martha: you don't see that every day. bill: i don't know if we can top that actually. i think we have a really good program over the next two hours but i don't know if we can top that. good morning, everybody. the justice department has a bit of homework that's due and the clock is ticking. the fifth circuit wants an answer on health care deadline, 1:00 today. a federal judge wants three pages single-spaced. does the white house believe the supreme court has the right to overturn a law. good morning, everybody, i'm bill hemmer. a good day on the 12th floor. martha: no wetsuit today. we're wear dry clothing. good morning, everybody i'm martha maccallum. this is something you don't see every day what we're about to witness. we do expect eric holder will come forward with a sons in a few hours. what will it say and will it satisfy this judge? bill: what eric holder said his department will respond appropriately. what does that mean?

steve centanni leading the coverage. what does it mean, steve and good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the circuit court judge, jerry smith wanting that three-page explanation. we'll see what eric holder supplies later on today. this after president obama made a comment about unelected judges striking down his signature health care law. this led to the president clarifying his remarks the next day and jay carney the press secretary trying to clarify the clarification yesterday. here is carney. >> the supreme court doesn't have as its right and responsibility the ability to overturn laws passed unconstitutional. he was he refering to 85 years of supreme court precedent with regard to matters like the one under consideration. >> reporter: holder saying he would respond appropriately. that is due at 1:00 today. we'll see exactly what he writes. bill: what are the critics

saying about this controversy, steve? >> reporter: they're saying the president overstepped his bound and the supreme court struck down many laws in the past here is one legal expert on that. >> the judge raised and panel raised legitimate question, the administration leader, president of the united states has challenged the ability of the courts to declare an act of congress that become as law unconstitutional. that has been established since marbury versus madison. >> reporter: marbury versus maddison, in 1803 was the first time the high court struck down a law as unconstitutional. the supreme court held three days of unprecedented arguments about the health care law and raised serious questions about its legality. bill: there is whole lot more on this. steve centanni leads our coverage in washington. martha. martha: continuing on the theme jay carney said that the president wasn't clarifying anything. he was explaining his comments to people, quote, who didn't understand what it was he was saying.

our own ed henry pressed jay carney on that point. here is a little more from the news conference yesterday. >> he didn't specify what you're specifying now. >> he did yesterday. >> yesterday but not in his original comments he did not draw the caveat. you said the whole thing would be unprecedented. >> that is not what he said, ed. that is certainly not what he meant. it is clear to most folks who observe this. martha: so carney also added that the president understands the law of course because he is, a former constitutional law professor. bill: so what about eric holder in all this? the attorney general is in chicago defending the president but adding this. saying the supreme court does have the final say when it comes to laws like health care. >> what the president said a couple of days ago appropriate. he indicated that we obviously respect decisions that courts make under our system of government and since marbury versus madison. i think he said in some ways that which is obvious.

you know, we are, there is a piece of legislation, a very important piece of legislation before the court. he talked about the way in which courts have typically, supreme courts have typically looked at pieces of legislation. so i don't think he broke any new ground in the comments that he made. bill: okay. now holder is also confident the health care law will stand. so watch all that as it develops and we push forward four hours from now. martha: that will be a thread going the throughout the morning as we wait for that. this time the fox news alert. we got good news on the job front. weekly jobless applications fell to 357,000. the arrow is down as you can see. that is the lowest number we have seen in four years since all of this got started back in 2008. it is a much better than expected number. stuart varney joins me now. host of "varney & company" on the fox business network to tell us what he sees in this number. clearly the trend line is a good one, stuart.

>> the trend line is good but i have to point out to you, martha, the downside move, fewer number of people applying for unemployment claims, that has stalled. we've gone from 400,000 six months ago, to 350, 360 now. we haven't moved lower for the last four weeks. so we stalled coming down. that is not particularly good news. we should be coming way down at this point in the recovery. it could be, martha. we're beginning to see the initial impact of higher gas prices. that is a possibility. that is possibly why this downside move in the in the number of new jobless claims has stalled. martha: where the prices are and obviously your theory that is having a dampening effect on hiring and everything else that deals with expenses at companies and on a personal level. >> maybe you're beginning to see that the price of gasoline moved up again overnight. the national average is now $3.94 for regular.

most americans are paying $4 and up. we're already seeing the impact on the overall economy. we're saving less money. what we used to save is going to the gas pump. we're buying a lot more, 30 miles per gallon plus, small gas-powered cars. if you want to see overall impact on the economy on high gas prices wait until form morning when we get the overall jobless picture and the unemployment rate. martha: stuart, thank you very much. big number for march as you look at overall unemployment rate. that will be in the mix in the trading day. bill: we talk about the underemployed in the america. that is big story for us over the past several years. a bit of context here. all the numbers we're talking about is in the thousands. reality, unemployment affects millions of americans. 13 million unemployed in the country. five 1/2 million have been out of work for six months. that first number, 13 million can be a bit deceiving because eight million americans working

part-time. jobs and the economy issues one and two, neck-and-neck. they can be found clearly on the campaign trail. a new reaction from rick santorum to comments made from senator john mccain. yesterday mccain said santorum should recognize it is time to make a graceful exit. santorum was not taking the bait. >> i think i've enjoyed about eight months of people saying that. everyone has been asking me from the days i was driving around in the truck in iowa to get out of the race. i've been, establishment, i have never been the -- candidate and, that holds true today and that's nothing new. bill: back in iowa he was running on gas money. some say he was ruining on fumes today but santorum is charging ahead. earlier in the week he was on our program guaranteeing victory in pennsylvania later in the month. that is the 24th of april. right now the average of all

the polls in pennsylvania show santorum and mitt romney neck-and-neck in pennsylvania. tuesday, 2 1/2 weeks on the calendar. martha: speculation out there if he feels like that situation changes and he can't guaranty that win in pennsylvania that might be his moment but we'll see. we'll see what happens. how about newt gingrich? he told a crowd of supporters that all the talk of dropping out of the race is starting to annoy him. gingrich says until mitt romney gets delegates he needs he will not go anywhere. saying this, until quote, romney becomes the nominee i will stay in the race. in order to be the nominee he has to get 1144 uncontested delegates. he has not done that yet. gingrich told reporters he is still in it to win it and he is hoping for an open convention. bill: in tampa. mitt romney inching even closer to the big benchmark. 650 delegates over halfway to the magic number of 1144. rick santorum, 281. newt gingrich, 135 and ron

paul at 51. the next big delegate grab as i mentioned april 24th. five primaries, 219 delegates at stake. everyone will watch pennsylvania on that day coming up later this month. martha: as we told but the federal agency under fire spending close to a million bucks of your money over in sin city on a little boondoggle of a meeting and a little bit of clowning activity and some mind reading we're finding out now that may be the tip of the iceberg it appears. there is a new probe going on with the same agency. we'll find out what they dig up. bill: mitt romney urging reporters to investigate the white house. what he says he wants journalists to uncover. karl rove will react to that in a matter of moments. rove is on deck. martha: he got bit by a shark but that is not keeping him from catching the next big wave, folks, oh, no, he is going back out there. smart? you decide. ♪

martha: well the only survivor of a deadly home envision is speaking out now after his state has approved repealing the death penalty. dr. william petit saying we believe in the death penalty because we believe it is really the only, true, just punishment for certain heinous and depraved murders. that is the end of his quote. back in 2007, two men broke into william petit's connecticut home and took everything away from him. severely beating him, brutally murdering his wife and his two daughters and now he is one of the strongest voices against abolishing capital punishment in thinks state. he proposal to repeal the death penalty passed the

state senate early this morning. the state's democratic governor says he indeed will sign it. bill: so emotional. a new war of war of words between mitt romney and president obama. romney sharpening his attack accusing the president running a hide-and-seek campaign urging media to look into other matters looking into the president's plans for the country if indeed he wins a second term. >> the candidates have to be candid about their views and their plans. in that regard president obama's comments to president medvedev are deeply troubling. that incident calls his candor into serious question. he doesn't want to share his real plans before the election. either with the public, or with the press. by flexibility, he means that what the american public doesn't know won't hurt him. his intent is on hiding. you and i are going to have to do the seeinging.

bill: karl rove is the former senior advisor, deputy chief of staff to president bush and a fox news contributor. good morning to you, karl. >> good morning. bill: we want to get to three things. we'll end up this conversation about santorum and romney in pennsylvania but i want to take the word that have gone back and forth the last few days. what romney is arguing americans know what they get with president obama. i don't necessarily think it is a hide-and-seek right now. his cards are on the table. you know where the debt will be in four years in his second term. is romney now, or is he prepared to make that point strong enough do you believe? >> i thought it was a very good start to the general election campaign. he had a three-part argument. he said first of all isn't it interesting the president can't run on positive accomplishments or forward-looking vision. so all he is doing is attacking me. he then pivot the. the president is making arguments nobody is advancing. creating a straw man. his favorite way of doing things. then he, he completed the pivot by saying look the president's remarks to the russian president are

troubling because the president said in essence, tell vladmir putin i will do, i will do something that he will like on missile defense after the election because then i will have flexibility and romney was rightly saying what is it that this guy is it going to do if given a second term? will he shoot straight with us? i thought it was a very good opening. frankly president obama had a very tough i thought effective opening on monday, assuming that he is not going to run the basis of his record, assuming he has not got a forward-looking vision going straight at romney saying romney is tied in with paul ryan budget and social darwinism. there is great debate. bill: on that point there was also the comment about the trojan horse, the republican budget in the house. now president cast himself, and won a lot of support in 2008 because he was seen as a different kind of guy. >> right. bill: he was seen as a difficult kind of politician the now you see the partisan game. >> right. bill: how does that set with moderate democrats who cast

their votes for him 3 1/2 years ago, or for more importantly the independents in these key states? do they view him differently now? >> you're right. sure, one of his greatest advantages in 2008 he was seening a something new and different and inspiring and aspirational. his best line was i don't want to be the president of red states and blue states but the president of the united states. the president has weakened himself among two key vital groups, independent voters, particularly college-educated voters and young people, both of whom were drawn to him because they heard that voice of hope and they heard that aspirational call and responded to it. and when he goes and does what he did monday, he turns himself into just another ordinary washington politician. fortunately for him he has been doing that for a significant period of time. bill: you wonder why, and i wonder internally at the white house do you think they are in worse shape with their own base? is that a yes or no answer or more nuanced than that?

>> more nuanced. i think they think this is effective. blaming somebody else for all the problems. going straight at your opponent with a negative campaign. creating straw man arguments, social darwinnism. give you one quick example. bill: quick. i want to get the whiteboard. go. >> obama on monday says he wants to cut everything. republican budget doesn't cut everything. it slows future growth of spending. and the president over the course of campaign will find it hard to depict the republican budget in deep cuts of existing levels of spending. bill: the lines are being drawn. >> absolutely. bill: this week in pennsylvania, rick santorum as of two days ago had an eight-point lead in pennsylvania. when you put all the polls together. today that lead is one point. >> exactly. that is because of this. just take a look. i will take two polls. you took the "real clear politics" average. last poll before tuesday showed romney in pennsylvania at 37, santorum at 42. the first poll after tuesday

is 41-25. tuesday night is inflection point. the race will go dramatically different direction after tuesday night. tuesday night was a night romney conclusively began winning. i would not be surprised as we see a raft of polls for april and may he continues to widen his lead. april ain't going to be happy anyway for santorum. new york, 54-it 1. connecticut. bill: you lose your home state that's a tough one. >> that's right. even if he wins the popular, even if he wins the popular vote he runs the risk of losing delegates because they're elected on separate ballot. romney has a very powerful slate of party leaders running in. you directly elect the delegate. doesn't have romney or santorum next to the name. you walk in, republican county chairman or. bill: funky rules from state to state. they roll on. >> funky? is that is that a precise

scientific term? bill: that is my technical term for the way states vary from one to the other. >> happy easter week. bill: to you as well. thank you, karl. >> thanks, buddy. martha: it is not just clowns and a mind reader that your money went to pay for. there's new probe into a federal agency that is already under investigation for spending more than $800,000 on a conference, public money that was, in vegas. you know what happens there maybe says there, right? bill: this nfl cheerleader accused sleeping with one of her students in high school. why the alleged victim is now supporting her. martha: why would that be? we're cracking down on medicare fraud.

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bill: this surfer says he is not allowing a little shark attack to keep him out of the water. just a little bite. that was no little bite.

joshua holly had 42 stitches in his left foot. surgery to repair severed tendons. he says he is lucky to be alive. >> i felt this push on the left side of my body and this popping sensation on my foot. i looked down to my left i see this huge dorsal fin. i survival mode kicked in. i punched it hard once or twice. i didn't want to panic or go into shock or anything like that. >> we talk about this so many times we're always in the water. you never think it is going to happen to you. >> i'm not afraid to go back in the water. i'm not mad at the shark at all. one thing you have to remember when we're surfers we're going out in their domain. bill: what better to surf in hawaii. he is going back in the water. he think he was bitten by a 10-foot long tiger shark. the doctors say it is okay. he will surf again. the shark apparently said it tasted like chicken. martha: his foot. bill: that was one of the headlines. martha: i guess he figures

chances of happening again are pretty slim, right? this story is developing now on capitol hill. a federal agency accused of spending close to a million dollars on a little junket to las vegas to have a training conference, all kinds of groups do this, right? now under investigation for an employee that incentive program that is called hats off. what is this all about? house lawmakers looking into the general services administration, the gsa. they're in charge of overseeing money and how money is spent which is rather ironic, isn't it? this program they came up with rewarded point to employees for good work. the cost of the program? a reported quarter million dollars. peter doocy is really good with numbers so we have him live on this one from washington. good morning. >> reporter: good morning,. martha: it says steve in my prompter but you're peter. >> reporter: no, i'm not. martha, as you said the program is called hats off. the gsa spent a quarter of

million dollars on it. gsa gave employ's a chance to do well at work and points could be cashed in to earn ipods or gift cards or other electronics. even though the gsa inspector general tried to kill the hats off program in 2010 around the same time it started investigating that lavish las vegas junket. the public building services commissioner, bob peck, set more money aside for the program. transportation committee chairman john mica said we've been trying to get the administrative costs from the agency. now we see why they have been stonewalling. in the obama administration says, that they're on top of the gsa investigation as well with white house chief of staff jack lew saying on tuesday that the president called for all those responsible to be held fully accountable given their actions were irresponsible and entirely inconsistent with the expectations that he had set as president. the gsa administrator, martha johnson, resigned over this but before she did she fired that commissioner,

bob peck, martha. martha: when do we expect we'll hear more details on all of this from the gsa? >> reporter: there's going to be a hearing on the hill on april 19th. we'll hear from some of these folks. ahead of that hearing we've been digging around and we learned more about that public building services commissioner bob peck's tenure at gsa. might not be directly related but when he took over in 2009, the commissioner's budget was $3.25 million. a year later, it was more than double that, $6.94 million. last year, it was up to $9.16 million. and commissioner peck during that las vegas trip, held a $2,000 party in his suite but again he has been fired. so the party's over. martha: sound like a pretty sweet job if you can get it. thanks a lot, peter doocy. not in a wetsuit, reporting from washington. >> it happened before and it will happen again. peter will have to live with it. eventually we will call him steve every now and then. one step closer to justice for thousands of victims

from 9/11. three years after a major reversal for the obama administration, self-confessed mastermind khalid sheikh mohammed faces death. martha: more details in the trayvon martin story that are coming to light this morning. george zimmerman's father telling his side of the story. >> i just believe it is very sad that so many people are not telling the truth on purpose for their own agenda and i really thought that we had gotten past a lot of racial problems ition? ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert

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martha: fox news alert. khalid sheikh mohammed set to face the death penalty now for his role in the 9/11 attacks. the pentagon has announced a new military trial for the self-confessed mastermind. this comes three years after u.s. attorney general eric holder made this very memorable proclamation. >> after eight years of delay, those allegedly responsible for the attacks of september the 11th will finally face justice. they will be brought to new york to new york, to answer for their alleged crimes in a courthouse just blocks away from where the twin towers once stood. martha: well of course that ran into a lot of headwind. and now this will take place back at gitmo. joined by charles simpson,

former deputy assistant secretary of defense tore detainees and legal fellow at heritage foundation. >> martha, good morning. martha: people have been waiting for this for a very long time. more than 10 years in fact so why now? >> well, now because once they reluctantly sent the case back to gitmo for military commissions the process started over again and the convening authority, the person, entity that owns commissions reviewed submissions by the defense counsel, learned counsel. great defense lawyers why thud she take the death penalty off the table. he obviously disagreed with that. they referred the charges and will be served with charges and 30 days he will be arraigned. martha: and facing this trial with four others accused of orchestrating the horrible events of september 11th. he is the self-professed mastermind of all of this. the biggest issues considered and talked about surrounding all of this what

testimony was obtained from khalid sheikh mohammed during waterboarding. what will be allowed during this proceeding and what won't and whether or not it will complicate a conviction? >> that's correct. if karl rove let me steal his little whiteboard i can show you how the 2009 military commissions act rules match up very nicely against the court-martial rules in standard court-martials for federal trials for that matter. the congress put in a place a rule no evidence submitted by cruel or inhuman treatment or punishment can be used. so i think the defense may try to make this a mini-trial within a trial, martha and use allegations of waterboarding, et cetera, to try to knock out some of the charges or all of them. the government, the chief prosecutor said, look, we'll use standard vanilla evidence, the same evidence we would use in federal court. that is where the clash is going to be. i think you set it up right. martha: at one point in this case khalid sheikh mohammed

said he wanted to plead guilty and wanted to be martyred. >> right. martha: that would certainly move things right along. do you think that is still the case? do you think he will plead guilty again this proceeding? >> look, ksm is a ego-maniac. he will do what he can to disrupt the proceedings. he knows he will never see freedom again. and remember, one. key reforms in the 2009 act, actually after the 2009 act was this. in standard courts marshal you can not plead to capital offense. can in federal court, can in state court. congress rewrote the rule recently. now you can plead to a capital offense and the whole trial would be sentencing phase. if trial if contested will be years away. if he pleads guilty to a capital offense you may see sentencing in a year or so. martha: as you point out this could become more about the issue how the case is tried than the actual case. that could drag this thing on for years. >> that's true. martha: this is a quote from the executive director of the aclu that raises some of

the issues we may hear more about. he says the military commissions were the is up to achieve easy convictions to hide reality of torture, not to provide a fair trial. what do you think about that. >> that is complete bunk. they were set up to be fair and transparent. war criminals should be tried in war crimes trials. the rules in these commissions today are fairer than those in international tribunals like the international criminal tribunal of yugoslavia or rwanda or the international criminal court. so i think because the american public really doesn't even understand nor do they watch, nor do we publicize very well standard courts marshals, they don't understand these rules and commissions are virtually identical to those in court-martials. mr. romero is just dead wrong. >> thank you very much. we'll be watching. very interesting. >> thanks, martha. martha: thanks a lot. bill: new this morning, a suicide, a suicide in the streets of athens sparking

violent riots again in greece. police saying a retire pharmacist shot himself in a crowded swear in front of the greek parliament. his suicide note blaming the government for the financial crisis. amy kellogg watching that from london. what was the reaction to this, amy? >> reporter: if this man killed himself at home this would be another sad story in a country where suicide rates are rising at an alarming rate. because this man killed himself in a public place, a major scare across the street from the parliament it became a public act, very symbolic act and touched off a raw nerve in greek society. this 77-year-old retired pharmacist killed himself. he said before shooting himself, so that he would not lead debts behind for his daughter. people already angry on the streets of greece about austerity cuts came out. they clashed with police.

they hurled objects. greece, as you know has not been able to pay its debts and had two european union bailouts. may need a third, bill. one in five people are out of work. bill: what is the mood in athens today? what are the reports we're getting there, amy? >> reporter: it has gone from one of confrontation to very somber reflection. people came out on mass where the man killed himself under a tree. they're leaving flowers. they're leaving notes. some people even made contributions to his family online. now, the greek press is publishing exerts of the suicide note that he reportedly left which he said, that because the government had cut his pension which he himself built up over the years, he found no other way out than what he called, this dignified end to his life which of course was killing himself. bill: we'll he will watch the economic developments there. often times they have impact here. amy kellogg. thank you. in london. martha, what is next? martha: new intelligence

what might be fueling a surge of violence in afghanistan where the u.s. military is now pointing the finger. that's straight ahead. bill: is less actually more at the doctor's office? the x-ray, the ekg, antibiotics, do you need them? a new study says you don't. forget about it. a great doctor debate on that in a moments

martha: we are watching this morning in "america's newsroom." a massive fire devouring an historic mansion outside of philadelphia. the 19-bedroom home was built in 1905. awful loss. fortunately no reports of injuries. a mixed report from the nation's retailers. many reporting better than expected sales this month.

lots of warm weather out there. but others are claiming that high gas prices may still be holding back sales somewhat. a staggered start to the major league baseball season of the last night was opening night. and then you have the st. louis cardinals taking on the new miami marlins. today they're calling the official opening day. stretch things out better to drum up enthusiasm i guess, right? make it last. bill: best time of the year. just came out of march madness. got opening day today. round one at augusta. martha: easter can give up the length that you're to good about -- lent. bill: we have no complaints. we're just happy people, aren't we? martha: happy people. bill: yes we are, again. how much is too much. a new debate day over what doctors are calling unnecessary testing and treatment. want to debate that. dr. marc siegel, fox news medical a-teamer and dr. robert osfeld a

cardiologist in new york city. doctor, good morning to you as well. here's what happened. a group led by the american board of internal medical foundation and "consumer reports." a lot of medical advice from a lot of different areas. they're saying cardiac stress tests not necessarily needed. chest x-ray before minor surgery. that got a thumbs down. other things like mris, some doctors even said the antibiotics for mild sinusitis, that is overprescribed as well. seems to be a major down scale in the amount of treatment that you gentlemen give a typical patient. on the surface, doctor, a good idea or not? >> on the surface, they call it choosing wisely. it is good idea to have doctors involved and weighing in on these things and i agree we have too many tests and they're done excessively. i actually looked at my own panel which is the american college of physicians which covers internists. when i started to look at actual tests and what they're saying i got concerned. look, if they say we're

overimaging back pain, fine. you know doctors do that? because they're afraid of lawsuits. if they're saying we're doing too many routine ek. abouts, i worry that insurance companies will get ahold of the information that i won't do the routine ekgs as a baseline. going for surgery and need a chess x-ray. if you're going to be on a respirator i think you do to be on a baseline. i want to do the art of medicine to choose the tests. bill: in a word you're disagreeing with this? >> i am disagreeing with this i think it is overinterpreted and i think it could have a big downside. bill: doctor, is he onto something? >> i think his points are very important. i think to one wants the art of medicine to be lost. i think this document is a thoughtful and evidence-based approach to helping us think more thought fully about using tests when not necessary. it is very important to keep in mind that no test is perfect and each test has

benefits and eve test has risks. we need to weigh them very carefully when we think about applying them to our patients. >> as a doctor you're looking deeper into the human body to figure out in something that you're missing and i understand that. others say you're practicing defensive medicine for a lawsuit down the road to defend your own practice. others suggest, dr. siegel this would be some sort of rationing or tied to the health care law. do you see a connection or is that overblown? >> bill, to your point in the current environment where we're looking at obamacare and restricting of services if it stays in, if obamacare stays in. without tort reform there is no way this won't impact doctors. we're afraid of lawsuits. yes we practice defensively but you can't then restrict our options. we still would be at a risk of lawsuits. another thing, the art of medicine is involved here. some of these choices i have a problem with. who is actually going to decide that one test is

better than another. they said on one you could have a blood clot in your leg there is a test which is a d-dimer, a simple blood test. in clinical practice that is the wrong answer. if a doctor gets out there says use this and not that. how do you know he is right? in clinical practice it is an art and changes from patient to patient and doctor to doctor. bill: you make excellent points. doctor, what would you make of that? could it be poe tensionly viewed as rationing and is health care debate part of it? >> i don't think this is about rationing at all. i think this is about choosing optimal care for our patients. i don't believe anyone wants documents or governmental agencies to come between the patient and their doctors and very important decisions they would make. if you look, if you scratch down into some of the delays tails of this -- details of this recommendation, as a cardiologist they're recommending not to perform

routine stress tests on asymptomatic patients. that is a very sound, risk based recommendation. getting down to the question of malpractice reform, clearly that is a very important issue. i feel that patients perhaps may be more likely to do their physician for not obtaining the test rather than obtaining the test. it is possible this kind of document may actually shield the physician from that kind of suit. bill: i got a feeling, just listening gentlemen talk this is something you will be talking about in your own circle for some time. i have to go, mark, but what is your point. >> robert's comment about stress tests is right. what if he wants to order a stress test on a asymptomatic patient and finds in the future he may not be able to do so. bill: thank you for coming in today. >> good to see you, hemmer at fox news.com is the e-mail if you want to talk about this. and fire away right now.

lines are open. martha. martha: here is a frightening question. is the next shoe about to drop in the housing market? why some analysts are saying we are about to see a second wave of foreclosures in this country that could make 2010 look like a cakewalk. bill: holy cow. martha: doesn't sound very good. bill: the caped crusader pulled over by cops. did you see this when we ran it a few weeks ago. we know where "the dark knight" was headed and why his mission mean as whole lot to some very special children. ♪ . 

bill: new details about whitney houston's death now. in the final core rower's

report -- coroner's report revealing she was drowned in a bathtub with a mirror of white crystals and caked with white powder. coroner said she had cocaine throughout her system when she died back in february in los angeles. ♪ batman, batman . martha: you remember this video of course, right. the guy was dressed up just like batman and he was pulled over in his souped-up batmobile. we found out later that he is actually much more than a make-believe superhero goofy guy that got pulled over by the police. there is more to his story than that. kathleen karen with wbff in baltimore has the story on his adventures outside the bat cave. ♪ . >> you're a cool kid, you

know that? lamborghini batmobile. ♪ . >> today my sole purpose is to brighten the lives of the children here at sinai hospital. ♪ . >> batman. ♪ . >> reporter: he is one of them. >> he helps superheroes. >> hey, is it time for batman yet? >> reporter: ian has lukemia. his mom wishes he had a superpower. >> i want you to get better. i want you to do me a favor and get better. >> okay. >> that will make me very happy. >> eyes open. gotcha. >> reporter: inside -- >> turn toward me a little bit. >> reporter: in the pediatric playroom. >> give the batman look. thank you, baby. >> reporter: it is a superpower celebration, for kids like sean. >> i need some help fighting crime. any help i can get i would much appreciate that. >> he is here for brain tumor. >> reporter: a time for sick

children to be -- >> hi, there. >> reporter: just children. >> may i shake your hand? what's your name? >> gotcha. >> i want you to get better, please. >> reporter: so for these kids -- >> you two are the chosen one. >> reporter: this is brief respite from what can be a grueling routine. >> i think it is wonderful. definitely builds his spirits up and wonderful. >> would you stand here i want you to look like batman, okay? ♪ . >> one, two, and gotcha. thank you very much. >> this is really good thing they're doing today. martha: such a nice story. kathleen karens brought us that from fox baltimore. did they give him a ticket? i hope they didn't give him a ticket on the way to do that. bill: that a free pass. >> exactly. bill: we ought to talk to the guy who pulled him over. i'm getting halloween ideas after watching this. martha: uh-oh. bill: here we go. there are new concerns that

a shadow government inciting the recent wave of violence we've seen in afghanistan that directly impacts our u.s. men and women. who is behind that? we'll tell you in a moment. martha: almost 10:00 a.m. on the east coast. so the clock is ticking folks. the justice department has a deadline on that homework assignment today. they need to get that report to the fifth circuit in the next couple hours. three pages, single-space. what will the doj say and will it satisfy that feisty judge? you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more pcessed flakes look nothing like natural grains. i'm eating what i kn is better nutrition. mmmm. great grains. search great grains and see for yourself.

>> martha: well, the deadline is at hand notion a high stakes showdown going on between president obama and federal court system. the justice department now has only a couple of hours to explain and turn in that paper home work assignment they were given. what do they believe the judge -- whether they believe the judges have the power to overturn laws they deem unconstitutional, which of course has been their mandate and their operating -- their m.o. for quite some

time. welcome to brand new hour, 10:00 a.m. on the east coast, i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. it's been the standard bearer for 1500 years, i think, sarcasm. it started when the president said it would be unpresident to strike down the health care law. jay carney was asked to defend the statements. >> a handful of people didn't understand what he was referring to. of course he was referring to the fact that it would be unprecedented in the modern era of the supreme court since the new deal era for the supreme court to overturn legislation passed by congress designed to regulate and deal with a matter of national economic importance like our health care system. martha: a lot more specifics in jay carney's explanation of the whole thing. what are we going to see play out a few hours from now? steve hayes is with me from the weekly standard and a

fox news contributor. >> hey martha. martha: eric holder gave every indication they intend to comply with this judge's request and do that 3-page single spaced paper on exactly what the president meant when he said it was an unprecedented, extraordinary step in the law. >> i think they would be wise to do so. if you're sitting in the white house you want this to go away, you do not want there to be a fight that pits the white house and elected officials against the supreme court, where the supreme court has very high favorability ratings, people look upon the supreme court as one of the pwrafpblgs of government that they -- branches of government they actually respect, so i think the white house doesn't want this fight. martha: obviously the president's background is as professor of constitutional law, now this young attorney for the doj who was in this courtroom the other day arguing a separate element of the health care law probably had no idea that

this was going to land in her lap, and land it did, stphobg let's just listen to exactly what the judge instructed her: >> i would like to have from you by noon on thursday, that's about 48 hours from now, a letter stating what is the position of the attorney general and the department of justice in regard to the recent statements by the president stating specifically and in detail in reference to those statements what the authority is of the federal courts in this regard in terms of judicial review. that letter needs to be three pages, single spaces, no less and needs to be specific. martha: it needs to be specific. are we going to hear more on this letter, do you think, along the lines of what jay carney said which qualified and neighborhoodo the the -- neighborhoodo the -- narrowed the statement after the new deal? >> yes i think the letter

will contain two aspects. one, it will do what the justice requested t. will provide the white house and department of justice's view of judicial review -- review and give a short history of that, second, i expect they would clarify the president's remarks. jay carney suggested that people misunderstood that. it doesn't really make much sense because so many people were asking those questions and the president's words were the president's words, he did call it unprecedented and extraordinary and it was neither. martha: it was neither, and among those who didn't understand what he said was that judge who ended up bringing about this whole sequence of events which will be quite interesting. you think after you graduate you're not going to have to write those pages anymore, obviously double-spaced, but apparently it's being reworded as we speak. >> 48 hours is a long time. that's more time than i ever had. >> you always wait until the last minute, we know! steve hayes, thank you very much. bill: got breaking news.

weather hitting the south yet again, strong winds, there have been warnings of tornadoes a bit earlier today, the warnings have been lifted. a warning is when a tornado has been spotted or is on the ground. now you see the watch box up there. we're keeping a close eye on this radar throughout the morning and in the afternoon especially after that vicious storm that hit those neighborhoods near dallas the other day. we'll watch that for you, get you updates as we get them. martha: the alleged mastermind of the 2008 mumbai terror attacks -- attacks holding a news cobb -- conference, hafev mohammed said responding to the $10 million bounty on his head, daring on somebody to try to cash in by announcing he will be in the pakistan city of lahor today if anybody would like to take advantage of that opportunity, he even suggested he should get the money for disclosing his own location. six americans were among the 170 killed by pakistani

gunmen who came across the water and into that hotel. who can forget that horrific event in mumbai. bill: it was a day of terror that lives on. also is iran fueling the recent wave of violence in afghanistan? intelligence officials saying that tehran has ordered its undercover agents to use the accidental kuan pwurpbgs to stir public opinion against the united states. k.t. mcfarland, anchor of def-con3, k.t., this good morning to you. some of this makes me wonder what's new about it. let me ask it a different way. what is iran up to the u ultimately. >> it has two objectives, one, it wants nuclear weapons and second, it wants to control the whole region from the persian gulf through the mediterranean. that's why they're working against our interests in iran, against our interests in of a, that's why they've accel ratted the nuclear weapons program and sent

assassination squads to washington, d.c. iran is a country that's not going to back down. i think it's naive when the administration keeps hoping that iran is going to go to the negotiating table and negotiate away those two things. iran is on the move. and what are we? we're public enemy number one, along with israel. bill: is it new that iran is iran is meddling in afghanistan? haven't we thought this for a whole? -- for a while? >> we've thought it for a while but we haven't had the evidence and it's not dissam with what iran did with iraq. iran is stirring the pot. it's stirring the pot in iraq, it's stirring the pot in region, it realizes we're on our way out of afghanistan and it wants to be the dominant power in that entire region. bill: that brings us to a question. general john allen, senior allied commander in afghanistan, he's running the war over there, he said other sense is that iran could do more if they chose to. are we helpless to its influence out of t* ran? >> no. iran is -- -- tehran? >> no, iran has a of -- we

have leverage but we're not using it. we're talking about sanctions but we're not imposing them until june. if we want to deal with iran, i think we should forget about this idea that somehow the reformers in iran's regime are going to sit down and negotiate in good faith with us. i think you go for regime change. not regime change brought about by the united states military. regime change brought about by the iranian people themselves which they started to do in 2009. >> that has been stopped and you believe tighter sanctions are bring change. there are others who would argue listen, they are locked solid in their positions of higher power and will make the people suffer before they do. >> and that's probably true. the problem i find, i don't want to be faced with those choices, bomb iran or let iran get the bomb: the administration thinks that iran is going to go to the negotiating table. more people believe in inner bunny than thinking that iran would ever negotiate in

good faith. i'm will to go take that chance on sanctions but they've got to be crippling sanctions and imposed immediately and it's a hail mary pass, but the options that we're likely to face this summer. bill: k.t., thank you for being with us. martha: we are getting shocking new details in the solyndra investigation. wait until you hear how much time officials were given to approve a half billion dollars federal loan. bill: also this nfl cheerleader accused of sleeping with one of her high school students. why the alleged victim is now backing her up in court. martha: and what exactly happened the night that trayvon martin was killed? you will now hear from the accused shooter's father in his own words. >> trayvon came from that area where the sidewalks meet, he asked my son if he had a problem, george said no, i don't have a problem. trayvon said, well, you do now.

martha: that from george zimmerman's father, raising the question, did he justififiably take trayvon's life to save his own. with no vegetable nutrition? ♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. introducing gold choice. the freedom you can only get from hertz to keep the car you reserved or simply choose another. and it's free. ya know, for whoever you are that day. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

bill there are new developments in the case of susan powell, the mother who went missing in utah. susan powell's father in law, said to have called in sick to work for two days right after she vanished in 2009. so far apparently he's not cooperating, currently serving time for possession of child pornography. powell's husband, josh, killed himself and the couple's two young sons in february at their home in washington state. susan's body remains missing martha: well, we are starting to hear the other side of the story now in the trayvon martin case. george zimmerman's father kwepbd dollars -- defended his son's claims he act self-defense. both robert and his son george are still in hiding. they fear for their lives

because they have had death threats. so robert did not reveal his face during this interview that they did last night on hannity. watch: >> when the dispatcher said we no longer need to you do that, and george acknowledged okay, he no longer knew where trayvon was. so he continued walking down the sidewalk, directly in front of him, to the next street, to get an address. he got an address, he was walking back to his vehicle, trayvon came from his left side, asked him did he have a problem. george said no. at that point, trayvon said well, you do now, he punched him in the nose, knocked him to the concrete, and started beating him. martha: lots to think about in all of this. joined by monica crowley, radio talk show host, christopher han, former aide

to senator chuck shao*epler, both fox news contributors and we welcome them here today. monica, there's so many levels to look at this whole thing on, but now we are starting to hear a lot of new details that are coming in and understandably, they are from the zimmerman side of the story here. but what do you make of what the father had to say to sean? >> it was a very interesting interview, martha, especially done in silhouette as it was, very powerful words coming from mr. -- mr. zimmerman's father. the accounts of what happened may be correct or he may in fact be guilty of everything his detractors are accusing him of. the point is that nobody knows. and for people to have this rush to judgment, including people who know better, who ought to know better, including the president, members of congress, and the media, to have rushed out in the first days of this, passing judgment on what happened that night, either way, is completely inappropriate. and the point is that now it needs to go through the legal process, which is

exactly what's happening. martha: chris, we have had members of congress calling this cold-blooded murder, people who really have no idea, and i want to just say up front that this child is gone, you know, this young 17-year-old man, and everyone feels for the tragedy that his family is undergoing right now. i cannot even imagine. this boy out for iced tea and skeulgtss, watch the nba game with his dad, and he never came home. so that is -- and needs to remain -- the headline in the story. but what is so tragic, chris, is what has become of it and the way people have jumped all over it who really have no idea what happened. >> well, listen, first, on the father's comments nobody is going to begrudge trying to defend his son. i'm a father and i will defend my kid even when i know they're wrong and that is what parents do and that law is clear, you are responsible for the consequences of your actions, and the action that has consequence here, as the

police told him, nine # one told him to stop running and he kept running after trayvon martin. >> we don't know that. >> that's all on him. >> martha: you no know, what i've also repeated exactly what you said but i find it very interesting -- let's listen to this nine # one call that was played last night. it's in a longer version, and nothing that is --o longer version and this is the way it is on this tame. let's listen to it. >> he's running. >> he's running, which way is he running? >> down towards the entrance of the neighborhood. >> okay. which entrance is that, that he's heading towards? >> the back entrance. >> are you following him? >> yeah. >> we don't need to you do that. >> okay. >> all right. sir, what is your name? >> george. he ran. martha: so you get to the end of that, chris, where he says he ran, and it kind of sounds like -- kwrao*pb, because i wasn't there, but it sounds like he can't see

him anymore, like he's gone. i don't know, he took off. does that change the feeling at all about what happened? >> no. -- he put himself in a position where he shouldn't have been, and the problem here and the politics that comes out of this, martha, it's not so much about the actual situation of what happened that night, it's what didn't happen. the homicide detective said this was a homicide, yet for some reason in florida n. rick scott's florida, this man was not arrested, an one has to ask themselves if trayvon was white and lying dead, somebody probably would have been arrested for this. unfortunately, that's not what happened. and i think people are starting to say why is the right feeling victimize dollars by this. i don't understand that line that's been coming out of the out here -- right here. this is a clear-cut case. something happened here, somebody needs to be held accountable. martha: that's why the grand jury will hear the evidence and the grand jury will decide it. monica. >> that's the way it's supposed to be, martha.

justice is supposed to be blind, doesn't matter what race you are, the race of the victim, the perpetrator. it's not supposed to matter. what matters is justice. everybody is arguing for justice for trayvon and everybody wants to see that, but remember, there's somebody else involved here, named george zimmerman, who also deserves some justice and what has happened is that you have had the president, members of congress and the press warping this story or jumping in with rushes to judgment, one way or the other, then you've had black leaders like jesse jackson and away sharpton going in, injecting themselves and their own agendas into this case which has completely warped it, which has nothing to do with justice for trayvon. >> monica -- people are upset -- people are upset because if trayvon looked like me, george would have been arrested. >> you don't know that, chris. you don't know that. >> we both know that. i do know that. martha: i don't know how you know that. you know, we weren't there, and you know, people in the community now say that they

have racial discussions now that they never had before, that they had a very peaceful community and now that he's guys have come in and started screaming up and down about this, that now that the community is changed in a very jolting way. >> martha, on the peaceful community, clearly it wasn't peaceful. somebody gunned somebody down in that community. it wasn't peaceful before this. >> chris -- chris, again, you don't know the context of what happened that night or the context of the community before, and the community after. the fact is -- >> martha: the fact is george zimmerman is a free man and trayvon martin is dead and those are the fact that is we do know, after that the grand jury is going to analyze all of this. thanks you guys for weighing n it's a very hot topekaic. bill: we'll see how it's resolved. there will be a grand jury seated in a couple of days. students protesting, getting a face full of pepper spray. now a new investigation into this matter, and you might be surprised at the reaction

of the students right there. martha: and god bless the usa, maybe one of the most iconic songs celebrating our country. so why is one high school saying its students can't sing it? or couldn't sing all of it? something like that. >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ and i'm proud to be an american. >> ♪ >> ♪ where at least i know i'm free. >> ♪ >> ♪ and i won't forget the man who died, who gave that right to me. >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ careful, pringles are bursting with more flavor. [ crunches ] mmm. ♪ [ male announcer ] pringles... bursting with more flavor. [ crunch! ]

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martha: we've got 24 minutes

past the hour and a judge hearing jerry sandusky's request to have the case against him dismissed against, the korpler -- former football coach faces 52 counts of alleged child sex abuse. more on that late stkpwhraoer the food and drug administration says a new batch of counterfeit cancer drugs have been found in the united states, packaged as the turkish brand of avastin but not approved for use in this country, so heads up if you know anybody that is taking that medication. and north korea leader kim jong-un, visiting his troops amid tensions over his country's planned rocket launch. he ordered forces to bury enemies at sea if they are provoked. bill: back in this country now, 24 minutes past the hour, this is just what a battered housing market does not need, a new tidal wave of foreclosures have be -- could be on the horizon in

2012, five years into the worst crisis in housing since the great depression. charles payne is about us -- with us, bringing the pain. i'm looking for good news. six million behind on mortgage or in foreclosure by the end of last year, 2011, default notices up 1 percent in february from january, which is not a big jump, but if you thought he were w*ep going the other direction, that's a bit surprising, and foreclosure fors rose in 21 states when compared from february to the previous january. how come this stuff is not out of the system charles? >> in part because we've put so many speed bumps in the way, speed bumps that were designed to help prolong this in and the process have made it actually a whole lot worse. here's the thing. the flood gates are going to open up. last year you had the robo signing thing, that put a halt to foreclosure activity. >> on behalf of the banks, so the banks were frozen and

now you're suggesting -- suggesting -- a 25 billion-dollar deal with the government which was so bogus, part is going to bail out states -- that was a -- that was just a bogus thing. it does allow banks to step up the foreclosure process, and i think they are going to do it. but li tell you what, and it might seem mean spirited to some, especially the way the president presents it seems mean spirited but to allow the housing market to go wherever it has to go, to reach the natural bam it's seeking sooner rather than later is the right thing to do and it's going to happen. the good news, it will probably happen over the course of the next year. the bad news is the smoke is going to be smoldering for years. >> bill you got to clear out the pwr-rb before you can build the forest again, which has been the argument for some time. >> people have been in their houses two or three years without paying anything. it could take three years to get somebody booted out. had not, i don't know anyone who stops paying their

mortgage and all of the sudden calls the bank and says listen, i'm going to start paying again. it's tough. we've got almost 10 million homes in shadow inventory, the banks don't want the house, if they could work out -- work out a deal, they would, but the thing is all the programs that were put into place actually did more harm than good. bill: some are suggesting this could be on a worse year than we saw, going back to 1010 and you look at states like massachusetts, north carolina and florida -- >> a lot of states have to go to court and banks don't want to deal with that but even in those states you're going to see a bump you haven't seen before. >> bill: it's remarkable watchings this, we're still ot -- not out of. >> the job market seems to be firmer, you would think people would be buying houses but they know if they wait they can get them cheaper. bill: thank you charles, bringing the pain, he is! martha: thank you charles. all right, a new bombshell in this case we've been telling but of the nfl

cheerleader who back when she was a school teacher is accused of having sex with one of her students of the wait until you hear who showed up in court to support her. bill: did not know! a shocking report on solyndra, raising more concerns about the bottom's handling of your money.

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bill: get this now, fresh off the wire, brand-new polling into "america's newsroom" in what is the most critical state at the moment, that is pennsylvania. rick santorum guaranteed a victory a few days ago on our program. many say he has to drop out if he does not win there. brand-new numbers, 42% support santorum, 38% support mitt romney but now within the margin of error. when voters were given the choice to pick between romney and santorum, santorum led slightly at 54%. if you average all the polls together up until that one came out he had about an eight-point spread. martha: you think about what's happened in the past week or so, very big endorsements for mitt romney. the trio of wins the other night.

that changes the dynamic. 80% in that rasmussen poll say if mitt romney was the candidate they would support him and get behind him. big day in the career of rick santorum to be sure any way we look at it. we want to go to this story overseas right now. there is yet another escalation of the fighting in syria to tell you about. government forces reportedly launching some of the most violent strikes since the part of this uprising. some of these attacks are said to be now happening near the capitol of damascus in areas where we haven't seen it before. leland vittert is live in jerusalem. what is the situation on the gowned there today? >> reporter: it seems like ahead of this april 10th deadline for a ceasefire things are getting much, much worse rather than getting any better. activists on the ground report 50 people killed in the town of homs yesterday as they continue by the syrian government to have a sustained arterial barrage coming in. take a listen.

[sound of gunfire] >> reporter: this is the amateur video coming in from the town of homs. huge plumes of smoke coming up there. the arm th army is using their helicopters to take shots at civilians there and closer to the capitol where bashar al-assad has his power base. there is supposed to be an april 10th cease-fire. you have two things against it, saudi arabia has offered to arm the rebels. they need an awful lot of help. on the flip side, the russians who had been protecting the syrians at u.n. security council have not come out and said there will be any consequences if this plan does not work. so, we may be in another case, martha, where bashar al-assad makes a promise for a cease-fire and still continues killing his

own people with no consequences back to you. martha: unbelievably tragic situation in syria, and a ramp up ahead of the deadline. we'll see what happens, leland, thank you for your reporting. bill: a government's half bill dollar loan to solyndra, a watchdog now finding that the review of the loan was rushed and took a mere 24 hours to finish. another question before congress, did that break the law? texas congressman michael burgess, head of the commerce committee, good morning to you. >> good morning to you. great to be with you this morning, happy easter to you and all of your listeners. bill: thank you very much. what does this report tell you? >> it underscores what we've known really since the very beginning weeks of this investigation a little over a year ago, in that the lower level employees at office management of the budget and department of energy felt pressured by the administration too get this thing done. the reason they felt pressure was because they had a big photo

op coming up with the vice president on a ribbon cutting and subsequently the president taking a trip up to the company as they opened the doors and began production. the press release game the top deal here, not doing the due diligence on a half a billion dollars of taxpayer money. bill: we have a few of department of treasury emails, internal. department of energy says their hands are tied on this issue, they are under pressure to complete a deal. which goes to the point that you were just making. it continues on another email, we pressed on 0 certain issues but the train has really left the station on this deal. and you contend that the rush was already in the process because you needed the photo op, whether that is true or not based on what we are learning right now, was this against the law? >> well, there's two points that are of great concern, this is one of them, and the other was the -- in february of 2011,

subordinating the taxpayer money to venture capitalists who had invested in this as well. both of those skirt very close to violations of existing federal law. and that's really the question that needs to be answered. and the white house has an obligation here to participate in this and make certain that whether it be the treasury ig, whether it be the energy and commerce committee of the yo the united states congress, or the f.b.i. which is doing their own investigation, that they be provided with what they need. this all could have been done months and months ago. bill: you make a good point, also the administration has defended the loan saying it needed the money otherwise it was going under. it went under any way. sir, we'll see where this goes. thank you, congressman for coming in today. and to you and your family a happy and blessed easter

weekend. than that you. >> thank you. martha: shattered dreams is right. the bad housing market begging a really important question, should you be buying or maybe it's time to rent? james rosen looks at the pros and cons of both in part three of the housing crisis. >> reporter: buying a home in most major cities is more affordable than renting one. the open question is whether americans will feel they have the job security they need in order to take the plunge and nudge homeowner stipulate back up to where it was in 2004. zillow.com have found current market conditions exhibiting the most favorable praoeuts to rent ratio in recent memory. they looked at areas last year and found rent prices increasing in 70% of cities where home

prices increased with one tenth of that frequency. median rents rows 3% while home prices fell by nearly 5%. >> credit is harder to get than it was certainly during the bubble. that means even though it might be cheaper to buy than to rent many people aren't even in the position to ask the question of whether to buy or rent. >> reporter: one couple that did find themselves tph-s that position was laura and her husband vincent who recently clinched a deal to purchase a home in northern virginia after five years of renting in which they felt like they had been losing money. >> we both work for the government and we have been working for the government for a while, which we are very appreciative of, because the concerns about having a job taken away, spontaneously without a lot of warning don't apply as much to us. >> reporter: despite the favorable conditions for buying a recent fannie mae survey found 75% of americans calling it,

quote, not at all likely that they'll purchase a home in the next year. martha. martha: that is not good news, james, thank you very much. james rosen in d.c. for more on our special shattered dreams housing series head on over to foxnews.com/shattered dreams. there you can watch any of this week's special reports that you might have missed, and boy this continues to be the underlining story of how difficult things are in our economy, bill. bill: that it does. james is on it in d.c. apparent light did not like a particular word, one single word so the school changed it. now you ask, what is wrong with the song "god bless the usa? ." martha: we will go inside the cockpit as an 80-year-old woman with no flight experience takes control of the airplane. >> okay, we are going to launch another air krafrbgts it will come up and fly right next to you and give you instructions. >> okay, i got it, somebody better get here in a hurry i.

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dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. bill: new audio recordings of an 80-year-old woman and a crisis inside the cockpit. helen collins a soup -pbg the controls after her husband suffered a heart attack. i was flying the plane and another pilot trying to scramble around collins and guide her to the ground in the state of wisconsin. this is part of how it happened, listen. >> what do you mean like pull at the rope. >> i was talking to the people on the ground. >> i've got to land pretty quick, my gas gauge knows nothing. >> we are going to get it on the next time around. you've got to be lined up pretty much with the runway, though. >> power off, power off. okay you're down. great job, helen, great job. bill: a great job for her, but

unfortunately her husband died from a heart attack. she haeufd he saved her own life. martha: she did a remarkable job and the guys talked her into it, and we wish her well. ♪ god bless the usa. ♪ ♪ bill: they could play it for the rest of the show. martha: we could. not if you're massachusetts, bill. a massachusetts school has told kids that they should not sing the word god in that iconic lee greenwood song "god bless the usa." it's kind of integral to the song. instead they said, just said this. we love the usa. many parents were not too happy as you might expect. some though agree that the school principal did the right thing. >> i personally think that shoeufp and state should be separated, howeve church should

be separated, however with god being in that song it has to do with the foundation of our government. i don't think it should be removed from the song any way. >> it's a public school, if you want the word god in a song you can go to a private school. martha: they decided to pull the song all together. enough with all this debate back and forth. no singing in the assembly at all. michael graham is here, a talk show host in boston. good morning, michael. >> thanks nor having me. martha: what do you make of this. >> god bless you and everyone at fox. i didn't think that god bless was a problem. one thing i wanted to dispute with you. there was no debate. nobody came to the school in billingham and said we're offended by god bless the usa. the bureaucrats think that someone might be offended so

they preemptive lee sensor themselves. this is good hold fashioned censorship without any complaints. could we at least ask the people to be offended to get offended first, then we can back down and embarrass ourselves. we jump to the conclusion completely. martha: there is so much fear of litigation and that there will be protests and somebody might complain, so these things fold like a cheap tent at any sign or indication that there might be an issue. let's pull up lee greenwood's quote on this. he wrote the song after that. he says we can't take god out of song, we can't take god out of the pledge of allegiance, we can't take god off the american currency. the phrase god bless the usha as a very important meaning for

those in the military and their families, as well as new citizens coming to our country. >> the notion in intolerant, liberal massachusetts, one thing they can't tolerate is people's differences. this is the place that should welcome it. you remember st. patrick's day? we didn't have it there at our school, we had oh, green day. martha: you did not have oh, green day. >> we had oh green day. martha: are you certificate kwruts? >> st. patrick is a saint, and he's a guy and he's white and from europe, obviously we can't have that. a month earlier we had friendship day, where you used to have st. valentine's day. give me something to tolerate, that's all i'm asking for. martha: let's all admit that it's silly. we have green bagel day. green bagel day on st. patrick shaps day. >> the notion that food gets better when you color the green

i've never understood. i'll just have my regular beer and i'll drink it until i turn green is my strategy. martha: i said don't you want the green bagel on st. patrick's day? not so much, mom i think i'll go with the sesame. bill: san antonio shaun ogreepn was a great man. jenna: i have no way to follow-up on that. very tphaupbee guys. the deadline is looming and we are waiting big news from the justice department, big news in three little pages. the federal judge wants to know in writing if the justice department believes the supreme court has the right to overturn a law. this all ties back to the debate over the healthcare law. we'll be all over it with that breaking news as it comes. there is a brand-new sleeping pill, it's in your drugstores today for the very first time, also out a new study on autism

that may have uncovered a genetic clue to the disorder. experts will weigh in on both of those stories, maybe the green bagels as well, bill, you never who what will come up. bill: i think he's right, with or without the green it tastes the same, all thought it looks worst. see you in ten minutes, jenna. jenna: i'm going to be on the bill-o green show tonight. bill: a cheerleading captain accused of an illegal relationship with one of her students. does prosecutors have a more difficult case because of who showed up in court? martha: i think i do. call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

bill: do prosecutors have a more difficult case now against this nfl cheerleader? she is accused of an

inappropriate relationship with a student while she was a high school teacher. sarah jones in court this week entered a not guilty plea, but her lawyers surprised just about everybody, including the judge, when he dropped this bombshell. >> the alleged victim's family is here supporting these defendants today, urns. i think that would be an unreasonable condition. the families are friends. bill: woe. fox news legal analyst mercedes cowan has been looking into this. good morning. >> good morning, bill. bill: does this change the influence of the law in this case. >> certainly in the sentencing phase. part of the reason, number one he's a minor. the age of consent in ohio is 16 and there is fluctuations about how old he was at the time of the sex-abuse, 15, 16, there is that issue. secondly, you've got a consent issue at hand. secondly, the fact that he's not cooperating, obviously he's supporting her, what the prosecutors can do is put him

under oath, put him on the stand and at that point he's going to risk perjury, because they are going to have salient questions, and unless he wants to say, look it never happened, although there is a lot of extrinsic evidence so far, at lease that is what they're talking about of the sex-abuse. bill: to be clear now, the judge, whether you're in court or not the charge still stands. >> exactly right. bill: it's up for the prosecution to prove it. >> exactly right. bill: in the sentencing phase, let's say there is a conviction in this case, does his presence influence a potential sentence for this cheerleader? >> undoubtedly. that is a great question. you have to look was there a victimization of the individual. if there was a similar myization the charges are greater the sentencing is greater. in this case he's going to stand forward and say, look, i was 16 -- i did consent to this interaction with her. i don't feel at all victimized, in fact i'm a hero amongst my -- who knows, he may say he is a hero with his classmates.

bill: that has nothing to do with law, though, that goes to his character. >> exactly. but they will have to look to see how victimized was he really especially if he's that supportive. bill: it ain't something you see every day, is it? >> isn't that the truth? i've got a high schooler and there are certainly teachers that are out there who are obviously attracted to teenagers, she is one. bill: we'll see what the judge does if anything. we'll take a quick break. back after this. wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. fohalf the calories plus vgie nutrition. could've had a v8.

martha: you've got a little spring in your step today. lots of springy happening. bill: later on tonight i'm doing red eye. i don't think they are prepared for me, just a little warning. martha: i'm sure you'll be shocking to him. i have o'reilly, mr. o-green. bill: you're going to go head-to-head with peter he doo