and watch ericon "the five". 9:00 here and new this morning, there is growing anger on the ground in afghanistan as hundreds of people take to the streets there, chanting death to america. these are new images now, demanding a public trial for the american soldier who killed 16 civilians. these questions linger how long u.s. forces should stay in that country. good morning, everybody. as we dive into this. i'm bill hemmer. welcome to "america's newsroom.". martha is out this week. good morning to you, patti ann. you drew the short straw i think. >> that. good morning. president obama says we should not be in afghanistan any longer than necessary. >> obviously what happened this weekend was absolutely tragic and heart-breaking but when you look at hundreds of thousands of our military personnel have

achieved, under enormous strain, you can't help but be proud generally. and, i think it's important for just to make sure that we are not in afghanistan longer than we need to be. bill: now there is new report suggesting senior officials are talking about speeding up the pullout and what does the white house say about that. to senior white house foreign affairs correspondent, wendell goler. wendell, does the white house say anything about the report? how do they react? >> reporter: they say nothing about the report. they say the weekend killings won't affect the pace of the u.s. withdrawal in afghanistan but it is a conditional no. there are 90,000 u.s. servicemen and women in afghanistan, about a quarter of them due home in september and the residue home in 2014. there is no scheduled for the pace of the withdrawal

white house press secretary jay carney said yesterday the weekend incident hasn't changed the objectives in afghanistan but neither does the u.s. want to overstay its welcome. >> the focus of our policy is dinled to hand over great authority to and responsibility to afghan security forces and the afghan government. i think that demonstrates that our interest is in, is not in staying any longer than we have to. >> reporter: carney also said it is important to remember the process of reconciliation of current after afghan leaders and taliban is a how quickly u.s. forces can draw. bill: wendell, do you have a sense how soon the decision is made on this. >> reporter: that is focus of the summit in may. president obama said at a news conference last weeked heaters will look how

effectively they are able to partner with nato troops as well as handle their own security. here is part of what he had to say. >> what we're going to be next at this nato meeting and planning for the next two years is to make sure that transition is not a cliff but that there are benchmarks and steps that are taken along the way. >> reporter: afghanistan will be a major topic of the president's meeting with british prime minister david cameron who arrives today on an official visit. back to you. bill: thank you, wendell goler, leading our coverage there. patti ann? patti ann: defense secretary leon panetta said he is saddened and shocked by this massacre. but he has blunt words for anyone who thinks it will change the u.s. position in the country? >> war is hell. these kinds of events and incidents are going to take place. they have taken place in any war. they're terrible events.

and this is not the first of those events and it probably won't be the last. patti ann: panetta also says the accused soldier could face the death penalty. the defense secretary making remarks on route to kyrgyzstan a critical hub for supplies for troops in afghanistan. bill: we have 90,000 troops stationed there. that is the down 10,000 from june 2010. in 2011 the president bum announcing surge policy met the u.s. goals and drawdown would begin. the military mission in afghanistan set to end in 2014. the capital city of kabul where you saw video of protests, kandahar is down here in the south in the southern province where that tragic shooting occurred 4 hours ago. bear in mind the long lawless border between afghanistan and pakistan. this is where the war has played out for the good part of 10 years. on the western edge the

border with iran. still a strategic part of the world where u.s. interests are still at risk and in play today. five minutes past of the hour now. patti ann: turning to the race for the white house and what could be the defining day for the republican candidates. voting is underway in a pair of deep south states, alabama and mississippi. let's take a live look at a polling site in mobile. mitt romney looking to make a breakthrough with southern voters. newt gingrich in desperate need of another win. >> i think that three years ago we sent to washington a message. i think it is time to send a president to washington who can fix things in this country. >> i want to tell you it is a very, very close. we think we have a good chance to win both states. patti ann: rick santorum meanwhile casting himself as the only true conservative in the race and calling on southern voters that he

should be the one competing against mitt romney. >> it is very, very clear where this race is headed if the people of alabama and mississippi are willing to step up for us and say we want this to get to a two-person race. we want this to be a race but we have an opportunity not at a convention. bill: in all 84 delegates on the line in those two states and byron york at his post, chief political correspondent, washington examiner. you've canvased the state. what is your sense in alabama? >> good morning, bill. it is an absolute dead heat. we have polls in alabama showing mitt romney, newt gingrich and rick santorum within one point of each other. similar polls in mississippi. i was in a barbecue in tuscaloosa. rick santorum talking with a bunch people who were undecided. look, i've got until tuesday to decide. they said good things about mitt romney. they said good things about

newt gingrich and they said good things about santorum. so it is impossible to call. bill: here is your headline in the piece. in away game in the south romney may win big. why? >> we've seen a lot of attention in the lead up to these primaries here on santorum and on gingrich. could santorum win both and knock gingrich out of the race. could gingrich win both and get out of the race. romney has a lot to win, if he puts. he has lost in south carolina, georgia, tennessee. he won in virginia but we all know it was just him and ron paul. a lot of people don't consider florida where he also won a real southern state. if he wins either mississippi or alabama he puts that narrative to rose. bill: i see. i hear your point f they split the vote again does today prove anything? >> no. it just continues. i spoke to gingrich last night. clearly he is intending to go on not just to louisiana

which is on march 24th but all the way to texas which will be in late may. could be even later. which has 155 delegates. he is clearly talking about trying to create a brokered convention where nobody goes into tampa with enough delegates to win and then who knows what happens. it becomes kind of a jump ball in the gingrich scenario. bill: i see. byron, thank you. enjoy the barbecue while you can down there, all right? >> thank you, bill. it's great. bill: thank you for being with us today. alongwith the south now there are caucuses in hawaii, american samoa, with another 23 delegates at stake there. here is where the candidates stand. mist romney, 544. rick santorum 217. newt gingrich holding onto 147 and ron paul with 47. first man to reach 1144 wins the republican nomination. we will have complete coverage of the results later tonight on the fox news channel. it is your america's

election headquarters. patti ann. patti ann: to a controversial new voting law in texas. it is headed for a showdown in federal court. the justice department blocking a law in the lone star state that requires a photo i.d. when you vote. justice department saying it is unfair to latinos. texas governor rick perry says voter fraud is a big problem in his state. >> we know for a fact there has been fraud involved in our voting process through the years and having a voter i.d. is one of the ways to put a stop to that. and the texas legislature agreed overwhelmingly. it is an issue that is supported on both sides of the aisle, when you poll texans they don't want to see individuals taking advantage of a very sacred right and that is the right to vote. so having a voter i.d. makes sense. patti ann: kelly wright is live in washington now. kelly, hi. please explain the justice's department's bone of contention with this state law. >> reporter: imholding my

letter in my hand. in it the justice department cites, 1973 state georgia versus united states, which addressed the voter rights act of 1965 about photo identification. whether the attorney general whether texas says the proposed changes neither have the purpose or effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color or membership in a language minority group. now the justice department cites in this particular case with texas that texas has failed to meet that burden and as a result of this, we have this matter that is now going to be resolved in a court of law. patti ann: all right. kelly wright, reporting live from washington, thank you. bill: if you're wondering what that means going forward now, is the texas law discriminatory? does the justice department have a case? we have a fair and balanced debate next hour with a terrific panel. we'll get to all the questions then.

10 minutes past the hour. we're just getting rolling here. a lot to cover here on "america's newsroom". patti ann: you have a dramatic change in the president's approval rating. why president obama may be facing uphill battle to re-election. we'll have that ahead. bill: dozens of lawmakers calling on the attorney general to resign over "fast and furious" but is the bigger statement coming from someone refusing to say a thing? >> when did you first know about the program officially i believe called "fast and furious". >> not sure of the exact date but i probably heard about "fast and furious" for the first time over the last few weeks ♪

♪

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the plane running off the tarmac and rolling on to its side causing significant damage. there were no passengers on poured and thankfully no injuries. bill: good thing is happened at 5:00 a.m. >> do you believe you're capable of running the top law enforcement agency in this country? >> you look at everything i've done in the department past three years and look at the department in state it was in when i got here. >> you either lied or you were grossly incompetent. >> i don't know how long you've been here but my hope would be that, you know, we can get beyond that kind of interaction. >> how many more border patrol agents would have had to die as a part of "operation fast and furious" for you to take responsibility? >> that kind of question, i think is frankly, and again, respectfully i think that is beneath a member of congress. bill: some of these questions even though happening over next few weeks and months continue to grow. eric holder repeatedly under fire for gun-running

operation under "fast and furious." new reports for the first time a democrat openly refusing to support him. blue dog democrat, congressman dan borne out of oklahoma saying no comment asked whether or not he still had confidence in the attorney general. he joins dozens of law make calling for holder's resignation. congressman jason chaffetz on the government oversight and house reform. he is my guest. welcome to "america's newsroom.". >> good morning. bill: why do you think this list keeps growing? >> because the attorney general has not been candid and forthright providing documents to the united states congress as he has required with the subpoenas. inspector general, department of justice has had access to nearly 80,000 documents yet the united states congress only received 6,000 documents. we think he is in violation of a subpoena and we're getting to the point where our frustration has just gone beyond the point ever reason. we're looking at and considering holding the attorney general in contempt. bill: you have not joined

this list however, and you're sitting on the committee. why not? >> well, it is sitting on committee on both judiciary and oversight committee. i want to see the documents before i come to the final conclusion. what i think is clear at this point, that despite what president obama said repeatedly throughout his campaign and his term in the white house is they are not being candid and forthright. they are not providing documents and openness and transparency he promised. bill: you're clearly dubious about his truthfulness so why not just come out and say it? call for his resignation? >> if i'm going to sit on a panel that will help offer some judgement here and be objective and looking at i want to see all the documents. i think at a point we're at now, 22 categories of subpoenas we offered there are 13 categories which we had zero documents. i think it is fair to insist we get the documents review the documents air this out so it never ever happens

again and make that judgment. that is at least the approach i've taken. bill: you know they have given tens of thousands to the inspector general at the department of the justice. you're looking for i think 80,000 documents in total which you have six or 7,000 on hand but those documents have gone internally. what would be difference giving to them as opposed to giving them to you? >> well, i think that goes to the point that they, the department of justice is potentially in contempt and we as the oversight committee, chairman issa is doing a wonderful job being very aggressive with this administration, but also very patient. i think as you can see we need to bend over backwards. the department of justice asked for extension yesterday, marked a five-month point which we gave them an extension to provide these documents but i would hope and think we're starting to see now, that on both sides of the aisle this is not a partisan issue. the department of justice must provide, the united states congress these documents and they haven't

thus far. bill: there are tea party groups trying to being crank up pressure on fellow republicans to put more heat on holder. what do you think he is hiding? >> well, look, we want to know what did he know and when and was there potential cover-up. you have to go back to the february. this is like a year ago, february 4th, e-mail or document or letter that we got was sent to senator grassry. it was an absolute fabrication. it was misleading to the united states congress. you can't do that at the highest level. lanny breuer, the head of the criminal division i don't think he was candid and forthright, he had to come back and apologize. there is lot of growing evidence to suggest there was a cover-up at the department of justice. we can't stand for that. we can not have this. bill: we'll see where that leads. if indeed in the end that is the case. jason chaffetz out of salt lake city. >> thank you. bill: patti ann. patti ann: rick santorum telling voters he is only true conservative in the gop field. fighting words for team

romney. his campaign answers in just minutes. also? >> you want to be let out of here, you're welcome to go. now, wait a minute. wait a minute. now wait a minute. now wait a minute. wait a minute. bill: remember that scene? arlen specter responding to questions about his, to his voters about a support for the health care law. it may have cost the party changing democrat his job. now more than two years later why the former senator is slamming the president and the vice president. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

bill: former democratic senator revealing some surprising revelations about the obama administration. arlen specter out of pennsylvania claiming the president ditched him after specter voted to pass health care overhaul. specter made national headlines in 2009 when he

left the republican party. he says the administration also did not uphold their promise to grant him senority that he accrued over 28 years of service as a republican. whoa. patti ann: opening statements this morning in the manslaughter trial after wealthy florida polo club founder. john good man is charged with killing a young man in a drunk driving accident. he had made headlines in the past of bizarre legal adoption of his girlfriend. steve harrigan live at the courthouse in palm beach, florida. what penalty could he receive in the drunk driving incident. >> reporter: good man could face up to 30 years in prison not only for vehicular manslaughter but leaving the scene. the accident occurred two years ago, 1:00 in the morning not far from where i'm standing. goodman's bentley ran into a hyundai driven by a

23-year-old florida man. knocked it into the canal where it flipped over. it was one hour before goodman called rescuers, before he dialed 911. he walked away from the scene and waited before calling. by the time rescuers arrived at the scene, wilson was already dead, drowned to death, still strapped in behind the steering wheel. patti ann? patti ann: i mentioned earlier. he adopted his girlfriend. can you explain the reasoning for that? >> reporter: that bizarre twist certainly gotten this case a lot of attention nationwide. the 48-year-old goodman adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend, in a sense making his lover his daughter. defense attorneys say he was doing that to simply better to manage a trust fund for his two biological children. that trust fund estimated at more than $300 million. but prosecutors say he is simply trying to get at the money or perhaps shield it from a civil case. in any case, his two biological children are not happy about it at all. they are suing their father, not happy about having a new

42-year-old sister. patti ann, back to you. patti ann: oh, boy. steve harrigan live in west palm beach. thank you. bill: all that is something to watch. president obama watching his approval rating take a dive. new polling numbers that are stunning from month to month. this as gas prices spike and is the president facing uphill battle re-election campaign? fair and balanced debate on that. we'll tackle it. also there is this. >> qe, e, r, o. >> correct. patti ann: can you spell child prodigy. this 6-year-old came the youngest person ever to go to the national spelling bee. we will talk with this letter perfect champ just ahead. we'll tell you how she did it. >> older kids before. i judge them by who they are and not about age. hard to put it in words really. but at least i felt great.

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bill: rick santorum calls himself the true red conservative. not just the true conservative. the true red conservative. former pennsylvania senator said his victories show how conservative he is and that is what america needs in the white house and to win in november. here he is with sean hannity last night. >> we need to nominate a contough, sean. we don't nominate a conservative you've seen it. we nominated john mccain.

nominated jerry ford. when bush ran for election in '92 after having raised taxes. we lost the everyone of those races. i understand why the media wants romney. we know obama can beat romney. we will stick this out and we're going to win it. bill: that is part of argument for alabama and mississippi. reaction from the romney team. andrea salt, press secretary for mitt romney's campaign. good morning to you. thanks for coming back with us. >> good morning. bill: what do you think about the charge senator santorum levels? >> mitt romney says he is conservative principles we all believe him when he endorsed him last time around. now it is interesting to watch him change his tune. another case of abandoning principles to take one for the team. when you look at his record, he voted against right to work legislation. he voted to raise the debt ceiling five times without a accompanying cuts.

he voted to raise his own pay three times. this is someone who voted for the bridge to know where. so if those are fiscally conservative stances you've got me. a good one there, you're arguing that he is not a conservative? he is not a true conservative? >> i'm saying that he said that governor romney was a conservative when he, his words weren't politically motivated. and he has got a lot of things in his record people still is have questions about. why would he oppose to right to work legislation. he voted for sown waa sotomayor, a liberal activism judge. someone who is consistently conservative throughout his career is just false. if you look at his fiscal record, he is not conservative. bill: we'll talk to the santorum team. we'll get them to react to the charges you're leveling here. do you osh can you deliver after knockout blow today in these two states? >> we're going to pick up more delegates again

tonight. that's what we've been doing. bill: not a knockout? you're not going to predict a knockout? >> the rules are different this time around. last go round it was winner-take-all in these states f it was same rules this time i think you would see a different election but it is not. not only the introduction of super pacs but also poe portionnally divided the delegates. we have opportunity to pick up delegates in alabama, mississippi, hawaii and american samoa as well. it each day that passes the other candidates just don't have a chance to catch up to our delegate lead. and at some point --. bill: what santorum is arguing he won in kansas and as he said he can't get any redder than kansas. he won in oklahoma. there was a beauty contest in missouri a couple weeks back. he swept every county in that state. does he make an argument that today is a day for him? >> governor romney's won more republican votes than any of the other candidates

in the race. if you look back to state like michigan, senator santorum was relying on democrats to cross over to vote for him because they know mitt romney is a candidate they don't want to go up against in the general election. he gotten all the democrat votes. we've gotten the most republican votes. again today we'll pick up more delegates and we're headed to the path to get the nomination. bill: in a word, i apologize for interruption, i've got one more question here and i've got to run. what is your expectation for today? because you seem to be downplaying things at the moment? >> our expectation is to add to our delegate lead and be that much closer to getting the nomination. bill: see you later tonight. andrea saul, romney team. santorum team next hour. thank you for your time. patti ann. patti ann: meanwhile the president seeing a sharp drop in his approval rating. according to a new poll just 41% like the job he is doing. 47% say they disapprove. just a month ago this same poll had obama at a 50% approval rating. so how troubling is this for

the incumbent president? andrea tanteros is a daily news columnist and co-host of the "the five" on fox news and christopher hahn a former aide to u.s. democratic senator chuck schumer and fox news contributor. thank you both for joining us. >> great to be here. patti ann: president obama's approval rating down to 41. a month ago it was 50. chris, why the drop? >> listen gas prices matter in an election. i'm actually happy that these numbers are down. i don't want to the president to get too confident seeing what is going on in the republican party. i have worked on a lot of campaigns and i always said there are only two ways to run, unopposed or scared. if the president is running hard, if he is working hard, if he is running scared who way he can lose to any of the three amigos running down in the south. he will beat them soundly in november especially when this gas price bubble burst burst and prices drop sometime in september. patti ann: three amigos, okay.

andrea, president's approval rating on foreign policy is down specifically from 50% to 40%. what issues do you think are concerning voters most? >> well, i think unrest in the middle east is concerning voters. but i've got to give it to chris. i worked on campaigns too and i never looked at big dip in polls and jump up and down and start to celebrate. i think president is on dangerous ground. that is from the "new york times." this is dangerous place for a president to be. when you look at it probably is gas prices. you dig a little bit deeper and 54% of the respondents, believe, over half of the electorate believes that the president can do something about that. so he hasn't done anything to date to really quell the doubt in their minds. i would also point out what is really interesting about this, patti ann, this is a white house thinks they are winning a war with women trying to paint republicans as going against women and this poll does not bear that out. it shows that they have actually slipped among women voters. so bad news all around for the white house. patti ann: chris --

>> you know, i just hope that this poll gives some encouragement to mitt rom in so he feels pick extremists anti-women running mates like bock mcdonnell or even rick perry with their vaginal ultrasound bills who are completely unelectable in this country at this point. they are so out of touch with mainstream america. so out of touch with women in this country they would drag this ticket down. they may even drag republic coons out of the control of house of representatives. now is early. a lot can happen between now and november. a world is dangerous and scary and place. the president has to be very vigilant. i. >> chris you said that the gas bubble was going to burst. >> it will. >> you have a crystal ball you're sitting in front of. what is playing into this. this is white house if you listen to chris sound very distracted from the issues of the day. a vaginal ultrasound bill?

really? the number one, two, three issues all have to do with the economy. when you mix in health care and rising cost of premiums this president and this party subpoena in big trouble. more they talk about things distracting from real issues at hand and birth control and obscure bills in different states, they're going to lose. >> the reason why we're talking about birth control, andrea, because republicans are bringing these measures up in the states. the economy is improving. the republicans can not run on the economy. as i said, it is not a crystal ball. >> they sure can. >> it is not crystal ball on gas prices. it is history. i'm looking at. history shows when it happens, it happens. patti ann: we want to point out the latest poll that 75% of those who responded rate the economy right now as bad bad, fairly bad or bad. 75%. so interesting times coming up. chris hahn, andrea tanteros, thank you both for joining us. bill: in a couple minutes show you economy in mississippi. it has been shattered down there. unemployment rate is lot

higher than the folks want it to be. watch that play out. the war on words. what is behind the new challenge from newt gingrich to president obama? >> first of all, mr. president, i would be happy to debate you anywhere in the country, anytime on energy. [cheers and applause] [ male announcer ] juice drink too watery?

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bill: from the white house now defending itself against claims that president obama's energy policies are the reason that gas prices are going higher. hear is the press secretary jay carney saying the president is committed to bringing down all costs for all americans. >> this president is absolutely committed to reducinging, to doing everything we can to mitigate the effect of high gas prices on american families and, to lower gas prices. what he is not willing to do is to look the american people in the eye and claim that there is a strategy which he can guaranty the price of gas will be $2.50

at the pump. any politician who does that is lying. bill: whoa. that was a thinly-veiled reference to newt gingrich who was more than happy to respond to that. >> it has been interpreted by news media since i'm only person talking about 2.50 as probably being an attack on me. i want to take this moment to respond to the president and his press secretary and say, first of all, mr. president i would be happy to debate you anywhere in the country anytime on energy. [cheers and applause] bill: he went on from there. steve forbes is the chairman and editor-in-chief of forbes media. steve, how are you doing? good morning to you. >> good morning. thank you, bill. bill: what do you make of the back and forth there? >> i don't know whether the white house is trying to pump up newt gingrich or what. i think if there is energy debate it becomes very clear this administration has been serious obstacle to energy production on federal lands. permits take longer than

ever before. lands that should be explored are not. fracking they have been trying to put barriers in the way of frack. so it would be a very healthy debate. other thing that gets overlooked the federal reserve easy dollar policy, cheapening dollar raises commodity prices particularly oil. we should have learned that from the 1970s. you have encertainty in the middle east. in terms of dollar and energy production those things are in the hands of this president and rehe fuses to do it. bill: you take into account unrest in the middle east from iran. you take into account they're switching blends from this time of year and springtime and all the laws require that. so do you have a breakdown among these categories about how much responsibility you lay at feet of the president? >> i would say about 75% at the hands of the president. bill: 75? >> 75. if you had sensible regulation, sensible rules on production, stable dollar you would see, gas at 2,

$2.50 a gallon. bill: steve, what do you think this does to our overall economy? depends on how high it goes and how long it goes but what is your sense at the moment? >> what it does, obviously hurts the pocketbook but more psychology. this recovery even though we're going to do better this year, far better this year than last year, is still a very fragile thing. and the uncertainty in the middle east is going to be another, an added element to this. so people are holding back. we're moving forward but i like to say we're going 40 miles an hour on the highway when we should be going miles an hour. bill: i'm driving right by you if that is the case. you will see my contrails. that "cbs poll" came out yesterday, drop from month to month, down to 41%, down nine points that is significant fall there. what the president told a bunch of reporters yesterday interviewing him on this topic what he told anybody

claiming they can get down 2 bucks a gallon, they don't believe that. that is just politics. when he took office, national average was a buck 84. that was january '09. >> again you can't control sometimes the volatile situation in the middle east. but you can control the dollar. you can control rules on production in this country. i mean there is no reason why, bill, in a few years we can't do something we haven't done since the 1950s and early 1960s, be a net energy exporter, a natural gas we've got to get the infrastructure up on that. but it is plentiful. there is more of it. we'll be producing more oil as well. it's here in canada. bill: and in a political sense, speaking of canada, how does keystone, the issue, how does that issue, knowing it was rejected and publicly people aware of that, how does that play into the politics of what is happening now? >> it undermines the president's claim he is doing everything he can to increase production in this country. he takes credit for what the bush administration did, but again, most of the production is coming from

lands outside of the control of the federal government, where the federal government has control such as offshore, lots of lands in alaska and out west, the government has been dragging its feet. that is well-documented. and so, again, that, keystone pipeline, underscores this president's rhetoric does not match the reality of his policies. bill: steve, thank you for coming in today. >> thank you. bill: white house defends itself, u.s. drilling rig count is as high as it has been since 2009, if not higher. this will be with us for some time. thank you, steve. >> thank you, bill. bill: we're talking to a lot of viewers at home by way of e-mail and twitter. go to foxnews.com/bya. or twitter. write what could or should be done. shoot me an e-mail at hem letter@foxnews.com. we read all of them or twit err@bill hemmer, because you asked. bya. no one escapes the story, patti ann, that's why is

rings so true. patti ann: the justice department is blocking a texas law at that says you need a photo i.d. to vote. they say it is unfair to minorities. we'll have a debate on that. bill: grab your dictionary. dictionary.com. get ready be schooled by a 6-year-old. spelling bee whiz. >> my parents quiz me. i have a very good memory. >> we're so proud of her. it was harder for us than for her. she was spelling word after word and we were almost having a heart attack. because it is really hard to see your child up there. [ male announcer ] the game of life with the prius c!

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bill: where to now, mr. dow? recent number on retail sales. best gains in five months. americans stepping up spending in february anyway.

you're apparently buying more cars and clothes and appliances but also paying more for gasoline. the dow closing just shy of 13,000 on monday. we're not quite sure where we're going to go today. 12,993. >> z, a, q, u, e, r, o. vaccaro. >> correct. [applause] patti ann: not many vacarroses or cowboys where our next guest is from. she spelled correctly. that propelled. homeschooled, lori mid disson to the scripps spelling bee. oh, did we mention she is only six. she joins us now. congratulations. >> thanks. patti ann: you competed against 20 kids, some of them in middle school with you that didn't make you nervous. >> it didn't make me nervous because i've been in competition with bigger kids before and i'm accepted by

any group. i have older and younger friends. my youngest friend is reese. he is three years old. and my oldest ones are shelby and walker and they're eight. patti ann: wow, i hope they're watching now. you're homeschooled. how did you prepare for this spelling bee? >> i prepared. i read a lot. i read a lot. i take an etymology class that also helps. patti ann: your parents drill you i understand a lot? >> yes. yes my parents drill me. patti ann: all right. does all this prep time take time away from playing with other kids? >> it takes time away but at least i won the spelling bee. patti ann: that is true. and this championship that i won in your county in virginia, took more than two hours. that seems like that would be tough your average 6-year-old, as you mentioned you're not new at this. you did your first spelling bee when you were 3 1/2. so you have the patience to

stay focused all that time? >> yes. patti ann: all right. and now you're headed for the scripps howard national spelling bee in washington, d.c. this is the big one but you're not nervous about that. so what is the hardest word that you have spelled so far? any word stumped you? >> not really. no word stumped me. patti ann: so when you were 3 1/2, i know you didn't come in first place. you were 3 1/2 but word got you that tile around? time around. >> at 3 1/2 i wasn't at the county bee. patti ann: okay. >> i was at a bee called master spell that isn't a scripps bee. the word got me wrong i forgot. oh, yes. it was transcend. i forgot the s, c. patti ann: that is hard word. vacarro a hard word. i understand your mom was

concerned. she went over that one with you several times because got it wrong a couple times during the drills. but when you heard it at the contest you had a big smile because you knew you knew it, right? >> yep. and guess what? patti ann: what? >> vacarro a spell it word. it is on the list. patti ann: so it was on one of your lists. that was very lucky. but, still i bet a lot of other kids missed that. what do you want to be when you grow up? do you have any idea? you're only six but do you have an idea. >> i like astronomy and biology, perfect would be astro biology. patti ann: wow! all right. you just might get there. lori anne madison. it is a pleasure. congratulations. best of luck in the national bee. we'll keep our eyes open for you. good luck. >> thanks. bill: well-done. knows all the ologys. end poll gill and 3 1/2? patti ann: i know. bill: she is cute. good luck, lori anne, we'll

watch for you in washington, d.c. at the big one. iran and israel on the brink of war. what happens if the middle east explodes? there was a showdown down south. will today's primaries mean the republican field will get a little less crowded? [ male announcer ] this is lawn ranger -- eden prairie, minnesota.

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the healthcare law gives us powerful tools to fight it... to investigate it... ...prosecute it... and stop criminals. our senior medicare patrol volunteers... are teaching seniors across the country... ...to stop, spot, and report fraud. you can help. guard your medicare card. don't give out your card number over the phone. call to report any suspected fraud. we're cracking down on medicare fraud. let's make medicare stronger for all of us. bill: fox news alert because there are polls open right now in two of the more crucial republican primaries to date. republican voters out in force across alabama, mississippi, a battle in the deep south that could either narcotic oath fie narrow the field or dived the party. what is it going to be? good morning, i'm bill hemmer.

welcome back, patti ann. patti ann: i'm in for martha maccallum. all three say they have what it takes to win the south. rick santorum and newt gingrich may have the most at stake. >> john mccain didn't win any of these stakes, alabama or mississippi. we are delighted we are doing so well here. the polls are suggesting it's a three-way tie. it's an away game for me. >> the biggest story tomorrow night will be simple. governor romney will get one out of three delegates. he will fall dramatically short. >> we think the folks in alabama are going to vote for the conservative that represents their values, that can present the best contrast with president obama, and make the kind of changes that i think the people here in the south would like to see. bill: as rick santorum would say, game on at the moment in those two states down there. poll encloses inks on th

closings, ten hours away. in alabama this was the state that mattered a big deal four years ago. mike huckabee was in the race, he won 41-37 over john mccain. alabama came a full month later. mike huckabee was out of the race, john mccain went into mississippi, swept the state winning 79% of the vote. you look at number of jobs that have been lost since november of 2008. you're at 10.4% unemployment. that is a full two points higher than the national average. to the east here in alabama the number is better, more respectable at 8.1%, two high for folks down here in alabama. we'll see how that factors in today's vote. carl cameron is live in birmingham, alabama, good morning to you. who would you say has the most

riding on this vote tonight. >> reporter: newt gingrich says he has his whole candidacy riding on it. he said he needed to win the state where he began his political career to be credible and move and. he needed to win alabama and mississippi. as you said it's looking based upon the polls and the buzz on the campaign trail the last few days as though a three-way photo finish could be unfolding here in alabama mitt romney seems to have a tiny little lead, but within the margin of error in most polls over newt gingrich. and rick santorum right on their heels. and in mississippi much the same story, though there gingrich has a bit of a lead, romney on his heels and rick santorum right behind. if it were a three-way photo finish in all likelihood the delegates would be split three ways. for newt gingrich that would not be the type of decisive victory and delegate purse that would restore his momentum and his fundraising capacity. gingrich has serious money problems. he also has in rick santorum a

rival who is increasingly vocal about wanting gingrich to jump out of the race. rick santorum says he will not formally ask newt gingrich to withdraw but he's made it clear, brunt and brutally so that he believes newt gingrich is taking away conservative votes, if they were with santorum he could beat mitt romney. if it ends up close it could be a big muddle and ma might not be very good for newt gingrich bill: could be a draw in the end. what romney pulls off the upset what is your expectation as you travel throughout the state, is that possible? >> reporter: it is. he has a much stronger organization than a lot of folks realize in both states. he has out organized and out advertised very, very aggressively. there is no doubt that rick santorum and newt gingrich have passion in alabama and mississippi. romney has had money and it's been on the air in ads here much longer than the two candidates to a greater volume. 4, 5 to 1 he has out spent

gingrich with help from the zoomer pack. it's entirely possible that romney could shock people tonight and win in the deep south which could add to the whispers of the inevitability and that brokered convention people are talking about. patti ann: does the g.o.p. have a clear frontrunner for the nomination? we want to hear what you think. it's our "america's newsroom" question of the day. go to foxnews.com/"america's newsroom" and tell you what you think. we'll be watching bill: newt gingrich has said he will take this fight all the way to the republican convention in august in tampa. rick santorum is hoping it will be a two-man race after tonight. he wants a one-on-one face off with mitt romney. so far it's been illusive. we'll talk to mitt romney's national director, that coming up. patti ann: iran is denying it

tried to cleanup radio active traces of nuclear work. trucks were seen at a nuclear saoeufplt it appears iran was trying to erase evidence of a small nuclear trigger test. how legitimate are the reports? >> reporter: from the israeli perspective it really doesn't make all that much difference although the reports seem to be quite legitimate. the reports simply add to the israeli fear that it is now staring down the barrel of a soon to be nuclear capable country that has threatened to wipe israel off the map. that said there are some other interesting developments which have the potential to dramatically change the dynamic of this standoff. one of them is occurring in the gaza street where israeli settlements are being bombarded by missiles fired by militants. many of the missiles are being knocked down by israeli anti-mission shield called iron

dome. 90% of the rockets are being knocked down according to an israeli bringin general speaking to the wall street general. israel will be at satisfactory time in the future one of the best equipped countries in the world. if this continues in the perspective of a generation plus you could speak of a transformation in doctrine. as the missile shield advances its sophistication it provides another layer of security against foreign attacks and may ultimately buy israel a lot of time in its standoff with iran. patti ann: and, doug, we are hearing from general john mccain he says the syrian crisis may also provide israel some cover? >> reporter: yeah, well applauding the anxiouses and all the international pressure that the u.s. and others have imposed on syria senator mccain says it doesn't go far enough. saking the bashar al-assad regime out he believes would have a secondary affect of hurting the islamic regime of

iran, several hezbollah's life line to iran, getting rid of a long-standing threat to israel. >> providing military assistance to the free syrian army and other opposition groups is necessary, but at this late hour that alone will not be sufficient to stop the slaughter and save innocent lives. the only realistic way to do so is with foreign air power. >> reporter: but so far the obama administration as we know has been very much opposed to that. patti ann: doug mcelway live from washington bill: a shakey truce appears to have taken old. 200 rockets have been fired at israel since the violence started four days ago. 25 palestinians have been killed. the flare-up grew after they killed a militant plattin

plotting to attackee skwreuplgs territory. patti ann: this video coming into "america's newsroom" reportedly showing members of the free syrian army in control of a government tank in the same suburb where military forces are claiming victory. syrian troops began a fresh assault to drive rebels out of the city three days ago. activists on the ground say the army is now focusing on securing its border with turkey where rebels are reportedly receiving supplies. bill: state of emergency across parts of southern louisiana, heavy thunderstorms leaving four cities underwater. search and rescue crews responding to 50 calls for help including a school bus with 16 middle school kids. the wide-spread flooding making it hard to avoid the righting waters there. >> almost picking a car up and moving it. it's dangerous. it was chaotic. you have water coming up to the steps, about maybe 2, 3, feet of

water bill: meteorologist maria molina in our fox news weather center. maria it's tough out there. good morning what is going on out there. >> reporter: we picked up a lot of rain out there yesterday. that storm system further off to the east. i want to show you how much rainfall we got from the storm system across southern parts of louisiana. you can see from our accumulation map that we did pick up 4 inches of rain in one spot north of lafayette. we picked up ten inches of rain in one day, that is a whole lot of water. even though we are in a trougt androught, and we need the water out here in louisiana this is a little too much too fast. when you get that you get flooding. that is further off to the east, we'll see dryer conditions for today and that should help to dry out the flood waters. storm conditions across portions of the northeast bringing in scattered showers and thunderstorms. a much bigger storm we're tracking out west will impact this area over the next several days. three feet are snow are possible

for the cascades, the northern sierra and the rockies. bill: 72 in new york city, maria. >> reporter: yes, very, very warm bill: that is crazy. patti ann: may be crazy but i like it. a crisis in afghanistan, anti-american riots are sparking now calls for the u.s. to get out. what would happen if we left? ambassador john bolton will join us live on that next. also this -- [chanting] bill: the battle over unions in a battleground state continues. what sparked this scene in a moment also -- patti ann: a homecoming surprise, one little boy will never forget. i love these. >> i told him that he's coming home soon. he says, i'm just going to squeeze him. he's really excited.

weave own trying to keep it a surprise.

bill: 13 minutes past the hour. union members outraged as another state moves closer to becoming a right to work area. watch here. [chanting] bill: st. paul, minnesota, workers from around the state gat in other words the capitol opposing a republican-backed amendment to the state constitution that would make union membership voluntary. despite the demonstrations and opposition from democrats that it will pass the state senate judiciary committee by the vote it needs thumbs up from other committees in the legislature. patti ann: the obama administration is reportedly discussing the possibility of heating up the withdrawal from afghanistan. this in response to growing anti-american sentiment fueled by the killing of 16 afghan civilians over the weekend, and the accidental burning of qurans last month.

>> as tragic as these events are the strategy is focused on disrupting, dismantling and defeating al-qaida, stabilizing afghanistan. there will be discussions on going between u.s. military leaders, as well as civilian leaders in afghanistan, and the afghan government in the wake of this incident, but our strategic objectives have not changed and they will not change. patti ann: joining us now, ambassador john bolt tere the former u.s. ambassador to the united nations, also a fox news contributor. thank you for joining us, ambassador. >> glad to be here. patti ann: the u.s. has apologize ford the killing of civilians by this rogue american sergeant but obviously it's another black eye in addition to the burning of the qurans, both incidents parking anti-american protests, and now calls for the u.s. to get out. should we get out earlier? >> of course not. these incidents have nothing to do with the vital american interests that are at stake in

afghanistan, keeping taliban and al-qaida from taking control of the country again and launching terrorist attacks like they did on 9/11, and also making sure that radicals don't take control in next door pakistan and get control of that country's nuclear weapons arsenal. the burning of the qurans was not something our troops did deliberately. it was a good-faith mistake. this particular tragedy of the killing of the civilians, we don't know the real story on the individual involved, but obviously it's not american policy to do that, it may well be a serious mental problem, we just don't know yet. but whatever the consequences of those two events, they are utterly irrelevant to the american national interests at stake. for these leaked stories to favorite media outlets by the administration i think is just president obama's people wanting to have it both ways, oh, we're in here to stay but they

desperately want to get out. that will have negative impact on our morale in afghanistan and the signal to the taliban that the time is on their side. patti ann: the taliban is threatening revenge, specifically one american death for each of the 16 afghans killed. but, again, you say this is not an argument for cutting and running, it's an argument that th taliban is still a threat that the u.s. needs to confront in afghanistan along with al-qaida. >> exactly. let's remember. we are not in afghanistan to make it a nicer place to live for the afghans. maybe some people think that is the right strategy. we are there for american interests, not for afghan interests. and the fact that the afghan security forces are not as reliable as they should be, the fact they are not taking a heavier burden doesn't lessen our national strategic interest there. we'd prefer that the afghan government be more effective and more able to defend itself, but are we to say because they are not up to our standards we are just going to abandon our strategic interest entirely? that argument is just

fundamentally i will lodge al, unfortunately it fits president obama political objectives to get out of iraq and afghanistan in a way he wouldn't be able to make the case for it publicly but he can do it through the back door because of these incidents. patti ann: ambassador john bolton, thank you as always bill: it's a four-man race but rick santorum says there is room for only two. >> we want this to be a race where we have an opportunity not at a convention, but before a convention to nominate somebody who can stand up for the values of the people of alabama believe in and vote for every day bill: he'll need a little bit of help to make that happen today. his national communications director is here live. we will ask them about that and size up that race. patti ann: also that controversial new texas voter law has now been blocked by the justice department. the feds say its unfair to minorities. texas says it cuts down on fraud. who is right? we have that debate coming up. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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patti ann: 22 minutes past the hour. in the news right now yahoo bringing a major patent search against longtime business partner facebook. yahoo claims facebook profited from online advertising with the use of yahoo's technology. a severe snowstorm in oregon knocks ou power t out power to thousands of people. snow is causing dangerous conditions on the road. michelle obama will lead the u.s. delegation at the opening ceremony at the olympic games in

london. laura bush and hillary clinton also had that honor during their time in the white house. bill: maybe we should go to london with them. i mean those games are going to be great. patti ann: i love the olympics bill: and london too with the history over there. maybe we'll get the invite. the healthcare debate rages on in washington. now one state is pushing to reverse the federal mandate on contraception coverage. new hampshire's republican-controlled house voting to allow all employers with religious objections to exclude contraception and sterilization coverage from their health plans. the new law would not only be limited to religious organizations. federal law will require all employers who offer insurance to also cover the cost of contraceptives. molly line live outside the state house in new hampshire. molly, what is the goal here? >> reporter: hi, bill, that's right. here, well the battle rages in

washington over religious freedom and medical rights. the battle here in new hampshire goes on as well, and they essentially want to get out ahead of the argument. they want to change a 12--year-old state law here, the republicans. the republican speaker of the house william o'brien leading this charge wanting to allow employees with religious objections to exclude contraceptive coverage. the 12-year-old state law requires health plans that offer prescription coverage to include contraception. here is the speaker of the house. >> we never said to people who hold long stabbed religious beliefs that they have to be subject to laws that cause them to violate those beliefs. new hampshire law shouldn't provide for that. that's why we are putting in a religious exemption to the statute. >> reporter: now the bill heads to the new hampshire senate. bill. bill: what are pwepl krat particulademocratic leaders in the state senate telling you about this. can they, will they stop it?

>> reporter: you know, it's tough here because republicans dominate both the house and senate here. we had a chance to speak with with sill yeah larsen the democratic leader. she says her constituents are mystified by the state of events, she thinks it should be more focused on the economy. here is what she believes will happen as women start to pay attention to this. >> it is beginning to feel like there is a war on women right now, and i think women across the state are waking up. >> reporter: now it's unclear exactly where the new hampshire governor stands on this. we had a chance to speak with a legal expert that had something pretty interesting to say about this. he believes that the federal mandate will trump any of the state exclusions put in here in new hampshire. it will be interesting to see how this ultimately plays out. the prove from u.n. h says this is largely a symbolic gesture on the part of republicans. bill: we'll watch it from new hampshire. molly line, thank you. patti ann: newt gingrich says

talk of a two-man race is hogwash. >> i think we have a long stretch ahead of us. we also have nonsouthern places like wisconsin, delaware, pennsylvania, maryland, all the way to tampa. patti ann:ho has the most to lose if newt hangs around? we'll talk to santorum's national communications director bill: hitchhiking a few hundred miles up in outer space, it's the only way that nasa can get to the international space station these days. two astronauts are live at the international space station. they are the next generation of american space explorers and we will talk to them in a matter of moments. love that theme. ♪ ]

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patti ann: fox news alert. brand-new numbers on the state of the jobs market. the labor department releasing data on job option and turn over from the beginning of the year. they show there were 3.5 million jobs open on the last day of january. that was unchanged from december, but it's up 45% since what is considered to be the end of the recession back in june of 2009. bill: a lot of economic data coming in today. the dow is up 53 points.

back above 13,000. we'll see whether or not we stay there later today. he says it's time for a two-man race that does not include newt gingrich. rick santorum calling on voters in the south to give him a hreug leg up in tha big leg up in mississippi today, asking them to push gingrich out of the picture. >> it's very, very clear where this race is heading if the people of alabama and mississippi want to step up for us and say we want this to be a two-person race. we want this to be a race, but we have an opportunity not at a convention, but before a convention to nominate somebody who can stand up for the values that the people of alabama believe in and vote for every day. bill: logan gidley national communications director for rick santorum. how you doing, and good morning to you. >> i'm doing great, bill, thanks so much for the time bill: you be t-rb. we talked to the romney team last hour, get to that in a moment. what is your expectation for tonight? >> you know, we are excited.

again it's not -- it's not near his home state, obviously, but i mean i think our values play very well in the south. his manufacturing plant is something that the folks in mississippi and alabama have gravitated toward and around. i think the bottom line is it's a very tight race. i'm not sure that we're going to learn too much coming out of these two states. it looks like it will be a delegate here and there, and we move on. i'm not exactly sure what we're going to learn as it relates to the over call picture bill: your expectation is a draw, then in these two states? >> for the most part. we are all pretty close. we had no pressure on us. gingrich said he had to win these two states, that was the southern strategy he had. it wasn't southern strategy by design, it was southern strat skraoe by default. he lost everywhere else, he decided to plant his flag in the south. if he doesn't runaway witness he might have an issue. mitt romney obviously doesn't play well in the south. he might squeak out a win in one of the states. he's still out spending everybody, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 to

one and only getting 30% of the vote in any of the states. 70% of the conservative vote doesn't like him and doesn't want him to win. that's where we stand at this point. we'll probably finish here really well and move on to the next state bill: it is clear what rick santorum wants. he wants a head-to-head match up with mitt romney. he thinks he will excel in that. >> the way you characterize it i don't think is the same way he characterizes it. we didn't ask speaker gingrich to get in, we sure won't ask him to get in. if we had our way we'd had everybody out of the race and let rick santorum be the nominee. if you look at the polling it's obvious, newt gingrich if he were out of this race we won't be beating mitt romney we would be beating him very, very badly at this point. we are looking for the two-man race. we want to be the conservative alternative to mitt romney. that's what we want to position today bill: is it working? can you hear me. >> yes. bill: okay. terrific. back up a little bit. your guy has stated that you give him one and one with mitt romney and he's going to do very

well and the choice will become clear. >> i don't know if you heard me previously. what i said was we would never ask speaker gingrich to get out. we didn't ask them to get in. we'd like everybody out of the race so we'd be the nominee. if you look at the polling it's obvious if speaker gingrich were out we won't be just beating mitt romney we would be beating him very bad leave. we hope that the voters of mississippi and alabama help us in that way. the bottom line is we'll keep moving on after these two states and see what happens bill: my suggestion is not that rick santorum was asking gingrich to get out of the race. let's move forward because santorum has said that the math favors him down the road. how does he figure that? >> he does. because, you know, some of the things about -- mitt romney's math is kind of like mitt romney's conservatism. it's bogus and doesn't hold up any pressure. he's counting delegates that haven't been given to him yet and all the delegate counts and numbers are really just kind of

fictitious. it's not like we have hundreds of people sitting in back rooms waiting to come out and vote for us. these people haven't even been elected at the local levels to be delegates in some of the states. as you well know the 210 insurgency the tea partyers took over a large portion of the conservative vote in some of these states. of course they are more conservative than moderates like mitt romney. we think as this thing moves on and goes forward we will pick off more and more of the delegates that are out there that will gravitate towards rick santorum's conservative message and record and we think that will be very helpful for us. bill: hogan, thank you. we'll talk to you down the road. >> thanks, bill, thanks for the time. god bless. patti ann: now that the space shuttle program is history nasa is working on plans to get the astronauts to the international space station by partnering with private companies. that should happen in the next five years, but for now american crews have to hitch a ride with

their russian counterparts. at the moment there are two americans on the six-member crew and they join us live from space on board the international space station, and there is a substantial delay. they are in space. joining us now flight commander dan burbank and flight engineer don petit. station this is fox news. how do you hear me? >> fox news this is station, we have you loud and clear, welcome a board. patti ann: i wish i was there. it looks fan fast particular. commander burbank what projects are you involved in at the moment up there in the iss? >> every day is different. today specifically i'm working on our space suits that we use for space walks, and doing some routine maintenance on those. as you can see robonaut is being out, he's out being checked out right now. don has been working on that, and andre has been working on some of our water systems, part

of our regenerative environmental control system. patti ann: so, don petit please tell us about robonaut. >> robonaut is about a second or third generation of a human upper torso-like row bottom of the he has stereo vision. he can move his hands all around, and do fine manipulation, and we are checking him out for use in space right now. and we're taking small baby robo steps, right, in terms of getting him checked out, and the whole concept is eventually we'll have robonauts like this guy, helping us you the out, maybe even doing space walks. patti ann: interesting. commander, we commenced earlier that space flight will be going commercial within a few years. what is your take on those

changes? >> reporter: well i think in general, i think philosophically it's really important for human beings to have as many ways as possible to get from planet earth to lower earth orbit and ultimately beyond. i think the time is right now. we have spent a lot of time with the government funding development and operation of spacecraft, and i think it's got even to the point where the peace that involves getting from the planet surface to lower earth orbit that's getting to the point where it's well enough understood that i think commercial companies can actually start to particular over that part. i think that would then leave nasa with the next important step, which is to get heavy things, very big things into lower earth orbit so we can take those to destinations beyond planet earth. patti ann: we will see what happens there. thank you so much for joining us live from the international space station, flight commander dan burbank and engineer don pettit. best of luck up there. bill: it is remarkable the work

they do. patti ann: it's still mind boggling that they are talking to us from space bill: since we retired the shuttle program we were going to hitch a ride from the russians until 2015, now they say it's 2017. that is not the way we want to conduct a space program. hopefully we get there sooner than later especially when you retire the shuttle. justice department blocks a state voter id law from going in effect. has washington overstepped its boundaries. fair & balanced debate with a terrific panel on that in moments. patti ann: passengers speaking after a flight is diverted shortly after take off. we'll tell you that story. >> they told us there were mechanical problems on the plane. we knew a little bit about the details when we landed. we just knew somebody had a bomb threat on the plane.

[ heart beating, monitor beeping ] woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance patti ann: a security scare at

30,000 feet after a domestic dispute on the ground. this jetblue flight from boston to chicago was diverted to buffalo, new york. investigators say someone phoned in a bomb threat giving the name and seat number of a specific female passenger on the plane. and when the aircraft landed things got interesting. >> she was crying a lot off and on throughout the entire flight. >> reporter: even before they approached her. >> yeah. >> reporter: was it suspicious to you. >> yeah, it was suspicious, definitely. she received a couple of calls when we landed, and i had pointed out to the police, which were all around the entire plane, i add pointed out that and i said, are they here for you? and she said, yep. and that was it. >> reporter: apparently the woman who called in the threat had an argument with the woman on the plane a few days earlier. some of the passengers on board say it was all over a boyfriend. always a guy. bill: u.s. justice department now blocking a new texas voter

id law that requires voters to show a photo id before they vote. texas governor rick perry weighed in on this. he says the federal government should stay out of state affairs. >> i think this is another example of the federal government impinging upon the rights of the states to decid deciding the issues and keep voter fraud from the voting process. we know there is voter fraud through the process over the years. having a voter id is one of the ways to put a stop to it. bill: chuck roach is on the hispanic caucus and a senior adviser to dick gephart's campaign. and we have jordan from the state law center. what is the best argument. >> the states have the right to

protect the voting process and the integrity. in a former opinion within by john paul stevens they upheld a very similar law, almost the exact same law in indiana, in 20086-3 with justice stevens writing the opinion. he's been replaced bee justice kagan, but there are still five votes on the court for these kind of laws. the best argument right there is the supreme court has recently said these laws are okay if you take the safeguards that texas did. bill: based on previous legislation, states in the south like texas have a different burden of proof and all this. i think it's fascinating when you compare the southern states and northern states. chuck, make your best case for why you think the justice department has a shot at this. >> i'd like to look at it from the local view. i was born and raised in east texas. i was a local precinct judge in east texas and ran local elections in my precinct for ten years. working with the community, seeing the checks and balances that we have in place and running elections there and

seeing that the process did work you had to register to vote, you brought your voter registration card in we checked you off on a list and allowed you to vote. what the justice department has said is that they have not said where all the fraud is hospitalizing. over the last ten years there's only been 50 cases of fraud reported over a ten-year period. >> that's why it's so difficult to report. if all you have to do is show a piece of paper, in texas under the existing law if you don't have your feeter id card with you you can still vote, have someone vouch for you. think ofee already caught 50 case necessary ten years when there is nothing written down, nothing on the books. what is everybody so afraid of? you have to get an id to dive a car, get on a plane and open a bank account. they are providing them for free for people who want them. bill: is that asking too much, chuck? >> it's not a constitutional right to board a airplane. it's a constitutional right to

be able to vote. what the republicans have done is disenfranchised over a million latinos who are eligible to vote who are registered to vote who use their id or use their social security card to get their voter registration card. this is a ploy to try to keep people who may not support their policies out of the polling blocks. i saw those people driven to the polls and they should have a right to vote. its not a constitutional right to be able to board an airplane. it should be a constitutional right to be able to vote. >> you honestly don't believe you should have to show an id to protect the integrity the size of our country where id's are important, and when they are provided to you for free that is asking too much of the latino community? >> they are provided for free but in 80 different counties throughout texas you have to drive over a hundred miles to get that id. when you don't even have a car. so you have to get somebody to drive you a hundred miles to get that id. >> if texas made it easier, let's say they mailed them to you if you put the right forms in, would you be okay with

that. >> absolutely. >> our okay with photo feeter id if you could get them out to them in a different forum. >> the more democracy the better for all of us. bill: jordan, does the state of texas have to prove that the integrity of the vote is still kept intact if this law was in place? >> how do you prove that? >> it's very difficult to prove before. there are 50 reported cases in the last decade and there was a lot of work done to track those done because of lack of tracking here. you sign an affidavit saying you're an actual voter, boom you're voting in most of the states in the count tree, even some of the stricter states you can get away with that and to track that down is difficult. their burden of proof is not the department of justice, the burden of proof has a discriminatory effect. give them the ids, they are free and let them all go vote. bill: i think we had an agreement, in part any way.

thanks to both of you. patti ann: "happening now" is coming up at the top of the hour. jon scott, what are you guys working on. jon: that voter id story is a big one, we'll be talking about that as well. also at the top of the hour the investigation into that bizarre incident at world's busiest airport in atlanta. mechanics take a 737 out for a spin and it rolls off the taxiway, significant damage to the plane, authorities are wondering how it all happened. as the g.o.p. candidates push for votes in two southern primaries one national poll shows the president's approval rating at its lowest since the poll began and it might stem from high prices at the pump. march madness is upon us. you might love it, but your boss, um, he may be having a problem witness. we'll talk about that coming up on "happening now." patti ann: i'm intrigued, sounds good. jon: don't be doing your brackets during the newscast, patti ann. patti ann: bill, stop that.

bill: you caught me. i'm bad. patti ann: coming up, he hadn't seen his dad for a year. when you're four years old a year is a lifetime. here is the happy homecoming, we'll show it all to you coming up. bill: put down that steak knife, give it up for lent back up from the bacon. what is for dinner could really be the death of you. ♪ [music playing]

patti ann: what is for dinner may be sending you to an early

death pwefpltd i hope not. we already knew that beef wasn't the best for your body. a new study said it may be worse than we thought. one serving a day of unprocessed red meat is linked to a 13% mortality rate and even higher for processed meat, things like who the dogs. kathleen london is a family practice physician, and assistant professor at cornell medical college. 20% risk of an early death if you eat just one one hot dog a day or two strips of bake on. >> that is correct. patti ann: are you on board with that? >> this is confirming things. we knew that red meat has increased your risk of all the different chronic health conditions from diabetes, to heart disease to cancer. what this study shows and this study was basically going on the data from both the nurses health study and the physician study on going, this is over 28 years of data, yeah, you're going to

actually increase your risk of dying, not just of getting disease. we've always said limit how much, moderation, and this is saying, yeah if you eat it every day you're going to die early. no, does this mean you have to become a vegetarian, no. this means if you substitute -- they actually ran these numbers as well, if you substitute with poultry, fish, legumes, nuts, some other kind of protein a couple of times of week you're already going to lower your risk. patti ann: meatless mondays, fish on fridays. they did concede in the study that people who a*et meat regularly have other bad habits, smoking, drinking, less exercise. >> but they control those things. these were selfreporting. i think physicians and nurses who have been in the study get that task, it's been part of their life. i'm not going to ding them on that. dean had an editorial that went along with the study in the printing, he brought up the

environmental impact. one quarter pounder with cheese gives you a carbon footprint of 13-pound, that is the equivalent of burning 7 pounds of coal. what is good for you is good for the environment. moderation. patti ann: don't eliminate meat but lower your meat intensity. thank you for joining us. bill: stay away from my fillet. >> my 16-year-old says that too. bill: your 16-year-old is a smart young man. there is a manhunt underway for two escaped inmates. how they got away and where police are now looking, details on that. ahh, one.

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bill: 4-year-old boy has not seen his father for a year until now. >> my favorite book. who got the favorite book? oh. bill: go get him. out of maryland, 4-year-old peyton burl lesson. hisat