we saw a tight race shaping up between president obama and mitt romney last week, the two running neck and neck when it comes to head to head matchups, but when it comes to some of the biggest issues driving the 2012 campaign, the president may be in real trouble. especially among those all-important undecided voters. joining me now, doug schoen, a former pollster for president clinton and chris wilson, a republican pollster and be former executive director of the texas republican party. gentlemen, welcome. >> thank you. megyn: we looked at a lot of these polls last week, doug, and a few of them show the president besting mitt romney by six points or so, one of them showed the reverse, romney besting the president. but they're so tight that now analysts are coming forward and saying the mere fact that mitt romney emerging from this bruising primary season in which he was getting attacked by santorum, by gingrich and by the president's surrogates, that he is even within striking distance

of the president says a lot for barack obama's re-election chances. >> well, that's exactly right, megyn. the president, as the real clear politics numbers showed, is below 50%, always a warning sign for the incumbent. his job approval below 50%, and most alarming, about 65, 70% of the country think that it's off on the wrong track, heading in the wrong direction and trailing, as you suggested, on the top two issues of the economy and health care. this is a huge opportunity for governor romney if he can only define a reason why he should be elected or for specific policies and, i dare say, a vision for the future. megyn: chris, let's look at that right track/wrong track number because i know pollsters like you guys whatever your partisan stripes are look at that number. almost 62% of this country believes we are on the wrong track.

32% says right track. why does that not translate into some huge romney lead against president obama? >> well, because obama's the incumbent. he's going to start out with the lead -- megyn: why? 62% believe we're on the wrong track, does that suggest to you that they're blaming the republicans in congress for that wrong track number as well? >> el, i -- well, i think it has yet to be directly translated to the president. i don't see any evidence that it's obama's election to lose. if you go back to 1956, pretty much every presidential election's been decided on the economy, and i think this election will be no different. the numbers point to an election that will be close and to an election that is going to end up being romney's to lose if unemployment numbers stay above 8%. and i think if the unemployment dips below 8%, then obama has more of a chance. if it stays above 3%, i -- 8%, i think obama's in real trouble in november. megyn: what would you predict

based on history, presidents running for a second term six, sec months -- seven months out, what would you expect him to be polling at, what kind of lead would you expect him to have? >> well, given the economic numbers which are really, really challenging, i would expect it to be a close race, you know, within the margin of error which is about where we are. the real answer to the question you asked chris is mitt romney's negative rating exceeds his positive rating by more than 10% which is why governor romney is trailing president obama. megyn: can that be sustained? he just came out of this bruising primary process, so will that be sustained, those negatives? >> the obama campaign will do everything they can to sustain them. i worked for bill clinton in 1996, we sustained a high level of negative for bob dole and ultimately won a nine-point victory. i don't think the obama campaign thinks they can win more than a two or three-point victory, but they're going to make this a comparative race because they know governor romney is really vulnerable. megyn: how big a factor, chris,

is health care? it's been in the news, it's going to be in the news even more come june when we get a ruling from the u.s. supreme court. this is the real clear politics average of all polls, still show that over 51% of those polled want to see this thing repealed. it's not just that they dislike it, they want it repealed. >> well, it's a big reason why republicans did as well as they did in 2010, and you're going to see those same sorts of numbers. this whole idea of a bruising primary, i mean, all primaries are bruising, they never have big hugs, they say bad things about each other. so romney's come out of this, and on election day 90% of republicans are going to vote for romney, 90% of democrats are going to vote for obama. it's going to be the swing voters that are going to make up the election, and they're still upset about health care. if you look at the numbers on health care amongst independents, the fact is they still oppose it.

there's very little evidence that points to likability hag an effect -- having an effect on presidential campaigns. 1992, george h.w. bush was well liked and lost to bill clinton. in 2004 george w. bush was not well liked but won because of the economy. the economy is going to drive the election, it's why bill clinton, as doug mentioned n1996 won re-election because the economy was doing well, it had less to do with dole -- megyn: interesting. like when you think of your ex-boyfriends or in your case the ex-girlfriends you think, you know, she wasn't for me, he wasn't for me, but they're very likable. doesn't mean you want to be with them for another four years. guys, thank you. >> thank. megyn: new reports that president obama is planning to use more executive orders to bypass congress in an attempt to get around republicans who he believes are blocking his agenda. you may remember back in 2008 then-candidate obama railed against that kind of executive power play criticizing president bush for trying to expand the

office of the presidency. >> that's not part of his power. but this is part of the whole theory of george bush that he can make laws as he's going along. i disagree with that, i taught the constitution for ten years, i believe in the constitution, and i will obey the constitution of the united states. we're not going to use end runs around congress, all right? [cheers and applause] megyn: well, times appear to have changed. and the president said to be fed up with republicans in congress unleashed a, quote, we can't wait strategy. but how will that play with voters? coming up in this election sigh l. -- cycle. we will run that by our panel including a former staffer for the bush administration in about 25 minutes right here. fox news alert, we are awaiting the white house briefing as we get new developments on the biggest driver of the national debt. and that is entitlement spending. the annual update on the social security and medicare trust

funds being revealed today. last year there was controversy over how the new health care law might effect those funds, and as you see in these dueling ads -- poor granny really got the short end here -- both sides accuse the other of playing politics and of being prepared to throw granny off the cliff. now we could be getting some real answers. and our chief white house correspondent, ed henry, is live at the white house. glad to see granny appears to be safe, that was just an actress. nana, do not worry. ed, who should be worried? >> reporter: well, megyn, i think clearly this is going to be one of the biggest political issues in the campaign because when these trustees give a preview of where they think the program is heading, what we're hearing is the program may be going broke as early as 2018. that is going to be fodder for conservatives. you've already heard paul ryan of wisconsin, for example, put his budget plan on the table, say that the president has not done enough to save some of these entitlement programs.

what you're going to hear from the left is that this is exaggerated, that these trustees put out these reports every year with gloom and doom, and then medicare never actually goes bankrupt, and i believe the view inside the white house is that conservatives like paul ryan are going to use this trustees' report to try to push through their plan. and you've heard the president accuse paul ryan and other republicans many times before of trying to end medicare as we know it. mitt romney has gotten in on this. he's supportive of the ryan plan, something the obama campaign has gone after. what's really going on here? you mentioned those ads about granny. senior citizens are one of the most important voting blocs, and republicans are going to jump on this trustees' report and say the president has not done enough to save medicare, to help out senior citizens, and you can bet that the democrats are going to be pushing back leading into november and saying that with the president's health care program, he started the ball rolling in changes to medicare and that he's planning to do a lot more, megyn. megyn: very interesting. ed, thank you.

>> reporter: thank you. megyn: fox news alert, we have breaking developments this hour in the case against george zimmerman for second-degree murder. the court now unsealing several documents including a copy of zimmerman's arrest warrant and zimmerman's arrest warrant and will be used as exhibits in the case against him, all this after zimmerman was released on bail last night forcing him into hiding as he awaits trial for the killing of trayvon martin. trace gallagher live in los angeles with more. trace? >> reporter: and we're going through these documents along with you, megyn, they go to george zimmerman's temperament. remember, he was arrested back in july of 2005 for assaulting a police officer. he was sentenced to anger management. his wife recently said, his now-wife recently said he's not an angry guy at all, but if you look now back to 2005, a month after he was arrested for

assaulting a police officer, his then-ex-fiancee asked for a restraining order against george zimmerman saying, and i'm quoting here: i asked for my cell phone back in this confrontation, he said it wasn't mine and pushed me. i told him not to touch me and to give me back my cell. she again asked for a restraining order. the same woman, megyn, if you go back to january 2003 gave this statement to police, again quoting: he popped his excuse me, and i popped it in his face. he called me names and was done with it, but on the way back home he open-handed smacked my mouth and asked how does it feel? the same girl also, apparently, filed another complaint against him the year before that. these are pictures of last night, george zimmerman getting out of jail. you can see for all the attention this case has gotten, there were about five or six photographers outside. none of them yelled any questions to him. he got inside a bmw with another man, drove away and was followed by police officers and the

sheriff's deputies. he will likely be held or be staying outside of florida. he is not to have any contact with the martin family or any witnesses in the case, he is to remain at home from 7:00 at night until 6:00 in the morning, no alcohol, no firearms, and he will wear an electronic bracelet. now, it is still a great deal of reason, um, reaction to the zimmerman case, a lot of this going to what happened on friday. you see him taking the stand there. his lawyer said today that if he felt the martin family was uncomfortable, he never would have put him on the stand, and a lot of reaction to what the investigator said, megyn, saying that he had no proof that george zimmerman actually followed trayvon martin after he was told not to and no evidence as to who threw the first punch in that confrontation. megyn: yeah, on friday that was big news and, you know, widely missed, by the way, as a headline by many people covering this case. trace gallagher, thank you. >> reporter: okay. megyn: new reports show a big,

big drop in donations to the president's re-election campaign there one critical group. can you guess who? lou dobbs is next with that developing story. then, a 6-year-old girl vanishes from her own home. police now saying it could be a kidnapping, we're getting details from a press conference, and we'll bring you up to up-to-date. and former presidential candidate john edwards on trial. ahead, what to expect on the stand including the campaign adviser who turned him in and who may be the star witness. >> this is a man that had the ability and came very close to being one of the, could have been president x. within four months of the iowa caucuses, not only does he have an affair, but he videotapes a special encounter with a pregnant -- the best part of angreat meal?

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of his biggest donors. well, from wall street and hollywood donors to doctors and lawyers, some of the president's most reliable sources may not be delivering the way they did the first time around. in particular, wall street. let's start with bigger number. by the end of march of 2008, president obama -- then-candidate obama -- had raised more than $240 million. same time this year? under $200 million x one group in the particular may be holding back. they're friends of lou dobbs. he's the host of "lou dobbs tonight" on the fox business network. because they're wall street people. and wall street people may not realize this, but wall street tends to be a liberal group. you think they make a bunch of cash, so you naturally think they must be republicans -- >> they get crazy. megyn: it's full of democratic donors, but they're not opening up the coffers this time. >> are well, certainly not yet, and what's interesting in those numbers that you just showed there is, you know, even if they were to contribute at levels

comparable to 2008, the president still would have an immense shortfall. he's off almost 20% in campaign contributions. they contributed in total about $15 million through election day in 2008, they are about $3 million now. megyn: the other thing is just thinking back to those numbers of, you know, from march of 2008, the democratic primary was still going on back then. hillary clinton was still in the race. >> right. it was still a race. megyn: you have to wonder whether the number would have been even higher for him back then if she had been out. >> well, i think that's a fair question. but just taking the numbers as they are, it's clear that he's got a problem that goes well beyond wall street. a significant problem on wall street without question, and that can be laid at the feet of financial reregulation, dodd-frank. but, and also a perceived view that this administration is purely anti-business,

anti-capitalism. megyn: but that's the thing with wall street. here in, you know, new york city, new york state -- >> right. megyn: -- is not going to go red. they are not going to vote for the republican presidential candidate, right? i mean, overall -- >> i think this is where we can say no way in hell. megyn: new york is a blue state, so every single one of them almost can go to the voting box in november, and it's not going to help defeat president obama, but they can withhold their dollars, and they seem to be doing it, lou. >> i think that's exactly right. but i think at the same time that this may be an indication the president has a larger problem even than -- megyn: how so? how does wall street signify anything happening on main street? >> because, you know, extend that attitude from wall street across all of small business in this country, small to medium businesses, i'm talking somewhere from, you know, all of the small mom and pop businesses in the country, the real entrepreneurial start-ups to the companies with 500 employees. that attitude's going to be reflected there, and there's going to be an energy that is in

support of governor romney. certainly, whether one looks at it as opposition to obama or not, it's going to be definitively supportive of romney. megyn: when you look at the overall numbers, the fund raising totals for march, president's campaign pulled in $35 million, romney's campaign $12.6 million. if there's an enthusiasm gap, it doesn't seem to be hurting him that much. >> no, but when you go to the superpacs and the large money, and the romney campaign is pushing donor money toward the superpacs where are it's unlimited contributions, secondly, you're -- at that point you've got a candidate who's vying with three others for money. this now becomes the orient -- the national republican -- megyn: and it's true, santorum didn't drop out until the beginning of april. >> this is the man now, the money is going to start to move behind the program. megyn: i want to talk to you about the group that is opening up their wallets for president obama as they did last time

around, and that is hollywood. when you look at the big bundlers for the president's campaign, you'll recognize a lot of them; george clooney, christian am an pure is a big bundler for obama, so she's a journalist with another cable channel, and look at these folks. george clooney, anna winner annn tour, you know, they profiled her in devil wears prada, vogue, and eva longoria not to mention jeffrey katzenberg who's a big hollywood producer. hollywood loves him, continues to love him. those are huge pockets. >> they're huge pockets, but at the end of the day it's not where it's going to happen. these superpacs are going to have to be driven across all elements of our society and economy. and the president right now has some convincing to do. megyn: lou dobbs, thank you, sir. >> great to be with you. megyn: catch lou on the fox

business network monday through friday, 7 p.m. eastern time. well, president obama today vowed to, quote, stand by israel despite recent suggestions from tel aviv that the obama administration is taking it easy on iran in talks about its nuclear program. coming up, former ambassador john bolton joins us on that news ahead scwhroo. and a close encounter of the cosmic kind, a blast from the sky literally knocking people off their feet in the midwest. up next, we'll show you what happened. >> i woke up with this boom. i thought something fell on our house. >> this fireball streak across the sky, and then it curved down, and it exploded. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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megyn: we are learning more now about a mysterious explosion literally knocking some people off of their feet. the blast of light in the sky over the western u.s. causing a loud boom and a wave of panic leaving some so shaken that they called 911. what happened? trace gallagher has an update live from l.a. trace? >> reporter: and when people saw this fireball striking a-- streaking across the sky, they called 911, and phones lit up. here's kind of a map they pulled, they believe this thing went over 600 miles, over san francisco, up south of reno and then down north of las vegas before kind of making it way back into southern california. take a look at this thing. i mean, this thing flamed across the sky, and experts say it's very unusual for something like this to cause a sonic boom, and they believe the reason it did that is because as it got into the atmosphere, maybe five miles above the ground, that's when it

kind of broke into a bunch of different pieces. and here's some of the people who witnessed it. listen. >> it caught my attention, something -- i looked up because i just saw something bright and white, so it did, it caught my attention. then i saw the colors, and then it just, just left, it just disintegrated right up there. >> never seen anything like that before in my life. it was bigger than a shooting star, and it looked like somebody lit off a roman candle or something. >> reporter: a roman candle. experts say this was a meteor, and they believe it was about the size -- you ready? -- about a washing machine size. i don't know how they got that, but that's science for you. this thing was heading across the sky at upwards of the speed of sound, near 800 miles per hour. i mean, that is one hauling washing machine cruising across the sky. 600 miles before kind of breaking up into pieces, and so far they haven't found, that we've heard of, any of the little pieces of that meteor.

megyn: unless you live in new york city like i do where your washing machine, be you're lucky enough to have one, is about this big. >> reporter: they're much bigger in the west. megyn: they've got to stack them in the closet, and you're one of the privileged few to have a washing machine anywhere near your clothes, most of us just send the laundry out or sit in the landry mat, preferably with a glass of wine. thanks, trace. >> reporter: you bet. megyn: well, coming up, just last week a group of republican senators sued the president claiming that he's violating the constitution. today there's a new report that the president plans more executive orders and executive action like that that is the subject of that lawsuit in the near future. we will investigate that right after this break. plus, a dark cloud hanging over the painter of light. thomas kincaid racked up millions of dollars from malls around the country. now his widow is taking his secret girlfriend to court. that's in today's kelly's court.

and he's accused of using nearly a million dollars in campaign cash to cover up an affair with his mistress. today the criminal trial gets under way for former senator john ed wads, in-- edwards, including his star former aide. >> you have to understand, john edwards is not your average joe. this is one of the most persuasive trial lawyers and politicians around. this guy can sell ice to eskimos. to some people, maybe not to you, but to a lot of people. when he's on. and he's very -- you have to admit, at the minimum, he's very persuasive. >> i was never that impressed. if you're one of those folks who gets heartburn and then treats day after day... well, shoot, that's like checking on your burgers after they're burnt! [ male announcer ] treat your frequent heartburn by blocking the acid with prilosec otc. and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. about providing for his little girl. hey don't worry, e-trade's got a totally new investing dashboard. everything's on one page. i'm watching you. oh yeah? well i'm watching you, watching him.

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megyn: welcome back. 1:32 here in the east. we are track couple of developing stories this hour, including new details on congress, expanding its investigation into the prostitution scandal rocking the secret service. one committee now demanding a minute by minute breakdown of what happened in colombia connecticut senator joe lieberman also promising a broader investigation in the senate. and a rare april snowstorm closing schools in western pennsylvania and upstate new york. it's part of a noreaster. that's brought heavy rains and wind to the entire east coast. this is what happens, you get through almost to the end of spring, you declare victory and bam! mother nature shows you who's boss! >> a break for drivers, the price of gas falling 5 cents in the past two weeks, the national average 3.91 per gallon according to the lundberg survey.

we are getting new information today on what the president may have meant when he broke out one of his campaign slogans, "we can't wait"! according to white house staffers the president plans to step up use of executive powers to get around what he considers a do nothing congress. that is a practice he criticized during campaign 2008. listen: >> that's not part of his power, but this is part of the whole theory of george bush, that he can make laws as he's going along. i disagree with that. i taught the constitution for ten years. i believe in the constitution. i will obey the constitution of the united states. we're not going to use fighting statements as a way of doing our way around congress. megyn: joining me now, brad blakeman, former assistant to george w. bush and dick harpoottlan, thank you very

much for being here. the president was speaking back then when he was campaigning about signing statement, he didn't like those president bush was doing and particularly in the matter of national security and he's done them, brad, and according to an article in the "times" in which they clearly had access to the obama team so it's clear the white house wants this out there. he's prepare to go take more steps to get around this congress that he thinks is obstructionist. is it different from what your guy did? >> it's vastly different. the slogan of we can't wait is a slogan of i don't care, i don't care about equal branches of gornlgt i'm going to do what we want and his slogan now is sue me, that's what we're getting from omabacare and immigration. he appointed 40 czars without senate confirmation and he's ruled by fia through executive order. this president, and he said it quite clearly, if i can't get my way in the congress i'm going to get my way by forcing upon the american people that which congress will not get me in a bill.

it's a dangerous way to proceed, as constitutional scholar, i think he's going to get his head handed tom shortly on omabacare and immigration when the supreme court finally pushes back on the president and says your power is not absolute. megyn: dick, he talked a lot when running for office for respect for the co-equal branches of government and not doing an executive power grab from the white house because it makes people feel like they have no influence over their government. is he now at risk of making people feel that way if he overrules the will of the republican-controlled house, which the people put into place? >> well, the problem hasn't been so much the republican-controlled house. it's the democratic- controlled senate where you have to get 60 votes now to pass anything. majority doesn't rule. this is the craziest thing, and again, it's been both republicans and democrats that have done it. but right now, where this country is so susceptible to economic problems, it is crazy that we have a rule that you've got to get 60

votes to pass something in the senate. now, i might point out, the republicans are pining away for the good old days, no offense, brad, of george w., we had invaded iraq, afghanistan, we're spending trillions of dollars on building other countries up, while the infrastructure of this country went to hell. and what they really want is they want to stop president obama's initiative to move this country forward by any means necessary, because what they want is they want a third term for george w., they're going to call it romney, but bring back george w. and the good old days. megyn: whenever anybody says no offense, offense is certain to follow! it should be the rule. >> of course. megyn: brad, let me ask you, because the president, president obama, not only he doing signing statements which he was critical of president bush on but issued recess appointments when the senate wasn't technically in recess, that's what he's getting sued over, he's done a lot on imlegal

immigration, he's done things for the marriage act as unconstitutional and his justice department won'ting enforcing it. does this have the effect of alienating voters who do believe -- you know, they put those republicans in the house and in the senate for a reason. >> absolutely. and there are co-equal branches of government, whether the president likes to admit it or not. that's what i say, be careful what you wished for mr. president, you forced upon us the stimulus without anybody reading it, you promised to be the most open and transparent president in this history of our country and quite frankly you'll been the mode closed and clandestine and the supreme court in my belief is going to slap down this president on omabacare and likely immigration too and that will be a wake-up call to the american people to just understand how one-sided this president has been. the president of 2008 as a candidate who railed against george wish for some of the behaviors that he claims was not presidential is exactly what this president is doing, and then some, by

ruling by executive order, instead of ruling by the rule of law, and that is, through congress and having a bill come to his desk. megyn: yet dick, there was a big backlash against republicans after they held up raising the debt ceiling after last summer, and the president or his team clearly cooperated with "the new york times" to get this message out, that there will be more executive orders and executive action to get around the congress pursuant to the we can't wait theme, so the white house, i believe it's fair to say, thinks this is a winner for them with the american people. you know, this tax. do you agree? >> well, i agree, absolutely. i think it is a winner, because if anyone -- you talk about poll numbers on president, romney early, look at the poll numbers on congress, 15 percent, 14 percent, the american people are sick and tired of congress not getting anything done so i think this is perfect politically and from a policy standpoint. president obama ought to have an opportunity to get his polices in place, and not have the congress nipping at his heels like

chihuahuas. it's important to understand, let me remind you -- many of the things he's wanted to do, he's not going to get them through because of thericalcy transof a senate that requires 60 votes. we're the supermajority. that's not in the constitution, brad. where did that come from, you got to get 60 votes to get anything done in the senate. >> that rabid chihuahua remark, no offense on that, either! >> i meant to offend! megyn: you should see -- >> thank you. brad, thank you. dick, thank you. they're furn. opening arguments have just started in the corruption trial of john edwards, acued of using campaign cash to cover up an offer and pregnancy of his mistress while running for the president of the united states. up next a former federal prosecutor tells us why this case is anything but cut and dried. >> how about a high speed car chase seen from inside the car? we watched this together, remember, last week? brand new video of this chase in dallas, you saw it live on our broadcast last

week, but this video we're going to show you was recorded by the driver! >> and she vanished from her bed, seemingly without a trace. a six-year-old girl, now police have discovered a clue that could change everything in the search for isabel. >> the family has been cooperating with us, they're currently with detectives at this point, but we're not ruling out anything in this investigation. we just don't have enough definitive information to allow us to do that, either way. i'm a marathon runner,

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and i had a heart attack right out of the clear blue... he was just... "get me an aspirin"... yeah... i knew that i was doing the right thing, when i gave him the bayer. i'm on an aspirin regimen... and i take bayer chewables. [ male announcer ] aspirin is not appropriate for everyone so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. so he's a success story... [ laughs ] he's my success story. [ male announcer ] learn how to protect your heart at i am proheart on facebook. megyn: the criminal trial of former presidential candidate john edwards is underway, he is accused of using nearly a million dollars in what's alleged to be campaign cash to cover up an affair and the pregnancy of his mistress. jonathan serrie is live outside of the u.s. district court in greens borough, north carolina. jonathan. >> reporter: hi megyn. the jury has been seated, clearing the way for opening arts to begin. during those opening statements prosecutors told the jury john edwards is a

master manipulator who knew about the nearly $1,000,000.2 wealthy donors provided to hide his pregnant mistress. prosecutors insisted the funds were campaign contributions designed to preserve edwards' family man image during the 2008 presidential campaign. in opening statements, the defense argued the contributions were merely private money, intended to protect edwards' family from embarrassment by the affair. they claim most of the money which was handled by the man you see in this video, former edwards campaign staffer andrew young helped finance young's new house in chapel hill. the defense, obviously, trying to discredit the testimony of andrew young, who of the key witness for the prosecution in this case. court has broken for lunch but when the trial resumes young is expected to take the witness stand. megyn, back to you. megyn: fascinating. jonathan, thank you. joining me now for more on this, former federal prosecutor and sec

enforcement attorney mark mucasey. i think he set it up very well, the question is were these campaign contributions and did edwards know they were being used by his team to funnel money to his mistress. >> that's exactly right, megyn. this case is being set up by a lot of the critics and the pundits as some sort of a novel legal application of the law. that's really not what it's about. it's about what john edwards knew and it's about whether he intended to circumvent in a secretive way, using a scheme, deceit, fraud, a trick, the federal election commission laws. megyn: because he did not report the million dollars that came from these two donor, he did not report t. so if it was a campaign contribution he violated the law. >> exactly right. he's charged with six counts, potentially 30 years in prison. the first count is a conspiracy to fail to disclose the contributions, and the second is a conspiracy to violate campaign finance law. megyn: but the law says just because edwards is running for office doesn't mean --

he can still get gifts, he can get gifts if he's got wealthy friends but how do you determine whether that's crossed over into a campaign donation you have to report? >> that's why we have a jury, a jury is the judge of the facts. previously, there have been advisory opinions, candidates write to the federal election commission, they want to know, i want to make sure i'm not violating the law. megyn: you mean he didn't do that here? >> apparently not. megyn: shocking! >> surprisingly not. as i said, this is north carolina 90210. mig right, these characters. i want to ask you about this. edwards, he didn't make his case to the federal election commission but he's going to have to make it to the jury and we don't know whether he'll take the stand in his own defense but love him or late him -- hate him he's a persuasive guy and there's a reason he made all that money as a plaintiffs' attorney and politician. andrew young, a star witness against him, sat down with tan me and put it this way in terms of his persuasiveness. listen to this: >> you have to understand, john edwards is not your average joe.

this is one of the most persuasive politician and lawyers around. he can sell ice to eskimos, not to you but to a lot of people, when he's on. you have to admit at a minimum he's very persuasive. >> i was never that impressed. >> isn't that the pot calling the kettle black. this is the guy that stood up in front of the world and said this is my baby. megyn: he claims that edwards' baby with rielle was his baby, to protect his boss. >> that's right, so for andrew young to throw stones at john edwards, that's sort of a strange paradox. megyn: so the jury is not likely to love mr. young but i ask you this, are they likely to love mr. edwards, because as razzle dazzle and he may be they're also going to hear testimony from andrew young like this. listen to this: >> at the end of it, he threw in liz bit is dying of cancer, she's going to die in short order and we need to give the press what they

want, and if they give them a story of two staffers having an affair, they don't care about you, andrew, they care about me, and this will go away if we just give them that story and as soon as elizabeth die, you'll come back to being my righthand man and everything will be fine. >> and you profited off this alleged crime, and you've stood him in front of the world and claimed that this is your baby, megyn: andrew young. >> and you andrew young have very little credibility so if i were the defense, it's like a lion and red meat. megyn: there is no -- the sleaze factor, there's no one left to root for! >> you are a lawyer, so you know the sleaze factor. this is a battle to the bottom. megyn: the defense that edwards seems to be it was a gift and i didn't know about t. people were taking care of it and they love me so they wanted to give gifts galore and the only threen it was being paid and funneled to the miss recent was to protect my family against embarrassment.

in that interview that andrew young gave hannity, it does seem that edwards stood to gain significant embarrassment if this came out, not just because he was having an affair with a woman he got pregnant, on a wife who was dealing with cancer at the time, but it turns out according to andrew young, rielle hunter is a little -- watch! >> she was a polar opposite of elizabeth. she was a new age spiritualist, she truly believed that the baby was the reincarnation of a buddhist monk that had died just before the baby was born and the baby was a combination of the senator's charisma and intellect and her new age spiritualism and was here not just to save the united states but the universe. megyn: does that testimony come into court? >> listen, if rielle hunter takes the stand and apparently she's on the witness list for both the prosecution and the defense, i don't know who wins and i don't know who loses. what i would say is in a

criminal case, it is hard to convince 12 people beyond a reasonable doubt of anything. it's hard to convince 12 people that the sky is blue because sometimes the sky is pink and glai and -- gray and black. megyn: especially when lawyers argue over it. >> and in this case you really have to bs sensitive to the law, the facts, the burden of proof, and if i'm edwards, i'm thinking look, i look awful, this is a terribly toxic kind of case, but the government's witnesses are actually not -- >> megyn: equally awful, yeah. thank you sir, good to see you mark. >> good to see you. megyn: coming up, we are not hearing much from washington about cutting federal spending but we are getting reports about a new tax idea that goes directly after your 401(k) plan. that's coming up.

megyn: an alert for you now, the police have just wrapped up a news con flens the chilling case of a six-year-old girl, snatched from a bedroom in the middle of the night. this time, the little girl is from to hisson, arizona, she was reportedly put to bed by her parents on friday night, by the next monday they say she vanished. trace gallagher has more from the west coast newsroom. >> reporter: this news conference brought out what could be very big informs. the police have notified us they brought in two canines to search that house, one specializes in different subsequents -- scent, the other country a. cadaver dog, the police says one of the dogs did get a hit, but they won't say which one of the dogs. but they are bringing in more fbi agents. listen: >> for that reason we're taking advantage of the offer from the fbi to use the canine team. it's always good to bring in fresh eyes, different perspectives, and to not take an turned that you're the only one who knows how

to do something. >> reporter: again, they did get a hit from one of the dogs. they just won't say which one, after isabel celis was missing, they separated the parents and interviewed them the parents say they put her to bed at 11:00 on friday night, 8:00 the next morning, when they went in to get her, she was missing, the window was pushed in, the blinds pushed to the side and now the police have confirmed that a window screen was also knocked off. the entire neighborhood, as you see there, being canvassed, it was cordoned off for a short time. police have searched -- served two search warrants in the area, though they will not say on who and we checked, megyn, there are 17 sex offenders living within a 3-mile raid us -- radius and as is standard operating procedure they will interview each and every one of those sex offenders as part of the case. isabel has two older brothers who also live in the house with her. the parents also live together, so there's no custody battle that we know

of, evolving in this case, megyn. megyn: that beautiful little girl. it just reminds me of the baby lisa case, trace, where the use of the cadaver dogs in the early hours would have been very useful. it's very important to do that, they say. glad to hear it's been done in this case. trace, thank you. el well, president obama today vowing to stand by israel, despite tel aviv saying the administration is not doing that by giving iran a, quote, freebie in extending talks over its nuclear program. gan bolton joins us with the latest just ahead. >> plus a dark cloud hanging over the painter of light, thomas kincaid racked up millions from malls across the country, now his widow is taking his secret girlfriend to court.

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in red ink by taking a bite out of your retirement nest egg. welcome, everyone, i'm megyn kelly. while we have not heard much talk of spending cuts as of late, reports out of washington today suggest congress is apparently taking a look not only at taxing 401(k) plans, but taking a look at other popular tax breaks as well. also said to be on the potential chopping block, mortgage interest deductions on second homes and benefits you receive from your employer-provided health insurance. chris stirewalt is our fox news digital politics editor and host of "power play" on foxnews.com. chris, wait to make them hate you even more, members of congress. go ahead and tax my 401(k) plan, something that they haven't been touching, but now that's on the table? >> well, sure it's on the table. that number you mentioned, that $16 trillion number, is not something that we have to deal

with this week, but everybody in washington knows, everybody in washington knows that big changes are on the horizon -- megyn: right, we know all that. but 401(k) plans? >> well, look, that's a lot of money, megyn. $16 trillion is great deal of money even by washington standards, and when the bond market and the lenders say this is not sustainable, you've got to do something, measures are going to come into place. now, the fight that's going on in the washington, and this is now playing out between mitt romney and barack obama, but the fight that continues to rage here in washington is when the changes come, will they have more to do with spending and entitlement programs which is what the republicans propose, or as the democrats propose, increasing taxes and one of their key focus points is to raise taxes on investment income. megyn: but they, but -- but they've been talking about the rich. i mean, middle class americans rely on 401(k)s in addition to the so-called rich. and, you know, the new plan it, apparently, it would lower the amount that right now total

employee/employer contributions cannot exceed 50,000. in the proposed change, they're talking about limiting the contributions to 20% of your compensation, and then there's another proposal being discussed that says all tax deductions on your 401(k) would be replaced by credit. people get hinge key when you start talking about fixing the funding problem. >> they favor what they call a fairer, flatter tax plan where you do eliminate loopholes as part of an effort to bring down rates overall. democrats are saying they need to target specific areas of revenue. the president has talked about increasing taxes on dividends, he's talked about increasing capital gains taxes. these are all tax breaks that were put in in bipartisan fashion in the past in order to encourage investment so you could encourage capital growth, encourage job creation overall. that was the old thinking. but as we get closer and closer to the fiscal precipice, there's

more and more talk especially among democrats about taking it to investment income, and that includes the most popular form, and that's the 401(k). megyn: how do you do that politically in the wake of the gsa scandal, let's take that as one, where they waste almost a million dollars of our money so jeff neely can go in the hot tub for a preplanning conference, on scouting trips to the ritz carlton, having $44 breakfasts, the beautiful commemorative coins in the velvet boxes, and then they want to turn around to ma and pa in the middle of america and say jeff spent too much, and so, sorry, but your 401(k) is going to have to make up the difference? >> well, look, if you think that there was outrage over paul ryan's plan that basically takes medicare decades from now and turns it into a privatized system, you think there was outrage over that, wait until you hear if this discussion gets

serious, after two or three decades where americans have been encouraged to take more responsibility for their own retirements and investment if that becomes part of the discussion, you will have a real melee on your hands. megyn: and yet it goes back to the same thing we always talk about when we talk about entitlement reform or whatever you want to call the 401(k) -- that's not necessarily entitlement spending, but people want cuts except if it relates to them. >> right. megyn: the people on social security right now are saying we paid into that fund, don't cut into that. >> and that's really, when you get down to it, what this fall is all about. there's two very starkly different ideas about the way forward for the country, what to do. is it to deal with the spending question, to talk about entitlements in that way, or is it time for a new look at taxes and a new look to move away from the previous two or three decades that encouraged people to sort of go out on their own and take care of themselves in

old age and do that stuff? this is one of the core questions that's going to be resolved this fall. megyn: yeah. i'm one of those americans that never looks at my 401(k) statements when they come, they usually bum me out. [laughter] chris, thank you. >> you bet. megyn: i like to pretend it's money that was never there and will never be there, and if it still is, good for me. a new report from the cato institute is getting a lot of attention today. according to their analysis, welfare spending has jumped sharply in the last three years. $668 billion was spent on anti-poverty programs this year, that's a 41% jump since president obama took office. federal, state and local governments are doling out more than $20,000 for each poor person. that comes to more than $61,000 for family of three. and now to the campaign trail, yeah, i was waiting for my snazzy music, and there it is. new questions today about mitt romney's faith? those questions come as

democratic montana governor brian schweitzer gets attention for remarks he made last week saying, quote, romney will have trouble appealing to the electorate because his father was born on a polygamy commune in mexico. shannon bream life in washington -- live in washington with a look at the role religion will play in the 2012 presidential campaign. hey, shannon. >> reporter: hi, megyn. we wanted to be clear about the governor's opinion. he said this, quote: to retail to hispanic voters, romney would probably be able to discuss the fact that his father was born in mexico, but it's awkward because it requires discussing as well the fact that his father was born into a polygamy colony. standing by that statement. well, here's romney's response. >> my dad's dad was not a polygamist, my dad grew up in a family with a mom and a dad and a few brothers and one sister. >> romney's mormon faith got a lot of attention during the early primary season along with

the fact that another more mormon, jon huntsman, was also running. you may remember some barbs during a gop debate about romney's, quote, magic underwear. two days later he said he regretted the remark, joan walsh also had to apologize after tweeting a swipe about romney and mormon baptisms. ryan clayton tells us all sides are best advised not to go after a candidate's religious beliefs. >> i don't think people should be attacking mitt romney for his faith just like they shouldn't be attacking president obama for his christianity. faith and politics, you mix them together, it can explode in your face. i don't think that's something we should be bringing into a presidential campaign, quite frankly. >> reporter: by the way, there are currently 15 members of congress, democrats and republicans, who identify themself as mormons including senate majority leader harry reid. i reached out to his office and wanted to see if religion has

been a controversy or issue during his campaigns. haven't heard back yet, but we'll let you know if we do. megyn? megyn: shannon, thank you. singer jennifer hudson taking the stand moments ago in a chicago courtroom in the murder trial for the man accused of killing three members of her family. hudson has vowed to attend every day of what is expected to be a four-week trial, her former brother-in-law is accused of killing her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew back in 2008. mike tobin live outside the courthouse in chicago. mike? >> reporter: and jennifer hudson just broke down in tears on the stand when asked about the last time she saw her family before these killings. prior to that, hudson testified that she knew the defendant, william balfour, since they were in grade school together. she didn't like him. no one wanted her sister to marry him because nobody liked the way he treated her or the young nephew.

ballfour lived in the family house. they also established some emotional connections with her mother, how they texted each other every day, she called the 7-year-old nephew her little tug-a-bear. we saw the direction that the defense is taking in this case. we know that a .45 caliber handgun is a key piece of evidence because ballistics have matched it to all three of the murders. now, the public defender, amy thompson, testified today or gave in her opening arguments today a statement that dna taken from are that weapon excludes the defendant in this case. that fingerprints taken from the vehicle in which little julian was found exclude balfour and that no gun powder residue was found on his clothing. instead, the defense is making the argument that jennifer hudson's brother jason was involved in drug dealing, and that was what invited all the violence into the house, megyn. megyn: wow. mike tobin, thank you. well, the obama

administration has made a number of foreign policy apologies in recent months, but the president's former national security adviser says he will not be apologizing for his approach to the iran crisis. and the mounting tension between america and israel. ambassador john bolton on what he says is wrong with that assessment, next. plus, we also have some breaking developments from the zimmerman case as the court posts legal documents just a couple of hours ago, and we get a closer look at the evidence the prosecution will be relying upon in this case. plus, we just moment ago got some breaking news on the fallout for the sanford police department. we'll have those details for you shortly. and it could very well be the next generation of tv news. the car chase from inside the car. trace takes a new look at the high-speed chase you saw here live on our broadcast. >> just kept going. i kept telling him, just stop, just stop, they're going to catch us, so just stop.

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megyn: welcome back, folks. 2:14 here in the east. while president obama was at the holocaust museum this morning vowing to stand by israel no matter what, a washington newspaper was publishing an interview with the president's former national security adviser who was defiantly defending the administration's track record when it comes to israel. that comes just days after new tensions between washington and jerusalem surfaced over the negotiations we are having with iran. joining me now, former u.s. ambassador to the united nations, john bolton, who's a fox news contributor. ambassador, now we have general james jones, jim jones, saying in an interview with the washington times saying that the president, the united states does not need the apologize for anything to israel. is that true? >> well, with all due respect to general jones, this shows just how wide the gap is between the u.s. and israel in current circumstances because this

administration has been more hostile to the state of israel than any other administration since israel was born in 1948 on issue after issue, particularly on iran where for the last three-plus years little or nothing has been done to slow down iran's progress. megyn: but in what way? the administration says they have these incredibly tough economic sanctions on iran, and not only that, they talk about the weapons support we've given to israel and other support and aid that we have provided to israel over the past three years. >> well, i think this is a case of political spin rather than substance. it's true that arms sales to israel have increased in the past three years following a glide path they've been on for the last ten years. in other words, this is continuing what was already in the pipeline when obama was sworn in. had mccain been sworn in, almost certainly the same thing would have happened. but specifically on iran, the administration's own director of

national intelligence, general clapper, said about two-and-a-half months ago that the existing sanctions -- his words -- it had no impact on iran's behavior or policies when it came to the nuclear program. so there are new sanctions in effect, but for ten years we've heard people say these sanctions will make the difference. no evidence that's going to happen. megyn: you know president obama was and is in a difficult position when it comes the doing anything militarily, especially with a country like iran given what happened with president bush, iraq and afghanistan, and so on, so talks are the way he's chosen to go for now. had the first round in istanbul, the next round coming up late may. now we have an iranian foreign minister saying he's optimistic, the iranians are optimistic about the talks. what does that tell you in. >> if i were an iranian leader, i'd be optimistic too. i think what will happen at the baghdad meeting in may is iran will come with some proposal that looks transparent, it looks like a concession, it looks like a potential to talk compromise, and they'll float it out, and not much progress will be made.

but the negotiators will conclude we need another meeting, probably in another month somewhere else. that's what the iranians have done successfully these last ten years every time we've been in negotiations. they're doing the same thing. the administration's falling for the same ruse, and this allows iran to get closer to its goal of nuclear weapons. megyn: the president gave remarks this morning at the holocaust museum. last week benjamin netanyahu came under fire in discussing the potential fallout from iran having a nuclear weapon, that's how serious israel takes this prospect. i think americans, you know, they're concerned about it, but i don't know that they're watching it that closely and at that level thinking another holocaust could be about to occur. does he overstate the case? >> no. i think, actually, it was prime minister ariel sharon who first used the term nuclear holocaust to describe what he feared would come if iran did get nuclear weapons. and i think from israel's perspective, it's a small

country. if iran has half a dozen nuclear weapons, that would be enough to destroy israel. so i think the concern is very real. especially since the iranian leadership has been unambiguous that they want to see israel wiped off the map. megyn: is there any chance, any chance at all that we actually are working with israel right now, we're biding our time with iran, and israel's going to the go ahead and bomb iran during these next fife weeks or -- five weeks or in the short period thereafter? >> i don't know what israel's going to do, there is zero chance we are cooperating with israel on a kind of good cop/bad cop scenario. identify never seen relations between the two capitals this bad, and i think understandably given the hostility that the obama administration has displayed. you know, words about how we've got your back and this and that, that's all very well, but we're not talking about political hype and spin here. we're talking about a matter of physics, and the physics is that iran's uranium enrichment centrifuges continue to spin, they continue to build up their

supply of low-enriched uranium, they continue to make broad progress across the entire nuclear fuel cycle in iran, and that means they're developing a capacity for nuclear weapons which will be a threat not just to israel, to our arab friends in the region and, ultimately, worldwide to us. megyn: you think about it, you think about how would we feel if al-qaeda got their hands on a nuclear weapon. but some say, look, this is different, this is iran. it's a government. it has a will to live and survive and people that it needs to protect. how would it be so reckless. >> well, if you look forward to life in the hereafter more than you look forward to life on earth, it's pretty hard to deter you in the way we've come to understand concepts of deterrents, and this regime is fanatic in a number of respects. i don't think that we or anybody else ought to live at the mercy of religious fanatics with their fingers on the nuclear button. megyn: it's a disturbing image. john bolton, thank you, sir. >> thank you. megyn: we are seeing new suggestions and new evidence today that some democrats in

congress may be either losing faith in this president or at least moving away from his politically. our panel will look at the evidence of that. plus, court documents just released in the george zimmerman case are giving us a better look at some of the prosecution's evidence, and we are getting breaking news on the fallout now for the sanford police department, a news wire just in. we'll update you. and up next after this break, we will put you in the front seat of a car chase that you watched from the exterior right here on "america live." the front seat of the car being chased. now we have video. you will not believe this. there may be a baby or a young child in the car who could belong to one or both of the people who are driving and as passengers in that car. we are told that the girlfriend in the car is in, quote, obvious distress, we are told that the s.w.a.t. team is following him up to eight vehicles, they are hanging back for now deciding on their plan of action. [ male announcer ] this is coach parker...

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megyn: we continue to watch this car chase in and around dallas, texas. as you can see, a red explorer now taking police on what is almost an hourlong car chase. well, it's the car chase you saw live right here on "america live" on thursday. what cops were calling a potential kidnapping case. the driver was heavily armed, reports of a hostage inside, maybe even at the time we were told a child -- turned out not to be true. and now in what could be a tv first, we are seeing what was going on inside the car as we were all watching it from outside the car. trace gallagher, we missed you that day. it's not the same, these car chases, without you or shepherd -- >> i don't like being out. megyn: have you ever seen this, the video inside the car? >> look, i've never seen this,

we've covered a lot of these things, went on for more than an hour, went through suburbs, back in downtown dallas. the woman who was actually in the car, it turned out to be his girlfriend, the mother of one of his five children. she says that initially he stopped, and then he decided to take off again. listen to her. >> just kept going. i kept telling him, just stop, just stop. they're going to catch im, -- u, just stop. he said, i'm dirty, i'm gone for life. >> and because he realized he was going for a very long time, he took out his cell phone, and during the chase he made a video to all the women he has children with -- megyn: no, he did not. >> reporter: he did, to all five of them, pleading for them to take care of his kids. it was kind of profanity-laced. helicopter is above, listen to the cleanest part we found. >> y'all take care of my kids.

[bleep] >> reporter: the girlfriend said that after he made the video, he wanted to stop, but he was afraid, and so he called police on the cell phone and talked to them. here's the girlfriend again. >> he was scared that the police was going to beat both of us up, and he didn't want that to happen, that's why he didn't want to stop with just police behind us, he wanted to stop in front of a lot of people. i was telling him, hey, the news is above us, we're on camera. >> reporter: the news is above you -- megyn: who says chivalry is dead? [laughter] >> reporter: look, i've got to tell you, megyn, i don't like being off during car chases -- megyn: you should have called in. >> reporter: it was more fun watching you. you were great at it, are you kidding me? it was an awesome hour of television. that was so cool. megyn: you know what, though? this guy has raised the bar. next time i'm going to be like,

where's the driver, trace? get the phone number, get him on the phone right now. maybe he's got a message for the other ladies out there. >> reporter: gotta be something. that is smooth -- megyn: i'm doing this for you, honey. i swear, i'm doing this for you. [laughter] >> reporter: yeah. take care of my kids. megyn: see ya, trace. unbelievable. coming up soon, court documents were just released in the trayvon martin shooting case. we've taken a look at them now, we'll bring you a debate on what this means for the defendant, george zimmerman, and breaking news on what's happened at the sanford police department on this case. plus, right after the break, the health care overhaul law, the centerpiece of the president's domestic agenda, also set off protests all across this country. and now some top democrats appear to be distancing themselves from the law. what does that mean for the upcoming election? and for the party as a whole. our panel weighs in on that next.

megyn: welcome back, folks. 2:32 here in the east, and we are getting good news today from the car industry, sort of. general motors planning to add 600 new dealerships this year in china! gm seeing high profits recently after getting billions in taxpayer bailout funds. as of january, gm still owed uncle sam about $2 billion of the $23 billion originally

borrowed. back home, a new study showing one in two new college grads are unemployed or underemployed, a weak job market forcing many to accept lower-wage jobs. new questions today about whether democrats are losing faith in the president. the party took a beating, as you know, in the 2010 midterm elections, and in the last week we have seen a number of democrats in congress distancing themselves from president obama on the health care reform law. which, of course, has become a key issue in the 2012 race and is also his signature legislative achievement. joining me now, bernard whetman, a former pollster, simon constable is a clippist for "the wall street journal", and kevin mccullough is the author of "no, he can't." all right, guys, this is -- there are just a couple of examples out there, but there are significant ones.

democrats appearing to get more vocal about how they dislike the health care law or how they think it was a mistake to do it when it was done and the keystone oil pipeline which got 69 democrats voting with the republicans on it last week leading a lot of folks to say what's happening here in we had barney frank come out and criticize the health care law, then this happens on keystone. bernard, do you see this as a problem for president obama? >> i really don't. most of the democrats that have come out against the president are individuals, actually, who aren't running this year. but i will say this, it is no surprise that democrats, particularly in states like virginia and west virginia, more conservative democrats in conservative states are seeking to protect their flank, and i think that's fine because the democratic party, quite frankly, is strong enough to be able to accept ideology across a centrist divide, and i think the health care law is one that does need some improvement, and the fact that people are coming out and suggesting alternatives where the law will have to be modified going forward is absolutely fine.

the party is strong enough to withstand that, and at the end of the day if democrats feel they have to move to the right in order to get re-electioned and strengthen the democrat majority in congress and allow for obama's second term to be a huge success, i'm all in favor -- megyn: but does it mean when you have outgoing members of congress taking shots at, for example, the health care law, does it mean they are trying to bring in independents, or they believe they are speaking the truth because they have more political stakes? >> maybe they're just frustrated. the elephant in the room, whatever you want to call it, is the economy. the economy is in terrible shape still. and i think, you know, if economy was in good shape and this was like, okay, you know, it wasn't the perfect legislation like you said, it could be improved upon, i don't think anyone would be pointing fingers at president obama. i really think it's the economy -- megyn: well, that's because you've got the example of north carolina's brad miller who's now saying, quote, we would all have been better off if congress had dealt with more pressing issues and then came back to health care. barney frank coming out and

saying, kevin, democrats paid a terrible price for health care. jim webb, you mentioned, said this will be obama's biggest downside, it cost him a lot of credibility -- >> yeah, it's not just people who aren't running, it's people like elizabeth warren who are trying to take a seat away from a republican in massachusetts who are saying at least portions have to be repealed. and a lot of people, megyn, are admitting we did this all backwards. if we were going to do health care, we should have done the economy first. it makes common sense. you fix the economy, you get people working, suddenly, some people have more cash in their pocket to solve their own health care problem. if you don't address the economy and change the jobs picture, the health care situation only gets worse, and as we have gone to an implementation of obamacare, you have seen a greater stress now on the small business community which is necessary to build the new jobs. so it's completely backwards, and it's not, it's not unreasonable -- megyn: we still have the numbers on those, 51 her plus percent of

americans favor repeal of the law, 51-plus favor repeal of the health care law. here we are more than two years later. bernard, let's talk about keystone oil pipeline. the republicans tried to force a start on the construction of the bill -- of the keystone oil pipeline last week, and 69 democrats voted for it in the house. they say that they are within one or two votes of getting it done in the senate as well. if democrats in the congress reject the president's approach on keystone, what does that say to the president, and what does it say to the american people? >> well, what i think it shows is terrible frustration over rising gas prices. but the real fault of gas prices shows quite cleary that three times as many people blame the oil companies and middle east nations for driving up gas prices rather than the president. but what i think the president has said all along is he is not opposed to keystone. he was opposed to fast tracking it before the necessary studies were taking place and didn't want to do it in an election

year and use election year politics to play games with the nation's energy policies. i don't think we should do that -- megyn: he postponed it until after the election. >> that's right. >> that's funny. the real issue here is that a leader has followers. that's the definition of a leader, if they have enough followers, they're a big leader. people aren't following him on that issue, and they're less and less following him on the health care issue, and they're certainly not following him on the economy. megyn: why? remember in the leadup to the health care debate, and nancy pelosi said, look, you know, she suggested some people are going to lose their jobs in congress, but you've got to do the right thing. it can't be all about your re-election battle. that's really paraphrased, but that seemed to be the essence of what she was saying, and then we know happened in the 2010 elections. >> well, i don't think they want to. megyn: you think now there may have been a change of heart. >> i think the definition used in the military was would you go into battle behind this person thinking you had a reasonable

chance of coming out alive, and would you go into the election thinking you had a reasonable chance of getting reelected? >> it's ironic that people like governor manchin in west virginia are looking at re-election, and they're -- megyn: now he's senator. >> we can't do it attached to the top of the ticket. it is presenting a unique problem. bernard's right, in particularly red states where democrats are holding seats that maybe are representative with social values kind of representative in the culture but not necessarily buying into big government issues like obamacare or even energy solutions, you've got this, like, identity crisis. and manchin's saying, look, i have to get reelected in order to continue to do my job. axlerod's trying to ding him for it, but he's being a good politician. >> with all due respect, simon, the mark of a true leader is, in fact, working on the number one job in the country, and that is the economy and creating jobs. we've had 25 straight months of job growth under this president

versus 2.6 million jobs lost under the previous president. we are making strides forward. the issue this election will be decided on the issue of the economy, and i think the president has shown great leadership there. we still need to do more, but to switch directions now when the economy is finally starting to gather a head of steam is something that most independents and certainly democrats are going to oppose. >> polls don't agree with that. >> similarly aren't enough jobs. it's barely enough to keep up with population growth. that's the problem. we need many, many, many -- megyn: but they see the number going down. we were almost at 10%, they see that number going down. >> yeah, because fewer workers in the work force. they drop out of accounting once they've been out of work for so long, and if we had the same employable forces we did in 2009, we would have an unemployment rate close to 12%. megyn: people feel the economy, right? in a fundamental way. it's interesting that it's keystone and health care that are really, that we're seeing more democrats jump ship on because those are emotional

issues. immigration, too, for that matter. and energy people get very fired up about this. >> they won't. if gas goes down to $3 a gallon or $2.50, they'll get less fired up. >> and the democrats will come back onboard? >> perhaps. depends on if it solves their election problem. if you've got a car, and i don't have a car, but it's just like a slap in the face. i mean, i know people have to fill up, and they're like uh -- megyn: so here's my question though, so if gas goes away as an issue because it's been coming down -- >> then it's just the economy. megyn: if gas goes away and health care goes away, let's say the supreme court strikes it down. then is president obama back in business -- >> at the end of the day either if neither of these issues goes away, the election will be decided on the issue of the economy. i looked at investment class, we've had the best first quarter in years and years whether you measure through the dow, the

nasdaq. the fact that the investing class has confidence in the growth of this economy suggests better days are ahead, policies are beginning to actually gain traction, and i think now would be the time to get behind the president rather than move to someone who clearly has never been tested as a chief executive. >> small businesses don't feel that way. the power of looming tax increases and obamacare still hangs over our heads as small business owners, and until that goes away, jobs won't.com -- won't come back. megyn: gentlemen, thank you all so much. coming up, court documents in the george zimmerman case giving us a better look at the prosecution's ed. plus, breaking news on the fallout from the sanford police department, that's right after the break. plus, his high life brought low. former governor rod blagojevich's life behind bars, a far cry -- >> all things considered, he looked good. he's still got a head full of hair.

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peg meg kelly's court is back in session, and joining me now to discuss it in moments you'll see our team. new legal documents just posted online in the george zimmerman case of second-degree murder. first, however, the wire services right now are reporting that the police chief in sanford, florida, bill lee, is gone. recall, he temporarily stepped down when this case first got taken away and assigned to a special prosecutor. well, now, he's gone. there's a special city commission meeting this afternoon to formalize his resignation. again, he first stepped down back in march after the controversy over the no arrest decision was, first came to light. we're also getting new documents about george zimmerman just hours after he was released on bail, and they give us a closer

look at the prosecution's likely case against him. zimmerman's past arrest for assault. joining me no to discuss it, kimberly guilfoyle and fox news legal analyst, and mark ieg lahr,. so it appears that they have posted online a couple of the arrest documents and supporting evidence that was used back in 2005 against george zimmerman when he had a dust-up with his girlfriend, with his then-girlfriend, kimberly. my question to you is, what was her beef? what did we learn, and is this going to come into evidence against george zimmerman in this trial? >> if you do a comprehensive search into george zimmerman's criminal history and the background, there was this complaint filed against him, and a restraining order was requested by his fiancee against mr. zimmerman. there was a couple incidents where, in fact, she said he had assaulted her, but he also said she hit him as well, so that's one of the allegations was an

open-hand smack, there was another situation where he said that he had some scratches on his face, he said from his fiancee, she said it was from her dog. so clearly there was a pattern in this relationship of some problems and strife, but it didn't seem there were any criminal charges that came forward from it, but merely a protection order. megyn: they woapped -- wound up both getting restraining orders -- >> yeah, objection. [laughter] megyn: stand by, counselor. i want to show what the documents allege, this is her allegations back in january 2003, i think, is the first one where she says we were on our way to counseling -- do we have this one? we were on our way to counseling, and he popped his gum, and i popped it in his face. he called me names and was done with it. on the way back home, he open-handed smacked my mouth and asked, how does it feel? and then in august 2005 -- this is the same woman, i believe -- i asked for my cell phone back, he said it wasn't mine and pushed me.

i told him not to touch me and give me back my cell, it became a pushing match. last but not least, mark, she alleges in her injunction he was sexually groping me and said i could because i was his woman. i told him to leave me alone, he picked me up and threw me on the bed. he grabbed me again, i turned around and smacked him, then he got up and left for the night. your thoughts? >> yeah. the court of public opinion because there's no rules of law at all can analyze this and choose to give it whatever meaning it wants. in a court of law, objection, relevance. >> right. >> it doesn't come in, whatever probative value, i think it's as useless as the g in lasagna. megyn: but they mentioned it at the hearing the other day. >> right. megyn: what is the g doing in there? >> it has no place in it. megyn: neither grapes, nor nuts. >> here's the deal, that came in because they were trying to talk about whether this is a person who presents a risk to the public safety, is he a viability

individual, does he have a propensity towards violence, and they're looking at a history of domestic violence, whether mutual or not, therefore, he's a danger to society and given these charges, he should be kept incarcerated or have an appropriate amount of bail. mark's right, it's not coming into the trial as other evidence because it is too prejudicial. what does it have to do with what happened that night? it would prejudice the jury, it could affect an out i don't mean, and it would -- outcome. megyn: you can't just go with allegations, the ex-girlfriend saying this. it would be one thing if he had shot another person on a neighborhood watch, maybe a pattern -- >> or a girlfriend. >> i still think that wouldn't come in, but, you know -- megyn: okay. it doesn't exist, that's that. listen, i want to ask you about this sanford police chief now, he's out. he's officially out. is that the right move, mark? >> you know, it all depends on what the facts are. i still don't know what happened here. did the police come to their own

conclusion that zimmerman should be arrested, and did they contact the state attorney's office? and if state attorney's office told them, you know what? don't bring charges, why is this guy the fall guy? >> right. megyn, he's right. megyn: go ahead. >> scapegoat, and you need the g in this one. this guy is really taking it for the team, i don't know what, but it seems unfair. a little bit of a rush to judgment. there was a lot of panic and hysteria on issues of was this a racial situation, a white police chief, you know, everyone's thinking that, that that was the situation and did he not do a decline to press the charges, but mark's right, if he brought it to the office of the prosecutor, it's on them. megyn: well, it's very interesting now that more evidence has come out to justify their decision for not charging -- >> exactly. megyn: gotta go, we'll be right back. thank you, panel. >> all right.

megyn: news for all you fish lovers out there, grill your server before you order your favorite seafood at your next restaurant business. you may not be getting the fish you are paying for. william la jeunesse live in california. william? >> reporter: how can you tell the difference between this snapper and tilapia? a sole and a sea bass or atous and a salmon? most of us can't. >> what we found was quite alarming. more than half of the seafood that we sampled from restaurants, sushi bars and grocery stores were mislabeled, substituting one species of fish for another. >> reporter: experts recommend eating seafood twice a week, but a new report says we're getting scammed. >> i think it's dishonesty. people are looking to profit at the expense of the unknowledgeable consumer. >> reporter: a report by oceana tested sea seafood around

los angeles and found consumers buying one fish but getting another. >> does a volkswagen drive like a cadillac? no, it doesn't. >> reporter: tilapia or rock fish for snapper, perch or pollic for grouper. catfish for doer sole and flounder or sea bass for hall hi butt. >> it doesn't start with the fishery and the fisherman and those that are trying to make their living from the oceans, but it's usually somewhere towards the end of that chain that is seeing an opportunity to take a product similar to another product and repackage it. >> reporter: santa monica seafood credited a fish to port tracking system. oceana recommends a similar federal paper trail for all seafood sold in the u.s. from trawler to table. >> we sort of have a patchwork of enforcement in the regulations, and none of it is really up to the level that we think is needed.

>> reporter: at 74 retailers, 100% of the snapper wasn't, even at sushi restaurants, megyn, 87% of the time it was wrong. the advice? educate yourself and ask questions. back to you. megyn: or just say no altogether. like those of us who don't eat fish at all. william, thank you. red snapper is the grossest looking one, at least in the grocery store. we'll be right back! ♪ [ male announcer ] want your weeds to hit the road? hit 'em, with roundup extended control. one application kills weeds, and stops new ones for up to four months. roundup extended control.

: >>megyn: one of our producers sent me a picture of a monk fish which could be the ugliest fish i have laid my eyes on. >>shepard: the president is reportedly expanding his executive pow 24 pass an agenda in the face of the divided congress, and