tell us the latest, please. >> the latest death toll is 245 it could stilllimb higher. the fire started when a member of the live band let off a flair that he had on stage and the spark caught fire on the acoustics. it caused a stampede many people were trampled. the main cause of death has been affixation from smoke. one young woman told tv news members of the band tried to put out the fire but the extinguisher didn't work. we are hearing from the local fire officials they said that security guards prevented people from escaping the fire by retuesdaying to op-- refusing t open the door. you run up a tab and they stopped people from leaving because they hadn't already paid. >> that particular club tell us how familiar you are with the facility how sophisticated it is? do we know if they have had any prior problems or they did not have -- if they had insufficient exits? >> what we know it's one of the biggest in the city of santa maria which is a city of around 270,000 people. it is a big university town. what we know is that the club was filled with young people on saturday night a lot of them were students. the club has organized special parking for groups. this is a local area a rural area. there were carnival spots in brazil last mornt they were set up to go through the carnival celebration. that was another reason why the club was so full. >> andrew, how quickly did the authorities respond to the fire? were they able to rescue a number of people as well as those who perished and how were the local hospitals handling the injuries? >> well, authorities were on the scene quite quickly. but they did have trouble getting into the nightclub. we have seen footage of people outside of the club with jackhammers and with axes physically knocking down the wall of the club in order to let some of the smoke out. we could see the thick black smoke billowing from the club. a lot of people managed to get out they took them to the sports facility. families in the city, hundreds of people trying to look for their loved ones as they are now trying to go to the hospitals trying to go to the sports facilities trying to identify some of their loved ones in the hope that they were not in the club at the time of the accident. >> it sounds like it happened so quickly and so deadly as well. we are going to check back with you as the story develops. they are still looking for folks inside. thank you. >> thank you. the devastating fire in brazil is one of the dead list in more than a decade. may be one of the worst of all times. among some the other nightclub tragedies you may remember the fire at the coconut globe club in boston nearly 500 people were killed. then there was wone in china on christmas day more than 300 people were killed by a fire at a nearby shopping plaza that spread. in 2003 a fire killed 100 people at the station nightclub in warwick, rhode island. that was a result of pyrotechnics. in 1990, 87 people died at a fire at the happy land social club here in new york city. >> we have another fox news alert to tell you about this morning. new alarming developments out of north korea. jim juong unis vowing to target the u.s. the sworn enemy of the korean people. state nemedia reports kim has ordered top officials to stake quote substantial and high profile measures this after the united nations security council tightened sanctions against pyongyang after they launched the rocket last month. they will keep testing nuclear devices as part of an all out action against america promising to launch a rocket that could hit us, too. what do we do? general jack keen a general former vice chief of staff to the army. good morning. >> hi eric. >> this is amazing they have another nuclear test it could be the third. can they be stopped? >> well, we haven't stopped them to date that's for sure. we have done a lot of negotiations a lot of diplomacy prior oh to them developing the nuclear weapon. we have done the same thing since they have had a nuclear weapon and haven't been able to stop them from testing. kim ju kim jong-un is a young guy flexing his muscle politically. he wants to send a strong message to his people and the people of the region that he is a strong powerful leader following the foot steps of his father and his grandfather. operationally it is a threat. right now off the cos of hawaii they can reach alaska a lot of the island chains. they are going to increase the range. what this is all about open sources we figure 4-8 nuclear devices in korea. this testing is about taking one of those devices and beginning to down size so it can fit as a war head on top of a missile. that's what they have done testing. >> it is easy to dismiss them and laugh at it and say they are nuts and bluster. but 4-8 nuclear devices. they do have or may have the range to potentially wihit hawa or alaska not that much further to try to hit the west coast. >> certainly. i mean the department of defense takes these capabilities for what they are. and they try not to read anything else into it. we let the intelligence community central intelligence agency try to figure out what is the intent here what is the motivation what is the strategic goal. our department of defense builds capabilities to defend north korean capabilities that we have to take it serious given the kind of people they are. they are clearly a rouge regime. >> can we protect american soil against a potential nuclear strike or missile strike from north korea? >> individual weapons like this, yes, we definitely can that's why we put together a defense shield. we have the sites in alaska and we have navy cruisers out there who have the capacity to shoot these down. we are the best in the world with this. you saw israelis step it up dealing with hamas as well. >> the iron dorone they knock te rockettes right out of the sky. >> this is a rouge ma sheem that continues to advance capabilities. we have another that we are dealing with right now. i am speaking to iran. they have taken a chapter out of this book. they have watched the united states negotiate with north korea for years. yet the thoert careerian vs. a full-fledged capability. >> what do you think we should do? how do we protect ourselves? where do you think this thing is going? >> i believe that the situation dealing with the north koreans the fact of the matter is, we as a matter of policy should in fact be trying to do everything that we can to undermine this regime. pulling out all of the resources. we should not be afraid of the economic collapse of this country. we have got to take a much tougher stand than what we have done so far. >> all right general jack keane thank you so much for your advice. as you heard the general mention we can protect our own soil hawaii alaska west coast of our country against a possible strike. the u.s. military says it has done that. it successfully launched a new missile that intercepts a rocket that did it on a test from the california coast. the missile defense agency says the ground base interceptor launched yesterday afternoon and executed a series of preplan maneuvers when it went up in space. it appears all of the components of this missile performed as designed will use test results to try to improve our nation's ballistic missile defense system to potentially guard against any threat including one that comes from north korea. >> good to know that's going on for us. refugee crisis rockettes scrambling to take care of tens of thousands of folks crossing the border from war corn syria. massive numbers of new arrivals causing shelter and food shortages in the camps. it's a really serious problem in the middle of a brutal winter. the iraqi government saying it wasn't prepared for the surge of syrians trying to escape. >> developing situation in egypt where protestors are crashing with police again in cairos square. violence erupting two years after the up rising through the government of mubarek. now they are angry with mohammed morrissey and his supporters in the muslim brotherhood. morsi set off late last year he has scaled back some of the decrees. many egyptians say they don't trust their new president or authorities. president obama slammed critics of his gun control policies saying they need to do a better job of listening. advocates for gun rights say the president is the one not paying attention by ignoring the second amendment. joining me now john fund columnist for the national review magazine and author of the book "who's counting." welcome. >> i think the president in his campaign said i don't want to take away your hand guns i don't want to infringe on second amendment rights. he wants to reassure people he's proposing responsible and limited gun control measures. the problem is, his audience seems some what disposed to doubt him. i think that partly because there is a long history of democrats being condescending toward gun owners and we just saw that with former president bill clinton a week ago on saturday he addressed a group of democratic donors. he thought he was speaking privately and said look we have a real problem looking down our nose on these people. i add viedz us if we want to move forward with gun control we have to be careful there's a lot of suspicion there. >> one of the situations or hurdles the president will have to over come is the democrats that don't sport the extensive control he's pushing. how far does the president hoping to and what do you think he's up against in his own party? >> senator harry reid has been silent of his proposals. he has a b grade a good grade for the national rifle association. he has many senators up for election in 2014. he doesn't want to bring gun control votes their opponent can pupil mel them for. i am talking about senator mckargher and mark twakus of montana. they are weary and nervous about stepping into this issue. >> majority leader reed was endorced the national rifle association not in the last election but as you mentioned midterms come upon us very quickly. what does the president actually get do you think? >> i think he has something all of the executive orders he got issued which are relatively mild obviously those will stand. most americans wouldn't have particular objection to them. senator fine stein's bill which if he specifies 150 weapons including shot gurns of all things would be banned i think that has a limited shelf life in the u.s. senate. i think the president will put most of the chips on the background checks. he may get progress there but there's a lot of evidence the existing background check is just a mess. maybe we should have combining a fixing of that with whatever modest measures we can make. >> if that's the case john i am curious about this. is this an issue he should be focusing so much on right now in an interview he gave where he discusses gun control measures. he admits he enjoys skeet shooting at camp david on the weekend. he's talking a lot about and around the gun control issue but what about jobs and other issues affecting our economy right now? >> you are right jamie. watch the state of the union message. if he devotes more than a couple sen tens to gun control i will be surprised. if he devotes a couple paragraphs to gun control it means he really is fighting for his basis most ar dent beliefs. i think that is perilous for him. watch the state of the union message. that will be the key here. i think he's going to put this on the second tier. he has a lot of other things on his plate. >> it is a full plate already. that is for sure. >> that is coming up at the state of the union. great to see you always on sunday morning. we have more details on this horrible story in brazil. nearly 300 people have been killed and hundreds others injured after a fire ripped through a nightclub last night. breaking details just ahead. >> health officials are warning there's a new strain of a stomach bug through the u.s. this one is serious, folks. the doctors will be here with tips on how to keep yourself and your family healthy. we are taking questions on this topic. do you have some sort of include in want to know what it is or what you should do about it? go to foxnews.com/sunday house calls. go to our live chat the doctors will answer some of your questions right here on the show. we will be right back. this is $100,000. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much. i appreciate it. i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally. to compete on the global stage. what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025 we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university, we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone is ready with the know-how we need for a new tomorrow. 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[ male announcer ] fast, reliable deliveries worldwide. fedex. >> dozens of hieshgs stranded. downpours flooded the trails leaving adults and children trapped in areas. they are using ground and air missions to get everyone to safety. some hieshgs were air lifted out already and others roped together and taken out with floatation devices. there is little information about possible injuries but it appears everyone at this time at least is accounted for. >> well it was a big issue this week and in an exclusive interview chris wallace talked to people on both sides of the de tate over the pentagon's decision to lift the ban on women in combat. lieutenant general jerry boykin is the former u.s. deputy under secretary of defense for intelligen intelligence. the first female combat pilot. >> mixing the genders in infantry units armored units and special forces units is not a positive. there are many distract tors there which puts the burden on small union combat leaders and creates an environment. >> we are a country that sets standard and allows people to compete as insdividualindividua. if they bring the better soldiers to the fight women should be able to compete on equal ground. >> joining us now. >> morning. >> the reaction is from it's about time to it's a dangerous experiment and should never be allowed. what's the latest? >> pineda secretary of defense has lifted the ban unless congress passes new legislation and there's little sign they will. it is going to go into effect. and i think it has generally broad support but there are some people in the military and outside who have some concerns. the two main concerns seem to be won the physical limitations we are not talking obviously women who have been on the front lines as we mentioned martha mcsally has been a combat pilot for more than a decade now. 300 hours of combat ore iraq and afghanistan but it's not the same as being on the ground having to carry a 70 pound pack if you are in a special operations raid spending a week in very tough conditions very intimate conditions men and women together. so there's a difference about it, but they say and i will give you the best line that martha mcsally saying women can't do it and men can is like saying pee wee herman can do it but serena and venus williams can't. yes men are generally stronger than women but there are plenty of he can acceptingses if women are -- of exceptions and if women can meet the standards they should be allowed to perform on the ground. >> this took a lot of people by surprise. the administration rolling out boom, boom, boom in the first couple weeks a major initiative. is it part of the president's plan as we go forward? >> i don't know if it was part of the president's plan. he talked a great deal about human rights and equal rights. the real generating force for this was the joint chiefs of staff they were the ones who sent a letter in early january to the secretary deef fence un m -- defense unanimously and said it is about time when the formal ban on women in ground combat. women are already on the front lines in a lot of these situations, eric. they serve as combat pilots as medics and intel officers, the reality of a war in afghanistan there is no front line. you can be in a village that you think you are pass fying an an ied goes off then you are on the front line. the ban on women ground infantry special operations that could end it appears that's what's going to happen. >> you certainly dove into all of this. >> this is a really interesting conversation. tremendous respect. they know each other and colonel mcsally and general tremendous respect for each other. he feels ground operations for women is a bridge too far. she says sign me up. >> god bless the women and the men. >> in this case thank these two people for their great service to our country. >> as always chris, thank you. >> exclusive interview with colonel martha mcsally and lieutenant general boykin on sunday. illinois senator dick durbin and bob corker. you have both sides discussing the terror attack and the confirmation process for senator john kerry as the next secretary of state. all of the developments in the nation's capitol in one program. fox news sunday 2 and 6:00 p.m. right here on the fox news channel. coming up, just when you thought the flu was under control, guess what? there's a new bug making the rounds. the doctors are here to tell us what to look out for. >> also, could you use extra cash? are you looking for extra cash? there's a new way to get it. it is sweeping our country. pawnshops for needed cash. we are going to tell you how to get the best deal and did you actually know you can buy your property back or you can leave it there and take the money and run. who is going to tell us? this is a consumer protection segment the star of the history channel hit reality tv show "pawn stars" joins us to explain the ins and outs of pawning. 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