>> brian: tomorrow, condoleeza rice, kirk cameron, separately. bill: news this morning on a monday morning. extreme weather for millions of americans. severe snowstorms hitting the west -- folks are dealing with this in home. that's the funnel of a tornado crossing on the horizon. we are on a severe weather threat for so many and different varieties. the north, the central and the south. welcome to america's newsroom. who you had a fantastic weekend. >> and you? good to see you this morning. the wild weather, no reports of injuries but we are getting a good look at the damage done by

the storm. meteorologist maria molina is with us in the extreme weather center. >> reporter: we have winter weather out west. there are blizzard warnings in montana because we are looking at strong winds and heavy snow. i want to show you where today's weather threat is. from texas up into parts of iowa there is a chance we can see thunderstorms that could produce large size hail, damaging wind gusts, even some tornadoes, and the greatest chance for severe weather will be into southeastern sections of oklahoma. unfortunately this does also include some larger cities. , waco, austin, san antonio. right now we don't are a tornado watch, but that likely will be changing as we head into the later afternoon and evening

hours as we get daytime heating and more thunderstorms firing up. but early this morning at 5:00 a.m. temperatures were in the 70s across texas in through kansas city. that is a ominous sign. so conditions are roip for all of this severe weather to fire up. texas, western oklahoma. one severe thunderstorm watch meaning conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms action portions of western texas. this is in effect until noon central time. we are going to keep a close eye on these storms and keep you updated. >> good to see you this morning. bill: she said winter whipping up the wind and driving down temperatures in california. the wind was so severe it

flipped a small private plane in compton, california. the winds were up to 45 miles an hour. >> there is a snow day in arizona. the storm sparked road closures. emergency crews are out in full force. much of new mexico is under a winter storm warning. we want to see your pictures if you have images to send into us. email them to us at the address on your screen. give us your name, tell us where you are and a brief description of what you are looking at. of course, in demand, you know the drill, be safe. bill: gas prices, you fill up over the weekend. the national average at the

moment, $3.84 overnight. a third of the country is paying more than $4 a gallon. mitt romney saying the white house energy team must go. >> this gas hike trio has been doing the job the last 3 1/2 years and gas prices are up. the right course is they have to be fired. bill: president obama's team hitting back saying the candidates will say anything for a vote. >> the notion we can drill our way out of this or if we say that the gas prices will go down. newt gingrich's $2.50 a gallon. that's snake oil talk and the american people know the difference. bill: joining me now, stuart varney of the fox business network. how high is the trend? >> people are projecting by may, six weeks away, everybody will

be paying $4 a gallon for regular gasoline and some people will be paying $5 a gallon of gasoline. that's the projection by the experts as we head into the future. right now regular unleaded costs $3.84, that's the national average, but we keep on going up and up and up all wait through this year, that's been the trend. bill: where are you or where are the experts finding where the issue of rising gas prices is hitting the economy? >> so far rising gas prices have not had a measurable impact on our country's economic performance, but they expect it will in the very near future. so far we have numbers out of the month of february. we haven't got much out of the month of march. when those full numbers are in we'll have some indication of the impact and it will be a

negative impact. there is a spending power on the part of most consumers and it may affect hiring conditions. we are on the cusp of seeing energy prices and gas prices slow down. bill: on the political side of this there is a political point to be made. did you see any deterioration of the white house policy or how is that playing out? >> what i saw was positions on either side of the aisle are hardening. the positions have not changed. president obama still says tax the oil companies, and his campaign chief david axlerod talks about snake oil salesmen on the part of the republicans. governor romney says fire the three members of the cabinet dealing with energy. so the positions on either side are hardening, they have not changed those positions. so far there has been zero

action from anybody on actually tackling the gas price problem. bill: we'll see you at 9:20. stuart varney with us on a monday. what do you think at home? are gas prices going to keep going? let us know by take our poll. we ask the following question today. what you think you will be seeing at the gas station memorial weekend. >> mitt romney dominating the competition on the campaign trail. romney winning by more than 50% of the vote in puerto rico. that gives mitt romney 521 delegates total. santorum 253, newt gingrich 156, ron paul with 50 delegates. tomorrow's you will now primary

very important. bill: we'll see if it plays out. whether they buck the trend. you are working because martha is working for megyn later today. she is working on her tan. those are just some of the story we are watching. is president obama losing the war in afghanistan? new concern on an exit strategy and a future for that region. >> an entire town forced to evacuate as a dangerous wildfire approaches. >> a neighbor came to pick me and the kid up and said we had to evacuate. people with a machine.

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arthel: a raging wildfire in

northeast colorado now nearly contained after wiping out homes and businesses and scorching farmland there. the fire forced all 300 people in the town to evacuate their homes. folks are describing their ordeal. >> dangerous. very dangerous. >> we do know some neighbors down south who lost their homes. millions of dollars worth damage to everybody's property. >> when i got the okay that my friend and family was okay, then i come down. arthel: emergency crews are letting people back in their homes having contained 90% of the fire. three firefighters were injured battling those flames. >> for mitt romney to say he's the economic heavyweight. this man doesn't understand

conservative principles. what we believe in is getting government out the of the way, letting the private sector do these things. >> i need you to vote multiple times, though. this is chicago, right? bill: rick santorum and mitt romney making last-minute campaign stops trying to win over any undecided voters it's a big state, 54 delegates on the table. on the map behind us take a look at the economy. remember the economic landscape, the deeper the red the more trouble you are in going back to 2008. if you are in green you are in a surplus of jobs. illinois is deep in the red. the unemployment rate is a full point higher than the rest of the country. you are about to make the case

that the economy doesn't matter in illinois for this vote. >> the national economy matters. the question is which of these two men do they see has the skill set to deal with the issue. and you have a cultural divide if you will. you have chicago and the chicago suburbs where the idea of a successful business leader like mitt romney is attractive. then you have down state where the rural parts tend to be socially conservative and they like the idea of somebody who has the hard-edged rhetoric rick santorum has. so you have a cultural divide. it's not so much the economy, it's what kind of approach do you bring to it. in illinois the key is going to be the chicago suburbs versus down state. in down state are towns like peoria, bloomfield, champagne and springfield where the idea of a businessman is going to be more attractive than in the

rural counties where it's more ag dependent and very small towns. bill: mitt romney was campaigning from that part of the state trying to cut into where rick santorum might be campaigning. >> both of them will be in peoria tonight. romney is carrying the battle into what might be considered the more conservative part of the state. less than half of the vote will come from outside the chicago metropolitan region. so he's fighting on santorum's turf. bill: does the vote in michigan and ohio before this tell us much about illinois? >> a little bit. but in illinois there are 54 votes up. romney already has 12 of them locked away because santorum did not file delegate slats for those districts.

decatur to champagne and springfield tonight. so for romney to win 50% of the delegates he only needs to win five of the 14 congressional districts in which the two men are competing. he only has to win 6 of 14. i think the odds are likely romney is going to win above his average of 54 per of the delegates and add to his numbers. bill: that would be a headline following puerto rico. hally barber said no one in their right mind thinks this has helped the republican odds. is he right? >> i think overall the scales have moved from being the long process being a positive to being a negative. but on the other hand the point haley made was given the fact

that the republicans are cutting each other up. the president ought to be soaring in the polls and he's not. we had the cbs news and "new york times" showing the president is in terrible shape. bill: why the drag? >> there was a revealing number in the "washington post," abc. 30% said they thought his policies had helped make the economy worse and. % said his policies had no effect on the economy. you have two out of every three americans saying you are spending this money, growing the government, faking over parts of our lives, it either hurt us or didn't help us when it comes to the economy. bill: michigan and ohio were wins for romney. but they were wins a few weeks back. thank you, carl. we'll catch you later in the

week. carolina rove in washington. arthel: an update object a deadly school shooting in france including possible links to terrorism. bill: that is u.s. marine dakota myer receiving his medal for his actions in afghanistan

bill: moments ago, apple has so much money it doesn't know what to do with it.

investors will get a dividend. are american students studying heard. high school graduation rates are inching up from 2001, twine 4%. rescue crews in south georgia searching for a hot air balloonist. he was taking sky divers up when a storm hit before his balloon crashed. he told the skydivers to jump. they are calling him a hero for saving their lives. arthel: new york city police investigating a threatening twitter message. it says we won't make a difference if we don't kill a cop or two. david lee miller is live in the new york newsroom. what do we know about the person who made this threat?

>> reporter: not a great deal is known about his identity. apparently that tweet took place 11:39 saturday night as at situation began to escalate in lower manhattan after demonstrators and police first clashed this weekend. the nypd is trying to get a subpoena to learn the identity of this individual. the person who made the tweet was in florida and he never attended an occupy rally. he said the tweet was a joke and a short time ago this individual spoke to a local radio station. he described himself as a member of the radio station. he said i never told anyone hey, why don't you kill a cop today. i never said that once. he says he was taken out of context when you look at that tweet. but you have to ask that question how much context is in

a tweet when it's limited to 140 characters. he did say we won't make a difference if we don't kill a cop or two today. arthel: new york city police are not worried about context. just like you were watching coverage in new york and you see all of this chaos happening again and you wonder why is this movement starting up again? is it because of the 6-month mark? >> reporter: exactly. this weekend marked the 6-month ankers are you of the occupy movement and they returned to the park where the movement began. they tried to set up tents in the park which they are not allowed to do. the demonstrators accused the police of using excessive force. one woman reportedly had a seizure after being arrested. cops say moment before she was arrested that woman elbowed an

officer in the face. she had been charged with assault. she is undergoing psychiatric evaluation at the hospital. >> i have been involved with occupy for a long time it was the scariest experience i have had at occupy. >> i'm here because i care and i want our country to care more. it's not us versus the police. it's us versus this economic system. >> reporter: members of the new york city council will going to hold a meeting sometime around noon to discuss the actions of the police. bill: mitt romney is accusing president obama of failure to afghanistan. is the president too focused on the exit instead of the victory? we'll debate that. arthel: controversial comments from eric holder surfacing

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orencia reduces many ra symptoms like pain, morning stiffness and progression of joint damage. it's helped new ra patients and those not helped enough by other treatments. do not take orencia with another biologic medicine for ra due to an increased risk of serious infection. serious side effects can occur including fatal infections. cases of lymphoma and lung cancer have been reported. tell your doctor if you are prone to or haveny infection like an open sore or the flu or a history of copd, a chronic lung disease. orencia may worsen your copd. [ male announcer ] now learn about a program committed to you and copay assistance that can reduce monthly orencia out-of-pocket drug cost to $5. if you're not satisfied after 6 months, you get that money back. call the toll-free number on the screen. bill: the u.s. soldier accused

of killing 16 afghan civilians met with his lawyer today. robert bales is being held in isolation in for the leavenworth, kansas. kelly wright is live in washington. what kind of charges could he face? >> reporter: there are no formal charges. they could be filed after an investigation is done against this decorated soldier who is suspected of killing 16 people, among them women and children. he's in solitary confinement. he's expected to see his lawyer today. attorney john henry braun. brown says his client faces a

difficult case with political and legal ramifications. he says bales was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder at times of the shooting. he says it could be an issue at trial. >> everybody had three to four deployments to the middle east has some form of ptsd. browne says he will be busy with bales the next couple days to get the latest on the case. senator john mccain says the incident has a significant effect on afghanistan and american public opinion. he says he's not sure if bales suffers from ptsd. he says it's one of the terrible

casualties of war. a retired army captain who knew bales says he was a lone actor who broke several orders by first drinking alcohol and then opening fire on women and children in afghan villages. arthel: mitt romney slamming president obama for his handling of the war in afghanistan. blaming the growing turmoil on a failure to focus on the mission there. >> first of all i would exercise leadership and work with president karzai day to day. what's happening now is an example of failed leadership. the president put out a specific timetable forthwith drawfl our troops. a timetable for the end of combat operations. the president needs to be more

engaged. arthel: general jack keane is a retired general and a fox news analyst. good morning. let many start here. does romney have a point or is this a case of campaign chair quarterbacking? >> we certainly have had our challenges right from the beginning. general mcchrystal and petraeus. when the president requested 30,000 surge troops, the president granted him 30,000. that was 25% less than was needed. that forced us to do the campaign from two phases. one in the south and now the campaign in the east which we are just beginning. that protracted the war. it evaporates political and moral will at home. so there have been some challenges. one of the things we would have

expected the president to do is educate the people about the war. how can overcome the setbacks and what it takes to win. arthel: that's a question a lot of people are asking. they are saying no matter who is the president, is there a case where you can absolutely win this war? >> absolutely. most insurgencies, the kind of war we are fighting here losso lose. it's the government that usually wins and the people get fed up with the war itself. we are winning this war on the ground since the president made the decision to provide the resources, the momentum is in our favor. we are in the process of turning it over to the afghan security forces. that's a good news story despite the setbacks.

arthel: you are talking about the unfortunate massacres, and the burning of the korans, and you have now the relationship between the obama administration and karzai even more tenuous. how does the president move forward? dose his to the american people who are expressing their voices saying we want our troops out there now or do you go pass planned as the president has said, we'll stick to our plan which is to remove our troops come 2014? >> winning a war is turned amount alley a test of wills. if you are going to win, you have to persevere against these setbacks. the leadership is at a premium in winning wars. his leadership and the leadership of the generals on the ground. the reason why this insurgency exists is because the government is weak and it doesn't provide the effective resources to its people. karzai is in that bail game.

he's fundamentally corrupt, he's weak and ineffective in terms of what he has provided to his people. there is an election coming in 2014. most people believe the afghans will get a different leader and better government out of that. arthel: you mentioned it's important to have proper information to inform the american people and make sure on the president's part he's letting us know what's happening in afghanistan. do it serve anyone well for candidates who don't have all the information at hand to sort of spew what they think should be done and they are not involved, they are not the leaders? >> i think something as important as a war where american casualties are at stake and we have a political cam main the united states, i think it's appropriate for candidates to discuss that, given how important that is to our own national security and what it means to our people. i think they have a right to express their views on the you be of that importance to the

american people. arthel: thank you so much, good to see you this morning. bill: breaking news. a shooting at a school in the french town. the gunman opened fire as the student were arriving for class. four are dead, including three young children. what happened, gregg? >> reporter: it's an you go think scene at this jewish school. they are all mourning. a 30-year-old rabbi and hebrew teacher was killed, his three children were killed and a 17-year-old was seriously injured. the gunman rode up on a powerful motorbike. opened fire outside the school and entered the courtyard and shot at point blank range.

he used two pistols, one of them automatic, then he fled. the city of toulouse is a city of half a million, it's in lackdown. helicopters are on the scene staging a massive manhunt. french president nicolas sarkozy and a range of the government officials. bill: does this relate to recent events in that area? >> reporter: it does. all this comes after two other incidents just in the past week in and around that city. in those two incidents three french soldiers were killed. one was seriously injured. they all came from a base nearby. a base that sent units into the war in afghanistan. among those killed north africans, muslims as well as a blackman'. here are the similarities. the same sort of gun was used in those other incidents, as well as the man, the shooter was on a

motorcycle. a driveby. for my time in france. there extra been anti-semitic incidents and anti-muslim. there are islamists found in france as well. the police are looking into all these leads. bill: a motorcyclist. a manhunt underway. that's a brazen attack. arthel: the president's healthcare overhaul two years old today and far from settled. we are a week away from a major showdown in the supreme court. >> we have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it away from the fog of the controversy. @? i'm freaking out man.

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arthel: investigators saying an intruder wearing no pants broke into an apartment stark nairkd from the waist down. the woman living there was sleeping on the couch. >> i could smell the liquor. i could smell him. when i look over he's standing next to me, excited and undressed. it really creeped me out. >> reporter: her boyfriend helped chase the man out with police nabbing him a short time later. bill: guys are good for something. new concerns from voters that white house policies are hurting more than helping. a new poll from the hill.com, 58% of voters say the price of gas will increase as a result of the president's energy policies.

48% say the president's economic policies will increase unemployment. 38% say it will decrease. let's debate both of these. kirsten powers, rich lowry. what do these numbers say. >> the conventional wisdom has gone the way out of whack about the president's chances in the fall. people have been looking at the republican race as dragging on, and some people concluding this is a dead cinch lock for the president but it's not the case at all. we have this poll that's got to be disturbing for the white house. his job approval rating is 47%, that's right on the line where a president is vulnerable. it's not inevitable he's going to lose. that's why you see him

desperately playing defense on gas prices this week where that poll is particularly disturbing for the white house. bill: kirsten, what do you think? >> i think the polls are all over the place on this. the fox news poll shows 52% of the people don't blame obama for rising gas prices. a bloomberg poll had other factors outside of obama's control causing gas prices to go up. who they blame depend on which poll you look at. as long as gas prices are going up people are going to feel pinched, they will feel they don't have as much money they need and they will have a sense the economy isn't doing as well as it should be. bill require many a universal cost everybody has to bear. the point haley barbour was making over the weekend, the ongoing political fight doesn't

help the republican party. but then he said given that fight president's obama should be soaring. >> he's winning by a small margin over mitt romney in some polls. you would think that number would be much bigger. primaries usually are not pretty things. but in the scheme of things it's better that mitt romney has his tax returns. it's better that he's taken his shots on bain. he has to win the thing. no one is going to hand it to him on a heart an has to vanquish rick santorum. if he can't that's a bad sign for him. bill: should he be soaring? >> no, he shouldn't be soaring considering how the economy is doing. while the economy is turning around and you have in the fox news poll a majority of people

saying they see the economy turning around. it's still not doing that well. as long as the economy isn't doing well, hofort incumbent president is is going to be struggling. there is no way around it. i also think that we won't really know how obama does in a matchup against romney or whoever the republican candidate is until there is a head-to-head. they have to be running against each other. bill: rasmussen just came out with numbers dead even. >> they have to be running against each other, debate each other. whenever you do these matchups before they are actually going truly going head-to-head, i don't think you can get a good sense of it. >> don't believe me this is hurting him. he would not be out with several events this week playing defense on this issue if it weren't hurting and i believe he will

ultimately flip-flop on the keystone pipeline which has become such an important symbol. this week he's bragging about being in favor of half of it, the southern half. bill: go to foxnews.com/americasnewsroom and you can leave a question for both these folks today. arthel: when it comes to republican integrity. there is a shocking report on corruption. which state made the grade. plus this. bill: a story you will see only here on fox. that was the hero on the battlefield, now here at home a medal of honor winner serving his country in a whole new way. [ phelps ] two things i need before the race. sic. and the confidence to win.

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bill: there was new fallout of recently discovered video of attorney general eric holder calling for anti-gun agenda. >> we need to do this every day of the week and brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way and not to give us 1:00, 2:00 in the morning ads when nobody is watching. but at the time when people, particularly young people are watching television, when they are watching "the french prince of bel air" or "martin," they will see these ads and be grabbed by these ads. bill: that comment about guns,

will it fuel the calls for holder to resign in more details on that as we get them. arthel? arthel: dakota meyer becoming a war hero for his actions overseas. the medal of honor recipient. he's also a hero for actions closer to home. the kentucky native heading to a home hard hit by tornadoes to help folks get backs on their feet. he tells us what's motivating him. >> i had to find a way to give back. marines have given us so much in america. i want to find a way to give back. >> reporter: dakota lives four hours from here. like everyone else he saw what happened to west liberty. it took a direct hit from that powerful tornado. it damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and dozens of

homes. this was a trailer and this area behind me was all down trees as of 12 hours ago. i was told you couldn't see the house up on the hill when the trees were standing, but now that they are down you can see the house and you can see the bobcats out there all driven by volunteers who came with dakota meyer to help out. tell us why -- what motivated to you come here. >> me and my buddies here, we were sitting around, we seen it on tv and we had to do something. that's why we live in the freightest country in the world. we have to help these people out. >> reporter: you were moving sticks around and one of them caught you in the side of the face. >> i saw it coming and i thought it was going to knock me out. >> reporter: someone was able to dress your wound and you are back eight. what's your goal? >> to help out as much as we can

and hopefully show other americans this is what we do, take time out of our busy day to help people how the who were less fortunate in the storms. >> reporter: you said this was the worst you have ever seen. >> driving downtown and listening to the people's story, it's insane. >> reporter: here is one of the bobcats. there is still more at work. and a lot of work left to be done. they are encouraging anyone and everyone to come out. arthel: we are losing rick. but we notice that dakota, he's so humble that he's no, it's not just me degree this. i have my buddies helping me along. pill * a reluctant hero. the storm season is just beginning despite the fact that we have been reporting on these storms for weeks now.

a new war of words between president obama and republican candidates. gas prices are at the heart of it all. who is saying what and who is right. arthel: those republican candidates making a last-minute push for voters in illinois. it's a delegate-rich state that could offer much-needed momentum for one competitor. brit hume is next. ♪

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bill: morning, everybody, 10:00ing in new york, hope you had a great weekend, all eyes on illinois, for what could be the biggest political battle we've seen in weeks, mitt romney, rick santorum going head to head for a critical win there as the primary season rolls on. some might argue it tkrals on!

others say it rolls on, pick your poison. i'm bill himmer. -- hemmer, hope you had a good weekend. arthel: i'm arthel neville. more than 65 delegates up for grab necessary illinois, the most of any one state since supertuesday, the latest real clear politics average showing romney leading there with 39.5%. that is more than an 8 percent lead offer santorum. >> in illinois, some say they don't have any conservatives. is that true? we're going to show them on tuesday, that the conservative movement in illinois is alive and well. >> i understand what it takes to make america the most atr-bgtive place in the world for entrepreneurs and investors and job creators 6789 that's very different than anyone in this race, republican or democrat. it's time to get america working again and i intend to do that very thing with your help. bill: so then, could a big win in illinois help romney

seal the deal? i guess it could but we've been saying that for a while now. brit hume, how you doing? >> good, bill. bill: how do you see this breaking at the moment. >> the proportional allegation of delegates, it looks like romney, if he wins, as expected, and he's ahead by eight points in the polls average would get the bulk of the delegates which will move him closer but i don't think this is a state that's going to be the big deal breaker that ends the whole thing for his opponents. this is going to go on for a while. i think the romney catch has recognized that and they've been on a delegate by delegate hunt for some time now. that's why you saw the efforts in the islands, in the atlantic or the pacific or the carribean and pacific, to get every delegate they can and this las become a slog. bill: it has. some are making the case now that after illinois, santorum looks really good in louisiana, but for about four weeks after that it's tough for him and perhaps he doesn't get a victory. do you see it that way?

>> i think it's certainly possible. none of the states have come in the immediate aftermath of louisiana have set up particularly well for santorum's brand of conservative and he might do well in wisconsin. that's the state where he has a real clans. -- chance. that's a winner take all states. states like maryland, new york, are coming up pretty soon, neither of those states is a particularly good fit for santorum but you have to give santorum credit, he's been able to outperform his polls as he may well do tomorrow in illinois in a number of states and he'll continue to accumulate delegates as well, so will newt gingrich if he stays in, and they're going to make this a long road for myth rom they -- romney to take to the magic number. bill: utah, june 26th. perhaps, perhaps not. what did you make about what haley barbour said about how it's damaging republicans, about president obama should be soaring and is not? >> i don't think this has been helpful to the

republicans. you've seen the republicans' field in general declining in the opinion of independents. independents are the swing voters who generally decide elections. so i information brawl among the republicans has hurt in that sense. i think haley barbour has a point about that. i think he is right as well that at this time, if the public was finding the conditions in the country agreeable, the president would be soaring in the polls and he -- and he is certainly not doing that. you know, you had a gallup poll, what was it last week, that had 50 percent of the questions said they thought the administration had been a fail aoufrplt that's a very alarming number for an incumbent president. bill: rick -- brit, good to have you on today, brit hume in washington. arthel: bill, there is brand new video from syria where violence and destruction show no signs of easing, government forces clashing with rebels in one of the worst confrontations in the year's uprising, at least three reportedly killed. leland vitter is following

this live from our jerusalem bureau. leland, those pictures are horrible to see, more to come, unfortunately, because this thing is far from over. what's behind the clashes now getting into damascus? >> reporter: it's terrible to see, as usual, arthel. we've been getting used to seeing these pictures coming out of syria. what's important is they're coming out of not some far flung capitol but damn as cas, the capitol. and president assad has held on to the power base inside the capitol and still his military has overwhelming force. the clash in this neighborhood, an upscale neighborhood with a lot of embassies around, this shows the rebels have the ability to push inside of that capitol. if all of the sudden damascus begins to destabilize a little bit that changes the power equation for president assad. as of now the u.n. says 8000 people have been killed. that number is certain to continue to rise. the question is, if this new clash, so close to his own

presidential palace, means president assad becomes more desperate and starts killing more people or finally decides it's time to head to the negotiating table. arthel: let's hope the negotiating table is where he goes. let me ask you this, leland: talk about how militarily the regime is holding up. >> >> reporter: still, syria has a very effective military, certainly outguns the rebels, and we're now learning more from a swedish watchdog group about the kind of weapons russia is continuing to sell to syria, despite the arms embargo, fighter jets and yak-130 air attack aircraft. it's so far stayed on the ground against the civilian targets and protestors. that would be a major escalation on the part of the syrian government. the other thing the syrians have is the sa-19, an air defense system, mobile radar, made by the russians

which would make u.s. intervention certainly much more difficult, arthel. arthel: all righty, leland vitter, thank you very much for that report there from our jerusalem bureau. it keep goes on. bill about the regularels vow to fight on, sunday marks one year since the uprising started. the united nations estimates more than 8000 people have died and some 18,000 have been detained, including children, as young as the age of ten. arthel: we are getting new details on that american teacher, shot and killed in yemen. an al-qaeda-linked group, now claiming responsibility, saying the teacher was killed because he was trying to convert muslims to christianity. fox news confirming the man was sitting in his car, sunday, when two gunmen drove on a motorcycle, they drove by on a motorcycle and shot him. the father was two was working at a language institute and was believed to be a christian missionary yemen and u.s. officials are investigating. bill: which state is the most corrupt? not a great answer on this.

a major study of all 50 state governments doesn't look so good. the center for public integrity gives eight u.s. states failing grades for the efforts in impacting corruption. not a single state getting an a. jim angle, our national political correspondent on that, it doesn't paint a good picture, does it jim? >> reporter: i'm afraid not, bill. it's pretty ugly, in fact. it rated states according to a list of things, including transparency of government actions, oversight of laws, ethics laws and enforcement of them, even mechanisms legislators rely on to estimate the cost of proposed bills. not a single state got an a on the overall report card, not one. the state with the highest score was new jersey, which got a b plus with a score of 87. four other states also got a b. nineteen states got grades of c. eighteen got a d. and the eight states you see coming up here got an f, with grades of 59 or lower.

we won't embarrass them by saying their names but as a kind teacher might say, they have a lot of room for improvement. bill: or teachers say go ahead, look it up! that's your home work. why did new jersey come out on top? >> reporter: in part by taking steps to crack down on a rather colorful history of corruption by using tpuf -- tough ethics laws. these efforts came in reaction to the long history of corruption in the state which was vigorously attacked by former u.s. attorney, now governor chris christie, who prosecuted many of the recent cases. the state has had some famous corruption episodes, including a former jersey shore councilman, bragging to an undercover officer that he would never get caught because he could smell a cop a mile away. apparently not. so over ten years or so, 150 state and local officials were either convicted or pleaded tkpw*eult to federal krupg charges -- guilty to

federal corruption charges. bill: the cop might have been on the other end. that's the favorite story for martha maccallum. of all days, she's working for megyn! >> arthel: i'll step in and gay good -- say good for martha! >> coming up, pounding america's heartland. storm chaser, putting their lives on the line, capturing a monster funnel cloud ripping through oklahoma. we'll hear from the man behind the camera. plus this: >> bell bell did you know that's a soccer game? yeah, this match turned into a full-out brawl! watch this, in a moment. arthel: plus, mitt romney seizing on the spike in gas prices, calling on the president to fire his top visors. is that the answer? the policy is to turn down the key stone pipeline from canada and at the same time,

put $500 million into solyndra? these polices are not working. his polices are hurting the american people. ear... oh dear! ohh dear... i'm not sure exactly what happened here last night. i was out helping people save money on their car insurance. 2 more! you're doing it! aren't they doing great?! hiiiiiii!! come sweat with me! keep going richard. keep sweating!! geico. fifteen minutes could save you sweat! sweat! fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

arthel: 10:13. on the east coast, a soccer match cut short after this happened: >> oh my. angry fans, fighting with police in greece, throwing sticks and molotov cocktails, several sections of the stands set on fire. we're told the clashes began before the match and during half time. twenty police, reportedly hurt, two seriously. nearly 80 people were arrested. this is the same stadium that hosted track and field events during the 2004 athens olympic games. bill: tough people in greece! my oh my! looked like a war zone! >> 24 hours from now house republicans unveil a new budget for 2013. it's seen by some as gamble after last year's firestorm

bringing the country to the brink of a government shutdown. paul ryan, republican congressman out of wisconsin, says not this time. >> that crisis brought us by surprise. let me ask you a question. what if your president, your senator, your congressman, knew it was coming, what if he knew when it was going to happen, why it was going to happen and more importantly, what if they knew what they needed to do to stop it from happening and had the time to stop it but they chose to do nothing about it because it wasn't good for politics, what would you think of that person? it would be immoral. this coming debt crisis is the most predictable crisis we've ever had in this country. bill: it goes from there. stephen moore is a senior writer for the "wall street journal". good morning to you. >> hi bill. bill: there are a lot of details in the ryan plan, and just as a bullet point, this is what ryan is trying to do, lower spending levels to a trillion dollars, below caps put in place by the

debt ceiling debt and avoids pentagon cuts, with $110 billion in cuts elsewhere. do you think he has the only realistic budget on that the table today in washington? why? >> he does. this is a little bit of tough love and i love his video because i think he's basically trying to highlight something to the american people that i think most of us know, which is that this is a titanic that's headed to the iceberg if we don't turn this fiscal ship around. you know, you mentioned the trillion dollars of spending cuts. we have accumulated $5.1 trillion of new debt, just in the last four years. if we stay on the current baseline, bill, and do nothing, just allow the budget to stay on automatic pilot, we're talking about another $10 trillion in borrowing over the next ten years. bill pill if $15 trillion isn't good -- $15 trillion isn't enough, wait until you see $25 trillion. there's a lot of political risk. some saying the house

republicans paid a price to that. i don't think if you agree or disagree with that. ryan makes the point you cannot afford to not to do it this and the risk is less. >> i agree with him on this, because the reason is, bill, we're in another $1.25 trillion deep ner debt than last year when the paul ryan bum kaeuplt out. i think the american people are able to connect the dots, that the enormous decifits are eroding the future of our country and they could cause another financial crisis like we had in 2008-2009 and i believe the political risk, because of the anger out there, the political risk is for people who vote against this budget. don't forget in the senate one of the points ryan is going to highlight tomorrow, the senate, there's now been 800 days, 800 days, since the democrats passed any budget at all. bill: i think it's more than that, isn't it? it's about 1000 -- >> are they off 900 yet? >> bill: 1060 was the last marker put out by

republicans on the senate side. i just want to show viewers -- >> which by the way is three years, when you think about it. bill: this on the screen, too, the cbo estimates decifit of $1 trillion for fiscal year 2012, governments run a decifit of $1 trillion the last three years, working on four, nearly -- nearly $5 trillion added to the total debt over the last three years. you're referring to a political equation in all of this and i think this is what some house republicans are going for. they believe the time is right to attract the independent voter in the middle of the country who says enough is enough and stop it now. do you see it that way? >> i totally do. in fact by wait, there's a little bit of fight within the republican party right 2340u -- now, bill, that the paul ryan budget takes about 15 years for balance the budget, some republicans in the house are to the right of him and say we shouldn't wait that long, let's get a budget that balances it at least in at most ten years which i'm attracted to because of the enormous deficits. look, i think any candidate going into the 2012 races

who votes for any fiscal discipline are going to face real problems. the caveat, as you mentioned, remember what happened last time, democrats started running ads, grandma in the wheelchair, being pushed by republicans down the stairs. you're going to see that assault against this budget in the next few weeks. bill: but you make the point that it's a gut-check moment for members of congress. >> yes. bill: indeed it could be. by the way, terrific piece over the weekend in "wall street journal," you went back over 40 years to the u.s., soviet union basketball in munich. it was a terrific piece. >> thank you bill. i remember watching that game 40 years ago. i was so outraged, how can you give them three chance toss win! what's going on here! bill: i'm with you. >> the players, by the way, are going to have a reunion of that game this summer to commemorate that game. they still feel cheated to

this day. bill we'll do a reenactment and win it. arthel: i like it, okay. the president's health care law, two years old, but the showdown over it is heating up. new red flags with the law that opponents are warning america about. bill: also, she was once selling swimsuits just by wearing them. now she may never see a bikini again. wait until you hear what landed a bombshell behind bars! >> ♪ >> ♪ it was and it'sy bitsy weeny, yellow polka dot bikini. >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪

all right, let's decide what to do about... medicare and social security... security. that's what matters to me... ...me? i've been paying in... all these years... ...years washington's been talking at... us, but they never really listen... ...listen... it's not just some line... item on a budget; it's what i'll have to live on... ... i live on branson street... and i have something to say... aarp is bringing the conversation on medicare... and social security out from behind closed doors...

in washington. because you've earned a say.

bill: all right. we're at 22 minutes past the hour now, the openers of the new york mets agreeing to a $162 million settlement over the trust of corrupt and convicted bernie madoff, that news breaking this

morning, the team's owners rejecting deposits. more u.s. students graduateing from high school, new numbers showing a slight improvement from 2001-2009 with 75 percent of students earning a four-year diploma. a royal milestone, duchess of cambridge, delivering her first solo speech today. >> you have all made me feel so welcome. i'm only sorry that william couldn't come today. he would have loved it here. bill: 30-year-old kate middleton speaking at a children's hospital in southwestern england, one of the many charitable organizations the duchess is connected to. i guess it's major news when you make your first speech.

arthel: they is lovely. bill: i think she's enjoying her new job. arthel: we are waiting on news on army sergeant bales awhaeuting trial in fort leavenworth, kansas, his attorney offering a defense strategy surrounding posttraumatic stress disorder. >> everyone who has had three or four deployment toss the middle east is going to have some form of tpsd. arthel: charles cully sampson is a senior legal fellow at the heritage foundation and former prosecutor. you've got to get a glimpse into what the defense attorney is going to say. how much will ptsd play into the defense and also the prosecution? >> it's too early to tell.

clearly the defense attorney is laying out his public statement to prepare the battle ground for the months ahead. but he has to dig into the facts here. typically a military court, proving that somebody is incompetent to stand trial is a tough hurdle. ptsd would likely play a role if he was convicted and sentenced. >> there is new word coming out that he could possibly face the death penalty. of course formal charges won't be filed for a week, but if this case goes to u.s. trial, it's going to be in u.s. court, of course, but there's the possibility that they're talking that afghan witnesses and victims might be flown into the u.s. to participate. how do you think that will impact the case? >> well, it will impact the case no differently than any other case, where we've had service members charged with crimes and we've had to fly in witnesses from overseas. that's happened before. i suspect it will have to have in this case if indeed

there is a trial. of course he's presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the military justice system, and the first step along the process art is there will be a preliminary, article 32 in the military court marshal process. arthel: in that process, or ultimately, do you think it will get to the point that somewhere down the road that perhaps the military can somehow be culpable? you heard attorney general browsy that here's a man who had multiple deployments and this is a play on his psyche. will it come up in court at some point that perhaps some missed signals were there and no one paid attention? >> i think there will be a 360-degree review of not only the circumstances of this individual's conduct and the impact of multiple deployments but then there will be a broader overview and look into the stress on the force. look, we're seen in military

-- seeing in military courts soldiers, air men, air marines, are coming back from multiple deployments, the incidence of pstd is on the rise, there's no doubt about it. i see it as a military judge in the reserves. but the question is not whether they have ptsd but it's whether he is legally competent to stand trial and if he is, and the trial proceeds, what impact that may have not only on the degree of culpability, one, that's in the findings sections, but then if there's a guilty finding, the degree to which it's a mitigating factor and sentencing. we have a long way to go, it's early in process and clearly the defense attorney is working on his imaging strategy right now. arthel: we'll be watching it. and i know you'll be watching it and will come back and talk about it some more, right? >> happy to do so. arthel: cully, thank you. bill: feel bad for the wife and kids. >> the wife and kids in the state of washington.

it's a bad situation all around. bill: absolute tragedy. there are new fears of possible deadly tornadoes in heatland, the massive gray clouds that created an eery sight across oklahoma. did you catch this? a real live storm chaser on what it's like to go into the eye of this tornado.

bill: got a fox news weather alert. right now tornadoes tearing up southwestern oklahoma. this is what we found only

hours ago. >> funnel cloud. 3/4, about 7, 8 due north. bill: those twisters part of a powerful storm system pounding the heartland. the good thing, not a single injury reported out of oklahoma. hard to believe when you see video like this. these storm chasers, capture whag looks to be a big chunk of wood and debris, ripping across the plains there. john hammerfield is one of those brave souls chasing storms for five years. good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. bill: where was this sunday? >> west of willow, oklahoma in southwest oklahoma. bill: it start techs, i do believe, controls the the -- crossed the state border in oklahoma. it's a rope tornado? >> it's a rope tornado like you swing a rope. it's got the shape of a rope. with that tornado it's a weaker type tornado and it morph spwos what we call

like an elephant trunk tornado as it moved across southwest oklahoma. bill: you've been doing this for five years. did people get lucky after this storm? >> yeah, i mean, it was quite an amazing day yesterday, it was active across the southern plains, we've gotten lucky seeing a lot of tornado, especially last year, across oklahoma. bill you say lucky because that's your job, right? you run toward the storm. can you say what you learned from this string last night? >> well, what we saw with the tornadoes last night, which is what we want to see, is that they stay out in open fields and away from populations. fortunately this porn aid -- tornado stayed away from the cities and was definitely in open field. we don't like to see to be aidos run into any maul towns or cities. so this tornado, unfortunately, it did destroy some shedding in the fields but stayed away from homeses and businesses, what we like to see, but we're

out there to kind of get an extra eye on the storm for the national weather service, to kind of make better warnings and to give people a better warning, as the tornado moves. bill: we put a picture on tv. i'm going to put it on tv. what was it going on with you standing in this still photo with the tornado directly behind your head? >> this was last year in november, down there, also, in southwest oklahoma. that was a large tornado there near schneider, and that was probably the closest i've been to a tornado. it was very intense as it moved across southwest oklahoma, but that tornado didn't hit anything what we were thankful for. bill bell the season is just beginning and we've already seen a string of tornadoes that have been deadly and coming off the record setting pace of last year, we hope we don't go there now. john hammerfield, chasing storms in oklahoma, from now, and for the next couple

of months. thank you for your time. >> thanks a bot, lil. arthel: surging gas prices, digging into families' budgets, the average miss for a gas of -- price for a gas of regular, rising 30 cents at the pump. mitt romney is calling on the president to dump his interior, energy secretary and head of the epa. >> gas prices are up, the right course is they ought to be fired, because the president has apparently suffered an election year conversion, he's now decided that gasoline prices should come down. well, the gas hike trio has been going the other direction. time for them to go. arthel: congressman staef scalise, the louisiana republican sits on the energy and commerce committee. good to see you congressman. >> good to be with you, arthel. arthel: so the trio, the gas

hike trio, that romney is referring to, is he imply thank members of the president's cabinet would conspire to get the american people on board with green or alternative energy and not to mention that the president would let fuel prices skyrocket, and then what happens, you have to domino effect, you'd have food prices going up, fuel prices for heating going up, so you're saying that the president will go along with this, as well as these cabinet members? is that what rom 24e is -- romney is saying? >> if you look at this, this is a culmination of three years of president obama's energy policy. these high prices at the pump are a reflection of those polices. if you go back to when president obama was elected he said, and in fact his energy secretary, said he wanted to see gas prices go up to the levels they are in europe and of course they're headed that way and president obama said he'd like to see a gradual increase up to $4 a gallon of gas. that's three years ago and now that that's happened and

people are furious at the prices at the pump the president is trying to blame everybody else but look this is three years of solid policy running this to foreign americans. we've seen it in louisiana, with 13,000 jobs in the energy industry shipped off to foreign countries because the president won't let people go to work, exploring safely. arthel: so the president is shipping out jobs and requests for energy elsewhere because he's trying to get everyone on board with his alternative or green energy plan, is that the strategy? doesn't seem to make sense, especially in a campaign year. >> i don't think it makes sense and frankly, rather than just firing these three cabinet secretaries we ought to fire president obama in november, because the prices we're paying at the pump are a direct reflection of his polices. what i'd like to see us do is have an all of the above strategy rather than the president's approach, which is sal indra -- solyndra, he said the future is solyndra, he gave half a billion dollars of taxpayer money to

them, they went bankrupt. gets -- let's go with independence from the foreign countries that don't like us, like the mideastern countries, let's open up more areas of the gulf of mexico. right 2340u the -- right now the president has run off production accuratecle in the gulf of mexico. it's down 10 percent from 2010-20 # one on federal lands. arthel: i have to let you know but listen, see -- we see these gas prices going up this time of year, all the time, so i ask you, what is the answer to lowering prices, and is it even possible to do so when you have the unpredictable effects of possibly more war pending, if you can give me a short answer. >> a lot of it is supply and demand. the president has shut off supply in many areas of federal land. the only areas up are areas of private land where the president has no control. if we increase supply we'll create millions of jobs but also lower gasoline at the pump. we've never seen prices this

high, this time of year and it's not going to get worse. arthel: it's not my job to take the other side, but i wish we had someone on the other side because i imagine they would beg to differ with your points. thank you very much, and you're from my home state of louisiana so send up craw fish, would you? >> we'll be boiling some good ones this evening! arthel: you're killing me! good to see you. bill: causing heartache an anguish in southern florida, the feds in contact with local police, investigating the killing of a teenager by a neighborhood watch volunteer. that's an incident raising alarm among civil rights leaders, and steve harrigan, we hear the protests are growing. what do they want? >> reporter: bill, we're seeing more protests outside of seminole county courthouse in florida, led by florida's black law student association. we'll see more protests, including one by reverend al sharpton. what they want is the arrest of george zimmerman, a

28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer who on february 28th shot and killed trey von martin after calling 911. some of the details from that nine # one call have been made public: >> we have breaking news in my neighborhood and there's a real pus oeurb -- spus oeurbous guy. this guy looks look he's up to no good or on drugs. >> that was zimmerman calling in, the 911 operator told him to remain in his car but he get on foot. martin's family say they don't trust the police and they want the federal investigators involved. the stanford police chief says he doesn't know what the fuss is, he says his officers have done nothing wrong in not arresting zimmerman. under the gun law a man is permitted to use his weapon in self-defense, that's what local police said zimmerman did. back to you.

bill: steve harrigan on that story from miami. arthel, what's next? >> i like congressman scalise, because he's from new orleans, but i can't believe he was teasing me! i digressed. bill: once in half an hour! arthel: it's been two years since the health care law was passed. now word is it's going to cost double the mope and cover less people. new red flags republicans are warning about. now this: >> bill: that's one party that went a bit too far! saint patrick's day, getting ugly. it was more than just the irish green. what it cost in the end. >> you can get drunk. just don't be stupid. 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 or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaids, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or seriouallergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease a before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain.

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arthel: saint patrick's day celebrations getting way out of nand canada.

referring -- revelers in london, ontario, setting fires, and locals saying this year's mayhem really went overstkpwhraord there was a group mentality in there, you get everybody just drunk and intoxicated and it truly was a shame to see my fellow students acting that way. arthel: police making 11 regards and expecting more once they start combing social media websites, damages topping an estimated $100,000. bill: happy birthday! today marks two years since the president's health care overhaul first passed and the showdown over the law heating up yet again because next week, a week from monday, the u.s. supreme court will start hearing arguments, three days, on whether the law was constitutional and only days ago, a report revealing

20 million americans could potentially lose their coverage. republicans say we cannot ignore those warnings on health care. >> the canker -- the dang ser nobody knows. i mean, literally, multiple times as many people could lose health care coverage from their business, go into these pools, and hammer the treasury of the united states with huge, unexpected cost. that is a very real possibility. in fact i think there will be quite a few more people going into it than have been originally projected. bill: senator roy blunt out of missouri, senator, good morning to you. >> bill, good to be here. bill: is republicans lead this fight and end it in -- win it inned end in. >> i think we'll win in the end. the question is how long is it until the end. there's no question that the president's plan will not work. i believe that the tenet of the mand aid is unconstitutional but i'm equally opposed to it if the court decides it's constitutional.

you can do a lot of bad things that are constitutional. i think this doesn't meet that constitutional standard. but what i don't want to do is for our friends to begin to think in this fight, it's about the court, whatever they decide about the future of health care. it's whether about people have access to health care and whether it improves and goes the other way. there's no question when you look at the implementation discussions and things they've already walked away from this -- away from that this is not going to improve health care for americans, it's going to have the opposite impact and increase costs. bill: the 20 million figure we pointed out is the worst case scenario, but still, that's not what the law was designed to do. here is what voters are telling us about the new health care law, what will happen, reskwraoel entirely, 31 percent, repeal parts of ', 28 percent, that's 59 percent. are you going to pick in and choose? >> first of all, i'm not sure that 20 million is the worst case scenario. the other thing the obama

administration would argue is that anybody that's providing health care today would stop providing it to employees. i think they're clearby going to stop providing it. bill: you think the number is much greater. >> i do. we've already seen the exemptions to big fast-food chains, labor union-negotiated contracts. lots of people don't like this, they don't want to go there. it's a big impediment to job creation because people don't know what the health care costs are going to be for any job they're going to create. i think you're going to see lots of small employers say look, we're going to let you go to the exchange, give you an extra boost in your salary and not be part of this system anymore and remember, everyone in the exchange up to certain economic levels gets subsidized by taxpayers. none of that was considered in the cost of this bill. bill: democrats would argue looking we've got the bill, the law, let's make it better, let's not get rid of the entire thing. this is what the voters also say about whether or not the

law is unconstitutional. 46 percent say yes, 43 percent say no. a bit after split there. also you saw the poll about how he's handling this, 52 percent disapprove. this is what republicans are saying just moments ago. rnc political director rick wiley, this will prove to be the single biggest contributor to president obama's deet feet -- defeat in november. do you think americans are voting on this? >> i think it will be hard to say whether it's going to be this or the out of control energy prices. but the president's own polices are coming home to roost, his own polices are producing the result that you'd expect them to produce, higher energy prices, health care costs and access that people are concerned about. small business people are not going to stick with the president's plan. they're going to get out of the health care business, and when they do, that puts more obligation on taxpayers, more stress on the system. the choice is not going to be do we want to go forward with the president's health care plan, or do we want to

do nothing. there are plenty of things that can be done that will make the system work better. we need the president to help get this done instead of committed to this plan, where the american people, the more they look at it, nancy palestinian pell's nameo famous comment, the more they look at it, the less they'll like it. bill: we're eight weeks from an election. it will all play out. senator, thank you. arthel. arthel: "happening now" is coming up at the top of the hour. jon scott, what are you working on this monday morning? jon: arthel, there are new reports that iran has not yet decided a pursue a nuclear weapon but that does not mean israel won't plan an attack. we'll explain. plus, a massage, it might be a lot more than pampering and relaxation. some doctors say it should be reclassified as a medical treatment. deep tissue looking at why. >> and the power of soubl media and growing importance of that media on the 2012

elections. less than ten minutes away. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

>> an international swimsuit model once voted sexiest woman in the world, arthel, sexiest woman you can find, arrested in australia on charges of head ago worldwide drug ring, simone pharaoh, 37, busted after skipping out on bail. she had 29 different aliases to ship methamphetamine around the world. arthel: worms on the brink of ex-stings -- extinction in yellow stone park, dan spring ser live from seattle now, so dan, now some people

are thinking there are too many wolves right now. yeah? >> reporter: and it is a growing debate arthel. great wolves came off the an dangered species list over a year ago but remain the most controversial species by far in the entire mountain west and yes, the majority of the west, politicians in idaho and wyoming say there are too many wolves. in idaho, there are about 1000. the federal government which turns over management of the species last year is requiring idaho to maintain a population of at least 150 wolves so the fish and game commission has been reducing the numbers by encouraging hunting of wolves, but that's not all. the governor wants the federal government to keep paying the state for all the wolves. >> it's had a large economic impact on us. and those folks that -- that want them here, ought to be the ones paying for them. we don't want them here. >> reporter: that sums the position of the governor in the mountain west. the funds could run out in the next couple of years.

those who oppose the hunting of wolves say the states have to manage these populations and not reduce them by having hunters shoot them after the federal government has spent about $100 million over the last several years in proping this population up. arthel: the de bail continues. bill: gas prices, 2012, how much trouble she spell for the white house. "happening now" looks at how this has affected past presidents. that will be interesting. arthel: that will be interesting. ahh, one. two. three.

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