are being laid off in droves which is unfair to our kids. it undermines our future and it is exactly what we shouldn't be doing if we want our kids to be college-ready and then prepared for the jobs of the 21st century. we've got to get our teachers back to work. let's pass this bill and put them in the classroom where they belong. [applause] i'm standing here with veterans. we've got hundreds of thousands of brave, skilled americans who fought for this country. the last thing they should have to do is to fight for a job when they come home. so let's pass this bill and put the men and women who serve this nation back to work. [applause] we're standing here with cops and firefighters whose jobs are threatened because states and communities are cutting back. this bill will keep cops on the beat and firefighters on call. so let's pass this bill so

that these men and women can continue protecting our neighborhoods like they do every single day. [applause] i'm standing with construction workers. we've got roads that need work all over the country. our highways are backed up with traffic, our airports are clogged and there are millions of unemployed construction workers who can rebuild them. so let's pass this bill so road crews and diggers and pavers and workers, they can all head back to the job site. there is plenty of work to do this job, this jobs bill will help them do it. let's put them back to work and pass this bill rebuilding america. [applause] and there are schools throughout the country that desperately need renovating, we can not, got a amen over there. [applause] we can't expect our kids to do their best in places that are literally falling apart.

this is america. every kidde serves a great school. and we can give it to them. pass this bill and we put construction crews back to work across the country repairing and modernizing at least 35,000 schools. i'm standing here with small business owners. they know that while corporate profits have come roaring back, a lot of small businesses haven't. they're still struggle ink almost, getting capital they need, getting the support they need in order to grow. so this bill cuts taxes for small businesses that higher new employees and for small businesses that raise salaries for current employees. it cuts your payroll tax in half and all businesses can write off investments they make this year and next year. instead of just talking about america's job creators, let's actually do something for jobs creators. we can do that by passing this bill. [applause] now there are a lot of other ways that this jobs bill,

the american jobs act will help this economy. got at $4,000 tax credit for companies that higher anybody who spent more than six months looking for a job. we've got to do more for folks who have been hitting the pavement every single day looking for work but haven't found employment yet. that's why we need to extend unemployment insurance and connect people to temporary work to help upgrade their skills. this bill will help hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged young people find summer jobs next year, jobs that will help set the direction for their entire lives. and the american jobs act would prevent taxes from going up for middle class families. if congress does not act, just about every family in america will pay more taxes next year. that would be a self-inflicted wound that our economy just can't afford right now. so let's pass this bill and give the typical working family a $1500 tax cut instead. [applause]

and the american jobs act is not going to add to the debt. it is fully paid for. i want to repeat that it is fully paid for. it is notgoing to add a dime to the deficit. next week i'm laying out my plan, not only to pay for this jobs bill but also to bring down the deficit further. it is a plan that lives by the same rules that families do. we have to cut out things that we can't afford to do in order to afford the things that we really need. it is a plan that says everybody, including the wealthiest americans and biggest corporations have to pay their fair share. so -- [applause] the bottom line is, when it comes to strengthening the economy and balancing our books, we've got to decide what our priorities are. we keep tax loopholes for oil companies or do we put teachers back to work? do we keep tax breaks for

millionaires and billionaires or should we invest in education and technology and infrastructure, all the things that are going to help oust outinnote and outeducate and outbuild other countries in the future? we know what is right. we know what will help businesses start right here and stay here and hire here. we know if we take the steps outlined in this jobs plan that there is no reason why we can't be selling more goods all around the world that are stamped with those three words, made in america. that's what we need to do, create jobs right now. [applause] i have to repeat something i said in my speech on thursday. there are some in washington who would rather settle our differences through politics and the elections than try to resolve them now. in fact joe and i as we were walking out here we were looking at one of the washington newspapers and

was quoting a republican aide saying i don't know why we would want to cooperate with obama right now. it is not good for our politics. that was very explicit. that is the attitude in this town. we've been for these things before but i don't know why we would be for them right now? the fact of the matter is, the next election is 14 months away. the american people don't have the luxury of waiting 14 months for congress to take action. [applause] folks are living week to week, paycheck to paycheck. they need action. and the notion that there are folks who would say we're not going to try to do what's right for the american people because we don't think it is convenient for our politics, we've been seeing that too much around here. and that's exactly what folks are tired of.

and that's okay when things are going well, you play politics. it's not okay at a time of great urgency and need all across the country. these aren't games we're playing out here. folks are out of work. businesses are having trouble staying open. we've got a world economy that is full of uncertainty right now. in europe, in the middle east,. some events may be beyond our control but this is something we can control. whether or not we pass this bill, whether or not we get this done, that's something that we can control. that's in our hands. you hear a lot of folks talking about uncertainty in the economy. this is a bit of uncertainty that we cld avoid.

by going ahead and taking action to make sure that we're helping the american people. so if you agree with me, if you want congress to take action, then i'm going to need everybody here and everybody watching, you've got to make sure your voices are heard. help make the case. there is no reason not to pass this bill. its ideas are bipartisan, its ideas are common sense. it will make a difference. that is just not my opinion. independent economists and evaluators have said could add a significant amount to our gross domestic product and could put people back to work all across the country. so the only thing that is stopping this is politics. [applause] we can't afford these same political games, not now. so i want you to pick up the phone. i want you to send an

e-mail. use one of those airplane sky writers. dust off the fax machine. or you can just write a letter. so long as you get the message to congress. send me the american jobs act. so i can sign it into law. let's get something done. let's put this country back to work. thank you very much, everybody. god bless you. [applause] jon: so the full-court press continues there. it began with that address to a joint session of congress. the president introducing what he calls the american jobs act. and now he is urging americans to rally behind it and contact their members of congress and get this thing passed. the question is, will republicans especially in the house, go along. jenna: that is an excellent question. we're so glad you're with us here on "happening now" on a monday morning. i'm jenna lee along with jon

scott. as jon was mentioning $447 billion. the president says this is going to congress today. it's anyone's guess what happens next, what kind of timeline we're dealing with. meantime the republican presidential candidates are out with some jobs plans much their own. they have some reaction to the president's plan. james rosen is taking a closer look at that. he is with us from washington. hi, james. >> reporter: jenna, good morning. those republicans who will work most closely with the white house on jobs agenda namely congressional leaders john boehner and eric cantor sounded somewhat conciliatory themes after the president's address. among the gop's contenders for the president's job we have seen a more varied approach. former massachusetts governor mitt romney spoke at a boeing plant in south carolina this morning before heading down to floor for tonight's gop debate. romney called the president's proposal a stimulus and said some parts are okay. that followed a web ad

earlier which mr. rom any said, mr. president, you are 960 days late. among the first gop candidates to respond and one of the most forceful in tone was representative michele bachmann of minnesota. she held a news conference just minutes after the president wrapped up on thursday night and she said, the president from the very beginning has embraced solutions that are temporary gimmicks. they come and they two. that's what we saw again tonight in the president's remarks, bachmann said. one temporary gimmick and fix after another. texas congressman ron paul speaking to cnn's piers morgan after mr. obama spoke said i quote, this is more tinkering around the edges. i don't think it will do a thing for the jobs. businessman herm herman cain issued a six word statement said we waited 30 months for this? former house speaker newt gingrich likened president obama to reckless teenager telling new hampshire voters like a 16-year-old saying i just wrecked the family car. i need a new car and i need

you to pay for it and i guarantee by the time i'm 55 i'll pay it off. the gop contenders are taking in some case as more gloves off approach to the president's job adenda than those members of congress who will work most closely with him on it. jenna. jenna: brevity seems to be in vogue. like a tweet, 140 words or less, right, james? >> reporter: we waited 30 months for this? i think that is fewer than 140 characters. jenna: 140 characters. thank you very much, james rosen in d.c. today. >> reporter: thank you. jon: for now, for more now on the president's jobs plan and the republican strategy in response, we're joined by joe trippi, the former howard dean presidential campaign manager, also a fox news contributor. so obviously you're coming at this from the democratic perspective, joe. the president takes this bill, three patriotic words, the american jobs act. how could any republican vote against something called the american jobs act? that seems to be what he is daring them to do?

>> well i think what you're seeing with the republican response is sort of the difference between governing and campaigning. people campaigning for president will have much harsher comments and be against the president's plan but eric cantor, boehner, speaker boehner, they have got, they have got to do something here. the entire country, one thing everybody agrees on is washington is broken and it is not working and they want action. so i think you will see some of the components, i don't know if all of this bill will pass but, there are places like extending, unemployment benefits, the job credits, tax credits i mean, for companies, that higher people who have been out of work for six months, there are aspects of this plan i do think will get bipartisan support and will be supported by house leadership and they will try to get it passed. jon: there are elements of it some businesses like. a $4,000 tax credit for hiring somebody who has been unemployed for six months. sure a lot of businesses like that but, businesses,

you know, from what i can tell are looking at the big picture and saying, you know, there is just too much uncertainty in this economy. there is uncertainty in the regulations that are yet to come down the pike for us to want to make that commitment. >> well, look i think there are elements of this, i don't know yet whether there will be some amendments from the republicans or, from the speaker and cantor. there are number of things, eric cantor supported early on in virginia came up with a bill that would create infrastructure rebuilding of schools with tax credits, that should be very popular with everybody. puts construction workers back to work. yes there's uncertainty in the overall economy. the president pointed that out just now in his speech about things going on in europe and other places and certainly uncertainty with regulations but those are items where i don't think you will get much agreement on. right now it's about what can these two sides agrow on

that actually gets some action for working people and actually put construction workers and other people to work. jon: let's hope there is something they can agree on that will get americans back to work because we sure need it. >> yes. jon: joe trippi, good to have you on. >> thanks, jon. jenna: talking about jobs listen to the headline from associated press. bank of america plans to layoff or 30,000 people or have 30,000 job cuts over next few years. we'll dig a little deeper into that in a few moments. meantime, taking you overseas now. we had a deadly nuclear explosion. just happened this morning. we'll have breaking details just ahead.

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they wait for this all year long. [ male announcer ] it's endless shrimp today at red lobster. youravorite shrimp entrees, like garlic shrimp scampi or new sweet and spicy shrimp. as much as you like any way you like for just $15.99. [ trapp ] creating an experience instead of just a meal that's endless shrimp. my name is angela trapp. i'm a server at red lobster and i sea food differently. jon: new video and information crossing our international desk. in kenya a fuel explosion in an impoverished neighborhood in the capitol. kills more than a hundred people. a fuel tank spilled oil into an open sewer running through the

neighborhood. somebody reportedly tossed a cigarette butt into the open ditch, causing the blast and killing those trying to scoop up the oil. the death toll is expected to go much higher. jenna: a deadly nuclear accident in france today. a major explosion rocking a nuclear plant in the south of that country. one person reportedly killed at the facility north of marceille. an oven used for nuclear waste was the cause of the blast. greg palkot is live in london with the latest. >> reporter: it was a major scare for a while at least. it prompted rumors of a radiation leak in a popular tourist and recreation area, a town of 30,000 five miles away from the facility. it's called the marcoule facility, and it's been very important for france for decades as a nuclear site.

it's manufactured plutonium for atomic bombs. it is now mostly to do with decommissioning nuclear reactions. today's explosion occurred in a furnace melting down metal components with a low level of radiation. after the exposure there was a fire. in addition to the death there were four people injured, one seriously. it was caused by an industrial incident rather than radiation contamination, we were told by the officials. a perimeter was set up, radiation was monitored and nothing was detected inside of the facility or outside the of area. the incident is described now as over. nuclear power critical for trans. 75% of its electricity derived from various nuclear reactors across the country and the safety record in this industry very good. by our reckoning there have been no deaths associated with any

incident at a nuclear facility in france up until today. back to you. jenna: interesting, greg, thank you very much. jon: some people call it a miracle, a teenage boy comes out of his coma after eight months. how his parents say they woke him up. plus, just hours ago republican presidential candidate mitt romney gets an endorsement from a formal rival. will it give him a boost as he face aess s a serpblging rick perry? lexus hybrid drive technology is designed to optimize any fuel source on the planet. a serpblging rick perry. because when you pursue perfection, you don't just engineer a future-proof hybrid system. you engineeamazing.

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jon: jon scott in the acquisition center where we bring in hundreds of satellite feeds from all around the globe, really. take a look at the blue skies in washington over the capitol dome. the president just announced his

jobs plan. he wants to give it to congress for their consideration. that fight begins. over here on remote 261, where is it -- 241, there is it, i'm sorry, that is reflecting absence, the new memorial just opened to the families yesterday on the -- as we mark the 10th year since the 9/11 attacks. new yorkers and others are getting their first look at it today. i saw it yesterday. it's a very powerful, powerful monument. not fall away wall street the dow down 83 points right now. it had -- the expectation was that things could be worse on this day because of all of the turmoil in europe. jenna has a look at how things are going. jenna. jenna: we have breaking news, we heard moments ago from one of the nation's largest banks, bank of america saying it's cutting 30,000 jobs over the next few years. this news comes moments ago after the president pushed his

jobs plan today. he is not the only one with ideas on how to boost the economy. we will dig a little deeper into that. a columnist for the "wall street journal," you here headlines like this 30,000 positions potentially eliminated over the next few years, is there anything we should take away as far as the health of this bank or the bank sector? the united states? >> one thing says this bank isn't healthy. the other thing you've got to look at is they are probably worried about the bonuses at the top level. when the bonus pool wasn't looking very good they would cut heads so the amount per person in the bonus pool was higher. that might be part of what is going on here. that might sound diabolical but that is reality on wall street. that is the way a lot of bankers think. they want to earn as much as possible. the other good one on this one you said it was 30,000 over a number of years. part of that will be through

natural aeu treugs. attrition. when people quit they won't be replaced. it won't be 30,000 people forcibly hitting the street. it will be 30,000 less positions at the bank. jenna: bank of america's stock is up because of this news. we heard from the president, he has his bill, he's giving it to congress today. the fed has a plan as well, potentially, reportedly has a plan called operation twist? what is that simon? >> that is a reference to something back in the early 60s. in 1961 the federal reserve had a plan to do things to the yield curve and it coincided with chubby checker's song the twist. it goes back 50 years ago, and they are trying to do something similar here. what they are really trying to do is to instead of institute a new money-printing program they will switch around the way their

existed printing money will be used, and it will bring down the cost of borrowing on long term loans, loans from five to ten years, those will be cheaper and short-term loans will be a little bit more expensive. that is the theory any way. jenna: we'll see if there is demand for those loans that is the next question. if there's demand and if the fed is going to do that. we've seen them do something before and we'll see if they do something next week at their meeting. simon, always great to have you. >> thank you. jon: we are tracking some major developments in the gop race for the white house. mitt romney picking up a crucial endorsement from a former rival, as the rest of the field ramps up its attacks on gop frontrunner rick perry. our chief political correspondent carl cameron is live at the florida state fairgrounds in tampa. carl, i know a lot of our viewers watch fox basically all day long. if they do they might know who

this new endorsement is coming from. for those who just tuned in give us the the surprise. >> reporter: it's tim pawlenty. he joined mitt romney at a stop in north carolina. when he dropped out of the race he said he had no plans for an endorsement. wouldn't contemplate volunteering for any campaign and wouldn't give any thought to being anybody's presidential candidate. he will be the new national cochairman of romney 2012. here he is talking about the man he's put his support behind. >> governor romney singularly is the candidate best situated to lead this country out of economic dole drums. he has the experience and talent to do it. he is the most capable, knowledgeable electable candidate in this race so far and i'm honored and privileged and excited to support him as

our next president of the united states. >> reporter: such is the rhetoric from a former candidate who once referred to omnicare and romnecar as a slap on a piece of health reform in massachusetts that went on as a model that the president obama signed. mr. ro romney has put out a letter in florida mailboxes going off rick perry on social security. romney is aggressively going after perry. perry has been under fire from a host of candidates for his social security position. he wrote in a book that it's a ponzi scheme and monstrous live, unconstitutional and needs to be changed. that's where perry has been taking his heat. mr. tim pawlenty on fox & friends criticized mr. perry for exactly that echoing romney's attacks on perry's social

security reform 0 positions. jon: carl cameron joining us live from florida. carl, thank you. jenna: it's nice they just start calling us by the same time. jon: it makes it easier. jenna: jonna i like that, fox news is team t-g up with google to host a debate on september 22nd. you can submit questions for the republican presidential candidates not just in writing. we want to hear and see you. we have video questions. talk in front of your camera, your web cam, ask the candidates what you want to know and upload the video by going to youtube..com fox news. don't forget to tune into the debate september 22nd at 9:00pm. you can go on right knew and see what questions are trending. that helps us ask the right questions for you here on the air. jon: it will be fun to watch. a series of wildfires tearing through central california,

thousands of acres are scorched, thousands are people force he to evacuate their homes. new details on how the fires started. plus the very latest on efforts to put them out. and straight ahead, giving a financial life line to terrorists. ten years after 9/11 one middle eastern country and a u.s. ally might still be giving money to terrorist groups like al-qaida. we'll tell you where it's happening and what we can do to try to stop it. sweetie i think you need a little extra fiber in your diet. carol. fiber makes me sad. oh common. and how can you talk to me about fiber while you are eating a candy bar? you enjoy that. i am. [ male announcer ] fir beyond recognition. fiber one.

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jenna: welcome back. fox news alert a string of wildfires tearing through central california right now, all in the mountain communities near bakersfield, right in the center that of state. take a look at this. we have lightning-spark flames consuming more than 40 square miles so far forcing thousands from their home. so far no property damage or injuries reported. the wildfire in keene60% contained right now. the fires near bakersfield posing problems. there is a lot going on there. obviously. thanks to water-dropping helicopters, some improvement. we'll keep you posted. jon: from raging fires to dangerous rip currents. the remnants of tropical storm maria creating chaos a along florida pwoefps. lifeguards pulling more than 70 people from dangerous surf.

maria molina is live in the fox extreme weather center. even a storm hundreds of miles away can do that. >> reporter: we had katia that didn't make landfall in bermuda or the east coast, passed right in between the two, that's where all the rip current problem started and the large surf and large swells. now we have tropical storm marie a relatively weak storm. the center of it is to the west, it's very disorganized, a lot of wind shear pushing the thunderstorms to the east of the center of the storm and it's forecast to remain over open water and the center of it will move to the rest of bermuda. another very similar track to hurricane katia. this one is expected to remain relatively weaker than katia. i don't think rip currents will be as big as a problem asthma rea. nonetheless it is a huge concern. anyone going out to the beaches needs to keep it in mind. across parts of the upper

midwest we have a storm that will bring in chilly temperatures. a slight concern for showers to turn severe. i want to take a look at the temperature drop. 91 degrees in minneapolis, doesn't even feel like fall is around the corner. as you head into tonight and tomorrow, take a look at the temperatures then. 72 will be the high tomorrow in minneapolis. by wednesday we are expecting a high in minneapolis at only 59 degrees. guys, a big cooldown coming across that region. jon: a lot of people will welcome that. it's been a hot summer in a lot of places. >> reporter: unfortunately no relief in texas. jenna: temperatures are high across the middle east. in egypt calls for actions against a group of protestors charged with storming an israeli

embassy over the weekend. benjamin netanyahu vowing to reopen the embassy causing even more tension between the one-time alleys. at least 2600 people have been killed in the last six months during the anti-government uprisings. and also concerns about iran's nuclear ambitions are growing. at the same time the iranian government is praising egypt, praising those protestors for its attack on the israeli embassy. one country has remained relatively quiet through all of this and that country is saudi arabia. should we be keeping a closer eye on their ties to the region in general, and also to funding extremists as we take a look ten years after 9/11? jonathan schanzer is now at the foundation for defense of democracies. how would you answer that question about where we stand with saudi arabia and their ability to funnel blions of dollars to different terrorist

groups. >> the story of saudi arabia is sort of an interesting one in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 we really had very tense relations with sawed. ove saudi. i think they have cracked down on the terror finance problem. three quarters of the hijackers were saudi and a lot of the money that goes to radical organizations came from saudi arabia. they had little choice but to crackdown on the radicalism problem. even if they cut it down by half, the number would be far greater than most other countries in the region. so saudi arabia continues to have a radicalization problem. we've driven the system underground. they used to work through the banking system. now they travel with bulk cash. all the transactions are done in cash, there is no money trail so it's harder to track it. jenna: if i could stop you for a moment here. your article in the weekly standard was so independenting because of the numbers around

that money. i don't think many of us realized just how much money at one time was going to these organizations, and then let's talk a little bit about that money going underground and just being cash, so it's very hard to track. how much money are we talking about as far as what the saudis were giving to terrorists and what they might be giving now? >> i mean it's hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars. and we don't know exactly how much has been cutback. we just know that the saudis have done a good job of making sure that it's not done through the formal sector. it's become something of a black box and it makes it even harder for us to figure out what is going on. we do know through the interception of several terrorists, those who have been arrested, captured and killed that the saudis continue to be a focal point for a number of radical organizations, including the taliban and other spinoff groups from al-qaida. so this continues to playing u plague us here.

jenna: what exactly should be done? how can we be proactive to either stop them in that funding or do a better job of interes inne intercrepting it? >> the saudis have us over a barrel. for us to pressure them any further we just don't this the leverage. we need them to keep that steady supply of oil going. so we can continue to engage with them, but we'll find that they continue to press us and pressure us in ways that we are uncomfortable with. there was just an op ed this morning by turkey pressuring the united states not to veto the palestinian statehood bid at the u.n. they continue to pressure us the other way around and that is a big problem. jenna: you highlight the national security, and

intersection points that we need to learn more about. john, always nice to have you. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. jon: it was one a poster shaoeuld of the energy movement. but this company, solyndra went bankrupt. what went wrong for an organization that was supposed to be creating jobs? plus a hacking group that tried to stay in the shadows, but now anonymous is very much in the spotlight, even getting the attention of the f.b.i. are they just computer nerss or a national security threat. we'll get into it.

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jenna: welcome back, everybody. breaking news out of libya we wanted to share with you from the pentagon. we heard the president say there will be no boots on the ground in libya. we know there are eight boots on the ground belonging to four individuals. the pentagon spokesman saying today that these individuals are on the ground to help try to rebuild our embassy in tri

tripoli. two are experts, the other two are quote, general security. we don't know what divisions they are with or anything more than that. we know four of our military personnel on the ground in tripoli over the weekend. you'll be up tka*euted as w updated as we hear more. jon: we have told you before about anonymous who have claimed pretty big breaches of security, they are hackers. they've breached the cia's online computers for general public information. they also have attacked major companies, including news corporation, the parent company of this network. well now the f.b.i. is taking a closer look at the anonymous group, suggesting that they may be responsible for possibly some

breaches of u.s. security and could be a national security threat. let's talk about it with internet security expert and the president of e forensics llc john luchich. john, it seems the f.b.i. would have looked at them before now, why the sudden interest. >> they are doing many types of intrusions. you can't spend too long poking at a tiger before you have it's full and undivided attention. that's what they've done with the f.b.i., scotland yard and many other agencies around the world. jon: these hackers pass themselves off as harmless pranksters sitting in bedrooms and dense across america typing on key boards and not necessarily hurting anything. is that a fair characterization? >> absolutely not. they are criminals and a threat to national security without a doubt. they break into the wrong network and that's hooked up to the f.b.i. or our military with so much contractors out there that could pose a tremendous

problem. we are not going to wait for them to disclose confidential information and secret information before we do something about them. they are out there bathing the cages and we need t go after them asap. jon: is it fair, is it appropriate to take a 16 or 18-year-old kid and lock him up for a bunch of years for i don't know testing the security of some of these sites? >> certainly depending upon the type of crime he may not spend time in an adult prison, but absolutely. we need to send a very strong message to these people, we are not going to tolerate this. jon: john luchich from e forensics thank you. jenna: we are continuing to watch a deadly explosion that rocked a nuclear site. the site locked for now. also a saver reraid in the u.k. after police find dozen of victims living in shocking conditions. we are live with that story next. >> today we found 24 people being held against their will on the sites, being kept in

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jon: some developing stories we are keeping an eye on in the newsroom and from our control room as well. iran says the country's first nuclear power plant is stepping up operations after years of delays. we'll be talking about this with john bolton, the former u.s. ambassador in our next hour. volkswagen is recalling more than 30,000 cars. the models are jetta sedans from 2011-2012. the exhaust pipes stick out too far and they can burn you if they are touched.

officials in washington state say a wildfire is 50% contained. it has burned 6 homes and damaged 18 others. the fire has burned about 4200 acres as well. jenna: what a store row to wake up to this morning. the police in the u.k. bust up a slavery ring. the suspects holding two dozen people against their will in shocking conditions. this was discovered all north of london. here is allister reporting. >> reporter: we are an hour north of central london here. the raid took place yesterday. 150-plus police officers involved. they took away with them 24 men that they believed had been held as slaves, some of them up to as long as 15 years. some held in horrible conditions. very given little food.

were made to work against their will. if they wanted to loaf they were threatened and beaten. a woman they've released for the time being, she is in the police's words due to give birth imminently. you can see some of the younger kids are out of here from school. but, you know, this is a site that is just very isolated, it's just off the edge of a main village. we spoke to one man who said he had problems here of late. the investigation continues into exactly what has gone on here the last ten to 15 years. jenna: a good reminder that modern day slavery is happening. allister b u.n. kle with our sister network. thank you for that. we'll continue to follow the story. jon: lightning strikes trigger a series of fast-moving wildfires in california forcing thousands of people out of their homes. we'll get you the latest on what

is going on there just ahead. he's a favorite of millions of kids, good old spongebob squarepants. i don't miss an episode. but a new study says the resident of bikini bottom might not be as harmless as you think. >> who lives in a pine apple under the sea. >> spongebob squarepants. ♪ [singing] spongebob squarepants, spongebob squarepants!

jen hi everybody, we welcome you to our second hour of "happening now" we're so happy you're with us, i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. u.s. boots are on the ground reportedly in libya, despite assurances from president obama the u.s. would not send uniformed military personnel into that battle

zone, the pentagon now confirmed a -- confirms a handful of u.s. members are on the ground there. james rosen is live from washington with more. james. >> reporter: jon, good afternoon. we heard multiple times from president on down throughout the libyan revolution since it began in february there would be no u.s. boots on the ground in that north african country. today, there are eight u.s. boots on the ground in the form of fourun idfied -- unidentified u.s. soldiers, they are working under the authority of the state department's chief of missions for our u.s. embassy in tripoli. you may recall, about ten days into the conflict in february, the united states shuttered its embassy in tripoli, fearing for the safety of u.s. officials there. well, now that embassy has been badly damaged throughout the course of the fighting. these four u.s. soldiers consist of two explosive ordinance experts and two other soldiers who are providing both general security while they assess

the state of the embassy. once that assessment is completed and it's deemed safe for u.s. officials to return there, then those four u.s. troops will leave libya. we are told, a pentagon spokesman, navy captain john kirby was asked this morning whether there are plans to send any other further u.s. troops to libya. he would not comment. it's important to note, this is not the u.s. violating its pledge to send no boots on the ground as part of the nato mission. this is -- this is just a very limited operation in a very limited number of troops who are providing security to state department personnel while they assess the damage done to our embassy in tripoli. nonetheless, we have heard no boots on the ground, now, there are four u.s. troops in tripoli, jon. jon: james rosen, i don't think i'd be -- i'd want to be one of those three guys right now, but we've got brave troops out there,

that's for sure. jenna: let's talk to ambassador bolton about this, former ambassador to the u.n., also a contributor at fox news and we booked to you talk about iran, which we're going to do in a few moments, sir, but ambassador, what goes through your head when you hear that headline, is it something we should be concerned about, is it an open window to more troops potentially being on the ground or is it some business that needs to be taken care of? >> i don't think it's any big deal, honestly. and with respect to the president's claim about no boots on the ground, i guess my strubl i never believed him to begin with. we've had special tpoeugs -- special operations forces during the course of the military operation against qaddafi, so have the brits, the french, so have others. when you have an embassy that's been trashed and potentially booby trapped like ours is, you need this kind of expertise to make it safe for the diplomats to return and let's face it, we know more boots are coming. there's going to be a marine security guard in due course as there is at almost every

american embassy around the world, so i don't see it as heralding anything particularly new or different. the president should have had a better understanding of what's actually involved in these things or at least should have paid attention to what he was told about them. jenna: let's talk a little about what's happening in iran because we had breaking news out of iran today. you have iran with it's first nuclear power plant moving closer they say to operation, there was some pomp and circumstance around that today with the russians in iran, and also, iran said it applauded what happened in egypt over the weekend and to catch our viewers up to date, the israeli embassy was attacked inside ept by said protestors and all of the representatives had to leave the country and go back to israel. of course, israel, our ally in the middle east, and egypt, at one time, was also our ally but we don't know exactly who's going to be running the country moving forward. first to what's happening with iran and the nuclear power plant, the timing of this, when you hear that, what goes through your mind?

>> well, this is a commercial-sized nuclear power plant, a thousand megawatts built by the russian, the iranians have said they want to buy other reactors from russia. significantly, it's the first commercial-sized reactor to go into operation in a state hostile to israel. when this has happened before, iraq, syria, the israelis, have destroyed those reactors. now, the reactor itself is not an immediate threat from a nuclear weapons point of view but it will over the years produce plutonium in its spent fuel which can be repoises dollars and used to build nuclear weapons. that's israel destroyed iraq's and syria's earlier. iran is proceeding. and that is another measure of our failure to hold back the iranian nuclear weapons program. jenna: the iranians applauding egypt and applauding those protestors for what they did to the embassy inside egypt, what's your reaction to that? >> the irans are fishing in troubled waters. they're trying to exploi *t exploit the overthrow of hos

me mubarek, an american ally, even though he was no jeffersonian democrat, really in great jeopardy, iran has over the years funded and armed hamas, and hamas is a wholly owned subsidiary of the egyptian muslim brotherhood, so the iranians are working to increase their influence in egypt and the government of egypt, the military government of egypt, recognized the government in tehran for the first time since the shah was overthrown in 1979. so a lot of strategic uncertainty for israel and i think just cause for concern by the united states that the bedrock of our middle east policy for several decades now is beginning to come unglued. jenna: are you concerned about our embassy in egypt? >> i think we ought to be worried about security, absolutely. if the egyptian government had wanted to stop that takeover of the israeli embassy, prehaven'ting the demonstrators from going in, they easily could have done

it. it was a signal that they wouldn't dollars to allow this to happen. -- wanted to allow this to happen. we had this kind of signal in tehran in 1979, we didn't take advantage of it, and our diplomats were taken hostage. -- hostage. so i think we ought to view american embassies throughout the region as being in potential jeopardy and up our security very considerably, particularly in egypt. jenna: sir, as far as what's happening in relationship to israel, as you mentioned, you had this happening inside of egypt with the protestors a the embassy, you have iran applauding that, you also have turkey which was once a friendly country to israel for really decades now really pulling back on those relationships and making stronger statements about not being quite as friendly as once before. there's an important week coming up, the general assembly for the united nations. talk us through why next week is so important and why we should be focused on what's happening specifically with our ally israel. >> well, this is the week when all the heads of state and government come 20 a-- come to address the general

assembly, president obama will speak on wednesday. it's going to be a bad week for israel. number one, we've got the so-called durbay-3 conference which will reamp the declaration reached in durbin, south africa that says israel is a racist state and therefore illegitimate and the palestinians apparently defying the obama administration's wish, they're going to press their resolution, whether in the general assembly or the security council to have palestine quote unquote declared a state and if they run there that through the general assembly they will prevail. so it's a lot of efforts at the political level, at the u.n., to isolate israel, to make life very difficult for it, combined with the strategic uncertainty militarily and politically in the region. i think israel is facing a very tough time. jenna: certainly a lot of questions about our middle east strategy, as well n. relation to that and otherwise, i know you're going to be in new york for those meetings, ambassador, so we look forward to having on the set to talk more about it. thank you for your time

today. >> thank you. jon: back to this country, dozens of wildfires are burning in central california, threatening hundreds of homes. those raging flames, scorching more than 30,000 acres across k -- kern county, crews are focusing on one major fire but there are several smaller blazes as well and a threat this after that of gusty winds and more lightning strikes. casey stegall live in the west coast newsroom with a look at this scary situation. >> reporter: scary indeed. things aren't looking too good especially because the resources are spread so thin when you consider over the weekend, lightning strikes, said to have started at least 50 small fires in the central part of california, and extremely rare thunderstorm moving through the bakersfield area on saturday. look at the video of this lightning. 112 miles north of los angeles, igniting the dry brush, and it got out of control in a hurry. 7000-acres have burned, in

that one fire alone, cal-fire saying about 100 structures are threatened and folks are under voluntary evacuations, but the flames are 60 percent contained at this hour. now, not far from there in kern county, california, a series of fires known as the comanche complex has burned 23,000 acres, this near the town of arvin, erratic wind patterns keeping the residents on their toes. >> it's kind of scary, actually. we couldn't really tell how close the fire was, you know , the perception of depth was awesome, we didn't know if the fire was going to come up this way. >> reporter: not just california being impacted, parts of the pacific northwest burning right now, like in gold -- goldendale, washington, near the oregon border, at least 18 homes have burned to the ground and people there, facing evacuation orders as well, the flames now 50 percent contained, so some progress

is being made, and then about 60 miles east of portland, another fire raging in hood river, oregon, it started in august by lightning and so far, it has burned about 5800-acres, so something that firefighters and fire crews are no doubt keeping a very close eye on. jon. onjon casey stegall reporting live from california, thanks casey. jenna: from california in the meantime to texas now, crews are slowly gaining control over the devastating wildfires in central texas. the bastrop fire is now 60 percent contained and while there are still hot spots, some areas are being cleared for residents to reenter. >> we haven't been able to go in at all, and i've been told that my house is still standing, but i don't know. >> you tpoeupb out how strong you are and it will come out all right. jenna: the number of homes reported by the wind-driven flames, now up to about

1600. that number, expected to go higher as the days go on. even though there is containment, obviously, the fire is still burning. we should mention this is not the only wildfire burning in the state of texas. we'll keep you updated as we hear more. jon been -- jon skwrao*pbd still no rain. >> a company long taught dollars as a stimulus success story by the obama administration is now turning into a campaign issue and maybe a campaign asset for republicans. the republican national committee is pointing to the solar company solnydra as a financial failure, the company laid off nearly 1200 workers and wasted over $500 million in federal loan guarantees, it is now under fbi investigation. steve centanni is live in washington. i guess there's a new twist to the story. >> reporter: it, it's the pressure the rnc is putting as you mentioned in this campaign season as we approach 2012, they're letting everybody know about this situation, stepping up its attack on the obama

administration over solyndra. the president went to solyndra, as you know, touting this company as a ha harbinger of america's clean energy future, and then solyndra went under, throwing 1000 people out of work, just as the justice department raided the company last week, looking to see if the government was misled when accepting that loan guarantee, now there is a document putting pressure on the administration to release records and documents relating to solyndra. a quote from the chairman of the rnc, he says after laying off 1100 workers, wasting over $500 million in loan guarantees and becoming the subject of an fbi investigation, solyndra is a prime example of 12eu78 lous -- stimulus failure, before taxpayers are forced to spend another dime of stimulus money the white house must explain why they were so reckless the first

time around. jon: that's half a billion dollars, apparently, gone. i suppose there is some recovery. what's the white house saying about it? >> well, they haven't had a lot to say, although press secretary -- the press secretary was asked about it, but they do point out there are other companies that got the federal loan tkpwa*eupb tee that is jump start the green companies. here's jay carney earlier this month. >> there are no guarantees in the business world about success and failure. that is just the way business works and everyone recognizes that, and that's why there are over 40 companies, as i understand it, 40 guarantees involved in this program, that merit look at. >> reporter: in the meantime, congress also looking into the different aspects of this. so a lot of pressure on the administration, jon. jon: steve centanni, thank you. jenna: we're going to to a live look at lower manhattan, where for the very first time the 9/11 memorial is open to the public. we're going to live to the site honoring the fallen in about three minutes. jon: also president obama

sending his new jobs plan to congress today but where does he find the money to pay for it? that's causing members of the decifit supercommittee some worry. a live report on that. jenna: taking the scenic route to the microphone, huh? a dramatic new surveillance video of an employee at walgreen's, stopping an armed robbery. why was he fired after he did this? we'll tell you, coming up.

jon: well, the national 9/11 memorial is now officially open to the puck hreurbgs at least the above ground portion, and thousands of people are pour going lower manhattan. it's their first chance to actually set foot on the site where the twin towers once stood and touch the ground where their loved ones died. rick leventhal is live at that hallowed ground. >> reporter: it's safe to say the world trade center site has undergone a dramatic transformation in the last year or so and

while it is still a construction site you can see progress in the form of that memorial you mentioned. we'll look at the 20th floor of one world trade center, still under construction and there you can see the plaza, truly remarkable and beautiful. today as you mentioned, the first time that members of the general public can visit, they can walk around the pools where the towers once stood, they can touch the names etched in bronze of the nearly 3000 lives lost and listen to the sounds of those waterfalls which actually drown out much of the noise of the city. there are 400 white oak trees in this park that fills 8-acres. certainly we spoke with the designer and architect of the center, michael orodd who says the plaza exceeds his own expectations. >> it was a remarkable journey for me, two blocks away from these towers, from where they fell down, to be back here today, to be back here yesterday during the university, seeing all the families come together at the site and touching the names. it was such an emotional day hard to talk about it. >> reporter: well, the

memorial is free to visitors but you do have to sign up online at 9/11 memorial.org, 400,000 people have already done that. most of september is already full. about 1500 people can be here at any given time, perhaps 7000, at any given day. it's open ten hours a day, seven days a week. earlier, i spoke with p pasamin headdi seufplt, here is her reaction. >> i'm choking up and smiling, it makes me really sad i lost my brother here ten years ago, but at the same time, i know that life has to go on and he would have wanted that, because he was a person who was so vibrant and full of life and full of color. >> reporter: and she also told me a place of darkness and chaos has been transformed into a place of light and grace and beauty

and jon, she says it fills her with hope. it is a pretty dramatic place and i think that it will be a very popular tourist attraction for a long time to come. jon: it really is remarkable, rick levun thall -- rick leventhal, thank you. i was down there yesterday and people were taking flags, flowers, mementos and putting them into those names, because there are actually voids in the bronze plaques and people are sticking things in there, it's a living museum, almost. jenna: that's beautiful. that's why they were able to trace names, right? 's engraved. jon: they etched their names on to the papers and programs just like the vietnam memorial. it's amazing. jenna: i can't wait to go see it. rick said mostly the month is filled up but doesn't mean it's impossible, so -- you were able to sneak in down there! appropriately so, doing some reporting. jon: with media credentials! >> jenna: obviously. we thank rick of course for

his report thaopb and as always, some of his great reporting he's done over the last several days on the memorial. in the meantime, we have this story we wanted to share with you, former imf chief, dominic strauss-kahn, facing serious allegations in his native country of france. why french police are now taking a closer look at previous allegations of sexual assault against him. we'll go a little deeper on that coming up. plus a new bill giving greater legal protection for unlicensed drivers, including illegal immigrants. details on that with our legal panel, straight ahead.

jenna: right now, former imf chief dominic strauss-kahn is apparently being questioned by french police

over another rape allegation this, time related to a 2003 claim made by a french journalist, strauss-kahn returned home from the u.s. about a week ago after the new york judge here dismissed unrelated sex assault charges against him. we'll keep you posted. forecasters say it could be days before residents in the northeast could start seeing any further relief from massive flooding caused by tropical storm lee. a major problem. several river necessary new jersey, pennsylvania, have yet to recede to their normal levels. that's not normally the case at this point. and a new date in october is being set for the official opening of the martin luther king, jr. memorial in washington, the monument of the civil rights leader was supposed to be unveiled last month but organizers were forced to postpone it because of hurricane irene. jon: if you want to drive a car, you're supposed to have a driver's license first, right? well, a new bill in california would give greater legal protection to those who get caught without having a license, including illegal immigrants.

here's what it would do, in part. in some california counties, police set up drunk driving checkpoints like this one. now, if they pick upra sober but unlicensed driver, they can seize their cars. this bill would outlaw that practice. under the bill, police would have to look for the car's legal owner or a licensed driver authorized to pick up the car at the "checkpoint". if a reasonable effort fails, police could then impound the car and the unlicensed driver could be cited but not arrested. let's talk about it with fred teacy, former federal prosecutor, joey jackson is a criminal defense attorney, joey, you think that this bill is a good idea. do i have that right? >> here's what we have to talk about, jon. what we have to talk about -- stop laughing! >> i didn't say a word! >> it's not about giving immunity to anyone. if you're unlicensed and you're driving, you're punished by virtue of being cited. all the bill is doing is it's applying uniformly a

law that should be consistent throughout california. what we have to keep in mind, there are some locality necessary california who do impound cars, there are others that don't, so by virtue of this bill we are ensuring that the law is fairly and evenly applied to everyone. jon: well, all right, fred, what's unfair about that? if i'm going to drive in california, i'm supposed to have a license. if one of the counties says you know, you drive without a license in my county, i'm going to take your car away, what's wrong with that? >> let me tell u. that's why joey is such a great lawyer, he makes great speech but at the end of the day, no. here's the bottom line. the law in every state in america requires you to have a driver's license to operate a motor vehicle. that's not like some suggestion or a guideline. that's the law. and if law enforcement is permitted to seize your car, why are we not allowing them to enforce the laws as they are written? and for this assemblyman to say this is because we're going to stop some illegal search and seizure, he ought to pay attention to the supreme court who says that

these stops are legal. but look, the numbers don't lie. jon: but. >> -- >> but fred, here's the point we have to look at. it is true you have to have a license in every jurisdiction throughout the country to drive. the question is what dra draconian measures should stop and be found if you stop. jon: doesn't it boil down -- >> because you're supposed to stand there and promise a police officer you're not going to drive? >> look, fred, in certain localities, they were profiting and exploiting this community. what they were doing was they had an arrangement -- >> bad facts made bad laws. i get that, put them aside. the bottom shrine, it's illegal and the numbers don't lie. unregistered drivers are five times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident, 4 1/2 times more likely to be involved in a drunk driving accident, the most important thing a state does is protect its citizens. they uphold the law. >> here's the problem, though, the statistics you're citing do not indicate the differential

between immigrant unlicense *r licensed drivers and general unlicensed drivers and let's be fair, immigrants don't have licenses because they're bad drivers and a failed test but because the law does not permit them as illegal immigrants to have license. sue: so we're going to advocate -- we're going to i'd indicate -- abdicate the law because they're here illegally? i don't want to get started down that road. jon let's get to the crux of the question. that's what some are claiming, that this bill is antiimmigrant because by their very nature, illegal immigrants cannot get driver's licenses and according to some they're beinggan officially picked on if they get their car yanked away because they don't have a driver's license. >> fred makes a good point but at the end of the day we have to look at the uniformity of the law and even application of t i'm not suggesting if you're unlicensed you should be permitted to drive. unlicensed drivers, unite, drive if you will, but what

should be the response to unlicensed driving and citing them is appropriate as to arresting them and taking their car. jon: final thought. >> it sends the wrong message to every law abiding citizen that gets a license and complies with the law! we all feel like a bunch of idiots. it's not fair. if some assemblyman wants to help immigrants, get entry level jobs this & this country, not passing dumb laws like this. jon: we're going to see what governor jerry brown cities to doith this. fred joey, good arguments, thank you. jenna: well, while that legal debate is happening in california, this is also happening in california, which is why we want to show it to you. we have a bunch of doll -- dolphins apparently in manhattan beach, hanging out, having a nice swim and sometimes you don't get such a good view of them so we wanted to share that with you. by the way, there's a side story. while we watch these dolphins, apparently someone is getting proposed to right now. "happening now", on the beach, a banner plane was

flying overhead with a marriage proposal. i don't know if the dolphins were part of that, or if it was staged. jon: he rented a plane! good for him. if she says no -- >> jenna: we hope she said yes. there you go a. moment in california we wanted to share with you. in the meantime, back to business, right, the president issuing a blunt challenge to congress, calling on lawmakers to act immediately on his new jobs plan, what they'll find when the actual bill is delivered. we'll talk more about that. plus, could watching the tv show spongebob lead to learning problems? what a new study says, just ahead.

jen webb, everybody. the president hours away from submitting the jobs bill to congress when they're back in session, the president speaking earlier from the rose garden insisting lawmakers need to pass this bill immediately. >> whether or not we pass this bill, whether or not we get this done, that's something that we can control. that's in our hands. you hear a lot of folks talking about uncertainty in the economy. this is a bit of uncertainty that we could avoid, by going ahead and taking action to make sure that we're helping the american people. jenna: susan ferichio is congressional cost

respondent for the examiner and she joins us now. that is the next question, where does this bill go and what does the timeline for it look like. >> hi jenna. i know the president talked about the bill passing right away, but there are things that have to happen first. the speaker of the republican-controlled house, john boehner, just put out a statement moments ago saying he welcomed the president's bill when it arrives later today but he wants to know how much it's going to cost. that means that the congressional budget office is going to have to score it, in other words, it's going to have to go through it line by line to see how much it's going to cost. at that point, once it's broken down, you're going to see a lot of debate about the bill, people are going to perhaps want it to move through various committees to see if they want to amend it or make changes to the bill. this could be time consuming, so i don't think you're going to see any immediate action right away on what the president is proposing, and that's just the way things normally go with any real big piece of legislation. jenna: i'm going to add that now because this is just

crossing, i know you don't have access to this but jack lew speaking with jay carney at the press briefing, one of the things he's saying is one way the bill will be paid for will be tax increases, including limiting deductions on families that other than more than $250,000, so they could eliminate itemized deductions. susan, that looks like that's the stance from the white house. we don't have the details, we'll get those next week from the president, but we're almost into the middle of the month and september 30th is an important date and deadline and explain why that matters within this conversation we're having now about the jobs bill. >> well, september 30th is the end of the spending year. beyond september 30th, we have to have a whole new set of legislation to pay for the upcoming fiscal year. that's not agreed to yet. so i think at this point, you're going to see some fighting over a stop gap spending bill to keep the government funded in much the same way you saw earlier this year where the two sides are going over making cuts as we spend more money to keep the government funded, so those two worlds

are going to collide here. you have this jobs agenda coming through congress but you also have the fact that congress has one legal obligation, which is to fund the government, is rapidly coming to a deadline september 30th and those two things are going to hit head on in congress and they're going to have to deal with all of this, probably with a stop gap spending bill and just to carry them over until they can come up with a larger spending plan for the rest of the year. jenna: and that really puts both parties in a difficult position, doesn't it, because if the government looks like it might shut down but there's still no jobs bill or nothing done to help jobs, then we've seen the approval ratings for congress from the american people. we've seen the hot seat they're in. that being said, chris stierwalt wrote in his power play today that what we might see is a strat -- as strategy from the republicans is the passage of smaller job bills that could help employment. we don't know what those are yet. but maybe that's something the republicans would try to do to get this through the house so, it looks like they're being active, even if they're not moving the

jobs bill by the president. have you heard anything about that? >> yes i have. the speaker today said that while they are digesting this big jobs agenda that obama is sending to the congress tonight, the republicans will continue with their agenda that they believe will lead to more job creation. now, that includes rolling back regulations that they think hinder businesses and trying to push with the passage of the free trade agreements that they think will create thousands of jobs and other areas where they think that businesses are being stopped, and -- stopped from hiring, tax cuts and other things that they think about help create jobs. it's not going to include any stimulus spending, though, so you see that the republicans and democrats are on really two opposite tracks here and in their effort to create jobs, and that's the problem. the republicans are trying to move on their own track, the democrats have their own track and they need to fine the place where the two overlap and that we will probably not see right away, but down the road, there will be some smaller areas where the two can overlap, but the problem there is

that those areas where they agree are not big enough to have the kind of impact on job creation that economists say is really necessary, and so that's where you run into the problem. >> sure. >> anything that they do to pass may not create jobs in the way that either party hopes. jenna: interesting segment, two track, they share a similar deadline, september 30th, so we'll continue to watch it. susan, thank you very much for your time today. >> thank you. jon: you've got the president looking for more money to try to boost job creation. the decifit cutting supercommittee will have to work that much harder at trimming the nation's debt. jim angle is live in washington with a look at how this all plays out. jim. >> reporter: well, that's right, jon. president obama is clearly adding to the decifit, cutting burdens that supercommittee -- supercommittee already faced as it tries to find half a trillion dollars from the latest jobs plan. when he pledged to offset the $447 billion cost of the new stimulus, he pointed to

exactly the same targets the supercommittee was already looking at in its search for ways to trim decifit spending by some 1 1/2 trillion dollars over the next ten years. the president mentioned three possible sources of money: eliminating or reducing tax deductions, making changes in entitlements such as medicare and medicaid, and making the better off pay their, quote unquote, fair share, as he puts t. a reference to tax increases. on the first one, trimming $1.1 trillion in annual tax deductions, the supercommittee was already taking aim at those with some democrats and republicans in agreement. listen: >> we have to balance, clearly, we have to be fair, we have to include ref news, not just spending, and also, revenues. >> when huge iconic american corporations can pay little or no income tax, that's indefensible. >> reporter: so members of both parties are ready to trim tax deduction, but republicans hope to use some savings for decifit reduction and some to lower

tax rates which would boost economic growth and perhaps job creation. now, the president's plan could siphon off some of those savings. on entitlements such as medicare many lawmakers acknowledge the need to make changes because those programs have promised $46 trillion more in benefits than the government can pay for. key members of the president's own party have fiercely resisted any changes, and the president's call to have the wealthy pay more in taxes is part of a much larger debate over tax reform, not an easy place to just pick up a few hundred billion dollars. so lawmakers are likely to cheer the president's desire to pay for his plan but probably not the ways he wants to do it. jon skwrao*pbd the arguing goes on. thank you. jenna: back to school for everybody. there's a lot of work for everybody down in d.c. for the fall. wow. in the meantime, speaking of school, military veterans can get a free education, thanks to one university. we're going to show you how this school is taking the g.i. bill to a whole new

level.

megyn: hey everyone i'm megyn kelly, tim pawlenty entkorgs mitt romney for president. why not rick perry? i'll ask pawlenty when he joins me. former congressman anthony weiner's house seat up for grabs, about as blue a district as they k why is a republican lead something karl rove is here. and "new york times" columnist paul krugman calls rudy giuliani and president bush fake heroes of 9/11 and says 9/11 is a day of shame. someone krugman fired. we'll have a fair and balanced debate. >> se ina williams goes off once again on an umpire. should she be fired or given the grand slam? kelly's court. see you top of the hour. skwr*pb skwr pb colorado state university is showing its appreciation for military veterans with a case ofcation. the school's program expands on the g.i. bill which already provides assistance. alysha acuna is streaming

live from csu at fort collins, colorado. alicia. >> >> reporter: colorado state university says the federal program is great, but there are always extra cost phos vets and they run into the thousands. they're making sure that gap is covered. >> colorado state university senior ryan foster wracked up $40,000 in student loans his first three years, but his dad served after the attacks after the -- after the attacks of 9/11. >> i'm getting expenses, tuition fees, books, all covered, so that's going to take off at least $10,000 or more of what i would be paying. >> reporter: foster, a recipient of the g.i. bill's yellow ribbon program, gets help to cover costs, but his school, csu, launched a program to cover any shortfall. sue: we're providing awards to close that gap. to make sure that any veteran who qualifies can come here at no out of pocket cost. >> reporter: the

university currently has 700 veterans on campus, the enhancement allows vets to pass on the gift to their kids. >> csu has definitely got a sense of gratitude for all the veterans and their families as well, because it's not just the veterans we serve, but the families that are behind. >> reporter: colorado state university has been recognized by numerous organizations as being one of the most military friendly campuses in the country and as a reward, it has seen its veterans' enrollment increase year after year. >> they're going to be able to get an education at a very low or no cost. jenna: and csu says it will not cap its number of recipients, jenna. jenna: sounds like a great story. alicia, thank you very much for that. csu, not bad! jon: one of the nation's newest medal of honor recipients. >> could spongebob be hurting your child's ability

to learn? these four-year-olds scored worse on mental function tests after watching just nine minutes of spongebob. jenna: i can't emergency why! wow! jon: as opposed to pictures who either drew pictures or watched a slower-paced show for the same amount of time. a nickelodeon person disputes the show, saying it's intended for page four years to 11, not four-year-olds. jenna: like you can really argue with a four-year-old, right? forget that. jon: i thought it was intended for adults! >> jenna: well, dramatic new video showing a drugstore employee defending himself against an armed robbery. he was initially praised for his heroism. why was he later fired? his lawyer joins us next.

jenna: -- >> i'm patty ann brown where breaking news, we have incredible video of a pod of blue whales. believe it or not, these were spotted not far from where we showed you dolphins just a short time ago off of redondo beaches king harbor, a pod of blue whales is actually a very rare sighting, these in santa monica bay today, only about a mile off shore and several of them were actually seen breaching, by helicopters, only about a mile from nine mouth -- by the mouth of king harbor in california. there are about 8000-9000 blue whales worldwide. they are considered endangered. that's breaking news. jon: dramatic new video just being released of a shooting inside a walgreen's drugstore. it happened in michigan. the video shows a couple of masked armed robbers coming into the store in benton township, then watch this, they shove a store employee

around. one of the other employees, seeing the guy with his hands in the air, jumped into action to defend himself, he pulls out his own gun. one of the robbers then jumps over the counter at the pharmacy, fires a couple of shots, and then drops his own weapon as he runs off. the store employee, je me hoban, was praised at first for his bravey, but then guess what, he gets fired for violating company policy. now hoban is suing, raising the question, do employees have a right to defend themselves in the workplace. daniel swan son is jeremy hoban's attorney. daniel, first of all, this wasn't a case where he saw guys with a gun, they shoal him, right? >> good acchioo good afternoon. he did shoot at them after the gunman pulled the trigger at least three times of his gun. fortunately for reasons we don't know, the gun never went off. but jeremy only responded

after that occurred. jon: he was listened to carry this firearm, correct? >> he did. he received a michigan concealed weapons license in 2008, after he had been in the store in 2007 and another armed robbery had taken place. jon: well, and i guess the rub here is that the store claims that he didn't notify them that he was going to be bringing his licensed weapon into this place of employment. that's part of it, right? >> well, walgreen's has taken a number of positions. walgreen's has never provided us with any polices or procedures that they claim to have in writing dealing with these issues, so you know, to that extent, walgreen's refuses to indicate to mr. hoban while he was employed or since he's been terminated why he was fired and what its polices and procedures are. jon: here's what walgreen's told us, they say store employees receive comprehensive training on

our robbery procedures and how to react and respond, the walgreen's approach is endorsed by law enforcement which strongly advises against confrontation of crime suspects, compromise is safer. i'm reminded of what happened in farmingdale, long island when a guy walked into a pharmacy and executed four people recently. you know, i'm not sure that that pharmacist had a weapon, probably didn't, but it's a pretty dangerous place to work at times. >> it is a dangerous place to work, and that incident that occurred in new york occurred approximately one month after the robbery in michigan, and you're quite right, four innocent people were executed by a lone gunman who was seeking to steal oxycontin and other controlled substances, and those controlled substances have an enormous street value, are in high demand, and when you watch the video and saw the gunman fly over the pharmacy counter, that's where he was headed, we

believe, to obtain those controlled substances. jon: let us know what happens with your client as he tries to get his job back daniel swan son, the attorney for jeremy hoban, thank you. >> thank you again, bye bye. jenna: a chance to show your support for america's wounded warriors, a tollup to a story we first showed you yesterday. we have details straight ahead. w [ female announcer ] investing for yourself is a necessity.

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