corporate league. the fourth since 2007. they're like bracket busters. martha: unstopable. bill: wallace down low. forget about it. we're late. happying now. martha: see you tomorrow. go fox news. jenna: big win for mitt romney as frontrunner adds more delegates to his total. big name endorsement from a man some wanted to see in the race. we'll talk about that. jon: a standoff at the home of the man suspected of the mass shooting of children. we're live on the ground. we'll bring you the very latest from france. jenna: some folks saying, yes, yes, you can be too thin, jon scott. when it comes to fashion models there is a move to outlaw ads featuring the skinny of the skinny. it is all "happening now.". fox news alert. mitt romney gets a major endorsement after his big victory in illinois. jeb bush announcing he is

endorsing the former massachusetts governor president just moments ago. that could be a factor. we'll see about the endorsements. we're glad you're with us. i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. jeb bush calls for republicans to unite after mitt romney big victory in illinois. shoring up his frontrunner stat stat news in the republican race. 1144 do clinch the republican nomination on. rick santorum second at 263. newt gingrich at third with 135 and ron paul trails with 50. newt gingrich's last place showing last night putting new pressure on his struggling campaign. the former house speaker is banking on the louisiana primary coming up saturday. according to the latest real clear politics average the latest polls there. rick santorum is in the driver's seat with 31% of the gop support.

romney in second with 22 1/2%. newt gingrich close behind with 20.5%. chris stirewalt is our fox news digital politics editor. host of "power play" on fox news.com live. chris, let's talk about what happened yesterday. before we get to yesterday, talk about this morning's endorsement from jeb bush. what does it mean for mitt romney in the race overall? >> two things, jon. last night's results and today's endorsement are certainly not unrelated. what you see, and this is the turning point that mitt romney has been waiting for is that both of his main rivals, both newt gingrich and now rick santorum, have embraced the notion that they are not going to win outright but what they're asking republicans help them do is block, block romney from winning the nomination himself to force a contested convention in tampa. that is not an appealing prospect for a lot of republicans, even some of

whom who are more conservative than romney and have been cool to the moderate massachusetts. when you get to santorum joining i can't win but we should stop romney club, you will see more and more mainstream or establishment conservatives like jeb bush say enough is enough. it is time to wrap it up. jon: jeb bush jumping on the romney bandwagon this morning is essentially saying hey, it's over. let's give mitt romney the nomination and go about the business in his view of beating barack obama? >> and as much as it is an endorsement of mitt romney it is also a rejection of a republican process that many on the right now feel has damaged their chances and has harmed their nominee. it is an open discussion among republicans still whether it is good or bad to have this go forward. but the bad side, the folks who think that it is not helpful, their ranks are growing and as romney becomes more and more mat

mattally inevitable as he continues to rack up the delegates the relative merits of trying to block his path and bleed him of money sounds dangerous to a lot more people. jon: with the what, 43 delegates he picks up in illinois, he is that much closer to the nomination. he is basically got half of what he needs. >> he has got almost half of what he needs. he has twice as many as santorum does. and the ground coming up, you mentioned louisiana but the ground coming up looks pretty favorable for romney not only does he have states with a lot of moderate republicans like maryland. he has the of columbia coming up a week from next tuesday. but also wisconsin. as we looked at the results in illinois, wisconsin is big delegate prize and an important state psych logically for republicans because of scott walker and battle with public employee unions up there. romney did well in the bordering counties to wisconsin. that sets him up pretty well. jon: chris, you have a little web show to do now.

>> yes, sir. it will be awesome. jon: 25 minutes from now at the bottom of the hour chris will be doing "power play" live on foxnews.com. you don't have to leave your tv sets. you can multitask. do them both. chris stirewalt. thank you. >> you bet. jenna: now this fox news alert, despite some reports an arrest was made, right now an intense standoff is still ongoing in toulouse, france. french police have been negotiating with the gunmen suspected in two different attacks that killed seven people. the most recent target a jewish school where three young children and a rabbi were shot dead. the suspects claiming allegiance to al qaeda. we're moderating this developing story. at first we thought a raid had happened. and an arrest had been made. french firms say that is not true. they're still negotiating. we'll bring you updates as they come into our newsroom. to another area of the world and another fox news alert on the aftermath of a powerful earthquake in

mexico. the 7.4 tremor hitting the southern part of that country, including the resort pacific coast. the sheer force causing tall buildings to sway. witnesses say home bounced like trampolines with 800 suffering some sort of damage. 60 houses reportedly actually collapsed. amazingly at least at this point there are no reports of any debts. american tourists were caught right in the thick of it. take a listen. >> it was rockin'. we're used to it being from alaska but it was pretty, pretty intense. i told them that we rocked the house when we leave. >> the whole thing was shaking. >> you couldn't walk. you were falling, it was incredible. >> ground was shaking. we didn't know what to do. >> how scary wasn't. >> it was pretty scary. >> was it? >> yeah. there wasn't anywhere to go. jenna: joining us from mexico city a reporter from fox news latino. lauren what is today like?

>> reporter: jenna, today it seems like life is back to normal. it is a normal traffic rush hour in mexico city and seems like everyone is shaking off the scare and getting back to work. jenna: how about the aftershocks, how bad have those been? >> reporter: all day yesterday, all the way really until the evening the ground continued to move. there were at least two aftershocks i felt that sent me running out of my house again. but again no major damage. mostly superficial here in mexico city and we're all really thankful that there were no deaths. jenna: lauren, where were you when the earthquake happened? >> reporter: well, jenna, i was actually walking home from the grocery store carrying some groceries and the earth started to move and just pitched me forward. i was outside on the street and people began to rush out of buildings. we all gathered in an area that that didn't have too many trees around so that we

would be protected. we watched tall buildings nearby hoping that it would stop. thankfully it did after 40 very long seconds. jenna: they do seem like long seconds. having been through a few earthquakes myself i can relate to that. glad to hear you're okay and things are getting sort of back to normal. we'll continue to watch the situation in mexico. thank you very much. >> reporter: thanks. jon: sometimes the arguments at the supreme court can seem a little dry and arcane and unrelated to you but the court is preparing right now to hear one of the most important cases in years and it will affect you. arguments begin monday in a constitutional challenge to president obama's health care law. the justices aren't expected to rule until june at the very earliest but for every american there is a lot at stake here. shannon bream live in washington. shannon, what is the core of the challenge to what some call obamacare? >> well, jon, this is going to be three days, six hours worth of arguments. at the core of all the issues the court will consider is the individual

mandate that says every american has to buy health insurance or pay a penalty. supporters of the law say they have have got a winning strategy. here it is. >> the constitution says congress has the power to regulate commerce among the several states. there is just no question that allawi regulates 1/6 of the national economy is commercial. >> reporter: they're convinced they're going to win but most americans are still unconvinced about this law. "fox news poll" shows 52 disapprove the way the president handled issue of health care. just 43% approve. another poll shows majority of the americans, some 67% thinks the supreme court should strike down the individual mandate or throw out the law all together. jon, we'll have to wait until at least late june to find out what the justices think. jon: what is the white house trying to do to change public perception? >> reporter: as we about to hit the two-year anniversary of the law into effect they're highlighting ways it helps people. a couple in denver, they had

had a tough situation running their own restaurant. they did not have insurance when he had a stroke. they were uninsurable at that point. thanks to the health care law they have been able to get insurance and it kept them from losing everything. here is arianna. >> i felt comfort ablity we wouldn't be here talking to you like this because within four months after we got the insurance, dustin had to have another brain surgery and to have it all covered was the difference between us losing our business, losing our home, our employees losing their jobs. our town losing this thriving business. it made all the difference. >> reporter: that is part of the pr push but we'll see if justices take any of that into account. i think they will stick with the law on paper before them right now. jon: shannon, stick with us for a second because there is other news from the supreme court. this fox news alert. a big ruling in an epa case we've covered here on "happening now.".

shannon, tell us about this ruling that involves the sackets versus the epa? >> reporter: they this couple from idaho bought a plot of land. they wanted to finally build their dream house after saving up. they started to do improvement on the land. the ep a showed up it was a wetlands. they say there is no water or wetlands on the property. they got permits for sewer lines and this kind of thing. this is a residential neighborhood. they had to stop. epa told them they didn't return the land to the original state before they prepped the lot. they faced fines of $37,000500 a day. this could be doubled, we're talking about $75,000 a day. they wanted to take the epa to court to sue. no way. you have to handle it administratively with us within the agency. what the court ruled today the couple has the right to take the epa to court in federal court to challenge this ruling on their property. it is what they have been fighting for six, seven years at this point, jon. jon: i remember the sackets basically got bankrupted by

the legal fight to this point. >> reporter: it has been really tough for them. today a huge celebration. i talked with their attorney. we'll try to get him on a little bit later and share the victory for them. jon: score one for the little guy. shannon bream, thank you. >> reporter: you got it. jenna: polls are showing americans don't like the government imposing rules and regulations on them. when you dig deeper and take a look at specific rules, there are some surprising results. is america really becoming a nanney state and do we take some responsibility for that, jon? we'll have a fair and balanced debate coming up. jon: jenna, more dangerous storms on the move and fears of flash flooding. we're live in the fox extreme weather center who could be in trouble next. jenna: here's a news flash, thin is not in. where too skinny models would be banned from fashion shows and advertisements. ♪

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jon: a fox extreme weather alert for parts of the gulf coast right now. it comes as a storm system stalled over texas has already caused plenty of trouble. scenes of damage in communities around houston. after a line of very strong thunderstorms passed over the area yesterday. look at those pictures. the storms prompted watches and warnings from the national weather service. that same weather system blamed for violent storms that spawned a tornado in the san antonio area. jenna: dangerous storms are also hitting louisiana. right now one man is recovering after a near-death experience. his name is robert sauls. he was in his car when you see this oak tree fell right on top of it. his car is nearly flat. and luckily he managed to climb out the back window to safety. he is a little sore. he has a bit of a headache. otherwise he says he is

okay. take a look at that car, it is pretty surprising and lucky. jon: wow! the severe weather threat is not over. more storms are on the move. meteorologist janice dean liver in the fox extreme weather center. where is it going next, jd? >> john, this is amazing. this is the same storm system we've been dealing all week. tornado watches posted for parts of louisiana and mississippi including new orleans. this tornado watch is good 6:00 p.m. local time. we have several tornado warnings for several parishes. eastern baton rouge parish and east central louisiana parish. western livingston parish andst helena parish. strong rotation or trained weather spotters have seen the tornado on the ground. this is ongoing situation. we'll keep you posted. the anywhere in this shaded yellow that's where we think the perhaps the greatest threat for not only tornados

but large hail, damaging winds and heavy rain, jon. incredible flooding out of many different states. the green shaded areas you see flash flood watches and warnings. here in the maroon shades that's where we see imminent flooding happening. several inches of rain in a very short period of time. we could see additional five to six inches on top of saturated ground. that will definitely cause a trying situation for many people. back to you. jon: wow, that is very sad. jd, thank you. jenna: so how thin is too thin? rick folbaum and i talk about this all the time. a new law will ban models from appearing in fashion shows or ads if they're too skinny. rick? >> reporter: you look just great. that woman with the things coming out of her back, not so great. italy and india, jenna have done this too, banning underweight models from fashion shows. the push came after the serious story of two models in latin america dying back in 2006 of the bill's

sponsor says the idea is to reduce eating disorders and help young people feel good about their bodies. >> we believe that by this bill there will be a new way to protect the kids and a new way to look what is beautiful. beautiful is not underweight. beautiful shouldn't be an recollection saw. -- anorexia. anorexia is a very, very dangerous disease. this is indication why we need this legislation. >> reporter: the law says ads in israeli fashion magazines where models are digitally made to look skinnier must clearly state that. that women and men can't be hired for modeling jobs until a doctor okayed them saying they're at a healthy weight. jenna as someone who grew up in a jewish house where more and more was always brought to the table i would never guess this is a problem in israel but i guess fashion is fashion even in the land

of milk and honey. jenna: well-stated, rick. why we make sure you and jon have snickers on set so you can maintain your model weight. >> exactly. jenna: rick, thanks very much. jon: model weight. >> right down the runway. take it thin. jon: hey, the presidential candidates are constantly crisscrossing the country trying to win the nomination but the candidate's spouse is also a major player on the campaign trail. a live report on impact wives are having on their husband's campaigns. that is just ahead. jenna: good women behind, well, you know the whole thing. jon: that's right. >> national debt ticking up all the time. we heard the president talk about cutting red ink but having wealthy americans pay more taxes. how much revenue would the buffett rule, really, really pull in? we'll take a closer look next. en it comes to paint... ...there's one brand that always tops the charts. so let's grab a few of those gallons- at a price that's now even lower.

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jon: well you probably heard the president talking about the buffett rule. anyone earning over a million dollars a year would pay at least 30% of those dollars in taxes with some adjustments for charitable contributions. how much would that actually bring in to your federal government? you might be surprised. simon constable is a columnist at "the wall street journal" the author of, "the wall street journal" guide to the 50 economic indicators that really matter. the indications are, simon, that this wouldn't really bring in all that much money. >> not at all. not a lot of money at all. $31 billion sounds a lot but spread over 11 years. we're talking, slightly less than $3 billion a year which is, you know, that is on capitol hill that's nothing. jon: that is a drop in the bucket. some reports put it as high as $47 billion but either way you're nibbling around the edges at the federal

deaf sight, right? >> it is tiny. compare this with the alternative minimum tax which they're considered scrapping which brings in hundreds of billions of dollars. remember that, hundreds of billions. jon: isn't the real problem here, the, the decision about whether you tax stock income or not? >> yeah. that's the real issue. and it's the dividend income. and what we need to be very careful here not to stymie the one thing that the low tax on dividends was designed to do. that was designed to get people to commit capital for long periods of time so that new factories and new machinery could be built and purchased so that we can be more productive as a society and create jobs and just have a better, you know, a better life here in america. that is what it was designed to do. the, there is, a way that some bankers are using this to get their regular income at a very low rate but it is by no means the primary reason why dividends are

taxed at that low rate. the key reason is to get investment and we need it for jobs. jon: but we heard the president time and tile again talk about the buffett rule and get up in front of audiences large and small saying this would be a great thing. we have to start taxing those millionaires. >> we have to start taxing those millionaires maybe but not if they're going to use their capital to invest in projects that will get jobs for everybody. we have to be very careful here. politics of envy, starts with good intentions perhaps, and i'm not so sure these are good intentions but let's presume they are. you get into this problem where people don't want to commit their money for long term projects because the returns on them would be so much less when the taxation would be double what we're talking about now. jon: wow! simon constable, from "the wall street journal." simon, thank you. >> thank you. jenna: if you're in a hurry to fill up your gas tank, let this be a lesson to you. the pain at the pump is much worse when your car goes up in flames.

we'll have more video and the whole story on that. stated obvious a little bit there, jon. we'll tell you more about that. rick has more coming up. rick? >> reporter: we have so many rules about texting while driving. wearing seatbelts and smoking. we want to know what you think about this. do we live in a nanny state or do we like the rules and regulation as little more than we think we do? we have a couple of polls at "happening now" homepage on foxnews.com. let us know what you think. we have a fair and balanced debate straight ahead. so go online. see you in a minute.

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jon: fox news is the america's election headquarters so let's talk about the upcoming presidential election and some women whose names are not on any ballot but they're on the move almost as much as their husbands and a big part of the campaign. we're talking about candidates' wives', constantly on the trail and their presence can be a whole new dynamic to the race. chief washington correspondent james rosen live in our d.c. bureau now. james? >> jon, good morning as we all know, politics is a rough business but on the families of political candidates and particularly their spouses innocent noncombatants never thrust in the arena it could be hardest at all. ann romney was at her husband's side last night when he won the illinois primary. asked by fox news to

describe her role on the campaign, mrs. romney who mayorred her husband on this day in 1978 explains she is doing her own fund-raising and appearances. she suggested this, her second go round on the campaign trail is not quite the same as it was in 2008. >> last time i was speaking. i was doing fund-raising. i was out doing my own events too, just nobody noticed. so i'm doing it again this time. it just seems to get a little more attention this time. i don't know whether it is more media. i don't know what that is, but i am more front and center this time around. >> reporter: can list is a gingrich, wife of former house speaker newt gingrich has received more than her share of brickbats. as to this event she read to elementary school students in arizona one month ago, mrs. gingrich is not shrinking from the spotlight. she appeared in a christmas video and introduced him at the cpac convention. care run santorum wife of rick santorum spoke about

the economy at a luther ran church on the date of that state's caucuses. >> a child and boy and teenager and young man he saw a lot of those jobs leave and they went overseas. so rick has a real passion to get rid of a lot of federal regulations and taxes and lift the burdens on companies so that we can restore a lot of the jobs back here in our country. and have things made here again. >> reporter: texas congressman ron paul regularly inintroduces his wife carol to whom he has been married for 57 years at his events. nice to see those kind of stories. jon: i guaranty you on their wedding day they never thought their husbands would be run day for president. >> reporter: don't you believe that for one second. they all believe that about their husbands. come on. didn't yours? jon: no. james rosen, thank you. >> reporter: thank you. >> well is the u.s. becoming a nanny state and how do americans feel about the idea. a new national survey took a look at this.

and it indicates the public is a little more schizophrenic than we thought about this issue. and overwhelming number of approving of laws that govern lifestyle choices. like banning texting while driving or mandating seatbelts or regulating smoking. while also the same group of people are concerned these laws made limit our individual freedom. mary katharine ham, daily caller and fox news contributor and juan williams a fox political analyst. starting with you it, mary katherine. we get talk about big government, big government. are we confused? maybe people want some of these regulations. at least that is what the poll might be suggesting. >> you get some of the divide you also see with spending when people say i want to cut spending but you ask them which things they want to cut and hard to figure that out. the american public has the disconnect sometimes. but i think what you're seeing here on a lot of sort of simple things like texting while driving, that kind of thing, people go, that is clearly safety issue.

i'm okay with that. i think what is greater concern we have a gigantic regulatory state on the state level, local level, federal level, constantly growing. people adding regulations all the time. not really thinking about the cost benefit analysis or whether they actually work. these things almost never have sunset qualities so it piles up and piles up because a bunch of vain politicians say i'm going to solve the problem. do they ever solve the problem? i don't know. jenna: the point mary katherine is making, portion control. comes back to portion control. make it in smaller doses but some of the big policy and big regulatory agencies are a little too much. what do you think? >> well, i mean just looking at the poll, jenna, i couldn't agree more people shouldn't be texting while they're driving. i couldn't agree more things like let's see how many calories in this hamburger before i eat it. people like that. americans like it. polls show they like it. i don't know, which exact laws mary katherine is talking about but when i

look at laws people are asked about, with the exception of people saying, you know, we don't want to be able to be told by an employer we're not hiring you because you smoke or because you're obese, americans like these laws. they don't see it as nanny state. they see it as public safety and they understand if you don't wear helmet while driving a motorcycle and then you get squished, you have to go and get, taken care of at the hospital and everybody ends up paying your bill. so it does become a public safety issue. jenna: mary katherine, our poll shows something different on the website. this poll shows a little bit of schizophrenia. the poll shows people don't like things of monitoring salt and sugar in foods and don't like some broader issues that could be chalked up to what juan is talking about the safety of the public. the question becomes how do you draw the line? for example in the health care law as the health care law has been allowed to marinate a little bit. people warmed up to portions of the law even if they're

still divided about the big part of a mandate overall. where is the line? seems like a very thin line but an important one? >> we need the ability to say let's figure out if this regulation would actually change behavior or would actually work. we rarely do a cost benefit analysis on these things. when it comes to the menu things and the calories, even liberal advocates for those laws have not yet been able to find any study that shows it changes people's decision-making process. same thing with cell phones not in the car and various states that. wrecks numbers have not gone down, studies have been made. you're trading freedom from a regulation not keeping you safe. jenna: juan, what do you think about that? >> i just hadn't heard that. in fact i thought the department of transportation was cracking down on texting and talking on the phone while you're driving because what i have heard the people are the equivalent of a drunk driver if you're texting and on the cell phone. your attention is distracted. personal thing i can tell

you i'm distracted if i'm on the phone while driving down a highway. i don't know what mary, but i understand mary katherine's point. the fact is, these things do have impact. you're questioning whether difference texting while you're driving and actually paying attention? jenna: tough to put them all together. >> i'm saying you can be a against things like that. you don't have to be pro-thexing while driving to think there might be another way to address it instead of banning people from doing it. there are other ways to address it. if you trade your freedom you know the things will work and cost companies a lot of money and people end up losing their jobs. jenna: i would like to thank you both for not eating or texting while doing this segment. >> thank you. jenna: interesting topic. we'll continue to watch. thank you both. jon: can i disagree with juan? i don't want to know how many calories are in the burger. i want to eat it. jenna: ignorance is brings especially when it comes to burgers. jon: that's way i look at it. coming up competing visions

for future of fannie mae and freddie mac. we'll look at both sides. from freddie mac to the big mac, what do sleep and the iconic hamburger have in common? got a burger theme going today, don't we? your health could depend on it. the answer next. the next revolution in music is happening here. pandora rocks the big board.

jenna: new next hour, the latest on standoff in france as police surround a building where a suspect in a deadly school shooting is holed up. you're looking at live pictures there on the scene. greg palkot is on the ground. he will have a live report for us coming up. also rick santorum campaigning ahead of a primary in his home state. why pennsylvania might not be a sure thing for the former senator. plus a convenience store clerk attacked on the job. the whole thing caught on tape. more on that, coming up. jon: you don't want to pack on the pounds? who does. in addition to hitting the gym, you do that all the

time, hitting the gym, you might want to hit the sack. a new study finds that folks who sleepless, eat more. in fact, get this, they consume about 540 calories more per day, that is roughly the equivalent of eating this big mac. dr. lee vanoce. adjunct professor at louisiana state university health science center. how does that work, you don't get enough sleep and yet you wind up eating equivalent of a big mac. what is that? >> that is true. a recent study looked at 17 students and followed in a big brother type house and followed their eating but a nurse's lodgetudenal study, show nurses slept less than five hours a day, gained more calories. it is hormone shifts. when you sleep deprived, body perceives as stress.

you release two hormones. the hormone that foes down and means you're not satisfied the hormone that goes up makes you hungry and you eat more and usually high fat, high-carb calorie laden food you're craving. jenna: doc, in i'm staying awake longer and -- doing more things and don't i need more calories? >> obviously to a point you're exercising when you are awake. once you go over that level and it turns out that you're sleep deprived, it is a stress on your body and all the hormones are released. doesn't matter what you're doing you're going to consume more calories and not healthy calories. jenna: should jon take a nap instead of eating lunch? is that it? >> instead of going to the gym, right? >> well, you know what, if you're exhausted and you're sleep deprived and sit on the couch eating potato

chips, maybe it is better to go into the bedroom, take a nap. jenna: we've lost him. >> and relax. but this just shows you know what, we've been getting two hours less sleep in the last 20 years and coincidentally, and obesity and overweight individuals has also been going up there is a relationship between them. jon: so the takeaway here, there is very serious subject despite the fun we're having with it, the takeaway here is really ought to think about, getting to bed on time, you know, getting eight hours or seven hours sleep, whatever you need, and it is going to probably show on your waistline? >> no, that is absolutely the take away. if you are sleep deprived you will eat more and bad calories. so, you need to get a certain amount of sleep. kids that don't get enough sleep tend to be more overweight. so it is an important part of your whole health. jon: jenna likes to mock the snickers bar that i have only occasionally here on the set. only occasionally. jenna: like three times a

week for sure. maybe five. jon: five? no way!. but, you know, i guess granola, something healthier would be better? >> something healthier would be better. they're getting rid of the king-sized snickers bars. jon: i'm hoarding them. >> right. jon: a frozen snickers bar is nirvana. anyway, doctor vinocur. thank you. >> my pleasure. jenna: when you're sleep deprived, it is easy to make a lot of mistakes. we don't know if that added to this circumstance but we wanted to draw your attention to it, really something we all do every day. a woman in miami nearly paid for her impatience at the gas station with her life. rick, you have more on this? >> reporter: i do, jenna. this happened to all of us. you're waiting for person at gas station to finish up at the pump. be a lesson to us all. see what can happen. watch this video. that woman right there in the jeep, she is trying to avoid that yellow humvee and instead she gets confused

with the brake and the gas and goes right into the pump, sending a fireball shootings up into the sky. the driver behind the wheel said she was afraid this was the end. listen. >> translator: in my mind i thought, i can't die this way. he started honk at me. i got nervous. instead of hitting the brakes i hit the accelerator. that is when the accident occurred. i tried to get out of the car but the door wouldn't open. i kicked the door and i was able to got out of the car. i'm glad to be alive and my sister is okay. >> reporter: so her sister was in the car with her, obviously. as you heard they were both able to get out. no one at the gas station was hurt. she has not been charged with anything. no word when that chevron station in miami beach will be able to reopen. from the looks of it, jenna. could be a while. jenna: scary story, rick. thank you. jon: looks like a bomb went off in one neighborhood.

this explosion killed eight people and destroyed nearly 40 homes in san bruno, californiaing back in 2010. you probably remember. we covered this extensively. the company blamed for the accident hopes to avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines. guess who picks up the tab instead? and, the rubber meets the road in a new crime-fighting tactic. how some taxi drivers are helping police nab bad guys. eee! whee! whee! wheeeeeeeee!

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>> one year ago we offered our path to prosperity and

this year we're offering again our path to prosperity. this year we're going to build on the important work that we did last year. we're going to take several new and improved strides. first, we propose that we repeal the president's disasterous health care law. jenna: that was congressman paul ryan unveiling his part of the 2013 budget yesterday. that was a small snippet what he had to say. right now the house budget committee is finalizing the bill. it is all day process as you can appreciate. republican leaders hope to vote on it last week. there is plenty of reaction as you imagine from the other side of the aisle as well as the white house. let's take you to the white house. gene sperling director of national economic council and assistant to the president for economic policy. gene, nice to have you back on the program. >> thanks for having us. jenna: gene, i shared a little bit of some of your comments yesterday on the paul ryan budget proposal. i wanted to move this conversation forward a little bit because we know you're critical of the bill

but what do you think of paul ryan's leadership on the issue and his attempt to bring in some of the suggestions from the debt commission and put together a plan here. what do you think of his leadership? >> well, i like paul ryan personally. and i enjoy discussing budgets with him but i'm disappointed because the core of what things like the bowles-simpson commission were for was a degree of balance and a degree of shared sacrifice. and his budget just disappoints deeply in both of those levels. let's just understand the following. there is not one penny of revenues in this entire plan, not one penny, in fact they're cutting over, at least 1 1/2 trillion dollars, maybe significantly more for the most well-off. at the same time, this is probably about the harshest budget i have ever seen when it comes to, you know, those who are most vulnerable.

the cut in medicaid, 770 billion, would have a dramatic and very negative impact on people in nursing homes, families, who have somebody with a disability, a child with downs or autism, who rely on medicaid to help them give their child the best opportunity possible. if you are dramaticly cutting those programs, those services, for people who are, with disabilities or in nursing homes or just poor children, are going to be cut significantly and that is just the tyranny of the math. there is almost no other conclusion. also you have a, you have a medicare proposal which we've talked about which i think, you know puts at risk the basic guaranty of medicare. and then on his, on the basic core of our government, we've agreed to significant spending cuts on the domestic side. he now comes in and says,

let's increase defense, let's break our deal and let's dramatically cut the part of government that is about investing in our future, in education and basic research and, in energy innovation. the things that used to have a bipartisan support people understood they were good for growth. jenna: some of the reasons you disagreed with the bill. i have to move on here because i'm going to have to go to commercial break. but the thing about budgets they are proposals. it's not illegal not to have a budget. it is not mandated. they are not binding. even if you pass it you don't need to follow up. the appropriations is spending part of the bill where the rubber meets the road here. the question becomes when both sides go back and forth about the budgets, there are still proposals and they're not really binding. quite frankly they don't mean that much other than the symbolism. will the president work to change that? is a president for a more binding budgetary process that really has teeth it in it so the budgets matter?

>> well, what you're talking about is the fact that this is a budget resolution. but of course, the actual budgets that you pass, when you look at things like the 1997 balanced budget agreement, the 1993 deficit reduction agreement, these are absolutely binding and they actually lped in the '90s change the path from high deficits to balanced budgets and surplus. so the only thing standing in our way right now is not budget process. it is not green eye shade. it is just basic sense whether people that paul, like paul ryan are willing to engage in more honorable compromise, more honorable, i think, shared sacrifice where they realize that you can not reduce this budget, deficit that comes from significant --. jenna: gene, i'm getting cut off here. i apologize. always nice to have you on the program. thank you very much. we hope to have you back. differing of philosophies and one we look forward to continuing to have the conversation. thank you so much.

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>> reporter: rick folbaum in the control room, stories coming up over the nest 6 minutes -- next 60 minutes on "happening now." this is a young girl, a 13-year-old cheerleader from texas. she went missing about a year and a half ago, a possible new clue. we'll tell you about it. also here, two u.s. military personnel allegedly involved in massacres at fort hood in texas and afghanistan. is the media covering these two stories fairly? jon will have his news watch panel, that's coming up. and over here, look at this surveillance video, a guy jumps over the counter, beating up a clerk at a convenience store. can you help police catch this guy? that and breaking news as the second hour of "happening now" starts right now. jon: an intense standoff in southern france. police still negotiating with the suspect in a deadly school shooting. hello to you, i'm jon scott.

jenna: hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. the suspect holed up in an apartment building as prosecutors say he was planning another attack. gregal colt joins us -- talcott joins us on the phone. >> reporter: i'm standing about 100 yards from the building where the suspect is holed up, a self-described islamic militant. outside police vans, police anti-terrorist officers, you name it. it is a siege that is now in its 15th hour. he has said that he has contacts with al-qaeda, and officials here believe him. they have traced him back to training periods in afghanistan and in pakistan along the border of those two countries. al-qaeda-style training camps. and, in fact, he also claims -- and this is crucial -- that he was, in fact, behind, according to police and reports, behind the brutal murders that we have seen in this region for the past ten days. the killing of the rabbi and the three small children at that

jewish school on monday and the killing of those three french soldiers in the past week, all at point-blank range. brutal stuff and, crucially, as you just both noted, he was also saying today that he was planning to kill again, that he already had a soldier picked out in touluse. good thing for the authorities, though, that he left a trail. he left a trail with internet messages going back and forth and with a whole bunch of surveillance video following him both in the killings last week and this. and yesterday the authorities here decided that -- they knew who it was. they moved in and, again, started to move in on him about 3 a.m. their time to try to nab him. there were shots fired, he shot at the police. three police were injured. the police fired back with stun guns, but since then it has been a very careful negotiation process. the rest of the building has been evacuated, but they do not

want this guy to die. they want to take him alive, and they also don't want to do any other damage. this is all going on as the victims of the jewish school shooting from monday, the bodies have been brought back to israel. there's a burial ceremony here and also french president nicolas sarkozy in the region just about, oh, 20 miles from where we are right now. a memorial service for the three french soldiers, and he is very determined, he says, to get this man out of here and to see justice done. this whole country is on a knife edge right now, and this region and this neighborhood watching and waiting. one final word, we're about an hour and a half until it gets dark here. what we have been hearing, sort of on the sly, is that we wanted to get the memorial service done with the french president, and they want to move in before dark falls, before it is nighttime. so we could see some action in the next hour, hour and a half,

but it's certainly got this whole country watching and waiting, and we'll be back to you the moment we see any movement. back to you. jenna: absolutely, greg. greg talcott, thank you. jon: we are learning some new details about the suspect and his possible affiliation with al-qaeda. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge has more from washington. catherine? >> reporter: thank you, jon. counterterrorism officials tell fox based on that prelim flair data very similar to what greg talcott is reporting, mohamed morrad, 24 years old and of north african descent. his recent travel to afghanistan and pakistan. at this hour french authorities say they will storm the house if they believe the suspect will blow himself up or the house, and counterterrorism officials here in washington do not doubt that the suspect has al-qaeda connections. at this hour they are drilling down on whether he's a lone wolf, an individual who is self-radicalized with no known contact with a foreign terrorist group or whether he's part of a

larger plot in the same vein as madgey beautiful sassy or faisal shahzad. the suspect is reported to be a self-proclaimed member of the al-qaeda branch in france. this translates as the knights of glory, and their goal is to establish islamic law in western societies. most concerning to u.s. officials are the suspect's choice of targets, the jewish school, and the french military. those three french paratroopers were shot at point-blank training on march 11th and 15th. this is seen as the leading edge of the home grown plots in the u.s. and also france. as a final point, officials say the attacks in france are in line with the ideology of inspire magazine. this was created by al-qaeda in yemen for western recruits that calls on jihadists to kill using handguns. and while there's no link

established at this time, officials confirm it is actively being investigated. jon: let's hope they get this guy. catherine herridge, thank you. >> reporter: you're welcome. jenna: well, back to some politics now. new fallout from a major political victory. jeb bush endorsing mitt romney after his decisive win in the illinois primary yesterday. rival rick santorum was -- wasn't even in the state at the time, santorum planting his flag in his home state of pennsylvania. but this favored son as he's sometimes referred to is no shoo-in. mike emanuel live with more on this today. >> reporter: hi, jenna. 72 delegates at stake here in pennsylvania, and rick santorum has a double-digit lead in the polls so far, but experts expect the race to tighten. with santorum here in gettysburg last night, analysts say it is clear that he is not planning on taking the keystone state for granted. santorum's also expected to

speak to the are e -- republic leadership conference this week. he lacks a lot of official support here in his home state. santorum says he's not worried about endorsements from pennsylvania republican vips. >> i don't go out looking -- i'm not the candidate of endorsement. i'm the candidate of folks out there, people across this country, and they're the ones who are rising up, not the establishmentment. >> reporter: much has been made about the need to win one's home state. of course, newt gingrich won georgia, mitt romney won michigan, and soon it'll be santorum's chance in pennsylvania. a leading republican -- a leading pollster, i should say, in this state says that a lot of the focus will be on winability. >> i think they're concerned that in the general election rick santorum would have trouble defeating president obama in a state that obama won by ten

points over john mccain in 2008. >> reporter: i should also point out that santorum has lost a big race here in pennsylvania before in 2006, and that may be a reason why he is not taking his home state for granted, jenna. jenna: we'll continue to watch this race for sure, mike emanuel. thank you. >> reporter: thank you. jon: well, there's some new information on a leaked photo of whitney houston that shocked family and friends. someone sold a picture of houston's body in her casket. now there's a new report about the man behind it. also congress meeting on a new proposal to rescue the united states from its soaring deficit, a new way forward or another missed opportunity? those stories coming up. and also rick is following the latest on police who have found human remains. rick? >> reporter: well, jon, we're following that as well, and we're also keeping an eye on the

web to let you know about stories at foxnews.com. some of the top stories that you can find on the web site as we work out the lighting situation. if you go right now, one of the most-read stories has to do with denver broncos' quarterback tim tebow. a lot of speculation on where he'll be playing football next season, but there's also some talk about his personal life, and you can read all about it on foxnews.com. we'll be right back after a quick break. is all we catch. [ male announcer ] don't miss red lobster's lobstfest. the only time of year you can savor 12 eiting lobster entrees, like lobster lover's dream i'm laura mclennan and i sea food differently. whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil no and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪

jon: new info on some crime stories we're keeping an eye on, the drunk driving manslaughter trial of a florida executive wrapping up, defense attorneys calling their final witness to the stand. he's accused of killing 23-year-old scott wilson in a drunk driving accident in 2010. goodman made national headlines shortly after adopting his girlfriend as his daughter. and friends and family of a missing california teenager holding a candlelight vigil.

15-year-old sierra lamar disappeared on her way to school last friday. police found her cell phone during a search. plus, a new report naming the man who allegedly leaked a picture of whitney houston in her casket. "forbes" magazine reports rap les van exel sold the picture to a tabloid paper. jenna: well, some new information now on this new story. an israeli lawsuit filed in the united states claims the bank of china is aiding and abetting islamic terrorism in the middle east. you've got to follow this path to figure this out, and leland vittert is live in jerusalem. he did just that. leland? >> reporter: jenna, as they say, just follow the money. a suicide bombing attack requires planning, expertise and also a lot of cash, and there are international rules which are tempting to keep groups that are going to carry out these attacks from being able to move that money all around the world to finance their activities.

but this lawsuit alleges the bank of china either simply ignored them or willfully disregarded all those rules with deadly consequences. a tel aviv sandwich shop, april 2006. the explosion took just a second to kill nine and injury 60. among the dead, victor arez. his son blames islamic jihad who sent a 16-year-old with a bomb strap today his body. but in a new lawsuit, he claims the attack began halfway around the world. when the bank of china laundered more than a million dollars allowing iran to send it to islamic jihad. >> bank of china is the same as islamic jihad because if china didn't give them the money to transfer money although israel asked them to shut down these accounts, then probably my father wouldn't have been murdered six years ago. >> reporter: what makes these allegations even more explosive

is the sworn testimony of an israeli intebltion agent who said he personally warned the bank of china they were moving money to build bombs and pay suicide bombers that would eventually kill hintz. and the lawyer says going after their bankers is just as effective. >> the suicide bombers know that at the end of the day after they carry out an attack, there will be someone who will take care of their family for the rest of their life. it's all based on money. you cut the funding, you cut the terrorism. >> now, the bank of china denies all their allegations in this lawsuit. however, they refused our request for an interview. however, the plaintiffs in this case are asking for some $300 million and, jenna, the victims' families tell me even if they don't win any money, they may win because that kind of civil liability will hopefully make banks think twice before working

with these kind of groups, especially if they're warned antibiotic beforehand. back to you. jenna: what an interesting look at just that ring of terror, leland, something for us to continue to follow. thank you very much, leland vittert in jerusalem today. jon: new reaction to a plan republicans say will save the country from financial ruin. right now the house budget committee is meeting on a republican proposal to simplify our tax code, reduce spending and reform medicare. so how's it being received in washington? charlie hurt is a columnist for the washington times. charlie, we have been told that there's no way the senate would even consider this thing. they are, after all, led by the democrats. this is a republican proposal. is it completely dead in the water? >> oh, i think absolutely, you know, even if senate did take it up which would be -- it's impossible to imagine that harry reid would take it up considering he hasn't put a single budget on the floor in three years, including 2010 when

he had 59 democrats and could have gotten any budget through that he wanted, and democrats also that year controlled, had a comfortable majority in the house and, of course, had the white house. they could have gotten their budget through no problem. but instead chose not to even offer a budget, so it's, camels will fly before harry reid will take up the paul ryan proposal. and even if he did, you know, i think obama has demonstrated that he would absolutely deep six it if anything like that came anywhere near him. jon: we have video of paul ryan on the screen. you say he is one of the few grown-ups in washington right now. >> yeah, it's amazing. i mean, you know, we have these just incredible, incredible problems that we're facing in terms of debts, in terms of entitlement programs that are just going to simply go belly up in, you know, a decade or less, and, you know, he's one of the very few people in a position of

authority who has the guts to come forward and give a very tough, tough proposal for fixing a lot of it. and as you know, jon, there's an old truism in washington that nothing difficult ever happens in an election year because both sides are so terrified of doing something that might be unpopular that they'll get hurt in the election. and there's nothing popular about this plan that paul ryan has come up with. but it is a realistic plan, and it's a tough plan, and i do think that while nobody is going to like everything in it because it's going to hurt, it is, it's a stark departure where you have somebody who's showing leadership, stepping forward and saying, you know what? we've got to make some tough decisions, and i'm willing to stick my neck out and do it, and, you know, take president obama, for example, who put together his bipartisan debt commission and then immediately deep sixed everything that, everything that they recommended. jon: well, and jenna just spoke with gene sperling from the white house who basically said

this is a nonstarter, this ryan budget proposal. >> i think it's a nonstarter because it cuts more than the white house would find tolerable, and it does not go far enough to raise, it doesn't raise taxes. and the white house has made, you know, made it very clear that the only way out of this is to continue spending. i mean, president obama, we saw the cbo report last week where president obama has brought, has put upon us $3.5 trillion in new debt over the next ten years, and the only way out -- they've made it very clear -- is to raise taxes to a level that, you know, that can sort of make up for all this. but even if you invoke the so-called buffett rule that would raise taxes on the wealthiest, it's a pittance. it comes up with, like, $31 billion. jon: yeah. >> there's some tough decisions, and they are going to involve

cuts, and these guys are not -- with the exception of paul ryan and only of the republicans -- they're just not willing to take that on. jon: we talked about that buffett rule and what it would bring in last hour. charlie hurt from "the washington times," thank you. >> thank you, jon. jenna: up next, there's a brewing battle over the future of two housing giants. you're familiar with the names, fannie mae and freddie mac. one side wants both of these institutions to do more, not less to rescue homeowners. some folks say they want to pull the plug on the troubled lenders. which is right? what are the sides there? we're going to take a closer look at that. and a store clerk attacked while the cameras are rolling. now police are hunting for the robber before he strikes again. this is $100,000. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ?

if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. i get my cancer medications through the mail. now washington, they're looking at shutting down post offices coast to coast. closing plants is not the answer. they want to cut 100,000 jobs. it's gonna cost us more, and the service is gonna be less.

we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. the ripple effect is going to be devastating. congress created the problem. and if our legislators get on the ball, they can make the right decisions.

jon: a vicious beating at a convenience store all caught on surveillance video. rick folbaum has that for us. >> reporter: well, this is a stop and shop in lauderdale lakes, florida, and i've got the surveillance video on the ipad here. i want you to take a look at this guy in the corner of the screen. this is the guy that's going to do all the bad stuff. launch the video. you can take a look and see what happens here. he comes out, goes around to the back. that's where the clerk is. he beats up the clerk, says something to him and then someone in the store actually comes and tries to help out. the suspect then chases him off. then the guy grabs whatever cash he can find. he's going to see another overhead shot from a different sur surveillance camera angle. he jumps over the counter, and then he opens up the cash register. he looks under the drawer for even more cash, and then you're going to see him jump back over and take off. the clerk able to press the store's silent alarm, but by the time anybody got there, this guy was already gone.

so if you have any information on who he is, you're asked to call the broward county crime stoppers. there's the number on the screen. 954-493-tips. police are hoping somebody recognizes him from this video, and you can see him pretty clearly in that camera. tips can be anonymous, and there is a reward, jon. jon: a little motivation to do the right thing. rick, thank you. jenna: well, some blame these two government lenders for being smack in the middle of the housing collapse. and now one prominent lawmaker's' pressuring fannie mae and freddie mac to do more to rescue housing saying it will speed up the economic recovery. elizabeth macdonald of the fox business network is here with more, and e. mac, everyone wants to see a recovery in the housing market. what's going on here with this though? >> reporter: yeah, that's right, jenna. congressman paul ryan has a plan to unwind fannie mae and freddie mac. they've cost american taxpayers a net $150 billion, they have an

unlimited pipeline into the u.s. treasury to help rescue housing, and what's going on here is barney frank and two other democrats sent a letter to the federal overseer of fannie mae and fredty mac treasuring the overseer to get fannie and freddie to do more to rescue housing. this is the congressman who famously said let's roll the dice with fannie and freddie prior to the housing crack-up, he said that in 2003. let's take a look at what the letter says. it says: it is of great concern about fannie mae's and freddie mac's unwillingness to increase the availability of all modification programs. and the letter writers go on to say that the refusal of an important government agency under your direction to join in the effort to alleviate the great distress caused by the current mortgage situation in america is so troubling. now, barney frank is set to retire. the fight here, jenna, is about whether or not to have fannie mae accept more principal

write-downs ofa ed dimarco who is the government overseer has said no to that. he's saying, essentially, do more -- lengthen the terms of these loans and keep interest rates low. in fact, fannie mae and freddie mac did not take on the more exotic loans that banks are now writing down the principals for, so even if former fannie mae official has said, look, the way barney frank wants to go would be really, really expensive for taxpayers. jenna: so it would be history repeating itself a little bit, at least in that scenario, if we had them more involved in the housing market. because at the crux of the crisis, they were right in the middle of it. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. critics said, look, they helped aid and abet the housing crash because they guaranteed a lot of loans and bought a lot of mortgage-backed securities, and even bill clinton has said they stopped the efforts to tighten down on fannie mae and freddie

mac so, you know, this fight's going to -- jenna: we'll see. because right now they're still there and functioning, so even unwinding them would take, according to some, years and years to do. elizabeth macdonald, thank you very much. >> reporter: sure, jenna, thank you. jon: new details in the search for a 13-year-old teenager missing for more than a year. police have found human remains not far from her home. we have the latest in a disturbing case. and two men lucky to be alive after their boat cap sizes on the open sea. we'll tell you what happened. 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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the policy that's right for you. liberty mutual insurance, responsibility -- what's your policy? jon: a fox news weather alert and a tornado watch and active tornado warnings right now in the south. meteorologist janice dean live in the extreme weather center. >> reporter: yeah, an active situation since this morning. i see warnings popping up randomly in this tornado watch box that's good until 6 p.m. local time. tornado watch meaning the conditions are favorable, warnings meaning tornadoes have been either spotted, or a strong rotation indicated on doppler radar. look at this line moving towards the new orleans area and in towards jackson, mississippi. this is the line we're really concerned with. we have several thunderstorm warnings and an earlier tornado warning that has just been lifted, but you can see that cell really active pushing through vicksburg, mississippi, moving around 55 miles per hour. wewe had an active tornado

warning, they have just lifted that, but again, this is an ongoing situation as the slow-moving storm continues to press eastward wringing not only the threat for tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds and incredible amounts of rain over the same areas. so little rock, flash flood warnings for you, down towards alexandria. 1-2 inches in a very shot period of time. this is what we have seep really over the last 48 hours, in some ways over 8 inches. 12 inches of water on the ground, so this can be very destructive. people are urged to, you know, really prepare for this and do not drive over water that you cannot see the bottom of, okay? the other big story, one of the reasons that we are seeing the severe weather, is the incredible departures from average. in some cases 20-30 degrees above what we typically see this time of year. places like chicago have seen 80-degree temperatures, today is no exception. 85 degrees.

st. louis, 83, detroit 82. so, again, this pattern continues to be one we are watching. very warm temperatures and, of course, those systems that move in from the rockies, bring us the potential for severe weather. it's within a big story throughout the workweek, it's going to continue to be for the next several days, jon. back to you. jon: and the folks in louisiana need to keep an ear on the weather radio. >> reporter: absolutely. jon: janice dean, thank you. jenna: new information, now, on the disappearance of a teenage cheerleader in texas. police finding human remains near where the girl was reported missing, and now the investigation is revealing a rather strange obsession shared by her mother and her mother's boyfriend. rick? what's the deal here? >> well, hailey dunn is the girl's name, and she's been missing for almost a year and a half. heading off to a friend's house just a couple days after christmas in 2010. she was never seen again. haley's mother's then-boyfriend, a man named shaun atkins, was once considered a person of

interest in this case, and now as you said, human remains have been found about a mile or so from atkins' own mother's house in a town called big spring, texas. that's about 40 miles from where 45eu8ly was last seen. the remains are badly decomposed, so investigators are still working on trying to get a positive id. haley's mother, bailey jean dunn, was arrested at one point during this investigation, for lying to police about where her boyfriend was. that's when the police were looking to talk with atkins. the couple has been known to have a strange obsession with slasher movies. and a relative of atkins has been quoted as saying that he used to talk about how killing a teenager would be, quote, like killing a deer. though atkins denied having anything to do with haley's disappearance. back to you. jenna: rick, thank you very much. joey jackson a criminal defense attorney, just a quick thought. do you think this could potentially be a changing point in this case?

>> i really do for the following reasons. if you look at where the body's discoveried, and, of course, there'll be an analysis done, and it's not yet determined this is, indeed, hailey dunn. however, i think there's a blanket that might connect the body to the actual home and, therefore, it's likely that it is her. the police are going to re-examine what happened here and just briefly, as you know, this mr. atkins, the boyfriend, has made conflicting statements to the police concerning his whereabouts, there are cell pings that put him in the house at the time hailey dunn was there, the mother had already left for her job at about 6:20 a.m. he's indicated to the police that that day he quit his job when, in fact, it was determined never quit his job. and so there's a number of links. and remember, also, he took three lie detector tests, two of which he walked out of initially, and the third one of which he was deemed to be deceptive. this is ongoing, i'm not suggesting at all he's guilty. that's what trials are for, court of laws are for, however, i am suggesting there may be enough probable cause to turn

him from a personal of interest to, in fact, a suspect. jenna: joey, thank you so much for that quick thought. he's going to come back in just a moment because we have a different legal story we want to cover to the on a little bit of a lighter note depending on which side you're on here. could you be fired over a fashion choice? fourteen employees at a florida law firm called into a conference room and fired for wearing orange shirts. that's what they were told. is this legal? criminal defense attorney joey jackson is back with us, of course, and we're joined by a former federal prosecutor doug burns if i can get it out, doug. [laughter] thank you very much, doug. it's great to have you here with us. it's funny, guys, i just looked down on my twitter account, one fashion magazine said tangerine is the color of the year. so maybe, doug, maybe they all like tangerine, but it was alluded to that they were wearing orange shirts on payday because they were making a statement about something, and

that's why they were fired. what do you think? >> first of all, orange is not exactly a color not associated with florida, hello. [laughter] second of all, i'm not going to be applying to this law firm anytime soon because i'm wearing an orange tie. jenna: i see that. >> joking aside, the firm needs emphasis on public relations because they could have under florida law fired them for any reason at all as long as the reason's not illegal. yet they called the people in and said we're terminating you because you're protesting our firm policy. having said that, they could theoretically open themselves up to some type of claim based on that. jenna: joey, do you buy that? >> you know what, it's a great argument, and only doug can make that argument, i'm telling you. [laughter] >> thank you. >> it's an employment that will state, very beliefly, it means you can be hired and fired for any reason or no reason as long as it's -- jenna: joey, do you need a warning though? that's one of the complaints, they didn't even have a warning, it's not in their handbook, no

one even talked to them about it, so they were all called into this conference room. >> you know what, jenna? unfortunately, this law in terms of the labor law is brutal. i can let you go. it's my shop, you're going to do as i do and as i say. as long as it's not predicated upon discrimination, and there are certain protected classes, gender discrimination, those types of things, and if it's discriminatory or if it's in retaliation, for example, you make a complaint against your employer based upon something they're doing that's unlawful u so there's certain things an employer cannot fire you for. unfortunately, wearing an orange shirt is not one of them. jenna: interesting. doug, the employer hasn't made any public statements that we could find based on this case, but we have heard according to the people that were fired that the employer thought this was a threatening behavior. so that's -- it wasn't just the fashion stuff, it was the fact they thought it was threatening. would you take this case as a prosecutor? would this be a case you would want? >> i would work directly off

joey's points, if there were evidence of it -- because i'll tell you what, i'll guarantee you there's some back storyline to all of this, okay? you don't just call in 14 people and say you terminated because they're wearing orange shirts. they were wearing orange shirts so they could appear to be a cohesive group at happy hour after work ended on friday. jenna: that's what they say. >> and the employer, though, digs their own grave by saying you're protesting firm policy. so to answer your question, i would look at the facts really closely, and i felt it was a retaliatory move, to quote joey, i would potentially take the case. jenna: very interesting, guys. doug, thank you for dressing appropriately for the segment. [laughter] appreciate the orange tie, and we'll see what happens. nice to have you as always. >> pleasure. take care, doug. >> okay. jon: two u.s. soldiers accused of deadly shooting rampages, one in the u.s., the other last week in afghanistan. coming up, a fair and balanced debate on how the media have covered each case.

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jon: a u.s. soldier allegedly goes on a rampage, arming himself and murdering more than a dozen people. that scenario describes two stories in the news. you've heard a lot about army staff sergeant robert bales accused of killing civilians, 16 of them, last week in afghanistan. but the scenario also describes major nidal hasan accused of killing 13 of his fellow soldiers at the fort hood army base in 2009. so have u.s. media treated both cases fairly? let's talk about it with jim pinkerton and judith miller, investigate e reporter, both are fox news contributor. judy, it's my understanding you're coming to us today with a little arthritis. [laughter] >> perhaps. laryngitis. my apologies.

jon: all right. so let's talk about this. robert bales is alleged to have gone on this murderous rampage, and there is widespread condemnation even at the highest levels of the pentagon. the defense secretary, leon panetta, saying this could be a death penalty case. is he getting the same kind of treatment as the guy who jumped on a table, shouted al la act bar, and started shooting his fellow soldiers? >> clearly, he's not getting the same treatment, and it is truly outrageous that to this day his religious motivation -- that is nidal hasan's religious motivation -- was not mentioned in the pentagon report that was done about home grown radicalization and dealing with the threat. there is, it is true that he has been in jail, he has been in confinement, but we are still examining the issue of whether or not he was suffering from ptsd, whether or not he is crazy

and fit to stand trial two years later. you don't see the kind of indignation and outrage that you're seeing on behalf of sergeant bales. jon: jim, i guess the issue comes up in part because we know that sergeant bales saw combat, what, four -- three tours already in iraq, he was on his fourth tour in afghanistan. some say he just snapped, that all kinds of things conspired to make him go nuts, whatever. i mean, that case is yet to be tried. but in hassan's case there's talk about a post traumatic stress disorder defense, and he never saw combat. [laughter] >> well, and let's also bear in mind that the media are anxious in the bales case to provide detail and context. so we learn all about the tours in iraq, we learn about this allegation of financial fraud 15 years ago, there's even his

report on abc that said ptsd could not cause the externalized violence, that ptsd caused internal violence like suicide just this morning. however, as judy was saying, in the hassan case two years ago the media were at pains not to provide context, they didn't want to think of major hassan in the context of global jihad, radical islam, terrorist networks. they were painting him like a lone gunman because we still don't know part of some larger effort. jon: yeah. over on msnbc chris matthews is saying we may never know whether religion was a factor in the major hassan case -- [laughter] and he's jumping up on the table shouting allahu akbar while he's killing our soldiers. >> and he had a business card, jon, that identified himself not as u.s. army, but soldier of god. i mean, you know, soldier of allah. what is going on here? why can't we talk about militant

islam? militant islam is not the religion that most muslims practice in this country. and to pretend that it is does a great disservice to that religion. >> jon, which brings up another point, that is the chain of command here. in other words, to my knowledge there's never been an adequate investigation of the colleagues of major hassan in the u.s. army when they were laboring on business cards saying soldier of allah, you'd think that would be newsworthy and worth reporting to somebody. but by the same token, including the defense attorney, john henry brown fell fellow, he's going to say, look, others in the chain of command in afghanistan and the army should have known, had reports and so on, he'll call every general in afghanistan into his files he can just to prove, look, you knew, you had signals, you had indicators this man was unstable if he's, in fact, guilty, and you didn't do anything about it. but, again, the media will love that story whereas they weren't at all interested in what the

military was not doing in the case of hassan. jon: and, judy, isn't it true that the military has classified the hassan case as a case of workplace violence? i mean, if that's workplace violence, why couldn't staff sergeant bales and his defense team say, yeah, he had seen his buddy get his leg blown off a few days earlier, and he, you know, embarked on a case of workplace violence. >> right. you know, i think what we have here, jon, is a war which is very unpopular, and people increasingly looking for arguments against our presence in afghanistan. so you have lots of sympathy building up for a man whom as far as we know up to this point all we know is he allegedly went rogue, went into a village and shot up women and children. we are not talking about even nidal hasan which was soldier-on-soldier violence. we are talking about a man accused of killing women and children. very different kind of crime, but the unpopularity of the war

is almost certainly going to play a factor. jon: different kinds of crimes, but the media treatment ought to be fair and equal in both cases. [laughter] judy miller, thanks for playing with the laryngitis. >> i'm so sorry. jon: we appreciate it. jim pinkerton as well. thank you. >> thank you. jon: join us saturdays at 2:30 eastern for more on our news watch panel, please, join us. jenna: new information on an explosion and fire that killed eight people and destroyed dozens of homes in california. remember this? now, two years later the company behind this disaster doesn't want to pay. we'll tell you why next. i habe a cohd. i toog nyguil bud i'm stild stubbed up.

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jenna: this just in, and it is a big headline today coming from fox sports.com announcing that

the new york jets have traded a fourth round pick to acquire broncos' quarterback tim tebow. that means, jon, you're losing him in denver, but you'd be picking him up not too far away from our studios -- jon: he looks better in orange and blue. he does. he had the best selling jersey of the nfl this year. jenna: well, and some suggest that, you know, that comes into play whatever team is looking to pick him up. we haven't heard from tebow over the last couple days, so we'll see when we get the official announcement, but that according to fox sports, tebow on his way to new jersey. why not? [laughter] jon: i am looking forward to seeing him play, but, hmm. this other nfl news alert comes in that the statements' head coach, sean payton, has been suspended without pay for the 2012 season by the nfl. sean payton involved in the

accusations of that -- jenna: bounty -- jon: bounty, pays for big hits that put players out of the game and so forth. it's braved -- believed, i believe this is what this is about, but there could be another reason. some new information about a deadly explosion and fire in san bruno, california. pacific gas and electric is hoping to dodge a huge fine, but that could leave customers picking up a very big tab. rick folbaum has the story. >> reporter: pg&e looking to play let's make a deal. when it comes to the more than $200 million in fines it expects for the gas transmission explosion, you remember this from two years ago. very, very dramatic pictures. the blast in san bruno killed eight people, 38 homes destroyed, and now the company says it should get credit for the more than $220 million it took from shareholders last year for pipe testing and other changes sparked by the disaster. while the utility admits some of

those tests were needed, pg and e says since it didn't charge customers, that money should come off the fines. one assemblyman who represents san bruno says that he was stunned by the proposal, calling pg&e's offer absurd saying that the money was spent to protect the utility, and that should be on the company's dime. the administrative law judge that's hearing the case, jon, seemed a little cemental as well saying utilities must pay fines to the state's general fund. so we'll keep an eye on that for you. jon: yeah, please do. that have an awful story. rick, thank you. and we'll be right back.

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bill: the saint's head coach suspended for a year over the pay for injury scandal. and the coordinator suspended indefinitely by the nfl. jenna: tough new rules and trading going on and an exciting football season. it's only march we have a