you're going to balance the budget by cutting just 12 percent of the budget town to balance, it is literally, figuratively impossible. jenna: the gop making it clear the u.s. cannot keep wracking up debt and some saying something, if anything, needs to be stkpwhraoupb unfortunately we know republicans control one of one levers of law making, the democrats have the senate, the democrats have the white house, nobody wants to shut down the government, but one thing is nonnegotiable, as our speaker said, we will not that -- will not pass bills that to not create savings for the american people. skpwr*epb jen carl kan iron is live on this story. it seems this different on time it's different. do lawmakers sound more skeptical than before the last time of this temporary fix? >> this time you've gotand republicans alike expressing scep ti similar, this time around they are very, very apart. there have been five extensions that lawmakers have given themselves up to come up with a spending gap this year and the gaps to the two proposals is huge. the republicans have passed a measure in the house that would cut $61 billion from current spending, that is a house-passed legislation that's pending in the senate and the president and the democrats came out with a counterpart, 6 1/2 billion dollars to cuts in spending, almost 1/10 of what republicans have po possess -- proposed. it's not just the battle over the short term spending and whether or not they can avert a shutdown and cut the government's over head and reduce the debt this year, there's an ongoing battle about whether or not the democrats and aps are looking at the real programs, entitlement programs, which make all huge percentage of the overall # $4 trillion debt and on that there is increasing pessimism, too. this was mitch mcconnell. >> it could be done in a very, very effective way, and for those who are concerned about the 2012 elections, survived politically because both sides will have embraced t. i haven't given up hope but frankly i'm not optimistic. >> reporter: republicans are all but daring the administration to come to the table and discuss serious entitlement reform, attacking the long debt and it sounds like they are not going to pass any spend measures for the short term this year unless some spending is reduced and there's no signs that democrats on capitol hill are bog to blink, which means a shutdown this time is much more serious. jenna: that said, there are votes this week. what should we be watching for? >> reporter: what they're going to do, democratic majority leader harry reid has plans to house votes object the house version with the 61 1/2 billion dollars cut in the senate as soon as tomorrow and what he also wants to do is offer been opportunity to vote on that the''s plan with a 6 1/2 billion dollars cut. whether or not that's a stand alone piece of legislation has to be worked out but it will vote test votes on those potentials and the irony is that reid and democrats and republicans and mcconnell all know that th*et proposal are likely to pass, meaning they'll have proven they can't get anything done yet, and the clock keeps ticking and debt keeps going up. jenna: carl cameron, definitely one of the stories we'll watch, definitely the top one this week. jon: to the -- gregg: to wisconsin where mark miller has just sent a letter to the governor scott walker asking for an in-person reason near the illinois-wisconsin border. he is one of four democrats who fled the state to block the vote on a budget bill and today the 14 denied a "wall street journal" report that they were planning to head home soon. meanwhile hundreds of supporters of governor walker held a rally in madison showing their support today and were countered by hundreds of prounion mem strayers. mike tobin skwrous us live from wisconsin with the latest details. i have this comical image in my mind, mike, the governor is standing on one side of the border and the senate democratic leader on the other side of the border holding a meeting. >> who knows if we would actually straddle the border we do have confirmation from the lieutenant governor that the machineority leader has reached out to the governor's office for a meeting. they're very encouraged by that because the republicans in wisconsin are very interested in trying to create a pa*rt way upon which the senate democrats could return to wisconsin and vote on this controversial piece of legislation. he also mentioned in the lead-in, the reporting that we've seen be since wednesday, when we see one report saying the democrats are about to return and the vote is eminent. i just talked with majority leader scott tkpw*euts fitzgerald who said the reason for this contrary reporting is fact that the senate caucus, democratic caucus offer the border in illinois, is not centralized, there isn't a centralized leadership with which anyone is talking. the quote he gave me outside the capitol is that it's like to negotiate with jello. you get a lot of different opinions, strike a deal with one group and don't have a deal with another group. senator john erchenbrk this. ht said republicans are a problem. the republicans passed a rule in committee saying these democrats could be arrested if returning to wisconsin. so beat goes on, the demonstrators return to the capitol grounds over the weekend, one group outside of the capitol ground oppose walker and his legislation, another group supports walker and his legislation, of course, he chose another location to minimize friction. both sides in the debate -- debate very passionate. gregg: passion is the word there. thank you very much. jenna: moving overseas, new developments in the antigovernment protests rocking the middle east. we start where it all began, in egypt, and today, new protests and new clashes there, hundreds of demonstrators trying to storm the security headquarters in cairo, as they demand reforms to the country's security forces. you can see the po testers and those supposedly loyal to mubarek fought with knives and machetes, even. now to bahrain where hundreds staged a demonstration outside the u.s. embassy, calling washington to break ties with the dick torial regime, quote, there. and they are campaigning for greater literal freedom. the united states keeping close eyes on the action because bahrain houses a big portion of our naval fleet. and a day of regret, prot*ersers marking the parliamentary elections there, and saying parliament did not keep its promises because it did not form a political state. to libya, air strikes and raebels positions around a key oil port, gunfire erupts ago oppositions fights back in an effort to stop them from advancing forces on the capitol of tr*euf lee. in the meantime, mommar gadhafi taking to the air waves, once again he blames al-qaeda for all the violence rocking his country. leland vitter is live in libya with more. >> reporter: we're now heading back from the front lines. they advanced on 250 miles toward tripoli but ended with a gadhafi atok and the air force tries to pound those rubble lines where we were earlier today. they have ant aircraft guns, unfortunately they don't know how to use them that well . >> there was another lpg, it's flying down there, an incredible amount of firepower. we've got it above us, you can see they're trying to shoot down one of the russian-made fighter jets. the amount of fire coming out of this base is impressive, if for no other reason the other day they were bombed. you can see some of the flack up there. and there were a couple of more balls and dropped about a mile from where we were yesterday. it's unclear just how hard the fires are trying to hit the base or if they're trying to scare the rebels. as this rebel army has gotten closer to the gadhafi strong holds, they are simply not prepared for it. jenna, the key for the be rebels, the coming days, are they going to regroup and get a command and control structure so they can take on the army. otherwise their going to be stopped where they are or pushed back further. jenna: lee phaupbd vitt -- leland visiter, thank you. gregg: the united states navy taking down a gang of pirates after they stormed a ship. the dramatic operation unfolding after the coast of amman. steve centanni joins us. what can you tell us about the rescue? >> reporter: word came friday that my rats attacked a japanese-owned oil tanker and boarded the vessel. on saturday a u.s. navy guided destroyer, the u.s.s. bulkeley, arrived on the scene and confirmed with the captain that eye rats were indeed aboard and the coup had been taken hostage. actually, they had taken refuge in what's called a citadel, a reinforced cabin whether theo where the crew could wait while help arrives. with the aide of a u.s.s. helicopter, they took four hijackers into custody and freed the 24 crew members. no shots were fired and the suhas yet to decide what to do with those prospective pirates. gregg: steve centanni, live in washington, thank you very much. >> you bet. jenna: a powerful line of storms pushing across this country, a tornado killing a young mother protector her child. just a tragic story. new information on that and where the wicked weather is heading. major fireworks in the meantime on the big island of how's, an active volcano spewing lava into the air. new warnings being issued. we know a lot of you folks while you're watching us are also online and double tasking. we invite you to go to our home page and check out those stories clicking with most people, the hottest stories right now. you have to do, go to the home page and click on to the most read area and you can see all of these stories, and in just a few minutes we're going to tell you about more of the stories you're interested in. be back. jenna: right now, bodies are still being discovered underneath tons of rubble in christchurch, new zealand, 15 days after that massive earth tkwhaeubg struck the country's largest city, the prime minister announcing today at least 10,000 homes and businesses will have to be demolished. he also issued a state of emergency in the city for another week. last month's 6.3 magnitude quake and aftershocks literally liquified the ground below much of the city center causing severe structural damage as you can see by these images to buildings all over the place, also claiming more than 160 lives. gregg: an incredible display of a volcano's boiling point object the big island of hawaii. take a look at these pictures, kiluau is spilling lava, # 5 feet in the air. over the weekend one of the crater's floor collapsed, triggering 150 small earthquakes. piluau is one of the largest volcanoes and has been in constant eruption for 28 years. joining us on the phone is dr. john eigerberger and thank you for being with us. talk to these about these pictures that we're seeing of these ferocious eruptions. that's going on? >> well, yes, gregg, it's very interesting. there's basically underground pipeline, and a natural one, from the center of the volcano similar to where it's been eruption, and basically, that pipeline ruptured and it's now robbing lava from the supply ofo from the comb it was erupting and pumping it out in a new place with a great deal of vigor. gregg: do you have any idea what it's going to be doing in the near future? is it going to get worse and will it threaten homes? >> well, i guess the short answer is no. we did see signs that this change was coming. there was a major deflation of the summit area. but this eruption has been going -- as you mentioned, it's been going on for 28 years. this is just a change in the event. this happened in 199 #, and then the new vent shut downald the old one went back to work. in this case, it's been going on longer, so perhaps this will become the new vent for the eruption or perhaps not in any case, the lava flows, since they've last their lava supply, has dropped down near the coast and that's -- they've been slowly burning some houses and so that activity has stopped. so for the moment there's less hazard, actually. gregg: well, it's amazing stuff and it's good to know if people in homes at least so far are not in jeopardy. dr. john eichelberger, thank you very much for being with us. >> you're welcome, my pleasure. jengen never get tired of those pictures. gregg: 28 years, this has been going on. jenna: the race for the white house 2012, a very different race, right, there are no, count them, no, big name republicans officially running but today, six possible gop contenders are making news, what they're doing and how it could impact the presidential race. gregg: volunteer firefighters in very big trouble accused of taking one of the trucks for a joy ride. there are pictures of it but that is not the full story. the full story, straight makes ahead. martha: well are america's election headquarters. by this time in the last presidential election cycle 11 republicans had already said they were running or were exploring a run for the presidency. today, a total of zero have officially thrown their hats in the ring. but today we have six possible republican contenders. they're going to be attending an event in iowa, one of the early primary states. our next guest has said it's time for republican candidates to get serious about the race, get aggressive. bill crystal is editor of the weekly standard and also a fox news political analyst. so bill, just starting off with a broad question, if the country is center right, then why is it so difficult to find a candidate that's center right to go after those voters? what's the stphrob. >> i think there will be plenty of candidates, i just think they're being sensible. there's no need to start raising money and spend the kind of money you have to raise for campaigns, which is only $3400 a person, when you can fly to ohio, you're packed and paid for it, you're not a candidate yet, you can give the identical speech as long as you don't say the words i am running for president. so it's better to campaign as long as you can without being a candidate and i think april, things get serious and start to run but they're being sensible, and there's no rush. jenna: maybe there's an economic factor to that. as you mentioned, campaigns are very expensive. a university told bus this poll that registered who voters were feeling as far as warmth towards potential candidates and big political figures and you can see on your screen that chris christie beat out the president by a little bit there, and the -- on the warmth meter. do you people feel warmth towards chris christie simply because he's not running for president? >> because he's so huggable! jenna: in your humble opinion. >> i defer to you maybe on this actually. through it's interesting, chris christie does a lot of interesting tough and paul ryan, two people who said they're not running but haven't closed the door 100 percent. you can imagine if the frontrunners out there, romney, palenty, i think haley barbour will run, probably mitch daniels, i think i'm forgetting some other frontrunner, i can't remember who now and if none of them catches fire i can see an interest in christie who is fighting the good night in new jersey, eengaging, aggressive. charismatic or paul ryan who is fighting the good night in washington. people who are rubbing, they're former governors, newt gingrich, palenty, romney. this is an exciting moment and republicans are fighting a fight at the state and national level and there's an opening for someone like christie and ryan to tkpwhet and tap peoples' enthusiasm for that reason. jenna: we talked about mitch romney and tim palenty as well. will the issues define the candidacy, meaning that the economy is nut one issue going into this presidential election, is that going to define who the gop puts out there or will the tkaeupts themselves put out the issues that they speak of and define the campaign? >> i think the latter. candidates will define what they think the presidential cast is and the main advice would be sure, everyone is talking about the decifit and the economy, but people want a president to handle foreign policy, to give moral leadership, people want a president also to deal with the budget. i think there are republican candidates who have the broadest appeal who can present themselves the say as ronald reagan, an across the board conservative leader, willing to deal with threats, willing to deal with the budget decifit, also to have an economic growth agenda and willing to discuss social issues. i think that candidate will do better. i think it's a mistake to focus exclusively on the debt or decifit. jenna: bill crystal, thank you very much for your input, of the weekly standard. talk to you soon. gregg: obviously a speeding fire engine is not terribly unusual but the circumstance s in a virginia case, very, very troubling, a group of volunteer firefighters in hamilton, virginia reportedly got drunk and then got behind the wheel, and took the fire truck on a joy ride, a policeman, forced to veer off into a ditch to avoid this speeding truck. >> it's honestly an outrage, we count on our firemen to support us, think them out, i don't think them driving around drunk, drunk. >> two to to resign and police charged the driver of the truck of obviously driving under the influence. a frightening story. jenna: very frightening, and the fact that is police officer had to veer off the road, of all people. gregg: yes. i wonder where they were going. jenna: luckily no one was hurt. those are our taxpayer dollars. that's our truck! be careful. the crisis in libya intensifying, and there are new calls for a no fly zone. is that our best option? we'll talk to one analyst thaopb. gregg: plus wild weather across the country, in louisiana, a tornado struck with very tragic results as one young mother forced to make the ultimate sacrifice for her son, this after the twister seemed to strike without any warning. >> it was a shock. definitely a shock. next thing you know, it was black. it happened so fast. it was a shock. hey, did you ever finish last month's invoices? sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi plce around the corner. well, in that case, i better get bk to these invoices... whh i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what? i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. 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[ male announcer ] switch to sprint and get unlimited 4g data on a wide range of devices. sprint 4g, it's business without limits. trouble hearing on the phone? only on the now network. visit sprintrelay.com. jenna: fox news alert for you the president and the prime minister meeting in the oval office. let's take a listen. >> wiebe began by me once again expressing on behalf of all of the people of the united states our deepest condolences for those families that were affected by the terrible floods recently. we want to commend the prime minister and the government and all the personnel who were involved for their tame lee response and what is i know a very difficult time. once again we want to pledge any support that we can provide to the australian people in this moment of hardship. we also talked about a wide range of international issues. i'll