political side, they're digging a deeper divide, the president heading up to baltimore, to face a tough crowd, the president addresses the house republicans at their annual retreat, what will he say about jobs, will the two sides meet or will they? new details on what will go down today and more on that developmenting story in a minute. in the meantime, a new story, new word the obama administration is looking for another option to try the 9/11 terror suspects rather than in downtown new york city. as you likely know that trial will include the self-professed mastermind of the attacks that killed nearly 3000, khalid shaikh mohammed, on screen here, the trial supposed to be held in a federal court within walking distance of where the twin towers once stood. there has been a major public outcry in new york and now we hear it out of congress, both the house and senate side, and new york's once supportive mayor has second thoughts in addition to that. here's mike bloomberg. >> it would be great if the federal government could find a site that didn't cost a billion dollars, which using downtown will, and it will also impact traffic and commerce and peoples' lifestyles downtown and it would be great if we didn't do it. my hope is that the attorney general and the president decide to change their mind, but if they don't, we will provide the security that will keep everybody safe. bill: in the meantime, looks like it's not going to happen. anyway, we think it's a reversal. good morning, that's where we start, i'm bill hemmer on a friday. martha: good morning, bill, and good morning, everybody, on friday morning, i'm martha maccallum, big news we've just been talking about, the justice department is now exploring other venue options for the trial for ksm and others in the 9/11 cases. the ultimate decision, though, really lies with congress in the end. bill: we're hearing from republicans, and now a bipartisan chorus of sorts, opposition to that growing question, ultimately, where would you go? eric shawn, following developments live in new york. first from the beginning, what happened? >> reporter: bill, it could be a big blow to the obama administration, and a big win for the residents who live right next to the courthouse. by my accounting, just barely 30 feet from the corner of that courthouse is a major apartment building, the decision to hold the trial in that federal courthouse, you see on the left. if you look into the windows, this view is from that apartment building that we visited. so you can see exactly how close people live to the federal courthouse in lower manhattan. this is what happened. a firestorm after this decision by the administration to hold the trial of khalid shaikh mohammed and his alleged cohorts in the white house. the -- in the courthouse. the white house is asking the department of justice for an alternative site if it's kneed. a firestorm, not only residents, but mayor bloomberg, attorney general eric holder demanding that the trial not be hold there and long island's peter king introducing a bill that could prevent department of justice funds from being used to fund the trial. that seemed to be one of the tipping points. here's what king said on fox news a few moments ago. >> the decision is a step in the right direction, because these terrorists belong in military tribunals, they belong in a military installation, guantanamo would be an ideal solution, but there's no place in this country to have this foisted upon them. i said then and i said now, the president's decision, the attorney general's decision, to hold these trials in the new york in november was the most irresponsible decision any president has ever made. >> reporter: it seems if the funding is potentially cut off by doj, that has forced the obama administration to consider other locations, bill. bill: we're working through this this morning. thank you, sean. in a moment, opinions certainly strong on this, a former justice department official will react to this, moments away. martha: we want to know what you o'clock about this, should the obama administration move the 9/11 terror trials out of downtown manhattan. go to our fox news website, foxnews.com, and once you're which -- there, you can click on the you decide option and vote. you can also view the results and think about -- see what other people think about this hot issue. it's not a scientific survey, it's a chance to get out there and express your opinion on this story. it wasn't a long time ago that nobody thought that decision would be reversed and a lot of the victims' families were very upset about this. here's what you do, you can speak out. bill: what are you going to do now? if you've got two democratic members of the senate in new york saying not here, the mayor saying not here, the mayor of white plains in new york saying not here, where do you go? we'll put that question to victoria in a few minutes. in the meantime, a fox news alert, we about a little bit in the state of the union address, president obama set to impose tripling the loan guarantees for new nuclear reactors, more than $54 billion, this goes along with his comment the other night that nuclear energy is something we should pursue in america, which has not always been the case on the left, but we're getting movement now from the white house on that, and we're watching. just crossing the wires right now. again, we'll see the president make his way to baltimore later today, and make sure you stay tuned to the fox news channel for that address, when he meets with house republican leaders. we'll cover that live today. martha: big big news this morning, a large number that came out for gdp that looks like the u.s. economy is seeing better days. you got to feel good about this green air oarks 5.7% in the gdp growth, this came in from the commerce department just a short time ago, and that's a faster than expected number that we're seeing here, economists were looking for a number not quite as strong as that, and it's also the quickest pace of growth in more than six years. but as is always the case with these kind of numbers you can look at both sides of this story. we want to get a little bit of a handle on this from stuart varney, who is joining us now. stu, you know, this is a good number. >> oh, martha, this is a very good number. 5.7%, growth, best in six years, make no mistake, this is a very good number, and the obama administration is going to jump all over it and say look, our policies have dragged us out of recession, we're moving onwards and upwards, that will be the spin on the administration. justifyiable, 5.7% growth is good indeed but a couple of points, one, we lost jobs in each of the last three-months of last year, so even though we got growth, they were still -- we were still losing jobs, not good news politically. second, some of that growth, not a lot, but some of that growth came because they were restocking the warehouses, restocking shelves, after dragging down inventories in the early part of the year. that's not real solid growth that's going to be continued. so the word is 5.7% growth is an aberration, don't look for that to continue in the early part of 2010. not at that pace. martha: but you know, stuart, when you look at t. it hasn't shown a difference in the jobs rate, which you point out. but it does prove that companies are getting a little bit more -- a little leaner, a little meaner, they're turning out more with fewer people employed, and in the end, if that helps them with their balance sheets and helps them tighten up what they're doing, won't they down the line be able to hire more people? >> yes, but that's some way down the line. what you're talking about is productivity. you can turn out more stuff with the same number of people. you don't need to hire more people. that's productivity. long term improves profitability, yes, long term sets the table for more hiring, but not right now. martha: all right, let's talk about the debt ceiling, which congress has now approved, this increase in the debt ceiling, $1.9 trillion. they raids -- they raised it. they will not have to go back to the table and do that before november. politically, this is a good move for them, they're not going to have to go back and say we want to borrow even more and that will be sort of old news by the time november rolls around, right? >> that's very true. look, the size of our national debt is a political negative, nobody wants to see us $14 trillion in the hole and politicians don't want to vote it, but they have, but this means we won't have to go back to the well for permission to borrow more until probably 2011. then we'll need to extend the debt beyond the 14.3 trillion that we've got now. martha: yeah, interesting editorial this morning. the people of this country are concerned about the debt, and that the white house and congress haven't gotten that message yet. that could be a very important element as we head into the election. stuart varney, great to see you this morning, stu. >> thank you. martha: have a good day. bill as we mentioned earlier, president obama takes off soon for baltimore, maryland, addressing house republicans and reaching out to the other side, days after he described a worsening partisanship issue in washington during his state of the union address. listen here. >> washington may think that saying anything about the other side, no matter how false, no matter how malicious, is just part of the game. but it's precisely such politics that has stopped either party from helping the american people. worse yet, worse yet, it's stalling -- forming further division among citizens, further distrust in our government. bill: house republican leaders are already saying they're skeptical. molly henneberg is live at the capitol with more. it's cold. >> reporter: it's cold, bill, there are 178 house republicans, and most of them will be here today in baltimore for the annual house gop retreat. congressman mike pence, who is chair of the house republican conference, is holding a bhng reporters this hour to give everybody the lay of the land, but the main event today as you've been talking about is the president will be speaking to house republicans today, and congressman pence says he hopes it's just not another speech, rather an exchange of ideas that maybe will encourage the president to, quote, consider our agenda. republicans have a little bit of wind in their sails these days, after gubernatorial and senatorual wins in virginia and new jersey and recently massachusetts. bill: so that's a little bit of the reaction on the republican side. what do we expect the president to say, molly? >> reporter: well, he'll be speaking for ten minutes, and then he'll do a q and a with lawmakers and that q and a is closed to cameras, so they'll be able to ask him any questions and have what republicans will hope will be a frank discussion. the president suggested in his state of the union that he'd like to meet monthly with gop leaders, and the house republican leader john boehner said hey, i've never been won to refuse a meeting with the president but house republicans and the president have been pretty far apart on issues like health care and spending. bill: see what you can do about getting a camera inside for the q & a. that would be must-see tv. >> reporter: that would be good. martha: it's warmer inside, too. the accused 9/11 mastermind may not get the media circus he was hoping for in downtown manhattan at his trial. the at managers put in a position to back pedal on this crontual decision. so what will they do about this trial now? bill: also, the president's new budget may deal a major blow to nasa. what's in, what's out, what's cut, what's the future? our science expert was none too pleased about this. he's live as well. stay tuned. back in a moment. >> after eight years of delay, those allegedly responsible for the attacks of september 11th will finally face justice, they will be brought to new york, to new york, to answer for their alleged crimes in a courthouse just blocks away from where the twin towers once stood. bill: that was recording of the attorney general, announcing the decision to come to new york for the terror suspect, that would include the prosecution of khalid shaikh mohammed, on screen now. and now there's word the obama administration is looking for other options. first a former new york marion a prediction this week here on fox, and the current mayor in new york on this call. roll it. >> they're not going to try the people in new york. there's no question it won't happen. the cost of it is prohibitive, the risk factor that it creates is too much to really sustain. >> a quarter of a billion dollars, four years, do you think a trial may only go two years? nobody knows. some of these trials go on for years. bill talk about it with former deputy assistant attorney general, also former counsel in the senate intelligence committee and good morning to you. what do you think about this apparent reversal we're watching? >> well, let's not be too fast about a whole reversal. it may solve the security problem in downtown new york, but martha, i think there's still going to be a media circus because the judges and a federal judge is not just allowed to close a courtroom because being situated elsewhere. the courtroom will have to be opened. but more important than that, it's the evidentiary issues that are in criminal trials for somebody that was captured on the battlefield. if i can just give you one example, we know about miranda and i assume the justice department is determined they don't need any of ksm's statements so miranda is probably not going to be an issue, but there are many more. let me give you one. it's a constitutional requirement that any defendant gets any evidence that could be helpful to him, and that means witnesses and documents. so all his defense attorneys will be doing is filing motions to be asking for all kinds of classified information and fellow terrorists who they can interview to determine how much they know about ksm, and i'm not making this up, because that's what moussauoi did for 3 1/2 years and the only reason we had a conviction is because he pleaded guilty. bill: your point is the procedures are -- >> over his lawyer's advice, still. bill: but your point is the venue is the only thing that changes right now, correct, not the proceedings or what could come out in a especially trial. o in a civilian trial. >> that's correct, it's going to have an open courtroom, the press is still going to say we're entitled to be in there and they're going to have all these evidentiary issues, including blackmailing of the justice department, because the lawyers can ask all kinds of classified information and if they're not declassified the government then has to -- bill: but there's a political equation in this, $200 million a year in new york city, that did not set well in new york or in congress, either. but you have two democratic senators in new york, chuck schumer and kristin guillen brand that say take it out of here, the police commissioner, the mayor of white plains new york, when this was brought up he said it ain't gonna happen here, either. where do you go? >> well, of course, my statement is you go back to gitmo. i think this is all about gitmo, and it also related to why the christmas day bomber was put into the regular criminal justice system. you're closing gitmo, you've got to figure out ways to get rid of them. i say take this into a military commission, just like representative king said earlier today on fox, and that's where you have your case. you don't have a regular criminal process here. bill pill that would be another reversal. i'm just wondering, six months down the road from now, this comes out in a trickling fashion, okay? you've got the ksm decision that may come down today, perhaps you change his status and you mentioned the christmas day bomber, will his status be changed too, do you believe? >> well, it should have been changed a month ago. we so failed in getting needed intelligence information from him. i am appalled and frightened when i hear the top person in the white house in charge of intelligence saying well, we interviewed him for about 15 minutes and got some good stuff. that shows that he has no kind of inkling about what good interrogation is. a good interrogation, you have to have the documents that we already had in our possession to question him from it, you have to have followup, you have to have somebody who develops the rapport with the person. that kind of situation takes weeks, if not months, and here, we said okay, we're going to just give it all up and we didn't need to. bill: part of your point is that these stories change, it can change from the first 15 minutes to the next 15 minutes, and perhaps to the next day after that, or the week after that. victoria, thank you. martha: military commissions are perfectly constitutional. bill: thank you for sharing your thoughts today, good to have you in from washington, d.c. martha: watch out this weekend, folks, there's a wicked winter storm that has left sheets of ice and sleet, literally, across this whole section of our country, making conditions really, really dangerous in that entire area that you're looking at and in other places as well. janice dean is going to join us with the foxcast, next. bill: there are new developments on that toyota news, japan's trade minister urging that company to act swiftly to regain consumer confidence, the auto giant battered by this massive recall that involves the possibility of a stuck gas pedal. toyota says it has a fix for the problem, dealers can receive reworked pedal assemblies in the next two weeks, the fix in response to reports of sudden acceleration and thousands of toyota drivers have said their cars sped up on their own. that's not cool. one consumer group reports at least 275 crashes related to that glitch, and at least 19 deaths along the way. that led toyota to stop production and sales of # of its most popular models, including the camra and corolla, that recall affecting millions of vehicles on the road today. they extended it into europe yesterday and china, too. so it is global with toyota. martha: all right. that is the extreme weather alert, folks, and it is very serious out there. a lot of people probably wishing they could just stay home today, and make bread, because there is a big bitter winter storm moving across the country on this january day, and this icy system is bringing snow and sleet and freezing rain and all that good stuff to the area, and it is causing a lot of accidents and outages and janice dean is on top of all of this. you warned us, janice, that this one was coming, and tell us what kind of -- what it's wreaking on this area. >> reporter: the southern plains are in for it, unfortunately, martha, and then the mid atlantic region. this is going to last throughout the day today and tomorrow, and just a mess. we talk about snow, you can dig your way out of snow, and of course, the floods, flooding eventually recedes, but when we're talking about ice on the power lines, on the roads, it really threatens lives, and life lihoods. we have hundreds of thousands of people without power in parts of oklahoma, and that is unfortunately going to be the scenario for parts of arkansas, into tennessee, kentucky, and also the carolinas. look at little rock now, pine bluff, into memphis, that pink indicating freezing rain and more sleet, which is just coating the roadways, people really literally cannot get out and do anything today. you are advised to stay indoors. there's knoxville, asheville, all of this mess is moving towards the mid atlantic and we haven't even touched on the severe threats, we had tornado warns in central texas. look at the line of potentially