serious health matter involving a passenger traveling to the u.s. out of africa with mysterious and possibly contagious condition. new details. good morning. welcome to the end. week. i'm bill hemmer. how are you doing? martha: i'm feeling great. we have a lot to talk about this morning. i'm martha maccallum. cdc officials come on the plane wearing gloves and surgical masks. that is not confidence inspiring feeling. they came on the plane and examined the passengers. they look at this person supposedly infected with monkey pox is the concern. here are many so. passengers quarantined during all this. >> initially everyone was covering their mouths to make sure they're not breathing something weird. >> on a teeny, tiny plane next to each other and the guy is coughing. bill: anna kooiman says it was all a misunderstanding. what happened here? >> reporter: once the pilot announced public health officials were onboard the plane, passengers began panicking and pulled their

shrs shirts over their places but fortunately it was false alarm. the plane from detroit landed on runway. they took charge over concerns a minnesota woman had monkey pox. the 50-year-old had been in uganda finalizing adoption process for two children. one of the kids were taken to the hospital after breaking out in pimple-like source. she suffered from unrelated rash. she called her brother in layover in detroit to explain everything. her mother got the stories mixed up and called a local hospital how to treat the ailment. the hospital notify authorities. tension built among passengers and they took a picture of her rash and sent it to health officials. >> we're going to wikipedia trying to find out what is in uganda. we're reading ebola virus and smallpox. >> they said it was bug bites but they wanted to

make sure it was completely safe for us to leave. >> reporter: passengers remained on board the quarantined flight for about three hours. the plane was notketed to the gate but sat on the tarmac. operations at the rest of the airport continued as usual, bill. bill: the cdc says what about the woman's condition, anna? >> reporter: the cdc cleared her after 6:00 last night after determining her rash was likely indeed from bedbugs. bill: all clear was given. thank you, anna. a bit of a context. martha: not that bedbugs are a big relief exactly, right? look at cdc's role in responding to health scares like this. u.s. quarantine stations are located at 20 ports of entry and land border crossings where international travelers arrive in this country. the cdc has the authority to detain any person that has certain infectious diseases. the number of stations has increased due to bio

concerns and the like. bill: new yorkers are about to see something they see every day or perhaps ever again. the mother of america's space shuttles right above the skyscrapers and statue of liberty about. you will see it live here in "america's newsroom." hear is the enterprise to embark on the tour in new york as it finds a new home in back of a jumbo 747. always a sight to see. after the fly-by the jet lands at jfk. in the summertime it will move to the permanent home of the intrepid, the air and sea museum on the hudson. martha: can't wait for that. there are new calls for independent investigation into the secret service scandal, following revelations of a similar incident that happened in el salvador last year. iowa senator chuck grassley telling reporters that it is time he believes for an inspector general to get his hands on the whole situation and look into the behavior of our secret service

agents. grassley argues that the nation deserves to know what the agents are doing when they are on official duty. the scandal broke of course on april 13th on first reports that some agent brought prostitutes back to their hotel rooms in colombia ahead of the president's trip there. the top republican in washington is now blasting president obama for playing politics with the student loan issue, all on the taxpayer's dime he says. here is house speaker john boehner. >> so the if the -- president to make a campaign issue out of this and then, to travel to three battleground states and go to three large college campuses on taxpayer's money to try to make this a political issue is pathetic. his campaign ought to be reimbursing the treasury for cost of this trip. these are the types of political stunts and frankly, they aren't worth it and

worthy of his office. this is a biggest job in the world. and i've never seen a president make it smaller. the president keeps attempting to invent these fake fights because he doesn't have a record of success or a positive agenda for our country. it's as simple as this. the emperor has no clothes. martha: wow!. very strong words from john boehner. saying that the president has made the job smaller of the presidency. juan williams joins me. fox nug political analyst. what is your reaction to what john boehner said there? >> i think presidents all along have used power of incumbency, bully pulpit, martha, and used air force one as part of that pulpit to talk to people but the president's actions this week raised eyes even among his supporters. exactly how are you justifying these trips? it looks purely political. of course what john boehner said about raising issue of student loans i don't know

that is necessarily a fake issue. obviously mitt romney and other republicans have been sensitive to the potential increase in interest rates for student loans, now the largest pot of loans in the country. but the idea that he is reaching out to youth votes it seems to me unquestionable. president obama won about 2/3 of the youth vote in '08 against john mccain. his biggest problem coming into this election year to stir that youth vote and try to pump up, now about 35% of young people 18 to 29 say they intend to vote. he needs that number to more than double. martha: that hits the nail on the head, juan. the biggest question, as you say all the presidents use bully pulpit and air force one. he says it is a fake fight because republicans are on the same page in this issue. everybody does not want to see those loan interest rates go up for these students right now. so he is saying, why go out there and talk about the student loan issue when it is not even a real fight going on in washington?

why not for example, take on the $15 trillion debt. why not talk about the things like "buffett rule" in this capacity which would do limited amounts of effect on the overall debt? is that a valid point? >> it is all politics. even if he wanted to argue the buffett rule, there are lots of people who disagree with him on that. on the debt that is serious issue and i don't see the president taking much initiative there. people who do take an issue often get their political he can ins chopped off as we see from paul ryan. martha: yeah. >> to come back to your point about republicans agreeing on interest rates on student loans i think the president makes the case there he raised the profile. he is forcing the issue. he can make that case. martha, if he could have done that in the white house. i guess he wants to play politics here. that is the real issue. are these trips politically trips or are they for the people's business? it looks to everybody like he's crossed some very thin line. i say it is not

unprecedented for the president to use the bully pulpit but you have to some justification for going out there around then having that as an addendum to your, you know, official business, not just as a purely political trip and i think that is what is causing people to raise their eyebrows, left-wing, right ink with, whoever you are. martha: very quick question because i've got to go. michelle obama's trip according to judicial watch to spain couple years ago with girlfriend and their daughters $467,000 is the estimate. they say this group took them two years to get the data on the white house, get this disclosed. is this an issue? >> i don't think it is going to be an issue, but all first families, they take trips, the wives, kids, everybody. i think this is something that will blow away. the fact is that they tried to cover it up, they tried to, they tried to deny judicial watch the information because they knew it would be used for political purposes, doesn't look good on the white house. but i got to say, all first families try to keep everything about the wives

and kids private. martha: juan, good to see you as always. have a good weekend. see you soon. >> you too. bill: breaking news. fox news alert. new data just in on the gross domestic product, the gdp a key indicator of our overall health. commerce department says growth slowing to a crawl, right around 2%. stuart varney, fbn. good morning. that is not good. >> no, it is very disappointing. as you said, bill, at end of last year we had 3% growth for the economy. now we're down to 2.2%. that is a clear downtrend for the overall economy which again is clearly weakening. what does this mean for the future? in the immediate future, for the rest of this year it means we're probably going to accumulate more debt, a slowing economy, means more red ink in washington. might mean a rise in the unemployment rate, unless we get millions of people dropping out of the workforce, a slowing economy, probably means a higher unemployment rate.

bill: what do we need for growth, stuart, if it is 2.2? >> 3.5%, thereabouts. you need 3 1/2% growth as opposed to the 2.2 we've got if you want to hold the unemployment rate dead stable. the wildcard is this the number of people in the workforce. if you got millions of them, dropping out, as we have in the last three years, then the unemployment rate comes down. if millions more drop out in year, the rate will come down some more. if that working population stays stable, and the economy slows, doesn't get anywhere near three 1/2% that rate will go up. bill: stuart, thank you. see you five minutes, fbn okay. got to turn that number, huh? turn at that beat around as we say around here. martha: turn that beat around what we say all the time around here. a tough number if the economy is slowing down we have another problem on our hands because it is supposed to be heading in the other direction. here are other stories we're following for you. there are fireworks in the john edwards trial.

the prosecution questioning now their key witness in all of this. bill: also new fallout involving an epa agent official calling for oil and gas companies to be quote, crucified. we'll talk to the senator now calling for an investigation into that comments. where will that lead him? martha: deadline for eric holder. republican lawmakers say hand over what you know about "fast and furious" by memorial day, or else. >> unless they want to sell paper clips or scrap metal to raise money for the department of justice, there will be many amendments gutting appropriations for his department if he keeps playing this game. from around the world...

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i was afraid you'd have some cut-rate policy. [ kyle ] nope, i've got... [ kyle with voice of dennis ] ...the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance -- and you still get an allstate agent. i too have...[ roger with voice of dennis ]...allstate. [ roger ] same agent and everything. [ kyle ] it's like we're connected. no we're not. yeah, we are. no...we're not. ♪ the allstate value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. martha: fox news alert right now. there are reports of a possible hostage situation ongoing in london right now. here's what we know. the police say there may be a man holding hostages inside the office building that you see at the center of this screen. the witnesses say they saw gas canisters or possibly a

bomb strapped to his body. the incident has sparked a shutdown and a evacuation of that city block in london. we've got close watch on all of this. we'll get back there as necessary. bill: the showdown over "fast and furious" now set to reach a critical point. republicans say in the house say they will file a contempt order against eric holder if he does not comply with their demands within one month. >> the before memorial day eric holder will either comply or he will suffer consequences and when i say consequences i mean contempt of con aggression. bill: congressman jason chaffetz on the house oversight committee. welcome back and good morning to you. >> thanks, bill. bill: what do you think eric holder is hiding? >> we don't know. we have 80,000 documents which they only given us 7,000. we have issued a subpoena. we bent over backwards to be patient and take time. you have a dead u.s. border patrol agents. you have thousands of

weapons knowingly given out by the department of justice to the bad guys. we gave them to the criminals. we have nearly 300 people dead in mexico and a host of questions that the department of justice has never ever answered. we can end this tonight if the department of justice will turn over these documents and hold the senior most officials at the department of justice accountable for their actions. bill: are you ready to hold eric holder in contempt? >> he leading us down a path where we have no other choice. that's what i'm worried about. there are other options on the table. committee on oversight, darrell issa has done a fabulous job being patient. there is 46-page document has been in draft form that would hold the attorney general and the department of justice in contempt. bill: is that a warning? is that a threat? what is that? >> just reality. we can't just issue subpoenas and have them totally ignored by the department of justice. that is not the way the constitution was set up. that is not the way this country works and it is totally unacceptable. we have to put an end to

this to make sure it never ever happens again. we need to hold people accountable. it was president obama in 2011 sat down in television interview and promised everybody he would hold people accountable and to date that has not happened. bill: some colleagues said you have been patient and in the judgement of some you have been too patient, almost too leechb -- lenient. is that true. how long should we have to wait? literally in the senate, brian terry, border agent who was killed had a building named after him. this thing has gone on more than a career. we want to put it to rest. i hope the white house would want to put it to rest. there has to be a conclusion to this and they have to supply these documents. bill: what holder argues there are open criminal investigations at the moment and he does not want to jeopardize that and by appearing and answering questions in public. does that ply? >> well, nobody wants to interfere with those investigations but the congress, but the united states congress is doing an investigation of the

department of justice. we're not trying to interfere with what they're trying to do to prosecute some people but they have documents they must provide to congress. that is why we issued the subpoena. that is the separation of powers. that is the way this country works. we're being very reasonable. we're being very patient but our patience is running out. bill: the deadline is one month. is that hard and fast? >> well, i, look, there has to be a conclusion. it is one of several things. we have the department of justice appropriations coming up. we have this contempt order. there are lots of things at our fingertips. but we're here to say we've got to have action from the department of justice. bill: jason chaffetz. thank you for your time. republican out of utah on the hill today. martha. martha: take a look at this. on the road with president george w. bush. there he is former president right in the center of a screen. he is about to go on a bike ride with some wounded troop members part of this amazing event about to get underway. day two. we'll hear from former president george w. bush coming up. bill: siegel got a good gig,

didn't he? martha: sure did. bill: nice. new developments on the story of the sobbing toddler. we love this, for the right reasons. the couple vilified for grabbing a baseball away from the little guy here. what the two said are saying what happened inside that ballpark and how the boy is doing today. ♪ are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

rip thanking our servicemen and women for the work that they do. i know marc siegel has been with him. we'll hear from mark in just a moment. let me know when he is ready, guys. mark, come on in. the president once again at head of the pack buddy. >> we're in the canyon that

is second largest canyon after the grand canyon. these trails are tough. the thing about president bush. this is not something he says. a few minutes ago i was standing and chatting with him. he is totally comfortable with the veterans. that is the key thing. we talk about likeability factor. this man has likeability factor. he is empathetic what they have been through. went to war. he sticks with them. this ride is symbolic for reentering society. going up hills and down mountains. these buys are tough, martha. i have to tell you, guys without legs, are riding one-legged bicycles. they're way at the front of the pack. president bush is leading them. in the 100 degree heat yesterday. this went on for 14 miles. today it is 29 miles. mountain biking as bill hemmer will tell you is not easy. this is really, really important. he is doing this to raise awareness for a lot of injuries i want to run the package for what went on yesterday here. >> how are you doing.

>> heroes in the wars severely wounded and heroes yet again as they courageously return to civilian life, all personally invited by president george w. bush to take part in his bush center, warrior 100 kilometer ride. the president fully aware it was his decision to send vets to war resulting in their injuries. >> it is an opportunity for me to say, to our vets, i care for you. i thank you. i honor you. a way to herald groups that support the vets. >> 20 injured veterans of the iraq and afghanistan campaigns riding in 100 degree heat. all inspired by him and by each other. >> i think it send out a positive, you know, a positive view, a positive outlook for everybody who has been injured right now. everybody that is going through a tough time. it shows that, no matter what happens to us, we're always get back up and keep on fighting. >> no matter what their

condition the president is confident that the ride is a great prescription for healing of body and spirit. >> it is really cool. it is really cool. just, the momentum and the, how inspiring it is and motivating it is. >> leading by example because our vets get inspiration from you, president bush. >> well i get inspiration from them. >> i'll tell you, martha. they inspire him and he inspires them. martha? martha: he has had a special relationship with this group all along. dr. siegel. nice job. you're looking good out there too, buddy. keep it up. we'll check on you throughout the trip. >> martha, i saw a rattlesnake yesterday. and i'm not kidding. bill: and he is not scared. nicely done. look at this site right here, that is the space shuttle enterprise, on the back of a boeing 747. at the moment, america's space program is on the move yet again, departing out of dulles airport down there in

washington, d.c.'s area. and, bound for new york city. and in about an hour's time, once enterprise is up in the air and has a little piggyback ride to the big apple. enter prize will tour around the skyscrapers and lady liberty and get an aerial view of her next home which will be the intrepid on the hudson river, a place where they think they can get 1.3 million visitors a year to visit enterprise. enterprise did not two in space. she was the mothership of the operation. she is where they did a lot of testing down in the washington, d.c. area. we normally see this when they come out of california when the shuttle has to land in the desert out there because weather in florida is bad. you had opportunity last week. you saw one piggyback operation. martha: discovery moved into place where this one was prior to that at the smithsonian annex in washington. usually when you take the shuttle to dc in new york. you don't want it to circle but just land quickly.

in this case the circling is part of the whole event. it is a wonderful tribute to all the years and hard work that this whole shuttle team put into this project. they are being retired and now we'll see it on the westside highway back of intrepid. they will have to move things to make room for this inspreadable piece of science history, of nasa history, the enterprise as it moves in. we'll watch it until it takes off from dulles this morning. >> nasa calls her an institution in american history, testing so many things without it travel into space would have never happened. enter prize, part of her history. we'll get one space shuttle in l.a. and one in florida in the space coast. one in the new york area. one in washington. folks in houston were not happy about the final decisions. martha: they were not. bill: their history --. martha: that out come they would have liked to have one of these shuttles to commemorate the dedication that folks in houston put into the whole program ail

along as well. i think they want to make enterprise feel special because enterprise did not go up and circle and go to the international space station. they're saying it made a huge contribution to the program overall. bill: houston biggest argument at johnson space center, why loss -- los angeles, why new york? it has been involved the very beginning with mission control. they made the biggest argument for having one of the shuttles retired in that area t won't happen. it won't be the case. however with millions of tourists that come to new york city from all around the country and all around the world, enterprise will be a very special stop in manhattan come very soon. martha: there is look where it is headed on the hudson river, the intrepid. that is the site where it will land at dulles international airport as it gets ready to take off. it was almost like an olympic process. they were all wanting to have a piece of the historic equipment. to have one of the shuttles in their home museum spaces.

those are the cities that won. los angeles, new york, and washington, d.c. as we watch this one take its final ride as we say. bill: she had been scheduled to come here twice but was delayed twice by weather with bad rain in the area. overnight we were not sure because you had a storm system move through here. the wind were really strong. it appears we're cleared out today. we're set for a nice ride, what is it, 35 minutes flying time from washington up to new york city. laura engles watching with us. i want to reach out to laura right now. how does it look? good morning to you? >> reporter: guys it is very windy here at jfk. we're experiencing gusts up to 35 miles per hour right now. that could be a problem. all systems are go as we wait for this historic moment to take place here at jfk. as you've been mentioning, the journey that enterprise will be taking is an historic one. this is kind of imagine you

see a parade. peep -- people are lined up and down the streets for a parade that is going by. you should see all the blogs and tweets going on for anticipation of enterprise coming to new york city. people are scouting spots up and down hudson river, near the bridges and of course near the statue of liberty today. people have their cameras out. they are ready to watch this thing take place and post their pictures. a lot of excitement here today. we'll have a lot of dignitaries awaiting this arrival. you know what i just heard, you guys? leonard nimoy will be here today. spock from "star trek" will be on hand today. that is new piece of information. bill: he knows a little something about space. >> doesn't he? >> reporter: he alongwith the "star trek" crew were at another photo-op. bill: we'll see it takeoff initially. we'll pick it up in the new york city area and watch for the fly-by which will be iconic. what a sight that will be.

skies are clear in new york city, so far today. after that, enterprise goes to jfk. hangs out there for a month, month and a half. they hope have hadder on board the intrepid mid-june and open to the public in july. martha: makes sense spock is there because it is the enter price after all. it is also a reminder, bill where the united states space program is right now. a lot of people sorry to see this program and it look a lot longer to complete the work than they wanted to at the international space station as part of this program because of the columbia and challenger tragedies that happened along the way and the program was sidelined, put on the back burner, during the period where they tried to return it to space. that was, you know, really sort of the obviously the tragic side of the space shuttle program as we watched it move through. now we have the quasi-private, public effort to get back into space. we lose the shot. it is very windy as laura ingle pointed out. it is a day to remember to

think about the space program as a nation and how truly dedicated we are to it. bill: think about 30 years the shuttle given to this country and go so deep into space and build the international space station. without the shuttle you do not have the flights that go up there and come back and return. you keep that thing in orbit at 50 miles above earth. shuttle did all of that. controversy what is ahead for the space shuttle program and what is ahead for nasa and what is the right way to spend your next dollars the next way to get into space. we're relying on russians for several years. some believe several years could turn into too many years. that is not a position you want to be in. martha: in florida it has been a major source of the economy in that area. so many people working on this project over the years. so so many tourists come to watch the shuttle launch as they would take off from florida. and that is a big part of this story too. when you talk about funding in congress. at one point the estimate

was a penny per person per year that it cost americans to run nasa and to run the space programs. a very small amount of money. it has been a real source of budget squabbling over the years, how much money we spent over the space program. those who are supporters say it is very minimal compared to the debt and a lot of other things we spent money on. we move toward the next home, permanent home. that will be intrepid. if you have driven along the westside highway here on island of manhattan, it is a quite a sight when you come across the intrepid. what is that thing doing here? that is an aircraft carrier. one so moves tall gik in american history and and naval history. john mccain served on it back in 1960s. they will take three aircraft off the intrepid to make room for enterprise. i believe we have the pilot on board this 747. if not the pilot, we have nasa. let's listen.

martha: all right. so, we don't have that at this moment apparently. we're watching. looks like it is starting to get in motion. it is like flying with a huge backpack on your back as we watch the plane take off. you wonder what the experience is like for pilots to be equipped to handle this kind of cargo. this shuttle plane as it comes in. there are serious wind conditions as laura engle was mentioning. 35 miles per hour is wind to contend with for a pilot. that is in plays a we watch them slowly taxi. discovery and enterprise were nose to nose on the tarmac. a symbolic moment as the two of them were kissing we called it on the tarmac as they were in d.c. now this is sort of the next leg of that process as we watch enterprise make its final flight. it is taxiing. there is no line. sometimes when you're waiting to take off, they tell you you're sixth in

line. not today. it is first in priority at dulles. bill: it will be the largest and most significant space artifact in the northeast. in the big apple when you see the intrepid with enterprise, it will be something else. after the temporary holdover at jfk's airport will get on the back of a barge for another piggyback journey. martha: that will be interesting too. bill: up the hudson river and that will be a sight before it reaches its final destiny there. martha: intrepid is a great, great place to visit. i have a pleasure seeing it every single day on my ride to work. it is extraordinary. this time of year it is beautiful. encourage everybody to bring your family to the intrepid museum. it is a incredible display of naval history and aircraft history and our military. right here in new york city on the hudson river. bill: you think about all the time we've worked in news and how many flights we have seen take off and come back from space over the past 10 or 15 years and,

this was always such a rare sight because nasa always wanted to be able to land in florida but the backup location was always the desert sands of california. but if you landed in california, it was an extra tab of about a million dollars, membership mum in order to put the shuttle on board or on the back of a 74 and eventually fly it back home to florida. something that nasa didn't want. sometimes the weather got in the way and the mission was growing too long and therefore you had to put down in california. you would see a sight like this. it is rare, although we have seen it before but this is the mode of travel now for enterprise as she makes her way toward the big apple. martha: law are ingle standing by at jfk as she waits for this. laura, it has been an extraordinary history for this international space station and the shuttle that created it by creating this cargo back and forth on these three vehicles and this fourth one that was the

prototype. >> it certainly has of the as we've been mentioning there is lot of excitement here and a lot of wind that hopefully will subside in the next few hours. after it comes here, you guys have been describing how it will be barged over to the intrepid. once it gets over to the intrepid which is again a beautiful sight along manhattan's westside highway, it will take a water crane to get that thing up onto the topflight deck. there have been three aircraft that were moved including a russian fighter jet that have been moved aside for this and once the intrepid gets that enterprise up on the flight deck, they are going to then build a pavilion around it. we'll send it back to you. bill: here we go. martha: thank you, laura. bill: we'll sit and watch together. martha: moments away .

bill: such a graceful thing to watch, is it not? as this is happening, in kazakhstan, half a world away, a u.s. astronaut and two russian cosmonauts have landed safely back on earth after a six-month expedition to the international space station. so as we watch the retirement stage unfold, literally before our eyes, the space program continues. martha: emotional moment too for all of the people who were involved in this program. last week we spoke to gene cernan who was the last man in apollo missions to walk on the moon and he was very unhappy when we talked about the end of this program because he felt that it marked the end of the sort of scientific appetite that existed as a government program as part of nasa. and that the future of the space program he felt was very much in jeopardy and very much in question at

this point and it is truly symbolic and thoughtful as we watch this graceful ship with enterprise on its back and you think of the dramatic moments of the liftoff of those, of these missions. we've all covered them over the years and it is a stunning sight to see them take off from florida as we have watched and now, quite, meaningfully makes its way into the clouds. bill: at 9:40 on the east coast by my count. we will see her again around 10:15. 30, 35 minutes from now. when we pick her up on the other side it will be in the skies over new york city and iconic skyscrapers and lady liberty, she will see them all from the air and later from ground. martha: watched discovery same thing in washington. going by the washington monument, going by the capitol. it looked like it was going next to the washington monument. they fly very low when they do the fly-biso everybody

can see it and it is quite dramatic. i urge everybody to stay tuned for that part of it as well. it will be something to see this vehicles it moves to its new home in new york city as we saw as it flew over washington, d.c. it will be something else. bill: it is another chapter in our storied history of our space program. and now we get the opportunity to learn more about it because we can walk through it very soon, come mid-summer and you will be able to see it up close and personal and learn the incredible history of this program that has been, given so much sacrifice by some men and women over the past three decades. and we salute you today, enterprise. come on home, finally in new york today. back in a moment

bill: there is more outrage growing by the day on cap dole hill after a video surfaces slogan epa official calling for oil and gas companies to be crucified. senator jim inhofe described the comments on the floor of congress a bit earlier this week. >> it was kind of like how the romans used to conquer little villages in the mediterranean. they to into a little turkish town somewhere. they find the first five guys they would run into and crucify them, crucify them on crosses. and then you know that town was really easy to manage for the next few years. so you make examples out of people who are in this clays not compliant with the law. bill: senator inhofe is calling for investigation into that statement. sir, good morning to you and welcome back to "america's newsroom". >> good morning, bill. bill: i have a lot to go through in three short minutes.

white house apologize. why is that not good enough? >> it is not good enough because they lied. their apology was that, they are producing more and taking credit for more production of oil and gas when in fact the energy information agency says it's all on private land. federal land is down 17% in the middle of this big boom. now that is just outrage just that they would make a statement like that. bill: al armendaris, i believe i said his name right. worked out of dallas, texas. at a government meeting in 2010. that is when the video was created. what kind of authority did he have within the epa? >> they have too much authority. he is is the, he has whole 6th district which includes my state of oklahoma. he is able to do these things. it is what he does that nobody knows about. nobody knew about this for a whole year. and, in the fact that he is gone after, as i said on senate floor, several of these companies, i named several of them that were

not guilty of anything, damaging their, trashing them for a year, damaging their reputation, threatening them in this case, range resources with $33,000 a day fine. then when they found out that, you know, the courts intervened and they weren't guilty of anything, very quietly they with drew their charges. that is the problem. did you happen to see what daily caller did this morning? bill: i want to ask you about that. dailycaller.com is reporting that this official i just mentioned. armendaris, collected or shared at least $540,000 in taxpayer money from the federal government to fund environmental projects that stretch from 2004 to 2010. have you heard about that report and what is your reaction? >> yes, i heard about the report. daily caller is the one who brought it up. ironically we're doing study how much money is being spent on this whole agenda that the far left has. of course their aim, we can't lose sight of the fact what they're requiring to do is the obama administration is kill fossil fuels in

america. and using this technique to try to stop hydraulic fracturing. it is kind of i guess kind of clever for them to do this. he can act like he is promoting oil and gas at the same time doing away and damaging the process of hydraulic fracturing. bill, you can't get one cubic foot of natural gas out of a tight formation without hydraulic fracturing. and it is perfectly safe. bill: senator, thank you. for your time today. i know the investigation will get underway shortly. we'll see what comes of it. james inhofe. thanks. martha. martha: george zimmerman is out on bail after this appearance in court last week. >> to say i am sorry for the loss of your son. i did not know how old he was. i thought he was a little bit younger than i am and i did not know if he was armed or not. martha: zimmerman facing charges in the shooting death of trayvon martin and now there are new questions today about the money that he has raised for his

defense fund. bill: also new evidence we're seeing now for the very first time in the trial of john edwards. stay tuned for that, moments away. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

get voice mail hours later and edwards says this on that one. call me back on this number. it's now elizabeth will probably be here in 15 minutes. sooner you get this the better by. we will see what they plan to establish by answering these into evidence into the courtroom. jonathan serrie joins us now. covering this whole case from start to finish. what has come out in young's cross-examination, to delve into all this so far, jonathan? >> hi, martha. the well the defense is really going after andrew young's credibility. they have been grilling him over reimbursements that he procured from two wealthy donors, rachel bunny mellon and fred baron. young admitted he did not inform baron about funds he already received from mellon. he acknowledged much of the money in question went towards building his own upscale scale house in

chapel hill, north carolina. the court released photos of some luxury accomodations where young kept ed wards pregnant mistress in hiding. they include "barron's" own home and luxury resorts in multiple cities. santa barbara, san diego, hollywood, florida, and aspen, colorado where "barron's" home was located. young had expensive taste and hunter demanded upgrade wherever she stayed. martha. martha: the prosecution has transcripts of voice mail messages left and andrew young's phone. what do they say and what are they trying to prove with these? >> reporter: one from early 2008. where edwards dropped out of the presidential race. he had aspirations for vice president or attorney general. in february 2008, watching a news video of edwards and his wife emerging from a meeting with then candidate barack obama, rielle hunter left a voice mail on andrew

young's phone, which he says, quote, john any and elizabeth couldn't be further apart from each other. she laughs. either side, like of the driveway, so, so, yeah, interesting. that voice mail from rielle hunter. martha? martha: jonathan, we'll see where all this goes. a lot for this jury to take in. thank you very much. bill: there is new attacked a labeling president obama as a cool guy. ♪ . bill: what's wrong with that you wonder? wait until you see a bit more of the ad. then we'll talk to our panel. [ female announcer ] e-trade was founded on the simple belief

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martha: well the white house under fire this morning from a key part of president obama's base because today is the deadline that has been set by a federal judge for the administration to explain their decision to limit access to plan b

emergency contraception and pro-choice leaders, very fired up about this against the white house. that is how we start a brand new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. welcome to a friday, everybody. the fda first recommended the plan b be accessible to all women of child-bearing age but health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius overruling that, requiring a prescription for anyone under the age of 17. martha: that is why we have mary cath lynn ham with us this morning. she writes for "the daily caller" apfox news contributor. what is all the hubbub about here? >> i think the hub buck -- hubbub is the fact that pro-choice groups worked really hard on behalf of this administration. i would say not only on behalf of the administration but trying to bury its enemies as well and they have been pretty loud and pretty effective in the past couple months during this war on women news cycle we've been going through. they're looking at this and going, hey, the obama

administration has the exact same policy as the bush administration had in 2007. this fight has been going on for a couple years. i happen to think it is a pretty reasonable position because when you're talking about kids or, minors under 17 not just talking about 17-year-olds, you're talking down to 11 or 12. that is what kathleen sebelius is worried about a political level, polling about things like regular contraception pretty good for them. the polling for emergency contraception and other abortion issues not so good for them. they're afraid of that. martha: advertising and headlines that the administration encouraged girls as young as 11 or 12 to have free access to plan b which would end a pregnancy in emergency contraception way with one little pill called plan b. look what their side is saying about this. this is sound bite or full screen i should say quote that we have from nancy northrop, who is president and ceo for reproductive rights. she is very upset about this. she says medical and scientific evidence provides no rationale for age and

access restrictions to emergency emergency contraception. but that nod not stop health and human services secretary, kathleen sebelius from overruling a fda decision to finally end age restrictions for plan b. is enough. sell secretary sebelius to stop playing politics with women's health. mary katherine. >> this is teachable moment perhaps for liberals here, when you have government monopoly on approving drugs at fda, the fda always has bosses in the administration which is a political entity. so those folks have influence over this. sometimes you will not get decisions you like because political things are influencing those thing. that's what happened this time around and i think kathleen sebelius is looking at possible ads you mentioned thinking this is not a great idea. i understand that they're mad because they feel like they should get payback for the war they have been waging on behalf of the administration for the past couple months. martha: yeah. >> it is an interesting, interesting split in the old

coalition here. martha: it raises some basic questions whether or not hhs should have the right to say yes, you can have this drug, no, you can't have that drug. >> right. martha: based on their own sort of discretion over those issues. so mary katherine -- >> all have become politicized in that situation. that is how government works. martha: thanks so much. always good to see you. bill: on the con trails of that there is this, the lowest public opinion of government in 15 years. a new study by pugh research show a third of americans have a favorable view of the federal government. that is the lowest level we've seen since 1997. 62% view it unfavorably. there has been a 9% drop in public opinion since president obama took office. part of that could be because opinions among democrats have dropped significantly over the past three-and-a-half years. those numb kbers from pew. martha: here in new york we're awaiting the arrival of the space shuttle enterprise. it is coming home from new

york city right now. it is awaiting the final resting place at the intrepid air and space museum is over our shoulder on the hudson river on the west side of manhattan. it is a beautiful day but a little bit windy. enter price you see on the right-hand side of your screen was the prototype for the entire space shuttle fleet. it was the place they figured out if it could fly and work and return to earth. it is now being flown to kennedy airport on the back of that specially designed 747. it left washington d.c. a half hour ago. it should be getting into our skies a couple minutes from now. it flies very low during this kind of ex-bush shun of sort that we saw in washington when we saw discovery landing there last week. we'll bring you that live when we see it in our skies. bill: cool stuff. the welcome mat is there, right? on the trail, republicans

focusing on a key election issue they believe makes president obama quite vulnerable on the economy. here is mitt romney two nights ago. >> are you making more at your job? >> no. >> do you have a better chance to get a better job? >> no. >> are you paying less at the pump? >> no. >> you know if the answer were yes to those questions, then president obama would be running for re-election based on his record and rightly so. but because he has failed, he will run a campaign of diversions, and distractions and distortions. that kind of campaign may have worked at another place and in a different time but not here and not now. it is still about the economy and we're not stupid. [cheers and applause] bill: my next guest argues it is more than that and that the republican party may be going about this wrong way. author of book, still the best hope, why the world needs american values to triumph. radio talk show host dennis

prager. good morning to you. welcome to "america's newsroom". >> great to be here. watch you all the time. bill: hear is the line here, if the republicans focus on the economy as the primary issue they will lose? what's up? >> yes. i know the temptation to ask the questions mitt romney asked and he did it beautifully by the way, however, and this is key, i think that the republican nominee has to state, this is not an election, this is a plebscite about leftism, and that is what this november is about. does the american people, do the american people want an expansion of the state like in western europe or do we want to continue the american value system of the primacy of the individual? and it is a plebscite, it is not just an election. bill: i see. are you arguing you're getting that from mitt romney or you expect that from mitt romney or have nod heard that from the republican side? >> the truth is the press did not do him service, he

went on after that to say we're seeing an erosion of liberty in america. i would just ask that the press in fact report that he is saying that and we stressed that just as much as the economy --. bill: you also say. let me get to the economy in a moment. you say you want a clarity of difference. >> yes. bill: i assume between barack obama and mitt romney for what their vision is for america? >> i want a clarity of difference between left around right and glean blue and red. i believe that with clarity the conservative idea will always win in america but we don't make the division clear. we're not telling americans, the bigger the government, the smaller the citizen and that is what is happening. we're addicting more and more americans to handouts. we're hurting the american character. these are the great themes of what this election ought to be about. bill: back to the economy. 8.2% unemployment. national number at the moment. 14 1/2% of america's

potential workforce underemployed or unemployed. number of jobless out of work for six months or more, doubled since january of 2009. do you not see the current administration as being vulnerable on the economy? >> oh, it is vulnerable on the economy, what if, what if the economy improves by november? we can't run on the hope that things are bad for our fellow american. it is not good for us. it is not good for america. the economy is absolutely an issue but why is the economy an issue? because of our debt. because we have the cra demanding that banks give loans to people who couldn't afford it in order to have more diversification of homeownership. show the large theme is an expansion of government beyond what america and american values stand for. that is why i wrote the book. bill: thank you, dennis. still the best hope. why the world needs american values to triumph. appreciate your time out of washington today. >> thank you. bill: nine minutes past the hour.

martha? martha: speaking of all that, there is a new line of attack in the race for the white house. is president obama too cool for the country? that is the question now. bill: too cool for school? oh my. wrapping up a court hearing for the man who shot trayvon martin. you will not believec:w

bill: new reaction from the husband of missing fort bragg marine kelly bordeaux. the 24-year-old disappearing almost two weeks ago. her husband speak tpoerg the first time publicly, saying he's

thankful for all the support that everyone is showing. >> me and her love each other very much. and i just appreciate everyone out here helping looking for her. bill: bordeaux was last seen leaving a bar at around 1:00 in the morning. family and friends holding onto hope that the young soldier is still alive. martha: a conservative superpac group launches a new add that attacks president obama apparently for being america's "biggest celebrity" they say. they seek to make the president's coolness kind of an issue in this campaign. take a look and see what you think. [chanting] >> oh, yeah. [rapping ]

martha: hum, what do you think? is that effective? joined now by brad blakeman former deputy assistant to president george w. bush, and dog shown, a contribut fox news contributor. at the end of all that cool stuff you're moving back in with mom and dad and suddenly that doesn't feel so cool. >> no it doesn't. the white house is focusing on mobilizing young voters. that's what the initiatives this week on student loans is about. this is scaring karl rove and scaring the republicans. this ad is an attempt basically to marginalize and trivialize what the president is doing. romney has flip-flopped on student loans supporting a plan that would take money from healthcare prevention to basically freeze loans, and the white house understands they need students, they need young people if they are going to be reelected. this ad is an effort and a cute

effort, but i think ultimately one that is not going to succeed, to trivialize and marginalize what the president is doing. martha: we heard this kind of line of attack in the last round against john mccain and it obviously did not work that time around. the difference though now is you have a record. you have three years of looking at how, you know, this kind of presidency has worked. >> look we've had cool and now we need competent. romney is a stark contrast to someone more comfortable with hollywood and wall street. there is no more bush to blame, he'll have to defend that record. it's a very good ad and sets the stage and opb opens the campaign. it lace the groundwork of things to come in this campaign where the president is going to have to defend a record and he's going to be on defense. martha: now on the flip side, we're hearing these messages, and i've been picking up on this

over the last several weeks, doug and i want to know what you think about it. mitt romney is old fashioned, a throwback, a 1950s type of guy. hilary rozen got all the attention for saying ann romney had not worked a day in her life. right after she said that she said this about mitt romney. he seems so old fashioned when it comes to woman, and i think that comes aeu krorbgs she said. that i across. he, mitt romney must much mad men. retroseems to be in in a lot of ways, does this work. >> this tactic doesn't work. i have a warning for the romney campaign, don't try and out cool the president. it's not going to work. people need a serious candidate. don't go on "saturday night live" and don't be suck erred

into places that are going to lampoon you and not help you. i think if he stays serious and the contrast becomes even starker between a president who likes to do that, he likes to be cool, i think the person people like the president, he's very likable, but they understand now that competent is what america needs. if we stick to that, and romney stays comfortable in who he is, and the accomplishments that he's had i think he'll have a successful run. >> there is this idea that maybe mitt romney, i don't know how anybody can be anybody but what you are, doug, would he ben sit from saying, yeah, you know what i'm kind of like your dad, i'm kind of a serious guy, i want you to do well in life, i want all the best for you in the future, and i'm not not that cool, that's who i am. is that a way to go? >> i couldn't agree more, martha. i've been doing campaigns for 30 years. i worked for bill clinton. authenticity is the key. to fight this election as a culture war, cool vs. retroi think is foolish on both sides. the real issue is the economy, the real issue is that we are

not creating the number of jobs we need. economic growth has slowed to 2.2%. that is what romney has to focus on. obama needs to out plan a plan for the future. martha romney is looking at all the places where he's weak right now and saying i need to go after this group. what is the most compelling argument would you say from both of you, for him, as he tries to gain this group, and president obama too has lost some ground with this group. brad, you go first. >> i teach at georgetown university, i'm around students every day and we just had chris stirewalt at our university with his show yesterday. you know what our students are concerned about? they are concerned about jobs. and the fact is their parents are paying a lot of money or taking on debt to go to a great school but they are afraid this won't be a job at end of their education. they soured on obama. there is no more hope and change for these young people. i've got to tell you if romney stays true to his core beliefs and he's able to communicate with young people on a serious message, they will resonate with

young people. martha: we'll see. we'll see how it goes. thanks so much you guys. great to see you as always. brad and doug, always a pressure. >> thank you. bill: will you see the photos of osama bin laden during the final moments of his life? a decision has been made on the pictures and the video. we are live in washington with the latest on that in minutes. martha: an american triumph today takes its final curtain call. the space shuttle enterprise making a historic trip right now, it's in the air, coming here to new york city. we are tracking that journey. we'll show you. it will be spectacular when it flies by this city this morning. we'll be right back with more in "america's newsroom." ♪ [music playing]

bill: 23 minutes past the hour now. a federal judge refusing to order the obama administration to release pictures and videotape of the body of osama bin laden, this as we get ready to approach the one-year mark for the daring u.s. navy seal operation that captured and killed him. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge on this in washington. what are we learning about the court decision? what did this judge say? >> reporter: in this 29-page ruling late last night. a judge has sided with the obama administration. that releasing the 53 images including one video of the osama bin laden raid poses a threat to national security. the decision reason part, a picture may be worth a thousand words and perhaps moving pictures bear an even higher value. in this case verbal descriptions of the death and burial of osama bin laden will have to suffice for this court will not order the release of anything more. after the raid in may last year the cia and defense department

authorized the release of a limited group of videos pulled from the compound. the screen grabs you see here show the al-qaida leader isolated and detached, in some cases obsessive lee practicing his video messages, planning in vane for a repeat attack bike 9/11. judicial watch that sued for the actual pictures and video of the raid said to fox in a statement, the administration is not living up to its promises of transparency. quote, there is no provision under law to keep documents secret, because their release might offend our terrorist enemies, the court got it terribly wrong and judicial watch tells fox they plan to appeal. bill: what is the state of al-qaida as we reflect now on one year after osama bin laden was taken down? >> reporter: later today there will be a rare briefing for the intelligence report erts on the state of al-qaida by the office of the director of national intelligence, the nation's top intelligence officer. as we approached the one-year anniversary u.s. officials concede that al-qaida's affiliates have evolved and adapted to the loss of osama bin

laden. while there is no specific threat information for the and verseee this recent video comes from yemen where the arab spring has given the aq the opportunity to extend its controls. >> the affiliates and allies remain intent on conducting attacks in the homeland, possibly to avenge the death of osama bin laden but not necessarily side to the anniversary. >> reporter: the al-qaida affiliates have been the big beneficiaries of the arab spring. bill: what is next. martha: it's a story we brought you here in mesh's newsroom. a little girl deemed a terror threat by the tsa, one of a string of high profile blunders at our nation's airport. what is going on with this mess, folks? one lawmaker wants to know and they brought hi them into his office to find out, plus this. ♪ [singing]

bill: he's got them trained well, does he not? what better way to start the day than a balanced breakfast and freddie mercury. going to school never sounded like this before, did it? more on this. ♪ [singing]

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bill: we now have visual contact of enterprise on back of this boeing 747 over the skies of new york city. this is something we've picked up on about 50 minutes ago leaves dulles outside of washington d.c. she'll make her way to a new home on the back of intrepid. it will be a site where they believe 1.3 million tourists will have the opportunity to walk-through and take in some history of enterprise. pamela melroy is a former astronaut and the second woman to command a space shuttle. we'll bring her in in a moment to talk about the history of the shuttle and what this next chapter in the space program sells us and where it leads us. martha: you wonder what the pattern is going to be here. as i said when we watched discovery come in to washington it did a beautiful loop around the washington monument, the capitol, not too far from the white house. it was a gorgeous day and you had all the staffers on the hill

coming out to look up in the sky and see this extraordinary sight of it flying low, you know, obviously the air space is wide open for these folks as they head into the area, and we're getting a little bit closer view of it right now. it's just an extraordinary sight. as you point out after it goes to jfk we'll see it taken on a barge around the lower part of manhattan, up the hudson river, past the statue of liberty and up into the area where the intrepid is around in the 40s, around 42nd street, 48th street. bill: we expect to see extraordinary photos and pictures that will capture a moment in our space history exploration, and just what this program has meant to america, and the future of america and our space program. pamela is with me now. good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: you were on the mall last week, weren't you when you saw discovery fly by. what was that like for you as an astronaut and someone who is so close and intimately involved in this program?

>> oh, it was a wonderful experience to see discovery fly again, and in such a unique setting. you definitely are kind of surprised to see it next to these historic landmarks. one of the best parts about watch it fly by, though was hearing the roar of all the people crowded on the national mall and on the tops of buildings around, and it wasn't quite like a space shuttle launch, but if love and pride could launch a rocket i think discovery would have gone another time. bill: now we watch enterprise come into better view here. tell us about this ship. what was special about her. >> enterprise is a very special vehicle and near and dear to those of us who were test pilots because it was used for the initial approach and landing tests. it flew just in that configuration, just like you're seeing it right now, on the back of a 747, and then the 747 pulled away, dropped underneath, and then the shuttle made its first approach and landing

test. so it's my hope that students who see it out there at the pres intrepid are not only inspired to be space explorers, but hopefully a few of them would want to be test pilots. bill: i think your thoughts musting mixed today when you see this chapter unfold. are they? >> i think we all describe this moment as very bittersweet. it helps to see the tremendous honor that everyone is giving to the shuttle, because obviously it's an amazing engineering marvel and it really should be the pride of our country. but in times of economic challenges the natural step is to move forward and find partners, and go on a different direction. bill: did you think that was the right decision, pat? >> pam? >> i think it was. because we see that in all kind of forms of transportation, we evolve, we take the lessons

learned and we go forward to more modern types of transportation. and i think the u.s. is looking outside low earth orbit again with the o'ryan mpcv and i think that is a wonderful thing and i think it evolve it evolving into lower earth transportation is wonderful. bill: the pictures are going to be something else. new york city has a bit of a windstorm blow through last night. it's still windy today but it's not holding her back. there we see the images, the iconic skyscrapers in manhattan now come into view. pam, you've been inside enterprise. what would we learn if we walked through it as a tourist? >> well, enterprise is actually just like the other orbitors. there are a few pieces in terms of crew equipment. there is less of that because it

was used for approach and landing. but the real core structure and lines are exactly the same. and you would be surprised if you had the chance to go inside at how small the area is where people live. it's actually just about the size of a minivan, the wobg pi cockpit area up front. that's because the shuttle was about the payload pay, lifting things up into space and bringing them back. bill: would the space shuttle program have been able to succeed the way it did without enterprise back here on earth as a test vehicle? >> absolutely not. i think it was critical. the challenges of approach and landing in the shuttle had to be run out in a test. that was not something that you could try without actually a landing test, and it turns out that the shuttle is really

optimized to fly mock 25 in space. so there are real challenges with landing it, so that approach and landing test was critical to bring that out. in addition to that enterprise kept giving. when there were times when we had problems with the orbitors we were able to go back to enterprise and can in a by hraoeuz pieces to perform tests. she allowed all the or pw orbitors to fly. bill: what is mock 25. martha: 17,500 miles an hour. bill: enterprise was the first space orbitor, never used in space. it was used to test critical stages of landing and shuttle preparation. enterprise was originally named constitution, in honor of our bicentennial in 1976, but viewers of the popular tv

science fix show star trek, they started a write in campaign, pam, you way be aware of this urging the white house to choose another name. and the name they came up with is enterprise. >> yes i'm very well aware of that being a trekie myself. bill: that had to be an honor as a fan ever the show. >> yes, i think it was perfect. this space program belongs to the people of the united states. that with us a very popular program that interest duesed a lot oinduced a lot of people to science fix and the concepts of flying in space and what it might be like. it was perfect. bill: we just showed an image there, this is palmdale, california in 1976 when enterprise rolled out. there are members of nasa there, pam, if you can see your monitor and also members of the cast of star trek.

>> perfect. that's perfect. that's a great shot. bill: it is, since 1985 nasa has had enterprise at the smithsonian institution for the national space and air museum in washington. we get one here in new york. what do you think it means to the city of new york to have such a piece of history coming here? >> well i think it's key, because it's a major population center, and it's really about the students. they'll have the opportunity to be inspired and to dream about space travel, to dream about being engineers who can make science fix come to life. fiction come to life. i think the most important thing i hope that enterprise will do is to inspire people to think about who the student who is in school today will some day be

the first person on mars. maybe that student will get a tour and see his or her first spacecraft in new york city. bill: that is quite a lesson to learn. thanks. martha: it's a great point. and it is something that we really need to inspire young people to, and that is one of the great services that these shuttles will provide in these museums as students get a chance to see them up close, and as you point out perhaps to sort of be inspired and spurred onto a career in science an and aeronautics. it's a beautiful site. it comes in quite low across the five buroughs of manhattan. can you see it, laura where you are? we have laura ingle.

>> reporter: we got a ten-minute warning at jfk. i want to show you the crowd that is here. this is sort of a parade route. manhattan is a pretty big place in all of new york where it's going to be flying by, but to show you the crowd that has gathered here, we've got to stands set up, of course the local and state dignitaries as everybody has mentioned, leonard nim orbg y, the actooy, the actor who played spock is expected to be in the crowd. i haven't seen him yet. as soon as we see him we will point him out to you, and try to get him on camera. the excitement is building here, the wind is still very high. as we've been watching here on fox news it is making its way to jfk. we wait anxiously here. we just got the ten-minute warning. martha: thank you so much. it is a very exciting day in the skies over new york. we'll keep an eye on it as we watch enterprise come in. bill: it started in washington today at dulles airport outside of our nation's capitol. it will make a fly by here in

new york city. landing in jfk airport, staying there for about a month and a half to two months before it finds its final resting place on board the intrepid on the hudson river. and this is the sight, a piggyback over the skies of new york city. nice. joined together... ...to ensure consistent academic standards across america. these internationally recognized benchmarks... ...are unlocking a better way to prepare our children for college and their careers. because when our kids do better... ...america does better. let's reach higher. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this.

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that's why programs like... ...the mickelson exxonmobil teachers academy... ...and astronaut sally ride's science academy are helping our educators improve student success in math and science. let's shoot for the stars. let's invest in our teachers and inspire our students. let's solve this. martha: beautiful shot over the skies of manhattan right now. you can see the space shuttle enterprise as it enters the air space over new york city. it's going right near the intrepid we are being told which is the aircraft carrier and space museum which is on the hudson river in the midtown section of new york city. it has taken a peak at its future home. they have moved three aircraft off of the top of that aircraft carrier to make room for its really inspiring new neighbor, and that will be enterprise as

it finds its place on the top of that aircraft carrier, and it will be there for all of the tourists and the new yorkers some see whenever they like. the plane is flying very low. this is the specially equipped 747 which carries the shuttle on its missions. they have a great partnership going, and look at that beautiful shot right now. it looks to be flying, sort of queens would i say in the background. someone can correct me if i'm wrong. but blue skies over new york city. it's been a chris being sort of weather that we've experienced over the course of this week and it's going to be looping around the city in low fashion so that everybody can get a look at this beautiful piece of scientific equipment. bill: we just heard pam talk about how the crowds erupted in roars in the national mall last week when discovery flew down there. probably a similar thing in the parks around the fivebouroughs happening right now.

martha: it launched in 1981, it's had a historic and jubilent and sometimes tragic history as we watched it build the international space station over the years. it really marks the end of that great part of our nasa history in this country. so many folks turning out to see this as it comes in. this is a once-in-a-lifetime moment. kids will remember they watched this come in and maybe they'll take their kids to see the enterprise on top of the aircraft carrier there and say i watched it when it came in at the end of the program in 2012. bill: it's such an unusual sight too, a 747 in and of itself flying at that altitude is going to get attention. and you see it with a piggyback on board jo it's known as the fca, th sca, the shuttle craft carrier. bill: two other times it was scheduled to come to new york. the weather did not cooperate. today we are okay. partly cloudy

skies. you see a little break in the background, it's nice, you get the contrast of the blue and white on the screen here. 48 degrees, winds northwest at 12 miles an hour, gusts about 25. we heard earlier 30 miles an hour out of jfk which is where enterprise will touchdown in a matter of moments and stay stored there for about two months. martha: it has been as we said an incredible program and this is humanity's first reusable spacecraft. we all remember the early days of the space program, that once these vessels went up that was it, they were done. and now with this program we're able to create something that was reusable over time. we watched all of the missions as we saw the last one come in, sps135, 35 missions that ended on july 31 of 2011, that was atlantis when it came in and rolled to its home port at the nasa kennedy space center in

florida. nasa has the discovery as a permanent part of the smithsonian museum on their grounds. bill: it's interesting to hear pamela melroy the former as you stroe tphaut talk to us about her feelings, and her feelings on the space practice. she said it's a sad thing to see the spacecraft grounded forever, but i do hope it will inspire future generations. she made that point a number of times. she says the size is about the size of a minivan. when nasa needed a number of parts for testing she went through enterprise and she says we will be thrilled by enterprise and the history, the unique history as this test vehicle for the program is something that will inspire generations to come. and she then added, that she hopes that a young man or woman going through the new museum there with the enterprise on board intrepid will be inspired to go to mars some day, which could be the next voyage. martha: that is clearly the next

dream of the space program to go to mars. there's also been talk of returning to the moon, and you can see new yorkers perched there as they watched this. squinting into the sky to see this come into sight as it gets ready to fly into its new home area of new york city. we'll take a quick break. we are watching this. we'll be right back with much more as it comes into the intrepid area. we'll be right back.

bill: there is your money shot. martha: right there. bill: that's what we've been waiting for. martha: lady liberty waving, welcome enterprise to new york city. bill: it's interesting to follow all the reaction on twitter while this is happening. there are so many people out there with a mobile device, and perhaps you're one of them also. liz tweets, just saw the shuttle pass our window at fox business right over the hudson river.

so cool. could not grab my camera fast enough. and then nasa is tweeting also about various pictures that they are picking up throughout the area. if you're hearing this and you're seeing this you can send your photo to you report at foxnews.com or just on twitter at u report, one letter. we'd like to see your images definitely. martha: you see folks who wish it was coming to houston and feel that it was overlooked at houston, which has been such a huge part of this entire program, of course, but there was quite a bidding process as they chose which cities this would come to. obviously it's a huge tourist attraction for anybody who gets it. as the president of the intrepid museum has said, this now becomes, quote, the largest and most significant space artifact in the entire northeast when it find its home on board the aircraft carrier here on the hudson river. and you get a good look at

that -- bill: ellis island. martha: ellis island looking towards the new jersey side of the hudson river there. you see the ferries going across there in the foreground. a beautiful sight. bill: pamela melroy is still with us. are you there? >> i'm enjoying seeing two icons together. bill: the new york city skyline and the enterprise come into focus here. pam, mixed emotions today? >> yes, i think it's wonderful to actually see her fly. i think, you know, we'd all prefer it with a big rocket at the other end of it, but actually it's just wonderful to also feel the energy of the pride that the u.s. has in this engineering marvel. and i am absolutely sure that the big apple is giving enterprise a beautiful welcome. bill: you gave a wonderful introduction for enterprise with us today.

pam, i thank you for that. pam melroy is a former astronaut in washington d.c. laura ingle is our correspondent at jfk. lawyer a touchdown there is when? >> reporter: we keep hearing it is a few minutes out. once in a while someone in the crowd does one of these, and we look out and all turn. there is a very large crowd, we are at jfk. this is runway 31 l. we'll have rich our cameraman pan around and show you the crowd that has gathered. a very large excited crowd here. again it keeps floating to the sky. we know that leonard nimoy is in the crowd. many people who knew star trek know him as spock. he is here to welcome that. it looks like actually he's walking over to us right now. jonathan, our producer is bringing him over. well, hello. live television. welcome. >> how are you? >> reporter: ladies and gentlemen, leonard nimoy, right here at jfk.

what an exciting day this is. tell us about your participation, why you're here, who asked you to be here? >> this is a reunion for me. we the star trek cast were actually rolled out when the enterprise first came out of its hangar in 1976. i haven't seen the ship since then. >> reporter: is that right? >> so we're revisiting. it was a great day. the ship was originally named constitution, and star trek fans started a letter writing campaign to president ford, he was president at the time. he got enough letters that he was convinced that the ship should be called enterprise named after the starship enterprise on star trek. so we were invited to be there today it was rolled out and the airport band played the star trek theme as it came out of the hangar. >> reporter: there is a band here today, we don't know what they will play but -- do you keep in touch with your former cast members? are you sweeting with people letting them know you're here.

>> we've lost two people. scotty and dr. mccoy are gone. but the rest of us are friends, sure. >> reporter: how exciting to have you live on fox news channel right now, leonard nimoy here at jfk as we await this historic event rapbs by enterprise. >> it's going to be great, it's going to be great. >> reporter: we send it back to you in the studio. bill: does he have a chance to go inside? has he been given clearance? >> reporter: are you going to get a chance togo inside? he doesn't know. we'll let you know. we have a couple of camera crews here. bill: we are told it's a tight fit. laura let him know. nice workout there at jfk. martha: when discovery came into washington it had an escort plane as we watch it fly over new york city on the back left side. it's an extraordinary site. obviously leonard nimoy excited to see it once again having not seen it since 1976. when you think back to those days in the 70s, and this really

spans sort of an american moment in history as well during the excitement of this whole space program, and you think about kids growing up and wanting to than astronauts, and you wonder what they think as they look at this. do they understand the significance of the shuttle program? do they understand how historic it was to be able to launch these shuttles that went back and forth and built the international space station as a hub in the sky to be hopefully a launch pad for so many future things. bill: enterprise was the teacher, and now the teacher will continue to teach so many students, you know, every year, year after year. martha: look at that, bill, i'm sorry, it is looking like it's -- the last time we saw a plane do that it was chelsey "sully" sullenberger. this is a far different experience. bill: thanks for watching, everybody, our colleagues at "happening now" pick it up from here. jenna: thank you very much, bill and martha. as we again continue to watch this amazing historic sight.

we are glad you're with us, everybody i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. space shuttle enterprise biggie backed on board the specially adapted 747 flying over new york city. you're looking at live pictures from our various fox camera positions. it flew by our fox news headquarters not too long ago, and absolutely awe-inspiring. i did not get to see it live, but i talked to a number of our staff members who did. jenna: we heard a little cheer go up on the 12th floor where we are, we were able to see it out the window. it's obviously something you don't see every day, maybe something you'll see once-in-a-lifetime. jon: it is flying by some of the city's greatest landmarks. enterprise will make its permanent home on board the intrepid, sea, air and space museum that world ward ii aircraft carrier that has played a phenomenal history in the preservation of this great nation. that