we have dave heineman with his approval to give president obama a second chance. we begin with the obama party is campaign to ban assault weapons. they not only want to ban assault weapons but certain handouts. for more on what the democrats are trying to do to our second amendment rights, we bring in shannon bream. reporter: senator dianne feinstein acknowledges that it will be an uphill battle. this new measure would ban the sale and manufacture and transfer and importation of 157 specific garments, along with a broader group of other guns that will meet at a lower threshold for being classified as an assault weapon is the sale and transfer and gifting of anything classified as an assault weapon. >> no weapon is taken from anyone. the purpose is to try up the supply of these weapons over time. therefore there is no sunset on the spell of. reporter: the children in the newtown, connecticut, massacre would likely still be alive, they say, if these guns off the market. just about every action the shooter cho, including that day, was already illegal. a spokesman for

but unlike other recent proposals nebraska governor dave heineman says he is not going to raise other taxes to make up for it. hmmm. he will join us to explain just how that could possibly work coming up. >>> plus, an offer from the islamic militants holding two americans hostage in algeria. they will release them in exchange for two convicted terrorists currently in u.s. prisons. could attacks like this against oil and gas facilities become a new tactic in the war against terror? we'll hear from today's power panel. >>> we're shelling out big bucks for purell, flu shots, respiratory masks, tamiflu like there is no tomorrow and people are still getting sick in record numbers. drug companies may be profiting. are we just wasting our money? we'll get to the bottom line. even when they say it's not it is always about money. melissa: all right. first today's market moment. a slate of strong corporate earnings fav a modest boost to stocks. the s&p 500 and the dow climbed to five-year highs. blue-chips rose 53 points. morgan stanley was one of the day's top performers. it posted a big beat

the project has received approval from nebraska governor dave heineman this week. heineman approved a re-routing of the pipeline, which would transport crude oil from canada to the u.s. heineman said the route for the pipeline now avoids the state's sandhills region, which enviromentalists previously opposed, calling the region "environmentally sensitive." any move forward will have to be approved by the obama administration, which blocked progress of the project a year ago. superstorm sandy is taking a toll on corporate america. verizon blamed its $4.23-billion loss on storm costs. travelers insurance company turned a $394-million profit, but that was down from $618 million last year because of hurricane- related expenses. and delta airlines, which cancelled nealry 20,000 flights, had a net income of $7 million, off $425 million from a year earlier. despite near constant pleas for more revenue, the u.s. postal service is being investigated for runaway travel spending. the report comes from the postal service's office of the inspector general and finds that the age

there was an announcement of support from nebraska governor dave heineman. in a letter to the white house, he signed off on the section of the proposed keystone route from canada after it was redesigned to avoid a key october. -- aquafor. 350.org does organizing a presidents' day rally against the pipeline in washington, d.c. next month. the supreme court has refused to hear in this group challenge of the epa to set standards for air pollution. the move leaves intact a 2010 regulation limiting regulations of sulfur dioxide. president obama has tacitly endorsed a house republican plan to lift the debt ceiling for the next four months. the measure would lift enforcement of the government's $16.40 trillion borrowing limit until may 18. in a statement, the white house said it would not oppose the temporary move. a house vote is expected today. protests on both sides of the reproductive rights debate were held on tuesday to mark the 40th anniversary of roe v wade, the supreme court decision that legalized abortion. dozens of opponents rallied outside the supreme

after nebraska for dave heineman revealed he approved revived route for the keystone xl oil and gas pipelineenvironmentally sensitive areas of his state from canada to texas. last year, the white house repeatedly fell back on the for's initial opposition to justify delaying the pipeline. >> we only originally delayed the process because in part of concerns raised about the original pipeline route, by the for of nebraska. concern by folks in nebraska including the republican for about the original proposed route. >> after the for's decision today, the white house punted back to the state department, still reviewing the application. >> i don't want to get ahead of the process. the state department has something to move forward on. we'll address that issue, and when it does. >> the president of the american fuel and petro chemical manufacturers association declared now is the president's chance to prove to the nation his all of the above energy strategy is more than forgotten campaign rhetoric. executive director of the sierra club told fox radio this will be the first big test of the new commi

that is dave heineman. he is with me live now. governor, good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. bill: give us an idea how the new route has changed things. >> well it has changed a lot in my state because that was the key issue, the route going over the environmentally sensitive sand hills area. transcanada agreed to move it around that. we had four informational hearings. they moved it further after that. made those adjustments. i just received three weeks ago a 2000 page document. i reviewed it in detail. if you look at the our ability to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, it does that. the economically it is good news for our country and our state in terms of jobs. and the environmental impact stated in the report, it would be minimal. so i approved the route. let me just add one thing to help you and all your viewers. this was coordinated with president obama's department of state. they were with us all along the way. they have been to our four informational hearings. they have been to our public hearing. they know eve

. >> michael: listen, he said the governor of nebraska dave heineman completed an evaluation of thatne pipeline. john boehner had this to say about it. he said nebraska's approval of the new keystone xl pipeline route means there is no bureaucratic excuse, hurdle or catch president obama can use to delay this project any further. he and he alone stands in the way of tens of thousands of new jobs and energy security. i mean, that's putting it right on the president. >> here is the reality about the keystone pipeline that comes from canada to the united states to deliver oil. that oil is going to somewhere no matter what. this is becoming an ideological touchstone in washington but it doesn't mean a whole lot. that oil will find its way to china, the united states, to europe, wherever it's needed whether the pipeline comes to the united states or it goes across canada and off the coast of vancouver british columbia. this dc fight has very little meaning in the larger picture. >> michael: but those dc fights change the way we talk about it. >> they do. >> michael: it will be the centerp

now that nebraska governor dave heineman has given a green light to the new route for the xl pipeline which was a major victory, it is up to president obama and the state department to give it the final approval. but the white house says that decision won't be coming in the first quarter of this year. the pressure is on and hard and with me now is senator john hoeven from north dakota. obviously a state that cares deeply about this project without question. senator, welcome back to the show. what do you think? what hurdles have we gotten over and what do we have left in front of us? >> melissa, good to be with you. this is a big hurdle. the administration was concerned about the route through nebraska for the keystone xl pipeline the state of nebraska has now approved a route. the governor signed off on it after an extensive work to make sure that they have covered all the bases and governor heineman sent a letter to the president saying we've got the route. so we're ready to go. we addressed the administration's concerns, and today senator baucus and myself, in one day, pulled togeth

today, nebraska governor dave heineman approved the new route.a letter to the president, secretary of state --, and the secretary of state, he confirmed that he supports a proposed rule around environmentally sensitive areas in nebraska. the controversial project is now in the hands of the state department which says it will not complete the keystone review in the first quarter of this year. >>> the fight over exporting natural gas is heating up. the chemic company, huntsman corp, joined a coalition campaigning against more foreign sales of fossil fuel. the energy department is currently reviewing applications for more than a dozen companies to sell up to 22.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day. >>> u.s. taxes on chinese solar products are making an impact. government statistics show impacts of chinese solar cells and panels fell to the lowest level in two years. that was in november. the imports valued $50.5 million which was less than 1/5 of the $278 million total from october of 2011. >>> up next on "money", want to save almost $200 a yea

protest is the project have also erupted in nebraska where governor dave heineman recently approved the six sections of pipeline route. president obama has delayed a decision on the pipeline until the spring after initially putting it off until after the november election. the boy scouts of america have announced it has begun discussing an end to its longstanding ban on gay members and leaders. a spokesperson for the groups as the 103-year old ban is currently under review and could be reversed at a national board meeting next week. the move comes just months after the boy scouts defiantly reaffirmed its ban after a secretive two-year review. and those are some of the headlines. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today's show in egypt, where mass protests have continued since they began last friday on the anniversary of egypt's revolution. now each of stiffens minister is warning of the potential "collapse of the state

dave heineman had been indecisive about whether or not he thought it was a good idea for this pipelineer it would harm the environment in nebraska. today the governor approved a new route through nebraska and says he wants the pipeline to go forward and that means that there is pressure on the president now to maybe approve this. the oil industry is saying this, a spokesman for the american fuel and petrochemical manufacturers, quote: now is the president's chance to prove to the nation that his all of the above energy strategy is more than just forgotten campaign rhetoric but an official from the sierra club today told fox radio no, no, this can't be something the president moves forward on, take a listen. >> we simply can't effectively reduce emissions and simultaneously increase investments in dirty oil. >> the point is the president now having to make this decision in the weeks ahead about whether to go forward on the keystone pipeline. that maybe the first test on whether he is going to get serious about climate change in this second term, shep. >> shepard: ed henry on a cold nigh

his push for president obama to approve the new key steen pipeline now that nebraska governor dave heinemanroute the green light. that is tonight 5:00 p.m. eastern on fox business. we'll do more on lori's sweaters in the oven. lori: apple's next move which way will the stock swing after the bell results? tracy byrnes and ashley webster have a preview next on fox business. big rally for the stock market today. don't miss it. ♪ [ cows moo ] [ sizzling ] more rain... [ thunder rumbles ] ♪ [ male announcer ] when the world moves... futures move first. learn futures from experienced pros with dedicated chats and daily live webinars. and trade with papermoney to test-drive the market. ♪ all on thinkorswim. from td ameritrade. >> good afternoon, i'm tracy byrnes. ashley: i'm ashley webster. apple anticipation shares rising more than 1% ahead of its quarterly results about two hours from now. so what will apple say about the future of iphone amid weaker demand? we'll have an analyst that weighs in just ahead. tracy: congress aproves a short-term debt limit boost. now the question is will the senate