they set for him, now he's in the cage, he will be the centerpiece of a new tourist attraction! if you want to go there for your family vacation. bill: you need an 18 wheeler to get that thing out of the water, don't you think? you need a tractor trailer. martha: no thank you. bill: next time you're over there, you got something to see, folks. martha: happy first day of school, everybody, get those backpacks out the door, you can do it! bill: are they looking forward to school? martha: one today, two tomorrow. good luck to everybody at home. see you tomorrow. jen talk about one beast to another, let's take a look at these markets here, the dow down 250 points. jon: not good. jenna: not good is right. we saw a big decline on friday, we got the jobs report as you might remember. seems like forever ago. but a jobs report that said no job growth in the month of august, then we wake up this morning to just some questions overall about the global economy, questions

about debt in europe and here you go with the markets down 2 percent. nicole pedelides is going to give us a report about what's happening down there and we'll be following the markets all day today on fox news. jon: and this fox news alert, a massive wildfire across drought-stricken texas and today crews are battling the flames hoping they can catch some kind of a break. good morning i'm jon scott. >> welcome back, jon scott, from your world travel, maybe you'll share photos with us this week. we'll see. we're here in the fox news room and "happening now", that's the big story of the day, the fires raging over the lone star state, but the far worst is burning east of austin, where the fast moving flames have destroyed nearly 600 homes and forced the evacuation of almost the entire city, jon. jon: the wildfire outbreak there, causing governor rick perry to take a break from his presidential campaign and return to texas.

perry says he is putting politics aside because peoples' lives are at stake in his home state, evacuees saying they are very thankful they made it out alive. >> we got our kids and our pets out. so we just want to know if it's still there or not. >> i got the things that are near and dear, the valuables, legal papers, weapons, pictures, bank records. everything else can be replaced. jenna: texas is experiencing the worst wildfire season on record, with flames scorching 3 1/2 million acres since december, and just to give you some perspective, that's an area larger than the entire state of connecticut. the fires destroying nearly 2500 structures, including more than 1000 homes across that state. kris gutierrez is live from dallas watching this big story for us. >> >> reporter: jenna, more perspective, six of the worst wildfires in texas history began this year. since december firefighters at the state and local level have responded to nearly

21,000 different fires. it is bad down here. take a look at this video here, you mentioned the worst one is in bastrop, south of the capitol city of austin, so far it has burned more than 30,000 acres, up to 600 homes, in 20 sub -- and 20 subdivisions have been consumed by the flames. thousands of people had to evacuate and more are expected to do so today. an estimated 250 firefighters are working around the clock to put this out, but right now, it's still zero percent contained. no word on how this fire started but it was fueled by strong winds from tropical storm lee over the holiday weekend. now, in case you haven't heard, texas is bone dry right now. take a look at this graphic here. the dark red highlights portions of texas that are experiencing what's called an exceptional drought, that's the worst rating given by the u.s. drought monitor, and right now, 81 percent of the lone star state is in that category. 81 percent. and tragically, jenna, two people were killed over the holiday weekend at a fire in

gladewater, texas, a 20-year-old woman and her 18 month old child were trapped inside their mobile home by those fast moving flames. tragic, tragic story. jenna: terrible story. kris, thank you very much. we're going to talk about weather mod fission, by the way, coming up, because of the exceptional extreme drought areas in texas. our viewers do an amazing job of repping -- helping us report the news. check out this photo, it shows the enormous fire behind the austin skyline. you can see how enormous this fire is. if you have videos you want to share, click on the you report -- you report link on foxnews.com. jon: there is some good news to report in that wildfire fight in southwest oklahoma. crews there, just got control of a huge grass fire in the wichita mountains wild like refuge, that began burning on thursday, it destroyed 11 homes. initially it was contained on sunday but shifting winds rekindled the fire and it kicked up again, flames

affecting 30,000 acres, forcing the evacuation of more than a dozen homes there. >> jen but as you mentioned, progress, and we'll take it where we can with these fires. jon: it's hard in that part of the country with the weather conditions. jenna: also in southern california, there's also a fire there, crews on high alert after a wildfire sparked by, get that, small plane crash, it just doubled in size to 8600-acres, flames from the so-called canyon fire, destroying a dozen homes south of bakersfield, with 650 more homes in the line of fire, hundreds of firefighters backed by some of the big jumbo jet tankers are working hard to bring the flames under control but they certainly have a big job ahead of them with only about 10 percent of that fire contained. jon: from raging fires to violent winds, a close encounter for one georgia couple after driving into the path of a tornado spun out by the remnants of tropical storm lee. their car, completely crushed by a falling tree. the driver says they are lucky to be alive. in atlanta, where

forecasters say as many as five tornadoes may have touched down, leaving widespread damage, forcing folks to spend much of their holiday cleaning up, that city, now under a flash flood watch, with a whole lot more rain expected tonight. >> over to louisiana now, where entire communities are surrounded by water, flooding is a major problem in livingston parish. tropical depression lee, leaving behind a real mess there, and even though that storm has been downgraded, forecasters say it continues to be a big problem. look at all that water. and we have a new tornado warning for some folks as well. our meteoromostna in the fox nes extreme weather center with more on that. >> reporter: jon, that's right. we have a brand new tornado warning for north kaeurbgsz knot of raleigh, including the county of warren. that's in effect until 30 past the hour. so you know the drill, guys. north carolina, a state that's unfortunately way too familiar with tornadoes, if you live in warren county, seek shelter immediately. there could potentially be a tornado on the ground now or

very short hrefplt there's a risk for severe weather. you mentioned lee did touch down as a tropical storm across southern parts of louisiana and now that storm system is headed towards the northeast, for more heavy rain in this region, expect to see flooding, we also mentioned flooding across parts of northern georgia, although out there right now it's currently qui e as far as the severe weather risk, there are three tornado watch necessary effect for north carolina, south carolina, and also, parts of virginia, and here are your respective expiration times, 2:00 p.m. across most of north carolina. there's a look at that tornado warning. otherwise, flash flood watches and flood watches in effect for basically parts of tennessee, also flood warnings still in effect from mississippi andba, from the ongoing flooding of lee. as far as additional rain, from texas up into portions of upstate new york, we're talking about 6-10 inches of rain and guys, we just have to deal with irene a little more than a week ago, across the northeast. there are areas that are still recovering, and now we're expecting more rain, jon. jon: maria molina in the fox

weather center, more rain they don't need. let's ship it to texas and oklahoma. jenna: exactly. jon: maria, thank you. unbelievable. well, president obama's job approval rating, plunge to go a new low in some polls. just ahead of his big jobs speech to congress coming this thursday. according to a brand new nbc-"wall street journal" poll, 44 percent of adults approve of the job the president is doing, 51 percent disapprove, and take a look at this, just 37 percent approve of the president's handling of the economy, while 59 percent disapprove. here now with more context and analysis on that, fox news digital politics editor and anchor of "power play" on foxnews.com, live, chris stierwalt. the last democratic president won office by famously chant o'clock the mantra it's the economy, stupid. well, if only 37 percent

approve of the job this president is doing on the economy, that doesn't bode well for his reelection, does it? >> certainly this week is a pivot point, jon, for the president. he is dragging a terrible, terrible job approval rating, the nation has seemingly lost confidence in the president's ability to turn things around for an economy that continues to falter. we see the numbers on wall street today, we see the continued problems. the president has put a lot of weight on his own shoulders because on thursday he's going to give this big jobs speech. he's creating a level of expectations, he and his advisers are creating a level of expectations that may prove very, very difficult for the president to meet, given how little confidence voters are expressing in the president's ability to address the problem. jon: and i guess that's the rub. it doesn't seem like there are a lot of bullets left in the gun to try to fix this problem. >> well, and that's also the -- why you start to see the escalating rhetoric, that's why you see democrats very angry, that's why you see folks like james p. hoffa

with his comments about tea partiers and others, there's a lot of anger inside the president's base, they want to see the president really go after republicans, really attack house republicans, and go hard, but that forgets one very crucial fact, if independents don't have confidence and trust in the president right now, they're not going to listen to him or like it if he goes too hard against his adversaries in the house. jon: we heard over the weekend the president essentially blaming congress for the lack of jobs and maybe with his approval rating so low, maybe it is smart policy to blame one institution that has actually lower approval ratings, that same nbc-"wall street journal" poll finds that only 13 percent of americans approve of the job congress is doing. >> well, everybody always hates congress, jon. that's the -- people like their individual congressman, perhaps, but as an institution, people dislike it. now, this debt ceiling battle and the ongoing struggles that the republican house has had with the president has helped drive down these numbers because

conservatives don't like the way that it turned out, liberals think they got railroaded, and obviously, right now, congress is at a very low point. but i would point you to this. republicans are at their highest point in the history of this poll in terms of the percentage of americans who would like them in control of the house, so it's bad news for boehner, but that's one bright spot, 46 percent of americans think republicans should be all the way in control in congress. jon: chris stierwalt, our digital politics editor, thank you chris, and we know a lot of you are logged in while you're watching "happening now". catch more of chris on the web, hosting power play at the bottom of the hour. go to foxnews.com and click on the link. jenna: fox news business alert. let's take another look at these markets, a rough day back after the labor day break and that's an understatement. a half hour into the trading day, the markets are lower, the dow down more than 200 points and this morning's losses follows a big drop in the europeans market that were open nicole pelide -- pediledes

is with us. why are the markets so low? >> reporter: there's so much concern not only at home about a double-dip recession but concerns from europe and greece, and the austerity measures and whether they're doing the job over there. we did see selling in europe, you see the european banks, some of which were down 9 percent, 10 percent. today on the dow jones industrial average, the selling, 250 points to the downside, 2 percent alone, this is after four-months of selling in september. it's usually the worst month of the year. so not a good day to kick it off. a lot of folks came back from labor day weekend with good spirits but it's broad-based, all dow 30 components are in the red, so not one name with an up arrow, financials are to the downside, bank of america, j.p. morgan j.p. morgan, hewlett-packard, these are the three big losers, down 4 percent and 5 percent respectively. the selling is across the board. some of the folks have been running back to gold, which is about $16 right now and

as far as the names we're watching, general motors, new low there. those are some of the action we're seeing but the selling continues and traders say they expect it to continue, especially after that jobs report friday, which has no jobs at all. jenna: as you mentioned, widespread selling. we're all in it together, iness, nicole, that's the one thing we can take away from it, nicole pedelides, thank you. jon: a bizarre hostage standoff involving a father and his 12-year-old daughter, the man apparently threatening to set off a backpack he said was killed with explosives. the latest on this chaotic scene coming up. jenna: the u.s. postal service, now billions in debt, facing a default itself. will congress vote to save it or stamp it out? you know it gets no federal money, the postoffice. we're going to talk about this, coming up. jon: 42 cents or 44 cents a stamp, maybe they don't need it. yesterday, we showed you this photo, a monster captured. this is a salt water croc, weighs more than a ton. i didn't take part of in

that one. joan joan -- jenna: i'm skeptical. jon: the video, coming up.

jenna: right now the united states postal service is drowning in debt and looking for federal money to help keep it afloat, a crit cat senate hearing could decide the agency was fate, that could happen today. some are call fog a government bailout, others say it's time the u.s. postal service is stamped out completely. doug mckelway is live from our washington bureau with more. doug. >> reporter: good morning, jenna. the u.s. postal service is in really bad financial shape and increasing the cost of a postage stamp won't cut it this time around. it's the victim of changing technology, especially from e-mail and the union contract that is prevent the service from downsizing a any private business would do under similar circumstances. the postal service expects losses of up to $10 billion by the end of this fiscal year. it's seen a 2 percent drop

in its core service first class mail since last year. without an infusion of money, the service is up against its $15 billion borrowing limit and faces default. postmaster general patrick donaho says the postal service can't reach it's goals under contracts, quoteing from testimony to be delivered later today, with more than 85 percent of career employees covered by collective bargaining agreements, making significant changes to compensation and benefits is challenging. we must be able to reduce up to an additional 120,000 career positions over the next three years. current labor agreements prevent the postal service from moving swiftly enough to achieve these work force reductions, he says. cliff gurney, president of the american postal workers union, takes an entirely different view as you might expect, in prepared statements, he says, quote now, it is very clear, however, that the strategy of adepressively making cuts has passed the point of diminishing returns and has begun to be counterproductive, the postal service having been engaged in several years of cost cutting has become like the man whose only tool is a

hammer. to him, everything looks like a nail, end quote. for the postoffice, labor represents about 8 percent of its expenses. that's much more than private carriers like fedex and ups. we'll be learning much more about the problems and potential solutions in testimony today before the senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee this afternoon. the hearing gets underway at 2:00 p.m. and we'll be there. jenna: we'll be talking to the chair of that committee, senator skwro*eb lieberman later in the show. thank you for your great reporting, doug, thank you very much. >> sure thing. jon: jenna's favorite story of the day, the hunt! jenna: i don't know about that. jon: for the giant crocodile in the philippines. jenna: that's good. that was a nice reenactment. jon: animal experts have been looking for this thing for months. they scoured a creek, setting traps along several miles of shoreline. denies of people. to finally sub due the 1 ton salt water crocodile. when they finally caught it,

he broke a bunch of traps before they caught him. he is responsible for killing at least one fisherman and taking down, get this, an entire water buffalo. authorities believe an even bigger killer croc might be in shallow waters and are conducting a search in another part of the country. there's the size of that thing. jenna: bigger than that? >> jon: they're going to put him in an eco tourism park. at least they're letting him live. good for them. jenna: all right. we'll keep you updated on that continuing story. jon: you'll be one of the first to visit, right? >> jenna: i think so. i think i'm fine looking it through video. jon: don't you remember what happened in skwr*ur asic park? -- jurassic park? >> jenna: good question. the president is gearing up for his big jobs speech to congress a few days from now as voters show widespread discontent over his handling of the economy. what can the president say to turn things around? we'll take a closer look at that.

one major problem the health care overhaul was supposed to address, people using emergency room for primary care. is there a better way? a former e.r. dock on the -- doc on the front lines with his take.

jon some new information crossing our international desk, in australia, a father seen shirtless and wearing courtroom wig is suspected of holding his 12-year-old daughter hostage for nearly 12 hours. apparently the guy walked into a sidney law office, told the receptionist he was carrying a backpack filled with explosives, the 52-year-old later arrested, his daughter, not physically harmed. police say the guy is

expected to appear in court tomorrow. jenna: "happening now", libyan rebels reaching a deal with tribal elders in one area to end the seige of another cacafe strong hold -- qaddafi strong hold without a shot being fired. we actually don't know where where he is now. many are asking what a post-qaddafi libya will actually look like and what the libya crisis teaches us about the so-called obama dock trib in the middle east. for more, we're joined by k.t. mcfarland, national security analyst. k.t., during the start of the libyan mission, if that's what we want to call t. new yorker came out with an article and talked about this leading from behind, one of the president's advisers said that to one of the writers. now the new yorker comes out with a new interpretation saying the way that was interpreted by the press is wrong, that leading from behind means leading are monacy and what libya shows us is monacy -- >> everybody is trying to

figure out what is the obama doctrine. is it in favor of interveneing in libya, but not in syria? what is it? so it's this lead from behind notion, but the problem with it is when they say this is leading from behind the scenes or leading quietly, what are the presuppositions they're making, one, that america has the ability to lead, that our declining status as a superpower means we can't lead and second, the assumption is that we've been ill in the world, that our leadership has not done well, so the bin laden administration says okay, this is what our doctrine is going for be, but the problem with it is the american people don't think that we're a declining superpower, the american people don't think we've been a force for ill in the world. the second problem is, if you're trying to lead from behind, at the certain point the guys in the front, instead of looking barks they're going to forget about you and lead from the front. finally, it's not effective. when things start going wrong, which they have in libya, you have little ability to right them.

jenna: one of the arguments in favor of this policy, that it's more flexible, yes, it may not apply to syria but we don't know our strategy there yet, so it's not a one sides fits all policy to deal with the middle east. is that smart during the times that are changing so quickly, is that the way that we should approach different countries, because -- >> you want tphr*bgsibility, you want to be able to treat each of the situations differently as they are, but if you get known for not succeeding -- you don't remember, but jimmy carter, in the administration, that was the idea then, that america was a declining superpower, we weren't going to get involved, we're going to sort of -- we lost our mojo, and reagan said no, we're a leader a. world leader, and this is how we're going to do it. the problem with the takeaway from all of this, obama foreign policy, it's limited war, okay? limited objectives, limited participation, limited time. limited success. jenna: is there such a thing as unlimited war? >> in this administration, that's the war they seem to pursue, limited. jenna: it's interesting to

see the voters' reaction. in the new poll in the washington journal, it shows that there is an approval rating, a higher approval rating on president obama's foreign policy, especially when it comes to the situation in libya you're seeing on your screen now. here's what the new yorker sad to -- had to say, so much of the critique is that it cares less about outcome than about the assertion of america's power and affirmation of its glory. what do you think about that? >> i think that's -- no. the obama administration has come in saying we're not bush e. we're not bush on foreign policy, we're not bush in domestic policy, but 180 degrees from that is nuts again, so the idea that somehow the united states isn't a leader in the world and contributes to this notion becomes a self fulfilling prophecy of america's decline. so i think the administration is impractical on this, i don't think it's going to work, and i also think it's at odds with the way the american people think about their own country and our role in the world. jenna: so hard to take a lot from what's happening now. >> libya is not done yet.

jenna: there's a lot of uncertainties. this is a conversation we're going to continue to have, k.t. >> thank you. jenna: always nice to have you, thank you very much. k.t. is online, at the top of the hour, she'll be on foxnews.com, live, click on the link, you can see it on the home page. more on this conversation online an certainly much more of k.t. here on fox news, jon. jon: a little bit more about the economy coming up as well. there's mounting pressure on president obama to deliver results. some brand new poll numbers show a huge majority of the american people think this country is headed in the wrong tkrefrbgs. so -- direction. so is there anything the president can say during his big jobs speech this thursday to turn things around? also, a step ahead of the president, former governor mitt romney unveiling his own jobs plan in nevada today. a live report on what that republican contender wants to do, coming up. f!

jon: jon scott here in our act by siss room at fox news where we bring in satellite feeds from all over the world. remote 218, there is the dow numbers, down 209 points. not a good day on wall street. and here's something just about as scary. remote 294, we're watching hurricane katia, winds of 150 miles an hour right now. maria molina-a look at it. and on capitol hill, remote 257,

the flag flying in the lower left. it's back to work for congress, and one of the first items they're tackling today, the future of the u.s. postal service. we'll keep you updated from the acquisitions room. jenna? jenna: "happening now," president obama not the only one out with a jobs plan this week. republican presidential candidate mitt romney laying out his own cure for america's grim jobs picture this afternoon in nevada, just a few hours from now, in fact. dan springer is here with more on this. you got a sneak peek at mitt romney's brand new book. what have you learned? >> reporter: it's called "believe in america," jenna, i can talk in general terms that it follows the conservative principles of job growth and economic advancement. really, romney's talking about less government, less government regulation, lower tax rates, he's talking about lowering the corporate tax rate, eliminating investment income tax on those

making under $200,000, eliminating the inheritance tax, so you can see he's talking about energy and expanding our use of coal and natural gas and nuclear power. so this is romney's blueprint for getting america working again, and today's speech is going to hit on the specifics of that. one of his aides told me this will be his most detailed speech yet on the economy. he believes this is an area where he has an advantage over not only president obama, but also the other republicans in the field. jenna: mitt romney coming out ahead of the big gop debate and the president's address to a joint session of congress with his own jobs plan. that, of course, is happening in d.c. is there a strategic reason that mitt romney is in las vegas to give this speech? why is he there? >> well, absolutely. this is an important swing state, this is a state that president obama won in 2008. it's also a state that's important for the republican primary because it's the first western state to hold a caucus in the whole primary season. it's a state that romney won,

one of his few wins back in 2008. so it's an important one there. but this is also a state that has high unemployment, the highest in the country at 12.9%. so this is a state where romney feels like he has a real advantage to hammer away at the policies of president obama because this is an area that has very high unemployment, but also one of the areas that has not seen any sort of rebound in its housing market. it still has a dreadful housing industry here, so it's an area he feels he's got a big advantage over obama and the other republicans in advance of that debate wednesday night and, of course, in this advance of the president's speech on his economic plan on thursday. jon that? jenna: busy week for mitt romney and, dan, thank you for the sneak peek and sharing that with us. back to dan springer in las vegas as we hear more from mitt rommy. -- romney. jon huntsman is coming out with his jobs plan as well. the former governor, our guest

on "happening now" noon tomorrow time right here on fox news. jon: be interesting to hear what he has to say. some brand new poll numbers showing voter december content -- discontent in this country. according to the latest, only 19% of adults in this country think america is is headed in the right direction. 73% believe we are on the wrong track. so what can president obama say in his big jobs speech to congress this week that might turn things around? with us now, former democratic senator from arkansas blanche lincoln. senator lincoln, you were on the finance committee, the commerce committee as well. i mean, you know about business and how it works in this country. what should the president say, what do you expect him to say? >> well, i'm not sure what he'll say, but i hope he'll reach out to others. i think he needs to find common ground. what most people find discontent with in washington is the fact that everybody's pointing fingers at somebody else as being the problem. what we need to start looking for is the common ground and the

way we solve these problems, and i think, hopefully, the president will. i think he'll reach out and, um, look for opportunities where there can be common ground. but there's no doubt that you, you know, we can't solve these problems. no one individual whether it's the president, the speaker, the majority leader, any of 'em, they cannot solve these problems by themselves. jon: well, you talk about one individual, you hail from arkansas where a guy named sam walton took his little five and dimestore and built it into one of the world's largest corporations, walmart. could he do that today in this regulatory environment? >> well, you bring up a great point, and one of the best things that any of them can do, i think, is to really focus on how we empower business and, more importantly, small businesses to be able to be successful and grow jobs. there is no doubt that small businesses in this country are the number one job producer, over 60% of the net new jobs annually created in this country are created by small businesses, and i'm leading an effort, a coalition with the national

federation of independent businesses to focus on how we empower small businesses to do that. and one of the things we're doing is small businesses for sensible regulation, making sure that the 6200 --4200 plus new pending regulations that are out there, that we take away the uncertainty for these small businesses of what might be out there threatening them in the realm of a new regulation that doesn't make any sense and really empower them in a more certain world to be able to produce their own b jobs and to be able to reinvest in themselves their own resources. jon: well, in order to create jobs, employers in this country have to be confident, confident in the future. >> that's right. jon: and there is a confidence crisis right now, or so it would seem according to this poll when asked whether president obama has the right goals and policies to improve the economy, 40% of those responding in this nbc/"wall street journal" poll said they are not at all confident that this president

has the right goals and policies in the place. >> well, i don't know that they are excited about anybody else's goals or policies either. i think one of the things that's positive, and we need to continue to reinforce it, the president did back off from the ground ozone regulation that was getting ready to have -- to be put out two years early. we need to make sure we keep the feet to the fire in making sure that when we talk about regulations, the uncertainty that they create, we just talked about uncertainty in libya. in a vacuum, it's hard to make decisions. small businesses, if they are empowered with their ability to use their own resources, reinvest in themselves, they'll create jobs. but with a vacuum of uncertainty, they're not going to do it. i think regulations are a great place to start, and there's a host of other places too. we've got to begin to work together. jon: we'll have to see if president takes um sop of those -- up some of those points thursday night. former senator blanche lincoln,

it's good to sew you, thank you. >> you bet. jon: we are teaming up with google to host a debate september 22nd orlando, florida. you can submit questions, though, no matter where you are for the candidates and not just in writing. we also want your video questions as well. hop in front of your web cam, you can shout out your questions for the candidates, then go to youtube.com/fox news. upload the question, you'll also be able to vote on which questions you want the contenders to answer. don't forget to tune in to the gop debate hosted by fox news and google. that's coming up on the 22nd of september. jenna: and you don't have to shout. jon: whisper if you'd like. [laughter] jenna: any sort of question we'll take. you know, senator lincoln just told you everyone has to be at the table, and there is one big table and can one big committee that has some big work ahead. and it's that new supercommittee in congress, the new bipartisan

group of lawmakers. they're all there on your screen trying to figure out what to do with this debt crisis. it's their job to come up with $1.5 trillion in budget savings over the next ten years, and they've got their first meeting days from now. they have to do all of this by the end of the year, by the way. hi, jim angle. >> reporter: that's right. this thursday those 12 specially-selected members of congress -- six from even party -- sit down to try to figure out how to cut another $1.2-1.5 trillion from the deficit over the next ten years on top of the $t 00 -- $900 billion already agreed to which that committee now has to double. listen. >> there's a whole menu of good options. the question for them is going to be politically how do they come up with a deal that is acceptable to all sides and save the amount they're charged with or, hopefully, even more? >> reporter: now, they're looking for things such as

entitlement reform and revenue increases for curtailing some of the $1.2 trillion in annual tax deductions. some argue hundreds of billions could be trimmed every year, and tax rates could be lowered with some of the proceeds in order to boost the economy. now, on entitlements even president obama has talked about increasing the age of eligibility for medicare and changing the inflation adjustment for social security, though some democrats oppose such changes. many experts believe they're necessary inasmuch as the two programs together have promised $46 trillion more in benefits than the government has a plan to pay for. and without changes, social security faces automatic cuts. listen. >> there'll be across the board 23% cuts if pram's not changed. that's a truly unconscionable way to treat people in retirement. >> reporter: the committee has to approve a plan just before thanksgiving. congress would have to vote up or down on any plan before

christmas, and can if they don't do that, then there's automatic cuts across the board, heavy cuts in defense and in medicare. they're going to want to try to come up with some plan of their own. jenna? jenna: busy time ahead, jim. thank you very much. >> reporter: you bet. jon: that awful situation in texas, wildfires burning more than a thousand homes to the ground just in the past week. but can folks do more than just pray for rain there? the scientist who says they can wring rain drops from the skies. plus, we franchise burger shacks, can we do the same with emergency health care in this country at a fraction of the time and cost? the doctors who say, yes, it's possible, ahead. ♪ doctor, doctor, give me the news, i've got a bad case of loving you ♪ are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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jenna: "happening now," new data out today from gallup on health care, and it shows texas and massachusetts at the extremes of health coverage in our country. more than a quarter of texas

residents don't have coverage, and in massachusetts nearly 95% of residents actually do. and this could make for some interesting arguments in the primary battle between reduction perry and mitt romney. in the meantime, there's a new trend in health care that caught our attention, urgent care at your convenience. our next guest set up franchises of urgent care facilities across state lines, and he's dr. scott berger, the co-founder of doctors express. we think about fast food, is this same sort of model as a fast food joint, fast medicine? >> well, no. i mean, we're delivering high quality, efficient health care. but what we're trying to do is take those people out of the emergency rooms who have been turning there because it was their only source of care. whether it was because they didn't have insurance, and so they didn't have a doctor available, or for those people who have primary care doctors, but they couldn't get an

appointment the same day. we're really talking about a high quality service, not fast food. jenna: a high quality service, but there's no federal regulations of these clinics, and you actually don't have to be a doctor to open one up, so what kind of risk does someone take by going into one of the shops? >> our physicians are credentialed and go through the same process that they would if they were to become credentialed through a hospital. if you come into a doctors express medical center, you're going to be seen by a high quality, board-certified either emergency medicine, family practice or internal medicine doctor. we go through the same process that the traditional medical establishment that people are used to is going through to get their physicians. jenna: and i'm point out to your audience, that's your choice of having this source of qualifications, and i'm sure you bring some of your own experiences from the emergency room to that. doctor, what about the new health care law?

what will that do, if anything, to your model of business? >> well, from our perspective we think that anything that gives more people health insurance and access to care is going to be good. both for the u.s., both for all u.s. citizens, but also for our business model. more people are going to be seeking out both primary care and episodic needs. they might not wait with that broken foot and just kind of limp around on it. hopefully, they're going to go seek medical attention if they don't have insurance. you know, if they went to the emergency room, you look at the average cost of an emergency room visit, and we're talking in excess of $550. you come into a doctors express or any other urgent care center, you're talking about $150. and we can do it just as well as the emergency room can. jenna: really quick, doctor, you can just walk in if you don't have insurance as well? >> we take patients both with insurance and without insurance.

jenna: it's an interesting cob sent, doctor, and i we hope to have you back on. we'll stay updated for you, and thank you for your time, sir. >> thanks for having me, jenna. jon: this could be the turning point in the amanda knox appeal, we'll tell you about the glaring problems with the dna evidence that has some experts saying she should go free. dad, why are you getting that? is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. [ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios are those great-tting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholester. is it a superhero? kinda. ♪

jon: in an italian courtroom right now, what could be the key moment in the appeals case for seattle native amanda knox. the forensic police expert who conducted the original investigation insisting on the stand there was no contamination of crucial pieces of dna evidence.

but other experts say they found big problems with that same evidence. knox right now serving a 26-year prison term for the murder of her former roommate, meredith kercher. >> reporter: it was a chance for the prosecution to once again get out its assertion that it has found dna that links 24-year-old amanda knox and her boyfriend, raffaele sollecito of murder. they were convicted in 2009 of that 2007 killing. today state police expert stood by the meds and devices they used in their investigation, in addition the prosecution called two of their own experts who also vouched for the police and questioned defense experts' methods and findings. the defense experts have claimed that the dna found on the murder weapon, a knife and kercher's

bra clasp was inadmissible. this cross-examination could wrap up by the end of the week and a verdict in the appeals case could come as early as the end of the month or maybe even before that. now, jon, amanda knox's father, her stepfather, her friend were there at the scene. they've been there this week, and they seem positive about what could happen, but we're also reminded that even if that conviction is overturned, the prosecution could go in and appeal that. might not be over yet. back to you. jon: all right, thanks very much, greg burke. jenna: well, her death was the second that we connected to the same mansion in southern california. today, more questions about her apparent suicide, what the autopsy results reveal. plus, her family's new reaction. and in the hours after the 9/11 attacks, only one plane was flying in the u.s., and it had president george w. bush aboard it. the man who served as the pilot of air force one that day shares his incredible story with us next. horns honking ]

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jenna: coming up on high noon here on the east coast. fear of another recession sending stocks lower today, we're glad you're with us, everybody, i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott, markets are down more than 200 points, there's the dow. just barely above 11,000. this after european markets took a beating today and yesterday. some countries dropping 5% on their exchanges, and concern over europe's spreading debt crisis. the front page of today's "wall street journal" foreshadows some investor sentiment. the headline, europe signals global gloom. joining us now, steve moore, the journal's senior economics writer. not a lot of joy in mudville or anywhere in the world right now, huh, steve? >> yeah, boy, there sure isn't. and, you know, that climate of gloom that you talk about is also a climate of fear, and that's why you're seeing a selloff in stocks which has now

been in the last couple of months in the making. you know, when we talk about a double-dip recession, i don't believe we're in a double-dip recession officially right now. but i do think if you look at those jobs numbers that came out on friday which showed no job growth and, by the way, over the last four months if you add up the jobs we've been pretty close to zero. we're in a jobs recession, and that is something that has americans very worried. we're also, by the way, in a business spending recession. that's one of the reasons the jobs aren't there is businesses aren't spending. jon: right. and when they don't hire new workers, you don't get salaries going, it becomes a vicious cycle. >> well, that's exactly right. and it's this kind of negative feedback loop. you put it very well. you know, think about, for example, what impact this has on housing. if people don't have a job and they don't have a salary, they can't pay their mortgage, and then you get more foreclosures. the trick is how do we get out of this negative loop and get into a positive loop so we get

jobs back, people have higher salaries, they're able to pay mortgages, able to go to the stores and spend. that's just not happening right now, and partly it's because of fear. now, the president on thursday night is probably going to say we need another stimulus plan, we're pretty confident that's what he's going to say. the problem i have with that message is, look, if problem with the u.s. economy and the global economy is too much debt and too much leverage, it's hard to make the case that more debt and more leverage is going to get us out of the crisis. jon: right, because who pays for it? where do you get that money, if that is what the president intends to say, let's spend more federal dollar, where do you get those dollars? >> i've been in washington for 25 years, and that is a question nobody ever asks, where is the money going to come from. it's exactly the right question to ask, and i'd like to see republicans say in be response, fine, you want to spend all this money on these wonderful programs, where is the money going to come from? and, of course, we know the answer to that. it's going to come from your

pocket and my pocket. jon: the president came into office inheriting, well, the t.a.r.p. program and so forth. there's been an awful lot of money printed out of washington recently. >> no doubt about that. he inherited a great economic crisis, no doubt about it. ronald reagan also inherited a great economic crisis. i had a piece in the journal a couple weeks ago, and i just compared the two recoveries. at this stage of the reagan recovery we had about 6% growth compared to less than 1% now, and more interestingly, we were creating about 250,000 jobs a month. now we're at zero. so one of the things that we might want to get back to is the kind of reagan solutions of lower taxes and regulation. i was happy to see, by the way, that late last week the president relaxed some of those environmental standards that are choking off jobs, and maybe that's the start of a new attitude towards business that helps create jobs, not stifle them. jon: what about inflation though? i mean, so far we haven't seen a great deal of it. am i right? i mean, with all of this money

that's been printed? >> you know, that's a tricky question because i was just seeing on your board that the price of gold is now, i think, 1275 or something like that. so we're certainly seeing signs of future inflation with the gold price. and by the way, commodity prices in general have been riding. but there's been this kind of up and down with consumer prices over the last year. start of this year we had a big bump up in price, remember when we saw the big spike in gasoline prices. those are starting to recede right now. the bad news is the reason inflation is down is because consumers aren't spending, and there's excess items on the shelves. so we have lower inflation, but it's not, but it's because people aren't buying goods and services. jon: we need an optimism injection somehow. >> well put. you know, let's hope the president gives us that on thursday because people, it's like, you know, markets are driven by fear and optimism. right now it's this kind of cloud of fear. but this can turn pretty quickly if people get optimistic and feel like the future's going to be better.

let's hope it is. jon: yeah, let's hope. steve moore from "the wall street journal," great to talk to you. jenna: front and center on capitol hill as congress returns from summer vacation today, lawmakers are under heavy pressure to put aside partisan politics and get something done. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel is live on capitol hill with more. mike, what are some of the key priorities as congress returns to work? >> reporter: well, jenna, we've heard both republicans and democrats, and they realize the jobs prom in america is -- problem in america is a key issue. they heard a lot from their constituents over the august recess, but the question remains where do they find common ground in terms of addressing the jobs problem? last friday's jobs report, zero job creation. you better believe that causes lawmakers to come back with a sense of urgency. but will they agree? we expect to hear plenty of buzz here on capitol hill over the next couple of days leading up to the president's big speech on thursday night. but, clearly, putting americans back to work is first and

foremost, and then there are other issues like funding the goth, paying -- the government, paying for the damage from hurricane irene and those wildfires in texas. so we expect it to be busy, not so busy today, but in the coming days. jenna: yeah, absolutely. speaking of buzz, we talk a lot about the president's poll numbers, but if you take a look at congress, congress' approval ratings really in the dumps. what about that? what are we to make of that, mike? >> reporter: yeah. interesting, polls taken over the august recess when lawmakers were in their home districts, the real clear politic average, congressional approval measured at 12.3%, 84% of the american people who were measured in the these polls disapprove of congress' performance. the fox news poll taken during august recess, 10% approval for congress, 81% disapproving. and so their numbers are way down. clear frustration with people

back home thinking that washington may be broken with both parties so entrench inside their views. so it'll be interesting to see if there's a change in tone as lawmakers get back to work. jenna: that'll be interesting to see. we'll talk to senator lieberman about that in about a half an hour. a big day for the emanuel family. you had a little one, first day at kindergarten? >> reporter: that's right. my son's first day of kindergarten. he handled it like a champ. a few tears for mom, but all went well. thank you, jenna. [laughter] jenna: congratulations to the family. that is a big first step, mike. thank you so much. >> reporter: thanks. jon: have you heard about hurricane katia, now a category three storm. and we are not in the clear yet. the storm still packing 125 mile-an-hour winds out there in the atlantic. the national weather service says difference rip currents are still a real possibility along it'll's coast.

the -- florida's coast. the storm expected to swing to the northeast, mostly sparing the u.s. east coast. however, those storm swells could still take a toll on parts of the u.s. coast, bermuda, bahamas and a group of caribbean islands. jenna: some of the other scenarios churned up by lee, at least one plan killed, another injured, so this has been a violent storm. a handful of tornadoes blamed for tearing the siding and shingles from homes and sending huge trees crashing through roofs as well. casey casey steegal's live in louisiana with more on this. one of the first places, by the way, you're in to feel the wrath of lee. >> reporter: yeah, jenna, absolutely. and finally they are starting to dry out here in southern louisiana. you know, this is the first time in several days where we have had sunshine and, also, it's almost a little cool where we are. we are right on the water, the gulf of mexico just right back there behind me. and when tropical storm lee made

landfall here early sunday morning, it dropped more than a foot of rain on the city of new orleans as well. and here in the parish as well where the 60 mile-an-hour wind gusts also posed some problems, pushing a lot of the water inland and up against the levees, but they did hold. no major property damage to report in this area in terms of homes underwater which is really amazing considering these aerial pictures you're looking at. but it was a little too close for comfort even for seasoned storm survivors. >> the house made it through katrina, it made it through rita, it made it through ike, and it made it through gustav. and some of the law enforcement officers said this storm pushed more water in, and it stayed longer than any one of those storms. >> reporter: now, while the south catches a break, this weather system now creating some big problems in other parts of the country as well. in addition to those possible

tornadoes, the remnant of lee spun near atlanta, it's also invading states as far north as tennessee and kentucky. look at this, chattanooga got about 10 inches of rain in just 24 hours' time turning streets into rivers. now it is setting its sights up and down the eastern part of the united states. areas already saturated by hurricane irene. jenna: we wish we could send it a little further east to texas and oklahoma and some of the areas that really need that rain, casey. thank you so much for that report, casey steegal today. jon: a little bit on weather modification coming up too. her death was officially ruled a suicide after her body was found hanged from a balcony in her boyfriend's california mansion. now an autopsy reveals some startling new details. and remembering the darkest day of his presidency, the story of what happened aboard air force one the day america was

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jenna: right now new questions about the suicide of a woman found dead inside her boyfriend's california mansion. patsy ann brown is following this from across the newsroom and has more for us now. >> reporter: there were two deaths in july at the mansion owned by wealthy pharmaceutical executive jonah shacknai. first his 6-year-old son fell and suffered a head injury that ultimately killed him. while he was still clinging to life, the executive's girlfriend was found hanged in the mansion on july 13th. it was ruled a suicide, but now there are questions. the 32-year-old was naked with her hands and feet bound. san diego county deputy medical examiner says sometimes people bind themselves so they don't change their minds. no dna or fingerprints were found other than the woman's, but there was a message painted on the door leading to the balcony where she was found. it said, she saved him, can you

save her? some ask why it says her instead of me. perhaps more concerning are four head injuries described in the autopsy notes. if she fell when she was cut down, she would not get four separate hemorrhages. these suggest direct trauma. there was also tape residue and bruising on her legs. he asks if she was going to tape her legs but later said, this isn't working, where's the tape? the autopsy notes say part of a shirt was in her mouth. wecht has been hired by the lawyer representing the woman's family, but they say she took her own life hours after playing a message that her boyfriend's son was going to die from the injuries sustained while in her care. the diary indicated emotional distress. jenna: such a tragic story and, obviously, some strange circumstances as well. patti ann, thank you. >> reporter: thank you. jon: in the hours after the

everyone in attacks, president bush spent much of the day aboard air force one. well, now the man who served as that plane's pilot recounts that fateful day in vivid detail. eric shawn has his story live from our new york city newsroom. eric? >> reporter: well, jon, they thought they were being chased. on 9/11 the pilot of air force one, colonel mark tillman, was told that an unidentified aircraft was possibly bearing down on the president's plane, code-named angel, as he flew president bush from sarasota, florida. >> are we got word from the vice president and the staff that angel was next, angel being the call sign of air force one. >> reporter: and that seemed to be very real. the warning came after controllers had said an unidentified aircraft was bearing down on air force one. >> as we got over gainesville, florida, we got the word from jacksonville center, they said, air force one, you have traffic behind you and, basically, above you. that's descending into you. we are not in contact with them,

and they've shut their transponder off. and at that time it kind of led us to believe, okay, maybe somebody was coming into us in if sarasota. they saw us take off, they just stayed high, and they're just following us. we had no idea what the capabilities of the terrorists were at that point. >> reporter: that turned out to be a false alarm, but tillman was taking no chances. >> i asked for fighter support. basically, if an airliner is part of the attack, be good to have fighters on the wing to take care of us. >> reporter: air force one eventually returned home safely, but when he landed, tillman knew the nation had changed forever. >> they caught us with our pants down. they attacked our country, attacked from within. it was a big deal for me, and i knew we had a lot of things to change. air force one is completely secure, but there are ways to get at us. so from that day on we had to make sure every little hole, chink in our armor had to be filled so we protect the president. >> reporter: colonel tillman

responded to several potential threats that day. there was an unidentified man near a runway, that forced air force one to take off in the opposite direction. colonel tillman now flies the president of an american corporation in a much smaller jet, but the lessons of that september tuesday will always be with him. jon? jon: i can imagine that. hard to belief it's been almost ten years. eric shawn, thank you. jenna: wow, what a story. you know, remembering 9/11 at the pentagon is another place we're going to be doing this. a time of tragedy and remarkable recovery as well, what survivors have to say ten years later. plus, we're talking about jobs and the economy with senator joe lieberman as congress returns to focus on some major decisions. he'll give us his take on what's ahead for congress, just ahead. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day

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jenna: a fox news alert, and

welcome back, everybody. breaking news on the future of our troops in the iraq. bret baier, the anchor of "special report," is here with us. >> reporter: hi, jenna. multiple sources are telling fox news that the obama administration has decided to drop the number of u.s. troops at the end of the year in iraq to 3,000 u.s. troops on the ground. here's the back story. commanders originally wanted somewhere north of 25,000 troops to remain in the iraq at the end of the year, roughly 27,000. they were, there was a lot of pushback about that based on the cost and according to these sources the political optics of that number remaining on the ground in iraq. that was pushed back to 10,000 troops. and the pentagon, commanders there had said roughly we can deal with this, but it will be in extreme mis. in other words, it will be tough to do, but we can make this work security wise and manpower wise.

now we're being told that the obama administration has decided that 3,000 will be the number, and that has a lot of commanders and folks in the military very concerned about the security situation in iraq. if you have 3,000 troops. according to one source, quote, we cannot secure everybody with only 3,000 on the ground, nor can we do what we need to do with the iraqis. we are told that defense secretary panetta has signed off on this number and that this is a done deal. we were also told by sources that secretary clinton was the only one inside the administration fighting for at least 10,000 troops on the ground at the end of the year, but that she has lost that battle. jennifer griffin's at the pentagon, but this is a big development when it comes to u.s. troops in iraq at the end of the year. jenna: is it money? why this change? >> reporter: well, we're trying to get to the bottom of

it. it clearly is a cost issue, and according to our sources that the pushback to 10,000 was specifically because of the price tag on it. and this is likely an issue as well. but also the political optics of getting down to the least amount of troops on the ground possible as soon as possible. the question is whether you can secure that number of troops in a country like iraq that has seen increasing violence in recent week, as you know. jenna: bret, thank you so much. breaking news on that. we'll continue to watch it and bring our viewers up-to-date on the developments. jon: while we're talking about our military in that part of the world, u.s. commanders are pushing for permission to use special ops teams in iraq as the u.s. expects that huge troop drawdown by the end of the year that bret was just talking about. new reports say iran is attempting to smuggle arms to

iraqi militia groups and succeeding in far too many cases. the white house is said to be worried about iranian meddling in iraq, syria and bahrain in recent months. it's pushing the military and intelligence communities to come up with some plans to try to contain what tehran is doing there. jenna: some breaking news ahead of our next guest, connecticut senator joe leishman is chairman of the homeland security committee, also co-author of a new book. we're going to talking a little bit about that, senator. as always, we have a lot to get to, and we just had that breaking news brought to us by bret baier saying that fox news has learned that we will reduce the number of troops in iraq to 3,000 despite some concerns by military leaders on the ground there. what's your reaction to that news? >> frankly, jenna, it's the first i've heard about it, and i'm surprised by the number. first thing i want to say is that iraq is, obviously, an independent, sovereign country. so the question is, is the 3,000

number the iraqis have said is a ceiling for how many they want, or is it an american-imposed number? having said that, i will tell you from all the times i've been to iraq, all the conversations i've had with leaders or our military, i have never heard a number as low as 3,000 troops to secure the gains that the iraqis and we have won over the years at the cost of an awful lot of american lives. and money, the lowest number i ever heard before was 10,000, and they tended to go closer to 20,000 for what we continue to train the iraqi military and be there to come in when there is a military crisis on the ground. jenna: so upon hearing this, what questions do you have for whom? >> well, the first question i have if this is correct is why only 3,000? is it because the iraqis would only take 3,000? i guess that's their right. but i would question why they

would want so low a number. if this is a decision of the administration, i'm troubled by it because i worry that it actually takes a great risk. it's quite fascinating, if i may add, to combine the two stories you've just gone with, the second being that there is a request for the president to make a determination that covert special operating forces can go into iraq in greater numbers with broader authority to counter the growing iranian influence there, including the iranian-trained shia extremists who are responsible for a lot of the violence that's -- terrorist acts, really, that have occurred in recent times. i hope that carl levin, the chairman of the armed services committee, will convene our committee soon to consider exactly this number, 3,000, and where did it come from? and why does anybody think it's enough to secure iraq in the

years ahead? i don't. jenna: and you rightly point out 3,000, we don't know what kind of troops that would be, we don't know if that includes special operators. we still have a lot more to this report that we'll continue to dig in. thank you for your reaction to that as we're just learning about it now. one of the reasons why we wanted to talk to you today is, of course, you're in such a unique position. you're an independent, you're not running for re-election, and you've had years of experience in congress. and here we're at this point in this country where so many feel we're at a certain inflection point about where we're going and what america's future is really going to look like. we know that the president will speak to the country about a jobs plan on thursday. what do you think the president needs to say to the country and also to congress? >> yeah. i think the president needs to say both to congress and the country what the country knows which is that we're in a crisis economically. a lot of it is because we've lost our confidence. and then i think he needs to say

to the congress, members of all parties, we've got to get together and agree on something to deal with the job crisis and the deficit and debt. that's the thing that the american people most want, it's the thing that will most restore american confidence in our future. and, frankly, i don't think this congress is in a mood to adopt very expensive, another round of stimulus programs. i don't think we want to increase the debt again in that way. but i think if we agree on a bipartisan deficit reduction program, that will give confidence to business that it knows what's coming. and it's from business that the jobs are going to be created. they're not going to be created by government and shouldn't be in the next point of our history. and i think to do all that the president has to say that he's willing to accept some changes in, for instance, medicare that aren't politically popular among democrats if republicans will

give some on revenue. do i expect that to happen? probably not. [laughter] but i think that's what the country needs. jenna: you're holding an interesting hearing today on the u.s. postal service, and the way it ties into this conversation about jobs is that the postmaster general says he might be in the situation where he has to lay off hundreds of thousands of people because of the financial straits that the u.s. postal service is in. it's an interesting dynamic because you certainly have a strong union, you have certain union contracts that are being upheld, and that's putting pressure, he says, on the postal service. the postal service doesn't get any federal money. what position are you in as chair of homeland security and government affairs to help the postal service? what do you think the government would be willing to do or not do to keep the u.s. postal service around? >> yeah. you made a really good -- i mean, the postal service has been here since the 18th century. it's an american iconic institution. there are more people working for the post office than any

private employer in america but walmart, and the postal service has more locations than walmart, starbucks and mcdonald's combined. but it's come up against the internet, and it's losing business dramatically. the recession, of course, has hurt as well. it's going to run an over $8 billion deficit for the second year in a row. and though it's separate from the federal government, that kind of behavior really affects our economy. so the postmaster, i give him a lot of credit. he's lived his whole life, worked his whole life in the postal service, and he says we've got to stop delivering on saturdays, i probably have to cut some employees, and we've got to close some post offices that doesn't justify themselves to preserve this organization. and i'm holding this hearing today to try to, one, give him an opportunity to describe why he thinks he has to make these changes. most of those we need to give him authority to do in congress.

and then we're going to hear from the unions and the independent auditors as well and mailers about how they think we can rescue this great american institution and keep it alive. but it's not going to be kept alive by just continuing the status quo. in that sense, a model -- jenna: right. >> -- for the rest of the government. jenna: senator, you came on to talk about your book, and we want to do that. we're going to take a quick break and talk about your book, "the gift of rest," with senator lieberman in just a few moments. we'll be right back.

jenna: welcome back, everybody. connecticut senator joe lieberman is chairman of the homeland security committee, also co-author of "the gift of rest", and that's what he was going to talk to us before we talked about the military, foreign affairs, the jobs crisis and the postal service. so we need to give you the gift of rest, honestly, senator lieberman, after that conversation, but you're out with this new book, it has an interesting title t. talks a lot about your faith. what is the message of the book and what do you want our viewers to know about it? >> thanks jenna, is it any wonder as you said after the topics we deal with every day that we need a little rest. so this is a book very different than anything i've written before of the i think a lot of people may know that i observe the sabbath according to the jewish tradition, but i've never talked much about why and what we do on the sabbath, and at this stage of my life -- life, looking back, i experience the sabbath which i observe

because my parents, god bless them, put me on that track, is a gift, and i want to explain what i do on the sabbath, bring the reader along with my family on a typical sabbath day, and hope that in doing so, the reader -- and i'm writing this not just for jews, by any means, i'm writing it for people with all religions, maybe for people without much religion, to suggest that if we do every day what we do every other day, we're not only going to get exhausted, we're going to lose perspective and not have the time and space for things that malerary most in our lives, such as our family, friends and god. and that's why i wrote the book and i feel very privileged that i had the chance to do it and somebody actually wanted to publish it. jenna: one of the suggestions, you say, is to take time to read a book. we're going to take you up on that but i'm going to send you this copy because i want an autograph by the author. >> jenna, it would be an honor, thank you.

jenna: senator, thank you again, nice to have you on the program. >> take care, be well. jon: as we get closer to marking ten years since the 9/11 terror attacks, we're hearing remarkable stories from some of the survivors that day in the pentagon. one hundred twenty-five people in our nation's defense headquarters were killed, another 59 passengers on the plane that struck the building died, of course. jennifer griffin joins us live from the pentagon. so the survivors there, how are they planning to mark 9/11, jennifer? >> reporter: there will be a ceremony on 9/11, there will be an after that replaying that the president will attend but in the morning at the time of impact at 9:37 in the morning, the secretary of defense, the chairman of the joint chiefs, and the survivors and their families will be here at the pentagon. we have been speaking with some of the survivors will just how hard it was that day, how hard it was to get out of the building. lieutenant colonel robert gunivald was conducting a meeting at 9:00 a.m. on corridor four when the plane

hit, he helped his army coworkers crawl out. >> we were like mice in a maze. so we're in a room that has walls and windows, but -- we're in a cubical form, so as we negotiate our way out of a conference room, we get into this cubical area but it's just black and you can't see anything, hoping that we don't run into a wall or go into a cubical and reach a dead-end. >> reporter: the day that we interviewed colonel grunewald, it was a perfect blue sky, he says every time they look up and see a crisp sky like that, they say it's a 9/11 day. it's very hard for those survivors who still work in the building, jon. jon: i can imagine coming to work off that -- after that is pretty hard to do, even ten years later. >> reporter: that's right. in fact that's what's different about the pentagon compared to the world trade center which no longer exists, is that there are still survivors walking through the doors here, each morning, and they told us

there are some days that it feels like there are shackles on their feet. they don't have the luxury of forgetting, they are reminded every day about what happened, they walk the same corridors and in some cases they work in the same offices which have been rebuilt. some even show signs ten years later of posttraumatic stress. tracy webb asked two office aides so wait behind with her and get coffee that morning, one was killed, the other, severely injured. tracy survived. >> started crawling and listening -- all of the sudden, i couldn't hear anything, it seemed like, didn't hear voices so i kind of panicked, something told me to stand up, i stood up, and i said this is it. >> reporter: every day that tracy webb walks into her office, she has to remember there will be the ceremony, she will be at the ceremony on sunday, september 11th, but again, the stories for survivors who still have to work in this building, very, very

hard. jon: so many sad stories still. jennifer griffin there at the pentagon, thank you. millions of americans are facing severe economic pressure as they try to balance their budgets. coming up, some useful tips to help you get your personal finances back on track. and 2 1/2 months of temperatures above 100 degrees, record drought, as well. that's bringing searing wildfires now. we'll talk with someone who thinks a relatively new kind of technology could help bring needed rain to parts of texas.

jenna: stocks are certainly getting hammered today, the dow, down more than 200 points at its low today. america is asking about jobs and the economy and we thought instead of talking to a bunch of economists who we love dearly e. today we thought we'd talk to real people who have learned from this crisis and whether the

great recession gets some of their tips on how to survive. >> heather anderson, with "how to survive a forecast pr-ps and author of a simple book of financial wisdom. that sounds like a pretty good title. both of you have had such interesting experiences that have not been unlike others. heather, how did you find yourself in a foreclosure? >> well, we, like many southern californians, financed our home 100 percent with an interest-only loan, and we were doing great, you know, we had the income to pay it, but problems in our relationship cropped up, as soon as the home closed, and we split up. and so -- >> jenna: and that left you with a mortgage. i read your story. he walked away and he didn't pay the mortgage to prove a point, so here you are left with a house. >> yeah, he set out -- he set to teach me a lesson. i have a career in the financial services industry, so not only is not paying

your mortgage unethical, it would also harm my career, and it got kind of nasty. i don't know if you've seen the movie "war of the roses" but it was kind of like that. gen jen i'm sure a lot of us have and that's not necessarily good, but you made it out so i'll get to how you did that in a second. danny, you're a special education teacher and you really taught yourself to be financially savvy on your salary. how do you do it? >> yeah, i think i was just blessed to be raised by parents that values family time rather than having materialistic things, and just during the course of growing up, i learned some great lessons from them and then after we got married, tracy, my wife, was a first grade teacher before becoming a stay at home mom and we wanted her to be able to stay at home, so over the course of the time while she worked, we received up, paid down our debt and she's been at home for seven years and two girls and still doing it on my teacher's salary. jenna: are either of you debt-free, do either carry credit cards or are you

completely debt-free? >> i'm completely debt-free except for the house. jenna: danny, is that right? >> yes. jenna: heather, what about you? >> i have one credit card that i'm still paying off. jenna: so that's part of the process. heather, you came through, now you have a new life a. new child as well and you're on to a new career. what was the turning point, how did you turn that around? >> you know, the biggest change that i made, jenna, was how i spent my free time. in the past, when i had free time, i would consume. i would go to the mall, go out to eat, go out with girlfriends. here in southern california, you can drive to las vegas, we would drive to vegas for the weekend and spend ridiculous amounts of money. now i produce in my spare time, i transplanted a bunch of the back yard into a garden, got into gardening and cooking, i wrote a book, "stealing homes", just an overall change in my mentality of how i spend my free time, not indulging myself but creating things and ultimately it's been more rewarding.

jenna: danny you could probably relate to that, with your book, a simple book of financial wisdom, what is the number one thing you can tell us today, the number one thing you think we can make to help us all spend more wisely? >> i think realizing where your money is going. that to me is the number one reason why people get into trouble, is i've talked to people and they say they don't have any money, yet they have a new pair of shoes on on a coach book on the newest iphone, and i say you do have the money,ure just choosing to spend it in this way, so i think tracking where your money is going is the number one key to start off. let's say if there are two ways to make more money, a, get a higher paying job which is possible but more difficult than it was five years ago or b, cut back on what you're spending money on. jenna: eyes wide open, that seems to be the lesson from both of you. so nice to talk with you and share your stories a little bit. i'm sure it resonates are viewers. we look forward to having you back on again. >> thank you jenna. >> thanks jenna.

jon: common sense advice from ordinary americans. jenna: not only regular, they seem pretty cool! they're just not regular but they're cool. it's nice to people from people who have done it and come back. jon: good to know. fer eshous fires and devastating droughts putting the texas economy in a very tough spot this year. could a technology that's more than 100 years old help? we'll get answers, next.

megyn: hey everyone i'm megyn kelly, the president out on the stump talking about how he would boost jobs in this country. why michael reagan says mr. obama means union jobs. plus the future and freedom of american student amanda knox hangs in the balance as an appeals court in italy weighs her fate after her murder conviction. plus the victim's family

is now issuing an urgent plea of their own. we'll have a full report. and secelia ingram lost her daughter to leukemia, two years later, she had the nerve to still be upset about it, pestering coworkers about her grief instead of having the decency to shut up about it, because, quote, the girl is dead. the maniest boss ever? in kelly's court. see you top of the 1:00. jon: state of texas is dealing with those devastating wildfires we've been telling you about, fueled by a severe drought. now some folks are trying to do something about it by bringing a little more rain from the few clouds in the sky. nearly 85 percent of texas is in exceptional drought conditions right now, 99 percent considered severe or worse. this is being called the worst drought year on record there. some parts of texas have seen 68 days with temperatures above 100 degrees. check out the map. yellow, showing states that

are abnormally dry in this country, dark red means exceptional drought conditions. with us now, stephanie beale, project meteorologist for the southwest texas rain enhancement association. stephanie, rain enhancement? we're basically talking about cloud seeding, right? >> yes, that's correct. jon: and how do you know that it works? you're sending up airplanes that drop flares that burn silver iodide and that puts silver iod -- iodide particles into clouds, stphraoeut. >> that's correct. in texas, we fly at the base of the cloud, we're looking for the inflow region of the thunderstorm and this is the mechanism we use to get the silver iodi -- iodide into the part, and hence, the rainfall. jon: how does it work, how do you measure rainfall from a cloud you've seeded versus what happened had you not

done anything? >> here in texas we have an analysis done annually for each of the six projects currently. what the analysis does, it actually compares the seeded clouds to a non-seeded cloud, stay outside the target area, or maybe a cloud that formed along the target area border that was going to move out, anyways. the gentleman, the science t*eurbgs i'm sorry, that does the analysis, will compare the seeded versus nonseeded clouds and use the nonseeded as a control which has the similar characterristics, similar type of air mass and such as the seeded cloud, and he does a mathematical analysis on that and from that, we can tell how much additional rainfall we are actually producing. jon: the idea, i guess, those thunderstorm clouds contain obviously a huge amount of water but what you're trying to do is get them to drop their water more gradually and not just dump it all in one place as a thunderstorm can tend to

do? >> what we're trying to aim to do when seeding clouds, we don't necessarily try to increase intensity. the main goal is we're trying to get them to rain, i guess, stay alive longer, if you will, so therefore, as they travel longer distances they can drop rainfall over a larger amount of land -- than they would have had they not been seeded. jon: this used to be a state project but it's my understanding that texas funding for this kind of thing dried up, so you're actually paid for, you're actually funded by some of these water districts in the state? >> yes, that's correct. in 2002, before 2002, we had matching state funds, and in 2002, there was a budget crisis, and they were no longer able to give us matching funds, so most of the projects that are still operating today were able to pay off all of the equipment that was needed for the project, the airplanes and other things, so now, yes, the six projects that are

running currently are only operating from local taxpayers and other water municipalities to the water districts. op jon well, it is gold when it falls from the sky, especially in a year like this. stephanie beall, we wish you well, there in texas. >> thank you very much. jenna: this report is coming into the newsroom right now. we are getting a report that as many as seven people have been shot at an ihop restaurant in carson city, nevada, that's just at the western border of the state, again, just breaking now, reports of a shooting at an ihop. we'll have more developments after this quick commercial.