afghanistan today. the troops gunned down by an afghan soldier who opened fire during a protest at their base. the names of the americans not released yet. it comes on the heels of a new call for jihad from the taliban. the group is calling for more of

these kinds of assaults on u.s. military bases in retaliation for the accidental incineration of several copies of the koran at the bagram air base in afghanistan. several copies of the muslim holy book were taken from a jail library. why? because taliban prisoners were apparently writing extremist messages in them and ironically, under islamic wall, writing inside the koran is forbidden and burning them is an accepted means of disposal. very serious warning for members of congress today. don't open any mail from portland, oregon, because it could be deadly. this warning comes after three lawmakers got threatening letters with a powdery substance ruled harmless. the author of the letter claims there are dozen more and some could be harmful. each letter reads this way: there is a 10% chance you have just been exposed to a lethal pathogen. all three letters had a phony return address, but postmarked in portland. united airlines plane shot

off the runway in rochester, new york. the brakes not enough to stop it from skidding into the snow. according to passengers, the pilot told them that he tried to stop, but there wasn't any traction. the 45 passengers were stuck on the plane for 20 minutes before emergency crews were able to get them off and luckily no one was hurt. now much lighter, a lighter airline incident. a flight attendant caught with empty bottles of booze in her carry on and a whole lot of vodka in her system. it happened on a delta flight to minneapolis. the flight attendant reportedly so drunk, she couldn't even spell her own name. she was sent home early once the plane landed. that means the next flight she was supposed to be on had to be canceled because it was understaffed. i have a feeling that job could be in jeopardy now. >> steve: no kidding. joining us here on the curvy couch, the governor of my home state of new jersey, good morning to you, chris christie. >> happy new year. >> steve: let's preface this with you have endorsed mitt

romney. >> yes, sir. >> steve: all right. given that, let's talk a little bit about laciniate bait, the toth -- last night's debate. all the right leaning blogs think mitt romney won and rick santorum had a bad night. let's hear your analysis. >> i would agree. i think governor romney did well last night. i don't think it was his best performance. i think what you really saw was senator santorum just wasn't ready. i think part of this is just having been in those debates over time and not been in the spotlight, i don't think he was ready to feel the heat that he felt last night of the tension and there is a lot of attention. >> steve: it was toasty. >> gretchen: would you have advised him, because when you're personally attacked, would you have advised santorum to try and turn the question to be more on the offense? >> his record is his record, you know. so when you say at a debate that i was against no child left behind on principle, but i voted for it anyway because i'm a team player --

>> steve: he was taking one for the team. >> that's problem. and it's a problem for someone who is trying to sell themselves as a no compromise, principled conservative. well, if you're trying to sell yourself that way and then you admit that i voted for something against my principle that was a major piece of legislation, that's the beginnings of a bad night. >> brian: it seems like the front runners pay a price. when mitt romney was on a roll up to massachusetts, goes into south carolina and newt hammers him in florida. newt got hammered. then mitt came back. now santorum gets in the lead and he gets hammered. here are some of the better moments of mitt romney last night. >> if you have not supported him, if we had said no to arlen specter, we would not have obamacare. so don't look at me. take a look in the mirror. four years ago, you not only endorsed me, you said to laura ingraham, this is the guy who is really conservative and we can trust him. while i was fighting to save the olympics, you were fighting to save the bridge to nowhere. >> brian: that's good research. >> sure. governor romney has a really

good campaign team and they work hard at it. they make sure that they raise the points that the public needs to know when they're evaluating people for president of the united states. it was all fair game, all part of senator santorum's record and i think he has to answer for it. >> gretchen: what we've seen in the past happen is sort of this anti-mitt candidate. there has been a lot of them. now would you predict that now maybe newt gingrich would come back up in the polls if you didn't think santorum did such a great job? 'cause a lot of the other blogs think newt gingrich a good night as well. >> listen, i think speaker gingrich had a tough run here. i'm not going to predict who is going to do what in this race except to say that at the end of the day, governor romney will be the nominee. what all the twists and turns will be is impossible to predict as we've seen already. i think what's the most important thing is for us to be focusing as a party on getting a nominee and having that nominee begin to train his attention on the president of the united states because that's the real contest here. as republicans, we need to be

concerned about. i think these rnc rules that turn into proportional awarding of delegates, this was the dumbest idea anybody ever had. we voted against it. the reason is you run against an incumbent president, so your ideas, make ours longer so we can beat each other up longer. >> gretchen: now we're talk being a brokered convention. your name is coming back into the mix. >> don't worry about that. i'm behind mitt romney 1 unhundred%. i campaigned for him around the country. i'll be doing something for him tonight in michigan. i'm with governor romney. he's going to be our nominee and i believe he's going to be the next president of the united states. >> brian: he needs michigan. >> i know win beats losing. if he wins on tuesday that, will be great momentum moving into super tuesday. but if he doesn't, remember, there is still a lot of delegates to be given out and he still has i think the best message, the best organization, and the most money. all which have will help him to get the nomination.

>> brian: for a brief moment, you sound like governor parcels. >> good thing to be. >> steve: the key is, you are the governor in jersey. on wednesday you unveiled your big budget and there is good news for people in new jersey. you are going to cut income taxes on the state level by 10%. you're putting money back into the pension fund, which has not happened in the past because the cupboard was bare and you're putting money into the schools. what can washington learn from what you're doing in new jersey? >> we made the tough choices for two years. remember, we're doing that and spending is still below what the state spent in 2008. so we've cut out wasteful spending in order to spend money on our priorities. funding our k to 12 education, higher education, colleges and universities, paying our pension. we made $1.1 billion payment to the pension fund. largest payment any governor made in a single year and now let's cut income taxes 10% for everyone in new jersey because the only way you can make sure the government is not waste your

money is send it there in the first place. >> steve: the democrats there say he's cutting income tax, which help people, the rich people and they're taking a shot at you on that. what people really want is a cut in the property tax. >> how about this? how great is it, 'cause you live in new jersey. >> steve: yes. >> how great is it that we've already won the argument? now democrats argue with me about what tax to cut. great! i love to have that argument. let's have the argument. let's cut all the taxes. these are people who raise taxes 115 times in eight years before i became governorment property taxes went up 70%. we're paying it. you and i. now i have them arguing with me about which tax to cut. great argument. i'm happy to have it. no matter what, no matter what happens in the end, whether it's a big income tax cut or combination of the two or whatever it is, in the end, the taxpayers are going to win and they wouldn't have if we hadn't come to office. >> gretchen: maybe they'll need that extra dough 'cause look at gas prices. they're soaring. did you find it ironic that that question was not asked last night? >> i did.

>> gretchen: was that a total -- an example of media bias or why would that not be forefront? it's on everyone's mind? >> i don't know whether it's bias or whether it's a combination of that, plus just being completely out of touch with what real people are concerned about. real people are commuting to work this morning, had to stop and get gas, it's hurting them significantly. i don't know. i thought for sure that would be a question last night. i was shocked it wasn't. >> brian: so just on that same note, the president is going to make a major energy speech today and the word is from our reporters that look at last year's speech, it will be very similar. why have a speech that says nothing? is there an advantage to that? >> he needs fill space. he knows the right thing to do is build the pipeline. he knows that. but he is catering to the extremists in his party by not doing it, not creating jobs and not bringing more energy no this country for friendly neighboring canada. with all the problems we're having in the middle east, why wouldn't you want to bring more energy into this country from a

friendly neighbor to the north and create thousands of jobs at the same time? the president is missing the boat on the pipeline issue and what he should do today is forget about all this political advisors and the polls he's reading. he should do what he knows is right, which is authorize the building of the pipeline. >> steve: sure. when you look at the economy and the nation, the higher gas prices is like a tax on everybody. he worked so hard to get everybody 20 bucks on the payroll tax cut. now they're blowing that and more every time they fill up a tank of gas. his advisors go, look, the economy is turning around. unemployment going down, stock market going up. >> of course that's good. these are the arguments it they will make if it continues. but people do care about what's happening at the gas pump. americans still drive. they love their cars. they commute to work every day. they go on vacation in their cars this summer. imagine if gas is even higher this summer what people are getting ready to go to the jersey o shore. >> steve: the good thing about new jersey, when it comes to the

gas pump, somebody puts the gas in the car for you. full service. >> cheapest gas in the renal. anybody who needs gas, come to jersey. we got the cheapest gas in the region by far because i refuse to, the democrats attempt to raise the gas tax in the beginning of my term. >> brian: that's why when you came in, go to jersey, they have great gas. i think that's a great slogan. >> you should be a marketing guru. >> brian: i'm not too good at this. >> i want to talk to you afterwards. we'll do a side deal. >> steve: think squeegee. >> gretchen: before the two of you hook up, here is what we'll talk about, you heard the sound bite at the top of the hour, the governor telling billionaire warren buffet to write a check and shut up. more straight talk from christie coming up. >> steve: sorry, no more sex for kids. uncle sam wants to regulate what goes in the vending machines. the food police. oh, please, not the snickers ♪ w

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>> gretchen: cut a check and shut up. those words to billionaire warren buff net from new jersey governor chris christie. he says if buffet wants americans to pay higher tax, he should cut the check himself. >> brian: we're back with governor chris christie. governor, you're tired of hearing about the buffet tax, how guilty he feels paying so little taxes, knowing he also owes taxes, which he hasn't paid up yet. >> listen, and if he wants to pay more tax, let him. i'm just tired -- the democrats trot warren buffet out every time they want to make a point about raising taxes on the american people, which they are insatiable about doing. and if mr. buffet, like i said -- i don't mean to be disrespectful. i just mean tell it as i see it.

we've heard it already. we heard your point. if you really want to contribute, write a check and contribute. you got tens of billions of dollars. you trust barak obama with that money? then write a check and give it to him. >> steve: i got bad news for you. after the comment about shut up and write the check, jay carney now after you. here he is yesterday. >> that's a quip that tries to draw attention away from something that is a serious issue, which is the need to have a tax code that's fair and helps the american people. so quips aside, we think the buffet rule is absolutely an important principle to apply to individual tax reform. >> steve: enough with the quips. >> i've never been called the quipster. i read the transcript from that yesterday. this is the beauty of the obama white house. they wouldn't even mention my name. the governor you referred to.

>> gretchen: why? >> i think they -- there is such a sense of self importance, they think if they mention my name, the people might then know who i am. the american people have a pretty good idea who i am. i don't know that being mentioned by jay carney at his press conference would help with my name i.d. >> gretchen: you were sort of laughing listening to. what makes you chuckle? >> it's a ridiculous comment to say that this distracts from the important issue. it is the issue! the issue is you're using this guy, you're using his secretary who is one of the best paid secretaries in america apparently, you know, you're using them to make a point about redistribution of wealth. i think when we look back on the 2008 campaign, i think one of the most telling moments, even though it wound up becoming kind of cultish, was joe the plumber, because the president said then as a candidate, exactly how he's trying to govern. he's in favor of redistribution of wealth. and having the government be in

charge of winners and losers. i'm for an america where the ingenuity and the effort and ambition of americans decides who the winners and losers are. >> brian: you know your budget won't balance unless the revenue goes up. you have to find a way to get that revenue up. mitt romney will be releasing his tax plan on a big speech on friday. i don't know how familiar you are with it. some of the highlights, he's going to get rid of some tax deductions for the rich. he's going to have a cut for all six tax brackets, and keep capital gains at 15% while reducing the corporate tax from 35 to 25. these type things that chris christie would do? >> these are the things you have to do. you have to look at the details in terms of how he's going to tighten up the code. we have to do that. the tax code has to be fair to regular americans. so it shouldn't be that you get a tax break if you can afford to hire a lobbyist in washington, d.c. to get a special line in the tax code for you. it should be listen, you make a certain amount, you pay a certain amount. while there is certain things we want to encourage, like charitable giving and homeownership, beyond that, i

think we should be questioning some of these special give aways that are given to people. i think that part is unfair. i think most americans would like to see get rid of some of the fancy deductions. lower my rates and let me know what i'm going to pay and make it simpler. nothing against accountants, my father is one. but enough with these hundreds of pages of tax returns. >> brian: he doesn't watch cable, so you're okay. >> he watches this show. i'm in big trouble right now. sorry, dad. >> gretchen: that was nice of him what you told warren buffet. >> by the way, i have to do this, it is my daughter's 16th birthday today. she's sweet 16. sarah. so happy birthday to sarah. >> steve: that's very nice. chris christie, we thank you very much. >> gretchen: next, free advice on how to hold on to your home or lower your interest rate if you can't make the payments. real estate guru bob massi dipping into our mail bag,

answering your questions. right back the best approach to food is tkeep it whole for better nutrition. that's what they do with great grains cereal. they steam and bake the actual whole grain while the otr guy's flake is more processed. mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal.

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>> steve: now some "fox & friends" headlines. a violent morning in iraq after a series of attacks killed at least 50 people and hurt more than 200. the bombings, mostly in baghdad, focused on security forces. al-qaeda militants believed to be behind the violence. not shocking. when was the last time you got a $370,000 bonus for failing? that's what is happening at solyndra. the remaining bosses there at the failed solar panel company are all getting that amount, 370,000. they originally wanted to give themselves half a million dollars bonuses.

sorry, guys. gog have to settle on 370. gretch? >> gretchen: each and every week here on the show, we highlight the latest in america's foreclosure crisis. bob massi dipping into the mail bag and sharing e-mails from you, the viewers. joining me now live from las vegas, bob massi. good morning to you, bob. >> good morning, gretchen. >> gretchen: so this is the first one from jean. here is what she says. i think it's a woman. i am old and my home is under water. i can afford the payments and never miss them. can a real estate attorney assist me to help lower my interest rate? no one wants to lower the rate. >> yes. there is no question that first of all, if you get a competent real estate lawyer and work with a competent mortgage broker, many good real estate lawyers knows the ethical and credible people to work with, see if there is any programs out there that you could be eligible for. we know you and i have talked about it, as of march 1, the harp 2 program is coming out.

i'm going to be covering that with our viewers once we get all the protocols. surely it's worth going, talking with them. refinancing, jean, is not an easy thing to do in america right now because if your interest rates are high, it's becoming more difficult because the lenders aren't refinancing. definitely get some competent advice from a real estate attorney and a good mortgage lender to see what they can or cannot do for you. >> gretchen: okay. and this one is from miss b. i think she wants to be anonymous. we attempted to modify our loan eight different times through bank of america. finally after expensive fee, we received a loan modification. however, the loan is now $354,000. why? >> you know, gretchen, this -- remember what she said. eight different times. this is such a -- i picked this question 'cause it's such a typical nightmare that homeowners in america have gone through with loan modifications. what happened, probably, 'cause i don't have all the facts, is during this period of time of

trying to modify, she wasn't making payments. well, when we sign these papers with finance charges and penalties, i would imagine what's happened is because she was so far in arrears as what hadn't been paid during the period of months that went by, that was all tacked on to the loan that was modified. all the reason more i tell people, although loan modification has a place in america, most viewers have seen the frustration and the horror stories. remember, it's a band-aid. whatever money you're saving on the payment is tacked on to the loan. it's not forgiven. you're still going to have to pay it back. that's probably what happened. >> gretchen: okay. the final one from robert. my father passed away in 2011. there are four years left on his mortgage which is $18,000. the appraised value of the home is $40,000. but it needs between 20,000 to $40,000 in repairs. i have an offer for 30,000. this is like a math problem for my daughter's homework. what should he do, because in seriousness, it's a real

problem. >> yeah. you know what? what you need to do is get a very good real estate practitioner. not a lawyer, but real estate person who understands the area and decide what's the future of the area where this home is. the other thing is if you have children or grandchildren, you may look and say, although i have to put money into this, maybe this is something that my father would love to have had his great grandchildren live in down the road. so look and evaluate the area where that property is located. get some opinions and then decide what you need to do. finally, gretchen, i do want to say, i'm preparing for a very big trial and i want to let our viewers know, i'm very behind in my e-mails. i promise you, i'll get my answers out the next week or ten days. that's the only reason some of them have not heard from me because i've been behind. i apologize for that. >> gretchen: you're a great guy. i know you will answer all of them when you get a chance. >> yes, i do. >> gretchen: see you soon. thanks. >> take care. >> gretchen: the latest jobless numbers set for release minutes from now. it will be alert when it

happens. so will it provide another sign of recovery? eric bolling joins us live on other side of the break with reaction. oh, oh who is he going to pull in as well? then sorry, no snacks for you at school. uncle sam wants to regulate what goes into the vending machines at school [ male announcer ] imagine facing the day with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior

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>> steve: you've been waiting for this. fox business alert. labor department released brand-new weekly jobless numbers. 351,000 first-time unemployment claims were filed last week. that is up from 348,000 the week before. economists were expecting 354,000. for instant analysis, here is eric bolling back on the couch. >> thank you. good number. 351. any time you can approach 350 and have it going in the correct direction, which is lower, we spent the better part of two years before 400,000, good. not great, but good. and good sign, showing signs of life in the economy. at least jobs coming back a little bit. >> gretchen: gas prices could factor into this down the road because there is always this chain reaction. gas prices keep going up and that starts affecting cost of

commodities and then that starts affecting jobs potentially. so last night, wouldn't you think at the debate that since this is the water cooler discussion with millions of americans this week, that might have been the first question out of the gate? no. not even was it not the first question, eric, it was never a question! >> it's amazing that wasn't the first question or a question down the road. it really does show media bias. the media who are basically in the obama camp, they're leaning left, they're saying, let's not bring thumb. let's not highlight this because it really is one of the two achille's heels to an obama reelection. one is jobs and the other is gasoline prices. jobs are starting to come back around, so everyone is saying, hey, look how good things are going with jobs and forgetting that 3.61 is the highest price ever, ever in a february. going higher. there is a couple of bucks added on to the price of a barrel over the last couple of derek had means gas prices have to go higher over the next 30 or 45 days.

it's 107 a barrel almost. it has to catch up to the -- the pump price has to catch up. we'll see $4 price probably in the next few weeks. >> steve: i thought for a minute, john kane would react to, i think it was ron paul who about three quarters of the way through said, you know, gas hit 6 bucks down in florida. i figured the next question would be about that. >> here is the problem, when you ask that question, when king asked the question for republicans on stage, you have four -- you probably have four, five different ways of bringing gasses brown. >> he never asked the question. >> never asked. but also against the obama administration who has no clue about bringing gas prices down. >> brian: they say it's not possible. even though in 2008 they blamed bush for the high gas price, they say there is no magic bullet. do you know of magic? do you know anything about magic. >> i have a manualic bullet. jay carney said, there is president obama magic bullet to bring the gas prices down, but there is. there is an easy one. harvard study here, you can go through this, did you know --

>> brian: jeremy lin? >> no. he outlines the different blends of gasoline. winter blend, oxygen blend. >> steve: california blend. >> midwest blend. there is unnetted knoll blend, too much ethanol, too little ethanol. president obama can do it overnight, sign it, has to do with the clean air act. if he signed it and said, one national blend for gasoline, you can use it in chicago, you can use it in san diego or you can use it in new york city, the price of gasoline would be a dollar lower. one blend, one buck lower. >> steve: you know why he's not going to do that? the same reason he would not go along with the keystone excel pipeline and that is his green base would hate it. they'd say look, he signed that and messing with our air. >> isn't that crazy? there are literally thousands of pipelines in america. it looks like a spider web if you highlight the pipelines. but this one that could probably

help bring prices down and also create jobs, this is the one they've got a problem with. >> gretchen: the interesting thing is, it kind of flies in the face of some of the democrats face of wanting higher gas price. the transportation secretary is saying that because it plays into the green energy argument about why we need electric cars. >> steven, which hu saying if we get to 8 or $9 a gallon like in europe, that would create less demand, maybe we get off foreign dependence. it's a backward way of thinking and obama said under his cap and trade plan, electricity prices wouldn't necessarily skyrocket. >> gretchen: secretary of energy. not transportation. >> steve: cap and trade didn't pass. so this is a way to get green energy -- >> i wrote a song. >> brian: about what. >> gretchen: oh, oh oh, my gosh. we've seen the president sing recently. now boling? >> brian: you wrote a song? >> i did. i'm getting there. >> steve: even brought a

costume. >> brian: hit it. ♪ i woke up this morning and turned on the news ♪ ♪ gasoline was up again ♪ i got the blues ♪ i had a few bucks to bring to the bank ♪ ♪ needed it all to fill up my tank ♪ ♪ the dollars were highing on the gasoline pump ♪ ♪ with each ring a ding ding a pain in my rump ♪ ♪ so live it up while you can, commander in chief ♪ ♪ because the pain at the pump is beyond our belief ♪ ♪ we'll remember in november when we vote and choose ♪ ♪ and you'll know why you lost ♪ 'cause we got the gasoline blues ♪ ♪ . >> steve: ladies and gentlemen, eric bolling! that was awesome! >> brian: you'll be in new orleans. you'll need another song or another verse. >> may the day never come. >> gretchen: i like how you loosened your tie.

>> brian: the other four members of "the five," take your hat off. they don't want to look at that. >> steve: headline time. >> gretchen: brian, you have to start that. >> brian: bit of a hard turn. >> steve: there he goes. ladies and gentlemen, eric bolling. >> brian: that was fantastic. >> steve: meanwhile. >> brian: let me tell you what happened. this is an ugly story. we're getting shocking reports suggesting american journalist marie colvin wasn't just in the wrong place at the wrong time when she was killed during a bombing attack in syria yesterday, but she may have intentionally been targeted and murdered by the syrian government. officials in lebanon claim they intercepted a direct order from the syrian military to destroy colvin's makeshift press office over in the city of holmes where they were told henchmen from syria's president assad were able to find that office by tracking the phone and other

journalists' cell phones. journalist, look out. now you're being targeted. >> steve: that's terrible. the battle to save a christian pastor held prisoner in iran getting more difficult by the day. so far pressure from the west not enough to save him from execution. the pastor sentenced to death for refuse to go recant being christian. he rejected an offer to be freed from prison by converting back to islam. he said no. so is there any other way? middle east expert joined us earlier with how you can help raise awareness. >> they put out a tweet for use of campaign. he's condoning a tweet a day talking about how many days he's been in prison and calling for his release. so we have no diplomatic relations with iran obviously with their government, so this is the best that we can do. >> steve: it's about all they can do. the 34-year-old pastor has been behind bars since 2009. he is married with two children.

>> gretchen: the food police are at it again. the obama administration now considering new regulations for school vending machines. they're similar to the rules already in place, regulating school lunches. the new guidelines due out in the next few weeks will likely focus on fats, sodium and sugar. so they're basically going to take out some of the -- they're going to make baked potato chip, i think, instead of the fried ones. that's not bad. >> steve: as long as they had a choice. all right. 19 minutes before the top of the hour. the republican candidates got one last chance to describe themselves in one word. so how did they do? peter johnson, jr. weighs in coming up next. >> gretchen: then busted, undercover boss breaks his cover and confronts one bad employee. >> i've been in the fast food business for over 20 years. i am ceo for this company. >> gretchen: see how the rest of this played out. that ceo is here live this hour. remember, he's not supposed to blow his cover and he did. is it fast?

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>> steve: welcome back. exactly quarter before the top of the hour. at last night's presidential debate, the candidates were asked to summarize who they are in one word. here are those words. >> resolute. >> mr. speaker? >> cheerful. [ laughter ] >> steve: so did their debate performance match up to their self images? here to separate wishful thinking from hard reality, we want to look at the losers and winners, peter johnson, jr. okay, so we heard two of them. >> i don't know -- just to begin, i don't know what you were thinking or what the folks were thinking, but i saw these candidates at this cramped desk, it took me back to going to kindergarten with my kids' teachers. you sit in those little desks. was cnn doing that on purpose?

>> steve: when my wife and i saw that, i said, doesn't it look like parents' night when you go back to school and -- >> it really does. in terms of how they were branding themselves, mitt romney branded himself as resolute. resolute means firm, determined, purposeful. what i was hearing, and the image that it evoked for me was at the presidential desk, resolute, given to did he work did he work. >> steve: i've seen "national treasure" ." >> but all of our presidents have sat at that desk, obama and reagan and famously john kennedy. so i thought that was a calming kind of image that we heard. newt gingrich said he was cheerful. we think of newt gingrich as brilliant and insightful. i never think of him as cheerful, so i don't know if that matched up. but last night i think that people were looking, especially in the main stream media, while they love a race, is santorum going to deliver the knockout punch? i don't think that he did.

i think romney was a stronger in many respects and there was a tag team on santorum. i felt sorry for him. he got banged on planned parenthood and no child left hyped and on various votes that he had taken, especially on earmarks. so instead of being resolute looking, he kind of was looking like he was back pedaling on some things and romney delivered a very, very strong line when he said listen, i was concerned about saving the olympics basically and you were worried about the bridge to nowhere. and so it was a strong night for romney last night, i think. >> steve: rick santorum needed, though -- he crested about a week ago and in the polls toward the voting in michigan on tuesday, it's pretty much a horse race right now. >> it is a horse race and clearly i would say that any of these candidates, based on debating ability, would be able

to go toe to toe with president obama in a series of debates in the fall because they've honed their skills. their message is clear. but in delivering the knockout punch, i don't think rick santorum was able to deliver it at all last night. even at that kind of cramped desk where he looked like he was trying to speak to the kindergarten teacher that was john king. >> steve: that was kind of an odd -- >> i hope it wasn't on purpose. i think they rose above it. >> steve: they literally. thank you very much for the post analysis. coming up, he was supposed to stay undercover. but this undercover boss had had enough from what he saw. >> i've been in the fast food business for over 20 years. i'm ceo for this company. >> steve: oh, man. wait until you see how the rest played out. that ceo live coming up next. right now, let's check in with bill hemmer who is live upstairs. >> how are you doing? great show. a terrific line - up coming up.

steven hayes takes on the romney-santorum faceoff. mike huckabee just met with israeli leaders. he's live in jerusalem on their concerns over war in iran. small business leaders, strong reaction to the white house tax plan. karl rove, joe trippy, martha and i will see you in ten minutes. "america's newsroom" you can with green giant frozen vegetables. over twenty delicious varieties ha sixty calories oless per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce. chocolate lemonade ? susie's lemonade... the movie. or... we make it pink ! with these 4g lte tablets, you can do business at lightning-fast spes.

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>> brian: he was supposed to stay undercover. when checkers restaurant ceo donned a costume to do a work study, he wasn't expect to go hear verbal abuse from one of his general manager managers. >> have you been in the fast food business before? >> actually, die have experience. i'll tell you exactly. i have been in the restaurant business for over 30 years and i've been in the fast food business for over 20 years.

i am ceo for this company. i know exactly what it takes to run a restaurant like this and guess what? i know the right way and i know the wrong way to do it. right here, right now, we're going to shut the restaurant down. >> brian: wow! so you broke your cover, rick, to let this guy know he can't abuse you like that. did you lose your temper? >> no, no. i stayed pretty calm. that wasn't supposed to happen there, of course. i certainly wasn't supposed to let them know who i was. i went undercover to sort of find new ways to continue to grow our company. we've been growing effectively over the last three years. i thought by going undercover, i'd find better ways to continue to improve our business and grow our business. let me tell you, i learned a lot. got a lot of great ideas. >> brian: you also, by the way, went under the name alice garcia. what prompted to you have this insurrection with your manager where you shut down the restaurant and didn't fire him, but sent him back for better training. what prompted this?

>> first of all, you should know, i have incredibly high standards. my team will tell you. in fact, that comes from the guests. our guests say we love your food, it's special. the occasion is special. i take that seriously. you know how competitive it is. so when i got there, i noticed some stuff that wasn't right. it wasn't in my standard. so when i started talking to this manager, i learned that he was a brand-new manager, came from another system. then when i spoke to him, i realized he could not deliver our standard that night in that restaurant. i had to do something. >> brian: he was yelling at you, wasn't he? and he was yelling at everybody and he told you as an explanation, well, that's the only way i can get anybody's attention. >> well, he wasn't being polite and appropriate with our employees. i spent eight days out there on the job and across the entire u.s. and i will tell you, this is a complete exception because i was so incredibly proud of the work that our employees did. i think you saw some of that on

the show. this is completely -- i mean, i couldn't believe the way he was talking to our employees. was very shocked by it. but you know something? the important thing is as a business person, when you see something that's wrong, you step up and fix it. unfortunately, i'll tell you, i would rather not have shut the restaurant down. that's the only option i had available to me. but whatever it took to just take care of the situation. we brought another manager in and we reopened the restaurant with no problem. >> brian: i thought it was great, and i know how tough it is 'cause i worked in restaurant since i was 13 through college. you got overwhelmed. the rush hit and the ceo had trouble keeping up! >> oh, yeah. that was the toughest thing. i was that guy slowing the production line down. i hated being that guy. as the ceo, you tend to think i've got everything under control. it was horrible being there. i call it lucille ball moment with the chocolates going across the assembly line. i was mortified. but you know something? the outpouring of e-mails i'm getting from folks is wonderful.

what i love is that folks out there, i think, got a really good picture of how hard these jobs are. i've got a bunch of degrees. i think i'm relatively smart, but i couldn't do those jobs. those are hard jobs. and the people who do them are wonderful people! they're so passionate, so great. i think we go to restaurants every day and sometimes we forget to actually appreciate those folks. >> brian: they feed off your passion. we look forward to seeing new studio. thank you for watching the show over the years. checkers and rally's is the place to go. rick, thanks so much. for "fox & friends" in two [ male announcer ] where's your road to happiness? what ithe first step on that road is a bowl of soup? delicious campbell's soups fill you with vegetable nutrition, farm-grown ingredients, and can help you keep a healthy weight. campbell's -- it's amazing what soup can do.

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