Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Americas Newsroom 20150130

Gitmo. The taliban have been engaged in terror tactics. There are a significant number of american and military personnel in afghanistan that are in harms way. The taliban is a Center Dangerous organization. Bill Leland Vittert leads our coverage. Reporter it continues to be a tough week for this white house when it comes to National Security matters. They cant seem to catch a break. This is the latest installment of bad news for the white house. The five Prisoners Released in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl were called a taliban generals. Intelligence intercepts said one of them called his old buddies in pakistan or afghanistan. Something the pentagon, though, says they can deal with. We have a good Security Partnership with qatar and we are comfortable at the state department we can mitigate any threats posed by these individuals in terms of terrorist activity. Reporter the pentagon says so far none of these men have returned to the battlefield per se. But you can imagine the grilling the white house is bracing for at the press conference at 12 30. How are they able to call somebody they knew was a bad guy and the larger question is america really safer today with these five guys in qatar than they were with them in Guantanamo Bay . Bill what does it mean for shutting gitmo . Reporter the president is clear he will do what he needs to do to close gitmo. Hes willing to do it unilaterally. A number of folks on capitol hill have been sounding the alarm bells about the fact that onethird of the people who leave gitmo somehow revert back to their old ways of terror. Something republicans are very concerned about. We are down to the last several hundred incredibly dangerous and incredibly problematic individuals. Whats happening there . We have a policy that says send them out. Reporter so the question is what exactly can all these folks sounding alarm bells do about it . There are a lot of people on capitol hill who dont want these people released. They say we need to keep them in Guantanamo Bay. On the other hand the president has prove fn he wants to let people out hes going to do it. Bill martha has more. Martha the taliban claimed responsible for an attack on an airport in kabul that killed three american contractors. Officials say the taliban fight for wore an Afghan Police uniform and managed to infiltrate thing ranks of afghanistans military to pull off this attack. There are over 10,000 u. S. Soldiers and military contractors in the country serving support roles to the afghan military. Bill jack keane called the prisoner swap for Bowe Bergdahl a bad thing from the beginning. Jack keane is coming up on that. Martha a deadline has passed for the possible prisoner swap and still no word on the fate of the jordanian military pilot and the japanese hostage being held by isis. The terror group demanded jordan release the wouldbe suicide bomber showing off the outfit she wore that did not detonate in 2005. She is wants neksd change for this pilot. Conor powell is live on this . Jerusalem. Are the three sides still in discussions here . Reporter not a lot. There is no real word coming out from anybody in this part of the world about whats going on, whether the talks are continuing and whether the fate of the two hostages both jordanian and japanese officials are indicating they are actively working on this with the implication being the hostages are still alive. The japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe says they are making every effort to free kiny go the japanese hostage. Jordan is willing to do the deal but they want proof of life that the pilot is still alive. Thats been the main request. No deal will go forward until they get proof the pilot is still alive. Isis hasnt provided any information about his whereabouts. Martha we are in uncharted territory here. This is an unusual situation the proof of life issue is a big deal. Do we have an update on goto at all . Reporter we are 24 hours past that deadline when goto was going to be executed. We havent heard anything about him or the jordanian pilot but we dont know whats going on in syria with isis right now. But jordanian and japanese officials continue to work on this. There does seem to be a deal in place and efforts the largest and Biggest Issue is whether this jordanian pilot is still alive. If hes alive the structure is there. Jordan is willing to release this diedlinked militant. We are 24 hours past the deadline, its anybodys guess what would happen Going Forward. Martha lets hope time is on our side. Bill is today the day mitt romney will make a decision . A Conference Call will happen with supporters. Chris stirewalt is with me now. Good morning to you. Trying to read between the lines here. A couple folks saying this is the day. But they work somewhere else. What do we expect . All things are possible. The universe is a large and unusual place. Fit would be exceedingly unusual for a president ial candidate to announce his candidates i on a Conference Call his candidacy on a Conference Call with donors. Mitt romney is in a position where he and jeb bush are dueling to be the establishment darling in 26 states. The party wants a safe bet in someone who can face down Hillary Clinton. Both are auditioning for that part. Romney need to demonstrate hes serious, that this is not a joke. The speech he gave in mississippi acted like a campaign event. I would guess what today is is a further showing of ankle. A little further to let the donors know we are getting close. Bill january the he said he would make his decision within a month. He has 11, 12 days to make it official. He met with jeb bush. That could have been a meeting i talked to people who are part of the Broad Networks of both of these candidates and its been characterized as everything from a truce in which they agreed not to beat each other up and cost the party too much money and too much time to a lines in the sand being drawn. Who knows. What we do know is there is not must room for both of those then the republican nominated process. Their base of support is too similar. They both cant be there. The way they will measure their success is in the First Quarter fundraising how many tens of millions of dollars can these individuals raise by the end of march. If you are mr you if you are mitt romney it would seem you would want to running your string out to the end. Martha the growth of our economy coming in lower than expected. The gdp grew at 2. 6 . Economists were looking for 3 . Well see how the stock market responds to that news. Bill pro tetters disrupting a senate hearing. John mccain was having none of it. You are going to have to shut up or ill have you arrested. Get out of here, you low life scum. Unbelievable scene there. Reporter new reports the pentagon went behind the back of then secretary of state Hillary Clinton as she pressed her case to aid rebels in the libyan civil war. New claims her arguments for under vengs were not based on actual intelligence. Bill one the prisoners freed in the prisoner swap for Bowe Bergdahl looking to get back in the fight. This is part of the president overall policy to shut down gitmo at any cost. I was speaking to mike mccaul. This is going to result in the loss of human life. The president cannot stop letting people go from gitmo. He wants it closed at all cost. Martha a codepink activist calling for the arrest of henry kissen ever who you see sitting at that table. This happened during a hearing on Global Threats. Demonstrators standing inches away with handcuffs demand can he be tried for war crimes. Thats when arizona senator john mccain had about enough. You know, you are going to have to shut up or im going to have you arrested. Get out of here you lowlife scum. He said senators were worried about kissingers safety, a 91yearold man. Protests are protests. Bill Capitol Police were slow to respond and they apologized for that. Next time they will do better. Peter king from last night. The president released five of the worst of the worst. In return all we got was qatar saying they will keep anine object them. We cant trust qatar. Bill they can be dangerous no matter what precautions the president says are in place. Retired general Jack Keane A Fox news military analyst, good morning to you. You said it was a bad deal from the beginning. What does this mean now . It was bad because who they are and they are top leaders of the taliban. Second the conditions, i felt they should have been house arrest independent observers no phones, no computers no visitors except for family. Likely as a result of this public exposure i believe we have taken a hard look at what are the controls in place to prevent reengagement. I take admiral kirby at his word. Hes a straight shooter. We can assume we are monitoring any communication that they have and get something intelligence value out of it in that respect anyway. Bill a couple specific questions. Kirby was talk to go sean last night. He said we have a Good Relationship with the government of qatar. Do we . I think we have a mixed relationship with the government of qatar. We have a Major Military base there but qatar is the organization that helps fund hamas. There was some indications qatar was doing early funding of isis. Our relationship with qatar to say the least is complicated and thats a generous word. I have been frustrated with qatar for years and i think we should disassociate ourselves with them because of funding of hamas. Bill there is no reason why we should trust qatar. We need to change our policy of watching them for potential reengagement. What should we change, general . None of us know the exact conditions they are under. And i was espousing some that should be in place. But i think probably our guys have looked at this and making certain that we engagement is not going to take place and if there is some reengagement taking place on the phone we sure know what that discussion is all about and what it means. Im comfortable based on this public expose our our guys have taken a look at it and probably put in place that there is some adequate controls. Bill max thorn berry republican from texas said its almost inevitable. Is he right . Hes right. Way just said the statement i made when the watch was made, im convinced now as we have seen the white houses behavior in emptying out gitmo because they cant close it, that these five top taliban leaders would never have been released. They would have been the ones who stay to the very end. But the fact that they were in the swap got five more people out of the gitmo and im being cynical here but im comfortable in making the judgment. I think that was part of the white houses motivation. They didnt see anything wrong releasing these top five because they knew they would never get out any other way. Bill you knew you had the cover bringing an American Home whether he was a deserter or not in Bowe Bergdahl. Martha rap mogul shug knight surrendering to the police today. A lot of back story after a deadly hitandrun. Why hes facing murder charges. Your dad is home from the air force. Hes been serving overseas. Hes home. He has been serving 20 years in the United States air force. Bill welcome home. A surprise reunion on ice. Oh hey, neill, how are you . Youd expect us to have a highly skilled call center. Kevin, neill holleys on line one. Ok, great. And we do. Its how edward jones makes sense of investing. Bill a pilot make an Emergency Landing in new jersey. He says he had to bring down the singleengine plane on a highway. He land with the flow of traffic. The pilot was only one on the plane, no one was injured. Martha hip hop mogul shug knight turned himself in to authorities in connection with a hitandrun that left one person dead. Hes being health on 2 million bail. A lot of interesting details and William Lajeunesse brings us the latest chapter in the saga. Reporter shug knight is a legend, a rags to relationships story of a kid who grew up on the streets of los angeles to become one of the most powerful people in the music business. He stands accused of murder. The attorneys say it was an accident. He turned himself into the Sheriffs Department just after midnight. He was on location for the movie straight out of compton when he got in an argument and left. When attempting to leave a restaurant knight allegedly ran over two men. Witnesses say knight intentionally ran over the victims twice before leaving the scenes. The on claims once the investigation is over, knight will be cleared. He backed his car up and he put it in drive and he hit harp are you carter. Ran him over twice. People said it looked like an intentional act so we are handle can it as a homicide. Reporter hes being held on 2 million bail. Martha this is not his first runin with the law. He and tupac shakur beat up some guy in vegas. Knight was jailed for beating a parking lot attend damage. He was shot in the leg at a party, and last year he was shot six times at an ea wards party. Knight founded Death Row Records and helped major cat rears of shakur and mc hammer and snoop dogg. Bill firefighters working to save a young boy trapped on a frozen rough. A dramatic rescue. Martha voters may be warming up to an idea of a third president ial run by mitt romney. Our Political Panel takes this on next how the race could look this time around. I dont military adoring press. I dont miss over 300 nights a year in a motel room. Im not even thinking about getting rich from the speaking fees as i leave office. As you know doubt heard im already rich. Im thinking about how i can help the country. Bill josh earnest pressed on comments that the white house doesnt negotiate with terrorists. And also him saying the talt baines not a terrorist group. Jordanian officials have demand proof the pilot is still alive before exchanging him for an iraqi woman. Martha former Massachusetts Governor mitt romney is set to hold a Conference Call that has a lot of people buzzing today. Hes going to talk to potential donors and strategists. He has done everything to put the feelers out there and make lot of suggestions. Take a look at this. We have a lot of faces up there. This is a brandnew fox news poll that shows romney at 21 with republicans meaning they are his first choice. Mike huckabee at 11 and the list goes down as you look at some other contenders. We may have the wrong mr. Paul and jeb bush at 10 . If you take romney out of the race. This is what it looks like. Jeb bush at 15. How is this all shaping up . Good morning and happy friday to you. What do you make of all this buzz there is some sort of big announcement coming. One of our come petters says its a big deal, what say you . If it were a hey im jumping in announcement im not sure its going to be that huge. I could be wrong. Mitt romney has to be encouraged by some of the poll numbers coming out. I think a lot of this is name rick nuggets early days who you could imagine running for president. Romney and clinton people can imagine running for president. But in the headtohead matchup with Hillary Clinton those numbers probably make him feel good and push him more towards running. Martha it looks like the people at this point in the game and its really early in the game. This is how he shapes up against Hillary Clinton. Lets take a look at those numbers. Mitt romney and Hillary Clinton 46 will4646. The other numbers are all about the same. I reiterate something Mary Katharine said. I think you have a primary going on among republican donors. The reason mitt romney is on the phone this morning is to make it clear to those donors he has an exploratory committee. Hes saying i am raising money i want to build an organization and i need your dollars to do so. The question is, how is he doing in that donor primary and so far the answer is not that great. Spoch his key donors so far have said, in fact i might be with jeb. I think the big loser in the polls as you put them up this morning is chris christy. When you see hem down there at 4. Its a big shock to him that the establishment vote, all the Party Mechanism has gone away to this initial donor primary between romney and bush. Jeb bush. Martha thats an interesting point. I want to pull up one more our polls. Would romney have done a better job as president than obama . 50 say no. 43 say yes. There is clearly some leftover sent i am that has helped mitt romney. But when you look at that number, you have to ask yourself if the electorate isnt looking for something new. He needs to ask himself that question. Among independents the numbers werent good in this number. Thats where you would expect him to be doing well. Juan is right that one of the reasons romney is ramping up quickly and having a call like this is to plants a flag and say hey, guys, you should give me money as well. Something like a bushchristy and romney involved are all gunning for that establishment money. It will be a different picturing than it was last time. Where somebody like rand paul or scott walker can be you a different guy. It feels like its and battle with the donors. A lot of the big money seems to be sidling up to jeb bush at this point and he pulled away the iowa cam panel director. Hes going to work for jeb bush now. Who do you think when you look at the dark horses. Look at the potential Barack Obamas out there. House that person to you now . If you were talking at a bar in d. C. Everybody is talking about rand paul as the guy who could come from behind. Hes not that far lirnlds in these polls. But i think people see him as someone who has the capacity to break out here. Mike huckabee when you look at the evangelical vote. He did well last time. Can he raise the money . Whats his message. Been carson remains in the poll like 9 right there. And again people just dont know, is that a phenomenon or is it sustainable . He has put in place the Campaign Organization in iowa. One thing thats clear is the days of saying this is far away are coming to a close. They are speeding up this process, and some of these folks will shake out quickly. Who are you watching from that second and third teerl . A lot of things can happen in iowa. The person im keeping an eye on is scott walker. I think he suffers the slings and arrows of all the country can throw at him and he has some real heatle and has to real mettle and it will be fun top watch that play out. Bill a life or death situation on a frozen river in new york city. A young boy stuck on thin ice on the bronx river. Firefighters say it could have cracked at any minute. One of the rels cures fell through. Another girl fell in bull she managed to get out okay. They will be okay thankfully for those first responders. Martha kids wandering out there thinking they will have a good time. You know what sunday is . Its super bowl sunday. That means super security as well. Whats being done to keep the people at the game safe . Bill criticism that Hillary Clintons support of the rebels in libya was based on speculation. People here are fighting terrorists and gangsters. We have their names and photos and everything. If you dont think ive still got it when you think aarp then you dont know aarp. Life reimagined gives you tools and support to get the career youll love. Find more real possibilities at aarp. Org possibilities. Martha he was one of the first missing children to see his face on a milk carton to help track him down. 30 years later the us next his murder is finally going to trial. 6yearold aton pace disappeared in 1979. He was last seen walk to catch a school bus in new york and his body has never been found. A former school clerk told investigators he lured the little boy into a basement and choked him. His attorneys claim his confession is false and the defense wants the police to consider another suspect what convicted child molester. Bill the Washington Times reports intelligence gathered during the libyan civil war did not back up the story of why america got involved, a story that was pushed by then secretary of state Hillary Clinton to prevent possible genocide. Many of her reasons were based on more speculation than conditions on the ground. Qaddafis son touched on this in a phone conversation with dennis kucinich. The people here are fighting terrorists and gangsters. We have their names and photos and everything. All of them, they are less than 1,000 in the whole country. So, i mean, can you imagine a country like the United States for leaving 6 million libyans and supporting 1,000 gangsters and terrorists. Bill lay a little bit of ground work for us here. You were involved at what level trying to prevent the United States and president obama from joining the nato operation in libya. I went before congress to try to avert a war and organized with members of congress. As a result of my leadership, i was contacted by people around the world but particularly from the region who said, look, people connected to the government want to speak with you. Give spoke to them i checked with the general counsel of the house to see fit was okay. They said its a congressmans job to gather information and ask questions. Thats how the conversation came about. That conversation more or less reinforced what i had been hearing from other sources that the intelligence that was available did not support an intervention. Bill lets follow up on that in a moment. Ultimately you were unsuccessful. You failed in your effort to prevent u. S. Involvement. Now a report saying the pentagon was operating outside the state department because it did not trust secretary of state Hillary Clinton. If that is true, what does it do for American Foreign policy to speak with two different voices on such a Critical International issue . Ultimately the decision is made by the commander in chief. I think there are probably differences of opinion inside the pentagon. Im sure there were differences of opinion inside the intelligence community. What i was concerned about is that the American People were not being given the truth about a cause for war against libya. Because in the end what we wanted to send our country, the truth is the best defense answer we werent getting the truth and thats what this newspaper story is revealing. Bill this is also what came up on our screen. You should see these internal state Department Reports that go out to congress. They are full. Stupid, stupid facts. The truth is whats done is done. Why does this matter now. Because what happened as a result of the intervention. Libya is now a failed state. Jihad tests have taken over. There are warring camps across the country. Libya has a great supply of oil. The arms cache that libya had was basically opened up and sent throughout central africa. Sow it became an incubator of terrorism as a result of this very dangerous and wrongheaded intervention. So we have whats so sad about this is we had already won. Qaddafi was ready to leave. The u. S. Said if you dont straighten this situation out we are going to come in. Bill does that fall to Hillary Clinton or president obama or both . The president had his responsibilities, the secretary had his responsibility. This is what the newspaper story is talking about is the secretary took a leadership role for pushing for a war and it wasnt supported by the facts and the Intel Community and it wasnt supported with any degree of unanimity within the pentagon. Bill what he position proliferation. Extensive in libya after the war. Islamic radicalism. We have read stories how isis has a beachhead and they are bragging about it in libya. Thats a big deal. Its very big deal which is why when you intervene, you have to have an idea what the end game is. As soon as benghazi fell the al qaeda flag went up over a Municipal Building there. This was not well thought out. It wasnt well planned it should not have happened. We should not have gone into libya. Qaddafi reached an accommodation with the bush administration. What was this war all about . I think those are questions that congress and the American People will continue to ask certainly i can tell you as someone who led the effort to try to stop if the war, once again im very concerned that americas treasure was spent our troops were put at risk and a lot of innocent people in libya died as a result of this. Bill Hillary Clinton said she agreed to come back and talk about benghazi before the house committee. Thank you for your time. Dennis kucinich from washington. Martha the white house is defending its decision to trade five taliban prisoners for Bowe Bergdahl. They say they dont consider that gore yaiting with terrorists. [ ] hey guess what day it is . . Hump day hummmp daaay its hump day yeah hey Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike mike mike. Hey he knows hey guess what day it is hey camel guess what day it is its not even wednesday. Let it go, phil. If youre a camel, you put up with this all the time. Its what you do. sigh if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Its what you do. Ok. Bulldog oh boy mattress discounters president s day sale whats this . A queen size serta mattress and box spring set for just 397. Mattress discounters has the Largest Selection of memory Foam Mattresses under one roof comforpedic. Icomfort. Posturepedic hybrid. And wow get up to four years interestfree financing on the entire tempurpedic cloud collection [yawn] dont miss the president s day sale. Mattress discounters bill heartwarming moments during a hockey game. With the help of the crowd 3, 2 1. Your dad is home from the air force. Hes been serving overseas. Hes home, Master Sergeant aaron mckeen. Hes been serving 20 years in the United States air force. Bill the announcer was as fired up as they were. Bill seeing his wife and three kids after coming home from south korea. The crowd went wild. That was good. Martha its so heart stopping. Congratulations. Lovely. Running across the ice is not easy. Well done. The federal authorities are stepping in to tighten up security before the super bowl in arizona. Its reportedly so tight they are even scanning katy perrys halftime costumes. Is that a joke or prevention of wardrobe malfunction. How secure is this game site . Reporter federal authority say security is a top concern. Over the course of this week there will be more than Million People in phoenix for the super bowl. With that in mind they brought in blackhawk helicopters. You can hear one flying over me right now. They will be patrolling the air. These helicopters are normally used to bust drug smugglers down at the border. Also no drones will be allowed to fly around the stadium. Normally they are used down at the border to scan cars and vehicles coming into the United States. Le earlier this week the department of Homeland Security jeh johnson mentioned the super bowl would be safe and secure and pleaded with the public to be vigilant. The lone wolf style attack is what we have seen in recent years. The use of the internet and special media, its becoming more important for us in Law Enforcement and Homeland Security to work in a collaborative fashion. Reporter Border Patrol security they say will not be compromised by bringing the equipment up here. Martha they seized fake Super Bowl Merchandise as well . Reporter sun we got here we have seen a number of fans Walking Around in all sorts of super bowl gear. Federal authorities came out to say they made a big bust. 21. 5 in fake Super Bowl Merchandise. A lot of the merchandise had been imported from asia. I want to mention a side note. Ecuador has become the first foreign country to purchase a commercial in the super bowl for 3. 8 billion. Martha thats interesting. Thank you very much. Bill a fox news alert. A gunman killing an american in saudi arabia and hunting down another in the eastern part of the country. Details on this and what we are learning minutes away. Know that proper allocation could help increase returns so you can enjoy that second home sooner. Know the right Financial Planning can help you save for college and retirement. Know where you stand with pnc total insight. A new investing and Banking Experience with personalized guidance and online tools. Visit a branch, call or go online today. Jo everybodys buzzing today as mitt romney hold as Conference Call with supporters and potential Campaign Workers the big question will he give any indication about seriousness about a president ial run . A lot coming up this hour as we welcome to brand new hour two of americas newsroom. Im martha maccallum. Bill im bill hemmer. Good morning. As we look ahead to the next Campaign Looks like mitt romney and president obama are replaying their past race. Neither are on the ballot. That is not stopping them from taking shots at one another like this. The president s dismissal real Global Threats in his state of the Union Address was naive best, and deseparate testify at worst. I dont know how the president expects to defeat jihadists but wont even call them about it namer. We have a former president ial candidate on other side suddenly just deeply concerned about poverty. Thats great. Lets go. Come on lets do something about it i am glad that the rhetoric at least has shifted. Martha back to the future right . Chief Political Correspondent carl cameron live in d. C. What is this conference at 11 00 . Is it really going to be a big deal . Reporter it will be a big deal for mitt romney but shouldnt be for political observers waiting for him to make announcement. President ial candidates dont tend to do it on Conference Calls. Romney is sear us about it. His aids have been saying he would have to make the decision within a quote, month max. That was back on the 9th of this month. Figure timetable goes to february 9th. He is halfway through that decision process right now. Romney will actually make a number of important calls today. He does ten minutes from now. With a small group of close aides and advisors around the country to geoff them an update where he is at. At 11 a much bigger group of donors and supporters. That is where he will say a little it about how he has thought about things in last couple weeks. He is talking to the competition. Fox news poll came out yesterday shows he has a pretty Comfortable Lead against the entire republican pack and one part of the poll shows among all the gop candidates he is only one able to tie, actually tie Hillary Clinton. Some of his top advisors want him to go for it, highest ranking from 2012 campaign. In last week a number of romney insiders sorted tried to testimony per the enthusiasm. It is not a secret big power brokers and staffers that worked for romney in the 2012 campaign are signing up with other candidates and are not sure he has got it in him for another time and perhaps his time passed. This 2016 gop field will be a heck of a lot tougher than the one in 2012. There is division among his advisors shall we say. That will not necessarily force a decision today. He will ultimately make it with his wife and family and that could be sometime next couple weeks. Martha that is interesting. President obama is taking him seriously. Took time out after speaking engagement to talk about mitt romney. How did that go . It elevates mitt romney. Looks like theyre running the 2012 race again and obama is romney is stalking horse for Hillary Clinton. Mitt responded with a tweet. Tell you what he said. Mr. Obama, wonder why my concern about poverty . Record number of poor in your term and your record of failure to remedy it. A lot of republicans are talking about income inequality now and romney has been talking about fighting poverty and trying to create more economic opportunity. That was one of the things that hurt him in 2012. The idea he was out of touch rich guy. He is working hard to correct that. Well find out in short time what he is telling supporters and donors. Martha carl, thank you very much. Thank you, martha. Would be interesting if he gives a nod. Martha last time around he was up against Newt Gingrich and mike huckabee. He is up against very powerful field of potential candidates. Bill a lot of governors. Martha absolutely. Bill meantime breaking news here. Pentagon doubling down defending its decision to trade five highranking terrorists held at gitmo for sergeant bo bergdahl as the white house repeatedly said the taliban swap is okay even though the taliban resorts to terrorist tackics they are not terrorists. For the pentagon the motivation for the exchange comes down to timehonored tradition. Larger point of your question about the grade with sergeant bergdahl, ill tell you we still stand by this decision as being the right decision. It is a powerful message to the troops and families that well not leave you behind. It doesnt matter how you came to be missing. Well deal with that later. Right now general millie is dealing with that. Well make sure we get you home. Bill that was sean hannity last night. Today National Security correspondent Jennifer Griffin from the pentagon. Good morning there. What do we know how about these contacts made by one of the taliban five with the taliban . Bill, multiple u. S. Officials tell us one of the five taliban leaders in exchange for sergeant bo bergdahl has made tell calls to members of the taliban. Senator Lindsey Graham said publicly it was members of the Haqqani Network Pakistani Network of taliban, who are on the state departments terror list. Defense Department Tells me that the white house was told by u. S. Military commanders it would be difficult to react to dim finish the threat posed by taliban leaders should they go is missing from qatar. Pentagon has close Security Partnership with the government of qatar. Were cost in our confident in our ability to mitigate any threat posed by former guantanamo detainees. Intelligence sources say release of taliban may be viewed by suspicion of terror group, which may fear they could be u. S. Plants, bill. Bill jennifer, what is the reaction youre hearing in the town . A lot of angry reaction from capitol hill. Some members of certain committees briefed on the developments, they are speaking out. Here is senator john mccain the new chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee. In past releases there is approximately 30 of those who returned to the fight. So it should be of no surprise that one or more of these five would return to the fight why many of us objected to it at the time. Reporter a view repeated by the new republican chairman of the house intelligence committee, congressman devin nunis. If president obama continues to release these dangerous terrorists, he said there will be a steep price to pay very likely in lost american lives. The qatari emir promised president obama it would monitor the five former gitmo detainees for a year. That yearend in may, bill. Bill Jennifer Griffin from the pentagon. Martha were joined by New Hampshire senator, kelly ayote, republican and member of the house Armed Services committee. Senator, good to have you with us today. Good morning. Martha you listened to Jennifer Griffins report today. What do you make of this situation . What i make of it, this was a bad deal to start with of course. These were five top commanders in the taliban, leaders of the taliban and i think many of us talked about, the danger of these individual reengaging at the type. Now we have one of those already communicating with the taliban that maybe the Haqqani Network was deadly form of the taliban that have killed so many of our troops. So heres where we are. I think this was a bad deal. The worries that i have is that as i understand this agreement with qatar, already we have one that is reengaging but after may, there are no conditions and these individual can return to afghanistan. Bear in mind because they were such top level officials they can leave from anywhere. This is really important and ive introduced legislation because im worried about the administrations overall pattern of releasing people from guantanamo and releasing them with very few conditions to assure that they wont reengageterrorism. Martha pretty astonishing basically on their own reconnaissance after may. Yeah. It is shocking. What happens then . Never mind that theyre already attempting to reengage and obviously making communications to do so. Martha so, i want to play sound bite from josh earnest. I have another question. He is talking about the debate that has gone on all week how to categorize these groups al qaeda and taliban the like. Here is what he said. It is important to draw a distinction between the taliban and al qaeda. Taliban has resorted to terror tactics but those terror tactics principally focused on afghanistan. Al qaeda is a terrorist organization that has aspirations that extend beyond the border of pakistan and afghanistan. Al qaeda and affiliates around the globe sought to carry out terror attacks against americans. Martha you dont have to worry about the taliban because theyre a local insurgency, armed insurgency. I think he is missing the point. Lets not forget why we went to afghanistan. The taliban harbored al qaeda who attacked our country. Two of the five of the Taliban Dream Team as part of this prisoner swap, one of them was associated with usama bin laden. One of them directly associated in helping al qaeda and you know here is where we are, martha. The problem is the taliban, theyre our enemy. They have killed many of our troops. So you put five of their top commanders back in this battle. I think the real worry is we dont want them in the position where they can harm our men and women in uniform again. These taliban have killed many of our men and women in uniform. Dont forget what the taliban did to woman in soccer stadiums, murdering them. This is very bad group. Josh earnest is missing the point and white house is as well. Martha 150 schoolchildren in pakistan right before christmas. Thank you very much, senator. Absolutely. Murdering innocent schoolchildren. Martha thank you very much. Bill ten minutes past the hour. Cell phone video capturing a horrifying scene as a gas trucks explodes outside of a Childrens Hospital. [explosion] now there are new details on this deadly blast. Thats coming up. Also there is this. Is there the will to ever get to the truth behind this nightmare of citizen targeting . For six years the department of justice has operated as an increasingly rogue agency where preservation of personal liberties runs a distant second to preservation of political power. Martha a victim of the irs targeting scandal calls the Justice Departments investigation quote, a sham. She joins us live. Bill also there was growing tension between president obama an Benjamin Netanyahu over John Boehners invite to israeli leader to address congress in early march. Rich lowery on deck on that and whether or not the white house is needlessly fanning the flames. What needed to happen here once we got to where we are is the, to where we were once the invitation became public was the president needed to kind of put on his big boy pants and say, well, well welcome the Prime Minister to washington. Nineteen years ago, we thought wow, how is there no way to tell the good from the bad . So we gave people the power of the review. And now angies list is revolutionizing local service again. You can easily buy and Schedule Services from toprated providers. Conveniently stay up to date on progress. And effortlessly turn your photos into finished projects with our angies list app. Visit angieslist. Com today. Bill mentioned this moment ago. Fox news alert. An american has been shot in saudi arabia. There was a report earlier that the american was dead. He did survive. Man was shot in the leg listed in stable condition. Saudi interior Ministry Said two u. S. Citizens were in a car. Someone in another vehicle opened fire. We dont know about motive from this. Martha rocky relationship between between president obama and Benjamin Netanyahu perhaps hitting a new low sparking latest flair up weve been listening netanyahu accepting a enindividualtation to speak to Congress Without consulting the white house on any of this. Speaking to megyn kelly, brit hume says the president should rise above it. No secret megyn that the rip between the president and netanyahu has been tense an difficult. What needed to happen here once we got to where we are or where we were once the invitation became public the president needed to put on his big boy pants, and say well welcome the Prime Minister to washington and i will look forward to meeting with him. That might have been smart smart from the president s point of view . Martha is that a way to go. Rich lowery. Welcome. When you think about this administration magnanimous generous gracious not necessarily word that come to mind not typically how they do with stuff that flies in their face. This relationship was poisoned from the beginning. From 2009, administration were openly rooting for net yahoo netanyahus opponent to win. There have been flair ups like this. Brit is right. We welcome the Prime Minister of israel coming here to give his speech about concerns over Iranian Nuclear program. We share the concerns. If we cut a deal it will be ironclad. All the worries will be laid to rest and let it go but they cant. It speaks to lack of confidence in their position. Martha in terms of larger message to the middle east, right . Would it be more diplomatic and more supportive obviously of israel, take the meeting smile for the cameras and maybe spend 15 minutes, saying look you and i dont get along that well what is going on in your corner of the world . How bad would that have been . Not at all. Theyre offended by process. Theyre trashing israels ambassador the fact they werent consulted about this in advance. I told the israeli ambassador told him my prerogative to t inform the white house. This should have been well coordinate the in advance of the white house. Were not in ordinary circumstances of the congress owes the executive grand much no concern whatsoever. The way president trampled over congresss law if you recall authority and asserted his open ability to mclaws in our system which is an outrage. Martha that that is inside ballgame between boehner and obama on capitol hill. If youre sitting in the middle east in any countries in this sort of crazy situation that is going on between iran and saudi arabia, sunni, shia how do you interpret what is going on with the situation . If youre an ail lie, it plays into this theme that has been part of this administrations Foreign Policy from the beginning. Very soft on adversaries. Reach out to adversaries. Be more reasonable with them. We can cut deals. Leaving our allies in the cold and or throwing them under the bus. Were having fainting bits over leader of an alley giving a speech when Iranian Forces are actively trying to over countries in the middle east. Lebanon, syria iraq. Pursuing a Nuclear Weapon that is a threat to entire region. This is completely be a sub. Martha netanyahu has election coming up. Theyre rooting strongly against him. Im not expert in israeli politics. It will be nearrun thing. Martha good to have you as always. Bill troops overseas gets slice of home on super bowl monday. Made a guy ant special delivery possible. Join us live. Martha mountain climbing was not enough for this extreme climber. He takes it to a whole another level. Meet the worlds newest Energy Superpower. Surprised . In fact, america is now the worlds number one natural gas producer. And we could soon become number one in oil. Because Hydraulic Fracturing Technology is safely recovering lots more oil and natural gas. Supporting millions of new jobs. Billions in tax revenue. And a new century of American Energy security. The new Energy Superpower . Its red, white and blue. Log on to learn more. Female announcer save up to 300 on beautyrest and posturepedic. Even get three years interestfree financing on tempurpedic. Keep more president s in your wallet. Sleep trains president s day sale is on now your ticket to a better nights sleep kill her. Flo it will save you money the name your price tool isnt witchcraft and i didnt turn your daughter into a rooster. She just looks like that. Burn the witch the name your price tool a dangerously progressive idea. Martha gas blast leveling a Childrens Hospital in mexico was captured on selfphone video yesterday. Watch. [explosion] absolutely enormous blast and damage out there. Propane gas delivery truck blew up after a hose broke spewing out a huge cloud of the gas. The driver warning everybody to clear out before the blast, giving everybody a 15 minute head start. That is why there were not more People Killed in this situation. Sadly one nurse and two babies were lost. Eight more children and seven adults seriously injured. Bill 45 million americans end up with hearing loss in at least one ear that remains permanent. But scientists are working on ways to reverse that. Dr. Marc siegel, professor of medicine nyu langone medical center. Fox news medical ateam. What did you find out, mark . Good morning, bill. Young people plugged into headphones. Baby boomers are aging. Hearing loss reached epidemic proportions in u. S. There is new frontier in curing deafness for millions of americans. Bill, a harmless virus carries genetic treatment to regrow tiny hair cells inside of the inner ear. Virus injects dna into the cell. It takes over the cells own machinery to make the new protein. Of and that new protein now will then cause the nonhair cell to become a hair cell. Hering is an intricate process. Sound travis down the ear canal vibrates the ear drum makes its way to the coke leah and tiny hair cells which vibrate and send signals to the brain. Hearing cells die off from medication noise sideeffects and aging. Other species can regenerate them but we cant. Novartis has begun to test a revolutionary treatment in humans though problems still exist. The inner ear is encased almost completely in solid bone and getting the gene therapy to the right cells was one of our biggest challenges. Jay is hard of hearing in his left ear. He founded otomomy a Biotech Company that develop adlonging treatment jell for the inner year. Like an injection. Take the needle d put it across the ear drum. The doctor hopes his jell will help hearing impaired patients return to full function without the help of implants or hearing aid. He is a pioneer in combating hearing loss. He says this genetic therapy should be available in about five years. Farm suit call industry growing involvement in these new treatments signals great promise. Bill clearly a lot of people can use it. Thank you, dr. Marc siegel here in new york. Thank you. Deadline has now come and gone and there is still no word on the fate of a pilot held hostage by isis as jordan refuses to release a terrorist from prison. What jordan is now demanding before this deal can go down. Bill also the county down is on to super bowl sunday the question is, where are the game balls . Who is watching them . Joe theismann with us in a moment live out of phoenix on the nfls new procedures as we get ready for the big one. Is it the insightful strategies and Analytical Capabilities that make edward jones one of the biggest Financial Services firms in the country . Or is it 13,000 Financial Advisors who take the time to say thank you . night jim. Gonna be a while . I am liz got a little writing to do. Its why edward jones is the big company that doesnt act that way. Martha so isis deadline passes as we wait for word on the fate of two hostages including a jordanian pilot. Terrorists demanded jordan release a wouldbe suicide bomber by sunset yesterday or they would kill the pilot. Ultimatum follows earlier one of a japanese hostage holding a picture of the pilot if the bomber was not freed. The countries jordan and japan are working hard to spare lives of these two people. It doesnt mean that a prisoner swap is at hand. Bill security producer are tight for the super bowl and super bowl foot bass. Both teams will give 54 footballs instead of a couple hours before kickoff. They are held in custody until sunday when game officials inspect the bas beforehanding them over to the teams. 184 million americans will watch the game on sunday. That is amazing. Cost for 30 second commercial. 4. 5 million. If you have to be there tickets are still available. It will cost you, lowest price on nfl Ticket Exchange website today, 6850. You want a pair on the 50yard line . 58,000. Is this for real . Am i reading . From phoenix, former nfl quarterback and super bowl winner Joe Theismann back with us. How are you, joe. Good morning to you. Good morning bill, good morning martha. Bill lets talk specifically about deflategate. Get this out of the way. 54 footballs. Often times used for auctions to raise money for charity. What i will be different in terms of securing and insuring that the footballs are at proper weight . Well this being friday it is going to be somewhat unique. Im sure they are under lock and key under Security Protection until kickoff. Until the time the balls are put into play. Procedurally Going Forward the National Football league will not have 2 hour 15 minute window where the referees certify the ball and all of a sudden give enback to home team or any team to do what they want. Security im sure changes that from that perspective Going Forward at competition meeting. Bill inspect them. Take them out to the field. No chance for any hankypanky. Exactly. Bill isnt nbc obligated to follow path of the football prior to kickoff and show that to the viewers . I think they will. It is super bowl. They will follow everybody. If a mouse ran across the field it would be played six or seven different times. Way with the super bowl. It is so much bigger than life. So much a part of what television is all about. So im sure the balls will be followed as they never been before. I know i had a ton of conversation about psi which i thought was a new tv show which i was excited about im a big csi fan. I learned more about psi than i i have ever known. You will hear more and more about it. Soon the game will get here and. Bill it has been a bit of a drag, whether youre a fan or not it has been a drag on the game. Why has the nl not issued its conclusion prior to kickoff . What is behind that. I dont really know. That is a great question that is asked. I hope what i believe the new England Patriots didnt have anything to do with they would have released, exonerated and put questions behind them. At this point it leaves the mind open to many possibilities. What if. Whos with the person involved . What happened in that 2 hour and 15 minute window . All the questions run through peoples mind. Im sure there will be an answer quite quickly after the super bowl. There has to be for sake of fans and integrity of game. Bill not happening before kickoff, that is pretty clear. Wont happen before kickoff. They want to take time to look at this. If you look what the nfl has fon through over entire year. You know they want to take a lot of time. Bill skeptic say they know and dont want to spoil headline for sunday. I agree with that. Were talking about a 2 hour and 15 minute window. Who was in charge of the balls . Who handle the balls during that period of time. We know when they left the officials everything was fine. There was little window before you have to wonder what exactly happened in that period of time. Who had the balls. Bill will be interesting pregame show on sunday. Who is winning, joe . Youre on record picking whom. Im picking the new England Patriots football game. I believe it will be tom bradys greatest moment. Seattle done a fabulous job getting here. Pats have become somewhat of a team of desthey in my mind. Bill wow. Thank you, joe. See you in phoenix. You got it. Bill Joe Theismann from arizona. Richard sherman a terrific defensive back. Apparently his girlfriend is pregnant. She is due kind of soon. Request whether or not he should there for the birth or for the game if the moment coincide together. Here is what sherman said about that. Im focused on the game right now. You know, he is not supposed to come on sunday. Obviously that changed some things but i think he is going to be disciplined young man and stay in there until after the game. Bill now the question false to the mother of three. Sitting to my left. Martha what should he do . Bill what should he do . Martha lot of dad miss birth of their children because he had to be at work. If he got married would be a nice gift to the baby. That is my personal thought. Obviously they do whatever is right. Bill well see whether or not the timing matches up. Coaches are talking in phoenix. Well monitor this as well. You have pete carroll. Youve got bill little by chick. Who might deliver more than three words. We shall see. 36 minutes past the hour. Martha meantime Oil Prices Keep falling. That is good news for drivers filling up at the pump of course. There is downside to this story layoffs. Casey stiegel live in dallas. Casey, Major Companies already announced layoffs, right . Reporter yeah, martha they have. This is something we dont think about because we are celebrating those cheap prices but some pretty major layoffs were announced of the several notable ones were announced. Bp British Petroleum will give undisclosed number of pink slips to employees in the houston area. 16,000 combined jobs will be lost between oil giants baker hughes and schlumberger. Midland, texas has been hit especially hard. That region as you know experience ad modernday oil boom in recent years. Local experts tell me 25 to 40 of the drilling there could eventually come to a complete halt because if companies are not letting people go, most are at least scaling back produc been running four rigs most of 2014. We have already dropped one and gone to three. And we will be in the process and in late february, early march and well go to two. Reporter texas certainly not alone. Other top Oil Producing states like oklahoma louisiana, wyoming and north dakota also taking a pretty major hit, martha. Martha with the bad also comes some good right . Reporter of course. We paid lowest prices we paid for gas in this country since 2009. That is good news. And of course, you talked to economists we spoke to one at Federal Reserve bank here in dallas tells us it is simple economics. If people spend less to fill up their cars then they have more cash to drop elsewhere. Consumer will have more income their pocket. They will suspend it. Retail spending may be on autos or eating out. So yes, net positive for the u. S. As a whole. Reporter that economist there tells me that texas stand to lose upward of 140,000 jobs if the price of oil stays where it is. Martha wow. Casey, thank you. Bill let me show you this now. This is a ice climber making it to the top of frozen niagra falls for the first time. Will gad is his name. Totaling 140 heat. The climbing is hard because thickness of ice can vary. He says he always looking for a challenge. But niagra falls is lifelong dream. Martha hope he finishes it and gets home and lifelong dream he finishes in one piece. What a week it has been for boston. The city battered with snow. Caused a problem for top member of Obama Administration turns out. Well tell you what is going on. Bill witness for the confirmation hearing of loretta lynch, blasting investigation in irs scandal. Why she calls it a scam. Im not a coward. Im not a victim. Im a messenger for all those americans who love our country, love our fellow count through men and pray for a better tomorrow. Im here to say our country right now is at a tipping point. Bill turns out old dip le mat tick immunity does not apply when it comes to snow. Diplomatic. John kerry fined 50 bucks for not clearing snow out in front of his home in boston. Secretary kerry is working overseas while the blizzard pack ad wallop back home. He said the snow has been shoveled and the secretary will pay the ticket. 50 bucks. Martha you do get fined if you dont do that sidewalk in front of your house. There is more snow coming. Better get out there with the shovel so he doesnt have to pay 100 bucks. Bill word to the wise. Im here today because i was targeted by this government for daring to speak out. Im one of the thousands of americans who have become sadly, living examples of this kind of trickledown tyranny that is actively endorsed by the Current Administration and rigorously enforced by the department of justice. Catherine engelbrecht, founder of true the vote, eviscerating the Justice Department. Day two of confirmations hearings for nominee loretta lynch. She called the Justice Department a rogue agency and irs targeting of groups like hers is a true sham. Catherine joins me now. Very good to have you with us today. Remind everybody what happened to you and why you think that you were targeted for your conservative viewpoint and harassed in many ways . Well simply because in 2010 i filed nonprofit exemptions papers with the irs and that moment in time seemed to signal to the government that i was to be stopped and from that point for the next three years i was the target of 15 audits or investigations or inquiries from four different federal government agencies. Nothing before my life. Would have signaled that should have happened. It is all, it is all completely pointed toward the federal governments intent to silence me. Martha we all remember that the president said that was a bad thing if the irs was doing that. And that he wanted to get to the bottom of it he said. Clearly he wanted to get to the bottom of it. How did they go getting to bottom of your story . They havent. To date they have still not interviewed me. We know that they have interviewed lois lerner and company at, ad nauseum but to the best of my knowledge nobody no organization that has been targeted yet been interviewed by the department of justice. Which is why i called it a sham. Exactly what it is. I hope for the best but well see. I mean this is a years long process now. Not that tough to pick up the phone and say, can we come talk to you about what you claimed happened to you over these years. It is truly pathetic that has not happened especially given the fact that the president himself said very much wanted to find out what happened here. Seems there is no diligent effort to do just that at all. You were at the hearing for loretta lynch, who is in the process of her hearing to become the next attorney general. What did you think about her testimony . Do you anything will change if she is, if she becomes attorney general . Well i mean she handled her testimony beautifully. I thought she was very articulate and very focused. I mean i thought that went really well. I do hoe, have great concern about what happens when we take the theoretical and put it into practice. How will she lead given some of the comments that, you know she has made about her intent to continue on with lawsuits to stop voter photo identification . About her very clear belief that, that there need to be a differentiation based on the pigment of our skin. Those are things that she has gone on record saying and it is very troublesome. I hope for the best but, im concerned. Martha all right. Well see. Catherine, thank you very much for joining us this morning. Good to see you again. Thanks so much. Bill happening now rolls your way 11 00 eastern time a few moments away. Lets go to jon scott quickly to see what he is working on. Bill the 2016 field of president ial candidates is heating up. Were awaiting news from former governor and candidate mitt romney at the top of the hour. What will he have to say as we parse new fox polls on the candidate so far in the wideopen race for the white house of the we have live reports and indepth analysis including larry sabato and his crystal ball. Plus our media panel judy miller and lynn sweet talk intense coverage the race for the white house is already receiving. Too much too soon . What do you think . Well talk about it next hour happening now. Bill happy friday jon. You too, mr. Hemmer. Bill this pizza order will not make it in 30 minutes or less because the address is in afghanistan. Well talk about thefy behind pizzas for patriot. He tells us how he will get that order filled. Then there is this. Martha a human slingshot, high in the sky gets quite a view. female announcer dont wait for president s day to save on a new mattress. Sleep trains president s day sale is on now save up to 300 on beautyrest and posturepedic. Even get three years interestfree financing on tempurpedic. Plus, free delivery, set up, and removal of your old set. And sleep trains 100 day money back guarantee. Keep more president s in your wallet. Sleep trains president s day sale is on now . Guaranteed sleep train your ticket to a better nights sleep bill bring the super bowl little closer to home . Pizza for patriots has been shipping pizza to fan began for self years. One million slices afghanistan. 5,000 pies are making the trip. Retired Master Sergeant mark evans founder of pizza for patriots. He is live from chicago. Im certain it tastes good sergeant. Awesome, bill. Breakfast with Master Sergeant. Have you given me my 100 pushups every day . Bill give you 50. How is that . Give me 50. This super bowl our goal is to ship 5,000 pizzas to afghanistan to our u. S. Servicemen and women downrange. Were so blessed with this. You know fox, all your viewers have helped us for almost eight years now. And well do va hospital the around america as well. Bill what is the reaction you get from this . I imagine it makes you feel good . What do they say . We received a an email last super bowl and 4th of july but the colonel said, im sitting here with my guys in the middle of desert and all tearing up thinking of home. The smiles im see something just incredible. Such a beautiful letter, it just, and we get so many. You know, we ship the best pizza in the world. We ship chicago deep dish that sort of thing. Chicago, tell jon stewart we have the best pizza. Bill i will do that. Tell me about logistics. As a Master Sergeant, how do you it . It is difficult. It is a sheer miracle. Dhl have been shipping for us for free. It is a godsend. They can put pizza anywhere. Military gets out of main hub from afghanistan. Dhl bets it there. Rich products package it for just right. We use 100 , no, preservatives and it is the best pizza on earth. Bill nicely done. How long are you going to do it . I imagine as long as you can . I want to do it forever. The highest generals, general petraeus started it. When you see impact. They sent me to afghanistan and they said mark you have to see the other side of this. Guys, ive done enough. I called retired. They said, no, youre going. You will serve pizza, on 4th of july. Best 4th of july i ever had. I was crying half the tile a Master Sergeant. Bill if people can help where can they go . Well post it to the web page and give you a little bit of a boost too quickly. Pizza for patriots. Com. Pizza number four for patriots. Com. Super bowl drinking your coffee, we do 4th of july. To know youre feeding combat veterans of the average combat veteran is 20 1 2 years old. They were in high school out there. For them to get pizza when you meet a soldier had it, their eyes light up and what is this about. They say that so much. Bill get there before kickoff okay . Yes, sir. Bill mark evans, thank you sergeant. Well have you talk again. I will have pizza on my chest during the game on my couch. Bill thank you for your time. Thank you, bill. So there may be some big news about to come out mitt romney, working the phones today. The former president ial nominee making calls to advisors and supporters in the next few minutes. We may have a very big announcement from mitt romney. Stay tuned. Well be right back. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Everybody knows that. Well, did you know you that former pro Football Player ickey woods will celebrate almost anything . Unhuh. Number 44. Whoooo fortyfour, thats me get some cold cuts. Get some cold cuts. Get some cold cuts whooo gimme some geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Whoo fortyfour ladies, thats me whoo. Gonna get some cold cuts today [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, weve always been at the forefront of advanced electronics. Providing technology to get more detail. Detect hiddethreats. See the whole picture. Process critical information and put it in the has of our defenders. Reaching constantly evolving threatbefore they reach us. Thats the value of performance. Northrop grumman. All right. We have big big news to report. Carl cameron is joining us. What can you tell us about mitt romney . He is having a Conference Call as he week and had an earlier one. He said i have decided it is best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become nominee. He said he believes he had the best chance to win but realizes it would have been difficult and a very hard fight. It isnt a surprise frankly. It has been three weeks from the day since romney emerged from a potential run and said he would make the decision within a month. It is no secret his family and top advisors wanted him to go for it. He had he wanted to and thought he could win but said it would be too difficult. He mentioned the fox lead showing a double lead against the rivals and romney is the only republican in the poll tide with Hilary Clinton headtohead. Over the last many weeks, many leaders and volunteers began to express concerns they thought his time passed and his 2012 campaign wasnt up to snuff. And many staffers started signing up for other campaigns. His main strategy working took a huge job with jeb bushs pac in florida. That amounts to a huge lead for bush and it would have set back romney. Romney said he thinks they would have beaten him but acknowledged they are tougher and the advisors picked up on that. That might have been one of many pivotal moments in deciding it wasnt meant to be. Lots more coming and this throws questions into how everybody moves around on the screen we showed you before. His wife was right. No, not again. We have to run, everybody. Have great weekend and we will see you next week. Bye everybody. The wife is normally right. Welcome to happening now. Big headline of mitt romney announcing he is not going to run. Changes to the map that could affect the 2016 race as well. Lets bring in the director of the university of virginias centers for politics. You heard it larry, mitt romney said he is not running for president , were you