in new york today on charges of sexually assaulting a maid at a luxury hotel in times square. dominique strauss-caan who is also a potential candidate in france is expected to plead not guilty. his arraignment was delayed last night after he agreed to undergo d.n.a. testing. police say that the maid did pick him up out of a line-up, he was arrested at j.f.k.'s airport just as the plane was about to take off. and there is a heavy troop presence after deadly clashes between protesters and troops. waves of arab protesters descended on israel from all sides leaving at least 15 people dead. prime minister benjamin netanyahu is vowing to vigorously defend israel's borders with syria, lebanon and gaza. ? ready for liftoff, live pictures of the space shuttle endeavor in cape canaveral, florida right now. we're three hours away from the launch, the six astronauts blast off at 8:56 a.m. eastern time. nasa says problems with the power heater are fix. the weather looks good. it's endeavor's time mission before being retired. congresswoman gabrielle giffords is in cape canaveral there to support her husband. billy graham is back at home after spending five days in the hospital to treat his that moneya. doctors there say the 92-year-old responded very well to treatment but they expect graham's full recovery to take some time. toes are your headlines. >> so much going on yesterday. do you know we're going to hit the debt ceiling technically in a matter of hours. it's going to be coming forward. but we also were assured by the treasury secretary three weeks ago if worse comes to worse, i have the way to move around the money coming in from all of you, but the time is now. i'm wondering if we'll be hauled in on the 11th hour again because remember last time we were going to shut down the government. >> that's right. >> it was friday night and nothing was done until the very last minute. can they get a deal in place to raise the debt ceiling without calling us in on a saturday. >> harry was absolutely giddy yesterday. >> could have been a dental procedure. >> could have been. boehner revealed he has spoken privately to the president on a number of occasions. and he feels the president of the united states simply is not serious about doing something with the deficit. here's the speaker and harry. >> i'm ready to cut the deal today. we don't have to wait until the 11th hour. but i am not going to walk away from this moment, no more kicking the can down the road. no more whistling past the graveyard. and now is the time to deal with the fiscal problems we have in an adultlike manner. >> including medicare? >> medicare. medicaid. all -- everything should be on the table except raising taxes because raising taxes will hurt our economy and hurt our ability to create jobs in our century. >> democrats say we want to raise the debt ceiling. we might want to raise taxes. republicans are saying, we'll agree to that. however, we want cuts as well and he's saying in everything, medicare, medicaid. >> there's two things that came out over the weekend i felt were noteworthy leading into the interview. number one, the trustees came forward and said you know i said was going to run out. can we change that? and medicare, i just did the new math through the long recession. revenue has fallen and medical costs have risen to a certain level, now we're going to be out. if this doesn't spell an emergency, i don't know what it is and politicians should keep in mind that 47% of the american people don't want the debt ceiling raised. that according to gallup poll. >> no kidding. so maybe it was nervous laughter on the part of harry smith. >> we don't know. we have got to get -- >> we do know that on the saturday night show, mike huckabee made a live announcement. he said he is not going to run for president of the united states although interestingly enough, he said, perhaps, he will never have a better chance than now. he said he didn't know until a couple of days ago what his decision was going to be. in the meantime, he had some interesting observations about the political race thus far. listen. >> you know, i'm going to support the republican nominee. i'm a republican and unless a person is way out there and is not clear on issues that to me are non-negotiable on the sanctity of life, i believe donald trump would be better for america than barack obama because he understands business, donald trump has taken a pro life position. he believes that we're getting shanghaied by china which i agree with. >> ok. and it sounds like, ainsley, donald trump himself -- >> we're being told. >> could make the announcement today. >> absolutely. huckabee is saying i'll support whoever the republican nominee is as long as he agrees with him. but he's saying i'll support a republican over a democrat. >> and it's interesting because if the nominee is mitt romney, mitt romney and huck had some bad blood in the 2008 race so for him to say whoever the nominee is, i'll support him. that's good for mitt if it works out for him. >> who's going to get the supporters of mike huckabee who is a unique candidate and very personally popular. very funny. as everyone knows that. you watch his show. basically, social conservatives need a place to go he is specially in iowa and south carolina, where will they go? perhaps to michelle bachmann and the other big story that ainsley refused to talk about, if donald trump does run for president, why won't she bring up there needs to be a replacement on "celebrity apprentice. on ">> it should be you. >> practice you're fired. >> i can say that. i just can't say i'm a billionaire. you need to be a billionaire. >> i bet people can. >> the reason we say a source in "the new york post" says that later today, donald trump will reveal whether or not he's going to get in it is because he's got to tell his nbc bosses. because over the weekend, they did release the nbc schedule and it showed that celebrity apprentice is on the schedule but nbc said, you know what? we don't need trump. nbc, i got news for you. you need trump. >> football is on the schedule and right now there's a lockout and nba is also on the schedule. and there's a lockout but i'm just saying, they did say there's a plan in place to go with a very confident person, self-assured person to replace donald trump because "celebrity apprentice" will live on. >> wouldn't it be funny if it's mike huckabee? >> apparently these people in california have billions, right? >> millions at least. or at least thousands. >> everybody who is retiring out there getting these huge payouts. apparently, you know, when you're at work and have an extra week's vacation, you can roll it over to the next year, in private sector, that's usually the way it works. in the public sector, if you work for the state, you can roll up to 80 days after you retire and get paid for those 80 days. they started looking at the numbers and looking at these paychecks they were sending out to all these workers. >> who were retiring? >> who were retiring, they realize they're paying people for 2 1/2 years of rollover time. one guy is getting $600,000. he was a prison doctor. >> it is extraordinary. and in private industry, generally, there's a use it or lose it thing where, you know, they would -- >> that's our industry. that's what we have. >> if we're -- >> we're in the wrong business. >> they'd absolutely laugh at you. but apparently the managers in california are looking the other way at the state level because they're saying, you know, we really need you to come in or somebody offers to come in, yeah, yeah, yeah, go ahead and work. if you're needed to fight a fire or something critical but instead, they're running off the clock. last year, this paid something like $300 million in departure payments in california many you got to stop that. that's crazy. >> all right. if you're trying to balance the budget and trying to tighten your belt, this might be a way. you know jay wisicer? he's the department of forestry, he worked there for 37 years. he says he's battled hard floods and fires. he made $295,000 in his exit package along with whatever pension he has. but he said look, i'll defend it. i worked 80 hours a week. i would just take the overtime and just say you keep your days because he knew down the road he'd get it. >> so many teachers, workers are getting laid off because they can't afford to pay them in california. so people are retiring with $600,000 paychecks but yet, other people are getting laid off. >> that's the counter that he's -- >> she's not attacking me, right? >> no, it's not towards you. it's to your friend, so guess who else is on this list? schwarzenegger's accounting and personal advisors are on this list. payouts of $115,000 and $103,000. >> that's crazy. >> they need -- out in california, they need the same policy that a lot of private businesses do and that is a use it or lose it, no exceptions. what do you think? e-mail us, friends at foxnews.com or twitter us at twitter at foxandfriends. in the meantime, straight ahead, 10 minutes after 6:00 in new york city. >> hundreds more companies are getting a pass on the president's mandated health care plan meaning they won't have to follow the rules at least not yet. but if the plan's so good, why wait? >> john parasso, a senator and doctor will join us here live on the set coming up next. >> ok. >> then interrupted by disaster, passengers on this plane praying for their lives after the engines explode mid flight. >> wow i'd be wearing that vest. not the hat. 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[ male announcer ] ge technologies help doctors detect cancer early so they can save more lives. bringing better health to more people. ♪ >> all right. since president obama's health care reform was signed into law, i don't know if you heard about that, the administration has approved 1372 waivers. >> whoa. >> and hundreds of those companies are union companies. >> that's right. and unions themselves. the waivers allowed those companies and unions to skip over the mandated plan and some say that's just proof that the new law is not a good one. joining us right now is the wyoming republican senator who is an orthopedic surgeon and we'll talk about my aching foot during the commercial. >> happy to do it. >> we were sold. this plan is going to change everything. it's going to be great. fast forward to today. you've got over 1,000 companies and unions, big unions saying we can't afford it. we need a little pass. a waiver. >> it's for three million people, about a million and a half are union workers. these are the unions that supported the health care law, lobbied for it. said to president obama this is what we want. now that they've read it, first nancy pelosi said we have to pass it before we find out what's in it. they're saying no, we don't want this. this past week, they've come out with a whole another list. more unions, more waivers oochlt from the union perspective. what do they find so egregious and unpalatable about this? >> it's the amount of coverage that obamacare mandates. 750,000 of coverage and a lot of these plans say that's too expensive. we can't afford to provide that kind of insurance, they said, so let us out, give us a waiver. don't make it apply to us but it does apply to so many of the other business around. >> for a year, right? is this waiver for a year? >> they'll need it for four years. they only give them a one year waiver. don't say anything. you'll have to come back next year so you better be nice to us and don't talk badly about the health care law. >> let me get this straight, if they only get a waiver for one year but need it for four years. and those are some of the companies and unions that have asked for and listen -- >> mcdonald's, you've got waffle house, jack-in-the-box. these are big companies. >> and yesterday's list that came out, service employees international unit, afl-cio, all the big unions. >> that's very impressive because when you think those are the people who are in the president's corner, they're trying to support him and yet, they've got to admit, we can't afford it right now. >> yeah, i think every american ought to have a waiver. i think we ought to repeal and replace this health care law. i don't want to stop the three million. i want everybody to have a waiver. not just friends in high places. >> on thursday, mitt romney came out and said, you know, i was -- mass care was the template for obamacare. he came out and explained himself. what do you think about what he's done for his candidacy? did he explain himself in your mind? >> no matter who we nominate and i'm not here to endorse or criticize any republican candidate, no matter who we nominate they'll plan to repeal this health care law. it's terrible. >> is mass care terrible? >> that is not the way i would have gone with an individual mandate. i want to give states an option. i actually have legislation to say, states ought to be able to opt out. let states opt out and let local decide. each state should decide what's best for them. >> what mitt romney said last weanin week, he said, what we passed in massachusetts was perfect for our state at that time but it would not work for the country as a whole. does that make sense to you? >> well, each state is going to have to decide. that's why i have my state health care choice annict. in massachusetts, they focused more on covering people than the cost. that's the problem with obama care. costs are going to skyrocket. it's unaffordable and unmanageable and i believe unconstitutional. >> rhode island convinced the federal government give me the money as a block and we won't bother you anymore and it turns out they saved money because the state got their hands on it and knew where it belonged. >> in wyoming i was in the state senate. we believe we could provide care for the same number of people better care for half the amount of money that we have to -- that we're spending trying to just comply with the rules and regulations out of washington with medicaid. washington doesn't have all the answers, one size doesn't fit all. let states make decisions. >> it's great to have you. i know you're an orthopedic surgeon. could you write a prescription for allergy medicine? we're all suffering. >> yeah, we were at the white house with the president on thursday and i told him what i'll tell you now, 25 years practicing medicine, taking care of a lot of people on medicare and medicaid, i have to tell you, his payment advisory board, his payment advisory board, it is going to -- he wants to cut another trillion and a half dollars from our seniors on medicare. it is going to make it even that much more difficult for seniors to get care under the president's health care law. >> thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. >> senator, i'll shake your hand in the break. meanwhile, straight ahead, a g.o.p. candidate bowing out of the 2012 race. >> all the factors say go. but my heart says no. >> who's left? who has the best chance to win the republican nomination for president? look at the entire field next. >> then the bizarre internet trend of planking. not so funny anymore. a tragic death has the on-line community pleading for them to stop it. long before a cummins diesel engine powered a ram truck.. it roared to life out here. and proved itself here, here, and here. and it's now delivering best-in-class towing, here. and unsurpassed torque, here. the ram 5 year 100,000 mile warranty covers you everyere. ram. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands ojobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for oucountry's energy security and our economy. term "hero" to be bandied about. but does bringing a floor back life really make us heroes? yes. yes it does. ♪call 1-800-steemer. >> welcome back. monday morning headlines for you. social media web sites impacting jury selection in the casey anthony murder trial, the 25-year-old accused of killing her 22-year-old daughter. so far, 12 yours have been seated but many have been booted for posting details from the case to sites like twitter and facebook. you got to be kidding me. jury selection resumes later on today. meanwhile, former white house chief of staff rahm emanuel will be sworn in as mayor of chicago later on today. vice president joe biden will be on hand for the inauguration. rahm will celebrate with an open house at city hall later this afternoon. ainsley? >> thank you. former arkansas governor mike huckabee makes his 2012 decision official. >> i can't know or predict the future. but i know for now, my answer is clear and firm. i will not seek the republican nomination for president this year. >> with huckabee out of the picture, who will now lead the g.o.p. field? our washington insiders are here to debate this. former hillary clinton senior advisor and global head of public affairs is kiki mclean and the executive director of the independent women's forum is nicky neely. thanks for being with us. >> good morning. >> good morning. what were your thoughts when you heard that announcement? >> i actually breathed a sigh of relief because i thought huckabee was not the right candidate for this job. quite frankly, i still don't like anybody. every tom, dick and harry thinks they can run underlines the fact that the president is very vulnerable right now. his base is still not thrilled with him. he's been flanked on civil liberties quite frankly by ron paul and by gary johnson and aside from the bin laden issue, he really hasn't gotten anything through that is going to keep people motivated for 2012. >> what your thoughts when you heard that announcement? >> you'll be shocked to know i think it meant a whole lot of other things, that there are people who find it really big uphill race against this president but, you know, the other thing that it did, ainsley, is this puts iowa into play in a whole different way for republicans. huckabee was a big favorite there with the ultraconservative christian community there. you would look up and say, what does this do now? this potentially puts somebody like a romney into play but by the time token as mormons they may not be as welcome in that community. iowa was taken off the table before. wasn't going to be an issue for those guys. but now it's a chance for somebody to break through. not that favorable still to a donald trump, frankly or to any of the other conservatives but now it's in play in terms of whether people are going to have to play there or not. >> niki, how important is this for someone to come to the front of the pack? that is fiscally conservative, socially conservative like mike huckabee is and if so, who would that contender with? >> i wouldn't call mike huckabee fiscally conservative. i would call him fiscally populo populous. >> he calls himself fiscally conservative. >> this opens up the space on the social right. we could see palin playing if she decides to get in. we see trump hitting that demographic i think somewhat unsuccessfully and there still is a lot of room for other people to get in, too, i mean, people still really want marco rubio and we'll see where that goes. >> how will this affect president obama's re-election campaign? because unemployment went back up to 9% this week but plus we're in debt, trillions of dollars. >> you know, we also started adding a tremendous number of jobs. and the growth is beginning. here's what's interesting to me. we may not know yet who the nominee could be. the nominee may not even be in this announced field. i think it's interesting that people overlook the fact that mike huckabee is immensely likable. you know, when you get into presidential politics, the issues are important. the debates are important. but don't forget that question -- who do you want to eat a hamburger or drink a beer with? and mike huckabee was immensely likable and not everybody in that field meets that likeability factor. >> i don't think he drinks. >> no, he doesn't -- >> i don't think you'll have a beer with him. he'll sit at the table with you. >> somebody who might want to have a coke with him. and i don't know that there are a lot of people in that field who have demonstrated externally that level of likeability. >> niki, kiki, thanks so much. great perspective. all right. i'll toss it over to the guys, steve and brian. >> thank you very much, ainsley. come on over here. >> after you. >> all right. a mid-flight meal interrupted when the airplane's engine explodes. new pictures as passengers prayed they would make it out alive. >> it took us more than a decade to find bin laden but pakistan, where would they have been? they might have known all along where he was hiding, steve. former spy tells all. >> and the space shuttle endeavor prepped for its final launch just hours from now. when we come back, a former astronaut who knows his shuttle best. he's contain it into space before. tom jones joins us live. 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[ male announcer ] in 2011, at is at work, building up our wireless network all across america. we're adding new cell sites... increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your weless network experience. from a single phone call to the most advanced data download, we're covering more people in more places than ever before in an effort to give you the best network possible. at&t. rethink possible. >> great to be back here in texas, the lone star state. home of george w. bush, the 43rd street. the 43rd president to not kill bin laden that is. obama care, i'm going to say guy who killed bin laden care. we'll spike the football. but we can do a little touchdown dance. remember the shuffle? kill bin laden! let's get those t-shirts out here.laden! let's get those t-shirts out here. >> that was on "saturday night live." >> yeah. >> were we on? >> no, thankfully i'm afraid to pick up my blackberry around 11:30 to 12:30. that was fun. this is not so fun. it turns out one of the great interviews on "60 minutes" last night was from a top intelligence chief who has since left the government in afghanistan who sat down wilara logan and said i have to tell you something, you think pakistan is your friend and there's really no gray area. they're not. listen to this. >> the amount of pain pakistan has inflicted upon the united states in the past 12 years is unprecedented. they take your money. they do not cooperate. they create the taliban. they are number one in nuclear proliferation. you name it, every pain u.s. has in that part of the world, the hub of that is pakistan. >> and he goes on to tell lara logan that four years ago, he was in a face-to-face meeting. keep in mind, that guy is the head of -- was the head of -- he was afghanistan's number one spy. he told musharraf, the president of pakistan, he said usama bin laden, i know exactly where he is. this was four years ago. he was in a town, he was off by one town. he was 10 miles off. apparently, there was a scuffle. and they -- >> musharraf lunged at him. he told him then. nobody did anything. >> here's what's extraordinary. he says they're double dealing many they created the taliban and if you want to know where all the taliban extremists are and their brain trusts are, it's quite sure. pakistan and afghanistan know that. we don't do anything yet. now they say as much as we're making gains in afghanistan, until we get that area we're never going to be successful in the long term. and remember "dark angel" colonel schaefer, lieutenant colonel schaefer, his plan was to take out other higher ups right there. it all is coming together and i'm sure besides the point that you got from bin laden's lair, you have some stuff that goes directly there. sooner or later, if the president will be bold enough to do an extraordinary operation like sending the seals to get bin laden, this is less risky than that. >> she says this is our ally. this is america's ally. he said no, this is -- they're being very deceptive. he said it should be considered a hostile state. >> they got intel to the point that they have given -- it sounds like the americans and at least the pakistanis, they've given the phone numbers of the top taliban people who are in pakistan. >> but you always get voice mail. i call all the time. 25 minutes before the top of the hour. >> now time for an extreme weather alert. thousands of residents from louisiana's cajun country are heading for higher ground. this as gushing water from the open spillway creeps closer and closer to homes, businesses and farm. chief meteorologist rick reichmuth has been following the story all week understand and he's live in louisiana. as i understand, before it's all done, 3 million acres of land will be submerged to save new orleans and baton rouge but those people's farms and lives are being sacrificed. >> you said it. it's not just at its oil refineries and chemical plants as well would be at risk. all that water continued down to the mississippi so they diverted it down here across the river basin and then you end up with that flooding and backwater flooding here. steve, it's about 3,000 square miles that are going to be flooded and about 25,000 people that are going to be affected by this. so people have to do something to try to protect their property although some people have decided if the flood is going to be too great and they're packing up their stuff and trying to get out. some are doing things to protect it. you see where the water is here. not that high. not threatening the land. but you come up towards this residence, and you can see what they're doing. they're putting up this tarp here and then sandbagging and they're expecting the water at about 29 feet is what they're saying here would get to this level here on this wall and people hope that this kind of protection can at least give them a bit of sustainability for these properties and they won't have too much damage. but i'll tell you, this is a big problem for the people who live here as well as some businesses. yesterday, we talked to somebody who owns a boat business here for some fishermen and for some house boats. take a listen to what he had to say. >> our mother nature is throwing us another hand. are we going to make through it? i plan on it. i don't like the way i'm going to have to do it but it's just something you live with. you know, when i bought this business about nine years ago, i knew that would be a chance that one day this was going to happen. >> yeah and that's it, everybody who knows that that is a possibility. this kind of flooding is a possibility, they had it in 1973. they knew it would come but they loved this area and they say after this flood, they will come back and they will rebuild and nothing will get them out of here. so a big problem that they're determined, steve, to make it through this. >> all right. rick reichmuth will be with us all morning live from out there. thank you, sir. >> thank you, rick. the rest of your headlines in a fox news alert. we're learning that the security alert near buckingham palace causing road closures in that area. london radio station lbc is reporting that a manhole cover is being searched now. we will, of course, keep you up to date on this story as more information flows into the newsroom. >> how do you search a manhole cover? you flip it over? >> yeah. >> ok. brand new images this morning from singapore capturing a pacific flight's emergency landing on the runway. horrified passengers started praying when their plan began shaking violently after two sharp bangs. the airbus engine had burst into flights mid air. the flight carrying 13 of people landed safely and it was headed to jakarta, indonesia. >> that's good news. meanwhile, a man with alleged ties to pakistani terrorists goes on trial in chicago today. he is accused of helping terrorists carry out the deadly attacks in mumbai, india in 2008. a team armed with guns and explosives killed 170 people including six americans. the pakistan native owned an immigration business in chicago. he's accused of using the business as a cover to help coordinate the deadly attack. >> new video just in of senator john kerry in pakistan meeting with the prime minister. kerry is hoping to smooth over diplomatic tensions with pakistan over the killing of usama bin laden. he is the highest ranking u.s. official to visit pakistan since the raid on bin laden's compound and kerry is warning pakistan to be more helpful in capturing terrorists like bin laden or face losing billions of dollars a year in u.s. aid. brian? >> it's getting serious. internet craze called planking turns deadly for a man from australia. here's what it looks like. they lie face down balancing on objects with their arms at their sides to make it sure look like they're layiying on a board. as the craze has grown, they are attempting more dangerous stunts trying to outdo each other. a man died yesterday when he fell seven stories from a balcony. >> incredible. >> that's your headlines. >> look at that one. >> now, you are about to look live at cape canaveral where in a couple of hours, the space shuttle endeavour will make its final launch into space. there are the live pictures. this is the second to last flight for nasa's 30-year space program. >> yeah and it's bittersweet. bittersweet feeling for our next guest who flew on the shuttle endeavour in 1994 as a mission specialist. former astronaut, dr. tom jones joins us live from charlotte. good morning. >> hello, ainsley. >> hello. how do you feel about this? you were there, you were on that shuttle and now it's retiring, last time going into space. >> yes, space shuttle crew is aboard right now. they're all in their seats and i remember being on endeavour looking up out the front windows watching the clouds go by and wondering what's going to unfold as that countdown heads towards zero. it's a very bitter sweet moment as you mentioned that the shuttle program is ending after 30 years. and the big question now for our country is what's coming next after that? we're certainly going to have taxis to the space station first by the russians, we're renting seats from them starting this summer and then american companies will take it over. there's nothing big to come after that. >> tom, what would you like to see happen? do we have anything in mothballs that needs to be financed? >> well, it's certainly going to be several years before we find out what the government has planned for nasa. the president says he wants to go to a nearby asteroid by 2025. that's 15 years away and there's been no funding and schedule to achieve that goal. i think we'll have to a re-examination in this presidential campaign of what direction the country wants to go in space and what we're going to do to get there. we should be setting our sights on the nearby asteroids and tapping the resources in space. maybe that means a return to the moon to get the water that's been found on the moon as well. whatever we do, it needs to be more ambitious than the space shuttle has been in the last 30 years. we need to build on that. >> president george w. bush who in 2004 proposed the constellation program and everybody was very excited about that and then this president came in and killed manned space flight for the nation. >> there's plenty of blame to go around. the last president, president bush did not fund his return to the moon program constellation and since it was doing so poorly in terms of funding, president obama canceled it. but then did not replace it with anything concrete in terms of getting us out beyond the space station. i think it would be a terrible waste to take the 30-year legacy of the space shuttle program and all of its achievements and let that dissipate and let those people go off and find other jobs and not have that industry. >> catch up with you later and the shuttle will lift off at 8:56. you will see it live here on the fox newschannel. >> all right. thank you, tom. >> straight ahead, while the u.s. celebrated osama bin laden's death, many in the u.k. cringed. has one of our closest allines gone soft on terror and what does that mean for us? >> make way for the machine. mcdonald's takes a bold step to make fast food even faster. what will it cost you? n, pro go. if you have painful, swollen joints, i've been in your shoes. one day i'm on p of the world... the next i'm saying... i have this thing called psoriatic arthritis. i had some intense pain. it progressively got worse. my rheumatologist told me about enbrel. i'm surprid how quickly my symoms have beemanaged. [ male announcer ] because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervo system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whetr you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have beetreated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. get back to the things that matter most. good job girls. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu. [ technician ] are you busy? management jt sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazinbikes. with xerox, you're read for real business. so they can focus on building amazinbikes. funny thing about vegetables... they fill you up without filling you out. yes! v8 juice gives you three of your five daily servings of vegetables. that's what i'm talking about! v8. what's your number? >> we have quick headlines for you. this video, i must warn you is disturbing but the outcome is amazing. surveillance video from denver where a 9-year-old boy is hit by a speeding car. believe it or not, he survived with just a couple of scratches. eric aguillar was walking away from that crash and now he's helping police track down the run runaway driver. next time in europe and you want a happy meal, a machine might take your order. mcdonald's in europe is replacing cashiers with paper currency and touch screens as well as swipe cards. so far, no plans to bring that new technology here to the u.s. brian? >> all right. thanks, ainsley. british authorities have joined u.s. officials in sifting through the treasure trove of intelligence taken from the bin laden compound on may 2nd but our next guest says when the u.s. took down bin laden, people in the u.k. had a tough time celebrating. brits have gone wobbly on terror. andrew roberts is author of this brand new book called "the storm of war." andrew, what was the u.k. reaction? we were so focused on what it meant for americans, we weren't looking at you guys. >> too many people in britain refuse to celebrate this great day for america. the archbishop of canterbury said he was uncomfortable with the death. liberal media criticized it. america was criticized for not arresting bin laden. it was a pretty sad day for britain, i'm afraid. >> you write in "the wall street journal" editorial, some are saying he should have been warned ahead of time and should have told the u.n. >> unbelievable. and if either of those things had happened, there's no way that he wouldn't have been tipped off. no, i'm afraid my country is looking a bit like cheese eating surrender monkeys at the moment. >> you are a historian. not somebody that doesn't read the paper or talk to somebody in a pub and say that's how the u.k. feels. do you think they're a little intimidated by the amount of radical muslims in the u.k.? >> that's certainly a factor, yes, and also, i'm afraid just continuing anti-americanism which still even when we've been standing shoulder to shoulder in the war against terror now for 10 years can't be eradicated from some areas of british society. >> it's amazing because you lost people on 9/11, too. >> of course. over 300. >> yes. and yet, they fought brilliantly in afghanistan and iraq. >> we have 10,000 men fighting next to you in afghanistan and, of course, we were in iraq as well. >> in your book, you take a big perspective on our relationship, their alliances and how easy world war ii could have gone hitler's way. fundamentally, what did hitler do wrong? >> hitler constantly, constantly put his ideological preferences before the best interests of the germans hitler could have won the second world war as i point out in my book but again and again, he put his nazi beliefs before the best interest of what he should have done. >> you think it's wrong to say as a corporal, he was an imbosel as a general. far too simplistic. >> far too simplistic. you look at the first attacks, they were done flawlessly. he took out the yugoslavia in six weeks. he's not an idiotic general, he made political decisions again and again that were wrong. >> 50 million people lost their lives in world war ii. that's incredible. >> the book is called "the starm -- storm of war." thank you very much. >> thank you, brian. >> is the liberal buying its way into mainstream media? george soros has some of the biggest ties to american journalism. losing weight clicked for us when we realized we could do weight watchers online together. it was easy, it was flexible and it worked. ok -- i've got ground turkey, i've got bell peppers so he'd plug it into the recipe builder and it just pulls up tons of recipe options. laura's very competitive, whenever i was beating her in weight loss numbers -- i always was winning in percentage. i am a little competitive. together we lost 162 pounds. i don't know if you've noticed, but look at this guy. [ female announcer ] hurry, join for free today. weight watchers online. finally, losing weight clicks. >> he is one of the richest liberal activists in the world. donated millions of dollars to dozens of mainstream media outlet boards and while transparency is supposed to be the foundation of journalism, these companies fail to mention george soros' widespread influence or leftist agenda. dan gainor is the media research center's vice president for business and culture and joins us live from the washington area. good morning to you, sir. >> good morning. >> as i understand it, george soros has ties to 30 mainstream media outlets. explain that. >> well, what we found by doing this extensive investigation is that more than 30 major outlets, "new york times", "washington post," abc, cbs, nbc, pbs, npr, reads like alphabet soup of media. they all have people who sit on boards of some of these george soros funded organizations. i have people like len downey, former editor to "the washington post," christine who has her show every week, she sits on the board of directors in the center of public interest group with arianna huffington. >> obviously, it's an outfit that takes money from people. what's your problem with george soros giving them money? >> my problem with george soros is here's somebody who has a very open left wing agenda. he spent $27 million trying to unseat president bush in 2004. he and some of his buddies have funded the entire infrastructure now of the left wing in this country. and so to say that they're neutral when you're not playing six degrees of separation. you're playing one degree of separation. you know, they're on board. that's not neutral journalism. journalists are supposed to avoid according to society, professional journalists, real or perceived conflicts of interest. that's both. >> it is both. and you know what, dan? if, for instance, the koch brothers were going to donate money to organizations, the outcry would be enormous. >> also, you wouldn't see top journalists, you know, serving on that board. journalists and ethics is supposed to mean something. it's not supposed to be an oxymoron. >> exactly right. if looking at these outfits that have taken george soros' money, forget about npr. i think they took $1.8 million, or something like that to hire 100 reporters. when you look at the outfits that took soros' money, did the reptoirage take a decidely left tone. >> i wouldn't say it took. it's heading down the highway towards the left. look for the center of public integrity, they had on three things highlighted in their page yesterday. all three of them were investigations into g.o.p. presidential candidates. you know, it's not exactly like it's a big surprise. these groups are left wing. >> it sounds like george soros is getting his money's worth. >> absolutely. learned at an early age that media is important. now that he's got billions of dollars, he's committing a lot of that to journalism and the american media community aren't saying anything. >> i haven't heard this story anywhere except your outfit and fox as well and one of the web sites. dan gainor, vice president of media research center, thank you, sir, for joining us early on this monday morning. >> thank you very much. >> you bet. >> what do you think about that? e-mail us, friends at foxnews.com. soros with connections to 30 outfits. that's crazy. with usama bin laden dead, can u.s. troops come home from afghanistan sooner? secretary gates says yes! but what's the option and opinion on the ground? no more driving for dropouts. what if teenagers didn't get their driver's licenses until they made the grade. that plan quickly becoming reality in a couple of states. 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[ male announcer ] if you have gout, ask youroctor about uloric. >> good monday morning to you. it's may 16th. i'm ainsley earhardt filling in nor gretchen carlson this morning. floodwaters are rising engulfing homes down there and farm lands and we are live on the ground in the hard hit south. >> newt gingrich taking on the president? >> i think he loves america. i think he has a very different vision of what america is. >> will voters see that vision in time for re-election? former white house press secretary dana perino weighs in on newt's chances. >> meanwhile, over the weekend, a dramatic shift in the g.o.p. race for president and another big announcement could come today from donald trump. "fox & friends" hour two for a monday starts right now. >> welcome to hour two. ainsley, you are in for gretchen friday and monday. >> yes, it's been a lot of fun. it's been a lot of fun with you. you're another story, brian! >> put it this way, you had two days to call in sick and you didn't. i feel like that's a vote of confidence. >> all right. i'll take that. i'll work with you. >> wow. >> let's start with your headlines this morning. i love you, brian. ed head of the international monetary fund due in court on charges of sexually assaulting a maid at a luxury hotel in times square. dominique strauss-kahn also a potential presidential candidate in france is expected to plead not guilty. his arraignment was delayed after he agreed to undergo d.n.a. testing. police say the maid picked him out of a line-up. strauss-kahn was arrested at j.f.k. airport as the plane he was on was about to take off. israel is beefing up troops along its borders today after yesterday's chaos. hundreds of arab protesters rushed the border from syria, lebanon and gaza. at least 15 were killed as the protesters fought with israeli forces. also today, the israeli military says it's turned back a ship bound for gaza by firing a warning shot. gaza is now your honunder a blo. thousands of people in louisiana are being urged to get out while they can. a tragic situation as you probably know there. the floodgates,yeah, look at this video. it opened up to spare the state's larger city from the swelling mississippi river. our chief meteorologist rick reichmuth is live on the ground there in louisiana. hey, rick. >> hey, ainsley. important to realize the crest of this river is still around 300 miles to the north in greenville, mississippi, but so much water is already flowing down around the baton rouge area they had to open up those spillways. it will eventually fill up all these tributaries and all this marsh and swampland and it's going to get to a point so high that all the homes in here will probably be up to maybe 3, 4 feet deep. the big question will be is how long does it stay that deep? if it stays a couple of days, it's ok. they can withstand it. if they stay a couple of weeks, you run into significant problems. here's what everybody is doing. they have all their storage here. everybody is taking everything out of their homes. moving it out to protect at least their valuables and their items and then they'll have to come back and see what happens here, you know, to their homes. a lot of people understand exactly what they had to do to make this choice. not everybody did. take a listen to what one woman had to say. >> i just hope everything goes all right. wasn't too happy when they opened it up but we didn't have no choice. we had to do what they said. put in god's hands. >> yeah, that's what everybody is doing and it's such a tough decision when you have to save some and then sacrifice the livelihoods and lives of so many others. in general, people understand it. u.s. army corps of engineers having to make tough decisions. it's worth noting. there's a big weather maker moving in friday to sunday of this week, it will park itself off towards the north in and around parts of the ohio river valley and areas like arkansas. we could be dealing with a major rain event up there and that means this flooding problem that we're dealing with that is historic to potentially be aggravated by that and that would not be good news for the folks there. ainsley? >> thank you, rick. preparing for liftoff this morning. we have some live pictures of the space shuttle endeavour. the six astronauts are blasting off at 8:56 eastern time. weather is a-ok. congresswoman gabrielle giffords is in cape canaveral to support her husband who is the flight commander. we'll have live coverage of that launch with bill hemmer live at kennedy space center. big board room meeting this morning for donald trump. he is meeting with executives at nbc to announce if he's running for president or sticking with the show "celebrity apprentice." even if he decides to run, the show will go on with a new boss in apprentice boardroom. we were saying brian might get that job. >> but, you know, because i do want to be a millionaire so freaking bad. >> sure. >> that would make me eligible. >> that's good to know. here's my hunch on the donald trump thing. dana perino, listen to this, it's going to be fascinating. as you know, a lot of my conclusions are. i don't think he's going to announce it. he wants to bolster the sunday apprentice ratings. they could make the decision behind the scenes. how does that go? make the decisions and don't tell people, why would they do that? >> i think it's strange, if it's true, two weekends in a row, you would have had a potential candidate make everyone wait until a weekend program to decide whether or not they're going to run for president of the united states. whatever happened to announcing on the steps of the state capitol? >> those were the days. >> makes it exciting, doesn't it? >> sure, earlier in the week, you had newt announce on twitter and facebook so everything has changed. what does -- with governor huckabee officially out even though he said this was probably his best chance, what's that mean going forward for 2012? >> i think one of the things that people agreed on, if governor huckabee had decided to run for president, he most likely could have won iowa. iowa is important because it's first and it's also quite aggressive on the social conservative block of voters. who does this help? i think the consensus is it probably helps the most governor tim pawlenty and could help herman cain and maybe michelle bachmann if she decides to get in the race. what's happening in iowa right now, there's a rush to make a decision and commitment. if people were sitting on the fence waiting for huckabee. maybe they'll say all right, i'll go with pawlenty. >> how do the people on the line-up that we just saw, i don't know if you have a monitor there. the one person more likely to get in, do you think it's huntsman or mitch daniels? >> gosh, that could be a draw. i think that mitch daniels edged closer to announcing last week including with his a little bit open to the idea. if he makes a decision, he could be very strong and the huntsman, i think he's got a problem with name i.d. i mean, we all kind of know them but down there on the ground, where it matters, where you're not knocking on doors and shaking hands, do people in iowa know governor huntsman? i don't think so. >> how about george will over the weekend saying yesterday at sunday show saying it's down to three guys who will be on the west face of the capitol on inauguration day. next time, it would be either barack obama, mitch daniels or tim pawlenty. he's whittled down the field to daniels and pawlenty on the republican side. >> a little early to make such a prediction. he could turn out to be right. i think one of the things that needs to happen is some of these fence sitters like a sarah palin in the next several weeks needs to make a decision because that also helps everyone narrow it down. you know, governor romney had a fairly bad week last week. kind of inexplicable and unfortunate because -- at least unfortunate for him. it looks like in some ways, people are just writing him off as not a possibility. i would expect him to try to do some rehabilitation this week. >> dana, newt gingrich was on "meet the press" over the weekend and let's listen to what he had to say about the president and we'll talk about it. >> look, i think he loves america and has a different vision of what america is. he's learned recently on how to say it. if you look in the first two years of his presidency, it was a real change. >> what do you think he means by that, dana? >> i don't know. in some ways, i believe there's an undercurrent to undermine president obama. not unusual in politics where you try to undermine your opponent but i think that one of the things newt gingrich needs to focus is now telling people what he's for and how he would get america to a better place. we know the complaints about president obama. we know all of the things that he's said about president obama past two years. now that newt gingrich is a declared candidate, i think he would be better served first laying out for us what is his plan for america? and how would he make it better? how would he propose to get it done with a possibly divided congress? >> what he said yesterday was interesting, too, about paul ryan's plan, retooling medicare and medicaid, he called the plan right wing social engineering. he says it's not anymore desirable than left-wing social engineering. he came out against the major stand amongst the new generation of republicans. >> except for, brian, later on his spokesperson tried to clean that up. and that's going to be a problem for somebody that has 30 years experience in politics and policy. you've made a lot of comments over the years. you've had a lot of different positions. he's tried to reach across the aisle and make some compromises over the years so he says things that sound with something he's said before. people are going to call him out on it. right now at this moment with paul ryan being a very popular person and for being very courageous. newt gingrich called paul ryan the paul revere of our time so i think that, again, also for them, they're going to do a little bit of explaining and to me, all of this just feels too frantic and a little too fast. >> all right, speaking of fast, coming up later this week at the department of state, the president is going to go and he's going to give a speech talking about the arab world, the muslim world. some have called it cairo ii. is it really necessary? >> well, i think that america would like to hear what in the world is our policy in the middle east, in the arab spring. you know, it's been really going on since about january. we've had different positions on -- in different countries many we don't know what the follow-up has been in egypt and elsewhere and i do think it's probably time. i don't know what he's going to say. it doesn't seem tied to any particular news although if there is, that would be good to hear and also, i think the venue is strange. why do it at the state department? if you want to speak to the arab world, why don't you go some place where you would actually show that's what you want to be doing? >> why is he doing it? >> well, i think in some ways if you look he at the past two weeks, president obama's campaign team and the white house had him on a check the box exercise tour. that's what it was down in texas. he had not been to the border as president beforehand. he goes to texas to do an immigration event. what did he really want to do there? he picked up campaign cash in austin, texas but made it an official event by going to texas. i think they want to be able to say of course he's talked about the arab world. and the other thing that it could be about is continuing on the usama bin laden killing news, the very good news of that and putting that in context in the arab world. that could be what he's going to do on thursday. i just don't think we know enough yet. >> let's hope he mentions israel in this speech. i think it's important. dana perino, thank you so much for joining us and look forward to talking to you again at some point. >> see you wednesday. >> thanks, dana. >> coming up straight ahead, usama bin laden may be dead. does that mean our work is done? secretary gates says troops can come home from afghanistan but when? because he said a big pullout in july is not in the cards. >> and he can do it all. he can talk and drive with his knees. uh-oh! bus driver caught behaving badly on camera. >> i would think so. excuse me, you just missed my stop! >> get oprah on that. hey, smart. you book your room yet? nope. see, hotels.com has over 20,000 last minute deals every week. so i get a great deal, no matter how long i wait. yeah, i'm not very good at waiting... then we must train you to wait. it is time to book, grasshopper. now, it's ok to wait. get great deals. even at the last minute. hotels.com. be smart. book smart. >> defense secretary robert gates says usama bin laden's death gives us an advantage in afghanistan but doesn't mean we should pack up and leave right now. >> i would say that we are getting the upper hand. we have over the last 18 months put in place for the first time the resources necessary to ensure that this threat does not rebuild, does not re-emerge once we're gone. i think we could be in a position by the end of this year where we have turned the corner in afghanistan. >> and more troops could come home. >> and more troops could come home. >> would it be safe to begin a troop withdrawal that soon? joining us is the author of a great book out on paperback. when you hear that, do you think the secretary of defense is steeped in reality? >> i mean, i think he's correct in the sense that right now, we have a -- the point of our presence there, the stated point has been accomplished. and starting to pull out does help us avoid the impression in the arab world that we're an occupying force, just taking over our muslim country. we don't want to look like we're in gaza, you know, this is -- we have to make it clear that we don't want to be there permanently and this would go towards that. >> we're trying to train their troops to defend themselves. but the taliban seem to be endlessly financed by some forces within the arab world and within the pakistani government so how can we leave knowing that the taliban is ready to pounce? >> yeah, here's the thing. i mean, we don't want it to be 1990 all over again for afghanistan and in 1989, the russians pulled out and we supported the afghans against them and we pulled out almost immediately as well and the country imploded. he we don't want that. it's terrible for them and it's probably bad for us. mullah omar, those people killed 1500 soldiers over the course of 10 years. they're based in pakistan. following up on bin laden, if the c.i.a. set their sights on those people, i think that would go a long way towards damping down that force. >> do you think it's worth the risk to do another seallike operation if we get intelligence somewhere there? >> well, i'm guessing here but i think the hakani network and mullah omar are working in some kind of collaboration with pakistani intelligence. now that pakistani intelligence knows what we're capable of, it may be easier to coerce them into breaking down that relationship a little bit. >> you have -- you did a great documentary along with tim heatherington called restrepo. we talked about it. tim lost his life in libya. how tough has that been for you? >> he died almost a month ago now. and it seems like it's been a year. it's been probably the most devastating event of my life. it was absolutely horrific. he died in a mortar attack in the town of misrata during combat. >> you know the realities of war better than anybody i know. do you ever -- do you think about that risk? has it changed the way you view war? >> i've been covering war for almost 20 years. and i just lost one of my very closest friends in combat and i've had some really long, thoughtful periods about that and, you know, i think i'm probably not going to cover combat anymore. there are ways to cover war without getting shot at and i think that's probably the next step for me. >> great. thanks so much for sharing your time and talking about tim and looking forward to talking to you again. >> thank you. >> coming up straight ahead, breaking news in the investigation. what brought down to airfrance jet over the atlantic ocean? we found the plane and now we're getting answers. what if high school dropouts couldn't drive? a controversial bill that may leave a lot of students walking home. or on a bike. e weight right in my hands. sophomore year, started weight watchers online, the weight started coming off. ahh! oh my gosh! [ laughs ] we're college kids, we go out all the time. having my food tracker on my phone, i can figure out what i'm having at the restaurant. i lost 73 pounds with weight watchers online. i don't think i've ever smiled this much in my whole life. it kind of hurts my cheeks. [ female announcer ] hurry, join for free today. weight watchers online. finally, losing weight clicks. [ female announcer ] hurry, join for free today. funny thing about vegetables... they fill you up without filling you out. yes! v8 juice gives you three of your five daily servings of vegetables. that's what i'm talking about! v8. what's your number? so i've got to take care of my heart. for me cheerios is a good place to start. [ male anuncer ] to keep doing what you love, take re of your heart with cheerios. the whole grain oats can help lower cholesterol. love your heart so yo can do wh you love. "a modern interpretation yet an instant classic." with sports car styling and power, plus the refinement and space of luxury sedan, the jaguar xf is a timeless blend of performance ancraftsmanship. see how jaguar outperforms the competition at jaguarperforms.com or visit your local jaguar dealer. >> now it's time for some news by the numbers on this monday morning. first, 25. that's the number of people arrested mostly for public drunkenness during the 100th annual bay to the breakers race in san francisco. this year, they enforced a new zero tolerance alcohol policy and 25 people found out the hard way. next four, the number of potential landing sites for the planned mission to mars. researchers have been pouring over these images for years. the final decision, this summer. looks good to me. finally, 34 1/2 million dollars. that's how much money the movie "four" brought in at the box office. staying put at number one for a second week in a row. comedy "bridesmaids" was a close secondment they made a lot of dough, too. >> thank you. the national high school dropout rate at 8.1% right now and that has some lawmakers trying a new way to keep kids in school. six states are considering a bill that would revoke the driver's licenses of anyone who drops out of high school. but is linking transportation with education a good idea? for a fair and balanced debate, we are joined by bob bowden, an education expert and director of the cartel. and then we have steven ray goodman, educational consultant and author of "college admissions together." thanks, gentlemen, for being with us. >> sure. >> good morning, bob, you were for this. tell me why. >> well, the nation's dropout rate is a tragedy right now. you can measure this in different ways. one is the actual kids that drop out. the other is how many don't finish because of bad grades and they don't get a diploma but california's department of education but that at 35% of kids not finishing high school in time. in texas, a group that year said 31% of kids don't finish high school on time. it's a national tragedy and a study by princeton university and city university of new york put the toll of at that at $292,000. it's the nation's cost for each kid that doesn't finish with a high school degree and that matches a larger human toll. we know the potential correlation. >> what's the cost for the states doing this? >> prison, a life of prostitution and not to participate in this. >> you are against this. tell me why. >> it's a little bit of a blame the victim here where a lot of the kids that are dropping out are dropping out because of the failed system that we have in terms of the schools. and there's a little bit of too much paternalism here where we don't ask smokers to give up their driver's licenses because they're smoking. i'm in favor of doing something about the dropout rate and i think bob is actually -- is absolutely correct. we should do something about it and it is a national tragedy. i just think there's a little bit too much blame the victim here and there's not enough knee auns in these proposals. >> the states that are trying to pass this, now, lawmakers in montana as well as nevada tried to do this and it didn't work out. what makes you think it's going to pass in these other six states? >> i would only support this for minors. in other words, we have truancy laws that say kids have to be in school up to a certain age. if people support that up to 15 to 16, why wouldn't they support incentive programs involving driver's licenses that is not a right, it's a privilege, for kids who are 16 or 17? it seems to be not preposterous if you support truancy laws for younger kids. >> steven, there's the issue also if you have a lot of kids that can't go to high school. they have to drive their cars to go to work to help their families out or maybe save money for college and not necessarily dropping out of high school. they're just missing a few days. so -- >> that's right. >> what are your thoughts about that? >> i think that's right. there are a number of students who leave college early to start college -- leave high school early to start college. there are early college programs and this would penalize students who are actually academically able students. again, i'm not opposed to doing something about the dropout rate. but maybe we should tie this to school funding issues, maybe we should tie this into administrator issues and administrative issues. >> look at the grades before we enforce this maybe. if they have good grades and they're missing some classes, big deal, right? >> what we're using is blunt instrument here and i think it may be too blunt. >> i would say -- >> guys, we have to leave it there. >> ok. sorry about that. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> oops, remember that money fema handed out after katrina, after hurricane katrina. why they're asking for some of that money back. the bin laden raid sure sounded like a story straight from the movies and soon, it might actually be headed for the big screen. but it might be a disney movie? and a live look at the shuttle endeavour which is ready for launch this morning. we will check in with bill hemmer from cape canaveral after the break. kids today have superheroes that lift buildings. and superheroes that fly. but what if we could go to a place where real superheroes lived. ones who moved mountains. lifted an entire people. and taught the whole world how to fly. come see america's greatest history attraction, the henry ford. and ignite the spark of imagination in all of us. as we watch our heroes come alive in pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org. you know that comes with a private island. really? no. it comes with a hat. you see, airline credit cards promise flights for 25,00miles, but... 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[ female announcer ] beneful playful life. healthful, flavorful, beneful. dream big. beneful is awarding a $500,000 makeover for one very lucky dog park. ♪ >> space shuttle endeavour is about to go. we're about an hour and, what, 25 minutes away from blastoff. >> if there's going to be a blastoff, bill hemmer is going to be there. he's live at cape canaveral in florida for that space shuttle's final launch. where are the astronauts now and how are things looking for launch? i don't want to be let down again. >> yeah, listen, neither do we! i mean, we want to get going. i'll tell you, the astronauts, too, want to get this thing off the ground, too. it was delayed 17 days ago so, you know, endeavour is ready to go. the astronauts, they are strapped in. just listening to nasa tv right now. they were strapped in about an hour ago. they are on board the endeavour which is behind me over my left-hand shoulder, the clock countdown to my right shoulder here. they were concerned late last night about crosswinds. frankly, it's a beautiful morning here in florida today, the winds have dropped down. the flags off to my right are draping straight down. they were concerned a little bit about cloud cover, about 4,000 feet that can be an issue. they don't expect either of those factors to play a role here. on board, too, is mark kelly, the commander. it's his fourth shuttle mission, married to gabrielle giffords and guys, this is such a great american story with kelly the commander. gabby giffords flown in on sunday and also, the ultimate liftoff of arguably the most successful space program the world has ever known. endeavour's final mission and the second to last liftoff for this entire program happens about 90 minutes from now. >> mr. hemmer, i have a quick question for you. two of the astronauts on board, one of the co-pilots, his name is gregory h. johnson and one of the astronauts' name is gregory c. johnson. how are they going to keep them straight? >> yeah. i think they'll go by number one and number two. the first johnson you mentioned are the pilots so he's really -- he's really mark kelly's right-hand man and when you see inside the cockpit of the shuttle, it will be kelly sitting to the left and the first greg johnson sitting to the right. >> gotcha. >> six crew. 16 days. off they go in about 90 minutes, guys. >> we're going to be watching and toss it over to you about 8:50 and the launch is 8:56 this morning. >> thank you, mr. hemmer. >> thank you. >> and mr. doocy, sometime if the reporters give you questions to answer, and that was not one that bill hemmer requested you ask. and he still could handle it because he's hemmer. >> he did a very good job. >> he did. >> we start with your headlines and a fox news alert. word that a controlled explosion has just been carried out near buckingham palace after a bomb threat and there were reports that roads are closed leading to the palace because of that security threat. this on the eve of the queen's visit to ireland. right now, there are security checks going on in and around the mall in central london. >> another fox news alert. moments ago, a top prosecutor at the international criminal court to issue arrest warrants for libyan leader muammar el-qaddafi. his son and libya's intelligence chief. the court accuses qaddafi of crimes against humanity saying he deliberately targeted civilians in his war with the libyan rebels. the judges will now evaluate the evidence. >> do they know if assad is doing the same thing daily. a potential breakthrough into the investigation of the airfrance jet that crashed into the atlantic ocean. french investigators say they've recovered several hours of cockpit audio recordings as well as other flight data from two black boxes. those boxes found at the bottom of the ocean last week have been underwater since 2009, since it crashed. and then he feared they could be damaged but researchers are now confident they'll be able to figure out what brought that plane down that killed 228 people on board. >> coming soon, seal team 6, the disney movie? it's been two weeks since the u.s. military raid on usama bin laden's compound but it took dizzy less than two days to request a trademark for the name seal team 6. >> what? >> yep. disney applying for the rights to make seal team 6 movies, toys, games, even snow globes and christmas stockings. i know what i'm getting steve for christmas. >> thanks. you would think that the federal government would -- >> right. >> never mind. let's take a look at the weather and outside, it is raining all the way from new england down through the mid atlantic and back to the great lake states. we have action out in the olympics and the wasatch mountain ranges in the pacific northwest. it's currently dry across much of florida and the south lands as well. as you step out on this monday morning, in atlanta, you have 54 degrees. 58 in raleigh-durham. 60's along the gulf coast. 40's in the northern plains. later on today, rapid city should top out at 66. just like the route. memphis will have the same temperature. here in new york city, we're going to have 69 degrees. 76 in raleigh and then temperatures, as you can see in the 70's and the 80's along the gulf coast, tampa 80 and temperatures in the galveston area in the 80's as well. and that's a quick look at your fox travelcast and now it's time for the scoreboard with mr. kilmeade. >> around. nba eastern conference playoffs, you have the miami heat and chicago bulls. the bulls dominated especially in the second half. 28 points by derek rose who president obama thought should be the number one pick when he was. chicago cruises in game one 103-82 at home. in the west, game seven, oklahoma city, the thunder, and the memphis grizzlies was all thunder. superstars kevin durant didn't disappoint the hometown crowd after a bad game six. scored 39 points. he's really good at basketball with one year of college under his belt. the thunder win and they advance to take on mavericks in the conference finals. and the red sox looking for a sweep against the yankees sunday night. boston down 4-1 with kevin eukilis hitting a three game homer. he this started off bailey for boston, they're playing much better. david ortiz had a two-run shot of his own and a-rod would let a ball go through his legs leading to another run. the red sox would go to win 7-5. it's the first sweep in new york since 2004. to nascar now where they race fast for money and the fed ex 400 at dover international speedway. that day belonged to matt kensell. he led the league -- he took the lead with 32 laps and a key tire change helped him to beat mark martin. and he's the first driver to have two sprint cup wins on the season. that's a like quick look at what's happening in the world of sports. on xm sirius 126 and your local station, bret baier and andrea tantaros and dr. marc siegel will be joining us, not all at once. we'll spread them out over three hours. >> good deal. today, students at columbia university will graduate and start the next chapter of their lives and among the class of 2011 are three extraordinary men whose story began serving their country and now in the halls of columbia. >> good morning to you, laura. >> good morning, steve. when asked to compare their time and service to completing courses here at columbia, these three veterans say both were rigorous, both required dedication, skills that have brought them even closer together as they graduate here today. >> as a buddy, you need to do this. you don't belong here. you belong at a school like this. >> their path to graduation began on the battlefield. veterans of the war on terror, the skills they learned as marines made it possible to endure rigorous ivy league academics. but it's the core buddy system, a brotherhood that looks out for each other, that got them here and helped them through graduation. >> we keep people in check. a marine has no problem going up to another marine or former marine and saying hey, how is everything going? >> brendan was attending columbia and talked jason into applying. he did and got in. >> i wouldn't be here if i hadn't joined the marine corps, it wouldn't happen. >> in turn, he successfully encouraged 42-year-old kevin who go back to school. >> it's a matter of the people that wind up applying are people who are looking to push themselves a little bit harder because it's what they do in the military. >> more veterans attend columbia over 300 this year than any other ivy league. >> we have brilliant people who have been working in technology, covert operations. this is a very high end crowd. i say this rather bluntly. this is not affirmative action for veterans. >> and continuing this effort to encourage veterans to attend colu columbia, the ivy league has announce a partnership with the u.s. military. columbia is a founding member of the scholarship program that helps veterans with their high education today. we'll see 22 veterans graduate. hopefully next year they'll be even more. back to you. >> laura ingle live with the very latest. thank you, great report. >> coming up straight ahead, the united states handing over billions in aid to pakistan. what exactly are we getting for that loot? 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[ male announcer ] fiber one chewy bars. >> all right. time now for some headlines from the control room. you wouldn't want to be on a bus with this italian bus driver. an alert rider filmed him talking on one cell phone, texting on another cell phone while driving the bus with his knees and his elbows. the driver who was taking passengers to rome's airport has been suspended but, of course, he could keep his job. and government watchdog groups judicial watch following the first lawsuit for the release was usama bin laden death photos and they're asking the department of defense to comply with the freedom of information request making the images public. to stand by for that. mr. kilmeade, up to you. >> should the u.s. keep giving billions of dollars to pakistan? the country where usama bin laden was hiding out for more than five years in plain sight to them? william lajeuneese live now at our los angeles bureau with more on what aid to pakistan means to your wallet. >> foreign aid is always controversial but especially when you're broke and when those who receive that support appear not to like you very much. in this case, that is pakistan where despite $20 billion since 9/11, a majority, 52% of pakistanis have a negative view of the u.s. and a majority oppose our drone strikes against the taliban and see the death of bin laden as a violation of their sovereignty. cred critics say cut them off. supporters say that would be a mistake. >> redouble in economic assistance and education will be a great thing to fund because that's what the pakistani citizens want. >> the fact is that the pakistanis are treating us like fools because we're acting like fools. we're giving money to someone who obviously is working against the basic interest and the national security interest of our own country. >> 1.6 billion of our money goes to the pakistani police and military. millions more to what's called good government and democracy building, health and family planning, education, economic development and humanitarian assistance. so what does the president's proposed $3 billion? what's that going to cost you? go to the taxpayer calculator. if you earn $15,000 to $30,000, it's $1.39. earn $50,000 to 100 k, you're look being at $13. if you make $100,000 to $200,000, we're looking at $81. foreign aid is less than 2% of the federal budget and pakistan gets less than israel and egypt. but let me show you one other way to look at that $3 billion. if you exclude social security and medicare, a married couple earning $50,000 pays about $260 a year in income taxes. at that rate, 11 million americans would have to work an entire year just to pay what we give to pakistan. brian, right now, basically many say it's time to stop giving aid to pakistan and congress has lost its patience. they want to cut it off. pakistan is even saying, we're not going to let you into afghanistan if you continue those drone strikes. so it's a lot of money. so you can vote. go to the fox news web site and you can say and tell congress what you think whether or not we should give that money to pakistan or not. back to you. >> thanks, william. senator john kerry, senator of the foreign relations committee over there now and he was in afghanistan for two days saying much like that. they are on the clock. straight ahead, attention disaster victims, fema wants some money back. the government agency said it accidentally overpaid and wants them to pay up. but first, on this day on may 16th, 1868, president andrew johnson was acquitted in his impeachment trial. we had a fox news alert. steve carried it. he was saved by one vote -- thanks, steve. on this day in 1929, the first academy awards were handed out in hollywood. >> i was there for that. >> you were and you had a great time. and the number one song on this day in 1993 "that's the way love goes" by janet jackson. she's also a good dancer. vegetables have important vitamins and minerals that can really help protect you. and v8 juice gives you three of your five daily servings. powerful, right? v8. what's your number? >> imagine floods destroying everything you own and a lot of the stuff and that's exactly what happened to our next guest when the des plaines river in illinois flooded last summer. her home suffered $20,000 in damage and fema stepped in with thousands of dollars in aid but now they want their money back. they say they made a mistake. christine holmquist joins us now from chicago in the process of repealing fema's repayment demands. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> so you had $20,000 worth of damage. you saw something on tv or on the radio where it said, from fema, come get some money if you're affected. what did you decide to do? >> well, we saw the fact that it was claimed a disaster area and we were able to see fema. we went to the place where fema was and they told us we were eligible even though we had insurance because the amount that we had in terms of the disaster area was over and above our insurance. >> so you went in and then fema sent somebody out to your house to make sure what you had said was true, right? >> yes. fema sent someone out, a representative. they inspected our property and they said that we were definitely eligible. we had lost a furnace and a lot of our appliances and many of our walls. and they said we were definitely eligible for approximately $5400 worth of money. from fema. >> and so they sent you a check for that amount and you spent it. you had $20,000 worth of damage. >> exactly. >> then seven months later, fema gets a hold of you and says hey, christine, whoops, we blew it. we made a mistake. you have to pay the money back? >> yes, we have a letter seven months later that said, we have to pay the money back. we made a mistake. and not only did they ask for the money back but they wanted it within 30 days or we would have a penalty. >> man. what are you going to do? i know you're a senior citizen on a fixed income. you don't have $5400 to give back to the federal government. >> exactly. we've spent that $5400 putting up our walls that were destroyed. and consequently, no longer have that $5400. we are senior citizens. we're on a fixed income. that money is not readily available to us. >> sure. >> and we did put an appeal into fema which they denied. we have a second appeal in to them for hardship. >> right. and the thing about a hardship appeal which you've already made is when you say to federal government, look, i'm on a fixed income or other extenuating circumstances, i'm unable to fulfill that obligation, but by the way, why did fema say you weren't entitled to the money? >> they said we weren't entitled to the money because $10,000 was given to us by our insurance company. we gave that documentation to fema at the time we made the application. they said that $20,000 in damage, $10,000 back only was $10,000 difference and they said the basic things that were wrong, the furnace and so forth was only $8,000 and something so consequently, they didn't feel obligated to pay the rest of it. >> oh, man. here's the statement from fema. they say fema along with other federal agencies governmentwide has long been legally required by congress to identify cases in which federal assistance may have been improperly distributed and to recover those funds even in cases of human error or mistake. well, and that's what happened. fema blew it. some nitwits gave you the money, christine and now you're obligated apparently to give the money back. what are you going to do? >> well, i've written to both of my senators and i've written to my congressman. and the president of our village of elmwood park, illinois, very close to chicago has given us some input in terms of what can possibly be done. it's my understanding also that mark pryor, the governor -- i mean, the senator from arkansas is in the process of trying to talk to the congress so that they would allow us to have this money back. >> well, you're not alone. i understand that fema improperly made payments to $643 million worth of victims in katrina and now they'll want the money back from those people as well. >> that was quite a while back. >> thank you very much for telling us your story. it is absolutely heartbreaking. all right. straight ahead, a fox news alert. a bomb threat in london, details breaking at the top of the hour and if bin laden is dead, is our job done over there? secretary gates says troops can come home but at what cost? and when? we report, you decide. top of the hour. this is monday's "fox & friends." ♪ hello sunshine, sweet as you can be ♪ [ female announcer ] wake up to sweetness with honey nut cheerios cereal. kissed with real honey. and the 100% natural whole grain oats can help lower your cholesterol. you are so sweet to me. bee happy. bee healthy. with less chronic low back pain. imagine living your life with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a non-narcotic treatment that's fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing of the skin or eyes. talk with your doctor about your medicines, including those for migraine, or if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles, to address a possible life-threatening condition. tell your doctor about alcohol use, liver disease, and before you reduce or stop taking cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. side effects include nausea, dry mouth, and constipation. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. jennifer hudson is our little cousin. jennifer shined a newight on everything. she really inspired me. i said to myself, "if she can do it, i can do it." weight watchers pointsplus makes you slow down and think about the things that you put in your body. on weight watchers, our family and friends have lost over a thousand pounds. i still can't believe it. ♪ and i'm feeling good ♪ and i'm feeling good go on, join for free. weight watchers new pointsplus. because it works. >> ainsley: good morning. it's may 16. i'm ainsley earhart. time is up, america, we hit the debt ceiling today. so why hasn't congress done anything? >> i'm ready to cut the deal today. no more kicking the can down the road. no more whistling past the graveyard. >> ainsley: which side is delaying the deal? we report. you decide. >> steve: wild weather crossing two continents in. south america, water taking out everything in its path. in north america, the mississippi rise to go record highs. a live report from rick coming up. >> brian: the final count down, a live look at the shuttle endeavor on the launch pad asanas counts down the final minutes to the last ever shutting expedition. we'll talk to -- we'll take you live to cape canaveral where bill hemmer will be. "fox & friends" starts right now. >> steve: yep. brian, you're right. this hour we will see the second to the last shuttle flight toward the endeavor and bill hemmer will take over exactly 50 minutes from last now. >> ainsley: what's the last one? atlanta? >> steve: might be. >> ainsley: we start with fox news alert. british police confirmed a bomb threat in london from a dissident irish republican group. right now we are -- they are urging the public to remain vigilant in that area. tomorrow the queen is due to make the first visit ever to the republic of island since it won independence. the head of the international monetary fund due in court today on charges of sexually assaulting a maid at a hotel in times square. dominique strauss is expected to plead not guilty. his arraignment was delayed last night after he agreed to undergo dna testing. a maid picked him out of a line - up. he was arrested at the airport. >> brand-new images from singapore capture -- singapore capturing an emergency landing. the air bus' engine burst into flames in midair. look at the pictures. horrified passengers immediately started praying when their plane began to shake violently after two sharp bangs. fortunately, the flight carrying 136 people did land safely. it was headed to jakarta, indonesia. and take a look at this torrential flood in columbia, south america where people there are facing some of the heaviest rain in years. folks are using ropes, as you can see, to try to keep their cars from floating down the street. i think that car is probably had it anyway. i don't know if you can save that. they're doing all this to keep the cars from falling down the streets and roads and buildings are flooded. 3 million people have been displaced from their homes. no deaths or injuries reported so far. >> steve: more extreme weather in our own backyard. water from the mississippi river continues to rush through the morganza spillway, heading toward hundreds of homes, million of acres and farms in louisiana. >> brian: reich reichmuth is with us in louisiana. hey, rick. >> hey. yeah, keep in mind, the mississippi river cresting 300 miles north of here, but the water flows so heavy when you get to the spillway area that they had to release it. nine of the 125 gates open at this point, releasing almost 100,000 cubic square feet per second. this is what's going to happen. this area will get flooded and now people are sandbagging, putting tarping all the way up the house. if it gets to 29 feet that's expected, that will put water right around here. you get everything out of here that you can and the good part is they have warning and they have some time. so people are loading it up. in some cases, into these mini storage units that will get pulled off. other people loading up and moving to where they can. notice across the way, more roads -- this road and more homes, more water on the other side of that, the water likely will cover this entire area and flood all of these homes. about 75% of the structures here expected to take on water of some sort. how much water and for how long will depend on -- will make the difference on people's lives afterwards and on these homes. but some areas, depending on the height and the elevation, but if your home is on ten feet high above sea level versus five, that will make a big difference. this is what some of the people are doing. some of the people realize that's too much, they're just getting their stuff and getting out. that's the good news. they have time in this case. it probably won't crest here for seven to ten days. but this entire area will be under water and it's kind of a hard pill to swallow for people knowing they had to open up the spillway and do this all to spare expenses across the mississippi river, areas like baton rouge and new orleans, as well as oil refineries and chemical plants. so big concerns to save that and it will all come at a price. that will be this area right here. >> brian: is there some anger among the people about this, the sacrifice? >> yeah. it's a mix. some people are a little angry. some people get it. some people have saying, why didn't they open it up three or four weeks ago and allow it to flow out more slowly and then it wouldn't have to flood like this? it's a big toss-up that the army corps of engineers had to deal with and this is what they had to drew. >> steve: we thank you very much. let's talk about the speaker of the house. he was on the sunday morning show on cbs yesterday, talking about cutting the deficit. he says our president of the united states, barak obama, is not serious about cutting the deficit. he said he's spoken to the president many times privately. he also said this. >> i'm ready to cut the deal today. we don't have to wait until the 11th hour. but i am not going to walk away from this moment. no more kicking the can down the road, no more whistling past the graveyard and now is the time to deal with the fiscal problems we have in an adult-like manner, including medicare? >> medicare, medicaid. everything should be on the table, except raising taxes because raising taxes will hurt our economy and hurt our ability to create jobs in our country. >> brian: he said 40% of the top 1% wage earners pay 40% of the total taxes in this country. we don't want to tax them. we want to earn our way out of this debt problem. he also said he can see we will raise the debt ceiling at some point, but what cost? the one thing that has been heartening is that the gallup poll, 44 people said no, we shouldn't raise the debt ceiling. 19% said no. >> ainsley: but you have to. there is no other option. right? >> brian: well, the thing is, this is what the so-called economic expert said. we can't be out of money if we have this much money coming in. they could cut on the fly, which is something the republicans and many americans and independents want. the other thing is, we've extended it to august. >> steve: i think they said that would be the absolute end because they shifted some dough around. what you've got going here then is the republicans, in the form of the speaker said, we're for everything except increasing taxes. you look at what the president of the united states said last week at that town hall he did will with harry smith, where he said we're looking at $2 trillion worth of spending cuts going forward, and then looking at probably $1 trillion in revenue from those of us, quote, who can afford to pay a little bit more. because i think the concept, shared sacrifice, is something that most americans believe in. do you think most americans believe in the idea of shared sacrifice? i think a lot of people feel they've sacrificed enough. >> brian: right. that's true, steve. 8 minutes after the hour. as we've been telling you all long, space shuttle endeavor will take off for its final shuttle mission. we still have one more. >> ainsley: astronaut carl walsh logged over 200 days in space, including a trip in 2001 and he joins us from a dc bureau. how are you feeling about this? you've been in this shuttle and it's being retired. pretty emotional for you? >> it is because i remember as a young captain watching my first space shuttle land back in 1983. so here we are, it's 2011 and we're looking at the last two flights coming up. so obviously it made a big change in my life, getting to be an astronaut. it's very sad to see this era pass. >> steve: sure. it's the end of the road. carl, my entire life i've looked to the guys down in texas and in florida to shoot rockets off with people on board. now, because the president of the united states has essentially ended manned space flight, what's next? >> well, i think that human space flight will continue. >> steve: in this country? >> we'll still be flying to the space station. we'll be launching on the russian one, but we need a new system so we can have a u.s. capability to take crews to the space station and yeah, there is a lot of uncertainty out there about how we're going to accomplish that. i know that we're going to develop new capabilities. the company i work for, orbital sciences, is building a cargo vehicle that will carry cargo to the space station and that's pretty well underway and we'll be flying in december. but as far as crew, yeah, it's still kind of uncertain. >> brian: i keep hearing about private industry making some noise and doing something and word about a space plane. anything happening in the private sector that's encouraging? >> nasa selected several companies to continue development of their concepts and so we'll have to see what comes of that. nasa has this multipurpose crew vehicle which was from the constellation program and that's still being developed as well. so there is a couple of systems out there and we'll see how that all comes to fruition. >> steve: all right. carl, we thank you very much for your service to the nation and we thank you for shedding perspective on the final launch of the endeavor later on this morning -- this hour, in fact. >> ainsley: that's right. >> you're welcome. >> brian: one city's top muslim leader busted with ties to terror and pakistan? america's top cop, john timoney, helped work the case and is here next with what we know right now. >> ainsley: then big changes in the republican race for president this weekend. there could be another big development today. details on donald trump's big announcement and he's not saying he's fired. something else. >> steve: from broadway to "glee," kristen chenowith live on the curvy couch. >> brian: she's a good singer. funny thing about vegetables... they fill you up without filling you out. yes! v8 juice gives you three of your five daily servings of vegetables. that's what i'm talking about! v8. what's your number? 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[ children shouting ] [ grunts ] [ whacking piñata ] [ whacking piñata, grunting ] >> brian: the imam of the florida mosque and two of his sons arrested and accused of funneling money to the pakinstani taliban. the charges claim that the group transferred $50,000 and there is evidence they may have sent even more money. >> steve: john timoney was the miami police commissioner in 2008 when investigators say the money transfers supposedly took place and he joins us from miami. good morning to you. >> good morning, steve, brian. >> steve: all right. so this case started on your watch. so you are familiar with the beginnings of it. right? >> yeah. i was the co-chair, along with john from the f.b.i. of the south florida task force. in this case, among others, you know, began in 2008, which is why some of the allegations that this is a rush to judgment to coincide with the death of bin laden is crazy. this is a typical case that took time, took almost three years to come to fruition. >> brian: so what could you tell us now that you couldn't tell us before the arrests were announced because you got the two sons and the 70 something-year-old imam, $50,000 seems kind of low considering how big this could be. right? how high can this go in terms of financing? >> well, it's not dissimilar to other fund-raisers that you see, whether it's 50,000 or 100,000. it's coming from a variety of sources that can add up. then when you look at what a dollar can get you in a place like pakistan as opposed to miami or new york, that money, while 50,000 may seem like not a lot of money, actually it can buy quite a bit of weapons. >> steve: sure. it goes a long way over there. the way i understand it, in your community, the muslim community has been very helpful toward the police and also the f.b.i. in trying to root out the extremists. right? >> that's been i guess, if you will, the most pleasant outcome of this, that muslim leaders from a variety of organizations, not just come out and support it, but did a press conference supporting both the f.b.i. and the justice department saying that their organizations and their community, you know, would not suffer or try and tolerate or cover for, if you will, somebody that was suspected of terrorism. so that was really a pleasing point of this whole operation. >> brian: commissioner, you had this case that came to fruition and we'll see if there are more arrests. but in terms of bin laden. you've run three major cities, are you getting the sense something is in the pipeline, some type of revenge? >> you know, i speak of my fellow chiefs all the time. we've always been fearful of lone wolf. we've seen it in fort hood and other cases. it's always a possibility. however, with the death of bin laden, that possibility i think moved up to a probability. my sense is it's likely whether it's a lope wolf or something more organized. there will be some kind of retaliation, whether here, in britain, or some part of western europe. >> steve: what we heard from the hand drawn bin laden journals was maybe not new york, maybe some smaller cities like l.a. or chicago. chief timoney, we thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you very much. >> brian: speaking of pakistan, it took us more than a decade to find bin laden. but pakistan, they may have known his hiding spot as early as 2007. a former spy tells all. >> steve: kristen chenowith with her role on "glee," coming up live on "fox & friends." >> brian: i wonder if she'll sing for us. some say i've done it all. i say i'm just getting started. i wear what i love, because expression means everything. ♪ too hot to trot some say i'm one-of-a-kind. i say i'm so chico's. that's ever happened to cinnamon. introducing cinnamon burst cheerios. 20% daily value of fiber bursting with the delicious taste of cinnamon. new cinnamon burst cheerios. prepare your taste buds. >> ainsley: she's no stranger to the silver screen or to broadway. kristen chenowith is back for more episodes on "glee." >> excuse me. you know where a gal can find a piping hot cup of little schuster? >> oh, my god! april, what are you doing here? i thought you were on broadway. >> i was. my production of thes with the wiz "was a d zach. >> steve: she's now starring in a brand-new tv series called "good christian bells" and joins us live. >> hi. >> steve: this particular new show is based in dallas. i understand they've changed the names. >> why, i don't know of which you speak? yes, it's based on a book by kim gatlin, an amazing christian, awesome christian lady. she wrote a book and i think abc felt like good christian bells would be fun. tell everybody what you thought i said earlier. >> brian: i thought you said -- >> steve: no. >> brian: never mind. >> ainsley: you're living in dallas during the shooting, right? >> we shot the pilot in dallas, we'll either shoot in l.a. or new york. so excited about it. it's about women who are in church and that's kind of their base. but their lives -- >> ainsley: i'll definitely be watching. >> you'll know and love every one of these characters. >> brian: normally when people take on a project like this, they think it's going to be a lot of work. but after broadway, this is going to be like a walk in the park. isn't broadway too brutal? >> it's not for wimps. it's hard. but it's so gratifying to be in front of a live audience. >> steve: about two weeks ago, the kids from "glee" were right over here in times square filming the finale -- >> i know! >> steve: you have been on "glee" three times so far. you are such a crowd pleaser. that's got to be fun. >> i love it. what i love is working, getting to sing and do your thing on camera. "glee" made music so popular and when i -- like the episode i did, it was about fleetwood mac and you watch, the star comes back, all their records come out again and i love that for artists and me 'cause i have an album coming out. >> brian: in high school, i don't remember women like you singing to me. i'm not sure that that ever happened! >> i would have if i had known you. i always try to find ways to sing. >> steve: "glee" is a big fan favorite at our house. my kids love it. tell us something about the "glee" show that we don't know. >> well, i don't think people realize, maybe you do realize this because you guys are journalists know how much rehearsal there has to go into all of the singing and dancing, especially for those kids. they live on that set. >> brian: plus they have school and they have to study. >> yes. exactly. can you imagine? of course, when you're 20, 18, 17, you can do that. >> ainsley: i cannot stop looking at you and thinking of three christmases in the cutie k. i love that. >> i loved that movie, too. >> steve: what are you talking about? >> ainsley: it's the cutest movie. >> with reese witherspoon's. >> ainsley: she's making fun of her sister. we did so many stories on those moon whatever, i call them the jump stories because of you. >> steve: can i give you a compliment? >> yes. >> steve: you have beautiful white teeth. >> do you think? >> steve: the reason i say that, i know you teamed up with listerine. but something like 46% of americans don't smile in pictures because they're embarrassed because they don't have white teeth. >> they don't think their smile is pretty and i didn't know that until i started working with them. i get a lot of compliments on my teeth. seems like a natural fit and they're doing a new video series on-line, your mouth has something to say. it's all about the power behind your smile. i love it because every time somebody watches a video, listerine donates to america's tooth fairy, an organization that helps kids. i encourage people to check it out and not to be ashamed of your smile. the smile, like the eyes, are the window to our soul. >> steve: if people would like to know where to download that, go to our web site and we'll have the information up a little later on. >> brian: can you use the cap to rinse? do you use the measuring cap? >> ainsley: if you're not wearing lipstick? >> yes, and don't share it with anybody else. >> steve: always a pleasure. >> thanks. >> ainsley: you are just adorable. >> thank you. >> steve: all right. straight ahead, sure, they're against the law, but that's not stopping them. six figure retirement checks for government employees, vacation money. wait until you hear this. >> ainsley: then make way for those machines, mcdonald's is taking a bold step to make fast food even faster. what will it cost you? >> brian: as long as it's good for you, i'm happy. we're live to cape canaveral of the we'll bring threw where it's less than an hour until the final launch of the space shuttle endeavor. you'll see it right here. >> steve: 19 minutes. >> ainsley: your headlines. a fox news alert. a top prosecutor has asked the international criminal court to issue arrest warrants for moammar gadhafi, his son, and libya's intelligence chief. they accuse gadhafi of crimes against humanity, saying he deliberately targeted civilians in his war with the libyan rebels. the judges will evaluate the evidence before deciding whether to issue arrest warrants. brian? >> brian: potential breakthrough into the investigation of the air france jet that crashed into the atlantic ocean. french investigators say they recovered several hours now of cockpit audio recordings, as well as other flight data from two black boxes. those boxes found at the bottom of the ocean last week, have been under water since 2009. that crash, of course, many feared it would be damaged after all that time. but researchers are confident they'll be able to figure out what brought that plane down, killing 228 people. >> steve: an internet craze called planking turns deadly for a man from australia. it's a planking -- people lay face down, balancing on objects with their arms to their sides to make it look like they're lying on a plank and it's planking. as the craze has grown, people are attempting more dangerous stunts trying to outdo each other. now police say a man in brisbane yesterday died when he fell seven stories while he was trying to plank on a balcony. >> ainsley: next time you're in europe and you want a happy meal, a machine might take your order. the financial times reporting mcdonald's in europe is gearing up to replace cashier's and paper currency with touch screens and cards. mcdonald's believes that this could shorten transactions by three to four seconds per customer and plan to expand their menu. brian, if you eat mcdonald's when you go to europe, i will hurt you. you save that for home. >> brian: right. >> steve: i've eaten at mcdonald's there. >> ainsley: you have? why, you can get that at home. >> brian: because the kids beg you. >> steve: i like my fries. >> brian: they don't like the cuisine. what do they have? nails? >> steve: they do. >> brian: kids don't like snails. even if you get them quick. we're a half hour away from the next to last launch of the space shuttle endeavor. phil is here with more. >> good morning, brian. we are now just about 20 minutes away from the expected blastoff, the last ever for space shuttle endeavor, the next to last space shuttle mission in the story 30 years space program for nasa. truly one of the most impresssive space programs ever as far as human beings have ever known. it is on the launch pad. 39 a right now. the weather is really nice. there was a concern yesterday that cross winds would be too strong, low cloud ceiling as well, but the winds are really moderate, if mild, and the clouds don't look to be too much of a problem either. also on hand flying in from houston yesterday, the commander, mark kelly's wife, gabrielle giffords, who remains in rabbittive recovery in houston after being shot in the head in january after that horrific assassination attempt. she's excited to be here and the congresswoman is doing well. >> she is doing really well. the last couple of days are full of adrenaline and excitement, seeing him for the last time yesterday, saying good-bye, being here in florida. it's nice to take a break from the humdrum of the hospital, as good as it is, but everybody needs a break. she's doing really well. >> everybody is so excited, the fact that she was able to make it from houston here 2 1/2 weeks ago and again yesterday because as one of the mission managers put it, she is nasa family. everybody pulling for her and a healthy recovery. she does have to have cranial reconstructive surgery sometime this year. then her staff hopes after that, she will eventually be released from rehabilitation and then do outpatient therapy. but right now, 8:54 a.m. eastern time, we are looking at no problems right now on the launch pad and everybody here starting to gather on the count down lock and get very excited. >> steve: allall right. phil keating reporting live. >> brian: if you're in the area, probably it will take six hours to get out because everybody is pulled off on the side of the road. i always love watching "60 minutes" but last night they had a guy on that i never heard of. a spy chief in afghanistan at 19 years old, he was fighting against the taliban in afghanistan and he has since resigned his post because of corruption and other reasons. he's been trying to kill him, but this guy knows exactly what's going on and what the problem is in that area and it's really not in afghanistan as much as in pakistan. >> steve: in fact, about four years ago, he had an occasion to be in the same room with the president of pakistan and he went over to him and said, i can tell you exactly where osama bin laden is. remember in public, he's going, yeah, we're trying to find him. we're trying to root him out. he told him exactly where it was. okay. the guy was off by ten miles. but he was exactly right. why didn't pakistan do anything about it? because they're not on our side. listen to this. >> the amount of pain pakistan has inflicted upon the united states in the past 12 years is unprecedented. they take your money, they do not cooperate. they created the taliban. they are number one in nuclear proliferation. you name it, every pain u.s. has in that part of the world, the hub of that is pakistan. >> ainsley: they generate fear, they take our money, they create the taliban. >> steve: we know where the taliban is, apparently -- they know where the taliban is, hiding in pakistan, to the point where the afghannies have given the pakinstanis the actual phone numbers of top taliban members, nothing. >> brian: you got to wonder if we know that and have for a while, are we going to take action? >> ainsley: president obama was on "60 minutes" last week and he said pakistan since 9-11 has been a strong counterterrorism partner with us and -- >> steve: it's really working out. >> brian: khalid shaikh mohammed and others, they did help get the guy and this other guy, all found there. that might be the other issue. the other thing we were talking about today is that -- you know how the dire straits california is in. they can not keep up with their payments for pensions and other promises and are laying off people today because they can't afford to pay the people who used to work for them. >> steve: they've got this program and last year, they paid out $300 million in departure payments. you know how in private industry, if you have two or three weeks of vacation, if you don't roll it over and you don't use it, you lose it. apparently in the state of california, if your manager says, okay, go ahead and roll it over. we need you at work, you can do that. >> brian: and get paid for it instead of just having it. >> steve: to the point where some people are retiring and wind up with several years worth of pay. they detail one prison doctor, i think, who wound up with -- 18594 -- $594,000. >> steve: $600,000 worth of good-bye money. >> ainsley: the state is only supposed to allow you to roll over 80 days. they're not monitoring it clearly. this guy got to roll over the $600,000.02 1/2 years worth of vacation that he didn't take. >> brian: we want to get your response. let's start with the e-mail. one man says i serve in the military and our policy is use it or lose it. in total, you're allowed to sell back 60 days in a career. 80 days in california. they made exceptions for way too many people. >> ainsley: the other side says, those days were earned. why do you want to penalize responsible employees who took advantage of what was there? or what was theirs? >> steve: here is another thing from the twitter machine with way money is now, the use it or lose it vacation plan should be in place, especially for state and local governments. keep in mind, if they had managers who were really on the case saying, i'm not going to give you that opportunity to roll it over, maybe then they wouldn't have this abuse. >> brian: by the way, that guy looked like a good catholic. simply the pleading has to stop. from local government to federal government and that is conner todd iii. as a baby, he has a lot to say. >> steve: keep them coming. in the meantime, 19 minutes before the top of the hour. donald trump set to make a big decision. what he's reportedly getting ready to announce. we'll give you what we know straight ahead. >> ainsley: this guy can do it all. drive, text, talk, all at the same time. do you think he'll get his job back? look at this video. >> brian: why not your checkbook? >> ainsley: you don't want to miss this one. ♪ professional driver on a closed course. ♪ do not attempt at home. always wear your seat belt. ♪ and please drive responsibly. 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[ hero dog ] i'm gonna need a bigger mouth! the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu. >> ainsley: quick check of the headlines. a big board room meeting for mr. donald trump. he is talking with the execs at nbc and will announce whether he'll run for president or he'll shoot another season of "celebrity apprentice." and you don't want to be on this bus. look at this bus driver. an alert rider caught him talking on his cell phone with one hand, texting with the other, and then driving with his knees and his elbows. the driver is now suspended, but could get his job back. >> steve: i wonder if he's also got a blue tooth on the other side. we're minutes away from the final launch of the space shuttle endeavor. our next guest knows what the astronauts are going through as they're strapped in because he was aboard space shuttle discovery and the first and second hubbell space telescope missions as well. >> brian: joining us right now from kansas city is former astronaut and professor of physics, dr. steven holly. are you somewhat mixed emotions right now because this program is winding down? >> yes, i think so very much. it would be nice for people to have a cans to reflect back on what the shuttle has accomplished over 30 years, but it is sad to see it come to an end at this point. >> steve: the space shuttle has been the ultimate space pick up truck, whatever we needed to haul into space, it's been a good servant. going forward, doctor, what are we going to do? how are we going to get stuff up to the space station and other fix-it missions? >> well, that's a good question. the hope is that a commercial provider will be available to launch at least provisions, maybe ultimately crew. in the near term, the russian also provide transportation for our astronauts. >> steve: hitch a ride. >> ainsley: do you think this is a big mistake to end the program? >> you can't really answer that question i think without knowing more accurately what's coming next. the shuttle is old and the shuttle only goes to a certain orbit. ultimately i think nasa needs to push the boundaries of exploration and the shuttle can't do that. i'm in favor of replacing something new. it's also important to acknowledge that it was built to take advantage of shuttle's up and down capability and whether or not the station will really miss that capabilities remains to be seen. >> brian: you look at this mission in particular, besides this being significant because it's second to last ever, what are they doing? >> well, it's important to continue to provision the space station and as you all mentioned earlier on the program, this mission will carry to the station something called the alpha magnetic spectrometer. it will take advantage of the opportunity to be in space at a facility like space station for the next ten years and look for exotic things like antimatter and dark matter in the university. >> steve: doctor, this administration has killed the manned space flight for the united states of america going forward. so what does that do with regard to our standing in the world community? so far, throughout history, we've always kind of led the charge after sputnik, now what? >> that's a good question. it's hard to proclaim yourself as a leader in place flight if you can't even launch your own astronauts. it's clearly been a matter of national prestige for the space program and you can look and see what china and russia are doing. it will be interesting to see how this plays out. i hope we don't get complacent with the fact that we're going to be no longer the leaders in human space flight. >> steve: have we gotten our money's worth with the space shuttle program? >> i think very definitely. although to some extent, it remains to be seen what's next. if we abanden our exploration initiatives, then our investment is still worthwhile, but it won't pay off to the extent if we take advantage of the lessons learned and push beyond. >> ainsley: what stories stand out when -- 'cause obviously we've never been to space and never will have that opportunity. what's it like? what story comes to mind? >> for me personally, i think it was the opportunity to be involved with the great observatories. i'm an astronomer by training and got to participate in launching hubbell and launching the observatory and going back and upgrading hubbell in 1997. so for me, it's a very, very important memory to think about what the shuttle has done to enable advancements in astro fizzics and astronomy. >> steve: two specialties you have there at the university of kansas. we thank you very much for joining us live to talk about the shuttle on this history day. >> thank you. >> steve: my alma matter. so there it is. officially it will launch in the next five or six minutes, special coverage of the space shuttle endeavor launch continues right now on america's news room live from the cape with billy and ali. >> good morning, everyone. this is an american triumph set to make its final curtain call. we're now waiting lift - off of the space shuttle endeavor and all systems right now are a go on this remarkable day for america's space program. good morning from florida. i'm bill hemmer live at the kennedy space center at florida. we could not have picked a better day. and as we pick this day today to watch shuttle endeavor make history, only moments away from what will be the endeavor's final mission to space and the second to last shuttle mission ever. endeavor has logged 116 million miles to date. it averages 4 1/2 million miles every time it lifts off. this will be its 25th and final time here in florida. leading this flight and what a great american story unfolding before us today, the astronaut, mark kelly, the husband of the congresswoman, gabrielle giffords, out of arizona who 4 1/2 months ago survived a gunshot wound, bullet that passed through her brain. she arrived here in florida on sunday around noontime. there were no pictures. no pictures taken, no pictures released. she was also here 17 days ago when endeavor was originally scheduled to lift off. but there was a computer issue, a wiring issue that has since been worked out and therefore, that lift - off was postponed until today. but gabrielle giffords will be sitting off to our right, a couple hundred yards shrouded behind a black curtain. but she's here to watch her husband command this mission. i want to bring in our former astronaut, tom jones, also a fox news contributor, and gene, a remarkable man in his own right. a former astronaut and the last man to walk on the moon. gentlemen, good morning to you both. tom, you have flown four times on the shuttle mission. what is this six-member crew, the six men, six astronauts going through at the moment? >> bill, you want to clear your mind right now, focus on the very few checklist items remaining to lift off, and then you hope that your mind and your skills can keep up with this race to orbit. it's a bone shaking, rattling right. there is a big what will lop to the seat -- wallop to the seat. you have to concentrate and be prepared to deal with any emergency that might crop up during the 8 1/2 minutes to orbit. this is what it all comes down to. all of your 2 1/2 or three years of train something focused on these next few minutes of your performance. >> i'm watching the countdown clock behind me. we're 3 1/2 minutes as we await lift - off. gene, you have watched this space shuttle program grow from the fledgling program as it started 30 years ago to incredible triumph in space. it is arguably the single greatest space program this planet has ever known. now it starts to wind down. how does that feel? >> well, it doesn't feel very good. we've lived -- the shuttle lived through triumph and tragedy over the years, the finest flying machine that i believe ever been designed, built and flown. it's in its prime of its life. and it's really the only delivery vehicle we can -- that has the capability to support the space station, which in itself is a great asset that will be out there for a while. i think it's very premature to put the shuttle in a museum at this point in time. but it's going to happen, unfortunately. >> we will see one more lift - off. that will happen we believe sometime in july. that will be atlantis before the entire program is shuttered. tom, i know you have a lot of strong feelings on that also and i can imagine those feelings are a bit mixed today. you've seen the success of this program. gene mentioned a good thing and that is this is in the prime of its performance. these shuttles, they've been rolled out here and they lift off and it is done almost like clockwork and we forget the challenger in 1986 often. we forget reentry for columbia in 2003. we forget the lives that have been holy spirit trying to build this program. it has been a tremendous sacrifice of blood and treasure, but yet, the american nasa program has accomplished all of it. and it is unmatched in this world today, tom. >> it's true that we're retiring the shuttle i think without a clear picture of what's coming next. we're retiring and dissipating the talent, the human talent, the skills that we've built up in this country that can accomplish these things in space over the last 30 years. we've seen so many tremendous accomplishments of the shuttle. the retirement of the shuttle has always been paired with the promise of something more ambitious beyond. that's what we're lacking today. so the retirement is going ahead. the budget has been flat. and i think that we've missed the second part of this story and we've failed at the congressional and presidential level to tell americans what's coming next. i think that's the lost promise. you retire the shuttle because of a lack of an escape system, the risk is high for the shuttle. we can build a better ship than this, but we fail to follow through. >> gentlemen, thank you. we're listening to nasa tv now. we're approaching the one minute mark for lift - off. i just want to listen to nasa tv and hear the back and forth between the astronauts. launch pad 39 a, we're at the one minute mark, america, as we watch and wait for lift - off. >> closing the liquid hydrogen drain valves. the handoff to endeavor's on board computers. 31 seconds and the happened-off has occurred. >> 25. 20. >> firing chain is armed. pressure water system is armed. >> eight, seven, six, four, three, two, one. zero and lift - off for the final launch of endeavor. expanding our knowledge, expanding our lives in space. >> roger, roll, endeavor. >> houston is now controlling. endeavor rolling on its back. endeavor begins the course for a 136 by 36-mile orbit. >> three engines throttling down as endeavor passes through the area of maximum dynamic pressure on the vehicle and lower atmosphere. approaching one minute into the flight. >> endeavor, go at throttle up. >> go at throttle up, roger. >> enter's three main engines now back at full throttle. all three engines in good shape. endeavor's already traveling 1300 miles per hour at an altitude of 11 miles down range from the kennedy space center now. 12 miles. at lift - off, endeavor fully fueled, weighed 4 1/2 million pounds. it's already lost half that weight in propellant now burned that weight. next event is burn out and separation of the twin solid rocket boosters. that upcoming here shortly at the two minute, three second point. those boosters are burning 11,000 pounds of fuel per second. this view, looking down the external fuel tank the orbiter on the top as endeavor continues to power its wa