>> bill: i'm thinking tomorrow is going to be hot! i mean hot like in termsf the show. martha: good! i thought you meant we were going to have a heat wave. bill: it's raining outside. martha: always hot in terms of the show. bill: halloween is around the corner. martha: bill is going to reveal his costume, tomorrow! "happening now" starts right now. jen hi everybody we're so glad you're with us on this thursday, i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott, we are here in the fox news room, bringing you the news, "happening now", all eyes are on the economy and brand new numbers just out. first up, our nation's gross domestic product, or gdp, which measures whether our economy is growing or shrinking. the latest data shows the economy grew modestly over the summer, at a rate of 2 1/2%. it's more or less in line with what wall street expected. but it is important to remember this data will be revised two more times before we get the final number. regardless, right now, our

gdp does not suggest enough economic activity for any significant growth in the jobs number. jenna: and jobs with the key word today, almost every day, we have new numbers out on unemployment today, showing the number of americans filing for unemployment dipped slightly last week, still, the drop isn't enough really to suggest hiring is picking up. chief white house correspondent ed henry is live on the north lawn with more on this. so ed, you're back, after your trip with the president, as he was making his rounds to talk about a whole bunch of things that has to do with the economy, student loans and housing and everything else. what do these numbers really mean for the president when it comes to looking ahead to reelection? >> reporter: well, it may not mean that much, jenna, because in the short term, white house officials are saying this is encouraging, this is the ninth straight quarter where there's been some positive economic growth, though let's not forget in some of those quarters the growth was much lower than 2 1/2%, was very anemic. the white house knows that, and that's why officials are saying while there has been

positive growth it's got to get a lot better, and it's got to speed up for there to really put a dent in unemployment. and that's why i think you mentioned the travels with the president. yesterday he was in denver making his case that if congress is not going to pass his jobs bill to try to push that growth along more, he's not going to wait around. he's going to take some executive actions to try and help people. take a listen: >> too many people out there are hurting. too many people are out there hurting for us to sit around and do nothing. and we are not a people who just sit around and wait for things to happen. we're americans. we make things happen. >> reporter: interestingly, the president made those comments in denver, because that was the same spot in february 2009 many, many months ago, that he signed the stimulus into law, and at that time, said look, this is the end of the beginning. you know, the -- the beginning of the end, i should say, of this recession, of this economic pain, that things are going to start turning around, and that's why when you ask the question how much will this help the president with his

reelection and long term political forces, it's not going to help -- forecast it's not going to help too much if unemployment doesn't go down. jenna: let's talk about the executive authority the president has talked about using, student loans and housing, people talk about a new normal for the economy and we'd love to talk more to you about whether or not this is the new normal for the presidency. there's some controversy about using this type of action. let's talk a little bit about that. >> reporter: yeah, look, i mean, the case the white house, and the president was making this this denver and las vegas before that, if congress is dawd ling, he's not going to sit on his hands, he's going to try to take this executive action on his own, whether it's recontinuing mortgages, if they're in an under water home or help them with their student loans, put more money in their pockets but republicans like paul ryan is saying no, this is a back doorway for the president to use the executive branch to shift education policy,

shift housing policy. take a listen to congressman ryan: >> this is just -- forget about -- forget about the intention of the reforms or even the object of the reforms. this is just one more example of the executive branch effectively taking over the law making power of the legislative branch. >> reporter: so you hear congressman ryan making his case right there, the president has been making his case out on the road and i think the bottom line is we are now just about one year away from the 2012 election. each side stating their cases, but ultimately the american people are going to make a fundamental decision in november 2012, are they better off now than -- are they better off now than they were four years ago, and the bottom line, the president said recently he knows people are not better off than they were at the beginning of his administration. he is on the road, trying to make the case that at least he's turning things around. this is a positive sign for him with these economic growth numbers but still, a long, long way to go, jenna.

jenna: i can't believe almost a year away. we're almost at that point. by the way, do you prefer the snow in denver or the rain outside the white house? i mean, you've really -- >> i like the rain, because at least i can prove i can handle the elements! steve doocy was questioning my manhood for handling the elements! >> jenna: we're not going to question your manhood! ed henry, thank you, from the white house, covering a lot of that ground, and we know a lot of you are logged on while you're watching and as always, we want to know what you think, we are asking you if you believe the economy is turning a corner. this is just -- this is just one data point suggesting that. click on the you decide link on the home page, and choose your answer. you can also see how other folks are voting and if you'd like to leave a comment, go ahead and do that. check it out, foxnews.com. jon: well, today's report on economic growth may calm fears of another recession

but economists say these gdp numbers are hardly enough to put a dent in our stubbornly high unemployment rate. pretty anemic overall. with us, chris stierwalt, damage tal politics editor and for example of "power play", foxnews.com live. all politics is local, it is said, chris, and these days, all politics is about the economy, isn't it? this cannot help the president's reelection process. >> well, there is good news in this for the president, and that is we didn't turn a corner, that the economy did not slide into recession that economists had feared in september and august. yes, there were these deep concerns. just good news for the president that he didn't get that. but there isn't yet any indication that the president is going to have the kind of rate of growth that will allow american voters to be more forgiving on the question of stubbornly high unemployment and in general, sort of economic malaise in the country. jon: well, i like the way

you opened the power play today, essentially, when bad news looks good, you've got trouble. >> and that's for sure. right now, if you're in the white house, or you're in the obama campaign out in chicago, this looks good in the sense that it didn't show that the economy retreated, but it you're at this point now where you're sort of grasping at that, it leaves the president with a winnowing strategy for reelection in which he has to be very negative against whomever the republicans put up for him and he also has to manage the expectation of the electorate over what was possible for him to do. jon: at the same time, of the republican challengers, does anybody benefit from numbers like these? i mean, everybody wants the country to succeed. it's not like you can grab an some anemic growth numbers and say you know, wow. >> well, that's right. there's no wow. but look, you know, mitt romney has a candidacy, as frontrunner, mitt romney has a candidacy predicated on being a turn around artist

for the american economy, so he wants to be able to demonstrate to the american people that he would do a better, faster job of getting the economy going again than president obama, so what he is predicating everything on is that the state of the economy will be as bad as this, or worse, come election day next year, because if the turnaround is on, it will be harder for barack -- it will be easier for barack obama to rebutt romney's claims. jon: her can cain also with business experience, we'll be talking about his campaign in an hour or so with bret baier. chris stierwalt, thank you. >> you bet. jon: we know a lot of you are logged on while you're watching, watch chris at the bottom of the hour on power play, foxnews.com, click on the link you see there, upper right hand corner the screen. jenna: did you check out wall street today? >> jon: it's up there! jenna: it's better than most days. how about that. you can see the green on the screen, up 250 points on the dow and washington is rallying on what's happening overseas. we did have okay news when it came to the gdp, showing

that our economy is growing, but in europe, european leaders are agreeing on plan to cut greece's debt and provide more -- yes, more rescue loans. world stock markets are surging on the news. there is some relief. again, you can see the dow up 2 percent at this time. ashley webster is with us from the fox business network. always nice to have someone with a european accent to talk about the european news, ashley. tell us about this debt crisis in europe and whether or not we're any closer to a solution. >> reporter: that's a good question. actually i'm from iowa, but don't tell anyone! is this a long term solution? no, it's not. but it does buy breathing time, especially for greece. there's three parts to this plan, jenna. the first one, of course, the banks holding great debt say they will take a 50 percent hair cut, in other words, i lend you $100, i'm only going to get 50 back. that will help greece with its crippling debt. but is it enough? germany wanted 60 percent, the imf said 75 percent hair cut was perhaps more realistic, second, the eurozone bailout, this fund

is being boosted to $1.4 trillion. but where's the money going to come from, how will it work, and 1245 enough -- is that enough if a major economy like italy or spain collapses? there are those that say it's not big enough. lastly, some 70 european banks are being told they have to raise about $150 billion worth of new capital by june of next year. and again, there are questions of where's that money going to come from. but at least, jenna, they are doing something. they have something on hang their hat on. as i said before, it does buy breathing room, especially for greece. jenna: if i lent you $100, ashley, by the way, i'd want that back with interest! absolutely. there have been rumors about potentially china stepping in to the european rescue. any truth to that? >> >> reporter: you know, why not, they seem to own everything else, including a lot of u.s. debt. french president nicolas sarkozy was on the phone this morning after that marathon session in brussels overnight, he picked up the phone, called chinese leader hu jintao and said look, how

about it, how about kicking in some money to the european bailout fund. it would make sense for china because europe is their biggest market. of course they have a big market in the u.s. but europe is a bigger economy combined than the u.s. it's important to the chinese and it's important for them that europeie main stable, so i wouldn't be surprised if china kicks in some money to this bailout fund. also, the head of that bailout fund, by the way, jenna, traveling to beijing to meet face to face with chinese leaders tomorrow, so we might be hearing a lot more about china and the ongoing help that they may be bringing to the european debt crisis. jenna: that would be interesting and also historic. what an interesting relationship that could be focialg dollars. we'll take it for now. markets are up today. ashley, thank you very much. >> thank you. jenna: also turning to another breaking news story this hour, more than 1000 volunteers, searching for 20 square miles for a missing boy. authorities are even asking for more help. the little boy you're seeing on your screen -- rick has more on this story.

rick. >> reporter: jenna, we're talking about a nine-year-old boy, robert wood, jr., he went missing five days ago, apparently he was taking a walk with his family sunday when he wandered off. and this is playing out about an hour and a half south or so of the nation's capitol, washington, d.c., and the search began immediately after they realized he had gone missing, blood hounds were called out to the scene and they actually picked up on robert's scent near where he disappeared, but the dogs then lost the trail at nearby rivers. authorities think that that may mean that robert went into the water, and there is an added layer of difficulty here, jenna, for investigators, because this boy is autistic, he's unable to speak, and because of that, searchers have been instructed to be very careful about possibly overstimulating the child by yelling or flashing bright lights during their search. and as you said in the introduction here, more than 1000 people have stepped forward to volunteer, along with over 20 different dog teams. there are divers who have volume teertd and are

working as well. anybody with any information or if you're in the area and you want to help out in the search, you can call the had notover -- hanover county, virginia sheriff's department at the number on this screen: let's hope they find this young boy and find him soon. back to you. jenna: let's hope for sure, rick, thank you very much. jon: the case of another child missing who had been very much front and center in the news lately, some new developments in the search for baby lisa in missouri. a lawyer for the irwin family abrupting canceling a news conference this morning, saying all such appearances are off for the next week, at least. geraldo rivera will join us later in the hour to talk about that situation. jenna: let's go into the weather now, reena, a tropical -- rina, a tropical storm, sending travelers packing. meteorologist janice dean will have the latest on the storm's path. jon: also right now on capitol hill, your lawmakers are voting on a bill to repeal a law designed to make sure government contractors pay all of the

taxes they owe. an update, ahead.

jon: a fox news extreme already awhrert and mass exodus in thailand, thousands of people fleeing areas around the capitol city of bangkok, threatened by rising flood waters, residents climbing on bamboo rafts and army truck, leaving water-logged homes behind in an attempt to make it to higher ground. it is the worst flooding in half a century, caused by unusually heavy monsoon rains and rivers overflowing their banks, the flood versus drenched one third of the country's provinces and killed nearly 400 people thus far. jenna: back closer to home we're going to turn to colorado. is it okay that i read this? >> jon: i love colorado. jenna: he has a for the of feelings about colorado because these his home statement an early storm blasting the state with its first snoal of the season. not enough to ski, right jon? >> jon: i know people, my buddy, olsten, skiing

several times already. jenna: the storms did cause power outages for thousands of people and caused a foot of snow in some areas. as you mentioned, it did snap some power lines, a lot of the tree branches, still heavy with leaves. sixty homes in the dark because of that. in greelly, snow knocked down several tree limb there is and in evergreen, one truck slid off the road. the same storm brought snow to utah and wyoming. the question is, will it bring it to new york city. jon: we'll see. hope not. a fox news alert out of mexico, as rina is just downgraded to a tropical storm, but taking aim at the carribean coastline. tourists and residents are packing up in can coond other resorts. what about the u.s.? any problems ahead? let's check in with janice dean, the weather machine. she's in the extreme weather center. j.d. >> reporter: i'm surprised you're actually here and didn't take an extra long weekend to go skiing! >> jon: i am making my

plans, trust me. >> reporter: we're going to talk about that in a second, over a foot in parts of colorado. this is rina, and good news, rina, no longer a hurricane and it's not going to affect the u.s. that is excellent news. jon: that is good news. >> reporter:y expecting the storm to weaken in the next several days, and really kind of me ander across the carribean. with you we're still going to see high wave, definitely rain and strong winds out of this, for the beautiful resort towns in and around cancun. tropical models are showing a meandering storm and as you can see, no threat to florida or the u.s., which is great news. but we'll keep an eye on it, as we always like to say. colorado snow, jon scott! over 18 inches in jamestown. of course, most of these locations are in the mountains, in the ski resort areas, and they are loving it! an early start to ski season. and just a quick look, let's take a look at denver, just to trub in that jon is not there, oh, how pretty! jenna: you're such a tease to jon! jon: look at those beautiful

blue skies, though! >> reporter: we're just going to name den engineer jon scott's denver, okay? a quick look at the radar, i want to show where you they're getting that storm that went through colorado in parts of the texas panhandle and new mexico, am millo, you're under a winter weather advisory, and let's go up to the northeast where it's cold enough for snow across the mountains of upstate new york and new england and guys, it looks like we could see the potential for a noreaster this weekend. how close it comes to the northeast, still yet to be determined. we'll keep an eye on it for you. back to you guys. jon: j.d., what about baseball? they had to postpone the world series. >> reporter: you know what, i would love to see why they postponed the world series. there was rain in the forecast, but we weren't talking about severe weather or windy conditions. the good news is, conditions are favorable for baseball tonight, so the game will go ahead. i'm going to take a leap of faith and go and say it's going to happen. jon: all right. they had it in colorado few years ago. could have been snowed out!

if it was this year. go rockies! >> >> reporter: let's put the show in colorado. let's go. we love you, jon. jon: chamber of commerce would love it. j.d., thank you. jenna: a marriage penalty in the new health care law and critics are up in arms over a possible reason for people to stay single? is that true? we'll talk more about it. also don't be so hard on yourself, if you gained back the extra pounds you lost on your last diet, a brand new study shows tu may not be completely your fault. we're going to ask dr. garner about that, next. >> ♪ >> ♪ let's get physical. >> ♪ >> ♪

jon: while president obama proposes in addition thaifs do not need congressional aprorvelings congress is chipping away at the white house's massive stimulus act. the house is expected to pass a bill repeal ago rule that requires the government to withhold 3 percent of the money paid to contractors. now, get this. the white house supports that repeal. our chief congressional correspond emanuel live on capitol hill. something has frozen over, mike, because there seems to be bipartisanship here and agreement between the white house and congress. what's going on? >> >> reporter: shocking, jon. as we take a electric look at the house floor, the next vote to come up is going to be the repeal of that 3 percent withholding tax. bottom line, lawmakers when they go home and talk to constituents recognize jobs, job creation, is the number one issue the american people care about. the feeling for most in congress is that this withholding tax is just

bureaucracy, it's needless paperwork for government contractors who deal with the government to prove that they have paid their taxes, and it inhibits job creation, and so the feeling is that this is a small way to get some red tape out of the way, to turn loose those contractors that do business with the federal government and really put as many americans back to work as possible, jon. jon: but i guess there is not universal support. some lawmakers don't like this idea. how come? >> yeah, let's not get crazy. some bipartisanship, but there's still some opposition, some democrats don't like the idea of the way you're paying for this because if you're not withholding the money then obviously you have to figure out a way to pay for it. in these fiscal times, here's one leading democrat expressing why he's against it. let's take a listen: >> i don't think it's as bipartisan as the republicans would like to couch it by any stretch of the imagination. there's been a long standing concern in the democratic caucus about the pay fors as

they relate to medicare and medicaid and that is problematic. >> >> reporter: so the feeling is that last year's health care law made it a little too easy for middle class americans to qualify for lower income health programs, so what they're going to do is tighten that up to pay for this holding tax repeal, jon. jon: mike emanuel at the capitol building, thank you. jenna: from politics to your health, if you gained back all of that weight you lost after the last diet, you shouldn't blame yourself, at least according to a new study that shows your hormones may have just made you do it. joining us is dr. garner with new york methodist hospital. okay, are hormones making us gain the weight back? >> you've got to take some responsibility, right? you're not going to tell your spouse your hormones made you do if. they're not going to forgive you. >> good point. >> it dates back to cave man days, the fatter off you were, the better off you were, because it was hard to find food so it was to give extra fat to the body and

people didn't give away the urge, so there's a development when a person gets skinny to make them want to eat more. jenna: does it matter when it comes to weight loss how you lost the weight does, that matter what kind of hormone you're going to produce to make you gain the weight back? the quicker you lost it, does it matter? >> it doesn't matter, the absolute weight you gain or lose. in this particular study, this addressed a 500-calorie diet. jenna: for ten weeks, these people were on 500-calories. >> whose hormones aren't going to go crazy with that? at the end of the year, the hormone that made you hungry is elevated so the people who felt angry, they've been looking for food like the cave days. jenna: are they hungry, does the body need more calories? >> it's sort of like a deficiency like with diabetes, a deficiency in insulin, with weight, it's a deficiency in leptin, it makes you feel full and don't want to eat but for some reason t. stays low. jenna: is there a way to take a supplement? >> that's a great idea. i think that's the way

they've got to go because we know the hormone, we have to take it so you can get it in the form of an in-- injection or a pill would be better and you can prevent people from gaining back that weight. jenna: as we look at weight loss as more of a science rather than something that's behavioral, do you see any major changes that are going to come into the weight loss surge snre. >> i look at bariatric surgery, that actually corrects the hormones, corrects diabetes and you can't eat that much because the stomach is small, so it makes you sated. >> jenna: usually people that are very obese is going to use that versus someone that wants to lose 20 pounds. >> if someone is 100 pounds overweight, i can see it, i can see it for someone who is 40 pounds overweight. it cures diabetes, it's a big savings. give it a shot. jenna: maybe you and i can make a little cash on this! doctor, thank you very much, fascinating study. jon. jon: the hormones make me crave chocolate, i'll bet! we go to the polls to elect a president next

november. but we also choose all of our u.s. representatives. larry sabato's crystal bawl on -- ball on which party he thinks will control the house after the november election. >> also, a delist -- d list celebrity has an a list meltdown, lindsey lohan's dad michael heading back to jail after getting arrested for the second time this week, but not before a stop at the hospital. this crazy story and more video to show you, coming up.

jon: developing stories we're keeping an eye on in the newsroom and from our control room as well. an earthquake rocks the san francisco bay area the magnitude 3.6 tremor hitting about a mile east of berkeley. no reports of any damage or injury though so far. day three of the penalty phase for joshua komisarjevsky the second man convicted of killing a connecticut doctor's entire family in a brutal home invasion. today his parents will testify in a bid to try to save his life. the occupy wall street protestors in new york and across the country now rallying around an iraq war vet left in critical condition after clashing with police in oakland, california. in new york demonstrators chanted, march with oakland. jenna: a new reason in the to get married. some blaming what they call a marriage penalty in the president's healthcare law. it makes it harder for couples

to qualify for healthcare since it likesidies go up after the a tailor-made excuse for a guy who doesn't want to buy a ring. come on. >> reporter: i'm not going to touch that. [laughter] jenna: i just blurted it out there. >> reporter: very difficult territory here jenna. jenna: very difficult i backed you into a corner. we'll stay with the news. let's talk a little bit about whatever is deterring someone from getting married. >> reporter: very dangerous territory there. the new healthcare law includes massive subsidies for those who do not have employer provided insurance and buy it on the free market. analysts have found a winkle in the way the subsidies were provided. they would have a penalty for getting married making it unaffordable for many couples because of the cost of health insurance. >> the way the bills are structured there are

disincentiveses for women to maryann marry and work. >> reporter: why? because the new law provides generous subsidies for those without insurance or those who lose it to buy health coverage on new exchange created by the law. and people would get very generous government subsidies, somewhere between 7 and $14,000 depending on one's income level. that is the rub. the incomes are not based on individuals but on a family and that creates a perverse incentives. >> two singles would be able to earn 43,000 tkhr-rz and have help with the federal government with their premiums. if they got married and combined their earnings to 86,000 they would be far above the limit, they would be above 400% of the poverty line. >> reporter: they would lose the government subsidies and on on their own for thousands of dollars in healthcare tkofrpblg.

they say the healthcare law extends care to millions that don't now have it and covers preventative care with no co-pay. married couples would only get 14% of the hundreds of billions in subsidies. it took years to get the marriage penalty out of the tax code. economists says it will come storming back in the new healthcare law. jenna: very interesting and very well handled, jim, thank you very much. we'll continue to watch that story. jon: "happening now," herman cain the big political story. the former pizza ceo is the surprise gop frontrunner in the latest polls. he says he's new to politics but he's really hardly a beginning. larry santa barbara doe the tkreblgt he shall of uva's center for politics joins us with your crystal ball. you point out he's run in a couple of prominent campaigns

before. >> jon i hope people will go to our website. santa barbara doe's crystal ball. take a look at the article we have by independent analyst rhodes cook. i went back and looked in detail at herman cain's run for the u.s. senate in georgia in 2004. cain was really totally unknown for the most part in georgia. he ran for the senate against a heavily favored candidate who won, it's senator johnny isaacson who is still in office. he did remarkably well, he got 23%, he financ finished second in the field. he did it pretty much the way waoes done it in this presidential campaign. so what we have seen this year has a precedent and you can go back and almost see how the cain campaign has unfolded and maybe how it will unfold. jon: but of the what 159 counties in georgia he only carried five of them. >> yes, but he was a novice, i didn't have nearly as much money

as the candidate who won, and i think what is impressive is he won a lot of people over with the force of his personality, which is something that i've seen throughout the country. i was in nebraska recently where he was located for years, in omaha with the federal reserve and with godfather's pizza. i literally had people coming up to me that i didn't know, saying we know herman wane here, we really like him personally. that doesn't mean he's going to win the nomination, i doubt he does. but i think he's made a real impact on the campaign and will continue to do so. jon: you think that this -- these polls that show him on the leaderboard basically, he's on top of the polls right now, that is more than a flash in the pan? >> in some states it will be. i think he will do surprisingly well in a number of places once we get to the actual voting. again, as we saw in georgia, in that senate race, because people just like the guy. and in the end you have to like

someone, at least to a certain degree to vote for them. it's really difficult to vote for somebody you dislike. and that's a problem some of the other candidates may be having. jon: we'll be talking more about herman cain in a bit. i wanted to get you to open up the crystal ball or peer into it at least. you made a prediction about control of the house of representatives after the 2012 election. what is it? >> sure, it's 13 months to go here, jon. we never make firm plea dictions until we get to the summer prior to the election. tentatively it looks pretty good for the republicans to continue holding the house of representatives. again on the crystal ball wonderful piece by a bright young scholar harry hinton, it's an elaborate statistical model. it shows based on our precedence with flight government when we have one party in control of at least one house of congress, another party in control of the presidency, rarely do you have

the incumbent party and the house overturned. the conditions are pretty good for republicans to retain control and that is wholly apart from what is taking place in redistricting. i think the redistricting that is going on in. the states at least is a wash for the republicans. they were worried about the democrats gaining seats through redistricting. i see that as more of a wash with the republicans having their 49-seat edge, with democrats having to gain at least 25 seats in the house, that is a tough, tough order given the economic conditions that are prevailing right now. jon: all right. so you heard it here first from the crystal ball, the likelihood of republicans keeping control of the house next time around. larry santlarrylarry sabado. thanks. jenna: just ahead, the attorney for the parents of missing baby

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jenna: new developments in the search for the missing 11-month-old baby now lisa irwin. a news conference by the lawyer for the irwin family was abruptly canceled this morning. the family did release a new missing person's poster. we are showing that to you on the screen. police say baby lisa's parents are refusing to submit to separate interviews. we are going to work through this with geraldo rivera host of geraldo at large. here is the hang up. the lawyers for lisa irwin's

parents say they are not opposed to separate interviews, they just don't want it unrestricted. they want to have the lawyers there with the parents twhe talk to police. is this a reasonable request? >> if i was representing them i would refuse to let them speak to the cops without me being present. i think that is law 101. the request by the officers to have the interview without the lawyers present is curious. it's not unprecedented. of course the cops would want to have unfettered access and be able to ask questions that might catch them in a lie, or a discrepancy, but still the lawyers job is to pretext his clients against self-incrimination, and i think that would be the basis of it. i think what is clear, the big headline here -- jenna: the bigger point here. >> -- is that the cops are absolutely filled with the belief that this couple is somehow central to this mystery, that it is the irwins themselves that hold the answers to the mystery of missing baby lisa.

they have for -- almost since the beginning of this case and for very good reason put the focus of their attention on these parents. jenna: they have put the focus on it but legally when we go back to the law of all of this they don't have any -- they don't have any power to bring these parents in. they are not persons of interest, they are not suspects in the case still at this time so they can't force them to sit down with the detectives without their lawyers, right? >> they couldn't force them to sit down even if they were lousy with suspicion. they just can't force someone to give testimony that might tend to eupbl criminal natur incriminate themselves. i think that is the impasse. with all of the media stories about the mystery man and the fellow walking around with the little baby in her diaper. all of these other kind of noises you're hearing from media outlets doing kind of their own amateur sleuthing, you have an end result that we're right back

where we started from and the parents are the principle suspects by the cops and for good reason. jenna: the children, the 8-year-old and 5-year-old that were inside the house, the little boys, they are going to be questioned again by child service specialists who are trained to question children. they might also give some dna. what does that say to you? >> first of all it would have been better as my friend michael baden suggests for these children to be interrogated, or questioned more completely closer to the incident when their recollection would be sharpest. there is valuable information to be gained from these brothers. they are half brothers, one five years old, one eight years old. i have a friend of my daughters and she said i remember you from last summer when we went on daddy's votes. they might have something valuable to o*fr the

authorities. again what that comes back to, and this is the headline again, and again, and again, it is very, very difficult for me or obviously the kansas city police department or even the f.b.i. to believe that this is anything other than an inside job. i believe it is virtually impossible that the irwins themselves are not involved in the disappearance of this child or know the people who are. jenna: well we'll see if we get any more information out of either side as we move on. >> i don't know what that whole press conference was supposed to be about any way. jenna: they canceled it. at least silence for now. ha hrald doe wilgeraldo will be back with us next hour. jon back to you. jon: there are brand-new developments regarding the death of this woman, the girlfriend of a california millionaire. her family has had her body resumed. they want a second autopsy. and the role dr. phil will play in all of this. that is coming up next. [ wind howling ]

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the spotlight today a law enacted just off the enron scanned he will. it's designed to prevent more corporate crimes. president bush hailed it as one of of the most far reaching reforms for american business practices since fdr. republican presidential candidate rick perry wants a core provision of this landmark law repealed. james rosen live in washington with why. >> reporter: many of his rifles for the gop nomination go further on this issue. point number ten in mitt romney's 59-point economic plan is to amend this. quote, onerous law. newt gingrich and michelle bachmann have called for the ra paoefl the entire law.

ron paul voted against the law back in 2002. we are talking about the public company accounting reform, an investor protection act, better known as socks for short. it comes from a two former congressmen. the heart of this law is section 404. it requires public companies to include in their annual reports both the firms own assessment of its internal controls, and an outside auditor's assessment. conservatives say compliance costs have soared from an estimated $91,000 per publicly held company to nearly 3 million per publicly held company. they defend the law as effective in preventing more enrons. >> enron was the 7th largest corporation in the country, and it had a huge effect not just on enron on their shareholders and their other stakeholders but on our over call economy.

we lost over $8 trillion in market cap as a result of enron, and world com and those scandals. you've not seen anything near on the scale of those. >> we know that some large firms pay 5 million a year. the smaller firms is even worse, they pay a lower amount but it's a higher part of their revenues. 2, 3% of revenues at some companies are being paid to accountants for these fees. it's also resulted in lower ipo's, decrease in ipo's on u.s. exchanges. >> reporter: so historic has this law becomes that oxley tells us people think his first name is sarbay. jenna: a famous father arrested yesterday released from jill and hours later busted again. rick who has such luck? >> reporter: we don't normally spend a lot of time talking about celebrity train wrecks. all right, maybe sometimes we do. we thought this story was so crazy you'd want to hear about

it. lindsay lohan's father no strange tore the big house himself with another bizarre brush with the law, by brush we mean jumping from a third story balcony as the police were coming at him. why would he do this? earlier this week he made threatening calls to his soon to be ex-girlfriend kate major. she dated jon on jon plus eight after he parted from kate. lohan called and the cops were able to listen and hear how threat repbg he was. the police moved into arrest him. daughter lindsey is in the middle of a community stint. and she may be gracing the pages of playboy magazine.

now you're completely caught up. jon: a week after dangerous wild animals were roeupbd up and killed in ohio a bizarre new twist to the case. an update for you on that next. [ female announcer ] for frequent heartburn sufferers,

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try a 28 count previd®24hr free. see prevacid®24hr.com for offer details. >> reporter: a couple of stories we are watching for you out in california, the defense is wrapping up their case in the conrad murray trial, michael jackson's doctor charged with involuntary manslaughter. we are waiting to find out if dr. murray himself is going to take the stand. there he is. take a look at a pretty picture in denver, colorado, a beautiful picture if you like snow. this storm has moved out. it's hitting other parts of the country. some folks could see up to a foot of snow and it's not even november. some of the stories we are watching for you. the second hour of "happening now" starts right now.

jenna: hi, everybody, we start off with this news as well, a major shift on the campaign trail, for the very first time herman cain leads the republican pack. we are glad you are with us on this thursday. i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. it is a major game for herman cain as he pushes mitt romney out of the top spot. a brand-new fox news poll gives cain the frontrunner status among gop primary voters with 24% as you can see there. mitt romney falls to second, 20% within the margin of error. newt gingrich, rick perry and ron paul all in a statistical call for third place. doug mckelway live with us right now in washington with a closer look at the numbers. >> reporter: this poll really significant, it sampled likely republican primary voters over a three day period that ended this past tuesday. it's very, very fresh indeed. it shows the remarkable standing of plain speaking herman cain.

with mitt romney close behind at 20. newt gingrich 12%. rick perry at 10% that even after the announcement of his flat tax proposal. herman cain appeared on the hannity show last notice and offered these comments about the latest poll results. >> they make us feel pretty good. it also means we have to continue to work hard. we are very pleased with that but we are not letting up and we are striking to our strategy. >> reporter: the trend line shows cain not witness erring away as some analysts had predict. at least not yet. it shows a steady predictable rise. cain in blue on the chart here, 24% right now, 17% in late september from only 6% in late august. that trend line also shows romney in red having fallen off a little bit but holding fairly steady, 20% right now, down 3 from 23% in late september. 22% in late august. and look at gingrich's numbers in green here a steady climb,

12% right now, 11% in late september. up from only 3% in august, testament to be sure to his skills as a debater. no bounce for perry from his flat tax proposal, just the opposite in fact, perry in purple here standing at 10% right now down precipitously from 19% in september and that down significantly from august when he a tphopbsed his candidacy and stood atop the field at 29%. keep in mind we are still in the very early stages here, a lot of voters remain noncommittal at this point. there are 14 more republican debates scheduled all the way up until march 19th. jon. jon: just as herman cain gets good news from the fox news poll some bad news from media coverage. we're going to be talking about that ahead in this hour with bret baier. doug mckelway, doug, thank you. >> reporter: sure thing. jenna: new information on a deadly missile attack in pakistan. a suspected u.s. drone killing key leaders of a taliban faction

known to attack our western forces in afghanistan. jennifer tkpwreufp is taking griffin is taking a closer look at the pentagon. >> reporter: just a few days after secretary of state clinton, and james madis and david petraeus were in pakistan to convince the pakistanis to begin cracking down on the pakistani taliban and the h akani network a u.s. drone fired and killed six top commander's of a network that have been responsible for many cross border attacks into afghanistan. the network was run by a man who commanded 1200 fighters who carried out attacks against u.s. troops. clinton and the others told them they need to stop the cross border attacks. >> i made it very clear to the pakistanis that the attack on

our embassy was an outrage, and the attack on our forward operating base that injured 77 of our soldiers was a similar outrage, and it was in both instances terrible, but the fact is we avoided having dozens and dozens of wounded, or killed. >> reporter: what seems to have got even the pakistanis attention is the amazing of u.s. troops in eastern afghanistan to go after the hakani network. that operation last week has rounded up we understand and even killed 200 members of the hakani network. secretary clinton just told lawmakers on capitol hill that the pakistanis asked her to sit down with members of the hakani network, but those attacks, cross border attacks from pakistan into afghanistan seems to have gone up. take a listen to the u.s.

commander in southern afghanistan just a few moments ago. >> in the south along the border area with pakistan the cross border fires this year are about -- are over four times higher than they had been in the past year, so considerably higher. >> reporter: about 235 militants have been killed by drone strikes inside pakistan in the last year alone, and what many people don't realize, is that those drone strikes continue be as precise as they are without the help of pakistani intelligence. it's a complicated picture in terms of the relationship to pakistan right now. secretary state clinton on capitol hill right now explaining that situation to lawmakers. jenna: we'll continue to monitor the testimony, jennifer, thank you very much. jon: right now the trial of michael jackson's doctor is back in session. the defense expected to call its final witnesses, fellow doctors whose testimony could help determine whether conrad murray is convicted or acquitted of

involuntary manslaughter. adam housley live at california superior court in los angeles right now, adam. >> reporter: the two expert witnesses, one is already on the stand, he's expected to go relatively quick. then the more famous expert witness, if you will will take the stand. let's go live inside the courtroom right now. you can get a look alternate the dr. robert waldman he specializes in addictive medicine. he's expected to say that michael jackson exhibited the possibility of being addicted to drugs like propofol, and that that would be something of course that could potentially have led to him taking his own life on accident, by taking propofol himself. that's again what the defense alleges in this case. and that doctor is expected to go along of course with what they believed that michael jackson may have been addicted to medicine that helped him sleep. once he is cross-examined and leaves the stand then comes the witness that everyone is waiting for paul white. steven ssshafer was on the

stand, the world renowned expert in propofol. he really helped build the prosecution case. the defense has their own expert dr. paul white who is actually a friend of steven shafer, has been a friend for years, although there is talk they had a falling out over this case. paul white is expected to take the stand and give an absolutely different account of dr. steven shafer. that comes down when they are done with this case when that goes to the jury there are two things the jury has to realize and make a decision on. one is dr. murray a sympathetic figure, and two which expert do they believe. do they believe paul white the defense expert or dr. steven shafer. both esteemed in their proceed testing, incredibly well-known in their profession. it comes down to which one will they believe. there is a slight chance that dr. murray could take the stand himself. the defense has said he won't.

there is still a slight possibility we are told by legal experts that dr. murray could take the stand in his own defense. the judge will ask him that in an open courtroom once the defense says they are prepared to rest. jon: how much time does he face if convicted. >> reporter: four years and loss of his medical licenses. four years is what he'd be facing if he got the maximum penalty if he was convicted, jon. jon: adam housley live in l.a., thanks. jenna: we want to bring your attention to what is going on on wall street today. you can see the dow is surge up more than 300 points. there it is. a dow gain of 2.5%. this is a relief rally meaning that our economic data we got today did show that the economy is expanding rather than shrinking. that's always a good thing. some release because it seems that the european leaders have a deal on how to support greece to make sure that greece doesn't default and bring down the euro zone with it. it's been so tense over the last couple of weeks, jon that

nicholas sarkozy the french president missed the birth of his baby daughter because he had to meet with the german chancellor and talk about this plan. this has been a big deal and wall street is very relieved that what we've heard about the plan seems to be the plan in place and there are few surprises. although i wouldn't want to be nicholas sarkozy going home to the wife that had the baby. jon: i did that once but that is another story for another day. jenna: we would like to hear more about that story, wouldn't we. jon: not today, not today. in the meantime there is a new twist in the search for baby lisa irwin. her parents' lawyer called a news conference this morning and then abruptly canceled it. what police are now saying about the parents' cooperation in the kaeufplts also new arrests in the occupy wall street protests. demonstrators marching through the streets of lower manhattan in support of their counterparts in california. this after police move in to break up crowds there, and an iraq war veteran was critically injured. a live report next. i'd like one of those desserts and some coffee.

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jon: taking a look now at some of the crime stories topping the headlines. an attorney for the parents of missing baby lisa irwin in missouri calling a news conference today and abruptly canceling this. this after an announcement by police that the parents refused to answer questions in separate interviews. tomorrow the couples' two young boys will be interviewed by authorities for a second time. a judge is deciding whether to release the medical records of murdered university of virginia lacrosse player yeardley love. her ex-boyfriend, george hugley is accused of killing her by slamming her head into a wall. his lawyers are requesting the records hoping it shows she had an irregular heartbeat caused by excessive alcohol.

a teacher faces 16 counts of sexual batteries. jenna: occupy protestors are back at it today after police arrested about a dozen last night. rick is live with this story. >> reporter: following an increase in complaints about assaults and fights and sanitation problems at the camps around the country, and the situation in oakland much calmer last night than it was on tuesday when demonstrators faced cops in riot gear and lots of teargas, officers clearing outside city hall, arresting about a hundred in the crowd. last night protesters returned to city hall but didn't try to stay overnight, filing out and marching through nearby streets with cops looking on. one demonstrator, and iraq war veteran suffered a fractured skull in tuesday's squirm i shalless. scott olsen, a 24-year-old marine is in critical condition. it's not clear who did it. they are investigating the

injury as vigorously as they would a fatal police shooting. a dozen people arrested in new york during a march in support of oakland. foxnews.com reporting occupy protestors are getting professional help from activists who work foray corn that shut down last year. acorn's former brooklyn office is now headquarters for a group called new york communities for change where former acorn workers plan demonstrations and strategy. nycc officials declined fox news invitations to discuss it. new york communities for change is a new organization that fights for low and moderate income families we don't pay protestors and any monies raised by nycc are used in support of our ongoing issue campaigns, period. they are braving the rain down in the park today and there are more updates on our website of course. jenna: some say they would be deterred when the weather

turned. at least at this point it's not the case. >> reporter: it will be very cold tonight in the mid 30s. jenna: we'll continue to watch. developing stories as the protests go on. more at foxnews.com. jon: very muddy in the park. jenna: a good point. jon: a grieving family continues to search for the truth they say. they have now asked for the exhumation of the body of their loved one. what they hope to learn from the new autopsy. and also, how to protect yourself from pirates on the internet. starts with back pain.. and a choice. take advil no and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic.

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jenna: new information in the mysterious death of a california millionaire's girlfriend. was it suicide or was she murdered? you might be familiar with her face at this point, rick,

because we've covered this story since the beginning and it didn't start with her. >> reporter: these true, jenna. this is a case we have focused on here on "happening now" and that's because of the strange circumstances surrounding the death of rebecca zahau. four months later rebecca zahau is getting a second autopsy. she is the girlfriend of pharmaceutical millionaire jonah shacknai. she was found neighboring eld hanging from a foyer balcony in her boyfriend's mansion, her hands tied behind pwer back, her feet tied together, a gag in her mouth. you can understand that some have doubted that she killed herself. authorities say she did it because show was overwhelmed with guilt over an accident involving shacknai's son max who had fallen down a flight of stairs while in her care and who she just learned would not survive that stent. that accident taking place two days before she died. tv host phil mcgraw is getting

involved, paying for rebecca zahau's body to get exhumed. the man who will conduct the second autopsy is dr. ceryl wiect. rebecca's body has already been resumed and the autopsy will be performed tomorrow in pittsburgh where the doctor is based. he tells us he'll be able to talk about his findings within the next couple of weeks after sharing them with the family. meantime investigators in san diego county where rebecca died say they stand by their find insurance that it was a sue site, jenna. jenna: very interesting story, rick. we'll follow some of the new developments with dr. baden the forensic expert has joined us many times on the show, he's also a fox news contributor. we have the autopsy right here that we both have looked through, and you actually have drawn a diagram, your own diagram based on this autopsy, and you are flagging a few different parts that you think deserve special attention. what do you think is something

we should pay attention to in the autopsy. >> i think the most important findings in the original autopsy is the ligature mark around the neck which is typical in a hanging case. there are hemorrhages in the eyes and fractures in the left side of the hoid bone and larynx of the neck which are usually not seen in traditional hanging. this was not traditional. there was a nine-foot drop off the balcony. jenna: do you think this warrants exhuming the body and taking a second look? >> the family always has the right to have a second opinion. it's becoming more frequent, it isn't just when you do surgery you need a second opinion, sometimes an autopsy can be wrong. what i've seen from the autopsy and other findings released by the medical examiner and the sheriff it supports the diagnosis of suicidal hanging. the purpose of exhuming a body is to see if anything was missed

and other tests can be done that weren't done. and that's what he will be doing. jenna: what would you do if you were doing the second autopsy. >> to see if there were any other injuries or bruises, to examine the neck fully and do other toxicology. there are always more drugs that can be looked for to see if for some reason she was drugged. jenna: it looked like there was no drugs in her system from this autopsy report. the parents and family of rebecca said there were strange marks on her head. there is one in particular i wanted to ask you about as i was looking through the autopsy saying that there were vertical abrasions that looked like they all paralleled themselves on their forehead. i thought that was strange. >> that is strange. what happened when the brother of the -- jenna: the owner of the mansion. >> the owner of the mansion saw the decedent hanging and cut the rope down she fell into flowers and grass, and she sustained various bruises and abrasions from that fall when the rope was

cut, before the police got there. jenna: one of the things the police put out as well is a video that shows how someone could tie their hands and feet. >> right. jenna: inside this report the medical examiner says this is not likely, and we're showing that video right now. and you can see just now -- well you have to know what you're doing, doctor. how likely is it that someone with what the family says has no experience with rope tying does something like this to themselves. >> it's extremely unusual for somebody to do that. i've seen more commonly a young athletic person tying the wrists together and then stepping through the arms, stepping through the wrists and there by getting the wrist on the back. but it is possible to do that. what they suggest is that she tied up and then pulled out her right hand where it's looser, they are looser on the right hand and then reinserted in the back that is possible. i think more likely is she stepped through the wrist that

were tied together loosely. jenna: you say there is something about rigormortis setting in that caught your attention, what was that? >> when the first responders got there there was already stiffening of the jaw. jenna: okay. >> that indicates she's been dead for a few hours before she was found, so she had been hanging there for a number of hours. there is also something very interesting here about the feet, because the -- jenna: let me see, let me see if we can scroll down. >> down to the feet. thank you. what was noticed is she has a lot of dirt on the bottoms of her feet that match the dirt that was on the balcony. and her fingerprints ar foot preupblts are in that area and nobody else's footprints. that's why the sheriff's department thought nobody brought her there. jenna: you've seen so many cases. have you seen anything like this. >> i've seen some cases like this occasion until here people are nude when they commit

suicide. i've never seen one exactly like this. i've never seen a homicide like this. as unusual as this type of nudity, because she was maybe embarrassed about the child that she was taking care of who was in the process of dying, it's even more unusual for this to be done in a homicide than a suicide. jenna: and the parents go on to say that she would never, ever do this she showed no signs of depression, but that is not always the case in a suicide. >> that's correct. jenna: we hope you come back after they do the second autopsy. >> we'll see what the doctor finds. jenna: we will. jon: great illustration there. that is a very, very strange and puzzling case. have you ever fallen victim to an internet scam? there is a new effort to protect you from online pirates. you might be surprised to learn who is not happy about it. also life or death. it is the sentencing phase underway now in that horrifying connecticut home invasion case. what the convicted killer's

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jon: a fox news alert. speak of the house john boehner says he hopes that so-called super-committee that is now struggling with ways to cut a trillion dollars or more from the u.s. deficit will get its work done so that the country can avoid the automatic spending cuts that will take place if that committee doipt get its work

done. he also is saying that he doesn't want that super-committee to undertake any drastic revisions of the tax code. he says that that is a matter that should be left to congress. a lot of people said when the super-committee was formed the congress should do the business about figuring out how to spend the nation's money that is water under the bridge. it has been left to the super-committee and we'll see how they do. some new developments in the connecticut home invasion sentencing phase. the father of convicted killer, joshua komisarjevsky, taking the witness stand for a second day. he testified that his son was sexually abused as a child by a foster teen. the parents had taken in. he never got his sonny psychological counseling and says the state should have helped his family more. geraldo rivera is the host of "geraldo at large" and an attorney and watching this case very closely.

every father is going to get on the stand and say, please my son doesn't deserve to die. >> routine. jon: do you think this particular father did his sonny good? >> well, you have to start, jon, at the point where you recognize that new england is the most adverse to the death penalty of any region in the country. jon: this is not texas. >> this is not texas. and in connecticut specifically there has only been one execution since 1960. that was a fellow named michael ross who was guilty of eight rape purreds. he was a -- murders. student and cornell university. he volunteered essentially to die. even someone as loathsome as michael ross would have been able to prolong this agonizing process before he was execute, if he was ever to be executed. so he volunteered, michael ross. he turned to religion, et cetera. steven hayes, the colleague of joshua komisarjevsky there is a total dirt bag. a man with a record as long as his arm.

he admits he is a serial killer, career criminal. again someone richly deserving of the death penalty and it is a testament to the horrible nature of this crime that people are talking about the death penalty again in the context. steven hayes, he is a goner. this kid, joshua, only had a petty criminal record previously. jon: there is the father by the way. >> this is the father who is saying my poor adopted son, they adopted him when he was six weeks old. my poor adopted son had a rough childhood. he was raped by a 15-year-old when he was only four years old. please forgive him, his trespasses because he has been address passed upon. whether it will work it might. they might seem, they might see steven hayes as the prime perpetrator, the prime mover in this horrible crime and this joshua komisarjevsky just kind of the dim wit colleague, associate. they may spare his life. i doubt it though. i think they will both get

the death penalty. whether or not it will ever be implemented remains obviously to be seen seen given connecticut's history. jon: yeah it can take forever. this father, of komisarjevsky a sympathetic figure. he has parkinson's disease. he shuffled into court as we understand it. he kept his hands fedded. his hands are shaking. apparently his voice is affected by the disease. he is strictly religious man. thought religion would take care of his son's problems but didn't get him any help, psychological help after these attacks that were apparently perpetrated on him by this foster child who was also in the home at that time. that kind of cuts both ways. the jury is going to say obviously this family has deep love for fellow human beings and willing to take in the needy children but at the same time it is a family that really didn't do anything outside of saying

some prayers. >> i think you're correct, jon, when you say the dad is a sympathetic figure. he is absolutely, totally overshadowed by the most sympathetic figure in this court, dr. petit. beaten by this defendant, not steven hayes but by komisarjevsky with a baseball hat within a millimeter of his life. he is sitting in court. he is watching this proceeding and everything that is happening here is happening as he sits and bears witness. that's why i think however sympathetic the dad, joshua will go down for the count. jon: we'll see what happens. thank you. don't miss geraldo this weekend. he will be hosting geraldo at large, sunday at 10:00 p.m. always a fascinating show. >> thank you, jon. jenna: a push on capitol hill to protect u.s. consumers pro from internet pirates around the world. rich edson with sieve are with the story. rich? >> reporter: say you're looking for sports jersey,

you search on line, one for 100 bucks and one for $60, and one site offering for 7. chances are that $7 jersey is poorly made copy likely on sale for another country. selling bootleg copies is illegal. costs manufacturers of sports gear, movies and cosmetics billions of dollars each year. a lawmaker just introduced his version of a solution. proposal gives the federal government the legal tools it needs to crack down on the foreign companies stealing u.s. products and ideas. >> this will cut those sites off from the u.s. market. they will still exist and they can sell to other countries but by cutting them off from the u.s. market which is by far the world's biggest market we'll do a real dent in their business and we'll protect our jobs and we'll protect our consumers. >> reporter: while some major businesses support this bill, internet companies like yahoo!, google and ebay say they are firmly against pieces of it. they say the proposal would hold them responsible for policing what sellers sell

on their sites. opening them up to lawsuits and force them to developing new technology. >> if one page is used for illegal activity the entire site is put at risk for liability. there is no way to monitor and comply with that kind of monitoring obligation to avoid liability. >> reporter: there is also a version in the senate where both sides will continue to fight this out. jenna? jenna: rich edson in d.c. rich, thank you very much for that. we'll move onto another international story. well, a story that really is important to us here at home as well. are we in a shadow war with iran? that's the suggestion from our next guest. in testimony on capitol hill yesterday he said relations between iran and the u.s. are as contentious as they were in the late '80s. he is director of counterterrorism and intel at the washington institute for near east policy. now why, matthew? why did we take a little pause in the 1990s. why are we back at it with

iran again in this shadow war? >> hey, jenna. in large part some of this continued but it was at a peak in the late 1980s and 1990s and it is now again. in part for two reasons. in the late 1980s you had the rise of the radical religious leaders and they saw terrorism abroad as a cheap way of furthering foreign policy goals and distracting people from things that were going on at home, much like they want to today. but then also we have this increase today in sanctions, in defections of their intelligence people from the irgc and the quds force. and also the assassinations of some of the scientists involved in their nuclear program. you put all these things together and i think they certainly see some type of shadow war like we had say in the 1990s. jenna: how would you define shadow war, matt, by the way? >> this is not all-out

military confrontation but we are using all elements of national power. economic sanctions, diplomatic tools and covert activities if any of the issues being listed being done by us or allies to target iran. jenna: are we winning? >> i think we are holding our own. but the real issue is the nature of this regime. i think if we don't pick up the pace of sanctions, if we don't target key elements of the central bank, bank merkazi, if we don't leverage military presence in the gulf, which means don't going to war, and contend with the iranian presence iraq they continue to do things like targeting the saudi ambassador here in washington for assassination without any real consequence. we are doing a lot. i think we should publicize more of that. jenna: let's pick up off that point. maybe in the media talk about it a little bit more but what do you think is

holding us back from doing more and doing that posturing? >> i think the united states under both republican and democratic administrations for many years now has been risk-averse when it comes to iran in part because iran is so aggressive. if you take this latest plot, this was shocking even to people like me observers of iran and have been for a long time. we didn't expect iran would try to carry out an act terrorism in broad daylight targeting a restaurant midday in washington, d.c.. jenna: you mentioned a democratic administration. do you think the republicans would handle any better? >> i said both. i think republican and democratic administrations have been risk-averse certainly publicly. which is why a lot more has been done on the quiet covert side. a lot of that has to remain covert to be certain. for example, some of the things we've been doing in iraq to contend with the iranian presence there and illicit activities they're doing there, those are things we could be talking about more. i think for example, sanctions can be very useful in disrupting, not ending,

but disrupting iranian illicit activity. we have to be a lot more aggressive there as well. taking one action. waiting a few weeks. taking another action. that won't do it. that doesn't send enough of a message to iran. i think there are a lot of things we could be doing, convincing al ice especially in south america, to constrain the size of iranian embassies. there are huge embays is -- embassies far beyond the size they need for diplomatic businesses. we know they have intelligence operations there particularly on the southern border. we like to make those things seriously. jenna: we like to talk about the embassies and their size and we report something new about the iranian nuclear strategy and something like that. let's talk more again, matt. >> look forward to coming in. jenna: thank you. jon: hurricane rina has been downgraded to a tropical storm but it still could cause plenty of trouble as it takes aim at cancun, mexico. we'll have the latest on that storm and where it could go after that

>> hey, everyone, i'm megyn kelly. governor rick perry of texas polling now in the single digits after less than stellar debate performances. so now he has found an interesting solution to his debate problem. we'll tell you what it is top of the hour. plus homeland security chief janet napolitano claims she has never spoken to attorney general eric holder about operation "fast & furious". is that possible? we investigate? "joe the plumber" is running for congress. he joins us to tell us why. baby lisa's parents now say they will speak to police but only under certain conditions. judge alex is here on what they are. see you at the top of the hour. jon: some fascinating changes developing in those brand new fox polls that we told you about at the top of the hour. support for businessman herman cain has quadrupled among republican primary

voters since late august. he is up 17%. now officially leads the pack with 24%. mitt romney now in second position in our poll with 20%. newt gingrich now stands at 12%. the former speaker of the house edges out texas governor rick perry who has 10%. he is just above ron paul at 9%. joining us now, bret baier, the anchor of "special report". a guy who likes to chew on these numbers as much as anybody. still very much a field in flux. still a field, that well, i guess anybody could win, huh? >> definitely, jon. it is a field in flux. this poll shows us a number about of different things. you mentioned herman cain quadrupling his numbers about. newt gingrich quadruple ed his numbers in a short period of time since august. mitt romney fell a bit, 23% to 20%. his high in our polling has been 26%. we've seen that over time. in this poll he is dropping

support. i will say in other polls, some new statewide polls out of the first states that will vote, mitt romney is seen as leading in all of those other organizations polling. you have to look at polls with a bit of a grain of salt but they do tend to give you a broad picture as you look over all of the polling and right now we see that mitt romney has so far capped at about 23 to 26, maybe 30 at the top. but herman cain has really picked up steam in recent polls, even after some of those so-called gaffs that critics were all over him about. jon: yeah. is it the debates helping to propel him? people like him personally. he comes across as a friendly guy. they seem to like the direct speaking style. are the debates being kind to herman cain? >> well they are. he had a string of debates in which he performed arguably very well by all amounts. his last couple have, you know, raised some eyebrows in some of the questions and

the way he answered them. but you're right, he is given a bit of a forgiveness factor from viewers and voters in the gop electorate because he is plainspoken and they like him. there is a likeability factor. in fact the intensity in our poll, herman cain is at the top of that list as far as who people like and who they think would be good. president obama does well actually in, if he were to win, if he were to win the election, there is actual a 24% said they would be very happy. this is across both idealogical spectrums, republicans and democrats. herman cain is at 22% there. and mitt romney is, i think at 20%. so you see the factor here on both sides of the aisle about where they stack up. right now cain's doing well. jon: as soon as cain starts

doing well in the polls he also gets some bad news in terms of negative media coverage in the "new york times." we don't have time to talk about it today. we'll talk about it this weekend on "news watch". that is my program. your program is "special report". bret baier anchors each evening 6:00 p.m. eastern time. get all the news from capitol hill. great program. >> this is just my program. that is good, "news watch". jon: it's fascinating. >> another twist in the terrible release and killing of those dozens of rare wild animals in ohio. remember a few of them survived and they went to the zoo. we have some new details on what will happen to those animals next.

jon: right now new information from stories developing around the world straight out of our control room. at least nine people are dead, six others missing in

severe flooding along the italian coast near tuscany. flash floods and mudslides tore through villages. rescue workers struggle to reach some of the hardest hit areas. in turkey two men are pulled out of rubble alive today more than four days after the powerful earthquake hit there. it offers hope that other people might still be rescued. cancun, mexico, braces for the worst as tropical storm rina takes aim at that resort city. rina still packing 70 mile-an-hour winds as it nears the yucatan peninsula. jenna: other news on this story that got so much attention when it first broke. the case of the exotic animals in the strange case out of ohio last week. rick, you have an update what is going on with some of those animals that survived. >> reporter: that's right, jenna. this is latest twist in already bizarre story. mary ann thompson, whose husband set free 50 exotic animals from his own private zoo last week before killing himself, says she wants to

reclaim the half dozen animals that survived that ordeal. we're talking about three leopards, two primates and a bear, all cared for by a staff at the columbus zoo since all this unfolded. the zoo says it has no legal right to keep theance mall the animals but they're doing everything they can to prevent having to keep the animals back. they are hoping that mrs. thompson would leave the animals at the zoo in the care of our professionals. we're trying to get authorization from government authorities and agencies to ensure they say at the zoo. ohio governor john kasich starting a task force to write a new low to make it tougher for people to own their own exotic animals. police were forced to kill four dozen animals from tomtom son's property including rare bengal tigers, lions. bears and giraffe. jenna: amazing to believe

that there is no law that will keep them at the zoo after everything that happened. unbelievable. update you what will happen with these animals and we'll be back with more "happening now" so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we pu.

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neither is investing. [ birds chirping ] jenna: well, a pretty good day on wall street. we were talking earlier that the european debt plan seems to be coming together, and there was so much tech and urgency over this plan, jon, i mentioned that the french president, nicolas sarkozy, missed the birth of his daughter, and you admitted to your viewers that you actually missed the birth of one of your children, but it wasn't anything to do with the debt crisis. what happened? >> it was 18 years ago, i was on assignment overseas. he came along about fife weeks -- five weeks earlier than we were expecting. jenna: has he ever forgiven you? >> our first two kids were late, he was five weeks early. jenna: is that the musician? jon: yes. he just turned 18, and i'm very proud of him.