it was a start, roughly $1 trillion in cuts to domesticking and defense spending. everyone knows we have to do more and a special joint committee of congress is assigned to find more deficit reduction. so today i'm laying out a set of specific proposals to finish what we started this summer. proposals that live up to the principles i've talked about from the beginning. it's a plan that reduces our debt by more than $4 trillion and achieves these savings in a way that is fair by asking everybody to do their part so that no one has to bear too much of the burden on their own. all told this plan cuts $2 in spending for every dollar of new revenues. in addition to the $1 trillion in spending that we've already cut from the budget our plan makes additional spending cuts that need to happen if we're to solve this problem.

we reforming a cultural subsidies, subsidies that a lot of times pay large farms for crops that they don't grow. we make modest adjustments to federal retirement programs. we reduce by tens of billions of dollars the tax money that goes to fannie mae and freddie mac. we also ask the largest fansal firms, companies saved by tax dollars during the financial crisis, to repay the american people for every dime that we spent. and we save an additional one trillion dollars as we end the wars in iraq and afghanistan. these savings are not only counted as part of our plan but part of the budget plan that nearly every republican on the house voted for. finally this plan includes structural reforms to reduce the cost of healthcare in programs like medicare and medicaid. keep in mind we've already included a number of reforms in the health care law which will go a long way towards

controlling these costs but, we're going to have to do a little more. this plan reduces wasteful subsidies and erroneous payments while changing some incentives that often lead to excessive health care costs. it makes prescriptions more affordable through faster approval of generic drugs. we'll work with governors to make medicaid for efficient and more accountable and we'll change the way we pay for health care. instead of just paying for procedures, providers will be paid more when they improve results. such steps will save money and improve care. these changes are phased in slowly to strengthen medicare and medicaid over time because while we do need to reduce health care costs i'm not going to allow that to be an excuse for turning medicare into a voucher program that leaves seniors at the mercy of the insurance industry. i'm not going to stand for balancing the budget by denying or reducing health care for poor children or those with disabilities. so we will reform medicare

and medicaid but we will not abandon the fundamental commitment that this country has kept for generations. and by the way that includes our commitment to social security. i've said before, social security is not the primary cause of our deficits but it does face long-term challenges as our country grows older and both parties will need to work together on a separate track to strengthen social security for our children and our grandchildren. so the, this is how we can reduce spending. by scouring the budget for every dime of waste and inefficiency, by reforming government spending, and by making modest adjustments to medicare and medicaid. but all these reductions in spending by themselves will not solve our physical problems. we can't just cut our way out of this hole. it's going to take a balanced approach. if we're going to make spending cuts, many of which we wouldn't make if we weren't facing such large

budget deficits, then it is only right that we ask everyone to pay their fair share. in the last week speaker of the house, john boehner, gave a speech about the economy and to his credit, he made the point that we can't afford the kind of politics that says, it's my way or the highway. i was encouraged by that. here's the problem. in the same speech he also came out against any plan to cut the deficit that includes any additional revenues whatsoever. he said, i'm quoting him, there is only one option, and that option and only option relies entirely on cuts. that means slashing education, surrendering the research necessary to keep america's technological edge in the 21st century, and allowing our critical public assets like highways and bridges and airports to get worse. it would cripple our

competitiveness and our ability to win the jobs of the future and it would also mean asking sacrifice of seniors and the middle class and the poor while asking nothing of the wealthiest americans and biggest corporations. so the speaker says we can't have it my way or the highway and then, basically says, my way. or the highway. that's not smart. it's not right. if we're going to meet our responsibilities, we have it do it together. now i'm proposing real serious cuts in spending. when you include the one trillion dollars in cuts i've already signed into law, these would be among the biggest cuts in spending in our history but they have got to be part of a larger plan that's balanced, a plan that asks the most fortunate among us to pay their fair share just like everybody else.

and that's why this plan eliminates tax loopholes that primary i willly two to the wealthiest taxpayers and biggest corporations. tax breaks that small businesses and middle class families don't get. and if tax reform doesn't get done, this plan asks the wealthiest americans to go back to paying the same rates they paid during the 1990s, before the bush tax cuts. i promise it's not because anybody looks forward to the prospects of raising taxes or paying more taxes. i don't. in fact i've cut taxes for the middle class and for small businesses and through the american jobs act we cut taxes again to promote hiring and put more money into the pockets of people but we can't afford the special lower rates for the wealthy, rates by the way that were meant to be temporary. back when these first, these tax cuts, back in 2001, 2003 were talked about, they were talked about as temporary

measures. we can't afford them when we're running these big deficits. now, i am also ready to work with democrats and republicans to reform our entire tax code, to get rid of the decades of a accumulated loopholes, special interest carve-outs and other tax expenditures that stack the deck against small business owners and ordinary families who can't afford washington lobbyists or fancy accountants. our tax code is more than 10,000 pages long. if you tack up all the volumes, they're almost five fetal. -- feet tall. that means how much you pay depends how much you make than more well how you can game the system and that is especially true of the corporate tax code. we have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world but it is riddled with exceptions and special interest loopholes. so some companies get out of paying a lot of taxes while the rest of them have, end up having to foot the bill.

and this makes our entire economy less competitive and our country a less desirable place to do business. that has to change. our tax code shouldn't give an advantage to companies with the best-connected lobbyists. it should give a chance to companies that invest in the united states of america and create jobs in the united states of america and we can lower the corporate rate if we get rid of all these special deals. so i am ready, i am eager to work with democrats and republicans to reform the tax code to make it simpler, make it fairer, and make america more competitive. but any reform plan will have to raise revenue to help close our deficit. that has to be part of the formula. and any reform should follow another simple principle. middle class families shouldn't pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires. that's pretty

straightforward. it's hard to argue against that. warren buffett's secretary shouldn't pay a higher tax rate than warren buffett. there's no justification for it. it is wrong that in the united states of america, a teacher or a nurse or a construction worker who earns $50,000, should pay higher tax rates than somebody pulling in $50 million. anybody who says we can't change the tax code to correct that, anyone who assigns some pledge to protect every single tax loophole so long as they live, they should be called out. they should have to defend that unfairness. explain to somebody who is making $50 million a year, in the financial markets, should be paying 15% on their taxes when a teacher

making $50,000 a year, is paying more than that, paying a higher rate. they ought to have to answer for that. and if their pledge to keep that kind of unfairness in place, they should remember the last time i checked, the only pledge that really matters is the pledge we take to uphold the constitution. we're already hearing the usual defenders of these kind of loopholes saying this is just class warfare. i reject the idea that asking a hedge fund managetory pay the same tax rate as a plumber or a teacher is class warfare. i think it is just the right thing to do. i believe the american middle class who have been pressured relentlessly for decades believe it's time that they were fought for as hard as lobbyists and some lawmakers fought to protect special treatment for billionaires and big corporations.

nobody wants to punish success in america. what's great about this country is our belief anyone can make it and everyone should be able to try. the idea that anyone can open a business or have an idea and make us millionaires or billionaires. this is the land of opportunity. that's great. all i'm saying is, that those who have done well, including me, should pay our fair share in taxes to contribute to the nation that made our success possible. we shouldn't get a better deal than ordinary families get. and i think most wealthy americans would agree, if they knew this would help us grow the economy and deal with the debt that threatens our future. it comes down to this. we have to prioritize. both parties agree that we need to reduce the deficit by the same amount, by $4

trillion. so what choices are we going to make to reach that goal? either we ask the wealthiest americans to pay their fair share in taxes, or we're going to have to ask seniors to pay more for medicare. we can't afford to do both. either we gut education and medical research, or we've got to reform the tax code so that most profitable corporations have to give up tax loopholes that other companies don't get. we can't afford to do both. this is not class warfare. it's math. the money is going to have to come from someplace. and if we're, if we're not willing to ask those who have done extraordinarily well to help america close the deficit, and we are trying to reach that same target, $4 trillion, then the logic, the math says

everybody else has to do a whole lot more. we've got to put the entire burden on the middle class and the poor. we've got to scale back on the investments that have always helped our economy grow. we got to settle for second rate roads and second rate bridges and second rate airports and schools that are crumbling. that's unacceptable to me. that's unacceptable to the american people and it will not happen on my watch. i will not support, i will not support any plan that puts all the burden for closing our deficit on ordinary americans. and i will veto any bill that changes benefits for those who rely on medicare but does not raise serious revenues by asking wealthiest americans or biggest corporations to pay their fair share. we are not going to have a

one-sided deal that hurts the folks who are most vulnerable. but none of the changes i'm proposing are easy or politically convenient. it's always more popular to promise the moon and leave the bill for after the next election, or the election after that. that has been true since our founding. george washington grappled with this problem. he said, towards the payment of debts there must be revenue. that to have revenue, there must be taxes. and no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant. he understood that dealing with the debt, these are his words, always a choice of

difficulties. but he also knew that public servants weren't elect to do what was easy. they weren't elect to do what was politically advantageous. it's our responsibility to put country before party. it's our responsibility to do what's right for the future and that's what this debate is about. it's not about numbers on a ledger, not about figures on a spreadsheet. it is about the economic future of this country and about whether we will do what it takes to create jobs and growth and opportunity while facing up to the legacy of debt that threatens everything we built over generations and it's also about fairness. about whether we are in fact in it this together and we're looking out for one another. we know what's right. it's time to do what's right. thank you very much. [applause] thank you.

jenna: the president ending it is time to do what's right talking about deficit reduction and job growth. we're glad you're joining us on monday morning. this is setting off the discussion for the entire week about what to do with the economy. i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. we heard the president's plan to reduce the deficit but what might all of it mean to you? jenna: that is always a good questionable. let's drill down with simon constable, columnist with "the wall street journal" and author of the wall street guide of 50 economic indicators that matter. there are so many different sides of this. including adjustments to medicare that the president mentioned but obviously the lightning rod is the discussion about taxes and the issue of fairness. what's your takeaway as far as how this tax proposal by the president would affect our economy right now and job growth. >> first of all i got to say this is a campaign speech. that's what we just heard. it was a campaign speech and it's designed clearly designed to sort of rouse

his base up, the left wing of the democratic party. this was not really a conciliatory speech with the republicans in congress designed to bring congress together. it was more of that. on what this will do to the economy it all depends how it is executed there are some good stuff that could really work like lowering the corporate tax rate. just a nominal reduction in the corporate tax rate, even if you eliminate lots of loopholes could actually spur some new factories being built here in the u.s. that could be good but raising taxes in general, especially coming down to levels that from what i understand are actually quite low, and not really quote, millionaires, could actually push us into, into a worse state than we're already in. we're in a pretty bad state now. remember the first half of the year, that was the high point. we're now looking at this half, much, much, much slower growth. this could tip us into recession if we do see these tax increases go through. jenna: one of the, well, one

of the issues is issue of semantics as we work through some of the details. the president mention ad hedge fund manager not paying as much as a plumber as far as the tax rate. if you talk to the hedge fund manager, talk to republican they will call the hedge fund manager a job creator. >> yeah. jenna: as you take a look at the jobs plan, there is a payroll tax cut involved in that. there are some issues, i should say incentives to boost hiring. how does that come out in the wash when we look at potentially higher taxes for millionaires? >> let's go back to that, that hedge fund manager and plumber example, the hedge fund manager being called by the republicans a job creator and should the hedge fund manager be paying a lower tax rate than the plumber for his income for doing his job, no? but the key here is, what is his income from doing his job and what is his income from investments? the design of the 15% dividend tax was designed to

basically spur investment in plants and equipment. so you put your money to work for a long time to create jobs. we've got to be very careful what is income from doing your job and what is investment. and that line needs to be drawn very clearly and i think there has been some muddying of that line such that you get some people who go and do their job and manage to get all of their day-to-day pay. jenna: let me stop you there, simon. so we're clear on this, what is the exactly the president's plan proposing? make sure income tax is same level as the income tax that plumber earns? >> yes. jenna: as far as the investment you're saying raising the investment tax to keep more money out. economy? >> absolutely. it lowers the returns dramatically. when you look attic maing an investment in a plant or some equipment or a new factory, you're thinking about the aft tax return. if that rate is higher than clearly less opportunities for you to invest properly. if it's lower there are more. jenna: speaking of investments really quick here, simon, we have only 30 seconds or so.

the markets are down 200 points today. what is behind that? >> that has to be greece. that has got to be european problems. i don't think or obama is today, market looking at this proposal anything other than than a campaign sheet and opening gambit in negotiation. that has nothing to do with him i see. jenna: similar themes? we're talking about debt. we'll keep talking about it. >> yeah. jenna: simon, we always appreciate you coming by. thank you, simon constable from "the wall street journal". >> thank you. jon: a fox news alert. remember the case of jose padilla, sometimes called jose padilla? the chicago man who was convicted of plotting to set off a dirty bomb in the united states? his sentence, his 17-year sentence has been thrown out by a federal appeals court. but get this. the court said, 17 years for the crime for which he was convicted, is too lenient. they say, a much stricter, tougher sentence should be imposed.

we'll get back to you in just a bit with more information on the case against jose padilla and theries of the day's news ♪ [ country ]

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jenna: some new information now for you. british police say they arrested seven people as part of an anti-terror operation. the six men and one woman are in custody after a bust overnight in the central city of birmingham. police are searching their homes and at least one business looking for anymore clues about any sort of potential terrorist threat. greg palkot with terrors live from london. greg? >> reporter: hey, jenna, it is being dubbed the most significant counterterrorism operation in the u.k. so far this year. the police are certainly treating it as a pretty big deal. the folks they are holding in custody right now are suspected of, in their words, the police words,

commissioning preparing and incity greating a -- incity gating a act of terror. they are not saying what the plot is but it was close to happening. they went on to say and this is a quote, it was necessary to take action to insure public safety. it is reported that the police believed that the terror plot was involved with some kind of al qaeda-inspired terrorism, islamic militancy. there is new report that actually said these folks were believed to be islamic militants. certainly in another quote they were tied to international cases rather than local cases although we have to underscore here, jenna, there are no ties to any u.s. potential targets as of yet. those arrested we do know also however were british passport holders. the u.k., like the u.s., has a big problem with homegrown terror. the biggest attack here on this soil was in 2005 against the london transport system and that killed 52 people. we know birmingham, the city where they were arrested has a big muslim population.

there have been terror arrests in that city in the past few years. finally the jenna, the threat of terror remains high. it is at the third highest level, the threat risk level, that is substantial level. that translates according to the authorities as an attack is a strong possibility. from our own research in the past couple weeks, related to the 10th anniversary of 9/11. we've been talking to security officials. they have told us directly that they feel they thwarted half a dozen very serious plots here in the u.k. in the past 10 years. maybe they got another one. back to you. jenna: some interesting context for us, thank you very much, greg palkot in london. >> reporter: thanks. jon: a fox news alert and the death toll is rising in that horrific crash we've been talking about. this one at an air race in reno, nevada. it happened on friday. 10 people are now dead. the death toll climbing just moments ago. just one day later in martinsburg, west virgina an accident at an airshow there

killing the pilot. is it time to crack down on safety standards at some of these events? with us now, the former managing director of the national transportation safety board, a man who investigated many high-profile accidents himself, peter goelz. peter there is some good news to talk about with regard to specifically that air race crash in nevada. as we, as we talk about this i want to give our viewers some idea of what we are talking about here. these are very high-performance aircraft that fly at very low elevation and sometimes at speeds above 600 miles an hour. it is kind of thing that the red bull air race brought to new york city recently. we have some video of that. but in nevada specifically, there was no flame. there were spectators covered with aviation fuel but there was no flame. can you speculate why there

wasn't an explosion in that particular crash? >> no, i can't but it certainly is extraordinarily lucky that there was no post-accident crash. but you know, jon, one thing you have to understand, there is a difference between the red bull type raising which is a single plane on the course alone, against a clock and then the type of racing they have at reno where you've got multiple planes on the same course at the same time. jon: right. we have a graphic also that shows the course that this particular plane was flying and just so our viewers get some understanding of it, that is the runway you see at the very bottom of the screen, just parallel to the banner there. that runway is 7600 feet long, 2 1/2 miles roughly. so, when you look at the larger circle, the larger oval, that is the course the planes are flying. it is an eight-mile course

and they complete it very, very rapidly. there are questions, peter, whether the pilot might have been incapacitated. some of the note those -- photos that show the world wore two era, p-51 mustang, you see the through the can owpy and don't see the pilot at the controls. is that something they will be able to look at? will they know from -- >> luckily this plane had some automatic telemetry equipment on board which gave back real-time information to a ground station computer as to speed, g-force, that sort of stuff. the ntsb will be able to get a look at that and see whether any of the, you know, maneuvers, whether voluntary or involuntary prior to the accident could have caused a blackout. but it's going to be speculative. jon: there are reports that part of his trim tab may have been missing, something that helps keep the plane level in flight.

obviously all of the photos are going to contribute to the, you know, the investigation into this accident. and as i understand it, there are three active ntsb members on site who actually witnessed this crash? >> that's right. there were three investigators there. plus there was a contingent of the faa that were on-scene. the faa does a pretty rigorous oversight of these kinds of races. and one of the things that they look at is what they call the force vectors. when the planes are flying, if something goes wrong, given the speed, the altitude, where is the plane going to come down? they try to keep passengers away from those areas. i mean spectators away from those areas. they're going to look at that analysis again i'm sure. jon: very quickly, peter, will this cause, bring any changes in some of these air shows? >> well i think, i think the ntsb will take a tough look at it. the faa will review their procedures but these air

shows have been going on for a long time. and i think they will try to take some steps to keep spectators safe. but i think the airshows and the air races will continue. jon: peter goelz, formerly with the ntsb. thank you, peter. >> thank you. jenna: this is a story we continue to follow so closely. you have two american hikers jailed in iran. they aren't home just yet. their speculated release hitting a snag. what happened and are we being told the whole story? we'll take a closer look just ahead.

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jenna: welcome back, everybody. we're awaiting word on the fate of two americans being held in iran. shane bauer and josh fattal have been behind bars in iran for more than two years now. the pair were supposedly going to be released for each paying half million dollar bail. but a judge, who allegedly has to sign for their release upon payment is on vacation and will return in a few days. it's a little unclear what is going on behind the scenes here. patrick kaufman, director of research at the washington institute and an expert on iran. patrick, how do you think this plays out? >> this is about iranian domestic politics. president ahmadinejad has spent the last six years disrespecting the parliament and judiciary. this is a chance to spoil his trip to new york for the u.n. general assembly where he is giving a speech on friday. they are going to do their best to make him squirm. jenna: you don't expect the hikers to be out this week? >> well, it wouldn't surprise me if they were

released just in time to make ahmadinejad look stupid. jenna: and when would that be exactly? >> well if i had to bet, i bet right after he speaks on friday but who knows. the iranian system is even better than that of the u.s. senate for giving anybody an opportunity to block progress. so it could take longer. jenna: even better than the u.s. senate. that is an interesting comparison. as we take a look at some of the politics behind the scenes here, does ahmadinejad have any power as far as releasing these hikers? and what does that tell us about his power overall in the country? >> he's not the man who is really in charge. the supreme leader's title might give you a hint who actually controls thing. ahmadinejad runs economic policy but not a whole lot else. and he claims to run much more. that gets him into trouble with the supreme leader, with the judiciary which are really in control of the hikers fate. jenna: is that tension good for us in the united states? to explain that a little bit further, when we see the

battling between as you mentioned the supreme ruler and ahmadinejad who is kind of the face of the government, is that unresin ternly in iran, does that benefit the united states as far as our policies in the middle east? or does it not? >> unfortunately it doesn't particularly benefit us because the infighting in iran makes it very hard to do something controversial like make a compromise to the united states. while the hard-liners use this infighting in order to advance their position in order to be able to do crazy things when they want to. jenna: patrick, i've been covering this story really over the last year since sara shroud was released and one of the things i've learned through the reporting is that these two will be released once the government determines that they have no use for them anymore. that they're actually more of a liability than they are a bargaining chip. have we reached that point yet for these two young men? >> probably. i would say we're in the last act. it is just a question now of

making president ahmadinejad look stupid before his u.n. speech and then, we'll probably see them released. >> interesting timing. we'll continue to follow it, patrick. thank you for your expertise today. we appreciate it very much. >> thank you. jon: there are some new legal developments to tell you about in that awful massacre that took place in norway. the man who confessed to the mass murders is going back to court. we have more information on that just ahead. plus, america is waging two wars overseas and a third one right on our border with mexico. what one texas congressman is doing in the fight against drug cartel violence. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

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spent in isolation. meantime hundreds of people focusing their anger on wall street as protests outside several financial firms enter the third straight day today. new york is expanding police presence in lower manhattan make sure safety of protesters as well as wall street workers. strike deadline has come and gone for thousands of grocery workers in california. some 62,000 grocery employees have been working without a contract since march and are threatening to strike over proposed wages and benefit cuts. both sides are said to be actively negotiating. jon: a manhunt right now in the woods surrounding fort bragg for aaron ba bassler the suspect in shooting death after city council man. there has been pretty close calls with the fugitive. patti ann is live at breaking news desk for us. >> reporter: that's right, jon. on august 11th, 44-year-old matthew coleman was found

shot and killed next to his vehicle in fort bragg in northern california. on august 27th, jerry malo, 69 was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds. a witness identified as 35-year-old, bassler as the shooter. was cite sighted on a road near his mother's house and personnel saw him pop up from behind a bush. he was caught for a moment by a police dog. but then he somehow escaped into the woods. and bass letter is said to be familiar with the forests northwest of san francisco. aaron's father james telling local reporters, aaron used to play war games in the area with his friend. he was also last seen wearing camouflage. he could have easily hidden in the heavily-vegetated woods there is a tunnel that runs a 1/5 of a mile runs under his mother's home. that manhunt continues.

the family and mental health advocates say the fugitive should have been compelled to undertwo psychiatric evaluation and treatment years ago. county supervisors in northern california are considering changing their rules for mental health diversion programs. aaron bessler was diagnosed with schizophrenic that type symptoms. his father feels mentally ill defendants in the justice system should be forced to undergo treatment and their relatives should be informed of any dangerous diagnosis. this is a very controversial idea. there is no known motive for the killings but they suspect, that bessler was tending a small crop of opium poppies in the area where they occurred. not sure whether that has anything to do with the two killings, jon? jon: patti ann browne, thank you very much. jenna: now securing our

border with mexico. a texas congressman is hosting a forum today, bringing together lawmakers, high-ranking law enforcement officials and the wife of a man gunned down last year allegedly by members of a mexican drug cartel. part of our ongoing series, america's third war. kris gutierrez is here with this installment live in brownsville, texas. hi, chris. >> reporter: hi, jenna. now a representative with i.c.e. or immigration customs enforcement is testifying in this building behind me. this forum was initiated by texas congressman ted poe, look at this video here. took us up for a helicopter tour of the border region last night because he wanted to see how state, local, federal authorities are working to secure this region. parts of this area are lined with a border fence but not all of it. congressman poe would like to see more boots on the ground to secure the border and better cooperation with the mexican authorities which the congressman admits can be tricky. listen here. >> many of them are owned by

the drug cartels. not all of them but just enough to make a difference. south is very difficult to work with the mexican side because not only corruption in law enforcement but corruption in government as well. >> reporter: now tiffany hartley will share her story at forum this afternoon. she was riding jet-skis with her husband david on falcon lake last year he was shot and presumably killed by cartel members. his body was never recovered but mexican authorities tell tiffany the investigation is ongoing. listen here. >> i really don't feel like there is an investigation over there. i think they just say it's open and it's ongoing but, it is hard to believe that they're really doing anything. >> reporter: hartley has filed lawsuits against the fbi, the state department, and the department of justice to try and figure out what exactly our government has done and can be doing to try to recover her husband's body. jenna, back to you. >> more on that story as we get it. chris, thank you very much.

>> reporter: you bet. jon: in connecticut a second man goes on trial today in connection with that brutal home invasion that took place in 2007. it resulted in the deaths of a connecticut woman and her two daughters. our legal team will weigh in on the prospects for this case and this defendant just ahead. plus a convicted cop killer in georgia just hours away from the ultimate punishment but leading human rights groups, former president jimmy carter and even pope benedict the 16th are all pleading for clemency. a closer look at the case of troy davis, next. let's design a vacation on a bumake it work.edia. see what anandra did? booking her flight and hotel at the same time a serious money-saving maneuver. book it! major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia.

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jenna: fox news alert. bringing you down to d.c. where the daily press briefing is ongoing. that is not the press secretary. that is in fact the treasury secretary tim geithner

treshwho joined jay carney to talk about the president's plan today. let's take a listen. >> modest reforms to the tax system and to make our country more competitive and most fortunate americans are paying greater share of income in taxes. this is choice what role want government to play in the economy, how to make the economy stronger in the future. to live within our means but leaving room to strengthen the economy in the short term but make us more competitive and preserve room for investments in the long term. to do that you have to figure out ways to reform our tax system to make it more competitive and more fair. that's why we're proposing changes. they are good policy. we need a good economic policy and we think they are better than alternatives. >> could you explain more about how the buffett rule would work? the president made reference to it in the rose garden and none of the materials spell out how much revenue it would raise or any details about it, and things like an

important part of the plan we try to emphasize? >> what the president proposed that congress shape comprehensive reform of the individual and corporate tax system. so that again we're not just making our country more competitive, strengthening investment but do so in a way that contribute to deficit reduction and more fortunate americans to pay larger share of taxes. the heart of the buffett principle, if you're among the fortunate few in the united states we make sure you pay as a share of income in taxes more than what a middle class family pays. now there are lots of different ways to achieve that principle. how you do it depends on what you do to the broader tax system as a whole. we'll not give congress a deiled proposal to meet that specific principle now because there are lots of different ways to do that. we believe the basic foundation of tax reform and we're going to fight to make sure that's part of what congress considers and

ultimately delivers. >> why not give a specific --. jenna:reasury secretary tim geithner, again joining in on the daily press briefing. he is taking questions. that is about how the buffett rule would work. we'll be talking to the gentleman who is right to the left of the treasury secretary, jack lew, the budget director for the white house. he will be our guest coming up in about an hour from now. if you have any questions about the president's propositively, e-mail us at happening knew -- happening now at foxnews.com. you can watch the daily press briefinggy logging on to foxnews.com where it is streaming live. jon: right now a last-ditch effort is underway to stop the execution of a convicted cop killer in georgia. since troy davis's original trial two decades ago, several witnesses changed their testimony and questions have been raised about his guilt. well now, after numerous appeals and 3-d laid execution dates, davis is scheduled to die two days

from now. jonathan serrie live in atlanta with update for us. >> we're awaiting the decision from the georgia board of pardons and pa roles whether they will grant troy davis clemency. recently activists delivered to the board petitions with more than 600,000 signatures asking the parole board to spare his life based on the fact that some of the original witnesses in the case have changed their testimony. back in 1989, those witnesses said davis fired repeated shots into an off-duty savannah policeman attempting to assist the victim of a beating. some witnesses are saying someone else committed that crime. in recent years, individuals including former president jimmy carter and the pope tried to intervene on davis's behalf. advocacy groups including amnesty international and the naacp are urging the parole board to consider these new witness statements. listen. >> they are so compelling that people across the political spectrum and across the divide on the

death penalty debate have said they want to raise their voices and to say that we don't think it is a good idea for the state of georgia to proceed with an execution under these circumstances. >> reporter: now prosecutors insist they convicted the right man. and the slain officer's family says those trying to save davis are misguided. listen to the mother. >> i'm disgusted. i love to ask them when was last time one of their sons got shot and killed and murdered? >> reporter: troy davis is currently scheduled to be executed by lethal injection wednesday at 7:00 p.m. jon? jon: jonathan serrie, live for us in atlanta with all kinds of questions about that case. thanks, jonathan. jenna: speaking of questions, family and friends of a 26-year-old nursing student are bracing for a potential break in the case. michelle le vanished back in may. right now autopsy results are expected on a body found during the intense search for her. we'll have the very latest, coming up.

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jenna: we're here at high noon on the east coast and the president all fired up and firing back at his critics, out with brand new plan today. we're going to talk a lot about it. hi everybody, i'm jenna lee. jon: and he took on the speaker of the house tkhrebgt. we'll talk about that as well. i'm jon scott. the battle lines get sharper as the president unveils his new plan to try to shrink the decifit through spending cuts and a tax hike mostly he says on the rich. >> either we ask the wealthiest americans to pay their fair share in taxes or ask senior toss pay more for medicare, either we gut medication -- medicare and medical research or make sure the most profitable corporations have to give up tax loophole that is other companies don't get. we can't afford to do both. this is not class warfare. it's math. jon: bret baier is anchor of

"special report". i was chuckling at that line, the president, you heard an audible chuckle from the audience assembled in the rose garden when he made that remark but there were some pretty sharp elbows, if i could say so, in this speech. he took on the speaker of the house directly. that doesn't often happen when it comes to presidential negotiations, does it bret? >> well jon, you have to look at this as the first salvo in the next negotiation over this supercommittee, this bipartisan committee that will be starting, that has already started, its back and forth over decifit reduction. the president is now calling for additional decifit reduction to pay for so- called his additional stimulus package, the $447 billion plan that he unveiled just last week. so yes, it was pointed, yes, it will have a lot of pushback in washington.

it's already happening, from republicans. it's important to point out two things. one is there's a lot of focus in this speech and in the laying out of the plan on millionaires paying their fair share, but part of this plan, a large part of it, deals with the elimination of the bush era tax cuts for the top tier, and that is above $200,000 for an individual, $250,000 for a family, and that would expire in 2013. in addition to that, on top of that, would be this additional millionaires' surcharge to make sure that millionaire, people making over a million dollars, have the higher rate of taxes than some middle class american, and he continues to mention the secretary for warren buffet as he has many times. i think he'd all like to talk to that person and see how she feels about all of this or he feels about all of this but we haven't heard from them. jon: interesting, too, tim geithny, the treasury

secretary, got up there and talked about rich people paying their fair share. we had that from the briefing room and tim geithner had taxes of his own, didn't pay taxes on domestic help, if i recall, but i guess that's been taken care of with fines and penalties. let's listen to what the president had to say, specifically calling out the speaker of the house by name: >> during the debt ceiling debate, i had hoped to negotiate a compromise with the speaker of the house that fulfilled these principles and achieved the $4 trillion investment reduction that leaders in both parties have agreed we need. a grand bargain that would have strengthened our economy instead of weakened it. unfortunately, the speaker walked away from a balanced package. what we agreed to, instead, wasn't all that grand. jon: well, the speaker is out with a statement of his own, as you probably have seen, bret, he said pity -- pitting one group of americans against another is not leadership. it doesn't sound like this plan has a lot of opportunity to go places. >> no.

it will be used by the president politically, and he will continue this populist tone, one would think, to try to shore up his base, shore up some of the democrats who really feel like he should be sliding. he has stepped back from the negotiation he put forward during that said debt ceiling increase with speaker boehner, the entitlements, there's not a big change in medicare, in fact -- and there's no touch on social security, any age increase eligibility, and he said his line in the sand, he would veto anything that touches those, medicare or social security, and does not increase taxes on the wealthiest americans. so there you're seeing the first salvo from the white house. i think depending upon who you listen to, who walked away from the deal, speaker boehner tells the story that he walked away after the president came back with

additional requirements for that deal, additional tax increases after what speaker boehner has said was kind of a deal that was in the works on the big picture. so it depends upon your perspective, i suppose. jon: it affects about every single one of us, bret. you're good to join us six hours ahead of "special report", i know you've got a lot to get ready for. thanks. joan jenna: one of the things we're getting ready for is an interview with the budget director, jack lew, will join us live from the white house. he's in that press briefing room, getting warmed up a bit, i'd say. jon: you're going to throw some hard ball questions. jenna: going to come for the real deal, around 12:45, and hopefully he'll get out of that press briefing and will join us. if you have questions for the budget director, go to foxnews.com/happening now. jon: let's get to the rate for -- get to the race for

the white house, florida is taking a turn in the campaign spotlight. carl cameron is live from orlando with more now. so the republican candidates, carl, how are they reacting to president obama's speech just now? >> reporter: well, just about as you would expect, republicans, conservatives in general, haven't got a lot positive to say about the president's proposal, they say it's not much more than tax cuts and what he's been proposing to pass or implement during the last 2 1/2 years of his administration. we have heard from mitt romney, he fancies himself the most economically equipped to face off against president obama as a general election nominee and he writes, quote, president obama's plan to raise taxes will have a crushing impact on economic growth, higher taxes means fewer jobs, it's that simple, it's yet another indication that president obama has no clue how to bring our economy back. mitt romney was the first actually to offer up a reaction to the president's speech, in fact he did so before the president's speech was cpleted. rick perry is fund raidsing in new york, big money in the big apple, it may be an illustration of his ability

to court more modern establishment republicans if he can get money out there. we're awaiting a response from him. michellemichele bachmann has downsized her campaign to focus on the first in the nation state caucus in iowa. she has yet to come up with a reaction. jon huntsman, was the first to challenge president obama on his veto threat, he says for 2 1/2 years he the president has been peddling the tax hike as a failure of the tax and spend to regulate the country to prosperity. the president knows it won't work now. the veto threats and partisan attempts are an attempt to camouflage a $1.4 trillion tax hike that huntsman says is deeply misguided and the latest example of the hrabgt of leadership on the economy. this is going to be a big week, there's a debate hosted by fox, a conference on friday and republican party of florida straw poll on saturday. the president's speech setting it up with this type

of criticism is an example of what it's likely to be a week with the gop unified at least when it comes to opposing the obama. jon: seems to be getting very personal in washington. carl, thank you. >> you bet. jon: as carl mentioned, fox is teaming up with google to host the republican deet bait in orlando thursday night. you can still submit your questions for the candidates, go to foxnews.com, click on the link at the top of the home page and you can either write a question or submit a video question that you want the candidates to answer. jenna: some new information now on a story we've been following very closely over the last couple of weeks. we're awaiting autopsy results on a body found during a search for a missing nursing student out in california. her name is michelle lee, she was last seen alive nearly four-months ago, and this weekend, a de composed body was discovered in the remote area near san francisco. so to get the latest on this, sergeant j.d. nelson, a public information officer for alameda sheriff's office and dr. michael baden, a

forensic pallologist to help us work through some of this. sergeant nelson, let's start with you. what do we know as of this morning, have we figured out if this is a body of a man or woman? >> right now, prelimnarily, they believe it's going to be a woman. we do have a forensic pathologist that we are trying to get to our coroner's bureau this morning, as well as a dentist, to start the identification process. jenna: what can you tell us about how the body was found? >> the body was found in a pretty secluded area between the cities of pleasantton, california and -- pleasant on and sinole, bordered by a golf course and basically some land that's owned by the san francisco water district. so it's lightly traveled. jenna: lightly traveled. dr. baden, k-rbg the description of that, that the sergeant just gave u. what would you expect if you were the forensic

pathologist called in to examine these remains and what questions would you be asking? >> the first thing is that it's good to have a dentist come because i'm sure the police have a dental record that they got when the missing person was first reported from the family. and the dentist should be the one who can immediately determine comparing the records within minutes with the findings on the decedent whether or not it's lee or not lee. so as far as the pathologist goes, he's got to try and determine what the cause of death is, because it sounds like she was assaulted in her car because the crime lab found lee's blood in her car and under the shoes of the suspect. jenna: and the suspect -- let me just go ahead and jump in there, bring our audience up to date. esteban was arrested september 7th and \arrest/{^ar}ient nelson, she's been someone of

interest, or at least in the press, if not officially by the police, over the last several months. did you obtain the information for where to search for the body through some sort of deal with esteban, has she confessed to this murder? >> this is a situation where it's actually the heyward police department are the lead investigators on this because the crime originated in their city. they have had her as a person of interest for a while and did arrest her approximately 10-12 days ago and she now sits in our county jail here in alameda county. jenna: so you have no information on potential deals being worked out? >> no. my understanding is it was a search party that went out and actually found the bones on saturday. jenna: so dr. baden, back to some of the points you were making about the blood being found on the shoes of this young woman, and inside the car. she was also seen on surveillance video going in and out of the garage, or around the garage where that car was parked. >> right. jenna: go ahead, dr. baden, what else would you like to

know or be looking for? >> well, it's just wonderful here, the technology of the security cameras, and they were then able to track the two cell phones on the two women on the car, as she was driven away, it would show that they can make an arrest even before they could found the body -- could find the body, which ister know logically terrific. i would suspect the forensic pathologist is going to have to find out why she died. since there's blood in the car, it sounds as if there was a break in her skin, most likely by stabbing. if she was stabbed, the medical examiner will be able to find stab marks in the clothing, because the clothingthy may still be in tact, as well as in bones, even if the body de composes, cut marks in the rbis or in the body may still be present and should still be present and identifiable as a cause of death and would confirm what

the investigation has shown that led them to arrest esteban in the first place. jenna: we hope for some closure for this family of michelle lee, again, she's been missing for four-months and the story goes in some ways, that jazelle esteban was attached to michelle through ex-boyfriend, current boyfriend, something like that, so there's been the idea floated out there that it's a crime of passion, although innocent until kpwrofpb guilty. we'll continue to follow this case. sergeant, dr. baden, thank you very much for joining us today. >> thank you jen gentleman. >> thank you for having me. jon: if you've been with fox, you heard the president speak about his tax and jobs plan, his decifit reduction plan. he called out the house speaker by name, and said that essentially the house speaker hasn't been cooperating with the white house. well, we get house speaker john boehner's reaction to what the president had to say in an exclusive interview when he sits down with fox business anchor jerry -- gerri willis. that's coming up. jenna: we'll look for that

certainly. plus a shocking and grim discovery, five bikers are found dead at a charity event in tennessee. how did this happen? we have the story, just ahead. >> we've got a tragedy. an individual went up to one of the trailers, made contact with people inside, and we found five deceased inside.

jon: a fox news alert and a scary situation underway right now in the bellmore, new york area, this is on long island where a home invasion robbery took place around 9:00 this morning, about three hours, 15 minutes ago. several suspects were apprehended but at least one is on the loose and as a result, three schools are on lockdown right now. students are not being allowed out because a police chase after the home invasion had one of those suspects in the neighborhood of those three schools, the merrick union, birch,

chatterton and lake side are those peer talking about in the bellmore, new york area. as we get more information, we'll get it to you, "happening now". five people head to a charity event in tennessee to do some good and wind up dead. patti ann brown has the tragic details from our breaking news desk. >> reporter: jon, it is a terrible tragedy, the five bikers were part of bikers who care, they were in clarksville, tennessee for a charity event and yesterday, they were found dead in a recreational vehicle, an organizers of the festival blamed the deaths on carbon monoxide, the three men and two women were found in the rv at the speedway at about noon yesterday, police say no signs of foul play. among the dead, a married couple, a truck driver and school teacher who had eight month old twins, also another couple and another man, all of them from the clarksville area. about 40 miles northwest of nashville. saturday night was the event's big party, it ended at about 4:00 sunday morning and the five retired for the night and at some point a small storage hatch on their

rv apparently didn't close properly and that might have allowed fumes from the generator to leak inside the rv, the bikers who found the bodies were taken to a hospital after feeling dizzy and they all had high amounts of carbon monoxide in their systems, the bikers collect toys for needy children, raise funds for a summer camp for seriously ill children and contribute to a sports league for children withmental disabilities. jon: that is so sad. patti ann brown, thank you. >> thank you. jon: this fox news exclusive, speaker of the house john boehner talking to fox business about jobs, cutting the decifit and president obama's new call for tax increases. fox business news anchor gerri willis is live in cincinnati with that. gerri. >> reporter: hi jon. yeah, i spoke with superboehner this morning in his home district in westchester, ohio, and i asked him about the president's plan for cutting the decifit. he says it's class warfare,

a tax plan. he says we have to worry about spending. that's the problem that really needs to be addressed. then i asked him about the buffet tax increase. here's what the speaker said: >> i don't think i would describe class warfare as leadership. america has a spending problem. the government continues to spend more money than what we have. and i don't believe it makes any sense to tax the very people that we expect to invest in our economy, help grow our economy, and to create jobs in america. if i were giving the president advice, my advice would be let's tackle the spending problem, let's get our economy going, get more people back to work, more people on the tax rolls, and then if we need more revenue, all right, we'll take a look at where we can get it then. >> reporter: all right. so i asked the speaker, is there any common ground between you and the president on decifit reduction. he said he could support free trade agreements and thought other republicans would as well.

he also likes the idea of spending on infrastructure. but not necessarily an infrastructure bank. he said setting up an infrastructure bank is just asking for trouble, giving democrats walking around money isn't an idea that we should take. jon. jon: doesn't sound like there is a lot of common ground. maybe a little bit. >> no. jon: we'll see what happens on this proposal. gerri willis, thank you. don't miss gerri on the "willis report" week days, 5:00 p.m. eastern time. that's on the fox business network. was it an accident or gross negligence? why sea world says it should not take the blame for the death of this trainer, of a killer whale. and a second suspect goes on trial for the murders of three people during a connecticut home invasion. today, jurors will hear the horror that took place inside that house. >> we have a lady who is in our bank right now who says that her husband and

children are being held at their house that, if the police are told they will kill her children and the husband.

jenna: across the bay from san francisco to oakland airport, what you're seeing is an alaska airlines flight that -- well, there was a security scare apparently on it. we just got this information from the tsa. a spokesperson for the tsa says that the plane landed safely around 8:00, woeft coast time, so a little while ago, and it was scheduled to land at that time coming from seattle. there was a concern, because apparently a note was found on board. we don't know where, we don't know what it said but it was a threatening note of some sort and that's what caused the plane not to go directly -- to drop off the appearance but to go to a secure location at the airport. at this point, the tsa tells us that law enforcement

swept the plane, they rescanned passengers and their findings were negative we'll keep you up to date if we hear anything else. jon sea world is challenging claims it should have done more to prevent the death of one of its trafrpblgers. dawn brancho died last year when a killer whale grabbed her by her hair and pulled her under water. the feds say sea world is to blame, they've imposed a $75,000 fine on that facility but sea world is appealing now. file keating is live in miami with more on that case. >> reporter: hi jon. one of the crucial battles playing out in that courtroom today is whether the videotape of the killer whale's deadly attack should be shown in court publicly for the first time ever. this is videotape taken by sea world's own underwater cameras. this video here is not that video. this is actually file of the trainer, dawn brancho and

tilikum. owners who investigated the video said the whale dragged tkaub under water, twice she escaped, once making it to the surface, and then is pulled back under by the 12,000-pound orca who rammed her three times head on. the while not only drowned her but also scalped her and ripped off one arm. osha is recommending that trainers never be allowed in the water with whales in the future which sea world contends is searchly not possible to do. the widower of brancheau and her sister don't want to attack tape video shown. the judge has yet to rule on that. also on hand, animal anti visies protesting outside the courtroom saying it's simply never safe to put people and killer whales in the water together. >> you put them into a small box and you force them to live in extremely limited life, and they are going to act out now and tkpwefpblt it is not safe to be that close to them. but sea world has been

fooling people for a long time that it is. >> reporter: after the attacks sea world kept tilikum in isolation for 13 months before redebutting the popular killer whale who, don't forget, killed the trainer in front of a full crowd back in 2010. sea world maintains this was absolutely just a tragic accident, even though tilikum's behavioral record, its history, involves totally killing two trainers, as well as one other person who snuck into the tank several years ago. the labor department says this is all willful negligence by sea world, that's really what's important for sea world, they don't want that label. so this hearing is expected to take a day or two, and if sea world loses, it could really change the face of marine parks nationwide. jon: phil keating, reporting live from miami on that tragedy. phil, thanks. jenna: back to some politics now. we heard from the president less than an hour ago, from the rose garden, saying

spending cuts simply aren't enough to reduce the decifit he has a controversial tax proposal. we're going to have questions and answers on that in a few minutes when the president's budget director will join us live. also a showdown at the united nations, the palestinian president abbas talks to our reena ninan about israel, president obama, and political pressure before delivering a a major speech to the u.n. this week. it's an exclusive interview. you'll only see it on fox and you'll see it in three minutes.

jenna: right now a. fox news exclusive, a one on one interview with mahmoud abbas as he plans to pursue statehood at the u.n. this week. now this, despite the possibility such a move could cost the palestinians hundreds of millions of dollars in u.s. raid and -- u.s. aid and that's not all. reena ninan is state side with more. nice to have you in new york, reena. what can you tell us about what's happening today and your conversation with the president? >> reporter: hi jenna, the united nations and quarteret and the white house are trying to prevent president abbas to go to the united nations to seek palestinian statehood. he's a man with one mission: statehood for the palestinian people. fox news joined president abbas from ramallah to the u.n. *pb where he plans to ask for full membership in the u.n. >> you are the first world leader that president obama called on when he took office, why embarrass the

president of the united states by going there now? >> i decided to go to the security council when i felt that there was no way for negotiations, because american negotiations, including president obama, -- >> [inaudible] >> are you sure the israeli pr*pl will see this interview, are you willing to tell him on fox that you're willing to meet with him at the united nations in new york before you deliver your speech? >> i am ready to meet any israeli official at any time he want. sue: abbas' current situation pits him against the u.s. and israel. >> we are ready for peace talks with the palestinians, without any preconditions. it can be done in israel, it can be here in ramallah, it can be wherever we decide to meet. >> reporter: we'll see if either side makes a first move to meet. coming up at 2:00 with

megyn, we'll send a message that president abbas has for president obama. jenna: big week ahead, lots of news, reena. thank you very much. jon: well, the trial is underway now for the second suspect accused in a deadly home invasion in connecticut. thirty-one-year-old joshua kamisarjesy k*. y is accused of killing dr. pettitte, his wife and -- willing the wife of dr. pettitte and his two daughters. criminal defense attorney and a former prosecutor, it is suggested, chip, that joshua was actually the leader of this two-man ring, his accomplice has already been convicted and sentenced to death. does that make it a slam dunk for the prosecution in this case? >> absolutely not. as a matter of fact, in the opening statement of this

morning's trial, the prosecutor did not make an opening statement which is pretty unique. instead the defense counsel stood up and took the position that hayes, his co-defendant, his coconspirator, who was contradicted -- convicted last year, was the one who did all these acts, so what we have are two different trials, in the first time, one defendant says the other guy did everything and in particular case, komarjetsky was the one saying he did the rape. >> what about nicole? he wrote this 40 page letter to an author working on a book about this case and pretty much implicated himself, said he did all of this. >> all the things the defendant says when they come out and make statements or comments of any kind are going to pop back up in the trial against that defendant and he can definitely expect to see comments or at least portions of those comments in this trial. that's going to make it a big challenge for the defense in my opinion.

jon skwhrao*pb about the death penalty? his accomplice has already been sentenced to death. stephen hayes has been sentenced to death. do you see a possibility, nicole, where komarsijesky may not get the death penalty and his accomplice did and that brings up constitutional qwest? >> it doesn't bring up constitutional questions but it's a distinct possibility, the reality is these are two different trials and the evidence that the jurors hear may be very different and the jurors that have this particular case is going to have to decide if all of the criteria are met, a, to convict him, but b, to sentence him to death, and they could come up with a very different answer. jon: chip, talk about the death penalty. there was a movement underway in connecticut to abolish the death penalty in that state until this case and after a couple of the key senators in connecticut met with dr. william pettitte, the only survivor of this horrific night, they backed away from that motion, the death penalty

still very much on the table, and yet, especially in a liberal leaning state like connecticut, a lot people say hey, the death penalty is really just revenge, nothing else. what do you say? >> well, the death penalty is not revenge. and let's make this crystal clear. it's retribution and retribution is something completely different in the law and morally than what revenge is. retribution is the indig nation, the punishment with respect to the crime, and in this state, it's taking the lives of three people, two of them children, and raping them beforehand, all in a conspiracy just to steal money. this is a heinous crime, outrageous, and it's the reason why the united states supreme court has allowed the death penalty to the administered by the state in the united states and we can expect it will continue to do so while connecticut has tried to, tried to, have laws that were enacted or possibly enacted to prevent this. it's the outrageous nature of these particular acts, like this particular case,

that prevents us from doing so. so those rare cases, we have the death penalty as retribution, not revenge. jon: nicole, i've coughed a lot of pretty terrible crimes in my day but i can't think of any that is worse than this one. despite all that and despite your time as a prosecutor, you disagree on the death penalty. >> i do. and you know, you guys are right, this case is as awful and horrific as it gets. i cannot imagine a person out there hearing about this case who would say that it is any way less than just absolutely the worst theufpbg they've ever heard. that being said, you have to have a punishment that you can apply fairly across the board and the death penalty has proven itself to not be that option, and it really is a vengeance option, the only thing that the death penalty does as far as bringing any closure in a case is it brings closure to the defendant's life which means the only person who's not suffering at the end of the death penalty is the person who has been convicted of the crime.

death penalty costs a whole lot more money than just convicting a person and taking them away from society for life, and it doesn't solve any problems, and you also run the very great risk that ultimately you could make a mistake and certainly while in this case we may certainly feel that the evidence appears to be very strong, there are plenty of cases out there, and we have seen the statistics where people have like liz thought the same thing and it's turned out they've got the wrong guy and that's a disastrous mistake that we can't afford to make. jon: we are going to continue to watch this trial. once again, the testimony just getting underway today. we'll watch it very closely. and we've got a long road to go before this thing is over, *eubg nicole, chip, thank you. >> thank you. >> thanks. jenna: the president announcing his debt plan just an hour ago. we're going to talk to the president's budget chief, jack lew, about the plan. we have a whole bunch of your questions to bring to him. he'll be live from the white house, next. >> the usual defenders of these kind of loopholes saying this is just class warfare.

i reject the idea that asking a hedge fund manager to pay the same tax rate as a plumber or teacher is class warfare.

jen the president unveiling a new decifit reduction plan this morning. you're seeing videos out in the rose garden. he wants to slash more than $3 trillion from the national debt and this is part of his jobs plan as well, all wrapped into one. we have a lot to work through today. jack lew is budget director for the white house and is joining us os our guest. good to see you. >> good to be with you. jenna: i was struck by something i saw on the cheat sheet that you send out to the press ahead of the president's speech today, it says the president's plan for economic growth, and it got me thinking that we've seen economic growth really over the last year or so, gdp has been a positive -- in positive territory, we have seen some job growth but it's been tepid at best. so how would you define the job growth and the growth in the economy that this plan will achieve, what would that look like?

>> well, jenna, i think that it's quite clear we do have growth but that it is not rapid enough and the job creation is not rapid enough as the american people need it and want it to be and as we need it and want it to be. the reason that this package is so important is that it would both create jobs right away with the american jobs act that the president went and spoke to congress about just ten days ago, it would pay for that and put us on a path towards long term fiscal sustainability. what we need to have an environment not just for current job growth and long term investment in an environment where there's stable economic futures. the president put forward a plan today that would encourage and promote the creation of jobs and economic activity in the short run and put it in place, fiscal discipline, just a little bit beyond the next year or two, when it really needs to there be to get us on that path. jenna: have you put out any estimates, for example, the number of jobs potentially created by this plan, the gdp that we might see based upon the infrastructure

spending, the payroll tax cuts, and also, the decifit cuts? >> well, we have not put in administration projections. there are a number of outside analysts, mark zandi has put out estimates, macroeconomic advisers have put out estimates, and they show a million to 2 million jobs being created, they show substantially more rapid growth in gdp if the american jobs act is passed. unlocking the spending power of -- power of americans through the payroll tax cuts, creating incentive to hire people through payroll tax cuts, and having -- spending on things like highways and bridges and keeping teachers and firemen and policemen on the roll all contribute to job creation. but today's plan builds on that as a base and goes beyond it to also put in place a balanced, fair approach than doing the $4 trillion in decifit reduction we need to get to a point where the decifit as a percentage the economy is

at a sustainable level, below 3 percent and below the 2 percent range at the end of the 10-year period and that's what we really need to do to be fiscally responsible while we're investing in jobs. jenna: i ask the questions about the estimates because it seems to me, and we've had several conversations over the last year or so, we have the definition of success is sometimes moving and not just for one side or the other, it's for the american people that are looking to define success or real economic recovery, and what is often referred to as millionaires and billionaires by one side, by the democrats, is called job creators by the republicans, and so one of the questions that has come up from our viewers and it's a question for i have for you as well today is while we're raising taxes on this group of americans that make more than a million dollars, why would that create jobs? >> well, i think if you look at the choices we face, in terms of how to bring our fiscal affairs into balance, one has to look at things where whichever way you go, it's a hard choice. there is a republican budget

in the house that would make severe changes in medicare, turn it into a voucher program. it would reduce spending on things like education and research and development, as the president said this morning, to the point where we couldn't invest in what we need for the future. in a world of hard choices you have to ask, compared to what. we believe that there's a fundamental fairness that has middle class people paying higher marginal tax rates than millionaires and billionaires. we're not saying that we should have a confiscatory tax rate, saying it's not fair in a world that's fair and balanced. >> jenna: and making the tax rate is fair is a good thing but will it create jobs? >> you know, i think if you look at the overall package, the things that will create jobs are, first of all, passing the american jobs act by doing the things that would create demand now and directly create jobs through public works like roads and

bridges and keeping teach respect and firemen and policemen on the rolls. >> jenna: sorry to interrupt, but just to be clear, there's so much to work through, this tax that would be levied potentially on millionaires and billionaires, would that extra money that would be coming back to the bottom as revenue, would that go directly to paying down the decifit or would it go to the pot that would allow it to be used for other things? >> obviously, it's a package that overall would reduce the decifit. you don't tie each piece directly to one or the other so the overall revenue, it's connected to the overall spending and if you bring down your decifit, yes, it's very much contributed to bringing down the decifit. i think that when you look at who's in that class of millionaires and billionaires, i think we have to ask, what is the difference between a kind of mainstream business and a hedge fund manager. there aren't that many small businesses in america where the proprietors are millionaires and

billionaires, so i think we have to be careful when we kind of put labels on these things. we're not saying that there's anything wrong with people earning a lot and being very successful. what we're saying is it's not fair to say that those people should pay lower taxes than people earning much less. jenna: the president says millionaires and billionaires. he mentioned a hedge fund manager but that's the term that's been used. just a quick final question for you here and i'm going to have to run. one of our viewers is concerned about whether or not this plan will bring jobs back to america. is there anything that would incentivize businesses to bring business back to jobs they've shifted overseas? >> as details of the corporate tax reform are worked through, one of the main goals is to create an environment that is hospital -- hospitable to the growth in jobs, investment in jobs in the united states. i think that from the beginning of the p-rd with the american jobs act to tax reform to create an environment to stimulate investment, our goal is to create jobs in america. jenna: as a goal -- that's a

goal that a lot of people have. we look forward to achieve that -- achieving that goal, jack. good to be with you. >> good to be with you. jenna: so many more questions. you have to come back soon. we have a lot to get to. >> look forward to it. jenna: we'll be right back with more of "happening now".

jon: a fox news alert, and something that is not going to make drivers happy if they use i95 on the eastern seaboard, one of the most heavily traveled highways in the country, the state of virginia announcing today it has received preliminary approval from the federal government to put a toll on i95. now, for truck drivers and others who travel that heavily used corridor, they expect to raise about $50 million a year. no indication on what the individual toll will be. over the weekend, the port

authority of new york and new jersey raise the tolls on the george washington bridge and some of the other manhattan-new jersey bridge crossings, it now costs you $12 in rush hour if you pay cash to cross the george washington bridge into new york. we'll keep you updated on those toll and tax increases. a bear hunting trip that ends in tragedy for two friends. it happened right along the border between ides and montana, the men shot what they thought was a black bear, but it turns out it was a much more aggressive grizzly, like the one seen here. thirty-nine-year-old steve stephenson yelled to distract the animal from attacking his friend after they went into the brush to get the animal. it was a heroic decision that cost him his life. but it did save his friend. joining us now, animal planet host brandon mcmillan, an animal expert and trainer. so the guys shot the bear, the bear wandered off into some brush, they let time go

by, they thought it would have died but this is a grizzly bear, pretty tough to kill a grizzly bear with one shot. >> grizzly bears are much more aggressive and far larger than black bears. from what i understand the guys shot the bear and tracked it, which means generally they chased it, they had it cornered, and that is why they were attacked because, because an animal in the animal kingdom that feels cornered feels like it has to fight for its life. jon: they said that they thought they were shooting a black bear, grizzly bears are protected in the lower 48, they obviously shouldn't have been shooting a grizzly bear. is it that hard to tell the two apart? >> it's not that hard, actually, because black bears are black, and grizzly bears are brown. sometimes their adrenaline could have been running or it could have been in the shadows or it could have been dark. i don't know. i don't know how a hunter's mind works. all i know is they shot the wrong bear, because grizzly bear, they don't taketa lightly whenever they're

getting hunted. generally, a grizzly bear that attacks a human, it's usually a mother protecting her young, so this is a very interesting case. a male grizzly bear that attacks someone generally doesn't happen, so this bear was cornered. it felt cornered, and that's why someone is dead. jon: yeah, one guy dead as a result. he apparently did save his friend's life, though, by distracting the bear, and the bear turned on him. saved his friend's life. brandon mcmillan. >> it's going to take more than one or two shots to kill a grizzly bear. it's going take several. even if you hit it in the chest, it might take 20 seconds for that bear to die. you'll be dead in ten seconds. jon: that's going to do it for us. jenna: "america live", right after this short break. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

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