>> steve: that's right. bill: there is breaking news. the suspected terrorist who claims ties with al qaeda is cornered in france. this suspected assassin wanted in a deadly shooting at a jewish school. police say they want him alive. martha: this could be a fence situation. this suspect is described by french media as an islamic radical. he's said to be heavily armed and claims to have al qaeda training. he was found hiding out a couple miles away from the school where he brought so much horror and tragedy. bill: a report says he escaped from prison in kandahar during a jailbreak there.

they want him alive. >> reporter: that suspect is holed up in an affluent suburb of toulouse. french president sarkozy arriving in the area. he will visit with some of the families of the victims of the shooting at the military base and visit with the police officers who have been wounded in this standoff. up until this morning we did not know the nature of the man believed to be behind the shooting. there had been thoughts he was a right wing extremist but it turns out the man they believe carried out these shootings who is holed up in a five-story building is an islamic extremist. he claims to have links to al qaeda. he has been talking to police but the negotiations have been stopping and starting.

he says he will hand himself over this afternoon but it's already afternoon in france and there is no progress. bill: what led to this standoff? report report suspect is believed to have been behind 10 shootings in the toulouse area. two of them involved soldiers and one of them was at this jewish school which was the deadliest in france ever. the four victims from that shooting buried today in jerusalem. they were joint french-israeli dual citizens. three children and a rabbi. when the shooter was on the loose he attacked two french soldiers who were taking money out of an atm and another french soldier in a separate incident. he says he's avenging the death

of palestinian children and he has a beef with french troops abroad. four of the victims have buried in israel and a couple of the soldiered buried in the toulouse area. pill * amy kellogg, live in london. martha: we are getting new video in of the damage caused by a powerful earthquake in mexico. hundreds of buildings were damaged. it caused homes to bounce like they were trampolines. several aftershocks have been rocking the region. thankfully no reports of deaths in this earthquake. several injuries have been reported as a result. we'll keep an eye on that situation. back here at home, president obama is about to depart the white house. he's launching a four-state tour

to pitch his plan on energy. but it's his energy secretary who made a lot of headlines in the past 24 hours after saying this to lawmakers on a house committee. >> in an earlier hearing you gave yourself an a minus. in weatherization do you give yourself an a minus? >> actually i do. >> in controlling the price of gas at the pump, do you give you're receive an a minus? >> the tools we have are limited but since i became secretary of energy i have been doing everything i can to get long-term solutions. martha: there is the number, $3.86 a gallon, secretary chu gives himself an "a." let's bring in stuart varney.

stuart, you know, i guess when you are asked to grade yourself you are going to be pretty liberal. some folks believe that he was with that estimate. what say you? >> reporter: i those took a liberty. to 5 yourself a higher than a minus grade when the price has doubled. that's a stretch. but that's a value judgment on my part. gas prices went up another 2 cents overnight to a national average of $3.86. that was a surprise. a lot of people who talk of the industry, they just don't believe the numbers. the energy department, secretary chu's department say demand is down 7%. the price of gasoline keeps on going up. they don't agree with the energy department's characterization of supply and demand.

and they don't agree with secretary chu's decision to give himself a higher than a minus grade. he will tax the oil companies and go back to doubling down on solar and wind power and alternative energy. no change in policy as gas prices rise. martha: the interpretation of that report card, the president will put a good look at that. it's become a central campaign focus to be sure. >> reporter: gas prices are front and center in the november campaign on both sides of the aisle. the president is going to visit nevada. he will visit a solar power plant. i believe he's going to oklahoma and i'm told he's going to pat himself on the back for authorizing part of the keystone pipeline. the part that links oklahoma to

the gulf. martha: it's interesting how you can support part of a pipeline. thank you so much. we'll have more on this coming up at 9:30. thank you very much. bill: part of the pipeline now. it's kind of important, don't you think. a big win for mitt romney. a decisive victory. romney getting 47% of the vote. rick santorum. %. newt gingrich coming in fourth. no delegates for paul or gingrich. on the road to 1,144, romney is 565, he's almost halfway there. santorum 263. gingrich and paul remain unchanged.

it turns out the ballots were the wrong size at one polling place. your job is to come up with ballots and they do not fit in the ballot box. poll workers said they have never even anything like it. >> this morning just that much that curled up on the edges of the ballot box. martha: remember the hanging chads. the problem was quickly fixed and the new paper ballots were issues. bill: but there was no evidence of a butterfly ballot in cook county. voters in minnesota may soon need a photo i.d. to cast their ballot. law makers in the house passed a proposal to add a voter i.d. amendment to the constitution. the amendment proposal will be put to a referendum come

november. so watch that up in minnesota. martha: that's just the beginning. we have those stories and lots more coming up in america's newsroom. mitt romney a happy man saying it's time for the other candidates to just step aside. would you please move on. these are the folks he's talking about. edrollins weighs in on that next. bill: potentially deadly weather is hitting the south. we'll tell you where and what they are dealing with. martha: paul ryan is the man of the hour. whether you have agree or disagree with the man. he says it's a choice of two futures for this country. his new budget plan attempts to deal with the $15 trillion in debt. we'll talk to a man who says the budget should be defeated at all costs. >> we know the senate hasn't

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martha: a louisiana man is lucky to be alive after a tree fell on his car. he was driving home from work and a tree came collapsing down on the roof of his vehicle. look at that. the tree was so big the first police officer on the scene didn't initially see the car underneath it at all. >> the road was -- i first seen the tree come down i thought it might be one of the smaller trees, but the tree kept coming. i'm awful lucky right now.

martha: awful lucky indeed. he says he's sorry about a headache but he's lucky he was not seriously injured. boosted by that big win in illinois. mitt romney's campaign calling on his oh own don't drop out now, suggesting it would allow republican voters to focus on november. >> you and i know something the president still hasn't learned, even after three years and hundreds of billions of spend and borrowing. we'll face a defining decision as a people. our choice will not be about party or personality. this election will be about principle. our economic freedom will be on the ballot. we know what barack obama's vision is. we have been living it these three years. my vision is very, very

different. bill: ed rollins has worked for many campaigns. good morning to you. now a fox news contributor. aren't we? >> you are doing a good job. bill: what about romney? >> a big win. he's now on a roll. his campaign organization is working very well. the only issue i would raise with him is he's spending $40-plus million beating the daylights out of his opponents now. the danger is you alienate people you desperately need in the fall. bill: that may go to voter turnout. most likely to beat obama in november. 60% in illinois. his other strengths. moderates 51%, college graduates

53%, more than $100,000 a year. catholics in illinois, 53% and the tea party supported 47% tells you what? >> the rural area is voting for santorum and the more conservative voter. but he day by day is adding people to his list and that's very important. bill: this is what newt gingrich said late last night about where his campaign goes now. >> i'm staying in the race because i think it's a question of who can beat barack obama. i think the case i'm make on gasoline, the case i'm making on an american energy policy is effective. bill: what is his strategy now? >> how do i stay relevant and how do i stay on tv? he's not relevant as a candidate. an came in 4th place yesterday. he can stay in all the way to tampa if he wants to but at end

of the day he's not going to have more delegates. bill: rick santorum was in tampa, what does that do to him with the louisiana election. >> he has to win louisiana. the probability is he will do much better in louisiana. he has had great appeal to the southern voters as romney has had to the northern midwest voters. he just doesn't have the resources and organization to compete everywhere and it's getting harder and harder for him to make his case. it's not his prerogative to tell other people to get out. mike huckabee stayed in until mccain had the significant number to be the nominee. i think that's what santorum would do. bill: some of these are critical

battleground. >> the romney campaign is running on all cylinders. these negative attacks are alienating some of the base. they will alienate gingrich and santorum but he needs to come together in tampa to support them. bill: illinois had fantastic weather but the voter turnouts said to be at a low. >> people are bored with this race and they are tired of the negatives and they don't see it really matters. i think the intensity. we see it on the ratings, people are losing interest in it. somehow you have got to turn people back on again and that's got to be a positive or at least a campaign against the president. bill: does that portend anything towards a turnout in november? >> november is a totally different race. i can tell you someone who has been active for 40 years. i'm getting bored with this

race. bill: come on, compton! this is what you do for a living. even you can find something interesting. >> i still watch it but i wish we were making our case against the president. bill: there may be different headlines today. that's why god made tomorrows. you get another chance. martha: president obama says everybody has to pay their fair share. he says that's what we need to do to help turn around the economy. the buffet rule is supposed to even out the pain across the board. but we are learning the shocking reality of the rule. bill require's a normally quiet community shaken by a mysterious string of loud booms. enough to rock some resident out of bed. what's causing that? some folks want to know. >> do we go away until this is

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bill: you know about road rage. how about gasoline rage? she apparently cut the line in front of that yellow hummer at a miami gasoline station and slams into the pump. several people you can see running away from the area. she says she did not see the him and got nervous when she heard the honking. accidentally hitting the accelerator instead of the breaks. she has not been charged. martha: we want to tell you of an update on this story. a california community gathered

for a candlelight vigil last evening for missing 15-year-old sierra lamar. she disappeared after leaving for school. they found her cell phone in a field by they have few other clues to work from. her mother making a desperate plea. >> i feel guilty because i'm always worried about where she is. if you can hear me realize how much i love and want you back. i love and i want you back. martha: a torment for this mother. bill, we have seen this story too many times. the clues i just mentioned. the fact that her cell phone was found in the woods on that path that she would have been on, and

the other fact that's relevant is the charger for her phone was left plugged in at home. it doesn't sound too good. >> it doesn't sounds like she was planning on running away. people that age don't have spare chargers to carry around with them. we think the way they communicate is by texting and emailing and phoning. we expect she would have it with her. this is a parent's worth nightmare. to hear that plea by the mother is heart run muching. but i feel good with what law enforcement is doing. what i'm reading is law enforcement is following every lead on this. electronic examination as well as looking for fingerprints. trying to rule out that she ran away. she was just relocated from a school pretty far away. but they are looking at every lead and canvassing the

neighborhoods. but the bottom line, this type of attention, people focusing in on it in these early few days is very, very important. martha: i know they are talking to registered sex offenders in the area as part of this investigation. one of these stories this morning says her father is a registered sex offender but he has been cooperating with the authorities and is not considered a person of interest in his daughter's disappearance. i would assume they have an alibi for him, that they crossed him off the list? >> i would assume they have a pretty good sense of where he was at that time. in that county there are 267 sex offenders. they interviewed 27 people in the surrounding area. certainly this investigation has multiple facets to it. law enforcement is challenged. if they saw anything that seemed out of the ordinary. any cars or any movement, report

it to police. bill: floodwaters swallowing up roads and parts of a famous amusement park. now we are hearing more rain is on the way. who is in the danger zone now? we'll get a live report in moments. martha: new accusations the obama administration gave out green energy loans to score political points. a fair and balanced debate on that. >> you weren't just helping your friend, you weren't just helping people who were politically connected to the administration. even though 30% of the loan guarantees went to people who had connections with the administration. >> we looked at the loans on their merits. >> let me turn to that. ♪

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bill: floodwaters overtaking parts of six flags in arlington, texas. the park was closed when the storm hit. but the state has been hammered by heavy rain and damaging winds and tornadoes. and more is on the way today. more today, huh? >> reporter: i'll show you how much rain we have already seen

in oklahoma, texas and arkansas as well. anywhere you see the area shaded in red is where you have seen 6 inches of rain. you can see some of that across northeastern portions of oklahoma and western parts of louisiana. so just a lot of rain. we have had flash flooding reported and even some homes seeing water coming indoors. we also had to deal with severe weather with this storm system. tuesday we had trees and power lines down due to a reported tornado. and for today we are expecting severe weather and a risk for flooding as well. we'll keep an eye on that. right now within that watch we do have the severe thunderstorm warnings. but no tornado warnings. we'll keep you posted. bill: to folks living in that

area. if you have pictures or video you can log on to foxnews.com/ureport. include your name and a description of what you are seeing and we'll put your pictures and videos on our web site and put some of them on the air. martha: the obama administration is defending massive federal funding to green energy projects including $530 million that went to the failed solar panel company known as solyndra. republican lawmakers are accusing the energy department of using those loans to reward political supporters. here is the volatile back and between congressman jim jordan and the questioner -- the person he was questioning, steven chu. >> 30% of the recipients had close connections with the white

house. do you see a pattern or concern there? >> no, i don't. >> do you think the american people might see a problem. the bundlers, sitting on the board, do you think they might see a pattern. >> if the full record is revealed you can look at some of the other financial backers of some of our loans who per prominent republican donors. martha: joined now by alan colmes and tucker carlson. is that a problem, the issue addressed by representative jordan? >> of course it is. it's one of a couple problems. government is not a very good venture capitalists. most venture capitalists aren't successful. it's hard to know which companies are likely to succeed and which are likely to fail.

when it tries, inevitably corruption arise. the default position is to reward your friend and that's what you have seen here in solyndra and other green technology companies. martha: we heard a lot at the beginning of the obama presidency about transparency and special interests and how all of that was part of hope and change. it wasn't going to be like that anymore. it sounds like from this back and forth as if that's still a problem. >> chu was not hardly given a chance to answer his questions. the new question came before the old one was even answered. solyndra represents 1.3% of a program in which 40 projects were invested, and a program that was approved in 2005 by both parties. and solyndra was approved by the energy department. it started in the bush

administration. this is a witch hunt from a bunch of people who don't believe the government should be investing in energy programs even though most of them are successful. martha: the companies on the list that were included have had some issue or another. alan, when you look at this question in and of itself, is the government as larry somers said, he called the government a crappy venture capitalist. should we be in this business of trying to pick winners and losers? >> we pick more winners than losers. solyndra, this larger investment program most of which have been successful. the government is often the on tool that can invest in this innovative technology because there isn't enough venture capital to do it, and we need to move forward and do this.

most of them have been successful. we are focusing on a small slice of a much larger investment portfolio for political purposes. martha: the reason is the r the administration some would say have focused on a small slice of the energy picture. >> let me insert some facts here. alan, you are factually wrong. there are limited partners across this country looking for investments to make. a lot of it, trust me. and the claim that these companies are overwhelmingly successful is false. a company that shows promise in this sector can easily attract capital and many do. we are talking specifically about companies that received government funding which is almost by definition an admission you can't make it in the marketplace. martha: thank you very much. we have breaking news coming out of france. but tucker and alan, it's good

to see you. bill: toulouse, france reports say the suspected gunman in the jewish school shooting has been arrested after a 12-hour standoff. mohammad mera had been locked in a standoff in the southern french town since the early hours wednesday. we now found out that the reason why he was free anyway is because he escaped from a jail during a jailbreak in kandahar, afghanistan. the french said they wanted to take him alive. it appears they have done just that. gregg palkot is near the scene. martha: we'll be back to that in just a moment. new reaction today to congressman paul ryan's budget plan. democrats are fuming. they are making it clear there is no way they will pass this. what is their plan? they haven't had a budge net

three years. our next guest lays out some of that for us. bill: there are calls for eric holder to step down. what is next for the attorney general. >> do you believe you are capable of running the top law enforcement agency in this country? >> if you look at everything i have done in this tempt the past three years and you look at the department the state it was in when i got here ... -one. -two. -three. -one. two. three.

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martha: airline passengers headed from san francisco to china ended up strand in alaska for two days because of problems with the planes. united airlines is refunding everybody's tickets. richard gere says "pretty woman" is silly and sends the wrong message about wall street traders. what about the message it sends

about street walkers. how about that side of the story? i might agree with him about the quality of that movie. bill: the ladies love that. martha: not a fan. bill: new fallout over congressman paul ryan's proposed budget for 2013. he's defending it vigorously. calling it a simple choice for america. >> it's about turning our system that has become a dependent culture into an upper mobile society. if our economy grows even faster than what we produce here the results are all that much better. bill: the democrats say it raises costs for children to

further enrich the already rich. the illinois congresswoman is with me now. do you believe that? >> absolutely. if you like a budget that will turn medicare into a voucher program and cut social security and medicaid that would help seniors in nursing homes to give more tax breaks to the rich and month a hole in the deficit? it increases the deficit and continues tax breaks to oil companies. bill: one thing at a time. i don't want the talking points. this is very important stuff as you well know. your statement goes on to say it does not reflect american needs or american values and must be rejected. paul ryan would argue where are the american values when you are spending a trillion dollars more than you have. >> this budget increases the

deficit. but it does it in a way that cuts middle class. bill: that wasn't my question. my question was how do you justify spending -- i don't care if you are democrat or republican. on an issue like this you both have frankly failed. how do you justify spending a trillion dollars more for four straight years more than america has? >> what the progressive caucus is introducing today is a budget that would lower the deficit, that would actually cut spending at the end of 20 years. bill: by how much? >> it would lower it much lower than the ryan budget or the current budget. bill: in 20 years? that's the plan? how big is the debt in 20 years? >> let's deal with the ryan budget because that's what you wanted to talk about. bill: i'm curious on your plan,

too. we heard ryan's plan. what's your plan? >> it includes a balance of increased revenues on people who can afford it, and it increases productivity and job growth by investing in jobs in this country. and so we need to grow our economy, not just cut programs for the middle class. when paul ryan talks about a choice and you talked about that, we are talking about a choice of whether or not we are going to help the rich and enrich them even further or we are going to cut things like medicare and turn it into a voucher program. bill: that's not what the ryan plan says. you can stick with the traditional medicare plan or if you are under 55 you will have a different option. i think what you said is important. we need to find ways to grow our economy. under this progressive model how

does the economy grow. >> by creating jobs. there is not one serious job creation propose at that is in the ryan budget. it's the same-old same-old. it's neither courageous or even moral because it's so unfair. it asks the middle class and poor people to bear all the burden. the entire burden of deficit reduction. bill: it remakes it for every one of. >> that's not true. it gives $150,000 tax breaks for millionaires. bill: this is based on percentages as you know. under your plan in 20 years how big is the debt? is it $25 trillion? $39 trillion? >> it actually balances the budget in 20 years according to the progressive caucus budget which we'll be introducing in the next few days.

you can take a look at eight and it balances the budget. bill: when it come out we'll bring you back on and talk about the details on that. appreciate your time today. martha: we have a developing situation in toulouse. a conflicting report about this gunman who has been holed up in an apartment there and also reports that sarkozy is on the scene. we'll try to sort all of this out for you in this very tense situation. gregg palkot will join us moments away. stay with us. i just want to give her everything. [ whistles ] three words dad, e-trade financial consultants. they'll hook you up with a solid plan. wa-- wa-- wait a minute; bobby? bobby! what are you doing man? i'm speed dating! [ male announcer ] get investing advice for your family at e-trade.

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bill: investors treading water. the dow closing down 86 points

tuesday. we'll keep an eye on it. martha: a series of loud booms shake the normally quiet community of clintonville, wisconsin. nobody knows what's causing these mystery noises. maybe frank sinatra does. but it's rocking some residents out of their beds. it happened again today. >> three booms then one good shake. >> all night long we are hearing the booms going on. >> i asked my wife, should we look in the earthquake insurance, perhaps? reporter: he's one of a growing number of community want to go know a cause sooner rather than

later. >> it's the unknown that scares people. >> it's frustrating more than anything. we don't want people to feel unsafe or insecure in their community and their homes. >> reporter: they are rechecking possible causes for the mysterious bombs and now they hope to catch them in action. video cameras and audio recordings have been set up. >> we set up recording a number of things to see even if that split second you could tell there was movement. >> reporter: some residents say instead of waiting for the bombs to happen again they are debating alternate plans. >> do we stay around and see what happens? bill: what do you think? martha: i don't know. bill: how big are booms? martha: it sounds like they are big?

what do you think is causing that? can we just go away for a little while and it will blow over. find out what the booms are. bill: there is breaking news from france and we are waiting for more details on this. the suspected terrorist who broke out of jail in kandahar, afghanistan and took the lives of three young jewish kids at a school in toulouse, france, and shot the rabbi. we are hours into an intense standoff. the police in france say they want to take this man alive. to this point we do believe that is the case. gregg palkot is on the scene and we'll talk to him to find out details of what's happening in toulouse. martha: we'll talk about rick santorum and newt gingrich as santorum gears up for the pennsylvania primary. what needs to happen there for him to have a good armed for

staying in the race. newt gingrich this is an election about not who is the best person to manage washington, or manage the economy. we don't need a manager. we need someone who is going to pull up government by the roots and throw it out and do something to liberate the private sector in america. that's what we need. sky hook !

guys, check it out. household bleach. no. nah, it looks good ! i know, right ! i'll tell you what saves gas money. my kids hitchhiking to school. ( guys ) great call, oh yeah. no, no, no, no, no. don't lift with your knees, lift with your back. feel the difference ? yeah ! you know where surgery is dirt cheap ? so verizon 4g lte is like, 6 times bigger, but i'm going at&t ! there are good ideas, and bad. with over 6 times the 4g lte coverage, verizon is the good idea. martha: we have a developing story right now and breaking news from france. there are conflicting reports right now on this suspected terrorist and killer of three young children over the course of this week in those jewish

school shootings. first we got word he was in custody, now wear hearing that the police say that they are ready to move in. they very much want to take this suspect, said to be an islamic extremist, they want him alive, and that is the story as a brand-new hour starts of "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum bill: i'm bill hemmer. he's wanted in a wave of killings including the shooting of three jewish school children earlier in the week. greg palkot is near the scene in po to you house toulouse france. >> reporter: dozen and dozen -dz than riot and anti-terror police are here in a standoff that has been going on for hours. about 20 minutes ago there was a word that perhaps he had given himself up, that an arrest had taken place, a raid has taken

place. according to police officials we talked to five minutes ago that has not happened yet. this guy is apparently the real thing. he claims to be an islamic militant. he claims to have contacts with al-qaida. in fact he has spent time on the border between afghanistan and pakistan at terror training camps there. other reports that he has planted bombs in afghanistan, did time in a kandahar jail. he was involved with terrorists in raids with nato troops in afghanistan, possibly united states troops. regarding this situation he said yes, i did these killings, that's what he told police, to, these are the reasons, avenge the death of palestinian children and avenge the involvement of the french military in afghanistan. seven deaths in the past week and a half or so here. as you noted a rabbi and three children at a jewish school on monday. last week three french soldiers all shot in cold blood in a

vicious, ruthless, methodical way. he went up point-blank with automatic pistols, put them to the head including a young beautiful blond seven-year-old girl and blew that person away and others as well. that's why the police here are very concerned. they want to get him, they want to get him, bill and martha, they want to get him alive, they want to find out really not only why he did these things but what other contacts he might have with terrorists inside france. they are also concerned about what he might do. he gave up one gun earlier today, bizarrely, he through out a colt pistol through the window, handed it through the window. we believe he has automatic rifles in there and the fear is he might have explosives in there too, and it might do a lot of damage. he is in a house that has been evacuated of other people. this is a residential area, calm at other times. now it is edging towards not a

war zone, a very tense area. french president nicholas sarkozy is in town as well. he met with three -- pardon that noise -- police who were injured today. there was a bit of a shootout when police tried to move tpherl year. mohamed merah fired out of the building and injured three police and police responded with stun guns and grenades. french president nicholas sarkozy will be attending memorial services this afternoon for the three french soldiers part of this drama. this all goes on while in israel there is funeral burial services for the rab boy and th rabbi and three children killed last week. martha: the brutality of the murders at you have described them, greg, is stunning. this is an on going situation. we will stay on top of it. any developments we will get you

right back there. as greg pointed out president nicholas sarkozy is also not far from the scene this morning, and is paying very close attention to all the developments as well. we'll keep you on top of anything as it breaks there. there are some serious new concerns this morning over whether attorney general eric holder can continue to do his job. there are more senators now who are expressing disappointment about the head of the justice department. senator kay bailey hutchison the latest in a string of lawmakers, very prominent lawmaker of course who is raising questions about this issue, telling the daler caller, quote, there are serious questions about several of the programs that he is implementing, like fast and furious and other areas where i don't think is making the right priorities in the administration. now, as you may know, more than a hundred house republicans, a hundred, have demanded eric holder's resignation. kay bailey hutchinson stopped

sort of demanding resignation although she did point out that she did not vote for his con fir nation in the first place. we are joined now by byron. is this increased pressure having impact on mr. holder's situation, byron. >> first of all as far as the attorney general keeping his job, he's okay so far. he serves at the pleasure of the president, no democrat has come out and called for him to be -- to remove him from office, although joe lieberman the independent who caucuses with the democrats has issues with the way holder is conducting his job. so far you have 123 house republicans calling for his resignation. three senate democrats, some of the most -- excuse me, some of the most conservative republicans in the senate calling for his resignation. what this may do, though, is perhaps make the justice department a little more

cooperative in its dealings with congress. they don't want this to continue to grow. martha: the recent revelation was that they had one of the folks involved in fast fas fast and furious and let him go, and there was some knowledge of that at the department of justice. as they continue to do these document tkupls on friday afternoons it continues to add fuel to the fire i guess leading to this comment that we heard from senator hutchison. the administration as you point out has shown no signs of weakening in hits support of eric holder, right? >> not at all. the friday dumps have become a tradition in washington. it's either fast and furious or solyndra, new information is coming out. so far again no democrats have expressed no confidence in eric holder. the differences that republicans have, some of them are basic policy differences. they disagree strongly on immigration, where holder is

suing the state of arizona for enforcing some immigration laws that many believe the federal government should be enforcing. voter id is another issue, he's suing states over the i shal issue of voter id even though a similar law was confirmed by the supreme court. the biggest is fast and furious where people died, perhaps 300 people in mexico, a u.s. border agent died, and the problem here again is the cover up where republicans feel that holder has not been forthcoming about who knew what and who approved of what in the justice department. martha: eric holder has said he will not discipline anybody in his operation in his agency until the investigation is done, and many suspect that that won't be for quite some time. this may be an issue that hangs over even past the election phase of the fall. byron thanks very much. good to talk to you as always. >> thank you, martha. bill

>> tax reform should follow the buffet rule. if you make more than a million dollars a year you should not pay less than 30% in taxes. bill: remember that? president obama talking about his plan for a buffet rule, a tax on the wealthy. now we find it would barely make a dent in our federal debt. maybe cover us for a week. tax experts say the rule would only generate $47 billion over ten years, that would be a drop in the pocket of 7 trillion in budget deficits projected over that same decade. the plan named after bail air investor warn buffet who says taxes on the reach are too low he says, charles payn is with us. >> bill, the fact of the matter is this was never really truly mr. economics. this is about an agenda about wealth redistribution. it's been wrapped, it's been wrapped around the idea when it's all about the economy when in fact it's not. this kind of thing can be very

dangerous we have his tore ral precedent for that. bill: you have the suggestion in the buffet rule if i have to right is that anybody who makes over a million dollars a year, whether it's income or in vest -plts, likor in vest -plts like a warn buffe warren buffett would pay 30%. >> they say they would raise so much money we wouldn't need the alternative tax. again it takes back to the tke demagoggin some of this stuff. warren buffett got paid 17%. mitt romney paid $6 million over a two year period. that is a lot of money, and absolutely the majority of his income comes from investments that he's made. we don't want to stop people from inch investigation. how insane is that? by the way, think about this. you go to work you earn money,

that money is taxed. you take it and put it into an investment, a corporation takes profits in stocks again, you receive it as a dividend, then it's taxed one more time. bill: they get you going and coming, don't you, charles? you know that. but listen, it's an easy thing to understand, isn't it? in politics when you're on the stump it's an easy thing to comprehend. >> it's easy to tell people, listen your plight in life is because someone else is rich, perhaps the suggestion is that they are taking it from you. somehow they are taking it out of your pocket. the only way to square this bill is to somehow punish them. i want you to think about this. the alternative minimum tax came about because lbj needed to pay for the vietnam war and he looked around in 1956, 154 families that made more than 200 grand didn't pay any taxes. bingo, that's it we are going after those gays, they are robbing the american public. after just 154 people, millions

of average americans will have to pay a lot bill: you're taking us back to 1956, well done. martha: we did research and found if the government took 100% of all taxable income and attempted to pay down the u.s. debt it would take nearly three years to pull that off. if the government took every cent that americans made it would take two years to payoff the debt. the government spends 75% of what every american earns over the course of a year. wrap your head around that one bill: friday marks two years since the passing of healthcare. remember sitting here day after day and week after week? will we see a victory lap from the white house? martha: a signature piece of legislation out of the white

house may go with a winter. democrats blasting the republican budget plan. last hour we heard from one of them. in minutes a leading republican lawmaker there respond bill: there was outrage and disbelief after an unarmed teen is gunned down. why the shooter is yet to be arrested. and is there a disturbing new clue found in his 911 call? >> he's got something in his hands. i don't know what his deal is. >> okay, just let me know if this guy does anything else. home protector plus from liberty mutual insurance, where the cost to both repair your home and replace what's inside are covered. to learn more, visit us today.

bill: a bit of a security scare you could say at an airport after a man was busted with a loaded gun in his luggage. it happened in cleveland, police say a doctor had a loaded -- what was that a 9-millimeter at the check-point, and more clips, a loose bullet and a folding knife. witnesses could not believe what they saw there. >> you have to be honestly stupid. you see all these rules in here.

bill: he says his wife packed his bags and they forgot about that little -- martha: i can't get through shampoo, how does that work. the white house is now saying that it will not really publicly mark the healthcare law's two year anniversary which happens this friday. that day comes two days ironically before the supreme court will take up the constitutionality of president obama's signature law. moments ago a group of republican lawmakers demanded that the law be ripped up, literally, here is minnesota congressman michelle bachmann on the hill. watch. >> the american people expect no less. they want this bill repealed, and we are standing here today to say, american people, the president of the united streets down the street at 16 ao 1600 pennsylvania avenue may not be listening to you. we in congress have not forgotten you. we are listening, we are not

giving up until we fully repeal this bill. martha: joy murdoch is a syndicated columnist and a fox news contributor. this is his first appearance as a contributor on the network. we welcome you, it's great to have you with us, roy. you're with us at a pivotal time on something that you have written and talked about in detail. we are just days away from the supreme court taking up this legislation. in light of that it is not a huge surprise that there aren't big celebrations on friday to mark what he's called his signature legislation, the president. >> it's not just that the law goes before the supreme court on monday, but i think he's trying to maintain a low profile because this law is so unpopular. when this law passed they said as the american people get to know more about it they will like it more and more. the opposite is the case. 52 of the american people oppose the law. and 68% want it repealed in part or in whole. he is trying to maintain a low

profile. the more he talks about this the more he upsets the american people. martha: the new cbo numbers of the cost ever this program might be something else that they want to maintain a low profile about at the white house. >> the cbo recently recalculated that the ten-year cost of obamacare what it was sold to us two years ago on friday it was a 940 billion. they have taken another look at it they've added two more years of the full eupl phra phepgs of the law and the cost is up to 1.8 trillion. it's gone up 80% in two years. i think obamacare will do what the big dig in boston did for public works. martha: we know what happened to that. in terms of family costs, tpraoepl yum costs, which we told that the costs with rise initially as part of the implementation of the plan and the rocky road that would happen in the beginning, then they would fall dramatically over time. how is that argument holding up? >> not very well. it was supposed to cut the average family's healthcare

costs by $2,500. it's already $4,700 out of wack from where we were told it would be according to the kaiser family foundation. my most recent increases in health insurance premiums have gone up 9%, that's on top of 8 or 9% last year. all costs have gone up in terms of public expenditures. we see costs going up, up and away. martha: there is a very well produced movie that the president's campaign team has rolled out and in it he talks very passionately about why healthcare was so important to him, his mother's own experiences, and his belief that this is really the most information legislation that he has been able to get through, because people who weren't insured before will now have coverage, and he finds that very comforting. is that true? >> i think that -- i think everyone understands that we had huge problems with the system as it existed when the law was passed and even today. there is a difference between saying let's do something who help people who don't have

insurance versus let's turn everybody upside down for 313 americans and create this unresponsive bureaucrat particular nightmare that we have coming down the pike. if it's not repealed it will make matters much worse than they were were. >> thank you. >> i hope my presence doesn't do anything to threaten this network's ten year winning streak. bill: they might worry about us about that, but you're just fine. vice president joe biden with ot whooper i. says taking out osama bin laden was the most audacious plan in 500 years. what about d-day, bunker hill, we'll go down the list in a moment. martha: we'll talk about that. plus could this be the end of tibowing in denver? why his days in denver could be

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martha: that is a big story today, folks. meet the new big cheese in denver all smiles as quarterback peyton manning officially welcomed by the denver broncos and hall of fame quarterback john h elway. manning a four time super bowl sham -p an champ has fan's expectations high. >> when you say manning you've

got to be saying super bowl. he's the best. >> i'm a season ticket holder. i'm pretty happy about putting that thousand dollars down. >> manning i love you dude, welcome to denver. martha: manning always arrival could spend the end of the tim tebow era. what a season he made it for them. they are talking about trading him to jackson sreurblgs and the new york jetjacksonville, and the jets are interested in tebow. what are the jets thinking? bill: maybe they need somebody. i'd like to see jeremy lin come up with his own stance then we could talk about that. they say this gives denver a perfect out for a lot of people who didn't like tebow as a quarterback and didn't think he was in their future, now they get peyton manning. martha: they said they are no way they are going to let them

go, and he's there to stay. that's like saying no one is going to run for vice president. bill: joe biden said this about the raid against osama bin laden you can go back 500 years and not find aufp a an audacious plan. there was only an 85% chance he was there. what does that say about all the things that happened in world war ii. kt mcfarland is with us. >> reporter: i almost fell off my chair. bill: this is not know diminish what the seals did at all but what did you think. what about the norman deinvasion, what about napolean's invasion of russia, the spanish armada, what about ronald reagan's mission in

grenada to go rescue american medical students, all of these are great things, and it takes a gutsy leader to make a call where you don't know how it's going to turn offer. bill: you're right about that, normandie was gutsy. the question is why did he say this? >> reporter: bill, i said, there he goes again. i've been watching vice president biden for 30 years, he has a perfectly consistent record, he's always wrong. i thought more about it, and you know what this administration doesn't have a lot on the resume, not a lot of successes they can point to, not the economy, employment, not taxes, healthcare. they look to foreign policy. that is a pretty thin resume two. the arab spring turns out that wasn't skwrufp a great success, negotiating with iran to get rid of their nuclear weapons, nope, and afghanistan looks like it's a disaster. so what is left?

the osama bin laden raid. bill: two other things he said here quickly. number one do any ever you have a doubt that if the raid failed that this guy would be a one-term president referring to his boss. would we ever hear of this if the raid occurred and they did not find their guy. >> reporter: yes, hires the thing. what if they had not done the raid ain't leaked out that president obama had osama bin laden in his grasp and then he didn't have the guts to pull the trigger to go after him. that would have been probably -- bill: the stakes would have been high. we say 48% probability. not 50-50, not 6-40. >> reporter: the israelis sent a hundred commandos to release the hostages held by hijackers that had about a 20% probability and that with us a great success. bill: 1976. kt mcfarland, thanks for coming in. 48% probability. see you soon. martha. martha: pennsylvania's primary is vital for rick santorum after

a big loss to romney last night in illinois. a live report is coming up next on his chances in the keystone state. bill: also place say the law protected them from arresting the man who gunned down a teenage boy. judge andrew napolitano is here to tell us why. a possible clue in call made moments before the shooting. >> which event rants is that that he's heading towards. >> the back entrance. >> are you following him? >> yeah. >> okay, we don't need you to do that. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

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martha: breaking news right now, the standoff continues in toulouse, france at this hour. the police are locked in extremely tense negotiations with this suspect hold up in a building. he is accused of shooting three young children and a rabbi, as well as three military men in the previous week to that. this is a stunning situation, and the standoff continues. any breaking news on that we will get you back there as soon as that develops. bill: is his home state his last stand? rick santorum now running -- betting his presidential bids now on the home state of pennsylvania. mitt romney leading the overall race with delegates so far, 565. it takes 1144 to win that

nomination, so romney right now is halfway there. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel live in gettysburg. >> reporter: it's interesting that rick santorum has a double- digit lead in his home state. insiders i've talked to says the race will tighten up in the next few weeks. pennsylvania voters are concerned about win ability. >> pennsylvania will be one of the key battleground states. i think many of the republican leaders are concerned that if santorum were to win that he couldn't carry the state. >> reporter: so santorum was here last night even though illinois was the state that was at stake. either going to do work here over the weekend, so it is clear rick santorum is not taking his home state for granted. there is much said about candidates needed to win states

where they have tie. rick santorum will be focused on pennsylvania. bill: there are a number of republicans backing romney over rick santorum in pennsylvania. what does he say to that, mike. >> reporter: interesting dynamic. you have former governor tom ridge and a number of other top republicans in pennsylvania who think romney is the guy. they think romney is the one that will be more competitive in november to make this state go red. here is rick santorum's reaction. >> i don't go out looking -- i'm not the candidate of endorsement. i'm the candidate of folks out thereof the people across this country, they are the ones that are rising up not the establishment. >> reporter: he says he doesn't need any vip's, he'll continue to work the state that he's worked for all these years. bill: thank you. mike emanuel in gettysburg this morning. thanks, mike. martha: there are new calls this morning for an arrest after an

unarmed teenage boy was gunned down by a neighborhood watchman. george zimmerman says that he shot 16-year-old trayvon martin in self-defense last month and was therefore not charged with any crime. now the florida police say that they may have missed a ration slur that zimmerman uttered during the 911 call minutes before this shooting. >> he's got something in his hands. i don't know what his deal is. >> just let me know if he does anything else. which entrance is that that he's heading towards? stpwhr-t bac towards? >> the back entrance. >> are you following him? >> yeah. >> okay, we don't need you to do that. martha: we do not need you to do that, the words of the dispatcher there. both the f.b.i. and the u.s. justice department are now involved in this case. judge andrew napolitano is a fox news senior judicial analyst,

judge, welcome. so many are shocked that there is not enough to hold this man, zimmerman, in this case. he's still living on his own free will in his apartment this the this point. point. >> very, very dangerous situation. i'll start out my saying add my voice to those who say he should be charged with murder. some form of murder. this is obviously not first degree murder he didn't plan and plot this. but he should be required to demonstrate that deadly force was being used, or was about to be used against him, or he thought that. we know there was no deadly force. the boy had a candy bar in his hand, or some sort of food item, it wasn't anything that could have harmed this guy. martha: i think it was skittles. he was at a convenience store and walking back. finish the thought. >> here is the constitutional issue. the constitution of the united states requires every state in the union as well as the federal government to apply the laws equally.

if the laws are not being applied equally. good this boy did not get equal protection, for some reason, fill in the blank for the reason, then the florida prosecutors are not doing their jobs and their judgment may be substituted for with federal prosecutions. they could be prosecuted the florida prosecutors -- martha: for not doing their job. >> for an improper reason, like race. martha: here is what is so mind boggling. you look at this stays and basically the stand your ground statute, which says if someone aeu talks in the stat attacks you in the state of florida with deadly force you can meet that force. when you look at the case and we just played the 911 call where the dispatcher says to him, we don't need to you do that. do not follow this person. you have the girlfriend who claims she spoke with him on the phone an conveyed to her that he was frightened about 4 guy. he had pulled his hood up on his jacket. and she said run.

an said according to report, i'm going to walk quickly, i just want to get out of here. and you have two witnesses who say they saw this whole thing play out, how do you square that? >> i don't know how the police square this with their fundamental obligation to enforce the laws equal leave. it doesn't appear by any standard here there was an attack on the young man by the guy who shot him. the guy who shot him could have been afraid. who knows what he was afraid of, but there was clearly no evidence of an attack. florida law, its a unique law this stand your ground law, permits the use of deadly force outside the home only when deadly force is being used on you. there is zero *efd o evidence of an attack on the shooter. the police know that and that is a sound basis, an adequate basis for them to commence a criminal investigation and bring this before a grand jury. martha: one more question for you. the he ca expletive that was believed out there is said to be

racial. i've read the context of what it says there. is it necessarily relevant in this case of what appears to be, you know, from what you're laying out fairly clear-cut even without that? >> that's a great question. it is not relevant to the state prosecution. it is relevant to the federal prosecution, because the feds can only prosecute a crime-like this. which is not a federal crime, if the animous is prohibited, like age, gender, religion, nationality or race. martha: one last quick question and they are wrapping me here. when you take a look at this first degree murder can be premeditated in a very short period before it's carried out. is it impossible in your mind, knowing what you know now that this could even be a first degree murder charge, given the animus of race. >> it would be a tough case to prove. it would be far he's year to prove second degree murder which in florida is 20 to 25 years. martha: thank you very much. it's an awful, sad situation.

>> we have not seen the end of it. martha: we'll continue to follow it with your help. thanks, judge. bill: 20 minutes before the hour. in a moment here there is reaction on paul ryan's budget. last hour we heard why democrats want it to go down. now republicans respond to all of that. >> we will be cutting indiscriminately lee just like they are doing in greece. we virginia moral and legal obligation to budget, as to show how we can prevent this debt crisis, this most predictable crisis from coming.

martha: it's about 43 minutes past the hour right now. and doctors and nurses in greece staging walk outs in protests of deep budget cuts that the country has been forced to make. hospital workers claiming that the greek government hasn't paid them over time for months and that story continues in greece with their financial struggles. former president bill clinton saying that he is honored that little rock renamed his airport after he and his wife.

the now named bill and hillary clinton international airport serves 2.2 million passengers a year. and prince william returns to great britain after his deployment in the faulklan islands. he served add ma rab plea and is one of several pilots on call for search and rescue missions. we know from what his wife said the other day, she is very happy to have him home. bill: apparently he's an excellent pilot. welcome home william. we have no reaction to paul ryan's proposed budget plan. last hour we heard from the democratic side. a democratic senator said the proposal must go down. >> there is not one serious job creation proposal that is in the ryan budget. it's the same old, same old. it is neither courageous and it's not even moral because it is so unfair, and it asks the

middle class, and poor people to bear all the burden. bill: there are a lot more claims in that interview. we had a back and forth last hour. i want to bring in the other side, republican congressman jed heneringsling from texas. there are a number of charges that have been leveled against this plan, that you are helping millionaires and billionaires at the hands of the middle class. what do you say to that. >> number one at least we have a budget. it's been a thousand days and the senate democrats have yet to produce a budget. number one we have a budget. what we are doing in our budget is actually fair. we are taking out all the different loopholes, all the special introductions, all the crony capitalism that led to something like solyndra, and we are coming up with a fair, flatter, simpler, more competitive tax code that will help create jobs. that's what is fair.

what the democrats are trying to do -- bill: are you reducing taxes for all americans or just some of them. >> we are completely scrapping the code. we are coming up with a two-tiered flat tax system at 10 and 25% keeping capital gains and deaf tkepbdz at 15%. what they were doing it was on a deficit neutral basis by clearing out all the washington special introductions and loopholes that the president claims he wants to do, but he doesn't actually do it. bill: does that affect every american? because i put that question to the democratic senator and she said, no i was wrong about that. am i? >> well a brand-new tax code will impact every single american, let's face it. almost half don't even pay income tax so i can't look at every individual person to see exactly how they are going to be impacted. what i do know is we will have more jobs, more growth and more opportunity in an economy that everybody knows is under performing. bill: issue number two, sir,

you're gutting medicare. that is the claim by democrats. >> well medicare number one is going broke. don't take my word for it. the president has said it. the president has said the major drivers of our debt are medicare, medicaid and healthcare. nothing else comes close. so i give him credit for paying lip-service to the facts, he just doesn't do anything about it in his budget. what democrats have done, they are going to change medicare as we know it, number one, they raided medicare by a half a trillion dollars to pay for obamacare. what we do is we take that money back to make medicare solvent. yes, medicare is going broke. we want to save, strengthen and preserve it for current generation, like my parents who use medicare, and frankly for future generations like my ten-year-old daughter and my 8-year-old son. the second thing democrats did -- bill: i want to make sure i understand it and the viewers know it too. under the ryan plan you have the

option to keep the traditional plan or you have the option if you're underage 55 to go a different route. >> it's called premium support. absolutely. the medicare trustees say the program is unsustainable, it's going broke. you can either demagog the issue or try to save it. on a bi-partisan basis paul ryan have put together a plan that will allow everybody to stay in traditional fee for service medicare or if they want to go into a competitive system to where the government will support premiums and you get to choose a healthcare plan that is bet for you. those who are poor, those who are sicker will get more resources, and those who are more well off will get less resources, and medicare will grow each and every year under this budget. but we will save it for future generations, and what we don't do, and this is very important, bill, because we are having this vote this week, the democrats put in place something called the independent payment advisory board, known as ipab, everything

is an acronym, which is 15 government bureaucrats to ration healthcare to our seniors and make life or death decisions for seniors. so the question is, do you trust yourself and your doctor in a competitive marketplace or do you trust unelected bureaucrats who can ration healthcare? we are trying to remove ipab next week. bill: there is a lot more to get to. thank you for your time. thank you on the hill today with us. >> thank you. bill: we have breaking news to get. martha: breaking news indeed. some endorsements don't matter all that much. this one just might. jeb bush has just come forward a lot of folks have been waiting for who he might endorse, the rest of the family basically his father has gone behind mitt romney and now so has jeb bush. a couple of very significant things in the statement from jeb bush. he is basically saying that this primary season is over, in his opinion, and he believes that a winner has been chosen.

he says primary elections have been held in 34 states. it is now time for republican republicans to unite behind governor romney and take our message of fiscal conservatism and job creation to all voters this fall. i am endorsing mitt romney for our party's nomination. jeb bush has been very vocal in what he says as a g.o.p. deficit when it comes to luring latino voters. he could be helpful to mitt romney in that regard with his background in florida and his family, so we'll see what all of this means. a big, significant move from jeb bush this morning. let's go over to jon scott, we'll have that and lots more to cover this morning on "happening now." good morning, jon. jon: lots of interesting developments in politics, good morning. mitt romney chalks up another big win in illinois and a big endorsement but the other g.o.p. candidates still say they are in it and looking towards the next contest in louisiana. can any of them make a dent in romney's frontrunner status? plus the nanny state dilemma,

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martha: spain is known for its spectacular festivals. one literally sets itself on fire. can't beat that, right? amy kellogg has this story on the -- how do you say it? las -- she is going to tell us. it's in honor of st. joseph, i can say that. let's take a look. >> reporter: one of the signs that this festival is wrapping up is that the rope of this madonna, our lady of the forsaken is now complete. all of the floral offerings that have been brought here over the past few days have been put into a pattern on her dress and people from all over the world have come to check it out. and then the final ritual. anticipation mounts as firefighters painstakingly prepare for the big burn, or la

crema as they call it in valencia. cords of firecrackers are strung around the pious figures, and then fireworks herald the end. the lasbelow the fire brigades hose down anything near the burning display to make sure the fire doesn't spread, but they don't touch the object as the people would r rebell. such splendor seems to trump any sadness that might surround so much destruction. the scene plays itself out hundreds of times all over the city into the night. the smoke of the burning fires will lift and the scent of the flowers will fade away. but soon already the people of valencia will be busy planning the next pious.

bill: super models that are too thin are fighting eating disorders, and a nanny state gone too far? last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years.

in florida we had more sun tans... in alabama we had moreeautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records down here on the gulf. more people more good times. this year we're out to do even better... and now's a great time to start. the sun's out and the beaches are even more relaxing. you can go deep sea fishing or enjoy our world-class restaurants... our hotels and rentals have special deals for the whole family. go golfing, kite boarding, or build the worlds biggest sand sculpture... with the world's best sand. so come on down to mississippi... get yourself down to louisiana... we'll see you in florida...

you know you want to come to alabama. the gulf is america's get-a-way... and we're 100 percent ready to see you. come on down and help make 2012 an even better year for the gulf. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home.

♪ . martha:, i absolutely love that. i could watch that all day. takes it so seriously. and that why so funny. too bad jimmy fallon is not having fun in his job. bill: big shoutout to the fox news hoops team winning fourth time in the new yo