bill hemmer running to catch a plane to work on a story. thanks for being with us. happy mother's day to my mom. happy mother's day to bill's mom. see you back here on monday. "happening now" starts right now. jenna: opinion polls although the economy is the most important issue this election season. now a comment by the president about the recession is raising some eyebrows and igniting a whole new debate. we're going to tell you what he said and get karl rove's take just ahead. jon: jpmorgan chase, considered solid as a rock as other banks collapsed. now explosive information how one trader there lost $2 billion. we're tracking the dow on this news. jenna: billion not a small number. newspaper reporter making money on the side, as a stripper. she gets fired. guess what now? she is suing. >> i see gloria allred. jenna: our legal panel tells us if she has a case.

it is all "happening now.". well it is a tough economy. that can always be a factor right? it is a tough economy out there. jon: yeah. jenna: you're just going to wait for the legal panel on that one and weigh your options. >> not my daughters i hope ever, ever. jenna: the truth is, that today the economy is back in the political spotlight in a week that really we've seen a whole host of different headlines. we're glad you're with us, everybody. i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. fox news is america's election headquarters. governor romney making comments in about two hours at a pipe fitting company in north carolina. jobs expected to be high on his agenda and president obama arrives later today in a pivotal swing state hammered by the recession. we're talking nevada. the president will deliver comments on the economy just hours from now. mr. obama is out west after a record-breaking fund-raiser last night at george clooney's los angeles mansion. that event on the heels of

publicly announcing his support for same-sex marriage but it is a comment the president made at another fund-raiser in seattle that is raising eyebrows now. >> it was a house of cards and it collapsed in the most destructive, worst crisis that we've seen since the great depression. and sometimes people forget the magnitude of it. you know, and you saw some of that i think in the video that was shown. sometimes i forget. and the last six months of 2008, while we were campaigning nearly three million of our neighbors lost their jobs. 800,000. lost their jobs in the month that took office. and it was tough. jon: karl rove, former senior advisor and deputy chief of staff to president george w. bush. he joins us now. karl, if your former boss, the previous president, had said that he had forgotten about the recession, what would have been the reaction?

>> all heck would have broken loose. look, it is interesting, president obama not only forgot the recession but apparently forgot if he said we passed his stimulus bill unemployment would top out by 8% at end of summer of 2009 and we would have 6% growth this year and 6% unemployment. he apparently also forgot that he played a role in bringing about the collapse by filibustering a bill in 2005 that would have reined in fannie mae and freddie mac potentially before they brought down the house of cards. jon: so why doesn't that get recognized? why doesn't it get covered? >> well look the media is compliant and they're on his side in this thing. they're willing to forgive this kind of stuff and pass it by. guess what? the american people aren't. gallop had an interesting poll out, jon. they said if mitt romney or barack obama get selected would they do a good job of handling the economy the next four years. romney, 61 said a good or very good job.

33 said poor or very poor. president obama, 52% good. and 4% poor and 22% said he would do a very poor job. one out of every five americans, better than one out of every five says you can't get him back in there because he will do a very poor job. equivalent number for romney, one out of every 10 americans would not do a good job. jon: your own numbers show the president is still over the 50% mark? >> well he for the coming year but he is underwater. that is to say below 50% on handling the economy and handling jobs and under 40 on issue of handling the deficit. and look, when you have 8%, 8.1% unemployment, the longest run of high unemployment since the great depression, the highest numbers for chronic unemployment. that is to say people unemployed for six months or more, when you have one out of every six americans unemployed, underemployed, working part-time,

desperately looking for full-time work or so discouraged they dropped out of the workforce, that ain't good numbers. last month, 115,000 new jobs but 300,000 were so discouraged they dropped out of the workforce. that is not a good record getting ready to run for re-election, i want to get your take on the president's comments about gay marriage. we're led by comments coming out of the white house he wanted to announce approval sometime down the road he wasn't ready to do it yet. joe biden and arne duncan, education secretary sort of forced his hand. do you buy that. >> i do. they were very explicit the president in essence changed his mind and they would announce this closer to the convention in order to ring the greatest amount of political benefit out of this. biden got over tip of his skies as president said and arne duncan didn't didn't help. we don't know how much months ago he made it. biden went out and said what

he did. monday white house press secretary reaffirming position of traditional marriage that really wasn't having decision to make a change. that really wasn't sustainable and they did it. remember, how political is this? he changed his mind but he was waiting until it was close to the conventions in order to ring the maximum amount of benefit out of it. this thing at the end will be a negative for the president. he gains in the gay community and among young voters but frankly opposing, don't ask, don't tell, refusing to defend defense of marriage act, everybody is sort of got the sense when he said i'm evolving in my position, that is sort of signal to people, give me flexibility after the election i will change. there is not much upside there. he will get money out of this. they made a big deal, in 90 minutes after he said they raised a million dollars and went out of their way to 1 out of four, 1 out of five bundlers is gay. these people will be energized.

but there are 30 states, have defended traditional marriage. north carolina critical state, voted day before he made this announcement, 61-39 in favor of traditional marriage. >> you think net negative for the president? >> net negative. economy will dominate everything else but it will be a net negative. jon: we'll keep an eye on that of course. karl rove, good to have you on, thank you. >> thank you. jenna: tomorrow mitt romney is giving a commencement speech at the nation's largest evangelical university. the former governor of massachusetts is speaking at liberty university in begin ga and -- virginia, many evangelicals are planning to be there to support the presumptive republican nominee. john roberts live in atlanta with more on this. >> reporter: good morning, jenna. this will be huge venue for mitt romney. tens of thousands of christian conservatives will watch the address at stadium at liberty university and on television. it is an opportunity for him to reach out to evangelicals that he had a difficult time

courting earlier in the primary campaign. pastor robert jeffords first baptist church much dallas was one of those evangelicals. mitt romney figured out calling mormonism a cult. he is now endorsing mitt romney. >> mom mon system a theological cult and i still hold to cult. i believe while there are vast theological differences there are same social values like sanctity of life and marriage and religious liberty. i think for those reasons christians can with a good conscience still vote for a mormon like mitt romney. >> reporter: like many other evangelical leaders pastor jeffords says that evangelicals know they're electing a president, they're not appointing a pastor to their church, jenna. jenna: interesting to see that turn though as you mentioned john. there was a lot of questions and doubts whether this group could accept a mormon. in general as we look nationwide does it looks like mitt romney can win over

resistant evangelicals and how does he do that? >> reporter: that remains to be seen. it appears at tomorrow's commencement address he will not mention his mormon faith but will illuminate and talk about a lot of values he shares with evan gels calls. this is excerpt from tomorrow's speech. the best cultural assets are values as basic as personal responsibilities the dignity of hard work and above all the commitments of family and take those away and take them for granted and so many things can go wrong in a life. jonathan fallwelling son of legendary jerry fallwell. romney says will need to work hard to win them over all the way up until november. >> to be honest with you i don't think one speech will make that change or make that difference. i think what he needs to do is he need to continue to speak up for the values that are important for people of faith. >> reporter: at this point it looks like romney does have the support of religious conservatives. "gallup poll" taken a couple

weeks ago shows him leading president obama 54 to 37% among very religious individuals. moderately religious, nonreligious the numbers flip the other way. the big question is while they appear to support him will they get out to the polls in november? pastor jeffords says romney could win primary and nomination without support of evangelicals but can't win the election without them. jenna: thank you very much. john roberts in atlanta today. jon: there are new concerns that terrorist groups may be exploding the chaos in syria. no one claimed responsibility for yesterday's deadly bombings in damascus, but an al qaeda-inspired group claimed responsibility for past explosions and the head of syria's main opposition group says there is a strong relationship between al qaeda and the regime. leland vittert is live from jerusalem with more on that. leland. >> reporter: hi, jon. western intelligence agencies are now saying they're pretty convinced as

well that al qaeda is playing a roll there inside syria. yesterday's bombing case in point. it was sophisticated, good intelligence, belle planned, lots of explosives. just take a look at the aftermath there in damascus. you had bomb one go off. a small bomb drew people in. then bomb two. much like the al qaeda in iraq attacks. obviously syrian government for a long time saying foreign, quote, terrorists are responsible for these attacks. these latest bombings certainly give the syrian government more pretext to go in and try and continue their offensive against the syrian people. it also gives the syrian allies a huge leg up there in the united nations and other places to try to defend the role that the syrian government is playing right now. we did find this on the web. it is a screen grab from a jihadi video put up by a group called the al nurra brigade, al qaeda inspired or syndicate. on this their leader, saying

bashar, president of syria, we are coming for you. this new wrinkle definitely complicates things a lot. obviously you have the opposition groups in syria. you had the syrian government. now all of sudden you have al qaeda mixing things up. this new revelation brings to light a important political question that the united states and its allies will have to look at going forward because you run the risk of syria becoming another iraq but this time without any u.s. military presence it has the ability to export its terror and its other kinds of militant expertise. in that case, john, it may be a situation where it is easier or better to keep president assad in power to keep syria from becoming another yemen. jon, back to you. jon: it's a mess. leland vittert, thank you. jenna: certainly a big controversy in washington whether the east coast should have its own missile defense sites to protect against a potential strike by iran or north korea or

anyone else. how vulnerable are we really? jon: also a terrifying ordeal for two girls is over now. police rescue them from a fugitive accused of killing their mother and older sister. we'll tell how how this long manhunt ended. >> a newspaper reporter fired from her job because she worked as an exotic dancer on the side. she is suing for gender discrimination. our legal panel weighs in. settt or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

jenna: welcome back, everyone. right now there's a growing controversy in washington over whether the united states should add missile defense sites along the east coast. some lawmakers are concern iran or north korea could develop missiles capable of reaching that part of the country. because of that the house armed services committee this week passed an amendment authorizing $100 million to do first an environmental survey and look at potential interceptor sites along the

east coast the pentagon did not request this and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff says this. >> in my military judgment the program of record for ballistic missile defense for the homeland as we have submitted it is adequate and sufficient to the task and that's a suite of ground-based and sea-based interceptors. so i don't see a need beyond what we submitted in the last budget. jenna: the west coast already has interceptor sites in california and alaska, off hawaii. the u.s. military just test ad new more sensitive interceptor missile and it was a success. we're joined by lt. general trey obering, former director of missile defense agency with office of secretary of defense. nice to have you with us today. >> nice to be with you. jenna: a big question there how vulnerable are we really? if there was a missile headed toward new york city would we be able to intercept it? >> jenna, let me make clear

we have right now the ability to protect the entire united states with interceptors we deployed to alaska and california. with the radar system we activated from alaska to england and united kingdom as well as deployed radar we have in turkey. i think what the conversation is about though is the original plan with respect to the deployment of missile defense elements into europe under the previous administration had us locating ground-based interceptors in poland that were not only capable of defending europe but were also helping to provide redundant coverage of united states. with the change in the architecture roleout with the current administration for europe that protending that would be provided redundantly europe is delayed until 2020, 2021. there is a growing concern having this redundant coverage to protect the u.s. from an iranian missile before the 2015 --.

jenna: almost like a second layer, if you well? >> we will. jenna: just in your opinion getting back to that point, we saw the president in discussions with russian officials about again what it will look like in europe and it's seen that the president pulling back on those sites in poland is a nod towards the russians and that is a little controversial. do you think we're unnecessarily vulnerable if we don't have that second layer in pole lan and we're not equipped to put those sites there? >> first of all i believe that again, we have the protection that we, that we do have protection today against a long-range missile but i do believe it would add flexibility and more capability to be able to handle those long range threats. i think having the ability to reach out sooner than we would normally from an intercept in alaska i think is something that would be very beneficial in terms of military perspective. jenna: okay, so that is in europe. this money we're talking about today would go toward the east coast and missile

defense sites and could potentially be there. some suggest we really need those sites on the east coast. others suggest this is a political maneuver by mostly the gop in an election year. what do you think the motivation truly is for this conversation and is it a conversation in a time of as you taert that we need to have? >> well, i said i think the motivation primarily when we changed the gameplan for europe we lost the ability to, that redundant ability to protect the united states against a long range threat until well beyond 2020. i think the best of the motivation their concern that the long range threat from iran may emerge prior to that, 2015. they want to have some additional protection for that threat before the 2021 time frame. jenna: you're confident with the first layer of protection we at this time? >> i am. jenna: that is a big headline for us today. a lot of different dynamics at play, general. nice to have you. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. jon: a millionaire polo tie con convicted in a deadly

drunk driving crash. john goodman set to hear his sentence. one juror's actions could mean goodman will walk out of court a free man. a live report. could a tough economy put some of america's favorite snacks in jeopardy? we'll explain. [ male announcer ] what's in your energy drink? ♪ wer surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8. t new v8 v-fusion plus energy. but centurylink is committed to being a different kind of communications company by continuing to help you do more and focus on the things that matter to you.

jon: today is sentencing day for millionaire polo tycoon john goodman. he faces up to 30 years in prison for the drunks driving crash that killed 23-year-old scott wilson. but goodman also might walk out of court a free man because of alleged jury misconduct. goodman made headlines by legally adopting his girlfriend there on the left in an apparent bid to

protect at least part of his wealth after the accident. but before goodman learns his fate today the judge wants to talk to juror dennis demartin about something he wrote in his self-published book. phil keating is live in west palm beach, florida. what is this juror accused of doing, phil? >> reporter: jon, he is accused of blatantly disregarding and ignoring the judge's directive to all of the jurors, that no personal experiments could be conducted outside of that courtroom or the deliberations room. the juror, dennis demartin, released a book last week, 36 pages long, called, believing in the truth. in it he writes these excerpts. quote at 9 p.m. i had vodka and ton nick another at 9:30 and 10:00 p.m.. i started to walk to the clubhouse two streets over in our complex. i walked around for a short time and decided to go back home. i was confused. when the alarm went off the next morning i got up and felt relieved. the question in my mind the

night before was answered to me. that being, that john goodman was too drunk to drive the night of the fatal accident. goodman of course, bac, blood-alcohol content was .237 taken by police several hours after the accident. and last monday the judge specifically asked this juror if there was any presumption of guilt by any of them going into the deliberations room and this juror, demartin said he had open mind going into the room and voted for not guilty the first time around. so the judge this afternoon this afternoon must decide which version is more true. what he said last week in court or what he wrote in the book. jon? jon: so there is the possibility of a mistrial here i guess if the judge does not declare a mistrial, goodman gets sentenced today? >> reporter: right if the judge disregards whatever his questions and answers are in the courtroom today with this juror, then we move right immediately to the sentencing phase. the sentencing guidelines have goodman being sentenced

anywhere between 11 years and 30 years. the prosecution is arguing, suggesting to the judge that goodman get 20 years. that being for dui with failure to render aid in the death of a young man, scott wilson, who was simply driving home on a cross street in palm beach county when he was t-boned by goodman who was speeding and ran a stop sign. according to the prosecutors, there are arguing for this 20-year sentence describing goodman, founder of the international polo club in wellington, in palm beach county, self-serving, self-ish, totally unconcerned about the life of the man who then drowned in a canal. jon: phil keating reporting live for us. what a case. thank you, phil. jenna: more on that as we get it. meantime we have major new developments of two young girls taken by a fugitive suspect of the of killing their mother and their sister. how their ordeal ended. we have a live report. most don't end this way. but they found the little

girls. jon: good news in an awful story. brand new polls are out about what americans think about the president's economic achievements. is president obama connecting with voters on this important issue in this election year? we'll have a fair and balanced debate ahead. while some fiber ads use super models, metamucil uses super hard working psyllium fiber, which gels to remove unsexy waste and reduce cholesterol. taking psyllium fiber won't make you a model but you should feel a little more super. metamucil. down with cholesterol.

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jon: president obama gearing up for an economic speech in nevada just hours from now. the critical swing state still suffering from the financial meltdown. brand new polls show how americans feel about some of the administration's top economic accomplishments. 49% of adults say they have an unfavorable view of the president's economic stimulus. that edges those who say they have a favorable view. when it comes to the president's regulation of financial institutions, 48% have a favorable opinion compared to 45% who don't. this poll taken before jpmorgan chase made the surprise announcement that the bank took a $2 billion loss trading its own money. that development intensifying the debate over financial regulation. monica crowley is a radio talk show host. julie row beginssy is former communication director for former democratic senator jon corzine. both are fox news contributors. julie, can the president go

to nevada to say i've done great things for the economy. >> he can say i have turned things around. the month he came into office we were losing 800,000 jobs, that very month. today we're gaining jobs. are we gaining at rate everybody is happy with including president? of course not. the economy is nowhere it needs to be to have healthy full employment economy. at the same time the country was in a horrible, horrible financial mess back in 2008. we're slowly but surely coming out of it. all elections are all about contrasts. you have contrast between the president who is slowly but surely turning things around and mitt romney wants to go back to the same policies that got us into this mess. that is the kind of things elections are side decided upon. they're decided upon a choice of two competing visions that is what the president will be talking about in nevada today. jon: the president made a controversial remark in seattle yesterday, talking about the economy. i want to play that for you and then get both of your reactions. >> it was a house of cards and it collapsed in the most destructive, worse crisis

we've seen since the great depression. and sometimes people forget the magnitude of it. you know, and you saw some of that i think in the video that was shown. sometimes i forget. and the last six months of 2008, while we were campaigning nearly three million of our neighbors lost their jobs. 800,000 lost their jobs in the month that i took office. and it was tough. jon: sometimes i forget he said, monica. the teleprompter screens, you can see them there in the corner of the, of the screen, it wasn't lack of a teleprompter. >> yeah, i know. what team romney is doing right now. cutting a political ad with that line sometimes he forgets about how the depths of the recession because look even though technically we are in a recovery, what matters to voters certainly going into november how they feel about their own personal financial situation as well as the economic

situation of the country. and the most recent polls even over the last week or so show that the american people's mood is starting to darken both about the employment picture, both about the broader economic picture in the united states and they are holding the president accountable. and so this bodes not very well for him. i will say this. you know, can't really run on his economic record because it isn't very good. let's face it. we've got stubbornly high unemployment, anemic economic activity. we've got unprecedented spending, record-breaking deficits and debt and of course socialized medicine which remains highly unpopular. so he can't run on any of those things. most american voters when they go to the polls in november will be voting those pocketbook issues. that's why we're seeing him try to deflect attention by talking about everything else. everything but the economy. jon: is he deflecting attention, julie? >> i don't think he is deflecting attention at all. monica knows full well in back in 2008 when this president was not president the economy was in the tank.

things were getting worse and worse and worse and worse. you can't set fire to a house and automatically expect the house to be a mansion the next day you have to rebuild it. you have to take a lot of maybe unpopular measures but bottom line we are coming out of, we're out of the recession. people are not happy with the way things are. i understand. there are way too many people who are unemployed but at the same time, look, this takes time. he is on the right track. things are getting better. they will continue to getter and if mitt romney campaigning essentially on going pack to the old policies that got us into this mess wants to compare that record with the president's record i think people are smart enough to realize those policies got us into this mess in the first place. >> i think american people look and acknowledge, yes in the fall of 2008, the financial crisis did create a situation where the economy was not good. that is absolutely true but that financial crisis then exploded into a broader economic crisis once this president's economic policies went into full effect. i mean adding $5 trillion to the nabs debt in three years

is not something most of the american people approve of, especially since the $5 trillion brought us nothing but economic misery. >> monica where were you when bush was exploding the debt. i didn't hear republicans talking about that. >> we were screaming about it. conservatives were he will whying about it. >> maybe you were but a lot of people were not. at the same time, don't forget the exploding debt and exploding economy. economy did not tank on barack obama's watch. economy tanked in the previous administration. jon: julie, the president did promise if we passed the $787 billion stimulus, unemployment would not top above 8%. >> guess where unemployment is today? 8.1. see where it is this fall. you will be eating your word when unemployment falls below 8% this fall. what is the talking point for the romney campaign. >> remember yes the official number is 8.1% but the reason the number is dropping because so many people are dropping out of the workforce. you have nearly 29 million people who are either unemployed, under employed or have just stopped looking

for work. those are the people who are going to go to the polls so it is not the cold numbers coming out of washington whether it is formal unemployment rate or the economic growth rate. it is what the average voter feels about their own personal situation and economic life of the country that is going to affect their vote. >> i don't think the average voter has amnesia which policies got them into the mess. complete disregard for the middle class by the republican party over the last eight years before obama was in office. jon: all right. >> complete disregard by mitt romney wants to go back to the policies. that is something people get. jon: julie and monica, we'll leave it there. that will be issue one as we get ready to vote in november. >> thank you, jon. jenna: they both agree the economy is going through a rough time right now, right? so we can agree on that. it is taking a to, economy that is, on tasty snacks like twinkies. maybe not at top of the agenda, rick. but important issue to some of us. >> reporter: very important to a lot of people especially those that work

for hostess. you might remember back in january the company that makes twinkies filed for bankruptcy, chapter 11. they also make ding dongs and wonder bread by the way in case you're keeping track at home. as hostess tries to turn their business around letting employees around the country they could soon be losing their job. hostess has about 18,500 workers around the country. by law they must give written notice before conducting any kind of massive layoffs. so this could start happening soon. obviously not a good time, not good news, rather, at a time when so many people have been discussing out there looking for work. the hostess spokeswoman says the company has no immediate plans to lable anybody off but obviously this is a real possibility as hostess looks to emerge from bankruptcy. jenna: sometimes they become bigger and stronger that could be a positive thing. i take back my words. mitt romney and presumptive nominee, care a lot about

twinkies. >> reporter: people in this very studio. jenna: i can count a few of them. i can. rick, thank you very much. jon: securities & exchange commission focusing on a shocking admission from the nation's largest bank, once thought to be very solid. how jpmorgan chase lost, oh, $2 billion in six weeks. jenna: yikes!. jon: also a reporter fired from her job after word gets out she made a little extra money on the side, as an exotic dancer. now she is suing of course. does she have a case? our legal panel up next. >> i feel that women should not be denied other employment because they have worked as exotic danners. some young women will use dancing as a way to make end meet whale they study to prepare for the career they hope to be able to have for the rest of their lives. [ male announcer ] with six indulgently layered desserts,

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jon: new video just in from

texas. this is about 90 miles west of houston. damage at at high school there that hit around 5:30 local time last night. there was a fund-raiser going on in the high school at the time. what you're looking at now appears to be a train that was tossed off the tracks by what is believed to be the twister. some damage done there at the high school in weimar. there was, that fund-raiser as i said was going on. there was a pizza truck out in the high school parking lot. eight people inside when the wind picked that truck up and rolled it over. those eight people hurt but apparently the injuries not too serious. you can see there the lighting on football field and track torn down. other damage around the high school there in weimar, texas. a scary time for folks inside. by and large everyone is basically okay. we'll keep you updated. jenna: good news there at least everyone is okay what we know now. we'll stay in the state of texas for the next story.

"the houston chronicle" is facing accusations of gender discrimination by a former reporter. the chronicle fired sara tressler after a rival paper reported she also worked part-time as a stripper. tressler says she only did it occasionally and the time she spent dancing on stage also, jon, doubled as her workout. they didn't have a gym membership. jon: sure. jenna: two things she was able to accomplish. according to tressler she did not violate the paper's policies and was surprised by her dismissal. >> i was very upset that i was fired because i had been told by many editors that i was doing a great job. i was covering high society and also doing general assignments, human interest stories, men's and women's fashion and other stories. i don't believe i should have been terminated because of a claim that i did not disclose on my employment application that i worked as an exotic dancer. there was no question on the form that covered my dancing

and i answered the questions on the form honestly. jenna: there was no question about a exotic dancing. there was no question. is this gender discrimination? rebecca rose woodland is with us a trial attorney, joey jackson is former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney. welcome to you both for this colorful case. rebecca, she did a great job. very rarely did this and there was no questions on the form about exotic dancing. so did her employer have the right to fire her when they found out about this? >> you know i question whether or not what she is saying is actually what happened. she is just alleging that they fired her for that. we don't have a statement from "the houston chronicle" as of yet as why she was let go. terminated. she was an employee at-will. they have the right to terminate her if there was something on a form that was not completed properly, that is between the paper and her in a court of law. for her statements we can

not rely on entirely. she also covered high society for this very, very reknowned paper and possibly, they felt, that their readership would find it a bit uncomfortable, is that a good way to put it? jenna: we don't even know that, right, rebecca. because we have no comment on it. >> exactly. >> here is interesting twist to all this she has a twitter feed and blog where she writes as the angry stripper. anyone who has ever worked in a newsroom knows that you can't blog elsewhere, report elsewhere, you can't do anything like that because it is looked at as competition. so what about that argument, that leading to her termination? >> well, jenna if that was the actual reason for her discharge that would be one thing but there is a question whether that was the reason or was it just because of her artistic expressions in her dancing. jenna: artistic expressions? you're a good lawyer.

>> this federal laws protect it. gender discrime nays. 1964 civil rights act. called title 7 and says you can not discriminate based on gender. discrimination need not be intentional. it has to demonstrate disparity impact adversely affects class people. has master's in journalism. all accounts doing her job in admirable way. to rebecca's point there is factual questions who is being honest who is not. that is what juries are for. the eeo. consider, equal employment opportunity commission will take this seriously. if the firing was predicated upon her stripping. there is problem with that. jenna: rebecca, she is an artist. >> she is an artist? big step being fired because she was a stripper to it being gender discrimination. if she were a male and stripping at chippendale's maybe they would firer too. to use the eeco in this fashion is inappropriate.

i'm not claiming, if she has issue why she was fired that is one thing. but to say it is gender discrimination. we're going a little far and a little wide on this one. >> the problem is that if you look at the field, yes there are men who strip but it he is mostly women, right? it is a women dominated profession therefore adversely impacts her of the has nothing to do with her job ability. has nothing to do with performance of her function. she is wonderful reporter. give her job. >> how do we know that. >> she was told by her supervisors. >> that is what she is claiming. we don't know "the houston chronicle" is going to say. probably they say it was adversely affected readership and covering high society and blogging about it. >> it was increasing readership. >> that is very male-oriented point you're making there. jenna: houston chronicle no comment. when we get one and invite you. didn't get to the workout

explanation. that is something we need to discuss more. >> that's right. she was stripping to the get the workout in. what is better than that, jenna. >> that is ridiculous. >> that is her job, rebecca. be nice. jenna: joey, rebecca, we'll have you back. >> thank you. jon: did she ever think about jogging? jenna: that is excellent question, jon, one can jog barefoot. you don't need 7-inch heels. we've been telling you about very dangerous weather in parts of the country. flash flood warnings and dangerous wind and hail. janice dean is tracking it all. she will tell us who should be looking out the window coming up. om a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

jon: flash flood warning along the gulf coast and

powerful storms are sweeping across texas. more than 10,000 homes and businesses without power. at least one apparent tornado touched down in the southeast part of the state. strong wind toppling trucks even derailing a train there. only minor injuries so far reported. meteorologist janice dean is live from the fox news weather center. i guess some of the troubling weather not over yet? >> it is not we saw pictures just outside of houston where that apparent tornado went through. 14 reports of tornados. there is the footage we're getting just outside of the houston area. 14 reports of tornados in and around south texas, south-central texas and of course the national weather service will be out there surveying to see if indeed it was several tornados that moved through the area. this is a slow moving system that will continue to move eastward and bring heavy rain across east texas into louisiana over the next several days and moving into the southeast and mid-atlantic. looking radar moving into

saturday, all the moisture sweeping across the southeast and mid-atlantic and by monday, tuesday we'll see wet weather heading up our way in toward the northeast. something to keep in mind. switching gears a little bit, jon scott, viewers of course out there know you as the handsome anchor of "happening now." i know a side of jon scott others don't know. i caught it here on my cell phone camera. this is jon scott, everybody, fixing the photocopy machine. jenna, you and i probably would see a broken photo copier machine, go, let's call the help desk, somebody else is going to do it. not our ma gaver. jon: fixing the photocopier is little overstated. i was clearing a paper jam. >> i asked my husband who goes into burning buildings would you have done this? would you have fixed this? he was like be, nobody does that. except jon scott. jon: well, needed to be fixed. jenna: you saved the day.

jon: thank you, janice. >> you know what? he didn't have a spot of ink on his shirt. jenna: thanks for that. jon: i don't do exotic dancing but i fix photocopiers. jenna: that would completely change the story. that would really add a twist we're not ready for. jon: janice dean. >> is red, jenna, glad i made your friday, janice. jenna: i like macgiver as a nickname. jon: i have a some great tools. >> sticking power. brand new developments in the trial of john edwards. the defense asking the judge to throw out the case. how likely is that? we have a legal panel to weigh in on that. jon: the debate over same-sex marriage jump to the forefront of american politics this week. obviously a lot of opinions on this but is the issue getting a fair shake from the media? a closer look coming up. from around the world...

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>> reporter: rick folbaum in the "happening now" control room. brand new stories we're working on just for you, including this one. take a look at april kaufman, she's a popular radio talk show host. she was found dead in her home. who would want to kill her? police are trying to find that out, we'll have the latest on their investigation. also, this guy takes a cup of coffee and throws it across the counter, burns the woman who was giving him the coffee. police are looking for this guy, too, we'll have the latest on their search. and then, are you trying to lose weight? a brand new drug just approved by the fda could give hope to millions of people around the country. we'll have the latest on that as well with breaking news as the second hour of "happening now"

starts right now. jenna: we have some brand new developments in the john edwards corruption trial. defense lawyers are now asking a federal judge to dismiss the charges, in fact, the news hot off the presses on that. i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott, welcome to a brand new hour of "happening now." the government rested its case yesterday without calling rielle hunter to the stand, but she could still testify. jenna: that's absolutely right, she could. if judge doesn't dismiss the charges. so what are the chances of that? i think we just found that out. jonathan serrie is live in greensboro, north carolina. jonathan? >> reporter: yeah, good afternoon. rielle hunter is on the defense's witness list but, remember, she was also on the prosecution's witness list and was never called to testify. according to testimony in this trial, john edwards' closest associates considered rielle hunter a loose cannon and were worried about what she might say publicly, so it's uncertain

whether the defense will take the risk of having her testify or avoid it as the prosecution did. now, today edwards' defense team had been arguing that the judge should acquit their client. the judge just denied that motion, and so the trial is going to proceed on schedule. the defense had been arguing that the prosecution's contention that the secret funds to hide edwards' pregnant mistress were political, they argued was based on speculation. lead defense lawyer abby lowell argued, quote: mr. edwards could have expenses for a baby if he had a campaign or if he didn't have a campaign. mr. edwards would hide an affair if he was or wasn't a candidate. and later prosecutor david hard back countered, this is an experienced politician. he just didn't drop out of the sky in '07 and into a world of campaign finance he knew nothing about. now, these arguments and the judge's ultimate decision comes a day after the prosecution

rested its case, concluding by showing the jury an august 2008 interview with abc's "nightline" in which edwards lies about details of his affair including whether he's the father of his mistress' child. >> it showed him watching himself on the video. it was like eating a garlic sandwich. the jury's going to have a bad aftertaste for the next couple of days. >> reporter: and the breaking news right now is that the judge has dismissed the defense's motion to acquit, and so the trial will proceed on schedule. the jury scheduled to return to court on monday and listen to the defense as it brings forward its first witnesses. but, again, the question that everyone's asking, will rhode island el hunter before rhode re hunter be among those witnesses? jenna: you know, for the last 14 days of testimony, jurors heard

a lot of details about this extramarital affair. but what has the jury not heard? coming up, our legal panel talks about that and how this could potentially influence the verdict. jon: tracking the presidential campaign inside america's election headquarters, today the candidates are trying to return their focus to economic issues. president obama heads to nevada to focus on homeowners who need help paying their mortgages. governor romney is in north carolina talking about jobs. both efforts, though, facing a lot of distraction. fred bar bash is managing editor of cq weekly and joins us now. so much of the attention this week has been focused on the president's change in stance on gay marriage. is that really what matters to voters? >> no, that is definitely not what matters to voters, jon. in fact, if we look at any polling, it doesn't even register on the list of things people are concerned about which

i think is one of the reasons why both candidates would just as soon go back to the subject that is on people's minds for the obvious reason of the economy. and particularly in the case of governor romney, now it's coupled with an alleged bullying incident from his prep school days. so it's definitely the kind of thing where you want to direct people away from the topic and back to the topic that you're running on. remember, there's only, what, what are we down to, 185 days or whatever it is, so one day on a topic that is not helpful to you is one-one hundred and eighty fifth of the campaign down the drain, basically wasted. jon: we're going to be talking about that bullying article in your old paper, the "the washinn post," with our news watch panel coming up, but i do want to get to this point. there are some writers who have said, speculated that the white

house orchestrated this whole sort of carefully-calibrated rollout of the president's change in stance, flip-flop, whatever you want to call it, on gay marriage because it filled the airwaves most of this week and took away from the fact that the economy is falter oring. >> i understand, i've seen that theory, but i don't think that that was -- didn't seem well organized, it seemed too well organized and too clever, you know, biden sort of blurts it out in this particular context, and then obama's forced to come out and say -- that would not be the way they would do something like this. in an organized white house. and this is nothing if not an organized white house. i'm not saying they're sorry it came out. it doesn't, it helps obama somewhat with his base, it helps him with his fund beraising -- jon: yeah, it helped him raise $15 million in hollywood last night. >> right. but he didn't have -- he doesn't need to be pushed into saying this. he could have said it in some

other context, as opposed to now it looks like biden had to push him into it. so this isn't the way. if i were the white house and i wanted this to come out, this isn't the way i would have done it. jon: the right track/wrong track numbers seem to be against the president. >> right. jon: we we had some polling information that said on the handling of the economy a great number of americans, i mean, pretty evenly split, but his handling of the economy is not getting great ratings from most american voters right now. is that the issue that he's going to have to cover yo come to win re-election -- overcome to win re-election? >> absolutely. this is his central vulnerability, the health care, all of that. all his vulnerability revolves around the economy. one of the reasons people don't, those who don't like health care don't like it is they say it's going to hurt the economy, it's going to cost money and, plus, it was a distraction from efforts to repair the economy. so i think that his campaign

rests largely on that subject, and you're right, every week that some new number comes out that isn't good or unemployment isn't does not grow quite up to expectation is a bad week for president obama and a good week for governor romney. jon: and, fred, just as we've been speaking rasmussen reports is just out with its new daily tracking report, daily tracking poll, and the approval rating for mitt romney is now at 50%. that's the first time he's hit that number. >> uh-huh. jon: president obama's approval rating, apparently, at 43% in this daily tracking poll. >> yeah, well -- jon: go ahead. >> jon, my view of these things you watch the overall arc of things. any particular day isn't going to mean much. things, attitudes come and go, but you have to look over the course of six weeks, seven weeks and, obviously, as we get closer. remember, most people are paying zero attention to this campaign

right now. they just are not plugged in. that happens in the last two weeks, jon. jon: we hope they're paying attention to you. fred barbash from cq weekly. >> yeah, me too. jon: fred, thank you. jenna: we have this fox news business alert, the head of the sec now saying the agency is focusing on a shocking admission by the nation's largest bank. jpmorgan chase losing $2 billion in a risky trade over the past six weeks. this huge loss raising some fears other banks may be in danger of making some of these big, bad bets and having them, you know, go the wrong way. maybe effect the economy. financial stability overall. there's a lot of questions about this. rich edson is with us from washington. just set the stage for us, what exactly happened here? >> reporter: well, jenna, billions worth of market debts, jpmorgan's chief executive called flawed, complex, poorly-reviewed, poorly-executed and poorly-monitored, and that's just the beginning.

he later added, "stupid." jamie dimon dropped the news on wall street after the markets closed last evening, the company announced a $2 billion loss, the ceo also described as egregious and self-inflicted. the bank admits it could lose up to a billion dollars more depending on how the market does. overall, jpmorgan still expects to make about $4 billion in this quarter. jenna in. jenna: i see that their stock is down today, jpmorgan's stock, but the markets overall seem to be holding up, so what's the potential fallout of this? >> reporter: jpmorgan is one of those few very big banks, and just a few hours ago fox business caught up with one of the bank's top regulators, sec chairman mary schapiro. >> i think it's safe to say that all the regulators are very focus bed on this, but i really can't comment on it. >> reporter: let's not forget congress. as a result, lawmakers are calling for stronger regulations of firms like jpmorgan.

senator carl left vin writes: rs are also writing the details of a long list of federal regulations passed as part of the dodd-frank act. jenna? jenna: interesting. i believe the ceo, jamie dimon, said something to the effect this trade didn't violate the volcker rule, but violated his own principles as ceo. rich, thank you very much. >> reporter: thanks. jon: the frantic search for two young girls comes to a dramatic end. we'll tell you how these two sisters are doing right now. plus, the president's push for clean energy may be about to cost you. a live report on what's happening now in the coal industry. also, rick folbaum live at the web wall for us. >> reporter: jon, ann romney could be the nation's next first

lady. would you like to learn more about her? she spoke exclusively with our colleague, martha maccallum, and you can find the interview at foxnews.com, right on the home page. maybe you want to check it out over this upcoming break. and we'll see you with more "happening now," so don't go away. ok! who gets occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas or bloating? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. fohalf the calories plus vgie nutrition. could've had a v8.

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jon: the latest on some crime stories we're following now. san diego police saying a third person has been arrested in the murder of a marine's wife. the body of britney kilgore was found month. jurors entering a third day of deliberations in the murder trial of jennifer hudson's former brother-in-law, william balfour accused of killing hudson's mother, brother, and 7-year-old nephew. fbi digging through the home of an alleged mobster suspected

of having information about a notorious boston art theft more than 20 years ago. the theft at the isabella stewart museum is considered the largest unsolved art heist in history. -and-a-half popular radio host found shot to death inside her home in new jersey, and that's where the mystery starts. rick, what do we know about this? >> reporter: family, friends and listeners of april kaufman are in shock. the 47-year-old found in the bedroom of her jersey shore home yesterday morning, a worker at her home making the discovery. police say that kaufman had been shot multiple times. she hosted a weekly talk radio program on a radio station, wond. she is known and be has been known for working tirelessly on behalf of veterans. in fact, he had just recently been chosen by the governor to receive an award for outstanding service to the community. kaufman was on the air wednesday afternoon. co-workers described her as upbeat, nothing unusual. she shared her house with her

husband. neighbors say they saw him at the house after his wife's body was found, apparently, he says his wife was sleeping when he left for work earlier in the morning. right now they have no suspects, so this is an active investigation. as we get more, we'll bring it to you. jenna: wow, so strange. rick, thank you. jon: defense attorneys asked the judge to dismiss charges against john edwards. the jury didn't even know it was happening. our legal panel talks about that and other key aspects of this case the jury has not learned about. that's ahead.

jenna: new information in john edwards' federal corruption trial. the judge just denying a defense motion to dismiss the charges against edwards, so the trial will go on. this was done, by the way, the

request for dismissal, without the jury in the courtroom, and, in fact, there are a lot of inside details that we've discussed with you about this case that the jury will never hear. and so we wanted to talk a little bit more about that with our legal panel. jennifer brandt is a defense attorney and fred tease -- fred tecce is a former prosecutor. fred, i'll start with you as the prosecution because the prosecution has rested of what the jury did not hear. for example, the jury did not hear from a witness that says that bunny mellon was replying to john edwards' request to $3 million to, quote, launch the next phase of his life. the jury also didn't hear a witness that said that bunny wanted to the make a president. do you think this really damages their case? how big of an impact will this be? >> i don't think it has a big impact on the case, quite frankly, jenna. i mean, it would have been nice to have, but i think the judge made the right decision. it would be one thing if federal

government had hauled bunny mel louis vuitton in -- mel louis vuitton in and had her testify that john edwards said to me i need money to move my life forward, and the argument would be he knows how to ask for personal money, and this other stuff was for president. and the evidence that she wanted to make is irrelevant because her motives are irrelevant. under the crime charges what the campaign knew and what they did with the money. what she gave it for, doesn't matter. jenna: interesting. so you're back at looking at the conspiracy charges, really what the defense, jennifer, is going to have problems with. what do you think about that? >> i don't agree at all because i think this information that you were just discussing, e mean, first of all, it came much later than his presidential bid. and i think that bottom line is they've shown him to be a liar, a bad guy, a bad husband, but i don't think that they've shown any intent on his part. the prosecution has just totally failed in that regard. and i don't believe that it's

ever going to, he's never going to be found guilty, there's never going to be any -- jenna: jennifer -- >> i think it's a big waste at this point. jenna: we all know it's not el legal to be a juror, right? >> that's right. jenna: but that's -- >> clearly -- jenna: about how a jury perceives someone like this and, jennifer, as a defense, how do you take that on? obviously, he did some things, and we all know what they are now, that it's hard to agree with no matter who you are. >> well, i know this is a controversial position, but i do think that john edwards will need to testify, and i think he's going to be very good in that role because he is a former lawyer, i mean, a skilled, he was a skilled trial lawyer, a politician, um, he knows how to win over people, and i think he's going to get on the stand and dispel a lot of these lies and clean up his act -- jenna: wow, fred. what do you think can, fred? if you heard that, fred, would you think, ah, this is great on

the prosecution side -- >> i don't think you can underestimate him. >> if they put him on the witness stand, i would be salivating. jenna: really? hold on a second, just so our viewers know, this is a guy that some attorneys say they would just show up for his closing arguments because he was so good in court, and they would just want to observe him. >> i've always said this, anybody who has to call a lawyer for a witness loses, and in this case people, the jury's going to see right by that, and they're going to cross-examine him. and all this evidence that you just said was so great, that's going to come in on cross-examination -- >> fred, i think you're wrong. you're wrong about this because we, i think you're underestimating him. >> what -- [inaudible] >> i think that he's going to be very skillful, and you need to have him out there to dispel some of this, i really do think that. >> more or less skillful than rod blagojevich, okay? >> no, no comparison. jenna: okay, here's another question because as the defense has an interesting list and, to your point, fred, there's been

quite a game of telephone. we don't have bunny be mellon on the stand, we have a lot of people that have worked with her and telling the story, so that's an interesting twist to the case. >> correct. jenna: fred, the prosecution did not call rielle hunter, so do you expect the defense to do that? >> i wouldn't. i wouldn't call her if i was the prosecution, and i wouldn't call her if i was the defense. i mean, i think -- what does she add, and i think she's too dangerous. she's too dangerous on cross. i mean, i will agree with jennifer on this point, i wouldn't put john edwards on the witness stand just because i think the best argument he has is reasonable doubt, and he didn't really know. and if you pit him on -- put him on the witness stand, you compromise that. rielle hunter is just too dangerous. jenna: jennifer, your thoughts? >> i have to agree on this one, i would not put her on the stand either. i think she's a loose cannon, and from what we've heard about her, you just can't trust what she might say, so i would not even go near that one. jenna: of course, we would have a lot of interesting legal panel

ifs that did occur. >> yes. [laughter] jenna: but as part of the media, you don't get a right to request anybody on the stand. we can only deal with what's ahead. it'll be an interesting week next week, and we'll have you both back. >> thanks for having me. >> thank you. jon: well, a whirlwind week for the hot button issue of same-sex marriage in the media. the white house signaling a major policy shift and a key swing state takes action on its own. but has the media coverage been fair? plus, the hunt for a fugitive packing heat, light and sweet. dad, you are not meeting him looking like that. i look fine. just a little trouble with a bargain brand cooking spray. i told you like a gajillion times to use pam. it's 70% better than that bargain stuff. see? look i gotta go. pam helps you like pull it off.

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jon: right now cops are on the hunt for a man who used a hot cup of joe as a weapon in the city of brotherly love. rick folbaum has more on that live from the newsroom. >> reporter: no love here, this all started inside a coffee shop in philly. a dapper guy dressed in a business suit waiting for his order, when the woman behind the counter asked him to pay first, apparently, he thought he had already paid $2.50, so when the clerk puts down a cup of coffee, watch what he does. >> yo, i paid you for my stuff, lady. take that. >> [inaudible] i don't give a [bleep], i paid

her. and she told me i didn't. so she can take that. >> reporter: unbelievable, right? here's the woman who worked behind the counter. you can see she suffered burns on her arm and other parts of her body as well. meantime, the police are still looking for this guy. they don't know exactly who he is, but you can get a pretty good look at him on this surveillance video. he's got a moustache, about 6-2, 200 pounds, last seen wearing that tan suit, believed to be driving a tan or gold cadillac. he's got the eye glasses on as well, and let's hope they catch him because you should not be able to do something like that and get away with it, right, jon? jon: yeah, anger management classes are definitely in order. rick, thank you. jenna: two young girls are found alive and safe after nearly a two week manhunt. they left a mississippi hospital where they were treated for dehydration. police rescued them from the fugitive accused of killing their mother and their

14-year-old older sister. authorities say the man on your screen, adam mayes, shot himself after police found him with the girls in this densely-wooded area near his home. still so many questions about this case. casey steagall's on it live in mississippi with more. casey? >> reporter: good to see you. two weeks of not knowing whether these little girls were dead or alive all came to a dramatic end within a matter of seconds last night. about 100 yards deep into the woods back there behind me, we are right next to the zion hill baptist church. here's how it went down according to the fbi. someone thought that they saw the suspect, 35-year-old adam mayes, and be called police. a short time later a 31-member team of multiple law enforcement agencies converged, and when they located their man, officials say he pulled out a gun and shot himself while the girls watched. we are told that he died enroute to the hospital, but then the true miracle, 12-year-old

alexandria and her 8-year-old sister were discovered right there in the same spot alive. >> gave them a big hug, and they were hungry and, you know, highway patrol and people began to give them food and water and cover them up, you know, because it was getting cool out. just embraced 'em and glad they were safe. >> reporter: the back story here, the bodies of the little girls' mother, jo ann, and their oldest sister, adrienne, were discover inside a shallow grave last weekend behind the home adam mayes rented with his wife and parents which is about 12 miles from where i'm standing in guntown, mississippi. teresa mayes, his wife, has also been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping because according to court documents, teresa admitted to driving the victims along with her husband from tennessee where the bainslyed, about -- lived, about

90 miles or so north of here. those same documented revealed that adam mayes shot and killed joanne and adrienne in the garage of their tennessee home and brought their bodies here to mississippi to bury them. jenna: just a sad, awful story. glad those two little girls are okay. >> reporter: happy ending though. jenna: yeah, for now. a lot more to this story. casey, thank you. jon: well, same-sex marriage and related social issues getting a lot of attention this week in the news media. you might say it started sunday when vice president joe biden voiced his support for gay marriage on one of the sunday chat shows. on tuesday north carolina approved a constitutional ban on same-sex unions. a day later president obama granted a tv interview to announce his personal support for gay marriage and explained his latest shift on that hot button political issue. yesterday online "the washington post" released a story about governor mitt romney and his

alleged behavior toward a gay student in high school. it's the front page of today's print edition. overall, it has been quite a week. let's talk about it with kirsten powers, a columnist for the daily beast, judith miller is a pulitzer prize-winning investigative reporter, both are fox news contributors. this washington post piece today, romney's pranks could go too far, all about a teenaged mitt romney in the boarding school he attended in michigan. um, i don't know, i've raised two teenage boys, one of whom still is a teenager. teenage boys can do stupid things, i did some stupid things when i was a teenager, does it deserve front page coverage in "the washington post," judy? >> well, i don't think it does, and i think it kind of reflects a desperation to come up with something new through what's going to be a long, long, long campaign. and, you know, you have to ask yourself just in terms of president obama are there newspapers and magazines and

broadcast networks looking at what he was doing when he was at columbia, when he was here in new york and what he acknowledges were his kind of wild and crazy days? we're not seeing that. so not is it only kind of irrelevant, but it's also does raise a kind of double standard issue. you know, are we applying the same standard to governor romney that we are to the president? jon: yeah, what about that, kirsten? do you think that this is a fair article, or is it a hit job? >> well, i think if it's accurate, it is a fair article. now, if they're not covering similar stuff about obama, then that's a double standard. but that doesn't mean that it's completely irrelevant if it happened. i think, but i think that what is relevant, the most relevant in my mind is how romney has responded to it. i think most people could say, look, yes, people -- high school students do stupid things. it's been his response that's been troubling, the fact that when he was asked about it, he laughed like it was sort of funny, and, you know, it seems

like a more appropriate response to be sort of horrified at the idea of holding someone down while they're crying and cutting their hair. that would be sort of the normal response of being told that you did something like to say, well, gosh, that's terrible, and instead he laughed. i think that has made it into more of a story than it would have otherwise been. jon: looking at at one of the headlines, and this is a huge article, two full pages inside the paper as well as the front page, one of the headlines on one of the jump pages says i just remember being terrified woman says of prank, talking about a prank where he pretended to be a police officer, apparently, and told a couple of his class mates and the dates they were with that they were in trouble for parking on a dark road. at any rate, it stresses the fact that this woman remembers being terrified, but it says -- the article goes on to say once she realized it was all a and was safely back at her dorm, she join inside the laughter. that part gets left out of the

headline, judy. >> yeah. well, that's yet another problem with this story. is this really what we're going to have for the next, you know, for the remaining part of this campaign? i just, i have some degree of sympathy with mr. romney who now says can we talk about the economy, please? can we talk about iran? can we talk about the important foreign policy and national security issues facing this country? of course, that plays to his strengths, his perceived strength anyway, but i do think that there are certain things that should be beyond the pale, attacks on candidates' children or their spouses, and i think digging up things that occurred when you were 15 or 17 or, you know, that really doesn't deserve front page, banner coverage in think major paper. jon: kirsten, have the media done this kind of digging on pram in? -- president obama? i mean, he was something of a cipher at that point in his life

as far as i can tell. >> yeah. no, i don't think they have necessarily done the same kind of digging, though there's been plenty of coverage about, you know, the new information that came out about obama's girlfriend in college and that it was a composite and, you know, there's a lot of time spent on a lot of stuff that i think is completely irrelevant, but it is for both people. and the same conservatives who complain about this have no problem obsessing over the fact that obama allegedly went to a ma cross saw when he was, you know, 8 years old. you know what i mean? so the double standard cuts both ways, i think. jon: so let's talk about the other media coverage of the week, the president's flip-flop on gay marriage. there are some who think this was all carefully calculated and rolled out by the white house. you had arne duncan saying he agreed with joe biden who said it on sunday, arne duncan said it on monday, then you have the north carolina election on tuesday, and wednesday that news all got eclipsed by the president's change of heart in his interview with abc news.

judy? >> well, his evolution or if it were a republican you would say his flip-flop on this issue, i mean, come on. here again, i think you just have to cite the double standard. now, i think whether or not we in the press agree or disagree with the president's position u, the position he took finally after his revolution shouldn't be the issue. the issue is how did he come to this decision, was the vice president's statement on sunday a trial balloon? it certainly looks that way. and most important, how is it going to effect his re-election prospects? and on this i think the media have done a pretty good job. we have been trying to analyze what it means, and i'm amazed at howdy sided the pundits really are in terms of whether they think it's going to help or hurt his campaign. jon: was it really just a clever way, kirsten, to cover over some of the employment numbers which aren't good? i mean, more people dropped out of the labor force than got new jobs in the latest report.

>> actually, my understanding of it is that joe biden was speaking out of school and sort of put the president in a position where he had to come out and do this at a point where i don't think they necessarily thought the the best time. this has, however, been his position for a while which has been reported, and the coverage of this, and it was a question of when the president was going to come out and actually announce it. jon: well, richard bendetto who used to be the white house correspondent for "usa today" has written an interesting take on foxnews.com, our viewers might want to check that out. it's getting a lot of attention. he seems to think this was all carefully calibrated, but we'll let the voters decide eventually. thanks very much, kirsten and judy, thank you. catch more of the news watch panel each and be every saturday, tune in 2:30 p.m. eastern time when we cover the coverage of big stories of the week. jenna: it's a horrifying scene when a child fall bees out of a car right into a busy

intersection. dad quickly springs to the rescue. how this happened and be why it could have been a whole lot worse. and a medical miracle or simply too good to be true? a new weight loss drug getting a preliminary thumbs up from the fda. what you need to know, next. [ male announcer ] this is coach parker... whose non-stop day 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. ♪ when you pour chunky beef with country vegetables soup over it... you can do dinner. four minutes, around four bucks. campbels chunky. it's amazing what soup can do.

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i've got nine grams of protein. twist my lid. that's three times more than me! twenty-one vitamins and minerals and zero fat! hmmm. you'll bring a lot to the party. [ all ] yay! [ female announcer ] new ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. twenty-one vitamins and minerals. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. refreshing nutrition in charge! jenna: well, a big headline from the medical community today. an fda advisory panel giving the thumbs up to a new diet drug, urging the agency to approve it when it meets next month. if that happens, it would be the first new prescription weight loss drug to hit the market in more than a decade, so big news, you know, apparently. dr. steven gardener of new york methodist can hospital is here. would you prescribe this drug? is that how we're going to know it? >> we're going to call it -- [inaudible] first of all, i can't pronounce it. jenna: it begins with an l, ends with an n. >> i definitely would wait about two or three years before

prescribing it, so the people who rush to take these new medications are the ones that have the problems. jenna: i was looking at some of the side effects from the test study. they say most of the people that have taken this lost an average of 5% of their body weight, so we're not talking about a huge amount of weight loss here. >> right. you're talking a 200-pound person lost 10 pounds. to undergo the risks -- jenna: and can some of the risks are according to, again, to the test study they did, there were some concerns about tumors, also some concerns about weakening or effecting your heart valve. >> with which we've had before with fen-phen, do you remember that? it was about so, 15 years ago. people rushed to take it, and they had permanent damage to their lungs and heart. while the study seems to show it's not going to cause that problem, who knows? jenna: we've also talked about qnexa. >> that i can pronounce. jenna: and, again, we're looking at the first diet pills that have been fda-approved back on

the market in more than a decade. and what i'm seeing, and this is just my take on some of the reports, there seems to be an urgency and also a little bit of an impatience to get drugs on the market because obesity is such a big issue. >> yes. there's a push to find something because, first of all, how much it costs, but the diabetes, high blood pressure and be strokes that you get from being overweight, these are preventable. i think the best way to lose weight is not with these pills. qnexa, by the way, birth defects in kids, valve problems again -- jenna: so you don't feel like you know about these bill -- pills, but if someone has tried everything, is there anything whether it's a prescription or a medical procedure that you would say, hey, maybe you need to consider this? >> always lifestyle. let's be honest. you tell someone to lose weight, run, and they don't do it. obesity surgery, that is the way to do it.

that keeps the weight off long term. jenna: the stomach -- >> they put bands in, right, there are different surgeries that are much less invasive, their all done with cameras and so on x you know for sure -- jenna: by the way, did i point to the right spotsome. >> the stomach is right there, excellent. [laughter] jenna: that's something to consider potentially. >> right now it's for very obese patients. restrictions for getting it are going to be less and less. jenna: let me ask you about another medical story, there's big news out of washington state this week that there's concern about whooping cough there, and state officials have said this is an epidemic, this is a big deal. first of all, what is whooping cough, and what makes it an academic? >> it's a bacterial infection that invades the lungs and the tubes going to the lungs. the makeup person outside said i thought it was extinct. jenna: right. >> it comes back, it never really goes, and the vaccine we have is not fully effective, and it seems like it lasts only

about ten years, so number one source of whooping cough for the baby is the mother. jenna: but these aren't just children in washington state, they're also adults. >> but the ones who are dying are the children, the infants and so on. jenna: scary. >> the adults by taking a vaccine can prevent themselves from getting it, and there's abilities if you get it -- antibiotics if you get it early enough. you get this hacking cough which causes you to break ribs, you get a hernia, and you burst the blood vessels in the eye -- jenna: be more proactive? >> go and get the vaccine, make sure your kid gets five vaccines, and most importantly, when the mother's pregnant at about 20, 30 weeks they give an injection to the mother so she can protect the children. jenna: wow, an interesting story there. doctor, thank you for covering both of those topics for us. jon, back over to you. jon: all right. it is mother's day this coming sunday in the case you'd forgotten. adam houseley takes us gadget shopping for mom.

adam? >> reporter: yeah, jon, you can't forget that, of course. two days before mother's day, we've got a pink tool set to show you, or how about the fly good-bye? you can suck up flies and release them outside humanely or just kill them, your choice. we have all of it for you coming up next. [ male announcer ] capri sun has 25% less sugar than leading regar juice drinks. because less sugar is a better way to fly. ♪ just not literally. capri sun. respect what's in the pouch.

jon: an amazing rescue caught on tape, rick folbaum has that story. >> reporter: this is why they have those car seats, jon, with the five-point harness, so the kids can't get out. take a look at this footage from a traffic cam in china. a dad coming to the rescue. we're going to highlight it there. that's where the toddler falls out, the dad gets out, runs, picks up the kid. there was a taxi that was coming very, very close, as you might have seen. thankfully, it came to a stop

just in time. the family car slammed into that pole there, but that's probably fine with them given that their child is okay. according to the dad, the 4-year-old crawled into the front seat, somehow opened up the door. police on the scene saying it's a good thing that taxi was going slowly, it might not have been able to stop in time, but maybe they want to invest in one of those seats, i'm telling you, the five-point harnesses -- jon: good idea. american-made cars have them. jenna: spoken from experience, rick's many children. [laughter] among both of you guys, you guys have a full basketball team. [laughter] well, if your mom loves gadgets, we've got some great ideas for her. adam houseley's live in los angeles. first of all, congratulations, adam, because you have a new mother in your family. >> reporter: i do, and it's not me. jenna: it's not you, it's your wife. congratulations. i know baby's on board. >> reporter: do i have to buy her something? jon: hello!

>> reporter: i know, jon, i've already learned. identify got to sew you some stuff, jen -- show you some stuff, jenna. consumers will spend more on mom than ever before. so we're going to fly through this. first of all, this is from the acoustic research. it is a lantern and a wireless speaker. you can take it in the yard with you, into a room you don't have, connects to your smartphone, your ipod wirelessly, pretty cool little gadget as you have light and music as well. a couple cameras. my mom takes pictures of my nephew's soccer game, this is a knew con, i actually put my lens on it, but it's a cool little camera, takes great pictures for those moms who have stepped up in their photography. there's also this pentax out now, this is great. it's water proof, shock proof, so you can drop it, it takes the dust out and takes good

pictures. this is from pentax. how about a pink tool set? this comes from apollo. believe it or not, jenna, i already bought my wife this. i bought it a year ago. this is from apollo, they're like 30 or $40, two more things i want to show you. first of all, this is a kindle cover that has a solar on the outside, so it charges mom's kindle at the same time it protects it, and the final thing, this isn't really a gadget, it's called the munchie mug. it's won all kinds of awards. safe for the kids' fingers, nothing comes out of it. you take off the top, put this on top and put it right in the fridge, it's called the munchie mug. these are just some of the gadgets out there. we're going to post them online as well and, jenna, if you haven't yet got mom a gadget, you have no problem finding her a present. jenna: i like that pink tool set, and i like that cup. that sounds like it's going to come in handy for your new

family, adam. >> reporter: when's yours coming along? jenna: i'm going to get you for that. luckily, we have to go to commercial.uses adam, thank you very much. we'll be right back. which gels to remove unsexy waste and reduce cholesterol. taking psyllium fiber won't make you a model but you should feel a little more super. metamucil. down with cholesterol.