the economy to its core, the president heads to new york city to make new regulations on wall street, it would be the most sweeping overhaul of the financial sector since the 1930s. critics call it a jobs killer. good morning, i'm bill hemmer, welcome to "america's newsroom". martha: welcome back, bill, good morning to you, good morning, everybody, i'm martha maccallum. while the president is making a pitch -- senators on both sides of the aisle try to negotiate a deal, one of the top economic advisers believes this has the votes to pass. take a look. >> i think you're going to see independent members of ck, of both parties are going to read the bill and say i totally agree with what is happening here, we need to end bailouts, too big to fail, derivatives out into the open so, so i think they're going to vote for it. bull bill we're getting earth word of what the president is going to say in manhattan. major, is this speech about new policy? >> it's not, bill. this is a speech to round up votes on capitol hill, make the case, and symbolically portray what happened in the great recession as something set in motion by recklessness and to a certain measure, greed on wall street. now, the president has got about 700 people in the audience at cooper union, some of them are going to be pretty high flyers on wall street, one of them, gary kohn, the coo of goldman sachs, now facing a lawsuit filed by who? the securities and exchange commission. the charge? defrauding and lying to its clients about creating investment devices that goldman had some reason to believe might not pan out and trading on them while not telling its own very clients, that's something that goldman aggressively disputes and will fight against the sec. but against that backdrop, the president will talk about what happened on wall street, and what needs to change, and part of his speech, the white house has provided some excerpts as they typically do when there's a big speech, let me read one part of now -- it now, some on wall street forgot that every dollar traded or leveraged there is a family looking to buy a house, pay for an education, open a business or save for retirement. what happens here has real consequences for our country. of course, it doesn't take too much to understand what the president is trying to do with this speech. it's to take the reforms he's pushing against wall street, very technical in some cases, hard to work out, and say in the main, you're either for a changed attitude on wall street or you're not, creating that sort of fundamental black and white change or choice, rather, and tell congress, i dare you to vote for the status quo. bill: we're going to bring john boehner on next hour, he's already calling this a jobs killer, we've heard from the mayor of new york city saying you're going to drive more business out of america. what are the sticking points in getting this through at the moment, major? >> one of the biggest sticking points, and there are many, bill, but let me go with the biggest one, in this legislation, the senate teams to define what is a big financial institution, what kind of capital requirements it has, how much capital do you have to keep to cover your potentially leveraged or risky financial maneuvers. well, who falls under that umbrella? and that exact definition of how much capital you have to have, who has to have that kind of capital, really is the sort of crux of the matter on capitol hill as i've learned it, because many financial institutions are saying wait, we don't want to be under that kind of heavy regulatory umbrella, just the big guys, the big guys say we don't necessarily want to be under those capital requirements, too, that will limit our way of dealing with customers. what is this consumer protection agency going to do, what powers will it have, who will want it, and what do you do about a derivatives, a trillion dollars market, largely unregulated, how do you regulate without sending that derivatives market overseas and some have said on the republican party side, if you send it overseas, it will not be more transparent, it would just provide jobs for people in other countries. bill: others would argue that wall street is in the business of making money and they'll find another instrument or tool, no matter what regulation you slap on them, that's what you hear in new york city, and when the president comes here, there is significance for the location. why is that, major? >> reporter: first of all, cooper union is a very famous place for presidential speeches. if you go back through, maybe do a quick google search on cooper union, abraham lincoln gave a speech denouncing slavery, many presidents have given famous speeches at cooper union, candidate obama was there in march 2008 and he gave a speech about the need for wall street to change its ways and the potential coming financial crisis, march of 208, long -- 2008, long before the meltdown began, this is regarded by the inner circle as an indication that he knew something was coming, called for change and is going to go back and said i was right, we need the change, let's push it through. bill: major garrett, good to have you on, thanks. martha: what is this all about, what does it boil down tortion and what does it mean for you and our economy? these are very big, important questions that need to be kept in mind while watching the speech this morning. stuart varney of the fox business network joins us live. stuart, you heard what majored, he said the president is going to say look, wall street, you big, you know, big fat cats, as he called them, behind every single transaction is a real person, a real family. is this bill, stuart, as you take a look at t. is this going to protect the little guy, and who else may be -- maybe should they be protected from? prps fannie mae and freddie mac, for example. >> reporter: the day after this bill is signed, and it will be signed, the day after, do not wake up in the morning and expect that your credit card, your bank account, your mutual fund, your 401(k), your pension money, do not expect any change in the way you handle your own personal money. there will be no immediate impact on individuals. this is a big-picture reform, in which the big players of the money world are being told how they will organize their money in the future. where they can invest it. how much they can invest. the whole structure. the big picture structure of the financial world is going to change long term. specifically, you're going to see a slowdown in the rate of growth of the financial industry. it has been the huge job creator of the last generation. it's expanded enormously since the 1980s. that expansion, that job growth, will slow down and probably go into reverse. you're going to see more lawsuits. we've got a consumer financial protection agency, and that essentially is a lawsuit agency, so if you make an investment sometime in the future and they say it wasn't explained properly to me, you're probably going to see quite a few more lawsuits there. martha: so -- >> it's a long-term, big-picture impact on you and i. martha: there's a lot of demonizing on wall street going on, and people seem to like the idea of cracking down on them, but what not everyone may realize and i think what is worth thinking about is that, you know, with the lack of manufacturing industry that we have in this country now, it has been diminished greatly, the financial services industry is one of the biggest economic engines of our country and it's not just for new york, obviously, it extends all across the country, so when you crack down on what wall street can and cannot do and we understand there were big mistakes made here but there was a lot of good stuff and growth that was also found during those years, how is that going to exact an attempt at economic growth, stuart? >> a couple of points. if you push some economic activity like these derivatives trading, you push that overseas, wall street firms still make the money, but they don't employ people in america. so there's an area where it would be a job killer, to coin a phrase. secondly, this is a big increase in executive authority. executive power. that's a kind of a shift. it's also -- it also shifts the blame to the great panic in the great recession. if you demonize wall street and that's what's happening, you're saying the blame lies with the bankers, it takes the blame away from the politicians who indeed had a hand in getting this started and collapsed years ago. martha: in the time i have left, i want to share a quote, this is from when the president went to california and was supporting barbara boxer in her election race there. here's what he said, to this entire year and a half of cleaning up this mess, it has been tough, because the very folks responsible for a large portion of this mess decided to stand on the sidelines. it was as if somebody had driven their car into a ditch and they just watched as you, i believe he's referring to the american people here, had to yank it out and ask why didn't you do it faster, why is there a scratch on my fender. is that a fair depiction of what wall street has done since these mistakes and this crisis began? >> i think the president was pointing the finger of blame squarely at wall street, the entire financial business. i think there's a lot more blame to be spread around. regulators, politicians, and, yes, the bankers. spread that blame around, please. martha: and the sec as well. >> yes. martha: dropped a lot of balls along the way. we're going to be watching this closely, stuart, we thank you for shedding light on it as you do so well, thank you, sir. >> thanks martha. martha: have a good day. we know many are online while watching the newsroom. check out our website, go to the you decide link. we want to know what you think about this. because you know, when you look at the big headlines, you may have one feeling about it, when you get beneath them, you may feel differently about it. that's what we're here for, so we can report on all of it and you can decide what you think. are you in favor of this bill to regulate wall street further? go to foxnews.com, weigh in, we've got 5000 people so far taking this nonscientific survey, it's a question we're throwing out there, 95 percent say they do not voart of -- support of it of those 5000. that's an important number. bill: my guess is by 11:00 a.m., it will be 10,000 we'll double that. in the meantime the investigation of goldman sachs prompting politicians to keep distance from that firm, a democratic senator, blanche lincoln, canceling a fund-raiser, but under fire from critics for not returning the contributions she's received from goldman sachs. on friday the sec charging goldman with defrauding investor, goldman strongly denying those allegations. martha: he sparked a major controversy when he called islam, quote, evil and wicked, following the september 11th attacks, and today, reverend billy graham's son, franklin graham, is very much back in the news. take a look. >> we're in war, and we need to pray for our military, we need to pray for our president and all those in authority. that's what the national day of prayer is all about. it's not about islam versus christianty or whatever. martha: we'll tell you why one very outspoken person in the army doesn't want franklin graham speaking at the annual event. franklin graham has a son serving his fourth tour of duty. bill: how about hot pictures? i mean hot! nasa is releasing the big paul of fire in space on film. martha: want to see more of that. check out this! look at this! we're going to ask how he did that move, if he planned it, if he had tried it before. bill: this guy is the hit of the internet already! martha: love it, look at that! way to go, buddy! we're going to talk to him, coming up. bill: all right, fox news alert, news on the economy this morning, breaking news, in fact. the number of americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits in the past week, 456,000. now, that's a drop of 24,000 over last week, so there's your silver lining. but still you're up about 450, and the unemployment rate, waiting to see whether or not that changes. nine point seven, is it holding fast and still? we'll find out as we move later in the week. martha: the national day of prayer is back in the headlines today, this time, it's because the u.s. army is considering, listen to this, withdrawing their invitation to evangelist franklin graham, the son, of course, of reverend billy graham, a watchdog group says that graham's past description of islam as an evil religion, he said that right after september 11th, could stir up muslim extremists and put u.s. troops in danger. graham defended his decision this morning. >> we're in war, and we need to pray for our military, we need to pray for our president and all those in authority. that's what the national day of prayer is all about. it's not about islam versus christianty or whatever, it's about a nation, coming together, and praying for its leadership, and that's what we're going to do on may sixth, national day of prayer, to focus this nation on praying to god, to ask for his help. martha: all right, that was franklin graham this morning, and joining me now is no relation, but he's michael graham, radio talk show host we all know from boston. good to have you with us today, welcome. >> you break my mother's heart every time you remind her that i'm not related to franklin graham! if i were looking for problems with riled up muslims at the pentagon, i wouldn't be worried about franklin graham, i'd be worried about the army sergeant communicating with an al-qaeda terrorist by e-mail who is telling his fellow doctors in the army medical corps he wanted to cut off their heads and power oil down their throats before he fired at people at fort hood. all the people should have a problem with them, not franklin graham. i ask my mom this, she said be sure to mention that franklin graham -- because my parents supported the graham ministries, that they won the samaritan's purse charity, which offers services around the world, including muslim countries. they have a hospital in sudan. a hospital whose doors are open to anyone who needs it and a hospital run by franklin graham that's been bombed not by mormon os or methodist, hint hint, so it's unfair to take the national day of prayer issue and try to turn to the ancillary issues about the outstanding problems inside islam that most muslims don't share, most muslims regret them, too, and i think that's unfair to franklin graham and his ministry. martha: let me tell you what the other side said, mikey weinstein says that bringing franklin graham to be the main speaker at this event for the national day of prayer is like bringing someone in on national prayer day, madly denigrate ing christianty. >> here's the point. one thing is, any time you see a group, who the name of the group includes religious freedom, inevitably it's usually freedom from -- freedom from religion, people uncomfortable with any type of religion, so i think there are public dids plays about religion behind this, but that set aside when you're standing in a mosque and preaching, you preach that islam is the right way and therefore other ways are wrong ways. when imam shows up at a prayer, ecumenical prayer, and i've been to them, he doesn't preach that, he preeches commonality and franklin graham is going to do the same thing, on the national day of prayer, it's the commonality of faith. of course there are ideological differences and divides. franklin graham is not going to issue the prayer and ask people to come down front. he's a great speaker and has done great work. martha: there may be a bigger picture. we know that judge kravis wants this to be constitutional. we're going to keep on this. there may be a larger agenda at work. thank you, michael graham, good to see you. >> thank you for having me. bill: it is violence of epidemic proportions. that is a quote from a sheriff talking about america's southern border. he says he needs a national guard and needs it asap. we'll talk to that sheriff here. martha: and new information, a search underway off the louisiana coast, 11 oil rig workers, missing, more than 48 hours after a massive explosion. what the coast guard is now telling us. martha: we are waiting for former alaska governor sarah palin to take the stand, she's testifying against a tennessee man charged with hacking into her e-mail account. shortly after she was named vice presidential candidate. remember this? the trial is underway in knoxville, prosecutors say that david kernell, a former university of tennessee student, hacked into palin's account right after she was tabbed as mccain's running mate in '08, kernell is charged with identity theft, wire fraud, intentionally accessing palin's account without authorization, and obstructing an fbi investigation. those are very serious charges, folks. this young man faces 50 years in prison. bill: next hour, right? new details in the meantime on the families of 11 missing oil rig workers. they are now holding out hope today that their loved ones will be found save and alive, floating at sea. missing since late on tuesday night when the rig exploded and caught fire. what an explosion it was, too. some of this tape is just mind-boggling. the coast guard has resumed the aerial search in the waters of louisiana already today, looking signs for life, that rig operated by transocean, the company's vice president saying there were no problems leading up to the incident late tuesday >> we don't know what caused the incident. our efforts are fiercely concentrated on caring for the people and secondly, securing the rig. we will fully cooperate with the regulatory agencies, the coast guard and mms on the investigation, but we're not there yet. bill: in the meantime survivors are being reunited with family members in new orleans, they're the lucky ones. frais gallagher is live in the west coast newsroom with the latest. what are you finding out? good morning. >> reporter: the focus us is on the 11 still missing. we talked with the coast guard. the good news about resuming this search at day break, the weather is crystal clear. but here's what they're working against. you talk about the clock a lot. they're telling me that in a water temperature, 67 degrees, that you can survive about 40 hours, and we are getting very near that 40 hour mark. the rig was called the deepwater horizon, and as you can see, this thing is still burning, and it will burn at least throughout the day today. it's the size, really, that's kind of hard to figure, it's the size of two football fields and it's pumping out 13,000-gallons of crude per minute, or per hour, rather. what they're trying to do is they're trying to get with british petroleum, they're the kind of source for this, they're trying to get with them to turn off the source so they can stop this fire. you know, it looks like -- look at the picture, it looks like a mushroom cloud out there. the benefit of this, in the late hour of last night, was this was shining a great deal of light on the water, allowing them to search late into the night. they have so far covered some 2000 square miles of surface area, of sea area, out there in the gulf. we're talking about 126 who were on board, 11 missing, 17 injured. and remember, when this thing blew up, they had to get in those life rafts and they had to sometimes jump off the 75-foot program into the water, which is why some of the injuries are burns and smoke inhalation, as well as broken legs. the search is resuming. we will bring you any breaking information on this as it comes in to the west coast newsroom. bill: boy, it is awful. a tough time for the families, too, in such a vast area, the coast guard doing their best out th