newsroom." a lot to get to today. martha on assignment. good morning, patti ann. >> great to be here. senator lugar was considered an institution in washington politics. he held his seat since 1977. he lost the republican primary by 21 points. after being cast as not conservative enough >> one attack from the camp calling lugar president obama's favorite republican. >> these divisions have stalemated progress in critical areas. but these decisions are not insurmountable. i believe people of good will, regardless of party, can work together for the benefit of our country. >> to have been part of this remarkable comeback that governor daniels has led. you know what? the kind of leadership mitch daniels has taken to the indiana statehouse, has changed this state.

instead of having the barack obama demagoguery and list of failures, we need the mitch daniels types of accomplishments in washington, d.c. [applause] bill: here we go again. of steven hayes, senior writer, "weekly standard", fox news contributor. late into the night last night. wow, what are we to take away from this? >> this is pretty interesting outcome. the size of the victory is notable. richard mourdoch ran a good race and ran as conservative. be dick lugar allowed himself to be painted as somebody in washington far too long and too willing to accommodate of big government policies of barack obama and the democrats. i think that is the takeaway. bill: barack obama won indiana in 2008. stunned just about everybody. that state has been red as far as the eye can see. are democrats back in play in indiana. that's what they will say now. are they? >> i wouldn't say so. i would put big money on richard mourdoch winning

election. mourdoch is the kind of republican indiana republicans will embrace. i lived there four years. i know indiana republicans pretty kel well. he is there kind of candidate. there is unity meeting, mitch daniels to supported lugar will appear at. it will be a tough, tough battle for democrats to take. bill: you sent out a tweet. north carolina, indiana, arguments for west virgina, they're no longer up for grabs. you make the case they're back in republican territory. however you shift to the states that will decide november. come back to the old tried and true. ohio, florida, and a handful of others. is that what i take away from that comment? >> yeah, i think that's true. if you look at 2008 results i think democrats and obama campaign hoping right now they will be playing on the 2008 map. these states that president obama won which hadn't been won by democrats or at least hadn't been competitive for democrats would be again in 2012. based frankly some of their

campaign strategy on that. made arguments about taking virginia, north carolina, being competitive in those states. i just don't think that is the case. i think they will be playing in states like wisconsin hay has been purple, maybe blue but competitive state and ohio and florida which we have had competitive states going back a couple decade. bill: appreciate the quick analysis. thank you, steve. catch you later. steve hayes in washington starting us off. patti ann: background on senator lugar which may have made him unpopular with conservative serves. he was only republican who did not speak on the floor against president obama's health care law. lugar becomes just the second six-term senator to lose a renomination bid since 1912. bill: go back to 1976 when he won. since that time, sworn in january of 1977 exactly how long has it been since he was in the senate? go back to the movies of

1977. it was "star wars", and annie hall, top movies in america. disco ruled the box-office and billboard charts with "saturday night fever" on the big screen and bee gees on the radio. jimmy carter elected president and started serving his first year in the white house. that was then and this is now in 2012 and this race so far has gotten a lot more interesting. mourdoch is in indiana. we'll definitely see where they go now. patti ann: definitely interesting. new reaction this morning after voters approved a state constitutional amendment defining marriage soulias a union between a man and a woman essentially taking a step past the state law against same-sex marriage. john roberts live in atlanta. john, what are the implications of this amendment? >> reporter: good morning to you, patti ann. they seem to be broad. opponents fought very hard against the amendment a but it wasn't even close.

polls showed it would pass with 16 point margin. it passed with 22. this is important signal for the general election. looks like north carolina, very important swing state president obama won in 2008 may be more conservative-minded this year than it was four years ago. larry sabato from the university of virginia thinks that the president is facing a lot of headwinds in north carolina. here is what he told me just moments ago. >> i think the democrats find themselves in a difficult corner in in north carolina. they're likely to lose the governor's race. they're going to lose some house seats in november and it doesn't suggest to me that president obama's going to be able to repeat and carry the north carolina again this fall. >> reporter: now don't forget that the democratic national convention is in the city of charlotte in north carolina. when it comes to same sex marriage what we see in north carolina, patti ann may be the reason why president obama has not staked out a solid position. he says his position is quote, evolving but made that much more difficult by what vice president biden

and education secretary arne duncan said yesterday, fully in support of same sex marriage. patti ann: john roberts, thank you very much. reporting live from atlanta. >> seven past the hour. president responding to north carolina saying he is disappointed with the decision even though he says his views on same-sex marriage are still evolving. fair and balanced debate. meantime --. patti ann: mitt romney sweeping primaries in three more states. that moves him closer to becoming the nominee to run against president obama in november. romney has 919 delegates after wins yesterday in indiana, north carolina and west virgina. 1 -- 1144 delegates are needed to clinch the nomination. bill: we move to the fbi story. investigating two bomb threats from the southwest airlines flight from the same airport. one from john wayne airport to tulsa, redirected in

midair to phoenix, arizona. the aircraft was searched and cleared of any threat. second plane stopped on tarmac at john wayne airport. aircraft, luggage and all passengers screened. nothing suspicious was found on board. watch those stories as they develop starting out in california leading to phoenix, arizona. patti ann: a lot going on of the those are a few of the stories we're following in "america's newsroom." we're awaiting a new and possibly dramatic day in court from john edwards. juicy details from his former speech whiter how americans found out about the secret affair with rielle hunter. bill: does the justice department and eric holder think wall street is too big to jail? accusations of selective prosecution we'll dive into in a moment. patti ann: two years after the underwear bomber almost took down a u.s. flight we have latest details on terror bust and the identity of the man at center of the new plot. intel agents say we must stay vigilant. >> what this incident makes

clear is that this country has to continue to remain vigilant against those that would seek to attack this country and we will do everything necessary to keep america safe. [ male announcer ] what's in your energy drink? ♪ wer surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8.

patti ann: a new economic forecast predicting what could be the beginning of a rebound for u.s. home prices the financial market watcher fiserv is now reporting that prices will stablize by the end of summer and then rise nearly 4% a year for next five years but the company says by the time prices stop falling they will be nearly 35% below their peak back in 2006. bill: just remarkable, isn't it. we saw a heck of a run-up but now we're going the other way. house republicans racing to avoid $78 billion in automatic cuts in the defense budget by end of this year and say readiness and of the military is at stake and on the line. here is house budget

committee's paul ryan on that. >> we agree with the president and secretary of defense this sequester will decimate our military at a time when our men and women are fighting overseas in a world in a world that has become much more dangerous. the problem is only are the house republicans are doing something about this. bill: the house budget committee voted in favor of $200 billion in domestic cuts over the next 10 years instead. south dakota republican john thune, chairman of the senate republican conference on the other side of the hill. sir, good morning to you. welcome back to "america's newsroom". >> good morning. bill: what do you make of the move ryan is making on the house side? >> i think they're approaching it the right way. if you don't get national security right the rest is conversation. everybody agrees if the sequester takes effect it will drastically cut the defense budget and impair america's national security interests. it is really important that a modification to that be put in place and what the house republicans have done is recognize that the defense budget represents less than a fifth of all

federal spending. if you're looking to save money in the federal budget, entitlement programs, social security, medicare, food stamps, represent 3/5 of all federal spending and that is the part that over and over and over again president obama refuses to deal with. that's why where we are today. he didn't submit a budget that dealt with issues where most of federal spending is. as a consequence we're facing this drastic cut in our military which would really impair america's ability to defend itself. bill: the way it works the house starts and senate has to follow suit, do you agree or disafree? but what the ryan said the house is only, the problem is only the house republicans are doing something about this. is there any movement on the senate side? you garner support on the senate side for what ryan is doing? >> there is. bill, there is a lot of effort over here on our side. we have a number of members that would introduce legislation delay or reverse the sequester or come up

with a way to distribute reductions in different way so the national security budget doesn't take the brunt of the reductions. there is more than a willingness on the senate side to do that. i give the house great credit because they really attacked this problem going at where federal spending is. if you look what is driving federal spending, what is growing two to three times the rate of inflation, what we call the entitlement programs. that is what the house budget attempts to do is go after where the real issue is with regard to federal spending and attempts to avoid what would be drastic cuts. everybody concedes that point in our national security. bill: you get the sense you're not getting leadership or guidance from the white house because you don't think you know where the president is on this? that would seem to echo what eric cantor said on that. we're the ones trying to provide the solutions to the sequester regarding the military. >> like anything else. you can't do anything big in this city absent presidential leadership. we haven't had presidential

leadership on the issue of spending debt, entitlement reform all the big issues that impact the future of this country and get us on a sustainable fiscal path this president completely punted on. that is why we are where we are. furthermore, i mean, not only that he doubled down and dug the hole much deeper by expanding government dramatically with the health care bill that passed a couple years ago. with trillion dollars done in stimulus spending that was borrowed money. we're in a very deep fiscal hole. we have to recognize that. the only way we get out of it is really address what is driving federal spending and putting this trajectory in place that will bankrupt us if we don't deal with that and that is entitlement programs. the president has not been --. bill: understood. he would argue that is what elections are for the you probably agree with that? american people decided that. you wrote in foxnews.com, to summarize your peace, president obama's policies, mortgaging our future, he has made things worse.

if that is the case you think you make a good match with mitt romney? >> well i think that mitt romney recognizes we've got to fix things. this president has had 3 1/2 years. what do we have to show for it. we've got 38 consecutive months of 8% unemployment. people on food stamps up by 45%. federal debt up by 47%. gas prices doubled. health insurance gone up 25%. college tuition costs up 25%. that is this president's record and so he has had 3 1/2 years to propose solutions. he hasn't been there to do that and i'm hoping that a new president will. bill: you could go a long way to change that if you were on the ticket with mitt romney. do you think again you would be a good match with him? >> i think he has got a lot of good choices out there, bill. i expect to be working with him but here in the united states senate. i am anxious to work with a president who wants to solve these problems and wants to get the country back on the right track. i believe mitt romney will do that. i know he has a lot of people up here ready to go to work with him. bill: in the future we'll

have a chance to ask that question. we'll see if we advance it next time. john thune, thank you for your time. >> thank you, bill. bill: patti ann. patti ann: white house weighs in on the north carolina's ban on same-sex marriage. why critics are questioning president obama's evolving stance on issue. bill: providing clues in the frantic search of a kidnapper. the lives of two young girls are in grave danger as their mother and sister are found murdered. >> i think she knew that something was happening. i think she knew something was going to happen. >> as you can imagine, i mean they're just distraught. this is horrible for them. lookg more and more energy. the world needs more energy. where's it going to come from ♪ that's why right here, in australia, chevron is building one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. what's it going to do to the planet? natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is.

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bill: right about 21 minutes past the hour now. wildfires forces dozens of

families to get out of their homes overnight. southern california this is. firefighters getting a handle on that fire and allowing people back into their homes. new concerns over radiation overdoses for kids. the fda proposing new guide lines to minimize radiation exposure for children getting ct scan and x-ray testing. the queen of soul taking her place in the gospel music hall fame. aretha franklin joining the likes of dolly parton and elvis presley. ♪ . i would say that's overdue, huh? patti ann: absolutely. good stuff. bill: well-done. qeenl of soul. -- queen of soul. patti ann: new developments in the search for a man suspected in the kidnapping and killing after tennessee woman and her teenage daughter and kidnapping of the woman's two younger daughters. heavily armed fbi agent and authorities from tennessee and mississippi resuming the search for adam mayes and

two young girls. new surveillance video reportedly showing mayes three days after the family went missing. well the discovery of the mother and oldest daughters bodies left their tennessee community in shock. >> she would have a fought really hard for the baby. >> i don't really know what to say or how to make it any better. i've been doing a lot of prayer this weekend and praying that the other two girls are, you know, would come home safely. patti ann: that is the big hope right now. joining us is former l.a.p.d. homicide detective and fox news contributor mark fuhrman. thanks for joining us. joanne bain's husband wakes up wife and stepdaughters are not there. he doesn't realize they're missing until they come home from school. interviews, adam mayes. friend of the family. stayed with them overnight. did they blow that first interview?

>> i think it is really hard to second-guess the police in this situation. they're going through the stages of friendly associate of the family that the family says this is a friend of the family. so once they go there and do that initial interview and they do other interviews and they start fitting the pieces together and they ask themselves, we need to go ask him some more questions because this doesn't fit. of course mayes feels that they're going to be on to him and then he is on the run with the four individuals or just two as we now know. patti ann: the suspect's wife, teresa, says she drove the mom and three girls from their house in tennessee to her moment in mississippi where she and adam live with adam's parents. she saw her husband digging holes in the yard where of course the bodies of joann bain and her elder daughter were found. his wife and mother were arrested on kidnapping charges.

what do you make of all that? >> that is bizarre, that is the first thing but you can never really try to understand these people in what they do but look at the, the evidence what we have here is. it's obvious this wasn't part of the plan. the police and the fbi are very cautious at telling us the cause of death but they say the cause of death was probably the result of their captivity, which could me would mean the restraints and probably or most probably some type of asphyxia from their restraints. maybe duct tape over the mouth that slipped over the nose or they choked, ironic the two oldest women died. patti ann: running out of time. we have the surveillance video of adam mayes, april 30th. three days after the banes disappeared. still nine days ago. how helpful is the video? >> i don't think very much. we have two live children

hopefully and two deceased individuals. so you don't see any children in this video, which really isn't helpful whatsoever. and you know that he's on the run at that point. so i'm not sure how helpful it is. it doesn't look like he has changed his appearance very much. he is very, very recognizeable and i think that is going to be a problem, his description, with two children will be pretty obvious. patti ann: let's hope so. mark fuhrman, thank you so much for joining us. bill: time is of the essence in that story so many times over and over but in this case with four women missing and two dead, man you have to hope the best. at this point it doesn't look good. bombshell testimony expected today yet again in the john edwards trial. new details about a confrontation that his late wife had with donors about edwards' pregnant mistress. we'll get a live report on that ongoing in north carolina. patti ann: vice president joe i had biden putting spotlight on president's

foreign policy agenda as he looks to drum up voter support. >> at every point in our administration, at every juncture we stood up on the behalf of the legitimacy of the state of israel. that is one of the reasons i'm so proud, i'm so proud to serve with president barack obama. [applause] patti ann: well, wait until you hear who the vice president is blaming for any problems with our relationship, coming up. pull on those gardening gloves.

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bill: this could be yet again a big day for john edwards. his former speechwriter expected on the stand today. this dealing with his corruption trial in north carolina. yesterday wendy button told a jury that edwards knew a wealthy donor secretly supporting his pregnant mistress as he ran for the white house in 2008. the evidence shown in court, a letter sent to heiress "bunny" mellon when he was campaigning. edwards said he enjoyed a visit to her home and looked forward to working with mellon in the future. how use full has edwards' former speechwriter been for the prosecution thus far? >> reporter: bill, the prosecution is trying to show edwards was well aware of millions of dollars from two wealthy donors used for you have purposes of keeping his presidential campaign viable. wendy button told her

recently only found out about $725,000 in checks. one of those donors, rachel "bunny" mellon fun they would to campaign aide andrew young. according to button edward was aware of his campaign finance chairman fred baron had been supporting his mistress rielle hunter and her baby, francis quinn hunter. quote, fred has been taking care of things all along but that he didn't know the details. bill? bill: so i don't know edwards then -- john edwards asked wendy button the speechwriter to help him draft a public statement that would acknowledge the father of baby quinn. what came of that, jonathan? >> reporter: yeah, they apparently went back and forth on details of the speech between july and august of 2009. wendy button says edwards was adamant that she remove any apology to andrew young, his former campaign aide who had been helping to keep rielle hunter and baby quinn

in hiding. he also asked her to remove a sentence about his knowledge of the money used to support his mistress for what he termed, quote, legal and practical reasons. button said they eventually agreed to address the money with this statement, quote, some people without my knowledge, supported quinn. button later testified, i knew it wasn't true so i wanted to make sure if we released a statement it was accurate. the prosecution asked her, what wasn't true? button replied, without my knowledge, refering to that phrase in edward's statement, bill. bill: jonathan serrie, following it again today. we'll be back in touch when there are headlines. thank you, sir, greensboro, north carolina. >> new reaction to comments by vice president joe biden on iran. he claims that global efforts to rein in tehran's nuke program were going nowhere and the u.s. was the problem. that is until president obama took office. here's the vp yesterday. >> when we took office, let me remind you, it was

virtually no international pressure on iran. we were the problem. we were diplomaticly isolated in the world, in the region, in europe. the international pressure on iran was stuck in neutral. patti ann: well, joining us to talk about this, kt mcfarland, a fox news national security analyst and a former deputy assistant to the secretary of defense for president reagan. thank you as always for joining us. so biden was speaking before a group of conservative rabbis. he went on to say we were being criticized in european capitals for being unilateral. tehran had allies. we were not respected by our friends or feared by our opponents. what say you? >> getting to the point where this is like the dog ate my homework excuse. blame george bush. the fact of the matter the george bush didn't as sell bell the enter national community against iran.

neither did president obama. now that he assembled the international community what has he gotten for it? reset with russia. we came up for the missile shield planned for the check public and poland in hopes russia would help us with iran. that hasn't happened. russia continues to in fact help iran's nuclear clear program. the chinese are buying more of iran's oil. ditto same with india. went to the europeans. the europeans would help us. europeans say sanctions but they don't come into effect until july. i'm not sure what all this great kumbayah international support is getting us in cold hard results. patti ann: seen some people characterize the obama administration diplomatic strategy as naive. would you say that? >> yeah. because they wasted three years trying to extend the hand of friendship. president obama by my count did it eight times. every single time he was rebuffed and made fun of iranians. while we were extending hand

of friendship iranians were building up nuclear program to now even secretary of defense the iran will have nuclear weapons within a year. anything president obama may claim he has done and make the world feels better getting together and stopping iran but there is no actual deeds they have done to stop iran. patti ann: let's listen to the vice president again talking about how much better our relationship is with israel now. >> i'm proud of our record. i believe that no president since harry truman has done more for israel's physical security than barack obama. i forgive you think i'm obviously prejudiced about the guy i work with. but you don't have to take my word for this. patti ann: all right. so how do we assess the u.s. relationship with israel under the obama administration? >> vice president biden, i've been following his career for 30 years. absolutely consistent. never been in doubt that he has been rarely right and i think in this case it's the same. relationship with israel by all experts agree, maybe

president obama doesn't agree and maybe president netanyahu doesn't say it publicly most people feel the relationship has never been more dangerous. certainly had very frosty meetings between netanyahu and obama at the white house. netanyahu talking about israel has to defend israel by itself and has to look at iranian situation and can't outsource its defense to the united states. so i think that a lot of this is an election ploy by the president, not wanting to look like he's abandoning israel just prior to an election. why? because there are some very pro-israeli jewish voters in a lot of key swing states. patti ann: you know, some people say that the u.s. is doing more behind the scenes with israel than they want to make public and that that's the protection of both israel and the u.s.. >> i don't think there is a -- much hesitation in bragging and making public about things they considered great successes whether bin laden raid or whether cia foiled underwear bomber plot this week. there is cooperation,

particularly in the intelligence communities between the united states and israel. for example, the cyber weapon that we think slowed down iran's centrifuge program, its nuclear enrichment program. who was that? nobody come out and claim credit for it but it was probably a combination of israeli and american intelligence. probably begun in the bush administration and not stopped by obama. we'll let him take a little credit for that. patti ann: kt mcfarland. thanks as always for joining us. bill: while you ladies were talking we were going lower and lower on the stock market. there are concerns just about everywhere right now. worried about greece pulling out of the eurozone. italy and spain overnight. we're down more than 2% on their markets. we're drifting lower. off 121 in first eight minutes of trading. yesterday we were also down about 76 points. we'll see whether we level off there at the 12,800 mark or go lower or perhaps hope springs in the afternoon and see if we bounce back. 9:38 here on the east coast. patti ann, what is next. >> top democrats calling for

president obama to clarify his position on same-sex marriage as the white house speaks out on north carolina's decision to ban it. the great panel will debate that coming up. bill: the great panel. i like that. stealing the show she was, she was the presidential debate and "playboy" model who kind of distracted entire nation. i wonder how many votes she got? ♪ people with a machine. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?!

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my new place isn't that far away. it's 15 miles away ! with this oid razr by motorola on verizon 4g lte, we can video chat on skype. you're gonna get lost ! this has gps. well, that makes me feel better. me too. i'll go get two from the back. the droid razr by motorola now only $99.99. hurry in, offer ends may 13th. verizon. bill: new reaction from the white house on north carolina's vote to ban gay marriage. it passed late last night. the president saying he is disappointed, disappointed with that vote even those his own views, are quote,

evolving on issue. that's what press secretary jay carney says. biden's comments from over the weekend leading to come confusion at the white house this week. have a listen here. >> i think the vice president expressed his personal views. he also said he was evolving on the issue. the i think the. >> when? when did he say that, jay? >> he did. >> no he -- >> let me just be clear though. the vice president, what he said about the protection of rights of citizens is completely consistent with the president's position on this issue. and his description of the way the country has moved on this issue i think is wholly accurate. bill: clear now, are you? tucker carlson, editor, daily caller, fox news contributor. alan colmes, host of alan colmes radio show. good morning to both of you. are you evolving tucker? where are you on this? >> well the president's position is nonsensical. he says on one hand that gay americans ought to have

equal rights with everybody else and then simultaneously says they should not be allowed to get married. yes? because of his own personal faith. what faith is that? there is no liberal protestant denomination i'm aware of against gay marriage. the president's opposition gay marriage is political. there are lots of black and latino voters who are uncomfortable with gay marriage. the president doesn't want to alienate them in election year. that is the source --. bill: you would argue those two voting groups across the country not specific to what is happening in north carolina with the ban voted on yesterday? >> i say the president is trying to have it both ways. he says i'm for equal rights yet he is not. is not for gay marriage and won't explain why. opposition is politically. doesn't want to alienate key voting groups. bill: alan. >> what is remarkable so-called liberal media loves barack obama do no wrong, right, focusing on this beating up jay carney on it. why are we talking about the fact that mitt romney would be more pro-gay than ted kennedy when he ran against

ted kennedy. now he wants to have stop gays from having marriage equality. he has been all over the place. in these news briefs with the press secretary they want to keep beating up obama. bill: i think that is a point can be debated in the future but the issue at hand is what joe biden said to kick this off. followed by education secretary the following monday and it leads writers like dana milbank and others of "the washington post", from ruth marcus, same-sex marriage is turning into a test of character err and leadership for president obama. >> test of character leadership for the guy who wants obama's job. so-called liberal media who i keep hearing loves obama seems to ignore the other side of this. look at what obama's done. of course he was leading the charge to overturn and end don't ask don't tell. spoken out for equality with gays. has been good on issue. look at his record versus mitt romney and been all over the place on this why is the media only focusing

on this --. bill: you would disagree not a question of leadership? do you agree with that? >> very simple question. how is the president for equality, if against allowing gay people to marry. how is that equality? i'm not defending mitt romney's position on gay people. president of the united states says he for equality for gays and opposes gay marriage. by the way gay groups, gay political lobby gives him a pass on this they give him money. they, laud him as a pro-gay president. even as he opposes their right to get married. how does that work? >> they're judging by actions. >> they're in the tank for the democratic party. >> in the taping? in the tank? which party has been more open to equality for gays? republican party or democrat party, which is it? bill: tucker, do you think he evolves to a point where he says yes or no in next six months or not. >> i think obama is entirely for gay marriage but will

not say so before the election because he doesn't want to alienate voters. bill: alan. >> i think he probably won't. would like him to. media and democrats themselves are making so much of this when they should be focusing on the inconsistencies on the other side. bill: still clear as mud to me. tucker there is story being reported on your website, dailycaller.com about an "snl" skit that did not happen over the weekend. what is going on there if you can report. >> jim downey, one of wrongest serving writers on "saturday night live" -- for, this saturday night. gently mocking obama for bragging about killing usama bin laden. did really well at dress rehearsal on saturday night but was killed in favor of another predictable anti-fox sketch. if you watched "saturday night live" this season i don't think there has been a single sketch critical of the president. i've never seen that. bill: are you reporting that the skit was, it wasn't funny or is there something more sinister at work? what are you reporting?

>> look we're reporting that, i think an objectively funny sketch was skilled. i wasn't in the -- killed. i wasn't in the room so i can't exactly speak why, killed in favor of pretty nonfunny sketch that sort of took the president's position. again this season, normally "saturday night live" is sort of bipartisan in the shots it takes this season i don't think you can find a single sketch that's been critical of barack obama. bill: you make a good point. there is fresh show on saturday night. thank alan too when you see him. shoot me an e-mail, hemme hemmer@foxnews.com or follow me on twitter, because you asked. bya. you can check it out right now. 140 characters oar less, patti ann. patti ann: that's right. bill: if it is more than we have to delete it. kidding. it doesn't even go through. anything you want to talk about, fire away. patti ann: meantime a bombshell in the latest terrorist plot to blow up a us air plane.

who the bomber was and how al qaeda handed the whole mission to the cia. bill: why retirement got even more expensive. a troubling report how much you will have to fork over during the golden years for your health care. patti ann: it's never good. wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. fohalf the calories plus vgie nutrition. could've had a v8.

>> rather curvacious distraction. presidential debate, mexico. a "playboy" model carrying an urn filled with bits of papers to decide who would speak first in that debate on sunday. she was on stage for all of 28 seconds. that apparently all it took. images of model did splashed across front pages of

newspapers and web sites some critics saying the dress was too revealing. you think? gets my vote. patti ann: well the aclu is gearing up for another challenge to the federal government's no-fly list. they claim it is random and impossible to get off of once you're on it. officials with the joint terrorism task force says it saves live. dan springer joins us live in seattle. federal judge has thrown the case out but apparently the legal fight is not over? >> its far from over. aclu is appealing the decision in portland. even if it doesn't get heard by the district court it will likely be heard by the ninth circuit court of appeals. issue, the no-fly list is constitutional or does it violate a person's right to travel or specifically due process rights. former member of the joint terrorism task force says the list is legal and already saved lives. >> because of 9/11 a lot of things have changed a lot of

our personal freedoms have been restricted. phone calls overseas and things like that are, many times are intercepted and monitored. and that's a result of the terrorist activity trying to affect the homeland. >> reporter: now everyone on this terrorism, this ply list is also on the terrorism watch list and that also includes, patti ann, 500 u.s. citizens. patti ann: so what happens, dan, if the fbi gets it wrong? >> reporter: well it has and there is redress system but not an easy system to get through. makes you go through several different processes and also departments within homeland security and one of the 500 americans who is on this list is jamal tarhuny. a businessman from portland. would have required him giving up his miranda rights. he was barred flying back with his family after a group with christian group, medical teams international. he has never been told why he is even on the list.

>> they can ask anything they want about what i know and i will be more than happy to ask because i have really nothing to hide about what i have done in libya or how i lived my life in the united states. >> reporter: just like it. arhuni, all 16 plaintiffs in the aclu case in the no-ply list are muslims. patti ann: dan springer live in seattle thank you. bill: sky is not falling. last time we checked it was still up there, patti ann? that's all right. hang in there. all good. the president said wall street needs to be held accountable for its role in the economic meltdown of 2008. where are we now? why is the prosecution of financial fraud at a 20-year low. the new accusations a eric holder is giving fat cats special treatment. patti ann: swing states can make-or-break a presidential candidate. coming up the path to the white house and what state it may run through. every day potentially harmful germs

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bill: whole new hour here and fox news alert. a hearing about to get underway on the house side. robert muller will testify as we learn more about the sting operation that brought down the latest al-qaida plot. brand-new hour here of "america's newsroom." good to have you along with us today. i'm bill hemmer. martha is on assignment. how are you doing? patti ann: i'm happy to be here. i'm patti ann brown. they say the would be bomber was a double agent. instead of sneaking the bomb onto a plane he handed it over to the cia. bill: catherine herridge on the

story. good morning, catherine. what more have we learned now. >> reporter: thank you, good morning. we know this morning it was an insider job that the asset who posed as a saw side bomber was able to get the device and get it out of the country and provided the intelligence that took out one o. the nonmetallic explosives were season into the brief. there was an improved death tphaeurt. if the first one fails there is a back up. the detonator filed in part on christmas day because the explosives were damp. we can expect some more detail from f.b.i. director muller because it's his bureau in quantico that is looking at that device at this hour. bill: he'll face tough questions. that is a given sometimes when you have the hearings. but also given the administration's statement a few weeks ago that there were no credible threats around the anniversary of osama bin laden's

death, that was the of may. you had a couple of weeks prior to that and a couple since then. >> reporter: this bulletin is very serious. on capitol hill there have been suggestions that homeland security and the f.b.i. with you undercut. on the eve of that anniversary they issued a bulletin indicating there was no credible phroet whe plot when the administration knew a device had been picked up. >> it does not make sense to me that that bill tin was put out if in fact the president has been aware of this plot since last month. so there does appear to be an inconsistency there, but perhaps there is a good reason for it. >> reporter: we can expect the f.b.i. director to rile be pushed on this issue, because based on our reporting we were told that there is reason to believe that more devices may be out there, bill. bill: thank you for that. to our viewers the timing of the story now being called into question. was the intel leaked because of

politics in former ia officer comes back today. he has strong opinions on this. i encourage you to hangout for him in 39 minutes. patti ann: insights in how americans feel about the war in afghanistan. brand-new numbers show support for the war reaching a new low 27% backing combat operations the majority saying america's presence is doing more harm than good. when asked whether the killing of lai osama bin laden has created a great err terror threat against americans. 27% said yes. 31% believe his death decreased the threat of terrorism. 38 perfected said it had no affect at all. bill: russia's first passenger yet built through the fall of the soviet union may have crashed on a test flight. it took off from indonesia on

the island of java, several diplomat diplomats from russia were on board. the flight lost contact with air traffic control when it dropped 4,000 feet in a matter of seconds. it is the completely new airliner designed by russia going back tots 1980s. we'll track the developments for you. patti ann: a new report on healthcare costs has dire news for couples retiring today. it shows the average couple needs almost a quarter of a million dollars just to cover medical costs in retirement. charles payne joins us. >> reporter: this is disappointing, in fact one of the reasons, i mean obviously that is a big number. 240,000. this is a couple that actually has medicare coverage. the rate of growth is amazing. they just started doing this back in 2002. if we were just going with generally assumed inflation the number would be 204,000.

but it's 240,000 and rising rapidly. the idea that we'd have these quote unquote safety nets, and at 65 we don't have to worry about anything any more, obviously that is not true. we have to find ways to curb healthcare costs in this country. anyone out there who is approaching retirement or even considering retirement better find ways other than just relying on the social security and medicare to take care of themselves in later age. patti ann: one of the options i guess is long-term care insurance. but long-term care isn't even included in that 240,000. >> reporter: it's not included in that number. there is a lot of things that aren't necessarily-included in that number. so that is not necessarily the answer. now one thing we should know. right now if you're 65 years old, you probably will live to be at least 85 years old, if you're a woman 87 years old. those numbers are only going to get higher and higher. this is a warning, a call if you will for americans to, a, we've

got to find a way to find and make our medical system better, cutting out frivolous lawsuits, graduating more doctors, more competitive system that kind of thing, but i think it's incumbent ton each individual watching to find how to take control of this themselves and not just rely on the government. $240,000 for a couple who is 65 years old who he is not prepared is going to be a real tough retirement. patti ann: this is up 4.3% from last year. you say when you factor in cost of living increases this is still going kwroepbd that. beyond that. but there is a longer life expectant see which is part of the problem. do people need to work longer if they are going to live longer. >> reporter: right now they do. since the great recession, we know how many people have lost jobs, people 55 and older have gained 3 million jobs. not only do they have to work longer, the good news is many of them are. we are living longer.

in 2030 if you live to 65 you probably as a woman will live to be 89 or 90 years old on average. so we have to change the way we prepare for that. patti ann: is some of this due to obamacare? >> reporter: no, i can't blame this on owe became a care, we are not even sure how it's going to impact. i don't think obamacare will cure this by the way, in fact some people argue it might make it worse, so that is sort of a wildcard out there. this is just the rate of growth, this is some of the problems that we have. there is no doubt everybody agrees we have to figure out, patti ann how to fix this problem. i think the notion that you make people buy a product that they don't want to buy or can't afford, that is not the solution. there are some things we can do to chip away at this. certainly i think a more competitive medical environment would probably be the best way to go about it. patti ann: $240,000 just for medical costs in retirement. >> reporter: this is on top of medicare. this is co-pays and things like that. this is an outrage just scary

number. again it's a clarian call. patti ann: charles payne thank you. bill: thank you charles. six minutes past the hour. a rematch in the battle for the governor's office in wisconsin. democrat tom barrett top of your screen the man who lost to scott walker only 18 months ago winning last night's primary. now set to face off yet again, head-to-head in a heated recall election that will happen in one month. >> with scott walker starting an ideological civil war in this state, and dividing our state like it has never been divided before. i have lived in this state my entire life and i have never seen the situation we have now. bill: mike tobin is live in

milwaukee. what are they saying about the big rematch, mike? good morning to you in milwaukee. >> reporter: the headlines read rematch. some people on social media are writing, game on, the gloves are off as barrett goes head-to-head with governor scott walker. mayor barrett the gladiator from the left trying to undue changes made by governor walker. governor walker trying to maintain the course he set for wisconsin. >> do we want to go back to the days when a handful of special interests controlled our state and our local governments? [no ] >> instead we put in place reforms that rightfully put the hard-working tax players of wisconsin in charge. we are not going backyards, we are going forwards. [applause] >> reporter: democrats had a post primary rally set for today. they called it a unity rally. that has been canceled. the democrats say because they

wanted to focus on their ground game and the get out the vote effort. republican *rs making an issue of it. they say it was canceled because mayor barrett did not want to be photographed with union leadership. republicans say throughout this process the union leadership has become toxic, bill. bill: what i understand, mike from 18 months ago is that walker won that battle. it was close, 52-47% but he won that. what did the primary tell us if anything about which side is more motivated than the other. >> reporter: governor walker had a primary opponent. he was a proceed pest candidate not taken very seriously. 630,000 wisconsin republicans turned out to vote yesterday just to prevent a fluke. now you compare that to the total number of democrats who turned out for faulk and barrett and it's about 10,000 less than those who turned out on the republican side. wisconsin republicans say that means they have a better ground game, a more motivated base. the democrats say all they

really care about is getting walker out of office, they'll turn out june the 5th, that's when it counts, bill. bill: mike, thank you. you're going to be in wisconsin for a month. we'll see what gives them. patti ann: mitt romney and president obama neck-and-neck in most states. ed rollins who helped ronald reagan win re-election in 1984 will tell us what two states will make the difference. bill: new allegations lawn. at eric holder. why son journalist says the justice department is giving wall street special treatment. why would that be? if true he joins us next with a scathing new report. patti ann: 15-year-old corriere della sera lemar has been missing since march, but police have a new clue that may break the case. >> we have been in limbo and kind of desperate for more information for a longtime no, so this is good and it's making us feel much better and even more hopeful.

patti ann: police in california discover what could be a major clue in the disappearance of 15-year-old sierra lemar. police say they found a car spotted on surveillance video near the spot where she disappeared. they released this photo of a similar volkswagen jetta. they won't say where they actually found the car or who owns it. investigators are hoping the car holds the clues they need to find the missing girl. >> we don't have a person of interest yet, so we are hoping that some evidence, if anything that would be yielded from this car will lead us in that direction. patti ann: police are urging anyone with information on sierra's disappearance to call the tip line at the number on the screen. bill: 14 minutes past the hour right now. new details on a report that claims the u.s. justice department is taking part in collective prosecution. according to an article in newsweek the doj is

intentionally avoiding cases against big wall street firms because of eric holder's ties to the attorneys that represent those firms. now peter schweitzer wrote the article, he's also the author of throw them owl automatic and the president of the government accountability institute, in the studio with me. good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. bill: i think a lot of viewers may not be srap familiar with this material. what are eric holder's ties to the law firms. >> eric holder and the other top five officials at the department of justice all came from large firms that do a lot of business with wall street. covington and brling was eric holder r-r's tpeufrplt he was part of the white color criminal defense practice, along with laney brewer. they did a lot of business with wall street. it still represents goldman sacks, bank of america, jpmorgan. et cetera. bill: would some of the

attorneys go work at the department of justice? would it work in reverse or would it work hand in glove. >> it's a revolving door. when eric holder became attorney general in 2009 he came over and brought over with him five other attorneys, two of which have returned back to coug covington and are working on white color criminal defense cases, again in some instances involving large financial institutions. bill: your suggestion then is that he does not go after the firms because it's cronyism, they know each other, don't want to bust my friends, that's your point. >> the business model is, if you are the attorney general ever the united states and you go after the biggest firms, then you leave and go back to your initial practice you won't be real popular on wall street if do you that. he has a very powerful professional, financial incentive not to go aggressively after wall street. bill: it doesn't sound like what we heard three and a half years ago. despite the widespread outrage, financial fraud prosecutions are

at 20-year lows? >> that is what is stunning. you look at any objective measure the department of justice has aggressively gone after civil rights cases, medicare fraud. the one exception is financial fraud involving particularly wall street. it is at a 20-year low. bill: that's not what we heard. that's not what everybody said. patti ann. >> that's right. the reality is this administration is trying to capture the rhetoric of the 99%, that we are going to hold them accountable if they broke the law, they are going to go to jail. in reality the way that justice is being played out it's crony justice, they are favoring the 1%. this skwraoup a group at justice that looks at financial fraud that eric holder is the help of, they have gone after people for financial fraud but when you look on the website it's all these sort of rel americans. there are three middle age women from connecticut who are facing jail time because they were involved in a fraudulent gifting

circle. so this is what they are spending their time doing rather than going after wall street. bill: this is a good point to make. and the point of your article is not that these lawyers aren't working at the department of justice, it's a question of what they are working on. i think about the immigration cases, that challenges the state laws. i think about voter id in various parts of the country. >> think about roger clemens, they are going after him in some of the pitching challenges, and whether he perjured himself in front of congress. these are the kind of cases they are focusing on, not the wall street cases that they talk about. bill: you went to the department of justice to figure out why. what did they tell you? >> they basically said they are working very hard and trying to do things. one of the defense they make is these firms hire a lot of attorneys so it's hard to bring these cases. bill: do you tpwhaeu? >> that? >> no i don't. that is the same defense that could have been used against enron or other corporate

scandals ten years ago. they went after those individuals and they did go to jail. it's a hard case to make some times but you have to make it. bill: thank you for coming in and sharing your story. patti ann what is up next. patti ann: is there a leak in the u.s. intelligence community? new questions today about the timing of a terror plot foiled by the cia. we'll have a former covert cia agent. bill: a man crashes his motorcycle nearly killing two drivers. he was texting behind the wheel. can the person who sent him that text be held responsible? >> this particular case, as unique as this case would be, there were facts, time elements that bee seek th that bespeak the fact that she knew his schedule very well. wer surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy...

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bill: 22 minutes past the hour now. these protestors facing foreclosure marching outside a bank of america, it's about a new policy that allows qualified homeowners to reduce their loans the protestors say that does not go far enough. pastor made doe tearing through power lines in southern texas, damaging winds. no reports of injuries there. jurors in the roger clemens perjury case, apparently, quote, fed up with the slow pace of the trial. the judge urging both sides to speed it up, fellas. the all-star -p pitcher bac pitcher back on trial for lying to congress about his use of steroids. the trial mimics the sport. it goes slowly sometimes in baseball. patti ann: talking now about a major ruling, legal ruling that will likely have far-reaching implications for anyone who uses

a cellphone. david and linda cubert suffered horrific injuries when a pickup driver responding to a text message crashed into their motorcycle. now a judge will decide whether the woman who sent that text should also be held accountable. the attorney for the victim says the woman should have been aware of the danger of texting someone who is driving. >> what i find was interesting was her testimony at depositions, was that she answered by saying, this is what teenagers do. patti ann: judge andrew napolitano is a fox news judicial analyst. he joins us. text driving is illegal in 30 states. isn't it the driver's fault for reading and responding to the detectives. >> of course it is. the plaintiff's lawyer here we just saw, spine skippy weinstein, he is a satisfactory push lawyer, very creative. this is over-the-top creative,

to say that because you sent someone a message, their act of reading it is the cause of them getting in an accident. no one made him read the message when it was sent. of course if this lawsuit is permitted to go forward with the sender of the message as a defendant, think of the burden that would impose on all of us. we would have to know where the people we are texting and e-mailing are at the very moment we are texting and e-mailing them, lest we be responsible for what they do. that is an impossible task, and the court should not impose it on anyone. patti ann: well, yeah. in this case the lawyer says that the person sending the text knew that the recipient was driving, but as you say, this would basically ban texting all together, because people don't generally know whether the person is driving or what they are up to. critics of this lawsuit say this is a radical change in the law and needs to be addressed by a legislature and not the courts. >> i agree. it is the legislature of the

state of new jersey and as you say 30-some-odd other states that decided that texting while driving is unlawful. only the legislature could make a decision like this. receiving the text is unlawful while driving. sending the text is unlawful while driving. reading the text is unlawful while driving. knowing where your correspondent is when you send the text nobody could possibly know that. this is not a decision that a judge should make. i think he will throw this aspect of the case out. if he does it will go to the supreme court of new jersey. i used to work for them. god only knows where they will go with this. patti ann: judge, thank you for joining us. bill: right to the source he is. look at him, he's the source. imagine that, though if you were held liable, because if you sent me a text message and i was driving i would have to respond to you and let you know that i was driving, don't talk to to me any more.

patti ann: pull over, or just ignore it. i don't text. bill: shut it off, put it in the glove box right there. mitt romney expressing confidence in the outcome this fall. did you hear this? >> i think we're going to have a lot of work ahead of us. i think it's going to be a competitive race but i expect in the final analysis the people who voted for him and are disappointed are going to vote for me in the fall. bill: to win though you need victories in a hand-full of key battleground states. we have the map to show you where that is ande anded rollins on the states are a must win for either one to win. patti ann: mickey mouse a smuggler? we'll tell you about this disney character packing heat. i remember the days before copd.

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wow! and the unique zipwik tab targets the blood and pulls it in. so testing is easy. and you can save on these strips monthly simply by joining the freestyle promise program. so saving is easy too. yep, just call or click and join for free. test easy. bill: mitt romney zoning in on some of the key states that he thinks he needs to win and probably has to win to win the white house as the race starts to shift toward a general election mode. you can feel it now. >> we'll be looking at these polls and all the polls that just suggesting that against an incumbent with a billion dollars he's raising, with an extraordinary machine attacking me on a personal basis day-by-day, the worthy underdogs that we have to fight very, very hard to breakthrough the clutter of the charges and the attacks, and the efforts to dissuade people from looking at his

record. bill: just about six months to go right now, that from shaun hannity's program last night. on the map these are the states now in blue that voted democrat in both the years 2004 and 2008. they are in blue. now in red on the map behind us here you'll see the states that went republican in 2004 and 2008. this is what you need to focus on, the following nine states in white on screen went back and forth between 2004 and 2008. among them and they are critical, florida 29 electoral votes. ohio at 18, also on the map virginia, north carolina, and as we trickle towards the west, places like colorado, new mexico and nevada could be critical late in the night in 2012, first week of november. ed rollins is a campaign strategist, deputy chief of staff for president reagan. he also p-gd managed the campaign for mr. reagan's re-election in 1984.

he's had rolls in nine other campaigns. a fox news contributor. good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: do you disagree with anything on the map. >> not at all. the key here is those nine states were the swing states last name. obama won them all. we've got to take 80-some odd votes away from him, electoral votes. you've got to win florida, you've got to win ohio. no republican has ever won the presidency without winning ohio. you need to win virginia and win indiana back which is traditionally a republican state, we lost it last time. you do that you're back in the game. bill: in some of the battleground states, this is from the washington times. although romney is trailing obama by two points in the swing states now the new numbers don't compare to the 9 point lead that president obama had over governor romney back in march. >> here is what happened. when you see these national polls they are now deaden, they are trend senders, a little bit ahead of the state polls. i would think in the next couple

of weeks some of these polls will get very, very close again. bill: any incumbent president should shoot for at least 5 50%, obama does not have that. >> the president's number is traditionally the number he'll get. they know who he is, and the job he's done. and all the advertising doesn't necessarily change the opinions. bill: what does it say to you then. >> romney has a real shot at this thing. when i ran reagan's campaign in 1984 i spent about $30 million on my national 50-state campaign advertising budget. romney spent $25 million in nine states last week. bill: wow, wow,. >> big difference. bill: how does that fit into the dynamics that we'll see over the next six months. >> most of the states will be ignored. not the ones you're talking about today. if you live in those states you'll see romney, the president, tons and tons and advising. if you live in california you'll never see an ad.

bill: because that's the place where you can save money. are things off to a close start at the moment? have we seen enough of governor romney out there? >> i think he's trying to put together his fundraising base which has to be very substantial and build organizations in these states. because of the primaries he wasn't able to build the organizations that the obama people are doing, they are doing a lot of that now. these nine states you run like a governor's race, you don't run a national campaign, you run a state-by-state in these particular places. build organization and grassroots. bill: a guy like you, you understand the nuts and bolts of literally putting together a campaign. how do you think he's doing? >> i think they are getting there. i think they are doing a much better job. bill: they were lacking before? >> they were in a knock down drag out primary. the good news is is he didn't really get damaged, when you see a 9% plus of republicans are supporting him it shows basically he'll have a solid base. bill: we have not seen big speeches at the moment. you saw a lot of those from

senator obama in 2008. is that something that you would advice governor romney to do? >> he has to layout his economic plan. he had an economic plan in the primary that nobody made attention to. it was 52 some odd items. bill: 59. >> like 9-9-9 from cain, it can be simple but those are the steps. bill: do you need to build events where you draw attention and get headlines? >> sure, people don't really know everybody about him at this time. what is your leadership role in the world as the world is changing dramatically, what is your vision of it? what kind of an economic plan are you really going to have? how are you going to turn this economy around? that is very important. bill: at the moment would you agree that this election is 50-50, a dead heat. >> it's a absolute dead heat today. i would say this. though if i were sitting in chicago i'd be very nervous. bill: ed rollins good to see

you. >> my pleasure. patti ann: gas prices taking another step back from their highs. according to aaa the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded is now $3.75. that is a nickle cheaper than it was a week ago. but if you drive a diesel check you may remember you used to be able to fill up for less than the price of a traditional gas mold. any any more. david lee miller is he live at a new york gas station. how popular are these diesel cars? >> it looks like this is back to the future. there has been an increase in the sales of diesel cars. currently diesel sales account for about 2% of the total market, not sr-frpbgs especially when you compare it to europe where diesel cars being sold are about 50% of the market. over the last few years foreign manufacturers have been importing their diesel cars to the united states, and they say aeults hav sales have spiked.

volkswagen and says diesel sales have gone up 35%. even though diesels get about 30% better mileage, they are -- it is more expensive to buy the fuel. an oil analyst explains why. >> diesel is more expensive because global demand is a little bit closer to global supply. it's the toughest petroleum molecule to produce nationally and internationally. you have to remove almost every vest taj of sulfur from the diesel molecule and that takes some money to do. >> reporter: one analyst we talked to said sales of dealses, if they continue to spike interestingly could eat into the hybrid and the electric car market, people who simply want to lower the cost of their miles per gallon. patti ann. patti ann: if diesel car sales increase will diesel fuel go up as well? >> reporter: it is highly unlikely that diesel fuel in the

united states is going to increase even if sales of diesel cars here increase two fold, or threefold or even more so. the reason for that is simple. the u.s. currently exports in excess of a million gallons of diesel every day. one million gallons of diesel every day. we are currently refine more diesel than we can use. that is very important because heavy trucks use diesel almost exclusively and if diesel costs were to spike upward the fuel could affect consumer goods, but that is not likely to happen. patti ann. patti ann: david lee miller reporting live for us, thanks. bill: a nice relief when you fill up next time, save a couple of dollars. things have been going up, and up and up, you're like man, no mercy. a suspected drunk driver caught horsing around leading police on this wild chase. it was straight out of nascar. we'll show you how it ended in a moment. patti ann: was the cia operation to break up that al-qaida plot

exposed too early? accusations that politics may be putting lives at risk. a former covert c ir kreurbgs a agent joins ukreurbgs a agent covert cia agent joins us next. if you're one of those folks who gets heartburn

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patti ann: this is a horse of a different color. a suspected drunk driver taking horsepower too literally leading new mexico police on a chase around a casino horse track. the guy told officers he thought it would be fun to drive like he was in nascar. he then passed out in the back of the parole car. sleep it off, buddy. bill: at least he picked a decent place to do it. it wasn't on the street for a change. patti ann: a little safer. bill: there are new and significant concerns now that that terror plot against a u.s. airplane was leaked purely or political reasons. former cia covert officer mike

baker, head of a global intelligence firm is with us out of connecticut. good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: you level pretty strong accusations here about how this whole thing was made public. who would have the motivation to put this word out and tell people? >> well, i -- call me cynical i think someone with the access to the information is naive enough to not understand the damage other than the white house. what this smells like is that at some point somebody in the white house couldn't keep their mouth shurbgts talked to the ap. because you remember the ap had this story. how do you think they got it? they were convinced by director p pea petreaus to keep a lid on it. then they came out and said

there is no public threat. the white house came out and said we knew about this going back into a. we were on top of this thing really from the beginning. what that does, making that statement, talking about it, taking credit for this foiled plot, basically is to tell al-qaida that we had a source inside al-qaida in the arabian peninsula, that's essentially what we've done. bill: let me back up a minute. i want to get to the damage at the beginning of your answer there. we have this plot -- correct me on any facts here. early april there was a double agent who infiltrated al-qaida in the arabian peninsula which is located in the country of yemen. that informant got his hands-on a plot and a physical bomb that is a newer version of an underwear bomb that we saw back in 2009 in december flying into detroit, comes back, removes himself from the group and says, here is your evidence, this is what they were trying to do. we knew about that a month ago.

and now we find out this guy was working on behalf of the cia. are those the facts as we understand them? >> essentially yes. the white house is saying, we were on top of this thing. we knew about this going back into april. we have a source, an assett that is being worked. this goes into a variety of areas. this talks about our work with our liaison service. bill: you think about the cia and how they've tried to get inside of this group's head for ten, eleven years now and how difficult it has been, so, then, what is the damage of making this public? >> the cia in concert with our liaison services that we work very closely with, and that is a very important point. but the damage, you talk about this. you think about it, well it was an ongoing operation. there is nothing that says we had finished working with this asset who had reached a very important point within an organization that we've been trying to infiltrate for a very longtime, with varying degrees of success. so it was not necessarily a don operation at that point. even if it was, think about

this. by telling al-qaida essentially that we had a source inside, what does that mean? they've now identified the source, and they are shutting down everything. they are shutting down safe houses, putting people underground. they are closing accounts. they are basically srubin scrubbing their entire operation. everything we had been learning via that asset is off the table. we don't have that as viable intelligence because somebody was unable to keep their yap shut. bill: you're arguing that going public witness essentially could cost american lives. you said something like that i want to understand, you said the worse part of it is we knew about it in april, that would have been a month ago. why is that the worst part of it. >> the worst part of it is essentially the white house comes out and says, yes, we were on top of this since april. we've been managing this thing and following this and on top of it and had control of this operation. think about it, what are your options then?

it doesn't take a rocket sigh even 'tis inside al-qaida, they are not idiots to think, that means they've got a source, they've got somebody. really there is not a lot of intelligence required to put two and two together on al-qaida's part and understand what happened here, and the fact that we had an asset working inside that organization that was placed in there and now the damage that's been done by revealing that information, via the white house, i think, if this is not looked into. i don't think it will be, because we've reached some pathetic stage where it's okay to talk out of turn like this. but somebody need to be looking at this. bill: bear in mind, yemen is where it's all at right now in this war and where al-qaida is. >> absolutely. bill: thank you for sharing your insight with us today. mike baker. patti ann: "happening now" is copping are coming up at the top of the hour. jon scott has a preview. jon: the developments that have mike baker so hot are so

important we are going to continue the discussion in the next hour of "happening now," the thwarted terror plot far getting u.s. airliners. the bomber was a double agent. we'll get into the details in that story and the questions it is raising about our national security. another string of victories for mitt romney but there were some other issues and rand dates in play last night as well. what do the results tell us about the coming november elections? and the next time you're sick, how about having a virtual doctor's appointment? we'll weigh the benefits and pitfalls of this growing trend ahead "happening now." patti ann: jon scott. thanks so much. looking forward to it. your kids may be sitting ducks for predators online. we'll talk to the author of a new book on how to protect them in the dangerous world of cyberspace. bill: it's either the happiest place on earth, maybe it's not so happy any more. someone is making mickey break the law against his will. there ought to be a law. ♪ happiness is a warm gun.

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bill: screeners in rhode island finding a disassembled handgun inside a make key. the main flame of a .40 caliber pistol inside a mickey mouse doll. a firing pin concealed inside of a teddy bear. carrying inside a child's bag. the gun was taken away and confiscated. no charges were filed. mickey was not under arrest. patti ann: a new undercover study files child predators are looking social networks like facebook to befriend unsuspecting children and cyberbullying has led to tragedy

for family after family in recent years. james staoeur i stier is the author of fighting back. you say this digital media explosion is a huge cultural phenomenon in a changes everything. >> lots of kids today selfreveal before they selfreflect. that can be a sign of cyber buelling or sexting. every parent has to be a part of this and do something about it. patti ann: there us just like hurtful things you mentioned a girl in her book who killed herself because she saw pictures after party that she wasn't invited to. hurtful looking at other people living their lives and feeling like your life isn't as good. >> with facebook and other social media platforms sids constantly compare themselves to other people. a recent study showed that 50%

of people feel there is something not so good about themselves as other people. i have two teenage daughters. there is a peg presentation anxiety. that goes with the pictures that are on there. patti ann: you have to have all the witty comments on twitter, a lot of pressure. they are doing this all in their bedroom. no one is talking face-to-face any more. >> think about it, i'm sitting here talking to you, i can see you smile, i know you're a mom u know what it's like to talk to your own kids, i know what it's like to talk to mine, when you can do something mean with the click of a mouse or on your phone it's a lot easier, it's less personal. you don't know what the emotion is involved. this is a fundamental change in the way that human beings relate to each other, particularly young people. we need to educate ourselves and tuck back. patti ann: your book has a lot of fantastic tips, we don't have time for all of them. what is some of the most important advice you'd give to parents. >> i think two things, first of all you need to do your

homework. if your kids on facebook you need to go on pair page and understand how it works and you need to set clear limits. the second thing is, you and i both know this as parents you need to be a role model. if you're always glued to your blackberry or our not paying attention to your kids because you're too busy on your own facebook page or computer then you're not setting a good example. in our home, for example, you cannot have a device at the dinner table or at any meal time. i think parents have to be role models. there are some very basic common-sense stipulates that all of us as moms and dads can use and we can talk back to facebook and take care of our kids. patti ann: and it's all in the book and also a website, talking back to facebook. jim steyer thank you so much for joining, great advice. bill: 900 million. 900million on facebook. a major shakeup rattling the walls of congress, why indiana senator richard lugar's 35 years in congress are now pendin ending and what that tells the

other politicians in washington.

♪ . bill: on itunes. this is all right too. andy warhol portrait of elvis presley auctioned later tonight in new york. called the double elvis. expected to go for at least $30 million. get in on that. >> grab my wallet. bill: the scream went for 120 million. could pay down the national debt for an hour. great to be with you. "happening now" starts right now? >> yes. bill: indeed it does. catch you tomorrow. jenna: foiled airline terror plot being compared to the failed underwear bombing of christmas 2009. some stunning new revelations the would-be bomber is a double agent. jon: a legend in the u.s. senate goes down to defeat after nearly four decades. dick lugar falls to a