>> megyn: you've her the saying it takes a village? it did, to capture this one ton crocodile. reeled in by dozens of locals in the philippines staff from a crocodile farm helped by setting up traps this is behind a number of savage attacks and one death. the croc may be put into a park. this thing is alive in this picture, it is alive! and they are sitting on it! thanks for being here, happy labor day, i'm meg again kelly, take care. welcome to a special -- special edition of america's news headquarters, i'm heather childers. >> gregg: and i'm gregg jarrett. studio b with shepard smith returns tomorrow. >> we begin with the big topic

on everybody's mind this labor day, jobs. president obama rapping up his speech in detroit.÷42/ñ analysts say today's event served as sort of a does rehearsal for the major speech this week. in detroit this afternoon the president called on republicans to put aside party differences and support his upcoming proposals to put americans back to work. >> the president: going to propose ways to put america back to work that both parties can agree to. because i still believe both parties can work together to solve our problems. given the urgency of this moment, given the hardship that many people are facing, folks got to get together. but, we're not going to wait >> gregg: the president

expected to discuss that and more during a live primetime address to a joint session of congress thursday this coming after a dismal jobs report last week which showed employers added no new jobs last month. it is the first time the government has reported no net changes in jobs in more than six long decades. chief white house correspondent ed henry traveling with the president. whatrk[ñ was the president's man message today? >> reporter: i think as you laid it out with that dismal jobs report the worst one since 1945 in terms of a net of zero jobs created in the month of august. he's trying to take that weakness and try to turn it into a strength by saying this is a call for action, for congress to move. that you have to do something to prevent this economy from slipping into a double dip recession. so, i think that call to action was also about politics. labor day is traditionally the kickoff for campaigns. the president was trying to

fire up his base, a very union pro-obama crowd there were shouts of four more years, et cetera. in terms of previewing the speech, the president said little that is new. he talked about more infrastructure spending. extending the payroll tax cut, we've heard that before. he was road testing, if you will some of the lines he may use thursday night about taking on republicans on issues like tax cuts. take a listen. >> the president: show us what you got! [ cheering and applause ] >> the president: the time for washington game is over. the time for action is now. no more manufactured crises, no more games. now is not the time for the people you sent to washington to worry about their job. now is the time for them to worry about your job. >> reporter: in terms of getting more details from the president he tried to joke

about it by saying, look i don't want to scoop myself. i want to make sure everyone tunes in thursday night. a lot of people are going to be watching closely to see what is new about this plan. >> gregg: the white house is saying this is not a campaign lism the president was certainly firing up the crowd. what he said wasn't nearly as fiery as what some others had to say before him. tell us about that. >> reporter: that's right. the teamsters' president jimmy hoffa, jr. was firm and direct in saying this -- he referred to this union crowd as an army for the president. and was saying the republicans and the tea party are out to stop the president. and that the democrats were going to remember in november, as he said, that the republicans and the tea party have been trying to stop the president's agenda. then he went a bit further. >> everybody here has a vote if we go back and keep the eye on the prize, let's take these

son of a bitches and give america back to america where we belong! thank you! >> reporter: you can see jimmy hoffa, jr. mi -- minutesing no words, tough rhetoric if terms -- terms of what he thinks republicans are going to try to do to -- -- democrats are going to do to try to take republicans out of office. >> gregg: ed thanks. >> heather: as the president spends his day in detroit, many of the republican candidates for president now taking part in a forum in columbia, south carolina. in a last minute decision, one of the candidates pulling out. our chief political correspondent carl cameron with the news on that live in south carolina. carl, set the stage for us. >> reporter: happy labor day the stage is short one participant. rick perry had to pull the plug at the last second.

he was campaigning in south carolina, romney is in new hampshire. perry announced he was going to be heading hope to texas because his state is plagued with wildfires. he will be making remarks about that later today. in lieu of his appearance, there was no shortage of sparring. romney in new hampshire eager to go after perry and perry likewise. listen to perry this morning as he went after romney on his jobs record. >> there is no one sitting on that stage who has the record of job creation that i have. there's going to be some that get up and say i've created jobs. that's true, you know one in particular that has created jobs all over the world. while he was the governor of massachusetts he didn't create very many jobs. >> reporter: perry has been on tough romney today suggesting the republican nominee should not be someone who blurs the lines with president obama.

suggesting romney is too moderate. for his part romney has been going after perry on a host of things suggesting the texas governor is weak on border security. too extreme and too conservative on social security in terms of wanting to do away with it. romney makes the point that perry has spent all of his life in government and qualifies as a career politician without private sector experience. >> i don't think a career politician can fix what career politicians have messed up. i think it is going to take someone outside of politics and i am to a great degree. and i'm going to use that experience to get america working again. >> reporter: perry is the governor of texas, three times, a record for that state. romney was the governor of massachusetts for one term. he says or jokes that he didn't inhale. all that trying to suggest he's not a government insider, but a political outsider who might succeed with some

political reforms. >> heather: interesting to observe their two different deliveries what do we expect to happen? >> reporter: you can't find two candidates who are more contrasting than romney and perry as combatants for the nomination. in perry's absence they will start out with michelle bachmann, herman cain, newt gingrich, texas congressman ron paul who is polling around third in iowa. second, third or fourth depending on which you look at nationally. will then be followed by romney. mr. perry obviously not going to be here. romney is the cleanup hitter in all of this. the questions are going to be posed by jim demint and steve king. both conservative republicans and real tea party favorites. demint has been recruiting tea party candidates around the country. king has been holding forums like this. today's forum going to likely

focus not as much on jobs as perhaps social issues. one of the host groups is into the more cultural issues than fiscal ones. >> heather: don't need labor day for that to be top of the agenda. carl cameron, thanks. >> gregg: perhaps the real battle here and the fight for the republican nomination would be perry vs. romney, if you look at the polls. joining us from washington to talk about that david drugger, good to see you. let's put it up on the screen the latest fox news poll just came out. perry has jumped to a 7 point lead, 26% to romney's 18%. it is early and there's still four more months before the first primaries and caucuses. david, would you give perry the edge right now and why? >> i give perry the slight

edge. because he's a sitting governor with a good economic record. texas created more jobs than any other state in the country they've weathered the recession rather welcome paired to the rest of the country. he has one thing that republican primary voters have been looking for. somebody with an energetic personality, a sort of inspirational-type of personality. and a lot of personal aggressiveness. i think that's what was lacking in this race from the point of view of republican primary voters. that's why michelle bachmann was popular early on. now she has fallen back a bit. now republicans can turn to a member of their party with a lot of energy that appeals to their hearts, not just their heads and somebody who has executive experience. >> gregg: being a front-runner has its risks. is perry going to have a bull's-eye on his back come wednesday night during the gop debate?

at the end of the night is he going to feel like a pinata? >> he already has a bull's-eye on his back. as romney learned four years ago when he was the front-runner, it is not always it is cracked up to be this is a state by state process in the early going. maybe perry wins iowa. if things were to unfold the way they look today. romney has a good shot to win new hampshire. he's ahead there. south carolina can be deceiving you think automatically it goes to perry, i would call him the front-runner at this point. if you have a couple of conservatives battling it out and south carolinians are worried about electability, romney mate be able to claim that mantle. then we -- we move to florida, which is anybody's ballgame and going to be very competitive. however things look today it is too early to decide that the person who is number one today is going to be number one at the end of this

process. >> gregg: let's talk more about romney now he's no longer the front-runner, if you will. he's trying to court the tea party. but they well know that romney championed state run health care in massachusetts when he was governor. used to be pro-choice before he suddenly became pro-life and flip-flopped on issues, including climate change. is his record incompatible with tea party principles? >> well, not necessarily. i think first of all let's look at social issues aspect. that is not something most tea party activists are that concerned about. they are concerned with jobs and the economy. romney has something to run on his private sector experience and he's not a career politician even though please been in the political arena for 10 years. i think it is going to be how he markets himself and how the various factions of the tea party universe feel about mitt romney and the rest of the candidates. i wouldn't write him off.

the same way romney is saying health care was an experiment for massachusetts only and would not be a fit for the u.s. nationally. the same thing rick perry is saying about the dream act in texas that allows children of illegal immigrants to go to school there and get state tuition prices. these things might be a little more complicated than you think. i point out, tea party is a significant faction of the republican primary electorate. any candidate who doesn't try and appeal to them for votes is going of trouble. romney has to do it. >> gregg: absolutely. the only way you can do it to survive. david drucker of roll call, thanks very much. less than a week away from the 10th anniversary of the september 11th, attacks. security at ground zero is higher than ever. julie banderas has a behind the scenes look at nypd's effort to secure the memorial and the site. >> heather: remnants of tropical storm lee still

dumping heavy rain across a large portion of the country. the trouble not over yet. we'll have the latest from hard hit new orleans, when we come back. >> we didn't expect it to come this fast, but it did. >> it looks like it is keeping oncoming in. we could probably handle another five feet before it gets into our homes. >> i had to go back to my house to make sure everything was all right, my dog. now i'm heading to the in-laws.

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excellent. they're delicious. that is really good. i'm definitely hooked. absolutely perfect. and now, we invite you to try a plum masterpiece. d'lightful, d'licious, d'noir prunes, only from sunsweet. >> heather: what was tropical storm lee now weak as it moves further inland. the storm still packing heavy rain and several states are experiencing serious flooding. flood watches, warnings across, stretching from new orleans up the east coast. lee dumping more than a foot of rain in some parts of new orleans the levees are holding and the pumps are running. this is from slidell,

louisiana just north of new orleans. this subdivision flooded out with anywhere between two and four feet of water, turning streets into rivers. some people using kayaks to reach their homes. >> i've never seen water come up that high. >> almost like katrina again but not as bad, scary, a shock. >> heather: scary if you lived through that learning about wind and possible tornado damage along the gulf coast. casey stegall is live in new orleans. what challenges are they facing there now? >> reporter: heather right now 17,000 people are still without power across parts of southern louisiana. as you were seeing from those pictures, as we've been talking about for several days, the region was inundated with water. believe it or not, not as much rain fell as forcasters initially thought this system

would drop. when lee made landfall early yesterday morning it went more to the east of us, the worst parts went east of the big easy. there is still very much a growing concern about flooding problems in plaquemines parish. >> that is southeast of here that is where the worst flood waters are at this hour. so bad the president of that parish says later today, they will actually cut a hole in the back levee to relieve somee of the pressure on the levee walls. that is supposed to alleviate some of the problem. the rain is supposed to taper off as we go into today. the sun started peeking through the clouds a few moments ago. when we talked to you dad on america's newsroom it was pouring. it has been sporadic, we've seen that over the course of the last several days covering the story. no doubt, as the rain tapers off, those flood waters will start to recede as lee pushes inland now giving the

northeast problems. they are already saturated after hurricane irene last weekend. >> heather: you mentioned the past couple days of coverage we've been doing this with you. i notice people constantly behind you rain or not. lee didn't stop people from visiting the big easy on this holiday. >> reporter: not at all. according to officials with the tourism bureau. they say skip cali on a labor day weekend, 200 million dollars is generated from all of the visitors that -- into pour into the city. while the exact numbers for this weekend are not in just yet, they are very optimistic and they look good. you can see behind me in the french quarter, people are milling around all of the bars, restaurants and things like that are open. it doesn't seem like lee scared too many people away. >> heather: you just missed two ladies walking over your right shoulder. they looked like they were out to have a good time. >> reporter: everybody is having a good time, it is new orleans.

>> gregg: major battle shaping up in libya. rebel fight examiners tending the deadline for one of gadhafi's last strongholds to surrender. the fighting could actually break out before then. we'll tell you why in a live report from the war zone. >> plus, as the nation prepares to mark 10 years since attacks of nine 11, what is being done to secure the new memorial and the world trade center site? [ grandma ] why do relationships matter? [ grandpa ] relationships are the basis of everything. [ grandma ] relationships are life... if you don't have that thing that fills your heart and your soul, you're missing that part of your life that just fulfills you. ♪ [ male announcer ] for us at humana, relationships matter too. the better we know you, the better we can help you choose the right medicare plan.

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>> gregg: the big storm once known as lee now just a tropical depression. its impact still being felt up and down the gulf coast this is tape from earlier today, biloxi. lee dumping up to 10 inches of rain in the center of that state.

official say thousands are without power. elizabeth is live in biloxi. what are the conditions there now? >> reporter: it is better than it was a couple hours ago. it has been fascinating to watch the extremes of tropical storm now tropical depression lee. this morning when we were on fox & friends we wouldn't be able to standing in this boat ramp where we are now. the water was up love right here on the sidewalk. we have a photograph of it this morning. that shows you the big extremes that we are seeing from low tide and high tide. in addition, with the flooding and storm surge. what officials are concerned about, right now the tide is low, it going to get a little lower than obviously going to start rising overnight. tomorrow morning when it is high tide, there was more rain today and all that rain north of us is going to start to recede to this area. flooding is a big thing that folks here are concerned about. keep in mind fingerprinting is very unpredictable it only -- flash flooding is very

unpredictable it only takes six inches of water for the average person to be swept off their feet. if people are trying to salvage their labor day , if they go into the gulf, we have physically felt the winds shift in different directions. the storm making its way up and out of biloxi and southern mississippi here. what they are worried about is people are going to go out in the water rip currents are almost invisable. they are invincible to anyone on land. they are worried about people heading out. we've seen three deaths so far, weather-related. one in texas, one near mississippi and one in alabama. . the two in texas and alabama were related to people going out in the gulf -- people sudden be cautious if they are going to try to salvage this labor day weekend. >> gregg: elizabeth, thanks. >> heather: nearly 20 years after the bombing of the world trade center and 10 years since terrorists knocked down the twin towers there's

growing concern that ground zero may always be a target. fox news looks into the extraordinary effort by the nypd to secure the new 9/11 memorial and world trade center site. julie banderas is live in our new york newsroom with more. >> julie: new york police commissioner kelly says it would be naive to think that terrorists don't want to target the world trade center site again. especially since it embodies so much symbolism for america. security on the day we mark 10 years since the worst terror attack on u.s. soil, will be unprecedented. we were given a rare behind the scenes look at preparations. visitors to the new 9/11 memorial will go through airport-style screening and should expect to be searched, wait in long lines and watched from all angles by screeners positioned here at the counterterrorism bureau in lower man. police and private security workers -- monitor 2,000

cameras city wide with hundreds of cameras fixed on ground zero. >> these speeds -- these feeds specifically are of the world trade center area alone on september 11th, we will have 450 camera feeds. you see some of the construction site, the areas near the construction site. you see the 9/11 memorial plaza. this is all monitored in real-time by officers sitting here. >> julie: since terrorists successfully attacked the world trade center twice, in '93 antoine, police have taken extraordinary steps to secure the -- city every next sunday commissioner kelly has spent years preparing for. >> this is the 10th anniversary. we know bin laden spoke about it twice, the possibility that is of having some sort of terrorist attack on september

11th, 11 so that ups our concern. >> julie: with president obama and former president bush in attendance the security will not be solely on the world trade center agent -- multiple agencies will have a 360° view of what authorities are making the safest place to be in the city. >> heather: thank you julie banderas from our new york newsroom. >> gregg: a fox news alert. powerful earthquake has hit indonesia and the island of sumatra. this was earlier today. no immediate reports of damages or injuries. u.s. geological survey saying it was 6.6 quake centered 60 south miles -- at a depth of 62 miles no reports of injuries. a powerful quake hitting the indonesian island of sumatra. we'll give you details as we get them.

we'll be right back.

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growing grow he we are getting new developments in a pair ever mysterious deaths inside the multi-million dollar mansion of pharmaceutical ceo shacknai. somebody found the body of his girlfriend hanging naked from a balcony at his mansion. her hands and feet were bound. this a few days after his -year-old son fell down some stairs at the mansion. the boy later died of his

injuries. now the san diego sheriff's department says neither was a criminal act. police have ruleed her death suicide. an attorney for her family is calling on police to keep the investigation open. >> she has no history of suicide, no history of depression. sounded fine on the phone with her sister before this. print analysis hasn't been done with everyone close to her there is mixed dna. not been a reenactment consistent with someone else doing this. there was a note found, not her handwriting says the family. never been suicidal, very religious. there are a lot of factors we wanted them to look into. >> gregg: let's bring in former federal prosecutor doug burns and trial attorney justin ledo. the thing that is very suspicious, her hands are bound, not in front, but behind her back with a very

sophisticated slip knot that's hard to do if you are trying to kill yourself. >> you are right. when i first looked at this case that seemed big. law enforcement held a press conference last friday. they did not announce that a, there was tape residue on the victim's legs and a t-shirt was stuffed into her mouth. there are only two possibilities, one they weren't aware of it, or they were which races a lot of questions that's why chikage windler is raising questions and the lawyer -- that he was why cyril wecht is raising questions and the saying the -- there are definitely questions in my opinion. >> gregg: justin, we played the sound bite a moment ago, ann bremer laid out a bunch of factors that say this is a homicide not a sue sigh, what say you? >> if you look at the --

evidence they presented at the press conference all the dna was the decedents, on the knife, even the footprints on the floor. there was no other evidence of foul play. it is a sad story but they went through the lens of reenacting the entire thing -- >> gregg: let me stop you. what if she was killed by somebody who was wearing gloves? >> it could be. but they did an analysis of this entire room and the entire circumstances there was not forced entry or footprints in the room, no signs anybody was cleaning the room. all the evidence the gentleman was talking about a. shirt i read that in a tabloid. i don't know if that is true. it looks like the district attorney and the investigators went out of their way -- to rule out everything they could. to suggest there's a conspiracy, i don't see it.

>> nobody is saying this is a murder all they are saying is it should be looked at more apparently the tape residue and the t-shirt did come directly out of autopsy report, that's what i read. >> the lawyer is saying murder. the boyfriend was supposedly in the hospital at the time. you have no evidence of any motive for murder or murder. you have a woman who feels badly about what happen to the boy who was kill. >> there is no evidence of forced entry. what if the individual who may have been responsible for this has access the house and didn't have to break in? >> we are talking about a lot of what ifs. the suspects they are talking about appear to have alibis. you can't just go charging people with murder in back in the day there were a lot of people convicted of crimes they did not commit because we didn't have dna. now we have dna. >> let's not have a disconnect. nobody is saying charge somebody with murder. all we are saying is this was a seven week investigation.

often investigations go months, if not years. in light of the questions raised after this press conference, i don't think you can argue there's any harm in reopening the investigation. >> gregg: doug, justin, good to see you both. >> thank you. >> heather: widespread damage in texas fast moving flames engulf hundreds of homes in the lone star state, two are dead, hundreds evacuated more than 17,000 acres charred. still, no rain in sight. when will mother nature give in? we'll have the latest, coming up. my doctor told me calcium is besabsorbed in small continuous amounts. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose.

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>> gregg: incredibly wild weather ripping through new york state, a tornado touching down close to the capital of albany. eyewitness video coming in, incredible pictures showing

the funnel clouds spinning through the area, up the thoroughfare, cutting a path of destruction. fortunately, no reports of serious injuries. twister damaging some homes, knocking down trees and powerlines. folks describe the power of the tornado as it struck. >> it was really just like a really bad thunderstorm at first. then i heard this really loud roaring noise. then a huge wall of wind and water and debris just hit my house and trees started going down left and right. >> it is devestating. houses damaged, roofs torn off houses, trees down all over the place. they look like toothpicks. >> gregg: the area is already eligible for federal disaster assistance, because folk there is were hit hard by hurricane irene. >> heather: speaking of hurricane irene, people in vermont struggling to pick up the pieces after the devastating storm, salvation army, other groups bringing food and water to the hard hit

town of rutland specifically. one of five counties now officially approved for disaster relief by president obama. 200 members of the maine national guard helping with the relief effort. hasker knoll gadhafi fled libya? were -- has colonel gadhafi fled libya? were his peace talks to help him and his sons escape? a report after this break. woman: downloading music can be expensive.

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>> heather: rebels hunting gadhafi now gathering outside one of his last remaining strongholds there is no

guarantee that the so-called brother leader is there at all. rebels have set up check points outside a desert town southeast of tripoli called bani wall lead. one of the last areas remaining loyal to gadhafi giving peep in that town until the end of the week to surrender. rebels are warning they may attack sooner they believe some in the gadhafi regime may be hiding there. rebels can't declare victory and move forward to set up a new government until they find gadhafi. it seems opposition forces will not be able to do that without help. dominic di-natale from tripoli. are we expecting all out bloodshed in that bani wa lid? >> reporter: 100 fighters deepen frenched inside bani --

walid they have said they will not give up. they are giving them extra time, to their credit for those loyalists to give up. it seems they are becoming more and more determined for that. the rebels have said if these guys open fire, we are going to fire back and they will be wiped out. rebels are holding back as long as they can in the hope the loyalists will come to their senses. the rebels don't want to see any more bloodshed. >> heather: dominic, apparently an international scandal has erupted about how london might have arm twisted scotland into releasing the lock buy bomber what is the latest on that? -- lockerbie bomber what is the latest on that? >> reporter: evidence was found in the embassy here over the weekend that indicated there had been discussions with the libyan authorities about how to approach this. the advice from the embassy here back to london, was unless something is done we

fear gadhafi would launch as what he described as a holy war on the united kingdom and they were worried about implications in terms of defense deals, oil deals and libya's cooperation with counterterrorism efforts. it is beginning to emerge that london may have put pressure on the scotts to release megrahi who after two years still hasn't died. the former labor government minister was saying over the weekend that there was no other way to control gadhafi. that is being seen as an admission that indeed london turned the screws and got the scotts to release him. >> heather: two -- two weeks ago, hard to brief it was just two weeks ago is life like in tripoli now, two weeks after it fell to the rebels? >> reporter: quite extraordinarily families out,

mothers, children, freely walking in the streets. shops are full. one example is tripoli university the campus ungadhafi used to be used an interrogation and torture center. -- today a big sign was put up saying welcome back, you free. the lecturers got together and reinaugurated the university. considering the education system here was under so much strain that is going to be one of the things that will help get the country back on its feet there is the essence of that in the air. a bit of good news out of libya. >> heather: things have changed . thank you dominic di-natale streaming live from tripoli. >> gregg: let's bring in michael sync he's now -- michael singh, at the nonpartisan think tank washington institute.

always good to see you. i read one story their opening line was a post gadhafi libya is looking increasingly fractious and unstable. do you think that is true? >> well, even though gadhafi hasn't been caught yet, it is clear we are moving into a post revolution phase in libya. now is when you would expect to see the different groups which made up the opposition, which make up the rebels to start jockeying for political power, for position in the future libya. of course, i think it is too early to tell what that is going to look like. whether that jockeying is only going to be political or also violent? early indicators are positive. we just heard about life in trip -- in tripoli, we've seen life in benghazi. of course we have to say that cautiously. other indicators aren't as positive. such as this islamist in charge of security in tripoli, rounding up subsaharan

africans. >> gregg: by the hundreds. and denying them any sort of due process. and in some cases there have been reports of executions. now, there are concerns that this evolve into a dangerous islamic state. do the islamists have advantages there? >> they have advantages and disadvantages. i think their main advantages are the credibility they gained in the years that they spent fighting gadhafi. i think that gadhafi is so loathed at this point, like so many dictators, simply that fact gives them some credibility. also the absence of institutions in libya, like political parties or civil society groups, in a sense they might be the best organized alternative out there to the regime. on the other hand, we have to take into account that people in5l=u libya may be tired of any kind of rigid ideologies after suffering for decades now under gadhafi and his ludicrous ideology. frankly, this is not a place

which historically has been a hard-line re -- religious place. what is necessary is for the ntc, to put forward a vision of its own for th-]sñ future of libya. >> gregg: the national transitional council. >> that's right. the national transitional council, ruling in benghazi needs to put forward its own vision in addition to restoring security, which they are making some progress on. and getting the oil exports going so the country has cash and life can start to improve. >> gregg: what can we do? >> we need to support the ntc in doing those things. we need to keep an eye on what is happening beneath the surface. most of all willing to8rú assit the ntc. it is troubling to see countries saying now they are going to step back and leave libya to its own devices. >> gregg: michael singh, thanks/'raevelop.'' >> thank you. >> heather: fox news alert.

wildfires destroying more than 300 homes outside of austin, texas. fires say it is completely uncontained. it is one of dozens of wildfires burning across texas right now in one case the flames turned deadly, killing a 20-year-old mother and her young baby. fires battling the flames through bone dry conditions caused by the state's worst drought in 50 years. now winds from tropical storm lee or former tropical storm lee, making firefighters' jobs more difficult. justice jones the lead information officer for the texas forest services joins us live on the phone right now. mr. jones, thanks for joining us. justice jones, are you there, can you hear me? >> yes, ma'am, i'm here. >> heather: thank you for taking time on a busy weekend for you. bring us up to speed. how many fires are you dealing

with now and have things gotten better? >> we are dealing with 63 new fires across the state as of last night. that's just the fires in the texas forest service alone has responded doesn't count for the volunteers responded across the state that burned over 32,000 acres yesterday, including 22 new large fires. by large, over 100 acres. which requires significant amount of resources to accomplish any suppression efforts. >> heather: just to clarify for our viewers. i had to take a second look. you said almost 32,000 acres burned and that was just on sunday alone? >> yes, ma'am. year-to-date we've burned 3.5 million acres and lost over 2890 homes that doesn't include the acreage burned

yesterday and the homes we are receiving reports on now. >> heather: the fire season for you begins in november. this has been happ$hhjqr'g since november. i would imagine resources are definitely stressed. what resources are you use to fight these fires now and do you have enough? >> every single firefighting resource in the texas forest service engaged in that or other fires across the state. all of our resources are committed in addition, we've committed multiple municipal and other structural fire departments to assist the texas forest service and volunteer fire departments..@l through our mutual aid system, all the kings horses and all the kings men are responding to protect the citizens of texas. >> heather: information that people there in texas need to know, evacuations. what do they need to know to get out of harm's way? >> this is unprecedented fire

conditions. nobody alive on earth today has experienced anything like this. these fires are moving extremely fast. citizens need to go at the first sign of smoke or flame or somebody knocks on their door. >> heather: thank you for joining us, justice jones, appreciate your time. thank you. >> gregg: the postal service is in trouble financially. it is on the edge, billions in losses facing default. some people saying, it is time to just end the deliveries. the future of mail, coming up, next. [ male announcer ] succeeding in today's market

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can't i just have these? freestyle lite test strips. call or click today. >> heather: fox news alert. labor day means picnics. vice president biden is in cincinnati right now speaking at a labor day event sponsored by the afl-cio in cincinnati, ohio. earlier president obama at a labor day event speaking

before a crowd in detroit, michigan. we'll have much more on what vice president biden had to say. perhaps he will talk more about the jobs situation as we heard from president obama earlier. in the meantime, there's a live shot for you. as the vice president speaks we'll bring you anything that he has to say of any substance, a little later. >> heather: hello i'm heather childers welcome to a new hour of america's news headquarters. >> gregg: and i'm gregg jarrett. jobs and more jobs. in what is being described as a preview of the president's speech, that he will be delivering this thursday to congress, the president telling union members today in detroit, the time for washington games is over. congress needs to move quickly to create jobs. on this labor day the president touting his efforts to save the auto industry.

>> the president: we said that american auto workers could once again build the best cars in the world. [ cheering and applause ] >> the president: so we stood by the auto industry. and we made some tough choices that were necessary to make it succeed. now the big three are turning a profit and hiring new workers! >> gregg: he is in detroit after all. all of this on the heels of down jobs report last week. clearly a long way to go for recovery. wendell goler with the news on the north lawn of the white house. what did we learn about what the president will say in thursday's speech? >> reporter: not much that we didn't already home the president wants people to tune in thursday. he did make clear that his job creating proposals will be aimed at a big segment of the country's unemployed. >> the president: we got more than one million unemployed construction workers, ready to get dirty, right now.

there's work to be done. and workers ready to do it. labor is onboard, business is onboard. we just need congress to on board. let's put america back to work. >> reporter: aides say the president will propose repairing the countries roads, bridges and classrooms, in addition to extending the payroll tax cut for another year and long term jobless benefits for another year. all proposals will be paid for, all will be ideas that middle of the road economists agree are job creating. >> gregg: any ran response? >> reporter: it has ranged so far from indifference to predictable, partisan remarks. some tea party members of congress say they are not going to attend the speech. which is after all a joint session of the house and senate. on the campaign trail, the criticism was predictable. >> i don't happen to think barack obama is a bad guy.

i just don't think he has a clue. [ laughing ] >> having never worked in the private sector. never having had a real job, it is not a surprise he doesn't know how to create a real job. >> reporter: rick perry suggested the president say he's repealing health care reforms and stopping the epa from going forward with any new regulations. not very likely. >> gregg: wendell goler, thanks very much, live at the white house. >> heather: for the big three car companies time is running out to make a deal. negotiators at ford, chrysler and gm have until september 14th to finish new contracts with the uaw. ford, unlike the other two the automaker did not take a government bailout doug, why is ford the only one of the big three that did not take bailout money more vulnerable to a strike than gm or

chrysler? >> reporter: because the other two are prevented from striking under the provisions of the bailout they took. that bailout stipulates that disagreements that are arise with any contract negotiation mut be taken to binding arbitration. a de facto no-strike clause. since ford did not take the bailout it is subject to a strike. in uaw halls across the country, a strike authorization is being voted on as we speak. early indications are that at some union halls 97% of the rank and file are voting for a strike authorization. experts we spoke with indicate a strike authorization is not as ominous as it sounds. >> this is a pro forma kind of thing, something the union has to do as part of is governing regulation. >> reporter: some say the strike authorization strengthens the union position in negotiations, another arrow in their quiver, if you will.

not a threat to ford per se. >> heather: isn't it true ford and the other two members of the big three, gm and chrysler can still be struck by local chapters of the uaw, is that true? >> reporter: that is correct. the bailout does not preclude local chapters from striking overlocal issues. right now the health of the local chapters varies. some are going gangbustersors in this age of globalization and parts -- manufactured from all over the world some plans are not doing so well many a strike can bring an entire producing line to a halt as much as a national strike can. negotiations have been ongoing for sometime. they will intensify after the labor day holiday >> heather: thanks very much doug. >> gregg: republican presidential candidates taking -- talking jobs this labor day. the biggest issue at

south carolina senator demint's freedom forum going on now in columbia. rick perry noticeably missing. carl cameron has the latest from washington. explain what happened to perry. >> reporter: well, he let it be known at a myrtle beach town hall meeting earlier today that the wildfires in texas would require him to forego an appearance at this event in south carolina and go back to texas to take care of the problems in his state. we have been made aware, conveniently by opposing campaigns to mr. perry only a matter of a few minutes ago his lien was still on the ground at the columbia airport and -- his plane was still on the ground at the columbia airport. there morning mr. perry was quick to suggest there are plenty of republican candidates who lack the necessary conservative backbone to take on the president. he specifically suggested, though not by name, that a candidate such as romney,

lacked the type of conservatism to give voters a real choice between president obama. >> we can not choose a nominee, let me put it that way, that is going to blur the lines between this president and our nominee. >> reporter: mitt romney hasn't been pulling any punches where rick perry is concerned. for the last several days his campaign has been making the argument that perry when it comes to immigration reform is not tough enough because he does not support a border fence. romney complained that perry's criticism of medicare and social security as a ponzi scheme is too harsh. and because mr. perry has spent most of his life in government he's ill equipped because he lacks private sector experience. something romney touts at every opportunity.

romney campaigning in new hampshire today took part in the tea party express rally last night one of his first appearances at the tea party this morning a pancake breakfast. today in new hampshire sarah palin rallied tea party express numbers. she is not coming to the south carolina forum nor is she a presidential candidate. today she made it clear they believes the tea party needs to remain united not listen to the divisive lame extreme media she says that tries to sew discord. -- she hasn't said if she going to run she will make up her mind before the end of september or early october. >> gregg: there she goes again blaming those people in the media. carl cameron, thanks. >> heather: fox news alert.

we were told about the breaking news situation in indonesia. in the western indonesian island of sumatra, an earthquake has hit. it has killed at least one persona being a 12-year-old boy, sending people screaming from their houses and hotels in panic. also, hundreds of patients from at least one hospital had to be evacuated this is from the indonesian island of sumatra. an earthquake has struck there. the u.s. geological survey said it is a 6.6 magnitude quake. centered about 60 miles southwest of one of the city's, in sumatra. we will bring more information as soon as it becomes available. it was too far inland to generate a tsunami. perhaps good news. at least one death reported as a result of this earthquake, a 12-year-old boy.

>> gregg: we are teaming up with google to host the debate on september 22nd, orlando, florida. you will be able to submit questions. for the first time, you will be able to vote on which questions you want the contenders to answer. all you have to do is go to foxnews.com for a story with more details about the first of its kind debate. the gop republican debate hosted by fox news and google. it is september 22nd. put it on your calendar. we'll be right back. i can't enjoy my own barbecue with these nasal allergies.

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get the 4g lte mobile hotst now for only $49.99. verizon is the place with the largest selection of 4g lte devices. on america's fastest, most advanced 4g network. >> heather: authorities in pakistan have captured a seasoned senior al-qaeda operative. we are told this individual played a key role in the terror group's operations in europe. including plots that targeted

american interests. jennifer griffin with the news live from washington. jennifer, who was this al-qaeda leader who has been arrested in western pakistan? >> reporter: well, he was one of bin laden's top deputies. he had been handling a german terror cell broken up last year. his main job was to target u.s. gas and oil pipelines, energy dams and oil tankers by using explosive laden speedboats in international waters, using a technique first used by al-qaeda against the uss cole. his capture comes less than a week after u.s. counterterrorism officials announced that a u.s. drone strike in pakistan's tribal areas killed al-qaeda's number two. a libyan who had served as al zawahri's deputy. >> heather: what is the reaction from u.s. counter terrorism officials? >> reporter: praise all around. he was picked up near quetta

with two other deputies. he's likely to provide a treasure trove of intelligence according to senior u.s. officials. the capture is another major blow to al-qaeda he is a seasoned senior operative, trusted by the group's top leader. he played a central role in planning and coordinating al-qaeda's operations in europe. plots that targeted european and american interests. adding the u.s. providing critical lead information and technical assistance in working with pakistan to eliminate the threat posed by this terrorist. the real significance is that pakistan again seems to be helping the cia with targeting of top al-qaeda leaders and wants to give the impression it is cooperating in the wake of the bin laden raid. the pentagon's under secretary of intelligence said in a recent interview there were four top al-qaeda leaders left in pakistan. today there is one left. >> heather: we'll take those major blows as they come so keep 'em coming.

thanks jennifer. >> gregg: president obama getting ready for his big jobs speech thursday. he spent his labor day headlining a detroit union rally drawing big cheers by taking shots at republicans. big names in the gop are also planning to put out their job plan this week. let's bring in fox news contributor doug schoen. ron is a former communications director to former speaker hastert. ron, the president threw a big kiss to the unions today. it is detroit, i get it. unions only represent about 10 to 12% of the labor force in america. to be seen so cozy with them today, when a great many americans across the nation do blame unions for failing businesses and other economic woes. was that a wise move?

>> i think president obama would have rather stayed home today oregon to a barbecue or two other than -- or gone to a barbecue or two, other than michigan where one in four people are out of work. they have to tan there before the unions and try to pander to them and give them what they want to hear, i thought wasn't really good. according the fact that you've got such a huge unemployment rate across this country. people didn't hear anything new. they just heard, wait until you hear my speech thursday. i'm going to give you more spending. i'm going to have other things in my grab bag. >> gregg: doug we didn't get a lot of substance today, probably understandable. you don't want to preempt yourself. but, if the president extends unemployment benefits, payroll taxes, hiring tax credits, reauthorizing highway trust fund, maybe mortgage relief that is not going to make a dent. doesn't he have to do anything

bigger, bolder and more meaningful? >> what would be bigger, bolder and more meaningful in his terms is going to be an infrastructure, public school revitalization which the republicans are almost certainly going to oppose. which means this sets up the campaign by an playing the -- by allowing the president to say i've done a lot. >> gregg: you are telling me this is political? this is not a policy speech, just politics? >> it is both. he has got to be serious. you know and i know he's not going to get any of this through the congress, not given the current make-up. everything is political from now until next november. >> gregg: ron, talking about preempting, mitt romney is going to be delivering a speech and his plan on jobs two days before the president, which means tomorrow. what do you expect? >> i think it is a great idea that he does it. first he preempts the president. second, he gets his plan out

there in a way that puts his best face on it. he can emphasize his experience at growing jobs and contrast that with obama's lack of experience at going so. and his failure as commander in chief -- >> gregg: doesn't he need to say, hey, we need dramatic reform of the tax system. we need fundamental reform of entitlements and so forth. and roll back of some of these burdening -- burdenning -- >> i think he has to focus on cutting corporate tax rates, entitlement reform. in the payroll tax cut he should be focusing on the employer payroll tax cut, not necessarily the employee payroll tax cut. but it helps set him up to create that contrast later in the week. >> gregg: my last doug. this is pretty revealing. 60% of american voters disapprove of the president's handling of job creation. that's a record high

disapproval. then, 42% think the president has no idea how to create jobs. doug, if a president is to persuade people to his ideas, doesn't he have to begin from a position of credibility and confidence? and the american people, 42% have no confidence. >> right. 54%, at least gave him the benefit of doubt that maybe he has an idea. what the president is going to argue, look, i'm giving reasonable proposals to the republicans in congress. they are going to oppose me, because their numbers are lower than the ones you cited he will run a comparative campaign that will be negative and vicious. >> gregg: thank you both. we'll be right back. ♪ must have been one of the strangest days ♪ everyone may face the same uncertainty. ♪ some would say that you won't find ♪

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>> heather: the latest on what is left of tropical storm lee, which is now a tropical depression. the storm slowly crawling north as it dumps heavy rain across the southeast. we've been getting reports of some neighborhoods under two to four feet of water. several states under flood watches and warnings. we are hearing reports of severe flooding, wind damage and even tornadoes in some areas. power company officials in south and central louisiana say thousands of people are still without power. joining us on the phone now kay wilkins the head of the southeast louisiana chapter of the red cross. thanks for joining us kay. >> thank you. >> heather: bring us up to speed on the conditions that you are currently dealing with. >> we are dealing with shelters closing, some of our residents being able to return to their homes, because the roads are passable now. at the same time we are opening new shelters as the storm has moved north of the

city it brings winds, rain and some of roads now becoming impassable in some of the communities north of new orleans. >> heather: how many people approximately were evacuated? you mentioned some being able to go back home at this hour. >> we set up shelters in the bayou region, south of new orleans, and it housed about 60 people in our shelters since friday. those families have been able to go back to their homes now. in some areas we are finding there is water in their homes. although, the majority are finding that it was the road that was keeping them from -- that had high water that was keeping them from getting back home. >> heather: there was at least one death reported by the mississippi emergency management agency, as a result of flooded roads that you just mentioned, a person being swept away in water. as i would expect the advice would you give, turn around, to don't drown, if you see a

flooded road don't try to pass over it, correct? >> that is correct. we have no idea how high the water is. if you can see your way through, turn around and wait. >> heather: thank you kay wilkins, we appreciate it. >> gregg: neither snow, rain, sleet or heat has stopped the postal service from delivering your letters in years. will billions in loss bring delivery to a halt? should it? the future of mail, next. my name's jeff.

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>> gregg: bottom of the hour. time for top of the news. president obama is trying to woo unions in michigan, days before the president expected to unveil a plan thursday to create more jobs. >> heather: governor perry pulls out of a critical forum for republican presidential candidates. his camp says he will head back to texas to deal with the wildfires. >> gregg: forcasters say dry heat, ñ ws creating ripe conditions for those deadly wildfires to spread. the flames have already consumed several lives and hundreds of homes. >> heather: america's economy stalled. the august jobless rate stuck at 9.1%.

not one job, not one single job added last month. disappointing news for so many americans to say the least, pounding the pavement, looking for jobs and looking to washington to kick start the economy. the number one political topic right now, job creation. the president will make a major speech thursday that's before a joint session of congress to layout his jobs plan. secretary of labor had this to say about the president's plan: >> heather: global stocks picking up today where they

left off last week posting big declines. there's concern about the health of the u.s. economy. investors also worrying about many european countries that are in economic trouble as well. joining us from washington former chief economist at the united states international trade commission and business professor at the university of maryland. thanks very much for joining us. >> nice to be with you. >> heather: on this labor day. we are talking about labor, jobs and the economy. global stocks as we mentioned, they continue to post steep declines. wall street closed for labor day. >> we know the u.s. equity index futures declined. do you see this as a ball in motion, a domino effect that is going to be unveiled tomorrow? >> ly we have a vote of no can in the equity markets on the policies of barack obama and the efforts in europe to turn around the situation in greece and italy. in both places they keep

proposing more of the same. everything that mr. obama seems to be prepared to introduce, merely4. keeps us where we are. replacing the stimulus spending with infrastructure bank. continuing the payroll tax holiday. so on and so forth. unemployment benefits, it does nothing to ink what the situation, nothing new that is going to be proposed except to try to put the republicans on the defensive. the president doesn't understand making this a political issue, as he's doing at a time of great economic crisis going to does the confidence of the american people and make it certain we go there. is his reelection worth tanking the american economy? >> heather: 15% unemployment, you think that's a possibility? >> absolutely. if we go south again we will hit 15%, without a problem. so many people quit looking they just don't count in the statistics.

>> heather: back to the global market indicators. what are other areas we should be paying attention to that are perhaps providing a crystal ball as to where we are headed? >> we need to look at strength of bond prices for italy. it is now a foregone conclusion that greece is going to default in 2012. it is a small country. europe can withstand that blow. now it is becoming increasingly obvious that the plans that being put in place for europe for all of the countries are nonstarters. they require them to cut spending so radically without putting in place the essential elements of structural reform which are necessary to turn their economies around. less state intervention and opportunity to export to germany and france, richer countries. germany wants to restructure their debt but it want to accept their exports. >> heather: the banking induce seems to the center of the turmoil. financial shares leading in the decline. what does that tell new terms of where we are headed and why

is that significant? >> banks, in europe, hold a substantial amount of the government debt. the government debt is the analog to the mortgage debt we had. if italy fails a good number of european barns are in grave per frill that happens. greece, somewhat. -- but italy is the key factor now. in the united states, we never really straighten out the problems of homeowners that are under water. and the banks are under a lot of attack from the u.s. government who bailed them out, with lawsuits regarding mortgage backed securities and the like. it is incredible, we bail them out and then we sue them. >> heather: that's where i was going when i interrupted you. talk about gold, oil prices, the dollar mixed against other currencies. what does that signal to you? >> gold is the most significant indicator. it is hard to say the dollar getting stronger or weaker against the euro is good or bad since both investors lack

confidence in their future. gold is a fear indicator. right now there is no safe current circumstance the euro and the u.s. me are so badly managed. as a consequence, investors are fearful that many bonds will fail. so where can

of >> heather: thank you peter, we appreciate your in >> gregg: fox news alert. an indonesian earthquake on the island of sumatra killing at least one and sending hundreds of people fleeing from their houses and their hotels. we are waiting the first pictures. apparently, a 12-year-old boy has died in this 6.6 magnitude quake. there may be other injuries, we just don't know. we'll let you know as soon as we find out. dog and this cockato to play all the hits of the '80's woman: hit it, mr. butters. ♪ ♪ take on me...

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that's why i recommend crest pro-health clinical gum protection. it helps eliminate plaque at the gum line, helping prevent gingivitis. it's even clinically proven to help reverse it in just 4 weeks. crest pro-health clinical gum protection. fox news alert. we are getting our first pictures of the wildfires fought in the state of texas. you can see where one of the planes that is being used to swoop down a nearby reservoir

or lake specifically outside of austin, texas where they are fighting this specific fire being used to fight the flames and battle, push them back in whatever way they can. 300 homes have been destroyed so far in the austin, texas region. about 33,000 acres burned on sunday alone. since the fire season began in the state of texas, 3.6 million acres have burned. this has been a record breaking fire season for the state of texas. governor rick perry headed home, back to the lone star state. cutting short a trip to south carolina so he can handle the situation there. once again, this is the scene the first live pictures out of texas that we can show you courtesy of kt tv. this outside of austin, texas where firefighters are fighting the flames with any resource they can use to save

homes and get these fires under control. we'll bring you more information as it becomes available. >> gregg: the united postal service has always relied on federal money to keep it aloft. it has never needed a bigger life raft than right now. agency officials have warned they may not make a 5.5 billion dollar payment to a retiree account later this month. the postmaster general has say the postal service could default as early as this winter if congress doesn't step in. joining us chairman of the senate subcommittee which oversees the postal service. senator, thanks for joining us this labor day. with the advent of computers and smartphones, e-mails, texting, even electronic bill paying, sending letters through the postal service is in many ways less relevant now and some say obsolete. indeed, many say, we should just shut it down. do you disagree?

>> i was a flight officer during the vietnam war i remember how important the mail was to myself and a lot of people i served with over there. the world has changed dramatically. what we need to do is to allow the postal service to downsize, resize really, to reflect the demands, the needs of the 21st century not the 20th century. they have more people than they need. they would like to be able to help a number of them retire early. they've already brought down a quarter of their workforce over the last six, seven years. they need to be able to do more. they have 33,000 post offices, they don't need to get rid of them all. what they do need to do in the case of a couple thousand, throw out to the local communities to co-locate. so you have a post office in a supermarket, pharmacy, convenience store. the other thing is the postal service has over 500 distribution centers and they don't need that many.

congress should get out of the way and let the postal service be like a real business. >> gregg: this was a big story on the front page of the "new york times", unions saying they are going to fight you on this. here's what they wrote: -- >> gregg: have union demands driven the postal service in the ground? when your labor cost is 80%, my goodness, you can compete. >> if you look at our postal service compared to others around the world we don't allow our postal service to compete. we don't allow them to deliver wine and beer.

we don't keep them out of any kind of internet operations or electronic media. a lot of other countries they do that. most other countries have unionized workforces. i wouldn't say the unions are the boogie man they got to be part of the solution. three out of the four major unions have contracts coming up. they could be part of the solution. i think they have a willingness to do that the uaw agreed to change very much the way they do business. we ended up with fewer auto workers. fewer auto plants. going forward in the postal service we are going to need fewer people, fewer post offices and fewer distribution services. >> gregg: you got 20 billions in the lawsuits according to the times due to the 2006 law that requires the postal service to pay five billion every year to finance retiree health care costs. again, aren't these --

>> that's a very conservative approach. president george w. bush insisted on that provision to put a down payment and pay down the health care observation -- >> gregg: why should they get all of these health care costs for life? i'll never get that. >> well, you might, you never know. a lot of folks have health care costs, once they retire what is the postal service is asking for to be able to be treated like other companies had in this regard. to be able to incentivize require -- retirement and let those folks when they are medicare eligible have their coverage paid for by medicare and the postal service can provide what we call medigap coverage. >> gregg: i don't think a lot of companies give you health care forever life after you

retire, except for the automakers and that was probably of the -- that was part of the problem that required the bailout. >> it fills in the gaps, medicine is the prime phaefr provider when people reach 65. a lot of companies still provide medigap coverage but it is not the whole nine yards. growing thanks for taking a few moments. >> the situation is dire, but not hopeless. and we to solve this problem. >> gregg: you certainly do. thanks,. -- thanks, appreciate it. >> heather: another alert. update on hurricane katia who has strengthened and now a category 3 hurricane located 495 miles south of bermuda. the biggest threat remains rip currents along the u.s. east coast and bermuda. no coastal watches or warnings in effect right now.

interest in bermuda should monitor the progress of the storm. the progress being sustained winds of 115 miles per hour moving mort west at 12 miles per hour, no coastal warnings in effect, but hurricane katia now a category 3. we'll be right back.

>> heather: another fox news alert. a few minutes ago we showed you these pictures of firefighters using a plane to fight a wildfire. you can see firefighters on the ground now. this fire is in california. it is not in texas. this fire is near santa clarita. what we did tell you about texas is just as true. that state fighting numerous fires as well. once again, this fire going on

in california it has been a tough season since november for a lot of states out there in that portion of the country, dealing with drought conditions, dealing with bone dry conditions and strong winds. once again, we wanted to bring that you update. this fire once again going on in california. we are keeping a close eye on some stories developing. the mother of missing indiana university student lauren spierer writing an open letter to whoever is responsible for her disappearance. she describes the pain that her family suffered over the last three months. she promises the family will not rest until they find lauren. >> gregg: dominique strauss-khan back in france for the first time since a new york city hotel maid accused him of attempted rape. prosecutors dropping the charges. he's facing another attempted

rape investigation this time from a french novelist. >> heather: court action resumes in the case of the american student that is on trial there in italy. we may have more of that coming up. we'll be right back. we believe honor is not exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to e military, veteransand their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve. . devices to the internet with lightning-fast verizon 4g lte speed. a gaming device.

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♪ ♪ time for a quick check of the top headlines for you. president obama spending labor day addressing supporters at union rally. he took aim at g.o.p. lawmakers ahead of the big jobs speech on thursday. >> we're going to see if we have some straight-shooters in congress. we're going to see if the residential republicans will put country before party. [ applause ] we'll give them a plan and say do you want to create jobs? put our construction workers back to work rebuilding america do you want to help our country succeed? >> wildfires in texas destroying some 300 homes outside of boston. the state's worst drought in

50 years. winds from trap call depression lee are helping to spread the flames. in libya, fierce fighting outside gaddafi stronghold and it comes as the rebel leaders say the peace negotiations broke down. the american girl accused of murdering her british roo roommate amanda knox entering court again. her attorneys say the italian police mishandled evidence used to convict her the first time around but prosecutors say the evidence should stand. amy kellogg with the news. >> reporter: gregg, the chief dna expert who did initial tests on the murder weapon defended her work today after independent forensic experts trashed it in an italian court. they claim that key dna evidence was not reliable. may have been contaminated.

amanda knox and her boyfriend, codefendant, were both in court today. this is the final stretch of the appeals child for the 2007 murder they were convicted of. earlier in the summer, the independent expert claim the collection of the evidence that the case largely stands on was not up to international standards and some key evidence as dna on the murder weapon may not definitively link knox to kurtcher. outside the courtroom her father said he hopes to bring her hope. meredith kurtcher an exchange student was murdered after the prosecution says she refused to engage in an orgy with knox and her boyfriend. they both proclaim their innocence. verdict in the appeals trial is expected at the end of the month. >> amy kellogg reporting from