peyton burl lesson. his father stationed in egypt for a year. doesn't know when he will go back. home with his son. >> those stories get me every time. jon:. bill: have a good tuesday. full results on "america's newsroom." nice to see you, patti ann. >> great to see you. "happening now" right now. jon: spend every hour with those reunion stories. live pictures though as a 737 rolls off the taxiway in atlanta, world's busiest airport. incredible video on what authorities call significant damage to the plane. investigation how that could have happened. jenna: how could that have happened? the deep south campaign could be the very big win for the winner. former arkansas governor mike bee joins us live. jon: a 12-year-old girl writes nasty stuff on

facebook. so her school forces her to reveal her password and punishes her for what they read there. you guessed it. a lawsuit. it is all "happening now.". jenna: fox news alert. we'll talk more about that delta 737 veering off the runway in atlanta. you're looking at live pictures now. rick folbaum has more details. rick? >> reporter: jenna, you don't like to see a plane in that position. most important thing as we look at the pictures, no passengers were onboard this plane, no one was hurt. but think of what a disaster this could have been if the plane was filt with people. mechanics were just testing the engines of this boeing 737 when all of a sudden the breaks malfunctioned. the plane rolled off a taxiway right into an embankment. you see the early morning shots. spokesman for delta said the plane was pretty significantly damaged. another plus got to be the accident happened as early as it did before the morning

rush. the faa says the overall airport operations in in atlanta were not affected. we'll bring you more information as we get it. jenna: it's a big news day today. we have two primaries in the deep south that could reshape this replbl can -- republican race. i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. "happening now", voting is underway in alabama and mississippi. total of 84 delegates up for grabs in those two states. the takes are obviously very high. newt gingrich making several campaign stops in alabama today, fighting for a crucial win there. mitt romney is looked ahead to missouri after a campaign swing in alabama yesterday. rick santorum moving on to louisiana after a big push in the deep south. ron paul, not actively competing in those two contests. joining us now on the phone, former arkansas governor mike huckabee. he is also the host of "huckabee" on the fox news

channel. governor, what should we be looking for today? >> jon, the big story is how well mitt romney does in the south. if he can take either of these two states it is a huge, huge win. the fact he is polling close and a dead-heat among the top three candidates is in itself is significant. no one thinks romney can win either of these states. the most likely one he wins is mississippi. he has support of a very popular governor, bill bryant there. he will play well in alabama and probably come up close to second. but that is a big deal for mitt romney and he needs that going forward so that people won't say, well, he can do well in the north and well in the west but he can't compete in the south. this would change their narrative for him. jon: shouldn't the advantage here to be newt gingrich, obviously having represented a southern state in congress for so many decades? >> well, it should. his overwhelming victory in his home state of georgia certainly gave him some cred in terms of his southern

capacity but rick santorum connects very well with the value voters that are in the south and there's a big split between people following gingrich and who are following santorum. that is one of the reasons that romney has a clear opening up the middle and could end up surprising people in either of these states. i don't think it ends anyone's campaign tonight even if gingrich were to lose in both of these states. i don't think he quits but i think it makes it more difficult for him to go forward. then the battle becomes between gingrich and santorum which one has the best shot of being the non-romney. jon: polls are indicating that you could see a couple of states that split the vote pretty evenly three ways. if that happens, doesn't it just preserve everybody's candidacy and keep all of these candidates slogging on toward tampa? >> oh, i think it does, jon. in fact i don't anticipate even if gingrich were to come in third in both. states i don't think he says that's it, i'm done the point is in a race like this

where no one is close to the magic number of 1144 there is no reason for anyone to get out. i know the pundits and sometimes the political insiders in d.c. and party officials would love for this thing to be over, but that's not fair to gingrich and it's not fair to santorum. gingrich is still alive and something can happen. santorum could say something. romney could say something that could end their campaign in an instant. and the volatility of this race and fluidity of it means that the smart play for newt gingrich is to stay on his feet, look for the opening, and slog it out and when someone gets 1144 delegates, yeah they all need to step aside and give it up, but until then it is still game on. jon: let me get your take on the question that so many republicans wringing their hands about. are these four candidates destroying each other on the way to trying to win the oval office? >> yes, i totally agree it has gotten a little bit

absurd especially when the big argument is mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most conservative of them all? the truth is they're all conservative. some more so in a few areas than others. some can point to some vote somebody made or a comment they made but compared to barack obama, they're all conservative and it's a ludicrous argument to continue to try to shred each other. they need to show what they bring that will be different to the president. how they will approach the general election campaign. give the republican voters not so much a choice among conservatives there is not a lot of daylight between. show the contrast that they're going to bring to barack obama in the fall in the general election. let the republican voters make that decision, not a decision who is the meanest junkyard dog in this race. jon: mike huckabee, who traveled this road four years ago as a republican contender for president. also the former governor of

arkansas. mr. huckabee, governor huckabee, thank you. >> thank you, jon. jenna: jon, let's turn now to gas prices. it is a big issue on the campaign trail and for all of us. the price of gas is topping $3.08 a gallon. in some areas that price is well over $4 as you well know. the new numbers show that the pain at the pump could hurt the president. his polls of his approval rating at an all-time low in one particular survey. wendell goler is live at the white house with more on this. >> reporter: jenna, the cbs-"new york times" poll is the second in as many days that the president's job approval rating is falling directly tied to the price of gasoline. yesterday, a "abc news/washington post poll" showed a four point drop since gasoline prices spiked last month. newest poll puts his job approval rating at 41%, an all-time low. disapproval, 47%. most people blame him for

the soaring gasoline prices. 54% say the president can do something about the price of gasoline. only 36% say no. in fact experts say there is really little the president can do about the price of gasoline. global demand sets the price of oil and problems in sudan, yemen, syria, libya, japan's switch from nuclear power to oil-generated electricity after the tsunami disaster and maintenance problems with britain's north seal oil platform left the world about a million barrels a day short. the president defended himself in an interview with a denver television station yesterday saying the country actually made progress on his watch. >> we're using about a million barrels less of oil, of foreign oil than we were a couple of years ago. and that's huge progress. we want to continue that progress. for the first time in a long time we're importing less than 50% of our oil. and i want to keep on bringing that down because that will have the a real impact on gas prices over

the long term. >> reporter: in the 2008 campaign mr. obama often noted that gasoline prices were double what they were when george w. bush took office. now, gasoline prices fell sharply during the recession but ironically the recovery is one of the things pushing them back up again. jenna. jenna: more on the story throughout the day today. wendell, thank you. jon: right now the new york city police department is getting some support from a very unlikely source. as the controversy intensifies over the nypd monitoring of islamic communities in the northeast, one muslim journalist is defending the decision. our chief tell intelligence correspondent catherine herridge live in washington with more on that. >> reporter: jon, good morning. a new poll released by quinnipiac college, voters most are reporting shows support also from unexpected quarter. >> we're using religion as a cover. this is koran from saudi arabia. >> reporter: 46-year-old

practicing muslim and journalist showed a koran from a mosque in west virginia. the saudi publisher added negative language about jews and christians. this interpretation of islam she says is a part of a larger problem. why are you speaking out now? >> we're saying you can't go into our mosques. you can't look at our muslim organization. you can't even look at muslims that is to target us. the truth is we do have a problem in our muslim community. >> reporter: have you been threatened for what you have said? >> i have had death threats i think those are the calculations you have to make when you want to make a difference. >> reporter: she worked with "wall street journal" reporter daniel pearl, who was kidnapped and his throat slit by islamic radicals after 9/11. >> they did their prayer on the blood-soaked floor of the room where he was murdered. in our five weeks searching for danni, what i discovered the pakistani police had no place that was off limits to them. there was no political

correctness in their books about mosques. >> reporter: last week the attorney general confirmed that the justice department is reviewing complaints about the nypd's surveillance in the new york city police commissioner was here today, what would you say to him? >> i would tell him to keep going forward and really help us clean you have our mosques in our communities. >> reporter: mani says she believes ray kelley, new york city police commissioner has sophisticated understanding what the program is. critics say the nypd has overstepped their authority. jon: the critics have been very vocal. >> reporter: they have. jon: catherine herridge thank you. >> reporter: you're welcome. jenna: more protests in afghanistan after the murder of 16 civilians. angry crowds demanding the u.s. get out for good as the taliban threatens a violent revenge. we'll have a live report from the ground there in afghanistan coming up. jon: also a manhunt underway for these two men. they broke out after california jail.

how they managed to get away. jenna: the manslaughter trial begins today for the florida millionaire who adopted his girlfriend that is now his daughter, jon. a legal tactic. a live report, next. jon: bizarre. eeeeeeeee! whee! whee! wheeeeeeeee! ah heads up. wheeeeeeeeeeee! everything you love about geico, now mobile. download the new geico app today.

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we're there when you need us. jon: a fox news alert. and a manhunt underway in california two inmates that escaped custody and assaulted at least one person very soon after getting out. rick folbaum has more on this breaking story. >> reporter: jon, we're watching this story very closely because these guys are still on the loose. they escaped from a minimum security jail early sunday morning. after their escape they then stole a truck from a farmer, beating him up before speeding away. here are the suspects. we'll show them to you. 26-year-old, adam michael mershand and. 28-year-old, joshua john

anderson. he is described as white, 5'9", 200 pounds, blue hair, blue eyes, rather, brown hair. anderson, sentenced for drug and parole violations. there he is is on the screen. six feet tall. brown hair, green ice. they were held in an honor farm. a very low security prison system. it is a relic really from a different era in law enforcement. this particular one outside of sacramento dates back to 1948. people who live nearby say they never felt completely safe there. if you know where these two guys are, where they're headed call the local sheriff's office. there is the number on the screen. 209-468-4400. as we get more, jon, we'll pass it alongers would be nice to get them back in custody. rick, thank you. jenna:, opening statements begin today in the dui manslaughter trial of florida tycoon, john goodman. he faces 30 years in prison if convicted of in a traffic

accident for taking life of a young man. police believe he took the unusual step of adopting a long-time girlfriend as now his daughter. steve harrigan live in the courthouse in west palm beach, florida. steve, any sign of what the defense, goodman's team, what they're about to do here? >> reporter: it is a high-powered legal defense team. looks like though put the car on trial. making move that the $250,000 bentley driven by goodman that night two years ago that killed the 23-year-old man was malfunctioning. saying it was computer on wheels that the throttle controlled by the computer suddenly malfunctioned. now the prosecutor is saying that is nonsense. they say the car was inspected after the crash. it was in fact fine. they claim that goodman was heavily drinking on the night of the accident. here's the prosecutor. >> the defendant consumed 16 to 18 drinks. now that doesn't mean 16 to

18 glasses. and mr. yahtman will tell you what constitutes a drink. but if he consumed the shots, grey goose and irish car bomb and mind eraser, that would constitute approximately 13 drinks. >> reporter: mind erasers, irish car bombs and shots of tequila. goodman's blood alcohol level three hours after the crash tested at more than twice the legal limit, jenna. jenna: that being what it is, let's go back to the defense again. they say it is the car's fault, it is not his fault. and that is not why he caused the accident. then why did he go ahead and adopt his girlfriend if it indeed is the car's fault? >> reporter: both sides do acknowledge money has a lot to do with the move to adopt his girlfriend. good man's team says he is simply trying to control a trust, a trust. for his two biological children worth more than $300 million. he says he has their best

interests at heart. the two children are now suing their own father. the prosecution says he is doing it to get his hands on some of that money. jenna: bizarre case. steve harrigan, thank you very much. jon: parts of louisiana under a state of emergency. firefighters rescuing stranded residents after storms drop several feet of rain. we have the latest on the problems there. and what would you do if a principal demanded your child's facebook and e-mail passwords? what happened at one middle school is now triggering a national debate on student privacy. we'll take a closer look at both sides in this argument.

jenna: new development in a privacy battle at a minnesota middle school.

we want to tell but it because it is such an interesting case. a 12-year-old girl is suing after her principal demanded she turn over her facebook password. the school says it was trying to resolve a case of alleged bullying by looking at messages she wrote on her account from a home computer. the case is triggering a national debate on private system as i'm sure you can imagine, lis wiehl, former federal prosecutor, fox news legal analyst. doug burns is former criminal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney the welcome to you both. lis, start with the facts, she is 12. >> right. jenna: 12 years old. so what rights exactly does she have here? >> she has fewer rights in the school but has a first amendment right and has right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. here is what happened, jenna, she was in class, right? she was pulled out of the class interrogated in a small room, without her mother. her mother was never called. her mother never gave permission. you must, not would you, you plus give over your private

facebook account number and password, which is violation of facebook's rules. poor 12-year-old girl was not allowed to call her mom when she had to do that. i crying and sobbing. the i think the school went too far. jenna: aclu agrees with that, dougs they say this is violation of her first and fourth amendment rights. she was basically harassed the by the school. supreme court ruled on that in the 1970s yet schools like this one seem to have no record for that standard. what do you think, judge? >> that is gross overgeneralization, and schoolchildren do shed a lot of their rights and lis averted to the right at the outset. schools can search your locker, to, without a warrant. there is all kinds of exception in school. this case is very interesting because what happened was they are very, very careful to categoryize this as quote, unquote, off

campus speech. but reality in the is in the facebook messages are things related to school. so since cyberspace has no specific geographic location they can clearly do it. >> but under that standard, anything related to the school, i mean that would be a kid's homework assignment. really schools can go in and look at facebook page of these kids? the thing for a 12-year-old girl, who will she trust again? she will not trust the school and officials. jenna: let's get old-fashioned. talk about slam books. you remember slam books? watch the movie "mean girls". >> yes. jenna: passing around slam books. writing bad things about each other. that was bullying. if it was a slam book the school could say thank you very much, i'm taking that away from you kids. >> but it wasn't. >> the point is though that type of thing, jenna, exactly the way you put it differs from the homework assignment with all due respect. homework assignment is private homework assignment. i don't like the haul monitor and don't like this other person and by the way these complaints belong in

federal court that is another whole seminar. by the way what are the damages, lis? >> she will have damages. she was crying. sobbing embarrassed. >> crying. >> excuse me, 12-year-old girl crying in class and embarrassed in some of her classmates. all she said i don't like this particular school monitor. jenna: wait a minute. that might not be all she said. that is the school's statement. referring to the girl as rs. hear is the statement from the sky district. rs participated in facebook conversations that contributed to a disruption of the learning environment and caused some people within the school community to feel unsafe. the actions taken by the school district with regards to the girl were intended to prevent suspected harm to self or others and to prevent disruption. isn't that the responsibility of the school, lis, to protect others. >> jenna, if there are such e-mails and facebook postings. only one i heard about i hate this particular school monitor. if there were danger to the community, danger to the school community.

you know what? you get a search warrant. then out of the hands of the school. you go right for probable cause warrant and get a search warrant. >> you don't need a search warrant, lis. >> you don't if you bully the poor child into giving you the -- >> you don't need a search warrant to search in a school. jenna: one final quick thought from you, doug, then i will wrap it up. one of the reasons we paid attention to this case, we're seeing a trend, reports of a trend, employers are asking for their employees for passwords or twitter. jon is on e-mail. i might look at his password to see what he is doing over there. make sure you're not saying anything bad about fox news for example. what do you think about that? shouldn't that be something employers are allowed to do just in case. >> there is huge legal distinction because all of these constitutional principles have to do with state action which is the government. a school district, remember is a government. private company is whole different ballgame. jenna: we'll leave it there. have you both back. if jon is writing something incriminating that we'll

make --. jon: research only. >> research only. doug and lis, thank you very much. you're always working hard. jon: doing a little research. about slam books. jenna: remember slam books? i didn't know such a thing existed. jenna: jon? jon: have to go back and watch that movie. hey, there is flue fallout in fan began to tell you about. afghans hitting streets in protest after the murders of 16 civilians over. how safe are our u.s. troops? do we need to watch out for revenge killings? general jack keane is next. a dangerous car chase with an incredible twist. wait until you find out who witnesses say was behind the wheel wheel this time. [ male announcer ] when do you take 5-hour energy?

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[click-click] [♪...] jenna: now a fox news weather alert as thunderstorms cause fast-moving floods through and across louisiana. some areas hit with more than three feet of rain in just a few hours. take a look at some of these images. firefighters rescued dozens of people trapped in their homes. police had to close off washed-out roads like the ones you're seeing. some residents say this is the worst flooding they have seen in a long time. >> one was pushing me like, almost picking a package car up and moving it. so it's dangerous. it was chaotic. you have water, coming up to the steps. like two or three feet of water. jenna: certainly sounds scary, doesn't it? authorities declared a state

of emergency in four of louisiana's parishes. jon: "happening now", new violence in a very tense afghanistan after the murders of 16 civilians allegedly at the hands of an american soldier. armed gunmen opening fire on afghan government delegation visiting village where it happened. one afghan was killed. taliban threatening to behead american soldiers in retaliation. conner powell is live in afghanistan. >> reporter: jon we saw loud and violent protests across afghanistan. today we saw one small protest. a few hundred people in jalalabad in eastern, afghanistan. in comparison to previous protests this was a peaceful protests. they chanted death to america and burned american images. compared to the protests we saw last month this was very, very peaceful n large part the afghan government is doing their part to try to

calm tensions here. afghan president hamid karzai and other senior officials are trying to work the phones to talk to elders in kandahar and across the country not to protest and not see large widespread violent protests. they don't want it here anymore than the united states. the afghan government is working behind the scenes to try to keep calm here in the country but in southern afghanistan today, a group of afghan elders from the government went down to meet with afghan elders from the village where this attack happened and they were then attacked today by taliban insurgents. one afghan soldier was shot and killed. several others were wounded. for the most part the afghan delegation down there in southern afghanistan in kandahar were left fine, okay. but this is really about the relationship between the united states and the afghan people. the taliban are trying to use this incident to sort of rally support for their cause, even saying they're going to behead american soldiers, but this is really all about the american presence here in afghanistan and the relationship between the u.s. and the afghan

people. both the united states and the afghan government are trying to mend fences but there is a lot of damage done to the trust between the u.s. and the afghan people here and it will be a long time before the trust is restored following the koran-burning incident and now this latest attack that killed 16 civilians on sunday, jon. jon: conner powell, live from kabul afghanistan. conner, thank you. jenna: well-put and well-reported by conner. we'll have more on the developing situation in afghanistan in a moment. we'll bring you to the white house and the rose garden. the president is there. he is speaking on a trade action against china. we want to take a listen to this. >> over the weekend, as many of you know there was a tragic incident in which a number of afghan civilians were killed. what i've made to president karzai when i spoke to him is that the united states takes this as seriously as if it was our own citizens and our own children who were murdered. we're heartbroken over the

loss of innocent life. the killing of innocent civilians is outrageous and it is unacceptable. it is not who we are as a country and it does not represent our military. for that reason i directed the pentagon to make sure we spare no effort in conducting a full investigation. i can assure the american people and the afghan people that we will follow the facts wherever they lead us and we will make sure that anybody who was involved is held fully accountable with the full force of the law. yesterday i met with general allen and ambassador crocker who are here in washington and i have extraordinary confidence in them and in the many americans who are serving in afghanistan and who have made extraordinary sacrifices to be there. today i'll be meeting with prime minister cameron who

is part of our broad coalition serving in afghanistan and we'll have an opportunity to consult about the way forward as we prepare for the nato summit in chicago later this spring. make no his -- mistake, we have a strategy that will allow us responsibly to wind down this war. we're steadily transitioning to the afghans who are moving into the lead and that will allow us to bring our troops home. we're already scheduled to remove 23,000 troops by the end of this summer following by, following the 10,000 that we withdrew last year. meanwhile we will continue the work of devastating al qaeda's leadership and denying them a safe haven. there is no question that we face a difficult challenge in afghanistan but i am, i am confident that we can continue the work of meeting our objectives, protecting our country and responsibly bringing this war to a close. now, one of the things that

i talked about during the state of the union address was making america more competitive in the global economy. the good news is that we have the best workers and the best businesses in the world. they turn out the best products and when the playing field is leveled, they will always be able to compete and succeed against every other country on earth but the key is to make sure that the playing field is level and frankly sometimes it's not. i will always try to work our differences through with other countries. we prefer dialogue. that is especially true when it comes to key trading partners like china. we've got a constructive economic relationship with china and whenever possible we are committed to working with them to addressing our concerns but when it is necessary i will take action if our workers and our businesses are being subjected to unfair practices.

since i took office, we've brought trade cases against china at nearly twice the rate as the last ad men station and these actions are making a difference. for example, we halted an unfair surge in chinese tires which has helped put over 1,000 american workers back on the job. but we haven't stopped there. two weeks ago i created a trade enforcement unit to investigate any unfair trade actions taking place anywhere in the world. our competitors should be on notice. you will knot get away with skirting the rules. when we can we will rally support from our allies and when it makes sense to act on our even we will. i just signed a bill to help american companies that are facing unfair foreign competition. these companies employ tens of thousands of americans in nearly 40 states. because of subsidies from

foreign governments some of their foreign competitors are selling products at an artificially low price. that needs to stop. this morning we're taking an additional step forward. we're bringing a new trade case against china and we're being joined by japan and some of our european allies. this case involves something called rare earth materials which are used by american manufacturers to mike high-tech products like advanced batteries that power everything from hybrid cars to cell phones. we want our companies building those products right here in america but to do that american manufacturers need to have access to rare earth materials which china supplies. if china would simply let the market work on its own we would have no objections but their policies currently are preventing that from happening and they go against the very rules that china agreed to follow. being able to manufacture advanced batteries and hybrid cars in america is

too important for us to stand by and do nothing. we have to take control of our energy future and we can't let that energy industry take root in some other country because they were allowed to break the rules. so our administration will bring this case against china today and we will keep working every single day to give american workers and american businesses a fair shot in the global economy. we're going to make sure this isn't a country that is just known for what we consume. america needs to get back to doing what it's always done best, a country that builds and sells products all over the world that are stopped with the stamped with the proud words, made in america. that is how we create good middle class jobs at home and how we create a economy built to last. thank you very much, everybody. jenna: that is the president with a whole host of different things he was talking about today including afghanistan. we'll start with what he said about china. here is the background here.

china has rare earth materials inside their country. they have a corner on it. they have 97% of the all the rare earth minerals out there. they make it tough for other people to get access to it by changing taxes they have on exports for these materials. that makes thing very difficult for the rest of us who want to make devices like your cell phone or your flat screen television. that is one of the reasons why they also keep their products keeper -- cheaper than when we make them. the president alongwith the e.u. and japan filed this trade case because they want china to trade their policy on these minerals. peter morici, former chief economist for the international trade commission. he teaches at the university of maryland and knows all about this stuff. peter, will they change? will this make china change? >> if we win the case china has two choices. it can either trade its policies and we can retaliate and retaliate ways it doesn't like. we can block exports

products that use the rare earth materials and that would be legally fine under the wto. jenna: why would you make it easier for anybody else to get it? >> there are issues that they're concerned about. if they don't respond appropriately after losing a wto case then americans won't respond appropriately when they win. the wto is sort of a club. everybody has to play by the rules or you find other kids in the playground won't play with you at all. jenna: do you really this would happen with china? >> i don't think so. this is deathbed conversion on part of the president. he is down on the polls. people aren't satisfied with the way he handled the economy and for good reason. we have huge trade deficit with china on oil strangling the u.s. economy. he decided to get religion and get tough with china six months before the election. i think this new contraption he has got, the group that will monitor unfair trade practices will fade into the sunset come january if he isn't reelected as president because he continued a policy of appeasement three

years towards china as witnessed for example by his policy on currency. jenna: we'll see if it works this time. it will take a couple months. this is the announcement. peter, thank you for working through the breaking news and we'll be back with more "happening now" when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we were determined to see it through. here's an update on the progress. we're paying for all spill related clean-up costs. bp findings supports independent scientists studying the gulf's environment. thousas of environmental samples have been tested and all beaches and waters are open.

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jenna: we just heard from the president on afghanistan today as well. he said that our country takes killings in afghanistan of civilians as serious as our own children, as the death of our own children. he also says he is confident that we can still meet our objectives in afghanistan. let's bring in now, general jack keane, former vice chief of staff of the army and a fox news military analyst. general keane, this contradict as report in the "new york times" today that suggests that the white house has a growing belief inside its walls there is diminishing returns in afghanistan. have we reached that point, that point of diminishing returns? >> no, absolutely not. as you know i was there in january and i can verify that we've turned the situation completely around in the south and, taliban are largely defeated there.

now we're taking our resources and applying them in the east. we need the rest of this fighting season in 2012 and also in 2013 to complete that mission. and then we'll be able to transform and transition to the afghan national security forces which is our plan by 24 teen. jenna: some are suggesting that the withdrawal will happen quicker now. that really this moves that we're not having the right strategy in afghanistan. you believe that we are. now if we do change course, let's say suddenly there is announcement that we'll withdraw quicker than is projected, what is the risk? >> if we pull out faster that means there will be greater risk in the east trying to complete that mission and we've got to take the haqqani network down in the east. it is the toughest terrain and very resolute fighters. we never had the adequate amount of resources there. now we finally do. i'm confident we can truly make a difference there. stick with the forces we have. accept a recommendation that

will come forward from general allen. i'm confident he will want to keep most of his forces in place through 2013. jenna: there seems to be a feeling that we're playing a little bit of defense right now. the koran burning, this killing, it is making us feel reactionary or feeling again being on our heels when it comes to news out of afghanistan. are we too much on our heels here, general keen? should we be more on our toes, playing offense whether it comes to the news or the situation on the ground there in afghanistan? >> the way this plays in capital cities it appears everything is going wrong. the fact of the matter is war is full of mistakes, setbacks and disappointments. however winning a war is fundamentally a test of wills. to win you have to persevere despite the setbacks. that's why leadership in war is at a premium. it is not for the faint-hearted. you always will have these kind of major setbacks. we've got to stay focused on why we're there, first and foremost. security of the american

people. take away the sanctuary in afghanistan and began a campaign of war against the al qaeda. those two reasons have not changed. if we move out too early, if we cut and run, we will turn that back into a saying wary. the al qaeda will return. and the risk to the united states, i believe, is absolutely unacceptable. jenna: some important context for us today. general keane, as always, thank you very much. and we'll be right back with more on "happening now.". [ male announcer ] montgomery and abiil haggins

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jon: well, a major controversy is brewing in texas right now. everything is bigger in texas, right? this after the justice department blocked the state from enforcing a law that requires voters to show state issued photo i.d. when they go to the polls. the reason? well, attorney general eric holder says the proposed law would unfairly

affect poor latinos. and the battle is likely to play out across the country as more than 30 states have similar legislation in the works. so, why is it okay to require i.d. when cashing a check or boarding a plane and not at the polls? let's ask fox news senior judicial analyst, judge andrew napolitano. >> jon. jon: you say, judge, look a lot of people say it is important to make sure that the voting process is sacrosanct. that everybody is, you know, on the up and up when they go to the polls but you say in this case be careful what you wish for? >> yeah. be careful what you wish for, because this may lead to requirement of a national i.d. card. this, if conservatives get their wish, and i understand and sympathize with the right to make sure that somebody isn't voting who has already voted or who doesn't have the right to vote. but the idea of forcing us to carry i.d., which will eventually become a biometric i.d. which will have all kinds of electronic

information embedded in it, where the police can say, hey, jon scott, where did you come from? where are you going? let me see your i.d. whether you're going to vote or go to work. this is not a society the framers gave us and not a society that we want. that is one argument. the other argument is you need an i.d. for everything today and there definitely is fraud at the polls. it's minimally intrusive to have someone show the i.d. before they vote. what is the big deal? jon: well, that's the point. i have an i.d. to drive. i have to, i have to show an i.d. to check into a hotel. >> correct. jon: rich lowery makes the point you have to show an i.d. to get into the building that houses eric holder's justice department. >> correct. here is the problem, in my view. the problem is a federal statute that lets the attorney general interfere with the way the states run their voting. if someone believes their right has been interfered with, they can sue in federal court. but for the attorney general to say i'm a bureaucrat in

washington, i'm a political appointee. i don't like a statute in austin, texas, that is not authorized under the constitution. the problems with the statute that lets him do it. the problem is not with exercise of his judgment. jon: judge, i don't want to doubt your hypothetical. you say it could be a problem down the road but we are having a problem with voter fraud right now. i don't know, it is a tradeoff. >> pleasure, jon. jon: judge napolitano, we'll argue in your office after this. jenna: you should ask for his i.d.. jon: is that the real judge? jenna: we're not sure. jon: i will ask him to laugh. jenna: you will talk to rich lowery later next hour. jon: that's right. jenna: if you have any feedback, e-mail us, foxnews.com. mitt romney, newt gingrich, rick santorum all hoping for key trick veries there -- victories. we have a live report on the southern showdown, coming up.

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>> reporter: rick folbaum in the control room. the the next 60 minutes are all new here on "happening now." the rising gas prices on this primary day down in the south, and how these prices could effect the general election. some bad news for the president and some new poll numbers that we will have coming up. also, this is a sports complex, a hockey arena in michigan where players have gotten very sick over the last several days. we'll tell you about that, what is the possible cause. and then the latest and greatest in military hardware and technology, we'll give you a front row seat at the 2012 marine west expo at camp pendleton in california. the second hour of "happening now" starts right now. jon: a fox news alert and a wild scene continues to unfold at the world's busiest airport. cranes are now being used to lift a jet that rolled off the taxiway in atlanta causing significant damage to the aircraft. take a look at that picture.

luckily, no passengers onboard. delta air lineses saying mechanics were testing the engines when they suddenly had a problem with the brakes. peter gold is former managing director of the national transportation safety board, a man who has looked a many accidents more serious than this one. peter, how do you test the engines without brakes? >> well, there are processes and procedures. mechanics move aircraft around airports like atlanta every day, and there's a couple of things you've got to do. one is you've got to make sure that the hydraulics system is charged, that the pumps are on. that gives you the braking power. the second thing is if procedure calls for a static runup of the engine, then you've got to make sure you have your blocks in place to make sure the wheels aren't moving. i mean, this is, this is an awfully tough way to start the day if you're delta air lines. jon: yeah. the checklist, when i fly a little single-engine plane, the

checklist has me testing the brakes before i, you know, pull away from wherever the plane is tied down. that's job one. wouldn't they have done something like that here? >> well, i think we'll find out what happened because as soon as you turn the engine on, the black box, the data recorder starts activating. and they will have a complete picture of those few minute bees where the plane was moving, and they'll find out exactly what happened and what was forgotten or what, what broke. jon: yeah. looking at the plane, i mean, how much damage can a plane like that endure and still fly again? are they going to put this thing back in the air? >> well, i think they'll certainly try, but there are clearly some major structural damage that took place. you know, this recalls an accident that got wide showing on the internet of an a-340, you know, a much larger plane that

had never flown that just tore itself apart. do you remember those photos? jon: i did see those pictures, yeah. the mechanics taxiing that one, i think. >> yeah. this could keep that plane out of the air in the future, we'll see. jon: very expensive problem for delta air lines. peter, thank you. >> thank you. jon: well, it is election day in a couple of states in the south, very high-stakes contests with voting underway in mississippi and alabama right now. hello, i'm jon scott. jenna: and we're just going to try to keep it on the road, just keep it on the road for the next hour. jon: that's right. [laughter] jenna: not going to use that delta plane as an example. hi, everybody, i'm jen la lee, and we're going to take a look at a polling station in mobile, alabama. mitt romney is hoping to seal his status as the front run they are while newt gingrich and rick santorum battle to be romney's

main conservative challenger. >> alabama has a chance to elect someone who they agree with, their values. limited government, someone who believes in strong national defense. the only person in this race that wouldn't cut the defense department, the only person in this race that has any experience as commander in chief. jenna: little tough to make out the sound. carl cameron's live in birmingham, alabama, with more for us today. hey, carl. >> reporter: hello. yes, big day in the south. the deep south, alabama and mississippi, a possible turning point for one, two, maybe even three of the candidates depending on the outcome, and the polls suggest it's essentially looking like a three-way photo finish with newt gingrich favored in alabama although both mitt romney and rick santorum are close on his heels. there hasn't been a lot of polling in the previous days to this. mississippi hasn't had a contested primary in our lifetime, so it's all kind of new for them and not a lot of polling there either. in that state romney seems to be a little closer, but basically,

it's all within the margin of error. rick santorum is making the argument that he is the one with the integrity and honesty that can actually go up against barack obama in not just a national presidential debate, but a debate on the campaign trail of many, many weeks and months. newt gingrich is arguing that mitt romney's essentially flawed goods, can't coalesce conservatives around him, isn't trustworthy. gingrich has said these are must-win states and he's going all the way to the convention. romney is having no part of that and now aggressively attacking the notion that he's going to be unable to win the nomination outright, clinching the necessary delegates to be the nominee before the august convention. listen to this. >> we have a selection process, we're in the middle of it. i'm leading it strongly, i'm going to continue to lead it. you're going to see me getting the delegates i need to become the nominee, and we sure as heck are not going to go to a convention, all the way to the end of august, to select a nominee and have a campaign

working during a convention? can you imagine a biggest gift to barack obama? be that's just not going to happen. >> reporter: so alabama has 47 delegates at stake, mississippi 37 delegates at stake. also tonight american saw samoah nine and the state of hawaii with 20. we have seen more than half of the nation's states plus territories voting, and this is a very, very big test for newt gingrich, whether or not he can make good his pledge that alabama and mississippi for him were must-wins that he would in order to show the viability and fundraising capacity of his campaign going forward. jenna: we're very happy that you're in alabama covering this story, carl, but it would have been nice just to get a couple days in hawaii, just for what it's worth. [laughter] that's the breaks, i guess. carl cameron live in alabama today. >> reporter: i'm forwarding your recommendation upstairs, and maybe they'll change -- jenna: i'll sign that e-mail. i'll do it. carl, thank you. jon: diamondhead, here we come

for more, let's talk with paul west, national political correspondent for the washington bureau of the tribune company. paul, looking in the rearview mirror mirror a week or so ago, we had super tuesday. kind of inconclusive. you say today might shape this republican race more so than super tuesday did. what do you mean? >> well, a couple of things, jon. first of all, as carl was just saying, this is a very big day for newt gingrich. if he doesn't win both of those states -- and it's going to be tough for him to do that -- he has a hard time making an argument that he has a rationale for going forward. romney, on the other hand, wasn't expecting to do well in either one of those states, and he seems to be in the game. so as a result, he could come out better than expected when we get the votes in tonight. rick santorum was hoping to knock gingrich out, hoping to win both of those states. we'll see what happens. he's, he's lowering expectations, and it's a close

call in both of those states. jon: so san roar tunnel is try -- santorum is trying to establish himself as the conservative alternative to mitt romney, that's the line for be his campaign. if he doesn't do well, if he doesn't, you know, come in, at least win one of these states, does that argument go out the window? >> well, it certainly doesn't help him any. right now newt gingrich is mitt romney's best friend. what he's doing is dividing the conservative vote in a lot of these states, including in these two states, while not doing very well himself. newt has lost 17 of the last 18 contests, and the only one that he won was in his home state of georgia. so he's had a pretty awful month, month and a half. but he's helping divide the anti-mitt vote, and that's terrific at the moment for romney. jon: do you see a scenario in which newt gingrich could win both of these southern states and come rebounding back? >> he could certainly do that,

and there's another primary coming up about a week and a half from now in louisiana, and if he were to win those states from south carolina to louisiana, he would have sort of a regional block there, and we do start getting into considerations of an open convention despite what governor romney said yesterday. there won't be a nominee until we get to tampa at the end of august, the question is, will somebody have enough delegates before we get there, or will the convention decide who the nominee is? jon: paul west there in washington for tribune newspapers. thank you. >> thanks, jon. jenna: well, new instability is rocking the middle east today. israel taking on a wave of militant attacks on its southern border raising concerns of a possible preemptive strike against iran's suspected nuclear weapons program but also what happens if, indeed, that strike doesn't go forward. doug mckelway's live in washington with a closer look. >> reporter: hi, jenna.

tensions between israel and iran have increased in the last week as the result of satellite photos that appear to show trucks at the nuclear facility in iran. apparently, erasing evidence of a small nuclear weapons trigger test. and then secondly, the bombardment of gaza over the last few days by militants firing hundreds of rockets into israel. taken together, these events have bolstered israel's fear that it is staring down the barrel of a soon-to-be nuclear power. while the obama administration is trying to convince israel to wait while sanctions take hold, prime minister benjamin netanyahu has said sanctions are doing nothing. senator john mccain has been highly critical of the administration's approach. >> instead, um, the president has decided to try to persuade israel not to attack at least between now and november of 2012. it's not helpful. the relations between the united states and israel have never

been worse. >> reporter: there is one encouraging sign that we've seen in these rocket attacks on southern israel over the last few days, almost 90% of those rockets have been shot down by israel's new missile shield called iron dome. a former israeli brigadier general told "the wall street journal" today, quoting now: israel is going to be sometime in the future the best-equipped country in the world in active air defense against rockets. if this process continues, he said, in the perspective of a generation plus, you could speak of a transformation doctrine. in other words, as this missile fuel advances sophistication, it may provide another layer of security and provide israel a greater sense of security perhaps even in the face of iran's potential nuclear threat. jenna: important news for us today, doug. thank you. >> reporter: sure thing. jon: well, as the country struggles with sky high gas prices, president obama is feeling some of the pain himself. what it is doing to his approval

ratings. that's coming up next. plus, the republican showdown in the deep south. who has the most to gain and lose as voters go to the polls today in mississippi and alabama? we'll talk with surrogates for the three front runners coming up. ok! who gets occasional constipation,

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the more we help make opportunity possible. jenna: the high price of gas is hitting americans hard and beginning to show up in polling data as well. take a look at where we were a month ago for the national average for unleaded regular. $3.50. that seems cheap compared to last week, $3.76. and then today, $3.80, that's the national average. yesterday the president was talking about his efforts to get the steep price hikes under control. >> we're making progress both on the production front and becoming more efficient as an economy. but, obviously, that's not providing the kind of relief that people want right now at the gas pump. jenna: well, the president has a lot to think about these days

especially as we get closer to the election. this is a graphic from cbs news as gas prices go up, you can see that as the red line, the president's approval rating goes down. steve moore is a senior economics writer for "the wall street journal", start off with a true or false question, steve. [laughter] a single human being can effect the entire oil industry, true or false? >> boy, that's a tough one, jenna. jenna: come on. >> you know, i think true. i think the president in the longer term really can control gas prices. of course, the president would answer your question, false. he's basically blaming everybody but himself for these high gas prices. but, you know, you showed the statistics on what the gas prices were a few weeks ago. you go back to when president obama was first elected, the price of gasoline was less than $3 a gallon, so we've seen a big increase. and it's interesting to me, jenna, that the voters are connecting the dots between obama's policies which despite what he just said in that clip have been very anti-production.

he's really been very adversarial towards the oil and gas industry in the united states. in fact, he wants a $40 billion tax increase on that industry. so americans are understanding that those policies are having an effect on the price that we pay at the pump today. jenna: wait a minute, steve, what about everything else that's happening in the world? you have iran as a situation, you have the job market being what it is, you have all the dissatisfaction with congress, why would americans be so focused on just gas prices and that being the sole thing that's connected to the president's approval numbers? >> first of all, jenna, you're exactly right. the main reason we're seeing this temporary blip in prices is because of what's happening in the middle east, no question about it. but the point i always make, i made this a few weeks ago, when you have -- the disruptions that are happening in the middle east are exactly why we should be drill anything places like alaska and why we should be doing much more offshore drilling and having more permitting of our natural resources here in the united states so we're not so vulnerable to what's happening

abroad. now, your question is a good one about who else is responsible. yeah, congress is certainly responsible for some of these policies, the fact that we're not building this pipeline, i think, is kind of symbolic of the kind of anti-energy stance that this president has taken. so i think the american people are looking at things like keystone pipeline, they're looking at some of the anti-drilling policies and saying, wait a minute, if we'd been doing drilling two years ago, five years ago, ten years ago, we'd have that energy today and wouldn't be so vulnerable. jenna: all right. let's say all you're saying is true, i'm asking your opinion on all of this, so it's always good to have, steve. then the president and his people are going to say, okay, well, this is what's happening when we do this. we still have some time before the election, so what potentially are you watching for from the president? what could he do to change the course here? >> okay, great question. one is i think he should reverse this decision on the keystone pipeline. that's a lot of north american oil and natural gas that we're not going get because of that

pipeline not being built. a second one is will the epa and the department of interior start opening up new permits so that we can start drilling all over this country where we have so much oil and natural gas? you know, jenna, i just got back from north dakota. it's unbelievable what's going on in that state which, as you know, has the lowest unemployment rate in the country was they're producing so much oil and natural gas. jenna: i know it because you keep going there. [laughter] i keep hearing about it. >> we should be doing this in west virginia, oklahoma, texas, colorado and california. you know, it's a great story, and i guess what i'm saying, jenna, is we're a resource-rich nation with a lot of energy resources; oil, gas, coal. we should be developing it, and don't forget the president earlier in his administration was trying to pass a cap and trade policy which would have even made these gas prices higher than they are today. jenna: we'll take your list, we'll send it to the president. next time you go to north dakota, jon and i are going with you. >> a real party town. [laughter] jenna: hey, there's a lot going

on. always nice to see you. jon: hey, you need an id to walk into the justice department build anything washington, but the top guy who works there, attorney general eric holder, says it is a threat to americans' civil rights to ask them for id before they can vote. the national review's rich lowry on what he thinks holder is missing here. also key primaries down south that could reshape the republican presidential race. we will talk with representatives from the three major campaigns next. ♪ we're from the country, and we like it that way. ♪

jon: all eyes on dixie right now with primaries today in alabama and mississippi that could shake

up the republican race. the questions, will mitt romney get a breakthrough win in the south? can newt gingrich add to his big win in georgia, or can rick santorum boost his claim that he is the true conservative alternative to romney? let's talk about it with henry barber, national committeeman for the national committee, a romney supporter; rob johnson is former presidential campaign manager for rick perry and newt gingrich; and alice stewart is the santorum campaign press secretary. welcome to both of you. alice, to you first. rick santorum represented a northeastern state. what appeal does he hold in the deep south? >> oh, he has tremendous appeal across the bible belt certainly for the fact that he's strong faith and families, but more than anything we've been pounding the pavement hard in mississippi and alabama, and what resonates with them is his plans for creating jobs and turning the economy around and, also, in the gulf coast region unleashing american energy is vital, and he has outlined great

plans for how that will help create jobs and help the economy in that area and across the country. and not only that, it will certainly help our national security. so he has resonated with the people in the south. governor romney said playing in the south is an away game for hill, but it's not just geographically. he's wrong on the issues in the south. he's not strong on guns and marriage issues, so he's playing an away game just on the fact of he's wrong on the issues in the bible belt. jon: henry, you are a mitt romney supporter, but you're quoted as saying you think today is going to be newt gingrich's day. why do you say that? is it a case of down playing expectations? >> well, i do think that the gingrich campaign had it right when they said about a week ago that they have to win both mississippi and alabama today to have any kind of viable path forward to victory. so their back is against the wall. i think the santorum campaign's back is against the wall as well. they're more than about 250

delegates behind romney, so they've got to win a state like mississippi or alabama to have any viable path to victory. jon: rob, you're a constitute gingrich supporter -- newt gingrich supporter, but you're saying that this is going to be a horse race today, you're not predicting a newt gingrich sweep, another one downplaying expectations for your candidate? >> well, i do think it's a horse race, and i think henry's doing a great job of downplaying expectations. i mean, mitt romney is clearly the front runner. he's made that clear himself. but while they're running around talking about delegate math and things that people at the kitchen table don't understand, newt gingrich is talking about lowering gas prices and balancing checkbooks, and i think both rick santorum and newt gingrich are genuine and authentic and are going to resonate well across this country as well as in alabama and mississippi. jon: well, what if, alice, if santorum and romney and gingrich essentially carve up the vote into thirds and nobody comes out

of here with a real strong winner, does that do anything more than muddy up the waters? >> well, jon, that's what we've been doing up until this point. it's narrowing down to a two-man race. it's rick against mitt romney, and what we're seeing more and more is that all that talk from the romney camp about mathematically impossible is nonsense, and it's a smoke screen to divert attention from the fact that he's not energizing the base. more than anything, people see he's not honest on his being an advocate for romneycare on the national level. he said all along it was a massachusetts plan, he never advocated for it to be implemented nationally, now we're seeing time after time in op-ed and videos where he did, and he touted the fact that president obama took it on the national level. and more than anything the fact that he has not been honest with the american people about it, that's been disturbing, and we've been hearing that across the country in many laces that we've been over the past several weeks. jon: rob, i think she just wrote off your candidate, newt

gingrich. [laughter] what do you have to say to that? >> i think we'll see what happens in alabama and mississippi. newt's put in a lot of shoe leather politics in alabama and in mississippi, and he represented the south for years in congress. he won south carolina decisively and, again, he's talking about things that resonate with the people of america, but in particular the people of alabama and mississippi who have to get up and drive to work every day. jon: but does he need to win at least one of these states today to prove his ongoing viability? >> he definitely needs to have a strong showing in alabama or mississippi, but the way the rules were set up and henry can speak to this, the rules set up by the republican national committee, this is meant to be a marathon, not a sprint. so i don't think there's incentive for any of these guys to say today is a make or break day for anyone. i kind of think it's a make or break day for mitt romney. jon: it's a fascinating day in politics. thanks very much. henry barber, rob johnson, alice stewart, we wish you all well.

thanks. >> thanks, jon. jenna: well, every six minutes a child is sent to the hospital by something you use almost every day. you probably have them in your home right now. it's a frightening study every parent should hear about. plus, dozens of young hockey players forced off the ice during a tournament. they went to the hospital, not the penalty box. weaver going to have a -- we're going to have a live report on what took them out of the game. >> i looked behind the bench and there's, obviously, vomit everywhere from them just not feeling well, and it just was unbelievable to see what was happening to the players, and he said it was just a crazy experience for him. wake up!

that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8.

jenna: well a congressional hearing is underway right now on the public's right to know versus protecting sensitive information. it comes on the heels of what's called sunshine week at the justice department. the doj is trying to prove it made some significant progress in transparency. shannon bream is live in washington with more on this. hi, shannon. >> reporter: well, today senators are debating the freedom of information act and just how much information the government does or does not have to turn over to reporters, investigators and average americans looking for answers. attorney general eric holder says president obama has a profound national commitment to insuring an open government. >> this is what drove the president on his first full day in office to call upon the department of justice to guide

other agencies in the faithful implementation of the freedom of information act and to insure compliance with both the letter and the spirit of the law. >> reporter: at today's senate hearing, justice department officials pointed to the progress they have made, catching up on the backlog of foia requests and automating much of the system so that requests can be made and tracked online. but there are skeptics on both sides of the aisle. they're citing reports from republican congressman darrell issa and the house oversight committee. they say the administration and its appointees have actively blocked certain requests, something republican senator chuck grassley finds in conflict with the president's promises for transparency. >> i find it difficult if i measure what he said he wanted to do with what has actually materialized as either he didn't mean it or -- and be i think he did mean it -- and, number two, the people below him aren't carrying out his policies. >> reporter: some of the most

emotional testimony this morning came from a retired marine who talk talked about the death of his young daughter from leukemia while he was serving at camp lejeune. he said that he's been blocked at every turn in his search to try to get some answers. jenna? jenna: what a story. shannon, thank you. jon: well, right now the battle over voter id laws is heading to a showdown in federal court. attorney general eric holder's justice department is blocking a texas law that requires photo id when you vote. the ag says it's unfair to latinos. the texas voter id law, the second such law rejected by justice, but our next guest says the justice department's objections are outrageous. let's talk about it with rich lowry, editor of the national review and a fox news contributor. in your interesting column, rich, you say we have to have id, you know, if you're young and you want to buy a beer or you want to buy cigarettes, you have to have id when you check

into a hotel, to board an airplane. why not have id when you vote? that's your argument, right? >> yeah, absolutely. you can't even get into this building, jon, without an id. and the supreme court actually has reviewed one of these laws a couple years ago in indiana, one of the first states to adopt such a law, and it was a 6-3 decision holding up the law as written by the liberal justice john paul stevens, and he said the state, obviously, has a very important interest in insuring the security of elections. and this just seems the most basic security measure you can take, just asking people to prove who they are when they show up at the polls. jon: the american civil liberties union, as you might expect, disagrees with you. they say that among other things obtaining a photo id presents a substantial and unnecessary barrier for many of our nation's citizens. >> it just strikes me as absurd. anyone can get a photo id. it's a perfectly easy, um, texas

is going to provide for free an election identification document for anyone who wants one. the states have adopted these laws, they've seen no downturn in turnout whatsoever. georgia has a law that the justice department approved in 2005, and the first presidential election with this law in place was in 2008, minority turnout in georgia -- according to the heritage foundation -- was actually up more than it was this mississippi which didn't have one of these laws. so if people don't have id, they should. it'll make their entire life much easier and integrate them fully into american society, and then they can go and vote without a problem. jon: well, liberal organizations like the aclu are backing the attorney general on this one, and you might be surprised -- you probably didn't hear it last hour, but our own judge andrew napolitano says this is a bad idea. he is afraid that once you get the camel's nose of requiring id into the tent, all of a sudden

you're going to have a national id card requirement. what do you make of that argument? >> well, i mean, that's a policy objection. if he doesn't like a national id card and thinks it's the wrong way to go, it's a free country, and he can oppose it. it doesn't mean it's illegal or unconstitutional for the states to do this. and the supreme court, as i mentioned, has already reviewed it in a 6-3 decision, said these laws are fine. so i think this is all about politics, this is eric holder trying to manufacture a war on voting rights, and i really think it is shameful and disgraceful for him to give speeches mentioning these kind of voter id laws in the same l breath as he mentions the jim crow south. the jim crow era, african-americans had to, would literally fear for their lives if they showed up to the courthouse to try to register to vote in some places. showing a driver's license is nothing like that, it is disgraceful for him to suggest as much. jon: do you think this is all about political expediency for this administration? >> i do. i think it's about scaring

people, it's on par, for me, with the ginned-up war on women which is clearly a play for the women's vote in the election, and this is a way for the attorney general of the united states to participate in a political effort to scare latino and african-american voters in order to, um, make them terrified of republicans republo show up at the polls to vote against them. jon: rich lowry, the editor of the national review. thank you. >> thanks so much, jon. jenna: well, a new health is heating up the internet. what it says about red meat that could change your shopping list for good. just how much is too much really? plus, we have expos for computers and high-tech toys, why not one for the military? a look at the future in technology on the front lines, coming up. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss

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or the worry my pipes might leak get in the way of my busy lifestyle. that's why i take care, with vesicare. once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle and is proven to treat overactive bladder with sympts of frequent urges and leaks day and night. if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. vesicare may cause allergic reactions that may be serious. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue, stop taking vesicare and get emergency help. tell your doctor right away if you have severe abdominal pain, or become constipated for three or more days. vesicare may cause blurred vision, so use caution while driving or doing unsafe tasks. common side effects are dry mouth, constipation, and indigestion. i've worked hard to get to where i am... and i've got better aces to go than always going to the bathroom. so take charge of your symptoms by talking to your doctor and go to vesicare.com for a free trial offer. jenna: an update at the world's

busiest airport in atlanta. this might just be the shot of the day, at least earlier when this plane sort of drifted off the taxiway by accident, apparently, according to maintenance workers and reports there. no passengers on the plane, by the way. jon: no, no passengers, nobody hurt, but the maintenance workers apparently were testing the engines and forgot to test the brakes. jenna: well, no passengers, again, on this plane. it went right down that embankment. now it's sitting horizontal, the question is where do they go from there? that's what it looked like earlier this morning. again, significant damage to the plane but luckily, no one else injured. jon: a serious scare at a michigan hockey rink to tell you about. health officials believe a suspected nor row virus outbreak sickened dozens of players. the team is appealing a big loss saying, hey, they were too sick to skate. rick folbaum has more. pretty good argument, huh, rick? >> reporter: this is a vie --

virus that hit just as youth hockey teams were competing for a chance to go to the national championships next month. now, as you mentioned john, -- jon, one of the teams that lost -- in overtime, by the way -- is calling for a rematch because so many of its players were either too sick to take the ice or they got sick during the game. the county health department is looking into what might have caused this outbreak. here's the local fire chief. >> they're going to check the water, and they're going to check the air ducts. you know, with the unseasonably warm weather we had yesterday and with that many people in the building for that big tournament, there's a possibility air-conditioning kicked on, and it hadn't been properly disinfected, that could cause flu-like symptoms. >> reporter: the arena has been shut down. the team that lost, as we mentioned, has appealed to usa hockey which oversees the league. no decision yet. the opposing team's coach said he also had ha -- had a handful

of players who were sick during the game as well. this is thought to be a nor ovirus, as we said, which is very contagious. the number of cases reported in the state of michigan, by the way, since january higher than it was at this point last year, so not sure what's going on there. as we learn about this appeal, we'll let you know. jon: tell us if they send somebody to the penalty box, okay? >> reporter: okay. [laughter] jon: thanks, rick. jenna: "happening now" on your health, for years experts warned folks about limiting red meat, and then we had all those high-protein diets. now a new study out of harvard makes a startling claim: eating any amount of red meat can significantly raise your risk of dying early, and there's more. the study finding processed meats are even worse than that, they don't even have to be red. small portions of bacon, sausage or salami can boost your mortality rate by a fifth. eating steak, by the way, just an innocent little piece of

steak, increases the risk of early death by 12%. come on. is this really as bad as it sounds? dr. marc siegel, fox news medical a-teamer and a professor of medicine at nyu, jon and i are, obviously, not vegetarians. come on, doc, a little itty bitty hamburger, that can't be that bad. >> it's not as bad as you're making it sound. this is about eating red meat every single day over more than 20 years, and they looked at health professionals, over 80,000 women, over 30,000 men, and they found it increased the chance of dying by 7-19% of cancer, heart disease and ore causes. if you had red meat every day. jenna: every single day. >> and i'm going to tell you, if you can fit the red meat that you eat into your hand, this amount, and you have it once or twice a week or less, i'm not going to think the same findings would be had. now, what they really found is if you replace the red meat with chicken or fish or grains or

plants which are very, very good for you, high in flavonoids, that's why the risk was decreased. so i think the headline here is not so much red meat is bad, but other things are better. so you've got to have -- i'm okay with a little red meat, not every day. jenna: one of the docs in this article said meatless monday can help. i think mondays are hard enough, so maybe monday's the day we keep the burger. what about grass-fed beef? you know, the red meat that's supposed to be really, really healthy for you and not as bad as that plain old meat that you get at the supermarket. >> this study didn't look at that, but that's a great point to make. we're going to call it meat jenna monday. [laughter] i think that's a great point you're making, how are we raising our beef? are we giving them antibiotics, steroids? i like grass-fed beef. and then how are we cooking the red meat, you know? are you barbecuing it, charring it with the summer coming up --

[laughter] jenna: sounds really good. i apologize to everyone who's vegan and vegetarian, the way that jon's looking at this picture -- jon: i'm going to fire up the barbecue. jenna: all right, doc, balance it out a little bit, don't eat it every day, i think we could probably try to follow that. >> cut down. jenna: all right. here's another study that we wanted to ask you about as well, and it's about the stairs. jon, do you have this one? jon: the stairs that are causing problems, injuries for kids? jenna: here's the story. basically, every six minutes a child, and bring back the doc up on the screen because i want to see him. every six minutes, doc, a child goes to the emergency room, and it's not because they burn themselves, or they, you know, they're on their bicycle, it's because they have a problem with stairs, a stair-related injury. and some of those children are being carried by adults, by the way. it's not just them falling down the stairs. and this caught our attention because every six minutes a stair-related injury? >> jenna, this hit very close to

home with me. this looked at almost a million kids who go over to the hospital over a ten-year period of time because they fall down the stairs. and the study maintains, and it was published in a great journal, pediatrics, it maintains that it may be because the gates don't work, maybe you can't bar the stairs from entry. i'm not buying that. i have three little kids. you can make that gate work. you can make that fit whatever your banister is. i think this is about parents not being attentive enough be. once in my life, and everyone has this story, i saw one of my kids rolling down the stairs. i will never forget it. and after that i was much more careful. you can't let your young children -- and the other headline here is under a year old was when the worst injuries occur. when you have babies, you do not let them near the stairs unobserved or they could end up in the er. jenna: you always think about the hot plates on the stove, not quite as much as about the stairs. a great reminder, doc, thanks for the advice.

>> great to see you. jon: well, the u.s. military making it their mission to give american soldiers the most advanced equipment on earth, so we went to an exposition with the latest tools in modern war fighting. we'll show you what we found next.

jon: outfitting the american fighting force with the world's best technology. we went to an exposition of the advanced weapons and military equipment on earth. here's what we found. ad amend houseley has a -- adam houseley has a look. >> reporter: some amazing stuff. people movers, for example, robots that detect ieds, something as small as sunglasses to protect the eyes of our men and women in uniform. but one of the most interesting things we saw was a solar-powered tent. take a look. for the military it's all about viability, also rapid response. this is a tactical shelter

system, it's a 10x14 tent that's actually powered on the outside by solar. this is canvas that's connected to the solar, or very durable. people have walked on it. you come from the outside, you can go inside and see how this power actually transitions inside. they're running three computers, several lights, other stuff could be plugged in all being powered from the outside of this tent that went up in less than three minutes. chip, how important is this for our men and women in the military? >> well, it's really important. it helps save fuel. we're taking care of the small electronics, com gear and charge that back up, lights and such, so they'll save fuel that way. >> reporter: and the tent, obviously, is lined all around. when you're talking about getting power into a tent this quickly and affordably, what is this event like being able to show this stuff off? >> well, it's really important because we're getting right to the soldiers, and they can see what's out there for availability for them when they're in the field, so it's really important for us to be

doing a show like this. >> reporter: and when you talk to members of the military who have come back recently from deployment, they tell you it's absolutely imperative. we talked with the colonel in charge of camp pendleton, and he says everybody wins. jon: adam houseley, interesting stuff. thank you. >> reporter: absolutely. all right, jon. jon: and we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] juice drink too watery?

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jon: well, this is not your run of the mill police chase and yes it's caught on camera in texas, cops in hot pursuit of this runaway car! witnesses calling police, informing them that, well, a child was behind the wheel. take a listen: >> i need to report a very dangerous driver who is apparently letting a child drive her car. there was a child sitting in the driver was seat. >> how waseld -- how old was the kid? >> probably four or five, not anywhere near 16, not near old enough to drive.

>> were there any passengers or anything? >> there was a lady, that was sitting in the driver's seat and the kid was steering the car. so dangerous. i've never seen anything like that. jon: but when police caught up with the car, they didn't see a child driving. instead, there was a woman in the driver's seat, with her four-year-old in the car she was arrested, although we're not exactly clear as to why at this moment. luckily, nobody was hurt. jenna: strange case. jon: that's a weird one. jenna: very weird. jon: did the witnesses see something that wasn't actually happening or was this woman letting her four-year-old drive. jenna: probably not a good idea. you're a parent. you would never allow that, right? jon: i didn't let them drive until they were at least six. jenna: good, jon! thank you for joining us, everybody! jon: "america live p-pg starts right now. megyn: fox news alert. new details right now on the tragedy in afghanistan that is taking tensions to