[no audio]. >> we'll take it from -- he was making impassioned comments about the future of his country, to his people, and also to the rest of the world, as we look at some of the other images we have, of this speech, and a quick summary of what he was saying, about what is happening inside the country, and essentially saying that powerful leaders across the world are looking to conspire against libya and undermine the people, and he made an impassioned plea to the libyans, to say we are a very strong country and it -- to stand with him, a four decade leader of the country, that has been under immense turmoil and stress over the last several days. and just a quick note here as well, about what is happening state side, the union security council scheduled a meeting on libya, taking place 3:00 p.m. today and to talk about what is happening in the country and the ambassador who supports the man on your screen, he will speak at the meeting and update you as we hear more. >> a "fox news alert," not far away from libya there is outrage on the open ocean. four americans hijacked by somali pirates, shot and killed by the captors today. as u.s. forces negotiated for their release. scott and jean adam, of southern california, traveling the world handing out bibles, and their companions, phyllis mackay and bob riggle of seattle, and they were taken hostage after pirates hijacked their yacht. what do you know about the adams? anita vogel joining us. >> reporter: we are learning more about the couple, standing outside of their catholic parish here in santa monica and people are arriving behind me and children are arriving for school and people arriving power for morning mass and we are learning, jean was a dentist, retired dentist and, that the couple was known as an outdoorsy, fun-loving couple from orange county and it has been a while since they have been here at the church, because they have been off on their mission of sailing around the world, to hand out bibles and spread the word of god, since 2004 and learned from the monsignor christmas and discussed the challenges of their mission and dangers of going into dangerous parts of the world to spread the word of god but also the joy they experienced doing that. we know that the u.s. navy had been con tripping the situation for at least the past three days, we know that four navy ships, including an aircraft carrier, had been following them, and then at 1:00 this morning, eastern time, when the navy heard gun tpaoeurbgs they boarded their ship and they found that all four americans on board had been shot, they tried to provide aid but it was just too late at that point. jon, we're hearing from u.s. intelligence officials this morning that they are very shocked that these four americans would be killed outright like this by these somali pirates and this is the first 250eu78 in -- time in years that americans have been killed at the hands of somali pirates, and we know of course there was a very well known incident in 2009 where somali pirates boarded the mersk alabama. there's been a wave of violence over the past few years and as far as the couples, we are hope to go hear from those as they arrive for mass, there are probably people who know the couple well and we'll be bringing you reports throughout the day. onjon such a sad story. anita vogel, thank you. jenna: the breaking news in the budget battle in wisconsin, governor scott walker saying layoff notices could go out next week if a bill aimed at cutting the state's massive debt sit is not passed, as union protestors digna their heels vowing to fight the plans which ends collective bargaining rights for most public employees when it comes to their benefits. the republican-controlled assembly takes up the explosive proposal this morning but it's far from a done deal because democrats say they will offer more than 100 amendments to stall this process. things even more chaotic in the state senate where 14 democrats high tailed it out of the state to block a vote. so a lot going on in madison where we find mike tobin. mike, that's the wisconsin legislature that's meeting again. can we expect any progress on this budget issue? >> not a whole lot of progress, really, that's because as you mentioned, the house democrats who will take up the bill today plan to load it up with about 100 amendments and bog it down in the house side, slow it down, much to the chagrin of governor walker because he is imploring wisconsin democrats to move forward with this controversial bill >> for us to do the same thing again t. just pushes the problem off to the future and is unacceptable. it's time to tell the truth to the people of the state and all across the country who are listening that we're going to do the right thing, we're going to balance the budget the right way, we're not going to push it off to the next generation of taxpayers. >> reporter: now, the senate democrats, as you remember, left the state, saying there wasn't enough time for debate, there wasn't enough public awareness about the changes to collective bargaining. governor walker says now with all of the debate hashed out here on the capitol ground there isn't anyone in wisconsin who doesn't know who's -- what's in this bill. jenna: we're focused on what's happening behind you, but if this stalemate continues, how will this state, the overall state of wisconsin, be affected? >> >> reporter: you just mentioned the fact that governor walker says he's prepared to send out layoff notices if this bill doesn't move through. he wouldn't be specific as far as who those lay off notices would be sent to. friday is also a deadline as far as refinancing for a bond issue. that is fast approaching. then if this drags on into the summertime what's going to be difficulty funding medicaid. jenna: meek tobin live in madison, thanks. jon: right now, intense protests across the arab world continue. thousands taking to the streets in yemen, calling for the immediate ouster of that country's president. he is a key u.s. ally in the region and is refusing to step down before the end of his term in 2013. he is also pledging not to open fire on his own people. meanwhile, the situation in libya, decidedly different. we are hearing reports of bodies littering the streets as strongman lead mo man qaddafi's forces crack down on forces calling for the end of his regime. moments ago qaddafi spoke out and said he what's no intention of stepping down, saying he would rather die as a mortar. meantime other nations are desperately trying to get their citizens out of libya and the u.s. state department ordering all nonemergency personnel to get out now. jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon for us. what has the administration said so far about violence by the libyan government against protestors? >> reporter: as you mentioned, mommar qaddafi just spoke, it was a fiery talk in which he talked about the agents of power that were stirring up the protests, he spoke directly about american involvement, he said he would challenge american might, he sounded like a man who was not going to go down without a fight. the *t the administration has been silent on this about libya, jay carney spoke about it on fair force one, the first statement we've heard in the white house, the president has not spoken publicly, secretary of state clinton issued a statement last night. john kerry, head of the senate foreign relations committee has issued the strongest statement so far, i'll quote, the gatpafie government's use of deadly force against its own government should mean the end of the regime itself. it's beyond despicable and i hope we are witnessing his last hours in power. his senior military commanders need to know their acwee he sense would open them to international war crimes charges. kerry then called on u.s. oil companies to close up and stop operations in libya , bp shell and the italian oil companies have ordered their workers to leave the country. jon. jon: and qaddafi is already facing defection, right? >> that's right. first of all the justice minister discussed yesterday, then you saw the chinese ambassador, the ambassador to india, the ambassador to the arab league, yesterday, there was a statement by the deputy head of the u.n. mission that condemned the violence against the people. but the most surprising one was the libyan ambassador this morning on good morning america. >> [inaudible] >> i will never resign from serving our people until their voices reach our words and until their goals are achieved. i'm calling for them to leave our people alone. >> reporter: so he resigns on abc this morning. now it's not clear at the u.n. whether security council is scheduled to meet for a one-hour meeting at 3:00 p.m., it's not clear whether they'll have the u.n. ambassador or deputy ambassador. they invited the deputy ambassador who called for the meeting. the ambassador was absent yesterday. he showed up today. there's a little bit of a tug-of-war and different messages coming out from the libyan ambassador to the u.n. and his deputy right now, jon. jon: still eye ironic that that leader so often thought to be unhinged gives a speech about peace and freedom and democracy while he's ordering bombs to be dropped on his own people. unbelievable. jennifer griffin who's at the state department for us, thank you. >> thank you. jenna: right now chaos in the middle east having a major effect on oil markets worldwide. sas we -- as we take a look at what's happening with stocks, the stock market is down, trading lower by 77 points, the big news, though, really is in the trading of commodities that. is the oil prices that you do not see on your screen. oil is trading higher by $4 right now, nearly $5, it just spiked about $1 in the last minute, libya, an opec country, exports more than 1 million barrels of crude a day. it's among the top 20 oil producers in the entire world, though it is -- it is at number 17. it sits on the largest proven oil reserve in all of africa, so the potential there is something that traders like to watch. opec says it's ready to meet any supply shortage, but of course, opec also tried to adjust the prices we pay. it's no surprise this is affecting crude prices, at the highest level in two years. yesterday's mark is up 7 percent, it's also up today. gas prices also pumping up. the national average of a gallon of regular, now at 3.17. that's up more than 50 cents from the same time a year ago. jon: one of new zealand's biggest cities is in ruins now, a powerful earthquake, top ling buildings in christ church, leaving at least 65 people dead. people are trapped under collapsed buildings, they're sending messages out, rescue crews with dogs are searching for them right now, all across that city. it is the second major quake to hit christchurch in months. this time members of a u.s. sell dell gages were there, all are reportedly fine. we also learned that nine u.s. congressmen have just left christchurch, right before the quake hit, they were in the new zealand capitol at the time. we will have much more on this terrible story when a city counselor and survivor of this terrible quake join us later in the hour. jenna: unbelievable to see that man lowered out of the window. jon: apparently office buildings were shaking, glass popping out of windows. just a horrific scene there. jenna: very scary stuff. along with this story as well, a bus filled with teens, crashes, tumbling down a mountain highway. we have new information on this deadly accident, what happened there. jon: could there be trouble ahead for democrats in 2012. why som true blue states seem to be up for grabs now and what it means for both parties. jenna: the boy scout mato is to be prepared and at one zoo in japan, workers staged a drill to prepare for a tiger. what they're doing there. this is for real and it gets better. back in three minutes. jon: new information now on a horrific scene, a bus carrying mostly teenagers from a church group tommablys down a mountain highway, patty ann brown has more from the breaking news desk. >> reporter: jon, as you say, most of the victims were kids and teenagers in middle school and high school coming home from a weekend bible study retreat with their korean church, the light of love mission, their driver, a 61-year-old church member who volunteered to drive them, was killed. and 23 people were injured, ten seriously. the bus was returning to pasadena -- pasadena yesterday from twin peeks when that driver lost control and crossed on into coming traffic, they hit an suv head on. after hitting the nissan murano the bus hit a telephone pole and then slid 20 feet down an embankment. the accident happened near the pine crest christian conference center where the retreat had been held, the california highway patrol says alcohol did not appear to be a factor in this crash. there was recent severe weather that had dumped rain and snow over much of this area, but officer mario lopez says the road where the bus slid was wet but not icy. a deacon at the church, op jon cho, said the driver was a professional driver, so this incident which took one life and injured 23 others appears to be a tragic accident, jon. jon: the breaking news desk for us today, thanks. jenna: well, we are america's election headquarters and there's news out today that may cause democrats some concern, maybe. a new analysis by the gallup organization showing much of the nation is moving right. overall the number of states considered solidly democrat has dropped from 30 in 2008, just 14 in 2010, and the number of states considered competitive for either party has jumped by eight, so up for grabs by either democrats or republicans. so what should we take away from this information as we inch ever closer to the 2012 campaign season? yes, we are already there, talking about 2012. joe trippe, campaign manager for howard dean's run and also a fox news contributor, joe, why do you see the country making that move? >> well, first of all, democrats in 2008 were at their high mark. we had more people leaning democratic, more states looning democratic, than in several decades. so that we were at our high mark. it's obviously receded, but the interesting thing, it's not moving to republicans. only one state became -- moved into the hard republican column, so as states are moving away and people are moving a little bit away from where the democrats were at a high mark, it's still not translating yet to states falling into the republican column. jenna: are we seeing a new normal, if you will, among american politics right now where we're seeing the resurgence of the independents? >> well, that's clearly been the transfer for quite some time. it got out of whack actually in 20 06 and 2008 as democrats, with obama at his height, really improved things, but generally, both parties have been losing to, you know -- its share, if you will, to independents as that group rose. i think if we continue to see the polarization like we're seeing in wisconsin and in ohio, democrats and republicans fighting instead of working together to find some solutions, that polarization may drive the growth of independents and not necessarily play to either party in 2012. jenna: it's good you point out wisconsin because that was the state that we did see that was solely democrat and moved republican and of course we had the surprise win of the republican governor there and we're showing scenes now of the debate going on within the state legislature. if we see this debating and this polarization that you mentioned, how does either party or any candidate court the independents? >> well, that's the whole thing here, is i think people -- i mean, in all parties across the spectrum want to see working -- people working for solutions. they want to see both parties working together, and when you see this kind of polar situation, it drives them away. if two people are holding each other in sort of a shoving match, it's kind to get which one is the one trying to find a solution. it's just hard to telegraph to the people, both sides get blamed, so right now, we may see a michael bloomberg or someone emerge as potential candidate if this kind of polarization continues. you might see an independent candidacy. right now it's hard to see that -- the republicans have not taken advantage of this yet, at a presidential level. no one seems to be emerging that is capturing it, that independent vote at this moment. jenna: we'll see who that third party candidate or another party might actually surface here, and who actually wins it out. nothing we can tell at this time, joe, but thank you very much, joe trippe, joining us again today, thank you. >> thank you. jon: drug cartel thugs gunning down a u.s. federal agent in mexico. it was an ambush. friends and family, saying their goodbyes at a funeral today. a live report, straight ahead. jon: a fox news alert, we've got new details on exactly what happened to those four americans murdered by pirates off the coast of africa. we've been telling you their story for several days now. jeanne and scott adam of marina del ray were sailing their yacht, the guest, off the east coast of africa, dangerous waters, they had been traveling the world, handing out bibles, they had been joined on this particular voyage by philis mckay and rob riddle of seattle, washington. we now understand that the pirates apparently nervous for whatever reason about being folded by a navy vessel, a u.s. navy ship, decided to open fire on that ship. they launched a rocket-propelled grenade at the u.s. vessel, which is a little bit like going after a bear with a pea shooter, and almost immediately the sounds of gunfire was heard on board the yacht. it sounds as they the pirates had decided that they were in a trapped position and just executed these hostages without any provocation. a member of a u.s. special operations force boarded the yacht, knifed one of the hijackers, that hijacker later died, as did another pirate in the ensuing battle. authorities found two pirates already dead on board the vessel. apparently they had died perhaps in infighting among the pirates. all a very fluid situation, very chaotic, but we know that the four americans have died. apparently the u.s. navy did nothing to provoke this attack. the pirates opened fire first and then executed their hostages. we will keep you updated as we learn more about what happened. jenna: a casualty of america's third war laid to rest today, mourners attending the fun -- mourner of jaime za papa, drug cartels murdered zapata and injured another in mexico. kris gutierrez is live in zapata's home town of brownsville. who have you heard from this morning? >> reporter: hi jenna. first i want to set the scene for you. moments ago the funeral mass in brownsville ended and you can see behind me seconds ago, actually, the flag-draped coffin of zapata was loaded in the hearse and you can see that military, local, state and federal government agencies are all here to pay their last respects to zapata and his family. more than 1000 mourners, i'm to, an estimated crowd of roughly 1000 people, were inside the brownsville event center here this morning, and just moments ago they heard from secretary janet napolitano, department of homeland security, and she said this. listen: >> we will not relent or flinch or let up in any way in our determination to see that those responsible for his death are held to account for their crimes. nor will we tolerate violence against our federal agents or our border communities. >> zapata was shot three times, one week ago today, working in the mexican state, he was in an armoured vehicle with his colleague, victor avila and we saw victor avila for the first time, on crutches, he was shot in the leg during the ambush. we saw him as he made his way into a memorial service and rosary honori