obama (no chyron)1:21-1:34 doug mckelway / fox news correspondent / washington d.c.ident obama -- seeking the power to áshrinká the government by merging federal agencies. the president says the move could save three ábillioná dollars over 10 years. obama: "today i'm callinn on congress to reinstate the authority that past presidents have had to streamline and reform the executive branch." under his plan... the president would start by consolidating ásixá major economic depaatments into one.the white house says up to two-thousand jobs would be cut. obama: "we live in a 21st century economy but we've still got a government organized for the 20th century. our economy has fundamentally changed as has the world but our government, our agencies, have not."the president's proposal comes just one day after he sked congress for an increase of one-point-two átrillioná dollars in the nation's debt limit. a spokesman for house speaker john boehner says quote: "american small businesses are more concerned about this administratioo's policies than from which building ii washingto

and as doug mckelway shows us, they'reethrowing some desperate unnhes in the winner takes all contesttt mobilize:mccain says: "don't let me ear on wednesday morning that you forgot to vote. we have surveillance cameras on you. (laughter)" romney says: "if i'm president of the united states i wiil cut federal spending, i will cap spending as a percent of the economy and i will finally,,ffnally only registered republicans " are eligible to vote in this primary...and despite a late shift towards romney, on this final weeeend before thh maintaining his poot-south carolina confidence...gingrich says: "i will go all the way to the convention..i expect to win the nomination. you just showwme ahead. why don't you &pask gov. romney what he will do if he loses?"the action, &pnot just centered in florida. roo paul, attracting a large crowd in maine.paul says: "the next plan is 'when are we going into ssria' and 'when are we going into iraa?' we can't afford this any longer. pe're in debt, we can't pay for it, it doesn't makk any sense."rick santooum, with nn public events today, is hurting foo c

doug mckelway with more from the sunshine state. >> reporter: it's a battle for 50 dells as the daysick down for republican presidential hopefuls looking for a win in the sunshine state. john mccain alongside mariner urging florida voters to mobilize. >> don't let me hear on wednesday morning that you forget to vote. we have surveillance cameras. [ laughter ] >> if i'm president of the united states, i will cut federal spending. i will cap spending as a percent of the economy and i will finally, finally balance the american budget. >> reporter: only registered republicans are eligible to vote in this primary and despite a last shift towards rollney on this final weekend before the vote, newt gingrich maintaining his post south carolina confidence. >> i will go all the way to the convention and i expect to win the nomination. you just had two national polls that show me ahead. why don't you ask governor romney what he is going when he loses? >> reporter: the action not just centered in florida. ron paul attracting a large crowd in maine. >> the next plan, when are we going to syria? w

in washington, doug mckelway, fox news. >> bret: it will be interesting.ase join us monday as "special report" hits the road. we'll be live from tampa florida, 6:00 p.m. eastern. tuesday, of course, primary night coverage begins with "special report" at 6:00. >> president obama's post "state of the union" tour continued today. the focus was the high cost of education. but he also found time to talk to the party about the re-election effort. >> at a retreat, president obama looked toward november election. >> you have had my back through tough times. i will have your back as well. together, we'll move the country forward. >> mr. obama called on democrats to work with republicans when they can and to call them out when they can't. earlier he rallied students at the university of michigan. at the end of a trip selling the themes of his "state of the union" address. his aides deny the trip or the address was part of the re-election campaign. though he visited five battleground states and showcase policy issues to appeal to supporters. on this day, he told youn

>> doug mckelway live in d.c. s, doug. >> nasa is conducting new tests on what it calls part of the next generation of space travel. take a look at thing. nasa calls it the space exploration vehicle. about the size of a pickup truck. we're told it can fit two astronauts pretty comfortably. scientist hope to use that vehicle to explore the surfaces of asteroids, the moon and even mars. kris gutierrez is live at the johnson space center in houston. chris, tell us more about how they want to use this thing. >> you bet, jon. nasa would like to explore a asteroid in the very near future. you have to remember that our astronauts haven't ventured below earth orbit since 1927 the last apollo 17 moon mission. when they were on the moon they were able to cruise around the surface lunar recovery a vehicle that looked like this dune buggy over here. four wheels like a car for traction. as per rode -- asteroid doesn't have gravitational pull like the moon has. they have to make something that hovers around asteroid. take a look

in washington, doug mckelway, fox news. >> bret: still ahead a strange story.a practicing witch did when her son brought a bible home from public school. first, why did the air force choose a foreign company over american one to build the next attack >> bret: in international news, another audio recording emerged featuring the captain of the ill-fated cruise ship. the first communication after the vessel rammed a reef features a captain telling port official officials that thp was only experiencing a power blackout. meanwhile, maldovan woman who says she was with the captain after the accident occurred insist his actions saved more than 3,000 lives. >>> a suicide attacker hit a u.s. and nato base in southern afghanistan today. the detonation of vehicle packed with explosives at a crowded entrance to the airfield killed seven civilians. the coalition says no nato troops were killed. mill their sources tell fox news the u.s. marine helicopter went down late this evening in southern afghanistan. it's believed there were casualties. there were no reports of enemy a

in washington, doug mckelway, fox news. >> bret: still ahead a strange story.a practicing witch did when her son brought a bible home from public school. first, why did the air force choose a foreign company over american one to build the next attack plane? ♪ [ male announcer ] when kelley blue book's kbb.com gave the 2012 camry a best resale value award, we were delighted. ♪ when it received a 5-star overall safety ring, we were ecstatic. and when camry became the number-one selling car in america 10 years running, we blushed. ♪ the reinvented 2012 camry. from toyota. ♪ like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. >> bret: in international news, another audio recording emerged featuring the captain of the ill-fated cruise ship. the first communication after the vessel rammed a reef features a captain telling port official officials that thp was only experiencing a power blackout. meanwhile, maldovan woman who says she

doug mckelway is in washington tonight. n the problem. >> he told the lawyers representing the candidates the rule is constitutional. it is plainly constitutional and keeps marginal candidates and crack pots off the ballot. you had candidates who made zero effort and didn't collect a single signature and now they are trying to get on the ballot. they are trying to ride the backs of those who actually did some work and tried to get on the ballot. and it's just not going to work. >> late today, texas governor rick perry who filed the suit originally reacted to the judge's decision. >> we thought we had a good case and the virginia battle is obviously incredibly tough to get on when two out of the seven are all that got on there. the court's ruled and we will make a decision on whether we are going to appeal it or not. >> in an earlier statement perry's lead attorney says the decision disenfranchises virginia's voters. >> shepard: time was a factor here, too doug? >> huge factor. primary day is super tuesday march 6th. law requ

correspondent doug mckelway is here with details on the latest problems with the chevy volt. evening, doug. >> good evening, bret. today, g.m. asked owners of all 8,000 chevy volts to bring their cars back for safety enhancements, a move that falls one step short of a recall. g.m. made the decision after three electric chevy volts caught fire. the fire occurred not in real world crashes but after the insurance for institute for safety conducted high speed impacts of the volt. seven days to three weeks after the test, three of the tested volts caught fire. to determine the fires were called by the coolant leakage from the volts 400-pound battery that crystallized and caused electrical short. a bit of a sore point for the taxpayer bailed out g.m. and the green car whose debut featured a drive by president obama. but critics say the $40,000 volt is heavy subsidized. $250,000 per car when you include the state and federal dollars. according to the mackinack center for public policy. sales of the volt had fallen below expectations. g.m. hoped to sell 10,000 of them in 2011 but fel

doug mckelway is following a fluid situation. good evening. >> good evening. an avalanche of criticism from the high-tech industry, senate majority leader harry reed delayed a tuesday test vote on internet piracy bill. speaker boehner told reporters today he urged the house judiciary chairman lamar smith to take the house version of the bill back the drawing board. >> this proposal, well-meaning has difficulties. it expect the chairman, like any chairman to build more consensus, before trying to move this bill out of the committee. >> reporter: the high-tech industry including heavyweights as google, yahoo, wikipedia lobbied heavily against the legislation. estimated 7,000 internet sites blacked out their content wednesday in protest. they feared the bill as written would allow authorities to shut down to domestic content providers who unwittingly allow content. it pitted the industry against the entertainment industry demanding you are jent action against the billion dollar losses to piracy. >> "avatrash" was stolen 21 million times. "rio" four days after the

doug schoen is following it -- doug mckelway. >> his decision has met with outrage, among the ranks weremurderers and other violent offenders. they included charles hooker in 1992 was sentenced to life in prison for killing the principal of a mississippi high school. he was a teacher. joseph osman imprisoned in 1993 for murder, conspiracy and armed robbery in the death of a store clerk. anthony mccray who murdered his wife by shooting her in the back. david gateland who shot and killed his estranged wife as she held the baby's son. he turned the gun on a friend who survived. here he is to talk about these pardons. >> i think they ought, governor himself have to look and me and family in the eye, but there wasn't any of that. that is the coward's way out. >> reporter: in an exclusive interview, governor barbour explained to brett baier for the reasoning. during part of the prison terms and wonder had been on the staff at governor's mansion. >> these men have redeemed. have come back hard working to prepare themselves to go out into the world. i have no question in my life. my grandchildre

doug mckelway joins us live from the white house. doug? >> reporter: that's right, jon.t karzai does not give his blessing to these potential talks, that they simply will not happen. and now today there is a new potential obstacle to the resumption of these talks, and it comes in the form of that videotape which is making its way across the internet which purportedly shows four u.s. marines desecrating the bodies, urinating on the bodies of taliban fighters or afghanistan insurgents. leon panetta has promised a full investigation of this videotape, we don't know for a fact that it is, indeed, u.s. marines. and moments ago secretary of state clinton offered her assessment of this call for an information by secretary panetta. here's secretary clinton. >> i join him in condemning the deplorable behavior that is reflected in this video. it is absolutely inconsistent with american values, with the standards of behavior that we expect from our my tear personnel and that, you know, the vast, vast majority of our military personnel -- particularly our marines -- hold themselves

doug mckelway will take a closer look at the rick santorum campaign.ania senator says he is going home. we'll tell you why. and phil keating explains why changes in some of florida's voting laws are being challenged in the courts and in congress. president obama talked to some of his democratic colleagues this afternoon. about the november general election. we'll hear what he had to say. we'll explore whether taxpayers are getting their money's worth investing in green energy programs. in the grapevine, what the main stream media did not tell you about a huge event in washington this week. "special report" from washington starts at 6:00 eastern. a lot of politics. now back to new york and my colleagues with "the five." ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> kimberly: come back to momma here. welcome back to "the five." it's not a debate without newt gingrich getting into it with one of the moderators. last night no, exception. take a look at the testy exchange between gingrich and romney. >> i just want to reiterate and ask you are you satisfied right now with the level of transp

doug mckelway has the latest on the bills in congress. that are aimed to stop internet piracy. a backlash against perceived censorship. we'll have policy and politicsvod in the controversy legislation. grapevine, interesting stat about bain capital and donations. "special report" starts at 6:00. now back to "the five." ♪ ♪ ♪ >> welcome back to "the five." newt gingrich is a guy who has never really been accused of lacking in self-confidence but rick santorum seems to think it's a liability. so last night, he decided to attack gingrich on his ego. >> the grandosty has never ban problem with newt gingrich. he handles it well. that is an issue, folks. a month ago he said it's inevitable i will win the election, i'm destined to do it. i don't want a nominee i have to worry about going out looking at the paper the next day and worries about what he is going to say next. >> you are right. i think grandiose thoughts. this is a grandiose councilmember of big people doing big things weapon need leadership prepared to take on big projects. >> andrea: i thought santorum did a decent job l

bill: doug mckelway, thank you, from the north lawn of the white house there. clip and pick up the message. thank you, doug. >> reporter: sure thing. jamie: shifting gear as little bit, we're awaiting autopsy results this morning from a body found at one of queen elizabeth's estates. police say it is murder but they have few clues at this point. they are hoping to break that case. bill: also what is next in 2012? ed rollins will examine each candidate in a moment. who's in, who's likely out, who's on life-support and who has new life after last night. rollins on deck. >> we have a tremendous opportunity to continue this momentum. it won't be long there will be an election up in new hampshire. believe me this momentum will continue and this movement is going to continue and we are going to keep scoring just as we have tonight. [applause] [ male announcer ] cranberry juice? wake up! ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. plus veggie nutrition. where they grow america's favori

doug mckelway's live in washington with more on why this happened and what's going on. >> reporter: that'sappening as we speak, jenna. the fundamental question for the judge is this: does he punish mitt romney and ron paul who followed the the virginia rules and qualified for the virginia republican primary by including on the ballot rick perry, newt gingrich, rick santorum and jon huntsman, candidates who did not get on the ballot, who did not follow the rules because they failed to meet the virginia criteria of gathering 10,000 names on a petition, 400 from each of virginia's congressional districts all circulated by strait residents. those who are reading the tea leaves speculate the judge may open the primary to all the republican candidates. here's why. >> the judge look like he's leaning to trying to open up the ballot to more candidates, rick perry, gingrich, santorum and huntsman are all part of this. whether he opens it up to all of them, some of them based on whatever concoction that he comes up with. >> reporter: early this week the judge blocked the mailing out of absentee ball