the weird thing about noaa is that noaa is part of the commerce department.ommerce department says the mission is to help make american companies more innovative at home and more competitive abroad so they can create jobs. now i'm sure accurate forecasting of the weather may be can help with that, but it is kind of weird, right? it's a weird match. president obama admitted today it is weird. >> the interior department is in charge of salmon in fresh water but the commerce department handles them in salt water. if you're wondering what the genesis of this was, apparently it had something to do with president nixon being unhappy with his interior secretary for criticizing him about the vietnam war. and so he decided not to put noaa in what would have been a more sensible place. >> president obama while he was announcing not only does he want to take noaa out of commerce department, and put it somewhere more normal, like the interior department, which is sort of in charge of our country's physical plant. not only does he want to move noaa somewhere that makes mo

and we think that every home has to have a noaa weather radio. >> reporter: the university of alabamaas another suggestion. they're encouraging families to keep safety helmets underneath their beds at night because most fatalities are from head and neck injuries. today, will and tiffany reid shared the most important tip. something they'd do again. >> we'd stay in the bathroom. >> reporter: because? >> because it stayed up. that's the one room in our house that didn't fall in. so -- >> reporter: the plumbing held it together. and they got out alive. steve osunsami, abc news, clay, alabama. >> thank you, steve. >>> and a different kind of windstorm to tell you about now. this one in germany. it produced some nerve-racking landings. in dusseldorf, airliners struggling against winds. gusts of 60 miles per hour. you can see the jet sort of swaying before it touches down. the video was taken a few weeks ago. but it was everywhere today. and we all got a new appreciation for the skill of pilots. >>> and still ahead, an avalanche and a rescue caught on tape. how some young men saved their fr

and we think that every home has to have a noaa weather radio. >> reporter: the university of alabamat birmingham has another suggestion. they're encouraging families here to keep safety helmets underneath their beds at night because most fatalities in a tornado are caused by head and neck injuries from when the house comes crumbling down. will and tiffany reed shared the most important tip, something they'd do again. >> we would definitely stay in the bathroom. >> definitely. >> because? >> because it stayed up. >> it's intact. >> that's the one room in our house that didn't fall in. >> reporter: the plumbing held it together, and they got out alive. steve osunsami, abc news, clay, alabama. >> those people will need a lot of help to recover indeed. and actually, speaking of that, more evidence these days that americans may be the most generous people on the planet. despite the sluggish economy, we actually gave away nearly $347 billion last year to our favorite causes. that's up 7.5% from the year before, believe it or not. americans will open their wallets to just about anyone in ne

was not official. -- an insig noaa that was not official.s not just clothing, the logo will be stripped from the apparatus as well. >> the whole fleet is in deplorable condition, shop personnel are understaffed and overworked and to have them worried about a cosmetic change to a fire truck when we have little or no reserve fleet to ride on in the event of a major emergency and callback is not logical at all. >> reporter: chief ellerby will discipline anyone not wearing uniforms with the now logo on it as of this week. a decision that should has some firefighters turning their coats, sweatshirts, and hats inside out, showing no logo at all. >> and paul, i'm curious. the chief was saying the firefighters knew about this change in march. >> uh-huh. >> are they saying why they making a big deal about this now? go didn't they bring the problem up before in. >> they admit they have known about it since march, but the problem is this, laura, is that the chief is asking them to put out all of this money to buy and purchase this equipment on their ow

the majority of the department's budget is noaa. that will all go to interior.but you-- even on that question, you even had senator beggage from alaska say, it's a really important commerce industry in alaska. i'm not sure i like this idea. it shows there weather it be the ustr, you have bipartisan opposition merging that into-- whatever the new agency is called. they still don't have a flame. or you end up having people saying even this noaa, a lot of people in both parties think, why is this in commerce, you still have folks saying well, i don't want it to get less funding. i don't want it to have a smaller impact. >> warner: so, hans, going to you, what message is the white house trying to send politically with this? >> that's a very good point because we've been talking about the substance of this. there's a very element of politics and that is, the white house is looking for fights to pick with congress. i mean, before, over the spring and summer, when they were milling this and talking about what they were going to do, the question they had internally-- an

i mentioned noaa. mentioned what we needed to do in order to facilitate the -- the jones act waiver through department of energy, homeland, d.o.d., but you also had the state department that was involved. you had the e.p.a. that was involved. you had the native corporations, citnasuk that put this whole thing together. we had incredible local leadership coming out of the community of nome. we had the university of alaska researchers that helped with the u.a.v.'s to determine, again, how we best lay everything from the hose to -- to making sure what the safest place is to cross the ice. an incredible, incredible act of collaboration. mr. president, i -- i see that my friend from i will illinois is on the floor and i know that i've gone over my time. i've got about three more minutes to wrap up if i may, if that works with my colleague. and coming from a state that appreciates snow, i think that you would like to hear the rest of my story here because i'm n not -- not done acknowledging the fine men and

and we think that every home has to have a noaa weather radio. >> reporter: the university of alabama at birmingham has another suggestion. they're encouraging families here to keep safety helmets underneath their beds at night because most fatalities in a tornado are caused by head and neck injuries from when the house comes crumbling down. will and tiffany reed shared the most important tip, something they'd do again. >> we would definitely stay in the bathroom. >> definitely. >> because? >> because it stayed up. >> it's intact. >> that's the one room in our house that didn't fall in. >> reporter: the plumbing held it together, and they got out alive. steve osunsami, abc news, clay, alabama. >> those people will need a lot of help to recover indeed. and actually, speaking of that, more evidence these days that americans may be the most generous people on the planet. despite the sluggish economy, we actually gave away nearly $347 billion last year to our favorite causes. that's up 7.5% from the year before, believe it or not. americans will open their wallets to just about anyone in

the bipartisan congressional support for noaa is a given.as this extra dimension of national pride and national security role that i think is an important component to why it is supported. host: it is not like noaa -- i believe the estimate was $450 billion per shuttle mission. it's not like noaa has seen an uptick with the end of the show -- with the end of the shuttle program? guest: no, there's a constituency still there. it is being squeezed. it's hard to get people in non- nasa states to support nasa spending, especially when they're trying to get jobs in their state. there's a besieged constituency on capitol hill that continues to support nasa. host: anne is a republican from tennessee. caller: are you saying obama allied in 2008 to the space community? what a shocker. i remember him saying he wanted to turn us into our reach to the muslim community. i have a very bright grandson. he wants to be a space engineer. i have told him obama is canceling the program and he needs to look elsewhere. i've also told him that i will sell a kidney

. >> reporter: noa says it is also forcing industries that rely on precise -- noaa says this storm is as others such as in 1989 that caused mayor blackouts. to see the effects, astronomers recommend going to websites that are tracking the storms. >>> american solar direct held a ribbon cutting at its new regional office in santa clara. the company provides solar panels. >> little or no up front cost to the homeowner. they sign up for our service. we put up the solar system they pay a monthly lease payment. >>> this is the company's first office here in northern california. it'll provide service to people in silican valley and surrounding areas including san francisco. >>> let's talk more about our weather now and over to our chief meteorologist. bill what a beautiful day today. >> we're going to take a peak at the totals. 50% or nearly that in san francisco. 33% in san jose, it was a lot of rain. some places got up to 6-inches of rain. but not enough to bring us back to 100%. we're going to need a bunch more of those storms but we did make a dent in it. as behead outside, temperature

agency noaa, and he enforces fishery laws.s been tracking lobster imports for 20 years, and he took us to see a shipment that came into the port of miami. how many thousands of pounds of lobster are in this? >> about 25,000 pounds. 25,000 pounds. >> reporter: wow. a lot of lobster. a lot of money. >> talking about 300,000, $400,000. >> reporter: these tails are from that shipment. so looking at this, can you tell at all if it's dive caught or trap caught? >> no. not by looking at the tail we can't tell whether it's dive caught or trap caught. >> reporter: and there's no requirement for the boxes to be marked because there's nothing illegal about importing dive-caught lobster. so the american consumer is eating a lobster dinner is not going to be able to tell once it's served on a platter. >> no, of course not. >> reporter: does it disturb you to know that these divers are coming back paralyzed even dying so that the american consumer can have a lobster dinner? >> yes, as a person it bothers me because it's a human rights issue

so make sur your noaa weather radio is on, say, if you live in memphis, say if you live in northern partsis that pds watch. if you ever hear us say that, that means it's a particularly dangerous situation and that level of confidence and that risk continues to be very high. now, we're also watching the situation a little farther on up to the north. in the boot heel of missouri, southern illinois into southwestern indiana, around evansville, you guys are under a slight risk to moderate risk of severe thunderstorms. so we think you have a greater potential of getting wind damage in this area, and you're still a couple of hours away before things really get hitting in this area. this is a very vigorous storm. it has a lot of energy with it. and it really needs that, because, don, usually this time of year if we're going to get any kind of rotation, we get all that heating from the daytime. and with the sunshine, it's dark outside. so this is an unusual event. we've got freezing rain to the north. we've got dry, dusty, windy conditions in parts of texas. a nasty tomorrow that's not going to g

now this x-ray image from noaa shows the massive solar storm. pretty impressive.color image from nasa show as flare somewhating out of the top of the sun. geo-magnetic storm should last through wed. there you see the image from nasa. >>> well from out of this world to the end of the earth. powered by grit and determination. british woman the first person to ski solo across antarctica. she pulled 2 she over more than 1,000 miles in temperature averaging 25 degrees below zero. it took nearly two months. meteorologist and explorer says the scariest moment was when her 2 butane lighters failed to work. at the end, though, emotion took over. >> the end seemed to come in a rush and i'm not sure i was quite ready for it so now here i am here sort of soaking it all in desperately thanking that it's over so quickly. >>reporter: while early explorers cut off from the outside world she had a satellite phone and made almost daily pod cast and routinely tweeted friend and family in constant touch. she says the first thing she wants when she gets home is a shower, i can underst

your noaa weather radio is going to be your best friend to help wake you up in the middle of the night. we're watching thunderstorms right in this area. they're just southwest of little rock, arkansas, at this time, and this is where we're expecting to see initiation. we do think the storm prediction center is going to be issuing a watch on it, a tornado watch, at least within the next hour. this is a very strong vigorous storm, unusually strong for this time of year when we have so much warmth and moisture coming up ahead of it. on the back side we have some very dry, gusty conditions because this low is so tightly packed, and we've had an incredible go of it with dust storms across parts of texas and into oklahoma. in fact, take a look at this satellite picture. this is what we call the advice ekt satellite, and do you see all of this brown stuff here from will you lubbock up into o city? this is all dust. it's the kind of dust you can just taste. there have been a number of fires which have occurred into parts of oklahoma just south of the norman area, which is just outside of oklah

. >> host: at noaa period in our history has democracy been in such peril or possibility of totalitarianism. our way of life is over. profligate consumption is finished. our children will never have the standard of living we had. this is the bleak future. this is reality. there is little president obama can do to stop it. it has been decades in the making and cannot be undone with $1 trillion or $2 trillion in bailout money nor will it be solved by clinging to the illusions of the past. that is what you wrote in 2010--or in 2009 is when "empire of illusion: the end of literacy and the triumph of spectacle". this e-mail from barlow humphries. i read your books and continue to read your columns and understand the points you make when criticizing what is wrong with our government and country. i think they're brilliant listing problems and shortcomings is useful to the point. however of like you to list all so those things that an individual can do to correct the problems you so clearly outline. >> guest: referring to the passage you just read, if we don't radically reconfigure our relationship

that's in the face of some prnted by noaa, the national oceanic and atmospheric association.011 was the hottest summer on record for the nights. two states that you see there were, had temperatures, record breaking temperatures. you remember the wildfires in texas and dozens of other states had temperatures well above normal. mr. nichols, how do you explain that? >> i don't know the details this have particular chart, but there's variations every year. you can find over 100 years, or ten years or 20 years all kinds of variations. >> the hottest summer ever was 2011. >> i've seen data that contradicts that and, for example, most of the data i'm seeing indicates that the 30's, dust bowl was hotter than it is now. and you know, you need to look at the details. >> alisyn: yeah, this is, according to noaa, 2011 was, however, there's another world health organization says that globally, 2010 was the hottest on record. all time high in asia. and record heat in the sudan. and again, this is the stuff that other scientists, other leading scientists, much like yourself, say is evidence

so he decided not to put noaa in what would have been a more sensible place.usiness or nonprofit leader would allow this kind of duplication or unnecessary complexity in their operations. you wouldn't do it when you're thinking about your businesses. why is it okay for the government? it's not. it has to change. no what we tried to do over the first few years of the administration is a whole range of steps administratively to start making processes, procedures, agencies more consumer friendly. well, we need to do more. and we need authority to do more. so today i'm calling on congress to reinstate the authority that past presidents have had to streamline and reform the executive branch. this is the same sort of authority that every business owner has to make sure his or her company keeps pace with the times. and let me be clear, i will only use the authority for reforms that result in more efficiency, better service, and a leaner government. now a little bit of history here. congress first granted this authority to presidents in the midst of the great depressi

i can tell you people in this community have the noaa weather radio.gnal people know to take cover. that one family we interviewed earlier they did just that. >> thank god. give our best to all the folks our heart goes out to them. ren noolds wolf on the scene in clay, alabama. thank you very much. >>> other important news, escalating global concern over iran's nuclear capabilities. the united states and its allies now on heightened alert as the country steps up threats to close the critical international waterway. this is bold new action has just been announced designed to hit iran where it purts hurts. its staggering oil supply. chris lawrence is standing by with the latest. chris, very dramatic developments and very significant? >> reporter: wolf, this is the most significant toughening of sanctions to date. it could literally bring iran's economy to its knees. two sides, either backing down. on monday, a defiant iran, again threatening to shut down a vital shipping line for oil. one day after the u.s. sent another aircraft carrier through the strai

officials at noaa say radiation will likely continue through tomorrow.en damage power grid transformers. >>> and want to get away? a new study finds airline passengers paid the lowest fare nearly 6% below average if they purchase their tickets six weeks before their flight. wait longer than that, you'll likely pay more. >>> u.s. stock futures trading lower this morning. futures for the dow, nasdaq, s&p 500 all day. lightest today they give new meaning on the interest rates. we will hear more about what the fed's plans are going forward. the fed will provide new details about the forecast for the economy and for interest rates in an effort to increase transparency. soledad? >> christine, thank you for that. we have been detailing and revealing some of the details of mitt romney's tax return information. we expect in the next hour or so to get full details. for 2010 in adjusted gross in, $21 million and total tax of $3 million. effective tax rate of 13.9%. it brings us right to texas senator kay bailey hutchison. she joins our panel. nice to have you. than

and so he decided not to put noaa in, what would have been a more sensible place.ss or nonprofit leader would allow this kind of duplication or unnecessary complexity in their operations. you wouldn't do it when you're thinking about your businesses. so why is it okay for our government? it's not. it has to change. now what we've tried to do over the first three years of my administration is to do a whole range of steps administratively to start making processes, procedures, agencies, more consumer friendly. but we need to do more. we need authority to do more. so today i'm calling on congress to reinstate the authority that past presidents have had to streamline and reform the executive branch. this is the sail sort of authority that every business owner has to make sure that his or her company keeps pace with the times. let me be clear. i will only use this authority for reforms that result in more efficiency, better service, and a leaner government. now a little bit of history here. congress first granted this authority to presidents in the midst of the great de

noaa compaq is approved by congress before it is effective. it is approved by congress after it becomes effective and has the same impact. >> that is interesting to hear because this is being pushed by national popular voting. al gore, bill clinton elector. they have taken the position in the past that this compact does not need congressional approval. that is not what they have said. they have said states that do this without having to comply with that particular position that is simply not the case. this is basically a virtual constitutional amendment and it would force states that haven't approved it into the system. one other quick thing. roger mentioned earlier. when he said who is going to administer this? there isn't anybody to administer this. you know what the compact says? wants the state approves it there's a certain period of time that they can't pull out. that is not enforceable. what happens if a particular state at the election or before the election realizes this close election they could make the difference in the election and

for example, -- -- removing noaa out of congress into interior struck as a way to change its culture and removing technical expertise. i also reported that senator mark warner, who has become a specialist in the agency performance issues, said he welcomed president obama's proposals, but that it did not go far enough and points to two other areas of duplication, citing 82 different teacher quality programs and 10 different agencies, and 56 programs across 20 agencies that deal with financial literacy. i suspect those agencies will be following up on that criticism soon. host: prior to becoming a senior editor at "government executive magazine," charlie clark was a respondent. he was also a senior editor at the governing boards of universities and colleges, and started off as a staff writer with the national chapter of education on the economy. he is here talking with us for about the next 13 minutes regarding the president's announcement yesterday to try to trim government agencies. back to the phones. san antonio, texas. john, on our line for republicans. caller: good morning. in my

one example would be the noaa, the national ocean graphic and add moss feeshg administration.ow it's in the commerce department. that's what the president wants to do, move it. environmental groups don't like it. they are very happy with the status quo. generally democrats like things just the way they are. this is a play for the republican bails, not democratic. >> let's move to the 2012 republican field. with mitt romney's time at bain capital being a focus of many of the atooks. fact or fiction -- it is it impossible to kwauntd five jobs lost or gained at bain capital. >> that's a fact. it is impossible to quantity 5, especially when you consider that the businesses that succeeded when bain took them over, in some cases, had the effective destroying other businesses. so to give mitt romney's bain capital credit for doing nothing but creating jobs isn't right. he, for example, saved the staples office supply chain, but in so doing put a lot of mom and pop shops out of business. >> xakts exactly. during romney aels time at bain capital, they never invested in a business that

what happens to be noaa? what happens when it comes to tracking hurricanes?ry. you talk about the atomic energy agency turning over the nuclear stockpiles, nuclear waste, power plants. i shudder to think, i know states are having trouble regulating their own policies. we had a 14-day shutdown last year. the other thing that concerns about ron pauses for policy, specifically the non- intervention. if u.s. president jerry 9/11, what would he do? -- during 9/11, what would he do that would be to sit there and say we have bills to pay and let it happen? ron paul does not have very many supporters in congress as far as i know. he only has three endorsements. he has sponsored some 421 bills. 418 never got past the committee. only one was passed. i am wondering if he was president, i am sure he would continue to assign more vetoes than any president in modern history. host: can you wrap up the final point? caller: my final point is his political platform is a bumper stickers. host: next up is richard. caller: my wife and i both voted. there's one completely want to

think we'll see severe weather starting late this afternoon and overnight hours, and want to have your noaaeather radio on and across the south could be seeing a tornado or two and strong winds and hail. you're looking pretty good. looking at video out of connecticut, yesterday, people were trying to battle the winter storm and the highest total i've seen was in connecticut right at 12 inches, so, a couple little bulz eyes getting some snow and dave was tweeting pictures from his back yard and using a natural cooler, i believe, it was. >> a cold one, brother, you can say it and the snow was light and fluffy like the west coast, i felt like i was in colorado. >> get ready, dave, it's going to ready tomorrow. >> back to east coast slush. back to the top stories, the south carolina shocker, newt gingrich snags a decisive win. did mitt romney hand it over or-- >> and let's ask our panel. charles butler, conservative talk show radio host and julie, a fox news contributor. good morning to all of you. >> good morning. >> dave: carrie, was it about min's loss or newt gingrich victory in. >> about n

>> noaa! >> seriously, mr. president, you cannot print more money.head when he says that there has never been a country, a state, a city, or a family that has been able to spend themselves to prosperity. does not work, mr. president. it has never worked in americans know that and they are ready to take this country back. there are young men and women serving around the world today who are great patriots, who are ready to have a president of the united states that does not go anywhere and apologize for america, because they are out there putting their lives on the line. as they have done so many times before. [applause] no president should ever apologize for the american -- for america. we are exceptional. you'd think about what the men and women of the united states military have done throughout history. you're talking about your dad in the great sacrifices our fathers made in the world war ii generation. young men and women who are serving today -- how many veterans are in this audience? thank you for your service. god bless you. [applause] and ther

with his interior secretary for criticizing him about the vietnam war and so he decided not to put noaa in, what would have been a more sensible place. no business or nonprofit leader would allow this kind of duplication or unnecessary complexity in their operations. you wouldn't do it when you're thinking about your businesses. so why is it okay for our government? it's not. it has to change. now what we've tried to do over the first three years of my administration is to do a whole range of steps administratively to start making processes, procedures, agencies, more consumer-friendly. but we need to do more and we need authority to do more. so today i'm calling on congress to reinstate the authority that past presidents have had to streamline and reform the executive branch. this is the same sort of authority that every business owner has to make sure that his or her company keeps pace with the times. let me be clear. i will only use this authority for reforms that result in more efficiency, better service, and a leaner government. now a little bit of history here. congress first gran