Transcripts For FOXNEWS FOX And Friends 20100224

for my mind. >> this is kim walker. you're watching "fox & friends." >> that guy must be in shape if he's working out three straight hours. >> yeah, it could be the ironman, the defending champ, perhaps. but welcome back. you feeling good? >> thanks. i'm great. unfortunately, my little guy was also caught up in the malstrom. i think that's a word. whatever the case is, we're back and ready to go today and one of the big news stories is what's happening with toyota. today is akia toyota's turn in the fire pit. the president of toyota will be on capitol hill to face a congressional hearing and based on yesterday's testimony, he can expect a grilling. joining us live from washington this morning is caroline shively with the very latest. good morning. >> good morning to you. we do hear from the head of toyota this morning of how they could send cars on the road after recalling them for serious and sometimes deadly flaws. in his remarks, he says his company grew too fast and he's deeply sorry for any accidents drivers have experienced. after the shocking testimony yesterday, lawmakers won't be holding back when they question toyota today. one tennessee woman described how her lexus took off while she was driving. she tried everything to stop it, hitting the brakes and trying to slam it in reverse. nothing worked. here's her testimony and the reaction from the head of toyota's u.s. division. >> i was going out to put the car into the guard rail in order to prevent killing anyone else. i called my husband on the blue tooth phone system. i knew -- i'm sorry. i knew he could not help me but i wanted to hear his voice one more time. >> i want her and her husband to feel safe about driving our products. i was embarrassed to hear the story. >> transportation secretary ray lahood will testify today but the most gripping testimony will likely come from the mother of an off-duty california police officer who was killed with three family members in a runaway lexus in san diego last summer. steve, gretchen and brian, back to you. >> all right, caroline. we'll pay attention, close attention to that testimony today. thank you very much. a couple of the headlines for you in a fox news alert. intelligence officials say a suspected u.s. missile strike has killed at least four people in the northwest pakistani tribal region. three missiles hit a compound and a vehicle. the area, of course, afghan taliban faction strong hold. there have been several missile attacks in recent weeks on pakistan soil. former vice president dick cheney feeling fine and probably going to be out of the hospital in a day or two. tests show he actually had a mild heart attack. his fifth one. just last weekend, he spoke at cpac and before that, dueled with vice president joe biden on the sunday talk shows. actually the two of those guys, they spoke on the phone yesterday. biden called to wish cheney well. cheney is 69 years old. it was a scene ear i wireminisc the columbine shooting. a man walked into a high school in colorado shooting two students. those two students still alive. one in critical condition. the suspect, a 32-year-old now behind bars. if it hadn't been for a heroic math teacher, things could have been much worse. >> i had always told my students since columbine that if anything happened in a school, that i would hope that i would be able, you know, to do something. i would just hope that i would have the courage. >> police not saying yet how eastwood is connected to the school or the students. a judge in haiti says the two remaining jailed american missionaries will likely be freed this week. there are no criminal charges to pursue against laura silbe and theresa coulter. they were part of that group from idaho that tried to take kids from a haitian orphanage. they were arrested at the border because they didn't have the right paperwork. take a look at the new u.s. embassy. this one is in london being billed as the greenest and one of the most expensive u.s. diplomatic buildings in the entire world. the cost -- only $1 billion. the philadelphia design firm is striving for an embassy with an environmentally friendly focus so the 12-story building will include solar power and a 98 foot moat. what's that for, the drinking water? >> it's probably just castle like. it's the u.k. i wonder what happened to van jones? remember, he was in the firestorm and then one day said, you know, i'm probably going to do something else. we haven't heard anything about him. what has he been doing? is he about to get in a war? >> he is -- for years, the naacp has had something called the image awards and decided to bestow it on mr. jones whose image as you'll discover in this 39d second montage is unique. listen. >> you've never seen a columbine done by a black child. >> the white environmentalists are essentially steering poison into the people. >> wait a minute -- aren't you [beep]. wait a second. >> some cowboy clicks in the police department who have a frat boy mentality. >> the president of the united states sounded like a crack head. like a crack head trying to lick the crack pipe for a fix. >> they're [beep]. >> yeah, that's the guy getting the image award. >> oh, let's remind folks who van jones is. he was the former green czar for president obama. he was on charge of the white house council on environmental quality. when some of these statements started coming up, one of the biggest things is he had signed a petition believing that the george bush administration was behind 9/11. he has since taken his name now off that petition after he resigned as the green czar. but the naacp is calling him an american treasure, the guy who runs the naacp says that he's an american treasure and quite simply one of the few americans in recent years to have generated powerful new ideas that are creating new jobs. >> so why are they giving it to him? the same guy who is the c.e.o. says "the real van jones story is about how a young leader became the father of the green jobs movement. in response to a long standing job crisis in oakland, california, he, van jones, initiated the oakland green job corps. this program has become a renowned model for numerous initiatives now up and running across america. in america, we ultimately judge people on what they are doing today for tomorrow. and not what they did yesterday. and i am proud to give him the naacp president's award this friday." >> you know we heard the president when his background was exposed and you know also that this organization is not really running from his background. in fact, he says, does this president who is about to give him his honor. we can't forget that the defining trait of our country is to celebrate redemption. this is a nation built on second chances but as far as we know, he left on his last chance. we don't know what he's done different since. >> howard dean calls his resignation a loss for the country. and also a rising star in environmental circles. no doubt this award will be an acknowledgment of that. so we'll keep you posted on van jones. >> yeah. what do you think? should he be getting an image award? email us at foxnews.com. let's talk about the image of the g.o.p. and the dems. they'll get together tomorrow. you'll see it here on fox newschannel. it will be that whole health care thing. it's turned into a soap opera. it's interesting, the democrats, some are already saying look, we're going to jam this thing through with reconciliation which has been used, i think, 21 times since the early 1980's. harry reid yesterday told those pesky g.o.p.ers just to shut up and stop crying. >> since 1981, reconciliation has been used 21 times. the vast majority of those reconciliation efforts have been by republicans. so we have -- nothing's off the table. we'll be happy to take a look at that but realistically, they should stop crying about reconciliation as if it's never been done before. >> yeah. reconciliation, of course, now that the democrats no longer have the super majority, reconciliation is when you can pass something with just 51 votes. >> what harry reid was alluding to is this has been done in the past. every administration has done this. let's be honest. main problem is maybe with some of those efforts to use reconciliation, the american public was not a factor as they have been in the health care reform bill. that's the dicey issue here is no matter what the lawmakers do, they have to go to their home states and face the music and for a lot of democrats in 2010, that can be really bad music if they go along with the plan. >> what do republicans do when they show up? we know they're going to get lunch. we know it's going to be six hours. we know it's going to be televised and they'll have 19 lawmakers on the democratic side. among the republicans attending, invited, expected to attend, a doctor, congressman thomas coburn, senator john mccain will be there, senator mitch mcconnell says look, i'm happy to be there, happy to come. i'm not sure what the purpose is. the president has outlined his blueprint and never before has anyone taken republican ideas, amendments or initiatives but they do say the republicans aren't going to sit there and wait. they say they have a strategy. it is to portray the obama plan as radical and ruinous and also point out the private sector opportunities and alternatives that would be involved in their plan on reforming the health insurance industry in america. >> so when you go head to head, the republican plan will probably only insure three million whereas the democrat plan would insure 30 million americans. but also, the cost. i think it's $61 billion vs. close to a trillion. something like that. >> which has more zeros? i think trillion. >> i think we know. anyway, one of the things they're going to do, the republicans and i don't know why somebody is blabbing to "the new york times" telling them what their strategy is going to be. >> very persuasive. >> oh, yeah, they are. >> apparently what they're going to do is say look, shouldn't we be talking about jobs right now? isn't that what america wants us to be doing is finding new jobs and not talking about health care? >> see, the thing is they passed the jobs bill thanks to scott brown on monday night so they can say that they're talking about jobs. >> good point. >> so, you know, i do believe that they're going -- they have a feather in their cap with being able to pass that monday night and now they're moving on to their next initiative which was their initial initiative which is health care but correct me if i'm wrong because i haven't been here for the last two days. can the house not pass the senate version of the bill this afternoon? and so in effect, you could have the senate and the house passing the bills before they even have this meeting tomorrow? is that the appropriate way that i'm looking at it? >> the way i think it goes, gretchen, is the senate has got to pass the house bill and they can't make any changes -- no -- >> doesn't that happen this afternoon? >> sure, they could. >> i thought i read somewhere that could happen this afternoon. >> if you imagine that, that would be -- >> talk about nuclear options. >> that would be like trying to beat scott brown to washington. that would be as defining as that. how do people get up in the morning and they get their idea in the head and think is day going to be today? i think about what about newfoundland and what about his premier, how is he doing? >> we've highlighted on the map where they are located and have been for years. >> two great dogs. >> their premier, a fellow by the name of danny williams. we told you the story a couple of weeks ago. danny williams was told by doctors in canada, you got problems with your heart valve and what we'd like to do is break some bones and go into your chest cavity and we're going to fix that thing. well, another doctor -- >> that means breaking open his clavicle. >> absolutely. another doctor said you know what? why don't you go to mount sinai in miami. there's a guy there that does this three or four times a day. it's interesting because here's this guy who is a premier in canada and they've got that much vaunted canadian health system up there. people say the united states could wind up with that. what is he doing? he comes to the u.s. for surgery. >> nothing that this guy can say will change the facts of his story which is he left canada for america for heart surgery! hello, folks. here are some of his quotes. i did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when i entered politics. what happens to the rest of the people in canada? if they're not politicians can they come to the u.s. to get heart surgery so they live. number 2, i wanted to get in, get out fast and get back to work in a short period of time. can't do that in canada. >> right. >> that's why you're coming to the u.s. this is obscene that a canadian politician is coming to the u.s. and trying to pass it off because he's a politician, he can do it. folks, this is what may be coming to the u.s. pay attention. >> he says look, if i did it in canada in ottawa at this great heart place there, they would have accused me of jumping in line because there's a line. they don't care how bad your valve is. they have a line. >> he's known up there as danny millions because he has a lot of money. he said ultimately, this was my heart, my choice, my health. >> all right, stevie warbucks. straight ahead, a u.s. ambassador speaking at u.c. irvine is shouted down not once, not twice but 11 times. >> as a person who spent much of his life speaking hebrew -- >> whoa! >> are these kids from liberal schools supposed to be a little bit more tolerant? let me ask tucker carlson, no relation to gretchen. >> a kentucky state trooper is spotted at a cock fighting tournament standing around doing nothing. we report, you decide. hi. we love your weight watchers enrsed soups but my husband looks the way he did 20 years ago. well that's great. you haven't seen h... my other can is ringing. progresso. hey can you tell my wife to relax and enjoy the view? (announcer progresso. you gotta taste this soup. i've noticed lots of fishermen forget to latch their tackle box before they pick it up. (lures splilling out) don't do that. come to the bass pro shops spring fishing classic this weekend for great deals and free seminars. [ woman ] nine iron, it's almost tee-time. time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze, my eyes water. but with new zyrtec® liquid gels, i get allergy relief at liquid speed. that's the fast, powerful relief of zyrtec®, now in a liquid gel. zyrtec® is the fastest 24-hour allergy medicine. it works on my worst symptoms so i'm ready by the time we get to the first hole. and that's good because the competition's steep today. new zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air.™ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the cadillac cts sport sedan. one of car & driver's 10 best for the third year in a row. ♪ and now, cadillac announces the new luxury collection lease. >> glad you're up. get something waterproof on. here's what's happening. the swine flu is not over and could get worse. that according to the world health organization. that's coming out this morning. it says it's too early to declare that the disease has peaked. stock market overseas are down in anticipation of fed chairman ben bernanke's testimony. that will happen in congress and will happen today. he's talking where the economy is going and what's going to happen to interest rates. it comes a day after the consumer confidence index dropped 10 points. i'm competent this segment will with gretchen. >> freedom of speech is live and well in america's universities, we know that, right? unless you're saying something that the students don't like. check out recently happened at u.c. irvine when the israeli ambassador to the u.s., michael orrin tried to deliver a speech he was invited to make. >> it's a source of frustration the person who spent much of his life speaking hebrew. >> not -- >> haven't come to this campus to hear one idea. you've come to hear a multiplicity of ideas. >> guilty of 100 -- >> you, sir are responsible for genocide. >> ok. fox news contributor tucker carlson is joining us this morning from washington. good morning to you, tucker. >> good morning. >> that's disgraceful. they invite this guy to the university to speak and clearly, what was a coordinated effort because every time he'd go for a minute or two and then a different guy would pop up. yell something. and then they'd be orchestrated. it was clearly planned in advance. >> well, it absolutely was. in fact, most of these 11 hecklers were members of the school's muslim student organization. they were cited by police after. and the remarkable thing is these 1 is 1 students have become a cause on the left. the student body of the university in san diego just last week passed a referendum supporting these students in their fight against israel. i mean, they really are -- go on line and type in the irvine 11 and you'll see a lot of support on these students interrupting his speech. it's an assault on speech, by the way. >> obviously they're doing this because they want to try to stop these kinds of speakers from coming to college universities. what will be the final result here? if you're an upstanding individual who has a specific point of view that may not be the leftist point of view on our college campus, are you going to accept these invitations? will in fact speech be stifle ed? >> that's, of course, exactly the point. you could hate israel as these students do and still acknowledge that, you know, words should be heard. you shouldn't shout people down and, in fact, ambassador warren had a q & a after it. there was a time for people to ask questions and get those questions answered. this is of a speech with an anti-speech agenda that you see at lots of college campuses. when is the last time you've seen a speaker shouted down to the right at college campus? this is consistent with speech codes, by the way. policies on campus that punish people for using the wrong words. it's all part of an agenda that's contrary to the first amendment. >> all right. where is exactly the tolerance? tucker, always a pleasure. thank for joining us on this wednesday. >> thanks. >> you bet. >> remember when the idea of collecting a social security check was a no brainer? not anymore. stuart varney is here to explain. >> house speaker nancy pelosi is starting up a fight again with the c.i.a. [ male announcer ] how can rice production in india affect wheat output in the u.s., the shipping industry in norway, and the rubber industry in south america? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual fds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment objectives, risks, fees, expenses, and other information to read and consider carefully before investing. f you live near a, expenses, and other information don: ...it's easy to access low walprices. but..... don: ...say you live out here. don: can you get affordable prescriptions from walmart? now you can. i'm don, and my job is to make sure you can get free home delivery of your medications... don: ...whether you live here... don: ...or here. a 90 day supply of many popular generics is just $10. don: plus get free shipping on over 3,000 other generic and branded prescriptions. don: call 1-800-2-refill for your free home delivery. save money. live better. walmart. >> well, remember when the idea of collecting your social security check when you retired, yeah, it was a given, right? well, those days, are they behind us? even archie bunker saw what was coming. >> is that your social security? >> social security, i can't collect that for another 12 years, edith. and with the democrats in there, they'll run through all that social security money before we ever get a chance to run them out of there! that's true. didn't you read where they're selling the post offices to pay the rent on the white house? >> wow. so is the future that archie bunker predicted finally caught up with us? stuart varney has caught up with us, the host of varney a& compay on the fox business network. was archie right? >> no, he was wrong. your check, brian, even at your age is safe but we do have a huge problem. for the first time in 25 years, last year, late last year, the social security paid out more than it brought in. it went to the deficit. that gets worse. we're eating away at this $2 1/2 trillion trust fund. it will run out by 2037 so you've got to fix social security. there will be, i predict, an increase in the retirement age. there will be an increase in the taxable base for social security. both those things will happen but not for sometime to come but the fix will happen. >> right, so many people were worried about their social security and stuff like that but ultimately, wouldn't there be more money for social security if washington just wasn't so drunk spending our dough? >> well, sort of, yes. but what you're seeing is a huge wealth transfer from young people and working people to retired people. we've got a demographic problem. we're living longer so we're spending much more time in retirement. the life expectancy of somebody who reaches the age of 65 is now 79 for a woman. 77 for a man. >> people will have to work longer because as you're claiming they won't be able to start collecting until later and, of course, people are going to be taxed. who is the heck is going to pay for all the stuff in america? every day we're talking about a new tax. this is social security. we're talking about a health care tax. we're talking about -- we're having to raise other taxes just to pay for our government to operate. eventually you don't have people left to pay the taxes. >> look, we are running down the road rapidly towards insolvency, we can't quit the spending and borrowing habit, can we? >> but raising the retirement age might not be politically popular but we hope somebody will do the right thing. >> you say look, we're going to raise the retirement age for people who retire in the year 2027. something like that. put it off. let somebody else worry about it. >> let's talk about this. it looks like down on wall street, even though they have been supporting the democrats with their financial contributions. in fact, i think it was 2-1 at the beginning of last year. now, even money. sounds like wall street is hedging their bets. >> wall street didn't particularly care for the fat cat comment delivered twice by our president, a democrat. they didn't much care for the bonus bashing that's been rampant and they don't much care for the shaping up of financial reform. they thought that if they chucked a ton of money at it, they could influence reform and influence the administration's attitude towards bankers and bonuses. didn't work. they switched horses. they're moving towards the g.o.p. >> they have no loyalty. they want to go with the winner. right now, momentum is on one side. >> there's no morality with money. >> there is on this couch, mr. varney. >> the curvy couch has morality? wow! >> run with that story at 9. . it 20 when your show begins on the fox business network. >> nice promo, son. >> his retirement is safe. he's a young man. we think. >> great to see you. espn host in hot water speaking of morality. after these comments about hannah storm. >> she's got on her typically very, very tight shirt so she looks like she's got sausage casings wrapped around her upper body. >> yeah, that's really funny. then he went on to talk about her boots and her skirt. what is espn doing about it? we'll tell you. >> isn't cock fighting illegal? what's a state trooper doing at a cockfight? and he's not making any arrests? >> happy birthday to steve jobs, the founder of apple computers. he's 55 today and doesn't have to worry about social security. >> well said. >> doesn't wear a tie. [meow] desperate for nighttime heartburn relief? for many, nexium helps relieve heartburn symptoms caused by acid reflux disease. and for the majority of patients with prescription coverage for nexium, it can cost $30 or less per month. headache, diarrhea, and abdominal pain are possible side effects of nexium. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. ask your doctor if nexium can help relieve your heartburn symptoms. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. >> welcome back. let me give you the time. 28 minute before the top of the hour. >> very good. now it's time for headlines on this wednesday. u.s. senate could pass the much modified jobs bill later today. it has not passed so far. it gives the tax break to companies that hire unemployed people. but economists aren't very excited saying it will produce only modest results. the $35 billion only -- $35 billion bill only exempts employers from social security taxes for new hires until december. it gives a $1,000 credit if a new hire stays for a here. there's also some money in it for highway work through the end of this year. brian? >> accused terrorist azazi apparently really wanted to kill americans. he plan to blow up new york city subways during rush hour, you'll remember. new york city here is where it would have happened. police say two of the bombers were going to help him but he won't say who they are. the 25-year-old faces life behind bars when he's sentenced in june. >> armed services committee says contractors for a blackwater subsidiary took hundreds of weapons intended for the afghan national police and on one occasion, someone signed for a weapons shipment by using the name eric cartman. cartman is an obnoxious grade school character featured on the comedy show "south park." they found lax oversight of the contractors contributed to the death of two afghan civilians. >> yesterday, we told you about how airport body scanners bought with stimulus money were collecting dust. well, finally, 150 of them will be installed next week in places like boston and chicago. they will let screeners see a full body contour. critics say the machines violate a person's right to privacy because you can see them pretty much naked. the machines are being used to beef up airport security after the underwear bomber tried to blow up an airplane on christmas day near detroit. >> well, isn't cockfighting illegal? what's a state trooper doing there? he's not making any arrests, that's for sure. check out the undercover video released by the humane society. it is creating a backlash now from animal rights activists who are pushing for stronger laws against cockfighting. there's a perceived loophole that lets cockfighters avoid prosecution. a spokesman in kentucky says the trooper was there to see if drugs or alcohol were being used but adds an internal investigation is still being conducted. all right. brian, talk about a few things at the olympics. >> big ladies night at the olympics and on "american idol." south korean kim yu-ny is your leader after posting the highest ever score. but it was canadian joannie rochette stole the show putting in a flawless performance two days after her mother's death. bode miller, he was disqualified after you're about to see it, hitting a guard gate -- hitting a gate and eventually skiing off course. a man from switzerland won the event. the germans are getting closer, look at that. that's what happens when you combine the east and west. i was not for that. by the way, it is 26-23. golf. tiger woods is reportedly offered another apology. this time to parents of children at his preschool for his 2-year-old. that's the one his 2-year-old attends. reports says woods and his wife have offered a personal written apology for any inconvenience caused by the media outside the school. remember during his speech, he wanted all the media to stay away. >> yeah. >> espn suspended tony cornheiser from his show for two weeks after comments he made about espn anchor hannah storm on his radio show. >> i'd like to point out hannah storm in a horrifying, horrifying outfit today. she's got on a red go-go boots and the catholic school plaid skirt way too short for somebody in her 40's or maybe early 50's by now. and she's got on her typically very, very tight shirt so she looks like she's got sausage casings wrapped around her upper body. >> wow. >> incredible. so he said on his radio show to begin with, apologized the next day but the network called the comments hurtful. he just apologized. hannah storm relatively light hearted about it and says you know what? i probably shouldn't have worn those boots anyway. >> that was a great response for that particular comment. >> right. >> great job on espn and did an incredible job at cbs and i see her all the time. >> you do? >> on television. >> i don't hang out with her. >> you used to work with her. >> i used to work with her, too. >> really? >> a very, very nice woman. all right, steve? >> great sportscaster. all right. >> really great sportscaster. >> really, really great. really, really great big storm is going to be forming throughout the northeast tomorrow into tomorrow night into friday. but right now, we got rain along the gulf coast to contend with. also some snow and some rains through portions of the northeast. and a specific storm all the way from washington down through oregon and california as well. right now, it is cold in the northern plains. only 3 in minneapolis. we have 23 in chicago. 30's throughout the northeast. 40's across portions of the mid atlantic and down along the gulf coast. later on today, things are going to warm up into the blue zone for the mid atlantic. 43 today in raleigh. about the same for atlanta. and 40 probably out at laguardia here in new york city. in anticipation of big storm coming. 65 will be the high in tampa. and let's take a look at tomorrow's daytime highs. 20's and 30's for the most part in the northern plains. 40's and 50's down south. and that's your fox travelcast. >> house speaker nancy pelosi is taking on the c.i.a. once again and she revived her war of words with the agency over harsh interrogation practices yesterday. listen. >> very clear, i've said this over and over again and i will say it again. i have never been briefed by the c.i.a. or anyone else on the subjects of those interrogations to the extent that they were being used. we were only briefed that they -- there were lawyers in the justice department that thought that they were legal, period. >> really? joining us right now to take a look at the controversy, a former c.i.a. operatives gary burston the author of "human intelligence" and "jawbreaker" and former c.i.a. counter intelligence michael shoerer. you heard the controversy then. she was minority leader at the time or the whip. what do you think about hthis? >> it seems to me mrs. pelosi is a liar. the agency has shown documents that she was briefed. her colleagues said she was briefed. >> in april or september. >> it seems to me like she's ideologically, like the president and attorney general, they're ideologically opposed to the agency as an institution. here's the agency helping to capture the number two of the taliban in the last week or so and mrs. pelosi, again, accusing us of being a rogue organization. >> gary, she says these are memos. these aren't transcripts. gary is in our new york studio. these are memos, they're not transcripts. could she be right that the lawyer was the only one talking saying this waterboarding thing is legal. that's all i'm going to tell you. >> clearly, she responded to a lawsuit by amnesty international that stated that she was briefed in april of 2002. so her statements in a judicial process are different than those made under the political process. you know, it demonstrates hostility to the agency and it shows that the speaker has a unique ability to speak outside of both sides of her mouth at the same time. >> gary, michael, are you hardened by the fact that leon panetta has been fighting back against his own administration in defending the c.i.a. and how is he looked out from the inside-out? >> i think mr. panetta is looked at a little bit better than he was when he was first appointed but he has to be very aggressive here. right now -- >> against the speaker? >> absolutely. the speaker is lying. call her on it. produce the documents. and let the voters decide in san francisco. they'll probably make her queen or something by then. but the point here is mr. panetta has to step up. the agency is the lead organization in fighting al-qaida. it has been at it since 1996. we need to stop this nonsense that mrs. pelosi conducts. >> all right. gary, let's switch gears. it was referred to earlier, two huge captures, gary, inside pakistan. these are taliban leaders, outside mullah omar, two better guys we couldn't have gotten. they're in pakistani hands. the c.i.a. came out over the weekend saying we need access to them and we'd like to question them in afghanistan. what's the back story to this? are we getting access to them and playing the game of making pakistan feel like they're in control? >> the back story is the pakistani have had a close and continuous relationships with the taliban over the years and they are extremely concerned we're going to learn things about that relationship which will not bode well for pakistan. we're going to have to convince the pakistanis that, you know, some of the past transgressions will have -- you know, will be set aside and allow us to move forward to destroy the taliban as an organization. we're only going to do that if we get direct access to them. >> final thoughts, mike? >> i think gary is right but i'm also afraid it's gone on too long. the taliban and al-qaida are very smart organizations. they've changed their codes, they've changed their methods of procedure. they've changed a lot of things that baradar could tell us. we've really wasted a lot of times so far not having him in our custody. >> michael, gary, thanks. since that tragic suicide bombing in that region, the c.i.a. has done incredible things in taking down the taliban from the pakistani area and the ungoverned areas and what not. gary and michael, thanks for joining us for our weekly caucus. >> thank you, sir. >> all right. straight ahead, we talk a little aruba. >> we do. coming up, admitting yet again he dumped natalee holloway's body. is he telling the truth? our next guest who represents her parents says this guy is a liar. >> the table is set for tomorrow's high stakes health care summit. will both sides be able to break the political logjam? we'll talk to a republican and a democratic congressman. they are on the invite list. [ woman ] ring ring. progresso. i reached my weight goal thanks to you so i am ready to get back out there. alright. that's great. i want to personally thank you for 100 calorie hearty chicken rotini. well, it'not just me. you're so funny. i like you. [ male annncer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. of the world's most revered luxury sedan. this is a history of over 50,000 crash-tested cars. this is the world record for longevity... and one of the most technologically advanced automobiles onthe planet. this is the 9th generation e-class. this is mercedes-benz. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial. >> some quick headlines, defense secretary robert gates has announced his plan to lift a decades old ban on women on submarines in the navy. if congress has no objections, the pentagon will begin making changes to the larger subs so men and women can serve together. meanwhile, the social media world is all atwitter and investors are shouting yahoo. twitter and yahoo will start sharing content as soon as the software can be figured out. that will probably happen later on this year. yahoo has a similar deal with facebook. gretch? >> all right. thanks, steve. remember this name, joran van der sloot? well, the primary suspect he is in the disappearance of natalee holloway, has confessed yet again. this time telling german broadcaster that he in fact disposed of natalee's body in a swamp in aruba. his statements are similar to his last alleged confession to a dutch crime reporter two years ago but investigators couldn't find any evidence to confirm that admission. natalee went missing all the way back now in 2005 during a high school trip to aruba. her body has never been found. we're joined by john q. kelly, the holloway family attorney. good morning to you. >> hi, gretchen. >> once again, we have this young man who by all accounts seems to be troubled at best. >> sure. >> saying he, in fact, did do something with natalee holloway body. can he be believed? >> well, i think a couple of things have never changed. one, he was the last one with natalee when she was alive and she dies when she's with him and disposes of her body in some way. the facts always change how he exposed of her, how she died, you know, where he ended up with her, who helped him, things like that. he was the last one with her. something happened to her and she's never been found. >> the difference in this confession is that it seems to me he actually gave the interview openly to this german outfit as opposed to in 2008 when he was secretly taped and gave the confession. how do you see it differently? >> i don't like the word confession. i see these as stories, fabrications, you know, they're just fantasies in his mind. none of the facts that we know when text messages were sent, we know when cars were used. there are certain facts surrounding natalee's last hours and joran's movements can be corroborated. none of the stories he told fit. one time, he had a guy with a boat helping him dispose of the body and the guy wasn't even in the country. he makes it up as he goes along. >> why would he do this? >> he's in an attention seeking -- yeah, i think that's it. >> interesting thing is two weeks ago, his father who many people believed helped him in some sort of a cover-up dies suddenly. >> yeah, i think that was -- these were young kids. they knew what happened to this girl. they got very poor guidance of joran's father who sort of told them, be quiet, don't cooperate and this will go away. yeah, he died. you think joran might say, i want to show some sanctity for family, some respect for parents, for their children, for what happened. maybe clear the air and it would be nice if he could just come out and really tell the holloways what happened to their daughter. where she is and what happened. >> i want to get in an exclusive response from joe who represents joran or did in the past. he said i truly believe he had nothing to do with this case. i don't think he's a bad kid. he's messed up and suffered psychological issues as a result of this. van der sloot is not stable and not credible. we need to look at evidence which does not point towards him. john, you do not believe that joran van der sloot killed natalee holloway, do you? >> i'm not sure. the one thing i think is fairly certain is that natalee left that island, whether alive or dead, i don't think there's any way to dispose of a body on that island without it being found at some point or being put in the ocean without it having drifted back to shore, and being found at some point. i mean, it's just -- until -- and i know the parents hate when i say this and i've talked to them about it. until there's some evidence to the contrary, something indicating that natalee actually is dead, i've always got that small thought in the back of my mind that she still could be alive. venezuela is five, six miles away from aruba. >> hard to believe it's been five years. >> she'd been finishing college. >> good to see you, gretchen. >> coming up on the show, is the pledge of allegiance a laughing matter? a former senator says the white house told him to name his price for his vote on last year's stimulus bill. he joins us coming up. luke: moving my mind and my hands at world record speed. i'm luke myers. if you want to be incredible, eat incredible. announcer: eggs. incredible energy for body and mind. (guitar music) >> welcome back on this wet wednesday in new york city. sweetheart deals like the now infamous cornhusker kickback may be common in washington. one former senator says the obama administration offered him a deal in exchange for his vote on the gigantic stimulus package. >> but, he said no. former florida senator mel martinez joins us. former senator, too. why did you say no? maybe the people -- maybe your constituents might have wanted you to say yes. >> no, i really don't think so. i think constituents really want you to stand up for principles and to do what you think is the right thing and the bill is not -- was not the right thing. and to have taken a little benefit for the state of florida which would be momentary at best would not have been worth the huge expenditures that were involved in the stimulus. we were looking to, you know, to work together on a bill that would have created a better, more stimulative spending in year one. that's not what the white house was after but they were looking to pick off a few republicans by sweetening the pot with the usual way that business is done in washington. >> in the legal system, that's called a bribe. but in washington somehow it's called legal. what were they offering you for florida? >> well, it was -- there was no specific offer. it was more what is it that you want to get your vote? >> open ended. they were willing to give you anything. >> right. >> they were basically -- it was open ended offer. >> i'm not sure i was important enough for them to offer me anything. i think i could have gotten something for my vote and i would have then voted -- voted for a bill that i really fundamentally didn't think was a good thing and so, unfortunately, i couldn't be a part of the deal. so i walked away. and i think that's what really, it began what was touted to be a bipartisan effort to work together as business as usual that this administration has been a part of. the idea was that if we could have worked together on the stimulus bill, truly made it a bipartisan bill, maybe we could have gotten off to a better start. in fact, it really very quickly became about how do we get a few republicans to vote with us to make it look good. they didn't need our vote. they had 60. they needed republicans to give them cover and they would then pass the bill they intended to pass all along. >> and senator, so this little kind of d.c. version of "let's make a deal" where they said, you know, we really need a guy like you, mel, republican to be on our team. what was it, though, even though the people of florida could have used, you know, some sort of break, what was it that told you, you know, i just got to pass on this. >> well, it just wasn't the right bill. i mean, it was -- it would spend too much. it would spend too much in the out years. it didn't have enough tax cuts in it. it was not enough infrastructure spending. it didn't do much for the housing problem that florida was having, that still is having. so it just wasn't going to fix the problem. and it was going to increase our debt tremendously so, you know, when you have a situation like that, what good is it to get a little something for florida? it isn't what i was sent to congress to do. >> let me ask you something real quick. do you think the way in which washington operates with these deals, yes or no, should it go away to get stuff done? >> look, i think this is something that is not new with this administration. they just advertise themselves as being different. fact of the matter is this has gone on for a long, long time. it would be impossible probably to completely eradicate it. we ought to do better and particularly when there's large principles involved like huge spending, very, very strong ideas that we all should hold, you need to stick to your ideas and do what you think is right other than what would be expedient or convenient for the moment. >> all right. former senator mel martinez, thank you very much for joining us today from the beautiful city of orlando. happiest place on earth. thank you. >> thank you. it's not raining. >> yeah. rub it in. it is here. >> it will at some point during the day for 20 minutes. straight ahead, democrats say the stimulus created millions of jobs but apparently not in senator harry reid's state and there, the jobless get violent. >> men when they're out of work tend to become abusive. >> what was harry reid thinking when he said this? we'll debate it and try to explore his brain. >> a democrat is called unpatriotic when he laughs off saying the pledge of allegiance. >> why were they given the boot? that's straight ahead on "fox & friends." orers, great thinkers. they're the future of america, so let's bring them up right and give them our cheese. american cheese. kraft singles. put it in their lunch boxes. heck, put it right in their mouths. it's made with milk, never oil like some other slices. a country is only as good as its cheese. good thing ours doesn't have a bunch of holes in it. kraft singles - the american cheese. [ woman ] nine iron, it's almost tee-time. time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze, my eyes water. but with new zyrtec® liquid gels, i get allergy relief at liquid speed. that's the fast, powerful relief of zyrtec®, now in a liquid gel. zyrtec® is the fastest 24-hour allergy medicine. it works on my worst symptoms so i'm ready by the time we get to the first hole. and that's good because the competition's steep today. new zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air.™ find the opening. be precise. hit that guy, hit that guy! gotta make a play. go! hit that guy! let's do it again. [ male announcer ] winning takes intense preparation. [ peyton ] catch it, catch it! [ male announcer ] it starts with wheaties fuel! a bold honey-cinnamon crunch cereal with complex carbs, and b vitamins. [ peyton ] new wheaties fuel, prepare to win! some people like to pretend... a flood could never happen to them... and that their homeowners insurance... protects them. it doesn't. stop pretending. it can happen to you. protect your home with flood insurance. call the number on your screen... for your free brochure. trueen lawns are easy to spot. that's the hasskamp house. great-looking lawn... hi, bobby. hi, bobby. ...better-looking daughters. i got a solid business plan, too. take the walker's. no trugreen. no anks. trugreen treats every ln special. they call it customized service. i call it my ticket to the cover of forbes. [ male announcer ] call 866-trugreen and get a customized plan for a healthy, green lawn, guaranteed. more green, means mo green. [ male announcer ] get a healthy, green lawn today. call trugreen. go greener. >> good morning, everyone. hope you're having a fantastic wednesday, february 24, 2010. thanks for sharing your time today. tough questioning for toyota, it will continue on the hill today. what caused all of those problems in the first place? >> i think we grew too quickly. and as a result of that, we stretched our resources too thin. >> amazing developments yesterday and you'll hear from company's president, a live report from washington straight ahead. >> we're one day away from the big health care summit at the white house or in that neighborhood, the blair house. can the lawmakers reach a deal? we'll talk to one who got an invite. >> and is the pledge of allegiance a laughing matter? the democratic lawmaker who seems to think so, that guy in the spot shadow right there, we'll talk about that. meanwhile, i'm calling an audible here, slogan of the morning is coming off the email machine right now from troy who is almost 17 in johnstown, new york. he writes -- the snow has kept me out of school so i'll watch "fox & friends" because i'm no fool. >> all right. live from studio e, welcome aboard, folks. it's "fox & friends" for what will be a wet day throughout much of the northeast and a big storm is coming as well. that's why troy is out of school today. >> that decision 13 years ago to do our show indoors is fortuitous on this day. >> are you suggesting we should go outside? >> it was a bit of a think tank, indoors or outdoors. we decided to do it indoors. >> in washington, wanted sure if it's raining or not. it's raining for toyota. toyota's president heads on the hot seat today on capitol hill. he's expected to get a grilling after yesterday's opening round of testimony. joining us live from washington, caroline shively. caroline, this story continues to unfold. >> absolutely. and we're looking for more answers this morning from the head of toyota. we know from his prepared testimony, gretchen, he will say he's sorry. don't expect lawmakers to hold back in their questioning. they want to know why and how 8 1/2 million vehicles could have been sold and then recalled for serious design flaws. transportation secretary ray lahood will also testify today and he says the government will go into the weeds looking for answers. one thing they're focusing on is the electronics and whether that's to blame for the sudden and sometimes out of control acceleration. there's still plenty of questions and toyota doesn't have all the answers. here's the head of u.s. toyota sales yesterday. >> do you believe that the recall on the -- on the carpet changes and the recall on the sticky pedal will solve the problem of sudden, up intended acceleration. >> not totally. >> toyota's james lentz broke down when they asked him if he was sincere when apologizing. his whole family drives toyotas and they want to get it right as well. >> i lost a brother in an accident and that was 20 some years ago and there's not a day that goes by that i don't think of that. i know what these families go through. >> lahood is on the first panel to speak today. expect him to get a grilling from lawmakers as well. the president of toyota is on the second panel before the house. he'll have a translator when he speaks. back to you. >> yeah. a lot of people are very happy that he finally decided to come to the u.s. to testify. thanks very much, caroline. some other headlines for you now for a wednesday. former vice president dick cheney gets a hospital visit from his wife last night. the former v.p. said to be feeling fine and he could be out of the hospital in a day or two. tests show that he did in fact have a mild heart attack. his fifth one. just last weekend, he spoke at cpac and then he dueled with joe biden on tv talk shows. biden called cheney to wish him well yesterday. three democratic senators will help decide how to bring down the debt as members of the president's new commission. minority whip dick durbin, finance committee chair max backous and budget committee chair conrad are familiar with the way senate finance works. senate republican floor leader mitch mcconnell has not named his picks for the commission. his office have not indicated when they might do that. 11 democrats and eight republicans will serve together. the person of interest in the murder of summer thompson is back in florida behind bars. 7-year-old summer thompson disappeared last october while walking home from school. her body was found several days later in a landfill. harrell was arrested earlier this month on 29 charges, possession of child pornography and he was extradited to florida from mississippi. he lives nearby where summer apparently was walking home that day when she disappeared. well, the auditions are finally over. hollywood week is over. what are we talking about? yeah, "american idol", it's time to get serious with the top 24 semifinalists. "american idol" finally went live last night and the top 12 girls battled it out for your votes. it was a good night for some. but not so good for others. >> ♪ don't you want someone to care about you what about love don't let it slip away ♪ >> ♪ hey i wanna hold your hand i wanna hold ♪ >> the top 12 men will take the stage tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on fox. i caught a little bit of this yesterday and i thought that ellen was pretty good as a judge. >> she's good. not too compassionate. you don't want to be too compassionate. >> like paula. >> that girl sounded good at the end but she was not good last night. >> really? >> yeah, i was watching. it's one of the few things you can sit down and watch with your kids and just -- everybody has an opinion and even as wrong as they are compared to me, i let them talk. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> meanwhile, our top story, tomorrow is the big white house health care summit. president obama's push to have high ranking lawmakers on both sides debate to reach a bipartis bipartisan bill on a deal, if that's possible. >> can this meeting save the health care bill? congressman from minnesota is attending this summit. what do you expect to happen? what have you been told to prepare for? >> well, we're hoping to have a real bipartisan discussion. but i've got to tell you that i'm pretty disappointed because the starting point seems to be the president taking 2700 pages of legislative text that passed the senate, making some minor tweaks and bringing that forward as a starting point and that's a shame because americans have been very clear that that's not what they want. they've spoken loud and clearly all through the summer, through the fall, through emails, through how they voted, that's not the place to start. we ought to start with a blank piece of paper and see what it is we can agree on. >> unfortunately for your side, that's not going to happen. the white house has made it pretty clear, congressman. you are one of 19 republicans who are going to sit down across the table from the president and his team tomorrow at blair house. what expertise do you bring? what are you going to be able to -- how will you counter the president's argument? >> i think we collectively have put together a pretty good team on the republican side. the house and senate, some of us have expertise in some areas. i'm the senior republican on the educational labor committee so employer provided health insurance is something that i've looked a lot at. but the point is we're going to bring in good market-based solutions. we've got some ideas that we think we ought to put forward obtainon the table and have a discussion, see if we can't move forward some incremental steps lowering the cost of health care and allowing more americans to be insured, allowing people to buy insurance across state lines and things like that. >> i know the schools are good in minnesota. i hope you did well in math. you might want to bring your calculator tomorrow. here's what the american public doesn't realize right now, the sweetheart deal that the senator got in nevada, the cornhusker kickback, isn't it true that every state is going to get that as a result and also that little kickback that the unions got with the cadillac plans, isn't it the case now that everyone is going to get that? isn't it the case that this bill is much more expensive than originally thought? >> it is very expensive. and the projections coming out of the congressional budget office don't even account for the full cost of this thing. when you look at how it's phased in with when you start to get benefits and when you start to pay taxes, the cost is going to be enormous. there are budgetary gimmicks in this thing that are very, very troubling. nobody really believes on capitol hill that we're going to force doctors to take a 21% pay cut in medicare reimbursement and yet, that's the kind of math that actually no calculator can solve that's in this bill. >> well, we're going to watch it on television. there aren't going to be anymore secrets so for six hours, not including lunch, we'll get a chance to see you and your colleagues and those on the democratic side go at it. >> all right. congressman kline, republican from minnesota. thank you very much. about a half-hour from right now, democratic congressman robert andrews of new jersey will be joining us. he had been scheduled to appear side by side but there was a scheduling problem. he'll be with us shortly. >> all right. in the meantime, let's talk a little bit about whether or not the pledge of allegiance should be a laughing matter. do you think it should be? well, it was suggested at a meeting out in california, i believe, recently and one of the democratic representatives, xavier bachara apparently laughed at the suggestion that they should recite the pledge of allegiance before they started a union meeting. >> yeah, this is a meeting and there he is right there. the reaction, though, when you listen to it is pretty extraordinary. from mainly the union members. listen to just a little snippet of it and you be the judge. >> for congress, can we start this meeting with the pledge of allegiance? no, i'm serious, congressman, shouldn't we say the pledge of allegiance if we all want to be citizens. wouldn't that be appropriate to say the pledge of allegiance? >> sure, of course. >> i'm happy to lead the pledge of allegiance. >> let's go for it. you lead. >> everybody stand. face the american flag. and repeat after me. >> what happened was a woman at the podium after he said go ahead, let's do it. they did it. but the reaction from the union members was kind of like, what are you kidding? do the pledge? we're already -- >> maybe they needed a teleprompter for it because since we don't allow the pledge to be said in many places anymore, maybe people don't know the words anymore. >> he's running for congressman at the 30th district. the person who got up there was a staffer and say let's say this and he was pretty shocked to hear the laughter that came back at him. so we'll find out. that guy, is running against henry waxman. >> are you upset by that or one of those things at the moment, where people are just surprised that someone would say do the pledge before we start. >> right. and the congressman says as soon as i realized that they were asking for the pledge, i said to the woman who was at the podium, let's go ahead and do it and they did it. there was a lot of laughter. >> straight ahead, reconciliation vs. nuclear. what's the difference when talking about health care and why you should care. dick morris is here and you should care about that. >> billions of dollars spent and almost nine years later, ground zero is a giant hole in the ground still. what the heck is going on? victims' families call it an absolute disgrace. >> we're supposed to be done this year. so, doc... so, doctor... i've been thinking... no. you know how... no. so, doc, i've got this friend... [ male announcer ] talking to your doctor about erectile dysfunction isn't easy. actually, doc, there is something i want to talk to you about. [ male announcer ] but it's definitely a conversation worth having. twenty million men have had their viagra talk. when you're ready for yours, visit viagra.com for helpful conversation starters and to learn how viagra can help. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. don't take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain as it mayause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects may include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. and ask your doctor if viagra is right for you. inthis is the cardng. that bought the saw... that cut the lumber... that built the extra space i needed to store more produce... that she sold to me to make my menu more organic. introducing ink from chase. the card that helped make it all happen because it's accepted in twice as many places worldwide as american express. with reward points worth 25% more when redeemed for air travel. make your mark with ink. go to chase.com/ink. chase what matters. >> welcome back. democrats talking of changing senate rules to pass health care reform with just 51 votes instead of 60 with something that is known as reconciliation. >> sometimes nuclear. they say it's not the first time the process has been used through past legislation. listen. >> since 1981, reconciliation has been used 21 times. the vast majority of those reconciliation efforts have been by republicans. so we have -- nothing's off the table. we'll be happy to take a look at that but realistically, they should stop crying about reconciliation as if it's never been done before. >> well, is that the truth? dick morris here to explain. hey, both parties do it. why are the republicans crying, dick? >> well, first, let's understand what reconciliation is. there are two budget committees in the house and the senate and they set budgetary bills and overall spending limits. then the appropriations committees go to work item by item by item and appropriate money. and most of the time, the appropriations are longer and more expensive than the original budget amounts so you have to reconcile the two of them and the negotiation ensues and a compromised budget bill comes out and that, then, is passed with 51 votes in a procedure called reconciliation. the reason they don't allow a filibuster is it's the budget. if not passed on time, the government closes down. so the filibuster becomes almost a lethal tool. to use that tool to pass substantive legislation, particularly in a bold new area, is really obscene. senator patrick moynihan said once and it's quoted now in scott rasmussen's new book on self-governance, he said never pass a major bill without significant bipartisan support. it leads to huge problems. >> in fact, last year, senator bird who is kind of behind reconciliation, he said -- >> he invented. it >> he said under no circumstances should it be used to pass health care. ultimately, dick, let's talk about what we're talking about here and that is after this theatrical event tomorrow at blair house, will the president be able to pass health care? >> well, in the senate, yes. easily. he got 60 votes last time. he has 59 on hand now. there are a number of moderates who have postured that now they're voting against it, the only reason is their votes aren't needed now and they were needed then. but he'll get the 51. the house is another story. he has 30 to 40 vulnerable democrats who come from districts where they could be defeated who voted for health care last time. and have taken unending hell from their districts for doing that. they've really been hurt and they really worried about their chances of re-election. on dickmorris.com, my web site i have a list of those congressman by state, where they're from and their district and office phone numbers. call them. and also, we need to do a lot of advertising in those districts to scare these guys. we have the good chance of defeating this bill in the house. >> all right. dick morris, doesn't he look -- that new background in west palm beach, it looks like you should have a mai-tai even though it's 7:20 in the morning. >> i love his boats. >> i should really have a bathing suit on. but i wouldn't want to scare you really. >> good idea. dick, always a pleasure. check out his web site dickmorris.com. >> straight ahead, senator harry reid making some different comments. >> men when they're out of work tend to become abusive. >> really? >> did he make a point or miss the boat? a fair and balanced debate next. >> the school superintendent says her teachers were not making the grade so she fired all 74 of them. is that a good idea? we'll be right back. úçzñxñññ [ male announcer ] nature valley sweet & salty nut bars... they're made from whole roasted nuts and dipped in creamy peanut butter, making your craving for a sweet & salty bar irresistible, by nature valley. [ woman ] nine iron, it's almost tee-time. time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze, my eyes water. but with new zyrtec® liquid gels, i get allergy relief at liquid speed. that's the fast, powerful relief of zyrtec®, now in a liquid gel. zyrtec® is the fastest 24-hour allergy medicine. it works on my worst symptoms so i'm ready by the time we get to the first hole. and that's good because the competition's steep today. new zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air.™ with comfort inn or any of these other choice hotels, you can earn a free night. one plus one equals free. no matter how you add it up, it's free. book now at choicehotels.com. >> welcome back. senate majority leader harry reid is in hot water again over a comment he made linking unemployed men with the rise in domestic abuse. >> i have met with some people while i was home dealing with domestic abuse. it has gotten out of hand. why? men don't have jobs. women don't have jobs either but women aren't abusive most of the time. men when they're out of work tend to become abusive. >> so were harry reid's comments irresponsible for truthful? let's ask someone who knows him well, his former senior advisor penny lee and for a fair and balanced debate, radio talk show host james harris. good morning to you. penny, you're in the hot seat. the studies do show actually that domestic violence seems to increase when people are unemployed. but should harry reid be evoking this kind of sentiment on the house floor? >> nothing he said yesterday was untrue as you just said. the sad truth is that it does increase and he had just been to a domestic violence center in nevada and they had explained to him that we do need jobs and as they're facing high unemployment there in nevada so it was forefront on his mind and he spoke from his heart. there we actually need to take this issue on and address it. >> of course, i meant senate floor. james, let me ask you this because even though the studies do show there may be a correlation there. do you believe this was political attempt to get more people involved in his line of thinking? >> i think at one point, it could be like a diversion, what we have going on here this week is a big obama care summit and we have massive job losses around the country. this is one of the new crisis situations. we need to pass the jobs bill in order to stop the domestic abuse that's going on in the country. and i think that what we really should be talking about is how job -- the loss of jobs have caused insurance to raise their hikes in places like california, michigan, maine and kansas but instead of talking about real impact like that, not to, you know, belittle domestic violence but that's not the key thing that's plaguing america right now. >> one of the things that crossed a lot of people's minds, i think, is suddenly now we're focused on jobs. where was harry reid, penny in the last year when he was talking abotal talking about health care? auto he's talking about jobs all the way through. you need health care. as rising costs occur, people aren't hiring as much. the diversion is away from the senate bill which was harry reid's shining moment yesterday when he was able to get five republicans to join with him finally to be able to get this country back on the track for creating jobs. so i think that was the diversion. all of this is just, you know, a lot more talk than not. >> all right. you're being very civil here. >> yeah, right. >> that was sort of -- >> so james, respond. >> listen. this is all about jobs. we have this massive job loss and people are -- we have domestic violence problems in nevada. what we need to do is lay this right at the feet of obama who over the last year twice slammed nevada, slammed las vegas so we can say the domestic violence, we could say this is partly obama's fault for causing so much job loss for nevada. >> i don't think we blame the president of the united states for a rise in nevada. this is a symptomatic, unfortunately, of the loss of jobs. the president was focused and we saw this is the first step of what we hope are many more steps of getting the country back and getting the economy straight. >> thank you very much for the debate. we'll see what harry reid says tomorrow. coming up on the show, sweeping credit card laws in effect and so many of you have tons of questions. i know i do. dave ramsey up next with a bunch of the answers. all 74 high school teachers in one district are being fired? the superintendent say they weren't making the grade and espn host is in hot water after these comments about fellow espn host hannah storm. listen to this. >> she's got on her typically very, very tight shirt. so she looks like she's got sausage casings wrapped around her upper body. >> maybe he doesn't like women doing sports. what the network is now going to do with him coming up. ♪ let's take a look at the stats. mini has more than double the fiber and whole grain... making him a great contender in this bout... against mid-morning hunger. honey nut cheerios is coming in a little short. you've got more whole grain in your little finger! let's get ready for breakfaaaaaaaaaast! ( ding, cheering, ringing ) keeping you full and focused with more than double the fiber and whole grain... in every tasty bite -- frrrrrrosted mini-wheeeeats! didn't know i had it in me. i had a great time. me too. you know, i just got out of a bad relatio... it's okay. thanks. goodnight. goodnight. (door crashes in, alarm sounds) get out! (phone rings) hello? this is rick with broadview security. is everything all right? no, my ex-boyfriend just kicked in the front door. i'm sending help right now. thank you. (announcer) brink's home security is now broadview security. call now to install the standard system for just $99. the proven technology of a broadview security system delivers rapid response from highly-trained professionals, 24 hours a day. call now to get the $99 installation, plus a second keypad installed free. and, you could save up to 20% on your homeowner's insurance. call now-- and get the system installed for just $99. broadview security for your home or business - the next generation of brink's home security. call now. this is onstar reporting a stolen blue chevy tahoe, south on i-75, near exit 5. we're on it. onstar, we may have that tahoe. ok, i'll flash the lights. we got it. it's in the cler. i'm sending a signal to cut the power. we got him. mr. ross, the police have recovered your tahoe. >> glad you're back. 28 minutes before the top of the hour. let's talk cars. toyota's c.e.o., akio toyota, spelled differently but sounds the same expected to get grilled by lawmakers on capitol hill. that's going to happen today. and he's going on have an interpreter. it's going to be day two of the congressional hearings. employees of toyota also speaking out. adam shapiro also live at the company's largest plant in north america in georgetown, kentucky. adam, what do the employees want america to know now about the cars? >> the people here who work at this facility and throughout toyota in the united states want people to know that they take a great deal of pride in the product that they're producing. right here, as we take a look, this is where they produce the toyota camry, the camry hybrid and the toyota avalon and as you see what's going on around me, engine assembly over there. you got up here are the -- got parts for the camries and the avalons. the doors are going around. we're kind of restricted of what i can show you because of safety. i'm going to bring my photographer dutch over. i want to show the folks, this is where the camrys are going around. you see it going up there? there's 6900 men and women who work at this facility. been here since 1988, broke ground in 1986, the largest facility for toyota in north america and they are watching these hearings and they don't think their message is getting out, that toyota is fixing this problem, that they take a great deal of pride in the products that they produce and that is shown right here at this facility. it has won more awards for top quality from j.d. powers & associates than any other automotive plant in the united states. you know in a good year, they produce 500,000 cars at this facility. so they're watching these hearings like the rest of the country. they are concerned that there may be an issue but they believe toyota is on top of it and will take the necessary actions to correct it and again, as we come back here, dutch, watch for that fella there, they want everybody to know that they think their jobs seriously and they have incredible pride on the cars that roll off the line. >> no one doubts people working hard here. people would feel better if they knew what was causing the cars to do this. yesterday what came out of this is no one can say for sure. the floor mat, something electronic. we're still knocking this arnold. -- around. >> that's right. you also heard mr. lentz, the c.o.o. for toyota u.s.a. sales, he was talking about the fact that they have hired the engineer firms, they've created the safety strike force so when they hear of these incidents they can get to it as fast as possible the scene of these situations and get to the bottom of what's actually happening with these vehicles. one thing to keep in mind, too, is years ago, the audi 5,000 acceleration issue. if you do a google search on audi 5000 and many people remember that as cultural history, they never found one mechanical problem with those cars. yet we all tend to believe that the audi 5000 had an acceleration issue. the people here at toyota agree, they have to find out what's going on here. that's the bottom line, they believe toyota on top of it. >> shouldn't you have a hard hat on? you're in a factory. >> no, i have a very hard head to begin with. >> join the club. >> it's natural safety. >> all right. adam shapiro out there in kentucky. good report. >> 25 minutes before the top of the hour. >> all 74 teachers at central falls high school in rhode island are being fired. the decision coming down last night. >> this is wrong. i've been here for 15 years. we have a dedicated staff. it was never about money. it was always about the right for us to have some input. >> but the superintendent, francis gallow says firing all the teachers was necessary. >> hearing from students who leave this building and come to my office and saying, dr. gallow, mr. so and so said you're not going to amount to anything. go get a g.e.d. and he put me out of school, that's unacceptable. >> the teachers were fired because the school has a failing record. less than half of the students graduate within four years and the teachers union rejected gallo's plan to turn things around. watch for this story to be a marker for what's going to be coming across all school districts in the u.s. >> meanwhile, the congressional budget office says the economic stimulus package added between one and two million jobs to help grow the economy by 1 1/2% to 3 3%. that's the range they have right there. the wide range means there will be some debate about the effectiveness of the stimulus. the white house suggests that all the numbers are in the upper range which makes them look better. brian? >> it's been a long 13 years but michael jackson fans can now celebrate. yes, he is back at disneyland. ok, just a second. i'm still tingling. after jackson's death, fans urged disney to bring back the 3-d attraction that stars the king of pop. >> i mean, every morning i'm calling and asking them, finding out when the day is. >> we left at 9:30 at night and drove straight. stopped one time for gas and got here really fast, 3:00 in the morning. ate carl jr. in the car and came and camped out. >> she ayes a monkey on her back. the visual effects have been enhanced. >> it's a very good film. >> keifer sutherland will once again be taking down bad guys instead of christmas trees. check this out. you got to keep showing it even though it's years old. >> is that live? >> no. >> he might do it again sometime in the future. guess what? here's what he's doing now after doctors gave him the all clear to return to work. he's coming back at jack bauer. he underwent surgery after a cyst ruptured near his kidney and filming of "24" was put on hold while he recovered. >> this is one of the best seasons in a long time. good season. "24." >> at the end he tackles a tree. >> all right. how did the u.s. tackle the olympics? >> funny, good transition, steve and it was not on the prompter. c c congratulations to you. gold medal will be handed out tonight in one of the most popular events in the olympics. women's figure skating. yesterday was the preliminaries and the women are tonight, right? no, it's tonight and then they look to the men. then they let the men. it's hard to keep track. >> the men already went! >> south korean skater leads as going into the finals and posted the highest scores ever for the short skating program. the canadian was the one -- stop hitting me, gretchen, who stole the show after nearly a flawless performance, quite emotional, her mom just passed away. on the slopes, tough day for bode miller much the american skating star was disqualified after hitting a gate. he hit it hard, eventually skiing off the course. the skier from switzerland won in that event. they lost in hockey. the u.s. leads with 26 and germany is closing the gap rapidly. they've got 23 and then there comes norway with 17. russians coming back a bit. >> the russians are coming. >> the russians are coming. that's true, steve. but not an invasion. russia are coming up hard in the winter olympics, 13 and canada is still at home and they're at 11. popular espn host tony kornheiser has been is you spended from his show, "pardon the interruption" for two weeks. the reason? he made these comments about hannah storm's outfit, the one you see here. he watched it and commented on his radio show. >> i'd like to point out, hannah storm in a horrifying, horrifying outfit today. she's got on red go-go boots and the catholic school plaid skirt, way too short for somebody in her 40's or maybe early 50's by now. and she's got on her typically very, very tight shirt so she looks like she's got sausage casings wrapped around her upper body. >> what was the point of that? the network called the comments hurtful. he immediately apologized but it was not good enough. hannah storm was light hearted about it. accepted the apology. clearly was over the line. in my humble opinion. 9:00 to noon today on brian & the judge, amongst our guests we hope you're listening, republican congressman don chaddick and doug shoen who is helping them decide if they'll take on senator hildebrand in new york. >> new credit card rules are in effect. it could have a big impact on your money. dave ramsey, the head of the dave ramsey show on fox business joins us live from nashville. good morning to you. >> good morning, ladies and gentlemen. >> let's start first up, barbara deep in the heart of texas writes, with a new credit card laws, if i close down five paid off cards, can those companies raise my interest rates? i've been reluctant to close down cards too fast knowing it would lower my fico score and raise my rates. is barbara right, mr. ramsey? >> certainly, it will lower her fico score but she's wrong about raising the rates. the new law says existing balances that the credit card company has to stick to the deal they made. they can only raise rates on balances going forward, new charges and they have to give you 45 days notice to do that. so gosh, credit card companies actually have to stick to a deal they made. how shocking. >> wow. >> let's check in with tracy in illinois. here's what she says. my husband had a credit card balance of $6,000. we found out $151 of our $235 payment went towards finance charges. i sought help to get the rate lowered. recently a credit counseling organization told us that the creditor requested an increase in the monthly payment that we agreed upon. short of finding another way to pay off the balance, is there a better way to close this deal? i guess this is the whole effect of credit cards, right? that once you get into that debt, you end up just paying off the interest before you even get to the principal, right? >> that's funny when you're going out to eat, you don't think about that much of your $235 is going to go to interest on your steak! but yeah, that's the problem. you're stuck in this thing. so you're doing the best you can do. just get very, very aggressive and get it paid off. these new laws are a lot of fun. one of the things they're doing is really cramping the credit card company's style on campus. you know, they've been going on college campuses for years and really taking advantage of those kids and they can't distribute to kids under 21 anymore a credit card unless they can prove they have a job! wow! or if mom or dad are dumb enough to co-sign for them, that's the only way they'll get a card. it's fun to watch the new laws go into effect. >> they're called for because it's kind of been the wild west for a while when it comes to that stuff. thank you very much for joining us live from nashville. have a terrific day on your radio and tv shows. >> you guys, too. thanks for having me. >> thanks. meanwhile, straight ahead, ground zero is supposed to be completely rebuilt this year. it's not close. still a big hole in the ground. it's an embarrassment. up next, two people who call it an absolute disgrace. then -- >> spoke to a republican congressman, john kline about the health care summit. ahead, we hear from a democratic congressman who also is on the invite list. >> meanwhile, you're invited to participate in the trivia question of the day. decisions, decisions. which beneful prepared meal tonight? roasted chicken recipe? - savory rice and lamb stew. - [ barks ] you're right. tonight is a beef stew kind of night. [ announcer ] beneful prepared meals. another healthful, flavorful beneful. this is not pay the hospital insurance. this is not pay the doctor insurance. this is not major medical insurance. this is affordable-we-pay-cash -directly-to-you- fast-when-you're-sick -or-hurt-insurance. if all you know about us is... aflac! ...then you don't know quack. to find out all the ways aflac's got you covered, visit knowquack.com ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] all we ask is that you keep doing what you've always done. ♪ the lexus rx. never has a vehicle been designed to feel so natural. ♪ see your lexus dealer. >> news by the numbers. first let's start with 3 1/2 million dollars. that's how much the city of los angeles spent trying to fire seven teachers for poor performance. they were only able to fire four. next, $3.7 billion. that's how much the senate for responsive politics says will be spent on this year's midterm elections. that's up 30% from 2006. and $4 million. that's the value of the diamond this man is trying to steal from the new york diamond business. it was all staged to cash in on insurance. well, this is real. and steve will start it. >> i think that building is just around the corner. meanwhile, the white house summit on health care is tomorrow at blair house. an effort by the president to reach a bipartisan deal on an overhaul bill. democratic congressman robert andrews of new jersey is attending the summit and joins us live from capitol hill. good morning to you, congressman. >> good morning. >> good morning, steve, how are you doing today? >> doing ok. we know a lot of congressmen and senators wanted to be invited so they could be in the room. why did you get invited? >> well, i'm the chairman of one of the subcommittees of the house that deals with this issue so i'm really very honored to be invited and i'm going to do my best to help reach a good conclusion. >> you know, congressman, after scott brown's stunning win up in the commonwealth of massachusetts, the conventional wisdom would be, you know, he made a point there that maybe congress should be working on jobs and not talking about health care right now and yet, you're talking about health care. >> well, i think fixing the health care problem is a part of creating jobs and fixing the economy in the long run but the other point, scott brown's win made is that our party needs to start listening to everybody. republicans, democrats, and independents and that's what tomorrow is about. so i think that his victory served a very constructive purpose there. >> congressman, we understand that the -- part of the republican game plan is they're going to be talking about different ways to go ahead and accomplish much of the same goals. but one of the big things they say that the democrats are doing is they are going to raise taxes and they're going to be slashing medicaid and medicare. how do you respond to that? those are two things that people care a lot about. >> yeah. neither of them is true. what we're doing with medicare and medicaid is not cutting anybody's benefits. what we are cutting is some of the waste and abuse over the years that's overpaid people for procedures that weren't necessary or equipment suppliers for things that weren't necessary so i think that's part of the waste in medicare and medicaid both parties have been talking about for a very long time. as far as taxes are concerned, yes. there are higher taxes on the top 5% or so of people in the country, that would be couples making more than a quarter of a million dollars a year were the president ran on that. there really is no secret about that. and i know there's a disagreement. but that's what negotiations are about. >> sure. >> ultimately, though, it comes down to whatever happens tomorrow and a lot of people say it's just theatrical, just an infomercial is i think john banor described it yesterday. ultimately what happens is going forward, will it be able to pass? some have suggested they might be able to pass it in the senate. what about in the house? because right now we understand nancy pelosi does not have enough of you guys lined up to say yes. >> first of all, if john banor wants it to be an infomercial, it will be. i hope what he will do is come to the meeting and ready to negotiate and get something done the way john did on no child left behind a number of years ago. i hope he does. if he does, i think we'll get something done. look, the people who are watching this show, i think, whether they're liberal, conservative, republican, democrat, would pretty much agree that the exploding cost of health care is hurting their family and their business and the country and we need to do something about it. >> all right. congressman, something we're all worried about. congressman robert andrews, thank you very much for joining us live. >> always a pleasure. thank you. >> yes, sir. straight ahead, we live in the most powerful country in the world but it takes us 10 years to build a building? why is there still a big hole at ground zero and who is to blame? both a 9/11 worker and a widow of a worker react next. >> answer to trivia question, edward james olmos, the winner from new jersey. congratulations. now to the topic at hand. they were on the front lines of rebuilding efforts after 9/11. many lost their lives. others risked their health to restore that sacred site. nearly nine years after the attacks, little to show for it. not a single project has been completed at the world trade center site and this is the year we're supposed to be done. john feel helped clean up ground zero and was severely injured on the job. a widow of the 9/11 worker that developed cancer working at the site. you two in particular must be outraged. first off, greta, to you. it's not done. it's still basically a hole. what does that do to you? >> well, my husband, robert, worked 12 years for the police department and he -- i feel outraged because he worked every day and even when he got sick with cancer, he still wanted to go back and work. and i feel that there's a hole in my heart. i look at that space and it's just not complete. and it just makes me very angry. >> he just passed away and the pain must be incredible. >> it is. >> rare form of cancer and still looking at linkages there. remember how fast they had to clean it up, john? they had to get it out. they had to quickly get rid of it. >> sure. well, look, i was there for 5 1/2 days before 8,000 pounds of steel crushed my left foot and i would have been there for the whole 10 months because my company was there. but it's an insult and it's an outrage to everybody who worked diligently to clean up new york and do it as fast as we possibly could. every 12 hour shift, we were pushing 250 trucks so the fact that there's still a gaping hole in lower manhattan is an insult to everybody that works so hard. >> larry silverstein owns it, the port authority runs it. they've been through four executive directors. they're supposed have a performance arts center done now. they're supposed to have five buildings. not one is done right now. they're supposed to have a memorial. it's not going to be permanent, just for the ceremony on 9/11. and what do you think your husband would say? did he see -- he saw these problems. >> yes, he did. but i'll tell you, i said to john in the car on the way in this morning, i said my 7-year-old son garrett could have built this faster with his legos. it's just -- >> empire state building took a year during the depression. yeah, the recession hasn't helped. it's not easy to get financing. but it's personalities. it's pride. it is money. so whether larry silverstein doesn't like the memorial aspect of it, bottom line is there's no urgency to get this done. when you talk to officials, what do they say? >> well, i think everybody has been a little late getting on this but the mayor finally coming out and saying something the other day on the radio, mr. mayor, where you been the last few years on this? you can build yankee stadium, shea stadium and new football stadium for the giants and jets in less than a couple of years, you're going to tell me you can't put up a couple of buildings in lower manhattan? >> right. what do you want to happen from here? because we know chris ward has taken over and many people think he's the best yet. he's the executive director of the port authority. but right now, larry silverstein is not talking to the port authority. the lawyers are talking to each other. what's the message to these guys? >> they need to talk and get it done. just get it done. these men and women worked -- they paid with their lives. they need to get it done. they paid with their lives. have respect for what happened there and finish it. >> finish it and also -- >> i will help! >> everyone will help. >> i would do anything i could to help. >> the same attitude that cleaned up that site in record pace and put everything back together in new york and the same attitude that brought the businesses back to that region is the same attitude we need to put the five towers together and the egos aside. >> i think the port authority and mr. silverstein have to show the same resolve that 9/11 responders did 8 1/2 years ago. and they need to do what's best for the city of new york and not what's best for their bank accounts. >> you should unite because people listen to those who suffered and lost and sacrificed. and that will move things along. put the egos aside. it's an embarrassment and we think about it all the time especially because we see it every day. thanks so much, john and greta for coming down and sharing your story and the sacrifice you made with your husband's life which pains you every day and with your foot that is half of which is missing. >> thanks. >> thank you, sir. >> straight ahead, we haven't even had the midterm elections but the white house is already laying the groundwork for 2012. do they have bigger fish to fry right now? that school district accused of spying on students using their school issued laptops had a big meeting last night. now the parents are even angrier. [ female announcer ] crunch time, wheat thins. you and your tasty whole grain. this can only end one way. [ crunch ] wheat thins. toasted. whole grain. crunch. the crunch is calling. ♪ [ male announcer ] we make them beautiful. ♪ we make them tougher. ♪ we make them legendary. we make them better... to make your life better. and we've never made one... quite like this. the 100% electric nissan leaf. ♪ good morning, everyone. february 24th, 2010. hope you're having a great wednesday so far. thanks for sharing your time with us. in a couple of hours toyota's ceo will be sworn in on capitol hill to answer tough questions about his company's huge recall. he's expected to offer an apology but will he offer solutions. meanwhile, the senate majority leader not really leading the way to bi-partisanship. listen to what he told republicans to do immediately. >> realistically, they should stop crying about re reconcilian as it' if it's never been done before. >> stop crying about it. what can republicans expect to get out of the summit if they're going into it like that. >> first i'll hand gretchen back her pan. he's a self-avowed communist. one group is honoring him as an american treasure? ben jones as an american treasure? seriously. bringing us the news, passionate and funny, steve, gretchen, and brian. they're all -- this is true. they all deserve more money. >> hi. this is dolly parton. you're watching "fox & friends". >> i thought he was going to say he or she a good dose of honey this morning. >> that would have been a rhyme. i prefer money to honey. >> pass it over, whatever the rhyme s let's talk about toyota today. the ceo of toyota is testifying before congress. he said he takes full responsibility for the company's crisis in a prepared statement. he admits toyota's priorities of safety and quality took a back seat while the company grew, becoming the world's biggest car maker. yesterday toy oat's american president, jim lentz, talked about what he believes caused all the problems. >> i think we grew too quickly. as a result of that, we stretched our resources too thin, so i think that's the big issue we had. now we have to go back and regroup from top to bottom. take a look at all of our quality and our safety efforts and make sure that we have the right processes in place based on the scale which we have today in the business. so but i'm very confident we're going to get that done. >> he repeatedly apologized for the safety defects that led to recalls of some 8.5 million toyota cars and trucks and deaths on the road. the senate could pass a much modified jobs bill today. it gives a tax break to companies that hire unemployed people, but economists aren't very excited, saying it will produce only modest results. the bill only exempts employers from social scurpt taxes for -- security taxes for new hires until december and gives a $1,000 credit if a new hire stays a year. there's also money in it for highway work throughout end of the year. former vice-president dick cheney should be home in a day or two and his office said he's feeling much better. he's in d.c.'s jor c.'s george washington university hospital after suffering a mild heart attack. it was his fifth heart attack. the 69-year-old underwent a stress test and had a heart attack installed. lynn cheney visited the hospital last night. they had lunch earlier in the day before dick cheney began to feel badly. that was a couple days ago. it was a scene reminiscent of the columbine high school shooting nearly 11 years later. a man walked into dea deer creek middle school and shot two students. those students are alive, one in critical condition. the suspect is 32-year-old bruco eastwood. he's now behind bars. a heroic teacher saved the day by tackling the gun man. >> i had always told my students since columbine that if anything happened in a school that i would hope that i would be able, you know, to do something. i would just hope that i would have the courage. >> police are not saying how eastwood is connected to the school or the students. a judge in haiti says the two remaining jailed american missionaries will likely be freed this week. there are no criminal charges to pursue against them. they were part of the group from idaho that tried to take kids from a haitian orphanage. they were arrested at the border because they did not have the right paperwork. and those are your headlines this morning. >> all right. it would be about 24, 25, 26 hours from right now. there's going to be this event staged at blair house where the republicans and the democrats come in and they try to work on health care. it's being convened by the president of the united states. yesterday john boehner, one of the leaders on the minority side, said we shouldn't let the white house have a six-hour taxpayer funded infomercial on obama care. we need to show up. we need to crash the party. he said that. right. talking about crashing the party. i think they do have a strategy, do the republicans. part of the strategy is to emphasize private sector opportunities to talk about what they don't like about what's in the current bill and what they want. they want to have positive proposals. they want to be able to move it forward in a conversation and see if the president is going to be open to it. now, on top of that, they also will bring amongst the vips that they're bringing in, tom coalbrunn, a congressman and doctor, and john mccain. those are two people on the republican side along with mitch mcconnell who have been critical of the process. senator john mccain said since when have we had a massive piece of legislation where only one party has anything t to say? that might be the case when only one party is behind the passage of this bill. there's something called the nuclear option, the reconciliation option, which would pass the bill in pieces but would need just 51 votes in the senate. that has happened before. senator harry read sai reid sayt happens again, stop crying. >> since 1981, reconciliation has been used 21 times. the vast majority of those reconciliation efforts have been by republicans, so we have -- nothing's off the table. we'll be happy to take a look at that, but realistically, they should stop crying about reconciliation as if it's never been done before. >> the difference here is that the american public appears to be against the health care bill in its current form, so the american public may be telling their representatives or two a thing about crying if this thing goes through. coming up on the show we'll have tim kaine to weigh in on his thoughts regarding the health care reform. >> somebody who was against the democrats doing the reconciliation thing is senator byrd from west virginia. he invented reconciliation. he said last year whatever we do, we cannot use it on the cap and trade thing, and we cannot use it on health care, and yet they seem to be pushing it down the road toward that nuclear option. >> this is all about the 2010 election and how health care's digested or not digested will affect which party possibly controls the senate and the house. some are looking past 2010 and into 20 tefl 12, and that someoe might be the president of the united states. it seems as though he's making maneuvers in forming the 2012 reelect president obama coalition. >> a lot of people feel he hasn't stopped campaigning. >> now they're saying they're doing it, and they've picked the person, the dument chief of staff. they'll do it like george bush did it, outside of washington but instead of choosing austin, texas like president bush did, he'll do it in chicago. >> it's not like they're announcing it. it's not like it's public knowledge that we're starting the campaign for 2012 in 2010. this is an exclusive report that's coming out that behind the scenes, this may be what's going on. remember when they hired david plough when obama was running his original campaign? people said they're hiring him again because they're thinking about 2012? hm. that's exactly what they're apparently doing. >> hold the phone. they're already talking about 2012 and reelection? i thought the president said recently he would be satisfied with just one term. remember this? >> the one thing i'm clear about is that i'd rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president, and i believe that. >> well, he'll get reuped if he's a good one-term president. >> it's interesting because apparently axelrod may go back to chicago and work on the message and advertising and stuff like that which he has done for years. it sounds like valerie jarrett, one of his closest advisors and robert gibbs will stay at the white house. >> anita dunn will be brought back to help out. >> she's not done. >> right. possibly not. two ns. 11 minutes after the hour. have you heard of the recession, the national debt, the record national debt? it's not stopping us from spending one billion dollars for a shiny new embassy. /a good idea? it even has a moat. >> it was the e elephant in the room, the school district accused of spying on its students. they refused to talk about the issue at last night's meeting. that's why all the parents are there. they are fuming. we'll talk to one of them straight ahead live on "fox & friends". ♪ we're just dancing in the dark (announcer) the sinus triple threat. (announcer) not just sin headache... ahhhh! but pressure... and congesti. introducing sudafed pe® triple action™. for morcomplete relief from the sinus triple threat. sudafed pe® triple action™. more complete relief. i have a question about these clams. the taste is amazing. clam transfer. clams. are theseeally fresh-caught clams in your new england clam chowder? we take what the ocean offers, be it clams, camaraderie or heartache. wait, what? i hink that was a yes. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. what are you really buying? a shiny coat of paint? a list of features? what about the strength of the steel? the integrity of its design... or how it responds... in extreme situations? the deeper you look, the more you see the real differences. and the more you understand what it means to own a mercedes-benz. the c-class. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for special offers through mercedes-benz financial. ♪ welcome back. earlier this morning we spoke to former florida senator medical martinez who revealed that the obama administration offered him a deal in exchange for stimulus support. >> we were looking to work together on a bill that would have created a better, more stim laive spending in year one, but that is really not what the white house was after or the administration or the majority, and they basically were looking to just pick off a few republicans by sweetening the pot with the usual way that business is done in washington. >> that was a bit after surprise, so were sweetheart deals used to gain republican support, especially when it came to health care? let's get the democrats perspective on this. former governor tim kaine and chairman of the dnc. governor, what about these deals? clearly america has pushed back on them to the point where nebraska, ben nelson said take it away, i don't want it any more, correct? >> right. yeah. i think the -- you know, the reaction to the deal as it's come forward on health care, you know, people have seen things that they definitely want to improve. for example, senator nelson was very concerned about the health bill's effect on medicaid in nebraska, sought some extra relief for nebraska. i any in the president's new -- i think in the president's new proposal they've taken the idea but instead of limiting it to nebraska, the proposal is to provide me medicaid assistance o all states which is the right way to do it. >> governor kaine, i'm trying to wrap my head around this. all people need help with their health care costs in states. that was flat-out bribe to get him to vote. that was a flat-out bribe to get him to vote yes on health care reform. when he finally heard from his constituents, he decided it was not a good dale. the second part of your answer that all states will get the help? that's what no one is reporting today. instead of one state getting the deal, all states are going to get that deal. who is going to pay for it? >> gretchen, who is going to get the service? who gets medicaid service? it's seniors and it's low income people and it's those with disabilities. the ?oatio notion that it's somd of bribe, no. the service is being provided to american citizens who are taxpayers. >> yeah, but -- >> medicaid is a hiewng and important -- a huge and important priority. it has deep value to american citizens. they want to make sure that their significant medicaid benefits are provided. >> you're getting away from the heart of the mart. the heart of the matter is there was a bribe. >> i completely disagree with your assertion. >> now everyone gets the sam cadillac plan discount that unions would get on their own. >> you can editorialize if you want. medicaid is an important part of the safety net in this country, and medicaid benefits under this bill are going to be provided in a significant way to all states which is what democratic and republican governors are asking for right now. >> let's talk about what's going to be happening in about 24 hours. it's going to be at blair house. it's going to be 19 democrats there, a group of republicans are going to be there, and we're going to tell advis televise it. >> right. >> do you think it's true, governor, there's nothing new the republicans can put together where the president of the united states is going to say the more i think of it, you're right? the on the other side mitch mcconnell has said i'm going to show up, i'm happy to show up, but there's nothing to talk about? what do you expect to be legitimately done? >> let me just address that. there is never -- it's never wrong to sit down and talk and try to find common ground. >> true. >> if everybody goes in and says there's nothing new that will be put on the table today, then you're right. tomorrow probably won't be that meaningful or productive, but if people walk in, willing to put their ideas down, and say look, here are things in the bill i like, here are things i don't like, and here are some things that should be in the bill. if the sides are willing to do that, and if they're willing to listen to one another and that's a big and, if they're willing to listen to one another, it actually could be quite productive. >> dow think the democrats will be in favor o of insurance policies that can cross state lines? >> there's an aspect of the current bill, the proposal that was announced by the president last week, that allows cross state purchases and health insurance exchanges, so that aspect is already in the bill in some degree. if the republicans say okay, that's all right but we could do it better another way, i believe that the parties will be open to that. >> all right. well, we'll find out if they're also interested in tort reform and other things that are on the republican agenda. governor tim kaine, chair of dnc, thanks for being our guest today. >> thank you guys. straight ahead, the student district that allegedly spide on students -- spyd on students using laptops. parents are angry about what happened. >> he stepped down as the gene czar because of his -- the green czar because of his ties to communism. one group is honors van jones as an american treasure. we report; you decide. . unlock an outdoor dreamland for your indoor cat. exciting flavor combinations, plus a touch of garden greens make it irresistible. friskies indoor delights. feed the senses. 23 minutes after the top of the hour, a couple quick headlines for you. take a look at the new u.s. embassy in london. pretty, isn't it in it's one of the greenest buildings in the world, only $1 billion. the 12-story eco friendly embassy includes solar power and that beautiful 98-foot moat that you see there. defense secretary robert gates has announced his plans to lift a decades old ban of women on navy submarines if congress has no objections. the pentagon will begin making changes to the larger subs so men and women could serve together. didn't know they weren't already doing it. >> they need different places to sleep. 24 after the top of the hour. we've been telling you about a school district in pennsylvania accused of using web cams on school-issued laptops to effectively spy on students in their homes. they said they were going to use it in case they couldn't find them or the laptops got lost. a number of angry parents showed up for a school meeting last night to talk about the issue, but the school official refused to talk about it. amy feldman is a parent with kids in the district and she attended the meeting. good morning, amy. >> good morning. i know there are parents down there in the lower marion school district that are really agitated by this because they want to know whether or not the school district spied on their children, but they couldn't talk about it last night. theywhy not? >> according to the superintendent, the reason is because as a matter that's under litigation, they were advised by their attorneys not to, and he also spoke about a gag order which prevented him from speaking about it? we haven't seen the gag order yet, but we understand that the lawyers have said not to talk about it. >> and we know that a lawsuit is already forthcoming. a student and his parents are suing the school district because apparently an assistant principal took the kid aside one day and said look, i saw this picture of you with drugs, and then he and his family realized wait a minute. that wasn't -- those weren't drugs. that was little mike n ike can december, so that's what got this whole legal ball rolling. now the f.b.i. is investigating. i know you're a legal analyst on fox in philly, and you've been talking to some of the parents about this. what are their concerns? >> you know, when the story first broke, people were horrified at the thought that web cams could have been put on their kids' computers and their kids are using them in the privacy of their own bedroom. >> sure. >> who knew when they would be turned and off, whether they catch somebody changing or some other compromising position? people are horrified. now as the information is coming out, i think parents actually are less concerned with that idea, although fathers with daughters in the high schools are very concerned about it. more concerned about the thought that why would you first go into court to sue on this if you have a genuine concern, talk to the administration. this is tax dollars that are going to come from our pockets, you know. we're not big banks that are getting bailouts here. we're the ones who are going to wind up paying the cost of litigation. that's what a lot of parents are concerned about right now. >> right. amy, that's why the place was packed last night i think about 75 parents showed up, and yet they were unable to talk about it because of this court order that apparently has been standing. the mayor made the statement about the meeting. the meeting will not address any items regarding the web cam issue that is in the media. the meeting had been planned months prior to the lawsuit. any questions or comments pertaining to the web cam issue or lawsuit will not be answered. they said that apparently they couldn't talk about it unless the attorneys are there, something like that. why don't they just bring the attorneys out and just tell them what they know right now? as a patient, yo parent, you wa. did the school district turn on your child's laptop in your child's bedroom? >> that's exactly the question the parents want to know. you understand that these are just allegations at this point, and the school district hasn't even filed an answer yet. today the si assistant principal who is accused, who is named in the case will be giving a statement because we really have not heard from any of the officials who now have a very measured response, but we're waiting to hear that. >> right. >> you know, the most interesting part about the case is that the kids are the ones who seem the least concerned about it i think because kids these days just live their life on blogs and in public. it's really the parents who are more outraged than the kids which is sort of an interesting take on the generations here. >> it is an outrages act as alleged. amy feldman, a parent down there in the lower marion school district outside of philly, thanks for joining us live. >> thank you. embattled bush administration attorney john houston said his decision to approve harsh interrogation and techniques saved mr. obama's presidency. what's that about? find out what he's saying straight ahead. a former ambassador speaking at uc irvine is shouted down. not just at one time, not twice, but 11 times. aren't these kids supposed to be a little more tolerant. tucker carlson weighs in on that. and a democratic congressman had some explaining to do after apparently laughing at the suggestion that they should all pledge allegiance to the flag. >> can we start this meeting with the pledge of allegiance? i'm serious. >> we'll tell you about the story about what's so funny straight ahead. ♪ he's everything he need. ♪ everythin he's everything youd . . that built the extra space i needed to store more produce... that she sold to me to make my menu more organic. introducing ink from chase. the card that helped make it all happen because it's accepted in twice as many places worldwide as american express. with reward points worth 25% more when redeemed for air travel. make your mark with ink. go to chase.com/ink. chase what matters. my muscles just ache... ... all over my body... ...it just doesn't go away. it's so baffling. (announcer) does this sound like the pain you've been experiencing? this is fibromyalgia. chronic, widespread pain and tenderness that affects millions. sometimes i need a hug... ...but i know it's gonna hurt... (announcer) there is hope. understanding your pain... ...is the first step to treating it. talk to your doctor and visit fibrocenter.com for answers and support. identity theft, a serious crime that strikes millions of americans. when identity theft strikes you, it can seem... like no one will listen, and no one is there to help. but there is one place you can turn... for real protection and real peace of mind. lifelock. at lifelock, our only business is helping protect your identity. lifelock protects your information and never sells it. that's why lifelock is the leader in identity theft protection. a member called in right away, i could tell that it was going to be a serious... conversation with just the simple tone of her voice. this man had dreams of buying a home. he had found out that there had been two mortgages... taken out in his name. a member called lifelock, um, she was crying very hard. i could barely understand her. he didn't have the time or the money to take care... of this problem and lifelock did it for him. i was able to go ahead and resolve the situation, get her taken care of, and i had her joking... and laughing by the end of the call. it gives me a sense of satisfaction knowing... that as a lifelock member service agent... i can help them to be able to put their fears at rest... and know that they can be protected. lifelock is proactive protection, working to help... stop identity theft before it happens. lifelock's exclusive identity alert system... goes beyond just new credit, giving you much more than just credit monitoring. it's like having a digital fingerprint. if a new application doesn't match you, we send an alert and help fix it for you. the biggest difference is stopping it before it starts. don't wait another minute. call now and immediately start enjoying the confidence, security, and peace of mind only lifelock can offer. call the number on your screen and mention shredder ... to receive this special offer. real people, real protection, real peace of mind. don't wait until it's too late. get your lifelock protection started immediately. call now. all right. thanks for sticking around. half hour ago for wednesday's edition of "fox & friends". a couple of quick headlines for you. toyota's top dog heads to the hot seat on capitol hill today. after yesterday's grilling questions, the automaker gets set for what's sure to be a rough week. joining us live from the white house is caroline shively. you're outside now, caroline. just a couple hours away from this testimony. originally he said he wasn't going to come at all. now he's there. >> reporter: yes. he definitely buckled, and you are absolutely right. the head of toyota will indeed be on the hot seat when that hearing gets underway later today, gretchen, but the government will also be on the hot seat. ray lahood, the transportation secretary is set to testify in front of the first panel. we know from his testimony yesterday that the government will focus on some of the electronics to see if that's to blame for some of the sudden acceleration they've seen in toyotas. yesterday he was being questioned by lawmakers, and he was asked -- lahood was asked, so you had 2600 complaints in your hand about the sudden acceleration. if the only real investigation, the nitty gritty investigation by the government was six years ago. here's the back and forth on that. >> do you think that the 2004 investigation was sufficient? >> i think that under our watch, we are going to get into the weeds and we're going to have a complete review on the electronics, but looking back from here, there was only one review, and that was in 2004. would you say that was sufficient? i know you're planning to do more. >> no. the answer is no. >> reporter: you heard lahood there. he said basically the government should have dug in harder and found out more about this. lahood testifying this morning and you mentioned the head of toyota. he'll say he was sorry. that's from his prepared testimony. i think the most gripping stuff comes from people who have experienced this sudden acceleration firsthand. listen to one woman from tennessee. >> and i was going out to put the car into the upcoming guard rail in order to prevent killing anyone else. i called my husband on the blue tooth phone system. i knew -- i'm sorry. i knew he could not help me, but i wanted to hear his voice one more time. >> reporter: something else to look out for today, one woman who lost four family members in a runaway lexus in san diego last summer. gretchen? >> all right, caroline shively live for us outside the white house, thanks for the update. brian. 25 minutes before the top of the hour. he claims he may have saved barack obama's presidency. john houston, one of the -- john hughes, one of the bush administration lawyers, criticized for using harsh techniques. he said he did it by, quote, winning a fight. here's the quote. to protect his powers as commander-in-chief to wage war and keep americans safe, he complains the administration was on a witch hunt and was obsessed with finding scapegoats but the court stood behind him. new video just in, police clashing with protesters in central athens. protesters are fed up with the country's fiscal crisis. greece is considering salary cuts and pension system reforms to pull the country out of debt. earlier thousands of people took part in a peaceful march which grounded flights and shut schools. gretch? >> check out what recently happened at the university of california irvine when michael orin tried to deliver a speech he was invited to make but was interrupted by members of a muslim student group. >> a person spent much of his life speaking hebrew. after the fourth disruption, the ambassador decided to take a 20-minute break before he returned. earlier on "fox & friends", tucker carlson said free speech is only a one-way street on american campuses. >> when was the last time you saw a speaker shouted down by the right on a college campus? i've never seen it. this is consistent with speech codes, by the way, too. policies on campus that punish people for using the wrong words. it's all part of an agenda that's contrary to the first amendment. >> 11 students there were arrested for disturbin disturbic event. charlie sheen checks himself into rehab. he's reportedly there as a preventive measure. what? it's not saying exactly what he's being treated for preventively. filming of two and a half men now on hold. he makes $800,000 an episode. that's more than i get here. sheen was arrested after allegedly threatening to kill his wife on christmas day. people.com reports that she is in rehab, too. who's in the house? she just switched centers after complaining her privacy was breached. that flies in the face of harry reid's theory that those who are without a job are involved in domestic violence. he has a job. >> sure. >> that really makes you do the math all over again. >> i think domestic violence cuts all ways, men, women, everyone involved. let's talk a bit about van jones. do you remember him? he was the green czar under president obama, officially the white house counsel on environmental quality, and then a couple things started showing up about van jones like his past and some comments that he made regarding republicans and calling them not such a nice them. then that whole truther thing about 9/11. >> you've never seen a couple ce done by a black child. >> the white environmentalists are steering poison. >> aren't you killing [bleep]? hold on a second. wait. >> some cowboy clicks in the police department who have ra frat boy mentality. >> the president of the united states sounded like a crack head trying to lick the crack pipe for a fix. >> okay. so those are some of his most spectacular sound bites that we've strung together in a mon tangle for him. most of those were from before the time he was a green czar. interestingly enough, the naacp is deciding to give this guy one of their famous image awards. in fact, the ceo and president of the naacp, benjamin todd, says the real van jones story is about how a young leader became the father of the green jobs movement. in response to a longstanding job crisis in oakland, california that he initiated, the oakland green jobs corps, this program has become a renowned model for numerous initiatives now up and running across america. in america we ultimately judge people on what they are doing today for tomorrow and not what they did yesterday. i am proud to give him the naacp president's award this friday. >> he's also one of time magazine's 100 most influential people, so a lot of people say where did ja van jones go? i'm sure one day he'll accept the award in person. let's talk about an event that include included a us ambat a union event, and now he's being asked at this hour to apologize for his behavior. his behavior and his reaction to the pledge of allegiance. let's take a look. that reaction or the request to do the pledge of allegiance was from a person representing r.e. david. it was an event for him. he wants to be a congressman from the 30th district. he said i have an idea. lids listen. he said can we do the pledge of allegiance? lids listen to the reaction. >> i'm here with r.e. david for congress. can we start this meeting with the pledge of allegiance? i'm serious. congressman, shouldn't we say the pledge of allegiance if we all want to be citizens? wouldn't that be appropriate to say the pledge of allegiance? okay. let's do that. can everybody stand? i'm happy to lead the pledge of allegiance. >> i think there's more of a reaction from the woman, whoever she is at the podium. we got a lot of e-mails. people who are in the union say it's standard protocol to read and recite the pledge of allegiance before a meeting. i'm not exactly sure why they would be stunned at that request, but having said that, the pledge of allegiance, let's face it, it's kind of leaving our society as more and more people complain about it, so maybe they didn't know the words to the pledge of allegiance and that's why they didn't want to do it. >> or he coul he could have beet off guard because according to the congressman who started to explain what's been going on in that image because it's been on ooh tube. he said the meeting started and we were surprised. as soon as i realized the request, i suggested we do that, and the lady at the podium did just that. nonetheless, the people in the union were yuking it up. republican lawmakers fear democrats will use the controversial nuclear option for reconciliation to pass health care with just 51 votes, but senate majority leader harry reid said the g.o.p. to should t stop belly aching. >> since 1981, reconciliation has been used 21 times. the vast majority of those reconciliation efforts have been by republicans. so we have -- nothing's off the table. we'll be happy to take a look at that, but realistically, they should stop crying about reconciliation as if it's never been done before. >> peter johnson, jr. joins us live. >> good morning. >> not getting started on a bi-partisan foot, are they? >> no. it appears the president needs to work on the democratic party in terms of bi-partisanship first. when you have the majority leader of the senate talk about republicans, quote, crying, and then barney frank of massachusetts really personally and viciously attacking senator mccain, comparing him to a dead comic andy kaufman's imitation of the mieght mighty mouse songt doesn't set the table for a convivial thanksgiving or christmas family reunion, but the president has been very skillful. when he says bi-partisan, bi-partisan is a code word. they've lost the -- the opinion of the american people on health care. when they say bi-partisan, that's a code word. if you're not bi-partisan, then essentially you're not being patriotic. if you're not bi-partisan, then essentially you're unamerican. so what the republicans are saying is mr. president, listen to the will of the american people. listen to what the town halls are saying. listen to what fox news and gallup and rasmussen are saying. we don't want that health care plan. we have a different health care plan, so i will be in washington tomorrow as part of the fox news team. >> excellent. >> analyzing the summit, and so i look forward to reporting on that here, and throughout the day. >> peter, isn't what people are sick of the fact that it took scott brown getting elected to o even have this bi-partisan meeting? why the heck did we not have this bi-partisan meeting when the whole health care thing started? why? because the democrats were in control, not saying the republicans wouldn't have done the same thing, but the democrats were in control. >> people are sick of it, and it's been 13 months. a lot of people are saying to me why for the first time three days ago do we get a kind of palletrpaltry little plan on the president's website? what took 13 months? >> al all right. peter johnson heading to washington for the health care summit. see you there tomorrow. >> absolutely. >> good job. 15 minutes before the top of the hour. they own a private stretch on a sandy beach in california, but the state says they have to tear down their own little oasis they built on that beach. hear from the couple battling that in court. it's not fun. it's not pretty. it's my dry skin, and it's deep down uncomfortable. [ female announcer ] new neutrogena moisture wrap body lotion goes deep to heal dry skin at the source. the breakthrough formula wraps and seals more hydration deep inside skin, so after 12 hours, skin's condition is improved 2x more than eucerin original. now i can heal on a deeper level. beautiful. [ female announcer ] new moisture wrap body lotion. neutrogena skin care. #1 dermatologist recommended. well, the tiguan's great. mm. and the routan has everything we're looking for. plus, every volkswagen cludes no-charge, scheduled, ca-free maintenance. so, what's this punchdub days about? you know, where you punch someone in the arm every time u see a volkswagen. red one! [ baby crying ] test drive? [ male announcer ] with great deals on all 13 models, it's a whole new volkswagen. and a whole new game. ♪ welcome back, everyone. a retired california couple's fight over a picnic area on their own property has exploded into an intense legal battle. pitting the rights of private property owners against the public's access to the beach, and dare i say beauty on the beach. the city of newport beach wants the couple's beach front picnic spot torn down, their little oasis. george and charlie are live with us from los angeles. first off, how long have you owned the house? >> 34 years. >> 34 years. in 2001 what were you informed about what you built on that beach? >> we were informed by the coastal commission that everything that we have on our property has to go. >> okay. sorry. go ahead. >> go ahead. >> and so then they -- they told us we had to take everything off or they would fine us $6,000 per day. >> so charlie, you're not one to rip apart your oasis on the beach. the new port beach is arguably the nicest place in america to live and the scenery unbelievable, unrivaled, perhaps. what did you do? >> well, we agonized with it for a long time. we tried talking or sending letters to them and telling them that there was nothing that we felt -- there was nothing that we felt needed to be taken off because we're not oppressing anything else. we're not trespassing on public property. >> right. >> we're not keeping people from using the beach. it's strictly our back yard. >> so this 9-year fight was actually heard and completed on thursday in front of a three-judge panel. they will ultimately decide whether you can keep what you own on a place that you bought. >> yes, and i think when they were hearing this in the appellate course, the stress or the emphasis for the judge seemed to be on the aesthetics. we've never, ever had a complaint. no one has ever written a letter or complained about what we have there, and it is not aesthetically unpleasant for us or for anyone else that we've ever talked to, but all of a sudden the coastal commission is taking that position. >> and george hughes with the california commission says the commission's decision requires them to leave the sandy beach in its natural condition. the earlier permit precluded development sea ward of their deck with the exception of a stairway leading from their home down to the sandy beach. they needed a permit before they built the structure. good luck in your fight. we want to know how this turns out. i know this has not been cheap for you as you went through lawyer after lawyer. congratulations on sticking to it and do what you think is right. thanks. >> thank you. >> straight ahead as we wrap up the show, want to know how to cook for a cowboy? we'll have a delicious recipe for sin mal cinnamon rolls. cowboys always love cinnamon rolls. if you want to be incredible, eat incredible. announcer: eggs. incredible energy for body and mind. (guitar music) i have a question about these clams. the taste is amazing. clam transfer. clams. are theseeally fresh-caught clams in your new england clam chowder? we take what the ocean offers, be it clams, camaraderie or heartache. wait, what? i hink that was a yes. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. the smell of warm maple syrup. you know the smell after it rains. that's it. announcer: whatever scents fill your household, tidy cats scoop neutralizes the odors of multiple cats. tidy cats scoop. keep home smelling like home. good morning, everybody. meet the democrat lawmakers who say health care reform sun acceptable. his word. we'll hear about what needs to be changed at the top of the hour. the pledge of allegiance was laftd at, or was it? we have the video tape and we'll give the member of congress a chance to defend himself today. on we'l we'll see you in 6 s on america's newsroom. ♪[music] this is a self-proclaimed city girl but got sidetracked when she fell in love with a cow stcowboy in oklahoma. she eventually began blogging about her country life. now she's sharing her cowboy tested recipes in the new book the pioneer woman cooks, recipes from an accidental country girl. good morning to you. >> hi, gretchen. >> we sort of summed up your life. you end up way out in the middle of nowhere, and you start this blog a couple of years ago, and it just took off. what is it about your pioneer cooking that people love? >> well, i was sort of a food snob and enjoyed all the big city foods i had in l.a., and then i married a cowboy who wore wranglers and ate steak and potatoes at every meal. the food i learned to cook was hearty and not necessarily low calorie. >> you said butter makes everything better. >> the recipes in my cook book are simple. everybody can find the ingredients. >> look at these fabulous pictures of your children out on the ranch. let's do some si cinnamon rolls. one of the things you don't like about regular cinnamon rolls, not enough goo. >> there's too much bread, and there's just a little bit of cinnamon and sugar, so i sort of blow that out of the water with this recipe. the dough is very simple. you just make it on the stove top. you cannot mess it up. if you're uncomfortable with yeast, do not be afraid. >> here comes the butter. >> this is the secret. my rule of thumb for how much butter, don't call the police, is once i think there's enough, then i go ahead and drizzle on some more. that's sort of my rule of thumb. >> all right. >> i like the rule. then you just use your fingers. >> then you get your fingers dirty, get totally gooey, and then comes the sugar and the same rule of thumb. if a little sugar is good, then more sugar is better. that's my motto when i cook. >> i like this. while she continues to do the sicinnamon rolls, we'll take a quick time out. when we come back, we'll have more. [ male announcer ] mix it. blend it. sprinkle it. sweet! [ male announcer ] grilled. filled. chilled. sweet! [ female announcer ] just about anywhere you use sugar you can use splenda® no calorie sweetener. more ways than you ever imagined. [ male announcer ] flakes. shakes. cakes. sweet! [ female announcer ] splenda® starts with sugar. tastes like sugar. but it's not sugar. it's... [ male announcer ] savory. unchy. yummy. sweet! [ female announcer ] splenda®. america's favorite no calorie sweetener. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] all we ask is that you keep doing what you've always done. ♪ the lexus rx. never has a vehicle been designed to feel so natural. ♪ see your lexus dealer. inrease in 6 mths. pete, back it up! ( marker squeaking ) when business travel leaves you drained, re-charge withomfo suites. spacious rooms, free hi-speed internet, d free hot breakfast. comfort suites. power up. now stay two separate times with comfort suites... or any choice hotel and earn a free night. book at choicehotels.com. or any choice hotel and earn a free night. [music playing] when you take away all the canned chicken broth that adds msg, one stands alone. the secret is swanson 100% natural chicken broth.

Related Keywords

Nevada , United States , Central Falls , Rhode Island , Minnesota , Shea Stadium , Illinois , California , Manhattan , New York , San Diego , Russia , Washington , District Of Columbia , Reunion , West Virginia , Ottawa , Ontario , Canada , San Francisco , India , Netherlands , Aruba , Massachusetts , Hollywood , Newport Beach , South Korea , Switzerland , Blair House , Chicago , Greece , Miami , Florida , Haiti , Norway , Tampa , Germany , Oakland , Texas , Afghanistan , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , Kentucky , Boston , Northern Plains , India General , Oregon , Capitol Hill , Tennessee , Irvine , Mississippi , London , City Of , United Kingdom , Pakistan , Athens , Attikír , Oklahoma , New Port Beach , New Jersey , Nebraska , Israel , Idaho , George Washington University Hospital , Colorado , Kansas , Orlando , Yankee Stadium , Venezuela , Americans , America , Germans , Pakistani , Afghan , Israeli , Russians , South Korean , American , Haitian , Canadian , German , Dutch , Pakistanis , Danny Williams , Robert Gibbs , Tim Kaine , Henry Waxman , Joe Biden , Caroline Shively , Akio Toyota , John Boehner , Thomas Coburn , Lynn Cheney , John Hughes , Michael Orrin , Peter Johnson Jr , James Harris , Dick Morris , John Q Kelly , Mel Martinez , Benjamin Todd , Kim Walker , Bobby Sinclair , George Hughes , Michael Jackson , Andy Kaufman , Patrick Moynihan , Peter Johnson , Barack Obama , Las Vegas , John Kline , Luke Myers , Mitch Mcconnell , Steve Gretchen , Ray Lahood , Theresa Coulter , Amy Feldman , Jan Van Jones , Dave Ramsey , Toyota Avalon , Nancy Pelosi , George Bush , Jack Bauer , Toyota James Lentz , Ben Bernanke , Larry Silverstein , Mike N Ike , Michael Orin , Tucker Carlson , Dick Cheney , Gary Burston , Stuart Varney , Robert Andrews , Jim Lentz , John Mccain , Edward James Olmos , Fox Newschannel , Dick Durbin , Anita Dunn , Scott Brown , Los Angeles , Barney Frank , Harry Reid , Adam Shapiro , Dolly Parton , Valerie Jarrett , Michael Gary , Ben Nelson ,