Iguana. Look at that. A fan of fox friends. Gretchen oh, my gosh. Steve very nice. Keep them coming. Gretchen dr. Ian will stick around for the after the show show. Around congress and enact new gun laws with executive order. Vice President Biden telling House Democrats at least 19 of those actions are being prepped and will be implemented whether congress likes it are not. Leads to the question, what are they. Im bill hemmer. Happy tuesday on americas news room. Martha im martha maccallum. These orders are more aggressive of current laws which a lot of people said is really the first place to start, or, they will try to get the centers for Disease Control to do some National Research on firearms. Bill on the other side many argue, democrats and republican lawmakers, you need to look at more than just guns. This is a very important constitutional right and we are very dedicated to protecting the Second Amendment from that standpoint. So what we want to focus on are ways to make sure that people with serious mental difficulties are kept away from firearms. Bill thats another avenue on here. Now byron york, chief political correspondent, washington examiner. Good morning to you, byron. Good morning, bill. Bill why from a governmental level, legislative level, why pursue the executive orders . A lot of this is just politics because the big fear of gun control advocates the horror that everybody felt after the shootings in connecticut would fade and all get bogged down in congress and nothing much would happen. That is exactly what will happen as a matter of fact. So the president wants to be seen as taking action. There are a few things he can do through executive action but theyre not all that big. He can order the centers for Disease Control to conduct a new study on gun violence. He can increase penalties for people that lie on their background checks. He can make it better, easier for states to actually report who has been adjudicated to be mentally ill so that can be in these databases. Other than that there is not a huge amount he could do. Bill i did not hear you say assault weapons or gun show exceptions or the size of the magazine. Seems like that is the lowhanging fruit and that is easy to reach . The white house decided those are definitely for matters for congress to attend to. They are going to be very controversy a. M. The assault weapons ban, a lot of people think that will not happen. The universal background checks and size of the magazines has a better chance in congress. Bill what he said from the beginning of this National Debate that is barometer must be, what can we do to prevent another sandy hook . From what we know of the executive orders what would address that . I dont think any of them would. Sandy hook was a unusual situation it was the killers mother who owned the weapons and entirely qualified to own the weapons. Connecticut has tiff gun control laws and bought them and held them legally in connecticut and he ended up using them. It would be incredibly difficult situation to address. Almost all of the measures being talked about executive or congressional would probably not have changed what happened in sandy hook. Bill byron york. Thank you. Bill coverage out of washington. Martha with more on this. Martha this morning lawmakers in new york are set to approve what are described as the toughest gun control laws in the country. This plan was worked out by governor andrew cuomo. It includes new rules for assault weapons and it requires Mental Health professionals to report dangerous patients. The Mental Health check system requires you put together a database to check against obviously. Universal background checks on all gun purchases to close the private sales loophole. Right now a person going into a dealership, dealer, there is background check but there isnt on a private sale. That would close that loophole. Martha that is what he would do in the state of new york. That proposed law would expand the definition of assault weapon to match the toughest law in the nation right now which is californias. It limits ammunition magazines which we heard about to seven rounds, not sure how they arrived exactly at that number. It requires background checks when somebody buys ammunition. There is only background check when you buy a gun. They have to go through the secondary step when you buy ammunition. New york is one of at least 12 states with new gun laws on the agenda as a result of all of this. Bill also a freshman lawmaker vows to stop president obama from using any sort of executive action to limit Second Amendment rights. Republican Steve Stockman out of texas would defund the white house and would file articles of impeachment. He argues executive action on the issue is not only unconstitutional but a direct attack on americans. Five past the hour. Martha so debt talks are also heating up now in washington as the National Debt is speeding towards the countrys spending limit once again, folks. You know what that means. Talking about time to raise the debt ceiling, right . President obama warned he will not enter into another game of brinkmanship as he referred to it over the debt sealing with republicans. The issue here is whether or not america pays its bills. We are not a deadbeat nation. If Congressional Republicans refuse to pay americas bills on time, Social Security checks and Veterans Benefits will be delayed. Investors around the world will ask if the United States of america is in fact a safe bet. The full faith and credit of the United States of america is not a bargaining chip. Martha a lot of talk about the president s demeanor at that News Conference yesterday. Well get into that a little bit more coming up but for now does this really come down to an issue of raising the spending limit or defaulting on our credibility as the president has talked about. Lets bring in stuart varney, host of Varney Company on fox business network. So, stuart, you feel the way he is framing this is incorrect . Yes. Were not going to default, period. We are not going to default. The default means that you do not service your debt. You dont pay the interest on your debt. Well we have 2 1 2 trillion dollars coming into the treasury every year in tax revenue. We can use that tax revenue to pay the interest on our debt. Therefore, we will not default. All this talk about being a deadbeat nation, that belies the fact that we have never, and will never default on our obligations. The obligation being to pay the interest on the debt. Were not a deadbeat nation and were not going to default, period. Yes. Period. Martha comes down to the big question whether or not you will cut spending in order to not default on your debt. And that brings us to a larger question or one of the larger questions, which is whether or not we will be downgraded if we dont become more responsible with our spending . Interesting you should raise that issue, martha, because 45 minutes ago, fitch, the Ratings Agency said, if we have another delay in raising this debt ceilingsing, if we have this political standoff again just like we had in 2011, fitch says we may be downgraded. His name is david reilly. He is managing director at fitch and he said if it is just like 2011, america will be on review. That means it could be downgraded. They do not like this talk from the president about no negotiations, because that imply as real standoff. And they dont like the words, deadbeat nation. After all, if you pay a bill with a credit card, which you have no intention of paying off that credit card, or reducing the balance on it, that makes you a deadbeat. So theyre looking for political leadership, the financial side of america. Theyre not seeing it and theyre threatening a downgrade. Martha we see what happened in other countries that have been downgraded and a lot of irresponsible spending with no real plan to get it under control. No doubt that goes into the equation as well as you point out, mr. Varney. Thank you. Miss mccullum. Martha a massive aid bill for victims of Superstorm Sandy is moving toward key votes in the house but not without controversy. Northeastern lawmakers are pushing an aid package topping 50 billion. Fiscal hawks want spending cuts to offset any payments for the recovery efforts. Well follow how those votes play out. Bill heres a stunner for you. A stunning course of change but how much of a change. After years of bitter and forceful denial, cyclist Lance Armstrong is talking now, reportedly telling Oprah Winfrey he did use performanceenhancing drugs to win several Tour De France. What exactly i said though is still a bit of a mystery because we have not seen the interview yet. Casey stiegel live in dallas on this, the home state for Lance Armstrong, living in nearby austin. What did he say or how much can we report he said, casey. Reporter good morning to you. That is the question this morning, isnt it. The verbatim of the interview of course is not being released. That is Oprah Winfreys way teasing us all to tune into the interview which is scheduled to air on thursday night but a source close to the information has said that he did in fact tell oprah that he confessed to using these performanceenhancing drugs during his cycling career, a career that included seven Tour De France wins, titles that were later of course stripped from him amid the doping allegations. Something he denied doing all of the time for years. Armstrong apparently offering a simple apology to his fans and oprah was on the cbs early show this morning talking about her interview that happened yesterday in austin. Listen to what oprah had to say. He did not come clean in the manner that i expected. It was surprising to me. I would say that for myself, my team, all of us in the room, we were mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers. And in a 2 1 2 hour interview i asked most of those questions or at least as many of those questions as i could, but i feel that he answered the questions in a way that he was ready. Reporter a 2 1 2 hour interview. You can bet the ratings are going to be high on this one. Again, bill, this interview airs thursday night on the Oprah Winfrey network. Bill so before he went to that hotel in austin yesterday, he stopped by his charity, his canser charity, live strong. And made an apology for what . Reporter he absolutely did. He apologized for being wrapped up in this whole controversy. The livestrong, foundation, bill, as you know, raised millions and millions of dollars for Cancer Research around the world and he sat down as the board member from that organization that he started back in october when the u. S. Antidoping agency released that damning report. Before he did the interview with oprah he talked with 100 members of his staff at the foundation, a 20minute talk. He expressed his regret. He choked up at times and made no admissions. Now of course the question remains, bill, what will happen legally to Lance Armstrong because as you know under oath he admitted that he did not use these drugs. He denied it all along and, he also sued people for alleging that he was doing these drugs. So if he comes clean and the cat is out of the bag, now, what happens legally to Lance Armstrong . He is said to be worth about 100 million, bill. Bill casey, thank you. Watching from dallas. You wont see it yet. Thursday and friday, two different parts on oprahs network well see it then. Then well find out at the moment. Martha well discuss this a little later. Disappointment across the board in this Lance Armstrong story. When you look back at his career, he was a seventime Tour De France winner. In 2002, Sports Illustrated named him sportsman of the year. This all comes with a very different taint to it, given what were learning and as we say were waiting to hear all of the specifics but were getting the crux of it. He won the bronze medal in the 2000 olympics. Since the scandal broke the u. S. Antidoping agency erased four 14 years of armstrongs records, including the Tour De France titles and banned him from cycling for life. Department of justice is set to start a whistleblower suit brought by teammate floyd landis. Why he is would be doing this and whether or not he wants to get into a career of some sort. Whether he wants to clear his conscience. I would imagine it is a bit of both. Bill casey said he is worth 100 million. That is widely reported. You begin to wonder when people begin to talk you think they can talk themselves out of it. Justice department can pursue action as we know. Martha the president says no negotiations with republicans on raising the debt limit, none. What do republican haves to say about that . Well talk to congressman steve king. Bill a new home for al qaeda and is growing. Where the terror group is now in control. Martha the marine who spent months in a notorious mexican prison speaking out how he survived Death Threats from drug cartels. Did they threaten you with violence . Yes. There was threats on my life when i initially got in there. How did you handle that . There are patients who will question, why does my mouth feel dryer than i remember it to be . There are more people taking more medication, so we see people suffering from dry mouth more so. We may see more cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. A dry mouth sufferer doesnt have to suffer. I would recommend biotene. The enzymes in biotene products help supplement enzymes that are naturally in saliva. Biotene helps moisten those areas that have become dry. Those that are suffering can certainly benefit from biotene. To the best vacation sp all the gulf it doesnt matter which of our great states folks visit. Mississippi, alabam louisiana or florida, theyre gonna love it. Shaul, your alabama hospitality is incredible. Thanks, karen. Love your mississippi outdoors. I vote for your florida beaches, dawn. Bill, this louisiana seafood is delicious. Were having such a great year on the gulf, weve decided to put aside our rivalry. Now is the perfect time to visit anyone of our states. The beaches and waters couldnt be more beautiful. Take a boat ride, go fishing or just lay in the sun. Weve got coastline to explore and wildlife to photograph. And theres world class dining with our world famous seafood. So for a great vacation this year, come to the gulf. Its all fabulous but i give florida the edge. Right after mississippi. You mean alabama. Say louisiana or theres no dessert. This invitation is brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. Martha that is a horrible story. Just breathing is making people sick in chinas capital. A haze of pollution enveloping beijing and other parts of northwestern china is blame for increase in respiratory disease. The chinese premiers is calling for new environmental rules. He is the first top communist leader to address the issues. In addition to making people sick. That is hurting visibility causing them to close highways and cancel flights. A 50 is sat fact tri score for air pollution. But get the reading in beijing reached 755. More than twice the level considered to be hazardous. Boy, that is a dangerous situation there. Bill good day to stay indoors, right . New front on the war on terror. Al qaeda fights to establish a new home and they have been successful. Military leaders in the african nation of mali, meeting to send troops into battle. Al qaeda fighters trying to turn that country into the next afghanistan. France launching an assault there with the help of u. S. Forces. Now soldiers are beefing up security at french subways and train stations and other possible terror targets in its country after al qaeda warned that france, is quote, opened the gates of hell. With more now, former u. S. Ambassador to the u. N. , Fox News Contributor john bolton. Sir, good morning to you. What us did this say about the state of the terror group . Well, al qaeda in the u. S. Islamic mag greg maghreb taken over in northern mali has taken strength since the fall of muammar qaddafi. This is the one of the consequences of overthrowing muammar qaddafi that we didnt pay continuing attention to as we should have. I think it also highlights an important point worldwide. The war on terror is not over. Usama bin laden may be dead but al qaeda has metastasized and is a threat now in many, many, regions around the world. So the idea that somehow we dont have to worry about international terrorism, i think this should put it to rest. Bill theyre talking about adding American Drones to give surveillance for the french troops on the ground. I want to show viewers on our screen here. Egypt, we talked a lot about, mr. Ambassador, you know that. You mentioned qaddafi in libya. You make the case a lot of arms that came out of libya when qaddafi was out of power, they went into mali, is that confirmed . Not only the arms but some of the people he employed in his militias to keep himself in power. Although this looks like a pretty out of the way place it is really, the issue not just the damage done to mali by having terrorists take root there although that is true and it is no not really the threat to the countries around mali, although it is a threat to them too. The risk of the rest of the world, you have this doughnut hole in the middle of sahara and Subsaharan Africa where al qaeda and other terrorists seek a safe haven, a sanctuary where they can planetary rift attacks around the world, replenish themselves, train people, and that is the real risk of al qaeda being there. Bill the point youre making there. Apparently they have taken over an area in the northern part of the country about the size of afghanistan and said to be in com